Leilin fled at tremendous speed. Half a day later, he once again caught sight of the tall, sturdy walls of City Neverdark.
By now, his right hand had fully recovered to normal. The astonishing constitution of a Warlock proved remarkably useful at a time like this.
Only after entering City Neverdark did Leilin finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Gegewu was a concentrated entity of malice created by the Soul-Slaughtering Church. Although he didn't know why that Gegewu had been sealed there by the Church's wizards, through several encounters and the Chip's analysis, Leilin had already roughly figured out its strength level—a Second-rank Wizard!
While that was beyond what the current Leilin could hope to match, across the entire South Coast, Second-rank Wizards, though rare, were not unheard of. At the very least, the leaders of every major wizard organization and power would certainly possess that level of cultivation.
And in City Neverdark, the South Coast's center of trade, such wizards would surely be no small number.
Leilin was certain that if that Gegewu dared to give chase, City Neverdark would absolutely have the power to crush it!!!
In the back of his mind, he also harbored a vague plan.
The old witch was trapped inside the secret realm, and with such a bizarre and terrifying aggregation of malice in the mix, Leilin judged that her chances of survival were slim.
But this old witch was an elder of the black wizard organization backing Leilin—the Thousand Leaves Hand—holding a status above ordinary members, and she could even directly contact the Second-rank black wizard hidden behind the Thousand Leaves Hand!
With her death, this aspect of the problem would need to be resolved as well.
If possible, Leilin would rather directly inherit everything she had.
Within a white wizard organization, this would naturally be nearly impossible. But within a black wizard organization like the Thousand Leaves Hand, Leilin figured that if he showed just a little bit of his strength, it would more than be enough to suppress the other wizards who might covet that position.
"Hello… hello? Is that Leilin?"
Just then, a four-colored ring-shaped arcane imprint rose from Leilin's waist, and a man's voice issued from it.
"Lord Tigait! Greetings!!!"
Leilin recognized the owner of this imprint—it was Tigait, the leader of the Potionology Group. His tone naturally became considerably more respectful.
Moreover, any tasks Tigait had previously assigned were always passed down through Leilin's current squad leader, Martin. Now, Tigait was reaching him directly, bypassing the chain of command, which gave Leilin a vague sense of unease.
"Hmm! It seems the arcane imprint was being interfered with—I couldn't reach you. Did you go on a far trip?"
Tigait's questioning voice came through the arcane imprint.
"Yes, I accepted a friend's invitation to explore a small-scale ruin…" Leilin replied, mixing truth with half-truths.
"No wonder! Many wizard ruins have an automatic effect that blocks information transmission. The arcane imprint is practically useless inside them…" Whether or not Tigait truly believed this, the voice that came through the arcane imprint sounded as though he'd had a moment of realization.
"My apologies for making you worry, Lord. May I ask what business you have with me?" Leilin asked the arcane imprint with a note of confusion.
"Yes! There is a matter. By order of several elders and the Head, Four Seasons Garden is now entering first-level alert status. All wizard vacations are cancelled! Every wizard must report to headquarters within 24 hours of receiving this order!!! Those who disobey will be considered traitors and punished by the Enforcement Squad!!!"
From the other end of the arcane imprint, Tigait delivered earth-shattering news.
"What?"
Leilin stumbled back a few steps in shock.
Four Seasons Garden was no fool. Issuing such an order suddenly meant there could only be one possibility—a massive event was about to unfold across the entire South Coast!!!
"I'll be there on time! Can you tell me what exactly has happened?"
Leilin took several deep breaths before he could calm the emotions roiling inside him, and he addressed the arcane imprint.
"The specifics are very complicated. You can ask Martin when you get back. I can only tell you one thing! War! War is coming…"
"And! I don't have much time—remember, get there as fast as you can! In a war, the weak without an organization are always the first to be eliminated!"
Click! With those final words, the arcane imprint dissolved into countless motes of light that scattered around Leilin.
The sheer gravity in Tigait's tone made Leilin's own heart sink.
For a major power of that caliber, a dispute on the scale of what happened at Black Bone Forest Academy last time was nothing more than a petty squabble.
For the Potionology Group leader of Four Seasons Garden to be this tense, there could be only one possibility—a war that would engulf the entire wizard world was about to begin!!!
Leilin couldn't help but recall certain passages from the history of the wizard world.
After the ancient era came the modern age, and during the modern era, two colossal wars had erupted on the South Coast. These two great wars swept through the entire South Coast's wizard world and nearly all the non-human races. Wizard casualties were staggering, and ordinary mortals were caught in the crossfire—several empires were annihilated as a result.
These two wars were known as the First Wizard War and the Second Wizard War!!!