"I don't have time to play around with you anymore."
Vagnerd finally lost his patience and raised a hand with effortless ease.
Cloudkill.
A rolling tide of yellowish-green poisonous gas billowed forward. The players tried to disperse it with Gust of Wind, but the toxic cloud proved far too deadly. The barest graze caused their skin to fester and rot.
And when the yellowish-green poison engulfed them completely, even the players layered in protective spells melted away under the corrosive venom, reduced to mangled corpses in the blink of an eye.
Even the potted plant that Feitian Nüwu had turned into withered instantly upon touching the Cloudkill.
With that, the Magic Coin guild was wiped out entirely.
There was a vast gulf between wizards, and this was an absolute disparity in spellcasting power. Even the simplest Magic Missile differed like night and day between an archmage and an apprentice—which, translated into game mechanics, was spellcasting capability.
A legendary wizard's Magic Missile could bring down an adult dragon, whereas an apprentice's might fail to kill even a well-trained goblin.
The players were utterly dead, yet Vagnerd did not leave. Instead, he stood quietly in place, cautious as a true rationalist wizard and not in the least manic like the rumors claimed.
Half an hour passed, and he was still waiting.
A faint rustle came from the broken corpses. First, they dissolved into tiny particles of light, and then they vanished without a trace.
A faint blue glow flickered in Vagnerd's eyes, his expression turning solemn. "My divination spells saw nothing at all—only an endless void. This teleportation didn't even produce the slightest spatial ripple. It's as if..."
"They never belonged to this world in the first place."
"Behind these creatures calling themselves players, there must be a terrifying existence lurking..."
Vagnerd's voice was hoarse, and a sudden shiver ran through his body. A chilling gust blew inexplicably through the tower, snapping his black robes in the wind.
"Haha..."
"Hahahahaha! Once I truly master the dragon's might and claim that furious power, I'll drag every single one of you out!"
"When that day comes, not one of you will escape..."
His eyes burned with unbridled fanaticism, his hideous face trembling with excitement.
***
Inside the Council Hall of Northwind Keep.
The red dragon sprawled across the massive iron throne, his chest rising and falling with each breath, exhaling hot, sulfurous drafts at irregular intervals.
Under the unconscious radiating heat roiling within his body, the iron beneath him had turned a glowing reddish hue. Any ordinary person sitting there would have been roasted alive. Dense white smoke drifted through the Council Hall, and bubbling magma even threatened to burst up through the floor, as if a hellish purgatory were descending upon the mortal world.
Yet Cassius merely activated his Kingdom Domain. An invisible barrier enveloped the hall, smoothing out the violent fluctuations in the Weave. The restless fire elementals settled at once, the sweltering air cooled, and the infernal chamber returned to normal, leaving only dark gray slag where the magma had solidified.
"Phew, I almost lost control of my power again."
"I can't keep sleeping inside the city. I wonder how much longer until my palace is finished."
Cassius slowly opened his eyes, a flicker of relief showing in his golden pupils.
He had no desire to turn Northwind Keep into a magma-drenched purgatory on earth while he slept. After all, this place had become the political and economic heart of the entire Kingdom of Cinders. If it were suddenly destroyed, the blow would cut straight to the bone and deal a devastating setback to the realm.
A magic mirror beside him pulsed with light, though its aura was suppressed by the domain—Langpu was requesting an audience.
Cassius casually dismissed the Kingdom Domain over that section of the hall, and the ogre's hideous face materialized once more in the magical projection.
Langpu's expression was deeply respectful, tinged with gravity.
"My noble Master."
"What is it?"
"In accordance with your instructions, I issued investigation quests. Over the past few days, the Starfallen have ventured into that Tower of Polar Night multiple times, bringing back ample intelligence for the kingdom. The tower's location, garrison strength, exploration routes, and even Vagnerd's specific spell list... I have compiled all of it and am ready to present it to you immediately."
"On a side note, enlisting these fearless Starfallen was truly a stroke of genius on your part. If we had hired ordinary adventurers to explore such a forbidden place, the bounty would have cost upwards of thousands of gold coins. Yet by sending hundreds of these beings to their deaths, the kingdom has only paid out a negligible amount of 'Faction Contribution.'"
Langpu did not miss the opportunity to slip in some flattery alongside his report.
Hearing this, the lazy look in Cassius's eyes gave way to a hint of genuine interest.
"Come to the hall and report in person. It's about time we made our move."
"Yes, Master."
At the red dragon's command, Langpu cast his teleportation spell without hesitation. Amidst ripples in space, he emerged through a rift created by Dimension Door into the Council Hall.
Cassius had intentionally parted his Kingdom Domain to allow the ogre wizard inside.
Dropping to one knee before the red dragon, Langpu could not help but exclaim in admiration, "Master, this power of yours is unimaginably formidable. To my humble senses, this space felt as solid as forged steel. Ordinary spatial spells couldn't pierce it at all; I could barely pry open a gap the size of a palm."
Cassius did not reply, simply looking Langpu up and down.
The ogre wizard's frame remained as imposing as ever, but his dragon bloodline traits had grown even more pronounced.
Where he had once draped himself in a patchwork of various magical cloaks stitched together, Langpu had now fused them into a single garment. The crimson robe trailed nearly to the floor, shimmering with radiant dweomers that gave him a considerably more refined appearance.
What drew the eye most, however, was the ogre's peculiar ornament.
Hanging around his neck was a necklace strung with nine ghastly white skulls—a sight that would send shivers down an ordinary man's spine. It caused the corner of the red dragon's mouth to twitch slightly, stirring an odd sense of déjà vu.
*Did this bastard wander over from the Flowing Sand River or something...?* Cassius thought, somewhat at a loss for words.
Opening his interface, he saw names like Schroeder's Wisdom, Raul's Wisdom, and Valdra's Wisdom hovering over the skulls, most of them merely Rare or Uncommon in quality.
Recalling Langpu's unreserved reports from earlier, Cassius easily deduced where the skulls had come from.
Sure enough, before the red dragon could ask, Langpu took the initiative to explain.
"Master, after questioning those wizards, it was clear they harbored malicious intentions and sinister motives. I couldn't stomach it, so I killed them."
"Unfortunately, their brains were clearly not bright enough to produce such a perfect creation again. Even stacking them together doesn't yield an enhancement nearly as remarkable as the first time. Only Schroeder's skull proved somewhat useful."
Langpu's tone even held a trace of disappointment. After all, items like that were not so easily crafted.
Chapter 208