Chapter 274

Chapter 274

Seeing that Fa Meng had spoken and displayed obvious intelligence and rationality, the people in the Beast Tower still did not disperse. Lorant furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction.

"I'm certain that Fa Meng is still rational and capable of normal communication."

"I made Fa Meng grow larger so you could see if there was any strange aura when he transformed, not for everyone to treat him like this."

Lorant looked at the stubborn group around him, and involuntarily, a hint of anger slipped into his tone, making it cold and firm.

Jacqueline pressed her lips together. She knew very well that her actions were a sign of distrust towards Lorant.

But she didn’t dare to gamble.

This was Mauplan. If this terrifying beast companion really lost control and went on a rampage without Lorant’s control, the entire city of Mauplan could be reduced to rubble in just a few breaths.

And within that city was nearly one-fifth of the human empire’s population. If something went wrong, the impact would be greater than any beast tide.

Not only that, but if something really went wrong, the beast companion would also vanish into the annals of history.

All her years of perseverance and the expectations she had after seeing the dawn would become empty words.

Jacqueline couldn’t let that happen.

"Sorry, Lorant," she said firmly, even though there was some regret in her heart. "I have to do this. If something goes wrong, the consequences will be too devastating for anyone to handle."

Lorant sighed helplessly, though he was quite dissatisfied with the situation.

But to be fair, Lorant could still understand Jacqueline's choice.

If the situation the mages imagined really happened, if something unexpected occurred, and a beast companion of Fa Meng's level went berserk, the City of Knights might be destroyed today. Lorant knew full well that Fa Meng had the capability to do so.

"Then what do you think I should do to prove that Fa Meng is still rational?" Lorant thought for a moment and decided to leave the decision to Jacqueline. "I'll cooperate with your request once more."

Jacqueline thought silently for a moment, then said, "If that's the case, make it lie on the ground."

Lorant helplessly tapped Fa Meng's head and negotiated with it. "Little Qing, you heard them, right? What do you say? Can you help us out?"

Fa Meng shook its head, clearly unhappy. "They are all so mean! Bullying the two of us!"

The little guy, still young, stomped its feet, wanting to throw a bit of a tantrum. Lorant quickly comforted it. "How about this, Fa Meng? Let's do what they say for now. After this, I’ll make sure they apologize and get you some extra treats, okay?"

"Five portions!" Fa Meng's eyes lit up and immediately bargained. "I want to eat them all at once!"

"Five portions are too much. You'll feel uncomfortable if you eat them all at once." Lorant rejected the little guy's fanciful suggestion. "How about I give you an extra meal every day, for a total of five extra meals?"

Fa Meng thought seriously for a moment and decided that this condition was acceptable. He immediately cheered up and even wagged his tail, though he stopped just in time to avoid knocking down a nearby tree.

Now, he was no longer the little fat dragon that was only as long as Lorant's arm.

At this moment, Fa Meng's body was like a small mountain. When he lay down, the entire beast companion shop shook along with him.

The workers who were busy in the backyard had already stopped their work in panic when they saw what was happening in the beast companion shop. They stood there, mouths agape, turning to watch the scene unfold.

As Fa Meng lay down, the workers scrambled to grab onto nearby heavy objects to keep themselves steady.

The foreman breathed a sigh of relief, thankful they had left enough open space for the beast companions to move around. The buildings themselves only occupied a small portion of the area, and fortunately, the huge creature appeared in an open space... Otherwise, just now, months of their hard work might have been wasted.

The foreman shuddered and clung tightly to the pile of stones, his body disheveled by the wind.

Seeing that Fa Meng not only could quietly haggle with Bolente but also ultimately obeyed him and lay down, Jacqueline breathed a sigh of relief.

In her heart, Jacqueline certainly still hoped that this beast was under Bolente's control, rational, and completely harmless.

But hope was just hope. At her age, she had long understood the difference between dreams and reality.

In situations like this, caution was never excessive.

Jacqueline sighed inwardly, looking at Fa Meng, who was still enormous as it lay on the ground. Her mind involuntarily began to wonder—if this was indeed a false alarm, what would she need to give Bolente and the little guy to mend their relationship?

