Any wizard worth their salt would possess deep knowledge and extraordinary wisdom — why would they deliberately provoke a Fifth-rank existence?
Unless… they had absolute confidence in victory! At the very least, they must have some trump card for self-preservation!
Though this Morning Star wizard hadn't yet guessed what trump card Leilin and the others held, he already knew that things were looking extremely grim today.
"Fine! Give me five minutes, and I can order all of my wizards to withdraw, handing Green Flame City over to you!"
The Morning Star wizard spoke with a hint of reluctance.
Cities and territories were trivial matters — wizards were what truly mattered. He had made his decision without hesitation, though a trace of unwillingness still lingered in his heart.
"No need! What the Ouroboros Circle lost, we shall reclaim with our own strength!"
"Furthermore, even you — for daring to offend our Ouroboros Circle, you shall pay the price!"
At this moment, Leilin, standing among the gathered Morning Star warlocks like the moon surrounded by stars, spoke up with perfect calm.
"What?" The enemy Morning Star wizard flew into a rage. "How dare you threaten me!"
He was consumed with fury. On the Central Continent, Morning Star wizards stood at the pinnacle, commanding all things. With their Morning Star killing techniques — trump cards capable of dragging an enemy down to mutual destruction — they had cultivated an unmatched arrogance.
In his view, conceding defeat and voluntarily retreating was already giving the other side more than enough face. He never imagined that the warlocks of the Ouroboros Circle would actually demand that he pay a price!
"Madmen! You Comorin warlocks really are all madmen!" The Morning Star wizard's face turned cold.
Had he known of Leilin's previous exploits, he likely would never have said such words.
But now, the wizard who had resolved to teach them a lesson began to gather terrifying elemental fluctuations around himself, one halo after another blazing to life in succession.
"A Morning Star killing technique!"
"That's right… since none of you know when to quit, then let this entire region be utterly destroyed!" the Morning Star wizard screamed with abandon.
If a Morning Star wizard truly cast aside all restraint, the climate of the entire Ouroboros Circle's territory would suffer catastrophic devastation.
"Stand down! Let me handle this!"
But to this Morning Star's surprise, the warlocks across from him didn't retreat in the face of his threats. Instead, it was Lei Lin who stepped forward.
"You think this newly promoted Morning Star can stop me?" This Morning Star suddenly found it almost laughable.
But soon, the smile froze on his face.
"Hsss!" Amidst a torrent of sinister black flames, a phantom of a colossal serpent materialized behind Lei Lin, stretching across the starry sky. Although this giant serpent bore a strong resemblance to the Coimuran Giant Serpents of the Ouroboros Circle, its scales were streaked with fiery red markings, and masses of black flames coiled around its body as if draping it in an armor of fire.
A Field far more terrifying than that of any ancient Tier 4 creature suddenly unfurled, enveloping his entire being.
Crack! Crack! The halos shattered, and the particle energy within this Morning Star
"What… what kind of monster is this?!" The Morning Star Wizard's expression changed drastically, regret flooding his chest. Only now did he realize that this newly promoted Morning Star was actually the most terrifying one among all these warlocks!
"Hsss!" The colossal serpent phantom roared and devoured the Morning Star whole…
Rumble! The void trembled and rippled violently. Gilbert and
Whoosh! Moments later, a blue figure escaped from the serpent phantom, letting out a shrill cry as it fled in a wretched retreat.
Lei Lin stood quietly where he was, not a single strand of his clothing or hair out of place, yet he made no move to pursue.
"Why did you deliberately let him go?" Gilbert and Emma, having witnessed Lei Lin's strength firsthand, couldn't help but step forward and ask.
"Our current objective is simply to reclaim all our territory. It wouldn't be wise to rashly wage war against others. Clashes at the Morning Star level are very much noticed by the Dawn Sun Throne holders!"
Lei Lin shook his head. "Besides, the severe injuries he sustained will take several hundred years to heal. There's no need to worry about him ever again!"
It had to be said that Lei Lin was remarkably cautious in certain matters, and both Gilbert and Emma wore expressions of agreement.
"Lei… Lei Lin! You're actually that powerful? Heavens! That was a Morning Star!" Philip's jaw dropped. He had to admit that what he had witnessed today was far too extraordinary — it was something exceedingly rare even in his long career.
Lei Lin had been able to forcibly suppress a wizard who had already begun activating a Morning Star killing technique, even interrupting his casting process. He had severely wounded the opponent and could very well have delivered the killing blow!
This level of strength was no longer within the Tier 4 realm — it was at minimum the kind of power only a Tier 5 Grand Wizard could possess!
"Lord Lei Lin! Have you advanced to Tier 5?" Paul asked the very same question that Gilbert and Emma had once asked.
"Of course not!" Lei Lin shook his head with a dangerous air, yet the gesture gave Paul an impression of unfathomable depth.
"Alright! Since their Morning Star has been driven off, Green Flame City should return to the embrace of our Ouroboros Ring!"
