Unexpected Developments
Leylin's indifferent tone instantly infuriated Noah who was hiding in the dark, and a sinister voice sounded, “I hope you'll still feel that way when you are under the attack of the Gluttony’s Kiss!”
This voice seemed to come from all directions, making one unable to grasp his location.
“The weakness of such barriers lies in the one who casts them. Once he’s attacked, they will immediately collapse!” Leylin continued speaking in a superior tone, as though he was commenting on Noah’s spell.
“So what if you know its weakness? After undergoing refinement, my Cage of Gluttony now possesses a portion of the power of a Morning Star domain. A mere Crystal Phase Magus like you will definitely never see through it!” Noah’s voice sounded again, but this time, he seemed flustered and exasperated.
Anyone who saw their own enemy being unconcerned when caught in their trap, when by all rights they should’ve been struggling in their death throes, would feel enraged.
With a command, numerous dreadful mouths with sharp tongues started to attack Leylin by gnawing at him.
“Scale Shield!” A multitude of black crystals appeared with a snap of Leylin’s fingers, forming a shield covered in a layer of scales on one side. When the white teeth bit the shield, they produced jarring noises and a great amount of sparks.
Under the attack of the numerous teeth, the defence of the Scale Shield was in imminent danger, and it seemed like it would be smashed to smithereens within minutes.
“Haha… Haha…” Seeing this, Noah let out a carefree laugh.
“Even if you saw through it, what can you do? Won’t you still be ground into mincemeat under the attack of my Cage of Gluttony? I have decided—I’ll preserve your tongue well, and savour it slowly...”
Even though he was clear-headed, he still showed the symptoms of insanity under the influence of the gluttony imprint.
As he listened to Noah’s declaration of victory, and as the Scale Shield around him shattered, Leylin shook his head.
“If it was just this barrier, it would practically be unbreakable by rank 3 Magi, and even I would have to spend a great amount of spiritual force to forcefully break out of it, but what a pity…” Leylin sighed, as though he was genuinely feeling sorry for Noah’s misfortune.
“You shouldn’t have collaborated with the Oakheart Clan!”
“How did you—” Before Noah could complete his sentence, a terrifying ray of death had already pierced through the numerous barriers and hit Noah who was hidden in the cracks of darkness precisely.
Fatality’s Tip! This formidable spell that the A.I. Chip had specially designed for Leylin had the terrifying effect of delivering a fatal blow to a rank 3 Magus.
*Pew! Pew! Pew!* Under Fatality’s Tip, Noah’s defence was torn apart like paper, and even his innate spells were easily smashed apart by the ray of death, as if eggshells meeting a hammer.
“Gluttony! Gluttony! The almighty Beelzebub! You are the sovereignty of Gluttony, controller of Gluttony!” A voice resonated in Noah’s surroundings, as if chanting yet also praying.
Amidst the prayers, the black runes on Noah’s face flashed, and actually broke away from his face, taking the shape of a black seed that obstructed Fatality’s Tip.
“Power from conviction? Or bestowed from a God?” Leylin was always apprehensive about the legendary world of the gods. Some of his knowledge attained in his previous world regarding deities and gods added on to his understanding of such higher powers.
Therefore, upon witnessing this form, Leylin immediately made an association.
But shortly after, he sneered, “If Beelzebub’s original body— or even his clone— was here, he would be able to crush me with just a finger! But now, a useless seed without the support of the spiritual force of the original body wants to kill me?”
Having conducted interplanar experiments before, Leylin naturally understood the weakness of such spiritual force seeds that descended from other worlds, especially those that had their connections to both sides cut off
It could be said that even if the other party’s original body was beyond rank 7 and they had already reached a terrifying realm, they would still be unable to provide any assistance to the spiritual force seed here.
In fact, this black seed was not even a spiritual force seed, only a product of the annihilated clone’s spiritual contamination, tainted with fragments of its memory.
The rays of death struck the black seed relentlessly, humming coldly.
*Pew!* After the black rays of light flashed, the spiritual force seed fell to the ground with a hole on its surface. As it slowly petrified, it took the shape of a stony rune.
Fatality’s Tip penetrated Noah, who appeared to have given up all hope. If not for Leylin who slanted his finger at the final juncture, Noah’s entire brain might have been fried completely.
But now, Noah lay on the ground like a dead dog, a gaping hole in his chest. He murmured in disbelief, “How… How did this happen?”
Leylin walked up and destroyed his consciousness ruthlessly, his voice cold as ice. “Speak! When did you start ganging up with the Oakheart Clan?”
