Chapter: 21. Intelligence
The Forbidden Library of the Demon Race is reputed to be the world’s most classified site and is also the place with the richest collection of lost magic.
This is the biggest reason why the demon race is feared by countries around the world; no one knows how many trump cards they have hidden or if there are any exaggerated spells that could overturn the world’s structure stored in the Forbidden Library.
In fact, even the Demon King himself does not know.
It’s not because he is too lazy to check; it’s mainly because over the years, many scholars have researched it, but every time they reach the most critical steps of casting, they can’t translate it!
The Forbidden Library is like a place cursed with some mysterious spell.
Even if you understand the meaning of some characters, when they are combined into an ancient magical system, it becomes completely incomprehensible.
The [Origin Magic] forbidden technique that Belis translated took her a whole year, and she only managed to grasp the surface of it.
Xue Fei’s reading process wasn’t particularly enjoyable either.
She frowned, and even with Xial’s little notebook to reference the yellowed pages, it was still quite painful to read.
“Fire roast… mouse? What mouse are they talking about, Belis, do you know what mouse this refers to?”
“Fire roast… I think this should be a recipe? Hey, Queen Sister, we’re not scholars; most of the magic here is beyond our understanding. I feel like it’s unnecessary to take this so seriously…”
“Oh, oh! Got it, got it, it’s not a recipe; it’s actually [Fire Domain Circulation]! It means that by gathering the fire magical elements into a specific magic array, you can achieve a cyclic field for fire magic? Ancient people were indeed full of wisdom, huh… Look at me, sweating buckets; translating these things is really a mental workout.”
“Queen Sister, you really translated it just now?! In just a few minutes?!”
“Kind of…?”
“……”
Queen Sister, Belis certainly does not doubt your genius talent, but if this magic translation is correct…
Then what on earth is that mouse? Why did it disappear right after translating the word!
The two sisters sat back to back, each holding an ancient book floating with magical particles.
Belis was more interested in slowly rubbing Queen Sister’s jade-like back with her own back, finding it much more meaningful to share warmth without making her uncomfortable than rigidly translating the content.
Feeling an itch on her back, Xue Fei was too focused to scratch.
She was immersed in the words that resembled vast stars in the sea of books.
She began to understand a bit—she felt the ancient thoughts align well with her research.
For instance, the [Storage] that Xue Fei optimized, the ancients also mentioned similar ideas in their books, but due to the efficiency of magical operation being lower back then, those ideas remained just ideas and were never put into practice.
Moreover, Xue Fei keenly realized that if the [Fire Domain Circulation] could be realized, it would be an incredible tool for cyclic fishing!
Unexpectedly, the wisdom of the ancients was also so unfocused.
“Well… that being said, but there are too few spells that can be reproduced; they’re basically useless.”
“Why?”
“The concentration of magical particles now must differ from that of ancient times. Those theories proposed by our ancestors were only suitable for the environment at that time. But now, times have changed.”
“Ah… I see, I was wondering why my magic had lost… cough, never mind, Queen Sister, being able to translate the general idea is already enough to call you a genius beyond words!”
Ah.
You’re deliberately hinting at me, aren’t you?
Laughing to death, you want me to ask you about [Origin Magic], but I won’t ask.
I’m just waiting for you to say it yourself.
“By the way, I still don’t quite understand… How on earth can you understand it, Queen Sister? Is it just purely comparing the characters, or can you really comprehend it?”
“How would I know.” Xue Fei genuinely did not know, not being modest, “But I always feel… that looking at these things feels somewhat familiar, as if I’ve seen them in a dream? Belis, perhaps I was a studious person who read ancient books diligently in my dreams!”
“Pff… If one day, Queen Sister worked hard at studying, I’d guess Father King and Mother Queen would be in tears.”
“Is it that exaggerated? Haven’t I read before?”
“No.”
“……”
Your assertive answer makes me feel quite hurt, Queen Sister.
I indeed used to escape the Demon King’s Castle to go fishing during study times, but you didn’t see me taking out a book for leisure while fishing; although the order was different, I was indeed well-read and knowledgeable.
Also, the original purpose of coming to the Forbidden Library is making some progress.
It has probably been around two hours since I started reading in the Forbidden Library?
During this time, Xue Fei found ancient descriptions of the [Word Spirit Technique] and [Instant Casting Magic].
“Belis, [Word Spirit Technique], turns out that in the earliest times, it could actually change the forms of monsters.”
“Just like the effect used by Princess Alus, the Third Princess?”
“Pretty much, the only reference in these records is an event that happened two thousand years ago, before the founding of the first Demon King, where a minister proficient in the Word Spirit Technique transformed a fire-red ant into a fire-red giant ant, which was quite astonishing.”
“How big is the giant ant? Is it also an evolution that crosses strength tiers?”
“Not exactly, before it transformed, the ant was about the length of a fingertip; after transformation, the giant ant was the length of a finger.”
“?!!”
Does the book really record even such minute details?
No, no, Belis, you have to know there’s a term called seeing the big picture through minutiae.
The key is not what extent the Word Spirit Technique can achieve.
But that this magic can indeed do relevant things, which reassures me.
Don’t worry, Livra, it seems you’re a freak, but you’re not the only one; history has someone just as strange as you.
As for the other matter concerning Ailer having mentioned before, where she encountered Aimeres using a lightning strike like [Instant Casting Magic] that pierced through her heart, there are no specific traces mentioned in the literature.
However, unexpectedly, Xue Fei found a passage written by someone unknown in a book from over two thousand years ago.
【Human God’s might, lightning burning through the wilderness, living beings suffering; it arrives in an instant, descending without warning, every being bows and submits.】
“This sentence should refer to Aimeres’s true self; she was using lightning then, and this ‘arrives in an instant’ likely means that survivors witnessed the moment the magic was activated; the lightning had already arrived, and the attack range was massive, probably indiscriminate. This wording sounds like a show of power, right?”
“However, records from all countries describe the [Human God] as a kind and benevolent embodiment, with all evaluations being positive. If that’s the case, Aimeres might actually be quite brutal?”
“Who knows, but if the Aimeres I encountered before isn’t a counterfeit, then she has nothing to do with kindness or benevolence. Let’s not discuss that for now.”
Snap.
The precious book was slammed shut by Xue Fei with considerable force, showing no regard for its preservation.
It’s not that she didn’t want to care for the book.
It’s just that she had been a bit dramatic earlier…
And accidentally went overboard.
Gently placing the book back on the stone shelf, silently apologizing to her ancestors in her heart, Xue Fei returned to her position back-to-back with Belis.
The sisters, similar in appearance yet sitting facing different directions, resembled shadows walking toward diverging paths at a crossroads.
It was very quiet.
Quiet enough to hear each other’s heartbeats.
“Belis.”
“Hmm…? What’s up, Queen Sister?”
“Do you remember that matter?”
“Are you talking about… my previous unauthorized activation of [Origin Magic]?”
“Still pretending to be clueless with me, huh? I knew you wouldn’t say a word. If you won’t, then I will… uh? Did you just…”
Did you just admit that you remember these things?
And then gave me a sharp nudge, huh?!
A small leave request
Actually, it’s not quite a leave request~ It’s just that Little North Star wants to adjust the update time.
In the past, updates were made after midnight, which was too late, and the writing state wasn’t great either. So the upcoming update schedule will be adjusted to every day at noon.
Everyone, sleep early today and wait for the update at noon. Future updates will also be adjusted to noon.
