Chapter 126: Weaving the Sky

The red pillar of light reaching toward the heavens dissipated completely, and the final trace of violent energy returned to silence.

The violent tremors that had enveloped Leo City came to a halt.

On the plaza that had been reduced to ruins, a returning stillness replaced the previous roaring.

The taut string in Lia’s mind finally snapped.

The massive and complex urban magic array network instantly withdrew from her consciousness.

The immense consumption of spiritual power made her vision go black, and her body went limp.

An arm steadily caught her around the waist, pulling her falling body into a firm embrace.

Klein looked down, gazing at the pale girl in his arms whose breathing had grown weak.

“Is it over?”

Valerius limped over; one of his legs was injured, making his walking posture quite awkward, yet his voice carried the relief of a survivor.

He looked at the former site of the library, now a giant crater, then at Lia in Klein’s arms.

“She…”

“She needs to rest,” Klein interrupted the Count.

He leaned down, passing his other arm beneath Lia’s knees, lifting her up in a horizontal carry.

Lia’s head leaned powerlessly against his chest, having already lost consciousness.

“I leave the rest to you.”

Klein tossed these words to Valerius, turned with Lia in his arms, and walked away.

“Wait!” Valerius shouted, “I’ll send a carriage…”

“No need.”

Klein’s silhouette did not pause for a second; with a few leaps, he vanished into the lingering smoke and dust.

Valerius stood on the spot, looking at the devastated plaza and the guards beginning to gather in the distance; he clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

***

The streets were a total mess; shaken citizens poked their heads out from their houses, pointing at the sky and discussing the world-ending scene from moments ago.

Guards were working hard to evacuate the crowds and maintain order, with sharp whistles and shouts echoing one after another.

Klein moved through the chaotic streets, cradling Lia.

The person in his arms was very light.

So light he could barely feel her weight.

Her body was still trembling slightly—an instinctive reaction to the extreme overextension of her spiritual power.

His hold tightened slightly.

The surrounding noise and commotion were isolated behind an invisible barrier.

In his world, only this girl with weak breath remained.

The gates of the Farrien estate stood wide open.

The butler was pacing anxiously at the entrance; seeing Klein return with Lia, his aged face was filled with horror.

“Lord! The Eldest Miss… what happened to her?”

The butler rushed forward, his voice trembling.

“She’s exhausted.”

Klein’s pace didn’t stop; he walked straight through the front hall toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

“Quick! Prepare hot water and clean towels!” the butler roared at the people following behind, while he himself followed closely at Klein’s heels.

Klein opened the door to Lia’s bedroom.

He walked to the bed, carefully placing Lia on the soft mattress, removing her dust-covered shoes, and pulling the quilt over her.

The girl’s brow remained tightly furrowed even in her deep sleep, and her lips were devoid of color.

The butler arrived hurriedly with hot water and towels.

“Lord, let me do it.”

“Step aside.”

Klein took the towel, wrung it dry himself, then sat on the edge of the bed, gently wiping away the traces of dust from Lia’s cheeks and forehead.

His movements were very light, carrying a gentleness that was completely at odds with his usual image.

The butler stood to the side, watching this scene; he opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing, bowing as he exited the room and thoughtfully closing the door.

Silence returned to the room.

After finishing with her face, Klein wiped her hands as well.

He did not leave after finishing all this.

He pulled a chair from the corner of the room, placed it right by the bed, and sat down.

He simply sat there quietly, watching the sleeping girl on the bed.

He remembered her saying that the three-gold-coin job had turned into saving the world.

The corners of Klein’s lips lifted slightly.

Money.

That word sounded insignificant now.

The additional requirement he had proposed later was that she was not allowed to leave his sight for even a single step.

This requirement was being fulfilled in a way he had not anticipated.

He reached out, his fingertip stopping an inch away from Lia’s cheek.

An invisible blue magical barrier quietly expanded within the room, isolating all possible disturbances from the outside world.

He would stay here until she woke up.

This was a new deal.

***

Upon the ruins of Leo City’s central plaza.

Count Valerius had changed back into a tidy City Lord’s uniform, but the exhaustion and gloom on his face could not be hidden.

He listened indifferently to the reports from his subordinates.

“…Preliminary statistics show severe structural damage within three hundred meters of the central plaza. Fortunately, thanks to the timely evacuation, civilian casualties are low, with only a dozen or so injured by falling debris.”

“The guards have sealed off all known locations of the Resonance Towers and are awaiting your next instructions.”

“The commander has been detained in the deepest part of the dungeon using the highest level of magic-sealing measures, but he shows no signs of waking up.”

Valerius waved his hand, interrupting the report.

“Clear the ruins, comfort the public, and provide compensation for the injured. Handle these matters according to protocol.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“As for all the other Resonance Towers, send engineering teams immediately to find them all! Dig them out! Destroy them on the spot!”

“Yes!”

“And,” Valerius’s voice turned icy, “tell the head of the guard’s intelligence department to conduct a thorough investigation into every suspect in the city associated with the followers of Weber. Not a single one is to be missed.”

Valerius stood alone at the edge of the deep pit, looking down into the dark cavity below.

He turned, pushed past the surrounding guards, and walked toward his mount parked by the roadside.

“Your Excellency, where are you going?” the guard captain asked with concern.

“To handle a certain matter.”

Valerius flipped onto his horse and galloped off toward the south of the city without taking a single guard.

The villa built to celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary stood quietly in the morning sun, looking as elegant and beautiful as ever.

To Valerius, it was merely an eyesore.

The gate was not locked.

He pushed the door open, crossed the empty courtyard, and walked directly toward the excavated foundation.

A massive earthen pit lay exposed to the air; at the bottom, the entrance to a forcibly breached secret room was revealed.

He jumped into the pit and walked into the secret room.

It was empty inside, save for a smashed metal base and some broken parts scattered around.

This was where he had discovered that damned tower.

His wife—the woman he thought was gentle and kind, who only loved tending to flowers—had personally stabbed a dagger capable of destroying the entire city into the home he had built with his own hands.

Why?

Valerius’s chest heaved violently; the sense of anger and betrayal nearly consumed him.

He began to search through the secret room like a madman.

He tapped every wall brick and inspected every crevice in the floor.

His wife had said this was the place where she stored precious flower seeds.

She had said that when the Winter Solstice arrived, she would give him a surprise.

So this was the surprise she had prepared.

Using the destruction of a city as a tribute to their ten years of marriage.

“AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!”

Valerius slammed a fist against the wall; the hard stone bricks cracked like a spiderweb under his blow, and blood flowed from between his fingers.

He felt no pain.

The blood fell onto the floor.

A small trickle seeped into an unremarkable crack and disappeared rapidly.

Valerius noticed this detail.

He crouched down, using the tip of his sword to pry up that floor tile.

Beneath the tile was a small box wrapped in lead.

His breathing grew heavy.

His hands trembling, he opened the box.

Inside the box, there were no letters, no magic arrays, and no dangerous magical items.

There was only one thing.

It was an emblem carved from some unknown animal bone.

The shape of the emblem was peculiar—a waning moon.

On the surface of the moon was carved a weeping face.

The Crying Moon.

Valerius had never seen this emblem.

It didn’t belong to any noble family he knew, nor was it the symbol of any known sect.

But the ancient, cold aura radiating from the emblem made his entire body turn cold.

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