Chapter: 17. Light Sphere
The Forbidden Library is built right in the middle of the Dark Lake surrounding Demon King’s Castle.
Timani returned to the Demon King’s Castle first to check if Livra’s room was collapsed.
Moreover, she said she felt uneasy for not having lunch and was eager to return for it.
Having a meal is one thing, but Xue Fei could tell that Timani seemed to have something on her mind and wasn’t in the mood to join her.
Well… although Xue Fei wasn’t a psychological counselor, if she had some free time later, she wouldn’t mind asking about it.
But for now, they needed to continue exploring the Forbidden Library.
This lake area surrounding the Demon King’s Castle is way too vast; from the castle’s flower garden, one could only see a distant black dot in the center of the lake, which made the extremely mysterious Forbidden Library in Demon Race legends appear quite small.
However, when you actually flew across the lake to the front of the Forbidden Library that seems to float like an island…
— it truly is very small.
This little island might be only as big as a single room; if it weren’t for Xue Fei and Belis leading the way in front, Xiya might not have found it at all.
The presence of this place is indeed quite subtle.
The only difference from other rocky islets should be that there is a small door connecting a stone arch house standing in the middle of this little island.
But this door is even shorter than Xue Fei!
“Isn’t this just a door?! Xue Fei, is this the Demon Race Forbidden Library?”
“Yes, this thing has been here since the day I was born.”
“If it’s this narrow… it doesn’t seem like it can hold many books, right…? Clearly, rumors say the Forbidden Library contains a vast collection, which is quite exaggerated.”
“There are indeed quite a few books, about two hundred thousand or so?”
“!”
Are you sure?!
Of course.
Don’t trust the superficial appearance of what you see; this door and the stone walls are just decorative markers.
The real Forbidden Library is not on the lake’s surface but at the bottom of the lake.
“Bottom of the lake?”
“Yes, going through this door leads downwards. Thousands of meters of stone walls keep the lake water out; in fact, nearly half of the space at the bottom of the lake is part of the Forbidden Library, but you just can’t see it from here~”
“I see… a design similar to a secret passage, indeed clever. Um… but is it okay for you to tell me all this?”
There is definitely no barrier between Xue Fei and Xiya.
However, due to her identity, Xiya actually doesn’t want to know too much about matters related to the secrets of the Demon Race.
She is a Hero, and if Xue Fei says something that catches the attention of someone with ulterior motives, it would be disadvantageous for Xue Fei.
But Xue Fei simply chuckled, using the simplest answer to soothe Xiya’s overly concerned heart.
“Pfft… this needs to be clarified! The things just mentioned were said by Shaya, not by Xue Fei. Shaya’s nonsense has nothing to do with Xue Fei!”
Understanding the implication.
Xiya blinked and smiled, saying nothing more.
Xue Fei’s quirky nature always left Xiya in admiration and speechless.
Speaking of which…
Belis has been fussing at the small door for a while now, but it still seems like the door hasn’t opened?
“Is she having trouble finding the key?” Xiya murmured to Xue Fei, not daring to let Belis hear.
But in such a small place as this island, how could Belis not hear?
She didn’t turn around; she merely conjured a purple blade of magic and held it in her hand, facing the door engraved with ancient characters.
“Do you think any door can be opened with just a key? To open the door to the Forbidden Library, a necessary process… Queen Sister?”
“I’ll do it.”
“Wait…!”
Before Belis could refute, Xue Fei swiftly snatched the purple blade from Belis’s hand and, with a fluid and decisive motion, pressed the blade’s tip against the top of her index finger.
A crimson streak immediately oozed from her tender finger.
“Xue Fei?! What are you doing?!”
Even that small amount of injury caused Xiya pain; despite Xue Fei performing this action naturally and confidently, the slight tremble she made just proved that her past self’s pain-averse temperament still existed.
Without waiting for the blood to coagulate, Xue Fei quickly pressed her fingertip against the cold door panel.
After all, blood shouldn’t be shed for nothing!
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded before their eyes.
The inconspicuous ancient door began to emit a faint glow, a gentle breeze stirred her silver hair, which symbolizes the royal family, to sway aside, while Xue Fei’s blood formed fine strands that flowed along the circular carvings on the door panel, dyeing the dusty stones a dazzling red.
Belis slowly stepped in front of Xiya, the red crystalline glow mirrored in her eyes, tinged with a hint of heartache.
Above the heartache, there was longing.
In the midst of longing, there was love.
“The condition to open the Forbidden Library’s door… is the bloodline of the Demon Royal Family; only members of the royal family have the qualification to enter. It clearly could have been me who came… Queen Sister…”
Hearing Belis’s worried voice, Xiya’s heart twisted with concern.
“…Does it need a lot of blood? Is there any danger?”
“It needs about ten drops!”
“Isn’t that just a scratch that bleeds?!”
Look at how scared you are! I thought this thing would lead to excessive blood loss!
The two sisters are equally exaggerated; once the light on the door calmed and the awakening ritual concluded, Xue Fei, with tears in her eyes, turned back, covering her finger, looking extremely displeased.
“It hurts, which idiot designed this method of opening the door? Every time I want to open it, I need to cut my finger first; it’s simply anti-Demon Race behavior!”
“Exactly! Such a rule that harms the Queen Sister is utterly incomprehensible! Ugh… Queen Sister, let me help you stop the bleeding.”
