Chapter 126

Holy Varelt Grand Temple, resting chamber.

Luosen stared at Queen Kao, who was seated five meters away.

"Your Majesty, Queen, I have been studying magic on my own for 70 years. In these 70 years, as long as it's something I wanted to accomplish, I have never failed."

"This time, I still believe I will succeed."

The words were false, the voice not loud, yet they were spoken with an extremely stern tone, like a fierce mental current striking the opponent.

Queen Kao's eyebrows and eyes twitched imperceptibly, and she felt a heavy pressure in her heart.

The Six Rings Archmage, having studied magic for 70 years, must have attained an understanding of magic that an ordinary mage could hardly imagine.

She originally intended to directly summon the guards to subdue the opponent, but now, because of the other's words, she has great misgivings.

Of course, she did not fully believe the other's words, but she dared not gamble.

Even if the opponent were stripped of all magical artifacts, and she herself carried possibly the strongest artifact in all of Kao, she still would not dare.

After all, she is a queen, not a warrior who charges into battle; she excels at strategizing behind the scenes, not in direct confrontation.

Thus, she remained seated, unmoving, and replied only with words.

"Archmage, focusing on unbreakable ring numbers is a truth that has prevailed for a thousand years. But today, this truth must be changed."

The queen gazed at Luosen, a smile of superiority appearing on her face.

"What cannot break the ring numbers is magical power! It is noble ability! But base ability can!"

"Not only can it, it can easily break them and raise the strength to an unimaginable degree!"

That statement sounded somewhat mystical, but Luosen could of course understand the threat in the words.

The queen said, "Perhaps my magical power is not as strong as yours, but I have mastered a power far exceeding the ring-number limit. Therefore, your Six Rings magical power cannot threaten me."

In response, Luosen was not startled but delighted.

Because the opponent chose verbal confrontation instead of direct action, it shows they were intimidated by my earlier words.

"Those in high positions always think they have many chips and many escape routes, and thus lose their daring courage."

This gives him more opportunities.

These opportunities won't last long, because as time passes, the guards outside will come in to check the situation, so he must act quickly.

He continued, "Your Majesty, let's make a bet."

The queen nodded: "I don't like betting with people, but since Archmage enjoys it, I don't mind betting with you."

Luosen slowly said: "I bet that I can subdue you without alarming the guards outside. And if the guards are alarmed, I will leave immediately and never again bother Your Majesty."

The queen's face showed a hint of odd color: "Subdue? In this situation, you don't plan to fight to the death, yet you dare to show mercy toward me?"

Luosen smiled: "If I win, please answer three questions for me, Your Majesty."

The queen smiled: "If you can truly subdue me silently, then for the sake of preserving my life, I can answer not just three, but ten questions."

Luosen's intent quickly coalesced; Laifu's Heart of the War God was fully activated and operating at its extreme.

"Your Majesty, are you ready?"

The queen remained seated, her hands appearing lightly crossed on her knees, but her magical power had also gathered to the extreme, in a state of full alert.

No, she even wanted to strike first.

Unfortunately, thanks to the Ten Rings mage's super sensitivity to magical fluctuations, Laifu closely monitored her every move.

At the instant she wanted to act, it erupted first!

Whoosh~~~ a soft sound, a crystal-clear, inwardly contracting deep blue crystal membrane emanated from the center of Luosen's feet, spreading outward at the speed of candlelight illuminating a dark room, instantly covering the walls of the resting chamber.

In the blink of an eye, the walls were coated with a layer of shining blue crystal plating.

Ten Rings magical power driving the Six Rings Pure Water Boundary Silent Crystal Wall.

The spell's effect is to perfectly shield all magical auras within the boundary weaker than Six Rings, including the boundary itself.

This is a special spell Luosen prepared for this operation.

The core knowledge came from Laerte Lis, then was modified by the modern magical system, and tested by all senior mages in the territory.