"Bolente, can you have Fa Meng change back now?" Jacqueline voiced the thought that had instinctively appeared in her mind, continuing her request.

Fa Meng laid its head on the ground and very obviously rolled its eyes.

This time, it didn’t make Bolente act as an intermediary.

With a loud 'bang,' the massive Dragon Beast, shrouded in billowing smoke, turned back into the cute and chubby little dragon.

Bolente exclaimed, falling from a height and landing squarely on a trampoline, bouncing several times before slowly coming to a stop.

The people from the Beast Tower finally truly relaxed. If they hadn’t understood the situation by the time Bolente had gone this far, they would have been too foolish for words.

Clearly, from start to finish, Fa Meng had never lost control.

It was just the overwhelmingly intense energy of the Dragon Beast that had caused the misunderstanding.

The mages exchanged glances, all seeing the sheepish looks on each other’s faces.

They were about to dismantle the chain formation and go down to apologize to Bolente properly, hoping to gain the forgiveness of the rather vengeful little creature.

However, when they attempted to disconnect from the formation above, they found their magic power beginning to surge uncontrollably into the formation.

"Wait! Who activated the formation?" Kyle shouted angrily, looking at the increasingly thick purple magical energy in front of him, clearly feeling his magic power draining away.

Yet the others were in the same situation, all desperately trying to sever their magical connection.

But at this point, the formation seemed to have gone out of control, rapidly absorbing their magic power like a parched sponge.

The originally inactive, terrifying chains, now infused with magic power, began to stir within the formation.

Nine enormous chains, like giant serpents from another dimension, twisted wildly in the air. Then, without any warning, they shot towards the positions of the nine Beast Tower members with clear division of labor.

The chains moved swiftly, leaving an afterimage in the air. The mages had never expected their spell to turn against them, and many were caught off guard.

"This!" Robert, one of the weakest members of the Beast Tower, was knocked backward in an instant by the iron chain.

Those near him turned pale with shock. They knew better than anyone the strength of the magical formation they were using.

This was a powerful artifact that had been carefully cultivated over centuries. It was a treasure used by the Beast Tower members for protection.

It could easily handle beast-type enemies of level fifteen.

The reason Jacqueline had brought out this formation today was that even if Fa Meng had been revived into a legendary-level beast due to the Dragon Beast's influence, with this formation, they would still stand a chance.

At the very least, they could hold its feet.

The members of the Beast Tower were quite confident in their formation.

Because of this, they knew that if Robert, given his strength, were hit by the "Soul Binding Chain," he would likely lose half his life even if he didn’t die on the spot.

Beside him, Kyle’s muscles bulged once more, transforming him into a beast-like presence. He leaped at Robert like a cannonball, attempting to catch his flying companion and help dissipate some of the force and magical backlash.

The other two were also busy dodging the chains heading toward them while trying to stop the Soul Binding Chain that was once again aiming for Robert.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Robert, who should have been drained of magic and coughing up blood, was firmly slapped on the face by the huge chain but appeared unharmed. Kyle caught him smoothly.

Robert had simply been knocked dozens of meters away.

Startled by the sudden incoming chain, he activated a bunch of defensive spells, making him glow like a flickering lightbulb. Apart from a slight loss of dignity, he was completely unharmed.

Not even a scratch.

For a moment, both Kyle and Robert were stunned after the catch. In that instant of hesitation, the chain coiled back and lashed out with a powerful strike.

The two of them flew out again like a ball, bouncing through the air.

They stood up, dazed and disoriented, like resilient rubber balls.

After delivering a few more strikes to the two mages, the Soul Binding Chains retracted satisfied back into the formation, leaving the two dazed mages looking at each other.

Kyle endured the pain all over his body and struggled to stand up. He grabbed Robert and shook him a few times to check if he was really uninjured before finally feeling relieved.

Although he had taken the brunt of the later hits, Kyle, as a 13th-level mage, was vastly superior to Robert, an 8th-level mage, in every aspect.

