"He's dead, and now all his belongings are mine, including the Legendary Creature's corpse he bought for a hefty price."

"Uh..." Carl said dryly, "Congratulations!"

"It might sound immoral to say this, but I won't lie to you, I'm genuinely happy," Bach shrugged. "My tutor Jin died on a forced mission. He had chosen a relatively easy target, but who could have expected him to still lose his life."

Carl nodded. Recently, quite a few Wizard Apprentices had died while carrying out missions, so he wasn't surprised.

"What about you?" he asked casually. "Did you complete your task?"

"I did," Bach said. "I have a friend who is skilled in the art of disguise. Together, we assassinated a Great Knight from Kolon."

The art of disguise? That too fell within the purview of Bloodline Magic. Knowing each other was normal.

"In a few days, I'm going to hold my tutor's funeral at the Swamp Alliance's public cemetery," Bach said. "You have to be there."

"Of course," Carl nodded. "I'll be there."

"By the way, what's the situation like in Kolon now? The allied forces on the front line must have taken the upper hand by now, right?"

"No!" Bach shrugged. "Quite the opposite, the defeat of the allied forces has accelerated."

"Hmm?" Carl looked surprised. "How is that possible?"

Although he wasn't optimistic about the allied forces, with Wizard Apprentices involved in assassinations, they should have had the advantage in the short term.

"It seems that Kolon has reformed its military," Bach said. "I have to say, the King of Kolon does have some ability. During his decades as the monarch, he has increased Kolon's strength manyfold. A single nation against several, yet they can still gain the upper hand."

"This reform has weakened the nobility's power, allowing commoners with military exploits to be promoted to great generals."

"If a regional leader is assassinated, his subordinates continue to step up as usual. This means our assassinations aren't very effective and might even allow some truly capable people to rise to prominence."

"Sigh!"

"But these things are no longer our concern."

Military reform? This King of the Kolong Kingdom is becoming more and more like a transmigrator, turning the tables even in this situation.

...

「Deep within the Black Swamp.」

A number of Official Wizards were gathered.

Marian, the sole disciple of the Grey Robed Wizard, stepped into the Wizard World seventy years ago. Now nearly eighty, her appearance remained young and beautiful.

"Tutor." She asked with curiosity, "Is this the Star Gate?"

The Star Gate wasn't a door, but a palm-sized ring engraved with dense runes. If examined closely with a magnifying glass, the runes would appear like gears interlocking with each other, forming an integrated whole. Incredibly intricate. However, there was a deep crack on this ring, obviously a damaged artifact.

"Yes." The Grey Robed Wizard, Adison, stated, his expression complex, "It is the Star Gate!"

"What a brilliant plan by the Master of Dawn. He wants to open the Star Gate. Maintaining its operation requires the sacrifice of a Second Order being. It can even leverage the Star Gate to suppress the Divine Power of the Black Swamp and get us to deal with Kolon for Him. Truly a multi-faceted gain."

Kill the Grey Robed Wizard! Suppress the Divine Power of the Black Swamp! Confront Kolon! And the price is only a damaged Witch Artifact.

But this trade was something the Swamp Alliance could not refuse.

"Tutor." Marian's expression changed as she asked, "Must we do this?"

"Yes." The Grey Robed Wizard, Adison, held the 'Star Gate' and slowly nodded. "The energy required to open it is immense, and sustaining its operation demands tremendous spiritual power."

"Besides me, no one else can do it."

"Respected Grey Robed Wizard," someone from below said, "Perhaps... we don't need to use the Star Gate if we can decipher its structure and construct one ourselves."

"Or we can fix it!"

"It's not that easy." The Grey Robed Wizard, Adison, shook his head. "The Star Gate is a Third-tier product, but the knowledge involved within it is of the Fourth-tier or even Fifth Order, beyond our current understanding."

"We have no other choice."

"Heh..." He chuckled lightly. "You need not be discouraged. Going to the Wizard World has been my lifelong wish. Even if I can't make it, it's good if you go in my stead."

"Besides, I haven't got much time left anyway."

As he spoke, he looked up towards a spot not far away. There, a tree towering over a hundred meters tall swayed gently in the wind.

BOOMING...

With a deafening roar, the great tree uprooted, revealing its withered roots.

The Wizards looked shocked. They knew very well what this meant: even though the giant tree seemed lush on the surface, it was already beginning to wither.

"To become a Second Circle Wizard, I've drained my life. I couldn't live much longer anyway," the Grey Robed Wizard, Adison, murmured. "If I pour my soul into the Star Gate, I might even hold on a little longer."

"So..."

"Let's begin!"

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