Chapter 29: The Enemy's Open Strategy

"Huff... huff..." Wang Yu stood before the great tree, gasping for air, rivers of sweat cascading down his bare torso.

"Crack, creak..." A teeth-grinding sound began to echo as the trunk splintered and bowed, bit by bit.

With a deafening crash, the dead tree that Wang Yu had used for four months of training finally collapsed.

It had been dead to begin with; otherwise, Wang Yu would never have chosen it for his practice.

After four months of continuous training, Wang Yu’s strength had finally reached a coefficient of 1.6, marking his entry into the intermediate rank of apprentice knights.

The bonus period was ending in a month, after which progress would become significantly more arduous.

Suddenly, something caught Wang Yu’s attention: a crooked object was flying through the distant sky.

Squinting, he saw a bird flapping its wings—it looked bizarre, its movements stiff, trailing a hazy plume of smoke behind it.

"Huh, a disposable magi-messenger? Who’s so extravagant to use one of these?" Wang Yu muttered to himself.

The mechanical bird fluttering toward him was crudely crafted, its internal gears and axles exposed without a shred of concealment.

The parts rattled and wobbled as if the entire contraption were about to shake itself to pieces.

In truth, it was barely holding together; these shoddy devices were expensive yet notoriously unreliable.

The only advantage of a disposable magi-messenger was its ability to transmit items over vast distances.

As it flew, the device began to lose altitude, and by the time it reached Wang Yu, it was plummeting rapidly.

"Thwack." It smashed into a pile of parts at his feet. Wang Yu didn't bother to catch it; heaven only knew if the power core might suddenly detonate.

It seemed stable enough, however. He rummaged through the scattered debris, retrieving a spherical metal orb—a nearly depleted power core that still had some utility—and...

He picked up a cylindrical metal tube from the ground. This was the letter, likely the only sturdy component in the entire machine.

Wang Yu didn't know if this was meant for him or if it had simply broken down at his feet, but he would find out soon enough.

He channeled his sorcery, warping reality as virtual mana coalesced and flowed from his fingertips into the metal cylinder.

A faint shimmer emanated from the surface, and a glowing name projected into the air before him: Mira Swain.

Wang Yu froze. This was the name of Avia’s mother. Was this a letter from home?

It had to be. Avia and her mother hadn't been in contact for nearly a year.

One reason was to prevent those with ill intent from tracking Avia, and the other was that long-distance communication in this world was notoriously inconvenient.

Now, a sudden letter—thinking of a mother who hadn't seen her daughter in a year, he could understand the sentiment.

He tucked the cylinder away. Having no interest in prying into others' correspondence, he walked toward the cabin and knocked on Avia’s door.

The girl opened it quickly, her face etched with fatigue, as if she had been busy with something for quite some time.

"What, that spell still isn't finished? I only mentioned the concept in passing; there’s no need to take it so seriously."

"No, I believe it is quite feasible."

"Alright then, good luck!"

"Thank you. Is there something you need?" The girl smoothed her messy hair and looked at Wang Yu.

"A letter from your mother." Wang Yu produced the metal cylinder and handed it to her.

"Oh? A letter from Mother!" The girl was visibly startled, her eyes flickering with a mix of panic and irrepressible anticipation.

Wang Yu smiled. They must both miss each other dearly; after all, they were likely the last remaining kin they had in the world.

"I’ll leave you to it." Wang Yu turned and walked away; as an outsider, this was not his place to intrude.

He walked back into the courtyard. The sun was blazing, and having finally broken through his plateau, he decided to relax and soak up the warmth.

Though he was out in the sun all day, there was a different kind of ease in relaxing intentionally.

War had begun, and Wang Yu had been racing against time to improve himself; a moment of respite was a rare luxury.

His thoughts drifted to the spell Avia was researching. "Materializing the void... she truly is a genius. I just mentioned it in passing, and she’s already finding ways to reconstruct it."

The sorcery Avia was studying was the materialization of the void—a concept Wang Yu had mentioned during a casual chat, drawn from a book titled *A Wizard from Afar* that he had read in his previous life.

While the details regarding the void differed, there were commonalities.

Wang Yu had merely dropped the idea, but Avia had been deeply inspired, and ever since finishing that dagger, she had been obsessed with making the void manifest in reality.

Though Wang Yu thought it nearly impossible, he had to admit that if she succeeded, the power of such a spell would be staggering.

Considering Avia’s terrifying talent, perhaps it wasn't so impossible after all.

He counted the days in his head. It had been a month since they saw the ossuary, and the year mark was approaching.

The bonus period was ending, his training gains would soon diminish, and he would eventually venture further to see more of this strange world.

Though war had arrived, he remained free, unbound by any master.