No flaws have been found so far.

Moreover, because it is driven by higher Ten Rings magical power, the final formed spell reaches the peak strength of Seven Rings.

Then why is the casting so fast?

Because this is a water spell assisted by a crystal lattice for casting, and the crystal lattice that stores the water spell essentially is a packet of water imbued with magical power.

When hidden close to the body, it cannot be detected at all.

Finally, Laifu's reaction speed is also at its extreme.

With all these factors combined, when the blue magical crystal water enveloped the entire resting chamber in an instant, less than a tenth of a second had passed.

A tenth of a second is almost the limit of human reaction speed, and only for those with quick reflexes, whereas the queen's reaction speed is merely average.

So, when Luosen's spell was completed, her magical power had not yet touched the magical artifact hidden under her skirt.

But the Heart of the War God is strong not only because it reacts quickly; it can also perform multi-threaded operations.

When all computational power is bolstering it, at most it can achieve ultra-fast casting of three threads.

As the Silent Crystal Wall was activated, it continued to precisely sense the queen's magical power status and controlled a strand of Ten Rings magical power, swiftly spreading over.

In an instant, the Ten Rings magical power spanned five meters and met the queen's Five Rings magical power under her wide skirt hem.

Because of the remote transmission, Luosen's magical power strength decreased by more than thirty percent, but because it was Ten Rings, the final strength after reduction still reached the peak of Six Rings, which is much stronger than the queen's Five Rings peak.

At this moment, two streams of powerful pure magical power clashed repeatedly under the skirt hem.

Pure magical power is formless and substance-less; the clash of pure magical power does not produce much disturbance, but if pure magical power suffers strong interference, it will decay into various forms of magical energy.

Under the queen's skirt hem, light flashed and thunder exploded.

In the blink of an eye, the overflowing bit of power script tore the wide skirt hem to shreds, revealing a pair of plump legs wearing new-style tight stockings.

If it weren't for the activation of the trigger magical artifact on the queen's body, she would definitely have been seriously injured at this moment.

But also because the trigger magic device was activated, it gave the Queen much confidence.

She stood up.

Because this trigger magic device is called the "Rose Domain", it is one of the highest magical achievements of Kao's Magic Department.

Its defensive strength is that of Six Rings, and it is charged using a very special secret technique.

Each such trigger magic device is crafted at enormous cost, and only direct members of the royal family are qualified to wear it.

After the magic device was activated, a layer of splendid flames enveloped the Queen's body surface; these flames were not randomly distributed but traced out numerous rose lights and shadows, appearing and disappearing at extreme speed.

But the Queen's confidence did not last long.

Because Luosen still had a final move.

Under Laifu's control, his body manifested a newly improved Flawless Steel Dragon Body.

The dragon body manifested by the goddess that day was ferocious and frightening, complete with wings, but although Luosen's manifested body was also bluish-black, it was smooth and flowing, with no extra decorations meant for intimidation.

His improved dragon body bears a streamlined mechanical aesthetic and greatly enhances the defense of key parts, like steel armor.

Swish~~~

Likewise, the dragon body manifested from Ten Rings magic power evolution appeared, its strength reaching the peak of Seven Rings.

The tremendous force erupting from the peak of Seven Rings caused Luosen to turn into a flowing flash, appearing like a ghost in an instant behind the Kao Queen.

He placed his right hand on the Queen's shoulder, applied slight pressure, pierced the Six Rings fire-formed Rose Domain, pressed on her shoulder, and gently pressed her back down into her seat.

With his other hand, he reached toward the Queen's hem, feeling out a long, entirely deep-purple krypton gold magic device, which he took in his hand.

When he finished this series of actions, less than two seconds had passed, and under the wrapping of the silent crystal wall, indeed no guard outside the resting chamber was alerted.

The Queen remained seated, her body surface still shimmering with splendid fire roses; the only change was that her splendid wide skirt had been torn.

