In a dim underground chamber.
A dark red orb of light floated in midair, continuously casting a blood-red glow downward, making the entire basement feel gloomy and lending it an air of horror.
On a massive white metal experimental table, the former Number One Great Knight lay sprawled across its surface.
His eyes were shut tight, his lids twitching restlessly — even in unconsciousness, he seemed to be enduring some unimaginable torment.
Across his body, the black brand marks now appeared almost alive, stretching and writhing ceaselessly, slowly bulging outward, pulsing with a dark crimson radiance in rhythm with his breathing.
"The ancient Brand Swordsmen inscribed magical runes and formations onto their bodies, storing ambient energy particles within their flesh and releasing them all at critical moments as devastatingly powerful spells! Moreover, due to the continuous transformation wrought by the vast quantity of energy particles inside them, a Brand Swordsman's physical abilities far surpass the limits imagined by mortals, reaching an eerie and unfathomable level!"
When it came to understanding Brand Swordsmen, Leilin could now justly be called the foremost expert on the entire South Coast.
With a white scalpel in one hand and forceps in the other, Leilin cast one final glance at Number One, who remained unconscious.
"It's a bit hasty, but there's no time to spare!"
Leilin murmured with a faint sigh. In truth, the Chip's original plan had called for multiple rounds of experiments on all five Great Knights — only after obtaining precise parameters could the final energy node inscriptions be attempted.
But time simply wouldn't allow it.
The sudden news of war had thrown Leilin's original plans into complete disarray.
Originally, once the Brand Swordsman experiment succeeded, Leilin was confident he would have completed his second bloodline evolution as well. With his strength dramatically increased, he could have challenged even a Second-rank
And Second-rank Wizards were the caliber of power that headed major Wizard factions like the Black Bone Forest Academy!
If he had simply waited patiently and quietly accumulated strength, Leilin would have soon reached the pinnacle that most wizards on the South Coast could never touch in their entire lives!
But all of it had been ruined by that damned war news.
Now Leilin could only accelerate his research, hoping to replicate the Brand Swordsman before the great battle arrived. He didn't need to fully recreate the power of the ancient Brand Swordsmen — even fifty or sixty percent of their might would be enough to keep him alive amid the coming chaos.
After the tangled thoughts subsided, Leilin drew a deep breath.
In an instant, his mind became completely still, and every stray thought vanished entirely.
A glint of cold detachment flickered through his eyes. With the Chip's micro-adjustments guiding him, Leilin drew the silver scalpel across Number One's chest…
……
"RAAAOOOHHH!!" With a piercing roar, a massive Venom Flying Dragon dove from the sky. When it was still a dozen meters from the ground, it suddenly spread its wings!
WHOOSH!! The enormous green bone-wings blotted out the sky, casting a vast dark shadow across the ground below.
Once its wings spread, the Venom Flying Dragon's diving speed dropped sharply. Gliding now, it swept another dozen kilometers through the air before landing steadily on the launch platform at
BANG BANG!! The colossal claws struck the platform, and the immense momentum left gouges several centimeters deep in the hard surface.
SWISH!! A wizard dressed in white robes, adorned with plant decorations, jumped directly from the dragon's back.
"Lord Leilin!!"
The surrounding Four Seasons Garden apprentices hurried forward and bowed deeply.
After Leilin dismounted, two burly men in iron armor descended from the dragon's back as well, each carrying a massive steel sword on their backs — as large as doors.
"These are my two attendants. According to Academy regulations, I'm entitled to bring two retainers to stay with me. Register them for me," Leilin said to the apprentice beside him. "Also, make sure Hulk is well fed — increase his red bread pig rations to two. He's entered his pre-maturity gorging phase and needs a great deal of food…"
"Your wish is our mission, my lord!" The apprentice bowed deeply, then directed the other servants behind him to begin washing and cleaning the Venom Flying Dragon.
Meanwhile, the apprentice also quickly filled out some paperwork, then handed two black iron tokens to Numbers Two and Three behind Leilin.
The tokens were entirely black, with a crimson rune insignia on their surface — a circle enclosing an inverted triangle, with a coiled black rune-serpent running through it.
This was the form of Leilin's secret sigil.
"These are your entry passes. Keep them safe, or reissuing them later will be a tremendous hassle. And since we've entered a state of emergency, certain areas are off-limits. Anyone caught in restricted zones will be arrested by the security detail on charges of espionage!"