“70 years ago. I once went to Azure Mountain City in search of a way to fix the Cage of Gluttony, and at that time the Oakheart Clan helped me find what was lacking…”
After losing the gluttony imprint, Noah seemed like a lost soul. He had regressed to a state where he was even worse off than an average human after his consciousness was ruined, allowing Leylin to get answers out of him by using an illusory spell.
“You actually dared to collude with that clan! You’re really tired of living, aren’t you!” Having interacted with them before, Leylin understood the Oakheart Clan. They were a bunch of people without morals. It was a tragedy that Noah had looked them up.
It was also the Oakheart Clan that had aided Leylin in breaking the Cage of Gluttony in one stroke.
Although the Cage of Gluttony indeed isolated itself from all sorts of detection, such that he wasn’t confident even in the A.I. Chip’s scans, Leylin still discovered minute traces of stardust bug activity on Noah.
There were only a few such bugs, and they probably had concealment spells on them, which was why Leylin hadn't sensed anything initially.
When Noah had completely burst and dragged Leylin into the Cage of Gluttony, Leylin immediately activated the atomic scanning function of the A.I. Chip.
He initially wanted to find a flaw in the Cage of Gluttony, but who would have thought that he would accidentally find traces of stardust bugs!
Leylin had roughly learnt how to deal with these bugs while at the auction. The fact that Noah actually had parasitic stardust bugs on him was as good as adorning himself with huge light bulbs, revealing his location to Leylin.
There was no doubt as to what would happen next. Leylin aimed his Fatality’s Tip and solved all his problems.
“The Oakheart Clan?” Robin’s expression changed. They were a powerful family with a Morning Star Magus as their backing. His nephew’s dealings with them were completely against his own interest.
“It seems that the recent changes in the Ouroboros Clan have involved the interference of the powers of Azure Mountain City!” Leylin stroked his chin, and decided to evacuate immediately.
He was now even more afraid of bumping into this clan. If the issue from before was revealed, the other party would definitely come chasing after him to the ends of the earth, even if he had the support of his Morning Star Mentor.
“Senior Robin! How about we put a stop to the commotion in the castle, then take Noah to headquarters to plead guilty?” Leylin looked at Robin, who was standing at the side, and asked respectfully.
“Of course we should!” Robin smiled bitterly. Did he even still have room to reject?
“Great, let’s…” Leylin was about to say something, but his expression suddenly changed, “Who's there?”
Numerous potions immediately emerged from the pouch at his waist, combining to form a terrifying rank 3 spell in the air, ‘Death’s Blade’.
A glowing black arc cut across, instantly shaving out a huge plain. Everything in the way — stones, large trees, and even small hills— were halved by a thin layer of light, revealing flawlessly smooth gaps.
A few figures were forced out by Death’s Blade and projected in front of Leylin.
“Leylin Farlier! I finally found you!” The Magi present were all in the Crystal Phase, and their chief was a Magus whose terrifying strength was at the peak of the Crystal Phase. The person who spoke was a middle-aged man, with his gold hair up like flames. The hatred in his voice made Leylin’s hair stand on end.
“Leo!” Leylin bellowed his name. This robed leader was actually the chief of the Oakheart Clan. From his expression, it was clear that he knew about Leylin’s disguise previously.
“A prophecy?” Leylin thought that he had wiped out his tracks cleanly, but the other party had actually discovered his identity nonetheless. He must have prophesied his identity.
While the Azure Mountain King himself wasn’t a Prophet, as long as one was willing to pay a large sum it was still possible to enlist the services of other Magi.
It was just that the speed of the other party’s reaction, as well as their viciousness, far exceeded Leylin’s expectations.
It was likely that, to predict Leylin’s location, the entire Oakheart Clan had paid in blood.
But if one thought about the consequences that the Oakheart Clan would suffer once Leylin exposed their stardust bugs, it somehow seemed understandable.
“Kill!” Indeed, Leo cut to the chase, as though afraid that Leylin would expose him. He immediately got to work once they met, and didn't give Leylin any chance to speak.
*Boom! Boom!* Terrifying waves erupted from the Crystal Phase Magi next to him, and numerous black chains appeared around Leylin, wrapping him up.
A powerful binding force was exerted on him.
Leo unrolled a simple and unadorned scroll, and the energy waves that burst forth from it made Leylin feel suffocated.
“A rank 4 spell scroll? You really do think quite highly of me!”
Leylin’s pupils contracted, and he immediately whispered to Leo, “If I die here, I swear the issue with the stardust bugs will instantly be revealed and spread throughout the entire central continent!”