Boom! The dagger was pulled out, and the beautiful red-haired female wizard took the green gemstone necklace from the male wizard's hands with an expressionless face.
"Passphrase: skjmngklm…"
After a string of incantations, the gemstone necklace flashed with brilliant light, and at its center, the faint silhouette of a miniature war beast emerged.
"Get as far away from here as possible! Begin the self-destruction sequence!"
After issuing the cold command, the necklace in her hands immediately crumbled to ash, and then she stepped into a layer of emerald-green flame and vanished without a trace…
The allied forces' supreme headquarters descended into chaos, and the already disordered coalition fell into even greater turmoil. Some legions had already begun to retreat.
"Very well! Very well! So your Ouroboros Ring's 'Dark Serpent Division' has even infiltrated our supreme command!"
The central will spoke through gritted teeth.
"How should I know?" Leylin rolled his eyes inwardly. His previous standing within the Ouroboros Ring hadn't been high enough to access this kind of information, but that didn't stop him from improvising.
"War always permits no scruples. Now, it's your turn to choose. Given the current state of your allied forces, I suspect that without us even attacking, you'll descend into chaos on your own…"
Leylin spoke with absolute confidence, as though that female spy had been his own operative.
Meanwhile, the war beast Kogos let out a series of guttural croaks, abandoned the Twin Serpents of Annihilation, and bolted toward the edge of the battlefield. The ground shook violently in its wake, and allied forces caught near its body were reduced to paste.
As it ran, huge chunks of muscle continuously sloughed off its body — the self-destruction command had already been activated.
Watching this scene, the numerous wills fell into silence, then immediately began exchanging communications among themselves.
Leylin merely smiled with quiet confidence.
Right now, the other side was clearly in a losing position, stuck in hesitation. And just moments ago, the most stubborn holdout — the Blue Mountain King — had been persuaded by him, switching from opponent to supporter. That swing alone guaranteed at least a two-vote advantage, a massive factor in what had previously been an evenly split vote.
Sure enough, after a brief moment, the great will emanated a powerful soul ripple, communicating orders to the numerous allied legions.
Upon receiving the command, the Blue Rain Knights and a great many other allied wizards began to withdraw.
Only the Devil Wizard Corps and a few smaller organizations similar to the Hand of Vengeance remained in place, wearing looks of bewildered helplessness.
"This round goes to you," the opposing great will spoke.
"My thanks to you all! I only need to retain the core territory of the Phosphor Marsh. As for this war, responsibility must fall upon the City of Sin and the Hand of Vengeance…"
Leylin knew when to press his advantage, giving a slight bow as he spoke.
By saying this, he was preserving the current balance of power — ceding all the territories the other side had occupied without contest, and refraining from holding any other factions accountable.
Leylin had thought this through very clearly. Back in the day, the Ouroboros Ring had been able to maintain such vast territory because it had three warlocks of considerable power backing it. Now, with only himself remaining, holding on to their current gains would already be quite the achievement.
And with his current meager strength, it was unrealistic to make enemies of so many Morning Star factions at once — he could only find a few scapegoats to deal with.
The Hand of Vengeance had been a predetermined choice to begin with, and adding a City of Sin that had already lost the protection of its Morning Star was more than enough.
"Excellent! You've made the right choice!" The voice of the colossal will softened ever so slightly — a rare occurrence.
"I believe that in the time ahead, we shall become good friends..."
Interactions among Morning Star circles were really just that simple. Once it became clear that one side couldn't utterly annihilate the other, setting aside pride and cultivating friendly relations was perfectly normal.
Two major powers locked in war could very well shake hands and make peace by the very next day. None of that would be possible without the Morning Star Warlocks pulling the strings above.
Had Leylin not burst onto the scene this time, would these wolves have been so reasonable? The entire Ouroboros Ring would likely have been devoured until not even the bones remained.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The multitude of wills faded away, and only then did Leylin slowly let out a breath.
He knew the crisis facing the Ouroboros Ring had at least been temporarily weathered.
"Lord Leylin!" "Lord Leylin!" "Lord Leylin!"
Back at the headquarters below, the bloodline warlocks — many still bearing wounds — watched the allied forces withdraw and couldn't help but erupt in loud cheers. Especially when they looked up at Leylin, their eyes shone as though they were gazing upon their own god.
Fasal watched this scene and could only smile bitterly to himself.
He knew that from this day forward, the entire Ouroboros Ring would most likely fall under the control of that Morning Star Warlock above.
……
"Ugh... where... where am I?"
Freya let out a soft moan and stirred awake. She stared at the familiar ceiling, a dazed, unfocused look still lingering in her eyes.