The swirling purple mist in the Potion Room condensed into Lacrima on the Liuli Bottle, while Karl curled up at the edge of the Alchemy Table, clutching the Betrayer's Mark on his neck.
At his feet, the Xing Sha leak suddenly exploded, and from the fine sand emerged his dear friend Leon, holding the black Obsidian dagger—Leon’s Last Night. It was this very dagger that severed his Elemental Resonance during that hunt three days ago.
"My Original Magic Power is continuously dissipating," Karl said, tearing open his collar to reveal the gray-green markings spreading to his Collarbone, a low growl escaping his throat like a cornered beast.
In the corner, the Magic Crystal Wheelchair emitted a grinding noise as gears jammed. Allen's face, half-shadowed from the backlash of Ailina's Burn, revealed a Mechanical Prosthetic joint seeping black slime mixed with remnants of spells.
Third Brother Lucius suddenly threw the Alchemical Pocket Watch onto the wool carpet. The Residual Shadow within its dial sobbed, "It's all my fault for trusting Elemental Resonance..." He trembled as he traced the Family Crest etched on the back of the Pocket Watch. If he hadn’t neglected his studies on Magic Potions five years ago to switch to summoning techniques, perhaps he could have discovered the curse on Second Brother sooner.
A sliver of Silver Light suddenly pierced through the Ice Cracks in the Window Lattice, and Luna, wrapped in Xing Mang bubbles, rolled into the midst of her brothers.
The little girl Chubby patted Karl’s Brand on his neck, and those dissipating gray mists suddenly coalesced into Leon’s falcon Emblem on his chest. "Bad birdie stole fruit!" Luna exclaimed as she thrust her saliva-covered Teething Stick into the shards of Xing Sha leak, causing starlight Track to automatically piece together Black Market Dealings Contract.
Allen's Mechanical Prosthetic suddenly clicked as gears engaged. He realized that the Defensive Spell etched inside was flowing in reverse. "Is the source of the backlash spell from Father’s Study's Guardian Magic Array?" His damaged right hand pressed against Luna's head, and a Magic Circuit diagram made of ice crystals floated out from her hair—exactly like the design for his Mechanical Prosthetic that Father had installed ten years ago when he encountered a magical accident.
Lucius abruptly grabbed the Pocket Watch and held it close to his ear; the Residual Shadow's sobbing transformed into a recording of Leon conversing with a mysterious figure.
Upon hearing "Use Third Young Master Lucius's Summoning Beast Crystal Core as a sacrifice," his blue pupils constricted sharply. "The mentor who urged me to switch to summoning techniques three years ago wore an embroidered Hawk Emblem on his sleeve!"
Luna suddenly tugged at her brother's clothing hem and crawled toward the library, leaving a trail of starlight that formed a navigation path.
In the Forbidden Zone's seventh layer Ankeli, Karl trembled as he pulled out a parchment detailing how to dissolve a Soul Contract. The yellowed page edges retained traces of Mother Aelia’s Dark Rose Scent.
"The Night Owl feathers at dawn," Allen inscribed with his Mechanical Prosthetic the materials for dispelling spells onto a Betrayal List. The Mechanical Joint oozed an Ice Blue antidote. "Mixed with metal forged by betrayers—the Secret Silver Dagger Father gifted to Leon last year?"
As Lucius extracted the gray mist source of the curse from the Summoning Beast Crystal Core, Luna suddenly pressed her Magic Potion-soaked little hand against Karl’s neck.
The dissipating magical power surged into Luna’s Palm like weary birds returning home, crystallizing into sparkling Starry Amber. "Put it on Second Brother!" Luna said in her Baby Voice as she stuffed the Amber into Karl’s Palm; those gray-green markings began to recede in reverse.
Morning light filtered through Shan Na of the Colored Glass Window, and all three brothers gazed simultaneously at the Family Star Map on the library Dome.
The remnants of spells on Allen’s Mechanical Prosthetic transformed into dispersing butterflies. The Brand on Karl’s neck faded to a light pink scar, and Lucius summoned Elemental Sprite finally free from its twisted gray shadow.
"It’s time to go see Mother," Luna said, tugging at Allen's cloak tassel and pointing toward the courtyard where the glow of Ice Crystal Contract was faintly visible at the bottom of Fountain Pool.
