When the old witch heard Leylin's words, she started at the black haired handsome youth before saying with a dry and hoarse voice.
"I've known you for almost two years and didn't know that you were such a cowardly Magus."
Leylin had given her the impression that he was extremely crazy and daring. He would do anything to reach his goals and did everything without restraints.
"A Magus's life is extremely long so two years isn't a long time. Moreover, to give up after knowing it's dangerous isn't a cowardly action….."
Leylin smiled.
"That is to say that you are unwilling to continue on no matter what?" The old witch asked.
"…." Silence was his response.
*Pang!* The old witch didn't say anything, but Jaye, who was behind her immediately made her move.
A green-coloured hurricane instantly swept past the area Leylin was.
*Pa!* Constant clear sounds were heard.
Following that, a black flame exited the hurricane, which burned half of the small hall and was heading towards Jaye.
"Hmph!" Jaye coldly snorted. Her cloak fluttered without any wind as black energy particles were raised.
When the flame and the energy particles collided against each other in the air, an intense explosion occurred.
Jaye's body shook and was forced three steps back. The aura from her body became unstable.
"Enough!" The old witch shielded Jaye, with green light rays being emitted from her eyes.
With Leylin's high leveled observation skills, he knew that she was frantically warning him. He currently didn't want to go against this old witch so Leylin smiled before moving to the side and eradicated the energy waves that was being emitted from his body.
"Jaye, you too. I'm great friends with Blood Rogue. You don't have to be so wary of him." When the old witch saw that Leylin moved to the side, the green rays from her eyes also dimmed before she said that to Jaye who was behind her.
"I understand!" Jaye answered softly.
"Blood Rouge, even though we haven't been together for long, we should know each other's personality. State whatever terms you have!"
The progress of the situation was slightly beyond what Leylin had expected.
He originally thought that with the powers that he had displayed and unintentional fight against the old witch, she should reasonably make him leave or explore other places.
Leylin was a reasonable person. He knew that the experiment lab was dangerous and there wasn't anything worth his attention so he naturally didn't want to risk it.
However, currently, the Experiment Lab 1 obviously needed his help in opening or to get there so the old witch had to lower her temper.
"To prove your sincerity, you've to firstly give me the second half content on the data regarding the compressing spiritual powers!" Leylin straightforwardly stated a condition.
"No problem!" The old witch tossed a green leaf towards Leylin without a single thought.
When Leylin caught it, the A.I. Chip pointed out that it had received a lot of information and images.
From the A.I. Chip's judgement, this data should be the remaining portion of the data she had given from before.
"I shall also include this! How is that? Will that suffice you to risk yourself?"
When the old witch saw that Leylin had caught up in muttering to himself irresolutely, she tossed a black bag at him.
"These items can also tempt some of the peak rank 1 Magus and has high success rates. What do you say?"
Leylin opened the bag and looked slightly moved.
Following that, he looked at the old witch. "I'll accompany you and risk my life with you on behalf of these two years of relationship. However, if I find that something is wrong, we'll retreat straight away and I won't continue to participate in this in the future….."
"That's naturally the case!" The old witch agreed.
After that, she walked past Leylin to insert the bronze key into the lock.
*Clang! Dong!*
*Clang! Dong!*
The sound of gears turning could be heard as the old witch turned the key.
The sound was weak at the start, but it got stronger after that. Finally, the entire hall was filled with sounds of gears coming into contact with each other.
*Creak!*
Streaks of cracks appeared on the black metal door. After a few cracks appeared, it rapidly segregated into countless little black metal pieces. The black metals flew to the sides, revealing the scene of the Experiment Lab #1.
Corpses! What Leylin could only see was countless white human bone remains.
The densely packed bones were layered, forming a small mountain of white bones.
After that, a rotting odour that had been there for many years, accompanied by the scent of death, rotten flesh and negative energy particles that were so dense and couldn't be separated, turned into a black wave rising forth towards the three of them.
This was the Experiment Lab #1 inside the secret plane of the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect. It actually formed a scene of the massacre of numerous people.
A black light flashed from Leylin's body to confront the huge, energy-filled wave, making him happily gulp in a few mouthfuls of air.
This was the best environment for someone like — a dark Magus that specialised in the cultivation of Darkness energy particles! Not only would the consumption of his spiritual force and magic power were lower when casting his spells in this environment, but the degree of power his spells could produce would be slightly stronger.
"As expected….It's the same as the records!"
The old witch and Jaye were already prepared as they opened a scroll, where a fiery red shield enveloped them.
The ash-colored negative energy particles constantly surged against the exterior of the shield, but they were burned out by the fire energy particles.
Once the wave had receded, the old witch seemed to not have sustain any injuries. She currently was just staring fixatedly at the mountain of white bones with excitement shown in her eyes.
"According to the information recorded, the altar I need is at the summit of this mountain of white bones."
The old witch climbed up, using the white bones as her path.
*Crack!*
The white bones that had existed for an unknown period of time crumbled into powder under her steps, forming an extremely thick layer.
Leylin and Jaye followed slowly behind her.
While Leylin walked, he fiddled with the bones on the ground. Even though many bones had utterly rotted, there were still some complete bones.
Currently, Leylin was detailedly observing a white bone that was slightly thicker than the ones in the surroundings.
"From the shape of this bone, it should be human's right thigh!" Leylin gauged the weight of the bone in his hand.
"It's very heavy and this bone clearly had transformed as this isn't something an ordinary person will have!"
"A.I. Chip! Investigate its content!"
A faint blue light was emitted from Leylin's eyes.
"Beep! Beginning sample data collection and comparing the carbon elements within the bone!"
The A.I. Chip gave its answer, "This right thigh bone is from a person of the Knight rank. Its age is about 5341 years..."
"The Knight rank?"
Leylin surveyed his surroundings.
At the bottom of this mountain of white bones, its perimeter was the largest and had the most number of bones, but the majority of them were ordinary human bones. There were very few Knight ranked bones.
Following the climb up, there appeared to be Knight ranked bones everywhere. Leylin even found a Grand Knight's bone.
When they were halfway up the mountain, it was completely filled with Knight and Grand Knight's bones. There were even some acolytes' bones.
A Magus's body had a certain concentration of radiation. It was easy to see that even from the bones.
The old witch and Jaye were indefinitely bewildered from the start and took in a cold breath after seeing these bones.
"From the form, there must be at least 20,000 or more acolytes' bones buried here and an unknown number of bones belonging to official Magi..."
Leylin released the breath he was holding. "It's really something on a large scale that can be collected only in ancient times!"
Similarly, he also knew why the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect was annihilated.
No matter what was the reason, killing these many Magi would definitely attract the crowd's rage. This was different from massacring ordinary people, which resulted in them being severely punished!
The three Magi couldn't help, but to slow their steps after realising this.
As expected, while they neared the summit, they found numerous official Magi's corpses!
At the summit, there were often partially rotten corpses and the robe on them could be seen distinctly. Some weren't rotten as much so they looked as though they were just sleeping.
Moreover, from the radiation emitted from the remnants of the ancient magicians, it was way beyond that of the acolytes. Some of the remaining aura even made Leylin fearful of them.
"There unexpectedly are some bones that hadn't entirely rotted….." The old witch exclaimed.
"The environment was extremely sealed and they seemed to have had anti-rotting measures. Moreover, these Magi aren't ordinary people so from the circumstances….."
Leylin calmly replied.
He was currently stepping on a female Magus's charming face. That Magus' face had extremely perfected structure with fine eyelashes. Her beautiful eyes could be seen clearly. It was imaginable that this Magus was a rare beauty in the ancient time, but Leylin stepped on her face without any hesitation. It looked just as if he was stepping on stones.
At the current position, the mountain of white bones had become a mountain of corpses and if Leylin and the rest wanted to continue, there had to constantly step on the corpses of the ancient Magi.
"This is blasphemy! Bare naked profaneness! These crazy fellows of the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect, they disrespect the honor of the Magi!"
It was beyond Leylin's expectation that Jaye, who was the most antisocial in the group, was the first to condemn their crimes.
"That's right! However, in ancient times, power decides everything! These Magi were caught by the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect so they had to bear with the outcome..."
Leylin said.
As a Magus, it was natural to feel a tinge of regret for his fallen fellow Magi. However, in the current Magus World, was this not commonplace?
"Stop bickering. We're here!"
The old witch that was heading forth in a daze suddenly stopped. Her voice was rueful, but it contained more ferventness and longing!
-x-X-x-
Upon hearing her words, Leylin looked up in surprise.
Unconsciously, they had already reached the peak of the mountain of white bones.
Here, it was completely deserted except for the white altar at the peak of the mountain.
