"Yes! I've thought it through very carefully — I cannot sit by and watch the family destroyed in the flames of war!"
Ivanov said firmly, a holy light actually gleaming on his face.
"Excellent! The enemies we're targeting are only those vile Bloodline Warlocks. Those of you who have come to your senses in time are still one of us Wizards!"
A voice came through from the other end of the Secret Mark.
"Of course! It is my honor!" Ivanov said excitedly.
Then, somewhat uneasily, he asked: "Is this communication channel secure? The headquarters of the Ouroboros Ring has extremely rigorous isolation and eavesdropping countermeasures!"
"Haha... Don't worry! This is a specially encrypted channel! Our conversation will absolutely not leak out!"
"Very well — what do you need me to do!" Since he had already decided to betray, Ivanov was remarkably straightforward about it.
"Simple. You just need to..."
The voice grew lower and lower, while Ivanov nodded repeatedly.
The dim lamplight gradually died out, and darkness shrouded everything.
……
Attacks always came when you least expected them.
By the time the warlocks who had grown accustomed to martial law realized that the entire city had been surrounded by a forest of carnivorous plants, many of them actually felt a sense of relief.
Compared to the earlier anxiety, an enemy you could see was far more reassuring. All that remained was a great battle — the winners would survive, the losers would be destroyed beyond redemption. That was all.
Compared to such a battle, the oppressive waiting before had been far more likely to shatter one's spirit.
But the warlocks' relief lasted only a moment. When they saw the massive fleet of airships pressing forward like an approaching thundercloud, even Faisal couldn't help but feel that all his previous power struggles had become a joke!
"Battle stations!"
He screamed hoarsely, his voice even trembling slightly.
"
Unlike him, those warlocks with specific orders could at least carry out their tasks in an orderly fashion.
Hummm! A Wizard Tower trembled. Countless runes surfaced from the tower's exterior and shot into midair.
Every Wizard Tower inside the city was the same — their runes forming beams of light that converged at the city's center, coalescing into a brilliant sun.
A curtain of water cascaded outward from the sun in all directions, its surface shimmering with a crystalline luster, encompassing the entire city.
"A terrifying magical formation — this must have drawn upon at least fifty or sixty elemental pools and reactors!"
At the heart of the flower sea, a green-haired Wizard sneered: "A pity the enemy was too hasty. We only had to give them a little scare, and they were forced to play one of their trump cards!"
"Exactly!" Another female Wizard in red covered her lips and giggled: "If the warlocks of the Ouroboros Ring are all this caliber, we've already won this battle!"
"In truth, as long as their three Elders don't return, the outcome of this battle won't change at all — it's merely a question of how long it takes," the green-haired Wizard corrected. As a high-ranking commander of the corps, he had access to far more intelligence than ordinary Wizards. He already knew about the disappearance of
"So what do we need to do now... a probing attack?" The female Wizard bit her lip, looking somewhat playful.
"We don't even need to probe. Other organizations will handle everything for us!"
Before her, the male Wizard looked supremely confident as he announced smugly.
"The Hand of Vengeance?" The female Wizard nodded, then giggled and stretched luxuriously: "Since someone else is already doing the work for us, shouldn't we take this opportunity to do something else..."
Her voice was cloyingly sweet, surpassing even the finest honey, and the male Wizard couldn't help but become intoxicated by it.
Faintly, the sound of their hushed conversation continued to drift over: "Are those Wizards reliable?"
"They're just pawns to be discarded. They'll definitely be abandoned when the time comes. Why worry about it?"
"I'm still not entirely at ease with them..."
"At worst, I'll hand over command of the Shadow Guard to you, and you can keep an eye on them for me..."
All manner of schemes played out here, completely concealed by the mass of green vegetation.
What transpired here drew not the slightest attention from the outside world.
As the plants and the airship fleet closed their encirclement, a thick cloud of war immediately settled over the entire perimeter of the Ouroboros Ring. A feeling of an impending storm left many of the Komoyin warlocks clenching their fists.
And the person who would truly serve as the main assault commander slowly descended from an airship.
A Wizard whose face was covered in scars, with a wooden prosthetic leg and a pronounced limp, stared at the massive warlock city with bone-deep hatred, his gaze practically able to set the entire city ablaze.
"Ouroboros Ring! Komoyin warlocks! Your day has come at last!" The icy words seemed to squeeze through the gaps between his clenched teeth.
