Slaikum remained silent.
"Looks like I was right."
"Bloodline, soul, magical energy array, and... something that even the Gray Crow Wizard has to obey... The Princess’s threat level in this castle seems stronger than I imagined. However, it appears her control is quite ordinary."
If the Princess had stronger control, Dox’s previous entry might have been detected.
"By the way, I have another question for you. For royal bloodline and royal soul, do both need to be present to utilize their effects here, or is having just one sufficient?" Angel looked at Slaikum.
Slaikum remained silent, seemingly waiting for something.
Not far away, Lady Melo successfully embedded the disc into the opening, and at that moment of merging, the hidden magical energy array in the room appeared, flickering faintly with distinct patterns.
But soon, the glowing patterns dimmed, while the disc Lady Melo placed began to shimmer.
Seeing this, a cloud of gloom and melancholy enveloped Slaikum.
Clearly, it had confirmed that the magical energy array here had indeed been deceived.
And its last reliance was gone. It could probably guess what its fate would be.
Hence, in response to Angel’s question, it adopted a completely uncooperative attitude.
Angel wasn’t annoyed by its silence: "If you don’t want to say, that’s fine. However, I didn’t expect that deceiving this magical energy array would make all the hidden magic patterns reveal themselves... Although the reverse-engineering process is a bit cumbersome, it seems I don’t need to get the answer from your mouth."
At this moment, Lady Melo returned.
Angel nodded to her: "The barrier on the second floor is almost broken by the Gray Crow. It’s about time for us to leave. However, since we’re here, we might as well leave a little gift for the Princess before we go."
After saying this, amid the puzzled gazes of others, Angel took out a vial of potion that glowed with a ghostly light and approached Slaikum.
Moments later, under the terrified gaze of Slaikum, Angel opened the Gate of Void.
Without the obstruction of the magical energy array, the Gate of Void directly led to the outskirts of the Princess Castle.
Seeing the hope of freedom, everyone became jubilant and exited one by one, with Angel being the last to leave. After everyone had left, he waved to Slaikum.
Silently, he mouthed the words: "Goodbye, or perhaps, farewell forever."
...
Shortly after Angel left, less than half a minute later, a girl wearing a pink princess dress hurriedly rushed into the room.
This girl appeared harmless on the outside, but anyone who had heard rumors about her would know that beneath the harmless exterior lay a mind incredibly filthy and dark.
She was the owner of this castle, the Princess.
Upon entering the room, the Princess immediately let out a scream: "Where is my pet?! And my canvas, my canvas is also gone!"
The Princess screamed hysterically; the fair and tender boy was her long-ago chosen pet, and the one with bandaged hands, whose skin she had also reserved, was her canvas!
But now, the pet was gone, and the canvas had vanished too!
A surge of manic energy radiated from the Princess, faintly aligning with the surrounding magical energy array, causing it to emit a terrifying pressure.
Meanwhile, the disc Angel had embedded at the door fell to the ground. Apparently, when the magical energy array encountered its true master, the deception methods would immediately be rejected.
While the Princess recklessly wielded the power of the magical energy array in anger, the Gray Crow Wizard silently stepped forward and picked up the disc from the ground.
With just one look, he knew there was undoubtedly a master-level expert skilled in magic patterns among those who had been here.
Such a person was certainly no unknown figure.
Gray Crow felt a surge of interest and relief that he hadn’t exerted himself fully when breaking the illusion on the second floor. Otherwise, if a Magic Pattern Master encountered any mishap, it would involve numerous powerful figures.
Gray Crow didn’t think a Magic Pattern Master would necessarily be defeated by the Princess’s magical energy array, but here, the Princess could indeed make the meticulously customized magical energy array unleash terrifying power.
While these thoughts were silently taking shape in Gray Crow’s mind, the Princess had already stormed over, filled with fury.
"What is this? Show it to me."
The Princess’s tone carried interrogation and an undeniable command, making Gray Crow’s expression slightly grim. However, Gray Crow said nothing and directly handed it over.
Though the Princess was young and malevolent, she was not a fool. Upon seeing the disc, whatever Gray Crow could think of, she could think of too.
However, with the Princess’s rampant nature, she cared nothing for the identity of a Magic Pattern Master; she only wanted to find this criminal and then use the most terrifying methods to tear him apart!
Before that, she needed to know who the intruders were.
"Tell me, who took my pet?" The Princess first interrogated Gray Crow.
Gray Crow replied casually: "I came with you, Princess. If you don’t know, how would I?"
"The illusion on the second floor and the magical energy array left on the third floor, these two pieces of information, do they remind you of anyone?"
Gray Crow indeed had a few candidates in mind, but he still said: "I don’t know. Besides, illusions aren’t a clue, since illusion-type skin scrolls or illusory magical energy arrays can be bought by anyone."
Only this temporarily crafted array plate clearly indicated that the other party was definitely a master-level existence.
Though there aren’t many Magic Pattern Masters in the Southern Domain, there are quite a few, and they all have extensive connections, making it difficult to immediately identify who it was.
The Princess, realizing she wouldn’t get any useful information from Gray Crow, slowly turned her gaze toward the shivering pink python in the corner.
Without hesitation, the Princess walked directly toward it.
However, the pink python vigorously shook its head at her.
The Princess didn’t understand its meaning and even showed anger: "Slaikum! You dare shake your head at me, do you intend to betray me?!"
The Princess stormed over to Slaikum, reaching out with both hands to grab its neck.
But just as her hands touched Slaikum, a deafening explosion rang out.
The explosion erupted from within Slaikum, not only blowing it to shards but simultaneously releasing a ghostly green mist, slowly permeating the air...