As The Dark Clouds Draw Closer
There was another concern bugging Leylin.
As compared to the factions that had shown themselves in Azure Mountain City, what worried him the most was still the Magus that had set the trap.
To be able to give up a world coordinate and also successfully entrap three Morning Star Warlocks, he was definitely not a simple person.
Furthermore, if Leylin’s mentor, Gilbert, joined forces with the other two Morning Star Warlocks, they would have a terrifying strength on par with that of a Radiant Moon Magus!
Since the mastermind could successfully scheme against them regardless of that, it was only a matter of time before his actual strength would be revealed.
If the other party came at them openly, the current Ouroboros Clan would not have any strength to resist.
Fortunately, for reasons unknown, he had not taken any other action apart from setting the trap. No one knew what qualms he had, or whether there was something holding him back.
Leylin secretly guessed that perhaps the other party had suffered a violent counterattack when he’d plotted against his Mentor, and thus suffered a hidden loss. He was likely still in the midst of recovery, or else he definitely wouldn't have let this chance slip through his fingers.
Even so, the pressure the Ouroboros Clan faced was crushing. The tiniest bit more and they would collapse completely.
After parting with Leylin, Freya took a short walk and arrived at a small garden full of white roses.
A distorted human shadow appeared next to the garden. When the figure came into view, a Warlock dressed in a crimson Magus robe bowed to Freya.
“Greetings, chief!”
“Mm!” Freya nodded, “The crisis that the Ouroboros Clan has met with will require the combined effort of many marquises, but Leylin’s team of vassals is really too weak, and they also suffered heavy losses in the previous suppression. I plan to let the Blood Serpent Warlock organisation take over some of their missions!”
After a long silence, Julian then spoke with a hoarse voice, “This… is not in accordance with the rules! Furthermore, the elders…”
“This is an order!” Freya’s voice turned cold, and an aura that was unique to Crystal Phase Warlocks surfaced on her body.
“Yes! Yes!” Julian quickly agreed, but let out a silent sigh.
Even he could see that his chief had feelings for Leylin, but the other party still showed clear signs of rejection.
It would be understandable if Freya had only lent a helping hand once or twice, but she had already done so many times. This problem had left many elders with authority dissatisfied. It was in stark contrast to how Miranda simply gave up on her pursuit.
In ancient Warlock families like Freya’s, even the chief could not go against the opinion of the majority, and had to take the entire family’s opinion into consideration.
Freya's actions had already aroused a certain degree of discontent in the family, but was suppressed by her promotion to the Crystal Phase.
However, Julian had a feeling that if Freya continued, the accumulating dissent would one day burst forth.
Judging by her attitude, though, would it be possible to change her ways?
Julian shook his head and forced a smile, then bowed to Freya and vanished into the sea of flowers.
……
In the depths of a white canyon, a team of Warlocks were hurrying through the steep mountains.
These Warlocks were all clothed in crimson Magus robes, with the Giant Kemoyin Serpent motif on their collars. A platinum-haired high-ranking Warlock led the way.
*Shoom!* At that very instant, a crooked shadow shot out from the side of the cliff like an arrow, right into this Warlock’s hands.
“Be alert!” Kemoyin’s Scales appeared on the bodies of the numerous Warlocks as a mode of defence. Assuming their various positions, they emitted an aura that was full of solemn determination; evidently, they were elites with rich experience who have been fighting for a long time.
“It's a shadow snake messenger from our family, cancel the alarm!” The platinum-haired high-ranking Warlock furrowed his brows and quickly shouted to the rest. The entire troop was tranquil again, and they slowly started to continue walking.
“They actually want us to offer support to Enforcer Leylin’s vassals?” Upon recalling the content of the message, the leader of the Warlock team seemed gloomy. He was, of course, unhappy about his chief’s actions.
But looking at the authoritative imprint on the back that reflected the family chief’s position, the leader gritted his teeth and yelled out, “Turn around, we’re going to the Teal Tusk Highlands, and fast!” He was still dreadful of the consequences of disobeying orders and betraying his family
Although they questioned why their leader suddenly gave such an order, their pleasantly compliant nature allowed this small team to make a full turnaround within a few minutes, and they continued to rush off in another direction.
“Hehe, found the Blood Serpent Warlock organisation!” At this moment, the immature voice of a young boy sounded out, causing the team leader’s expression to change drastically.
“Who's there?”
The Magi under him immediately broke into formation, with many of them already holding on to multiple magical items for attacking purposes.
*Bang!* The rock wall at the side blasted open, and a gigantic flowering plant emerged from within.
This flower was about 5 or 6 meters tall, its sepals full of sharp buckteeth. It suddenly spread open its petals, and with its huge mouth similar to that of a beast from the ancient times, it swallowed a Warlock who couldn't dodge in time.
