"My blood descendant! Ruler of the Tagarians! You may make one more request!"
The Mother of Myriad Serpents' voice carried a note of helplessness, and the slight furrowing of her delicate brows was enough to break one's heart.
"This constant, ever-present bewitching power... it's really something..." Leylin couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself. This bewitching aura, much like a warlock's natural disposition, was innately generated—yet it carried devastating potency.
However, the Mother of Myriad Serpents' declaration had also set him deep into thought.
On the surface, she appeared genuinely sincere, but until his own safety was guaranteed, Leylin would absolutely not participate in this plan.
Still, if he could truly form an alliance with the Mother of Myriad Serpents and turn an enemy into a friend, the benefits would be immensely far-reaching.
After all, the beings of law he had truly offended numbered only a scant few—Beelzebub, the Mother of Myriad Serpents, the Defiled Bird, and the like.
Of these, Beelzebub was already completely finished, merely awaiting Leylin's final harvest. And if he turned the Mother of Myriad Serpents from foe to ally, then the Eye of Judgement—her fellow ally—would surely follow suit. That would immediately cut the enemy camp by more than half, drastically reducing the pressure Leylin faced.
Perhaps, at that point, he would no longer need to cower within the Wizard World and could venture out with peace of mind.
"These conditions of the Serpent Mother's... they're quite tempting..."
Leylin considered for a moment before continuing, "But I do have conditions of my own!"
"Please, speak!" It was clear that the Mother of Myriad Serpents truly regarded Leylin as an equal.
"First, I will only agree to begin this plan after I have genuinely advanced to rank seven. Furthermore, I also require—"
Leylin laid out the conditions he had already prepared.
"Wait for you to advance to rank seven?" The Mother of Myriad Serpents' gaze swept over Leylin. "The Rule of Devouring that you command is a truly exceptional ability, even among other rank-seven existences. To complete it fully would likely take an extraordinarily long time... As for your other conditions..."
The Mother of Myriad Serpents fell into contemplation.
"Don't worry about my advancement—I will definitely master the complete Rule of Devouring within a thousand years. As for that demand, it is my absolute bottom line. If you cannot agree, then I can only express my regret."
Leylin showed not a shred of willingness to compromise.
"Agreed!" After a long silence, the Mother of Myriad Serpents' voice finally came through. "Furthermore, we must sign a bloodline contract—with the Dreamscape as our witness!"
......
A moment later, the massive serpent sphere vanished directly from the starry sky, and the surroundings returned to their deathly silence.
Leylin stood in the wasteland, his face still wearing a thoughtful expression.
"The Mother of Myriad Serpents actually agreed to such conditions and even signed a contract—it certainly seems she's acting in good faith! Moreover, by that time my strength will undoubtedly have undergone another earth-shaking transformation, so I won't fear her turning hostile..."
Leylin wasn't a battle-maniac; if he could minimize his enemies while protecting his own interests, that was obviously for the best.
Furthermore, this contract had secured him at least a thousand years of time for peaceful development, which was crucial for Leylin.
"So this is how communication between Rule Existences works? Since eliminating each other is so difficult, compromise becomes necessary, and the stronger party usually secures greater advantages while the weaker one's interests can still be protected..."
Through today's events, Leylin gained a deeper understanding of how Rule Existences conducted themselves.
However, helping the Mother of Myriad Serpents seize control of the Shadow World wouldn't be an easy task either. Fortunately, the contract didn't stipulate immediate action, giving Leylin plenty of preparation time.
After all, from his birth until now, the time he had experienced wasn't even a thousand years, yet he had already reached a level that other Wizards spent their entire lives aspiring to—commanding the authority of rule.
If given another thousand years, just how far would he grow?
Even Leylin himself couldn't help but show a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
"Since I'm already in the Dreamscape, I might as well go see Gillian and the others..." This sudden whim crossed Leylin's mind.
For high-level Wizards, they often possessed a very peculiar prophetic ability, sometimes sensing fragments of future events unfavorable to themselves and taking steps to avoid them.
Of course, the result often worked contrary to expectations—the more they wished to prevent something, the more the situation tended to develop toward an even worse trajectory.
Leylin suddenly thinking about Gillian and the others belonged to this same category of foreknowledge.
"This also means... Gillian and the others might not have all perished, but are still living somewhere in the Dreamscape, and perhaps... for my future self, they could even be of assistance?"