Wade leaned over the table, carefully reproducing the Enlightenment Rune from memory with a quill, stroke by stroke.
Meanwhile, Lucifer drifted curiously around the laboratory like a ball of ghostly fire.
Aside from knowing a great deal of common knowledge, the thing knew absolutely nothing about its own origins. It only knew that it was a mass of Gubraithian Fire and that its master was Wade.
Normally, that would not have mattered.
But its unusually grand name had completely aroused Wade's curiosity.
Perhaps the secret was hidden within the Enlightenment Rune.
However...
Whoosh!
Before Wade had even finished drawing the rune, it suddenly burst into flames.
The entire sheet of parchment was reduced to ashes in an instant.
What surprised Wade, however, was that he felt no heat from the sudden fire.
Even the parchment underneath showed no signs of scorching.
"So the rune can't actually be recorded..."
Wade pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Lucifer.
He found Lucifer holding two test tubes in its flaming arms, examining them curiously.
Strangely, the test tubes seemed completely unaffected.
"Your flames aren't very hot?" Wade asked.
Lucifer replied proudly, "That depends on how hot you want them to be. Adjusting my body temperature whenever I please is one of my special abilities!"
Wade said expressionlessly, "Can you lower your temperature below freezing?"
Lucifer's expression froze.
"You want a blazing flame to drop below freezing? Is your brain stuffed with doughnuts?"
"I don't eat doughnuts... So what other abilities do you have?" Wade asked.
"Hah! When it comes to my abilities, I've got plenty! For example..." Lucifer's voice suddenly weakened.
Wade waited for quite a while, but Lucifer only stammered without managing to name anything.
"You can't think of even one?" Wade asked.
"Hah! Of course I can! That's an insult to me!"
"Then why aren't you saying anything?"
"I just... I just have too many abilities, so I don't know where to start! You know, like having a whole screen full of skill icons in front of you and not knowing which one to pick first!" Lucifer's voice rose noticeably.
"Skill icons?" Wade raised an eyebrow.
All right.
This thing really had absorbed part of his memories when forming its consciousness.
In this world and this era, there was no concept of "skill icons."
Thinking about it that way, most of Lucifer's mystery immediately disappeared.
Perhaps it had simply searched through Wade's memories, found a name that sounded impressive, and claimed it as its own.
"Aha! I smell the wonderful scent of a pure soul!"
Lucifer suddenly howled and shot toward the door.
At that moment, the laboratory door opened, and the Senior stepped inside.
"Aha! Such a pure soul! Let me have a taste!"
The Senior frowned slightly and waved her hand as though swatting away a fly.
Poof!
"Ouch!"
Lucifer screamed as white mist bound it in mid-air.
"What is this thing?" the Senior asked curiously, staring at the flame.
"Is it too late to surrender? Surrender means half the punishment, right? Ow! Don't touch me! I'm warning you, if you dare hurt me, my master won't let you get away with it!"
"Oh? And who is your master?" The Senior narrowed her eyes.
The white mist instantly thickened, and the flames around Lucifer visibly weakened.
"Ah! No! Wade! Help me!" Lucifer wailed miserably.
"This thing belongs to you?" the Senior asked, releasing it and looking toward Wade.
Lucifer immediately fled behind Wade and poked its head out to peek at the Senior.
"That woman is terrifying! But I believe you can beat her! Go for it, Wade! I'll cheer you on from back here!"
Lucifer trembled so badly that it even forgot to refer to itself as "this great lord."
"It is mine... Anyway... it's a long story," Wade said with a sigh.
"Huh? Don't tell me you're afraid of this woman too! Hah! Looks like you're not much stronger than me after all..."
Wade casually grabbed a glass jar, stuffed Lucifer inside, and tightly closed the lid.
"Muffliato."
Lucifer continued shouting inside the jar, but none of the sound could be heard outside.
"Hmph. You're always researching these strange things."
"Ahem... why are you here?" Wade asked, changing the subject.
"I sensed that you came here in the middle of the night. That's unusual, so I came to take a look," the Senior said.
"It's nothing. I just couldn't sleep, so I came to do a small experiment. Also, I wanted to tell you that one week from now, I'll officially help you escape."
"You aren't lying to me this time, are you?" the Senior asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"I wasn't lying."
"Then why do I still have to wait a week? Is it because you need time to prepare precautions against me? Don't wait a whole week! Let me out tomorrow! I'll give you the methods for guarding against me myself!"
"Don't be so impatient..." Wade said.
"I am impatient!"