“AHHH…” He let out a distorted, muffled shriek. The innate defence of the snake scales seemed to have no effect on the corrosive juices in the stamen. Through the translucent petals, the Warlocks could see their comrade’s scales corrode, then quickly soften and reveal his skin and muscle tissue...
*Bang! Bang! Bang!* Before they could rescue their comrade, more carnivorous flowers suddenly emerged from the rock walls, and started attacking them.
“A military troop of carnivorous plants, it's…” The expression on the platinum-haired team leader’s face changed drastically. Before he could even exclaim, a carnivorous flower that was more than 10 meters tall bore out of the ground and appeared in front of him in a flash.
On the stolon of this carnivorous flower was the face of a little boy, and it seemed that the voice from earlier was his.
“Innate spell— Toxic Bile!” The team leader gritted his teeth, and venomous gas immediately diffused out into the air.
“It’s useless! We have already made special improvements through several mutations targeted at awakening the ability of self-control, just to counter your poison and scales!” A grin spread across the boy’s face. The humongous carnivorous flower ferociously opened up and countless minute pollen grains scattered onto the ground.
The Giant Kemoyin Serpent Warlock’s expression changed rapidly. He could clearly sense that the venom in the air had been neutralised by the pollen from the carnivorous flower.
Not only that, once a single pollen grain landed on him, his scales instantly started to soften.
“Haha… Kill! Go on, kill! After today, the Ouroboros Clan and the Giant Kemoyin Serpent Warlocks will become a thing of the past!” The boy cheered, while more and more carnivorous flowers started to emerge from the soil and the walls, drowning out the members of the snake bloodline Warlock organisation.
The colourful lights of spells exploded, and finally, all was silent again...
……
On the other end, in a small and prosperous town.
The shadows of many densely-packed sails appeared all of a sudden in the sky.
Numerous huge ships soared through the air like dark clouds, blocking out all the sunlight and casting large shadows on the earth, as darkness enveloped the entire town.
“What's going on?” The Kemoyin Warlock in charge of guarding the place walked out and his jaw instantly dropped.
*Boom!* The gigantic cannon stowed at the front of the fleet started to rumble, and terrifying energy waves immediately wreaked havoc throughout the town.
In that instant, the entire city was filled with terrorised cries as blood and fire flooded the land.
The ever-plentiful city that had always been under the protection of the Ouroboros Clan was suddenly drowning in calamity. Those who could not escape in time turned into ashes under gunfire, average humans and low-ranking Warlocks alike.
After a round of bombardment, numerous silhouettes appeared beside the fleet, and descended to clear out the remaining few high-ranking Warlocks.
“No Warlock that belongs to the Ouroboros Clan will be spared!” A crippled male Magus who was propping himself up with a wooden leg gave an order, his eyes boiling with hatred that he did not even bother to mask. His face was filled with numerous scars and was badly disfigured.
“Those damn bloodline bastards don’t even deserve to be alive…”
Following his command, the resistance in the battlefield intensified, but all that anyone could do was to struggle in the face of death.
After purging the resistance, it was time for a feast, one of plundering and venting their anger.
But even in a situation like this, the commander’s face remained cold and indifferent, as though he never saw it at all.
……
Such scenarios continued to play out in the Ouroboros Clan’s territory, and even started to inch closer to Phosphorescence Swamp.
The atmosphere at headquarters was gloomy due to the huge war.
In one of the rooms in the headquarters of Warlock City, a faint warm glow flickered. A group of Magi gathered around a circular black medieval table.
They were all Giant Kemoyin Serpent Warlocks, and the aura exuded by every single one of them was highly terrifying, even exceeding the threshold of the Crystal Phase.
Leylin was among them, scanning through his companions— there were more than ten of them.
These people made up the entirety of the Ouroboros Clan’s upper echelons, and they were of the highest ranks apart from the three Morning Star Warlocks. Their decisions would represent the entire Ouroboros Clan!
Lucian and Freya were also among them. Upon seeing Leylin, they nodded in acknowledgement, but anxiety was written across their faces.
A red-headed Warlock stood up, propping himself with his hands on the table, and roared loudly, “Only yesterday! In a mere 13 hours, the attacks we have suffered have surpassed the sum of all the damage we have ever sustained! The Blood Serpent Warlock organisation, the Black Iron Warlock organisation and the castigators have all been razed to the ground! Even Greenflame City that guards our Phosphorescence Swamp has fallen to the hands of our enemy!”
He slammed the table, causing the tabletop to shake vigorously. Leylin could feel his wrath through the vibrations.
“It won’t take long until we’ll be able to see them within the vicinity of the city! Even small fry like the Arm of Vengeance will start hunting us down. Damn it! These were people I could have wiped out single-handedly in the past!”
With that, opinions started to fire across the table, rage filling the air.