"So, Saint, what are your plans now?"

Sigrid moved closer to Lanqi, placing her hand on the sofa cushion as she asked.

If they lost Chloris's help, and couldn't even determine whether she was friend or foe, the Saint's plan would have to change drastically.

But the more relevant and sudden the changes, the more it indicated that the enemy in the shadows was about to surface, and every effort they made was not meaningless.

At this moment, Sigrid could clearly feel that some behind-the-scenes manipulator was plotting something unknown against the Protos Empire.

If she hadn't met Lanqi, she would probably have become one of their pawns. When everything finally erupted, she would most likely have been a loser, and lost without even knowing why, which made her very angry.

Not only Ascensão, but that black-robed guy would be the mortal enemy of her Batiatic Church from now on.

"What about Vice-Professor Sido? Is he alright?"

Lanqi stroked his chin thoughtfully, then looked at Gloria and asked.

He had first met Vice-Professor Sido of the History Department at the Protos Royal Magic Academy, and it was he who had introduced him to Duchess Chloris.

Chloris seemed to trust Sido a lot. Sido was also one of the few people who knew about Duke Morodian's disappearance.

If there were any secret changes in Berenhar, then Vice-Professor Sido would be the most likely to know.

However, Gloria shook her head.

"Vice-Professor Sido disappeared before Duchess Chloris was arrested, about a week earlier."

She bit her lip as she said this.

Vice-Professor Sido was a very mysterious person himself, often taking academic research leave for months at a time.

Lanqi nodded, not surprised by this result.

Sido was so deeply involved with Chloris, so he probably couldn't escape if Chloris was in trouble.

After thinking for a moment, Lanqi seemed to have a plan for what to do next, and looked at Sigrid, who had been watching him.

"Sigrid, don't leave the school during this time. It's best to stay at Gloria's house. I will also restrict the movement of outside visitors, not allowing them to get close to the academy's residential area."

Lanqi said to Sigrid.

"No problem."

Sigrid nodded.

The imperial capital of Helrom was in chaos, and after leaving the ancient protective enchantment of the school's safe zone, no one knew if she would be targeted because of the power of the curse mark on her body.

Fortunately, almost no one would think that Sigrid of the Batiatic Church would disguise herself as a student and hide in the Protos Royal Magic Academy.

"By the way, Sigrid, do you think the black-robed man you fought used his full strength?"

Lanqi asked Sigrid, as if he had a final doubt.

"He clearly wanted to kill me with all his strength at the time, but I personally feel that he always relied on the strange and powerful abilities of the black chains and abyssal black worms… Logically speaking, a person with such powerful magic should have mastered many other spells, but I never saw him use them."

Sigrid recalled and answered slowly but surely.

Even though the black chains were ever-changing and could cover all attack patterns, Sigrid always felt that the black-robed man knew more than that.

"You mean… could Sido be the black-robed man?"

She suddenly raised her eyes and asked Lanqi.

One strange thing was that she had never seen Vice-Professor Sido at the school. It was only after hearing Lanqi and Gloria talk about him that she realized how strong the presence of this History Department Vice-Professor was.

"…"

Lanqi shook his head, his expression uncertain.

He personally got along with Sido quite well, and could even say that he regarded Sido as the first friend he made after coming to the Protos Royal Magic Academy.

At least Sido didn't even have any malice towards Zestira, which made Lanqi have a good impression of Sido.

Previously at the school, Lanqi had spent many days with Sido at close range. On the battlefield of Bandera City in the northern border province, he had also personally seen the black-robed man.

Lanqi always felt that the strange feeling on the black-robed man's body was not like Sido.

There were more and more people in the dark whose identities and forces were a mystery. The situation in the empire was about to erupt and approach the critical point of revealing the mystery, giving him a feeling of a grand melee.

Multiple forces may have harbored ulterior motives, and then a series of chain reactions were caused by his and Sigrid's trip to the north, disrupting everyone's plans.

"The only enemy on the surface now is Ascensão, so we can't go wrong by dealing with him. For the rest, we can only make full preparations and adapt to the circumstances."

Lanqi said to Sigrid with a sense of responsibility.

They were the ones in the open in this situation, but being in the open also had its advantages. Both he and Sigrid liked to do things in a fair and aboveboard manner.

The two months of work and social practice after coming to the Northern Continent had taught him one thing.

Justice and fairness often either didn't come enough, or came too late, making lawless thugs rampant everywhere.

Unlike useless people who were just waiting to die, he had a high level of ideological awareness when he was in the Southern Continent.

