Chapter 787: Don't Forget Our Promise

A brief pause.

Lynn snapped awake in an explosive burst, immediately letting out a booming laugh as he adjusted the monocle on his face.

"Hahahaha! So everyone's here! What a lively gathering! But I'm sure all of you just appeared here moments ago, rather than having been here the whole time, right? Hahaha!"

His booming laughter echoed through the room.

By the windowsill, Hei Xianyue, quietly reading a book with her hands cupped around it, turned a page without shifting her gaze and said:

"I've been here the whole time."

"..."

The laughter cut off abruptly.

Silence descended once more, eerie and suffocating.

Lynn coughed, reached into the System Space, and pulled out his monocle to fix it into place, forcing a smile.

"W-Well, in that case... but I'm sure none of you saw anything strange, right? Surely you all understand—when a person dreams, they're bound to have some weird..."

"Don't worry, meow, Master! We didn't see anything at all!"

Before he could finish, Miaomiao pounced onto the blanket covering his legs, looked up at him with her big round eyes, and gazed at him with pure innocence.

Lynn instinctively let out a sigh of relief.

"Master was just kindly greeting the sisters here while talking in his sleep. As for how many times Master tried to slip his Left Hand under the blanket and what he was doing—we have absolutely no idea about that either! We were just watching over Master with worry the entire time until he woke up, meow!"

She blinked, her innocence so convincing that Lynn felt his heart settle—because they truly didn't know anything at all.

Lynn: "..."

After a brief silence.

Lynn maintained a smile that was positively petrified, reached up to adjust his monocle, then praised Miaomiao by rubbing her cat ears, saying admiringly:

"Excellent! Miaomiao, you truly live up to your title as Big Brother's most adorable little companion. Your explanation was crystal clear, and Big Brother heard every word perfectly! So next time, please don't explain anything ever again, alright?"

"Okay! (◍•ᴗ•◍)ﾉﾞ!!"

He swiftly brushed past Miaomiao, who was trying to turn the atmosphere awkward, and redirected the conversation.

Lynn pinched his monocle, surveyed the room with a glance, then got down to business, thinking aloud:

"How long was I out?"

Beside him, Alice gripped his finger, her eyes filled with worry.

"It's been a whole day, Brother. We were all so worried about you."

Lynn gave her small hand a reassuring squeeze, then glanced at the pitch-black window outside, recalling what had happened before he'd lost consciousness. His mind was still foggy, his memories fragmented and disjointed.

This sleep had been completely dreamless—he hadn't even felt the passage of time.

Which was proof enough that he'd been utterly exhausted.

His mental energy had been completely drained.

"How is the Matriarch? That Fallen Angel didn't cause any more trouble, did she?"

Lynn rubbed his still-throbbing temples, recalling the last image he'd seen before losing consciousness.

Vaguely.

He remembered that head of golden hair, and that slender hand reaching weakly toward him.

And everything indicated.

That the Fallen Angel's curse hadn't spread throughout Nightfall City.

"Yeah, it's all fine now."

Alice hugged his arm, gently resting her cheek against his shoulder, closing her eyes as she spoke softly.

"The Night Doctors' angel has already returned, and the magic circle in the sky shattered a day ago. Sir Aiwen and that Colossus sister ran into some trouble and almost caused a scene, but fortunately the Titan woke up afterward and beat Sir Aiwen and the others into line. Everyone settled down after that."

While there was technically nothing wrong with her account...

Lynn couldn't help but notice the tiny anger vein that popped on the head of the Colossus's Brain, who was sitting across from him with her eyes closed.

Clearly.

She had been among those on the receiving end of that beating.

The Colossus's Brain rose from her chair, gave him a sweeping once-over, then turned and walked toward the door, saying with her eyes shut:

"As long as you're fine, that's what matters. But I'll say this: don't do anything that dangerous again. I know you made that reckless decision to awaken the angel's consciousness, but you'd better not forget..."

She pushed open the door and paused.

Glancing back at him sideways.

"If you die, then the promise you made me—to send me out of hell—will never be fulfilled."

She turned and strode out the door.

Her long silver hair trailed down to her heels. Despite being a petite silver-haired loli whose walk carried absolutely no menace, that terrifying aura of a Root still continuously reminded everyone present that she was fundamentally different from everyone else in this room.

She was a Root who, despite being loli-fied, remained utterly terrifying!

Creak—

The door shut.

And with the Silver-Haired Girl's departure, the atmosphere in the room relaxed considerably. Alice and Miaomiao in particular let out subconscious sighs of relief. While things had seemed harmonious lately, aside from someone like Miss Puppet who paid no attention to the world and gave almost no feedback to her surroundings, sharing a room with a Root made them feel profoundly ill at ease.

But without a doubt.

If even an existence like that could be lured back by Big Brother, then it was proof enough that Big Brother's skills were the most terrifying thing in this room!

[Ding! Alice's trust in you +1]

"Brother, are you feeling better? Have you noticed anything abnormal in your body? If so, please tell Alice immediately."

Alice still looked at Lynn with unconcealed worry.

Lynn keenly caught the hidden meaning behind Alice's words. Seeing the anxiety she couldn't hide in her eyes, his heart stirred, and he asked:

"Alice, is there... something wrong with me?"

Alice opened her mouth, then hesitated.

Her gaze darted away, and she instinctively glanced at Hei Xianyue, who was still quietly reading by the windowsill. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.

Lynn realized something was off.

He turned and looked toward Hei Xianyue by the windowsill as well, her reflection mirrored in his gaze, and asked hesitantly:

"Miss Puppet, what's going on?"

Hei Xianyue's small hand paused mid-page-turn, then she closed the book. Her body floated up like a specter, her eyes meeting his as she said:

"Sir Aiwen instructed us not to tell you for now, but you'd find out eventually anyway, so I'll just tell you: your current condition is very dire."

"You didn't pass out because you were tired. You should know by now that you're no longer an ordinary human—fatigue wouldn't affect you that severely. I don't know the true cause either, but according to what those Roots said, it seems that for some special reason, you are currently being subjected to the Gaze of this hell."

The moment those words left her mouth, Lynn was shaken.

"The Gaze of... hell?"

He savored those words with uncertainty.

In an instant.

Something clicked in his mind.