Tingling Senses
There were many rebellious organisations in the Atlan Union, as well as various sects. However, the union leader had only chosen to act against the Triserpent Sect and Mobius Organisations, which led Leylin to make a mental association.
If the Triserpent Sect was targeted because of its three foreign Morning Star Warlocks, what about the Mobius Organisation? What did they have?
A trace of a smile appeared about Leylin’s lips. “Interesting! It’s getting increasingly interesting!”
He abruptly turned back and shouted, “All members, assemble…”
As Leylin had very few subordinates, he could act swiftly and decisively, bringing his unit to the Wox City Schiker had spoken of the very next afternoon.
After entering the city, Leylin sensed that the level of security was much higher than before. Even Leylin and the others were checked over once before being allowed entry. Uneasiness seemed to permeate the air.
‘Could the Mobius Organisation have caused a huge ruckus? Curious!’ Leylin touched his chin as he arrived at the area Schiker had spoken of, which was also the current station of the Special Task Force.
“Ley!” Loke welcomed him, pleasantly surprised. “It’s great that you could come so quickly!”
“What’s going on?” Leylin’s brows furrowed in feigned concern.
“We might have found the Mobius Organisation’s headquarters. The attack that Instructor led was met with a violent counterattack from the other side. It’s best that you personally take a look…”
Loke smiled wryly as he got out of the way. There was a gloom between his brows that would not disappear easily. It was so well-feigned that Leylin cheered for him on the inside. It was rare to find actors of this calibre.
As he opened the door and found Schiker inside, Leylin displayed an expression of ‘alarm’. “Instructor, how did you…”
The Schiker in front of him now was in a pitiful state, wrapped up to the point that he seemed like a mummy. His right arm was hung in front of his chest.
“Ley, you did well!” Seeing the worry on Leylin’s face, Schiker looked gratified, “You only took a day to get here…”
“It’s my honour to serve my lord!” Leylin looked devoted. After all, the other party had connections in the capital, and was his best route to getting firasource stones. He could not give him up so easily.
“What exactly happened?” Leylin clenched his fists, sparks emitting from his body.
“This level… It means your Fireplume is about to break through to the ninth level, entering the peak Sky rank…” Schiker watched Leylin, eyes full of an unspeakable radiance. “In terms of training, you’ll probably surpass me soon enough…”
“Not at all! It’s all thanks to Instructor’s nurture!” Leylin bowed slightly to show his respect.
“Mm! We underestimated our opponent this time. I’d assumed it was an ordinary branch of the enemy, but never could I have expected that we’d found their headquarters…”
Leylin listened closely. Schiker, with Loke and the rest as well as the support he garnered from the army, should have been able to complete the operation of destroying the Mobius Organisation smoothly. However, while wiping out one of the branches nearby, they’d found quite a few red-clothed bishops!
Schiker, who had realised he had found a big opportunity, was obviously excited as he gathered quite a few Sky rank generals and prepared to eliminate these bishops at one go.
However, when the time came for the actual attack, Schiker found out he had completely wrong.
There had been a mistake in his calculations. This wasn’t some branch of the Mobius Organisation, but their headquarters!
They had astounding harvests under the joint effort of the Sky ranks at first, and had even seized much of the resources the Mobius Organisation had stocked up on. Suddenly, Schiker was unwilling to say more, a hint of fear appearing on his expression.
This expression immediately alarmed Leylin. For the fearless Schiker to become this way, the matter could not be simple.
“I’ve gathered you only so that you can take over the next operations of the Special Task Force, especially since I’m in this state!” Schiker raised his arm and laughed bitterly.
“As for the issues there, there will be people coming in from the capital to take care of it. Don’t worry!”
Leylin came out, still baffled, and went to look for Loke. Under the questioning of this new ‘superior’, Loke narrated all the parts Schiker had failed to explain clearly.
As it turned out, while transporting the resources back, Schiker and the rest had been met with an ambush, resulting in total annihilation. Even the resources had been lost, and a few Sky rank generals had perished on the spot. Only Schiker had somehow managed to survive.
“Oh? How many people were there?” Leylin had some conjectures, and asked curiously.
“Ju– Just one, but he was more terrifying than thousands of troops and horses, because… that was a Star rank!”
