His eyes swept across the numerous Magical Items and precious materials, coming to rest directly on a pile of crystals.
These were all pure Spiritual Power crystals, with a faint ripple of elemental particles pulsing around their edges.
Crystalline Wizards could store their own Spiritual Power crystals in ordinary times, then consume them directly when the need arose — or even use them as a form of currency.
Compared to the Spiritual Power crystals
"The crystallised core of a Crystalline
Leylin rubbed his chin as a vial of golden blood materialised in his hand.
"I never expected to have gathered both of these. I'm afraid that experiment from the Quicksand organisation will have to be carried out!"
Leylin sighed, a deep and unfathomable light flickering in his eyes.
His haul from Quicksand Castle the last time had been far more than just the Snake Woman's bone joints.
The massive trove of experimental data he had originally obtained, once cracked open by Leylin, had all been transformed into the most precious bloodline research materials. Over the span of more than a century, he had absorbed every last scrap of it, even making numerous improvements along the way — the technique for preserving one's own life seed was merely the most peripheral part of it all.
Leylin could sense that in the field of bloodline research, he had likely already reached the very peak of the Ouroboros Circle, standing on equal footing with the Elders themselves.
And among his research, there existed a method of burning ancient bloodlines to enhance one's own power.
This experiment had been kept in absolute secrecy by Leylin — he hadn't even brought it out when he advanced to the Crystalline stage, because the first burning of a bloodline yielded the best results, with diminishing returns afterward. Leylin's plan was to use this bloodline burning technique to shatter through the bottleneck of Morning Star!
Of course, to reach the realm of Morning Star, a single bloodline experiment was far from enough. Even Leylin himself was currently only at the initial stage of the Crystalline tier — he didn't even qualify to attempt breaking through to Morning Star.
Moreover, the gap between the fourth-tier Morning Star realm and a third-tier Wizard was an enormous chasm. The Central Continent was overflowing with countless Wizards, yet Morning Stars were forever limited to a precious few, eternally occupying the highest positions.
Although bloodline burning could boost one's strength to a certain degree, the chances of breaking through the Morning Star barrier remained slim.
But the cards in Leylin's hand were not limited to the ancient bloodline experiment alone.
"The third-tier accumulation is nearly complete. From here on, I must begin to think about Morning Star..." Leylin rubbed his chin.
The situation across the entire Central Continent was looking rather grim, especially for the Ouroboros. Whether it was the conflicts along their borders, the destruction of numerous families, or even the disappearance of core members — everything seemed to herald a very dark future.
And in times of chaos, only one's own strength could truly be relied upon!
"
Leylin pondered for a moment. He suddenly thought of his own appointment: "Perhaps they've already noticed and have taken action in secret — it just hasn't come to my attention..."
During the quiet wait, time slipped away bit by bit.
Leylin also received his escort. Only once all his subordinates had arrived did he feel somewhat more at ease, and he went to find Lucifer.
"You really want to go through with this?" Lucifer looked at Leylin before him, unable to hide the astonishment in his voice.
Especially after discovering that Leylin had already advanced to the Crystal phase and was now his equal, Lucifer felt a swell of mixed emotions.
This junior brother had caught up to his pace in just a hundred years, surpassing those Morning Star seeds whom the entire organization had poured its resources into nurturing.
What's more, compared to
"If you keep investigating like this, the scope of people involved will be far too large... Although the Master ordered me to assist you, still..."
In Lucifer's view, what Leylin should be doing now was focusing wholeheartedly on secluded cultivation, waiting for an opportunity to break through the Morning Star bottleneck. These matters were trivial by comparison — he had no idea what the Master was thinking.
The moment he thought of Gilbert, even Lucifer couldn't help but sigh.
For high-ranking COM Giant Snake Warlocks like them, the allure of the Purgatory World was simply too great to resist becoming consumed by it.
Coupled with the recent turmoil and Leylin's terrifying combat strength from before, Lucifer let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm in charge of the Ouroboros's intelligence work — I can give you all of these materials! I just hope you won't get yourself in too deep!" Lucifer handed Leylin a semi-transparent crystal ball with a bitter smile.
"As the enforcer, it's my duty to root out those who oppose and hide themselves as destabilizing elements within the Ouroboros."
Leylin smiled faintly, seemingly unconcerned by Lucifer's words, but after sending a tendril of his Spiritual Power into the crystal ball, his expression changed.
"Our situation has deteriorated to this extent?" He looked up in disbelief, staring at Lucifer.
"...Yes!" After a chilling silence, Lucifer nodded, his expression grave.
