Looking at Leon in the distance, whose face appeared regretful but was slyly winking at him, Andre Prince felt a snap in his mind, as though something had completely broken.
Despite being rather worldly, it was his first time realizing someone could pierce another’s heart with a thousand wounds without uttering a single curse word, merely jesting with a few casual remarks.
In Andre Prince’s heart, the "Royal Evening Banquet" was once his softest Pure Land, his sole refuge from harsh reality; yet after he decided to temporarily confine Leon in this painting, that Pure Land became terribly tainted, transforming from paradise into a torturous Hell.
Whether it was the initial "Clown Theory" or those subtle criticisms veiled in stories about "Andre Senior," they were knives piercing through his body, each stab causing excruciating pain.
After gritting his teeth, Andre Prince took a long breath upon seeing Feiliya, now sent out of the "canvas" by the Guard Commander, preparing to leave, however...
Also glancing at Feiliya, who was sent out of the canvas, Leon smiled broadly, continuing to speak jovially to the guests while munching on an apple:
"Speaking of Andre Senior, I recall something interesting."
Hearing Leon’s opening, the young prince couldn’t help but shiver, knowing it was targeted at himself again. He dared not linger and swiftly exited the painting by merely closing his eyes.
Keeping his eyes on the young prince, Leon noticed his unusual behavior first and immediately halted the planned Hell joke, replacing the [Colorful Clown] with the [Crolock Royal] emblem.
At the instant the two emblems switched, Leon’s colorful body paint contorted oddly, trying to form a new ID based on Leon’s identity, but failing, it ultimately slid down with a crash, staining the grass below.
He bet right; his emblem granted ID surpassed the identity authority painted by Andre.
Seizing the chance while Andre was chased away, confirming his speculation, Leon exhaled deeply, then reached for the balloon hanging at his waist.
Amidst the guests’ bewildered looks, Leon shed the clown persona, grabbed the "balloon," and wiped away the paint on the [Silver Dagger of Cutting], reverting it to its original form.
"What are you up to again?!"
Seeing Leon draw the knife again, the Guard Commander, having just returned Feiliya "home," immediately rushed over, angrily blocking in front of Leon.
With the Crolock Royal identity, Leon straightened up and retorted.
"Isn’t this the Royal Evening Banquet? Can’t a royal family member attend?"
Hearing Leon, the Guard Commander burst into laughter with anger, replying:
"You, a magician, dare impersonate... huh?"
At this point, the Guard Commander hesitated slightly, a heavy confusion surfacing in his eyes.
The man before him had the same eyebrows as before and wore the same wet attire, yet somehow, he felt like a royal member...
"Move along, stop blocking me!"
Realizing the [Crolock Royal] emblem worked even within the painting, Leon relaxed completely, pushing aside the bewildered Guard Commander, and walked toward the sleeping Scorpio Chief amid the similarly baffled guests.
After propping Scorpio Chief up, Leon slapped him hard on both cheeks.
"Wake up! Stop sleeping, dammit!"
"Get up and help me!"
"Hurry! While Andre isn’t here, get me out of this painting!"
Yet Scorpio Chief seemed deeply asleep, snoring rhythmically despite Leon’s shakes, the slaps complementing his snore melodies.
Useless fool! Always unreliable in crucial moments!
After smacking for a while, seeing that Scorpio Chief’s complexion improved despite reddened cheeks, Leon sighed and temporarily abandoned his plan to pull him up for a righteous two-on-one.
Although Scorpio Chief wasn’t bad, it seemed he suffered a critical illness that caused his performance to falter; despite being fully geared, he was always the first to be controlled in group fights. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Novᴇ(l)Fɪre .ɴᴇt
Just like at Demonic Soul Abyss, he was ; Leon expected to follow him for an easy win, yet he ended up being grabbed by six Nightmare envoys, trapped in the dream realm they opened till the end.
This time was even worse; having camped on someone’s "eye" before, he caused the team to disconnect and idle, performing worse than an actor.
Just as Leon hesitated about stabbing him to test, a voice, unfamiliar but vaguely familiar, sounded beside him.
As Leon turned toward the sound, he saw a young woman with thick-bottom glasses, holding a brain model filled with tubes, gazing at him curiously.
"Have we met somewhere before?"
The woman holding the model adjusted her glasses while asking somewhat uncertainly:
"Have you been to Research Area No. 1? Or attended a meeting on brain function decomposition in the past five years? Or visited my Soul Code Group?"
Soul Code Group? You’re the host?
Upon hearing this, Leon’s brows slightly raised, instantly guessing the identity of this spectacled lady.
The spectacled lady paused, slightly taken aback, then nodded with some surprise:
"I am indeed Atifie, but... what is 0?"
"0 is just like 1... uh, forget it, that’s not important."
After waving his somewhat tipsy and wandering mind, Leon examined the woman’s features, which closely resembled those of the old king and shared some likeness with Feiliya, tentatively asking:
"So your real name is Atifie?"
Looking at the man before her who seemed to know her yet not fully familiar, the spectacled lady puzzledly replied:
"Do you or don’t you know me?"
"I know you, of course!"
Observing the paint on Atifie, distinct from other "characters" and clearly painted later, Leon nodded with deep meaning.
"Although you might have forgotten, our relationship is actually very good!"