Black beetles covered Leilin Farell's entire body, as if cloaking him in a thick coat of black.
Countless beetles gnawed at him, their teeth clicking against the black scales with crisp, sharp sounds.
A black halo radiated from Leilin's body, shaking off a layer of beetles, but they immediately splayed their lower legs and crawled back onto him.
In the end, the beetles even began crawling toward the last exposed part of Leilin—his eyes, threatening to completely drown him in a sea of insects.
"I miscalculated!" Leilin hadn't expected these black beetles to be so tenacious. Even if he wanted to use the Venom Sac now, it was already too late!
"Ahhh!!! How can I die here???"
Leilin roared frantically in his mind, and at that moment, the Kemoin Giant Serpent bloodline inside his body began to boil violently.
His pupils instantly turned into amber-colored vertical slits, and he threw his head back with a roar.
"ROAR ROAR ROAR!!!"
Ferocious! Terrifying! As if an ancient apex predator had risen from the grave, a sinister and impossibly vast aura erupted from Leilin's body in a sudden burst!
Dark currents converged behind him, forming the shape of a Kemoin Giant Serpent, which also roared toward the heavens.
BOOM!
Accompanied by a tremendous sound wave, the black beetles covering Leilin's body were instantly blasted away, dissolving into black powder in midair.
Leilin's roar was far from over—the power and emotions within his bloodline were venting wildly.
CRACK! CRACK!
The surface of the Mirror World was laced with fractures, then violently shattered, revealing a void of nothingness.
"Hah… hah…" Leilin stopped roaring, gasping for breath.
In that moment between life and death, the Kemoin Giant Serpent bloodline within him had erupted fully, placing an enormous burden on his body.
All around him now was only a profound darkness, with the broken limbs and husks of black beetles scattered across the ground.
WHOOSH!!!
Suddenly, the dead bodies of the black beetles floated into the air, assembling into a woman's black face: "A bloodline warlock of the ancient Kemoin Giant Serpent? I can smell the repulsive soul on you!"
The face's lips moved as it spoke in the Ancient Byron Language.
"So it prefers pure human souls, and bloodline warlocks are affected not only in their bloodline but in their souls as well—which is why it doesn't welcome them!"
Leilin was elated but kept a guarded expression, speaking in the Ancient Byron Language: "I had no intention of intruding into your territory. Please let me leave, and I can offer compensation…"
This being was no human, so Leilin cut straight to the chase with his terms.
"Very well. I have no use for a warlock's soul either!" the giant face replied. "As the ransom for your soul and those two ordinary souls, I demand the green soul crystals in your pocket!"
"Green soul crystals?" Leilin froze, then a flicker of light flashed across his hand, revealing a cluster of beautiful crystals that resembled green diamonds radiating brilliant light.
"Those are the ones!" the giant face exclaimed.
"These are ancient, pure soul crystals—spoils I obtained when I slew the resentful spirits and abominations in the Soul-Slaying Secret Realm. In legend, they serve as a universal currency favored by many extradimensional existences…" A flash of understanding passed through Leilin's mind.
"Take these as the ransom for myself and those two ordinary people!" Leilin nodded in agreement, then asked, "What happened to that old man from earlier?"
"He was lost in the illusion and has already become trapped within my body…"
The giant face answered.
Leilin, who had already suspected as much, sighed and waved his hand. "Send me out!"
……
"Hah…"
Leilin opened his eyes to find himself lying beside the carriage, with Vellin and Jenny nearby, while Jemos's body had silently disappeared.
Also gone were the green soul crystals from Leilin's hand.
"This is the original crossroads!"
By now, the gray fog had thinned considerably. The crossroads and the giant boulder had both vanished, revealing the road as it had been before.
Leilin oriented himself and immediately drove the carriage onward, leaving the area behind.
"That was truly dangerous!"
As he drove, Leilin still felt a lingering chill of fear. If the creature hadn't been repulsed by bloodline-tainted souls—or more likely, had feared the power of the bloodline within him—he might have ended up just like Jemos, trapped forever inside that grotesque beetle-faced being.
The further he went, the thinner the gray fog became, until it dissipated entirely, revealing the desolate landscape on either side.
"The Territory of Ghost Weeping! What a dangerous place!"
Only after completely leaving the boundaries of the Territory of Ghost Weeping did Leilin look back with a shudder.
Behind him, the pale gray fog had condensed into a wall, blocking any prying eyes.
"I wonder what rank those two wizards were, who left behind such terrifying traces of battle—and what the outcome of their final confrontation was?" Leilin mused, then let out a long sigh.
The mere aftermath of their battle could distort time and space and give rise to such an anomalous existence. Their power must have far exceeded his imagination. Even a Dawn Star Wizard would be unlikely to match such heights—they had to be beings far beyond that!