The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' beautiful eyes seemed to penetrate the river of destiny, catching a glimpse of the future.
After delivering her prophecy, the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents was once again enveloped in a sphere of serpents, seemingly falling back into slumber.
"What's going on? This feeling of being watched—and this bad omen!"
The instant the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' gaze fell upon the
"The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents..."
There was a bitter taste in Leilin's mouth. He hadn't expected that merely advancing to the Fifth-rank Warlock and reaching the Radiant Moon tier would draw her attention.
"But! This is the Wizard World—it's not so simple for her to come here!"
Regardless of whether this attention was good or bad, the current Leilin had absolutely no desire to get involved with an existence of that caliber. He had always preferred to plan thoroughly before acting. Even with the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, he hoped to seek her out personally once he was fully prepared, rather than having her come to him—that would put him at a severe disadvantage.
"Radiant Moon-level strength probably isn't enough to attract the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' attention. Unless..."
Leilin rubbed his chin, a sharp gleam flickering continuously in his eyes. "Unless it's my Komodo Serpent Emperor bloodline that has made her feel... threatened?"
Leilin couldn't help but direct his gaze to the Chip's bloodline introduction, looking at the line describing the Dominion ability.
"The Komodo Serpent Emperor possesses supreme dominion over Komodo Giant Serpents and their blood descendants! Could this be overlapping and conflicting with the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' dominion ability?"
Leilin suddenly very much wanted to test what would happen if both he and the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents issued a command to a Komodo warlock at the same time.
But this crazy thought was immediately suppressed.
With his current strength, challenging the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' authority would be tantamount to not knowing how to spell the word "death."
The Komodo Serpent Emperor's dominion ability had actually only given him a breakthrough point—or rather, a seed—for breaking free from her control. It still needed to be constantly nurtured before this seed could finally blossom and bear fruit, forming true hope.
Until then, what he needed was to keep a low profile while silently accumulating strength, preparing to soar into the sky—waiting for the day he could completely break through the shackles of his bloodline and sever the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' control for good!
...
"Found it—this is the place. The Asura Great Volcano!"
Several figures, entirely shrouded in black robes, appeared in the air above the volcano. Massive streams of erupting lava flowed around them without causing the slightest disturbance.
"
A semi-transparent mirror surface suddenly materialized before him, revealing hazy and indistinct images.
"Carloe, the rest is up to you—after all, this is your area of expertise..." After summoning the mirror, the black-robed wizard was visibly somewhat fatigued. He turned to another wizard behind him and spoke.
"Of course!" The wizard behind him, though also clad in black robes, was noticeably shorter than the other figures. Her voice was soft and melodic.
"Essence Extraction!" She stepped before the luminous screen, her right hand smooth and lustrous as polished jade, reaching through the mirror surface to grasp a wisp of black airflow.
Whoosh... Once this wisp of airflow appeared, a magical artifact on each of the figures emitted brilliant light and sound.
"The Hound's Nose is reacting. It seems he truly was here—and not long ago!"
The leading wizard said with certainty.
"We once thought he would return to the South Coast. Who would have thought he'd burrow underground like a rat!"
One of the wizards was clearly gritting his teeth in frustration.
Leilin's methods of concealment were far too sophisticated—even divination wizards had been powerless against him. And these wizards had it even harder.
However, through the vast intelligence network of the powerful organization backing them, as well as brute-force methods like process of elimination, they had finally tracked down Leilin's trail.
"A warlock's body has been strengthened—their skin makes the finest material for art! And this Leilin's hide will become the most perfect treasure in my study!"
The wizard who had spoken earlier clearly harbored deep resentment toward Leilin, his entire being radiating a dangerous aura.
"Eugene, if you don't drop that disgusting habit of yours, I'm cutting ties with you!"
The female wizard from before shrieked.
"Enough! Although this target is only a Morning Star, he is widely acknowledged to possess Radiant Moon combat power. Do not underestimate him!"
The leading wizard cut off Eugene and Carloe's exchange. "Everyone, be careful. A Radiant Moon Wizard has fallen at his hands. If you don't want your true spirits returning to the Star Realm, then stay sharp and do not underestimate him!"
"Hmph! A Radiant Moon like Stewart—I could take on two of him at once!" Eugene scoffed with a cold snort, but said nothing more.
After all, while he believed he could defeat Stewart, he had no means to actually kill him.
