The Frostmoon Staff in Aelia's hand emitted a delicate hum, as the silver light seeping from the crack at the base of the scepter crawled up her wrist like a spider web.
Luna curled up in the Ice Silk swaddling, gnawing on the Moonlight Stone dangling from the Jade Pendant with her newly grown milk tooth. Her infantile babbling was interspersed with a few clear words: "Night Rose... Northern Glacier... Twinborn Pact..."
Aelia suddenly pressed the scepter against the Crystal Mirror. In the light and shadow refracted by the Ice Crystal Crown, a scene emerged of Leonard and Leonard's Concubine exchanging tokens in the crevice of a glacier.
When Qin Si entered holding the Ice Soul Box, she caught sight of the dark purple Crescent Mark on the back of the woman's neck in the mirror resonating with the silver light from the scepter's crack. The twelve Ice Spirits within the box suddenly floated into the air, arranging themselves into the shape of the Northern Star Map.
"Three days until the Frost Moon Festival; send Ice Phoenix Invitations to all lords." Aelia snapped her necklace, and as the Moonlight Stone fell to the ground, it transformed into an Ice Crystal Phoenix upon impact. "Remember to place Twinborn Fennel in Leonard's Crystal Plate—he used this to deceive Contract detection back then."
Luna suddenly coughed violently, spraying milk foam that crystallized into a micro magic circle in midair.
When her elder brother burst in on his suspended wheelchair, the Thundercloud Stone embedded in the wheelchair armrest happened to shatter this formation. The rampaging Lightning Element, however, was drawn towards Luna, gently weaving into her flowing silver hair.
"Sister..." Her elder brother pressed his right hand, afflicted by Ailina's Burn, against the wheelchair's talisman. The dark red patterns writhing beneath his skin suddenly turned towards Luna. "Last night, I observed on the Astrology Platform that my Star Trail had deviated by 7°—"
Before he could finish, Second Brother crashed through the Carved Door, dragging a flickering Heiyan chain behind him, followed closely by Brother San, who was soaked to the bone.
Second Brother's neck bore an emerging Golden Curse Seal, and at the end of his chain was bound a copy of the Abyss Contract that should have been sealed away in the Magic Academy's cellar. Brother San cradled a Meditation Crystal covered in blood vein-like patterns; yet what spilled from its cracks was not magical energy but a foul-smelling black mist.
Luna's pupils suddenly glimmered silver white as remnants of light from the Contract Scroll spread from her palm to outside her swaddling.
The Thundercloud Stone on her elder brother's wheelchair detached itself automatically, assembling incomplete Ancient Charms in midair. Second Brother's Abyss Contract flipped open without wind to reveal pages detailing "soul anchor points." Brother San's Meditation Crystal exploded with a bang, and black mist was cocooned by magic particles spilling from Luna.
"It is the elemental feedback loop." Aelia lightly tapped her three sons with the Frostmoon Staff, and the Silver Light that erupted from the crack in the Scepter enveloped them. "Your Father used this very method back in the day—"
The Ice Crystal Phoenix suddenly let out a screech, and the Silver Light Spider Web on Aelia's wrist began to tremble violently.
Seizing the opportunity, Luna stuffed her saliva-coated fist into Second Brother's Contract Seal. The golden Iris immediately reformed along her wrist's Milk Stain; Brother San, in a panic, grabbed a gear that had fallen from Elder Brother's Wheelchair. The sound of the gear turning resonated with Luna's heartbeat, forcibly realigning the chaotic Magic Flow within him.
When Lucius crushed the Black Rose Pocket Watch in the magical forest, the Pocket Watch Gear suddenly bit into his Boot Heel.
He intended to burn away this suspicious object emitting a scent of External Perfume with a Fire Spell, but what emerged from the watch face was a Three-Dimensional Projection of Aelia's chamber—Luna was gnawing on Second Brother's Contract Chain, and the other end of the chain was inexplicably connected to the Root System of an ancient tree deep within the forest.
"Does Third Young Master Lucius still not understand?" A voice laced with Ice Shard emerged from the Pocket Watch. The bark of the ancient tree behind Lucius suddenly peeled away, revealing a Teleportation Circle embedded with dark purple Crescent Marks. "When you picked up the Pocket Watch, the reflection of the Frost Snow Phoenix was imprinted on your soul."
Lucius attempted to cast a teleportation spell but found that the hour hand of the Pocket Watch had pierced into his wrist's Blood Vessel.
The projection of Aelia suddenly turned to him and smiled. The light of the Moonlight Stone penetrated through the forest mist, illuminating an icy path leading to the Forbidden Grounds of the Demon Fortress beneath his feet.
The internal gears of the Pocket Watch emitted a Click sound identical to that when Luna handled Second Brother's Contract. By the time he realized it, his Twin Legs were already uncontrollably moving toward an Abyssal Corridor hiding an Ancient Magic Circle from a Thousand Years Ago.
Inside the chamber, Luna suddenly tightened her grip on the Black Fog Cocoon she had just extracted from Brother San.
In the Starry Sky Totem illuminated by the Moonlight Stone, Lucius's corresponding star was entwined by Gray Vines, their ends extending toward her swaddled edge.
The Silver Light Spider Web on Aelia's wrist suddenly contracted, and a brittle sound like Ice Layer shattering echoed from the crack in the Frostmoon Staff. A magical aura older than that of the Moonlight Stone was awakening within that fissure.
The tail feathers of the Ice Crystal Phoenix swept across the Window Lattice, transforming the last beam of moonlight into snowflakes that settled upon Luna Mei Xin.
The infant curled its silver-streaked fingers, stuffing Lucius's Fate Line and the black mist cocoon into the crack of the Scepter.
Deep within the Scepter, the Azure Blue Flame suddenly morphed into a Shu Tong shape, reflecting the bizarre events of Leonard's Last Night unfolding in the magical forest. Yet at that moment, everyone was busy preparing for the Frost Moon Festival in three days, oblivious to the Blood Pearl seeping from the bottom of the Scepter, infused with Lucius's Magical Fluctuation.
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