The several wizards behind the Earth Shield, thanks to their innate wizard spell defenses, were only lightly grazed by the occasional stray stone fragments that exploded toward them. These were quickly deflected away, causing no damage whatsoever.
"Scree!" Seeing that its attacks had proven ineffective, the Black Fog Fiend's attention finally shifted away from the Phantom Spring Water. Countless tentacles extended from its body, and it began crawling toward the three wizards.
"Good! I'll lure it away! Seize the chance to collect the Phantom Spring Water!"
The captain roared.
The three wizards immediately began retreating, firing off occasional wizard spells to draw the Black Fog Fiend further from its original position.
Meanwhile, two other members of the team took the opportunity to rapidly drive away the remaining creatures. Once no other living beings remained near the Phantom Spring Water— Blake approached the spring's edge and began chanting mysterious incantations.
Rumble!
As the incantations echoed above the spring, giant bubbles began rising from the surface of the milky-white water!
Boom! A massive amount of Phantom Spring Water was drawn up into the air by Blake's magic, like a great whale sucking in water. It continuously condensed in midair, finally forming into a milky-white crystal-like object that dropped into Blake's hand.
"Hurry! Faster! I can't hold that Black Fog Fiend much longer!"
The captain saw Blake and another member beginning to collect the spring water. His face initially broke into a smile — but it immediately turned to horror.
After realizing that the delicacy before its mouth was being collected in large quantities by outsiders, the Black Fog Fiend — which had been chasing the captain — let out a wail like a crying baby and turned to rush back toward the spring.
"Stall it! Buy us time!" The captain's eyes were slightly reddened.
"ROOOAARR!!!"
Just as the team members were scrambling in a panic, a creature's roar suddenly echoed from the sky.
Hearing this sound, all the wizards felt their hearts go cold. The Black Fog Fiend stopped moving entirely, revealing its enormous yellow eyes as it stared warily at the sky above.
Then they saw it — an enormous Venom Wyvern, its body over thirty percent larger than a normal one's, covered entirely in green scales. Its massive bone-thin wings beat through the air, each flap generating powerful gusts of wind.
"Th-that Venom Wyvern, it seems to be..."
The wizard captain spoke in a daze.
"That's right! A Venom Wyvern that exceeds the
"Hmm? A Black Fog Fiend? Not bad! I happen to need its core..."
A voice that sounded very young rang out from atop the Venom Wyvern. Immediately after, a powerful wave of magical energy descended upon the scene.
The wizard team members below felt as though a massive ocean wave was crashing toward them. The force was so overwhelming it left no room for resistance.
The Black Fog Fiend, which had been entangled with the three wizards, immediately abandoned them. The black fog covering its body violently condensed by nearly half, its volume shrinking in an instant — yet it appeared far denser and more solid. Its two yellow eyes widened to their fullest as it stared fixedly at this new enemy, emitting low growls from its mouth.
With that person's voice, a black hand — its surface engulfed in fierce black flames — reached out from atop the Venom Wyvern, clawing toward the Black Fog Fiend!
Wherever the black hand passed, the very void seemed to ripple.
Before the great hand even arrived, wind arose from the ground. Small stones and grass were blasted aside, revealing a clear patch of earth.
And at the center of that clearing stood the Black Fog Fiend.
"Scree!" The fiend roared at the sky, continuously spitting out black fog bombs from its mouth. These凝聚 bombs flew through the air along bizarre, curving trajectories, accurately intercepting the black flame hand.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The black fog bombs detonated against the hand's surface. The black fog had barely begun to take effect before the flames burned it clean away, leaving not a single mark on the hand.
Crack!
The Black Fog Fiend's attacks couldn't even slow the flame hand's speed. Under the astonished gazes of the surrounding team members, the black flame hand seized the Black Fog Fiend directly.
"Waaah!"
Raging black flames engulfed the Black Fog Fiend's body in an instant. Countless wisps of black fog grew fainter and fainter within the flames, ultimately being burned into white steam that gradually evaporated into nothing.
The fiend's body kept shrinking. After just a few seconds, it was only half its original size. The creature let out agonized cries, the tentacles around the black fog flailing involuntarily, rolling across the ground again and again — but none of it could stop the great hand.