"Tap, tap, tap." Rapid footsteps echoed behind him. Wang Yu turned to see Avia running toward him, her face as pale as parchment, drained of all color.

He quickly shook off his relaxed state and turned to face the girl. "What happened?" His expression turned grave at her frantic demeanor.

"Mother... Mother has been placed under house arrest." Her voice trembled, and she seemed to be in a state of profound shock; the news in the letter was clearly disastrous.

What a life of misfortune. Sighing inwardly for the poor girl, Wang Yu asked her to let him see the letter.

She handed it to him with trembling hands. Wang Yu scanned the contents; it was brief, yet it left him both deeply troubled and utterly bewildered.

The letter essentially demanded that the girl return immediately to her mother’s estate outside the imperial capital and transfer her barony and a portion of her assets to her uncle, Decathlon Dofin.

Wang Yu was baffled. What kind of nonsense was this? Return when told, transfer when ordered? Even bandits didn't operate with such audacity...

"What is this?" Wang Yu asked, looking at Avia.

The girl bit her lip until it bled, her body shivering uncontrollably.

He couldn't tell if it was rage or some other emotion, but it was clear she was in a state of deep distress.

"The War-Time Noble Rights Transfer Decree..." Her voice shook, the fury within it far outweighing any other emotion.

Wang Yu hadn't heard of this decree; it must have been some special mandate of Alastair.

It wasn't explicitly recorded in common books, though he recalled vague, obscure mentions of it. As the term was spoken, his brow furrowed tightly.

This special decree had been enacted during wartime to ensure that domestic nobles would unite to resist foreign enemies.

The King knew how wretched these parasitic leeches were; without forceful demands, they would rather tear each other apart than go to war.

But without incentives, they would simply drag their feet.

They would bring a ragtag group of the elderly, the infirm, and starving refugees—conscripted from who knows where—to the battlefield, only to be slaughtered like grass by the enemy.

Thus, the War-Time Noble Rights Transfer Decree was issued. Its effect was to allow nobles who refused to participate in the war to "voluntarily" transfer their rights to those who would.

But in Wang Yu’s eyes, this "voluntariness" was a farce.

Before a great noble who had amassed significant military power under the guise of war, did the smaller nobles truly have the strength to resist? The answer was obviously no.

Wang Yu’s brows knitted together. It was clear that Decathlon Dofin was using this decree to strike at Avia Dofin.

"Wait? Isn't your mother a Baroness? And didn't your grandfather promise to protect you? Isn't your mother a Grand Mage?"

"How could they let this Decathlon fellow act with such impunity?" Wang Yu still couldn't grasp it.

"My mother... she should have transferred the title to me long ago. She... she never cared for the title. She only wanted to give me more..."

The girl’s voice was choked with sobs, her tone unable to mask a seething resentment—hatred for her own helplessness, and hatred for Decathlon’s vile nature.

"My grandfather’s family is preparing for a unified campaign, and Decathlon must be seizing this moment to strike at my mother."

"If he acts swiftly enough, he can secure what he desires; even if my grandfather returns later, he would never wage war against the Dove family for such a 'trifle'."

A fire ignited in Wang Yu’s chest, followed by a profound sense of disdain and frustration.

Is this what nobility is? To the common folk, they stand high above, but in Wang Yu’s eyes, they are nothing more than filthy rat droppings.

His own daughter is being persecuted, yet in his eyes, it is merely a "minor" interest—where is the blood, the honor?

Wang Yu’s knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists; the moral compass within him told this brute of a man that his hands were itching, desperate to pummel someone.

"My mother is indeed a Grand Mage, and she has achieved great mastery in sorcery, but she contracted a strange illness some time ago, and her control over the path of magic has become increasingly chaotic."

"She feared losing control, so she sealed her own mental space; her spiritual power plummeted, making it nearly impossible for her to cast spells or weave sorcery."

"That is why Decathlon has become so arrogant and unscrupulous." The girl’s eyes turned uncontrollably red; she felt powerless, and utterly desperate.

"If you are the Baron, and you don't return, then according to the King's requirements, this decree should still be 'voluntary'."

"If you don't respond, Decathlon shouldn't have the right to touch your title, right?"

Wang Yu felt a splitting headache; he had no grasp of politics and no clever schemes, only the hope of finding a flaw in Decathlon’s plan.

"Yes, but only Mother has my magical beacon. The fact that she could reach me means she has already been captured or placed under house arrest. How... how can I abandon her?"

The girl’s tears could no longer be contained; she felt truly helpless, just when she thought she was about to be reunited with her mother.

She had just received this magical transmission; she could have spoken to her mother sooner, but this message arrived suddenly, and the tide seemed impossible to stem.

The title was hers; yes, she could avoid losing it by not responding.

But the signature of Mira Swain on the magical letter made it clear to Avia that her mother was already a prisoner.

