Cloud Thinking

As Camo saw Helia walking towards him, he hurriedly murmured the blood-red name on the magic book.

But she was completely unaffected. Instead, as she approached, she gradually changed her appearance—her long silver hair was gradually dyed red from the roots, returning to its original red color; her wolf-like emerald eyes were replaced by the royal blue.

She shed her disguise and returned to her true self.

Camorde panicked immediately.

This has never happened before!

He hastily summoned his wand and frantically cast spells at Helia while retreating. His lips moved so fast that he could cast a small spell almost every three seconds and a large spell every five seconds, at an astonishing speed that even Helia herself was ashamed of.

But she was not afraid at all.

She didn't even dodge or evade the incoming magic.

The transparent protective shield around her body—which only briefly revealed its flowing golden light when she was struck—protected her from all attacks, making it an excellent self-defense weapon.

This is a treasured item that Yorif specially dug out of the house because he was worried that Helia would get hurt tonight.

The gold bracelet on her wrist, inlaid with various gemstones, was a family heirloom of the Frank family, said to have been made by the most outstanding defensive magician in ancient times.

Now it seems that it truly lives up to its name; it's very useful.

By the time Camo realized something was wrong and tried to run away, it was too late.

Helia grabbed him by the back of his collar and lifted him up like a chick.

This person was as thin as a bamboo pole, and it was effortless to lift him up.

"Why are you running? Didn't I tell you to come and catch me?" Helia chuckled, but to Cammod, her voice sounded like a viper spitting its tongue in his ear.

She snatched the magic book from Cammod's hand, then wrapped her arms around his waist as if she were carrying a cat.

She turned the pages of the book, looked at the densely packed names, scoffed, and the smile on her lips vanished.

"What good would it do me to destroy this book?" she asked, glancing sideways and weighing the person in her hand.

"No, no, no... it's no use!" Cammod stammered, terrified. "This book only borrowed Zhou Ranyi's power..."

"Zhou Ranyi?" Helia expressed her doubts at the right moment.

Cammod then realized he had let something slip, and suddenly remembered whose daughter Helia was and whose student she was, and his body trembled like a leaf.

Madeline once caused a scene at the association headquarters, but because of Zhou Ranyi's incident, the association made concessions and Zhou Ranyi's name was not included in the list of court magicians.

Mobius also bombed the association's headquarters, also because of Zhou Ranyi, but he went too far, directly destroying a quarter of Zhou Ranyi.

Even though the association was furious, they couldn't do anything about it, and in the end, the matter was dropped.

The association did not give Mobius an explanation, and Mobius did not compensate the association. Both sides tacitly remained silent about Zhou Ranyi.

Now... what would Madeline's daughter, Mobius's student, this imperial princess who is even more hot-tempered, ruthless, and unreasonable, do if she knew about Zhou Ranyi's affairs?

I dare not think about it, nor dare I guess.

"Is Zhou Ranyi at the association headquarters?" Helia asked again.

Kokamode dared not answer, fearing he would become an accomplice to this person.

"If you don't tell me, I have plenty of ways to find out. How much is damaged will be none of my business then," Helia tightened her grip, threatening him with a tone that was neither too strong nor too weak.

"Kill me!!!" Cammod screamed in despair.

His teammates' fate is unknown, and as a fragile mage, he is doomed to die in Helia's hands.

Rather than suffer endless torment, unable to live or die, it's better to die with a secret.

"Why are you screaming so pitifully?" Helia chuckled twice, closed the magic book, and tapped Cammod on the head. "Your colleague is perfectly fine, so why didn't he even cry for help?"

As soon as she finished speaking, an ice spike came from behind, but it still failed to break through Helia's defenses.

But what follows are all sorts of magic and hidden weapons.

They've learned their lesson; they know that getting close to Helia won't hurt her, and they're more likely to be caught by her. It's better to use ranged magic to wear her down.

"Why is Zhou Ranyi useless against her?!" The double-sword uncle wiped the blood that was about to flow into his eyes, gripped his sword and plunged it into the ground, using it to support himself as he stood up.

"I don't know." The woman in the burgundy shirt next to her frowned as she looked at her broken rapier, her face darker than the night.

Cammod was equally curious about this question.