If one looked closely, it could be seen that the altar was made entirely out of human bones. These bones emitted energy fluctuations that far exceeded that of a rank 1 Magus and below, and just the aura made the air stifling, even for Leylin.
On some bones that were wider, there were strange runes handwritten in blood.
These runes were extremely complicated. Some were similar to 3D images, and Leylin had never seen any of them before.
What struck him the most was how, even though the runes had existed for over five thousand years, the blood was bright red and still looked fresh, as if ready to drip to the ground.
They were arranged in a strange manner and seemed to form a map.
Leylin took a closer look and realised that he recognised several of the areas in the secret plane. Filled with ecstasy, he immediately got the A.I. Chip to record everything down.
At the very centre of the altar, there was an odd skull used as a sacrifice.
The skull was similar to that of a human's skull, but on the cranium, there were two black, bent horns like that of a goat.
Also, in the middle of the two horns, there was a small round hole that seemed to serve no purpose.
"Is this the spirit altar you were looking for?"
Leylin glanced at the old witch, but her eyes were already fixed on the altar. She was murmuring words in a language that he did not know, and seemed to have forgotten about the existence of the others with her.
What made Leylin more surprised was Jaye, who was beside him. Even with the cover of the huge black cloak, Leylin could tell she was shivering badly.
This discovery worried Leylin, and at the same time, a sense of unease in his heart was intensified.
"It's here. Right here… My darling, I can now help you…"
While mumbling incessantly, the old witch produced a fragment of a piece of parchment and threw it towards the altar.
At the same time, Jaye, who had been shaking all this while, suddenly made her move!
Streams of translucent, faintly green rays of light descended from the heavens and formed a large net, aiming for Leylin. The surrounding air produced a hissing sound, and there seemed to be some undulations in the scenery around them.
"What are you doing?"
Leylin bellowed, though his expression did not undergo much changes.
It was apparent that he had been expecting something like this, and had thus made some preparations.
*Boom!*
On Leylin's head, countless black strands of hair seemed to have lives of their own as they wriggled to counter the approaching green net.
*Pu Pu!*
The instant the half transparent green net and the black strands of hair met, large amounts of white gas emerged, and the sound of corrosion constantly erupted in the air.
With a wave of his hair, Leylin's figure flickered and he shifted over ten metres away from his original spot.
"Madori Defensive Spell Formation!" Jaye, who was in the black cloak, was well aware that Leylin's power surpassed hers. She had acted first in order to gain the upperhand.
While Leylin was dealing with that large net, Jaye had already fixed up a defensive formation around the spirit altar!
"Activate!" Along with Jaye's words, translucent black rays rose around the spirit altar, keeping the altar, Jaye and the old witch protected inside.
"Latent Fireball!" With a flash of Leylin's eyes, countless black fireballs emerged from the shadows, rushing towards the black dome!
*Bang!*
The numerous black fireballs converged and its volume expanded by more than ten times. With the added bonus of Leylin's elemental essence conversion of 70%, its might had become exceedingly horrifying.
Under this level of attack, an ordinary Magus' innate defensive spell would be completely destroyed within seconds!
The black flames spread, and even with Jaye within the dome trying her very best to maintain it, it was still vibrating vigorously, as if on the verge of breaking.
However, Jaye was unperturbed and chanted a few incantations.
*Buzz buzz!* From the bottom of the altar, a circle of black light emerged, merging with the defensive spell formation.
*Peng!*
With the addition of this circle of light, the entire defensive spell formation immediately became more radiant. Its colour was black to the extreme, and it was almost impossible to see the figures behind the formation.
Flames from the Latent Fireball burnt at the surface of the dome for over ten seconds.
But when facing the reinforced defensive spell formation, they could do little but succumb and disperse.
"This…"
Seeing how Jaye seemed to be able to take advantage of the powers of the laboratory, Leylin hastily moved a few steps backwards.
The old witch was sure to have hidden a lot of information from him. Thinking back to the spirit explosion that she had previously used and what had happened with the Loathsome Evil, Leylin was certain that the old witch had found out about these ruins much earlier, contrasting with what she had said. She must have already reaped a bountiful harvest from within the ruins before this expedition.
"Give up! This is the core of the secret plane. After borrowing a portion of its strength, it's impossible to break through this defensive formation unless your power has reached such heights that you're able to destroy this entire secret plane!"
From within the black dome, Jaye's faint voice was transmitted over. However, there was no hint of joy in her gaze and her eyes were not on Leylin but rather on the witch. There were dozens of complicated emotions on her face- anticipation, joy, and also… fear!
Upon coming into contact with the altar, the yellowed fragmented piece of parchment burst into flames.
These flames were a light yellow and extremely pure. They started off as small as a bean and gradually crept to engulf the entire parchment, the flames turning light blue.
At the same time, the altar seemed to come to life and began to tremble.
From the gaps between the bones of the altar, fresh red blood trickled down. Dark rays were emitted from the eye sockets of many skulls.
"Old witch! You'd better calm down. It's obvious that there's an extremely strong and evil being trapped within the altar. I don't care if you made a pact or some contract with it, but the strong won't bother making transactions with the weak."
Outside the spell formation, Leylin recalled what he had seen and hastily spoke.
"Of course, I know what's in there! I knew about it 157 years ago! If not for it being in hibernation, and the conditions to awaken it being too harsh, I would have summoned it a long time ago… As long as I summon it, I can…"
The old witch's facial muscles twisted, her expression crazed as she gestured wildly.
This exposed her knowledge about the ruins.
"You need to think this through. This is an evolved being that escaped out of the Loathsome Evil's body and is much more sinister and vicious. It's something the likes of you definitely can't control."
As Leylin persuaded her, he'd already left his original position and backed away to where they had climbed up, a ring of Darkness energy particles around his two legs.
"I know better than you how vicious it can get! Even though I can't control it, I know how it was assembled and basically everything there is to know about it. As long as we give enough offerings, with the power of this spirit altar, I can definitely…"
Her eyes were crazed as she spread out her arms and yelled, "Come out! The collective body of vengeance, the manipulator of spirits and bodies! The supreme king, Gargamel!"
"Gargamel?!" Leylin's heart lurched.
Before he had come here, he had seen plenty of records regarding the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect and naturally knew about this Gargamel. It was a being that the sect had worshipped.
They believed that a spirit was the last resting place for all beings, and the Gargamel was the one in charge of all these spirits!
It was apparent that this was a Gargamel that had already taken shape after the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect's immense efforts in cultivating it! However, for some reason, this Gargamel had been sealed here by the Magi of the sect.
The old witch had obviously received the inheritance from the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect and obtained many benefits. She had also been working hard to unseal the Gargamel.
Leylin believed he had a rough understanding of this whole situation.
The black ring of light around his legs flashed and, wrapped in energy particles, his body's speed reached its limits and he instantly disappeared away from the mountain.
Even though he had no idea why the old witch had swindled him and Brass Ring into coming here, it definitely wasn't anything good!
Leylin felt it was better if he retreated as soon as possible.
As long as he was out of this secret plane, even if the old witch and Jaye attacked together, Leylin was certain he could take care of them.
"A smart move, but it's a pity that it's too late…" Jaye, who was nearby, gave a low sigh.
At this very moment, the piece of parchment on the altar had already been burnt to ashes and, with a cry from the old witch, streams of black gases streamed out of the gaps within the bones of the altar.
*Weng Weng!*
An ancient devil was awake once more.
An aura that caused one's heart to palpitate in fear arrived on top of the mountain of white bones.
Ice-cold! Evil!
Leylin felt as if he had returned to his childhood, powerless while surrounded by a group of direwolves.
He hated being made aware of how fragile his life was.
Just with the leakage of this aura, the secret plane vibrated slightly.
A vast amount of black gas converged and gradually solidified, forming a gigantic translucent figure.
The figure brought the skull on top of the altar to its face, treating it as a mask. Its two completely red eyes seemed to be looking down on every one of the Magi present as if they were mere ants.
Leylin's heart plummeted, and he could not gather any strength.
"Jiik!" The black figure bellowed towards the heavens.
With the tremendous sound waves, the black defensive spell formation that had caused Leylin much trouble instantaneously gave way, and the old witch and Jaye were forced aside from the pressure.
*Pu!*
As the old witch flew backwards, mouthfuls of blood spurted out like water gurgling in a spring.
-x-X-x-
"Respected Lord Gargamel... Cough cough… please accept our offerings"
Jaye, who was at the side, suffered quite a deal from the energy waves. However, she was still better off than the old witch and was somewhat able to stand.
Observing these circumstances, she was partly kneeling in a bizarre position, while tossing a severed Magus' head in front of the black shadow.
"Brass Ring!"
