Enforcer
Due to the sudden incident, Leylin’s return was delayed and he returned to the Ancient Blood Serpent Castle to rest.
”Thank you so much for what you did this time!” Freya sat beside Leylin and personally poured tea for him, her face full of gratitude.
It was evident that the opponents had come for the Ancient Blood Serpent Castle, and attacking Leylin was only an afterthought. If not for Leylin’s help, the six Crystal Phase Magi would have attacked together. The castle might not have been able to defend against such an abrupt attack, and there might have been colossal damages.
”That’s nothing much. Friends should help each other!” Leylin smiled.
”Just friends?” A gleam of disappointment shone across Freya’s face.
The sudden turn of the situation made Leylin feel somewhat awkward, and he tried to divert the conversation elsewhere, “Were any of the other guests present, they wouldn’t have stood the savage behaviour of those fugitives either!”
During the battle the previous day, other than Fein who had been taken captive by Leylin, all the five Crystal Phase Magi had perished. The announcement of those horrifying battle results had rendered many people speechless, and had caused a lot of commotion in the Ouroboros Clan headquarters.
The only captive, Fein, was naturally sent back to the headquarters. In the meanwhile, Leylin would have the lion’s share of the spoils of war.
Compared to Freya who had to look after her family clan, Leylin had much less pressing on his mind. Whatever he had acquired belonged to him alone, and he had indeed managed to get a huge sum. And there were even more surprises in store for him!
The only thing Leylin could not understand was why Freya did not invite the other guests to assist in subduing the opponents.
If only she had invited more high ranking Warlocks, Leylin would not have to be forced to reveal his true powers.
”Them…” Freya smiled wryly, and actually looked pitiful. Upon seeing her expression, Leylin immediately went silent, guessing what had happened.
Freya had definitely discarded quite a few people in the past, offending them while under the wings of a strong, protective mentor. At this point in time, those people most likely hoped for her to mess up.
Furthermore, there were many factions in Ouroboros Clan, and recently there had been immense tension between them. The environment had given rise to an unstable situation.
Power conflicts tended to be more horrifying than battles. Freya could not find even a single person she was confident would aid her.
”Is the situation already that bad?” Leylin stroked his chin.
”Yes. You’re the only one I trust now!” Freya’s eyes became red as she leant her head on Leylin’s shoulders.
”Wait a moment!” Leylin smiled wryly as he shook his head, “I can understand your need to rant. But what’s the point of placing mistletoe powder in the candle?”
The mistletoe was a cherished plant in the Magus world. Seen as a symbol of making love and giving birth, its powder was commonly used to make enticing medicine.
For Magi, it even had the mystical power of increasing impregnation rates, and hence was in excessive demand.
Freya held her breath as she sat in a corner. Her face did not reveal any sense of embarrassment, but was only tinged with anger.
Since she knew that Leylin was a Potions Grandmaster, and had techniques that could protect his seeds of life that even Miranda was unable to do anything about, she would naturally not make a forceful move, and instead leave obvious hints.
And yet Leylin acted like a fool. It infuriated her so much that she didn’t want to be near him.
”Master, news has arrived from headquarters!” At that moment, the gates opened and Julian walked in, something that resolved the awkward situation.
”No one here is an outsider. Go ahead!” Freya nodded. In front of others, she had reinstated her prestige.
Julian shot Leylin a glance. A sudden realisation flashed across his eyes, but his face remained solemn.
”According to the orders of the headquarters, Sir Leylin is to become an enforcer of the Ouroboros Clan, and will be in charge of patrolling all the regions under our control! He has the powers to attack any royals under the rank of Marquis. Even if it’s a Marquis, he has the rights to imprison them!”
”That…” Freya could not believe it, ”They just want to put you in a spot!” She could see through the intentions of such an arrangement by the high ranking officials.
”But I have no other choice, do I?” Leylin shrugged his shoulders.
”According to the orders from the headquarters, Marquis, you have to accept the appointment as soon as possible!”
Julian bowed slightly. The powers of an enforcer of the Ouroboros Clan would naturally be great, but if he was not mindful he could potentially offend many people. This did not bode well for Leylin’s future prospects
But since it was an order, it indicated that the internal affairs of the Ouroboros Clan were not too good, to the extent that they had to rely on Leylin to clean up the system.
‘From the looks of it, I’ll have to leave!’
Leylin got up and gave Freya a hug, “I’m going!”
”Mmm! I’ll be heading over to the headquarters to find Mentor some time soon as well. Please be careful!” Freya’s eyes actually did turn red this time round.
”Don’t worry! There are few people who can scheme against me now!” Leylin laughed with confidence.
……
Phosphorescence Swamp, within the Ouroboros Clan headquarters.
