Chapter 17: Vlamé

Hearing Lin Yu’s words, Dai Meng finally snapped out of his daze, a peculiar expression crossing his stern face.

Before arriving, he had heard many rumors about this lord from his subjects.

Among them were descriptions of mystery, authority, and power—but he never imagined the most fitting description would be one Vlamé had casually mentioned years ago: unconcerned with trifles… well, un Juxiaojie !

Regardless of Dai Meng’s inner thoughts, he maintained the respectful demeanor befitting a subject.

“My lord, it is indeed Dai Meng!”

“Then all is well!”

Lin Yu snapped his fingers with a smile.

In an instant, the surroundings shifted rapidly.

Before he could blink, the three had been transported from the grand hall to the study inside Shibao.

The space was vast, its walls lined with bookshelves five meters tall, stacked with bamboo magic scrolls and the newer paper-based magical texts invented and gradually replacing scrolls in recent years by Ridge Peak Domain.

Lin Yu sat down behind his desk and smiled at Dai Meng, who still looked composed:

“Sit down and chat—I’m very interested in your journey!”

At these words, Dai Meng realized a redwood high-backed chair had appeared behind him.

He hesitated briefly, then chose not to sit, instead pulling a scroll from his chest and bowing: “My lord, this is the letter Vlamé entrusted me to deliver to you. As for our journey, I believe Vlamé has already written it in sufficient detail…”

It was paper!

Lin Yu’s eyebrows lifted—he instinctively felt something was off.

He had only guided Old Village Head to invent paper two years ago.

Even now, the surrounding regions had yet to adopt it widely—how had Vlamé obtained it in the northern highlands?

As he pondered, he lightly curled his finger.

Instantly, magic rippled through the air, drawing the scroll into his hand.

The moment the scroll touched his palm, Lin Yu’s expression darkened visibly.

No wonder she could write on paper—it was torn straight from the Holy Scripture!

You know what? That’s exactly the kind of thing Vlamé would do…

Lin Yu muttered inwardly, then asked casually: “Where’s Vlamé?”

Dai Meng bowed: “My lord, after crossing the northern highlands, Vlamé departed ahead of us. She intends to take her new disciple to meet her master, then return to visit you later.”

…New disciple?

Has the world’s destined protagonist, the elf mage Fulilian , finally appeared?!

Lin Yu thought to himself, then nodded: “Going to see Seriel first? Fine.”

Saying this, he unrolled the letter and read its contents carefully.

“To my friend Lin Yu: Ten years have passed—how are you and Longlong Rock?”

“Since leaving your domain, I traveled north with Dai Meng, passing through…”

Lin Yu read the letter from his friend, written a decade ago.

The early part was simple: Vlamé and Dai Meng journeyed north together, slaying monsters and exploring dungeons, until they met two others in a northern city.

Both were orphans of the northern war—one a fallen noble knight, the other a young female monk.

Unlike Dai Meng, whose innate physique was monstrous, the noble knight excelled in swordsmanship and resembled Shimmer from a thousand years’ future—a physical damage dealer.

As for the female monk, who could use the Holy Scripture and dispel curses, she was clearly the support.

With frontliner, support, magic damage, and physical damage now assembled, Vlamé’s four-member team was officially complete.

They departed from a northern frontier city of the Unified Empire, marched north through demon lands, defeated countless demon armies, and finally reached the continent’s northernmost edge.

There, they finally encountered the Demon King.

In Vlamé’s own words, the moment she saw the Demon King, she knew he could not be defeated head-on.

Yet still, they fought him and his army—

A battle Vlamé called a crushing defeat.

Even Vlamé, proud as she was, admitted that without the Holy Scripture Lin Yu had given her, all four of them would have died in that battle.

After a horrific, indescribable fight, Vlamé was forced to pull out the Holy Scripture and unleash several devastating spells, reducing the entire Demon King’s citadel to ruins, barely escaping with her three companions.

Lin Yu didn’t know if the original Vlamé had ever fought the Demon King.

If her teammates truly died at the Demon King’s hands, then his Holy Scripture had saved these three.

If in the original story Vlamé never faced the Demon King directly, then this battle might have been the one where his Holy Scripture gave her the confidence the original lacked.

Whatever the truth, his Holy Scripture had already altered Vlamé’s team’s fate.

Lin Yu continued reading—the latter part described Vlamé’s mental shift.

Vlamé admitted she was no match for the Demon King now.

If she wished to fulfill her dream in her lifetime—to advance magic in human society—she would never grow strong enough to defeat him before death.

So, should she strengthen herself, gambling on a future chance to defeat the Demon King?

Or should she remain true to her original ideal, spending her remaining years pursuing it?

This was the difficult choice Vlamé faced after leaving the Demon King’s citadel.

She had pondered it constantly, gradually changing her style without even realizing it.

Before fighting the Demon King, she was a proud, brilliant young genius—but after her crushing defeat, she began considering combat methods beyond direct confrontation.

In this letter, Vlamé emphasized the inseparable bond between demons and magic power.

Just as mindless monsters were, demons ranked their status by magic power.

To them, magic power symbolized dignity and rank—they could never abandon what it granted, nor could they forever conceal their own magic power.

But humans had no such limitation, giving Vlamé a glimmer of strategic possibility.

She began suppressing her own magic fluctuations, maintaining this restraint during cultivation, combat, and daily life.

The strategy proved highly effective: once accustomed to suppression, she successfully ambushed powerful demons, luring them into fatal overconfidence.

For Vlamé, who had been deeply discouraged since descending south, this was a powerful boost.

Unfortunately, their battle with the Demon King had been too conspicuous.

Soon, Vlamé’s group became widely known; many great demons grew wary of her, rendering her suppression tactic far less effective.

Here, Vlamé mocked herself, saying—in Lin Yu’s words—her account was now useless.

So, she sought a peerless genius to train as a weapon against the Demon King, raising him from childhood to suppress magic power, maintaining it his entire life, until the day he defeated the Demon King.

Unfortunately, human mages found this method utterly contemptible.

They deemed it despicable, beneath them.

Of course, that was merely their own justification.

Vlamé believed they simply didn’t want to give up the status and wealth magic power granted them—they didn’t want to play the fool forever, just to devour a tiger in one decisive battle!

She did not lose heart, continuing her search for the right candidate.

Until not long ago, in a northern elf village slaughtered by demons, she met the destined elf girl…

(End of Chapter)