In the depths of Leilin's heart, there still lingered a worry.
Compared to the forces in Blue Mountain City that were out in the open, what troubled him most was the wizard who had set the trap.
Anyone capable of sacrificing a world coordinate and successfully trapping three Morning Star wizards was no simple character.
After all, his teacher Gilbert and two other Morning Star sorcerers fighting together possessed the terrifying strength to fight a Radiant Moon wizard to a draw!
That the mastermind behind the scenes could still pull off such a scheme spoke volumes about their own power.
If the enemy chose to act openly, the Ouroboros Ring currently had no means of resistance whatsoever.
But fortunately, whether due to some reservation or being tied down, the enemy had done nothing beyond the last trap.
Leilin privately speculated that the enemy, in their scheme against his teacher, had likely suffered a fierce counterattack and taken a hidden loss, and was still recovering. Otherwise, they absolutely would not have let this opportunity slip.
Even so, the pressure bearing down on the Ouroboros Ring was already approaching its breaking point. One more straw could send the whole thing crashing down.
After parting ways with Leilin, Fuerui walked a short distance and arrived at a small garden filled with white roses.
A distortion of shadow emerged from beside the garden, taking on a human shape.
Once the transparency faded away, a sorcerer in blood-red wizard robes bowed to Fuerui.
"Julian greets the clan head!"
"Mm." Fuerui nodded. "The crisis the Ouroboros Ring is facing requires the joint efforts of all our marquis-level noble houses. But Leilin's vassal corps is too weak and suffered heavy losses in the last suppression, so for some of their tasks, I want the Blood Serpent Sorcerer Corps to step in!"
After a long silence, Julian finally spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse. "This… goes against regulations. And the Elder Council…"
"This is my command!" Fuerui's voice turned cold, and the unique aura of Crystallization surfaced around her.
"Yes! Yes!" Julian quickly agreed, though inwardly he sighed.
Even he could see how their clan head felt about Leilin, but the other party had clearly and repeatedly refused.
Even so, helping once or twice was one thing, but their clan head just kept doing it. Compared to Marquis Milanta's willingness to let go, this had already drawn the displeasure of many elders with real power.
For a sorcerer clan as ancient and storied as Fuerui's, even the clan head could not simply override everyone's opinion and had to take the views of the entire clan into account.
And Fuerui's actions had already caused a certain degree of dissatisfaction within the clan, which had only been suppressed by the authority she wielded upon advancing to Crystallization.
But Julian had a premonition—if Fuerui kept going like this, the accumulated friction would eventually erupt.
Judging by Fuerui's attitude, was there any chance she would change?
Julian shook his head with a bitter smile, bowed to Fuerui, and vanished into the sea of flowers.
……
This was a white canyon. Along a treacherous mountain path, a team of sorcerers was on the move.
All of them wore blood-red wizard robes, with emblems of the Komoyn Giant Serpent on their collars. Leading them was a senior sorcerer with pale blond hair.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a dark, curved shadow shot out like an arrow from the edge of the cliff and sank into the hand of the senior sorcerer.
"Alert!" The sorcerers all activated their Komoyn Scales defenses and spread to different positions. An aura of iron discipline and lethal intent rose from the group—they were clearly battle-hardened veterans with extensive experience.
"It's the clan's Shadow Serpent communication. Alert dismissed!" The pale-blond senior sorcerer frowned and quickly relayed the message down the line. The entire team immediately relaxed and resumed their advance at a slow pace.
"They want us to go reinforce Enforcer Leilin's vassal corps?"
The squad leader thought back to the contents of the communication, his face darkening. He certainly had his own objections to the clan head's decision.
But seeing the Blood Serpent brand burned into the back—the mark of the clan head's authority—and considering the dire consequences of disobeying an order and betraying the clan, the captain gritted his teeth and shouted, "About-face! We march to Green Fang Highland!"
Though somewhat puzzled by their captain's sudden command, the team's iron discipline allowed them to execute the about-face within a matter of minutes and set off in a different direction.
"Hehe! Found you—the Blood Serpent Sorcerer Corps!"
At that moment, a childish boy's voice carried over, and the captain's face changed drastically.
"Who's there?"
The sorcerers under his command immediately scattered, some already conjuring several offensive magical items in their hands.
Crack! A section of the rock wall shattered, and from within emerged an enormous flowering plant.
The plant stood five or six meters tall, its calyx lined with razor-sharp fangs. It burst open its petals like the gaping maw of a primordial beast and swallowed a sorcerer who had no time to dodge.
"Ahhh…"