"Lord Lober! Per the Allied Headquarters' appointment, you are the overall commander of the first assault!"
A figure wearing a jester's mask spoke from beside him, bowing slightly. His expression was hidden behind the mask, but his tone was unmistakably contemptuous.
"I understand! Please convey to all the Lords that Lober will not fail his mission!" Lober's fist clenched and relaxed several times before he finally spoke through gritted teeth.
"Very well!" The masked man bowed once more, then his entire body immediately sank into the void and vanished.
"Master! We've finally come this far!" Another old man with snow-white hair and a life force so dim it was nearly extinguished followed him off the airship. When he saw the warlock city that had already been encircled, he could no longer contain himself, and tears burst from his eyes.
Most of the Wizards who disembarked from the airships were from Wizard organizations that bore deep grudges against the Ouroboros Ring.
Driven by their thirst for vengeance and a series of other transactional arrangements, they unhesitatingly took on the vanguard role for the allied forces. They had even begun bloody reprisals and purges in the occupied territories, as if determined to exact repayment for every humiliation and suffering their ancestors had endured.
Lober, meanwhile, was the head of the Hand of Vengeance and the leader chosen by the numerous smaller organizations for this campaign.
On the other side, atop the tall tower, numerous warlocks were observing the enemy's movements. But compared to the enemy's ease and even their leisure for amusement, their situation was far more dire.
Not only was every face clouded with grimness — even Faisal was no exception, his heart filled with deep fear.
"The Blue Rain Knights of Blue Mountain City! And the Devil Wizard Corps from the City of Sin!"
Furui gripped the railing with both hands, staring at the two corps with their distinctive banners in disbelief.
In the direction she was looking, a knight formation clad in blue armor with enormous plumes atop their helmets, and a wizard corps composed of beings covered in scales, claws, and horns with grotesque and bizarre appearances, stood silently in formation.
The aura waves they inadvertently radiated were enough to suffocate a First-level Wizard. Even the allied forces dared not approach too close, leaving wide stretches of empty ground between them.
"The Monster Hunter and the King of Blue Mountain have completely dropped all pretense, actually sending their direct elite forces into the siege..."
Compared to the other factions' cloak-and-dagger approaches, the forces of Blue Mountain City and the City of Sin were far more brazen.
This also demonstrated their bone-deep hatred for the Ouroboros Ring. They must have had considerable confidence that Gilbert and the other three would not be returning, which was why they were determined to annihilate them completely.
"The Blue Rain Knights I can understand — they're merely inferior imitations of the ancient Steel Knight's path. But these Devil Wizards..."
On the other side, Lucie also frowned: "They are all Wizards who have communicated with the Devil Plane. Their bodies have been infused with the power of devils, granting them very special abilities. Through contracts signed with devils, they've even awakened all manner of supernatural powers! Only the Monster Hunter himself could possibly bring them fully under his command and put them to use... Whenever they appear, it means destruction and death..."
"Isn't that all thanks to what your master did!" Faisal sneered. "And even at a time like this, your junior apprentice brother Leilin still hasn't shown up!"
Because Gilbert had forcibly seized a large share of the Forgotten Lands' resources from Ganlier, the relationship between the two sides had always been poor. Faisal was not part of Gilbert's faction, so he naturally seized this opportunity to take a jab.
In fact, if he knew that the King of Blue Mountain's fury had also been triggered by Leilin, he would probably have been even more unhinged.
"The decision was made by the Council of Elders, and all three Elders acted together. Don't pretend you haven't used any of those Bloodline treasures yourself!" Furui immediately shot back.
Seeing her speak up on his behalf, Lucie offered Furui a grateful smile.
"Ahem..." Seeing the tension building toward another internal conflict, another old man whose face was lined with wrinkles and dotted with mottled snake scales immediately stepped in to smooth things over.
"Leilin and Shate are both working to deduce the Master's coordinates — they're at the most critical stage right now. It's perfectly normal for them not to be here. For now, we must work together and get through this crisis!"
This elder warlock not only possessed Crystallization-level strength, but his status also appeared to be quite high. Even Faisal merely scowled resentfully without saying anything further.
And at that moment, they also noticed the enemy's movements.
Numerous small Wizard organizations, led by another Wizard, swaggered to the city's edge and began setting up magical formations.
"Lober?! That bastard dares to show his face?!"
A warlock with effeminate features licked the blade in his hand: "I should have cut him a few more times back then!"