The translucent figure bound by vines had dead, lifeless eyes. Even when the assassination had failed and their life hung in the balance, not a single ripple of emotion passed through them.
"Boom!" A terrifying burst of True Spirit power erupted from the figure's body, forming five distinct halos.
"Radiant Moon Killing Strike—" The figure's voice was extremely hoarse, as if they hadn't spoken for a very long time.
Several Morning Star wizards nearby gritted their teeth as Mass Point power surged outward, sustaining their Morning Star Killing Strikes.
This Radiant Moon wizard had clearly contacted the surrounding Morning Star wizards at some unknown point, and they had agreed to launch a coordinated counterattack!
"Crack!"
Leilin appeared before a Morning Star wizard in an instant. The phantom of the giant serpent on his hand pierced through the other's innate defenses without mercy, sending them flying back while coughing blood.
The Morning Star Killing Strike was immediately disrupted, and the terrifying backlash left that wizard screaming in agony.
"If a dozen Morning Stars had attacked together before, it might have caused me some trouble. But now?"
Leilin glanced toward
But Leilin could clearly sense Melinda's aura—she was completely fine.
"
Swept by Leilin's gaze, those Morning Star wizards could no longer withstand the immense pressure. The Killing Strike halos behind them continuously crumbled, and they fled with their heads in their hands.
Boom!
A Radiant Moon-level True Spirit force suddenly ravaged the center of the battlefield. Several beams of light pierced outward, and the energy storm dispersed, revealing the figure of the fifth-rank Radiant Moon wizard.
Though a massive cross-shaped corrosive wound marred his body, the terrifying Radiant Moon Killing Strike had fully taken shape in his hands.
"Void Fire..." the Radiant Moon wizard chanted in a low voice.
From the void itself, a formless, invisible flame energy began to slowly materialize—something that made Leilin's expression darken.
"Are Melinda and Joanna idiots? They actually let him complete the Radiant Moon Killing Strike?"
Leilin cursed silently, his finger already pressing against that grey ring. Wisps of mist began to spread outward.
"In accordance with the ancient True Spirit covenant. Void Fire, devour everything before me..."
Across from the Radiant Moon wizard, Melinda saw him unleash the invisible flames, and a smile of triumph crossed her face.
She chanted with a solemn expression, pointing her right hand toward the Void Fire.
Whoosh! The invisible ripples of flame reversed course, enveloping the Radiant Moon wizard instead. Intense heat radiated outward, accompanied by the sounds of innate magic collapsing one after another. Through the pained cries, the wizard's voice could be heard laced with disbelief: "You can't be... How can you control the Void Fire... You... you are..."
But his words were cut short. The invisible flames swallowed him whole. Flakes of flesh and blood stripped away from his body, until only a skeleton remained—even the bones continued to melt away.
A wave radiating from the destruction of a True Spirit spread outward. This Void Fire, a fifth-rank Radiant Moon Killing Strike, could actually target the soul!
Watching the figure being annihilated bit by bit, Leilin removed his hand from the ring, though his pupils contracted slightly. "Directly controlling a Radiant Moon Killing Strike? Making it backfire on its caster—this is far more difficult than simply interrupting it. Unless..."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seeing the fifth-rank Radiant Moon wizard fall, and with the Flame Throne still nowhere to appear, the remaining Morning Star wizards finally lost all will to fight entirely. Flashes of teleportation light and the booms of explosive air currents erupted one after another.
"That Radiant Moon wizard must have been the last of the Flame Throne's forces..."
After finishing this, Melinda's state seemed somewhat strange—there was something sorrowful about her, yet also a sense of relief.
"From this day forward, the Flame Throne's reign is over!"
Melinda sighed. Her right hand reached toward the center of Duze City and clenched.
Boom! A phantom of a massive white hand materialized, crushing the Sacred Fire at the very center. Even the Array Spirit was directly annihilated by this attack.
All of Duze City fell silent. The radiance of the Large Defense Magical Array dimmed.
"Could it be... that Duze City will truly change hands today?"
"Where is the Flame Throne? Where is Your Majesty the Flame Throne?" the surviving wizards cried out in disbelief.
But from the moment the Sacred Fire had been extinguished, a foreboding had taken root in their hearts.
Perhaps the history of the Central Continent would be irrevocably changed today!
...
Rows of wizards wearing lightning-patterned robes arranged defenses, collected supplies, and carried out other tasks in an orderly fashion outside. Occasionally, several elders performed decryption operations on the storage rooms and the Defense Magical Array.
The lightning-patterned wizard robes were the mark of the Thunder of Jupiter. And alongside them, some wizards bearing the Twin Stars symbol were doing the same.
