The moonlight refracted off the Silver Moon Mark on Lucius's neck, casting an eerie glow as Aelia burst into the room, just as the Gilded Candelabra tumbled to her feet.
The Dark Purple Flame licked at the still-wet blood on the carpet, burning the ethereal blue magic blood and releasing a sulfur smell.
"Mother..." Lucius tightened his black cloak and took a step back, the remnants of the Soul Devouring Curse's dark mist still lingering at his fingertips.
Luna lay in her Cradle, Yi Ya patting Yin Ling, the surface of the bell still stained with her bloody Tooth Mark.
Aelia's gaze swept across the chaos on the floor before she suddenly reached out and tugged at her son's collar.
When she saw the Holy Mark that should belong to her Eldest Son, Ailya's White Nails dug painfully into Lucius's shoulder. "Leonard dares to use the Soul Exchange Technique to taint my child?" The sound of the barrier outside, Zhen Chan, grew increasingly piercing, startling a Night Owl resting atop the bell tower.
Twenty miles away at White Rose Manor, Leonard held the Mistress's hand as he sketched out a Magic Circle Diagram.
The crystal chandelier illuminated the woman's tear-streaked face, making her appear pitiful. "They say illegitimate children are unworthy of using Magic Crystals for cultivation..."
"After tomorrow, all the Magic Water crystals in the Western Realm's warehouse will belong to you." The Lord's pen stabbed heavily into the Parchment, ink spreading into grotesque cracks at the focal point.
Unbeknownst to him, the Curse Mark he was drawing resonated with the barrier of the main fortress, and he failed to notice as the Mistress stealthily wrapped her perfumed Hair around his cufflink.
When Qin Si barged into the study holding a damaged barrier compass, Aelia was busy polishing her ancestral Astrolabe.
The Compass Needle crazily pointed towards the Western Realm's warehouse location, its mirror surface revealing Leonard modifying the warehouse seal with Xu Ying.
"He actually thinks to win people over with Magic Crystals?" The Lady of the Fortress suddenly chuckled softly, her Emerald Earrings clinking against Lucius's thin shoulders with a sound reminiscent of Sui Yu.
She removed her gloves and brushed her fingers over the Astrolabe's Family Crest, ice crystals spreading from her fingertips into a miniature Castle Model. "Go fetch Luna; she needs to be wrapped in that swaddling embroidered with the Counter-curse Symbol."
At that moment, the Owl Statues atop the Western Realm warehouse opened their blood-red eyes.
Leonard bit his thumb and pressed it against the array's focal point, watching as blue light seeped through the gaps in the warehouse floor tiles, as if he could see the Mistress's delighted smile.
The transference spell slithered like a venomous snake down into the thirty feet of the Magic Crystal Vein, unaware that each stone was embedded with Aelia's Tracking Spell.
When Luna was carried into the Horse-drawn Carriage by Qin Si, she still had half a Teething Biscuit in her mouth.
In her baby blue eyes, the flickering light spots of the barrier along the way reflected back at her; she sensed seventeen Magic Nodes were undergoing mutations.
As the Horse-drawn Carriage entered a dark alley, the Little One suddenly slapped her biscuit against the carriage window, and the Sugar Coating automatically arranged itself into a three-dimensional map of the Western Realm warehouse.
"Madam is waiting for you in the tower." Qin Si tightened the Peacock Blue Swaddling around the baby, and the hidden charms within its fabric resonated with the direction of the tower.
Seizing the opportunity, Luna pressed her little hand, dusted with Moonlight Crumbs, against her maid's necklace, automatically activating Aelia's reserved Transmitting Spell.
Atop the hundred-meter-high Obsidian Tower, cracks had begun to emerge in the Castle Model hovering before Aelia.
She listened to Leonard speaking through the Transmitting Spell to the Mistress, saying, "Tomorrow I will send you the Eastern Wing Library," and suddenly drove three Silver Nails into the model's Western Realm position.
At that moment when the Pocket Watch Chain suddenly tightened, she knew Qin Si had stepped into the tower's barrier with Luna.
Moonlight penetrated the Stained Glass, refracting tiny Light Spots on Luna's Silver Anklet.
Aelia's motion of unwrapping the swaddled infant suddenly paused— the drool-covered Palm of the baby drew a Reverse Symbol that perfectly matched the Repair Spell on the Castle Model.
The Ice Crystal Model at Aelia's Fingertip suddenly emitted a Buzzing sound, as Luna waved her saliva-covered little hand, slapping it against the edge of the Astrolabe.
Emerald Earrings traced a Liuguang in the moonlight, while the Lady of the Fortress gazed at the infant's Palm, which was gradually forming a Reversal Spell. She abruptly turned and lifted a tapestry embroidered with a Star Moon Pattern behind her.
"Three Hundred Years Ago, the First Generation Fortress Master forged this Guardian Shield with Dragon Blood." Her Pale Fingertip brushed over the diamond-shaped Silver Shield embedded in the stone wall. The shield's surface shimmered with Youguang, illuminating Lucius's neck where the Silver Moon Mark was gradually fading. "Every Heir must swear a Blood Oath here—Luna!"
