Leilin gazed at the endless sea of black flowers stretching into the distance, estimating their progress at the same time.
As long as they could finish harvesting the Dark Mandala here as quickly as possible, surely the main camp would have no reason to keep them around any longer.
And at this moment, in the flower sea, the apprentices Leilin had seen before were carrying simple containers woven from green vines, their hands coated with a ring of dark energy particle film, carefully harvesting the Dark Mandala.
"This pace! It's far too slow!"
At this rate, Leilin estimated it would take at least another month to completely harvest this flower sea.
And the opposing Dark
"We need to find some way to speed things up!"
Leilin crouched down, covering his hand with a layer of black spell radiance, and directly touched the petals of a Dark Mandala. At the same time, a flash of blue fluorescence flickered through his eyes.
Ding ding ding!!
At that very moment, a shrill sound like bells suddenly rang out.
Buzz! A curtain of white light erupted from around the Mandala flower sea, tightly enclosing it.
"The defensive magical array has been activated!! There are intruders!"
An apprentice shouted, "Everyone, watch out!"
Whoosh! At the same time, a black figure shot out from the grass beside the flower sea.
Crack! Crack!
Two enormous white skulls emerged from the shadow's hands.
The skulls had no bodies, floating eerily in midair. Inside their dark eye sockets, two balls of red flame burned continuously.
The enormous skulls opened their maws wide. Their fine, sharp white teeth bit directly into the white light curtain.
Boom! Tremors!
The white light flickered unsteadily, as though it might shatter at any moment.
"Hmm!" As if dissatisfied with his own strike, the shadow let out a sound of surprise, then a ring of black energy particles shimmered into view around his body.
The black energy ring instantly blazed with a deep, profound glow, then transformed into two streaks of light that shot into the skulls.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The red flames in the white skulls' eye sockets surged explosively. The entire skull forms grew several times larger, and cracks appeared on their surfaces—as if the power expanding within was so violent it had cracked the skulls open.
With the change in size, the power of these two spells rose steadily as well. The white light curtain retreated continuously, and finally, under the despairing gaze of the apprentices, it shattered.
"A semi-elementalized Wizard? We're done for!"
An apprentice with some knowledge collapsed to the ground, his face filled with despair.
"Don't be afraid! Lord Leilin is a full Wizard too!" George gripped the trembling hand of Xirui beside him.
"What do you know!!!" the apprentice who had collapsed earlier screamed in despair. "On our side, it's just a newly promoted Wizard who was pushed out and exiled here! While the other one has been a powerful Wizard for at least decades! As a semi-elementalized First-rank Wizard, every one of his spells automatically gains nearly half again in power! For newly promoted Wizards, that's basically a guaranteed kill!"
As if believing his death was imminent, the apprentice let go of everything. His manner toward Leilin grew less respectful as well.
"Hehehe! Very interesting explanation! And very correct!"
The shadow strolled leisurely into the flower sea, revealing himself before Leilin and the others.
This was a green-haired young Wizard, wearing an eerie black robe embroidered with several green skulls and chain patterns.
"It's the Kulutie Academy, known for necromancy and torture of flesh and bodies!" Leilin's eyes narrowed as he recognized the Wizard's origins.
This Kulutie Academy was merely a small Dark Wizard force on the fringes of the South Coast.
They produced madmen, perverts, and all kinds of lunatics—even other Dark Wizards could barely tolerate them. As a result, they were often excluded from plans and could only take on the occasional bit of adventuring.
The green-haired Wizard stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing greedily at the sea of Dark Mandala flowers before him.
"What an intoxicating scent... I seem to smell the fragrance of darkness..." the young man murmured.
Then he turned his face, his pair of emerald-green eyes fixing directly on Leilin.
"White Wizard! Kneel before me, the great Lord Xiel, and offer your soul and loyalty—then I might consider whether to take you on as a slave..."
This Wizard named Xiel carried himself with extreme arrogance, and Leilin understood the basis for it.
Although a Wizard's age couldn't be judged by appearance, based on the energy information the man had inadvertently leaked, Leilin estimated that this Xiel was definitely no older than fifty.
To reach semi-elementalized strength at such a young age—this Wizard Xiel truly had grounds for pride. It was just that he seemed to have picked the wrong person.
