In the early morning, the air was refreshingly cool for once — even the rivers of lava nearby didn't seem quite as scorching as usual.
The gates of the black city slowly opened, and a small caravan filed out.
Most of the caravan consisted of black Unicorns, and their means of transportation was a giant snail-like creature. The shells on their backs rose high, with several openings cut into them for easy access to stored goods.
On the back of the largest snail mount, instead of being packed with cargo, a space had been cleared out, and Leilin sat cross-legged inside.
Although these snails didn't move particularly fast, they were incredibly smooth — he could barely feel any jostling at all, and even the outside temperature was effectively insulated. Leilin found this quite satisfactory.
Thinking of the reluctance on Uma's face during his farewell, along with the stunned expressions of Wuerke and Wuboer, Leilin couldn't help but smile.
He had no intention of meddling in these alien races' affairs, and the Elder had also sensed from the aura Leilin deliberately spread that he was not to be trifled with. The Elder certainly didn't want a ticking time bomb like Leilin hanging around.
So both sides hit it off immediately. The Unicorns agreed to take Leilin along on their next trading expedition, with the caravan serving as his guide to a larger city.
Truth be told, compared to those cities where multiple races lived together in harmony, the black city the Unicorns had built for themselves was like a backwater town.
"Vorkin City! The largest city in the entire Land of Flame and Thorns — let's hope it doesn't disappoint me!"
A light flickered in Leilin's eyes that was impossible to read, but his hands were already moving with practiced speed.
A large quantity of spellcasting materials were pulled from his spatial ring and assembled into a small magical array.
The entire process was conducted with extreme stealth, producing not a single sound. The Unicorn riders outside were none the wiser, and even the snail beneath Leilin didn't seem to notice.
A faint hum... A signal so subtle that only a Morning Star-level Comorin Warlock could detect it spread outward into the distance.
"Go!" Two dim wisps of Soul Fire materialized in Leilin's hands and swiftly merged into the magical array.
Leilin then closed his eyes, threading a strand of Soul Power into the magical array. His consciousness seemed to pierce through the snail's shell and project outward, constantly spreading farther into the distance.
After a long while, Leilin opened his eyes and shook his head.
"Still no good. This is already the limit of what I can achieve. The two dukes are probably not in this region..."
Leilin let out a breath, his expression complicated.
A foreign world was simply too vast. The current Lava World far exceeded the entire Central Continent in size, and trying to find two people in such an enormous area was probably harder than finding a needle in a haystack.
Granted, Gilbert and the others were all Morning Star-level Warlocks who would surely make a name for themselves wherever they went. But he couldn't forget that Thunder of Jupiter would certainly have a presence here too. It would be disastrous if, instead of finding Gilbert and the others, a Brilliance Moon Wizard showed up at his doorstep.
"However... Morning Star strength was exceedingly rare even in a foreign world. If I were a Wizard of Thunder of Jupiter, I would probably try to seize an existing major power first, then arrange for other members to cross over..."
Leilin began to imagine what Gilbert and the others would have done upon suddenly arriving here, and several lines of thought immediately came to mind.
"I'll probably have to visit a few of the larger cities. Their intelligence networks should have the information I'm looking for!"
A sharp gleam flashed in Leilin's eyes as he pointed a finger at the magical array hovering in midair.
Whoosh! A layer of blood-red flame immediately engulfed the magical array and the two pieces of Soul Fire within it.
Within the crimson flames, the once-bulky magical array steadily shrank, finally condensing into droplets of rolling liquid that seeped into a Soul Crystal.
When the blood-red flames died down, all that remained was a fist-sized red crystal.
In the center of the crystal, two delicate silver-white flames intertwined, forming the eerie shape of a two-headed serpent.
"Done! The sensing formula has been fixed in place. I won't need to set up the full array every time anymore..."
With a relaxed expression, Leilin stored the crystal away. Then he felt the entire caravan come to a halt.
"What's going on?" Frowning, Leilin opened the snail shell and stepped outside.
"Mr. Leilin! There's a battle happening up ahead — the fluctuations have reached the Earth-level! I've ordered the caravan to stop and wait!" A massive Unicorn strode up to Leilin, his expression one of utmost respect.
He'd had his reservations about the Elder's plan at first, but after Leilin had shown even a fraction of his abilities, the Unicorn had been thoroughly won over. Now the look in his eyes as he regarded Leilin was nothing short of reverent.
"Oh? I didn't really notice just now."
Leilin nodded, and a pair of enormous white feathered wings unfurled from his back, generating a powerful gust that lifted his body into midair.