Chapter 121: Black Wizard

The light was far away, appearing only the size of a fingertip, yet it was sufficiently conspicuous in the darkness.

The three of them were momentarily stunned.

"Someone?" Luo Jie asked doubtfully, and Zuo Ertan was equally uncertain.

The light source did not move, remaining at the same spot, very stable. Lei En's vision was the strongest, allowing him to see that the light emanated from a distant building, a grand and towering structure, the most eye‑catching feature of the Throne Hall.

From the outside it appeared to be the Mola Ding Temple, Zuo Ertan's objective for this trip.

Lei En turned and said, "The light came from the temple; it seems someone arrived before us."

This situation was not particularly surprising; the Iron Beard Clan had left five teleportation arrays, Zuo Ertan had found only two, one was damaged, and the remaining three were likely controlled by others—someone teleporting in to search for treasure was almost inevitable.

Zuo Ertan, irritated, tugged at his red rooster‑crest hairstyle.

"We'll go over right away,"

The three advanced swiftly through the Throne Hall, soon nearing the temple, but instead of rashly revealing themselves they halted a few hundred meters away, concealed in the darkness.

Lei En pried his ears open to listen, while Luo Jie sniffed, trying to discern scents.

The two exchanged a glance, seeing surprise in each other's eyes.

"Only one person?" Luo Jie whispered.

Lei En nodded in confirmation; he too heard only a single heartbeat.

Under the sensing of the Truth Willpower, this individual radiated a strong magical aura; even at such a distance, Lei En could sense that the person was an active Element source, constantly emitting soul energy outward.

Strangely, the person's soul energy seemed somewhat chaotic and unstable.

"At least a High‑rank Wizard," Lei En judged.

A High‑rank Wizard posed little threat to the three of them, yet without knowing friend or foe, it was best not to meet him lightly.

"I'll go in first to assess the situation; you stay here,"

After speaking, Luo Jie activated Shadow Slip, his figure slipping into the darkness, silently creeping toward the temple.

Lei En could see Luo Jie stealthing, but could only pretend not to notice, his gaze fixed on the temple entrance, waiting patiently.

One minute later, Luo Jie reached the doorway.

At that moment, Lei En noticed faint magical energy flowing on the ground before the temple doors, extremely weak—so weak it had no offensive power, like a thin mist merging with the air, almost impossible to detect, which is why it hadn't been noticed earlier.

"Alarm Spell!"

Lei En recognized the spell, but there was no time to tell Luo Jie.

The Wizard who set up this Alarm Spell was skillful and vigilant, arranging multiple Alarm Spells side by side, leaving no gaps, and blending with the surrounding darkness.

Luo Jie's "Gosoren's Eye" granted night vision and sensitivity to corrupt energy and monsters, but he was not particularly adept in magic.

The moment he stepped into the Alarm Spell's range, Luo Jie's figure was forced to materialize.

He reacted instantly, stepping back a few paces, slipping back into the shadows, and remained stationary.

"Who?"

A cold voice came from within the temple.

Then a tall, thin silhouette emerged, appearing to be a man in his thirties, clad in a light‑blue robe, wielding a black staff, his gaze scanning the darkness.

From afar, Lei En activated his Soul Eye, observing the man.

However, when he saw clearly, his expression subtly shifted.

The man truly was a High‑rank Wizard, a seventh‑level Elementalist, possessing over twenty Law Seals in his soul, his power far surpassing Wizards of the same rank.

"Black Wizard!"

Lei En immediately discerned the Wizard's true identity.

The Black Wizard is not a sect nor a specialization; it refers to evil Wizards who kill other Transcendents, harvest their souls, strip the Elements from those souls to forge Law Seals, and then merge them into their own souls.

Humans fuse with demonic souls to become Transcendents.

The Wizard was the first Transcendent profession to arise among humans; soon, Wizards discovered that the souls of other Transcendents could be reutilized.

Although the Transcendent's soul could not be directly fused, the Arcane Elements within the soul could be extracted.

Moreover, these Arcane Elements were carefully selected, carrying the victim's soul energy; after merging, one's own soul energy rose rapidly, eliminating the need for arduous meditation.

This provided easy acquisition of Elements and a boost in power.

Under such a great temptation, Wizards inevitably took reckless risks, targeting other Transcendents.

For some Wizards, hunting Transcendents was even easier than hunting demonic souls.

Especially for spell‑casting professions, killing a single target could yield many Arcane Elements, an efficiency countless times greater than hunting demonic souls.

Yet it was not without repercussions.

The Elements stripped from a Transcendent's soul not only carried soul energy, but also the Transcendent's mental Willpower, fused with the Elements, never to be erased.

