In
"Since the wizard who appeared afterward clearly had a grudge against
As a spy planted by the Dark Elves, Longbottom had never once forgotten his mission — to sow chaos and weaken the Dark Polar Domain's strength!
If he could bring a Second-rank
The thought alone set his heart aflame with excitement.
The Dark Elves' infiltration of the Dark Polar Domain was no recent development, and Longbottom quickly obtained a map of Greenwater Garden's headquarters.
Moreover, with Osney's full assistance, he even knew exactly what defensive magical arrays they had set up and where their weak points were.
Greenlight City. The headquarters of the great central-sphere school Greenwater Garden was about to face catastrophe today.
Flames erupted everywhere, dyeing half the sky red. The defensive rune array collapsed in an instant, and the large force of wizards who had been prepared outside for a long time surged in.
"Kill!"
Longbottom led the charge, a strange green radiance flashing brilliantly from his hand.
The wizards who tried to block his advance all ended up as desiccated, withered corpses collapsed along the roadside. Among them was even a fellow peak First-rank Wizard.
Although Greenwater Garden was a major school with several peak First-rank Wizards and contracted creatures stationed within, Longbottom's Revolutionary Army and the Dark Elves' combined assault quickly overwhelmed their defenses.
"This way!"
Osney's eyes had gone white, and he led Longbottom deep into the complex as though he knew every path by heart.
After a few minutes, they arrived beside an enormous ancient tree.
Boom! The ancient tree was violently torn aside, revealing a passage leading downward.
A shimmering defensive wizard array materialized — this had been personally arranged by a Second-rank Wizard, saturated with formidable magical power.
Longbottom sneered: "So Rosby's clone seed really is down there!"
He had some understanding of this type of clone-seed sorcery. Each seed could only parasitize and grow after the original body's death.
Furthermore, it could not immediately restore Second-rank power. In truth, if the clone could maintain First-rank strength, it should consider itself fortunate.
The true value of such a seed clone lay in being a second life — and when cultivating from scratch, there were no bottlenecks. One could advance all the way back to the original body's level.
But in the beginning, such clones were extremely fragile, growing more terrifying as time passed.
So to eliminate one, the sooner the better.
"A defensive array set by a Second-rank Wizard — at this intensity, it would take at least several peak First-rank Wizards half an hour of continuous assault…" Osney checked with an instrument, and his expression changed rapidly.
"No need!"
Longbottom waved his hand and pulled a black crystal from inside his robes.
"This is the Matriarch's blessing — sealed within is the power of a single strike of hers. Perfect for this!"
Longbottom crushed the crystal in his hand.
"Squeak squeak!" As though countless insects were shrilling in flight, a cacophony of chaotic sounds erupted around them.
An enormous spider's phantom materialized — its body entirely purple, compound eyes gleaming with an almost human intelligence as it swept its gaze over Longbottom, Osney, and the others below.
A chill ran through Osney's heart. Being stared at by this spider felt as though his very soul had gone hollow, as if every secret he possessed had been laid bare.
Crack!
The purple spider phantom condensed, forming a sphere of energy that slammed down onto the defensive barrier.
Creeeeak! The defensive membrane buckled into a massive concave depression. Runes flashed and shattered everywhere, accompanied by an unending chorus of cracking sounds.
"Everyone, attack together!" Longbottom watched the scene with brightening eyes and shouted to Osney behind him.
Various wizard lights followed, striking the defensive array alongside the energy sphere.
Like the final straw that broke the camel's back, the moment their spells hit the membrane, the defensive wizard array shuddered violently.
Petal after petal of runic light withered and fell to the ground, dissolving into tiny motes that drifted and faded like fireflies.
A defensive wizard array established by a Second-rank Wizard crumbled spectacularly under their combined assault!
"I can feel their aura inside!"
Longbottom's eyes blazed with excitement, as though he had caught the scent of something delicious — his eyes practically turned green. He dashed inside at full speed.
Osney hesitated for a moment, then followed him in.
"Hahaha…"
After passing through a short corridor, Osney heard Longbottom's wild, manic laughter.
He entered an underground laboratory and immediately saw Longbottom clutching a small boy by the throat, laughing without restraint.
"Great Wizard Rosby, Head of Greenwater Garden, powerful Second-rank Wizard! Where is your authority now? Your might? Your dignity and bearing? Where has it all gone?"
Longbottom gazed at the child before him and let out unrestrained laughter.
A small grudge should not wait past the night. Just moments ago he had barely escaped this man's clutches with his life, and now he could hold the man's throat in his grip, holding life and death in his hands. The sensation was intoxicating to Longbottom.
