Back to second place again, thank you everyone for your support. Also, there will be at least four updates today; whether we can hit five depends on whether the monthly votes reach 250! 250, yes, exactly 250.

Brothers, put some strength into it; let me be a '250' today! …… "So bold, confessing in public! Teacher Lin Luo is truly powerful!" "We support you, Teacher!

Our cheer squad will back you until the end!" "He actually said 'be mine'... ah... the world of humans is truly marvelous..." "Is this the main event of this martial arts tournament?

Determining the champion and simultaneously deciding a couple—it’s truly too dramatic." At this moment, the audience was erupting with thunderous applause and earth-shaking cheers. The martial arts competition had already been intense and passionate, but unexpectedly, at the very end, such a scene unfolded. Love intertwined with fiery passion—there was nothing more captivating.

Never mind the ordinary spectators; even among the three factions, the impact was immense, with almost everyone cheering for Lin Luo. Even Mokona was loudly shouting encouragement alongside Ryu. This struck the young women nearby as rather peculiar.

That Mokona liked Lin Luo seemed an established fact. Her acceptance of the ambiguous relationship between Lin Luo and Setsuna, even supporting it, could be interpreted as her liking them both... Well, though somewhat incomprehensible, they chalked it up to her broad-mindedness.

Besides, the connection between Lin Luo and Setsuna was, after all, only ambiguous. But the current situation was entirely different. Lin Luo was publicly confessing to Sakuya Izayoi.

That was incomparable to his relationship with Setsuna. Moreover, Sakuya Izayoi had no significant connection to Mokona. Why wasn't she jealous?

Why was she excitedly cheering him on instead? The young women of the three factions found this completely irrational. Truly, Mokona's worldview existed in a different dimension from theirs, one that mortal wisdom could not comprehend.

Of course, while some were thrilled and excited, others were deeply gloomy and conflicted. For instance, some of Lin Luo's supporters, along with several of Sakuya's male admirers, were consumed by envy and resentment, wishing they could step in and take his place. Even Misaka Mikoto frowned, crossing her arms and stamping her feet repeatedly where she stood, the electricity crackling uncontrollably around her...

It was clear she was displeased. Lin Luo was certainly aware of this, even calculating the possibility of Mikoto-chan throwing a tantrum later. Behaving like this—playing the field in public—was highly likely to invite accusations of being a 'boat-lover' and demands for a 'cleaver' (metaphors for relationship trouble and extreme consequences).

Given Mikoto-chan's personality, she would likely strike him down with divine lightning afterward. Was Lin Luo unafraid of boats or cleavers? No, of course, he was afraid!

Nothing was more terrifying to him than a harem revolt. But only by daring to tread where tigers lurk can one truly be a man. To construct a glorious, unshakeable Crystal Palace, one must possess a spirit of utter fearlessness, scorning the 'boat' and defying the 'cleaver,' pressing forward against all odds.

Using his own blood as mud, his body as tiles, and his bones as the foundation—even if he is misunderstood by everyone, even if he has no confidant in the world—he must dedicate this life to the great cause of the harem! A true man must have great courage! "You...

what exactly did you just mean?" Sakuya was indeed shaken. She realized her grip on her blade was faltering. This was so sudden; she never imagined Lin Luo would say such a thing.

Had she misheard? "I need you," Lin Luo stated without hesitation, decisively and firmly. "I need you very, very much.

So, Sakuya, if I win against you in this match, agree to form a contract with me." "Eh!" The elegant Servant could not maintain her composure at this moment. Words failed her; the situation felt so absurd. Was this kind of sudden development appropriate?

"Accept it! Accept it!" someone in the stands shouted with extreme excitement. "Teacher Sakuya, accept!

If you win, you can do anything you want to Teacher Lin Luo—hang him up, do this, do that... Ah, how blissful!" Well, that was one of Lin Luo's supporters speaking, though her orientation was slightly off. But once she started, the voices from the audience swelled, demanding Sakuya accept Lin Luo's wager.

This put immense pressure on Sakuya. Accepting felt too bizarre, yet refusing felt like losing face and was somehow uncomfortable. Finally, under the "oppression" of the spectators, Sakuya finally spoke.

She pointed her blade at Lin Luo and declared firmly, "Fine, I accept your proposal. If I win, I won't ask for you. I only ask that you wear a girl's outfit and remain in public view at Mahora Academy for three days and three nights.

How about that?" That was truly vicious! Undoubtedly, Sakuya's request was enough to drive anyone mad, though the quality of that madness was debatable. Forcing Lin Luo to wear a dress and stay in Mahora Academy for three days was absolutely intolerable; he couldn't bear even three minutes of it.

But things had reached this point; retreating was impossible. How could he, who made the initial demand, be stumped by the counter-offer! "Good, I accept!" Lin Luo declared loudly.

