"You dare threaten me!"
The words had barely left Lancey's lips before she unleashed a brazen, cold-blooded assault.
Rumble!
A tempest of jagged icicles erupted from the air, hurtling toward the boy's position with lethal velocity. The sudden, intense drop in temperature caused the surrounding mist to evaporate instantly, exposing the small figure of 'Boy' cowering in a darkened corner of the woods.
"Are you crazy?!" the boy roared, his eyes bulging with outrage as he scrambled backward.
"You're the crazy one!" Lancey replied with a voice like cracking glaciers. Her hands took on a deep, crystalline blue hue as she lunged forward, her fingers hooking into savage claws.
[Spell Manifestation: Frigid Gale Claws]
Massive, translucent icy talons swept through the air, propelled by a howling grand wind. With the added potency of Lancey's 78% elemental essence conversion, the spell's intensity peaked at nearly 40 degrees of thermal devastation.
"F*ck!"
The boy barely managed to roll out of the direct path of the claws, but the shockwave tossed him aside like a ragdoll. Covered in dust and soot, his arrogant demeanor had shattered; he looked more like a panicked clown than a Dark Magus.
His face paled as he realized the truth: Virago was not just a name—her power far surpassed that of a typical semi-converted Magus. He had expected her to be a loyal dog once his blackmail was revealed, but she had instead chosen to tear his throat out.
Lancey didn't give him a moment to breathe. She channeled her mana into a high-tier water spell, [The Abyssal Torrent].
A massive, pressurized snake of water erupted from the earth, slamming into the boy's position with the force of a falling mountain. The impact was cataclysmic, shattering the stone beneath him and liquefying the soil.
Desperate, the boy tugged a strange, glowing pendant from his chest and slammed it into the ground, activating a high-grade protection scroll.
A golden dome shimmered into existence, but under the relentless pressure of Lancey's torrent, the barrier buckled and shattered in a shower of sparks. The scroll that should have saved him was reduced to charred parchment in seconds.
Lancey strode forward through the settling dust. She raised her hand, the Ring of Despots gleaming on her finger.
Seven small, venomous snakes emerged from the ring's pocket dimension, their bodies blurring as they lunged at the boy, biting deep into his limbs and pinning him to the earth.
"You… There are others who know!" the boy wheezed, blood leaking from the gaps in his teeth. "The moment I die, your identity will be—Argh!"
His threat was cut short by a vicious bite from one of the serpents. Lancey reached him and slammed her boot into his chest, forcing a fresh spray of blood from his mouth.
"Don't even think about blackmailing me, or you'll die a terrible death!" she hissed. "You think I'm afraid of exposure? My backing is not something your organization would easily offend for an insignificant insect like you!"
A dark, menacing aura radiated from her eyes—a reflection of the cold apathy she had learned from Leylin. The boy was shaken to his core. He realized he wasn't dealing with a typical Magus; she was a lunatic who dreaded nothing.
"Uh… I apologize! Please… forgive my offense!" his voice was garbled by blood, but his desperation was clear.
Lancey peered down at him with a look of clinical curiosity, making him feel as if he were staring into the maw of an imminent catastrophe. Suddenly, she retracted her foot and waved her hand, recalling the seven snakes into her ring.
The boy gasped for air, a sense of blessed, unexpected relief flooding his chest. He kept his head lowered, not daring to meet her gaze.
"Get lost! Tell the person backing you to speak to me directly!"
As the boy scurried away into the brush, Lancey's expression turned pensive. The scale of this secret plane was a feast that had lured even a Rank 2 Magus—the shadow operator behind the Thousand Meddling Leaves—out into the open. Behind that Rank 2 were undoubtedly larger Dark Magi organizations.
A few hours later, as night fell, Lancey sat by a small fire outside her tent. She swirled the Ring of Despots around her finger, watching the orange sunset fade into a black curtain.
Suddenly, a thick green fog began to emanate from the trees. Out of the haze stepped a figure known only as Giant.
"Giant?" Lancey asked, her voice neutral.
"We meet again, Magus Lancey. Boy has told me of his… indiscretion. He was overzealous. I apologize on his behalf," Giant said, his voice low and soothing.
In Nigtless city, Giant has lead various mission on behalf of Thousand Meddling Leaves, although Lancey never had any personal interaction with him, she has followed him in the past.
"Are you here to force a mission on me as well?" Lancey asked.
"Our goal is simple," Giant replied. "While you are within the internal unit of the Four Seasons Garden, you will provide us with intelligence. At the crucial moment, you will coordinate with us to destroy their defense formations. The organization treats contributors well—you will receive fifty percent of the profit from the targeted zones. We can even mediate the tensions between you and the Evans family."
"So, an undercover mole?" Lancey smirked. "And what of the contract I signed? I am bound by the Trial's Eye. If I betray the Garden, I face immediate judgment."
"That can be easily solved," Giant said, tossing a small bottle of grey solution toward her. "The Solution of Filthy Birds' Wings. It is a rare, extinct item from the 'Boss's' private collection. It will nullify your contract and blind the Trial's Eye to your actions."
Lancey caught the bottle, her heart racing with a hidden thrill.
'Finally. I can shed the skin of the Four Seasons Garden and work as a proper spy for my Lord.' She marveled at Leylin's foresight. He had deliberately calculated every move of both the Garden and the Thousand Meddling Leaves. To them, they were playing a high-stakes game of chess against each other, never realizing they were both merely pieces on her Master's board.