The terrifying invisible god of death descended upon the base of the Hand of Vengeance without warning.
On the ground, numerous first-rank and second-rank wizards, along with apprentices and others—even with defensive light barriers, potions, and magical items for protection—quickly collapsed, their life force extinguished.
Even the many buildings groaned under the strain, cracking and crumbling like tofu.
The invisible waves of toxin even attacked the three third-rank wizards in the sky, leaving them no time to rescue their apprentices and organization members.
After a single attack, apart from a handful of wizards who luckily escaped using secret treasures, everyone else had become corpses, still rapidly decomposing.
"You—!"
Torlin roared and charged forward.
Though he knew the Comoin warlock's poison attacks were terrifying, one like Leilin's—capable of annihilating virtually everything—was extremely rare.
The attack had also been incredibly sudden, and only their hasty reaction had prevented an even worse outcome.
Seeing the apprentices, friends, and even family members he had nurtured all slaughtered in an instant by Leilin, the other two third-rank wizards' eyes turned red, and they charged together.
"Phantom Shadow!"
Numerous shadow beasts materialized behind the old third-rank wizard, opening their massive jaws to surround Leilin.
"Blood Throne!"
A hazy, blood-red throne phantom appeared behind Torlin, and a thick stench of blood spread outward.
The throne had an ancient design, its dark golden surface scarred by blade and axe marks, as if tempered through blood and fire, making it appear all the more real and savage.
Under the throne's phantom, she and the other two third-rank wizards were clad in a layer of blood-red armor, their auras surging.
"Hmm! Aura amplification! Suppression and weakening! And this mode of operation!"
Blue light flickered in Leilin's eyes as he recorded the opponent's domain and stored it as research data within his Chip.
This was the unique semi-domain ability of third-rank wizards. Once Torlin fully comprehended the power of this domain, she would have one foot on the threshold of the Morning Star rank.
Of course, the Blood Throne's current amplification for Torlin and the others was quite limited, far less potent than the Fear Domain fusion Leilin and his companions had once achieved.
But under the Blood Throne's glow, the shadow beasts' eyes turned crimson, and they attacked Leilin without hesitation.
"With this level of suppression? Torlin, if this is all you have, then you've truly disappointed me…"
Leilin sighed. Terrifying energy fluctuations constantly spilled from his body as the warlock's third-rank innate spell—the Fear Intimidation Field—spread outward.
Hsss!
As if the ancient, savage Comoin giant snake had been reborn, a violent and oppressive aura, carrying a primordial wildness, instantly descended upon the battlefield.
The Fear Field immediately claimed territory that had been under the Blood Throne's influence, beginning to neutralize the opponent's domain effects.
The aura suppression on Leilin's body had long since been broken, and the shadow beasts, as if they had seen something horrifying, roared in confusion, attacking their own companions and even charging toward their original masters.
"Oh! It just happened to trigger the mental confusion probability effect!"
Leilin watched the flustered enemy wizards with a faint smile.
His innate domain, after being continuously strengthened by the Snake Woman's bone segments, had become ever more terrifying in its amplification and suppression effects. If not for having seen a true Morning Star domain and experienced the Laws within, Leilin might have believed his own domain was nearly complete.
But even just the Fear Field alone was already producing effects beyond belief.
The Blood Throne's phantom retreated steadily, its light seeming to tear apart, while the other two third-rank wizards hadn't even fully deployed their own pseudo-domains before being shattered and suppressed.
In a collision of domain fields, only Torlin had the qualifications to compare with Leilin.
As for domain power that was too low-level, it was simply no match against the domains of liquefied-stage wizards like theirs.
The depth of one's understanding regarding domains often led to vast differences in actual power. At their level, wizard domains below the liquefied stage were essentially useless.
The tiger-headed wizard's expression turned ugly. He didn't activate his pseudo-domain again, clearly understanding the immense gap between himself and Leilin.
"Awooo!"
He let out a ferocious roar, his muscles bulging block by block, and under a flash of light, his body was covered in multicolored fur.
Crack! Crack! After a series of bone-snapping sounds, his body surged from its normal size to that of a small giant nearly three meters tall.
"Kid! I'll kill you! I'll crush your bones one inch at a time!"
The tiger-headed wizard roared, throwing a punch. The force of the wind struck head-on as the air seemed compressed within the blow, condensed into solid crystal like a crystal cannonball hurtling toward Leilin.
"A high-level human body-refining wizard—that's quite rare!"