He now understood that the current version of the Protos Empire was all about messing with people, and that was what their Batiatic branch was best at.

This did not conflict with his role as a philosopher, educator, thinker, and pragmatist. This was also the most effective way to practice justice in the current version of the Protos Empire!

As long as all the rotten people of the Nihilistic branch were eliminated, the Protos Empire would surely be happy and prosperous forever.

This was his greatest ideal and goal!

Looking at Lanqi's still so positive and enthusiastic appearance, Sigrid didn't know if she should pour cold water on him at this moment and tell him the actual situation.

"But, I can't beat Ascensão right now."

Sigrid's eyes dimmed.

Originally, Ascensão should have been an opponent for her to deal with, while the Saint should have been responsible for other preparations. Now, not only could she not help the Saint, but she had also become a burden to him.

Even though their Batiatic branch had the Saint as Loki McCarthy's power, they no longer had the true most deterrent force.

Even if there was hope of winning the bishop election, it would be meaningless as long as her true situation was revealed.

The empire did not need a paper tiger as a partner, and force was the foundation of all negotiations.

"Just undo your seal."

Lanqi said as he looked at her, as if telling her that big brother couldn't be discouraged.

"To break the seal, you can only find a Ninth-Order Sealer or kill the caster…"

Sigrid's voice became softer by half, unwilling to meet Lanqi's gaze, as if she had never revealed such weakness to anyone before.

It was impossible to find a Ninth-Order Sealing Mage stronger than Ascensão in the current era. The only solution was to go to the Shadow World and take a gamble, to see if she could meet a friendly Ninth-Order who was good at sealing techniques to help her forcibly break the seal. But in her current state, if she entered an Eighth-Order Shadow World and had a bad start, she would have no chance of survival, and it would be almost no different from suicide.

Now it was a vicious cycle. She couldn't restore to her full strength without killing Ascensão.

But without restoring to her full strength, she couldn't kill Ascensão, even with the Saint's help.

"Then kill Ascensão."

Lanqi stood up and looked at the clock. He was always a person who kept his promises.

It was time to change back to Loki McCarthy and set off for Helrom Broadcasting Company.

"…"

Gloria felt a chill down her spine. It was the first time she had heard someone say so casually that they were going to kill a Nihilistic Bishop.

Even Sigrid had failed to defeat Ascensão many times, let alone leave him behind and kill him.

However, in the Saint's mouth, all of this was like a goal that had already been decided.

He was really wholeheartedly trying to eliminate Ascensão, this heretic, for some unknown great cause.

"How are you going to kill him? Only an Eighth-Order can defeat an Eighth-Order."

Sigrid raised her eyes and looked at the figure that had changed back to brown hair and green eyes. Her eyes were full of hesitation. She didn't want the Saint to mess around.

Ascensão would be able to recover most of his strength in a week.

If there was an opportunity to win over those Eighth-Order powerhouses in the empire who were either loyal to the empire or had ulterior motives, the three Cardinal Bishops would have tried it long ago.

Moreover, a Cardinal Bishop was by no means something that ordinary Eighth-Orders could contend with.

These empire powerhouses were unlikely to bet everything on being an enemy of Ascensão, the Nihilistic Bishop at the peak of the Eighth-Order. They might even covet Sigrid's Primal Slate instead.

Once they discovered Sigrid's true state and Sigrid's whereabouts, Sigrid would be in the most danger.

"We are a diversified school. Actually, I have been considering introducing three orthodox foreign teachers, but due to the current situation in the Protos Empire, I originally wanted to change the status quo first, and then introduce faculty. Now it seems that I can only borrow them first."

Lanqi simply straightened the collar of his coat, turned around and smiled, his entrepreneurial spirit seemed to be burning, and walked out the door, waving his hand to indicate that he was leaving first.

"…"

What foreign teachers could fight Ascensão?

Sigrid was puzzled.

Even if the Saint was planning to ask for help from the Southern Continent, not to mention whether the powerhouses over there could move easily, there was simply no time to wait for the Saint to travel back and forth.

Within a week, there were only a few powerhouses in the Protos Empire who could be found, but there was no possibility of driving anyone.

"Wait."

Sigrid suddenly froze.

"The foreign teachers you're talking about, wouldn't they be the three great demons locked up at the bottom of Helrom Prison?"

When she looked up and saw Lanqi's righteous face, she understood what this kid wanted to do.

This kid was crazy!

He actually had designs on those three ancient great demons!

So tired, I feel like I'm seeing the ICU.

(End of chapter)