In the depths of Leilin's heart, there lingered a worry.
Compared to the forces openly manifesting around Blue Mountain City, what concerned him most was the wizard who had laid the trap.
Anyone willing to sacrifice a world coordinate and successfully trap three Morning Star wizards was no simple foe.
After all, his teacher
The mastermind behind it all had still managed to execute their scheme successfully, which spoke volumes about their true strength.
If the enemy chose to act openly, the Ouroboros Ring currently had no power to resist whatsoever.
But fortunately, whether due to some constraint or being tied down by other matters, the enemy had made no moves beyond the previous trap.
Leilin silently speculated that perhaps the enemy had suffered a fierce counterattack while plotting against his teacher, taking hidden losses and still recovering—otherwise, they would never have let this opportunity slip.
Even so, the pressure bearing down on the Ouroboros Ring had already reached its limit. The addition of even a single straw could cause the entire thing to collapse.
After parting ways with Leilin, Furi walked a while longer before arriving at a small garden filled with white roses.
A shadow distortion materialized beside the garden, taking on a human shape.
Once the transparency faded, a warlock in blood-red wizard robes bowed to Furi.
"Julian greets the Clan Leader!"
"Mm." Furi nodded. "The crisis facing the Ouroboros Ring requires the collective effort of our many marquis-level noble houses. But Leilin's vassal group is too weak and suffered devastating losses during the last suppression. So for some of their tasks, I want the Blood Serpent Coven to handle them."
After a long silence, Julian finally spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse: "This… doesn't comply with the regulations. And the Elder Council…"
"This is my command!" Furi's voice turned cold. The unique aura of Crystallization surfaced around her.
"Yes! Yes!" Julian hastily agreed, but inwardly he sighed silently.
Even he could see his Clan Leader's feelings toward Leilin, yet the other party had clearly refused.
Even so, helping once or twice could be forgiven, but their own Clan Leader kept doing this repeatedly. Compared to Countess Milantra's willingness to let go, this issue had already drawn the dissatisfaction of many elders with real power.
For a warlock family as ancient and prestigious as Furi's, even the Clan Leader couldn't override everyone's objections—she had to consider the opinions of the entire family.
Furi's actions had already caused a certain degree of discontent within the family, which had only been suppressed thanks to the overwhelming momentum of her Crystallization breakthrough.
But Julian had a premonition that if Furi continued down this path, the accumulated tensions would one day erupt.
Given Furi's attitude, was there any possibility of changing her approach?
Julian shook his head with a bitter smile, bowed to Furi, and vanished into the sea of flowers.
…
This was a white canyon. On the perilous mountain path, a group of warlocks was on the march.
All of them wore blood-red wizard robes, with Komoin giant serpent emblems embroidered on their collars. Leading them was a senior warlock with platinum-blond hair.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a curved black shadow shot out from the cliff edge like an arrow, embedding itself in the warlock's hand.
"Alert!" The warlocks' bodies all shimmered with the protective glow of Komoin's Scales as they spread into different positions. An aura of iron discipline and lethal intent radiated from them—clearly veterans of many battles, seasoned elites.
"It's the family's Shadow Snake communication. Stand down!" The platinum-haired senior warlock furrowed his brow and quickly relayed the message. The entire group immediately calmed and resumed their slow march.
"They want us to reinforce Enforcer Leilin's vassal group?"
The squad leader's face darkened as he considered the contents of the communication. He naturally harbored dissatisfaction with his own Clan Leader's decision.
But seeing the Blood Serpent seal stamped behind the message—a symbol of the Clan Leader's authority—and knowing the terrible consequences of disobeying orders and betraying the family, the captain gritted his teeth and shouted: "About-face! We're heading for the Green Fang Highlands!"
Though somewhat puzzled by their captain's sudden order, the squad's discipline was impeccable. Within minutes, they had reversed course and were rushing in a new direction.
"Hee hee! Found you—Blood Serpent Coven!"
At that moment, a young boy's voice rang out, and the captain's face changed drastically.
"Who goes there?"
The warlocks under his command immediately fanned out, several already brandishing offensive Magical Items.
Crack! The rock face to one side shattered, and an enormous flower burst forth.
The plant stood five or six meters tall, its calyx ringed with razor-sharp fangs. It snapped open its petals like the maw of an ancient beast, swallowing a warlock who couldn't dodge in time.
