Lichtenstein Castle.

The hands of the chapel clock had just passed 9:30 AM.

This morning, the group had returned from the cliffside to the mansion and gathered in the library on the second floor.

Despite the various magical probes, there were no particularly hidden compartments or mechanisms in this castle that needed deciphering. The detective had also skipped over any places that might become clues.

However, the room of the mansion's owner and the library-like book room might contain some useful historical background information.

For example, the mysterious era that no one could understand, the relationship between vampires and humans, and the relevant records of the Horning Empire.

Even if it didn't help decipher the Shadow World.

Recording it could allow the Southern Continent Shadow World Association to share it with many researchers and scholars to analyze this important piece of history.

Except for Lan Qi and Hyperion, who stayed together, the other challengers maintained groups of three, keeping a relatively safe distance from each other.

Casually walking to the window, Lan Qi pulled open the red velvet curtains. Natural light fell on the dark brown wood grain of the bookshelves, much clearer than in the early morning.

One by one, the ancient books, with their faded gold lettering on the covers, regained their luster under the light.

With the sunlight streaming in, the air in the library became fresher, mixed with the scent of ink and candles, as if one could hear the whispers of the books, telling the forgotten stories they recorded.

"Since everyone has agreed to investigate the information before the detective returns, let's start by looking for books about vampires together," Lan Qi said to the group, standing by the window, bathed in the sunlight behind him.

Although there was no longer an absolute leader like the detective, among the two most trustworthy people, the young master of the Geographer Merchant Guild was unreliable. Only the detective's companion, the lawyer, seemed relatively calm.

But it was this unflappable temperament that instinctively made people feel he was a bit dangerous.

He always had a faint, composed smile on his face. Compared to being in a castle full of murderous intent, he gave the impression that he was really on a resort vacation in a mansion.

"I have a suggestion: burn all these books."

Just then, a female voice rang out from behind. Everyone looked towards the sound and saw that it was the noble young lady from the Krete Empire who had spoken, having not expressed much opinion before.

In this warrior-priest-mage team, the female knight beside the noble young lady only looked at her, while the little priest became even more timid under everyone's gaze.

"Since the detective found the answer by bypassing all the mechanisms, then these original mechanisms are of very little benefit to us. Destroying them all might even make the betrayers lose more crucial information," the noble young lady from the Krete Empire continued, her voice firm.

The group fell silent. After thinking about it carefully, her statement did make sense.

"But it's also possible that these books only contain information useful to the challengers, especially for the other mission objective. I think it's better for everyone to quickly filter through the books related to vampires together," the leading priest of the Goddess of Fate Church in the Northern Continent said hesitantly, seeming to support Lan Qi's decision more.

The library fell silent for a moment.

Now it was just a matter of whether to gamble or not.

If they gambled and destroyed the books, they might also destroy information related to the betrayers' mission objectives.

"I personally am very opposed to burning books... but, let's vote on it," Lan Qi said, spreading his hands in a conciliatory manner, as if anything was fine as long as everyone could solve the problem peacefully.

Soon, the three clergy members from the Northern Continent expressed their opposition to burning books. They especially valued information about ancient vampires.

Hyperion naturally unconditionally supported Lan Qi, and like Lan Qi, she was in favor of preserving the books.

Only the three from the Krete Empire supported burning the books.

The young master of the Merchant Guild looked at both sides. He originally wanted to do something cool and burn the books, but after thinking about it, he still felt that Lan Qi and the opinions of the several clergy members were more stable, so he also chose to preserve the books. The bodyguard siblings didn't say anything, their meaning was closer to abstaining, or rather, what they voted for wouldn't affect the result.

In the end, the conservatives were in the majority. After the vote, everyone had no complaints and began searching for books together, moving through the bookshelves in groups of almost five or six, without leaving each other's sight.

They occasionally looked down at the pages of the books, then looked up and walked through the bookshelves. The sound of those pages turning, accompanied by the occasional whispered conversation, made time fly by.

Lan Qi didn't say a word, gently touching the spines of the books with his fingertips, as if engaging in a silent conversation with this knowledge.

He opened a book, looking through it page by page, his eyes focused and deep.

Hyperion secretly observed Lan Qi's expression.

She always felt that Lan Qi seemed even more certain about something in his heart after the previous vote, but she couldn't see what he was planning.

…

So, throughout the morning, everyone searched for books in the library.

Each book suspected of being key had to pass through the hands of at least two different groups of challengers to ensure that no one would conceal information.

Until it was nearly noon.

Someone opened a book, causing everyone's [Mission Objective 2: Explore the secrets and dangers hidden in the castle] to change simultaneously.

A [Collected a piece of core information, pending interpretation] note was added.

Everyone looked at each other and discovered that the young master of the Merchant Guild was opening an ancient book with demonic characters engraved on the cover. He was also looking at everyone with a confused expression.

"It...records an ancient sealing technique. Gathering the power of the sun, moon, and stars can generate powerful and eternal sealing power. Similarly, to break this seal, you need to collect the fresh blood of the moon and star powers as a guide, and you can reverse the seal when avoiding the sun," the young master of the Merchant Guild quickly turned the pages, reading the key content to everyone with a puzzled expression.

"This is a magic book. I can't understand the specific magical text content. Does anyone understand sealing techniques?"

The twin bodyguards behind him were silent, obviously they were both assassin-type professions and only knew a few spells.

Not to mention sealing techniques, a type of magic that even professional mages only rarely specialize in.

People's gazes couldn't help but focus on the mage girl from the Krete Empire and the priest from the Northern Continent.

Almost only these two had the best chance of understanding it.

"I am not proficient in sealing magic," the priest shook his head in shame.

In today's era, there aren't many priests who specialize in sealing techniques.

Moreover, in the Northern Continent, sealing techniques are even a notorious type of magic, all because of the outrageous and numerous slaughter of civilians committed by Bishop Ascesan of the Nihilism.

"I understand a little. Let me take a look," the mage girl leading the Krete Empire team nodded, walked towards the young master of the Merchant Guild, and took the book from his hand.

But she quickly flipped through the book, until she turned it to the last page, and only shook her head helplessly.

"The compilation of this book, a lot of the content is composed of demonic magical text, or rather, a magical text that has not yet fully evolved into human magical text," the imperial mage girl said.

According to legend, humans initially couldn't use magic until demons taught magic to humans, and humans began to possess magical power.

However, excessive use of demonic magical text will cause humans to become distorted, go mad, and even become monsters. This theory can still be proven to this day.

After a long period of evolution, ancient human mages gradually improved and gave birth to the earliest human magical text, allowing humans to use magic normally without paying a huge price.

And the magical text on this ancient book is still in a transitional stage between demonic magical text and human magical text.

Not only can't humans understand it, even demons may not be able to understand it.

(End of chapter)