Somewhere in a luxurious noble mansion.
An underground study.
Within the barrier of the Soundproof Array, the firelight in the fireplace danced silently, casting Viscount Eli’s cold face half in shadow.
Beside him, Roger’s father, Viscount Howard, yanked open his collar in agitation, his Adam’s apple bobbing with a suppressed roar, eyes wild enough to bleed.
“Eli! How the hell can you just sit there?!”
Howard slammed a fist onto the edge of the desk.
The expensive magical wood groaned under the force.
“My son Roger is ruined! That idiot Barton is now a charred lump, barely alive! Even the rogue mercenaries he hired have been turned to ash! Lin En! That filthy bastard must die! I want his whole family chopped up and fed to magic beasts! Immediately! Now!”
Viscount Eli swirled the wine glass in his hand, calculation in his eyes.
“Howard, meaningless rage accomplishes nothing. Morton has made it clear he intends to protect him. Within the Academy, we can’t act.”
His voice was calm and icy.
“Barton…hmph. A brute who dared to make a move in secret just for some promised benefit from Kain—he brought this upon himself. As for the mercenaries he found, rootless drifters. Dead and gone, nothing left behind. This, however, reminds us that Lin En truly is no ordinary person. Brute force is the lowest of choices.”
His sharp gaze turned to a trusted aide standing in the shadows.
“Walter.”
Walter, dressed in a butler’s uniform, stepped forward soundlessly. He held a nondescript dark brown leather folder with both hands, placing it respectfully at the center of the desk.
“Master. Master Howard.”
Regarding the target Lin En’s family situation, it has been thoroughly investigated.
His voice was low and steady, devoid of emotion.
The folder was opened.
Inside was a map of the streets.
Walter’s aged finger pointed to the map.
“This is Oak Town, where the target’s family resides, about a hundred miles northwest of Academy City.”
His fingertip landed on the map’s edge, on a location marked with a prominent dark red circle.
“Wheat Fragrance Bakery is the shop operated by the target’s parents.”
Walter flipped the page, revealing two simple charcoal portraits side by side.
“Lynn Dashan, Susan. The target’s parents, commoner bakers.”
He tapped each portrait in turn.
“No recorded magic fluctuations, no special background to speak of.”
He raised his eyes slightly to Eli.
“In short, the most ordinary weeds—shallow roots, easily removed, leaving nothing worth noticing behind.”
A cold metaphor, announcing the insignificance of two lives.
The next page was turned.
A vibrant portrait of a young girl instantly appeared.
“The target’s younger sister, Lynn Viel, approximately 15 years old.”
His fingertip traced the line.
“According to the Spirit Power scan by our Spy, there’s no magic affinity.”
“His…”
“I…”
“Hmph, just another useless one like Lin En.”
Viscount Eli’s lips curled into a cold arc as he looked toward the butler, standing still as a shadow.
“Walter, send a message through Black Gloves to Scarface of the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang—bloodbath Wheat Fragrance Bakery. Leave not a single soul.”
The firelight flickered on Walter’s expressionless face.
“Understood, Master. The fangs of Blood Wolf will tear apart the bakery.”
“Wait, Walter.”
It was Roger’s father, Viscount Howard, who spoke.
He reached out and drew Lynn Viel’s vivid portrait directly from the folder.
Viscount Howard stared fixedly at the girl’s bright smile in the picture.
His gaze was like the greediest hunter sizing up a helpless rabbit.
Bloodshot eyes traced from her clear eyes, to the slight curve of her lips, then to the slender neck.
His Adam’s apple moved in a silent gulp.
Viscount Eli watched Howard in silence, the coldness in his eyes showing no surprise—he knew all too well his old friend’s proclivities.
“Eli…”
Howard’s voice was low and hoarse, each word dredged up from the depths of an icy cellar.
“To simply kill her… that would be too easy for that bastard Lin En.”
His gaze never left the portrait, fingertip gently caressing the girl’s cheek.
“Death is a release.”
Howard raised his head, looking at Eli, a sick madness burning in his eyes.
“I want her alive. I want her to be awake—every moment, to feel… eternal despair and pain!”
He gripped the portrait harder, his knuckles turning white.
He turned the picture toward Eli and Walter, pointing to Lynn Viel.
“Old friend, what do you think Lin En would feel, knowing his sister is alive, but living in endless torment?”