Leylin's pupils contracted as he recognized whose head it was. It seemed that Brass Ring didn't die because of the secret plane's mechanisms after all, but was instead ambushed by the old witch and Jaye.
Right now, Leylin stood to the side with cold sweat forming on his body, not daring to move an inch.
Although the black shadow atop the altar didn't look his way, he could clearly feel an extremely vicious and unyielding spiritual force completely locking him down.
Leylin had a premonition that if he took a single step forward, he would be struck by the full power of the Gargamel!
*Crunch! Crunch!*
Immediately after receiving the head of Brass Ring, whose expression still held traces of disbelief, the black shadow put it into its mouth and started to chew.
An absolutely horrifying grinding noise could be heard reverberating from the top of the skeleton mound.
"Ji Ji!" After the black shadow swallowed the head whole, it gave off a sound of satisfaction. Moreover, a scarlet tongue licked its lips, apparently with a desire for more.
"Ah, a spirit that fulfills the conditions! State your wishes!"
An ancient and cryptic voice sounded directly into Leylin and the others' consciousness, spoken in a language Leylin had never heard before. Strangely, Leylin could understand the meaning of each word that was being spoken.
"I want…" Jaye slowly opened her mouth.
"Let my daughter Jaye come back to life! Give her a new body filled with life!" The old witch, who had fallen to the side, suddenly grew frantic. As she threw herself in front of the Gargamel's shadow, "If you can fulfill my desire, I will pay any price necessary!"
It could be a misperception, but after the old witch spoke of those words, Leylin seemed to notice a hint of… ridicule in the Gargamel's gigantic eyes
"I need… I need more offerings…"
The giant shadow licked its lips, "According to the principles of spirit transformation, a male magus cultivating in the Darkness element is a necessary offering!"
"I got it!" Old witch retrieved a couple of crystal balls filled with spiritual powers, and in addition, pointed towards Leylin.
"As for the offering, it's that Magus!"
As the black shadow stated its conditions. Leylin felt his heart sink as he furiously activated his hastening spells.
His silhouette looked like it was cloaked inside a black tornado as it charged down the hill.
However, the speed of the black shadow Gargamel was far beyond Leylin's expectations.
Facing Leylin's escape, the black shadow simply extended a translucent palm and grabbed!
*Screech!* *Whoosh!*
The black tornado was torn apart, revealing Leylin's body.
Leylin felt like the air was instantly solidifying, and that it was constantly pressing in from all four sides.
In an instant, a band of silver light descended from the sky and coiled around Leylin's waist.
From this band of light emerged an enormous amount of tyrannical spiritual force. The quality of this spiritual force was higher than anything that Leylin had ever encountered before. Just a tiny bit was enough to completely shatter his elemental essence converted spiritual force.
The spiritual force was a fundamental part of a Magus and was also the primer for casting spells.
With spiritual force having been shattered, Leylin naturally could not cast a single spell.
The silver band of light retracted, and Leylin was forced to follow its movements to ultimately arrive in front of the altar.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Four black shackle-like tentacles emerged from the altar and bound Leylin's limbs tightly together.
The present Leylin's body was spread eagle as he was presented to the black shadow Gargamel.
"Spiritual force materialisation! This evil spirit Gargamel must be at least at the level of a rank 2 Magus!"
Leylin's face was deadly pale as his mind raced, trying to gauge the strength of the black shadow.
At the same time, the A.I. Chip was operating at full speed in order to calculate the energy that the Gargamel was emitting, and from there, predict its stats and weaknesses.
Spiritual force materialisation was an advanced technique that only rank 2 Magi were qualified to practice!
Spiritual force lacked shape or substance, and the various colorful spells that Leylin had seen were actually just the appearance of elemental particles that were in the air. As for the spiritual force, it acted as a catalyst and initiated the process of casting spells. However, all of these things could not be observed with the naked eye.
After a Magus reached rank 2, he could directly draw his spiritual force from his sea of consciousness out into the real world, and materialise it into the most basic energy particle. This was something that could be seen by even the most ordinary person!
When dealing with Magi below rank 2, who were unable to materialise their spiritual force, that ability made it basically impossible to lose!
After all, for Magi who could materialise their spiritual force, their condensation of spiritual force far surpassed that of a rank 1 Magus. With the weak spiritual force of a rank 1 Magus, it was impossible to hold out against attacks produced by the spiritual force of a rank 2 Magus, which resulted in the situation where a rank 1 Magus' power was nothing compared to that of a rank 2 Magus.
The silver band of light that the shadowy Gargamel used was a materialisation of spiritual force that could be seen in the real world!
"A rank 2 Magus? To think that the contingency plans that I had the A.I. Chip prepare in case of an emergency would have to be used now..." Leylin's thoughts whirled about as he turned to watch the witch carefully.
"Can you tell me the truth now?" Leylin's voice was muffled as if he had lost all hope. "After all, we're still allies!"
"Other than the agreement on the making of the potion and how we were to divide them, there wasn't any condition that said we couldn't injure one another!"
The old witch was still trembling incessantly as if she was about to topple to the ground and die any second. At the same time, however, she was extremely zealous, and her cheeks were flushed.
"I'm willing to do anything for Jaye, much less sacrifice an ally like you that has wicked intentions!"
"Jaye! She's your daughter?" Leylin stared blankly. Immediately he turned his head towards Jaye, the black-cloaked person.
Jaye nodded her head and removed the black gown she wore.
A translucent image of a girl appeared in front of Leylin. The image had the appearance of a very young and pretty woman, and on her pretty face, one could still see some traces of how the old witch looked when she was in her youth.
"Spirit bodies?" Leylin was stunned once more. He thought back to how Jaye had been silent the entire time, and how she even wore a thick pair of gloves. Of course, there should also have been other secret methods that were used, or else Leylin and Brass Ring, who had spent some time with her, would have discovered the abnormalities of Jaye's body long before.
"My poor daughter permanently lost her physical body after an accident during an experiment. All that I can do is to constantly transfuse spiritual force into her and prolong the amount of time that she can stay in this world..."
The old witch's eyes were glazed over as if she was reminiscing the past.
"Even though Jaye is already dead, I have never given up on my wish to bring her back to life! By a stroke of fate, I remembered some materials about the ancient Spirit Slaying Sect that I had obtained when I was young. Their spirit transferring technique is definitely able to resurrect my daughter and help her regain a physical body!"
"So you've been collecting spirits and continuously trying to unseal this Gargamel?"
Leylin coldly inquired.
"That's right!" The old witch frankly admitted to it. "It is also thanks to your potions. Without them, Jaye's spirit would not have been strengthened enough to allow her to withstand the transfer..."
It seemed that all of the Tears of Mary potions that the old witch had received from Leylin had gone to Jaye.
As a result, Jaye's spirit was able to increase from that of an ordinary person to the level of an official Magus.
"Also, in order to summon the Gargamel and resurrect Jaye, a few conditions need to be met!" Having planned this for decades and on the verge of seeing it succeed, the old witch was obviously in the mood to say everything that was on her mind.
For some reason, the shadowy Gargamel did not make a move, and just waited as she spoke.
"I need to initiate the process of summoning the Gargamel through the use of an official Magus who meets several stringent requirements, such as those in terms of aptitude and physique. In order to resurrect Jaye, these are the offerings required. Do you know how long it took me to look for you two offerings? Do you have any idea how long I waited for this moment?"
The old witch's expression became crazed. Without even waiting for Leylin to speak, she thundered, "53 years! To fulfil these conditions, I waited 53 whole years!"
"In these 53 years, my darling Jaye suffered a lot...sob...sob... "
At the climax of her narration, the old witch's tears flowed down her face, while Jaye stood silently to one side.
"All of my efforts have been rewarded. Now, my beloved daughter, Jaye, will be resurrected!!"
Leylin silently listened on. Now, all was clear to him.
Leylin was not angry about the fact that he and Brass Ring would be offerings.
He'd never thought himself to be treasured by the heavens, where he would somehow be able to profit from unfortunate situations or turn misfortunes into blessings.
Since he could scheme against others, others could obviously do the same.
All he could do was to consider all of his options in advance and make sure that every step went as perfectly as was possible. This was so he would not be schemed against or made use of.
"Honourable Gargamel, based on the rules for replacement, I present to you this Magus as an offering. In return, I want you to help my daughter regain a physical body."
The old witch was gasping for breath as she placed several bizarre items on the altar while she made her request.
"This replacement is allowed!"
From under the skull mask that the shadow was wearing, it seemed to be looking at Leylin and the others with a faint trace of mockery in its expression.
The old witch who was kneeling on the ground, as well as Jaye, who seemed confused, did not notice this.
"As much as I want to stay behind and watch the show, I'm sorry!"