He had been genuinely worried that Robert might have been killed outright by the chain in the beginning.

Robert, however, was not killed. The two Soul Binding Chains were quite restrained, as if they were merely toying with them without using lethal force.

But Kyle’s handling had been much rougher than the chains’.

Robert was shaken so hard by Kyle that he felt like his brain was about to come out of his mouth. Crouched on the ground, spinning and silently dry heaving, he realized that the damage Kyle caused was significantly worse than the chain’s earlier strike.

During this time, the remaining seven chains also found their respective targets, sending the other mages flying around like tennis balls.

Only Jacqueline’s defenses held firm against the chains for the moment.

Seeing the scene unfold, Jacqueline seemed to understand something.

It was clear that the Soul Binding Chains were now under someone else’s control. As for who could control such a powerful formation, apart from the little creature Lorant was scolding by tapping its head, Jacqueline couldn’t think of anyone else.

Judging by the behavior of the Soul Binding Chains, the little creature had not lost control. Despite flinging the mages of the Beast Tower around, no one was truly injured.

This was enough to show Fa Meng’s stance.

It had the power to harm but chose not to, because it was not a mere beast but an intelligent beast companion.

Wielding power but choosing not to harm others was the truest sign of kindness.

Understanding this, Jacqueline silently lowered her guard, only to be symbolically sent flying about ten meters away as the chain hit her arm with great fanfare.

Finally having her prank succeed, the little Fa Meng giggled in delight.

At that moment, it skillfully dodged Lorant’s pursuit, weaving through the air just out of his reach on its book.

After seeing that everyone had received their due punishment, Fa Meng felt satisfied and flipped through the air with her book, doing several somersaults before being swiftly grabbed by the quick-eyed Lorant.

"Ha! You guys were asking for it! Watch me give you a real scare!" The little fat dragon taunted, sticking out her tongue at the chaos below in the Beast Tower.

Lorant quickly used both hands to grab Fa Meng, holding her in his arms to prevent her from running around anymore.

He looked somewhat embarrassed and gave an awkward smile to everyone who was staring in shock after hearing Fa Meng's voice.

"Hehe, she’s just a kid, and she didn’t mean any harm," Lorant chuckled, trying to calm Fa Meng down as she squirmed in his arms, still attempting to verbally provoke the mages. He buried Fa Meng's head in his chest, making it impossible for her to continue.

As he spoke, he also, with a very parental demeanor, symbolically patted Fa Meng's soft little butt a few times to show that he had already 'punished' her.

The mages from the Beast Tower landed in disarray, and the omnipresent, highly flexible chains in the sky finally retracted after lashing out at each of them.

The mages tried to channel their magic to retract the formation, but the chains began to stir again, as if ready to lash out once more.

This forced everyone to stop what they were doing, staring up at the formation with a bitter sense of helplessness, like swallowing a bitter pill without a voice to protest.

The fundamental magical energy of these chains was the magic power they had nurtured for hundreds of years, and the energy used to whip them had been drawn from their bodies just a minute ago.

Feeling their sore bodies, they felt an indescribable sense of bitterness.

Jacqueline also attempted to intervene. The members of the formation could stop their respective chains, but Jacqueline controlled the entire formation.

If she didn't act, the others could only control one chain at most. To close the formation, she had to do it herself.

However, when Jacqueline's magic probed out, it was as if it had disappeared into thin air.

Jacqueline's face paled; this was the first time her magic had ever failed her like this.

This Soul-Bound Chain formation was something she had created herself when she was younger, and every step from start to finish had been done by Jacqueline personally. In the past hundred years, it had always been as responsive as her own limbs.

It had never disobeyed her before.

Even though Lorant had buried Fa Meng's face in his chest, she somehow caught sight of Jacqueline's distressed expression. Still holding a grudge, Fa Meng gloated silently in Lorant's mind, "Hmph! They got what they deserved, and now this thing is mine!"

Lorant, holding Fa Meng, could barely free his hands and could only lift her butt a bit. Then, he rubbed his chin forcefully against her head, squishing the little one's soft cheeks.