The Black Wizard's fusion of others' Elements initially had little effect.

As time passed and more Elements merged, Willpower interference grew increasingly severe, with conflicting Willpowers from different sources clashing, worse than demonic soul conflicts.

Over time, the Black Wizard's own soul energy became polluted, leading to mental disorder.

Even relatively stable Black Wizards unconsciously underwent drastic personality changes, becoming extreme in behavior, even developing split personalities.

Many Black Wizards revealed their identity due to mental instability.

The Black Wizard is the public enemy of Transcendents; once exposed, they can never be accepted, and if they manage to escape, they ultimately become followers of an evil deity.

"No wonder the temple's Wizard's soul energy felt unstable earlier; it was a Black Wizard,"

Lei En's mind cleared.

In his Soul Eye, the Black Wizard's over twenty Arcane Elements were mostly plundered; they resembled soul fragments, ill‑fitting with the Black Wizard's soul, merely forced into assimilation.

The most surprising thing was that the Black Wizard's soul was shrouded by black‑red flames of faith.

"Luo Xi's follower!"

Lei En was speechless; wherever he went, he kept encountering followers of deceivers.

I don't know what relationship this black Wizard has with Ying Ren?

Thinking of Ying Ren's old lair on Brent Street, with its hidden secrets, he suddenly felt something was off—could it be that the "Sword of Oath" also contains a teleportation array leading into the fortress?

At that moment, the black Wizard, not seeing the one who triggered the alarm spell, said in a deep voice:

"Marish, if you have something to say, speak quickly, don't delay my rune research."

Hearing this, Lei En felt a sinking in his heart; evidently the black Wizard had companions in the fortress, but he didn't know where they had gone.

A companion who could become a Luoxi follower is, in all likelihood, a Ying Ren assassin.

Luo Jue, who was shadow‑dodging, gave no response.

The black Wizard immediately sensed the anomaly, his gaze becoming wary, and he began casting a spell at once.

In Lei En's eyes, an Arcane Element within the black Wizard's soul lit up, about to be activated by soul energy—it was the Third Ring's "Insight Technique".

Insight Technique is the caster's best means against invisible enemies.

The black Wizard's casting speed was extremely fast, completing in half a breath, nearly instant.

But Luo Jue's speed was even greater.

Before the black Wizard could use Insight Technique to locate the enemy, a long sword with a crimson blade materialized from the darkness, its red light revealing the silhouette of a Demonkin, moving at extreme speed—almost as soon as it appeared, it surged forward.

"Demonkin…"

The black Wizard's eyes widened in shock, sensing the enemy's great power.

Instinctively, he jolted his staff, activating an enchantment; a layer of black oil sprayed from the void in a conical area, coating the ground before him and becoming very slick.

This was the Second Ring's "Oil Slick Technique", which can cause anyone who runs into the area to slip, making even standing up difficult.

Luo Jue was very experienced in dealing with casters; his left hand had already formed a seal.

As soon as the Oil Slick spread across the ground, "Ice Roar" was released immediately after.

Boom—, the icy force erupted beneath his feet, covering the Oil Slick; most of the oil was blown away, and the remaining part froze solid, losing its slick effect.

At the same time, the unseen strike force of Ice Roar also struck the black Wizard.

A layer of icy shield expanded around the black Wizard, withstanding the attack; he remained unflustered, shook his staff again, and calmly cast a spell.

However, this time it was too late.

Luo Jue, stepping on the frozen ground, had already charged forward; the long sword was within arm's reach.

Such speed completely surprised the black Wizard; helpless, he could only escape by using Flash.

Flash belongs to Arcane magic, and is a must‑have spell for virtually every Mid‑stage and above Wizard; to create distance from an enemy, nothing is more practical than Flash.

Moreover, Flash's casting time is extremely short, and many Wizards can cast it instantly.

The black Wizard's mind shifted, about to use Flash, when he suddenly saw the Demonkin's left hand forming a seal to cast, as if imbued with a mysterious power that slowed his thoughts, his gaze blank, forgetting what he intended to do.

By the time he recovered his senses, it was already too late.

The long sword, like a red‑hot blade cutting into butter, shattered the icy shield in an instant; the blade flashed from his waist, ending the battle.

The black Wizard did not die instantly; he looked down at his waist, his face turning deathly pale.

He could not believe that he had been killed so quickly.

The entire combat lasted less than five seconds; he still had many techniques he hadn't used, his eyes filled with boundless resentment.

"You…"

The black Wizard raised his finger at Luo Jue, uttered a single word, and his upper body slanted and slid down, splitting into two corpse halves.

Luo Jue let out a faint hum, expressionless, as if he had done something trivial.