As they passed through the corridor, no one noticed that at the corner, Qin Si was tightly clutching a handkerchief embroidered with the Hawk Emblem, while the maid's skirt was stained with the unique fluorescent seaweed mud from the East Coast.
The morning mist had not yet dissipated from the Rose Window when the Ice Crystal Contract at the bottom of the Fountain Pool suddenly shattered into countless Light Spots.
Aelia, who was bending down to scoop water, felt a tremor in her fingertip as Liujin, the Seven-colored Dewdrop, rolled down her sleeve embroidered with the Guardian Spell, leaving scorched marks on the Lapis Lazuli Tiles.
"Madam!" Qin Si stumbled into the courtyard, her skirt smeared with seaweed mud, and her hairpin inlaid with Moonlight Shell tilted dangerously.
The maid Pale's fingertip dug into the Carved Pillars, her sleeve adorned with the Hawk Emblem shimmering with an eerie indigo in the morning light. "The master has hidden a Mermaid Princess with Twinborn at the Tide Pavilion on the East Coast!"
Aelia's Pearl Pendant suddenly exploded into powder, and memories of Leonard placing the Ocean Crystal Ring on her finger ten years ago at Coral Reef shattered like bubbles.
She stepped back and knocked over an Enamel Xunxiang furnace, and as incense ash burst forth from her skirt hem, it solidified into a Magic Calendar—the birth date of the Mermaid Princess's Twin Children coinciding perfectly with last year's Lunar Phase when Leonard claimed to be in Closed Door Training.
"The fluorescent seaweed from Tide Pavilion..." Aelia's Ailya's White Nails, stained with Rose Juice, sank deeply into her palm as she recalled the glowing particles that had clung to her husband Leonard's cloak collar half a month ago.
At that time, he had laughed and said it was a new type of defensive Magic Potion ingredient, his warm breath brushing against her collarbone adorned with Starry Amber.
Lucius's Elemental Sprite in hand suddenly let out a sharp cry, and the boy's azure pupils reflected his mother's staggering figure.
He waved his sleeve and shattered a marble statue beside the fountain; shards flew through the air, forming an illusion of Leonard kissing the Mermaid Princess. "No wonder Father always complains that my Water Elemental Sprite isn't pure enough!"
Chen Feng swept past the Emerald Corridor with remnants of the ice crystal Contract, while Allen's Mechanical Prosthetic emitted a harsh grinding sound.
His incomplete right hand pressed against his mother's trembling shoulder, and from within his Mechanical Prosthetic emerged a memory from ten years ago when Father installed his Mechanical Arm—engraved at the nerve junction was their Family Motto: "Honor Is Loyalty."
"Mother, look at this!" A shallow pink scar on Karl's neck suddenly oozed Xing Hui; Luna had given him Amber last night, which projected a three-dimensional image onto his palm.
In the Magic Reflection, Leonard was seen giving Merfolk scales to his beloved, personally placing what should have belonged to Aelia—the Tide Scepter—into the Mermaid Princess's braided hair entwined with pearls.
Aelia's Starry Hairpin suddenly dimmed as their twenty-year Marriage Contract Scroll fell from thin air.
When she saw a Fluorescent Emblem of a Merfolk Elder emerging at the Witness Signature section, her carefully drawn Guardian Barrier began to peel away from the Dome, and to her shock, the Image of the First Generation Fortress Master on the Stained Glass turned its back to everyone.
"Go fetch the Star Trail Divination instrument," Aelia's voice, tinged with tears, wrapped around the Ice Spike as her skirt, adorned with moonstone, swept across the ground littered with Contract Fragments.
Trembling, she tossed the Rose Brooch that Leonard had gifted her last year into the Divination fire pit. From the dancing flames emerged Leonard's Last Night, where he had set a ruby into a Coral Crown for the Mermaid Princess.
The Water Elemental Sprite summoned by Lucius suddenly went berserk, crashing through the Carved Wooden Door with a gust of salty sea wind.
The boy followed the rampaging sprite toward the Treasure Pavilion, shattering the Guardian Magic Array along the way, leaving a Merfolk Totem imprinted on the wall. "I’m going to melt down all of Father’s hidden Deep Sea Magic Crystals!"
As Twilight enveloped the Castle Spire, Aelia knelt alone in the Stargazing Observatory.