Gilbert spoke a few words into his arcane imprint. Almost immediately, masses of high-ranking warlocks could be seen assembling into armies and surging forward from the borders.
Having already suffered the blow of a Tier 4 spell, and having personally witnessed their Morning Star defeated and forced to flee, the enemy high-ranking wizards had absolutely no intention of putting up a fight. Flashes of teleportation and flight magic could be seen here and there.
Under these circumstances, in less than an hour, Green Flame City had fallen back into warlock hands.
"I recall this was originally the fief of the Merle family?" Emma spoke up suddenly, her tone laden with meaning.
"Yes! Given the Merle family's failure to properly guard the city, I propose reducing their fief, reclaiming Green Flame City, and handing it over to other bloodline nobles!" Gilbert immediately chimed in.
This was a reshuffling of power and interests.
Lei Lin's dramatic rise, combined with the fall of the former Grand Elder, was bound to deal a massive blow to the previous distribution of benefits. Using the war as cover, they could conveniently sweep the conflict under the rug and create the perfect excuse.
Lei Lin stood quietly to one side, seemingly with no intention of vying for power. But even outsiders like Paul and Philip knew that a large portion of the reclaimed territories would inevitably be allocated to Lei Lin's Farrell family and Furui's Blood Serpent family.
With the war ongoing, the Blood Serpent family and the Farrell family were sure to rise to prominence — this was beyond any doubt.
"Good! Let's move on to the next location!"
Once the affairs of Green Flame City had been settled, the warlocks immediately set off on their next campaign.
With Lei Lin anchoring the force, plus Gilbert and Emma, sweeping through these factions that had pledged allegiance to Jupiter's Thunder — most of which possessed only one or two Morning Star wizards — was practically child's play.
Philip and Paul in particular, though they never lifted a finger, simply by standing there represented the Bloodline Alliance's position. Even Tier 5 wizards had to think long and hard about the consequences.
As a result, the advance proceeded with extraordinary smoothness. In barely a month's time, all the territory previously seized from the Ouroboros Ring had returned to the hands of these high-ranking warlocks. Naturally, there were some changes in the specific allocation, but not a single warlock dared utter a word of complaint.
"Ha… Black Castle! I'm back!"
Lei Lin hovered above the Black Castle that had once been part of his own territory, looking somewhat speechless.
The wizard tower not far away had long been demolished by the Oakheart family. Naturally, they had promptly compensated Lei Lin with a brand-new Morning Star–level wizard tower.
And the Black Castle below had clearly been destroyed and rebuilt as well — most likely a conciliatory gesture the Oakheart family had tacked on while they were at it.
"Are you on familiar terms with the King of Blue Mountain? They actually pulled back their troops the moment you arrived — and they seemed almost eager about it!" Emma came over to Lei Lin's side and asked.
"I've just gotten my hands on a few pieces of leverage over them. I suppose you could call it a temporary alliance." Lei Lin shook his head with a smile.
"Temporary?" Emma caught the meaningful smile on Lei Lin's face and suddenly felt the wind at this altitude bite a little colder. She couldn't help but begin silently mourning for the Oakheart family.
"We just received word — the Green Snake Swamp has been retaken as well! The Ouroboros Ring's territory has finally been restored to its former extent!"
Gilbert's figure appeared beside Lei Lin as well, his tone tinged with a deep sense of emotion.
"What do we do next?"
"Nothing at all! Just focus on consolidating the territory we already had!" Lei Lin was quick to quit while he was ahead.
Whether it was because of his own presence or the deterrence of the Bloodline Alliance, Jupiter's Thunder had shown a remarkably high tolerance for the Ouroboros Ring's recent movements, barely intervening at all — and that was the real reason Lei Lin and the others had been able to reclaim their lands so quickly.
Of course, Lei Lin didn't believe for a second that they actually feared him or the Bloodline Alliance.
Most likely, Jesia simply had more important matters to attend to, which was why he was willing to tolerate these moves for the time being. After all, as long as Lei Lin was killed, the Ouroboros Ring would collapse even if it had seized half of the Central Continent.
When it came to this Radiant Moon wizard, Lei Lin maintained his vigilance at all times.
……
"The Ouroboros Ring has completely expelled our forces and restored its original territory!"
"In the Lava World,
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Lei Lin! Wade! One day I will bury your skulls beneath the steps of my palace and let your souls wail in the flames of my lamp…"
Faint threads of blood were visible in the corners of Jesia's eyes. He dismissed the Morning Star wizard who had delivered the report — every piece of news that had reached him lately was bad.
That Wade had somehow obtained the coordinates to the Lava World and brought a cadre of subordinates to seize territory right out from under him. And the last operation hadn't only cost him the friendship of the Red Pupil — Archibald had turned on him immediately afterward.
Just as Jesia was struggling to put out fires on every front, Lei Lin had gone and reclaimed all of the Ouroboros Ring's territories in one stroke!