Seeing Melinda and Clark so brazenly order their subordinate forces over to pillage the place, Leilin watched with a speechless expression.
When he had set out, he hadn't given much thought to this aspect of things. Moreover, if he wanted to mobilize warlocks from the Bloodline Alliance, he didn't yet have that much authority. As for the warlocks of the Ring of the Ouroboros, their levels were generally too low—no point bringing them out to embarrass themselves.
"My subordinates will set up a Defense Magical Array and stand guard here—it can buy us some time!" Melinda walked up to Leilin, looking out at the Thunder of Jupiter wizards. Something flickered in her eyes.
She had helped Jesia single-handedly build the Thunder of Jupiter, and now the entire organization had fallen into her hands. If Jesia could be resurrected, he might just die of rage all over again.
As for the wizards bearing the Twin Stars mark, they were Clark and Joanna's subordinates. Judging by the bulging shapes under their clothes, they had clearly secured quite a haul.
Duze City was the core of the Flame Throne's power, and the treasures within were beyond counting. If the Flame Throne's strength hadn't been at its nadir—with its leader away avoiding calamity—Leilin's group could never have taken the city so easily.
With five Radiant Moon wizards suppressing the opposition, the change of ownership had gone remarkably smoothly.
Furthermore, not only had Leilin and the others secured plenty of valuable spoils, even the subordinates had filled their pockets to bursting.
"Oww..." "Roarrr..."
At that moment, Leilin spotted several massive chimera beasts charging out, roaring and howling, carrying violent will and bloodthirsty killing intent.
"What... are those things?"
Leilin stared at what appeared to be a colossal mutant slime composed of countless jelly-like masses, momentarily stunned.
"That's the Flame Throne's biochemical laboratory. I released all the experimental subjects held inside!"
Melinda produced a mirror and tidied her disheveled hair, looking thoroughly unconcerned.
"Things that dangerous..."
Leilin was at a loss for words. Several of the chimera beasts clearly possessed Morning Star-level strength, and one in particular concealed its power so deeply that Leilin could feel the terrifying killing intent lurking within it.
If these creatures were let loose, the region would face a catastrophic disaster. Even a Morning Star wizard, besieged by these biochemical beasts, would find themselves in extreme trouble.
"Since it's not our own territory anyway, why worry about it?"
Melinda blinked at Leilin with a perfectly innocent expression.
"Alright! Everyone, come here. I've deciphered the coordinates for the Flame World from the Astral Gate!"
Joanna's voice rang out, gathering the Radiant Moon wizards around the room's center.
There, an Astral Gate blazed with light and flame, ready to be opened.
This was the Astral Laboratory within Duze Royal City. It was precisely by cracking the Astral coordinates here that Melinda had felt confident bringing Leilin and the others to the Flame Throne's ultimate hideout.
The Flame Throne was currently at the nadir of its power. For Leilin and his allies, striking first to seize Duze City had thoroughly offended the Flame Throne. If they didn't want to wait around for devastating retaliation later, there was only one solution!
Strike preemptively and kill the Flame Throne!
"Perhaps this woman had meant to coerce us all along by leading us to attack Duze City!" Leilin glanced sideways at Melinda.
The female wizard appeared perfectly calm now, but Leilin still caught the flicker of excitement deep in her eyes.
"She buried the flame coordinates within a mass of erroneous data, but I found them in the end!"
Joanna tapped the air, and several sparks of light flew toward Leilin and the others.
[Beep! Spiritual Power information detected, identified as Astral Coordinates! Not found in the database!] The Chip's feedback came immediately.
The information contained within the sparks was instantly received by Leilin.
"These coordinates for the otherworld are part of this expedition's gains as well. Per our prior agreement, everyone gets a copy!" Melinda nodded.
Then, with a flick of her hand, she sent the spark of light flying toward the Astral Gate.
Boom! Brilliant blue light erupted in a flash, briefly forming the outline of a portal. A terrifying wave of scorching heat radiated from beyond the Astral Gate.
"The final step of this operation will be completed in the spatial rift within the Flame World. Let's go!"
Melinda was the first to step through the Astral Gate.
"We've left puppets or clones behind here. If anything goes wrong, we can immediately open the Astral Gate and return!"
Joanna spoke slowly: "Outside, there's the chaos of the biochemical beasts. Inside, our subordinates stand guard. We'll have time to send a warning!"
After speaking, she ushered Clark and followed him through.
"Shall we go as well?"
Leilin looked at Mirror in its phantasmal form, touched his nose, and stepped together with it into the radiance of the Astral plane.