"Alright, stop messing around. This is someone else's property, so don't play with it, okay?" Lorant said with a righteous expression.

At the same time, he whispered to Fa Meng in his mind, "Put it away secretly, and make sure no one notices. Oh, and pretend to disperse it so they don’t come asking for it later."

Fa Meng's eyes lit up, and she immediately nodded, more than happy to do such a thing. As long as she could make the Beast Tower guys unhappy, she would be thrilled!

In the sky, the massive purple formation flickered for a moment. Then, pretending to break free from Lorant's restraint, she twisted her body, opened her mouth towards the sky, and let out a roar.

A massive blue flame shot out from Fa Meng's mouth, completely enveloping the entire formation.

Everyone watched in stunned silence as the chains snapped one by one under the intense blue flames, and the circular formation shattered from the center, where the magical runes began to crack.

After a few more seconds of intensified burning, the formation shattered into pieces with a soft 'click', turning into countless purple lights that gently floated down. It was as beautiful as stars breaking and scattering across the sky.

However, the mages from the Beast Tower were too shocked to appreciate the beauty of the falling light. They stood frozen, staring in disbelief at their precious formation, which had vanished into nothingness before their eyes.

Each of them wore an expression of disbelief.

You must understand, the Spirit Locking Chains are no ordinary magic! This was a combined array that the legendary great mage Jacqueline spent a century crafting specifically for the Beast Tower members.

With this array, the nine of them would have a fighting chance even against a legendary beast.

The power of this array is evident.

And if we're being precise, this thing is more like an intangible magical artifact rather than just a spell.

Once initiated by one person, it can quickly surge from the others and be used immediately.

For magic of this caliber, a triggering time counted in seconds is virtually instantaneous.

Naturally, this involved an immeasurable amount of precious magical materials and was nurtured over a hundred years by these great mages, accumulating their magic power to create the powerful effect it has now.

And yet, this astonishing array had now fallen into the hands of Little Qing and Little Black for a bargain.

Fa Meng didn’t particularly need treasures; after all, it was a beast companion that wasn’t very good at using tools. However, Little Qing was extremely sensitive to all kinds of 'treasures' and could tell at a glance that this array was something extraordinary.

Because of this, it had been secretly trying to keep it.

Fa Meng had thought that Lorant would, like before, teach it that it should return these things to be a good child. Who knew that Lorant would actually suggest secretly keeping the array!

This made Little Qing even happier, feeling that Lorant, its dear Lorant, really understood it.

Lorant had always been aware of himself; he knew he was never one with a good temper. Whenever possible, Lorant always settled scores right away.

This time, the actions of the Beast Tower members had left him somewhat dissatisfied.

What made him even more upset was that he couldn’t really find much fault in their actions.

By reason, Jacqueline's actions were beyond reproach.

Emotionally, they had prioritized their own safety, and they had indeed shown care and friendship towards him...

But Lorant felt uneasy, so he wanted to make himself feel better and avoid a restless night.

Lorant felt he had to make the Beast Tower members bleed a little to compensate for his mental loss.

Oh, right, not just himself, but also Fa Meng, and the other frightened little beast companions.

These children needed some good things to soothe their wounded hearts, didn’t they?

Jacqueline, lost in thought, stared at the sky filled with purple starlight. A hundred years of her heart and soul had just gone up in smoke in an instant.

The disheartened mage landed next to Lorant, and before she could say anything, Lorant cut in, "I'm sorry, Aunt Jacqueline. Fa Meng is still a child and got a bit emotional."

"When you all surrounded it, it got scared and couldn't control its power well, accidentally breaking your array." Lorant said with an innocent look while telling a blatant lie, "But when mistakes are made, one must take responsibility. I am willing to make amends for everyone's loss, be it money, materials, or other things. I will do my utmost to compensate for today's damages, both material and emotional!"

As a victim who had just been surrounded by the array, Lorant was now surprisingly understanding.

His innocent demeanor left some of the less familiar Beast Tower mages feeling a bit awkward.