"The main goal was to obtain the power of Destiny. As for the Fallen Longsword, it was merely a byproduct—and it still wasn't fully completed!"
Leilin was in an excellent mood, and he explained as much to Weilin.
Immediately, a mass of complex alchemical formulas materialized over Leilin's hands, their luminous threads sinking into the blade and causing the silver-white glow of the Fallen Longsword to flare even more brilliantly.
"In truth, this Fallen Longsword is a weapon I designed specifically for myself. It's still missing one crucial step!"
Leilin held the longsword up in his palm.
A flash of excitement passed through his eyes.
"Venom's Bile!!!"
A terrifying phantom of the Demon King materialized behind him, but this time the Venom's Bile did not unleash a wide-area attack. Instead, it contracted entirely onto the Fallen Longsword.
Threads of death-laden, terror-wreathed blackness crept across the entire blade, dimming the silver-white glow.
In the end, the Fallen Longsword had turned entirely pure black, yet gleamed with a razor-sharp luster.
This was the true appearance of the custom weapon Leilin had forged for himself!
Venom's Bile's range of attack was far too wide, so Leilin had bound all of its toxins within the Fallen Longsword, preventing them from dispersing freely.
From now on, anyone pierced by the Fallen Longsword would immediately suffer the terrifying toxic assault of Venom's Bile.
Moreover, Leilin could replenish the Fallen Longsword at any time with his innate wizard arts.
And this was the true form of the warlock-exclusive Magical Item that the Chip had designed from the very beginning!
Leilin gazed at the black Cross Sword in his hand, unable to conceal the look of delighted surprise on his face. From now on, the power of Venom's Bile would no longer cause collateral damage—it could be deployed as a standard combat ability. His strength had increased enormously.
"There's still one final step!"
Leilin looked at Weilin, a sharp gleam appearing in his eyes.
But Weilin, who already knew his fate, met Leilin's gaze without a trace of fear: "I believe that justice and fairness still exist in the Dark Region. And your actions will eventually be punished!"
"Heh... justice and fairness?"
Leilin shook his head and chuckled. "My glory will be recorded in history and sung in praise. As for the shadows and filth behind that glory—who will ever pay attention to them?"
A streak of black light flashed past, and Weilin's head flew from his shoulders. Even as it arced through the air, both his body and severed head began to decay.
The spraying blood splattered onto the
"With a final blood sacrifice of the Child of Destiny—Wondrous Magical Artifact: Coin of Destiny—complete!"
Leilin spoke the final incantation.
The wondrous artifact, radiating a dark golden glow, rested quietly in his hand.
"Wondrous Magical Artifact—Coin of Destiny! Centered on the Sacred Light Candlelight Meditation Method and forged through the blood sacrifice of a Child of Destiny, this magical item possesses peculiar energy that can guide the direction of the future to a certain degree. Effects are uncertain!"
The Chip automatically generated an item description, but clearly, even it could not render a definitive verdict on the Coin of Destiny. After all, the power of Destiny was something the Chip still could not quantify or express in data.
As for so-called Wondrous Magical Artifacts, they represented a rather vaguely defined rank of items.
In the
Some Wondrous Magical Artifacts held only minor abilities, while others could unleash terrifying power rivaling divine artifacts!
A flash of silver light, and the Coin of Destiny vanished, carefully stored away by Leilin in his spatial pouch.
"Kill every last
Leilin surveyed his surroundings.
Although the wizards of those factions still held a numerical advantage, the prolonged battle had drained them of enormous amounts of Spiritual Power and mana. They were no match whatsoever for the freshly arrived wizards of the Nature Alliance.
Not to mention the presence of Leilin, a Second-rank Wizard, overseeing the battlefield.
As time passed, the sounds from the arena grew quieter and quieter, until they finally sank into complete silence.
"My Lord! What shall we do with these prisoners?" Yilun asked, bowing deeply.
In the direction he indicated, numerous wizards lay slumped listlessly on the ground, their bodies marked with all manner of wounds and bloodstains.
"Have them surrender their Soul Essences and swear an oath of submission. Otherwise, execute them all without exception!"
Leilin issued the order in a flat tone.
He then pointed at the remaining eight ice sculptures, each containing a frozen Second-rank Wizard.
"I'll place an additional layer of seals on these eight wizards. Transport them back to headquarters—I'll personally interrogate them later!"
The Nature Alliance wizards had, of course, been secretly positioned here by Leilin in advance. As expected, they proved devastatingly effective at the critical moment, sweeping up both exhausted factions in a single decisive strike.
Even the wizard reinforcements outside had been covertly alerted by Leilin.
By now, the battle outside should also be nearing its end, shouldn't it?
