Before Amidina could fully reveal the puzzled look in her eyes,  Lin Nuo suddenly raised his hand and stretched out his arm, circling around the delicate curve of her back until he held the girl in front of him. Â
He gripped her slender jade-like hand that rested on the bowstring, pulling it back to form an arrow streaking like a meteor.
The only difference between this arrow and the one Amidina had just drawn herself was the familiar handful of black powder Lin Nuo had somehow produced from nowhere.
As his fingertips hooked the bowstring, that black powder, under the inherent properties of the Frost Soul Bow, was spontaneously drawn by magic from his palm to the bowstring.
It was ground into finer particles by the magic and fused into the drawn arrow, turning the originally ice-blue magic arrow gradually into an ink-black shade.
“???”
‘Isn’t that the…Â Â Ashes of Plants that smeared all over Xiafuya last night?’Â Â
Amidina was completely baffled, but her face maintained its usual cold composure without any hint of giving away her confusion. Â
“Could it be that Her Highness the Princess still feels some lingering sentiment?”
Lin Nuo looked up and said, “Since this Mr. Parkes already intends to make a move against the Clemence Family’s next appointed lady, what’s so scary about me using my father’s Holy Relic to deal with him?”
Watching Lin Nuo’s attitude, which was even more arrogant than his own,  and seeing that expression on his face like, “Finally, this idiot got caught,”  Parkes’ gaze instantly sharpened, and a flicker of fear appeared beneath his thick, whitening eyebrows as he slightly reined in his sword… Â
Could Duke Kuxiu have handed over the Holy Relic to these two for protection?
Rumors said the Clemence Family’s young master was incompetent and timid, but tonight the Mina he released was discovered by this kid…
If he hadn’t been prepared, how could a rookie without any magic sense Mina’s disguise or dare to face him so brazenly? Â
Purification of Wraiths, taming the Magic Whale, Controlling Rainwater…
All these have the late king’s tacit approval…
Could Kuxiu be planning a rebellion? Â
Parkes’ struggling expression was hard to read, but his decision not to immediately attack confirmed Lin Nuo’s guess.
Indeed, this old knight was extraordinarily cautious.
Earlier, when he approached Amidina, the surrounding oppressive aura instantly lessened, which made Lin Nuo certain this old knight was cautious to an almost unbelievable degree.
“However, the explosion of rune powder blessed by Holy Light will only obliterate life forms within a hundred meters. If he survives, it’s just good luck.”
Lin Nuo smirked wickedly, “If he doesn’t, then let’s see if the Angekesai House dares to provoke the Duke of Clemence over some lowly Ministers of Rites!”
“Clack, clack— ”Â
With that, Lin Nuo took two steps backward, still holding Amidina.
Parkes fully sheathed his sword, his wary expression deepening.
It was as if that ink-black magic arrow, infused with some unknown powder, had such deadly power that Lin Nuo, who held Amidina’s hand and had pulled the bowstring taut to the extreme, was forced to retreat two steps with the girl in his arms.
“Clack, clack—  “
That thing clearly had no magic…
Amidina didn’t know what Lin Nuo was planning, but she still cooperated, pressing herself close to his chest until she could hear the rapid beat of his heart…Â Â
Amidina’s peach blossom eyes trembled with emotion.
He was, indeed, borrowing tiger’s might by pretending to be the fox!
“Shhh— ”Â
The arrow shot toward Parkes, who raised his sword to block.
“Run!”
Lin Nuo tightly pulled Amidina along without explanation, heading straight for the weakest point in the Sound-Sealing Magic.
In such a tense moment, the hand gripping hers felt as hot as his body temperature.
Amidina’s gaze, fixed on his retreating back, reached a level of astonishment beyond words.
What kind of mental fortitude does one need to dare such a desperate gamble in this situation…
How brave must one be to choose to drag along someone destined not to escape together…Â Â
She had been fooled!
That rapidly loosed magic arrow, fused with some strange powder, faltered and broke off mid-air, dispersing like smoke, simply because Lin Nuo didn’t actually know how to draw a bow.
It was the Frost Soul Bow’s own magic propelling the arrow forward a short distance.
And that blonde kid pulling Amidina was actually inching backward…
Just plain running away!
Parkes was so furious his beard literally bristled.
He, a four-winged swordsman, was intimidated by a greenhorn with no magic, forcing him to do a sword-defense move he hadn’t done in years!
“Damn Lin… damn this lapse in composure!”
Like a true fear of the real master here, Parkes stopped mid-insult.
“But… Do you really think you can escape just like that?” Â
***
“Why are you helping me?”
“Why do you always ask why… Ugh! If you had told me earlier, I would’ve snuck out through the window upstairs! Who the hell cares about you anyway!”
She didn’t get the chance to ask why this person always kept his distance and didn’t speak the truth.
Sensing several unsettling presences rapidly approaching, Lin Nuo, suddenly stopped by Amidina’s firm pull, turned his gaze just in time to see that dangerous magic arrow, streaking with murderous intent, falling right where his foot was about to land. Â
One more step, and his brains would be splattered!
At some unknown point, the sky had darkened with heavy black clouds.
The thick, dark clouds covered the sky like a canopy, making the surroundings even darker and quieter, and the air more stifling.
“Shuashuashua— ”Â
Several dazed figures wearing tattered coarse cloth, all bearing the pointed ears of Elven Kin, silently landed at the edges of the Sound-Sealing Magic boundary.
“Buzz buzz buzz…”
Following behind, Parkes slowly flipped open a large, thick tome in his hands.
That tome looked less like a book and more like a collection of contract pages bound by magical artifacts.
His lips moved, murmuring inaudible sounds, barely discernible as some kind of incantation and whispering.
Under Parkes’ chant, the opened tome emitted an unsettling dark purple glow, illuminating his gloomy eyes locked tightly onto Lin Nuo.
“Buzz buzz buzz…”
The more than thirty Elven Kin circling the two suddenly began to tremble violently, as if desperately resisting something.
The look of pleading in their eyes twisted into agonized struggle, quickly turning into the chilling stillness of dead fish.
“Thinking you can act recklessly just because you’re in this place, Lin Nuo Clemence?” Parkes said, “Go cut off his hands and feet, boy! After we’ve subdued you, I’ll personally piece your broken bones back together, stitch your flesh, one stitch at a time.”
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