Leilin could clearly hear a trace of fear in the old man's voice.
The bats and the Crow were also Leilin's subordinates, and now two of them had been killed. He would have a hard time explaining himself to the
"Hold-Mountain Group Leader has already issued his decree — you have ten days to resolve this matter. Otherwise, he will…"
"
But the old man on the other end was practically trembling: "He will have you arrested on charges of dereliction of duty!"
"Oh!" The expected explosion of rage never came. Leilin merely nodded indifferently. "Tell him! Understood!"
With that, Leilin severed the mark connection without another word.
"Malbu, is it?" His eyes seemed to see once more that half-mad, metal-covered old man.
Malbu must have learned that Leilin was the person in charge of Hunting Zone Three, and that was what had prompted this little scheme of his.
"Kill him. And while we're at it, wipe out the Lillitter family too."
Leilin made the decision as casually as if he were discussing the weather.
Although the Giant's Thousand Leaves Hand had promised to mediate between him and the Lillitter family, Leilin had absolutely no interest in that.
In his view, once a grudge had been formed, it was best to pull it out by the roots.
Besides, the current Malbu was no longer someone Leilin took seriously at all.
Before his second bloodline evolution, Leilin would have needed the assistance of Number Two and Number Three to have any confidence in killing Malbu. But now, Leilin was confident that in a direct confrontation, he could utterly annihilate the man — leaving him no chance whatsoever to escape!
"Let's go!"
Leilin flicked his robes and led the two Brand Swordsmen out of the cave.
"ROOAAARR!!" Moments later, a massive silhouette of a Venom Wyvern soared high into the sky from the mouth of the cave…
…
"Whoosh!"
Across an open plain, two silhouettes streaked forward, their bodies wreathed in a hazy shimmer of light that pushed past the limits of what the naked eye could follow. One was chasing, the other fleeing.
Up ahead ran a young woman dressed in white robes, her hair slightly curled, the ample curves of her chest straining against the fabric as though threatening to burst free.
With every stride, her full bosom bounced and swayed, and combined with the woman's lovely features, it was enough to drive almost any man wild with desire.
Unfortunately, her remarkable beauty seemed to have no effect on the
*Swish! Swish!* The sharp whistle of blades slicing through the air came from her rear. The woman's expression changed. She grabbed the bracelet coiled around her wrist and flung it backward.
*Buzz!* A mass of luminous green light erupted from the bracelet, coalescing and shaping itself into a great net that slammed headlong into two silver spears hurtling toward her.
*BOOM!* Green and silver light flared violently, and a powerful blast of explosive wind surged from behind, hammering into the woman's back.
*Riiip!* Her robe was torn open across most of its length, baring her smooth back and pale, delicate skin.
"Damn you, old freak! I already told you I don't know any damn
The woman paid no mind whatsoever to her exposed state. She tore open another scroll, and with a sharp *hisss*, a pair of small, translucent wings sprouted from her back.
The wings were quite tiny, shaped like half-hearts. They looked almost cute, like little ornaments.
*Flutter!* The wings began to beat, stirring up gusts of air.
But the woman's body did not take flight. Instead, she floated just slightly off the ground, as if an extra buoyancy had been added to her. Once the wings started fluttering, her speed picked up even more. Only then did she have a moment to turn her head and shout back.
"You're a White Wizard in this region! You must be under Leylin's protection too! How could you not know him?"
Pursuing her from behind was an old man with silver-white hair, metal ornaments decorating his face. The moment he saw the woman use her scroll, a ring of silver-white metallic light bloomed behind him.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!* The metallic light surged backward continuously, like two silver-white tassels streaming behind the old man as he flew.
*Crack!* His speed surged dramatically, actually surpassing even the woman's current pace, steadily closing the distance between them.
The woman felt like breaking down in tears: "I'm nothing but a roaming Wizard! Even if this is Four Seasons Garden's territory, there's no rule prohibiting us from passing through. You've really got the wrong person!"
Facing her explanation, Malb remained expressionless. His right hand thrust forward, and a silvery-white metallic bomb sphere materialized directly in his grasp.
His pupils were as calm and undisturbed as an ancient well, as though the woman flashing her skin ahead was nothing more than a rotting corpse.
A wave of his hand! The metal bomb traced a brilliant arc through the air, landing directly in the woman's forward path.
*BOOM!!!* The silvery-white bomb detonated with a thunderous roar, flames spreading outward relentlessly, with metal shrapnel spraying in all directions.
The woman's expression turned ghastly. She barely dodged the blast's shockwave, but half of the wings on her back had been blown off. Her speed plummeted instantly. She could even feel a bloodthirsty gaze boring into her nearly bare back like a predator locking onto prey. This gaze was entirely different from the lecherous looks she had received from countless male Wizards before — it held only pure killing intent, without the slightest trace of lust. A woman who had seen countless men would never misread something like this.