“Oh, there’s no need; hasn’t it already healed? Wait, you don’t know healing magic, right? Hey?!”
There is a kind of “healing magic” that is even more powerful than healing magic itself.
Xue Fei’s finger suddenly felt a warm, soothing sensation.
Looking down, she saw Belis, like a little cat, gently sucking her finger into her little mouth, and Xue Fei could feel her tiny wound being repeatedly teased by that mischievous little tongue.
It was somewhat focused, and also a little embarrassing.
Quickly stop your magic! At this rate, the wound that was nothing will evolve into a psychological problem!
Xiya couldn’t bear to watch this scene; she silently walked into the middle, spreading her arms to separate the two, saving Xue Fei’s finger and sanity.
Xue Fei quickly turned her head, shaking off the saliva from her finger, using a disgusted expression to conceal her inexplicable blush.
Meanwhile, Belis was completely immersed, licking her lips with quite a mischievous grin, as if saying—thank you for the treat, Queen Sister.
“I say, Belis… you really are…!”
Before she could finish her sentence.
— a resonant and ethereal voice inquired, echoing in this not-so-large space.
“May I ask what both Royal Princesses are visiting the Forbidden Library for?”
“?”
The voice that appeared out of thin air prompted Xiya, with her sensitive instinct, to place her finger on the hilt of the holy sword, getting ready.
Meanwhile, Xue Fei and Belis appeared much calmer.
Well, after all, awakening the door with royal blood is not the same as directly opening it.
What was awakened by the royal blood—was actually the gatekeeper.
Everyone looked up, and a group of deep blue spheres about the size of a frying pan floated in the air.
The light within the sphere flickered like the flowing chaos of a starry river.
If you only assessed it at first glance, this floating unknown object resembled a translucent glass bead.
In short, it was quite strange.
Judging solely by its voice, the sound emitted by this light sphere resembled a little girl’s tender voice.
She appeared suddenly, but Xue Fei even smiled and raised her hand, waving to the blue light sphere as a greeting!
“Yo! Gatekeeper, long time no see!”
“Yes, Princess Xue Fei Halder, it’s been a while… The last time we met, it must have been a century ago?”
“Wrong, I only came five years ago! I’m only twenty years old now!”
“Haha… really. My apologies, I have been sleeping here for a long time, and I cannot remember many things.”
“It’s fine, it’s understandable if you’re old and forgetful; after all, no one comes here usually.”
Xiya tried to take the opportunity to ask Belis what this light sphere was, but unfortunately, Belis huffed and kept ignoring her, still immersed in savoring the sensation of the Queen Sister’s finger.
Unable to do anything, Xiya had no choice but to wait until there was a pause in Xue Fei’s conversation to ask her.
And to Xiya’s surprise…
Even though it seemed like Xue Fei was quite familiar with the blue light sphere when she spoke.
In fact, she didn’t know who that was.
“I’m not sure either? This gatekeeper, I heard, has been here since my grandfather’s time; my grandfather said that she has been here since his great-grandfather’s time. That being said… this gatekeeper must be older than Xial.”
“Gatekeeper?”
“Yes, since we don’t know her name, both Belis and I just call her ‘the gatekeeper.'”
Because she has been here for years, refusing to come out if not called.
According to the customs of the Demon Race, the gatekeeper of the Forbidden Library has existed since ancient times, and there was once a record of her existence in the Demon Race history scrolls, but it was lost for unknown reasons later on.
Since there was no necessity, no one bothered to delve deeper into why she existed.
Everyone just knew—she was the gatekeeper.
For such an impolite appellation, the blue semi-transparent light sphere showed no signs of anger.
In fact, even if she did show it, it couldn’t be seen, as she had no face.
The light sphere vibrated and floated up and down in the air, finally drifting to the side, clearing the path to the main door.
At the same time, the ancient door, covered in long-dormant dust, creaked open, gradually revealing the dark stairway leading to the bottom of the lake.
“Princess Xue Fei Halder, Princess Belis Halder, owners of the royal bloodline, please proceed to browse the Forbidden Library, but do not linger; according to royal decree, you must not…”
“Ah, okay, okay, I already know all that, thanks for opening the door! We’re just going to look for some information and will be out soon!”
“Alright.”
Xue Fei had learned to be smart this time and interrupted her speech in advance.
She still remembered that the last time she visited the Forbidden Library, it took half an hour to listen to the light sphere recite all that!
Xiya, rolling a strand of her silver hair that had transformed and fallen in front of her, thought that she should also be able to enter naturally, right?
Xue Fei had said earlier that silver hair is a symbol of the royal family of the Demon Race; since only the royal family could enter, transforming into silver hair might allow her to follow Xue Fei and the others inside, which was the reason for her regaining her transformed state.
However…
Xiya took a step forward.
Just as she was about to reach the stone steps…
She unexpectedly bumped into an invisible and colorless magic wall!
“Mm…?!”
“Stop.”
The chaotic beams within the blue light sphere clearly accelerated in movement.
“The royal bloodline can enter. But this young lady, since you are a member of the Human Race, why would you intrude upon our Demon Race’s Forbidden Library?”
“!”
This light sphere may seem not very intelligent, but it surprisingly turned out to be sharp-witted to such an extent!