Luosen single-handedly restrained the Queen's left shoulder, rendering her immobile, while his other hand held the krypton gold magic device, examining it closely.

A hollow tube, its outer wall engraved with intricate runes, surrounded by six Five Rings-strength fire magic crystal lattices, and inside the tube seemed to contain some kind of fire magic potion.

Luosen took out the potion to look; it was brown earth, emitting a pungent smell, very similar to Aaron's flame earth mentioned in the intelligence.

There is reason to believe that Kao obtained the formula for flame earth through espionage.

The front of the flame earth was also stuffed with a cylindrical paper packet containing hundreds of tiny metal beads. Luosen glanced at the beads' material, and his eyebrow twitched: "All are hard and magic-breaking krypton gold iron beads."

This krypton gold is a term from another world; on Earth, it is tungsten alloy.

So, this is an astonishingly powerful rune armor-piercing firearm!

The craftsmanship is not yet mature; it can fire only once per loading.

When fired, the power from the six Five Rings fire crystal lattices is all injected into the krypton gun barrel, combined with the violent eruption of flame earth, and the intensity of the flame condensed in the narrow barrel is estimated to exceed Eight Rings.

Then, this flame of at least Eight Rings strength violently propels the krypton beads forward, laying out a conical barrage of magic-breaking, armor-piercing shots ahead.

Even Mother Nature, if hit, would likely drop dead on the spot.

Luosen felt that even if his steel dragon body had greatly enhanced defense, being hit would still result in severe injury and near death.

It can also be foreseen that, with the birth and continual improvement of the rune firearm, whether in duels or on the battlefield, attack strength will far surpass defense strength, greatly reducing the significance of stacking armor to meet force head-on.

And possessing such a powerful weapon, it's no wonder the Queen had such confidence.

Luosen also felt no surprise, since rune steam engines have already appeared, and next door Aaron has begun building cannons; there's no reason a firearm shouldn't emerge.

Now look at the Queen.

Although she remained seated, the exchange in the blink of an eye obviously dealt her a massive mental shock.

Her usually calm and composed face finally could not hold back, revealing obvious astonishment.

Luosen gave a slight smile, leaned in to whisper near her ear: "Your Majesty, I know you must surely regret seeing me alone, but there is no regret medicine to eat."

What he fears are group strikes and high-level sneak attacks from the shadows; face-to-face duels are his forte, and since he cultivated the Heart of the War God to perfection, he has never encountered a true opponent.

Having said that, seeing the Queen still motionless, as if frightened stiff by him, he lightly reached out and pinched a bit of her smooth, tight black new-style trousers embroidered with silver rose patterns.

Her body shuddered, and she finally came to her senses.

"Lord Law Sage dares to venture into the world alone; he truly possesses astonishing ability—I am utterly convinced of my defeat."

She actively dispelled the Rose Domain.

Luosen also used Mage Hand to pick up the torn hem of the long skirt, then used Transmutation Alchemy to repair it as much as possible, and put it back on the Queen.

"Now, Your Majesty, can you tell me the reason you did not save your husband?"

The Queen exhaled, then said: "Remove your pure water barrier; if it lasts too long, it will arouse suspicion."

Luosen complied.

After the silent crystal wall receded, the Queen loudly said: "Leyna, I want to have a good talk with this gentleman. About half an hour—don't let anyone approach us."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A response came from the maid outside the door.

This maid was just outside the resting chamber, yet she failed to notice the brief clash that occurred inside.

The Queen then immediately triggered a Five Rings arcane shielding barrier.

Then she spoke.

"Two years ago, the King's body gave out; upon waking, his eyes were askew, his mouth crooked, he could not speak clearly, nor could he walk on his own. Since then, I have been assisting in state affairs."

"I have hidden behind the scenes for two years, secretly controlling Kao."

"I consider that I have done quite well."

