Opening
Leylin watched the performance of these Warlocks, indifferent to it all.
In fact, it was very clear to them that small organisations like the Arm of Vengeance were being used as scapegoats by the hidden forces.
Were Gilbert and the rest to appear, they would just throw out these scapegoats to suffer their wrath, without caring for their life or death.
And even if these small organisations were to find success, they wouldn’t end up with much resources. They could only give the majority of the resources to their backers. Thus, these forces could reap the benefits without getting their own hands dirty. It was a great deal indeed.
Although these Warlocks were completely aware of this, they only dared curse these small organisations that had gone insane in their desire for revenge, but did not dare touch the existence in the background. In the back of their minds, even though they lacked Morning Star forces on their side, they definitely did not have the guts to provoke those acting behind the scenes. To them, on their side, they would not have the guts to challenge the masterminds.
“Never mind that. This place is soon going to become a battlefield, so every one of us must take up our responsibilities. Do you all agree?”
“Agreed!” “Agreed!” “Agreed!” Numerous high ranked Warlocks nodded one after another.
“That’s great, we still have the two Kemoyin Gargoyles and the spell formation left by the elders. We can still handle a Morning Star Magus if we activate everything... We just need to persist for a period of time, then the three mentors will be able to return from the astral plane!”
The red-haired Warlock was still trying his best to boost the morale, and hence he maintained the delusion.
After he spoke up to that, everyone’s sight immediately shot to an old Warlock who was wiping his spectacles with a white handkerchief.
This old Crystal Phase Warlock was the head of their technical department, Schadt.
Schadt put on his spectacles with a bitter laugh, “Our tests have confirmed that the elders really did open the astral gates and entered another world. However, we couldn’t confirm that it’s the Purgatory World. However, we’re trying really hard to calculate the coordinates. I just need ten days... No! Five! We’ll have it in five!”
The expressions of the numerous Warlocks dulled when the reply they got wasn’t the one they wanted.
The red-haired Warlock forced a smile, and immediately began to assign missions as a leader, “Marquis Schadt, continue to study the astral gate. Headquarters will allocate resources to you as you wish. You have to rescue our three Mentors!”
“I will!” Schadt nodded. There was a great scholarly temperament to him as he still seemed like nothing had happened even in this kind of critical moment .
“Next, Marquis Lucian...” There was pride in the tone of the red-haired Warlock when he heard the other party agreeing to his orders.
Although he was the first disciple of the Grand Elder, his authority was not much greater than that of the remaining Marquises present here. But now, when the circumstances required the presence of a powerful leader due to both internal and external pressures, it seemed like he could try to take control!
“Very well! Next...” The Warlock started to assign missions to everyone. Finally, it was Leylin’s turn. “Marquis Leylin, it’s no problem if I leave you in charge of the defense of the West Zone of the city, right?”
“Sorry, I do!” Leylin raised his hand up. He’d heard from Lucian about this Warlock before, although he hadn’t met him in person many times. He was Faisal, and he had held power for a long time in the Ouroboros Clan. Right now, it seemed that even in all this confusion, his first thought was of grasping power.
Leylin was immediately fed up by this sort of thing. With their current situation, perhaps the entire headquarters would be breached tomorrow, and everyone would be finished. He still wanted to scramble for power and profits?
“What?” Faisal wrinkled his brows. He’d met a challenger moments after he set up his authority. This triggered his immense dissatisfaction, so he decided to suppress the challenger ruthlessly.
“I have an extremely important experiment...”
“Experiment? Just for the purpose of an experiment?” Leylin was interrupted by Faisal before he could complete his words. “Did I mishear? You want to abandon your responsibility in this kind of critical moment just for an experiment?”
Numerous high-ranked Warlocks around the round table also started whispering to each other after they heard Faisal words.
“Let me finish!” Leylin pressed his hands down.
“The experiment I’m working on is an interplanar experiment. I’m confident in being able to find the coordinates of the Mentors in three days. Marquis Schadt can testify to this.”
Schadt, who’d been still as a statue from the beginning, also nodded, “Indeed. Marquis Leylin’s fundamental knowledge about astral experiments far surpasses mine. Especially in accurately searching for coordinates, he leaves me ashamed of my meagre ability.”
“Even so,” Faisal ground his teeth, “The defence of the West Zone...”
“I’ll take care of that as well,” Freya interrupted.
“You?” Faisal was a little astonished.
“Yes. Anyway, my own defence zone is not far from Leylin’s. It’s alright for me to take care of both, right?” Freya looked at Faisal challengingly. The other Warlocks had a knowing smile on their faces when they recalled the rumours about Freya and Leylin.
“You can if you say so, but what if your area has problems first...” Faisal dragged out his speech, looking at Freya who had an unyielding expression. He thought Leylin was getting more and more out of hand.
