Jeisiya truly deserved his reputation as a fifth-level Radiant Moon Wizard. Even when seized by a surge of fury, he quickly regained his composure.
"The key right now is dealing with Leilin Farell! I have a premonition — he will be the greatest obstacle to my ascension to Solar!"
Jeisiya muttered to himself, his expression twisted into something truly fearsome.
"Oh? Has he advanced to the fifth level? The Bloodline Shackle isn't so easy to break through, is it?" The woman's voice carried a hint of curiosity this time. She was growing more and more interested in that young man named Leilin.
"He hasn't broken through! But he's already reached the peak of Morning Star, and combined with the bizarre techniques of the Lava World and his other methods, I'm afraid..."
Jeisiya's expression was quite grim, but he had to admit it — that Leilin truly was a genius seen perhaps once in tens of thousands of years. To have reached such strength relying on nothing more than the low-level lineage and inheritance of the Komoi Giant Serpent was nothing short of extraordinary.
Now, even if his main body took action personally, although he could defeat the other party, the chances of killing him on the spot were exceedingly slim.
Unless... he could find some kind of weakness in the opponent, something that would force him into a life-or-death fight!
But was that even possible? Jeisiya merely recalled Leilin's intelligence reports for a moment and immediately dismissed the idea. He knew that, in some respects, the man was the same kind of person as he was — someone who would never throw his life away for the sake of anyone or anything.
A powerful enemy with no exploitable weaknesses was the most dangerous kind of all!
Jeisiya rubbed his brow, and a headache began to set in.
"In that case, why don't we activate our earlier plan..." After a brief silence, the woman spoke again.
"You mean..." Jeisiya's eyes lit up.
...
"We're finally home!"
In the Phosphorus Fire Swamp, Gilbert and Emma stood behind Leilin, gazing upon the familiar scenery, their eyes filled with indescribable nostalgia and emotion.
"What do we do next?" Gilbert asked.
Emma looked at Leilin as well. At this point, the two of them had come to regard Leilin as their absolute cornerstone.
After witnessing Leilin's strength, even if he were to openly strip them of their authority right to their faces, these two Warlords would hardly put up much resistance. And with the submission of these two Morning Star Warlords, the entire power of the Ouroboros Ring had fallen firmly into Leilin's hands — more consolidated than before his departure. This outcome would probably leave more than a few people dumbfounded.
"Nothing. Just keep everything as it is."
Leilin shook his head lightly.
"Leilin! Did you advance to the fifth level?" Emma's face was filled with hope. For her, if Leilin had managed to break through to the fifth level — if he had found a way to bypass the Bloodline Shackle — that would be the best possible outcome.
"How could that be?" Leilin laughed bitterly. "Right now, I'm at the peak of Morning Star at most. I just happen to have quite a few extra tricks up my sleeve."
This was the plain truth. Leilin's assessment of his own strength was, as always, remarkably accurate.
Don't let his unstoppable rampage through the Lava World fool you—defeating Red Pupil and Jaysia one after another, even blasting apart one of Jaysia's fifth-level clones with brute force. Leilin knew full well how things had actually played out.
Red Pupil's true body had already sustained devastating injuries from the earlier siege, on top of being countered by the very techniques Leilin employed. That was the only reason he had suffered such a miserable defeat.
As for Jaysia, not only was he merely a clone, he had already been gravely wounded by Red Pupil beforehand. Facing Leilin's full-powered Morning Star killing strike through his Komoyin Serpent transformation, he had no chance and was killed in the most frustrating manner possible.
In the end, the moment Red Pupil showed any sign of joining forces with Archibald, Leilin had scrambled to flee—because if he hadn't left right then, he would most likely have fallen there for good.
That said, Leilin was not about to undervalue himself. At the very least, with his current strength, while he still couldn't defeat a fifth-level Radiant Moon powerhouse head-on, his chances of escaping with his life were considerable.
"Just a few tricks?" Upon hearing his words, Gilbert and Emma both silently rolled their eyes in their minds. That terrifying black flame and the freakish Komoyin Serpent transformation were merely "a few tricks"? Then what did that make the two of them, who had spent the entire battle as cheerleaders without even being able to throw a single strike?
"But! The Ouroboros Ring is now strong enough to face any external threat. It's time to embark on a new journey!"
Leilin smiled faintly toward the sun, and the whole of him seemed to be draped in a thin layer of golden gauze.
Strength that need not fear the fifth level! There were precious few such powers across the entirety of the Central Continent, and no Radiant Moon Wizard of that caliber would dare provoke an enemy who could rival them on equal footing. Under Leilin's leadership, the Ouroboros Ring was destined for far greater development!
Gilbert and Emma understood this perfectly well, which was why the gazes they turned on Leilin were brimming with hope…
"Lord Gilbert! And Lady Emma—your safe return this time is truly the greatest fortune for our Bloodline Warlock Alliance!"