Leylin grinned as the large arm of the Gargamel approached him.
-x-X-x-
"A.I. Chip, activate the suction spell formation with maximum force!"
Leylin violently roared inwardly.
Meanwhile, his muscles swelled and a fine layer of black scales appeared on his body.
His eyes changed to an amber colour and appeared to have a beast-like vertical pupil in them.
Scales of Kemoyin and the Eye of Petrification!
During this life-or-death situation, the current Leylin used both of his innate spells!
Leylin's vertical pupils focused on the chains and shackles that were binding him instead of the Gargamel.
This Gargamel, at the very least, had the power of a rank 2 Magus and its spiritual force exceeded Leylin's by several times. Using the Eye of Petrification on it would not be enough to close this difference in strength.
And even if Leylin got closer and used the Eye of Petrification on him, it would still only cause him an unfortunate consequence; the Gargamel would devour his spirit!
*Pa! Pa! Pa!*
The chains and shackles that bound him turned gray under the gaze of the Eye of Petrification.
They disintegrated all over the ground as Leylin flexed his arms.
At the same time, a reverse symbol 'j' became bright and visible on his clothes.
A strong attraction force acted on Leylin's body and pulled him away so hard that he was almost flying as he moved backwards.
The speed of this 'flight' was 4-5 times more than when he had used a spell to flee.
The old witch and Jaye only saw a black flash; Leylin had already vanished without a trace in front of their eyes.
"No…" The old witch issued a hissing roar.
Jaye wore a complicated expression on her face, as if she had lost all hope, and heaved a despairing sigh.
"The materials for the replacement has disappeared. But the ceremony has already started and must not be interrupted. Start using other materials instead..."
The Gargamel only watched from a distance the spot from where Leylin had vanished but did not chase after him. Instead, he said a few words that caused the expressions on the old witch and Jaye's face to drastically change.
"No…"
Together with the unceasing spell which was being dispelled, a shriek filled with hopelessness and despair rang out, piercing through the entire mountain of white bones.
...
*Bang!*
A huge explosion erupted and the spell formation laid on top of the white ground in the garden shattered.
Meanwhile, a black human shadow was drawn to this place and created a deep indent as it smashed into the ground due to the huge gravitational force.
"Cough Cough..."
At the bottom of a huge pit, Leylin fiercely spat out a mouthful of sand and pebbles. Upon seeing the strange angle his right arm was in, he smiled wryly.
"The A.I. Chip recovered only a portion of the ancient suction spell formation, and using it so rashly obviously resulted in this situation. If not for my innate spell, I'm likely to have suffered far more than just a broken arm."
Despite the grimace on his face, he jumped out of this large pit quickly and observed his surroundings. This was the place where he had fought with the vengeful spirit, the Loathsome Evil, and also where he had arranged his spell model.
"This suction spell formation was truly set up perfectly!"
Leylin sighed regretfully, and immediately commanded, "A.I. Chip, analyse the map and find the most optimal route to exit the secret plane!"
Previously, upon the spirit altar, Leylin had seen something similar to a map of the secret plane.
Due to his cautiousness, he had immediately asked the A.I. Chip to make a record of the map and compare it with the map made from routes he had travelled. As expected, the result was that he obtained a complete map — the entire map of the secret plane!
The suction spell formation here was an ancient spell that he had upgraded himself.
He had only seen the original model of this spell in the ancient books at the Four Seasons Garden, and many parts of it were already badly damaged.
Even with the A.I. Chip's help he only had one complete portion, which only held 30 to 40% of the original power of the spell formation.
But this 30 to 40% power was enough to cause Leylin much happiness and was one of his hidden trump cards.
This suction spell formation model was able to create a powerful gravitational force, which would forcibly pull magic artifacts or lifeforms that had previously been engraved onto a place where the suction spell formation had been set up.
Due to its utilisation of many ancient techniques the force of attraction was very powerful, and its speed was extremely high! Even a rank 2 Magus would be helpless against it.
If previously Leylin had the assurance of 10% success in fleeing from a rank 2 Magus, then after he had properly set up the gravitational spell, this probability of success could increase to 40% or even more!
[Map imported and the optimal route has been found!]
The A.I. Chip computed quickly and the map of the secret plane was projected clearly in Leylin's field of view. In it, a red line marked the route from Leylin's current position to the oil painting, which was the entrance to the plane.
*Jiji!* Just then, from the Gargamel's location, a loud, weird noise could be heard. Then a black shadow became larger and larger and finally unfurled itself within the sky.
*Crash!* It was as if the entire sky in the secret plane had been ripped apart, exposing a pitch-black hole, and many blood red lightning bolts and thunder hacked at this black shadow.
The shadow wore a strange skull mask and struck out at the constantly roaring lightning and thunder.
The repercussions of this fight, caused everything to be turned to dust wherever it landed. And the battlefield slowly expanded, reaching to the location where Leylin was.
"Run!"
Seeing this apocalypse-like scene, Leylin did not think for long, and immediately broke into a run.
On the way, the ground began to split open, and many trestles and stone sculptures fell to the ground. This scene was as if the world was ending.
Leylin ran with lightning-fast speed and his body was constantly covered with the Scales of Kemoyin. At high speed, all that could be seen was a long, black afterimage.
*Swish!*
Leylin quickly passed through a metal tunnel, and ahead of him was a dead-end. A thick layer of metal had completely sealed this passage.
But Leylin's expression did not vary in the least; flickering constantly, he rapped at a few points at the wall.
*Rumble rumble!* Along with a loud noise of a machine, The metal in front of Leylin split open with a deafening mechanical noise, exposing a silver passage.
Written in the ancient Byron language was a sign on one side of the tunnel that read: "Tunnel made for emergency exit, specifically for lab employees!"
Leylin's blue eyes flashed and, without hesitation, he rushed through this passage.
The silver passage quickly flashed past Leylin.
Immediately, the A.I. Chip's voice intoned, causing Leylin's footsteps to halt.
[Discovered hidden compartment. It wasn't recorded in the map previously. Do you want to continue through that way or not?]
"Hidden compartment? And the map on the spirit altar did not have a record of it? The level of secrecy of this compartment must be very high."
Leylin glanced at the passage behind him with concern, sprinted forth, and a small door suddenly appeared on the silver wall.
The room behind the door was very narrow. It was a compartment of a few square meters in area and at its center was a very simple and mysterious ancient spell formation.
This spell model was built entirely using a black stone and on its surface were all kinds of symbols which Leylin could not understand. All around this spell model were tall obelisks.
Leaning on one of the obelisks was a corpse.
This corpse was wearing a black gown that was lushly and delicately embroidered. More importantly was that even after such a long time had passed the clothes still had a bright and beautiful luster.
"This definitely was a very important person!" Seeing this corpse, Leylin inwardly exclaimed.
"A.I. Chip, record the patterns on the spell model" Leylin issued an order then he crouched down next to the corpse, and began fumbling about its clothes.
Some miscellaneous items and a torn diary made of parchment paper fell into Leylin's hands.
[The spell model's formation and the runes have already been recorded.]
After hearing the A.I. Chip's intonation, Leylin immediately left the secret compartment. All of these took place in less than 15 seconds of time.
Leylin tapped on another wall of the secret compartment, then he quickly ran away.
And behind him, with a rumbling noise, the secret compartment door closed and a white light was emitted throughout the entire passage. Nobody could tell he had been in there.
...
Rays of bright sunlight shone down.
It was already daytime in the small town, but, because of the old witch's potion, the populace was in a state of deep sleep.
This situation had already been discovered by the surrounding villagers and the rumors spread about very fast.
Of course, due to the fact that there were limitations in communication and reasons of time, the extent to which these rumors were spread was very small and did not attract the interest of even an acolyte.
Now, the small town gained the reputation of being a ghost town.
At the end of the passage, the oil painting emitted a silvery light. Then this light turned brighter and brighter, and finally revealed the entrance of a passageway.
*Whoosh!*
From this entrance emerged a black shadow in very sorry shape.
Leylin used his left hand to wipe his cold sweat and turned around to see the passage to the secret plane.
"That was way too dangerous! If not for the defense mechanism that the Magi of the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect set up for in case the Gargamel lost control, I wouldn't have been able to get away…"
To say that the Gargamel was very powerful was not a lie; the current Leylin was definitely not its match.
The being formed from the gathering of evil souls were simply insane. They were known for their temperamental nature, and Leylin wanted nothing to do with such terrifying and dangerous entities.
"Latent Fireball!"
After looking at the entrance to the secret plane, a flash of determination passed through his eyes and he threw black fireballs at the entrance, thoroughly destroying it.
Although there were many good things inside this secret plane, but when compared to his own insignificant life, Leylin certainly knew which he would prefer.