Viscount Eli’s lips twisted into a sinister smile.
“Howard, that is indeed a cruel move.”
He turned to Walter.
“Walter, besides arranging for the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang to massacre the bakery, make sure Lynn Viel is left alive—for Master Howard to handle.”
Walter nodded respectfully.
“Rest assured, Master. I will see to it. I believe for such a small matter, the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang will do their job well. Lynn Viel will be delivered safely to Master Howard.”
“Tell Scarface of Blood Wolf—those two old ones can be chopped up and fed to the dogs, but…”
Howard’s tone turned ice-cold.
“This girl, Lynn Viel, must be captured alive. Not a single hair harmed.”
He paused, then added, voice tinged with a cruel generosity.
“Tell Blood Wolf, as long as they deliver her unharmed to Stone Crow Outpost, besides the agreed reward, I, Howard, will personally pay them extra—a sum to satisfy them.”
Where there is great reward, there are bold men—especially for outlaws like Blood Wolf.
Viscount Howard caressed the portrait in his hand, his face twisted with excitement.
“Lin En, I want you to taste the pain of losing everything. You ruined my son. I’ll pay you back double with your own sister.”
Viscount Eli leaned back in his chair, his gaze icy as he pondered the aftermath.
“Once the Blood Wolf Bandit Gang succeeds, we’ll see how Lin En reacts. If he dares to act rashly, we’ll have more means to deal with him. This time, we must make sure he can never recover.”
Walter stood at the side, eyes calm.
“Master, I will make arrangements at once. The Blood Wolf Bandit Gang will act swiftly once they receive the message.”
With that, he bowed slightly and withdrew into the shadows.
Viscount Howard carefully slipped the portrait into his breast pocket, as if it were the most precious treasure.
“Eli, if that Lin En brat learns of this, he’ll surely come after us in desperation. When that happens, we can catch him in our trap.”
Viscount Eli sneered.
“If he truly dares come, it will be his own death sentence. Let that commoner boy witness the means of us nobles—let him enter, never to return.”
The firelight flickered in the fireplace, illuminating the malice and calculation on both their faces.
A conspiracy targeting Lin En and his family had begun to unfold in the darkness.
***
Deep night in the library.
Lin En sat in a corner.
Upon the heavy oak table lay the ancient scroll gifted by Morton, beside a stack of thick tomes on magic history and rune analysis.
The library was deathly quiet, only the rustle of turning pages and the faint crackle of a distant Magic Lampwick.
His brow was furrowed.
His fingertips traced the damaged ancient runes on the scroll.
Unlike modern magic systems that relied on precise incantations, complex gestures, and vast magic power, the force recorded on this scroll felt more direct—closer to the essence of energy manipulation.
It seemed to describe how to directly pry open the world’s underlying rules, rather than invoke elements through complicated rituals.
But the scroll was too ancient.
Key parts were badly worn, the information scattered, shrouded in a thick mist.
No matter how much he focused, he could only glimpse a fragment.
“Energy structure…more condensed…guidance methods…resonance, not command…”
Lin En murmured to himself.
The scientist’s mind raced, attempting to analyze these esoteric symbols with logic and modeling.
He picked up a Feather Pen, swiftly sketching hypothesized paths of energy flow on the draft paper.
Just as his focus narrowed to a blurred flame rune on the scroll—
Bang!
His heart felt seized by a massive, invisible, icy hand!
A surge of panic struck him, his blood freezing and surging in reverse.
“Ugh!”
Lin En gasped, the Feather Pen slipping from his grip to splatter ink on the page.
Then—
A surge of memory not his own, yet burned deep into the soul of this body, burst forth like a flood breaking a dam.
It roared through his mind.
A warm cottage filled with the scent of bread.
Mother Susan’s flour-dusted hands, scolding with affection.
“You little glutton, don’t steal the fresh bread!”
Father Lynn Dashan’s rough but strong hand clapping his shoulder, booming with laughter.
“Brat, you’re getting stronger! From now on, the Bread Oven is your responsibility!”
Sister Lynn Viel’s sun-bright smile, skipping toward him, voice ringing.
“Brother! Look, is my flower crown pretty?”
That smile was pure, untainted by the slightest shadow.
These were the parents and family of the original owner of this body!
“What’s happening?!”
Lin En gritted his teeth against the violent spasms of his heart and the tremor in his soul.