To slay a Radiant Moon Wizard without allowing them to escape—even a peak Radiant Moon or a Dawn Sun Throne holder couldn't guarantee that. Leilin, who carried the prestige of having killed a Radiant Moon Wizard, was therefore all the more formidable.
"Although he relied on a bloodline mark to kill Stewart, being able to push the Komodo Giant Serpent bloodline to the peak of Morning Star—rivaling a Radiant Moon Wizard—even I have to admit that he is a genius! A true genius! Even in the ancient era, he would have been one of the most dazzling stars!" Carloe's voice carried a note of wistful admiration.
"A warlock's genius!" The leader said coldly, instantly silencing Carloe.
"The more geniuses the enemy possesses, the more it represents a weakening of our strength. Therefore, this Leilin must be eliminated!"
The wizard leader's voice was ice-cold, but Eugene and Carloe nodded solemnly.
"Boss, I just don't quite understand—even if Leilin is powerful now, he chose the Komodo Giant Serpent bloodline. The Komodo Eye only has four layers at most, and Morning Star is his absolute limit. Why are we still pursuing him so relentlessly? Even when we hunted the Golden Lion
Carloe's face was marked with confusion, and Eugene also perked up his ears.
"That's because you don't understand the terror of the Komodo Giant Serpent..." the wizard leader said coldly, but offered nothing further, leaving Carloe and Eugene completely baffled.
"I don't care what you think. In any case, the assassination of Leilin Farell is a supreme mission issued by our organization, and it must be completed! Even at the cost of death!"
The leader's expression was solemn.
Carloe and Eugene also nodded with grim faces—a sight extremely rare among wizards. The fact that such rational individuals could be constrained to this degree spoke volumes about the power of the organization backing them.
"Furthermore, the current Leilin is already extremely difficult to deal with. Especially with the Warlock Alliance interfering—they are quite invested in this junior..."
"Relax, Boss! If those warlocks' true bodies dare emerge from the Morning Star spaces, our Throne holders won't let them off easily..."
Eugene spoke with considerable confidence.
"Mm! According to our intelligence, the target once ruled as Emperor in the Dark Extreme Domain for a period of time. He is certainly very familiar with the situation there. We must proceed with extreme caution when we descend..."
The wizard leader continued with his instructions, after which three flickering flames, like sharp blades, pierced through the lava and plunged down along the magma conduit.
The barrier that even Morning Star wizards could pass through was even less of an issue for Radiant Moon wizards.
...
The Dark Extreme Domain—the headquarters of the Nature Alliance Academy.
The academy had already regained its former vitality. Since Leilin's return, the human race of the Dark Extreme Domain had immediately shaken off the shadow of war, even achieving a glorious victory beyond imagination! All of this had seemed nearly impossible before, yet was effortlessly accomplished because of Leilin's existence.
On the square, which was even more bustling than before, Leilin's enormous obsidian statue still stood in the center, though an additional statue now occupied a corner.
The statue's face was a twisted human visage, its nose and eyes squeezed together from extreme shock and terror, appearing quite comical.
Combined with the statue's body posture, it looked like a jester, forming a stark contrast with Leilin's statue at the center.
When some of the academy's full wizards passed by the statue, a trace of fear lingered in their eyes,久久 unable to dissipate.
This jester stone sculpture was naturally the former Bank—although a Third-rank Wizard and once the strongest of the human race, he had been killed by Leilin without the slightest ability to resist. His very body had been turned into a statue, placed here for all eternity to receive the ridicule of future generations.
This kind of method immediately filled many wizards with deep dread. Of course, some wizards were filled with nothing but adoration for Leilin.
"What's the matter? Is there something else?"
Inside the luxurious villa, Leilin reclined on a sofa, regarding the somewhat nervous wizard before him.
It was evident that this young man was extremely tense, yet in his eyes there was both admiration for his idol and apprehension about facing the truth.
"Lord Guardian!"
"Didn't Jenny tell you?"
Leilin regarded Will with interest. He had to admit, the young man did bear a slight resemblance to his father.
"No. Whenever she brought it up, she seemed very sad..." Will lowered his head.
"There are things we don't know, and there are things we know but cannot tell you!"
Leilin smiled and patted Will on the head. "The only thing I can tell you is that it was I who chose to specially recruit you into the Nature Alliance Academy..."