The Present World.

Midsummer. A hot breeze, carrying the freshness of the morning, gently swept over the giant city.

The water droplets on the windowsills of the Iklit Academy buildings were traces left by last night's light rain.

Loren returned to the school alone.

His temperament was as gentle as ever, much like his student Lan Qi in this respect. The slight difference was that Lan Qi had a natural air of authority, while Loren was more approachable, making it difficult for people to perceive him as a powerhouse.

He walked alone on the forest path, occasionally birds darted past, and the swaying light and shadows clung to his face through the branches, making his figure sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

"..."

A white-haired, silver-eyed figure, as pure as falling snow even in this summer, stood in the distance, observing Loren from afar.

She couldn't see the man's expression clearly.

Even though rashly approaching Loren or even paying attention to him like this was a very dangerous thing.

Perhaps one day she would fail.

But she knew some things could only be done by herself.

Rather than secretly monitoring him like this, it would be better to simply pretend nothing was wrong and chat with him.

Taking a deep breath, the Ice Witch adjusted her mentality.

Her movements seemed both fast and slow. In just a few steps, she appeared not far from Loren.

"Loren."

Her voice rang out, and Loren suddenly seemed startled, his steps faltering slightly.

Then he looked at the Ice Witch, Almis, who had walked to his side.

"Miss Almis, you're at the school."

Loren said, as if relieved deep down.

Perhaps because he had no guard against Almis, he hadn't even noticed her sudden approach.

"..."

Almis silently stared at Loren.

He looked like he hadn't slept well last night.

And he seemed to be very afraid of her, as if he didn't know how to explain to her that Huberian had been taken into the seventh-tier Shadow World by Lan Qi.

Was he feeling guilty?

Almis couldn't help but feel confused.

For a moment, she couldn't tell whether Loren's behavior was a cunning, skillful performance or simply incorrigibly honest.

Soon, the Ice Witch cleared her mind. No matter how Loren presented himself, whether truthfully or falsely, as a secret agent, the best disguise was to pretend that she knew nothing and simply interact with him normally.

"I'm not here to pressure you. Seeing you suffer these past few days, I've realized that you're a responsible man."

The Ice Witch said in her flat tone.

"Thank you for helping me handle the church affairs during this time. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to handle it."

Loren breathed out again, expressing his sincere gratitude.

If the Ice Witch hadn't happened to come from the Northern Continent, and, being of equal rank, could replace him in his work as a high priest in the church, he might not have had time to close his eyes at all.

"It's nothing, it's originally my job."

The Ice Witch stopped looking at Loren and looked ahead.

The two walked on like this.

In the summer at Iklit Academy, the roadsides were lined with green leaves that had just been washed by the rain, pressed down by water droplets, like taut bowstrings.

Almis's body temperature was already low, and in this summer, it made her seem to emit a cool, frosty air.

The silence lasted for a while, broken only by the slightly harsh chirping of a few doves in the trees.

"Almis, I guarantee you, when it comes to Lan Qi's strength, you only need to believe in his upper limit, and you don't have to worry about his lower limit. As long as he's okay, Huberian will definitely be safe."

Loren seemed unable to bear the silent torture and spoke to the Ice Witch beside him.

He always felt that sometimes being with the Ice Witch was even harder to endure than fighting the Destruction Bishop.

"They're alone, a boy and a girl, in this seventh-tier Shadow World. Who can guarantee that nothing will happen?"

The Ice Witch turned her head, looked at Loren, and asked in a light and cold voice.

She had heard a lot of rumors about Loren, that he had dozens of fiancées, and that he had always had an ambiguous relationship with the famous Knight Captain Juliana of the Kingdom of Yarolan, only pretending to have conflicts in order to confuse his group of fiancées. In reality, the two of them would secretly meet every once in a while under the guise of official business.

He was not only fond of Knight Captain Juliana, but he could also use sweet words to make dozens of fiancées feel content, making them fall for him.

The Ice Witch believed that Lan Qi, as Loren's student, must be the same kind of person.

She was very worried that Huberian, a girl of her age, would be deceived by Lan Qi.

"Don't worry, Lan Qi is very reliable in this aspect. He pays a lot of attention to his distance from women, and he doesn't have any thoughts of romance at all, except for community service."

Loren said firmly. He still understood Lan Qi.

"Like those rumors about me that are always spreading, don't you think the claim that I have dozens of fiancées is ridiculous?"

Loren actually understood why the Ice Witch would raise this question.

It was nothing more than the rumors in the school.

He had really suffered from them for too long.

"..."

The Ice Witch was speechless.

That seemed true.

"How do you usually train Lan Qi?"

The Ice Witch asked again.

She remembered seeing at the priest assessment that Lan Qi's professional skills were indeed very reliable.

