Cloud Thinking

Out of a strange curiosity, Cammod secretly collected the blood that had splattered on his face, which belonged to Helia, and carefully hid it in his bosom.

Blood is an extremely special medium in the magical world.

A mature mage would never allow their blood to scatter everywhere—Helia was no exception.

With the victory already secured, she lightly snapped her fingers.

The scattered blood droplets seemed to be scorched by invisible flames, making a sizzling sound, and instantly evaporated and disappeared with wisps of white smoke.

She showed little mercy to the law enforcement officers who came to capture her—take away their memories, then execute them.

She hadn't originally intended to steal their memories, but when she thought of Zhou Ranyi, Helia judged that the enforcers must know him far better than ordinary mages, so she changed her mind.

She left only two survivors: one was Camorde, and the other was the double-knife-wielding uncle who always verbally abused Camorde.

Carrying one in her left hand and another in her right, she hummed a lighthearted tune as she walked through the ruins and over countless corpses, slowly disappearing into the distance, illuminated by the inexplicably blazing fire that had sprung up behind her.

-

"what?!"

A decisive, ruthless hand slammed down on the solid wood desk, causing papers to jump and tea to splash, wetting the documents next to it.

The usually calm and collected Imperial Marshal, who could remain unfazed even in the face of a stalemate, was now unable to contain his rage. His eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he was almost about to burst into a killing spree.

"Calm down." Okalay raised his hand and pressed it on her shoulder, gesturing with his eyes for the soldier who had brought the message to continue.

"Her Highness Helia is seriously injured and has been taken back to Carter's Academy for treatment by the teachers."

"As for the guests who attended the banquet... except for Yorif and his servants who were lucky enough to survive, all the others have been confirmed dead."

"What is the Magic Association's attitude?" Okalley pressed.

The soldier shook his head: "Nothing's happening. They seem to be trying to play dumb and get away with it."

These words reignited Hilda's anger.

If it weren't for the hand firmly holding her shoulder, she would have already rushed out the door.

"However, Princess Helia clearly foresaw this situation. The video stone recording the events of that night is already circulating in the bazaar," the soldier continued to report. "Not only is the academy demanding an explanation from the association, but many civilians have also gathered in front of the association's branch in Berman, clamoring for justice for Her Highness."

Okalai and Hilda exchanged a glance, sensing something amiss.

It seems that this whole thing was orchestrated by Helia herself in an attempt to win over the people.

But with the situation escalating so much, Hilda, as the lord of the North, had to make a statement.

As everyone knows, the Antonio family is extremely protective of its own.

Even if Helia's actions violated the law and public morality, the Antonio family had plenty of ways to make those people's deaths seem justified.

Within a few days, news of the despicable behavior of the nobles who attended the meeting that night spread rapidly, arousing public outrage.

Oppressing ordinary people and abducting women are their specialties. Since they dare to do it, they should naturally bear the price of being swallowed up by public anger.

Helia's reputation was already mixed—she was indeed a hero who defended the empire, but her methods were also ruthless and frightening.

After this incident, although some people accused her of extreme cruelty, more people sided with her and firmly believed that she was a hero who rid the people of a scourge.

The feat of slaying the dragon, the speech at Glory Square, and the legend of killing the false god—these have long been planted in the hearts of the people.

Now that she is willing to bear the infamy to eradicate the parasites, who wouldn't praise her?

Moreover, Hilda subsequently ordered the confiscation of noble property, which was then donated free of charge to the commoners of the North.

As beneficiaries of the existing system, they naturally sided with Helia.

The needs of ordinary people are simple: food, clothing, and shelter.

Now that Helia is giving them the wealth she has taken back from the nobles, why would they protect those domineering nobles?

In this top-down transformation, the North was the fastest to regain stability.

This was due both to Helia's initiative and the powerful influence of the Antonio family.

Under Hilda's military might, no one dared to rebel.

“She has too few capable people around her, so we’ll transfer another batch over,” Hilda said firmly, having already made her decision.

"Don't rush," Okalai advised. "Let's wait until the capital makes a decision before we act."

Hilda clearly couldn't wait.

She was extremely anxious about her younger sister facing the enemy alone.

“There’s no need.” She shook her head. “Not to mention who controls the government in the capital now, it would take five or six days just for news to travel back and forth.”

"We can afford to wait, but Aya can't! Are we going to wait until we hear she's dead before we take action?"

“Sister!” Okalay felt that Hilda had lost her mind about Helia. “She is my sister too, and I am just as worried as you are.”

"But if we rashly deploy troops, and someone with ulterior motives uses this to portray Aya as a traitor, wouldn't that go against her original intentions?"

