Chapter 357

「……」

What do you mean, "your Emma"? Are you implying there's something between you two?

"What are you imagining?"

Seeing the strange, shocked look in Lyon's eyes, the red-haired director quickly released his collar and muttered irritably:

"Emma and I are friends! Best friends! Hmm… besides that, she's also my biggest creditor, and that's it—nothing else!"

"Oh…"

"Oh what?"

Seeing Lyon's expression of sudden understanding, and remembering the scandalous Marquis's lake-suicide incident, the red-haired director's anger flared up, her face darkening:

"You bastard—you're a genius at pretending ignorance!"

"And you said, 'With William and Melanie helping, it'll definitely be fine'… Pfft! Emma practically wrote her feelings on her face—I don't believe you didn't see what she was trying to say!"

"…"

"Answer me now! Tell me straight—what do you really feel for Emma?"

"And what about that female police officer from the Secret Investigation Bureau who eats lunch with you every day? And Princess Veronika, who's officially engaged to you? What are you planning to do about them?"

"…"

Looks like the 【Master of Performance】 isn't very effective on the director either…

After a slightly awkward laugh, Lyon scratched his head and said:

"I'm just friends with Isla—we met through fighting, nothing more. As for the princess, I've always wanted to break off our engagement, but she always talked me out of it—three times in a row, and I never succeeded."

"And the reason I pretended not to understand just now was mainly because of the princess…"

"After all, no matter how things really stand, there is still a formal engagement between us—if I haven't cleared it up properly and then… well… it just feels wrong."

Well, I didn't expect you to be so compatible with the demonic anomaly—and yet your moral standards are surprisingly high…

After studying Lyon's expression and confirming he wasn't lying, the red-haired director's demeanor softened slightly, then she narrowed her eyes and warned:

"I don't care who you end up choosing, but as Emma's best friend, you'd better handle this properly—don't hurt her again, or I won't hesitate to make trouble for you!"

"Wait, but… I don't want to hurt Senior Emma either, but isn't this you abusing power for personal revenge?"

"Yes, I'm taking revenge on you! So what? If you're not satisfied, go complain to headquarters!"

"…"

Never mind whether complaining would even work—the headquarters is over seventy thousand kilometers above ground. How am I supposed to get up there?

After watching Lyon's utterly speechless expression, the red-haired director, having vented much of her frustration, hesitated slightly, then whispered:

"Also… I actually don't want you to be with Emma."

"Huh?"

Hearing the director's words, Lyon was momentarily stunned, then his mind involuntarily slipped into memory mode, recalling his deep bond with the red-haired director—uh… their drunken toasts—and the warm, fiery kiss in the Death Realm.

Does this mean… sss… does the director have feelings for me too? Am I secretly some kind of unparalleled beauty?

"Emma's connection to the Death Realm is far deeper than you imagine—it's not just about the 【Sin of Baohua】."

"In all these years, she's been the only Cleanser below a True God who can freely enter and exit the Death Realm and sign a pact with its True God. Even little Ellie has some issues…"

The red-haired director frowned deeply:

"Lyon, I won't hide it from you—when the Baohua family fell, I specifically investigated the situation there."

"Did you know? If Emma hadn't entrusted Ellie to someone else and accidentally escaped back from the Death Realm, the Baohua family members who died beneath that tree would have been exactly nine hundred and ninety-nine. That number troubled me deeply…"

"Huh? What's wrong? Why aren't you speaking?"

"…"

Because I just had a sudden thought—I thought… I thought you might be trying to compete with Senior Emma for me… How could I possibly say that?

Suppressing the overwhelming shame with the effect of the 【Master of Performance】, Lyon—the self-satisfied, down-headed man—took a deep breath and said calmly:

"I just didn't realize there were hidden details…"

"But Director, I've already encountered both Senior Emma's 【Sin of Baohua】 and little Ellie's 【Grief of Baohua】, and I saw no suspicious records. Could you be overthinking this?"

"Probably not."

The red-haired director shook her head:

"Lyon, remember—as a Cleanser, rely on your abilities, but never trust them alone!"

"I've carefully cross-referenced your ability's findings—most of the information it reveals are only files directly related to the anomalies themselves, rarely mentioning anything beyond them. So it can only serve as a reference, never as decisive evidence."

"For example, I ask you: because Emma escaped from the Death Realm, the 【Sin of Baohua】 appeared. But the Death Realm's gate is guarded by the three-headed dog—how did she pass through it? Did your ability mention that?"

"This… it didn't…"

Hearing this, Lyon froze slightly, his brow furrowing.

"But in other anomaly descriptions, I've read that the Dog God usually sleeps while guarding the gate, and occasionally leaves briefly to hunt—could it just be a coincidence?"

"Then why did it happen to coincide precisely with Emma?"

The red-haired director said sternly:

"Why would that dog leave at exactly the moment when nine hundred and ninety-nine souls, all of the same bloodline and dying in the same way, gathered their identical regrets and resentments together?"

"And that number—nine hundred and ninety-nine—is especially significant!"

Here, the red-haired director couldn't help sighing:

"I reviewed the records—about eleven hundred and four Baohua members were imprisoned before execution, but in the half-month leading up to it, exactly one hundred and five died one by one, leaving precisely nine hundred and ninety-nine."

"Numbers like nine hundred and ninety-nine, seven, thirteen, six, three, one hundred eleven—they're all tied to rituals in mysticism. Never ignore them."

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine specifically relates to 'Descent.' Given this deliberately chosen number, combined with Emma's unusually close ties to the Death Realm, I can't help but suspect more."

"After all, the Baohua family was destroyed during the Ice Realm's invasion, and the massive deaths that followed the war served as perfect nourishment for whatever entity sought to descend from the Death Realm."

"…"

Now that you put it that way… it's not impossible…

⊙￠〇

Recalling the Baohua family's fate, Lyon nodded solemnly.

At first glance, the tragedy of the Baohua family seemed merely the result of Renard's ambition—with no hidden hand behind it. But everything was just too coincidental.

After all, if the trade route had been handed to someone else, or if the Baohua family had received word in time, or if the spy hadn't been Renard, or if the royal family had tried to negotiate before acting—the outcome would have been entirely different. Yet every time, the worst possible result occurred.

So… could the destruction of the Baohua family not be as simple as it seemed?

"Director."

After calling out to the red-haired director, Lyon frowned deeply:

"Have you ever shared these suspicions with Senior Emma?"

"How?"

After a weary retort, the red-haired director sighed:

"Even if I had proof, how could I tell her that some sovereign of the Death Realm might be manipulating events behind the scenes, using the lives of all her family members to complete a ritual?"

"Right now, she still holds onto hope for revenge. If I told her the truth—that a Death Realm sovereign might be behind the Baohua incident—Emma would never be happy again."

"Besides, although the Jin Juan Marquis is a complete scoundrel, he did take Ellie away and prevented her from dying beneath the redwood tree—perhaps that's what disrupted the Descent ritual."

"So if my guess is right, and a Death Realm sovereign truly wanted to descend through this ritual, then he might have saved half the people in the capital after all..."