Therefore, she understood with perfect clarity that once she fell into his hands, death was the only road ahead, and the beauty she had always prided herself on would be utterly useless.
"Though you're a roaming Wizard, you still belong to Four Seasons Garden's side. If you die here, he won't be able to explain it easily…"
Malb said coldly. To flush out Lei Lin, he had already begun stopping at nothing.
In a world where even Second-Rank Wizards were stationed in their own territories and rarely moved about, his strength as a peak First-Rank Wizard was more than enough to cut a swath of destruction everywhere.
"Damn it! How did I run into a lunatic?!"
The curly-haired woman cursed through gritted teeth, on the verge of tears, and ran even faster.
"Run? Where do you think you're going?"
Behind her, silvery liquid metal gathered in Malb's hands, taking the shape of a short staff.
He gripped the silver metallic staff and pointed it straight at the woman still sprinting ahead.
*Zzzzzzp!* The tip of the metal staff split open, and countless tiny silver steel beads shot out from within.
*Pop! Pop! Pop!* The metal beads rained outward like a downpour, fanning out in a wide spread toward the front, sealing off every possible escape route the woman could take.
Clink-clank!
The woman gritted her teeth as a layer of pink light barrier materialized over her body.
The silver metal beads hammered against it, producing a dense cascade of sharp impacts.
"Deformation!" Marbul barked coldly from behind, both hands thrusting forward in a grasping motion.
Hiss! The steel beads striking the pink light barrier suddenly melted, transforming into a layer of silver liquid that spread across the barrier's surface.
Following Marbul's grasping gesture, an invisible current of force seemed to act upon that silver liquid, its tremendous power continuously dragging the woman backward.
Boom!
Marbul's right hand clenched into a fist, the silver liquid metal coating it and turning the entire fist into a gleaming silver weapon.
The silver metal fist smashed into the pink light barrier with brutal force.
The barrier immediately buckled inward at a terrifying angle, and under Marbul's relentless pressure, it emitted agonized creaking sounds.
Finally, before the woman's desperate gaze, the pink light barrier shattered completely beneath the iron fist, crumbling into countless fragments that scattered through the air like butterflies.
"Hmph…" Her innate spell broken, the woman's face went deathly pale, as though she had been struck by a hammer in that instant. She collapsed limply to the ground.
"Fine! I'm right here! Do whatever you want!"
The woman stared at Marbul, then shut her eyes in resignation. Yet at the very moment her eyes closed, her legs parted slightly, her robe tearing away to reveal the short skirt beneath — and the dark shadow in between was enough to drive anyone mad, stirring an irresistible urge to explore further.
"Pulling stunts at a time like this!" Marbul sneered coldly.
Most Wizards, after advancing in rank, were extremely fond of indulgence, and were remarkably open about it — men and women alike. But Marbul was different! He had fused with a metallic lifeform and lost the ability to reproduce, which was precisely why he treasured Bosain, his only remaining bloodline, so dearly.
In the next instant, his right hand morphed into the shape of a cleaver!
"Rest in peace! No one here can save you!"
Listening to Marbul's proclamation, a sliver of despair welled up in the woman's heart. She was nothing more than a semi-elementalized Wizard — passable at fleeing, perhaps, but utterly fragile in the face of a first-tier peak powerhouse like Marbul, as helpless as a child.
"Am I going to die here? Master… I'm sorry. I couldn't fulfill your entrustment."
As the machete came slicing down, the woman murmured softly to herself.
"Is that so?"
Boom!
The expected pain never arrived. Instead, a third voice echoed through the clearing.
The female Wizard opened her eyes to find a massive black python — its scales shimmering with dark, lustrous sheen — clamping down on the machete and snapping the blade clean in half!
After shattering the blade, the great python dissolved into a plume of black mist that drifted behind a strikingly handsome male Wizard, then condensed into a ring of dark energy particles that hovered around him like a halo.
"Such a familiar face! That should be the one listed in the intelligence reports as the person in charge of the third hunting region... Reylin!"
Relief flooded the female Wizard's heart, though she kept her expression utterly nonchalant. "It's about time you showed up! This mess is your doing, so I'm done with it!"
With that, she rose to her feet as if nothing were wrong — and at a pace that was anything but leisurely, she put a considerable distance between herself and the scene in the blink of an eye.
"Since when are we on such familiar terms?" Reylin silently rolled his eyes inwardly.
This territory fell under his jurisdiction. Any Wizard affiliated with the White Wizard faction, or any wandering Wizard who wished to enter, was supposed to check in with him beforehand. But Reylin had always been a recluse who rarely involved himself in affairs, so he naturally had no idea who this woman was.
Still, if she had died under his watch, he would have had a black mark on his record — so he decided not to hold it against her.
Right now, all of Reylin's attention was fixed on the Marbul standing across from him.