He patted Hilda's back gently: "His Highness Eric should be in charge of the capital now. If you trust him and know how much he loves Helia, then wait a little longer."

“What if it were Claude?” Hilda countered. “What if this was just Claude’s scheme to use Helia? What if he only saw her as a pawn to be used and discarded?”

She was educated by Hawke from a young age, and her views on Claude were somewhat influenced by him.

But she wasn't wrong—Claude was indeed ruthless in achieving his goals, even willing to use and sacrifice his own flesh and blood.

“Sister, put yourself in my shoes. If you were the emperor, would you give up such a capable and decisive heir?” Okalay tapped the table lightly. “If it were me, I wouldn’t.”

“His Majesty Claude is devoted to the country, which we have all witnessed. Even for the sake of the empire, he would not easily lay a hand on Helia.”

"The empire's lion is old and its power is waning, while enemies, both overt and covert, are stirring." He paused, then, thinking of Helia's achievements, smiled with satisfaction and pride. "And Helia's strength just makes up for this."

Hilda remained silent, but Okalé knew she had taken it to heart.

He leaned forward, staring intently into Hilda's eyes, and asked the question that had been buried in his mind for so long: "Sister, where does your guilt towards Aya come from, and why are you so eager to make amends?"

Before she could answer, he continued, "Don't rush to deny it. We grew up together, I know you better than anyone else."

Okalay is meticulous, Hilda is decisive—that's why Hawke paired them up.

Having grown up together and worked together for many years, how could Okalay not see his sister's unusual urgency?

Hilda's hand on the table tightened slightly.

She knew this couldn't be kept secret for long; even if she didn't say anything now, Okalay would investigate on her own.

But she was still hesitant—it concerned her father’s image in their eyes, and also her future attitude toward Helia and even the Abrahamic royal family.

As the saying goes, if a son is not taught, it is the father's fault. So how can the son not bear the father's fault?

She is willing to bear this guilt and responsibility alone, and make up for the loss by herself.

“Sister.” Seeing Hilda waver, Okalay grasped her wrist, her gaze intense. “I am also Aya’s family. I have the right to know the truth, and I am willing to do anything to protect her and safeguard our blood relatives.”

Hilda sighed deeply and finally gave in.

After Helia left the North, she followed the clues left by Hawke and eventually discovered the truth—that Hawke had joined forces with the Morogan Cult to try to elevate Helia to godhood.

Helia's disappearance was Hawke's doing, and he paid for it with his life.

The trail went cold at the Mologan Church.

Even though Helia had hinted to Hilda to show leniency towards the Morogan Cult, and she did indeed do so, not wiping them out completely, they could no longer continue operating under her nose.

Much of the evidence was burned as believers left.

But every cloud has a silver lining. In the end, Hilda found the remaining evidence at the Trudeau Orphanage—as if someone had prepared it for her, each piece of evidence was clearly presented, shattering her father's image of a tall and righteous man.

Even though she understood that her father must have had a deeper meaning, she still saw the pain that Aya was enduring!

The Antonio family values ​​blood ties above all else, yet the father turned against his own family? And it was none other than the sister she had always felt indebted to!

How can she understand this? How can she not feel guilty?

After listening, Okalay fell into a long silence.

“Send a squad of fifty men first; we can’t leave her without anyone to rely on,” he said, echoing Hilda’s sentiments.

The siblings reached an agreement on protecting Helia and making up for what they owed her.

This is what the Antonio family owes her—not only Helia, but also Madeline.

-

Cammod was detained at the academy, awaiting the intervention of the Magic Association to ransom him.

However, if the association intervenes, it would be tantamount to admitting that they had privately hunted down the imperial princess without an arrest warrant, thus confirming the crime.

No wonder the association has kept its doors tightly shut and remained silent.

Even if Helia is suspected of abusing magic to kill, ... everything should be based on evidence.

The dead have been burned to ashes. Even if magical residue is detected, who can tell whether Helia killed them intentionally or was forced to retaliate?

Helia cleverly detained two association mages, which is the most direct evidence.

She even has footage from that night as evidence—even if it's taken out of context, no one can refute it.

Those who were there that night were either dead or on her side. The enforcement team knew that this trip was against the rules, so they naturally didn't make a special record of it. This allowed Helia to take advantage of the situation and turn the tables on them.

Camor's words are not enough to prove anything unless he is willing to open his mind and let others search it.

Even so, Helia was not afraid—she could extract memories, so she could naturally alter them.

Besides, Camord wouldn't do that—opening his sea of ​​consciousness is too risky; a slight misstep could cost him his life.

Rather than risking one's life to clear one's name, it's better to live a life of ignominy.