Leilin smiled and sent out a communication signal through a specialized magical device.
"Reporting, My Lord! Our Territorial Guardian and the Dark Elves' High Priestess have both suffered grievous injuries. The Dark Elves have retreated, and since our own forces have also sustained heavy losses, we did not pursue!"
A wizard stationed outside immediately relayed the battlefield situation.
All magical communications within the arena had naturally been severed by Lombarton long ago. After that, Leilin had added his own precaution—aside from the communication device in his possession, no information could pass in or out.
"Excellent! The current situation is one of the three best outcomes we rehearsed beforehand!"
Leilin smiled as he swept his gaze over the Nature Alliance wizards. "As long as we follow the plan, it won't be long before the entire Dark Region is ours!!!"
Though he had never been a leader in his previous life, he had gained extensive experience in the Wizard World and had even built his own power base. The moment Leilin spoke, his words carried an irresistible persuasive power.
He was gratified to see that, although some of the wizards below still hesitated, a flame called ambition had already ignited fiercely in their eyes, dispelling their unease and confusion.
"Any intelligent being is bound to waver in the face of self-interest!"
Leilin rejoiced silently, then suddenly felt a twinge of melancholy...
News of the disaster at the Youth Genius Tournament began to spread through the Dark Region like a hurricane.
First came the revelation that the Revolutionary Army's leader, the human traitor Lombarton, had disguised himself as a contestant, won the championship in one stroke, and ambushed nine of the final judges.
Next came the Dark Elf army's invasion under the cover of the Dark Elf King's Crown, achieving a devastating surprise attack.
Although they were ultimately repelled, they had inflicted enormous losses on the Central Region and caused massive casualties.
The tournament grounds themselves had suffered catastrophic casualties, with only a small fraction of the wizards managing to survive.
As the highest-ranking survivor—a Second-rank Wizard—Leilin issued a solemn denunciation of the Dark Elves' actions and called upon the Central Region Alliance to launch a punitive expedition.
Furthermore, upon returning to his base, Leilin immediately mustered every wizard at his disposal and joined forces with several allied Wizard Schools to assemble a grand army.
The Central Region, devastated by the earlier deaths of so many high-ranking wizards—particularly the Third-rank Territorial Guardian and several other Guardians who had mysteriously vanished—had plunged into extreme chaos. Many schools, whether motivated by righteous duty or their own ambitions, answered Leilin's call to arms.
And Leilin, now the focus of everyone's attention, slipped away alone to a secluded place.
It appeared to be a space carved out from deep within the earth's crust—cramped and narrow, where two faint, labored breaths still persisted.
BOOM! A violent explosion erupted, sending shards of rock flying in every direction.
Through the swirling dust, Leilin strolled in with a faint smile, idly toying with the Coin of Destiny. "Territorial Guardian, and Guardian Logan—you two certainly know how to hide. It took quite some effort to track you down!"
Leilin surveyed the cavern with a casual glance. Two corpses lay nearby, both still faintly emanating Second-rank energy fluctuations.
An old man covered in spell inscriptions and death-mark mottling leaned against the rock wall, his torso half-bare, gasping for breath. The other was an old acquaintance—Eastern Region Guardian Logan—but the look on his face as he stared at Leilin was one of utter disbelief.
It seemed that after the great battle with the Dark Elves' High Priestess Aniya, both of the other Guardians had fallen, leaving only Logan and the Territorial Guardian clinging to life.
"H-How... how can it be you?" Logan's face had turned ashen.
"Oh?" Leilin raised an eyebrow. "It seems quite a few wizards have designs on you two. You didn't even dare return to your stronghold and had to hide out here..."
But he gave it little thought. Before absolute power, any scheme or stratagem was nothing but a joke.
"How did you find us? Never mind—that question doesn't matter. I have only one thing to ask, young wizard: do you belong to yourself, or to the Dark Elves?"
The Territorial Guardian, propped against the wall, asked through strained breaths.
"Rest assured—for the Dark Elves to buy me off, they'd need to offer a price far beyond their means. And the wizards of the Dark Region will, under my leadership, march toward glory!"
"Good! Then do what you must!" A look of relieved satisfaction emanated from the Territorial Guardian's wise eyes.
"..." For this Guardian who had devoted his entire life to the Dark Region, Leilin offered a slight bow of respect.
Then, thick waves of darkness engulfed the space...
The border between the Dark Region's northern territory and the Central Region.
On the plains below, two vast forces faced each other across a great distance.
To the north stood the Dark Elf army. Vast numbers of elite knights mounted on Cavern Cold Spiders sharpened their blades, while energy particles pulsed ceaselessly around many Dark Elf wizards.