Leilin's expression grew somewhat serious. Body-refining magical arrays had always been the specialty of savage races like beastkin. Ordinary human wizards generally preferred to use spell power to destroy their enemies.
To be able to raise one's physical capabilities to this degree like the tiger-headed wizard—it wasn't unheard of on the Central Continent, but it was relatively uncommon.
Generally, wizards didn't place much importance on strength and agility, caring only slightly about constitution, since the physical body served as the vessel for spiritual power.
Of course, warlocks, with their different lineages, were among those who valued this somewhat more, and Leilin had deliberately trained his body further, pushing both strength and agility to their limits.
With a hunter's excitement, Leilin drew the Fallen Sword and directly used his own physical strength to execute a lethal technique of the Cross Sword arts.
"Cross Slash!" A massive black cross-shaped light tore through the sky, carrying terrifying Comoin poison, shredding the crystal cannonball to fragments, and continuing onward toward the tiger-headed wizard.
"Awooo!" The tiger-headed wizard charged forward, both hands shielding his head.
Crack! As if glass shattering, a flash of multicolored light swept across the tiger-headed wizard's body, smashing the cross-shaped sword light to pieces.
Ssss! On his arms, small cracks appeared, with faint sounds of corrosion and wisps of white smoke continuously rising.
But the tiger-headed wizard paid no heed, instantly closing the distance to Leilin.
"Very high constitution!" To withstand Comoin giant snake poison through sheer physical resistance alone—apart from innate magical resistance, one's constitution had to be at least one hundred points.
Moreover, his strength and agility far exceeded thirty points, and from the looks of it, he was also proficient in the killing techniques of ordinary mortals, making Leilin's eyes light up.
"Die!" The tiger-headed wizard's right hand had completely transformed into a massive tiger claw, descending toward Leilin from above.
The enormous claw was like a small millstone, its talons gleaming with sharpness, with flashes of magical rune light.
Bang! The tiger claw was caught by a single powerful hand, halted steadily in midair.
Though Leilin's frame was lean, compared to the tiger-headed wizard's beastkin transformation, he was still a tiny figure, his hand looking like an infant's.
Yet this unremarkable hand gripped the tiger-headed wizard's claw firmly, preventing him from advancing even half a step further.
"How is that possible?!" The old wizard in the distance, who had just dealt with his own shadow pets, couldn't help but cry out.
He knew full well the strength of his friend.
This tiger-headed wizard had once used this half-beast transformation to beat a third-rank creature renowned for its strength to death with his bare fists.
That scene still shook the old wizard whenever he recalled it, yet now, the tiger-headed wizard's full-power attack had been caught with a single hand—and from the opponent's expression, it seemed almost effortless.
"Even a warlock couldn't possibly possess such terrifying strength. Could he also be a body-refining wizard?"
The old wizard stared at Leilin, feeling that he understood the man less and less.
"H-how is that possible?!" Even more shocked than the old wizard was the tiger-headed wizard himself.
He had the most confidence in his own strength. Even several meters of wizard alloy would be sliced apart like tofu under this strike, yet now— "Nothing is impossible!"
Leilin's hand suddenly exerted force. Crack! The tiger-headed wizard's arm was abruptly twisted into a grotesque angle.
"The difference between humans and animals lies in the ability to create and use tools! Anyone who doesn't understand this, no matter how strong, is nothing but a fool!"
Leilin looked at the howling tiger-headed wizard with a hint of pity.
Behind him, two dark shadow arms were merged with his right hand, channeling a continuous stream of power into it.
Though his base strength was only thirty, Leilin could readily use magical power to temporarily break past his limits.
After all, his fundamental nature was that of a wizard, not a knight who specialized in direct combat.
"Those who can't keep up with the times are destined to be swept into the dustbin!"
Leilin sighed, grabbed both of the tiger-headed wizard's arms, and hoisted him high overhead.
"No! Go save Bokjin!"
Everything had happened too quickly. After all, both Leilin and the tiger-headed wizard were wizards with agility exceeding thirty—from the charge, to Leilin's Cross Slash, to the tiger-headed wizard reaching Leilin's position only to be viciously countered, barely a few seconds had passed.
Even Torlin couldn't react in time.
She hadn't expected a third-rank wizard to be defeated by Leilin so quickly.
"Shadow Swift Fire!"
Leilin certainly wouldn't give them the chance. The spell he had prepared long ago was unleashed.
Dark walls of flame instantly engulfed the two third-rank wizards rushing forward.