Freya ground her teeth and stated stubbornly, “It’ll be my responsibility!”
“Fine, I hope you remember what you said today!” Faisal nodded and sat back down.
The person involved, Leylin, sat foolishly at a distance from the beginning. Only after it ended did he respond and look at Freya. This woman had helped him over and over again, even at the expense of her own family’s interests, and was already facing criticism from her elders.
He hadn’t expected that she would be willing to help him to this extent.
Actually, this so-called important experiment was just to pull the wool over Faisal’s eyes. With his knowledge, it was easy for him to convince Schadt by exposing a bit of his abilities.
If Faisal hadn’t agreed even after that, he would’ve looked for an opportunity to shirk his responsibility.
However, Freya unexpectedly took it on for him. Leylin suddenly felt a bit of a headache as he looked at her.
“You don’t need to do this, you know...” Leylin walked to Freya’s side and said softly after the meeting dispersed,.
“It’s my choice.” Freya gathered her black long hair together and left quickly. She seemed stubborn and firm.
Leylin shook his head, then communicated with the A.I. Chip and took a look at the latest data.
[Progress on deduction of information about the Morning Star realm: 52.7%]
After more than ten days, the A.I. Chip had finally finished analysing the flesh of the Azure Mountain King’s clone. His information about the Morning Star realm had crossed 50%!
With this, the final requirement for his advancement to the Morning Star realm had been fulfilled.
“The future seems exciting. I will look forward to it....” A smile hung on the corner of Leylin’s mouth. He then took a glance at the meeting place and at last moved his legs, leaving with incomparably firm footsteps.
......
In an unknown place, several mysterious conscients¹ were communicating with each other.
“The attacks of the plant legion have had pretty good results! The progress this time is pretty smooth. The air force has also taken down Greenflame City. It seems like the Morning Star Warlocks are already lost in the astral plane.”
“Not necessarily. Gilbert and the rest are very cunning. It’s possible that they’re feigning weakness in order to bait us into exposing ourselves,” another voice immediately retorted, “The lifespan of a Morning Star Warlock is nigh endless. Even temporary gains and losses of territory are nothing to them. They can always expand their influence again in the future...”
“What you said also makes sense. We must consider this, and continue to test them. Try to attack their headquarters in Phosphorescence Swamp!” the previous voice said. A powerful stream of thought swept out, “Where’s that old Azure Mountain guy?”
“Hehe... he lost a clone to the Ouroboros Clan. With his main body settling a debt with Felix, I’m afraid he won’t be available for a period of time...” a woman jokingly said.
“His clone fell? It must have been at rank 3. Even then, who interfered?” The voice who spoke previously seemed sluggish.
“No one! Azure Mountain’s clone unexpectedly fell at the hand of a member of the younger generation without the interference of any Morning Star powers. It’s even someone who had just advanced to the Crystal Phase. I’m afraid he’ll feel too embarrassed to meet people before he thoroughly washes himself of his shame...” The female voice answered
“To have his clone killed by a member of the younger generation. It’s simply a humiliation to all Morning Star Magi!”
“That’s right!” The numerous thoughts descended into chaos.
“Silence!“ the first voice said with immense dignity behind its tone. It immediately suppressed the disturbance.
“Let Azure Mountain’s matter go for now. The area he’s responsible for isn’t that important anyway. The next test will be crucial in determining the existence of those three. This matter also concerns how we’ll be treating the Ouroboros Clan in the future, so we should be serious about it!”
The powerful conscient¹ stated, its imposing aura full of dignity.
“We got it!” Numerous thought backed up a step as if expressing surrender.
“Great! The plant legion still needs to advance and push the battlefront forward. As for the air force, remain on the defensive for now. The defence abilities of the headquarters of the Ouroboros Clan are still decent...”
The most powerful thought immediately started to distribute tasks. Soon after, the thoughts in the secret space left one after the other, and the region quieted down immediately.
A deadly stillness permeated the surroundings.
After this meeting, the attacks that were originally planned against the Ouroboros Clan grew in intensity.
Among these, parties such as Azure Mountain City and Nefas broke apart all pretense and flagrantly dispatched their elite groups into the territory of the Ouroboros Clan. This resulted in a great slaughter.
The frontline also approached the headquarters of the Ouroboros Clan in Phosphorescence Swamp continuously. In moments, it was like a storm was raging in the region, which practically affected the weather of the entire central continent.
Numerous Morning Star Magi, Radiant Moon Magi, and even Breaking Dawn Magi all diverted their attentions to the sky above Phosphorescence Swamp.
For the central continent which is in dire straits, any minute changes would be able to cause a huge variation.
¹ New term: conscients. A conscient is a high-level projection of one’s perception across the land. The person themself is not present, physically nor spiritually, only observing casually from a distance.