Loke’s voice was low, as if afraid to alarm anyone. There was an obvious hint of joy in the fact that he was weak and useless in a battle between Sky ranks, and had thus not participated in that operation. Otherwise, he’d be dead right now.
“A Star rank?!” Leylin seemed to breathe in sharply, although his mind was actually working quickly.
Star ranks were the most powerful members of the Lava World. They were on the same level as Morning Star Magi of the Magus World, and were absolutely certain of their cultivation path. They were existences who had already generated a core.
Every single one of these existences was celebrated. Their achievements would be written in history books or even as legends, passed down for eternity.
Facing such an expert, Sky ranks would only be courting death unless there were other Star ranks suppressing them.
If Schiker had met one, it meant he had incredibly bad luck.
‘On top of that…’ Leylin touched his chin, deep in thought, ‘Schiker’s backing must be quite firm for even a Morning Star Magus to have qualms about killing him and leave him alive!’
Leylin, who was also a Morning Star, naturally knew the terror of rank 4s. For Morning Star Magi, Sky ranks were just like slightly large ants.
The generals, who were also at the Sky rank, had all died, leaving only Schiker behind. Leylin did not think that this Morning Star Magus had a good heart and let Schiker go. It was very likely that the real reason was because he feared the person backing Schiker.
‘Looks like Schiker’s background is very mysterious! I’ll need to pay more attention and take advantage of that!’ Leylin decided resolutely.
“That’s the basic situation… With the motivation from this event, many branches of the Mobius Organisation that had begun to disperse seem to be congregating again…”
Loke shrugged his shoulders, the wry smile not diminishing at all, “But we only need to push through during this period of time. The Northern Duke will reach this place soon, and when that happens, we can…”
‘Just continue acting!’ Leylin rolled his eyes inside, while he looked to be in favour of his words.
“The Northern Duke? That’s a famous Star rank of the Union! With him around, the Mobius Organisation won’t be able to settle down and have a peaceful time!” he exclaimed in admiration.
At the same time, he now understood the reason for Schiker’s listless look. Since someone with a higher status was taking over, his own position was dispensable, and his achievements would be wrested away from him.
Though the Northern Duke might not think much of these merits, Schiker would not want to accept charity from others. Leylin knew very well what type of person he was, and he was not one to admit defeat.
“In that case, I should return and quickly take over the defence of the Special Task Force, preparing for the counterattack!”
Leylin and Loke hastily bid farewell.
Leylin did not like this idea. The Mobius Organisation had Star ranks, as well as many helpers and followers. After noticing something, they would definitely retreat, and by the time that Northern Duke reached, he would only see an empty nest.
However, all this was none of Leylin’s business. What he focused on was the resources that had been stolen by the mysterious Star rank.
“To be able to get a Star rank dispatched after them, these resources must be especially precious. There might even be firasource stones inside…” Leylin’s eyes flashed. He was in dire need of these stones, but he did not have that many points to exchange them. Since the proper way wasn’t working, he would need to think of other methods.
Not long after Loke left, Leylin’s expression changed.
He came to his room and took out the crimson gemstone from before.
Rays of brilliance were twinkling, the two threads of pale flames beginning to increase in intensity at the middle.
Seeing this, a smile showed on Leylin’s face, “They’ve come together…”
……
At the bottom of the lava not far from the city, in a secret space that had been opened. Two figures were facing each other, sitting cross-legged.
All of a sudden, a bald male with no eyebrows or a beard opened his eyes, eyes full of doubt, “I felt a trace of my soul flames! Which Warlock has arrived here?”
“I had the same feeling!” Opposite him was a young girl in blood-red robes. Her eyes were strange vertical pupils that would make people shudder in fear.
“Is this a trap?” Gilbert muttered to himself and asked slowly.
“It doesn’t seem like it, unless the Ouroboros Clan was completely breached and Freya and the rest have all died.” Blood Duchess Emma was very confident in the loyalty of her students.
“Then… Have the reinforcements from the Warlock Union arrived?” Excitement appeared in Gilbert’s tone.
“Hmph! If they were reliable, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” In contrast, Emma’s retort showed that she did not have a good impression of the Warlock Union.