The next morning.
The Demon King’s Castle was still shrouded in the dim blue light of dawn.
On the black land outside the window, the dense magic particles still flowed slowly like a thin mist.
Most of the demons had not yet fully awakened.
However, near the experimental field behind the Demon King’s Castle, a crowd had already gathered.
Baroque stood with his arms crossed, his brow furrowed so deeply it looked like he could crush a monster between his eyes.
Cecil leaned against a stone wall, his tail swishing back and forth, a mischievous grin on his face as if he were there for a show.
Phelan held a recording board, with several pale blue crystals floating beside him to detect magic concentration.
Aliviel stood by Ivelia’s side, her gaze fixed on the experimental field.
In the center of that small patch of black earth, several seedlings still stood precariously.
One of them had just lifted its leaf yesterday.
Although that leaf was still very fragile.
And its edges were still blackened.
It had not drooped back down.
This fact alone was enough to keep the entire Demon King’s Castle awake all night.
After all, it was the first change the demons had seen in hundreds of years.
Even if it was just one leaf.
Even if it was a change so slight it was almost negligible.
But it had truly happened.
So, when Aliviel informed everyone of the new method Lin Ling had proposed last night, almost none of the demons could sit still.
Holy Light Stasis.
Restrict the flow of magic within an area.
Control first.
Then extract.
This line of thinking wasn't entirely untried by the demons.
They had attempted magic suppression arrays before.
They had tried stasis barriers.
They had even had demon mages skilled in sealing arts establish closed magic barriers around the land.
But the results were always the same.
The suppression arrays couldn't hold.
The stasis barriers would be shattered by the overwhelming surrounding magic.
Sealing arts could only be maintained for a very short time.
And even if the external magic was briefly cut off, the residual magic inside still couldn't be handled safely.
The magic was too concentrated.
The land was like a saturated black sponge.
You could press it down for a moment, but as soon as you let go, it would expand again.
So Baroque didn't originally think Lin Ling's method would succeed.
However—
She was, after all, a Hero from another world.
Even if her stats were ridiculously low.
Even if her personality was ridiculously strange.
Even if she didn't look like a proper savior of the world no matter how you looked at her.
She had indeed made a dying seedling lift its leaf yesterday.
This made Baroque very irritable.
Because his reason told him not to believe it.
But the facts forced him not to completely dismiss it.
Thus, after standing by the experimental field for a while, he finally couldn't help but turn around.
“I’m going to bring her here.”
Aliviel raised an eyebrow.
“Now?”
Baroque gave a cold snort.
“Now.”
“Since she says she has a way, then don't waste time.”
Cecil reminded him with a smile:
“It’s probably still very early, you know.”
Baroque frowned.
“The demon food crisis has dragged on for hundreds of years. How long does she plan to sleep?”
Aliviel shrugged.
“But she only went to sleep in the middle of the night.”
“So what?”
Baroque turned to leave.
“If she can sleep, it means her body is fine.”
Phelan looked up and glanced at him.
“Baroque.”
Baroque didn't stop.
“I know. I won't hurt her.”
Phelan calmly closed his recording board.
“You’d better know that.”
...
A moment later.
Lin Ling’s door was pushed open.
Baroque strode into the room.
Then, he stopped.
The room was very quiet.
On the bed, there was a giant white lump of bedding.
The blanket was wrapped tightly.
From its shape, it was impossible to tell there was a person inside.
It looked more like an oversized, carefully rolled dumpling.
A bit of platinum-blonde hair peeked out from the edge of the blanket, messily spread across the pillow.
Lin Ling herself was sleeping extremely peacefully.
She was even slightly tucking her neck in, as if preparing to merge with the blanket.
Baroque: “...”
Cecil, following behind, poked his head in and laughed out loud on the spot.
“Wow.”
“The Saintess’s defensive posture is quite complete.”
Aliviel stood at the door, the corners of her mouth curling up slightly.
“It seems she really was tired last night.”
Baroque’s temple throbbed.
“Is now the time to be sleeping?”
He spoke as he stepped forward.
From his posture, it seemed he intended to just shoulder the blanket and the person together.
But just as his hand reached out, he was stopped by Phelan from the side.
Phelan’s expression was calm.
“Wait.”
Baroque frowned.
“Now what?”
Phelan said tonelessly:
“We cannot be so rude to our guest.”
Baroque: “...”
Cecil: “Pfft.”