Anyway, the blame will fall on the association; he's just a lowly henchman following orders.

If the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up, what is he afraid of?

As long as Helia still needs him as a witness, he doesn't need to worry about being killed.

So, during Helia's "serious injury recovery" period, he ate well, drank well, and slept well, and actually gained some weight.

As for the other one—he was too stubborn and constantly complained about injustice, which annoyed everyone, so Helia threw him into a dark and gloomy basement.

At first, he went on a hunger strike in protest, but when he saw that Helia really didn't care whether he lived or died, he had no choice but to accept his fate due to his survival instinct and became much more obedient.

As a neutral force, the academy typically does not intervene in such matters.

However, Helia's status was special—not only did her teachers Mobius and Levita protect her, but the dean also expressed his support, which is why the academy took her in and put her under the supervision of Cammod and the other two.

Cammod longed to see Helia again, but she claimed to be ill and refused all visitors, seemingly plotting something.

But he knew that Helia was not injured at all, and even the fatal wound that pierced her heart had no effect on her.

She is no longer human—Cammod concluded.

After visiting the Twin-Blades Uncle, Cammod returned to the "prison" under the watchful eyes of the soldiers.

In the dead of night, unable to contain his curiosity, he took out the slender conch necklace he wore close to his body—a specially made container for collecting blood in critical moments.

He is not only a magician who has signed a contract with Zhou Ranyi and can borrow her power, but before becoming an enforcer, his specialty was actually blood magic.

Through blood, he can not only track and interfere with targets regardless of distance, but also glimpse a person's past and future.

This is a power so strong that it is almost impossible to counter.

However, he was well aware of the principle that the tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind, and he always kept this secret well hidden.

Even within the association, only a few core senior executives knew about it.

Perhaps this is the Association's real purpose in sending him on this mission—to obtain Helia's blood.

Camord stared at the dark red bloodstains on the tip of the conch shell and sneered inwardly: "Superior Sima, you always assign me these death-defying tasks. Do you think I'll do them or not? Ha!"

He pierced his fingertip with the tip of a conch shell, and bright red blood quickly covered the original dark color.

As the magic flowed, his consciousness gradually sank until he suddenly lost weight and plunged into the shallows with a "plop".

"Hiss—" He felt like his entire skeleton was about to shatter.

Struggling to his feet, he looked around and couldn't help but gasp – he had never seen such a bizarre scene of fate.

On the surface, Cammod appears timid and frail, but in reality, he is a descendant of the fallen goddess of fate.

He can see the past, present, and future of his targets through their blood.

Although destiny is not predetermined, before major turning points occur, the trajectory of life often follows the predetermined direction of fate.

If he had spied on Helia when she first transmigrated, he would have discovered that she had almost completely overturned her destiny and was speeding toward an unpredictable direction.

He cautiously groped his way forward.

It was pitch black all around, and we could only wade through the water by feeling.

The ankle-deep water splashed with each step, sounding particularly jarring in the deathly silence, making him tense—afraid of disturbing the unknown beings lurking in the darkness.

As his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, he vaguely saw a towering figure like a mountain range blocking his path, rising and falling with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

It is a living creature.

He brushed aside his overly long bangs, revealing his pink eyes, which shimmered with a faint light.

He continued walking until he heard heavy breathing and felt an unusual heat wave, then he stopped and looked up.

The enormous black creature was curled up in a ball, almost blending into the darkness like a towering mountain, making it difficult to discern its true form for the time being.

He took a deep breath, bowed his head, closed his eyes, and clasped his hands in front of his chest, devoutly chanting: "O omnipresent God of Fate... Lord of the Stars... Weaver of Destiny..."

"...The believer here beseeches Your gaze...grant me the power to dispel the fog...and glimpse the power of destiny..."

After reciting it more than twenty times, he finally received a response: a glimmer of light fell from the dark sky, like a shooting star, into his outstretched palm, and turned into an old oil lamp.

He held up the oil lamp, trying to illuminate the true form of the giant object.

However, when light tears through darkness, those who slumbered in the long night are also awakened by the uninvited guest, opening their eyes with displeasure—

His deep, ocean-like eyes held pupils that burned like the golden sun, exuding an unapproachable aura as he looked down at the tiny insects disturbing their slumber.

It's a dragon...

Camor stood frozen in place, unable to move.

Every cell in my body was screaming to escape; it was the most instinctive fear when faced with an existence that was absolutely insurmountable.

It's still the Black Dragon...

If memory serves, this unique black dragon is none other than the Lord of War, the Lord of Greed, and the King of Plunder, who, like the god he worshipped, perished in the past…

Watersese, the god of war.