After the black-purple hue had spread across the entire painting, the banshee within had completely vanished.
"A nice capturing technique? You bought this specifically for this purpose, didn't you?"
Leilin leaned close to the old witch. "I'm very interested in that banshee. Sell her to me afterward, will you? I'll offer twenty percent above market price!"
"Once we've explored this secret realm and you help me find what I'm looking for, I could simply give it to you!"
The old witch glanced at Leilin.
Just then, at the center of the painting, a silver speck of light suddenly appeared.
The silver point of light grew larger and larger, the surrounding void rippling faintly, until it finally formed a passageway suffused with silver radiance.
Resentment, wailing! An extremely cold and sinister spiritual force surged outward from the passageway in waves.
A thin ring of mist rose around the entire wooden building, accompanied by the voices of men, women, old, and young alike.
If the old witch hadn't already rendered everyone in the small town unconscious beforehand, this phenomenon would certainly have caused no small amount of chaos.
"Although it's unlikely that any ancient wizards still exist inside the secret realm, there are bound to be plenty of leftover curses and mechanisms that could still be active. We need to be careful... Also, the Ancient Soul-Slaughtering Cult was a wizard organization renowned for its Spirit Research. We need to be prepared for that..."
The old witch gave her instructions in great detail.
"By now, you should tell us what exactly you're looking for, right?" Leilin fixed his gaze on the old witch.
"Hehehe... Don't worry, you'll find out when the time comes!" The old witch was as evasive and sinisterly chuckling as ever.
"To be honest, old ghost, if you won't tell us now, it's making me rather uneasy..." Copper Ring sided with Leilin this time. "If you won't tell me now, I don't dare accept the original offer anymore either..."
"You people..." The old witch grew agitated, but immediately began coughing violently, her already hunched frame bending even further, as if her waist might snap from the strain.
"Cough cough... Fine!"
After a long while, the old witch finally caught her breath, but her face had turned deathly pale.
"It's an altar-like thing. There's only one in the entire laboratory — you absolutely cannot miss it!"
The old witch spoke, her voice tinged with resignation.
"And then? That's all the information you have?" Copper Ring pressed further.
"What else did you expect?" Green light shot from the old witch's eyes, fixing directly on Copper Ring. "I only learned from a few ancient records that this secret realm might contain that altar. How would I know the specific details?"
Perhaps afraid of provoking the old witch's temper again, Copper Ring exercised good judgment and chose not to ask more.
"Then what does that altar do?" After Copper Ring fell silent, Leilin picked up the questioning. "Don't tell me you don't even know what the altar is for, and yet you want to go looking for it."
"Of course that's not it!" The old witch's expression shifted uncertainly for a moment before she finally spoke: "That altar was a late-period creation of the Ancient Soul-Slaughtering Cult, called a Soul Altar. It has a significant alleviating effect on the injuries I currently carry — it may even be able to cure them outright..."
"As long as you help me get there, Bloodhand, your records, Copper Ring, your Thunder Flame Stone, Jay's Lake of Sighs water — not a single milligram will be missing!"
The old witch made her guarantee once more.
But Leilin didn't quite trust it. This old witch seemed to have some other scheme up her sleeve.
"You and I have been friends for years — who else would I help if not you?" Jay spoke first among the other three, his voice neither male nor female, carrying a peculiar, strange cadence.
"Fine! I was just asking, that's all!" Copper Ring also began to concede.
"And you? Bloodhand?" The old witch looked at Leilin.
"As long as you're not deliberately using us to risk our lives for your own ends, I don't have any objections!" Leilin gave a cold snort.
"Good!"
The old witch eyed the silver-glowing passageway. "Alright, the passage should be fully stabilized by now. Let's go!"
With burning, fervent desire in her eyes, the old witch stepped directly into the passageway.
Leilin and the other three exchanged glances and followed after her.
Blinding silver light erupted instantly, swallowing all four of them completely.
*Bzzzz!* Leilin surveyed his surroundings.
Before him stretched a black passageway, seemingly made of some unknown metal, its walls reflecting distorted images of Leilin and his companions.
But the reflections appeared twisted, as if they were still letting out chilling, bone-crawling laughter.
"Solidified illusion control?" Leilin smiled faintly. A flash of dark light passed through his eyes, and he instantly broke free of the effect.
Then he heard a buzzing sound.
Along with the sound came a vast grey cloud. As it drew closer, Leilin realized that the cloud was composed entirely of densely packed, grey moth-like creatures.