What would become of a woman without a noble title or the strength to defend herself? It went without saying.

They were playing an open, daylight conspiracy, using the "War Decree" as a pretext to hold the girl’s mother hostage.

What could a girl with no support and no power do to fight against them and their family?

Run? How could she leave her mother behind?

Stay? What could she do? Not yet strong enough to change anything, the situation seemed utterly hopeless from every angle.

Wang Yu felt a chill deep in his bones—not for himself, but for these so-called nobles.

It was laughable; even the poorest wretches fighting for a crust of bread have flesh and blood, family and friends to strive for.

These ridiculous nobles, the moment someone loses their footing, act like a pack of bloodthirsty hounds, eager to rush in, strip them of their skin, tear them apart, and feast upon their flesh.

There were such people in his previous world, too, but Wang Yu had been an ordinary and lucky man; he had never experienced it.

He looked at the girl, her face etched with despair, his eyes narrowing with a dangerous glint.

What was he best at? Not fighting, not kicking down doors, but tearing away all pretenses and rules—flipping the table.

Just as Wang Yu was about to speak, the girl’s tears seemed to drip onto the letter canister.

Triggering something unknown, the radiance of magic runes flared upon it.

Before the girl could react, she felt a pair of gentle hands caressing her face, wiping away her unstoppable tears.

The girl stared blankly at the figure that had suddenly appeared before her. Wang Yu was also stunned, but his combat instincts told him there was no danger.

Bright, golden, silky hair fell quietly over her shoulders; her exquisite face, bearing an eighty-percent resemblance to the girl’s, held a mature charm, her brows curved with a gentle smile.

The girl looked in astonishment at the woman who had suddenly appeared beside her to tenderly brush away her tears.

She knew her too well; it was precisely because of that familiarity that she fell into such uncontrollable shock and stupor.

"Mother..." A trembling voice escaped the girl’s lips, yet the tears continued to stream from her eyes.

"Little Avia, don't cry, it's Mama..." The woman’s figure wiped the tears from Avia’s face and pulled the girl into her arms.

Wang Yu could see this was a projection of void energy; it was not a physical body, yet it differed little from the real thing.

As expected of a genius mother, her aptitude was terrifying; to transmit her projection via magic runes, using a minimal amount of void energy to manifest her presence here—it could only be called terrifying.

The girl leaned into her mother’s embrace, feeling utterly helpless; even if only for a moment, she wanted to feel this warmth.

The woman looked at her daughter with love, her eyes filled with tenderness and guilt.

"I'm sorry, Avia. Your father and I couldn't protect you well. Mama is so sorry. You don't need to come back to save me; as long as you live well, Mama is satisfied..."

The woman paused, her tone filled with remorse and vexation.

"Mama knows it hasn't been easy for you. Saying you're living well—that's asking too much of you..."

"But Mama wants you to know that as long as you live, even if you achieve nothing, even if you finish nothing, or—to be selfish—even if things aren't going well, Mama is satisfied."

"Don't come to save me. Being able to see you one more time is enough to make me happy..." The woman’s eyes were full of reluctance, yet she did not ask Avia to return.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to Mama. A man like Decathlon... I imagine the hell the Church of Light speaks of is exactly where he belongs. As for Mama, I should still be qualified to live in heaven."

A smile appeared on the woman’s face—beautiful, yet desolate.

Wang Yu stood to the side watching, feeling a bitter taste in his mouth. Pity the hearts of parents everywhere. He was not a parent, but he could understand this emotion. It was, truly, infuriating.

"Little Avia, Mama is always proud of you. You are a strong girl, and Mama hopes you will always stay strong. Whether we are here or not, I hope you will live bravely."

"My time is limited. It is time to say goodbye. Farewell..." The woman’s eyes were filled with longing; she reached out to stroke the top of the girl’s head, her figure gradually dissipating into reality, fading away.

The girl’s eyes were hollow, an unspeakable sorrow surging in her heart. As her mother’s figure vanished, her held body collapsed limply toward the ground.

"Thud!" It was not the sound of the girl hitting the floor; a pair of strong hands caught her firmly.

"It’s truly infuriating... I want to kill someone. Get ready. We leave early. Although, well, it’s a bit difficult, but as I said: I’ll tank, you carry—no one is going to stop us."

Wang Yu held the girl’s shoulders, his firm gaze meeting her trembling eyes.

The trembling in her eyes gradually subsided, as if influenced by this godforsaken man.

He remembered what this guy had said: some things might not seem rational, but if you don't do them, you will surely regret it!

Anger and sorrow transformed into motivation; a fire was ignited in the girl’s fragile chest, burning fiercely...

(The update is a bit late, sorry. I'm working hard on the updates. I will try my best to write the following plot well. Please leave comments and recommendation votes.)