On the central ice platform, Jenna's corpse lay silently. Most of her face had been corroded away, filled with all manner of crazed expressions, as though countless different faces had been fused together. A faint smile of relief still lingered at the corner of her mouth, making the sight all the more unsettling.
The Comoin giant serpent's venom possessed an extremely potent corrosive effect on the soul as well. The ancestral spirits that had been dwelling within Jenna's body had all been completely corroded away by the horrifying toxin.
"How pitiful!" Having obtained Holy Light Candleflame—a high-level Meditation Method—Lei Lin had also deduced its characteristics through the Chip's calculations.
Gathering the ancestral spirits of successive generations and having them inhabit the bodies of their bloodline descendants—this high-level Meditation Method was, even by the standards of Dark Wizards, terrifyingly sinister and eerie!
Moreover, as the vessel of habitation, Jenna's mind would descend into symptoms of split personality, becoming neither human nor ghost.
In a sense, the moment Jenna had practiced Holy Light Candleflame and inherited the ancestral spirits, that original Jenna had already died.
"What a bizarre Meditation Method! And what a tragic family!" Lei Lin rubbed his chin.
This eerie property of Holy Light Candleflame filled him with a vague sense of wariness. Until he had fully understood this Meditation Method and devised specific countermeasures to bypass it, he had no intention of touching it again.
Half a day later, Lei Lin emerged from the castle.
Crash! After he left, tiny gray stone fragments continuously cascaded from the castle walls, and soon, massive cracks spread across the entire structure.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, the entire castle collapsed completely, reduced to nothing but ruins. From that day forward, the Portelli family was forever erased from the world…
Thick, dark clouds blanketed the sky, and silent flashes of lightning flickered from time to time.
Moments later, droplets of black rain began plummeting from the heavens.
The Triggons Volcano in the distance suddenly erupted, sending a colossal pillar of fire soaring into the sky. Enormous quantities of volcanic ash were hurled high into the atmosphere, and after being mixed with other artificial compounds, they rained down as fertilizer across the land, bringing tremendous vitality to the Triggons Plain!
Farmers working in the fields on either side dropped to their knees along the roadsides, chanting praises to the Wizards of the Sleepless City.
Under the Wizards' protection, they could reap bountiful harvests every year—enough that even after paying their enormous taxes and tributes to their lord, the surplus was still sufficient for them to live lives free of want.
A massive black stallion cut through the curtain of rain. The faint silhouette of a young man could be seen atop it.
"Hulk… what a waste…"
Raylin spurred his horse forward, his thoughts drifting idly.
Inside the Ganges Secret Realm, the attack range of his Venomous Bile had been far too wide and its destructive power far too immense. Even Hulk, the Venomous Gale left stationed at the perimeter of headquarters, couldn't escape the indiscriminate barrage and had perished alongside the rest, costing Raylin a mount he had grown quite accustomed to.
Before the battle, Raylin had been juggling his dealings with Hill, setting up the Thousand Spirits Formation, and secretly sending word to Lesterman—all of which had kept his mind running at full capacity. Hulk was merely a riding pet, an afterthought that hadn't factored into his plans. The creature, along with all the outer-circle Wizards, had simply perished in the fallout of Raylin's venom.
"Still, Venomous Gales are capped at First-Rank
Raylin let out a quiet sigh and fell briefly silent over Hulk's misfortune.
He then pushed the thought from his mind. The colossal Evernight City stood silently in the curtain of rain, and a cold smile crossed his face.
He turned his horse's head, and the stallion began veering slightly off the original route, heading toward a mortal town near Evernight City.
Thanks to the massive agglomeration effect, dozens of large mortal settlements surrounded Evernight City like satellites.
Every day, people from all walks of life flocked here—some dreaming of becoming Wizards, others fleeing persecution, and still others drawn by nothing more than the thrill of youth and adventure. They would come, only to be crushed by the cruelty of reality and expelled from Evernight City, left to loiter in towns of this caliber.
Raylin arrived at the outskirts of a small town called Kailin, found a tavern, and ordered a mug of mead to sip in silence.
"Master!"
A dozen minutes later, several figures draped in black cloaks with hoods drawn approached. The elderly man at their head called out in a low voice.
"Mm. Follow me!"
Raylin tossed a silver coin on the table and led the group out of the tavern.
The old man at the front then guided Raylin to a villa on the outskirts of the town.
"Master! As soon as we received your notice, we packed up our supplies and left Evernight City immediately. We rented this place and have been waiting for your arrival!"
Once inside the villa, the old man pulled back his hood, revealing the face of a silver-haired elder.