And compared with the fact that the Gargamel could come out at any time to finish him off, the other items inside the secret plane at once became dispensable.
Leylin looked at the surroundings and after removing all traces of his having been here, he departed from this place without looking back.
And if the entrance was not destroyed, then the Gargamel could come out from within the secret plane.
Leylin estimated that, with the strange and savage power of the Gargamel, it could immediately find the weak point of the secret plane and tear it apart and escape!
But by that time, Leylin would be a long distance away. What did this have to do with him?
Furthermore, in the entire Magus world of the south coast, Leylin was not the only Magus around. For instance, the head of the Night Lighthouse that he had met earlier was more than capable of suppressing this Gargamel!
-x-X-x-
The speed at which Leylin escaped was extremely quick, and after just half a day, the tall, thick walls of the Nightless City were within sight.
At this point, his right hand had already completely healed. The frightening vitality of a Warlock was proving its worth.
Only after entering the Nightless City did Leylin breathe a huge sigh of relief.
The Gargamel was the result of the concentration of evil intentions by the Ancient Spirit Slayer Sect. Although it was unknown why that Gargamel had been sealed there by the Magi of the sect, based on the calculations from the battle with it, Leylin could say that this monster's strength was equivalent to that of a rank 2 Magus!
Although Leylin couldn't hold his own against it, there were a couple rank 2 Magi in the south coast that could. At the very least, the leaders of large scale Magus organisations and powers definitely had at least this level of power.
At that moment, within the Nightless City, the trading centre of the south coast, there were quite a few Magi with this kind of strength.
Leylin was sure that if the Gargamel were to chase after him, the Nightless City was sure to have the means to stop it!
However, he had another plan in mind.
The old witch was trapped in the secret plane together with that terrifying culmination of evil. From the looks of it, her chances of survival were meagre.
However, it was a fact that she held the position of elder in the dark Magus organisation that Leylin was affiliated with—Thousand Meddling Hands. Her status was obviously higher than that of an average member, and she was also able to contact the hidden rank 2 Magus heading the group!
With her death, there would be loose ends that needed to be tied up.
If possible, Leylin would obviously want to take possession of everything the old witch owned.
In a light Magus organisation, this would naturally be impossible. However, in the case of Thousand Meddling Leaves, as long as he revealed a bit of his might, it would be enough to subdue the ambitious Magi who wished to take over this position.
"Hello? Is this Leylin?"
At this moment, a secret imprint that resembled a four-coloured ring emerged from Leylin's waist. A man's voice was transmitted from it.
"Hello, Lord Decarte!"
Leylin could make out the owner of this imprint. It was the head of the Potioneering team, Decarte! His tone naturally became respectful.
Previously, all of the missions that Decarte needed Leylin to complete had been issued to him by Leylin's current leader, Martin
"Ugh, the secret imprint seemed to have had some sort of interference, and I couldn't contact you at all. Did you go somewhere far away?"
Decarte's questions were transmitted to him from the secret imprint.
"Yes. I'd accepted a friend's invitation to explore a small ruin…" Leylin's answer was half true.
"No wonder! Many of these ruins left behind by Magi will automatically block out all forms of communication. In there, a secret imprint is merely a useless decoration…" No matter if Decarte actually believed him or not, the voice from the secret imprint sounded convinced.
"My apologies for making my lord worry about me. Might I ask what you require of me?" Leylin was puzzled as he spoke to the imprint.
"Yes, there's something that I need. A few elders and the head have issued orders that Four Seasons Garden has entered the highest state of alert. All Magi will have their vacations cancelled! Upon receiving this message, you must report to the headquarters within 24 hours! All who do not do so will be viewed as traitors, and will be punished by the law enforcers!"
Decarte broke out the earth-shattering news.
"What?"
Leylin was in shock, causing him to take a few steps back.
The Four Seasons Garden wasn't stupid, and issuing such an order could only imply one thing. Something was going to happen to the entire south coast.
"I'll be there in time! Can you tell me what has happened?"
Leylin sucked in a few breaths of air and calmed himself down before inquiring.
"The whole situation is a little complicated. You can ask Martin about it when you're back. There's only one thing I can tell you—war! A war is approaching…"
"I don't have any more time left. Just remember to come here as quickly as possible! In war, the weak ones who don't have organisations to rely on are usually the first to die!"
*Pop!* With his last word, the secret imprint dispersed into countless bright sparks, drifting through the air around Leylin.
Decarte's sounded serious, which caused Leylin's heart to sink.
When compared to these strong organisations, the conflict at the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was but a small matter.
To have caused the Four Seasons Garden's Potioneering team head to be so flustered, there was only one possibility—that an incoming war was going to rock the Magus World!
Leylin suddenly remembered some information about Magus' history.
After the ancient times had passed, it was the current period. During this current period, two huge wars had occurred. These two events had affected the Magi, and basically all species in the entire south coast. The Magi suffered massive casualties, and the humans were obviously more affected, with numerous empires annihilated.
These two wars were named the First and Second Great Magus Wars!
Now, it seemed the Third Great Magus War was about to begin!
Leylin's scrunched up his brows and wrinkled his forehead.
For him, it was entirely possible to accumulate information and resources, and with the A.I. Chip, he would be able to constantly break through his bottlenecks and improve further.
As a result, Leylin had hoped to be able to develop in a more peaceful and stable environment until he would reach a bottleneck.
In the previous great wars, acolytes were cannon fodder. Even official Magi fell and died in swarms, resulting in the alternate name of the wars: the Magus World's Death Grinder.
Leylin wasn't sure that he would be lucky enough to escape unscathed!
Wars of this scale affected the entire south coast, and nobody had been able to escape. As long as one was a Magus, he or she would be involved in it.
Unless… If he left the south coast and passed through several extremely dangerous regions, and set off for a new place, he would be safe.
"I shouldn't scare myself. It might just be a conflict between the Four Seasons Garden and another Magus organisation!"
Leylin, who had been standing by the city gates, suddenly smiled gently and walked right inside.
He'd thought it through. No matter what happened, it had absolutely nothing to do with him.
After all, he was a member of Four Seasons Garden's Potioneering team! Unless Caesar's entire hunting team was annihilated, research personnel like him wouldn't need to be on the battlefield.
If this was a war with other Magus organisations, with the Four Seasons Garden's background, it would be impossible to be thoroughly annihilated. If he were to defect now, it would be an extremely foolish decision that would offend the Four Seasons Garden for no reason.
If the Third Great Magus War was to happen, the entire south coast would become a battlefield, and no area would be safe.
Decarte's words were a reminder as well as a warning.
Great wars never began with both sides going all out. It would start with them using small groups and neutral parties to eliminate all other elements, and then they would be able to fight freely, without fear of others taking advantage of the situation.
Wandering Magi and indecisive small organisations were definitely the first to be used!
Leylin didn't want to lose his backing and live a life where a crisis was always imminent.
As a result, it was necessary for him to return to the Four Seasons Garden.
Leylin was confident that he had hidden his skills well. In the eyes of the Magi in the Four Seasons Garden, Leylin was merely a newly advanced Magus who was talented in Potioneering and training!
If the leaders of Four Seasons Garden were stupid enough to get Leylin to be cannon fodder, then at the most, he would just leave and cut all connections between them.
Leylin was confident he would be able to leave the Four Seasons Garden's headquarters without alerting the rank 2 Magi there.
After thinking this entire matter through, Leylin achieved a calm state of mind. Only then did he have the mood to survey his surroundings.
At this moment, Leylin discovered a difference in the Nightless City!
The Nightless City's large gates had all been opened wide. Giants, which were usually rarely seen, could be seen wearing animal hides that did not fit them, and holding huge wooden stakes. They were entering the city in twos and threes.
With every step they took, the ground slightly shook.
The number of people in the Nightless City had increased by around 50%, causing a few passages to become congested.
However, whether they were regular humans, acolytes, or even some official Magi, their expressions were dark. In particular, there were a few official Magi who had a deep sense of distrust in their eyes when they saw unfamiliar Magi.
In the first zone of the Nightless City, shops that used to be bustling despite their unorganized placement saw a sharp decrease in price of raw materials. Defensive items, potions, and the like, on the other hand, were experiencing an increase in price. Many shops had already put up signs saying they were sold out.
Though Leylin had expected this, seeing this scene in person definitely had an effect on his mood.
All this was evidence of the scale of the impending war that would affect the entire Magus World. Leylin would definitely not be able to escape this!
Leylin's footsteps seemed to become a bit heavier as he passed through several gates and entered the third zone of the Nightless City.
In the region where the villas were located, the originally lively place was somewhat deserted. There were no signs of the cheerful Magi who used to hang around the various gardens. Several flowers that used to be tended to in the flower terrace were listlessly lowering their heads, with some even showing signs of wilting, which gave off a bleak atmosphere.
