"No! He's my target for this mission!"
The Second-rank Apprentice of the Soul Slaying Church flatly refused. Hadn't he come out specifically to capture this wizard?
"You've misunderstood something. I'm not negotiating with you—I'm giving an order! Since you're determined to throw your lives away, I'll oblige!"
But Ivick couldn't be bothered to explain. He chose to act immediately.
A savage force, carrying overbearing dominance, coalesced into an illusory domain of holy light and bore down upon them.
BOOM!
A Third-rank
"Lord Gegewu won't let you get away with this!"
The Second-rank Apprentice's silver spiritual power flared violently around him, suddenly transforming into a cloud of black mist as he attempted to flee into the distance.
"Noisy fly! Tell Gegewu to come find me himself!" Ivick's brow furrowed, and his right hand seized directly toward the black mist!
RUMBLE! Boundless holy light condensed, forming a colossal claw wreathed in white-gold flames. It scooped the black mist into its palm, white-gold flames flickering ceaselessly, and from within came the screams of the Second-rank Apprentice from before.
As the flames continued to burn, black air currents occasionally seeped through the gaps between the fingers. The glow of silver spiritual power gradually dimmed until, at last, it fell silent.
In mere seconds, the Soul Slaying Church follower who had been utterly domineering moments ago—the one who had cornered Darlenlei with no escape—was reduced to ash and scattered dust.
The holy light receded, forming a gold-trimmed scholar's cloak that materialized behind Ivick.
On the ground, Darlenlei stood as if stunned, and after a long moment let out a shriek: "It's Ivick! Lord Ivick! A Third-rank Wizard powerhouse!"
For White Wizards, Ivick was synonymous with light and justice.
His formidable strength and terrifying authority were the goals these White Wizards spent their entire lives striving for.
"So you're a descendant of the Farell Family?"
Ivick completely ignored Darlenlei, descending slowly to the ground. He gazed down at the wizard below as one would look at a dead man, his voice carrying the chill of ten-thousand-year-old ice, enough to make one's blood run cold.
"Heh heh... another one!"
That wizard didn't even bother to move, perhaps because he knew that before a Third-rank Wizard, there was no hope of escape.
"You're very unlucky!" Two points of flame seemed to burn in Ivick's eyes.
"If the Soul Slaying Church captured you, they'd torture your soul for a hundred years at most. But I'm going to torture your soul until it dies, extract every drop of your blood, craft it into a bloodline-sensing Magical Item, and sever the Farell bloodline completely..."
Ivick spoke as if stating something perfectly ordinary, but the killing intent and cruelty in his words made even Darlenlei shudder.
"What's going on? Wasn't that young wizard being hunted by the Soul Slaying Church? How did he end up offending Lord Ivick too?"
Darlenlei's mind was still somewhat dazed.
"Wait—the Farell Family? I think I've read about this... Before the Third World War, in the Battle of the Thorn Iron Gate, Ivick's only son Jonathan was apparently killed by Leilin Farell. And because Lord Ivick had undergone several modifications beforehand, he'd lost the ability to produce heirs. From then on, the two became mortal enemies..."
Darlenlei's excellent academic performance meant she was thoroughly familiar with this bit of history, and the words tumbled out of her almost automatically.
But the consequence of speaking without thinking was that she too caught Ivick's attention. The frost in his eyes forced her straight to her knees: "S-sorry! Lord Ivick... I didn't mean to..."
"Ha... hahaha!" The wizard on the ground burst into wild laughter. "Ivick! You'll die without ever having a child—you deserve to have your bloodline severed!"
"Die! Die! DIE! You're all going to die!"
The wound had been torn open. Every muscle on Ivick's face twisted with fury, and wisps of flame began to materialize around his body.
"ALL OF YOU, DIE!"
A surge of radiance erupted violently from his body—milky-white death light that could directly dissolve flesh and make a wizard's death excruciatingly painful.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
From within the light, a round of applause rang out, directly shattering Ivick's attack and drawing his gaze to the side.
Only then did he notice the figure that had been standing off to the side all along. The person wore a magnificent black scholar's robe and a mask, with not a single fluctuation of aura—which was why Ivick had overlooked them entirely.
This realization made his pupils contract sharply, and a sudden unease stirred within him. A wizard who could conceal their aura this well was no simple character by any measure.
"Who are you?" Ivick stared coldly at Leilin. The longer he looked, the more familiar the figure seemed. The half-face visible beneath the mask was extraordinarily recognizable, yet it was shrouded in a kind of fog that prevented him from recalling that name.