"Not only have there been many disturbances along the border of our territory, but even inside our own ranks there are unknown forces stirring up trouble. Several families in particular can be confirmed to have betrayed us…"
All of this was top-secret information. Had Leylin not recently taken up the post of Enforcement Officer, even his former noble status as a Bloodline Marquis would not have granted him access to such materials.
"What on earth is our Master doing?"
A bitter taste rose in Leylin's mouth.
"There's no need to worry too much. As long as the headquarters in Phosphor Marsh remains intact and the three Elders are unharmed, our Serpentine Ring will never decline."
"Whew…" Leylin sighed and rose to his feet.
"I need the list of families that have been confirmed as traitors—now!"
"Very well. The documents will be in your hands momentarily!" Lucifer agreed. "What do you intend to do?"
"Regardless of what comes next, betrayal of the organisation demands a price!" Leylin's voice was cold as he left directly with his subordinates in tow.
…
"The Stewart Family of the Stewart Mountains!"
Black flames burned furiously as numerous high-ranking Warlocks laid siege to a colossal Mountain Thunderstorm Bear.
Behind the raging bear, a fortress—half of it built along the face of a sheer cliff—loomed into view before Leylin.
"Marquis Leylin, Lord Enforcement Officer! You owe us an explanation!"
Inside the castle, the figure of an elderly Wizard appeared, projected high into the air and forming an enormous image.
"You may be the Enforcement Officer, but you have no right to besiege the castle of a Bloodline Marquis!"
The old man's phantom shrieked, his voice cracking with rage.
"Rights? Only the weak follow rules, and then hope that those at the top do the same. Pinning your hopes on such things—how foolish!"
Leylin let out a contemptuous snort, but for the sake of the vassals who had come with him, he stepped forward to explain. "If you must have a reason, then it is this: you betrayed the organisation. Any Warlock who slays you performs a meritorious act, not a transgression!"
"That's nonsense—" His greatest secret had been laid bare, yet the Wizard acted as though he had never heard such a thing before, his face flushing red, his beard bristling with fury.
"True or false? You'll find out once you've surrendered!"
Leylin's expression didn't change. A streak of black light sliced through the air, piercing straight through the head of the Mountain Thunderstorm Bear.
Boom! The massive bear's skull shattered like a watermelon.
"Anyone belonging to the Stewart family is to be executed without exception. All seized property will be confiscated, then distributed as rewards according to a set ratio!" Pike gave his orders with impeccable efficiency, and the numerous Bloodline Warlocks—hungry for merit, their eyes gleaming at the thought of the Stewart family's enormous wealth—charged forward with roars.
Watching Schlubi lead the charge, seeing Wizard after Wizard fall before him and even cut down on the spot, Leylin gave a nod of approval.
His reason for accepting the position of Enforcement Officer and coming out to crush the rebels this time went beyond simply acquiring vast wealth. Equally important was his desire to put every one of his recently recruited talents through the crucible of real combat.
The sounds of battle and the fluctuations of magic lasted only a short while. Barely ten or fifteen minutes later, Pike had dragged the Wizard who had been shouting from the castle back to face them.
"Except for this old man, every last remnant of the Stewart family has been cleaned up!"
With the task completed, Pike stood before Leylin and reported like a loyal, diligent old butler.
"Very good!"
Leylin looked down at the high-ranking Warlock on the ground. The man clearly carried the blood of the Komoyin Giant Snake as well, and upon seeing Leylin, his body was trembling uncontrollably.
"Full of hatred? Drowning in despair?"
Leylin stepped forward and lifted the old Wizard's chin.
"I hope next time, before your True Spirit is annihilated, you'll have learned to remember your place!"
Boom! The moment Leylin finished speaking, the clan patriarch's head rolled across the ground, spreading a vivid splash of red across the stone.
"Counting this one, we've now completely exterminated three Komoyin families, along with the smaller families and factions that had submitted to them. Things should be considerably quieter now…"
Standing on the edge of the cliff that had been reduced to rubble, Leylin gazed upon the ruins of the ancient castle—utterly destroyed by countless spells—and let out a sigh of relief.
"Considerably quieter?" Pike, standing off to the side, laughed bitterly to himself.
Through so many decisive strikes, Leylin's name had spread far and wide. His strength was extraordinary—even a Crystallisation Wizard clan patriarch had died at his hand. That alone had instantly cemented his standing.
And then, through his merciless clan exterminations, the reputation of Enforcement Officer Leylin spread even further, earning him the epithet of "The Destroyer."