The apprentice's expression was extremely grave, and even Leilin felt a chill settle in his heart.
"Of course!" Leilin nodded and led Numbers Two and Three away from the landing area.
"Has the situation truly deteriorated this far?" Watching the wizards hurrying past with anxious faces, recalling the apprentice's stern warning, Leilin felt a weight settle over his heart.
After the previous experiments had yielded substantial physical data, Leilin had departed the next day for Four Seasons Garden headquarters.
After all, he didn't want to burn his bridges with Four Seasons Garden just yet.
And the ongoing Brand Swordsman experiment meant he could only keep Numbers Two and Three at his side for final adjustments — thanks to Number One's contribution, Leilin had advanced enormously in his Brand Swordsman research!
According to the Chip's simulations, once Numbers Two and Three were promoted to Brand Swordsmen, they would become powerful right-hand assistants for Leilin.
As for the control problem, Leilin had also been making significant progress.
His plan was to use termite colonies from the previous Number One experiment as raw material, deploying them inside these two knights' bodies while using potions to continuously increase the depth of the brand inscriptions in their souls.
With this dual approach — external branding from without and soul-level conditioning from within — he should be able to suppress their original consciousness and achieve complete subjugation.
As for Numbers Four and Five, the two female knights, the brand runes inscribed on their bodies were incompatible with them, rendering them essentially useless — inscribing brand runes wasn't like drawing a picture where mistakes could simply be wiped away and redone. These brandings were permanently etched into the recipient and even formed a subtle connection with their very soul. Only through this bond could a Brand Swordsman channel the wondrous forces of nature!
The previous two female Great Knights, victims of Leilin's inexperience during his first attempt and hampered by incomplete documentation, had been inscribed with incorrect brand runes.
And Leilin now had no way to completely erase those runes. As a result, they had permanently lost any chance of promotion — they would remain Great Knights for the rest of their lives.
Leilin naturally wouldn't bring along these two burdens. He ordered them to remain with Damian, holding the villa in Polar Night City as a small supply depot and base of operations.
Truthfully, Leilin was still somewhat in the dark about this war.
He only knew that war was coming — as for the reason? And who the opposing sides were? It was all a complete fog.
But judging by how seriously Four Seasons Garden was treating the matter, he could guess that their enemy was no simple foe.
Gathering more intelligence was one of the reasons Leilin had resolved to return to Four Seasons Garden headquarters.
After settling his two Great Knights at his quarters within the compound, Leilin strode quickly to the main hall of the Potion Group.
The two Puckstone statues — which had unusually caused no trouble this time — soon let him pass.
CREAK!!
The great doors swung open, revealing a hall just as bustling and expansive as before. Long white birchwood tables and chairs stood in neat rows, draped with white tablecloths edged with exquisite, delicate lace.
Small clusters of Potion Group members sat in their respective seats, heads bent together in hushed conversation.
The only difference from his last visit was that the table surfaces were no longer laden with delicacies. Instead, an assortment of documents and crystal ball projections were being passed around in a constant stream.
The head seat at the front of the hall was empty — it seemed Tiget had some matters to attend to and had not yet arrived.
Leilin swept his gaze briefly across the room, then made his way to
The first time Leilin had met Martin, the old man's seat had been far from the head position. But now, thanks to Leilin's addition to the group and several successfully completed assignments, Martin's seat had moved considerably forward — something the old man never tired of bragging about to outsiders.
But even seated in his improved spot, it couldn't conceal the worry etched across Martin's face.
Upon seeing Leilin, a smile finally broke through the web of wrinkles on the old man's weathered face. "Leilin! Over here!"
He gestured to the seat beside him.
Leilin smiled, exchanged greetings with a few fellow wizards he knew, and sat down next to Martin.
"I'm glad you came! You know, with that damned war, our workload has increased tenfold…"
Since they were already well acquainted, Martin immediately began unloading his grievances.
"My apologies! I'll certainly do my best with the potion work, but could you first tell me about the war? The truth is, I was out on an expedition when I suddenly received the Group Leader's secret sigil message. I'm completely in the dark right now."
Leilin wore just the right expression of confusion on his face.
"Oh! Look at me!" Martin slapped his broad forehead.
"Where should I start?"
The old man stroked his beard, a contemplative look crossing his features.
"In truth, the origins of this war are connected in some measure to the two previous Wizard Wars…"
Martin spoke slowly, his expression growing grave.