"My Lord! I've brought that old man in!"
Alongside Wei Lin's voice came a dull thud, as though a body had been thrown onto the ground.
"Good. Let's go out and meet your 'brother.'"
Leilin smiled and stepped out first, with Jamos and Jenny following behind like attendants.
Outside the carriage, Wei Lin held an enormous steel sword in his hand. His clothes were slightly torn, revealing taut, sturdy muscles that seemed to shimmer with a faint luster. He was staring down at a black-clad old man on the ground.
The old man had a black skull-mark scar branded on his face — none other than Rhod, the one who had fled moments earlier.
In terms of raw strength, a Third-rank Apprentice would never have been so easily stopped by Wei Lin, a Great Knight. But Leilin had tampered with Rhod beforehand, and Rhod himself had lost all resolve after witnessing Leilin's terrifying power. That was why Wei Lin had been able to capture him and bring him here so effortlessly.
"My Lord! How should we deal with him?"
Wei Lin pointed the flat of his massive sword at Rhod, a malicious grin spreading across his face.
But Leilin, who knew Wei Lin's character well, understood that he was merely trying to scare Rhod.
Seeing his wayward younger brother, Jamos's expression was conflicted. He opened his mouth several times but stopped each time. After all, the one in charge here was Leilin! Rhod had been captured by Leilin's apprentice, and the authority to decide his fate did not lie in Jamos's hands.
"You… you can't kill me!" Rhod gasped for breath, his body bound by invisible cords. Blood rushed to his face, turning it a deep red.
"Oh? Why not?" Leilin asked with a smile.
"I… I'm a member of the Augustus family! If you kill me, Lord Siegfried won't let you get away with it…" Rhod struggled to get the words out.
"Dream on!" But before he could finish, Jenny cut him off.
The young woman's face was filled with contempt: "You're nothing more than a vassal of our family. Even if you're a Third-rank Apprentice, do you really think Lord Siegfried would choose between you and a full
These words struck Rhod's heart like a sharp arrow, and the color drained from his face in an instant.
At this point, a vassal lord without actual territory was, to put it nicely, a subject — but in reality, just a high-ranking servant of the Augustus family! And Rhod was exactly that kind of vassal!
Moreover, even Siegfried would not risk offending a Wizard of equal rank just for the sake of an Apprentice!
"I'm certain that in my grandfather Siegfried's eyes, even if my two uncles or even my father offended a full Wizard, he would hand them over without hesitation to make amends!"
The young woman looked at Rhod, who seemed to have lost his backbone, and her face held not the satisfaction of vengeance but rather a trace of pity.
Siegfried was already very distant from them — an ancestor separated by at least seven or eight generations.
For him, it didn't matter whether it was Jenny's father, her uncles, or any other clansman who controlled the Augustus family. As long as the blood of the Augustus family flowed through their veins, there was no problem at all!
And clansmen who had lost the only bond of kinship — their influence over Siegfried was absolutely not as great as they imagined.
"Wizards! Only by mastering sufficient power can one establish the true foundation for interactions between equals!"
Jenny clenched her fist quietly, her desire for power growing ever stronger.
"One day, I too will advance to become a full Wizard!!!"
In that instant, from the depths of Jenny's eyes, Wei Lin seemed to see an infinity of starlight.
"So what about him? What are we actually going to do?" Wei Lin scratched his head, looking at the conflicted Jamos with a growing headache.
"Let him go." At that moment, Leilin spoke up suddenly.
"My Lord!" Jamos's face lit up with delight, and he dropped to one knee at once. "On behalf of that worthless brother of mine, I thank you for your great mercy!"
It was clear that he still cared deeply for his own brother. But the one actually in charge here was Leilin, and before he could gauge Leilin's true intentions, Jamos didn't dare speak up rashly and cause trouble for Miss Jenny.
Now, seeing that Leilin truly intended to release Rhod, undisguised gratitude shone in his eyes.
"Since Lord Leilin has said so, I naturally have no objection!" Jenny added, though Jamos gave a bitter smile on the inside.
The tone of her words clearly carried a great deal of resentment toward him! But for his brother's sake, he felt he had to endure it this once.
Whoosh!
An invisible cord was pulled back into Leilin's hand, and Rhod, who had been lying on the ground, immediately staggered to his feet.
"Go! Don't let me see your face again!"
Wei Lin gave Rhod a shove and brandished the long sword in a threatening manner.
Rhod paid Wei Lin's intimidation no mind at all. He fixed his complicated gaze on his brother Jamos, then quickly departed.
From start to finish, he didn't dare cast a single glance in Leilin's direction.
