Shaking off thoughts irrelevant to the current situation, Qi Zhimu spoke to bid Ruan Mei farewell.
"I have personal matters to attend to next, please excuse me."
"Are you going to find trouble with Duke Inferno?"
"Yes."
"I can help you," Ruan Mei said softly.
"I appreciate the thought, but I cannot afford to owe a genius a favor. I have already placed a hunting mark on Duke Inferno; he won't get away."
Hearing Qi Zhimu's refusal, Ruan Mei almost blurted out that the favor didn't need to be repaid, but she held back and explained calmly:
"I proposed helping you based on the following reasons: first, I want to obtain certain materials from Duke Inferno for research."
"Second, Duke Inferno once stole this cluster of phase flame I borrowed from Herta, which almost made it difficult for me to report back to her. I don't intend to let this matter go easily."
"Even if you weren't going to find trouble with Duke Inferno, I would have."
"Through recent research, I've found a way to use the phase flame to reach desired coordinates in a very short amount of time."
"If you were to pilot a spaceship, a round trip might take more than three days for the Space Station."
"We have a common goal. I will take you through the phase shift, and you help me kill Duke Inferno as payment. How about it?"
Hearing these words, a flicker of interest flashed across Qi Zhimu's face.
If he said he would kill Duke Inferno within three days, the other party certainly wouldn't live a second longer; he had that much confidence.
But that would require manipulating the flow of time for his own actions. Doing that for a long time was exhausting.
Ruan Mei surely had many ways to take Duke Inferno's life, yet she was letting him do it to settle the favor.
Hmm... there didn't seem to be any downsides.
"Very well."
"Then, it's a pleasure working with you." Ruan Mei couldn't help but slightly curl the corners of her mouth as she reached out to Qi Zhimu.
Looking at that soft, boneless, fair hand, the latter felt a flash of surprise. He reached out his right hand to lightly grasp her fingers before letting go immediately.
"Pleasure working with you."
...
Ever-Flame Mansion.
A planning session for a preparatory ceremony was underway.
"The Planet of Festivities, Penacony, a cradle of sinking dreams, the dark side for cowards..."
"The Family has set the banquet, and guests are invited. The golden blood of Destruction will flow together, offering a grand sacrifice to Him!"
"Children of the flame, this is your rite of passage."
Duke Inferno, who not long ago had sent a wisp of hellfire to infiltrate Herta Space Station with the intent of inciting chaos and dismantling the station from within, was now giving counsel with full majesty to the figures below.
"Akash, my most sensitive child."
"I ignited your eyes and taught you to pluck strings for music. You shall use your four-stringed instrument to play the banquet song, silencing the choir of Harmony into hushed stillness."
"Just my intention, Father." Akash gently stroked his cello, revealing a wicked smile.
Duke Inferno nodded, then turned to look at the young girl in white beside him.
"Dubra, my most intelligent child, I ignited your body and granted you knives, saws, axes, and halberds."
"You shall wash your iron scythe in sulfur, bestowing pain upon Elation, letting the mummers' blood and tears flow into the River Styx!"
"As you command, my Father." The girl in white bowed respectfully.
Duke Inferno shifted his gaze to the left, looking at a red-haired woman.
"Katrina, my bravest child, I ignited your heart and gave you a chest full of boiling blood."
"You shall use your fury to break open the vaults of Preservation, melt their gold, and cast an image for our benefactor!"
"No need to say more, old man!" Katrina said boldly.
"Finally, Constance... my most ambitious child, my finest child."
Duke Inferno's gaze finally landed on the woman in the center, who had horns on her head and wore a large dress hat.
"I have nothing left to teach you. Just remember to make the midnight of Penacony wither and fade, taking everything you love, leaving only the tomb of Remembrance!"
"Hahahahaha..."
Katrina laughed loudly, suddenly yanking the iron chain in her hand and stepping her foot onto the heavy hammer at its end.
"It won't be her turn to act; I alone am enough!"
"Katrina..." Constance spoke eerily.
"Huh?"
"It's better to be pessimistic... maybe we'll all die, you know?" Pale blue flames ignited from Constance's left eye and Tail, vanishing in a flash.
"Shh..." Akash made a silencing gesture and pulled the bow across his cello. "When have outlaws of Destruction ever feared death?"
"But we should also prepare for a rainy day... Father, this trip is dangerous. What is the retreat path?" Dubra asked.
"Retreat? As always, it does not exist."
Duke Inferno stepped down from his throne, holding his scepter, passing the four of them step by step, and stopped before the projection of a peculiar hotel.
A voice, low yet carrying a chilling dominance, slowly rang out.
"Destruction is a magnificent moment. If one survives basely, this life would be far too long."
"Enjoy Penacony, enjoy her invitation, let this dreamscape prepare itself to welcome its new master from Tophet—"
"Ever-Flame Mansion, Duke Inferno Ifrit!"
As the last word fell, the abrupt sound of clapping echoed throughout the entire space.
Then, the clear praise of a young man rang out.
"Well said."
"Who is it?! Get out here!" Katrina shouted sharply, turning her head left and right to find the source of the sound.
"Am I not right behind you..."
Puchi—
A long sword pierced through flesh, bringing out a large spray of dark red blood that splattered onto the ground.
Katrina lowered her head with difficulty, looking at the blade piercing her heart, her eyes filled with disbelief.
The blade twisted horizontally, slicing through Katrina's heart and half of her body together.
"Katrina!!"
Akash's ferocious gaze swept behind her, but he didn't find a single person at all.
However, in the next second, the same muffled sound echoed.
It was the same process and result again; another corpse was added to the floor.
...No, two corpses.
Beside him, the girl in white who had summoned a puppet behind her had her head roll to the ground almost simultaneously with Akash's.
In the three pairs of eyes that stared wide in death, the remaining expression was exactly the same.
Until the moment they died, they had never even seen the assassin's shadow, let alone his face.
Duke Inferno slammed his scepter heavily onto the ground, and surging flames erupted, instantly spreading across the entire space.
Yet there was still no sign of the assassin. Duke Inferno's gaze suddenly turned toward a certain spot.
Constance, who should have been standing there, had disappeared without a trace at some point.
He couldn't even tell if she had defected or died the most silent death.
The flames seemed to have an effect.
Over twenty meters in front of Duke Inferno, the space rippled, and a tall figure stepped out from it, holding a long sword.
Shaking the blood off the blade's surface, Qi Zhimu's lips curled into a mysterious smile, and he tilted his head slightly.
"It's been a short while, but I've missed you. Hello, Mr. Ifrit."
"It's you..."
There was a hint of surprise in Duke Inferno's voice.
"How is it possible? A mere human, why were you able to reach Ever-Flame Mansion in such a short time?"
"Don't think that just because you're a fire demon from Tophet with origins linked to the phase flame, you're the only one who knows how to use it," Qi Zhimu replied nonchalantly.
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