"The Blood Hand of the Thousand-Leaf Hand!!! An S-rank wanted criminal from the City of No Night! I don't know why you're helping us, but I still want to thank you!"
The leader of the Four Seasons Group gave a slight bow, then swept his blood-red longsword toward Leilin.
"I've already expressed my gratitude. Now, put down the prisoner in your hands! In return, I'll let you leave this time…"
Leilin looked at the self-righteous face of the Four Seasons Group leader before him and paused for a moment: "Are you an idiot? Or do you think I'm easy to bully?"
He suddenly had a suspicion that this leader was far too full of himself, though his concealed strength undoubtedly played a part as well. Out there, people only knew that the Blood Hand's power was above Semi-Elemental transformation—they still didn't know he had already advanced to the peak of First-Rank.
Sometimes, a lack of information was more than enough to get someone killed!
"Then! My apologies!" the leader said coolly, and a torrent of illusory sharp blades erupted from his longsword, rushing toward Leilin like a waterfall.
"Attack! Type 2 Wizard Array!" At the same time he launched the assault, the leader bellowed loudly.
At his shout, the Four Seasons Group wizards present seemed to receive some kind of order—aside from the four wizards guarding Vaude, every other member rushed over to the scene.
Ssss! Wave after wave of thorny plants spread endlessly from their armor.
Vines burst forth from the armor, combining on their own as if possessed of their own consciousness, merging together to form a towering green giant more than five meters tall.
The green plant giant's body was covered in thorns, its entire form bristling with black, grotesque stripes, while two strange purple flowers bloomed in place of its eyes.
"ROAAARRRR!!!" The giant roared without cease, spreading its enormous palm to lunge at Leilin.
"Is it fearlessness born of ignorance?"
Leilin cast a pitying glance at the Four Seasons Group leader opposite him. Then, rings of black shadow spread from beneath his feet, creeping up from the hem of his robes, as if draping him in a suit of black armor.
Clang clang clang!!!
The red sword-illusions struck the black armor, sending sparks flying in all directions with the thunderous clash of real metal blades against solid plate.
The blood-red sword-illusions shattered again and again, while the black armor on Leilin's body grew ever denser, finally spreading outward on its own, sprouting wave after wave of slender black tentacles.
"This is bad! This level of strength…" The leader's pupils contracted sharply as he scrambled to warn his subordinates—but it was already too late.
Whoosh whoosh! Before the green giant's massive thorn-covered palm even arrived, the surrounding air was whipped into a frenzy, powerful gusts rippling outward and tearing the office into chaos.
"You're courting death!" Facing the colossal green plant palm, Leilin raised his right hand—encased in black armor—and pressed it gently forward.
From an outsider's perspective, the scene looked absurdly mismatched: Leilin's figure was like a child standing before the giant, yet he raised his slender arm to meet the creature's enormous palm head-on.
But the green giant seemed to sense some overwhelming threat, roaring once more as a ring of green luminescence flickered around its hand, accelerating another thirty percent faster!
BOOM!
At last, Leilin's tiny fist and the giant's palm—huge as a water cistern—collided. A massive shockwave of concussive force rippled outward in all directions.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze for a single instant before returning to normal.
Crack! Crack!
Thorn after thorn shattered and fell away from the great palm, and the fracturing rapidly spread up the entire arm, then across the green plant giant's enormous body.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thick plant roots and vines sloughed off the green giant's body one after another, lines of black fractures expanding outward until they became horrifying wounds that tore the giant apart!
BOOM! Finally, with a tremendous crash, the green giant's body shattered into countless pieces that flew in every direction.
Bang bang bang!
The massive and terrible damage seemed to continue spreading, transmitting through some mysterious channel to the Four Seasons Group members surrounding Leilin.
The blood-red armor on their bodies shuddered violently, then instantly crumbled apart.
Every Four Seasons Group wizard present turned pale, stumbling back several steps, some vomiting great mouthfuls of blood directly.
"First-Rank Peak!!! You've already reached the peak of First-Rank!!!"
The Four Seasons Group commander stared fixedly at Leilin's mask, as if committing his appearance to memory forever.
With Second-Rank wizards rarely venturing out, a First-Rank Peak wizard represented the absolute pinnacle of combat strength on the South Coast. And the speed at which this Blood Hand had risen was far too staggering—this commander could not afford to take him lightly.
In that moment, the gaze the commander directed at Leilin was filled with wariness and dread.
"Ah… It seems that some matters can only be resolved through force."
Leilin maintained his grip on the young boy with one hand, while his other hand formed a strange seal, pointing down toward the ground!
"Shadow Domain!" A ring of pitch-black, dense shadow spread outward from his feet, rapidly coalescing into a heavy, circular field of inky darkness on the floor and then expanding frantically outward.
The black shadow instantly engulfed the heads of every remaining wizard in the office…
Swoosh swoosh! Within the shadows came the sounds of swift, silent movement, along with faint, suppressed cries of human pain—like the final wails of the dying.