Leilin smiled. Rhod was nothing more than a Third-rank Apprentice — an ant in his eyes. Whether he killed him or let him go made no difference whatsoever.
But if releasing him could help establish a favorable reputation, why not take the opportunity?
He felt that it was quite necessary for him to return to the lawful good alignment right now. Even if his heart held no such sentiment, he had to present that image outwardly.
When interacting with a Wizard one didn't know well, a good reputation would naturally lower many defenses.
Right now, for instance, the way Jamos and Jenny looked at Leilin was no longer filled with the earlier caution and wariness — instead, there was a hint of admiration and respect.
…
Rhod proved to be quite clever. Once he learned that Leilin was genuinely a full Wizard, he wisely chose never to bother their party again.
The journey proceeded peacefully through numerous towns, giving both Leilin and Wei Lin quite an eye-opening experience.
The Dark Extreme Domain was no peaceful land. In the dim regions where the light of Sun Stones could not reach, all manner of dark creatures lurked. And aside from humans, various other intelligent races had also made their homes here.
Along the way, Leilin caught sight of several ratfolk no bigger than human children, and also creatures that rode enormous spider mounts — handsome-faced beings that resembled elves. According to Jenny, these were Dark Elves who had built a vast kingdom within the dim regions, a powerful race on par with human forces.
Of course, the greatest threat to Leilin and his companions came from the creatures accustomed to living in darkness.
The moment fire or Sun Stones ceased to drive them away, these dark creatures would swarm in like flies scenting blood, tearing apart and devouring any travelers wandering through the night!
Therefore, traveling through the Dark Extreme Domain required not only sufficient fire or Sun Stones but also formidable strength. Otherwise, one would simply become nothing but excrement on the wilderness, endlessly repenting in vain.
Naturally, all of this seemed utterly insignificant before Leilin, a full Wizard.
Even the most ferocious tide of dark beasts was child's play to Leilin — dispatched by him with a casual wave of his hand.
Jenny and Jamos watched Leilin as he sat in meditation with closed eyes, their eyes filled with boundless respect.
During the journey, Leilin had only intervened a handful of times, but even those brief glimpses were enough to leave Jenny and Jamos deeply shaken.
It was a terrifying power that nearly surpassed even Siegfried, the guardian of the Augustus family!
But just then, the carriage that had been moving steadily came to a halt.
"Lord Leilin! Jenny! Grandfather Jamos! Ahead of us lies the Territory of Wailing Ghosts. Should we take a detour?"
Wei Lin opened the carriage door, a tattered map still in his hand.
Directly ahead on their route, the area marked "Territory of Wailing Ghosts" had been outlined in vivid red, and around the edges, what appeared to be wet paint dripped continuously downward — like blood. The sight was enough to send a chill down one's spine.
"Our destination is the East Domain capital! The fastest route is to cut straight through the Territory of Wailing Ghosts. It would save us more than half our travel time. If we detour, we'd have to head north all the way to the Gregory Basin and then cross through the Sicily Grand Canyon — it would waste a tremendous amount of time…"
Jamos explained to Leilin.
"Then, are there any particular dangers within the Territory of Wailing Ghosts?" Leilin's interest was immediately piqued.
From the other's tone, he was clearly in favor of taking this route — provided Leilin was present, of course.
"The Territory of Wailing Ghosts is one of the most infamous danger zones in the entire Eastern Dark Extreme Domain. It is said that two High-ranking Wizards once fought a great battle here, which triggered all manner of mysterious forces and produced many phenomena that we still cannot understand — and they persist to this day…"
Jamos's expression turned very grave. "Throughout history, the Territory of Wailing Ghosts has swallowed up countless adventurous souls — mercenaries, Knights, Wizard Apprentices, and even an army of over ten thousand!"
"According to rumor, a full Wizard once successfully traversed the Territory of Wailing Ghosts. As he described it, within the territory there appeared to be an enormous number of spirits. Some were filled with malice, and once one intruded upon their domain, they would pursue the intruder relentlessly until death. Others were bizarre and unpredictable in their moods… And without exception, these spirits were all extremely powerful…"
"Spirits, hm? What a nostalgic subject!"
A trace of a smile appeared at the corner of Leilin's lips. His expertise in spirit research was something that very few Wizards on the entire South Coast could rival. One might say that spirits were the last thing he feared.
Moreover, if a Wizard had already managed to traverse the entire Territory of Wailing Ghosts, then surely the dangers could not be as terrifying as all that.
"Let's take the Territory of Wailing Ghosts, then! I happen to want to see the traces left by the Wizards who came before me!" Leilin said with a smile.
Joy flickered through the eyes of both Jamos and Jenny.