"Master!"
Once he returned to his own villa, Damien, the level 3 acolyte who worked as his butler, welcomed him.
"I'm fine! Did anything strange happen in the Nightless City recently? Tell me everything you know!" Leylin immediately asked while he threw his cloak to Damien.
"Yes! Damien was just about to do so!"
There was a worried expression on his face.
"A day before, rumours about the start of a third Magus war started spreading around the Nightless City. At the beginning, nobody took it to heart, but as time passed, the fact that no organisation stood up to refute this claim has Nightless City in a frenzy…"
-x-X-x-
Damien expressed a slightly apprehensive expression.
"Many Magi simply left. Huge numbers of people are in the streets buying items to increase their powers. It's as though they are trying to use up all of the magic crystals at their disposal…"
"That strange phenomenon only gradually abated after the public center dispatched people to patrol the streets….."
"Moreover, your good friend Magus Crew also moved out this afternoon. Before he left, he left a message for you!"
"What message?"
"The night is approaching. Be careful in everything you do!" Damien said something that sounded like a proverb.
"What does that mean?" Leylin frowned. "When did that Crew start to like being a prophetic Magus? The things he says are never clear!"
Leylin pondered for a moment, and finally told Damien, "From the information I've gathered, there will probably be a relatively large war that is imminent..."
Even though he already had some guesses, when Damien heard this information, his body trembled uncontrollably. He was originally caught and became a slave because of a war. Even though he was under a spirit branding, that bitter experience was just like a brand that was deeply engraved in his memories, making it impossible for him to forget.
"That's right, call Number 1 to 5 over here!"
Leylin casually instructed Damien, who rapidly suppressed his shaking body, and withdrew at an extremely fast pace.
After a few minutes, five armoured Grand Knights with greatswords appeared before Leylin and knelt to perform a perfect Knight's greeting!
"Master!"
The extremely thick armour didn't affect their movements in the slightest way, and every movement of those five people carried a killing intent. It could be seen at a glance that they were strong veteran Grand Knights that had experienced countless battles.
"You may rise!" Leylin commented softly as he looked at those five people.
They were naturally the five Grand Knight slaves that he had purchased at the slave market in addition to Damien.
With the spirit branding, Leylin could order these five Grand Knights to die and they would obey without any hesitation.
They originally had names, but for convenience's sake, Leylin gave all of them new names with numbers, starting from 1 to 5.
Leylin had put in considerable amounts of effort on the five Grand Knights. He constantly fixed their conditions during the past year. He didn't even mind spending a lot of his resources to brew precious potions for them to consume.
Currently, the five experimental bodies' were unconsciously giving off energy waves filled with life force. They were already beyond the Grand Knight's rank and were beginning to advance to a higher realm.
"What are the results of the secret techniques that I taught you previously?"
Leylin asked.
"Master! After using the secret techniques along with the potions from before, Number 2, 3 and I felt life force start to flow through us, which was something that had not happened for a long time. Our vitality also became increasingly stronger."
The big man on the far left stepped out of the line and said, "But when Number 4 and 5 used the secret techniques, the brand on their bodies shook and gave off scorching hot energies that interrupted their training....."
This Grand Knight slave, known as Number 1, gave an extremely detailed report.
In the past year, Leylin had been constantly modifying the brands of the five through the modifications made by the A.I. Chip. This had allowed him to gain a lot of fruitful experiment results.
The 'secret techniques' that were previously taught to those five Grand Knights were just improvised data from the information about Branded Swordsman.
"Is that so?" Leylin's gaze became stern. "Remove your clothes!"
The five slaves removed their body armour without any thoughts after hearing their master's order.
*Crash!* Metal armour made a racket as they hit the ground. The Grand Knights had removed the heavy armour in just a couple of seconds, revealing completely unclothed bodies.
Moreover, Number 4 and 5 were female Grand Knights, but they weren't at all embarrassed as they stood before Leylin with their well-developed bodies and private parts completely exposed.
Those five had the strength of Grand Knights. Their bodyline was supple, but was well developed. Every inch of their flesh hid an astonishing explosive power.
Their bodies were akin to perfectly sculpted statues.
However, there were elements that offset their aesthetic appearance from being perfect.
Leylin didn't cared about the two Grand Knight beauties; his gaze was completely focused on the interweaving brand on their body.
Leylin scrutinised their bodies.
He noticed that the bodies of his Grand Knight subordinates were covered with deep, black brands.. Near these brands were some twisting scars. It seemed as if a branding iron was the source of the brands and scars.
With close observation, the brands looked like a centipede climbing. while their chest and lower abdomen regions formed an extremely peculiar rune.
Some of the brands seemed to be broken and were unable to link together.
"A.I. Chip! Scan those brands and compare the current conditions of these Grand Knights to the previous observations in a new file!" Leylin thought.
As he said this, a blue light shone in his eyes and swept horizontally across those slaves.
[Beep! Mission established! Commencing the scanning!] The A.I. Chip followed the tasks that Leylin ordered.
Rows of numbers and three 3-D images appeared before Leylin and were constantly being updated.
"En! It seemed that the training method that I created isn't bad. These Knights' physical qualities have had drastic improvements and are also able to train their life force. Their previous stagnant powers are starting to rapidly improve!"
Leylin was extremely satisfied after looking at the results of the three male Grand Knights.
"The training method of the Branded Swordsman conflicts with the brands on their bodies?"
Leylin carefully looked through the A.I. Chip's results while constantly walking around the slaves in order to attentively observe the position of the brands.
"Where is the source of the previous problem? Is it here?"
Leylin placed his hands below the lower abdomen of Number 4 without ascribing and thoughts to what he was doing. After having placed his hand there, he felt a warm sensation and could feel that underneath the smooth and supple skin, there were muscles that were slightly twitching now.
"Yes...Yes, that's the place, Master!" said Number 4 with a slightly shaky voice. This female Grand Knight had a good appearance and an exceptionally curved, bountiful body
"If that's the case!" Leylin caressed his lower jaw.
"A.I. Chip! Amend the parameters for the two female knights to the p-grade content and change the index to the third grade before testing again!"
This kind of calculation was an easy task for the A.I. Chip. After a short moment, the A.I. Chip had already concluded its calculation and reported it to Leylin.
[Beep! According to the calculation, the brandings of the swordsman are different for males and females. The markings must follow a carved inscription!]
After looking at the A.I. Chip's conclusion, Leylin's expression did not change since he had expected such a result.
"So it really was the case! Kroft had gotten hold of a part of the Branded Swordsman information, but there is an extreme lack of information concerning the brandings. The runes inscribed on males had been deduced by the A.I. Chip. Moreover, those marks aren't suitable for females, which resulted in the two female Knights being unable to train!"
"It seems that I must purchase a large quantity of male Grand Knight slaves to try to create a Branded Swordsman!"
Leylin planned to himself.
To him, using males or females didn't have any differences. He just needed to head to different sections of the slave Market for them.
However, regarding the most crucial rune inscriptions for the Branded Swordsman, he could only amend the model to suit males. While it was not impossible to create something out of nothing for a female version of the model, it would take a lot of time. Leylin didn't want to spend the A.I. Chip's precious calculation skills on this matter.
"Since this is the case, there's only one troublesome problem in manufacturing Branded Swordsman, which is the problem in combining the markings' powers."
Leylin rubbed his lower jaw with flames burning in his eyes.
The ancient Branded Swordsman were similar to the bloodline Warlocks and elemental bards, which were among the stronger professions of the sub branch of the magi. Their specialties were their physical defence and offensive powers, which were regarded as their enemies' nightmares.
Moreover, the combination of the Branded Swordsman and magicians was an eternal nightmare for many worlds.
If the Branded Swordsman could perform crowd control, then the Magi behind them would have the time to prepare the formidable power of magic in order to change a given situation.
Moreover, the power of an official Branded Swordsman was equivalent to that of at least a rank 1 Magus!
Leylin just needed to form an army with Branded Swordsmen. The quantity didn't need to be large; 20 of them would be sufficient. With such forces, Leylin would no longer have an opponent at the rank 1 Magus level and he was also confident enough to be able to fight against a rank 2 Magus!
"However, regarding the problem of the powers, the runes of the Branded Swordsman is the pivotal point. Even if it was the A.I. Chip, it could not guarantee perfection without countless experiments and accumulation of data. Moreover, there's also a problem in controlling the Branded Swordsmen after they evolve to a higher realm..."
Leylin lowered his head as he muttered to himself irresolutely.
He was only a rank 1 Magus now, so he could at most control level 3 acolytes and Grand Knights.
