Pleasurable Madness

“The howling of souls... to hear it in reality is still too surreal...” Li Yue sneered. “Hundreds of years ago... Specter wouldn't have dared to use his magic so flagrantly.”

“Because this is a desecration of death. If I had known back then, the punishment would have been to have one’s soul torn apart once...” Li Yue’s wrist trembled. Blood-colored crystals grew on the back of her hand, but fortunately, her lace sleeves covered them completely.

“Bang!” The door was pushed open heavily. The noise from such immense force made Li Yue frown incessantly.

“Don't the dead deserve some respect?” Li Yue didn't know what she could do for these lingering souls. She could only pray for the struggling soul in her heart, soothing his pain. She opened a sliver of a crack in the Gates of the Underworld and sent the remnant soul inside.

“His soul isn't in the Underworld?” Li Yue frowned. An angry shout came from behind her. “As I thought, the soul was forcibly dragged out. To target the soul directly... that's crossing a line. Back then, even Specter... didn't dare to do such things.”

Li Yue sighed softly. Behind her came the howling of souls—Specter’s magic. Those souls were likely the spirits of demon beasts.

By the time Li Yue turned around, the world was silent again. Only a few small piles of greyish-white ash remained on the ground. Li Yue walked out of the funeral hall. Even the sun in the sky seemed tainted with a grey aura at this moment.

“Don't plan to show yourself? Or are you just stalling for time?” Li Yue mused. “You can't hide. Every person's life force is unique. Of course, some changes occur due to magic.”

“The scent and texture will also deviate,” Li Yue said, licking her dry lips. She glanced back at the movement in the hall. Everything just now had happened very quickly without causing a major disturbance. Of course, the opponent definitely knew that a trouble like her had come knocking.

Better not to let Clo become alert yet. Hopefully, the pastries here are delicious enough to keep her attention away from the anomalies within the academy.

...

Inside a dim study, a magic user with many chains wrapped around her hands frowned. Her glamorous figure was hidden under a broad black cloak. Her voice carried a hint of coldness, yet possessed a strange sort of magic.

Each of these chains imprisoned a different soul. They were submissive, seemingly terrified of the woman before them. They were soul slaves; if they didn't obey orders, they would suffer extreme pain.

“You mean... someone broke into the funeral hall? It couldn't be those students again, could it? Truly never-ending.” She frowned, her alluring lips uttering a somewhat lazy and irritable voice.

“It doesn't seem so... My lady, the life force of those guards has vanished. Everything happened too quickly...” A soul in the likeness of an old man spoke cautiously. His form seemed to shift irregularly at the edges, presenting a sense of unreality interwoven with reality.

“An intruder?”

“There is an exceptionally strong aura of death... could it be...”

“Someone under ‘Death’? Aren't they all in Limbo?” The woman’s voice trembled slightly. “The photography exhibition recently held in Sandolivia should also be organized by that person... Even if it is that one, they couldn't possibly be in Lobilance right now.”

“Could it be the lady Miss Movella mentioned yesterday...” Just as this soul finished speaking, its body seemed to be struck by lightning. Its expression twisted in extreme agony, but it couldn't make a sound; that part of its ability seemed to be forbidden.

“That sickly girl who looks like she's about to die? Just a piece of trash afflicted with Hematomania.” The woman snorted. She looked at the soul trembling violently in pain before her, and the expression on her face became increasingly pleased.

“Anyway... notify the Silent Cathedral first.” The woman yawned boredly. “Wanting to make a splash at a time like this? Those fellows under that person are just a bunch of jokers. Once the old king passes away, they...”

“Hehe... Gack...” The woman’s sneer stopped abruptly. An extremely powerful aura appeared behind her instantly. A body pressed against her back, and she felt a series of sensations as her skin was sliced open. She felt something warm flowing down—it seemed to be her blood.

“Where did you hide his soul?” A cold voice whispered in her ear. She wanted to speak, but she found that she could see her own graceful, even intentionally exposed, sexy body.

This was a beauty of her own body that she could never observe in any specially made mirror.

In the next instant, before she could react, her head had already slammed heavily onto the floor, even rolling a bit. Her blood didn't spray out violently as expected; instead, it twisted in the air, seemingly manipulated by some special power.

“Wha... I am... how is it possible...” she murmured. The shackles on the souls she enslaved were severed in an instant. It was as if something had been opened, attracting her soul to enter along with them.

She felt her form floating into the air. The howling souls rushed up to tear at her soul violently. The extreme agony made her scream the very same screams she had enjoyed listening to countless times.

She took one last look at her remains, but they no longer existed. The scene she saw was even more terrifying than the pain she was in. There, only shredded fragments of clothing remained, along with a large pool of blood suspended in mid-air. Her flesh had been devoured completely, leaving only some internal organs discarded haphazardly alongside her head.

“NO!!!!”

That wretched scream no longer existed. Only Li Yue remained, slowly wiping the corners of her mouth. Her blood-red vertical pupils were filled with madness, and a look of extreme pleasure appeared on her face.

“Sorry... when I smelled your blood... I couldn't control myself. I intended to wait until you finished speaking before eating you.” Li Yue licked her lips. “It's fine... there's the next one...”

The severed limbs below slowly sank into the Death Abyss. This couldn't be known by Clo. She finally understood now... why her subconscious always wanted Clo to stay away from her when she was prepared for battle.

She began to laugh with pleasure. In this secret room where even screams couldn't escape, her joyful, wild laughter was heard by no one.

And there were many more coffin-like secret libraries and chambers like this within the academy. In Li Yue’s eyes, these secret rooms, originally meant to mask the howling of souls, were simply pre-made giant coffins—or rather, silver cloches on a dining tray. In every secret room, a different “delicacy” was waiting for her.