In the dim prison cell, Many-Eyes sat quietly, legs folded beneath him.
Everything around him was silent, as if swallowed by endless void.
"Well, isn't this Lord Many-Eyes? How did you end up in here too?"
"Heh, must've upset your 'Great Sage,' huh? Never thought you'd see this day, hahaha!"
From the darkness, waves of mocking laughter echoed.
Many-Eyes opened his eyes just a fraction, but simply gazed at the empty ground before him.
The cell door swung open.
A demon soldier hurried in, torch in hand, with Violet Web following close behind.
In the gloomy cell, every eye turned toward them at once.
Violet Web took small steps to where Many-Eyes was held, crouched down, and spoke through the bars: "Don't worry, senior brother. I've already delivered the crystal to the Great Sage. He's ordered Holy Mother Palace surrounded. It shouldn't be long before the Great Sage comes to take you out."
Taking a deep breath, Many-Eyes the Centipede pressed his lips together and nodded heavily, yet his gaze remained utterly vacant.
...
Just outside the door, Damon Six-Ears lifted his head slightly, his brows furrowed and eyes fierce.
Clara Heart froze in place. Anna Yang, on the other hand, swiftly regained her usual composure, betraying not a hint of emotion.
Yet the pressure flooding the room was now overwhelming—a suffocating aura of killing intent.
Damon Six-Ears gripped the crystal tightly, slowly lifted his leg, and stepped across the threshold.
His teeth ground together with a harsh, audible clatter.
At this moment, Clara Heart's mind was a complete blank.
The crystal in Damon Six-Ears's hand displayed the scene within the room. At some point, Many-Eyes the Centipede had tricked her. Damon Six-Ears must have heard their entire conversation. Her identity was exposed... or perhaps, it was even worse than that.
"What are you here for?" Anna Yang asked coldly.
"Am I not allowed to come? Or is it that you don't want me here?"
Anna Yang snorted coldly and said, "The whole of Lionback is yours. Where can't you go? But to enter my room without even knocking?"
Damon Six-Ears began to circle the two women slowly in the room, his gaze locked on Anna Yang and Clara Heart.
"Knock?" Damon Six-Ears grinned. "I was thinking, what if I knocked and you both ran away? Then I'd miss out on a good show, wouldn't I? Of course, I've already stationed heavy troops outside—even if you tried to run, you wouldn't get far."
At these words, Clara Heart instinctively stepped back.
Her instincts told her to run now, but could she really escape? Forget the soldiers outside—even with Damon Six-Ears here, there was no way out.
Her only hope might be that signal pearl. Unfortunately, it was still in Violet Web's hands.
In her panic, she could only look to Anna Yang for help.
To her surprise, Anna Yang's expression hadn't changed.
More precisely, Anna Yang's face showed only a trace of surprise, her eyes narrowing to slits.
"You surrounded my Holy Mother Palace?"
"Is that wrong?"
Anna Yang's eyes widened instantly. "Are you surrounding her, or surrounding me?"
Confronted so directly, Damon Six-Ears was momentarily stunned.
Anna Yang caught that brief hesitation at once. She raised her brows and asked coldly, "I can understand you surrounding her—even if you didn't, I would have ordered it myself. But what does it mean for you to surround me?"
"You'd order it? Are you joking?" Damon Six-Ears suddenly laughed.
But he quickly sensed something was wrong. Anna Yang's gaze grew colder and colder—the feeling was like reaching the height of anger only to be doused with a bucket of ice water.
After a long moment, he stammered, "If I hadn't come, you probably would've... would've run off with her, right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Isn't that the case?" Damon Six-Ears said, a little flustered. "I heard your conversation just now. You stayed for another reason!"