Aliviel’s eyebrow arched slightly.
“Guest?”
Phelan didn't explain.
He simply raised his hand.
A pale green magic circle expanded beside the bed.
Several gentle wind elements slowly rose, like invisible hands, softly supporting the white bundle on the bed.
The blanket didn't unravel.
Lin Ling didn't wake up either.
She was simply lifted up like that.
Blanket and all.
Steady and secure.
Like a magically packaged Saintess dumpling.
Baroque watched Lin Ling floating in mid-air and remained silent for a long time.
“What’s the difference between this and me carrying her?”
Phelan said calmly:
“It is more polite.”
Baroque: “...”
Cecil was already laughing while leaning against the doorframe.
“Hahahaha, a more polite way to transport the Saintess.”
Aliviel couldn't help but turn her head away, her shoulders shaking slightly.
Lin Ling, supported in mid-air by magic, rolled over.
The blanket squirmed a bit.
She mumbled incoherently:
“Meat...”
“One more piece...”
Everyone: “...”
Baroque’s face grew even darker.
“She’s even eating in her dreams.”
Aliviel said with a smile:
“At least her goal is consistent.”
Phelan nodded slightly.
“Mental state is normal.”
Cecil laughed even harder.
Thus, a very bizarre scene appeared in the corridors of the Demon King’s Castle that morning.
The Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army were heading to the experimental field with a giant white bundle floating in mid-air.
Passing demons stopped in their tracks.
Some were shocked.
Some were bewildered.
Someone asked in a small voice:
“What is that?”
The person next to them was silent for a moment.
“It seems to be the Saintess who was kidnapped a few days ago.”
“Why is the Saintess wrapped up?”
“Maybe... it’s a special ritual for human Heroes?”
“I see.”
And so, the news quickly spread.
——The Saintess will participate in the second experiment today in a bundled form.
...
By the experimental field.
Ivelia watched the white bundle being brought over and fell into a brief silence.
Baroque was expressionless.
Phelan looked as usual.
Aliviel was struggling very hard to hold back her laughter.
Cecil had completely given up on managing his expression.
Ivelia looked at Phelan.
“This is?”
Phelan answered calmly:
“To avoid rudely awakening the guest, a gentle transport method was employed.”
Ivelia: “...”
She looked at the bundle of bedding again.
Lin Ling, inside the blanket, seemed to finally notice the change in her environment.
She moved slowly.
Then she moved again.
Finally, a messy platinum-blonde head popped out from the blanket.
Lin Ling opened her eyes.
Her gaze hadn't focused yet.
She was in a state where her “body was awake, but her soul was still waiting in line in the blankets.”
She looked at the sky blankly.
Then she looked around.
Ivelia.
Aliviel.
Baroque.
Phelan.
Cecil.
Niya.
And a circle of demons standing not far away, their faces filled with expectation and nervousness.
Lin Ling fell silent.
Everyone else fell silent too.
The morning breeze blew across the experimental field.
Lin Ling looked down at herself.
She was still wrapped in the blanket.
She looked like a dumpling that had just come out of the steamer but hadn't had its strings untied yet.
The air was quiet for three seconds.
In the next moment, Lin Ling’s eyes suddenly widened.
She seemed to suddenly remember something extremely important, hurriedly sticking her hand out from the blanket and instinctively feeling beneath her.
“W-wait!”
“I—”
Her movements paused.
Her expression froze.
Then, she looked down at her hand.
Then at the Saintess dress she was wearing.
She looked up again.
Then down again.
She was silent for a long time.
“Oh.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m the Saintess right now.”
Everyone: “...”
Cecil was the first who couldn't hold it in.
“Pfft.”
Lin Ling slowly looked up and glanced around.
At this point, she was finally fully awake.
She saw the experimental field.
She saw the black land.
She saw the circle of people around her.
And she saw that she wasn't in her room at all.
Lin Ling’s expression changed bit by bit.
From blankness.
To shock.
To realization.
And finally to grief and indignation.
“I’ve been kidnapped?!”
Aliviel said with a smile:
“It’s not kidnapping.”
Lin Ling looked at the blanket on herself.
Then at the magic circle that hadn't completely dissipated beneath Phelan’s feet.
“Then what is this?”
Phelan said calmly:
“A gentle transport method.”
Lin Ling: “...”
She looked at Phelan.
“Lord Phelan.”
