"The City of Sin, though still nominally part of the Central Continent, has long been corrupted by the Land of Oblivion! Most who come here are wizards and other races who couldn't make it anywhere else—or simply wanted fugitives!"
Leilin recalled the relevant description.
Immediately, he looked around.
Sure enough, most of the passengers disembarking here had sullen faces and carried an air of danger about them, or had simply covered their faces entirely. Even the porters and slaves hauling cargo below kept sizing up this group of passengers with their eyes, hiding ferocity and bloodlust beneath submissive gazes, as though waiting for them to show the slightest opening before swarming in to tear and devour them like wolves.
"Chaos, no order—strength is everything! Filled with every kind of wickedness! That's why this place is called the City of Sin!"
Leilin recalled the information he had read, and with
The City of Sin had no city guards and naturally collected no entrance fees, so the foot traffic was heavy—though none of them looked like particularly good people. Those who had fallen low enough to end up here were, naturally, no good sort themselves.
"Kid, what are you looking at?" A burly man nearly two meters tall, packed with muscle, glared menacingly at a small figure before him.
"Oh! Sorry! Sorry!"
The small man had a pair of narrow, triangular eyes and a split lip, and he bowed and scraped with an obsequious grin.
Just as he bent in apology, a cold gleam suddenly flashed from those triangular eyes. He whipped out a black dagger and plunged it straight into the big man's abdomen.
"You!" The big man's face contorted with fury and shock, but a thin ring of luminous defense also rose from his body.
This big man was actually a Knight who had awakened his Life Energy! This kind of life force defense was highly effective against blunt strikes from clubs and the like. Even against a sharp thrust like this, it could blunt most of the force.
Fierce light blazed in the big man's eyes, his mind already made up about how he would slowly torture the little runt once he'd blocked this attack.
Pfft!
But in the next instant, all the ferocity drained from his face, replaced by an expression of sheer terror. He watched as the defense that had made his name—the Knight's ultimate safeguard—was sliced through as easily as paper by that black dagger.
The black dagger plunged without hesitation along its path into the big man's abdomen, then twisted savagely.
"You..." The big man collapsed with blood foaming at his mouth, writhing in agony on the ground. Through the wound, one could faintly glimpse the shattered organs and intestines within.
This kind of wound was beyond saving unless a
The small man pocketed his dagger, quickly pushed through the crowd, and vanished around a corner.
"What a waste for that big guy. He was at least a Knight—in a real fight, ten of those little runts couldn't beat him!"
"What's there to waste? That little runt was wielding at least a weapon that originated from a Wizard! Up against something like that, even a Great Knight would be in trouble if they weren't careful!"
The passersby on both sides showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, they watched the big man writhing on the ground with open schadenfreude, and a few even exchanged glances before setting off in the direction the little man had fled.
After a long wait, a patrol squad finally showed up in no hurry at all, fittingly playing the role of clean-up crew and corpse collectors.
"What that little runt was holding was a mildly enchanted item—it hasn't quite reached the tier of a low-grade Magical Item, but it's still quite impressive..."
Leilin watched the scene and quietly shook his head. This was not the fourth or fifth such incident he had witnessed since entering the City of Sin, and nobody from the city's authorities had lifted a finger to intervene.
The streets on both sides were scarred with slashes from blades and gashes from axes, along with stains of blood that had turned dark brown and could not be washed away. In short, this was a supremely chaotic criminal metropolis where robbery, murder, rape, and depravity were commonplace. Who knew what sinister dealings lurked in the dark corners—a faint aura drifted from somewhere that even made Leilin feel uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Leilin's group were all dressed as mercenaries, bristling with menace. They carried weapons and looked like trouble, which saved them quite a bit of hassle. Even so, a few unscrupulous types who coveted the beauty of Kasha and the other female warlocks had brazenly blocked their path, making demands. And now? They had all become corpses, repenting before death.
"Robin, the aura from those dark depths is making me very uncomfortable!"
Leilin quickened his pace and drew close to Robin as he spoke.
"Sharp perception!" Robin wore a black cowl that revealed only his eyes. "You're right—these are some fallen wretches conducting summoning and sacrificial rituals!"
"Huh?" Leilin's pupils dilated sharply. He had never expected that answer, not in his wildest dreams.