However, in a similar fashion as the Magi and Warlocks, the ancient Branded Swordsmen could break through the ordinary realm to reach an extraordinary one.
This power wasn't something that Leylin could currently control by using the spirit brand.
Thus, a safer and more effective controlling method had to be researched and implemented on those Branded Swordsman!
Only with this method could the loyalty of his soldiers be guaranteed!
-x-X-x-
In the dimly lit basement.
A faint red ball of light floated in midair, constantly emitting blood red rays of light, which caused the lighting of the basement to be slightly gloomy, and gave off a horrifying atmosphere.
The previous Grand Knight, Number 1, was lying flat on the enormous white metal experimental table.
His eyes were tightly closed, and his eyelids were constantly moving, as though he was being tortured in his dreams.
Moreover, the black brands on his body seemed to be alive, constantly lengthening and shortening as it wiggled. Moreover, it slowly protruded from his skin, giving off dark red rays of light as he breathed.
"The ancient Branded Swordsman used the magic runes and arrays crafted onto their bodies to enable them to store the world's natural energy particles into their body. Those particles could also be completely released during critical moments, turning into a terrifying spell! Moreover, the Branded Swordsman's physical abilities were far beyond the limits of ordinary people, reaching an unfathomable stage because a large amount of energy particles constantly reformed their bodies!"
Currently, it could be said that Leylin was the top person in the south coast regarding the knowledge of the Branded Swordsman.
With a white scalpel and tweezers in his hands, Leylin finally looked at Number 1, who was still unconscious.
"Even though I'm slightly eager to gain instant benefits, I can't consider it any further!"
Leylin sighed as he said that. He still needed to get numerous results from the experiments conducted on the five Grand Knights using the A.I. Chip in order to gain accurate parameters before he could inscribe the final energy pathways.
However, time was pressing.
The news concerning the war's imminence had arrived so suddenly that it messed up most of Leylin's original plans.
Initially, Leylin was certain that he would make the second transition in his bloodline by the time the Branded Swordsman's experiment succeeded. At that moment, with his increase in power, it wouldn't be impossible for him to battle against a rank 2 Magus.
A rank 2 Magus was at the level of the principal of the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, who possessed great magical powers.
If he could calmly wait and silently accumulate power, Leylin could quickly reach the peak domain that the majority of rank 1 Magi couldn't reach in their entire lifetime.
However, everything was in ruins due to the dreadful news of the war.
At this moment, all Leylin could do was quicken his research in hopes that by the time the war came, he could produce Branded Swordsmen. He didn't expect them to have the full might of the ancient Branded Swordsman but possess at least 50-60% of their original power, which would be sufficient to ensure his life during the chaos of the war.
Leylin took a deep breath after he sorted through his thoughts.
At that instant, he completely calmed down, dispelling all distracting thoughts from his mind.
An indifferent light flashed past his eyes as Leylin carved at Number 1's chest with the assistance of the A.I. chip.
...
"Roar!" An enormous Venom Wyvern, accompanied by a distinct loud cry, dove down from the sky. It abruptly spread its wings when it was a couple of meters above the ground.
*Whoosh!* Enormous green wings covered the sky, casting a large shadow on the ground.
After spreading its wings, the enormous Venom Wyvern's speed of descent drastically decreased, entering a gliding state. After gliding for a couple of meters in the air, it steadily landed on the Four Seasons Garden's general headquarters' landing pad.
*Bang!* The enormous beastial claws collided with the platform. When those sharp claws contacted the floor with such a large amount of momentum, it left several meter-deep markings.
Swish! A Magus who was wearing a white robe embroidered with plants directly jumped off the back of the Venom Wyvern.
"Lord Leylin!"
The surrounding Four Season Garden acolytes hastily went forth to bow to him.
There were two other armoured men that also jumped off from the Venom Wyvern's back after Leylin disembarked. There were enormous greatswords the size of a door attached on their backs.
"These two are my followers. According to the school's rules, I've the rights to bring two servants to live with me! Register them for me!"
Leylin told one of the acolytes, "You also to feed Hawke, and increase the amount of red bread pigs by two heads. It recently entered a state of binge eating prior to maturity, so it requires a lot of food...."
"Your wish is our command, lord!" That acolyte deeply bowed as he commanded the rest of the subordinates behind him to start washing and cleaning the Venom Wyvern
The acolyte seemed to have rapidly recorded something down. After a short while, he passed two metal tablets to Number 2 and 3, who were behind Leylin.
The two tablets were completely black, and on the surface, there was a scarlet rune marking. The marking consisted of an inverted triangle within a circle, with a coiled black snake in the centre.
This was Leylin's secret imprint.
"This will be your access pass. Take good care of it, as the replacement procedure is extremely troublesome! Moreover, there are some restricted areas that you're forbidden from entering, as we are currently in a state of emergency. If you do, you'll be caught by the guards as a spy!"
That acolyte's expression was very stern, which made Leylin apprehensive.
"That's acceptable!" Leylin nodded before leaving this place along with Number 2 and Number 3.
"Is the situation already that severe?" Seeing the Magi rushing around on the way, combined with the warning from that acolyte, Leylin's heart was slightly heavy.
Leylin, who had gotten a lot of information from the previous experiment, rushed to reach the general headquarters of the Four Seasons Garden the next day.
After all, he didn't want to get into a conflict with the Four Seasons Garden.
While he was still conducting experiments regarding the Branded Swordsman, he had brought Number 2 and Number 3 with him to make some adjustments to them using the result from experiments conducted on Number 1. Currently, Leylin had a higher understanding in his research on the Branded Swordsman!
Under the calculations from the A.I Chip, Number 2 and Number 3 would definitely become good assistants for Leylin after they became Branded Swordsmen.
Leylin had made great progress regarding the problem in controlling them.
He used the white termite as the main ingredient to make modifications to the two Grand Knights and used potions to increase the degree to which the brand was carved into their spirits.
He should be able to control their consciousness to make them completely enslaved, under those two control measures.
As for the Grand Knights Number 4 and Number 5, they were completely crippled, as the branded runes on their bodies were not compatible with them. The branding of runes wasn't like drawing, where you could just erase your mistakes. Runes would be forever carved onto the body, and would also reside deep inside the spirit, forming a connection. This was the only way that the Branded Swordsmen could activate the natural energy particles!
Since it was Leylin's first time operating, and he was lacking in experience and information, he had already carved the wrong runes onto the previous two female Grand Knights.
Currently, there wasn't a way for Leylin to erase those runes, so they would forever lose their chances in improving and, would stay at the rank of Grand Knight for the rest of their lives.
Leylin would naturally not bring those two burdens with him. He had instructed Damien and the two female Grand Knights to defend his villa in the Nightless City as a future supply base.
Truthfully, Leylin was still in the darkness regarding the information of the war.
He knew that war was imminent, but didn't know why it was occurring. Who were the opposing forces? Everything was shrouded from him.
However seeing how the Four Season Garden was acting as though it was going to meet a formidable enemy in combat, he could guess that the enemy, this time, wasn't a simple one.
Information gathering was one of the reasons why Leylin decided to come to the general headquarters of the Four Seasons Garden.
After arranging for the two Grand Knights to stay at the residential area of the Four Seasons Garden, Leylin briskly walked to the main lounge of the Potioneering team.
It was rare for the two mischievous stone statues to not be creating trouble, so Leylin passed through them quickly.
*Creak!*
When the door opened, the lounge was still as flourishing and vast as before. A long, white birch table and chairs were orderly arranged. There was a white tablecloth on the table, on the side of which delicate flowers had been stitched.
Different teams in the Potioneering team sat at their respective positions, and constantly chattered among themselves.
The only difference, this time, was that the table wasn't filled with food, but was instead occupied by various documents and crystal balls that were being perused for information.
The master's position in the lounge wasn't filled. It seemed that Decarte must have been busy, and couldn't come here for the time being.
Leylin surveyed the area, and found the where Martin's team was.
When he met Martin for the first time, that old fellow was positioned extremely far from the host's position. However, now that Leylin had joined and completed some missions, that old man's position had moved quite a bit forward. This was something that Martin had constantly bragged about to everyone.
However, even though he was sitting here, the excitement of being in this seat couldn't cover the worry expressed on Martin's face.
After seeing Leylin, Martin's wrinkle covered face displayed a smile. "Leylin! Over here!"
He pointed to the seat beside him.
Leylin smiled, and after greeting the few Magi that he knew, he walked over to sit beside Martin.
"I'm really glad that you could make it! You should know that due to this dreadful war, our tasks have become much more arduous...."
Since they were extremely close to each other, Martin started to express his complaints to Leylin.