"Who am I? Ivick, you should know better than anyone!" Leilin smiled, then turned to encourage Darlenlei: "What you said just now was very good!"
"This voice..." Ivick's brow furrowed deeply, the fog peeling away layer by layer, as though he was about to reach the deepest, most hidden name.
"You're... you're Leilin Farell!!!!"
Suddenly, Ivick's body jolted and his mind cleared. Leilin's face rapidly overlapped with the one locked in his memory, and he let out a hysterical roar.
"Leilin Farell?!" Two cries of surprise echoed from nearby. The wizard on the ground stared at Leilin's figure, a hint of excitement emerging in his eyes.
Darlenlei was completely stunned: "He... he's that legendary Toxic Monarch? A Second-rank powerhouse, the mastermind behind the Third Wizard War—Leilin Farell?"
Darlenlei clapped both hands over her mouth, her thoughts seeming to freeze in an instant.
"Yes... he never actually denied being that Leilin. I just convinced myself it was a coincidence..."
Flashbacks of her time with Leilin flickered through her mind one after another, and Darlenlei's face turned as red as an apple.
"He's... nothing like the legends!" Darlenlei watched Leilin's retreating back, a trace of worry creeping into her eyes.
"Ivick is a Third-rank Wizard! Can Mr. Leilin handle him..."
"Hah... hah... You're Leilin Farell! This voice, this face—even half of it, I'd never mistake it!"
Ivick panted heavily, his entire body twitching as if seized by a fit, practically frothing at the mouth with excitement.
"You've finally appeared! The heavens be praised! I can finally... finally have my revenge!"
Ivick growled, terrifying waves of energy continuously erupting from his body, actually faintly touching upon the crystallization threshold.
"Hatred can drive one to progress! A truly philosophical saying! Ivick, you've improved quite a bit since last time!"
Although Ivick's progress surprised Leilin somewhat, to him, all who stood below the Morning Star were nothing but ants—hardly a matter of consequence.
"Sir! Watch out!" The terrifying Third-rank Wizard domain pressed the other wizard and Darlenlei flat against the ground like frogs, and the young wizard shouted desperately toward Leilin.
"No amount of caution will help! The hatred for Jonathan, all these long years of waiting and suffering—only your blood can wash it clean!"
Ivick roared, his dazzling holy light spreading ceaselessly until it formed a massive cage of luminous pillars.
He had learned from the last pursuit. He knew this Leilin was not only formidable in power but also blindingly fast—one slip and the man would escape. To avoid repeating his mistake, restricting the domain's range beforehand was essential.
"Die!"
Once the arena was set, Ivick struck immediately. Scorching light took shape in his hands in an instant, forming an enormous bow. At its center stood the statue of a goddess, her two vast wings spread wide to form the ends of the bowstring. A sacred aura pulsed continuously from the weapon.
A beam of light appeared, forming the bowstring. As Ivick drew the bow, a terrifying wave of power coalesced in an instant.
White-gold flames first gathered at his fingertips, then spread steadily forward, forming a continuously burning arrow of flame.
WHOOSH! A piercing sonic boom cracked through the air as the flame arrow shot forth, leaving a dazzling white streak in its wake.
"So you've specifically focused on long-range attacks now? It seems the lesson I gave you last time really left an impression!"
Leilin shook his head, extended a single finger, and tapped toward the flame arrow.
This dismissive gesture darkened Ivick's expression, while the other wizard and Darlenlei's faces showed undisguised worry.
"But... at this level, it's still far from enough!"
TING! The flame arrow collided with Leilin's finger, producing a crisp, clear sound.
Then came the sight that drained all color from Ivick's face: the flame arrow simply snapped in two, fell to the ground, scorched the surrounding earth black, and quickly extinguished itself.
"If this is all you're capable of, then you've truly disappointed me!"
Leilin smiled at Ivick, who kept backing away. Only now did he recall that the Leilin standing before him was no longer the Second-rank Wizard who once had to flee for his life under Ivick's attacks.
This man was hailed as a once-in-a-millennium genius across the entire South Coast. Now, after several hundred years, what level had he reached?
"What level... have you actually reached?"
Ivick retreated slowly, a pair of pristine feathered wings of light already unfurled from his back.
"That question doesn't matter. You just need to obediently die..."
Leilin said it with utter nonchalance, and coupled with his current attire, he looked every bit the great villain of legend.