Just as they explored other worlds through the Star Gate, occasionally powerful beings from other planes would投 their tokens or spiritual seeds into this place through certain channels, tempting intelligent creatures to offer sacrifices in exchange for power!
In truth, this was a way to establish permanent passages between the two sides through continuous contact, while also collecting fallen souls and the like.
The most infamous was the plane where devils dwelled, and its legends still circulated throughout the South Coast and even the Central Continent.
"You know, the more depraved and sinful a place is, the greater its draw for devils. And soul and flesh sacrifices conducted in such an environment can please them even more—enough for them to send down avatars or even their true bodies!" Robin explained with a smile. "And ruling over the City of Sin is the great Devil Hunter, the Morning Star Wizard, Lord Ganlier! Whenever such devil avatars descend, he immediately captures them and either studies them himself or sells them off—and from what I hear, they sell very well..."
Leilin was somewhat speechless at this. Lord Ganlier had essentially turned the entire City of Sin into a colossal lure, baiting devils of all kinds into his trap. Every time these devils were pleased by sacrifices and sent down avatars or even their true bodies, Ganlier would immediately launch his arrests. One could only pity those devils.
"So... isn't the Devil Hunter afraid that something even more powerful might come through?" Leilin voiced his concern. A place where devil worshippers lurked in every corner of the entire city was practically a ticking time bomb! Wasn't that Morning Star Wizard afraid of pushing his luck too far and bringing some catastrophic trouble down on himself?
"Don't worry. The Devil Hunter's research into devils is extraordinarily thorough—many Devil Dukes are no match for him. Besides..." Robin glanced sideways at a nearby corner. "The Devil Plane is nothing. It's been targeted by more than one Morning Star Wizard. If those devils weren't so cunning—willing to sacrifice their avatars rather than leave any coordinate traces—we would have tracked them down long ago and conquered the Devil Plane outright! Besides, they're merely clinging to a dying existence. By our estimation, the Devil Hunter is probably the closest of all Morning Star Wizards to locating the Devil Plane. He may have already found it, for all we know!"
Leilin fell silent. In Robin, he saw the confidence unique to Central Continent wizards—the ambition forged through conquering countless planes! This spirit had existed in ancient times but gradually faded with the Final War. Now, with the exploration through the Star Gate, the wizarding world—having reclaimed a portion of its ancient glory—finally had the confidence to match!
"Perhaps only this kind of enterprising and ambitious spirit can drive the wizarding world toward ever greater glory and progress!"
Leilin sighed to himself, and his fighting spirit surged even higher. This was the best of times! Every resource, every piece of knowledge, every Meditation Method was open to him, and beyond lay planes and worlds without number, waiting to be explored and conquered!
"I must advance to Morning Star Wizard as quickly as possible!"
In Leilin's heart, this desire grew ever stronger. He desperately hoped to leave his indelible mark on the wizarding world's future revival—and perhaps even lead it! He had done something similar once in the Dark Domain, but that was merely small-scale dabbling. How could it compare to a stage this vast?
"Past the City of Sin lies the Land of Oblivion! The elemental funneling effect there is severe—probably less than ten percent of the Central Continent's elemental concentration. Replenishing Spiritual Power and mana will depend entirely on potions and Magic Stone essence. Everyone take note: if you need to, fill up your Spiritual Power here while you can..."
Robin kept murmuring additional instructions from time to time. "Also, in the City of Sin, be careful not to go too far and don't deliberately stir up trouble! After all, their backing is a Morning Star Wizard, and the Devil Hunter's reputation is formidable even among Morning Star Wizards..."
Leilin and the other warlocks all nodded in agreement. Though the Ouroboros Ring was considered a major power in the Central Continent, it did not hold absolute dominance, and its ranking was not particularly high. Before their departure, Robin had carefully gone over certain taboos with Leilin. First, the forces under the Sixth-level Throne were ones they could not afford to offend, and factions possessing Brilliance Moon-level Wizards should be avoided as much as possible. The remaining factions were roughly on the same level as the Ouroboros Ring, so there was nothing to fear—as long as they had the moral high ground, they could act freely! On average, warlocks significantly exceeded wizards of the same rank in combat power.
Though all the warlocks declared that they were brimming with energy and their mana was at full capacity, Robin still decided to rest for a night in the City of Sin before entering the true Land of Oblivion.
So Leilin and the others first found a clean inn to settle into. Some meditated while others went out to browse and purchase other necessities.