The Northern Duke could never have imagined that the young man Lei, with whom he'd had a passing encounter and whom he'd even thought highly of, would turn out to be of a foreign race!
Moreover, the black fire feather technique the opponent unleashed filled him with an overwhelming sense of terror — were it not for a soldier's dignity and a strong will holding him together, he would have been tempted to flee already.
What was more, that Lei had even exchanged blows with the Leader he respected most without losing ground — in fact, he even seemed to hold a slight advantage?!
"Mother Phoenix above! Am I dreaming? Please, let me wake up soon!"
Though the Northern Duke's will was extraordinarily resolute, even he couldn't help but feel a few threads of absurdity rising from the depths of his heart.
"Phoenix Egg!!!"
Just then, two more powerful auras arrived at the scene. Jessia gazed at the massive crimson egg at the center of the battlefield, his face barely concealing his greed.
Archibald was in an even worse state — after all, this was the pinnacle of all fire-attributed creatures!
"It's mine! The Phoenix can only appear in our Sacred Fire Empire!"
Archibald roared, and the entire earth trembled. He lunged forward, his massive hand reaching directly for the crimson egg.
Whoosh! Faster still was Jessia, who transformed into a bolt of black lightning and hurtled toward the Phoenix Egg.
"So this is the true form of the Fire Source Stone! The Fire Phoenix Egg can only belong to me! With it, I can advance to the sixth level — Radiant Sun — and claim a throne!"
"Get out of my way!"
A wall of black flame blocked Jessia's path, the scorching heat forcing him to involuntarily halt.
"It's you! Warlock Leilin! A fourth-level Morning Star dares to stand in my way? Do you want me to annihilate your Ouroboros Circle? Hand over the Fire Phoenix Egg now, and I guarantee your Ouroboros Circle will be handsomely rewarded!"
Jessia's expression turned savage.
But the answer he received was an overwhelming tide of flames.
"Evil Phoenix Soar!"
A colossal phantom of a black fire phoenix swatted Jessia far away. The black flames continued to devour the radiating energy pouring off his body, inflicting even more severe secondary damage.
"Hmph! A heavily wounded clone dares to speak to me like that? Is there something wrong with your head?"
Leilin snorted coldly. Seeing that Red Pupil had also become entangled with Archibald, he turned to glance behind him.
Thanks to his protection, the shockwaves from the earlier battle hadn't spread to that area.
A luminous gate radiating starlight had already materialized.
"There's no time left! I need to end this quickly!"
The black flames on Leilin's body gradually weakened, replaced by four terrifying crimson energy halos.
The energy halos representing his innate warlock arts flickered one after another, then fused together, forming a devastating warlock art — Morning Star killing technique: Comorin Giant Serpent Transformation!!!
BOOM!!!
An ancient ferocious beast tens of thousands of meters long suddenly materialized above the entire city of Transas. Its massive body crashed down, demolishing vast numbers of buildings in an instant. After this, even if Red Pupil managed to retain his position, he would surely have to relocate the capital.
"Hsss… hsss…" the Comorin Giant Serpent hissed, radiating an aura of terror from its body that made even ordinary Morning Star powerhouses tremble inwardly.
This was the primal fear shared by all lesser creatures when facing an apex predator at the very top of the food chain!
Compared to his previous transformation, the Comorin Giant Serpent that Leilin assumed after reaching the peak of Morning Star was vastly different from before.
Not only was its body far larger than the previous serpent, but crimson-red streaks had also appeared on its scales. Shadow-system and fire-system energy particles swirled around the serpent's body, forming dense clouds of mist.
"A Comorin Giant Serpent of this size…" Even Gilbert and Emma, who were themselves Comorin Giant Serpent warlocks at the Morning Star level, were startled by Leilin's Morning Star killing technique.
"How can this kid's form be so enormous? It's almost three times the size of my transformation…"
Gilbert examined Leilin's transformed body, which approached a hundred thousand meters in length, his face filled with shock. Beneath the shock was an indescribable envy — clearly, even among the true ancient Comorin Giant Serpent tribes, Leilin would undoubtedly be counted among their kings.
"Leilin may well be the most powerful Comorin warlock in history!" Emma sighed from the other side.
"Comorin's Gaze!"
Two pairs of amber vertical pupils, shining like stars, locked onto the retreating Jessia.
"Not good!" Before Jessia could react, his magical artifacts exploded one after another. A layer of petrified skin began spreading from his face, and his movements froze completely.
A petrification warlock art cast by an ancient Comorin Giant Serpent — even a Radiant Moon
BOOM! The Comorin Giant Serpent whipped its tail, striking the petrified Jessia. The ground shuddered violently as buildings collapsed and spiderweb-like cracks spread in all directions.