He had even begun to subconsciously equate Rosby with another Second-rank Wizard he had once known.
Osney started in surprise, only now noticing that the boy's face bore a resemblance to the Rosby they had seen before. The child's body was naked, coated with something like a layer of amniotic membrane and mucus. He immediately understood the situation.
Although Rosby had successfully reincarnated, using a seed planted in advance to cheat death, his current body possessed at most apprentice-level strength — as feeble as an ant before Longbottom.
"But you're still somewhat useful after all!" The green light in Longbottom's eyes had almost solidified.
"Even though you're currently only an apprentice, your essence is still Second-rank! If I can absorb you, it will surely be of great benefit to my comprehension of the Second-rank!"
Longbottom spoke with a faint smile, and a flash of light appeared in his hand.
Thread after thread of red-green filaments were drawn out of the small boy's body, vanishing into Longbottom's palm.
The boy's face grew increasingly ashen and withered, while Longbottom's expression became one of blissful intoxication.
A moment later, Rosby's terrified expression froze on his face as he collapsed to the ground. His body crumbled apart like something completely desiccated.
Longbottom's cheeks flushed red, as though he had just consumed a powerful tonic.
"Quick! We must move everything of value before the other reinforcements arrive! Anything we can't move, destroy it immediately!"
After absorbing all the life force of a Second-rank Wizard, Longbottom's aura had subtly begun to shift.
Osney respectfully lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze any longer.
…
At the same time, shrouded in darkness, Leilin's figure appeared soundlessly above Greenlight City.
Crack!
With Rosby's complete death, a green ring on his hand emitted a sharp snap.
Through his spiritual sense and the Chip's scan, Leilin discovered that this spatial ring's connection to the outside world had been completely severed.
This confirmed that Rosby's clone had been destroyed.
"The little fellow did a fine job." A smile appeared on Leilin's face.
The various prophecies and divinations from before had, of course, been deliberately embellished or trimmed by Leilin himself — designed to ensure that Greenwater Garden would be completely destroyed and Rosby's clone annihilated.
Moreover, all the truly valuable items were inside Rosby's spatial ring. Leilin had no intention of going down there to compete with a bunch of paupers.
"
He raised his head, gazed at the distant sky, shook his head, and vanished into thin air.
Shortly after Leilin departed, a shrill whistling sound came from the very spot where he had been standing, and several wizards with dark, grim expressions materialized in the air.
Below them, Greenlight City had descended into even greater chaos…
A few days later, explosive news swept across the Dark Polar Central Domain and spread to the surrounding regions at an even more terrifying pace.
Greenwater Garden, the great school of the central sphere, had been destroyed by Longbottom's Revolutionary Army!
Even the sect leader, the great Second-rank Wizard Lord Rosby himself, had fallen in the battle.
The fall of a Second-rank Wizard sent shockwaves through the entire region. And with Rosby's protection gone — along with the majority of their formal wizards and their heritage — even if a few of Greenwater Garden's apprentices had survived, the school would surely plummet into the ranks of insignificant factions.
After this battle, Longbottom's name resounded throughout the entire Dark Polar Domain. The Central War Committee posted a bounty of astronomical proportions on his head and classified him as a seven-star threat!
…
Elsewhere, Leilin paid a visit to the Eastern Domain's guardian, Wizard Logan.
True to his word, Logan had relocated his school to the Central Domain and positioned it in close proximity to several other central schools, including the Alliance of Nature.
"This kind of behavior must be crushed with an iron fist! I have already dispatched enforcers to purge several of the Revolutionary Army's strongholds!"
Logan panted heavily with indignation, while Leilin stood beside him in silence, his thoughts churning.
"Those vagrant wizards are simply too lawless! And this Longbottom — his head must be severed and his soul preserved as a specimen and displayed in the Committee, so that all future wizards will remember!"
Logan raged.
Leilin smiled inwardly. Logan was genuinely alarmed now.
The other Second-rank wizards could previously afford to disregard Longbottom and his Revolutionary Army, but once a Second-rank Wizard had actually died at their hands, they could no longer afford to look the other way.
"In times of such a great war, for there to be so many lawless wizards causing havoc in our rear — we absolutely cannot compromise! We must suppress them with full force!" Logan declared. "This is the unanimous decision of our War Committee! Furthermore, from now on, any vagrant wizard who dares express sympathy for or support of the Revolutionary Army will face punishment!"
Leilin nodded, understanding that the school factions were still very much dominant and fully capable of stamping out this revolutionary tide.