"Move out!"
At the command, the wizard shrouded in green smoke struck first.
After a string of incantations, he rose directly into midair, green smoke continuously pouring from his entire body.
Whoosh! All the emerald-green smoke gathered into a whirlwind and surged straight toward the branch within Leilin's field of vision.
Sizzle! The green smoke seemed to possess an incredibly potent corrosive property.
Several apprentices who had been outside were engulfed by the smoke and turned into white bones amid their screams, while even the surrounding ground grew soft and muddy, as though it had been corroded into a swamp.
Even the defensive wizard-light set up over the branch trembled continuously under the corrosive green smoke, looking as though it might collapse at any second.
"Who goes there? How dare you assault a branch of the Nine-Ring White Tower!"
An enraged, shocked voice rang out from inside the branch, and immediately after, a figure clad in black battle armor soared into the sky.
"Kill!" The dark figure let out a cold shout, and countless wisps of black smoke surged up from underground, forming skulls that hurtled toward the green smoke.
"Hehehe..." The wizard within the green smoke cackled repeatedly, and under his direction, the green smoke coalesced into the shape of an emerald scorpion that crashed into the skulls.
Boom!
Bang!
As though a gale of level ten or higher had suddenly erupted on the spot, the shockwave blasted outward in every direction.
The sheer destructive force shaved an entire layer off the top of the branch building.
"So this is the power of a wizard who's reached the threshold for advancement?" Leilin watched the wizard's movements in midair with close attention, an odd gleam shimmering in his eyes.
Under the deliberate guidance of the wizard in the green smoke, the aerial battle began shifting to one side.
"Our turn!" The half-human-sized rat licked its lips.
"Newbie, don't you dare freeze up on me! If you get in the way of the operation, I'll be the first to kill you!"
Viper also threatened from the side.
"If you get in my way, you're the one who'll die!"
Bloodhand, as played by Lei Lin, let out an eerie chuckle. A potion burst open, forming a layer of red light over his body.
"The Giant's green smoke is an extremely powerful area-of-effect spell. It can deal terrifying magical damage to every target within its range!"
The old witch, wearing a mask, seemed to be explaining to Lei Lin.
"Be careful. Even though the Giant has lured away their strongest leader, the remaining enforcers won't be easy to deal with..."
"Hehe... those little brats of the White Wizards — I've long wanted to rip open their chests and taste their hearts..."
A dark wizard who looked like a zombie licked his lips, his entire body transforming into a gust of black wind as he charged into the branch whose defensive formation had already been breached.
Whoosh!
His action seemed to serve as a signal. Moments later, over a dozen streaks of light in various colors, crackling with intense magical fluctuations, charged directly into the Nine-Ring White Tower's branch.
"This is bad! It's a trap! Notify the captain quickly—"
A White
"Haha... although it's rather difficult for the Giant to kill your leader, holding him back is absolutely no problem! Even if he's realized something's wrong by now, he can't save you..."
The old witch cackled and tossed two silver metallic spheres near the branch.
BOOM!
The silver metallic spheres detonated with a thunderous blast. As the shockwave continued to spread, a magical disruption pulse radiated outward in waves, the air visibly distorting, and even the elemental particles grew unstable.
Fizzzz... the sound of disrupted electromagnetic waves echoed throughout the branch.
"No! Elemental disruption bombs!! They actually have these things!"
The White Wizards' faces turned pale as they scrambled backward.
"Good! Now no communication spells can get through, and certain spatial spells have been disabled as well. Partners, enjoy the slaughter! But you only have five minutes..."
The old hag waved her hand.
"Soul Detonation!"
Boom! A semi-transparent soul body suddenly materialized around the White Wizard. And immediately detonated!
Waves specifically targeting the soul spread outward. The White Wizard stumbled back several steps. Thin streams of blood seeped from his eyes, nose, and ears.
But in the instant the White Wizard staggered backward, a semi-transparent worm emerged from the spatial distortion that had just occurred, lunging directly toward the White Wizard.
Crack! A shield of lightning suddenly appeared on the White Wizard's body, enveloping him entirely.
Pfft! The lightning barrier crumbled before the worm like paper, punctured in a single strike. The semi-transparent, crystal-like worm burrowed straight into the Wizard's mouth.
"Guh..." The White Wizard's face turned purple, resembling a large eggplant. Both hands clawed at his throat as he collapsed to the ground.
"Heh heh. Normally I can't use magic so freely to harvest souls! Same old rule — any souls collected on the battlefield go to me, and I'll pay a handsome price!"
The old hag's hands glowed silver as she pulled a crystal ball from her robes. She walked up to the now defenseless White Wizard, muttering incantations without pause.
As the old hag's chanting continued, the White Wizard's gaze gradually glazed over. A faintly ethereal figure was drawn from the Wizard's body by the old hag.
