Night, Clemence Castle main building, Sacred Relic Hall.
Entering the hall supported by twelve massive stone pillars, the silver chain chandelier hanging from the dome shimmered under the glow of hundreds of beeswax candles, illuminating the entire first floor of the Sacred Relic Hall.
Before him were displayed various ancient magical items: scrolls that enhanced strength, power-seizing talisman rings capable of draining others’ mana, fragments of scrolls that concealed one’s aura…
And prominently placed in the center: Twenty-three golden stone Blessing Statues.
From a corner, Lin Nuo retrieved a pickaxe and several tools capable of shattering stone.
He looked straight at the statues standing before him, each posed in different blessing or celebratory gestures, lifelike in their poise, with exquisite details down to the eyelashes and eyebrows, as if real people had been immortalized in stone.
He raised his hand and lifted the hood from the statue in the far left corner.
Continuing to the right, he uncovered all the hoods and cloaks that concealed the heads of these twenty-three statues.
Just as Lin Nuo suspected, none of the statues had ears…
‘No, to be more precise, their original ears must have been removed by Amidina.’
“Chirp chirp…”
“That’s right. I’m powerless against her trouble. I’ve checked dozens of scrolls… Do you know what a Magic Whale is?”
“Chirp chirp?”
“From the lost Shilang Kingdom, it can control an area’s rainfall. It’s an ancient monster capable of swallowing half a city in one gulp. The frequent rain was already a warning sign.”
“I didn’t bother learning the whole process. Look at me—a normal person who can barely handle the simplest cleaning magic. Even a hundred of me… no, a thousand of me couldn’t win.”
Lin Nuo picked up an iron nail and hammered it into one statue’s lips—this one posed with hands clasped in prayer.
He paused, then moved the nail to the edge of the statue’s lips and lightly tapped it with the hammer.
“Ding!”
Under delicate chiseling, the hardened golden stone powder cracked, revealing tender skin beneath.
Lin Nuo continued, “But even if I lose, I want to lose with clarity.”
“Speak. What’s your name?”
After several crisp taps of the hammer, the skin from the neck to the nose of the statue was exposed, revealing what looked like a girl of about ten years old.
A long silence followed.
Only the bloodied lips, bitten through, indicated that she could hear him.
Outside, the rain pattered persistently.
Lin Nuo moved a basin with hot coals closer, sat down, and quietly observed the statue’s eyes still concealed beneath the strange layer of golden powder.
“I’ll ask it another way. Aren’t you going to explain to me the bloody act of the princess cutting off your ears? Or apologize to me, the future Master of the Clemence Family, for deceiving me with these disguised statues?”
“…I’m sorry, Lord Lin Nuo!”
After a long while, the girl’s tense lips quivered, biting down hard to suppress sobbing as she spoke in a childlike voice:
“Our ears… were destroyed by Princess Amidina’s magic at our own request! The elf features are too obvious; we’d easily be discovered by those people… We all know that you took us in at the banquet. The princess said this place was our last refuge… Bella is deeply grateful for your kindness, please don’t blame Princess Amidina!”
“Hm, no blame intended.” Lin Nuo nodded.
It was easy to guess these were the Elf Slaves Parkes mentioned, the ones Amidina had hidden and was escorting with the silver to Silver Tears Lake.
He glanced at the rest of the statues.
They were all obviously children.
They were surely elves whose sacred relics had been stolen, controlled by Mind Magic, not willingly obeying Parkes…
Just like Mina.
Lin Nuo didn’t believe Parkes would have allowed Mina to assassinate Amidina while deliberately wearing a herbal maid’s apron…
Wearing such a scent-exposing garment must have been a deliberate choice so Amidina could detect the herbs’ smell.
All were being controlled but still trying to resist in their own ways, but it seemed they had very little they could do…
“You should know best what Amidina has gone through,” Lin Nuo said.
“Let’s get to the point: What exactly is Silver Tears Lake, and what do Parkes and the others want Amidina for? Tell me everything you can.”
“My lord…” Bella’s voice trembled with faint sobbing again, the first time in seven years she’d spoken about the slaves’ plight and her concern for Sister Amidina.
Behind the golden stone shell still covering her eyes, tears welled up.
The warmth from the coals gradually seeped through the cold, disguise-like layer of golden stone.
Finally, Bella spoke: “Bella will tell all she knows. If you can save Sister Amidina, we are willing to give everything to you, my lord!”
The blazing coals dimmed to a gray-white hue, and the air in the Sacred Relic Hall grew heavy.
“So, in other words,” Lin Nuo summarized Bella’s words:
“They spent seven years relying on Amidina’s Sublimation Ability to construct a massive Mind Magic Circle across the surface of Silver Tears Lake. When you pour the silver and jewels you’re escorting into the lake to lure the wraiths away… When the awakened Magic Whale breaches the surface and touches the magic circle, all of Amidina’s mana will be drained by the circle’s core. If the mana is insufficient, her life force will be sacrificed.”
“This will activate the magic circle, temporarily purifying the Magic Whale’s innate violent nature, turning it docile. Then Parkes will seize the opportunity to tame and capture it using a Holy Artifact… That’s the whole process, right?”
“I’m truly sorry, my lord. Bella only knows this!” Bella’s jaw tightened fiercely, her crying voice barely controlled:
“There’s only one day left. No one can change it…”
“Hmm, sounds about right.” Lin Nuo quickly pieced together the current situation.
He had only himself and these twenty-three children completely controlled by Mind Magic.
There were three ways to help Amidina:
1. Kill the mastermind
This was already impossible; even wounding Parkes, Ruding, or Vitz was a far-off hope.
2. Destroy the magic circle
A magic circle built over seven years would be impossible to break even for a hundred mages.
3. Find someone to replace Amidina
Since Amidina had already been captured and was supposedly the most suitable candidate, this route was closed.
“We have no conditions to help Amidina, and less than a day left…” Lin Nuo’s voice grew darker.
But even faced with the reality that nothing seemed to help, he did not retreat to despair.
Instead, his thoughts delved deeper…
‘Really… Had all hope truly vanished?’
‘No! …There had to be another way!’
Lin Nuo thought of a fourth approach and said, “Unless, during the moment between the Magic Whale awakening on the lakebed and it touching the surface…”
“There’s a way to prevent the Magic Whale from surfacing…” His eyes shifted.
“Or, make the Magic Whale sense the magic circle controlling it on the surface…”
Such a powerful creature should have intelligence; if it sensed danger, it might avoid touching the surface…
But…
Was there a more direct method?
Lin Nuo pondered: ‘The reason they forced the elves to cast the silver into the lake was to lure away the wraiths—diverting the wraiths of Silver Tears Lake so the Magic Whale’s awakening wouldn’t be disturbed… But the wraiths couldn’t be used to transmit information, and even if the silver didn’t lure away all the wraiths, the remaining ones would be purified by Amidina’s Sublimation Ability…’
Suddenly, It was like facing a riddle with countless possibilities but no clear solution.
Yet, in a fleeting moment, Lin Nuo discovered one of the most important, easily overlooked logics:
“The magic circle is activated to briefly purify the Magic Whale’s violent nature upon awakening… The Magic Whale is born with this! Violent nature!”
Like a bolt of lightning flashing through his mind, An extremely wild, brutal, and savage path suddenly appeared before him, ‘What if I planned to provoke it by directly attacking it?’
As if realizing something, Lin Nuo murmured involuntarily the spark of his thought:
“Sil… Silver?”