I Made Up Forbidden Spells, and They Actually Worked?

Miranda Joy's eyes darted, and she quickly snapped, "Rulda, if you want to question someone, it should be him! Think about it—how could someone with my limited strength pull off something like this?"

Her words caused Rulda Chel and the others to hesitate once again.

The truth was, they couldn't deny that Miranda's power was indeed modest compared to the scale of the events that had unfolded. How could she possibly be behind it all?

Dean Bruce chuckled, "Still acting, are we? I forgot to mention something—I'm actually capable of resurrecting the dead. If you're so confident, why don't we return and revive the king? Then we can let him settle this?"

Miranda Joy's refusal to disclose the location of the imprisoned bodies had left Dean Bruce with no choice but to keep her alive and continue this confrontation.

But the longer this dragged on, the more intense his desire to eliminate her grew.

"I…" Miranda furrowed her brows, her expression flickering between disbelief and fear. She couldn't fathom the idea that resurrection was possible in this world. But Dean Bruce's earlier actions had shaken her confidence, leaving her too frightened to respond immediately.

Meanwhile, Rulda Chel and the others were equally astonished. "Mr. Dean, do you truly possess such an ability? If the king could be revived, this crisis facing the Empire of Lane Cloud could be resolved!"

If the king were still alive, there would be hope for stability.

Apollon Joy, now filled with newfound respect, looked at Dean Bruce with admiration. The chaos of recent events had made it clear to him that his survival hinged on sticking closely to Dean Bruce.

Dean Bruce responded calmly, "Miranda, are you brave enough to come with me? Let's revive the old king and settle this afterward."

"Fine! I'll go!" Miranda Joy, though clearly shaken, tried to maintain a defiant stance. "You're just bluffing. I refuse to believe there's such a miraculous magic in this world!"

She knew she couldn't refuse at this point, so she tried to project confidence despite her doubts.

Naturally, Rulda Chel and the others couldn't just leave the current situation unresolved. With so many souls in peril, any casualties would be disastrous. Before leaving, Rulda Chel subtly signaled to several of the royal guardians to stay behind and stabilize the condition of the spirits.

Although they couldn't reverse the situation entirely, as archmage-level practitioners, they could at least maintain the souls' existence for a while.

As Dean Bruce and the group returned to King Prani Joy's palace, he immediately sensed an unusual magical fluctuation. Scanning the room, he saw no visible changes in the placement of objects, and there were no obvious disturbances.

Still, Dean Bruce made a mental note of the strange energy. His wariness grew.

He had a strong feeling that Miranda Joy still had something up her sleeve.

As Miranda Joy herself had said, on the surface, her power seemed far too weak to execute such an elaborate plan.

Tap, tap, tap—

The sound of footsteps echoed as the rest of the group entered the room. Dean Bruce collected his thoughts and quickly moved forward, pulling out the Healing Spring.

The spring water was stored in a blue gourd, a container only someone like Dean Bruce, from a more advanced era, would recognize. The others were all puzzled by it.

Lifting King Prani Joy's body, Dean Bruce checked for damage and confirmed that the body was intact. Without hesitation, he uncorked the gourd and poured the Healing Spring into the king's mouth.

Buzz!

In an instant, a rich wave of life energy surged throughout the room, filling the entire palace.

"Oh my god, what is this? Just breathing in the scent is making all my old injuries heal at an incredible speed! This… this is unbelievable!"

"I've been stuck at the seventh-rank archmage level for thirteen years, and just by inhaling the aura, I can feel the bottleneck loosening. What on earth is this?"

"I… I feel like I've gained ten more years of life! My lifespan!"

Exclamations of disbelief echoed throughout the room, and even Dean Bruce heard a familiar system notification.

Ding!

"System Notification: Congratulations! You have successfully absorbed the aura from the Healing Spring. Your lifespan has increased by 30 years, and your magic power has increased by 1,000 points!"

"!!!"

Dean Bruce's eyes lit up in surprise. He hadn't expected that the described effects of the Healing Spring were only for direct consumption. The aura alone was powerful enough to have such miraculous results.

Previously, thanks to long-term use of the Dragonheart Pendant and various other fortunate encounters, Dean Bruce's magic power had been nearing 1,000 points. This new boost pushed him to the first level of Grand Magus, with the potential to break into the second level at any moment.

For someone his age, this was already considered genius-level. Combined with his tenfold enhanced comprehension and power from high-level and ultra-high-level spells, Dean Bruce could now rival archmages when casting those spells.