The scientist’s powerful logic kicked in, forcing an analytical path through the emotional storm.
This was no ordinary palpitation!
The intensity exceeded physiological limits, accompanied by irrational terror and fragmented memory flashbacks.
He was in the library—extremely safe, protected by powerful defensive runes.
No environmental anomalies.
No illness.
But—the core of the flashbacks pointed to his family.
The panic peaked!
A strong correlation!
The only mortal enemies he’d made recently were Kain Eli and Roger Howard, and their families.
They were vengeful, ruthless.
He himself was under Morton’s potential watch in the Academy, so they wouldn’t dare act directly within Academy City for now.
Thus, the easiest, most devastating target for them to strike would be—
The only answer: his family!
Lynn Dashan, Susan, Lynn Viel, of Oak Town!
They were commoners, powerless to defend themselves—his greatest weakness!
After constructing a Crystal Core with Spirit Power, his detection abilities for danger and anomalies were vastly heightened.
This sudden, soul-deep panic and memory storm was most likely a warning between close kin!
A cross-space cry for help when blood relatives face mortal danger!
“Someone…is targeting my family?! Is it Roger and Kain’s families, or another disaster?!”
This cruel, cold conclusion pierced through the last threads of Lin En the scientist’s rationality like a poisoned ice spike!
All logic, all restraint—became fuel.
Fuel for a fire that ignited from the depths of his soul, a primal, savage fury to protect—and to destroy!
The framework of absolute rationality, so prized by the scientist Lin En, shattered like fragile glass before this heart-wrenching realization.
“No—!!”
A suppressed scream like a wounded beast tore from his throat, filled with endless fear and erupting fury!
In the depths of Lin En’s consciousness, the two Crystal Cores—refined through endless tempering and massive Spirit Power—suddenly let out a strained, unbearable hum!
What had been a flawless diamond, circulating Spirit Power in precise, stable loops, now crawled with web-like cracks!
From those cracks blazed an unstable, raging dark red light!
The vast rivers of Spirit Power within lost all order, from precise cycles to chaotic turbulence!
Boom!!!
A terror beyond description, an overwhelming Mental Power Field, exploded from Lin En like a volcano dormant for millennia!
This force was no longer a contained sense of perception, but a tangible mental storm of boundless rage, lethal intent, and soul-rending fear.
Instantly—
The two students closest to Lin En, who had been quietly discussing homework, froze.
Their eyes went blank.
As if struck by an invisible hammer, their bodies stiffened, then collapsed to the floor with two heavy thuds—too stunned to even scream, only convulsing violently.
A bit farther away, a girl reaching for a book crumpled as if her strength had been stolen.
Books tumbled from her hands.
She slid to the floor against a bookshelf, face as white as paper, pupils shrinking with terror, teeth chattering.
Throughout the library, every moving student, near or far, was paralyzed.
As if the pause button had been pressed.
In the depths of their souls, each felt a catastrophic doom descend.
Blood chilled.
Breaths stopped.
Minds blanked, overwhelmed by the primal urge to grovel.
An unseen weight crushed every throat.
Buzz—!
Buzz—!
Buzz—!
Across the dome and walls of the library, the powerful Defense Arrays etched within the structure flared to life!
Intricate magical patterns blazed with blinding blue-white light, crackling and flickering like a network under stress!
A shrill, glass-shattering hum filled the air!
The array’s energy barriers shuddered, spiderwebbed with visible cracks!
Bolts of uncontrolled magic arced from the walls, scorching bookshelves with blackened scars!
The entire library seemed on the verge of collapse under the weight of the mental storm!
***
On the top floor of the library, in a private office—
Master Morton, deep in meditation within the vast Elemental Sea, opened his eyes in shock.
“Mm?!”
For the first time, a look of undisguised horror broke his usually calm expression.
As if a tidal wave had erupted across a tranquil sea.
This massive, abyssal wave of Spirit Power—chaotic, frenzied, filled with destructive wrath.
What shook him even more was that he instantly recognized its source!
“Lin En?!”
Morton leapt to his feet.
His wide Mage’s Robe billowed.
He stepped forward, his form blurring and passing straight through the wall.
He appeared above the library, gazing down at the figure at the heart of the storm.
His eyes brimmed with disbelief.
“This…what terrifying Mental Power Field is this?! What happened?! What could have pushed him to such a loss of control?!”
Morton’s mind was deeply shaken.
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