The night-long battle finally ceased.
The sounds of slaughter on Gubier Island dissipated with the cold night wind, replaced by the surge of tide and the faint cries of seabirds.
Looking eastward, without knowing when, the sky had already turned pale with the coming dawn.
On Gubier Island, apart from some collapsed houses, it seemed to have reverted to its former everyday appearance.
But if one looked down from the sky, they could easily spot the conspicuous dark-brown "scar" toward the west side of the center of Gubier Island.
In the center of the scar, where Wan Lai'er had turned into tainted fog, three leading wizards gathered.
Potent Magic Power surged in this area, previously widespread dark-red fog had now been confined by the three wizards to an area of only about ten square meters.
After a while, the dark-red fog shrunk to the size of a baby's head, its color deepened, almost turning black.
"It's about time," the elder wizard in the middle spoke. His appearance was consistent with his voice, looking like a kindly old man with a benevolent smile.
"Right," the two wizards beside him nodded in response, increasing their output of Magic Power.
Seizing this opportunity, the elder wizard produced a pyramid-shaped Purple Crystal Bottle, then opened the lid.
Whoosh!
Immediately following, the red-black fog as if drawn by an invisible force, surged toward the mouth of the bottle, like swallows returning to their nest,
In no time, it was completely sucked into the Purple Crystal Bottle.
Click.
After capping the bottle, Andor let out a gentle breath, a hint of relief finally crossing his aged face.
Yet, sweeping a look around and seeing these environments that couldn't be restored even after the fog had been dealt with, Andor still couldn't help sighing inwardly.
"These Divine Believers are truly detestable! With such actions, the Tainted babbling on Gubier Island has at least doubled!"
Before he could speak, Kesi on the left ground his teeth first, "The Divine and His followers have always been such filthy things... This pollution isn't even considered serious."
Alisa spoke softly from his right, "Once the Alus Association is over and people migrate back to Gubier Island, everything will gradually recover, and the Tainted babbling will slowly diminish."
Alisa's graceful figure was vaguely visible under her voluminous gray-white Wizard Robe, a pity that her white hood covered her face in endless shadows, obscuring it from view.
"Pollution takes but a night, but recovery will need at least hundreds of sunrises and sunsets."
Kesi continued bitterly. Though not born on Gubier Island, it was still half his home, and seeing this scene filled him with rage.
"At least it's a long-missed great victory, isn't it?" Andor spoke, his expression uplifting.
At that moment, a pale red light slowly emerged from the far end of the sea, igniting the surrounding white clouds into a dazzling morning glow.
The light of dawn bathed Andor's face, making his smile even more splendid.
Perhaps this victory on Gubier Island marked the beginning of a turnaround for the wizards!
Andor cast a glance at Alisa beside him and, placing his hand solemnly on his chest, bowed respectfully to the white-robed witch.
"Lady Alisa, thank you all, thank you for the helping hands extended by the wizards of Siya Continent."
Alisa was slightly stunned, surprised by the gesture of this well-known wizard of the Sea Domain.
The not-so-eloquent Alisa hurriedly returned the gesture.
After a moment of silence, she spoke again,
"There's no need for thanks, Lord Andor. Wizards are natural allies, and besides, all the Supreme Council has forged a pact to watch over and aid one another..."
"The lunatics of Nolan Continent don't think so!" Kesi interrupted from the side, "Lord Andor, when you contacted them two months ago, they didn't offer a bit of..."
"Kesi!" Andor cut in with a stern voice.
Kesi looked at Alisa, paused, and then closed his mouth.
But this interruption made the atmosphere suddenly become somewhat awkward.
Alisa glanced around, feeling slightly uncomfortable, and prepared to find an excuse to take her leave.
Just then, her gaze accidentally caught a glimpse of a mutilated corpse... seemed somewhat familiar?
'That's from the Blanch Family...' Alisa frowned, her strong memory quickly recalling this junior she had seen at a Yista School gathering.
'Seems her name is... Margaret?'
"What is it, Lady Alisa?" Andor asked, following her line of sight.
"A young witch I know," Alisa shook her head.
"Condolences," Andor responded.
Yet his gaze did not retract, instead, his brows gradually furrowed.
Before Alisa could inquire, Andor took the initiative,
"Look at that other corpse not far away."
Alisa and Kesi followed the direction Andor indicated.
About fifty meters from Margaret's corpse lay another strange carcass.
"Is that... a mutant wizard?" Kesi raised his lightning-like eyebrows uncertainly.
The corpse's remnants were almost unrecognizable in human shape, with a nearly three-meter-high, rough-textured, bone-white skeleton adorned with numerous sharp spines. Encircling the skeleton were remnants of dark-red, vine-like flesh, akin to intertwined muscle.
"Yes, and no," Andor carefully observed the body for a while and shook his head, "If I'm not mistaken, that's a Poisonous Rage Flesh Puppet."