Leilin smiled faintly but hadn't yet spoken when the apprentice who had collapsed earlier scrambled forward on hands and knees to Xiel's feet, knelt down, and kissed the ground before him.
"Honorable Lord Xiel! I'm willing to submit to you! To become your most loyal servant!"
Obviously, this apprentice's actions exceeded everyone's expectations.
Many of the apprentices on Leilin's side showed expressions of contempt—they'd never imagined that someone who usually seemed decent would turn out like this at a critical moment!
Meanwhile, other apprentices wore well-hidden looks of inner struggle.
"Very good! I'll accept you as my servant!" A strange smile appeared on Xiel's face. Then he extended his left hand and lightly swept it across the apprentice's cheek!
"Ah!!!!"
White smoke rose along with the apprentice's screams of agony.
Xiel Wizard's left hand was like a red-hot iron plate, searing a large charred mark onto the apprentice's face.
And as the apprentice screamed, the Wizard's expression grew even more excited, his fingers sliding ceaselessly across the apprentice's face.
After a dozen seconds, a branded rune mark had appeared on the apprentice's face.
The mark depicted a skull on its surface, with a chain extending from within.
"Th-thank you, Master, for the... gift!"
The apprentice struggled to bow once more.
"Haha... now that you've received my mark, you are my slave forever!" Xiel laughed wildly, then turned his gaze back to Leilin.
"What's wrong? White Wizard—scared witless already?"
"No." Leilin shook his head.
"I just think he's rather pitiable." Leilin pointed at the apprentice whose face was more than half disfigured and whose facial muscles were still twitching uncontrollably.
"Why?" Xiel rubbed his fingers, wisps of white gas emerging from between them and coalescing into the shape of a skull.
The energy particle ring around his body flickered in and out of visibility, and his eyes shot out dangerous light.
Behind Leilin, the apprentices retreated one after another, some bending over and retching.
The powerful radiation of a full Wizard! Especially when one deliberately leaked such a high degree of elementalization—it was an almost unbearable pressure for apprentices.
"
George supported Xirui, having retreated a considerable distance, and looked toward Leilin who remained far ahead, his face clearly showing worry.
"Don't worry! Lord Leilin is very strong!" After recovering, Xirui began comforting her lover.
Though she had seen Leilin act before, her own limited knowledge made it impossible for her to gauge what level his strength truly was. She only said those words to reassure George.
"But... Leilin's newly promoted after all. I'm worried..." George gripped Xirui's hand tightly.
From Wizard Xiel's actions alone, it was clear his nature was utterly deranged. If Leilin fell, these apprentices would certainly not meet a good end.
Facing this, Xirui could only smile bitterly while silently praying for Leilin.
"Because he followed the wrong person—and is about to pay the price for it."
Leilin spoke calmly, as though he hadn't even noticed the spell Xiel had unleashed.
"What? You dare?!" Xiel's eyebrows shot up. He truly couldn't understand why this man—who according to intelligence was merely a newly promoted Wizard and an Apothecary besides—dared to treat him this way.
Then Xiel pointed at Leilin!
The enormous white skull, as if receiving a command, immediately charged toward Leilin, spewing emerald-green flames from its mouth!
Bang!
Leilin pushed off the ground, his expression calm in the face of the attack, and charged straight ahead.
"Has he lost his mind?" Before Xiel could even finish speaking, Leilin suddenly uttered a single syllable.
Instantly, a burst of dark red light exploded from Leilin's body.
The Falling Star's Descent immediately formed a dark red protective layer across his surface, the light condensing and vaguely taking the shape of an illusory suit of armor.
Boom!
The green flames crashed into Leilin's body but couldn't bring him the slightest harm.
Leilin advanced through the flames like an ancient reborn god of fire, and threw his right fist forward with tremendous force!
Bang!
The enormous white skull was sent flying backward, tumbling through the air while scattering fine white bone dust to the ground.
Snap! After flying a considerable distance, the white skull finally disintegrated entirely.
"You—" Xiel pointed at Leilin, about to say something.
But it was already too late!
Leilin's expression was impassive as he closed the distance to Xiel in an instant.
He swept his hand forward, the red light extending from his palm and forming a dark red longsword.
Shing!
The sword pierced through the air, its tip landing squarely on Xiel's chest.
"Ah—" Xiel's face contorted. In the instant the blade was about to pierce him, countless green chains erupted densely from his body, forming a suit of chain armor that protected his front.