This was Damian, a third-tier apprentice slave Raylin had purchased—his steward, who had long been responsible for managing Raylin's assets in Evernight City.
Number Four and Number Five, the two female Great Knights, were also present, standing guard at the gate like sentinels.
Ever since Raylin had first encountered the young boy and accepted the undercover mission from the Thousand Leaves Hand, he had felt a growing sense of foreboding. He had sent word to Damian and the others to leave Evernight City as quickly as possible.
Now it seemed his decision back then had been absolutely correct; otherwise, given the current situation, Damian and the others would have long since fallen prey to the White Wizards.
"Damian! Number Four! Number Five! Can I trust you?"
Raylin’s expression was solemn.
"Master! Your will is our mission!" Hearing Raylin’s grave inquiry, Damian and Number Four and Number Five immediately dropped to one knee and spoke in a chanting tone.
They were, after all, Raylin’s soul-bound servants. Just like Number Two and Number Three, they would never disobey even if Raylin ordered them to die!
"Good! Now, I command you to cross the Strait of
"At once!" Damian and the other two agreed immediately.
"I require you to establish a legacy on the Keli Archipelago, and through an oath, ensure your students continue to fulfill this mission! Until the end of the world…" Raylin’s voice grew increasingly distant.
"As you command, Lord!" The three soul-bound servants trembled slightly, bowing their heads lower.
"Very good!" Raylin nodded, and with a wave of his hand, three beams of dark light shot from his palm, instantly sinking into the foreheads of the three.
Zzzzt! The three soul-bound servants’ expressions twisted in pain, their fingers digging into the ground, while on the surface of their foreheads, Raylin’s own arcane imprint materialized.
"This is my blessing! It stores the power of a single spell equivalent to my full-force strike at my current level! And it can be passed down through a ritual…"
Raylin was now a second-tier Warlock. Such strength was rare across the entire South Coast! A single blow from him would likely severely injure or even slay an official Wizard!
The function of this arcane imprint went even further. The South Coast still had wizards skilled in divination, astrology, and prophecy. Those bearing Raylin’s imprint would be largely immune to such effects.
Given Raylin’s current strength as a second-tier Warlock, ordinary divination attempts against him were utterly useless.
Wizards were terrifying sources of radiative contamination, and the dread level of a second-tier Wizard increased geometrically. Raylin felt as though his current self was like a constant energy furnace, continuously emitting terrifying waves of power that even warped the surrounding air.
This was what happened when power reached a certain threshold—it began to influence the external world. To prophecy someone like Raylin at this stage, an ordinary second-tier Wizard wouldn’t suffice; at least a third-tier Wizard specializing in prophecy was required.
With the imprint’s protection, these three subordinates could better remain hidden in the shadows, providing shelter for the Farley family.
Furthermore, Raylin didn’t expect them to withstand attacks from either Black or White Wizards. His hope was simply that these three could protect the Farley family through the kind of local crises typical of the Keli Archipelago.
According to established precedent in the Wizard World, until Raylin’s death was confirmed, no Black or White Wizard faction would dare make a move against the Farley family. Otherwise, they would face the frenzied vengeance of a Wizard who had reached the second-tier level and whose innate talent granted him terrifying destructive power!
An attack of this magnitude was something that even a third-tier Wizard organization like the Dark Night Lighthouse wouldn't want to endure!
Therefore, with these three soul servants providing protection, the Farley family on the Keli Archipelago would be absolutely secure, and would even enjoy tremendous growth!
"These three and their successors should be able to protect the Farley family for over five hundred years! That way, I won't have any guilt left toward this family..."
Raylin sighed. His current body was still inherited from the original Raylin Farley. Regardless of what kind of person the previous owner had been, now that he had taken over the body of someone who was related to this family, he always felt as though he owed them something.
But going back, recognizing a bunch of strangers as relatives, or even as parents — that was something he truly had no desire to do.
Therefore, leaving them entirely alone was his best option. If worse came to worst, he could wait a few hundred years, until everyone who had ever known Raylin was long dead, and then return to give the Farley family some benefits.
"And this!"
After a moment's thought, Raylin reached up and removed a peculiar dark-red cross pendant from around his neck.
This was a mid-tier Magical Item he had painstakingly crafted — the Pendant of the Fallen Star!
Ever since Raylin had advanced to the second-tier Warlock, this Magical Item had become of very little help to him. Moreover, due to limitations in its original materials, the Pendant of the Fallen Star had very little room for further growth.
"Take this back as well! If the Farley family ever produces another heir with Wizard talent, give it to them!"
Raylin extended the Pendant of the Fallen Star in his hand. At the same time, he felt as though a weight of attachment had been lifted from his heart...