"Aaargh…"
The warlock's muffled screams came through, distorted and dampened. The innate defensive snake scales on his body seemed utterly useless against the corrosive liquid within the flower's pistil. Through the translucent petals, the other warlocks could watch in horror as their comrade's scales were eaten away, softening and peeling to expose the raw skin and muscle beneath…
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Before the warlocks could rush to save their comrade, more carnivorous flowers burst from the rock face, launching themselves at the group.
"The Carnivorous Plant Legion—it's…"
The platinum-haired captain's face twisted with horror, but before he could finish shouting, a carnivorous flower the size of a dozen meters burst through the ground and appeared directly before him.
And on the stem of this monstrous plant was the face of a young boy—the source of the voice they had heard earlier.
"Origin Talent Spell: Gall of Supreme Venom!"
The captain gritted his teeth, and toxic gas immediately billowed outward.
"Useless! In order to counter your toxins and scales, we've undergone multiple rounds of mutation evolution, specifically awakening abilities that suppress you!"
The boy's face laughed boisterously as the massive carnivorous flower swung wide open, showering countless fine particles of pollen downward.
The Komoin giant serpent warlock's expression shifted rapidly. He could clearly sense that the toxins in the air were being completely neutralized by the flower's pollen.
Worse still, the moment the pollen touched his body, his scales began to soften.
"Ha ha… Kill them! Kill them! The Ouroboros Ring and the Komoin giant serpent warlocks will become nothing but history after today!"
The boy cheered as more and more carnivorous flowers erupted from the soil and rock, engulfing the Blood Serpent Coven members entirely.
Colorful flashes of wizard light erupted and then faded into silence…
On another front, above a prosperous small city, a massive swarm of densely packed sails suddenly materialized in the sky.
Enormous ships soared through the air like dark clouds, blotting out all sunlight and casting enormous shadows that swallowed the entire city below.
"What's happening?!" The Komoin warlock stationed there stepped outside, and his jaw dropped.
BOOM!
The enormous cannons mounted at the front of the fleet roared to life, and terrifying waves of energy immediately ravaged the city.
In an instant, blood and fire, fear and screaming filled every corner.
The city, once wealthy beyond measure under the Ouroboros Ring's protection, was plunged into catastrophic disaster. Not only ordinary people but even some low-level warlocks couldn't escape in time, reduced to ash under the bombardment.
After the first volley of cannon fire subsided, numerous figures appeared alongside the fleet and began descending to eliminate any remaining high-level warlocks.
"Leave no Ouroboros Ring warlock alive!"
A male wizard with a scarred, disfigured face and a wooden prosthetic leg issued the command, undisguised hatred burning in his eyes.
"Those damned bloodline beasts don't deserve to exist in this world…"
With the order given, resistance on the battlefield intensified—but it was nothing more than a death throe.
Once the resistance was crushed, the looting and venting of fury could begin in earnest.
The commander watched these proceedings with an expression of cold indifference, as if seeing nothing at all…
…
Similar scenes were playing out continuously throughout the Ouroboros Ring's territory, gradually closing in on the Phosphorescent Fire Swamp.
The dark clouds of war had settled completely over the Phosphorescent Fire Swamp.
In a room within the headquarters warlock city, dim lamplight flickered unsteadily as a circle of warlocks sat around an ancient black circular table.
Every warlock present was a Komoin giant serpent warlock without exception, and each one radiated a terrifying aura that had crossed the threshold of Crystallization.
Leilin was among them, surveying the dozen-odd Crystallized warlocks around him.
These were the highest-ranking members of the entire Ouroboros Ring, beyond the three Morning Star wizards. Their decisions were the decisions of the Ouroboros Ring itself!
Lusi and Furi were also present. When they saw Leilin, they nodded in acknowledgment, though their expressions were all grim.
A warlock with fiery red hair stood up, both hands braced against the wooden table, and roared: "Just yesterday! In a mere thirteen hours, the blows we suffered nearly exceeded our total losses from everything before! The Blood Serpent Coven, the Black Iron Coven, and the Punishers—completely annihilated! Even Green Flame City, which guards our Phosphorescent Fire Swamp, has fallen into enemy hands!!!"
He slammed the table with enormous force, sending tremors through its surface that Leilin could physically feel, testament to the depth of his fury.
"It won't be long before we'll be seeing them right outside our walls! Even the scraps from those minor organizations like the Hand of Vengeance have crawled out of the woodwork—damn it all, before any of this, I could have wiped them out with one hand!"
The other attendees all spoke up as well, their voices filled with rage.