Arm of Vengeance
In the past Robin, being one of Gilbert’s students, was very popular. He was very patient, meticulous and was capable of making people feel comfortable with his presence alone. Hence, he was able to hold a high position, somewhat alike to a supervisor, in the clan.
He had changed ever since he entered the Crystal Phase, though. His temper went foul and he lost his position and did nothing but idle all day long. Upon recalling this matter, Leylin couldn’t help but feel saddened at the thought.
Leylin entered the villa, and met Duke Gilbert in the study.
Gilbert’s face did not change at all, not a strange of facial hair nor visible pores which made him look as smart as ever. With all these combined with his shiny and smooth head, he did look a little sly and terrifying.
Yet to Leylin, Gilbert was a good mentor who strived his hardest to teach him. Hence, he bowed to the man respectfully and told him the reason for his arrival.
“It’ll be nice to take a trip outside!” Gilbert leaned against the couch, beverage in hand. Leylin could occasionally spot little mermaid-like creatures appearing in the drink.
“With the passing of a century, I’m sure Cyril has forgotten all about you. Even those fugitives aren’t that patient. You really ought to travel outside.”
“But…” Gilbert paused for a while.
“If mentor needs anything, feel free to ask!” Leylin felt excited as he knew that Gilbert might have some tasks for him to carry out.
“Since you’re leaving, why not just take up this task!” Gilbert flung out a scroll, “The Warlocks of the Ouroboros Clan have to periodically finish tasks for the organisation as a form of contribution. Even though you are my disciple, you can’t keep idling around. While you’re traveling, you should just finish this task.”
“Yes, Mentor!” Leylin bowed as he obediently agreed and left.
He unfurled the scroll in his hand after he walked out of the villa.
[Spiritual force data interface detected, accept?] A prompt immediately popped up from the A.I. Chip.
“Yes!” Following Leylin’s order, a string of messages immediately entered his brain, and were imprinted directly into his memory so that he wouldn’t forget them easily.
“This is actually an extermination task?” Phosphorescent green flames lit up in Leylin’s hand, burning the scroll to ashes. Yet, he was expressionless.
The task was actually very simple. He had to go and exterminate a base of people rebelling against the Ouroboros Clan.
Even though they reigned supreme in this area, they had eliminated many influential clans and even commoners when they first set foot here.
The surviving members of those clans held the desire to conquer. Additionally, as with all regimes, there were also clashes with the interests of the indigenous population, creating friction. All these led to the rise of opposition parties.
Even though such organisations were weak, having not a single Morning Star Magus, they often concealed themselves well and it was difficult to identify their locations.
Yet, once they were found, they couldn’t escape their destiny of extermination.
Gilbert’s task for Leylin was simply to eliminate the most recently found base.
‘This is basically a dirt job!’ Leylin sighed but he knew that this was inevitable. Having joined the Ouroboros Clan, he knew that it was necessary for him to do some of the things he did in order for him to gain trust from the organisation. Furthermore, through applying such pressure, they would be able to keep the new Warlocks involved in the war.
In reality, one of the advantages of being Gilbert’s student was that he was given such a simple task. Leylin was considered to have been given preferential treatment to have been assigned tasks of just moderate difficulty level.
‘The location of the mission is Doroy Forest, en route to Azure Mountain City. Just as well. I’ll take care of them en route, then head to the auction!’ Leylin decided.
……
There limestone pavement was dotted with litter, creating a messy and chaotic environment. From time to time, one would be able to see, on the streets, traces of the domesticated livestock such as cows and horses that had been moving about on the pavement.
A strong odour emanated from the overflowing groundwater which had formed water puddles on the roads.
This was a quite normal scene in a city of commoners.
The advancements of the Magus world did not spill over into the world of mortals. The only improvements on that front were that one could now earn enough food to feed their whole family.
Leylin was strolling along. As soon as he’d accepted the task, he left the general headquarters without hesitation and headed to his current location.
If the directions weren’t wrong, this was where the Ouroboros Clan had set up a secret division, and also where their agent had found the rebels.
After using a Transfiguration Spell, Leylin’s aura was equivalent to that of a rank 1 or 2 Magus.
Despite Gilbert mentioning that Cyril would not care about him, Leylin still wanted to be as cautious as he could.
After all, Cyril’s subordinates were Crystal Phase Magi who may be keeping an eye on them. Leylin had to make some preparations to butter him up.
According to the house number, Leylin came to a house that looked like a normal bar and knocked on the door.