But how could someone love community service so much? Even Huberian, who constantly talked about merit, didn't have that kind of hobby.

"...I didn't train him. He grew up wild on his own."

Loren's voice faltered, and his mood was complicated.

Lan Qi was heaven-sent, not raised by him.

This guy's advantage was that his professional skills were strong, and his disadvantage was that his professional skills were too strong.

"Is that so?"

The Ice Witch said to herself and stopped questioning Loren.

She just felt a little more at ease.

After thinking carefully, the Ice Witch realized that even if Loren was powerful, dozens of fiancées was too much of an exaggeration, this wasn't the Holy Emperor choosing consorts, and it couldn't stand scrutiny.

Moreover, from her observations over the past half-month, Loren himself really didn't have any problems in terms of relationships.

At least Loren was quite a gentleman, very respectful and polite to her, and didn't look at her as a woman at all.

After all, the master and disciple were of the same lineage. Lan Qi was very upright in terms of relationships, so Loren wouldn't be too far off.

"Okay, I believe you, Loren."

The Ice Witch said.

After confirming that Loren was at least not a problem in this regard, the Ice Witch also felt much more at ease.

Even if one day she lost to Loren, she wouldn't have to worry about Loren doing anything too outrageous to her. Considering their past as colleagues, he should give her a quick death.

The two walked through the shady path and arrived near Jella Memorial Square.

The clock face hanging high on the clock tower leisurely pointed to nine o'clock, and the open-air giant screen surrounded by many teaching buildings was broadcasting the Shadow World images from today's challenges.

This weekend, the academy was more vibrant than any other day.

For some reason.

The enthusiastic noise surged like a tide in the wide stone-stepped square. The seats on the steps were already filled with students, and even the surrounding roads were no exception. Passersby seemed to be attracted by this force and stopped one after another, their eyes focused on the huge screen.

They shouted excitedly from time to time, screaming.

Or raising their hands, or bowing and clenching their fists, as if they were celebrating a festival.

"What's going on?"

The Ice Witch asked, looking at Loren.

She always felt that the schools in the Southern Continent were too free, or rather, the students were quite rowdy and excited every day.

"Just get used to it. It's nothing serious. When Lan Qi entered the Sanctuary Shadow World before, the students watching liked to do this."

Loren waved his hand wearily.

"Wait."

Loren suddenly realized.

Could it be that Lan Qi had started a live broadcast?

A bad feeling made him immediately quicken his pace and walk towards the open-air giant screen in Jella Memorial Square.

His heart began to beat as fast as a drum.

But it should be fine.

He thought that this time Lan Qi would at most perform some torture of the vampires. The situations that caused the students to clamor were nothing more than Lan Qi's consistently abstract operations, and there had never been any other special cases.

There shouldn't be a big problem.

Two seconds later.

Loren's legs seemed to be nailed in place.

The scene on the open-air giant screen gave a close-up of Lan Qi's Shadow World—

Stars were spread out under the boundless sky, and a black-haired boy and a silver-haired girl stood on the terrace of a seaside villa.

Huberian tried her best to lean towards Lan Qi, tiptoed, and kissed him on the cheek.

Lan Qi looked at the sea, his eyes suddenly widened, and he turned his head stiffly, looking at Huberian.

Next, there was a long stare of non-still images.

There was only the thunderous roar of a tsunami in Jella Memorial Square.

Loren opened his mouth, looked at the open-air giant screen, his pupils trembling, and couldn't say a word for a long time.

Occasionally, there were shouts of unclear composition:

"The live broadcast has now clearly shown that Loren's two students have no intention of completing the mission at all. They are just seizing the last opportunity to complete their love on the last journey of their lives."

"Obviously, after entering the Shadow World, they also discovered that this is a trap, a disaster that will be detonated with their lives."

"Loren, what else can you cover up!"

"..."

Loren looked at the open-air giant screen and only felt that the cold air beside him was about to freeze him.

He seemed to have left his vocal cords at home and didn't even dare to turn his head to look at the Ice Witch.

Not only the Ice Witch, but he was now a little afraid to imagine how the entire kingdom would discuss him tomorrow.

Finally.

Loren covered his face and laughed.

When the true mentality is shattered, there is no loud quarrel, but a slight smile.

"..."

The Ice Witch watched Loren's mouth and his trembling shoulders, and felt chilled in addition to anger.

All of this.

Perhaps it was all planned by Loren.

He was now excitedly trembling.

Perhaps everyone didn't believe that things could be reversed at this point, but the Ice Witch believed it.

She was Loren's last opponent and the only one who could expose his conspiracy!

The Ice Witch made up her mind, swore in her heart, and clenched her fair hand.

(End of this chapter)