This female Wizard was none other than Tanesha.
As a Crystallized Wizard of the Forgotten Lands, her identity was extremely sensitive, and she could only serve as Leilin's hidden force.
She had secretly intervened in several of the purge operations as well.
This time, upon detecting the anomaly in the Barbar family, Leilin had immediately ordered Tanesha to act and rescue the Wizards trapped within the ancient castle.
"Pike! Report the casualties!"
Even so, some of his subordinates were still unable to avoid death or injury — but it was still far better than total annihilation.
"Master, this time around, we lost two third-tier warlocks, one of whom was at the Vaporisation stage..." Pike's expression was grim, clearly indicating that the losses were not light.
After listening carefully for a moment, Leilin let out a sigh.
The world of Wizards was always filled with danger, and those who specialized in combat brushed against death every day. Many of the fellow warlocks had long since grown accustomed to it.
But as their lord, there were words he still had to say.
"I swear on my name, Leilin Farell — the families of every warlock who fell in battle alongside me this time will receive the compensation they deserve!"
Leilin raised three fingers and uttered the oath.
These vassals followed him not only in hopes of personal advancement — many, like Pike, did so for the sake of their families. As a result, upon hearing Leilin's oath, everyone's spirits immediately eased considerably.
"At the same time, what happened with the Barbar family is extremely complicated. Find me a private location — I need to contact headquarters!"
Charging headlong into known danger was the act of a fool.
Leilin had a powerful backer behind him, and naturally it was time for that backer to mobilize. A mere third-tier clone, if it lingered too long, could even be intercepted and killed right here.
Leilin had full confidence in the strength of his organization.
"Your lordship's room has already been prepared — please follow me!" Tanesha led Leilin deeper into the cavern.
Although this was a temporary hidden refuge carved out in haste, modifying a few rooms with magic was hardly a difficult task.
Pike looked at Tanesha, her face veiled in black, and hesitated, words on the tip of his tongue.
Only now did he realize that among his master's subordinates, there was actually a Crystal Wizard! The cold, blood-like fluctuations radiating from her immediately set his experienced nerves on edge.
Just how many hidden forces did his master command?
Pike felt that this master of his—who had always been accustomed to working miracles—had now been shrouded in yet another layer of mystery.
Of course, idle speculation was one thing; prying into his master's secrets was something he wouldn't dare do even on pain of death. He didn't even dare ask about this woman's identity—that was how a proper subordinate ought to behave.
It wasn't just him. The other warlocks accepted Tanesha just as readily, as though she had always been one of them.
With Tanesha holding the fort, the outpost immediately fell into perfect order.
Great strength was the most reassuring thing in times of danger—this held true for ordinary people and Wizards alike.
In a cavern carved out with earth-element magic, Leilin found a clean spot and sat down. He pulled the arcane imprint communicator from his belt and flipped to the page for that liaison officer.
He reached out and tapped the imprint, and a dark, obsidian glow immediately enveloped it.
Several minutes passed, and Leilin's expression turned grim. "No response at all!"
He reached out again, pressing his finger against the imprint. "Liaison! Headquarters! Is anyone there?"
After several attempts, he had no choice but to admit that the liaison officer HQ had specifically assigned to him—the Wizard who was supposed to be standing by for his messages at all times—had apparently deserted his post.
This discovery immediately furrowed Leilin's brows.
He had no roots to speak of on the Central Continent. His only reliance was the Ouroboros Ring. If something major had happened at headquarters, he was in real trouble—just the backlash from Blue Mountain City alone would be enough to force him to hide in dark sewers among the rats for the rest of his days.
"Just what happened?"
Leilin flipped to other pages. Kasha's imprint was also unreachable. Lucy's was still there, but she said nothing of substance to Leilin—only tossed out something about a situation developing and that all external operations were to cease immediately.
"Cease? Stop everything now?"
Leilin let out a cold laugh and cut off Lucy's arcane imprint directly. Judging from her tone, something truly terrible must have happened at headquarters, leaving them incapable of responding to the outside world.
And from the way she was being evasive, it was clear they still didn't consider him one of their own at the innermost circle—at the critical moment, suspicion still lingered.
If the intelligence was inaccurate, it could get people killed!
Leilin mulled over this for a moment, his expression as dark and still as still water, before opening another blood-red scale imprint.
After a brief connection, the other side finally responded: "Is that Leilin?"