Gilbert’s living quarters were small and narrow like before. The walls on two sides even had some green mould growing on them.
If he had not been to the basement, even Leylin would not have believed that this was the residence of a Morning Star Magus.
Leylin saw Duke Gilbert in the study room, not a single strand of hair on his face or head.
”Mentor!” he respectfully bowed.
”Mmmm! You’ve actually advanced to the Crystal Phase! Not bad, not bad!” Gilbert nodded his head, his gaze scanning across Leylin’s body like a ray of lightning.
”I was just lucky!” Leylin obviously would not agree, and he pushed all the credit on to so-called luck.
Thankfully, Gilbert did not continue questioning him either. He held a goose hair pen and started writing on a piece of parchment paper, eventually leaving a marking on the paper using his own secret imprint.
”This is for you! From today, you are the enforcer of the Ouroboros Clan!”
Gilbert passed Leylin the freshly written appointment letter, and his face broke into a sarcastic laugh, “Our organisation has had some matters popping up internally lately. They require your attention!”
”Understood, Mentor!” Leylin let out a long deep sigh inside.
If this was in the past, Gilbert would obviously get to the bottom of things. Even though Leylin had prepared a corresponding response, he had not expected Gilbert to let things off so lightly.
looking at how Gilbert hadn’t even taken his armour off completely, Leylin’s heart throbbed. He asked, “About the Purgatory World…”
”Mmm! We have already discovered its direction, and we need only spend a bit more time to get its coordinates!” Gilbert’s eyes lit up, showing his celebratory mood.
”The thousand year search by the Ouroboros Clan will finally see an end! We only need to enter the Purgatory World before we Kemoyin Warlocks won’t have to worry about the problem of our bloodlines declining. There’s even the potential to break through the bloodline shackles and advance to a higher rank!”
Leylin remained silent and looked at his mentor who was beaming with joy, unable to bring himself to say a word.
He had the A.I Chip as his trump card, and the hopes of the Twilight Zone’s Icy World. He naturally wasn’t like the Ouroboros Clan Warlocks, who had a deeper understanding of the pains brought forth by the bloodline shackles.
From the looks of it, a thousand years of hope had caused Gilbert to finally drown himself in jubilation.
For the three Elders, all the battles were simply nonsensical. Even if the Ouroboros Clan was to perish, in front of the Purgatory World, it seemed to have no weight.
As a result, Gilbert had allowed him to pass the ordeal so easily.
”Alright, get down to doing it soon. You can seek help from Lucian and Robin if need be! I still have experiments to work on…”
Gilbert’s experiment was obviously very pressing. Even during his short conversation with Leylin, the secret imprint on his hands had lit up quite a few times. He eventually chased Leylin out, certainly on his way back to the laboratory.
God knows why, but upon seeing Gilbert like that, Leylin felt a sense of pressure.
Greed drove one to madness before it drove them to death. This was a maxim from his previous life, but one that was still applicable in the situation now.
Since war was about to break out, the few Morning Star Warlocks had actually couped themselves up at home, which resulted in their opponents brazenly taking up the offense.
Leylin smiled wryly internally, and yet had no solution to offer.
Since the Morning Star forces had chosen not to show their faces, it was hard for the subordinates to do anything, and now that Gilbert had actually passed on a portion of the authority to him, it was obviously a difficult task.
”Parker! Bring along my capable subordinates and rush to the headquarters quickly!”
Gilbert had only given him a position, but had not allocated any subordinates to him, which had rendered Leylin speechless.
Fortunately, within his own territory, he had nurtured a few talents, and now was the time he could put them to good use.
Kemoyin Warlock Marquises were like feudal lords in the Ouroboros Clan, and had many Warlocks seeking refuge from them. Should there be more time, Leylin could even build an elite Warlock team himself, which he believed would not be inferior to the Blood Serpent Organisation.
”As you wish, Master!” Parker’s voice from the secret technique imprint was firm and determined. He had obviously received some news already.
”Very good. I’ll be waiting for you in the manor!” After a few words, Leylin ended the call.
As a Marquis, he had a huge manor in the Ouroboros Clan headquarters. Even though the facilities could not measure up to that of the Magus Tower and Onyx Palace, it was sufficient for an ordinary high-ranking Warlock to use.
What’s more important was that the facilities were all complimentary, and Leylin did not have to pay a single penny!
As a result, Leylin had kept the manor and treated it as his residence in the headquarters.
After sending away the two Warlocks who were looking after things, he went into his bedroom and entered deep thought.
A while later, he waved his arms and numerous objects appeared. Many of them had terrifying magic powers. In an instant, the entire room started to glow.
Those were all his spoils of war. The opponents this time round were a bunch of Crystal Phase Magi who were relatively affluent. It had given Leylin a pleasant surprise.