This is a defense mechanism of the Magic Academy. It's obvious that on the second floor of the city tower, there's a circular hole like a magic circle, from which these rolling boulders fall.
Relying on his experience, Nidhogg first jumped onto the platform on the left, dodging the first rolling boulder. When he returned to the bridge and continued forward, a second boulder fell and rolled down again.
This time, he stood in a corner on the right. When the rolling boulder came down, it turned at this corner, but couldn't run over Nidhogg, so it rolled off the bridge.
Thus, Nidhogg easily reached the tower, passed through a corridor, and headed straight for the courtyard behind the tower.
A knight guarded the door of the Raya Lucaria Grand Library.
The knight was clad in the Carian Knight Set, holding a knight's sword and a knight's shield. When he saw Nidhogg, also in the Carian Knight Set, he couldn't help but freeze on the spot.
Huh? Are there any living brothers in the Magic Academy besides me? Why don't I know?
Only when Nidhogg removed his helm, revealing his true face, did the Carian Knight confirm that the man before him was a stranger, and that he had only recently acquired the Carian Knight armor.
He was a little angry. He raised his knight's sword and was about to fight Nidhogg. But at that moment, he heard a rather familiar yet slightly unfamiliar voice.
"Moongrum, stop. He is not your enemy."
The Carian Knight, called by his real name, froze. Then he noticed the miniature Snow Witch doll resting on Nidhogg's shoulder.
The Snow Witch? Isn't that the teacher of the 'Moon Princess'?
Moongrum looked closer. When Miniature Ranni lifted her head, revealing the face hidden beneath her wide magic hat, his eyes gradually widened in astonishment. He quickly sheathed his knight's sword and half-knelt on the ground.
"Lady Ranni, it's you! You've finally returned! I knew that although you disappeared, you were alright, and that you would surely return to save Queen Rennala. I have been here for this very reason."
Little Ranni remembered that she had only placed a layer of magical protection on her mother's body, then set out to carry out the "Night of the Black Knives" plan. Later, she secluded herself in darkness, waiting for the right moment.
She felt a slight guilt towards the Carian Knight, who had been persistent and devoted, waiting.
"Moongrum, you have worked hard."
"I'm not excited, your form..."
"It's a long story. In short, this is Nidhogg, my knight who accompanied me here. You can trust him just as you trust me. Is my mother inside?"
Moongrum glanced at Nidhogg before replying: "Yes, Queen Rennala is on the second floor. It's just... just that Her Majesty still..."
Ranni understood Moongrum's unfinished words and couldn't help but sigh softly.
The Carian royal family had long ceased to be a royal family; they could only be considered a principality. Their sphere of influence was only in the area of the Carian Royal Manor, until Rennala's birth.
Rennala was talented in sorcery. Since childhood, she had studied moon sorcery from the "moon," one of the outer gods. Then she led the Knights of Caria and the Mountain Troll Knights of the Carian Manor to begin her legend.
The sphere of influence of the Carian royal family gradually expanded. In the end, it even took over the Magic Academy. Rennala became the true "Full Moon Queen" in Liurnia of the Lakes.
However, after that, the forces of the Erdtree also threatened Liurnia of the Lakes.
Rennala led the Carian royal forces to resist the advance of the Erdtree's forces. But the queen fell in love at first sight on the battlefield with Radagon of the Golden Order from the Erdtree's forces.
Radagon understood this, stopped the quarrel, and decided to marry Rennala. In the end, they were wed by a church pastor. After the marriage, Rennala bore Radagon two sons and a daughter.
However, when Godfrey, the first Elden Lord, was exiled from the Junction by Queen Marika, Radagon resolutely left Rennala and, leaving behind his red wolf, went to Leyndell.
Soon after, Radagon married Queen Marika, becoming the second Elden Lord. Queen Marika bore Radagon a son and a daughter.
Marika and Radagon are one and the same. So whether it was Marika's children or the children born by Rennala, they all became demigods.
Radagon's departure was decisive and simple. But Rennala was deeply wounded by this. Since then, she has been devastated, hiding the amber egg in her hands within the library.
The amber egg was the fourth child she and Radagon were supposed to have, but unfortunately, it was never born.
Perhaps she had a fantasy that when she gave birth to the fourth child from this amber egg, Radagon would return, right?
It was precisely because she held the amber egg all day and ignored political affairs that the Magic Academy had the opportunity to place her under house arrest. It also allowed the Magic Academy and the Cuckoo Knights to attempt to capture the Carian Royal Manor and usurp power.
If not for the loyal defenders—the Carian Knights, the Mountain Troll Knights, and the supporters of the Carian royal family—Rennala and the Carian Manor might have completely fallen.
Even the shields of all the Carian Knights now possess additional defensive capabilities, able to withstand Holy attribute damage. It was obvious they were not only defending against the Magic Academy and the Cuckoo Knights, but also the forces of the Erdtree.
Thinking this, Ranni sighed again.
When she was young, under her mother's guidance, she had also seen the "moon." It led her to understand moon sorcery and firmly step onto the path of applying the law of the moon.
Her mother sat all day in the depths of the library, holding the amber egg in her arms, waiting for her father's return. This was completely unlike the once-resolute "Full Moon Queen."
"Let's go. Let's go inside." Ranni finally composed herself and said.
So, led by Moongrum, the three took the elevator together to the second floor of the Raya Lucaria Grand Library. They opened the door and saw a vast sea of classic magical texts.
They were neatly arranged on bookshelves. The excess lay on the ground, like hills.
The entire room was dark. The queen was not visible. But first, they heard bursts of laughter.
One after another, young figures, holding bright candlesticks, crawled on the ground and crept towards Nidhogg and the three. They were dressed in the robes of magic students.
They laughed, looking at the three people who had entered this place with burning eyes.
These were the young magic students, constantly reborn through the amber egg in Queen Rennala's arms.
Through repeated rebirth, they had long lost their adult sanity and remained here, like laughing, playful children.
At that moment, the laughter of the young magic students abruptly ceased. They all looked up towards the sky of the grand library.
A pillar of light was cast upon the grand library.
Their mother, Rennala, the "Full Moon Queen" with the translucent amber egg in her arms, sat in a cradle, barefoot, and gently descended.
She was enveloped in golden light and obsessively stroked the amber egg. Her affectionate and sacred voice echoed in the grand library:
"Oh... you've come... Ah, Ranni, my beautiful daughter... And my knight, and the knight who belongs to my daughter..."
"My knights, and Ranni's knight, do you wish to be reborn? If so, I will surely give birth to good children within you..."
"Be my beautiful child. I will come to embrace you. You will always, always, always be reborn..."
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