"That old hag is truly insane! Harvesting souls right on the battlefield!"
Lin watched the old hag's nonchalant demeanor and suddenly felt a twinge of regret over his decision.
But for now, he merely glanced in the hag's direction before sprinkling some red powder over his hands.
"Crimson Hands!"
As the incantation rolled from his lips, Lin's hands suddenly took on a bloody crimson hue. His palms elongated, his nails grew sharp and tapered on their own, carrying a transparent sheen.
This was a first-tier spell recorded in the Book of the Great Serpent. Lin had long since stored it in his sea of consciousness through the Chip.
Although this first-tier spell's offensive power was rather low — barely exceeding twenty degrees — with the boost from elemental transformation, it was more than sufficient to deal with an ordinary Wizard.
Lin was currently concealing his identity. Some of the more conspicuous spells and innate abilities were off-limits.
But he had long since prepared an entirely separate set of spells, more than enough for him to wield under these circumstances.
"Detected subtle adjustment in the subject's palm position. Arm strength increased. Poison effect appended!" The Chip's notification popped up at that moment.
Seeing that the surrounding Wizards had each found their own opponents, Lin chuckled and casually picked a White Wizard who was charging out to meet him.
Whoosh!
Long yet dangerously slender fingers tore through the void, sending a vast ripple through the air — as though the surface of a lake had been sliced open.
Lin's figure flickered in rapid succession, his entire body becoming a streak of crimson shadow that darted across the arena at blinding speed, leaving afterimages in his wake.
"Who are you people? Which organization sent you?!"
The opponent Lin had selected was a middle-aged man in a loose white robe, yet the voice that came from his throat was exceedingly aged.
In response, Lin simply lashed out with a vicious claw!
Bang!
Lin's right hand swept forward, raking several gashes directly across the opposing Wizard's body.
The standard-issue white robe of an official Wizard, before Lin's Crimson Hand, was shredded to pieces as easily as paper, leaving enormous tears in the fabric.
"Elemental Shield!" the middle-aged Wizard roared.
Earthen-yellow energy particles gathered ceaselessly, solidifying before him into a thin, full-body suit of yellow armor that enveloped his entire body. Even his head was protected by a helmet, leaving only a pair of brightly gleaming eyes exposed.
"I'll ask one more time — who sent you?! Dark Wizards!" the middle-aged Wizard kept retreating, his hand having already slipped discreetly into his sleeve.
"You talk too much!"
Lin surged forward again, his blood-red claws raking fresh scratches across the yellow armor.
"It's useless!" the middle-aged Wizard bellowed, continuously pulling threads of earthen-yellow elemental energy particles onto the armor, where some of the damage rapidly repaired itself.
"Opponent's innate spell scanned and recorded. Initiating parameter simulation experiments — deducing the weakest points!"
The Chip's feedback voice rang out, projecting a three-dimensional armored figure in front of Lin. Several locations on the armor were clearly marked in red, indicating vulnerable areas.
And while Lin was pressing his attack, the middle-aged Wizard pulled a scroll from inside his robe, from which violent energy fluctuations were already radiating.
"High-powered Wizard spell scroll? Can't let him activate it!" Lin's pupils contracted sharply, and he suddenly let out a piercing shriek.
"Hsss... hsss..." The sound was remarkably like the hiss of a venomous serpent, extremely grating and enough to raise goosebumps all over one's body.
And as the soundwave washed over the middle-aged Wizard, a dazed expression appeared on his face, and his motion of unrolling the scroll slowed dramatically.
"Now!" Lin's feet moved in an uncanny pattern as his speed surged, crossing over a dozen meters in an instant to appear right before the middle-aged Wizard.
The crimson hue on his right hand blazed even more vivid and brilliant as he clawed toward a spot three inches above the abdomen of the middle-aged Wizard's armor.
First claw! A fist-sized chunk was gouged clean out of the earth-yellow armor, large plates of metal flaking away.
Second claw! The middle-aged Wizard's innate defensive spell was torn apart directly by Lin's strike.
"No! Please spare me — the value of a Wizard prisoner is considerable!"
This White Wizard had clearly grown accustomed to a life of luxury and comfort, possessing no courage to fight to the death. He dropped to his knees before Lin at once.
But Lin's expression was as cold as ancient, eternal ice. His right hand swept out once more, crushing the middle-aged Wizard's skull like a watermelon.
Crack!
White brain matter and blood splattered across Lin's hand, making the crimson on his fingers look even more eerily vivid.
"I didn't expect such an unexpected harvest!"
Lin picked up the scroll from the Wizard's hand, a look of delight crossing his face.
"A fine scroll — its energy fluctuations are powerful too. It seems rather impressive even among first-tier spells! It should be worth a good number of Magic Stones..."
And just at that moment, a scream from nearby caught Lin's attention.