Chapter 264: 263 Wrap-Up

Finally, it's over…

Having staged a grand abduction drama—"I'm taking her away today, let anyone who dares stop me"—while carrying the princess, who was neither drunk nor sober, back to the small town of Ankara and falling asleep in each other's arms amid the newly transplanted roses covering the hills, Leon finally broke free from the utterly rewritten "Twelve Days of Travel."

But as his soul had just returned to his body and hadn't yet checked on the princess or the other audience members, a piercing scream echoed from the center of the stage.

"It hurts so much! Help! Leon! Come save me!"

"Relax, you're perfectly safe."

After carrying the still-unconscious princess out through the exit corridor and placing her on a seat in the back of the theater, Leon quickly circled around from the rear, glancing toward the stage at the source of the cry.

Onstage, apart from the actors sprawled unconscious everywhere, only one man and one goat remained locked in "combat," and the situation matched his earlier deduction: though the black goat appeared to be the one getting beaten, it bore no real danger—only a few tooth marks on its face.

As for why he knew the black goat wouldn't be in danger… that was a math problem.

As his anomaly, the black goat's "maximum output power" was capped by his own contamination level; though it inherently possessed 8 points of contamination, his current level was only 4. , so it could only manifest at 4. .

The Drama King, in full strength, had a contamination level of 16—roughly equivalent to two goats—but when three-quarters of the audience in the drama world turned toward Leon, the Drama King, fused with that world, was severely weakened, retaining control over barely a quarter of its former power.

16 times 0. 5? That left only a pitiful half-goat's worth of power—4 points—lower than the black goat's 4. . And it had no soul-attack abilities whatsoever, effectively weaponless, forced to brawl barehanded against a goat that couldn't even fight back.

So while their struggle looked intense, it was really just two sick, starving patients swinging at each other with shoelaces—no matter how long they swung, they'd only feel pain for a moment, incapable of even attempting mutual destruction.

In short—stop fighting, you two; you're not going to kill anyone like this~

…

"You… it's you! It's all your fault!"

Seeing Leon had escaped the drama world, the Drama King—now finally facing its true target—abandoned its assault on the black goat, leapt off the stage with a thud, and charged toward Leon like a bull seeing red cloth, eyes blazing crimson.

Then it was slammed to the ground by a willful hand formed from the Holy Pendant.

"Master Wilde… or rather, the out-of-control Drama King, your performance is over."

Like an officer apprehending a fugitive, Leon declared the Drama King arrested with stern authority, then reached out and seized the black goat, using its soul vision to scan the entire Central Cross Theater and quickly confirm the spiritual condition of the three-thousand-plus audience members.

Good—aside from a few unlucky souls who'd bumped their heads on chair arms during soul separation, no one had been injured in this anomaly Shikong incident. A perfect resolution!

Satisfied, Leon nodded, asked the pup for a rope, tied up the still-struggling Drama King, stuffed its mouth with an old handkerchief, then lifted it with the Holy Pendant's power and walked toward the theater's rear seats.

"Huh? I… did I fall asleep?"

Awakened by Leon, the princess's soul gradually synchronized with her body. She sat up, pressing her forehead, then suddenly frowned, faintly recalling what had happened before she "fell asleep," her eyes filled with urgency:

"Leon! Did something happen while I was unconscious? Master Wilde… uh… you've already caught him?"

So… you have no memories from the drama world?

Watching the princess stare blankly at the bound "Master Wilde," her face filled with disbelief, Leon quietly exhaled in relief.

Thank goodness—just to defeat the Drama King, he'd done a lot of embarrassingly shameful things in the drama world. If anyone remembered them, it would be a massive black mark. Better they were all forgotten.

As for why "Agatha" in the wedding scene had called out his real name… at that moment, the Drama King had lost over seventy percent of its power and likely could no longer maintain the drama world's stability, creating a crack.

The princess not only knew about anomalies but had personally experienced several anomaly attacks; she likely possessed some contamination level herself. It wasn't hard to understand why she'd awakened early during the drama world's collapse…

"Don't worry—this anomaly Shikong incident has been perfectly resolved."

Helping the princess, whose soul still struggled to fully control her body, Leon explained:

"The real Master Wilde died three years ago. The master you saw was merely an anomaly—it replaced Wilde's soul after his death and has controlled this body ever since."

"Just now, this nearly out-of-control anomaly, enraged by the provocations of the theater critic in the front row, dragged everyone in the theater into the drama world. I found a loophole and shattered its control over that world…"

After briefly outlining the events and deliberately skipping the drama world's happenings, Leon turned to the princess, whose face now showed dawning understanding:

"Princess Veronika, our Clearance Bureau's large-scale memory alteration should already be taking effect. When these audience members wake, their memories will be naturally rationalized. But there are two small matters I need your help with."

The princess shook her head, lips slightly pursed, sounding displeased:

"You don't need to explain all this, Leon. Just tell me what you need me to do—and please, don't call me 'Princess' anymore, okay?"

"Uh… alright."

Leon hesitated slightly, then nodded.

"The people in the theater won't wake for another hour or two. Before then, please send someone to watch over them, to prevent any further accidents or injuries. That's the first thing."

"As for the second—Veronika—I'd like to borrow your carriage and driver to take me and this 'Master Wilde' back to the Virgin Division as soon as possible."

"No problem!"

Hearing Leon finally call her by her name again, the princess's lips curled into a satisfied smile. She said:

"I'll send someone to look after the audience. As for the carriage we arrived in—it should still be parked outside. Just go get it."

"Then I'll be off."

Seeing the princess showed no intention of leaving with him, and knowing he had official duties awaiting him at the bureau, Leon didn't linger—simply bid farewell and hurried away.

After seeing Leon off at the theater's entrance, smiling as she watched his carriage drive off, Princess Veronika—who had just moments before appeared calm—suddenly exhaled deeply, then pressed her hand against her wildly pounding heart.

That bastard… he had no recorded romantic history, yet he could say so many nauseatingly sweet lines—clearly, he's been hoarding all sorts of romantic schemes in his heart!

Glaring at the carriage speeding away—carrying fireworks… carrying Leon—she bit down hard on her plump lower lip, then gently pressed the back of her hand to her burning cheeks. Amid the drumming beat of her heart, she sighed helplessly.

How… how is anyone supposed to endure this?