The creatures were covered in fine fuzz, and each of their enormous wings bore the image of a black eye, making them look thoroughly eerie.
"Watch out! Soul-Eating Moths!" The old witch shouted first.
"Don't let their powder touch you, or your soul and spiritual power will be corroded continuously!"
At the same time, the old witch opened her mouth and let out a piercing shriek. A visible wave of sound surged outward like a cannonball.
*BOOM!* A section of the grey cloud was instantly obliterated, and along with it, a massive shower of grey powder fell like snow.
*Whoosh!* The moment the old witch had cried out "Soul-Eating Moths," Leilin's wariness had doubled. Now, a scarlet membrane of light surfaced across his body, blocking the grey powder outside.
"Main body under attack by unidentified powder — the attack possesses adhesive properties!"
"Potion defense on body surface activated. Adjusting frequency — vibrating... Powder adhesion neutralized!" The Chip's notification appeared before Leilin's eyes.
"What a nuisance!"
Leilin had read about this adhesive effect in the
"Crimson Hand!"
In an instant, Leilin's hands turned a deep red. He assumed an attacking stance and thrust both hands forward in a savage clawing motion!
*CRACK!* Two crimson claw phantoms flashed through the void, sweeping in from the left and right to encircle the Soul-Eating Moth swarm, then crushing inward toward the center!
Countless moths were torn to shreds by the blood claws, their torn wings and grey powder swirling through the air.
"Main body Crimson Hand theoretical power: 20 degrees. Actual power: 34 degrees. Crimson Hand power has reached critical threshold — supplementary attack activated!"
As the Chip's notification sounded, the blood-claw phantoms mid-air trembled. A massive burst of crimson flames erupted from the surface of both hands, incinerating the scattered limbs and debris floating in the air.
Without even a wisp of black smoke, the Soul-Eating Moths were reduced to ash within the crimson flames.
"So this is Bloodhand's signature spell — the Crimson Hand? How is the power so great?"
Copper Ring stared at Leilin with some astonishment.
Within the entire Dark
But Copper Ring had only known that Leilin knew this spell — he had never imagined it could reach such devastating power!
"You've made remarkable progress recently!"
The old witch secretly transmitted her voice to Leilin.
Unlike Copper Ring's rough estimation, the old witch — who had just fought the Soul-Eating Moths herself — understood all too well how eerie and troublesome these creatures were. For Leilin to eliminate them with a single spell left her quite startled.
It seemed that from the very first meeting, this ally and partner had been growing at a truly astonishing pace!
"With this level of power, your elementalization has exceeded 50%?" the old witch asked via secret transmission.
"What do you think?" Leilin replied coolly.
"Hehe... The stronger you are, the better for me. After all, compared to Copper Ring, you — the ally who signed a contract with me — are far more reliable!"
The old witch spoke these words, which even she didn't believe, while simultaneously making another promise: "As long as you help me this time, not only will you get the spiritual power compression data, I'll also give you an additional one million Magic Stones. On top of that, even my Elder status within the organization can be transferred to you!"
"Elder status can actually be transferred?" Leilin was somewhat surprised. The Dark Wizard organization he had recently joined, the Hand of Thousand Leaves, had no fixed leader. As for the Second-rank Dark Wizard behind it all, that person only maintained contact with a few Elders.
The organization simply held regular gatherings and trading events from time to time, after which each member sought their own opportunities.
Whenever an Elder judged that a member's lead was worth acting on, they would rally the organization's members for a raid. The Elder and member who had provided the intelligence first would receive an extra share after the plunder.
It was clear, then, that becoming an Elder meant occupying a de facto leadership position within the Dark Wizard organization. One's status changed immediately.
"In an ordinary organization, that would naturally be unlikely. But ours happens to be a Dark Wizard organization," the old witch's transmission carried a bitter laugh. "In truth, apart from me, the other Elders have already been replaced several times over. And because my condition has been poor lately, quite a few ambitious individuals within the organization have been looking to step over me on their way up..."
The old witch's explanation sounded perfectly reasonable, yet Leilin still couldn't bring himself to fully trust it.
"Fine! Since I've already accepted your deposit, I'll naturally do my best in the exploration ahead!" Leilin agreed.
Their telepathic exchange had been extremely rapid — by the time the deal was struck, the crimson flames in midair had only just finished burning out.
The old witch took the lead without hesitation. After a few minutes, the four of them arrived at a fork in the passage.