Luosen nodded in acknowledgment: "No mistake, Your Majesty, you've done quite well."

But in his heart he was secretly shocked: "The King must have had a stroke, his brain is damaged—probably hard to cure."

At most he could keep the King alive, but he had no ability to cure the brain.

A flash of indignation appeared on the Queen's beautiful face.

"I do not have noble birth; in fact I am a commoner, but I possess near-perfect magical talent."

At 18 he advanced to Four-ring, at 22 he secretly advanced to Five-ring, he is one of the most talented magic cultivators in Kao's history.

But just as I was full of confidence, planning to continue forward and achieve Six Rings Magic Saint, the king discovered my secret and forcibly married me.

I became the noble Queen of Kao, and began bearing children for the king one after another, every three years, without stopping, I gave birth to nine in total!

The queen almost gritted her teeth.

I therefore missed the best time for cultivation. When I finally no longer had to bear children and wanted to return to the path of magic, there was no longer any possibility to continue forward.

So I hate him!

Luosen understood: "You have reason to hate him."

Having two or three would have been fine, that would only delay seven or eight years, I could still strive for Magic Saint, but giving birth to nine meant my whole golden years were spent bearing children.

Who could stand that?

Now he is finally about to die, yet you want to save him!

Having said that, the queen turned her head, looked up, and glared at Luosen's eyes.

If it weren't for the fact that you are a Six Rings Magic Saint, the moment I heard you say that, I would have had the guards come in and kill you!

Your personal combat strength may be strong, but facing dozens or hundreds of fully armed guards, you would surely die!

That statement is naturally correct.

Because dozens or hundreds of people acting together is equivalent to one who can operate dozens or hundreds of lines, a bug-level expert with infinite power.

Luosen could only flee for his life, and might not even escape, after all personal magic power is limited.

He also didn't expect to step on such a landmine, he spread his hands: "Your Majesty, I previously did not understand the situation, I apologize to you."

Moreover, I am not necessarily obliged to save the king. My purpose is to obtain repayment.

This remark softened the queen's expression considerably: "What do you want as repayment?"

Money, or treasure?

Luosen shook his head.

Power?

The queen guessed again: "If you are willing to serve as the royal family's Guardian Saint, I would be very happy to employ you."

Luosen still shook his head.

In Kao he has no connections; joining the royal household would merely make him a top-tier worker, no matter how good the treatment, he would still be a worker.

Putting shackles on himself, if others say they want his life they can take it, he wouldn't stand for that.

He directly gave his answer: "I am a Weilan person; I hope Kao can help us Weilan loosen our bonds."

Upon hearing this, the queen thought she understood: "Are you a person of the Dawn Duke?"

Luosen smiled: "More precisely, I am a person of the Adrian family."

The queen pondered for a moment, then said: "Now Kao is probably unable to restrain Aaron."

Luosen naturally knew this, but in the previous series of talks he had already felt out a card that could move the queen's heart.

He played that card.

"Your Majesty, I guess you support the Crown Prince, right?"

The queen did not deny: "Everyone knows I support Lai En."

Luosen stared into the queen's eyes, speaking in a very soft but very clear voice:

"Prince Lai En is a mediocrity; supporting him, you probably have the idea of making yourself an iron-fisted queen mother."

Royal power, once taken, cannot easily be relinquished.

The queen has held it for two years, and is now only 63; she surely does not want to let go.

Because she advanced to Five-ring at 23, and the stronger her magic, the slower her body ages.

After possessing Five-ring magic power, even without any magical assistance, her body's natural aging speed will be reduced by half. If she reaches Seven-ring, or even if her soul collapses, her body will remain young.

So the queen's body is actually only in her thirties, and her soul at the peak of Five-ring strength can still endure for over seventy years.

She is in the prime of her life.

Indeed, as soon as she said that, the queen's expression didn't change much, but her hand unconsciously gripped her skirt.

(End of chapter)