Amidst the sudden Loud Cry from the infant, Qin Si hurriedly covered her ears.
The ancient runes Emerging on the surface of the Silver Shield were resonating with Luna's Luna. The black mist of the Soul Devouring Curse that coiled around Lucius's black robe shrank back into the Floor Tile Gap as if it had encountered a natural enemy.
Lucius staggered to support himself against a stone pillar as an Ice Blue Flame suddenly ignited at the hem of his robe.
He stared in shock as his Palm began to reveal true Holy Mark patterns, while Aelia had already taken Luna toward the Spiral Staircase. "The true Inheritance Contract requires three blood relatives as witnesses. Your Father never told me he could forge a Holy Mark using Black Witchcraft."
Meanwhile, in the East Corridor beneath the warehouse in the Western Realm, Leonard's Mistress was tying fragrant Hair to a Magic Crystal Cluster.
Twenty-seven servants with Crimson eyes filed in, carrying an Obsidian Box. The surface of the box oozed Purple-Black Slime, corroding strands of Qing Yan from the warehouse walls' Protective Spell.
"My Lady, the guard in East Corridor No. 3 suddenly collapsed..." The Knight's words were cut short as Mistress’s Pearl Earrings sliced through his throat.
The woman's fingers, stained with Dan Kou, brushed against Leonard's nape, her voice sweet as poison-laced honey. "You said no one would disturb us tonight."
Lord remained oblivious to the Mistress's ring draining the Knight's vitality, as he focused intently on embedding the last piece of Shadow Crystal into the center of the formation.
As the Ground began to Zhen Chan, the Owl Statues atop the warehouse suddenly turned collectively toward the tower, emitting a creaking sound that sent chills down one's spine.
Inside the Astrology Room on the top floor of the tower, Luna was gnawing on the Silver Key that Aelia had handed her, using her Milk Tooth.
When the key came into contact with the baby’s saliva, a Shan Na, the image of the First Generation Fortress Master on the wall suddenly opened its eyes.
Lucius's Wrist felt a Zhuo Tong, as the Family Totem awakened beneath his skin, transforming into flowing Gold Thread.
"So it turns out that on the day Father stole the key to the sanctum, you deliberately let him take a counterfeit." The young man looked at his fingertips, which were gradually regaining color; the Ice Flame on his black robe was reshaping his Meridians that had been distorted by the Soul Exchange Technique.
Aelia lifted Luna in front of the Guardian Shield; the baby's unawareness grasping motion coincided perfectly with the protective gesture emerging from the shield.
Qin Si suddenly pointed toward the Western Realm and screamed.
Within the floating Ice Crystal Model, an area representing the warehouse was seeping Black Purple Mist.
Luna struggled to spit out the silver key. As it fell to the ground, stained with Milk Stain, it stood upright and began to spin, casting a bizarre scene of the warehouse in moonlight—twenty-seven Obsidian Boxes had arranged themselves around the formation in a Desecration Ring.
"How dare he bring an Abyssal Object into the sanctum!" Aelia's Emerald Earrings suddenly exploded, scattering jade shards that transformed into Glow Powder upon touching Luna's Swaddling.
Luna quickly handed the baby to Qin Si, while she drew out the cracked Crystal Sword from the bottom of the Astrolabe. "Take the children to the Sanctuary, and no matter what you hear, do not open the door."
As if in response to her command, a sharp sound of shattering barriers echoed from the base of the tower.
Suddenly, Luna grabbed Qin Si's Pearl Necklace and tore at it fiercely. Amidst the maid's pained gasp, strands of fragrant hair broke free from the pearl gap and ignited into green flames upon hitting the ground.
A hundred meters below, the Mistress's meticulously manicured Ailya's White Nails dug deeply into Leonard's arm. "My dear, it's time to initiate the final Sacrifice." The Night Rose Tattoo on her neck glowed with an eerie red light, and the eye whites of the box bearers were completely soaked in blood.
As the Lord cut open his palm and let his blood drip into the center of the magic circle, no one noticed the Mistress's ankle emerging from beneath her skirt, revealing an Inverse Cross Totem that was entirely opposed to the Tower Saint Shield.
The Obsidian Box lid popped open simultaneously with Shan Na, unleashing twenty-seven streams of black smoke laced with sulfur smell that surged toward the dome.
The Protective Spell in Qian Jiao shattered into fragments, while at the top of the tower, the Guardian Shield suddenly emitted a roar akin to that of a dragon.
Luna's Silver Anklet shattered in response, sending splintered metal flying against the Sanctuary walls, carving out a complete Protective Magic Rune.
Aelia's Crystal Sword pressed against Zhen Chan's relentless ground when she heard a thunderous sound beneath her feet as chains broke apart.
She looked towards the direction of the Western Realm where the Magic Pillars were gradually extinguishing and suddenly became aware that her husband had stolen not just the key to the sanctum—those replaced Cores of the Barrier, those guards who had died suddenly, those servants with glowing red eyes flickering in the night...
From deep within Castle Leyline came an ominous Zhen Chan, startling away the last Night Owl.
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