“Boom——!!!”
A muffled thunderclap exploded as the storm clouds nearly converged into a pitch-black vortex on the horizon.
More than thirty Elven Kin, spread out in all directions across the lake—those who had fought Princess Amidina at Claremont Manor—seemed to receive some unspoken command.
They simultaneously dropped to one knee, one hand weaving streams of magical light of various elements, murmuring incantations under their breath.
Countless magic energies manifested strange runes of a magic array on the lake’s surface.
These runes started from the edges of Silver Tears Lake, converging steadily toward the center.
Princess Amidina, kneeling on a reef rock in the middle of Silver Tears Lake, suddenly opened her cold, penetrating peach blossom eyes.
As if sensing the resistance emanating from her soul, the magical shackles binding her wrists constricted tighter, nearly rubbing a bloodline across her skin.
“Wuwuwu—”
The wretched wraiths, maintaining their pitiful expressions of death and looking terrifying, drifted up from the lake’s depths with a mournful wail.
They gathered around Amidina but were repelled by her Sublimation Ability, unable to approach the reef even an inch.
This was once Amidina’s nightmare.
But now, she had grown accustomed… or rather, numb.
Her peach blossom eyes opened only for a moment before closing again.
Scenes from her past flickered through her mind ceaselessly, finally resting on the twenty-three Blessing Sculptures…
The four great dukes applied pressure one after another.
Duke Kuxiu and Mrs. Puli had openly declared that they would implicate others, so Amidina said that the fate of the Blessing Sculptures should be decided by Lin Nuo.
She once thought that a reckless scion—who loved reading Sese’s books and was mocked by others as incompetent and arrogant—would dare accept something everyone else avoided simply because his ignorance gave him courage.
But…
Later, Lin Nuo’s intelligence dawned on Amidina.
Perhaps even when he pretended to be examining the sculptures, he had already guessed their true nature.
Regardless of whether he saw the inner truth, he was the only one who dared to shelter those children within the Sacred Relic Hall.
The words he had once spoken echoed abruptly in Amidina’s ears, lazily unguarded:
“You know, I’m not very brave. If someone were thinking of sneaking up and killing me, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”
“Why do you always ask why… sigh! If you had told me about this earlier, I would’ve snuck out the window upstairs. Who the hell cares about you…”
At this moment, she inexplicably recalled that voice again…
Amidina tilted her head.
Her peach blossom eyes seemed to want to see through the wraiths and dense fog before her, past the snow-capped mountains and the long road, to the place where that person resided.
Everything he said about not caring about himself—was probably true.
It made sense.
Nearly forty controlled Elven Kin, three powerful mages, each capable of killing an ordinary person like him without a trace with the slightest display of magic,
A juvenile yet formidable monster originating from the Divine War era, nurtured by several dukes competing for it, a magic array forged from seven years of his own magical power, three people with clear, assigned roles guarding relentlessly, a flawless setup—
No matter who comes, nothing can be done…
So why expect anything from an ordinary man…
Lightning once again pierced the black clouds, illuminating Amidina’s face with only a faint trace of regret.
Actually, that was fine.
The only pity was that during those few days of sheltering, there was no chance to give him any other reward…
Then, at this moment—
Despite the great distance across the lake, a familiar scent of cedarwood—one she had once smelled when being held—was detected by the terrifying perception of the Water Saint Elf.
Her eyelids almost instantly widened in disbelief.
Amidina looked up and saw through the mist opposite Silver Tears Lake.
That familiar figure was suddenly dragged out of the dense forest by the mad Vitz, thrown directly before Parkes!
‘He’s… here?’
“…Why?”
‘Even facing an enemy impossible to defeat, a magic array impossible to shake with his power, an unchangeable fate, he still…’
Amidina’s lashes fluttered in the wind.
A strange light flickered in her clear eyes, a color that quickly vanished as her gaze fell back into shadow.
‘He shouldn’t have come… Why bother seeing me for the last time… I’ll only be a mess…’
“Vitz, well done,” Ruding laughed almost maniacally.
“Lin Nuo Claremont, you really are here!”
“Lord Lin Nuo!”
Seeing Ruding stop casting his healing magic and rise from the wicker chair, his injured arm still broken, but his fully restored leg ready to kick, Bella struggled to shield Lin Nuo.
But Lin Nuo stopped her, letting Ruding’s kick land squarely on his abdomen.
A sharp, intense pain spread throughout his body instantly.
Just this ordinary strike was painful enough to nearly make Lin Nuo vomit.
Ruding, who had thought this kick would be blocked by that person’s magic, was stunned for a moment before sneering even more: “Not in your territory, your magic protection is useless. Still relying on that magic only triggered by a fatal injury?”
“You coward hiding in your turtle shell, thinking your little magic device blocking your aura would stop us from finding you? Haha… Old man, look at how bad your eyesight is now! A worthless nobody and you say he’s stronger than me!” Ruding bit his teeth.
“Someone without magic, what right does he have!”
Ruding then landed a few more heavy kicks on Lin Nuo’s belly.
Seeing Lin Nuo curling up, nearly unable to move and still stubbornly defiant, Parkes’s last trace of caution vanished from his face, replaced by scorn.
Vitz crouched on the ground, sniffing continuously, occasionally letting out those still nervous, deranged laughs.
“Haven’t eaten? Heh, I want to see how tough your bones are to talk to me like that!”
Just as Ruding threw Lin Nuo down and drew a dagger from his waist to approach again—
Those Elven slaves who had never really obeyed his orders before, who had been with Lin Nuo for less than a day, suddenly all pounced forward in unison, shielding Lin Nuo.
“Seeking death!” Ruding’s hostility deepened as he raised his hand to strike.
A dazzling bolt of lightning streaked across the sky at that moment.
“Boom——”
“Buzz——”
The ice-blue light finally converged at the center of the lake, suddenly illuminating the entire clear expanse of Silver Tears Lake.
With the sound of runes tearing and vibrating, the Purification Magic Array activated.
Birds scattered from the Mist Forest, and fish in the lake jumped wildly toward the shore.
“It’s coming!”
“It’s coming!”
Suddenly filled with joy, Ruding’s face twisted into a wild smile as he grabbed Bella’s hair: “Come on, look at your so-called Lord Lin Nuo, and that worthless thing frozen in the middle of the lake. I’ve shown this useless guy with my actions—what I can’t get, no one else can! Amidina entrusted him with what she wanted to protect, but I won’t let him guard it!”
“I’ll make her see that the man she agreed to marry is someone who can’t protect her or anything she cares about, only able to come pitifully at a time like this to see her one last time—a despicable, worthless scum… And I’ll also make you all see how pathetic he really is!”