The Senior suddenly disappeared.
More than ten minutes later, she reappeared and tossed a thick stack of notes directly in front of Wade.
"These contain all of my weaknesses! I've also designed several plans. Every preparation listed in them can cause me serious harm! You can set them up around the area tomorrow. I absolutely won't stop you! Or if you have your own ideas, you can even arrange them around my 'grave.' I won't interfere with those either! I only ask that you let me out sooner. Please don't make me wait so long..."
By the end, the Senior's voice was almost trembling with tears.
Wade understood.
The Senior knew perfectly well why he was still delaying instead of freeing her immediately.
Because she had no way to make Wade trust her completely.
So from her perspective, it was perfectly reasonable for him to spend time preparing precautions against her.
But she truly did not want to wait any longer.
That was why she had laid out all her weaknesses at once, even personally designing methods that could be used against her, all in the hope that Wade would free her sooner.
Seeing her like this, even Wade's increasingly hardened heart could not help feeling a trace of guilt.
He really did owe her a great deal.
Even so, Wade still said firmly, "Then three days from now."
Three days was the shortest amount of time he could allow himself. It would give him enough time to verify whether the information in the notes was genuine and to make the necessary preparations.
Before, when he had no other option, he had been prepared to take a gamble.
But now that he had another choice...
He still needed to examine everything carefully, even if the decision made him feel uncomfortable.
...
After leaving the goblin workshop and returning to Hogwarts, Wade walked along the long corridor with Lucifer floating above his head, casting a soft glow that illuminated the darkness.
Suddenly, Wade stopped and smacked himself hard on the head.
"Tch... I'm really awful..."
Deep down, he was inclined to trust the Senior, but his reason kept warning him to remain cautious.
Still, Wade had not yet become a cold-hearted Dark Lord.
Without knowing whether the Senior would truly turn against him, guilt continued to linger in his heart, especially after everything she had done for him.
"There's no need to feel guilty, child. You haven't done anything wrong. And she doesn't blame you either."
Wade spun around.
Not far away, Ms Paris stood in the corridor holding an oil lamp, smiling at him.
Wade was inwardly startled.
How had she approached him without him noticing?
"You know what just happened?" Wade asked hesitantly.
"I've been speaking with her in dreams every night lately, so after seeing what you just did, I can more or less guess what happened," Ms Paris said with a smile.
"I really didn't do anything wrong?" Wade asked.
"Of course not, child. The magical world is wonderful, but it's also full of danger. Being able to remain cautious at all times is a very good habit. And... don't think that you owe her too much. Remember, you've also gone to great lengths to save her. In the end, you're even willing to take a considerable risk."
"Thank you. I feel a little better now."
Wade's voice returned to its usual calmness.
"All right. Perhaps the two of you would still like to stroll through the quiet castle for a while, but I would suggest returning to your warm beds and getting some proper sleep. The weather is still very cold, and one of you is dressed rather lightly..."
Ms Paris looked toward a corner not far away.
Under the light of her lamp, Tom emerged from the shadows.
"Why did you follow me out?" Wade asked unhappily.
"Who was following you? I just couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk. Then I happened to see someone acting like an idiot and hitting himself on the head. If you don't mind, I can do it for you. I've wanted to for quite a while!" Tom said mockingly.
"Hah! You think you can hit me? Come back after another twenty thousand years of training!"
"If I can live that long, I'll dig up your grave and give your skull a good pounding. I imagine you won't object by then!"
...
Early the next morning, Wade was already sitting in the club room, carefully reading through the stack of notes. He had not even eaten breakfast.
When Tom and the others arrived after breakfast, intending to loosen up and train, they found Wade already busy at work.
"Good morning, Wade! Why didn't you come to breakfast?" Anne placed an oil-paper package and a bottle on Wade's desk. "I brought you some bread and a bottle of milk."
"Oh, thank you, Anne."
Wade looked up and smiled at her, then happened to notice the faintly mocking smile on Tom's face.
Clearly, the bastard was still making fun of Wade for smacking himself on the head the previous night.
"Anne, beat him up for me!" Wade said, pointing at Tom.
"Huh? But I can't beat him..." Anne said a little awkwardly.
She really was no longer Tom's opponent.
Wade took a pair of glasses from his pocket.
"Put these on, then beat him up."
"Hah! She wants to beat me? Come back after another twenty thousand years of training!" Tom said arrogantly.
______
[]~(￣▽￣)~*
Read 12 Advance Chapters—P@t- Captain69