"How is the him on the outside doing right now?"
Robin looked up and asked Leilin, hope shining in his eyes.
"He's already advanced to the peak of Crystallization, and the curse marks on his face have spread over sixty percent! His spiritual state is somewhat off!" Leilin fell silent for a moment, then spoke anyway.
"Initialization is complete, and he's now at the 'Flesh and Blood Rite' stage, but he's still far from the final 'Lord of Gluttony'..."
Robin sighed. "Can you let me out, or bring him before me? There are some things I need to tell him!"
"The situation right now is extremely dangerous. I'm sorry..." Leilin's expression darkened. "Don't you think it's time you gave me an answer?"
"What answer? Haven't you already guessed most of it?"
"Only part of it! Especially — why are you here?" Leilin asked.
"Heh heh... An ancestor of our family once obtained information related to the 'Mark of Gluttony' and learned that it was hidden within the ancient Shifting Sands fortress in the Land of Oblivion. That's why I was so eager to invite you all there last time..."
Robin glanced at Leilin, then slowly began to recount the tale.
The so-called Mark of Gluttony was a spiritual fragment left behind by the Primordial Gluttony — Beelzebub — in Greenleaf City. Legend held that any wizard who obtained the Mark of Gluttony would awaken a terrifying appetite, accompanied by the emergence of numerous extraordinary abilities.
This Mark of Gluttony had once brought profound suffering to the regions surrounding Greenleaf City, to the point where entire cities were devoured whole.
Only under the concerted siege of numerous wizards was this tide of chaos finally suppressed. The vast majority of the marks were destroyed, with only a small number preserved as research samples.
"My ancestor was once a lower-ranking member of the Shifting Sands organization. He recorded in his notes that the Mark of Gluttony had been collected by the Shifting Sands and even modified — it possesses the miraculous effect of purifying and refining one's own bloodline through the mass consumption of the same species..."
The history of the Komoin Giant Serpent warlocks was naturally very long, stretching back to ancient times. But in that era the Ouroboros Ring did not yet exist, so it was perfectly normal for them to join the bloodline organization known as the Shifting Sands.
Only after the fall of the ancient age did the surviving Komoin Giant Serpent warlocks establish the Ouroboros Ring, which had been passed down to the present day.
"So you set your sights on that Mark of Gluttony?" Leilin's voice was cold.
"Yes! Once I obtained it, I was confident I could purify our family's bloodline to a level comparable to the ancient Komoin Giant Serpents — and even advance to Morning Star!"
A flame seemed to kindle in Robin's eyes, only to flicker out almost immediately.
"So it really was you who obtained the Mark of Gluttony back then, and the one who boarded the airship with us was the real you. Otherwise, the teacher would have noticed. The subsequent mutation must have occurred after we returned..."
Leilin continued along the thread of Robin's account.
"That's right! The spiritual pollution attached to the Mark of Gluttony was far too terrifying. In just a few short months, I was already losing control of myself — I had emotional outbursts several times..."
A bitter smile crossed Robin's face.
"So you had it extracted, hoping to find a test subject to diminish that effect! And in the end, you found Roya!"
"No! Roya volunteered to do it!"
Robin let out a hoarse cry as his whole body went limp and he collapsed into a seat.
"What a wonderful boy he was! I still remember the look in his eyes when he spoke to me — full of hope and determination... Even then I thought that only a warlock like him could subdue the Mark of Gluttony..."
"The consequences I already know about!"
Leilin nodded. Whether it was that Roya's temperament had changed drastically after receiving the Mark of Gluttony, or that he had harbored hatred deep in his heart all along, Leilin had no desire to dig into the details. But the situation was now perfectly clear.
Roya had imprisoned his own uncle and numerous elders, seized control of the family, and even gone so far as to hunt down high-ranking pure-blood warlocks in order to devour them and purify his own bloodline.
Recently, he had even set his sights on Milanata, only to be struck back with devastating force.
"Remnants of these high-level beings are all nothing but curses!"
Leilin knew this from personal experience. Whether it was the spirit attached to the serpent woman's bone segments or the spiritual pollution he had recently encountered in his astral experiments, they were all essentially the same kind of problem.
Fortunately, Leilin's willpower was strong enough and he was decisive enough to eliminate these hidden dangers.
Otherwise, his situation today would be no better than Roya's.
"Improve one's own bloodline through the Primordial Gluttony?" Leilin stroked his chin. That was actually a very worthwhile subject of study. And judging by how the Roya on the outside had broken straight through the Gaseification, Liquefaction, and Crystallization stages in rapid succession to reach the peak of Crystallization from initial entry into the third rank, the viability of this concept was evident — all that remained was to solve the problem of spiritual pollution.
"Things are complicated right now. I'm afraid I can only rescue you first and then see what headquarters has to say..."
This was a matter of such magnitude that even Leilin found it棘手. Only the three Morning Star elders held the authority to make the final decision.
"Chip! Open the core confinement chamber!" Leilin ordered.