Since he joined the ranks of law enforcers, this magical tome in his hand has become a death sentence; no one can escape his judgment.

More accurately, no one with a name in the Magic Association can escape Zhou Ranyi's control—including the enforcers themselves.

The so-called law enforcers are nothing more than the freely moving limbs of Zhou Ranyi, this inanimate object.

Seeing that Helia was merely holding him up, only defending against the attacks and not attacking, Camorde grew a little bolder, or rather, started to use his brain. He carefully chose his tone and tentatively asked:

"Your Highness Helia... how... how were you able to escape Zhou Ranyi's judgment..."

Since Helia had already heard it, there was no point in him trying to cover it up anymore. He might as well admit it openly and show some trust in order to find out the secret behind how she avoided Zhou Ranyi's trial.

Law enforcement officers are also afraid of Zhou Ranyi, precisely because they rely on her and are among the people closest to her. The more they understand her, the more they fear her.

They knew perfectly well that they were nothing more than puppets of inanimate objects.

Human instinct is to survive, so no matter how much they talk about loyalty or how much they show their loyalty in their actions, what lies deep in their hearts is still a secret longing for freedom.

Camor had been dealing with Zhou Ranyi for almost ten years. Every time he participated in law enforcement operations, he hoped that someone could escape Zhou Ranyi's trial and see where Zhou Ranyi's weaknesses were, so that he could leave himself a way out, a way to survive, and a way to freedom.

But no, in the past ten years or so, no one has been able to escape. He has become numb and desperate, letting himself become a puppet on a string.

However, Helia gave him a glimmer of hope.

This hope came so suddenly that he was dazed and fearful, worried that it was just his imagination, a fleeting coincidence.

Helia glanced at him indifferently, a cold and pitying smile on her face. "That's because we were on guard from the very beginning."

It wasn't that Helia was on guard, but rather that Claude and Madeline were prepared.

From the very beginning, Helia enrolled at Carter's Academy under the name "Belle," and continued to use that name until her graduation exams. Despite her false identity as a distant relative of the Marquis Frank, she maintained the fake face of Belle for most of the time.

Even though everyone later realized that Belay was Helia, the person registered with the Magic Association was always "Belay," not "Helia."

This also made Helia realize one thing: for the restrictions Zhou Ranyi placed on the magician to take effect, the most crucial thing was the name and identity.

When she was moving around in the form of Belial, she did feel a slight restraint after Camord finished chanting the spell, but it wasn't much.

Even Zhou Ranyi, who seemed to be thousands of miles away, was unsure whether Helia was the object it needed or was able to judge.

After Helia returned to her original form, the restraints disappeared.

She had been wondering why it took so much effort to go to school, including forging an identity, changing her appearance, and arranging for so many people to accompany her. It turned out she was being guarded against by the Magic Association.

No one had ever told her about this, and the academy did not force her to correct her personal information after her identity was exposed.

It's like tacit approval, a kind of turning a blind eye.

And behind this, there must be the involvement of Dean Philip and Professor Mobius.

They were aware of Zhou Ranyi's existence, so they had been silently protecting Helia and guarding her well-known secret.

Thinking of Mobius, Helia wrinkled her nose a little embarrassedly.

That old man is really something; he did so much for me and didn't even say a word. I should have scolded him less and made him angrier...

"Prevention...?" Cammod asked, somewhat confused.

Most magicians are not wary of the Magic Association.

After all, once you embark on the path of magic and enter the magical world, you will inevitably live under the protection of the Association, a mountain that shelters the entire magical sky.

Aside from magicians from noble families or with special backgrounds, almost no one knew of Zhou Ranyi's existence, let alone took special precautions against the Association—when they first embarked on the path of magic, everyone was ignorant and naive; who could have imagined that there was such a huge trap involved?

Helia remained calmly standing in place, answering the question with unusual patience, her tone as relaxed as if she were chatting casually.

"What were your orders?" she countered.

Cammod looked up and carefully observed Helia's expression, then said, choosing his words carefully, "Um... to capture you and take you back...?" His tone was uncertain.

"Are you arresting me, or arresting Belai?" Helia had given her such a hint; if she still didn't understand, she was truly hopeless.

"What's the big deal..." Camo hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly realized the problem.

