One morning, a piece of news broke that shattered the established power structure and hierarchy of the entire South Coast.
The whispers that traveled through the hidden valleys and obsidian towers carried a singular, revolutionary name: Astral Requiem.
Overnight, it became an unbelievable reality that this dominant, rapidly ascending group was backed by an elusive Rank 3 Magus powerhouse.
The catalyst for this revelation had occurred a mere three days prior.
A faction of Magi had attempted to forcefully breach the defenses of the Astral Requiem headquarters.
At the lead of this ill-fated raid was Magus Riley, a prominent Rank 2 magus and direct disciple of a revered Rank 3 Magus.
The defensive arrays of the castle had neutralized the invaders with terrifying efficiency, resulting in the immediate arrest of the entire group.
Riley's execution was only stayed when a high-level spiritual clone of his Rank 3 master personally personally visited the Requiem to demand his release.
It was during this tense confrontation that the clone supposedly identified the true, crushing depth of the Requiem Lord's strength.
In reality, it was Leylin operating in deep disguise. Utilizing his control over the ambient energy grid, Leylin had expertly harnessed the raw, foundational power of the pocket dimension through the Secret Plane Builder's Book.
He wove an illusion of magical authority so flawless that it completely fooled the visiting clone into believing he was staring directly into the eyes of a supreme Rank 3 peer.
As the rumors solidified into perceived facts, a massive tide of wandering Magi and independent acolytes began taking a profound interest in the organization. The reasons were entirely obvious.
Astral Requiem had carved out a legendary reputation for maintaining relative neutrality, refusing to align with either the tyrannical Dark Magi or the hypocritical Light Magi factions.
Furthermore, the organization's history demonstrated a fierce, unyielding protectiveness over its members, paired with luxurious cultivation conditions that made many outsiders deeply jealous of the lucky few who had joined the ranks early on.
For those who wished to completely remove themselves from the toxic, bloody quagmire of Magi politics and instead quietly perfect their craft, the Requiem had become the ultimate sanctuary.
Sensing the shifting winds, the established powerhouses of the South Coast immediately altered their diplomatic attitudes.
The independent factions and mid-tier groups that had previously engaged in territorial skirmishes with the Requiem scrambled to appease the strained interactions, offering treaties to smooth over past grievances.
The rulers of these organizations were long-lived and calculating; they had no desire to offend Astral Requiem for no reason, terrified that pushing them too hard would simply drive this new behemoth to join hands with their bitter rivals.
The lifespans of official Magi were exceptionally long, making them highly tolerant of those who stood at an equal level of power, preferring a harmonious coexistence over mutual destruction.
Previously, the Requiem had been viewed as a Rank 2 organization, with only rumours of a rank 3 backing, Requiem was an existence incapable of creating waves strong enough to alert the true ruling class, but that naive paradigm was gone forever.
Oddly enough, such monumental news would traditionally remain a closely guarded secret, whispered only within the high-class chambers of the elite.
Contrary to that, however, the terrifying strength of the organization was heavily publicized, and advertised across every trade hub.
Combined with the massive concentration of the Magi community drawn to the local Secret Plane, the news spread like a wildfire ripping through dry brush.
Standing at the center of these public accounts was the name of Leylin Farlier. He was widely hailed as a once-in-a-generation genius who had completed his primary studies within the Abyssal Bone Forest, successfully breaking through to become an Official Magus before the age of twenty.
The public now recognized him as the second-in-command of the Requiem, as well as the sole, student of the mysterious Rank 3 guardian.
Upon hearing the news, the leadership of the Abyssal Bone Forest was thrown into a state of beyond-euphoric pride.
They instantly published proclamations boasting of his graduation from their academy to bolster their own political standing.
To further honor his lineage, the academy directors immediately promoted Leylin's former mentor, Professor Kroft, to the esteemed position of Vice-Chairman of the academy. This massive elevation in status finally granted the old alchemist access to premium research materials and opened boundless opportunities for his future endeavors.
Another individual who benefited immensely from Leylin's meteoric rise was George Bosain, his old companion from his early travels.
While studying quietly within the Ennea Ivory Ring Tower, George was suddenly approached by Magus Julian, a Three-Wings member of the Requiem.
Julian's intervention was deliberate; months earlier, Lady Evans had privately warned him that a certain commoner acolyte within the Ivory Tower shared a personal friendship with Lord Leylin.
She had explicitly commanded Julian to ensure the boy was never accidentally caught in the crossfire of double-agent operations Julian regularly launched against Light Magi strongholds under his Night Crows cover.
The moment Leylin's public identity was unleashed, Julian swiftly contacted George, offering to personally refer him to the Astral Requiem so he could secure some contribution merits.