The black flames burned steadily and relentlessly upon the fiend's body.
After another ten seconds or so, the entire Black Fog Fiend had been utterly incinerated beneath the black flames. In its place remained only a small object resembling a black pearl.
The black pearl's surface was smooth and translucent, and within it, a small mass of black fog seemed to continuously shift and change shape.
Boom! Boom!
The Venom Wyvern descended to the ground, and a very young male wizard jumped from its back. He walked to where the flames had burned and tucked the black pearl into his robe.
"A massive Venom Wyvern, and black flames! There's no mistake — he must be the 'Black Fire' Leilin from the
The captain said with a bitter smile. Earlier, he had already felt a vast and terrifying spiritual power — one carrying immense dark elemental energy — descend upon the scene, watching their every move.
Under the surveillance of this spiritual power, even the slightest movement required far more effort than usual, let alone any thought of escape or counterattack.
"Black Fire Leilin? Isn't that the one who was previously at our academy..."
A team member next to him covered his mouth, his expression one of utter shock.
As wizards of the Black Bone Forest Academy, they naturally knew about the potionology genius who had clashed with the Liliter Family and been forced out of the academy.
Though rumors at the time claimed that apprentice had already advanced to become a full wizard, hearing about it and seeing it with one's own eyes were two entirely different things.
Moreover, the power Leilin now displayed had far surpassed the level of a newly advanced wizard. Even they — veteran wizards — could not hope to match it.
"Of all the vast territory out there, we just had to run into him. What kind of luck is this..."
The wizard captain shook his head, then quickly stepped in front of his teammates. "Go! I'll hold him off!"
"Captain!" "Captain!"
Several team members' faces twisted with conflicting emotions.
Blake rushed forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with the captain: "If anyone stays, it should be me. As the team's scouting wizard, failing to detect the enemy in time is my fault..."
Though, in truth, for Blake to have detected Leilin would have been nothing short of impossible — let alone the fact that his root-based scouting was primarily ground-focused and utterly useless against an enemy approaching from the air.
"Captain!" The other team members seemed to share a close bond with their captain. After a moment's hesitation, one more stayed behind.
The remaining two exchanged a glance. Wind energy particles suddenly erupted from their bodies, and in an instant they had darted over a dozen meters away before bolting for their lives.
"Why do I suddenly feel like I've become the big villain?" On the other side, Leilin stroked his chin, finding the thought somewhat amusing.
Though he hadn't expected these Black Bone Forest Academy wizards to display such unity even at the brink of death — that was somewhat surprising.
But even dark wizards had one or two friends, to say nothing of a team that had cooperated for a long time. Without a measure of trust among them, they likely would have been wiped out on their very first mission.
"Wizards of the Black Bone Forest Academy?"
Leilin studied their familiar black robes and felt a moment of wistfulness. Just a few years ago, he had been nothing but a lowly apprentice — the mere sight of such robes would have compelled him to bow respectfully.
But now, the lives of these full wizards rested directly in his hands.
The reversal felt rather strange.
"
The moment these words left his mouth, the situation reached a point of no return.
"Fight him! All out!" The captain's face flashed with resolve before he roared.
Crack! Two blades forged from solidified ice crystals materialized in his hands, slashing violently toward Leilin.
Below Blake, countless tendrils sprouted from the ground, writhing and spreading until they formed the shape of a massive hammer before him.
The giant hammer rose high and then crashed down toward Leilin with tremendous force.
The last remaining wizard rapidly cast several support spells on his companions and set up a massive stone shield before them.
"Decent coordination! But it's futile!"
Leilin commented mildly. Without even bothering to move, countless shadow tentacles erupted from his shadow.
These shadow tentacles spread like the roots of some enormous plant, blotting out the sky and almost completely sealing off this stretch of air.
The world around them plunged into sudden darkness.
"Shadow Domain!"
Leilin murmured, and then his entire body dissolved into a dark shadow, vanishing into the void.
Boom! Boom!
The ice blades and the giant hammer struck empty ground, blasting two enormous craters into the earth. Wisps of green smoke curled upward from the edges.
"Defend carefully!" the captain roared.
"Too late. Within the shadows, I am everywhere."
A flash of black light, and Leilin's figure appeared directly inside the stone shield...