“Do you all have some kind of misunderstanding of the word ‘gentle’?”
Phelan said tonelessly:
“We did not wake you from your deep sleep.”
“Nor did we drop you.”
“The process was stable.”
“Therefore, this is a gentle transport method.”
For a moment, Lin Ling was actually unable to refute him.
Baroque gave a cold snort.
“If we had used my method, you’d already be standing on the ground.”
Lin Ling glanced at him.
Then at her bundled-up state.
“Lord Baroque.”
“I don't know why.”
“But I suddenly feel like Lord Phelan is a good person.”
Phelan nodded slightly.
“Thank you for the recognition.”
Baroque: “...”
Cecil finally spoke up with a laugh:
“The Saintess is truly optimistic.”
“To be transported to the experimental field in your sleep and still be able to sleep comfortably until now.”
Lin Ling blinked.
She looked down at herself.
Then at the surrounding demons.
Then, she suddenly said with perfect justification:
“What’s wrong with that?”
Everyone was slightly startled.
Lin Ling sat in her blanket, rubbing her sleep-mussed hair.
“I’m in the Demon King’s Castle, you know.”
“Isn't it normal to believe that everyone in the Demon King’s Army will protect me?”
The air suddenly went quiet.
Cecil, who had been smiling, had his gaze falter slightly.
The smile on Aliviel’s lips also faded a bit.
Baroque frowned as he looked at her.
The pen on Phelan’s recording board stopped in mid-air.
Niya’s eyes widened, as if she couldn't quite believe what she had heard.
Even Ivelia watched her quietly.
After Lin Ling finished speaking, she didn't feel like anything was wrong.
She just let out a yawn and sluggishly struggled out of the blanket.
“Though, could you please wake me up first next time?”
“Suddenly opening my eyes and finding I’ve changed maps is really hard on the heart.”
Cecil looked at her and suddenly let out a low chuckle.
“Believing the demons will protect you, huh...”
His tail swished gently.
“Miss Pet, if that sentence of yours reached the humans, it would probably be written into the Inquisition records.”
Lin Ling thought seriously for a moment.
“Then can I request they write it a bit better for me?”
Cecil: “...”
Lin Ling cleared her throat and imitated a solemn tone:
“The discarded Saintess, fallen within the Demon King’s Castle, actually publicly declared her trust in the demons.”
She paused.
Then she added in a small voice:
“Sounds pretty cool.”
Baroque’s temple throbbed.
“Do you have any sense of urgency at all?”
Lin Ling looked up at him.
“I do.”
Baroque sneered.
“Where?”
Lin Ling patted her stomach, her expression grave.
“I haven't eaten breakfast yet.”
Everyone: “...”
The slight bit of subtle emotion from just now was shattered into pieces by that one sentence.
Aliviel rubbed her forehead.
“As expected, it’s still her.”
Niya, however, couldn't help but laugh.
She trotted forward, holding a small piece of bread in her hands.
“Saintess, this is for you this morning.”
Lin Ling’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Breakfast!”
She took the bread and instinctively gave it a squeeze.
Then her expression stiffened slightly.
“Um...”
“It’s not exactly soft.”
Niya was a bit embarrassed.
“The kitchen only had this today.”
Lin Ling looked at the bread in her hand.
It was slightly better than the black bread.
But only slightly.
At least it wasn't the kind of soft bread that deserved a commemorative monument.
If the soft bread from that day was the light of civilization.
Then today’s bread was like civilization had just struck a tiny spark that could be blown out by the wind at any moment.
Lin Ling stared at it for a few seconds.
Then she took a cautious bite.
“Crack.”
Her movements stopped.
Niya asked nervously:
“Saintess?”
Lin Ling swallowed slowly.
Then she said profoundly:
“It’s okay.”
“It didn't fight back on the spot.”
Niya: “...”
Cecil burst out laughing.
Lin Ling climbed out of the blanket while gnawing on the bread.
Her Saintess dress was a bit wrinkled, and her hair was messy.
She didn't look at all like a key figure about to conduct an important experiment.
She looked more like a pitiful student who had been forcibly dragged out of bed for an 8 AM class.
But when she looked at the experimental field, her eyes slowly cleared.
Black land.
Dense magic.
A small enclosed area.
And those few seedlings that were barely hanging on.
Lin Ling’s chewing slowed down.
She saw the one that had lifted its leaf yesterday; it still hadn't completely fallen over.
Though it still looked fragile.