With that, the audience outside ignited once more. "That's wonderful then," Sakuya immediately smiled, slightly leaning back. "Your abilities will surely make you very popular." Saying that, her figure vanished from the ring.

Absolutely cannot lose! This was Lin Luo’s resolve, and it was also Sakuya’s. Both had reasons why they could not afford to lose.

The battle resumed, but its meaning had completely changed. The ten million was valuable, but now everyone had cast it aside. The championship was inconsequential, for this combat was now a battle of love confession versus an ultimate challenge!

The stakes were... a young woman's status and a man's dignity! The moment Sakuya disappeared, her assault began.

Countless throwing knives, cloaked in what seemed like a scarlet mist, materialized around Lin Luo. But they didn't strike; instead, they flickered in and out of existence, constantly shifting position, seemingly waiting for Lin Luo to reveal an opening to strike. Although Lin Luo’s power put pressure on Sakuya, she was not immortal like Evangeline.

Even if his light orb could deflect her knives, as long as her speed was sufficient, she could still inflict damage. Moreover, she controlled the time and space of this area, meaning the key to victory naturally rested in her hands. Lin Luo knew Sakuya's attack was the same as the one she used against Evangeline...

Engraved in the Scarlet Soul: continuously striking the enemy with a multitude of knives to achieve effective damage. While the individual attack power wasn't high, the coverage was vast. Combined with her time abilities, very few could evade it.

However, for Lin Luo, this mere quantity was not enough to cause him stress; or rather, he didn't fear quantity at all. Once the Light of Fantasy manifested, in terms of sheer numbers, even in Gensokyo, only Yuyuko could rival him in bullet patterns. Sakuya’s barrage emphasized speed, precision, and lethality; its quantity was far inferior to Lin Luo’s.

The Light of Fantasy instantly split into countless fragments, completely enveloping Lin Luo’s body. This way, no matter how fast Sakuya’s knives were, they could not penetrate the defensive net of the Light of Fantasy and thus could not inflict effective damage upon him. Swish!

Just as Lin Luo thought this, a sharp glint of light miraculously appeared right before his eyes, less than ten centimeters from his brow! What?! Lin Luo gasped in shock.

The defense of the Light of Fantasy should be impenetrable. After all, it integrated Rule Power and ancient magic; how could Sakuya’s ordinary throwing knives break through? But the reality was precisely that.

Sakuya’s knife had not only broken through but was about to hit him. Damn it! Lin Luo cursed inwardly, his head instinctively snapping back.

Simultaneously, a crackling sound erupted from his right hand as a bolt of electricity shot toward the knife. Electricity was the most effective counter against silver knives because of magnetism— But before his electric discharge could connect, the knife abruptly vanished without any discernible trajectory, as if it had never existed there. Then, almost at the same instant, Lin Luo sensed three knives attacking from behind, within five centimeters of his body.

What in the world is happening? Lin Luo found it utterly unbelievable. Even if his resistance was lower than Evangeline's, with the support of disruption magic, it shouldn't be this different.

Furthermore, the Light of Fantasy had an overwhelming advantage against throwing knives. Even if Sakuya manipulated time to expand the area of this space, given his sensory domain, he shouldn't have been approached this closely. Something is wrong!

At this moment, Flash of Light and Instant Movement were activated simultaneously. Lin Luo dodged those three knives with speed tens of times greater than normal in the blink of an eye. Then, his right hand unleashed Atomic Collapse, and his left hand fired the Spear of Thunder, simultaneously knocking down six knives flying from his sides.

However, before he could stabilize himself, knives reappeared in front of and behind him—this time, twelve of them. He had absolutely no idea where they came from. The barrier of the Light of Fantasy seemed non-existent, leaving him completely bewildered.

This is not Engraved in the Scarlet Soul! Lin Luo could swear this was not the attack Sakuya used against Evangeline earlier. The nature of Engraved in the Scarlet Soul was high quantity and fast speed; it wouldn't be this phantom-like.

This method of attack was practically as if the knives were traversing space! With Lin Luo's speed, simply dodging these knives wasn't difficult, but if this endless barrage continued, it would become a major headache. He needed to draw Sakuya out.

But she was hidden within space and time, making it impossible to find her figure... This is bad. If this continues, the situation is extremely disadvantageous for me.

What exactly is this attack of hers? It ignores my sensory domain, disregards my defense wall, suddenly appearing, suddenly vanishing—it’s like... wait!

Suddenly, Lin Luo realized something. This type of attack, appearing and disappearing as if illusion and reality were mixed, was indeed not Engraved in the Scarlet Soul. It was Sakuya’s other ultimate skill...

The Murderer in the Foggy Night!