If he remembered correctly, the name recorded in the magic book was "Bellai Tamir Frank," which was the surname of the Frank family.

Even though the association's order was to arrest Helia, the problem is that Zhou Ranyi's records show the name "Belaiyi"...

Even though everyone knows that Belai is Helia, Zhou Ranyi is an inanimate object, so it doesn't know!

The loophole that Helia is exploiting now is like saying, "You want to arrest Zhou Shuren, but I am Lu Xun!"

This method isn't particularly sophisticated, but it's effective enough.

Dealing with Zhou Ranyi was like striking a snake at its vital point—precise and fatal.

No wonder, no wonder she was able to escape Zhou Ranyi's judgment!

Camo suddenly realized something, but then he realized something else.

If it's not Helia registered but Belial, then wouldn't Helia be similar to a wild mage not under the association's jurisdiction...?

Recalling the series of questions Helia had asked earlier, Cammod's face paled even more.

Given Helia's strength and status, if Zhou Ranyi hadn't restrained her, she might have truly become one of those wanted individuals on the wanted list.

No one wants to offend a favored and powerful imperial princess, and even fewer would risk their lives to provoke a mage who can fight dragons single-handedly, slay false gods, possess unfathomable strength, and has an unpredictable temper.

Cammod suddenly felt that Helia's image had become unfathomable. He had previously thought of her as a spoiled, unreasonable, and playful little princess, and that tonight's events were nothing more than a whim.

But now it seems that she came fully prepared.

In fact, her target might not be those lazy, corrupt nobles at all, but rather them, their Magic Association!

Only after realizing this did Cammod notice that Helia's behavior was extremely irrational.

Faced with the law enforcement team's encirclement, even though she was confident that she could fight them off alone, she did not decisively eliminate her teammates.

She clearly had the opportunity and the ability, but she didn't do it.

Just like now, she could easily crush him, but she just walks him around like a pet, without making any further moves.

When faced with attacks from others, she only focused on defense.

It's as if... she's waiting for something...

But what exactly is she waiting for?

"May I ask Your Highness... what do you intend to do now..." Cammod couldn't figure out Helia's intentions. After thinking it over, he felt that she probably wouldn't harm him, so he mustered up the courage to ask.

Helia tossed the thick, brick-like magic tome with one hand, looking completely at ease, as if it were some trivial trinket.

Hearing Cammod's question, she chuckled lightly, "If you won't answer my question, why should I?"

She was talking about Zhou Ranyi.

Cammod pursed his lips, not answering, but continuing to guess: "Are you... waiting for someone...?"

"So what if it is, and so what if it isn't?" Helia retorted again.

“If you came for one of us, then I think I’m probably not that person, and I can survive,” Cammod said truthfully.

His strong will to survive amused Helia.

"If you're so afraid of death, why did you join the law enforcement team? Why did you participate in the operation to hunt me down?" She calmly waved her hand, deflecting all the incoming magic bullets, her fingertips shrouded in a faint red light.

“I have never met a mage who could escape Zhou Ranyi’s judgment,” Cammod paused, “you are the first.”

"Oh...? All these years, no one has come up with a way to deal with Zhou Ranyi?" Helia's tone was full of disbelief.

Camor sighed softly, "Of course there are, but how could someone like me, a low-level employee, possibly have access to them?"

“Moreover…” he frowned, “even if someone does find Zhou Ranyi’s weakness and tries to destroy her, the association will never sit idly by…”

"You're quite clear-headed," Helia said, her opinion of the person in her arms slightly changed. "Has anyone successfully escaped the Association?"

"Which kind of escape are you referring to?" Camorde asked. "Was it an escape from the Association's prison, or..."

"Break free from the association's jurisdiction and control?"

“The latter, of course.” Helia spoke, her gaze fixed straight ahead on the attacker. “Is it possible for a registered mage to break free from control?”

“I haven’t seen it, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.” This statement was almost a truism, which made Helia click her tongue in annoyance.

He quickly added, "I heard—I only heard—that an elven mage who was once a member of the elders' council chose to leave because he was dissatisfied with the power struggles within the association."

"Later, the association had something that he couldn't do without, but they couldn't find him anywhere, not even Zhou Ranyi could track him down."

"What's that elven mage's name?" Helia suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if she might know this person.

"he is--"

"Clementi".