CRACK! Jessia's entire petrified form was shattered, reduced to a cloud of dust, while a bottomless crater was left in the ground.
Before the enhanced Comorin Giant Serpent, the clone of a fifth-level Radiant Moon Wizard — fallen!
"Take him out first! Otherwise none of us benefit!"
Seeing this, Red Pupil, still entangled with Archibald, roared loudly. Archibald also halted, a look of wariness crossing his face.
"Hsss… hsss!"
Leilin naturally wouldn't allow two fifth-level wizards to join forces against him. He struck first, unleashing several enormous blades of black flame!
BOOM! The massive flame blades did not charge toward Red Pupil — they hurtled straight toward the Fire Phoenix Egg at the center of the battlefield.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
After the tremendous explosions, the crimson egg shattered into several pieces before countless disbelieving eyes, its blazing light radiating outward in all directions.
"How dare he?! How could he bear to?!"
Red Pupil nearly vomited blood from fury. He never imagined that Leilin would simply destroy such an invaluable treasure outright.
But his body had already moved ahead of his thoughts, instinctively chasing after a fragment. Archibald across from him did the same, and even the other Morning Star powerhouses scrambled to do likewise.
The hastily formed joint siege immediately collapsed!
Destroying such a priceless treasure directly — of course Leilin was reluctant. But he could read the situation far more clearly. Escaping unscathed today while surrounded by enemies would already be extremely difficult; coveting the Fire Phoenix Egg on top of that was clearly impossible.
Though the treasure was incredibly precious, when compared to his own safety, Leilin didn't hesitate to make his choice.
And furthermore, in the ensuing chaos, his chances of snatching something for himself would be even greater.
"Hsss… hsss!"
The Comorin Giant Serpent rampaged through the battlefield, shoving other Morning Star powerhouses aside. Faced with its terrifying scale defense, they could only stare. Leilin ruthlessly swallowed a fragment roughly one-third the size of the original egg, then rapidly retreated to Gilbert and Emma's side, reverting to his human form.
"Let's go!" Leilin barked.
"Let's go!" Though Gilbert and Emma were reluctant, they knew that if they didn't leave now, once the chaotic scramble ended, they would immediately face the siege of the entire Lava World. Despite their lingering attachment, they made their decision in an instant.
The massive luminous gate expanded, swallowing all three of them. Then the light faded.
BOOM! Almost the instant the gate vanished, a bolt of fire struck down, transforming the entire area into a sea of flames.
Above the sea of flames, Red Pupil's figure materialized. But now his eyes were shot through with blood vessels.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" He looked at the crystalline body in his hand — as brilliant as the most beautiful red crystal, radiating warmth. After the Phoenix Egg shattered, the fragments had mysteriously transformed into this form.
And what he had managed to claim was less than a quarter of the total. The rest had been seized by Archibald and the other Morning Star powerhouses present.
At this point, even if the fire feather race's own Morning Star powerhouses wanted to, he couldn't force them to cough up what they'd swallowed.
"Ahhh…" The devastated Red Pupil began to howl hysterically…
……
Also howling was Jessia.
Wizards' World, Thunder of Jupiter headquarters.
CRASH! Black lightning exploded, destroying the original palace entirely and reducing it to ash and rubble.
"Ahhh… Leilin! Leilin! I won't let you off!"
Jessia's heart bled — that was the Fire Phoenix Egg! If it had fallen into his hands, he could have immediately advanced to sixth-level Radiant Sun and claimed a throne! But now, it was all destroyed!
His dimensional clone had been the first to be killed by Leilin, excluded from the subsequent scramble for fragments — a total loss.
Even if any of the surviving Thunder of Jupiter Morning Stars had been lucky enough to obtain fragments, they certainly wouldn't hand them over to him — unless for an equivalent exchange. But where would he find a treasure comparable to the Phoenix Egg?
If he used force, that would only drive the Morning Star wizards away for good.
"Ahhh… ahhh…" After thinking for a long time, Jessia's face twisted in anguish, and he roared once more: "Leilin! Leilin! I won't let you off — I swear!!!"
"Impulse is the devil's emissary!"
The mysterious female voice appeared once more.
"It's all your fault, you damned dimensional clone! If my true body could have gone there instead, how could he have killed me?!"
Jessia roared.
"Heh heh… could your true body have gone?" The female voice silenced Jessia with a single sentence.
"I taught you the dimensional clone method for nothing, shared even my experience without reservation — and this is how you repay me?"
The woman's voice suddenly turned cold.
"Fine! I apologize! That kid made me lose my composure!"