There was one more thought Lombardon hadn't voiced.
"Since the Wizard who showed up afterward clearly has a grudge against Rosby, if I go and wipe out the Greenwater Garden right now and eliminate Rosby for good, I'll definitely earn that person's goodwill. After that, I can work on recruiting them..."
As a spy planted by the Dark Elves, Lombardon had never forgotten the mission he carried — sow chaos and weaken the strength of the Extreme Dark Domain!
If he could win over a second-rank Wizard, that would surely count as an enormous contribution!
The moment this thought took hold, his heart blazed with fervor.
The Dark Elves' infiltration of the Extreme Dark Domain was no recent development, and Lombardon quickly obtained a map of the Greenwater Garden's headquarters.
Moreover, with Osni's eager assistance, he even knew exactly what defensive formations they had set up and where their weak points were.
Green Light City — the headquarters of the large Central Domain faction known as the Greenwater Garden — was about to face catastrophe.
Flames erupted everywhere, painting half the sky red. The defensive rune formation collapsed in an instant, and the large force of Wizards who had been massing outside for some time poured in.
"Kill!"
Lombardon took the lead, a strange green glow flaring in his hand.
Every Wizard who tried to bar his path crumbled into a withered, desiccated corpse by the roadside, among them a peak first-rank Wizard of equal standing.
Although the Greenwater Garden was a large-scale faction with several peak first-rank Wizards and contracted creatures standing guard, they quickly buckled under the combined assault of Lombardon's revolutionary army and the Dark Elves.
"This way!"
Osni's eyes had gone white, and he guided Lombardon deep inside as though he knew the place by heart.
After a few minutes, they arrived beside an enormous ancient tree.
Boom! The tree was violently torn aside, revealing a downward passage.
A luminous defensive Wizard Array shimmered into view — this had been personally arranged by a second-rank Wizard, brimming with formidable magic.
Lombardon sneered. "So Rosby's clone seed really is down here!"
He had a certain understanding of clone seed Wizardry. Each seed could only parasitise and grow after the original body's death.
Furthermore, it couldn't immediately recover to second-rank strength. In truth, the fact that first-rank power could be maintained at all was cause for relief.
The true value of such a clone seed lay in being a second life, and in that re-cultivation carried no bottlenecks — it could advance all the way back to the original body's level.
In the beginning, though, such a clone's strength was extremely fragile, and it would grow ever more terrifying as time passed.
So when it came to eradicating one like this, the sooner the better.
"A defensive formation set by a second-rank Wizard — at this strength, it would take at least several peak first-rank Wizards attacking for half an hour..." Osni checked with a device, and his expression shifted rapidly.
"No need!"
Lombardon waved his hand and pulled a black crystal from inside his robe.
"This is a gift from the Matriarch. It contains the power of a single strike she sealed inside — perfect for this!"
Lombardon crushed the crystal in his grip.
Squeak squeak! A cacophony filled the air, like countless insects shrieking in flight.
A colossal spider's phantom materialised. Its entire body was purple, and its compound eyes gleamed with an almost human intelligence as it swept its gaze over Lombardon, Osni, and the others below.
A chill ran through Osni's heart. Being locked in that spider's gaze felt as though everything inside him had gone hollow — as if every secret he possessed had been laid bare.
Crack!
The purple spider phantom condensed into a single orb of energy and slammed down onto the defensive barrier.
Screech! The barrier membrane buckled into a massive concave depression. Runes flashed wildly in every colour, and the sound of shattering rang out without cease.
"Everyone, attack together!" Lombardon watched the scene with brightening eyes and barked the order at Osni behind him.
A barrage of Wizardry light followed the energy orb into the defensive Wizard Array.
Like the final straw that broke the camel's back, once their combined spells struck the barrier membrane, the defensive formation shuddered violently.
Petal after petal of runed light withered away, drifting to the ground and dissolving into twinkling motes that flickered and vanished like fireflies.
The defensive Wizard Array that a second-rank Wizard had personally set up crumbled before their joint assault!
"It's in there — I can sense his aura!"
Lombardon's eyes blazed. He looked as though he had caught wind of something delicious, his very irises seeming to turn green as he dashed inside at full speed.
Osni hesitated for a moment, then followed him in.
"Haha..."
After passing through a short corridor, Osni heard Lombardon's wild laughter.
He stepped into an underground laboratory and immediately saw Lombardon gripping a small boy by the throat, laughing without pause.