Rob and Kill
Leylin had long guessed what Leo was thinking.
Since they had already dispatched stardust bugs to find out the background of all the guests, the Oakheart Family had probably done their fair share of killing and seizing treasure. They hadn’t been discovered only because they had concealed it well, and the targets they chose were mostly those without power and support.
What interested him more was the other party’s obvious desire for the Dark Elven Crown.
‘The concealing effect of this magical device has a large range. Although it is sufficiently extensive, for a Magus, a range that is too large might become a burden to them, making the concealing function less favourable.’ Leylin stroked his chin and squinted.
‘The only reason why this could attract Leo would be its use in war…’ Only a sneak attack in such a wide area would be the place for this piece of magic equipment to be put to use.
Therefore, whatever purpose the other party had purchased this magic equipment for would be revealed soon. Leylin absolutely did not believe what he said about giving it to his cousin or any rubbish of the sort anyway.
‘However, having gained something here, Vance…’ Leylin looked over at his empty stall, and glanced outside at the corner of his eye.
Indeed, the sphere of light that represented Vance had left together with the Magi who were crowding around to watch the scene earlier on.
Although Leylin still did have items of a higher value, it would evidently be inappropriate to put them up.
However, merely letting him go was clearly not Leylin’s style of doing things. He had now completely understood the rarity and scarcity of astral stones. If he had the chance to obtain one more, he definitely wouldn’t mind.
As time passed, the anonymous barter had come to an end.
Groups of Magi left on the teleportation spell formation one after another, rays of light flashing repeatedly. The entire cave quickly became quiet.
At this moment, Leo appeared, along with 7 or 8 Magi behind him. There seemed to be both old and young Magi, but what remained the same across all of them were their frightful energy waves and astonishing murderous aura.
“I will personally handle the Magus that sold the Forbidden Ancient Clock. Number 6 and 7 will be in charge of the buyer! The other party is only a small fry with little power. As long as we kill him and destroy the evidence, there wouldn’t be any consequences…” Leo swiftly delegated missions, occasionally throwing out a locating crystal.
“As for Number 5, you’ll go after the fellow that took the astral stone and kill him. That is his actual appearance, don’t worry! He only has the strength of an initial Hydro Phase Magus!” They were the secret elite force of the Oakheart Clan, and every Magus was in the Crystal Phase. To Leo, dispatching even one of them to deal with Leylin was already thinking too highly of him.
Number 5 was a bulky middle-aged Caucasian. Upon receiving an image, he discovered that Leylin was a young man with brown curly hair and nodded.
“Also, if possible, try to catch him alive. Our clan’s underwater prison has been short of prisoners of a sufficiently high rank…” Leo laughed coldly, sending shivers down the spines of the other Magi.
The Oakheart Clan’s underwater prison naturally would not be any average place. Even rank 3 Magi in the Crystal Phase that entered would surely face death, and would even be sentenced to the cruelest penalty before dying; even their corpses would be an unbearable sight to behold.
‘Looks like this youngster has greatly offended Sire!’ number 5 secretly thought. He slapped his chest and guaranteed, “Rest assured, Chief! I will definitely arrest him for you to punish!”
“Alright! Excellent!” Leo nodded.
“Is everyone clear about the rules of our Clan? If something goes wrong, immediately destroy all evidence. I’d rather you commit suicide than divulge any information about the clan, or else…” He watched the Magi indifferently. The icy-cold look in his eyes made them sweat profusely.
Although they had already risen to Crystal Phase, as long as they were human, there was bound to be something or someone that they cared about or was their weakness. And all of this was secretly controlled by Leo and the clan.
While every single one of them was strong rank 3 Crystal Phase Magi, they did not dare to disobey Leo’s orders because they were deterred by the Morning Star Magus.
“Great! Let’s set off!” With a wave of his hand, the numerous Magi instantly transformed into rays of light, launching in all directions.
……
At this moment, Leylin was following closely behind Vance.
He had already set his eyes on the other party at the auction venue. There would only be one outcome when a scheming Leylin and a clueless Vance come together: an easy target. With the aid of the A.I. Chip, he immediately marked Vance.
He wasn’t far from where Vance’s transmitted location was and had promptly followed him.
“Hmm?” Leylin then discovered that the stardust bugs on him had sent him information.
“Someone is chasing after me, and he’s just a mere Crystal Phase Magus? What a pity Leo didn’t come himself, or else I might be able to take the Dark Elven Crown back…” After the experience with Toram, Leylin now had confidence in his combat capabilities.
If an average rank 3 Magus in the Crystal Phase tried all the tactics possible, there still might be a possibility of defeating the enemy.
