Zong Jiu was a light sleeper.
If he only needed four hours of sleep to complete the amount of sleep he needed for a day when he was in deep sleep, then if he was in light sleep and would wake up at the slightest sign of disturbance, he would have to sleep almost twice as long.
Normally, Zong Jiu wouldn't feel sleepy in such an unsafe environment.
Even though he seemed to be asleep when he closed his eyes, he didn't really allow himself to fall asleep. If there was any movement from the hand that grabbed him or any movement in his ears, he would open his eyes immediately.
But there wasn't any.
The storm grew heavier as if someone had scooped up a handful of water and poured it down from the sky.
The youth's eyes were slightly closed as he slept in the darkness. His silver-white eyelashes cast a dark shadow.
In a place where he could not see, darkness silently swept up from the ground and wrapped around the bed, isolating the sound of rain, wind, and thunder outside.
The hand that grabbed Magician was rough and cold, but as time passed, it warmed up as it absorbed Magician's higher body temperature.
On the other side of the shadow, a few strands of dark hair fell from the burnt and dirty rabbit plushie.
No one spoke, it was a dreamless night.
When Zong Jiu woke up, it was already night time.
Magician opened his eyes. Moments later, his sleepy eyes were wide open.
The room was still dark. The hand that grabbed him last night was nowhere to be seen. Even the NPC Black Panther, who had been sitting silently on the high back chair, was nowhere to be seen.
The endless rain from yesterday had stopped, and the stars were shining brightly.
The closer it was to the carnival, the shorter the day.
Strictly speaking, Zong Jiu slept during the day, but when he woke up, it was already night time.
Zong Jiu sat up on the bed, adjusting his robe as he asked the system, "What time is it now?"
[Ten at night.]
[Gentle reminder, you have one day and one night. The system will run out of energy at nine tomorrow night, and the ten-sided die will be unusable.]
There wasn't much time left.
Zong Jiu's action of tying up his robe paused, and he strode out the door.
He pushed the door open. The servants that the Duke had ordered to guard the door were shocked and bowed.
Obviously, when these raccoons saw that Zong Jiu was still able to walk on his own, their faces revealed extremely shocked expressions for a moment.
As one of the NPCs with high authority in this Super S Rank Instance Dungeon, the Black Panther Duke's brutality could only be said to be even worse. At the very least, all the servants in this mansion were well aware of this fact.
The cat that the Duke had brought back from the auction last year had been locked in the bedroom for three days. When it came out, it was covered in bruises and blood, almost dying. This time, the servants privately opened a bet, betting on how many days this little beauty could last this year. In the end, no one expected that the Duke would leave the room first after a short while. He even coldly ordered them not to disturb him, which made the servants puzzled.
However, from the looks of it, the cat seemed to be perfectly fine. Nothing happened to it at all!
"Where's the changing room?"
Zong Jiu was not interested in observing the animals' expressions. Instead, he asked directly.
"It's here. Please follow us."
Because the Duke had ordered them to satisfy all of the human's requests, the raccoons did not dare to disobey the order. They quickly led the way for him.
Over the years, there had been cats with noble bloodlines and rare breeds in the mansion. However, this was the first cat that had been ordered by the Duke.
Looking at the back of the white-haired youth disappearing into the changing room, the servants turned their heads and looked at each other in dismay.
On the other side, Zong Jiu stood in front of a row of clothes racks. He was deep in thought.
He opened his hand. In his palm was the key that the devil had given him last night.
The appearance of this key was very simple. It was grayish-black and cold. It was impossible to tell that it was a precious Space Transfer Key.
[The level of this item cannot be detected. It should be an exclusive item that the instructor added part of his authority to this key.]
Zhuge An had said that Zong Jiu would not be able to escape death in this Instance Dungeon.
It was enough to make the Tactician so nervous that he did not hesitate to spend a lot of Survival Points to transfer his item to Zong Jiu. This was enough to prove the seriousness of the situation.
Zhuge An knew what it meant to be able to carry a B-Grade item in a Super S Instance Dungeon.
But even so, he had to ensure Zong Jiu's safety. This meant that the Instance Dungeon in the Dark Dimension was more difficult than anyone could imagine. There was even a 50% chance that Zong Jiu would die here.
Unfortunately, Zong Jiu and Tokumon were separated. They could not communicate with each other. Zong Jiu did not know if Tokumon was in danger or if he had received any new information.
Since he had received all the information he had from the devil, there was no point in staying here.
The white-haired youth picked up a white suit and lowered his head to button up his vest.
He adjusted his tie and fixed it with a tie clip. He buttoned the sapphire cufflinks on the cuffs of his suit and smoothed out his hair.