Even using regular magic, he could compete with entry-level Grand Magi, eliminating the need to rely on high-level spells every time he wanted to demonstrate his strength.

Fortunately, everyone was so absorbed in their own transformations that no one paid attention to the surge of magic power within Dean Bruce.

Buzz—

As the Healing Spring was absorbed by Prani Joy, his once withered body began to regain strength. His chest rose and fell with breath, drawing everyone's attention.

"My God, the king has really come back to life!"

"Unbelievable! Not even the Pope of the Church of Light has the power to bring someone back from the dead like this!"

"Hiss... I think Dean could challenge the Pope for his position after this!"

Cries of astonishment filled the room. Everyone, except Miranda Joy, rushed forward, carefully watching Prani Joy.

Magic surged, forming a protective barrier around the king.

Cough, cough!

Prani Joy began coughing violently again, but this time, his breathing didn't falter. Instead, he spat out a mouthful of blackened blood.

Hiss—

The black blood hit the pristine white marble floor, immediately corroding it and releasing a greenish smoke. The sight made everyone's expressions grow more serious.

He was definitely poisoned!

After expelling the black blood, Prani Joy's breathing became much smoother, and his complexion noticeably improved, with a healthy flush returning to his face. He looked around the room, and upon noticing Rulda Chel and the others, he sighed in relief. Then, his gaze turned toward Dean Bruce.

"Mr. Dean, I can feel it—you're the one who brought me back to life. I owe you my deepest thanks. Whatever you desire, just ask, and I will grant it!"

Prani Joy reached out and grasped Dean Bruce's wrist firmly before turning to Apollon Joy, sighing deeply. "It's good to see you've returned. I thought… I might die without seeing you one last time."

At these soft words, Rulda Chel and the others quickly realized the truth: Miranda Joy had lied. Prani Joy's death had not been from anger.

Apollon Joy burst into tears, throwing himself at his father's feet. "Father, I've been trying to come back for a long time! But my brother and I were ambushed on the way home and gravely injured. If not for Dean's intervention, I wouldn't have lived to see you!"

"What?!"

Prani Joy's eyes turned cold. He stood up, his body trembling slightly but his gaze sharp and piercing. His eyes locked onto Miranda Joy as he spoke in a low, furious voice, "Miranda, what you told me earlier seems to have been… far from the truth!"

"Could it be… that you were the one who ambushed your brothers along the way?"

Prani Joy's voice grew colder. "I can understand taking certain actions in order to secure the throne, but… how could you betray your own flesh and blood?"

As he spoke, Miranda Joy suddenly began to laugh. With a sneer, she spat out, "Old fool, so now that Apollon has returned, you're casting me aside? When it was just me, you spoke so sweetly, calling me your beloved daughter."

"Watch your mouth! What nonsense are you spewing in front of all these people?"

Prani Joy's face darkened as he hurried to reprimand her.

But Miranda Joy only smirked in contempt, responding, "What's wrong? Still trying to put on an act of a loving father in front of the Grandmaster and the powerful mages of the Magic Guild?"

"You've never cared for me the way you've cared for my brothers. When have you ever shown me affection? While you've been bedridden, who was it that stayed by your side day and night? Who held this kingdom together? Without me, do you really think the Pur-cloud Imperial Capital would still be standing as it is now?"

Miranda's words, filled with bitterness and hatred, shocked Dean Bruce and the others.

Could it be that Miranda Joy wasn't an imposter after all? Perhaps, after years of being suppressed and overlooked, she had finally resorted to these extreme measures.

If what she said was true, then Prani Joy might not be as innocent as he seemed either.

Dean Bruce shook his head, thinking to himself that royal families often hid the most bizarre and twisted affairs.

"You… you… you infuriate me!" Prani Joy's chest heaved with anger, but despite his rage, there was no trace of murderous intent. It was clear that while he might not have favored Miranda, he wouldn't kill her.

Rulda Chel and the other mages remained silent, their eyes closed. This was, after all, a family matter within the royal court, and it wasn't their place to interfere.

Before Prani Joy could respond, Miranda Joy interrupted coldly, "Yes, everything that's happened was part of my plan, including the mysterious disappearances of those people. But I didn't plan on killing them!"

"Nor did I want to kill you. I only intended to delay my brothers, wait for the situation to reach its breaking point, and then have you hand the throne to me. But things didn't go as planned. My brothers returned, my plans were foiled, and I had no choice but to act preemptively—killing you to secure the throne."

"And now, it seems… my plans have completely failed."

She turned her gaze to Dean Bruce, her eyes full of venom. "Dean, you should know… I really want to kill you!"