However, if the other party had more than 3 people, then his only option would be to ditch the plan and run.
If Leo alone came for him, he thought of making him stay here forever, but since it was just a Magus in the Crystal Phase...
“Since I can't kill you, I’ll annoy you. A rank 3 Magus in the Crystal Phase probably wasn't easy to nurture…” Leylin stroked his chin, and an evil look flashed in his eyes.
‘However, I will first have to settle with Vance, or it will be an unexpected factor that could easily result in consequences I can’t have thought of.’ After much thought, Leylin used the Transfiguration spell to transform into the image of Blood Rogue that he had used in the auction venue, and stopped Vance in his tracks.
“Who is it? Oh? Mr Blood Rogue?” Vance examined the Magus in his way, stunned. Even after recognizing that he was Blood Rogue, he did not seem relaxed, but instead became more alert.
“I wonder why Sire is blocking my way?” Vance stared at Blood Rogue in fear.
His ability to randomly transmit spell formations and find out his whereabouts was definitely something worth being cautious about. Vance’s heart beat rapidly, and he had a premonition that something bad was about to happen.
“I am the Magus that was selling the Crown of the Dark Elves previously. It seems that you, Sir, seem to have information about astral stones, so I followed you with hopes of obtaining it…” Leylin spoke politely.
“Oh! It's you!” Having made a great realization, Vance patted his head, but his expression suddenly changed, “But, how did you recognize me?”
At that time, he had been using the concealment spell formation, and had even put on a few layers of disguise!
“About this, of course…” Leylin smiled, keeping an enigmatic expression. But before he could complete his sentence, he turned behind and his face changed.
There, Number 5 had hidden his face and was swiftly coming after him. using up to them.
“Such waves? It’s a Magus in Crystal Phase. You went so far as to provoke someone of this level?” The old man’s eyes widened, and deployed a few layers of defense in succession.
“He came too quickly, what a waste! With a bit more time, I could lower Vance’s defense levels and attack in one go!”
Leylin glanced at Vance, “I’ll have to get this done and over with!”
*Whoosh!* Both of his hands abruptly turned blood red, and huge claws grabbed at Vance, making loud sounds.
“I knew you were up to no good!” Vance hollered, as layers of soil made their way onto his body, forming a humongous clay giant that was more than ten metres tall.
“Kill!” Leylin’s face was expressionless, his eyes filled with a piercing look that was sharp enough to kill. His spiritual force, which was already in Hydro Phase, flowed into the Claws of Blood without end.
The massive clay giant roared, raising his fist to greet the strange bloody claws flying towards him.
*Bam!* The blood red claws were sharp beyond comparison, and instantly scratched the other party’s fist, even leaving a deep groove in his chest.
“Hmph!” Vance’s stifled snort came from within the clay giant, his voice filled with dismay, “Such strength? Aren’t you a Magus in Hydro Phase?”
*Boom!* With that, the clay giant immediately turned and hurriedly escaped.
But why would Leylin let him run off? Numerous potions flew in mid-air, and terrifying elemental particles converged, taking the shape of a jet black sickle.
“Rank 3 potion combination spell—Death’s Blade!” Gigantic black sickles slashed through the giant silently, without a single wave.
The clay giant’s entire body trembled and he suddenly came to a standstill. Soon after, along with the loud rumble, the clay giant disintegrated in all directions, revealing Vance within.
It was just that Vance now had a more pitiful appearance. Both legs were broken at the knees and blood was gushing profusely, but no matter what spells or healing potions he used, it was still useless.
“No! Don’t come over! I can give you anything you want, I… I still have some clues about astral stones… You’ll definitely need it…” Seeing Leylin inch closer step by step, Vance started to panic, promising a whole heap of things.
He didn’t wish to die. He treasured his life, even more now that he had already collected sufficient materials and was about to advance to the Crystal Phase.
“Blame Jessia if you wish!” Leylin was apathetic. He had never believed in intelligence that was revealed in the face of death, and the Crystal Phase waves that were getting closer also meant that he was running out of time.
“I have enough astral stones, the intelligence means nothing to me. If you don’t have any on you, at most I’ll think of it as doing all of this for nothing!” Leylin had thought this through clearly. He had gone on the trip with the intention of giving it a try.
He didn’t need the intelligence, because with a piece of astral stone with him, there wasn’t a need to risk his life for another imaginary desire.
Therefore, Vance’s fate had actually been set from then.
“Jessia?” Vance paused, recalling his grandson’s cheeky wife.
“What has anything got to do with her?”
But he didn’t have to think any further, as a blood-red ray of light threw him into darkness...