Lei En and Zuo Ertan hurried over.

"Whoa, killed him that fast," Lei En felt anxious.

He was too far away; just as he reached the midway point, he watched the black Wizard's soul fly out of the corpse, then dissipate.

What a waste……

If one could absorb that soul, raising one's power to Level Five would be more than enough.

Lei En felt helpless, yet could not blame Luo Jue, only resenting his own slow reaction.

The black Wizard was a Seventh‑level Elementalist, very powerful, but when facing a legendary Demonkin—an expert with extremely rich combat experience—being killed in a single encounter was entirely normal.

Next time we must stay close to Master Luo Jue, lest this tragedy happen again.

Soon, he and Zuo Ertan were both outside the temple.

"Why did you suddenly act and kill him?" Zuo Ertan asked oddly; his vision in the darkness was far worse than Lei En's, so he couldn't see the situation clearly.

"He's a black Wizard," Luo Jue replied simply.

The black Wizard's spirit was unstable, his soul energy fluctuations chaotic; many sensory‑sharp supernaturals, even without being able to directly observe souls like Lei En, could discern his identity with the naked eye.

Luo Jue had spotted it at a glance earlier, so he acted without hesitation.

Zuo Ertan's complexion changed; he had also heard of the notorious black Wizard.

However, neither of them knew that this black Wizard was a Luoxi follower; Lei En reminded, "He still has companions in the fortress; we must be careful."

Luo Jue nodded, his gaze sweeping the darkness.

"Let's go in first and discuss later."

Zuo Ertan led the way into the temple.

Lei En lifted the black Wizard's corpse and gear, and followed inside.

This was the temple of Moradin, god of forging and craftsmanship; the whole structure was built from massive stones, square pillars supporting the dome. Upon entering the gate, a grand hall unfolded before the eyes, square pillars neatly arranged on both sides, and at the far end stood a statue of Moradin dozens of meters tall—looking up made one feel tiny.

In the four corners of the temple interior floated several light orbs the size of heads.

This was the black Wizard's Light Technique.

The hall contained rows upon rows of stone seats, capable of seating two to three thousand people.

One can imagine how magnificent the scene once was, with countless dwarves packed inside, praying together to Moradin under the priest's guidance.

Thousands of years have passed, and dust fills the temple; many statues and seats have collapsed.

Zuo Ertan puts down the metal box on his back, walks step by step to the foot of the statue, kneels halfway, and begins a devout prayer.

Lei En and Luo Jie do not disturb him.

Seeing Zuo Ertan's silhouette, Lei En can't help but feel sorry for the dwarf.

The statue bears no divine aura, and Zuo Ertan's prayer receives no response; the fire of faith in his soul is like a candle in the wind, ready to go out, and the faint power of belief it generates is not received.

This is the condition that occurs only when a deity has fallen.

According to legend, even a fallen deity can revive one day if enough believers persist in long prayers, gathering divine power.

But judging from the signs on the statue, Mo La Ding is probably completely hopeless.

Perhaps Zuo Ertan's faith is very firm, but a single believer is insufficient; clearly the other dwarves have long abandoned prayers to Mo La Ding.

When the three dwarf gods once stood, Mo La Ding fell, the mightiest chief god Ha Ma Er fell into slumber, leaving only the dwarf warrior god Ge Lin Mu Ni Er to still protect the dwarves.

Now the overwhelming majority of dwarves are followers of Ge Lin Mu Ni Er.

Dwarves like Zuo Ertan who still worship Mo La Ding are a handful, destined for futile effort.

After the prayer ends, Zuo Ertan stands up and only then begins searching the temple.

He walks around from the statue's foot into the back of the temple.

Here stand tall stone tablets, each engraved with dwarf script and numerous rune patterns. At the base of the tablets a massive formation is etched, protecting the characters from erosion; every glyph remains clear.

"I knew it, the temple must preserve rune knowledge," Zuo Ertan says, standing beneath a tablet, tears streaming down his face.

Lei En and Luo Jie are both pleased for him.

After the excitement, Zuo Ertan discovers a thick scroll beneath a tablet; the ink is still wet, and the copied content is exactly the rune knowledge from the tablets.

Obviously, this is something left by the black Wizard.

Zuo Ertan flipped through the scroll and said, "That black Wizard saved me a lot of work; he has already copied most of the knowledge. I only need half a day and should be able to finish it."

He immediately begins work, immersing himself in the rune knowledge.

Lei En and Luo Jie both step back out.

In the temple hall, after searching the black Wizard's corpse, Luo Jie suddenly says, "The black Wizard's accomplice should be on the upper levels; I'll go up to investigate."

"I'll go with you," Lei En replies immediately.

(End of chapter)