Conclusion

What followed next was the most valuable loot this time around. Leylin looked at the pile of items in front of him with a blank expression.

There were a few broken items, a dagger that had been broken into half, the remnant of a silver palm, and an incomplete silver necklace with lightning flashing from time to time.

The 3 acolytes who died under Leylin's hands were the future Magi of the enemy academies, so how could they not have magic artifacts on them?

It was a pity, however, that the broken dagger from Biol was only used to summon the aura of the abyss, and Leylin was still unable to figure out how the other items were meant to be used.

As for Silver-Claw Saurun, he was a deviant who actually infused the magic artifact into his own palm. Leylin could only chop the whole palm down, to try to separate the various properties in the magic artifact.

And with Torash, the magic artifact on him had also been destroyed when it came into contact with the Flaming Cloud of Afterlife.

The probing of magic artifacts was an extremely dangerous task. Before further information, Leylin did not dare to risk and use these items. Moreover, who knows if there were some booby traps laid within the magic artifacts by the enemy. Thus, Leylin felt that he should be cautious.

If he discovered that they might cause trouble to him, no matter how much Leylin was reluctant to part with them, he would still toss these valuable items away within this secret plane.

After all, he did not particularly wish for an official Magus to notice and/or target him.

In regards to the Pilis-Duwasha Emblem he looted off Jayden, Leylin had immediately discarded it since it had been completely drained of its energy. Yes, it may have been a powerful artifact to possess. However, this emblem was given to Jayden by Professor Dorotte.

As for Dorotte, he was an official Magus in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, and was reputed as the strongest individual in the whole faculty. If Leylin snatched an enemy's magic artifact and hid in the academy, he might be safe. But if he took Jayden's, then Leylin wouldn't be able to stay in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy anymore, unless he wished to risk being found out by Dorotte.

During the academy's critical moments, if the news that he was still causing harm to fellow acolytes got out, then Leylin's name would be equivalent to a despised street rat in the Magus World. He would not lose his reputation for such a meager benefit.

Once he had killed Jayden, Leylin had made sure to erase any traces of his involvement, and he made it seem as if the acolyte had died from the wounds sustained in the battle against Torash. In regards to the possibility of having been observed by any of the academies from outside the secret plane, Leylin doubted it would actually be so.

In order to preserve the 'equal footing' of each party in the Bloodbath, the Lighthouse of the Night would oversee the event, but they would prevent the warring academies from doing so. The logic behind that? Obviously, either of the factions would seek revenge for their fallen geniuses should they be killed.

This would in consequence deter any acolyte from aiming at the top fighters, rendering the Bloodbath useless as it would become a matter of who had the most cannon fodder to spare. Under the current set of rules, only he who dared present the badge of a fallen acolyte would be in danger of retaliation.

Perhaps Leylin was betting too much on his deduction, but Jayden was already dead, so there was that. And he already had a plan to get away with the rewards from killing Torash and the others with minimal chance of failure.

'There is also this…'

Leylin flicked his hands, and two differently-shaped badges appeared in his hands. One was white in color and the other was red.

Naturally, these were the badges of Saurun and Biol. Albeit inferior to that of Torash, they were still worth at least 60 to 80 contribution points.

'At first, I'll just hold onto these. If I'm able to find other badges in the remaining time, then I shall exchange these for nameless badges.'

These two badges were Leylin's insurance. If he was able to collect other badges in the secret plane to accumulate the other contribution points he needed for the rewards, then he wouldn't turn them in. After all, it would be an unnecessary risk to take.

However, if the contribution points were not enough, then Leylin had no choice, and could only hand over one or even both of them.

As for Torash, Leylin felt that his strength was of great importance to his academy and the person backing Torash would have spent enormous efforts in nurturing him. But he trusted his instincts about Chairman Siley probably backing him up. It was certainly a gamble, but it was one he was willing to take if it meant reaching the next stage in his cultivation.

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|

Two full more days passed.

The wilderness found outside the secret plane was lit up with a bright yellow color. From time to time, there were gusts of wind blowing granules of sand, and the living organisms on the ground avoided this place at all costs — even the moles and ants were not an exception.

The entrance to the secret plane was slowly shrinking as if it were a live animal.

Outside of the entrance, the 3 chairmen and all the professors looked at the entrance that was constantly glowing with varying colors and had different expressions on their faces.

Siley looked at the silver hourglass floating in midair. On the upper half of the hourglass, beads of golden sand trickled downwards, finally leaving behind a thin layer.

With the passing of time, the final golden bead of sand trickled downward.

"The time is up. Let us receive our acolytes." Siley opened his mouth and spoke in a low tone.

"Are you anxious?" Guru, who was at the side, smirked. "Every minute that passes, one more acolyte in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy will be slain. Their heads will become the glory of my Sage Gotham's Hut and hung on our large gates…"

"At this moment, the secret plane might no longer have any more Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolytes. We all know that once the acolytes from our two academies have gathered, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy's acolytes would be meat on a chopping board for us to slice, and is not even equivalent to a lamb."

The other blonde woman smiled, but her smile was quite malicious.

