Chapter Eighty: Here, You Cannot Defeat Me

The royal palace—Linley and Leopard glanced back at the tower as Lin Wen and the Wheels of Twin Moons resumed their battle.

“They’re darting around so fiercely,” Leopard remarked.

“My young master, is it really appropriate for you to set up the Crown Prince like this?” Leopard asked.

Linley shook his head. “I didn’t force him—he’s cooperating on his own.”

He led Leopard as they flew toward Crescent Lake.

On the lakeshore, Eve suddenly opened her eyes.

“Little Astrologer, you’re awake?” Hera looked delightedly at her. Eve sat up, puzzled. “I had a dream. What happened?”

She noticed many night elves still lying on the shore, though quite a few had managed to get up.

“You were all just hypnotized,” Hera explained, describing the Song of Repose. “The little prince went to the tower—he must have used some method to break the Wheels of Twin Moons’ spell.”

She couldn’t believe Linley could defeat the Wheels of Twin Moons, but he was the only one who had entered the tower.

“He saved me again?” Eve bit her lip, feeling a surge of frustration.

Among her peers, she had always stood at the forefront. Yet since meeting Linley, her pride had been repeatedly wounded, especially since last night—she’d been rescued by him twice in succession.

“I’m too weak,” Eve clenched her fists tightly. When she first followed the little prince, she was worried, thinking he would need her protection. Instead, it was the opposite; she’d ended up slowing him down.

She had been at Linley’s side, witnessing everything he accomplished, but it seemed he could carry out his plans just as easily with or without her.

“The boss is back!” Excited voices erupted from the lakeshore. Eve looked up to see Linley flying in from the other side.

“Boss, you saved us again!”

“Boss, I’ll follow you for life!”

The night elves swarmed around Linley, their emotions ablaze. The boss was so loyal—always at the front in battle, using himself as bait in times of danger, and now rescuing them from the brink of death.

Linley was surrounded by exuberant night elves for several minutes before he could break free.

“Eve, has your strength returned?” Linley walked up to Eve, pleased.

Eve was somewhat moved. “I’m fine now. Thank you, little prince.”

“Since you’re well, there’s no time to waste! Hurry and help me predict where the Wheels of Twin Moons are,” Linley immediately ordered.

Eve sighed, unsure if he truly cared about her or was just pretending.

“The Wheels of Twin Moons aren’t in the Hall of Fate—I collapsed that hall. You should be able to locate them now, so hurry and help me,” Linley pressed her, and Hera clapped her hands.

“She hasn’t recovered her power yet, so leave it to me!” Hera offered. It seemed every astrologer had their own way of casting spells—Eve used a lantern, Hera used flower petals.

Hera scattered a handful of petals on the ground and closed her eyes, chanting a spell.

“What kind of magic is this?” Linley noticed the wind on the ground, though the petals remained still.

“It’s an entry-level tracking spell for astrologers,” Eve said with a wry smile. “This spell is meant for tracking people, so it shouldn’t really work for finding objects—I don’t know how she combined tracking with searching for things, but I don’t really care to know.”

As she spoke, the petals in front of Hera began to move, slowly gathering together, then rising upright, forming an arrow pointing upward.

Hera opened her eyes. “It’s above us.”

She gazed at the empty sky, a little surprised. “Right overhead.”

“Right overhead?” Linley quickly looked up. The most dangerous place was always the safest; the Wheels of Twin Moons were actually above Florence.

“But there’s nothing there!”

He couldn’t see anything at all.

“It’s very high—up by the clouds,” Hera added. She couldn’t see the Wheels of Twin Moons either, but was certain their presence was strong.

“I’ll fly up and take a look,” Linley decided, soaring toward the sky. He flew for several minutes, watching as the scene around him became a blank white, his breathing difficult—yet still, he saw nothing.

From the ground, it hadn’t seemed remarkable, but up here, the clouds were thick and stretched across his vision, obscuring everything in a white haze.

“The Wheels of Twin Moons are still above?” Linley wondered, his strength faltering. The temperature here was lower than below, and—more importantly—at this altitude, Linley felt his vital energy recovering at a much slower pace.

He hadn’t much vital energy to begin with; if he stayed longer, he’d plummet.

“Is there more vital energy on the surface?” Linley frowned. This was a serious issue—he’d never considered the decrease in vital energy concentration away from the surface.

It seemed that magic, vital energy, and holy light were all forms of energy native to this planet—like oil on Earth, not so mysterious after all.

If he ever left this planet, he’d need to figure out how to take vital energy with him, or else all his power would vanish.

“I need to get to the bottom of this,” Linley thought, preparing to descend and restore his strength, when suddenly a cage snapped shut around him.

“Since you’ve come up here, why hurry to leave?” A familiar voice rang out. Linley’s vision blurred, and Bard appeared before him.

The pressure around him normalized, and Linley realized he’d found the Wheels of Twin Moons.

“Cough, cough…” Bard suddenly bent over, spitting two mouthfuls of blood, which vanished into the mist without a trace.

“I never thought you’d deliver yourself to me,” Bard wiped the blood from his lips, turning to Linley.

“You guessed correctly—the thing beneath our feet is the Wheels of Twin Moons,” Bard saw through Linley’s thoughts, sneering. “But you can’t see it, nor touch it. If I hadn’t put you in this cage, you’d never have discovered anything.”

Linley looked around the clouds again. “Where’s the queen?”

“She couldn’t defeat me—she’s retreated to the Wild Dreamscape,” Bard replied, grabbing Linley again, his mood buoyant. “I don’t mind telling you—the Wheels of Twin Moons are made of two lunar wheels. I control the main body, while the split part is in the queen’s possession. Only by obtaining that piece can I wield the full power of the Wheels.”

With a wave of his hand, Bard shifted the Wheels of Twin Moons into the Wild Dreamscape.

“We’ve entered the Wild Dreamscape—she has nowhere to run,” Bard said.

Linley’s stomach began to growl. “Why is it that every time I come here, I get unbearably hungry?”

Bard paused. “You’ve been here before?”

“Of course,” Linley complained. “Take me back—here, you can’t beat me.”

Laughter echoed from afar.

“Bard, do you know the Azure Dragon?” The Night Elf Queen emerged from the clouds.

“That’s the monster that nearly devoured the Wild Dreamscape.”