She gazed at the intertwining Light Band of the Mermaid Princess and Leonard, fiercely tearing apart the Mithril Chain that held her Wedding Ring around her neck.
The falling ring bounced on the ground etched with Guardian Spells before finally getting stuck in the Star Observation Instrument's base—where a faded Parchment lay quietly, recording how twenty years ago, on a midnight, her husband had secretly transformed her fertility Magic Circle into a Soul Contract.
Suddenly, the moonlight was swallowed by surging Lei Yun, causing Aelia's cherished Magic Roses to wilt en masse.
When the first Jing Lei struck the Castle Spire's Hawkeye Weather Vane, countless glowing shells surfaced in the Fountain Pool, each emitting a baby's loud cry in Huan Yin.
Shattered crystals from the Stargazing Observatory pierced Aelia's palm, mixing with the Bloody Smell of Dark Rose Fragrance that rose in the thunderstorm.
Luna, wrapped in a swaddling cloth woven by Xing Hui, suddenly leaped from a vine swing dangling from the Dome into her Foster Mother's arms.
The infant brushed against Aelia’s neck with Chen Lu’s eyelashes, and ice crystal bells in her hair chimed soothingly for souls.
"Look at this," Luna tugged at Aelia's Pearl Necklace and pointed to the ground.
When the Wedding Ring fell into the Dark Compartment of the Star Observation Instrument's Shan Na, the originally faded soul Contract Parchment suddenly emerged with Golden Patterns—those were from when Aelia awakened her healing talent at eighteen and drew the Life Magic Circle Residual Shadow at Star Moon Lake.
The sobbing of the Elemental Sprite pierced through the torrential rain as Lucius stumbled in, clutching a melted Deep Sea Magic Crystal.
A half-sapphire engraved with Merfolk insignia rolled from his arms and reflected a mirage from ten years ago when Leonard had cut his palm before the Coral Altar, letting his blood drip into what should have belonged to the Lady of the Fortress—the Inheritance Holy Grail.
The Bing Ling in Aelia’s pupil gradually melted away as she picked up the Starry Amber that Luna had pressed into her hands and held it against her chest.
The internal rotation of the Amber magic suddenly projected a three-dimensional image: twenty years ago, on the night of the wedding, Leonard quietly replaced her bedside Calming Incense—the cluster of eternally blooming Newlywed Roses, with Gray Mist Vines coiling around its roots to suppress magical perception.
"Mother, it's time for your medicine." Allen appeared, holding a Crystal Cup filled with Calming Potion, but the gears of his Mechanical Prosthetic were stuck on a piece of Glowing Shell.
As he leaned down, a Dark Compartment suddenly popped out from the inner side of the Mechanical Prosthetic. A Micro Memory Crystal, hidden by Father when he installed the Mechanical Arm ten years ago, rolled onto the ground, reflecting Leonard signing the Bloodline Severance Contract with the Merfolk Elder on Leonard's Last Night.
Luna suddenly grabbed Aelia's trembling Fingertip, her chubby little hand, smeared with Magic Potion, drawing crooked symbols on the Lapis Lazuli Floor.
Those tender lines absorbed Lei Guang and automatically completed into the Ancient Demon Script Formation Diagram for breaking the Soul Contract.
The Tide Scepter emerging at the formation's center perfectly aligned with Aelia's shattered Inheritance Staff from her eighteenth Awakening Ritual.
"The tide is receding," Luna pointed at the Moonlight Coral cluster on the Observation Platform's West Side that was beginning to wither.
Those corals, symbols of the Lady of the Fortress's authority, suddenly oozed Indigo Blue Blood Fern Juice, gathering on the Ground into a miniature version of the East Coast Tidal Pavilion.
Aelia's Skirt's Guardian Spell sensed a threat and automatically split into countless silver threads that pierced the map. However, upon reaching the Core Area of another building, they were shattered by a Hawk Totem.
As the heavy rain began to subside, Aelia tossed her Wedding Ring into the fire pit of the Star Observation Instrument.
When Mithril melted into Liquid Star, she suddenly fished out a broken Family Crest from the Ashes—this was a "toy" that Luna had secretly slipped into her Dressing Table last night, now revealing cracks unique to her distant cousin's territory in the firelight.
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