But it was still alive.
Lin Ling swallowed the bread and let out a soft breath.
“It’s still there.”
Niya stood beside her and said in a small voice:
“Yes.”
“Lord Phelan said its condition is a bit more stable than yesterday.”
Lin Ling nodded.
“That’s good.”
Baroque stepped forward, his voice deep.
“Can the method you mentioned really be used?”
Lin Ling looked at him.
She didn't immediately make a joke like usual.
Instead, she shook her head very honestly.
“I don't know.”
Baroque’s brow furrowed.
“You don't know?”
“Yeah.”
Lin Ling looked down at her hands.
“I just know that this line of thinking might work.”
“Whether I can actually pull it off, I still have to try.”
Baroque’s face darkened.
“Do you know how much we’ve put into this experiment—”
“Baroque.”
Ivelia spoke.
Her voice wasn't loud.
But it made Baroque stop mid-sentence.
Ivelia looked at Lin Ling.
“Do you need to prepare?”
Lin Ling thought for a moment.
Then she held up the bread in her hand.
“I need to finish eating.”
Ivelia: “...”
Aliviel turned her head away.
Cecil’s shoulders were shaking from laughter.
Phelan looked down and wrote a line on his recording board.
——Before the second experiment began, Saintess Lin Ling requested to finish eating first.
Lin Ling immediately turned her head.
“Lord Phelan!”
“You don't need to record that, do you?!”
Phelan said calmly:
“Experimental state recording.”
Lin Ling looked at him with grief and indignation.
“You’re basically writing my embarrassing history!”
Phelan said tonelessly:
“Future researchers need to know the state of the experimenter.”
Lin Ling: “Future researchers don't need to know if I finished my breakfast!”
Cecil said with a smile:
“No, I think they’ll be very interested.”
“After all, this might be the first great experiment in demon agricultural history determined by the state of a breakfast.”
Lin Ling: “You demons are really terrifying!”
She took a sorrowful bite of the bread.
Crack.
The sorrow on her face deepened.
“Especially your bread.”
Niya comforted her in a small voice:
“Saintess, once the experiment is successful, maybe there will be better bread.”
Lin Ling’s movements paused.
She looked at Niya.
Then at that patch of black land.
Then, she lowered her head and finished the rest of the bread bit by bit.
Though it was hard.
Though it was dry.
Though it wasn't full of hope like that piece of soft bread yesterday.
But she still finished it seriously.
Because she knew that every piece of bread in the Demon King’s Castle right now wasn't easy to come by.
After finishing, Lin Ling patted the crumbs off her hands.
She took a deep breath.
“Okay.”
“Saintess charging complete.”
Baroque looked at her.
“You just ate half a piece of hard bread, what exactly did you charge?”
Lin Ling’s expression was solemn.
“Spirit Energy.”
Baroque: “...”
Phelan looked up.
“Can we begin?”
Lin Ling nodded.
“We can.”
She walked toward the experimental field.
This time, no one laughed.
Everyone’s gaze fell upon her.
Lin Ling walked to that patch of black earth and crouched down.
Up close, the oppressive sense of that dense magic was even more obvious.
The magic in the air was like a tide.
Slowly surging from all directions.
Yesterday, she had tried extracting it directly.
It could indeed be drawn out.
But it would quickly be replenished by the surroundings.
And today, she was going to isolate this small area first.
Lin Ling closed her eyes.
The skill animation from the game before she transmigrated appeared in her mind.
Holy Light Stasis.
White light expanding from beneath her feet.
Noiseless.
Quiet.
Like a soft film covering the earth.
Slowing down the magic covered by the light.
Making the flow stop for a moment.
Letting this patch of land temporarily detach from the ocean of magic.
She slowly raised her hand.
Palm facing down.
A faint white light emerged from her fingertips.
Aliviel narrowed her eyes.
The detection crystals by Phelan’s hand lit up simultaneously.
Baroque instinctively took half a step forward.
The smile on Cecil’s face faded slightly.
Niya nervously gripped the hem of her skirt.
Ivelia stood not far away, her dark red eyes quietly watching Lin Ling.
Lin Ling took a soft breath.
Then she said in a small voice:
“Holy Light Stasis.”
The white light fell into the black earth.
In the next moment.
The magic around the experimental field gave a slight jolt.
It was as if an invisible bucket had suddenly been placed into the surging ocean.
Rate on N.U.