"Sorry! I'll definitely work hard in the Potioneering aspect, so can you tell me the details regarding the war? I was previously exploring before I received the Lord leader's secret imprint, so I'm currently still at a loss as to what is happening!"
Leylin's face showed a textbook example of confusion.
"Oh! Look at my manners!" Martin patted his large forehead.
"Which part shall I start talking from?"
Martin stroked his beard and expressed a pondering expression.
"To be honest, the source of this battle is related to the previous two Magus wars….."
Martin commented slowly, his expression becoming serious.
-x-X-x-
"Leylin, did you know how the two Great Magus Wars began?"
Martin suddenly asked.
"It seemed to be because of the differences in values between light and dark Magi, as well as some anticipated benefits." Leylin combined the factors he had read about in books and added his personal take on it.
"Benefits! Everything was for the sake of benefits!"
Martin waved his hand, his expression increasingly agitated.
"Saying that there was a difference in opinion is just a superficial reason, but when it comes down to it, it was all for benefits! When I find out who said this, I'll copy it down and engrave it in my room!"
Martin quickly proceeded, "In reality, no matter if they were light or dark Magi, they were on the path of pursuing the truth! As long as they were not obstructed, no matter which areas the light Magi occupied, or what massacres the dark Magi were responsible for, the Magi couldn't care less."
"The real reason for the two Great Magus Wars was to obtain resources! The meagre resources in the south coast were not enough for the many of the Magi here…"
Leylin listened quietly as Martin explained the truth behind the Great Magus Wars.
At this moment, a cold smile emerged on his face.
"The so-called Great Magus Wars were actually just for the sake of obtaining more materials, which were not even abundant in the first place. It was a battle started by the highest tier of Magi on both the light and dark Magi's ends, and was a way to 'clean up' the Magus World. After the war, there were massive casualties on both the light and dark Magi's sides, and the remaining resources were enough for the Magi who had survived to advance. This is how the generations of families came to be on the south coast."
As Martin was narrating, Leylin saw a rare look of heartache on his face.
From the looks of it, Martin did not approve of these methods and reasoning, and it was highly likely that he was somehow directly affected by the wars.
Leylin immediately thought back to his previous world.
In his previous life, the fall of any empire was said to be caused by corruption and an incompetent monarch, amongst many other things.
The way Leylin saw it, the real reason for their fall was due to benefits and resources!
In ancient times, the land was the base of life. As time passed, the population rapidly grew, and since there wasn't family planning, people kept on having babies and used them for manual labour. That was the norm!
With an increase in population, but with the same amount of land available, not everyone was able to own land to support themselves. For this reason, the entire empire naturally declined.
Of course, during this process, high officials and landowners had their lands taken over, which hastened this decline.
...
After that, the confusion and deaths caused by the war caused the population to be diminished by about 60 to 70%, and the land and territory were left open for the remaining survivors to use. With this foundation, a new leader could govern well for a century or two and then decline. The cycle would continue...
Leylin believed that the south coast's Magus World was in such a situation.
Even with various measures, the number of Magi was still on the rise, and the south coast's rate of production of materials was hardly enough to support the rate at which Magi advanced in strength.
Many had to see their dreams crushed due to the lack of resources available.
This bitterness and hatred were passed down from generation to generation, resulting in a state where the ruling Magi began to feel afraid!
Hence, a few of the top guilds in the south coast were unafraid of the losses that might be incurred, and initiated wars, disposing of less powerful Magi organisations.
In those wars, winning was useless! Surviving was the best form of victory!
Once he thought that through, Leylin sucked in a breath of cold air.
Compared to the huge empires in his previous life that could not forge ahead any longer, the south coast Leylin was in was just a small part of the Magus World. It could almost be said to be a rural country area.
Even so, those wielding power in the south coast would rather constantly exhaust their own power by raiding to reduce the risks and resentment of their people, than expand their territory. There was only one reason for this!
Just as how it had happened with the Great Magus Wars, the desire to expand would often result in the opposite reaction, where gains did not make up for the losses. No leader was willing to lose their Magus underlings.
"What sort of dangers lie beyond the south coast?"
Leylin sighed inwardly. He had intentions on travelling all around the Magus World and climbing up to bigger heights. However, from this situation, it seemed rather impossible to even leave the south coast.
"However, this does explain why the south coast has always been so sealed off. Rarely are there Magi that stop over, with the only exception being the great Magus Serholm!"
Leylin's eyes flashed as he seemed to come to a realisation.
"So does that mean that this impending war is also meant to lessen the population of official Magi?"
At this point, Martin and Leylin had both lowered their voices and transmitted their thoughts. Leylin had also taken the liberty of setting up a few spell formations that would isolate sound waves.
"That's not it!" Martin slapped his head.
"I just had a lot of feelings regarding the previous Great Magus Wars!"
Old Martin behaved as though he was an old man, and Leylin had the urge to bash him up.
"Hahaha…" Seeing Leylin's reaction, he laughed in a carefree manner.
"I apologise. I have this problem where in critical moments, I usually like to make jokes to ease my nerves." Martin gave a tiny grin as an apology, but all Leylin saw was a despicable old man.
"Alright, let's get back to the topic. The reason for this war is a dispute over benefits!"
Old Martin's expression became milder, but Leylin still listened intently.
"About two days ago, a group of Magi who were out exploring in the Eternal River Plains found a Magus' secret plane!"
Martin told Leylin some information.
This group had been searching for some ruins and had accidentally activated the secret plane, resulting in the leakage of this news, which could set off wars. This wasn't anything new on the south coast.
However, to be able to elicit such a huge response from Old Martin, even making him think that the Third Magus War was arriving, this secret plane must be very unique.
"A secret plane? Is it a resource type plane? How big is it?" Leylin got right to the key points.
"I don't know! From the information provided by Magi who had gone in, it's about ten million mu! The density of elemental particles in there is of the highest quality, A!"
Listening to Martin's statement, Leylin could not help but gasp in admiration.
Even a large-scale light Magi organisation like the Four Seasons Garden only had a secret plane the size of a little more than a million mu. Just from the site of exploration, the secret plane was already much bigger than what the Four Seasons Garden possessed.
Such a huge benefit was enough for the peace-loving light Magi, who were usually buried in research, to covet and be willing to kill to obtain the secret plane.
"Worst of all, such a huge secret plane has a large number of entrances. It seems that after the exploration group activated one of them, the other entrances were also automatically opened. Based on the news I've gathered, there are at least 7 other entrances."
Old Martin was acting mysteriously about this.
Leylin just gave a huge sigh. "The Eternal River Plains are just at the border between the dark and light Magi's territories. The undulations from the entrances to such a large scale secret plane will definitely be detected by official Magi, even if it were a thousand li away."
He finally knew the reason for the wars. Even though it wasn't the worst situation, it wasn't all that good either.
"Exactly! Some dark and light Magus organisations got there first, and upon seeing the secret plane, started killing each other from their desire to gain possession of it. In the end, nobody received any benefits, and they later passed on the information they had learned to the organisations behind them! This information spreading from layer to layer resulted in a civil war between the various Magi."
"In the end, the dark Magi managed to take control of three entrances, while the light Magi took control of the other four. In the huge secret plane, a bloodthirsty battle to steal away various precious resources and territories ensued. The war this time will be inside the plane, and Magi from all over will fight within. Of course, the most important part will be to gain possession of the territory within…"
Leylin heaved a sigh of relief.
Compared to the two other wars that affected the entire south coast, this was going to affect the Magus World the least. The number of dead humans would be minimal, and for Magi like him, as long as he did not choose to enter the secret plane, he would naturally be safe.
At most, there would be an increase in tasks related to Potioneering.
Of course, nearing the end of the war, there was sure to be a large number of casualties within the organisations, and Leylin might even have to be sent to the frontlines.
However, if that truly were to happen, Leylin would immediately choose to escape, and obviously wouldn't be forced into the fight.
*Ding* Just as Leylin was about to enquire more from Martin, a clear sound resounded within the hall.
Despite there being no wind, the multi-coloured fabrics in the hall rustled, and rays of rainbow coloured lights shone within the room.
A distinct sound resonated across the hall.
"The team leader is here! Get up and greet him!"
Martin pulled Leylin along.
Leylin rolled his eyes and stood unwillingly.
As the team leader of Four Seasons Garden's Potioneering team, Decarte's power was unquestionable. He was already at the peak of rank 1, and was ready to break through to rank 2 at any moment.
He also had many achievements in Potioneering and was said to be a great master in the subject.
However, not only was this man old fashioned, he was also crazy for anything lavish that could show off his status.
As a result, this person who liked to have dinner with his underlings, have conversations and issue missions in the stately, formal hall, could not tolerate the slightest bit of rudeness towards him.
A number of Magi had been punished for this reason.