"Nicola, you still can't let it go?" -Finally, a trace of expression surfaced on Siley's face, and it seemed to be… regret.

"I have long since forgotten the matters from the past." The female blonde woman Nicola said with a frosty expression.

"You can seek revenge for old matters, but once you are bent on destroying my beloved academy that I succeeded as a professor, then know that you will be my eternal nemesis." -Siley's face gradually hardened too.

"Haha… Haha… You are still as arrogant as before, thinking that you are the main character of some novel, whom the earth would revolve around indefinitely. However, such an expression makes me want to puke." -Said the blonde woman as her eyes appeared to emit flames. "I want to destroy your life's work, destroy the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy. Even if there is the Lighthouse of the Night mediating this time, there is still the next time…"

"Earlier you stopped me and Siley from fighting, but why is it that you can't endure it now?" Guru at the side interrupted Nicola.

"My reason for stopping you was because I want to take action myself!" Nicola's maniacal look grew even stronger.

"Enough!" -A dense black cloud descended and covered the sky in an instant.

Amidst the darkness, there was a bright yellow light that came from within, revealing a figure that was wrapped in black robes.

"My Lord!" The three chairmen bowed.

They were only Rank 2 Magus, yet this person in front of them was a true rank 3 Magus. Every level in the Magus World had an obvious difference such as the one between the sky and earth.

Previously, it was this 'Master' that suppressed the 3 of them to mediate the war.

"Since my Lighthouse of the Night has already stepped in, any conflicts that arise henceforth are deemed as a provocation to us! And so it shall remain as long as the contract and date are still effective."

The black-robed man had a pair of dark green eyes. No matter if it was Siley or the other 2 chairmen, if these eyes landed on them, they would shudder as if being trapped by some magical beast.

This feeling of imminent death finally brought Nicola out of her madness.

"Now, activate the spell formation, and receive the acolytes within the secret plane."

"Yes, my Lord!" -The three chairmen replied dutifully.

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|

Back in the secret plane, a sudden and violent fiery explosion erupted. It set the acolytes behind Leylin on fire, turning them into ashes.

Leylin's footsteps did not stop as he continued to escape.

"It's him who killed Seet, Kroc, and Old Eagle, don't let him escape!"

Behind him, parties of Sage Gotham's Hut and Whitewoods Castle acolytes were formed, a standard party of seven, which continuously gave chase.

Leylin's pursuers gradually drew closer.

He casually flung another two explosive potions, where flames continuously extended behind him.

The acolytes yelled and Leylin drew a longer distance from them. He clicked his tongue.

After killing the 3 acolytes previously, Leylin began his hunting again.

At first, it was a rather smooth sailing, where he collected another level 3 acolyte's badge. This time, he specifically chose those who were rather old or those with no powerful items on them. They were those who seemed not able to advance further and had no strong backing behind them.

During the latter half of the second day, all of the enemy camp acolytes had already gathered and deployed group spell formations.

All of them were performed by level 2 or 3 acolyte groups. If their numbers were sufficient, even a Rank 1 Magus had to seek retreat temporarily.

Leylin had no choice, so he could only conceal himself and stop his hunt. He did not want to unleash his powers as he had done earlier.

With the help of Aralis' detection, he managed to successfully hide until this day.

Things went according to how he had predicted. After the acolytes had gathered, they formed smaller squadrons and made a thorough search of the secret plane. They maintained a posture of absolute hostility.

Many Abyssal Bone Forest Academy acolytes were immediately killed, and under the opponent's immense pressure, they could not resist.

Leylin even saw a level 3 acolyte who carried a magic artifact, but that acolyte could only survive for a few more minutes under the spell formation. Afterward, he was ripped to shreds by the countless Rank 0 spells that were directed at him. Even the magic artifact became the trophy prize for his opponents.

Leylin could only laugh at this and cover his tracks even more.

Fortunately, the methods of magicians were extremely strange, and the opponents were only two academies who could not completely be harmonious amongst themselves. This gave the acolytes of Abyssal Bone Forest Academy a chance for survival.

After Leylin estimated that time was almost up, he immediately ambushed a small party, since he was one badge short of his goal.

According to his estimation, once he killed the opponents, then the time would be up, and he would then be teleported out and not need to face the group's counterattack.

Of course, Leylin wouldn't expect that the time would be delayed due to the enmity of the chairmen, which resulted in an error in his calculations.

After killing one of the level 3 acolytes, he was immediately surrounded and attacked.

'The Fallen Star Pendant's energy was fully consumed the last time and I have not recharged it. If not I could have escaped long ago...'

Leylin gritted his teeth and gave an order. 'Aralis, trace my surrounding geographical area and determine the best retreat route!'

[Task established…]

Along with the A.I.'s indication, Leylin began to make various unexpected ducking movements amidst the dense forest, slowly pulling the distance further away from the pursuing acolytes.

[You have officially escaped, Doctor. The enemy has taken their pursuit away from your current position.] -Aralis reported.

After running for over a dozen miles and shaking off his pursuers, Leylin suddenly felt dizzy, and the badge pinned to his chest glowed resplendently.

'The teleportation spell was finally activated. Those chairmen sure took their sweet time...'