*Knock! Knock!*
After ten minutes or so, an impatient voice called out.
“Who is it? We don’t open in the day!”
“I’m looking for Tamansi.” Leylin’s voice was deep and low.
“You’re looking for our boss? What’s the matter?” A golden-haired brawny man opened the door as he stared at Leylin with caution.
Yet, Leylin could only feel a weak wave of energy going through the man, marking him an acolyte.
“Look at this!” Leylin let out a small smile as he took out a badge.
The ancient symbol of a black serpent eating its own tail contrasted greatly with the golden background. To others, this symbol made of runes, might appear to form a mere odd circle at the base of the badge.
However, since this man was an acolyte of theirs, he would definitely recognise the symbol of the Ouroboros Clan.
As expected, the man’s eyes widened. He relaxed, lowering his precaution towards Leylin.
“I’ll go and ask…” This time, the man’s reaction became quicker and within a minute he brought out a light brown-haired man of a smaller build.
It was obvious to Leylin that this man was a mere Rank 2 Magus.
These were the lowest level of Warlocks found in the Ouroboros Clan. Due to the fact that their skills were low and their families were in decline, they could only do miscellaneous jobs and silently accumulate credit, hoping that one day a bloodline genius would be born into their family or even a chance for them return to the general headquarters.
“My Lord!” With just one look, Tamansi recognised Leylin. As far as Warlocks were concerned, the aura of bloodlines that couldn’t be faked. The intimate and dreadful feeling it exuded was etched deeply in Tamansi’s memory.
‘This concentration of the bloodline seems to be that of a particular bloodline regal...’ The dwarf thought as he respectfully bowed. “My name is Tamansi, my Lord.”
“I see,” Leylin nodded as he made his way into the bar.
As he walked past the counter, he came to a room located underground that was even more concealed and complex.
“Tell me everything that you have found out, and don’t withhold any information from me…” Leylin took off his cloak, inadvertently emitting an imposing aura in his every move, which had caused Tamansi to regard him with more revere.
Upon seeing the documents that Leylin produced, Tamansi did not dare to hide the truth, and immediately reported to Leylin, “That was three days ago. At that time, I was here…”
Numerous days later in the gloomy dark forest.
The chirps of the cicada drowned out the hushed conversation between the two Magi.
That was Doroy Forest, a large prehistoric forest where Tamansi had found the enemy base.
“Are you sure it’s here?” Leylin wore a black Magus cloak with golden rims. Ironically, his appropriate dressing, together with his slender build, as well as his pure bloodline temperament, made it seem like he wasn’t here to kill but instead to travel.
“Yes, my Lord!” At this point, Tamansi felt nothing but respect for Leylin.
As a royal Warlock of the organisation, Leylin held a high position and was in control of the life and death of the expatriates.
“After a few months of investigation, we finally found out that the Arm of Vengeance has been hiding here!”
“According to the traces nearby, there are indeed hidden spell formations set up around here as well as trails of Warlocks in this area.” Leylin nodded his head.
“These rascals sure can hide! Rest assured My Lord, my subordinates have already rounded them up. Once My Lord gives his command, we will definitely be able to break through their spells, along with the men you brought along.” The dwarfish Magus slapped his chest and guaranteed.
To Tamansi, it seemed that Leylin, who was dispatched by headquarters, only had the weak aura of a rank 1 or 2 Magus, and seemed especially amicable. Thus, he probably wasn’t particularly powerful. However, since he was already out on a mission, there would definitely be numerous people to make up for his evident weakness.
For such royal bloodlines, wouldn’t his family have dispatched a huge number of people to protect him whenever he was out?
“Whoever said that I brought manpower?” Leylin turned back to look at Tamansi.
“No… No one?” Tamansi wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t, “My Lord, please don’t make such a joke. Inside this camp is Toram from the Arm of Vengeance. Apart from their leader, she is the strongest in their organisation, having reached the Hydro Phase two centuries ago…”
“Oh! So Toram is the most capable member here? That’s a rather good chance!” Leylin clapped his hands as he looked through the prompts given by the A.I. Chip.
[Rank 3 spell complete. Number of simulation runs: 42912. Number of errors: 0]
“Looks like I can test this spell on site,” Leylin muttered to himself.
One of Leylin’s plan to create commonly used formidable rank 3 spells had came from heavy utilisation of the A.I. Chip’s operational capabilities. It had customised a rank 3 spell for Leylin, and had just finished its simulation.
Moreover, this new enemy was perfect for Leylin to test his new spell.