As for the key?
Zong Jiu did not even look at it and threw it into his Backpack.
Zhuge An was right. The solution was in No.1's hands.
But Zong Jiu had to survive the Death Calamity in order to protect his own life. Therefore, he had to bow down to the devil, shatter his own pride, and make a naked deal for power and sex.
What a joke.
A magician would rather die arrogantly like a dying swan on the stage in front of millions of people than compromise like a dog, giving up his pride and bowing his head to anyone.
Zong Jiu finally fastened his belt, grabbed a windbreaker, and walked out of the changing room.
The devil was no longer of any use. He had to leave.
.....
In the study on the other side, an expensive red gold chandelier hung from the ceiling, coating the room with a layer of warm light.
Tall bookshelves stood on the two surrounding walls. They were stacked with books, and the spines of the books were burned with dark gold writing.
If Tokumon was here, he would probably scream out loud.
This was because there was a high repetition rate between these books and the books in the underground meeting room that belonged to the circus. Many of them were the only copies that even the Church did not have. The black magic recorded in these books was of the same origin, and there were even many hymns praising that evil god.
The duke stood in front of the bookshelves with his hands behind his back.
His tone was deep and dignified. "He said he wants him to leave here?"
"Yes, Your Excellency."
The butler stood at the door of the study and bowed deeply, not daring to look up at his master's expression.
At the same time, the zebra butler cursed the ungrateful kitten half to death in his heart.
His Excellency did instruct the servant to do his best to satisfy the kitten's request, but that did not mean indulgence.
When the butler heard the servant say that the kitten wanted to leave the manor, he hurriedly came to report to the duke.
A lowly human, and a plaything that his Excellency brought back from the auction, really thinks of itself as its master?
The zebra lowered his head and thought bitterly in his heart. Suddenly, he heard a low and pleasant laughter in front of him.
The duke put down his hand, left the bookshelves, and walked to the window sill.
The heavy curtains around the window sill were lifted and tied to the side, revealing the transparent glass behind them.
Through the glass, the devil controlling the puppet could clearly see what was below.
The white-haired magician stood on the grass in the courtyard, speechless as he watched the coachman feed the human in the stable.
No servant dared to approach, and the coachman only dared to pretend to be dead without the manor's master's order. Occasionally, he would raise his whip to make the "horses" that could not help but look up to be obedient.
Almost at the moment when the devil's gaze fell on him, the Zong Jiu seemed to feel it.
The duke stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the study on the third floor of the manor, looking down at the magician, his eyes golden.
The magician stared at him for a second, then suddenly curled his lips into an arrogant and provocative smile. He turned and walked towards the door of the manor.
"Your Excellency, do you want me to send someone …"
The butler, who had been following behind, was shocked and quickly went forward to ask for instructions.
Whether it was the right to use the human in an auction or not, as long as the animal aristocrat bought the human, the human would forever belong to the aristocrat. Just like the slaves and slave owners in the old society, whether dead or alive, they were subordinates.
Usually, the manors of the aristocrats would have specialized human trainers. These trainers knew how to make the human better to please the aristocrats, and tame the human in all aspects.
The butler had already thought about how to get the cat to be trained by the trainers after capturing it, but he saw the duke waving his hand nonchalantly.
"Let him go."
The devil stared at the white figure, his tone filled with regret and inexplicable anticipation.
If the magician immediately used the key and returned to the trainees' dormitory, what greeted him would be a beautiful cage prepared for him by the devil.
From then on, the savior in the prophecy would willingly give up his pride and become the devil's prisoner. The name of the archenemy would no longer exist.
Of course, the devil would be a perfect lover. He would announce to everyone that the magician was his. Then, no matter how scary the final battle dungeon of the trainees was, no matter how scary the endless dungeon was, it wouldn't be able to hurt the magician at all.
The magician would live under the devil's protection, unless the latter got tired of him one day.
But would the magician do that?
He was so proud, arrogant, and arrogant, always bringing surprises to the devil.
The more unyielding he was to fate, the more he wanted to break free from it. Only then would his eyes be dazzling, bright, and sparkling.
What made the devil stop in his tracks was always this light.
"Go and bring my staff down."
The duke's staff was surrounded by thorny vines, as if the duke himself was there.
Not to mention a human, even if it was given to another aristocrat, it would shock the entire aristocratic circle.
The butler looked up in shock, and immediately replied after a moment, "Yes."
The devil heard the sound of the door closing behind him, and smiled as he watched the young man leave.
He could never guess what surprise the magician would bring him next, so he was always full of anticipation.