Because acolytes studying under any foundational institute were never bound by restrictive soul contracts, switching academies carried no severe legal repercussions, only minor moral gossip.
After a few brief days of deliberation, George packed his belongings and officially joined the Astral Requiem as a One-Wing member.
Two years passed in relative tranquility, the seasons shifting without shifting the overall trajectory of the region.
While the number of regular Magi and acolytes swearing allegiance to the Astral Requiem increased steadily, the inner circle of the martial forces remained strictly exclusive.
The number of Saint Knights was capped, with Leylin showing no intention of adding anyone else to their ranks.
In stark contrast, through the alchemical assistance of the Rank 2 Magus Armani Greenwood, the numbers of their specialized Bloodline Knights experienced an explosive surge.
Utilizing the extensive data Leylin had compiled during his rigorous research on Ivy Langster, they successfully developed a refinement process that extended the corroded lifespans of these mutated warriors to a stable four to five years.
Under Leylin's experimentation, Ivy was consistently fed high-grade potions synthesized from the fossilized flesh of the Thousand Eyes Starfish which he had plundered from the Four Seasons Garden vault.
The ancient creature's flesh contained an unimaginably rich concentration of pure, unadulterated life energy.
Paired with the rare bloodline crystals Leylin graciously expended on her training, Ivy's bloodline purity crossed a monumental threshold, her abilities shattering all previous martial limits.
Through his observations of her evolution, Leylin systematically classified the progression of the knight forces into three distinct evolutionary stages:
The first stage was Rune Attunement, where a warrior successfully mastered their branded symbols and fully activated their baseline life force. Every standard Saint Knight and newly initiated Bloodline Knight operated at this level.
While the Bloodline Knights possessed vastly superior physical strength due to their integration with creatures, they suffered from a severely compromised lifespan caused by the constant elemental corrosion of the foreign blood inside their veins.
The second stage was Spiritual Convergence, a highly advanced threshold where a knight successfully learned to cultivate their internal spiritual force, systematically weaving it into perfect alignment with their physical life force.
The third and final stage was Sentient Synthesis. At this peak level, the dual energies of spirit and life force permanently merged to forge an entirely new, highly volatile energy known as Sentient Force.
The manifestation of this energy granted a knight a remarkable, explosive multiplication of strength, allowing a pure martial warrior to directly match the combat capabilities of a Peak Rank 1 Magus.
Having fully integrated the Starfish essence, Ivy successfully ascended to become a Stage 2 Bloodline Knight, hovering mere steps away from the boundary of Stage 3.
Leylin was already actively formulating the blueprints for her next theoretical evolution: a Blood Sovereign.
Recognizing her power, she was officially promoted to command the Earth Dragons division of the RebelHearts.
Yet, what truly shook the South Coast over the past year was not the structural growth of the knights, but the brutal actions of Leylin Farlier himself who has publically announced an attainment of Rank 2 magus status.
Moving like a phantom across the territories, Leylin systematically initiated a bloody crusade, slaughtering a massive chunk of the existing Magus populace.
Entire ancient families were completely wiped from the face of the earth as he hunted down every single faction that had previously held a grievance against him or Requiem .
The relentless slaughter entirely decimated and reshaped the social paradigm of the old Magi lineages. Although his unilateral violence deeply offended both the Light and Dark Magi organizations, they looked at the mountain of headless corpses, remembered the rumored Rank 3 master backing his play, and collectively decided to keep completely mum, quietly settling for the economic benefits his trade routes provided.
The definitive display of his dominance occurred when he personally attended a high-stakes auction hosted by the Iron Crown.
The Iron Crown was a powerful, independent council formed entirely from the unification of powerful wandering Magi.
Together, they had seized control of the neighboring territories and successfully maintained administrative authority over a medium-scaled secret plane. Even though their pocket dimension could not be compared to the large-scale magnificence of the Four Seasons Garden, a medium-tier plane was still an extremely rare, precious jewel.
The existence of the Iron Crown acted like a blazing torch in the dark, constantly attracting wandering Magi and desperate acolytes from every corner of the South Coast.
Leylin had entered the grand trading event in disguise, using his limitless reserves of wealth to casually outbid the competition, buying every rare material that caught his eye before purchasing an ancient alchemy volume rumored to have been excavated from the depths of the Abyss.
In truth, Leylin's knew that this entire auction was an elaborate, lethal sting operation orchestrated by the Light Magi.
Their goal was to trap Alistair, a rogue Rank 2 Magus who had recently slaughtered his own companions to steal priceless treasures from a Secret Plains.
The specific bait the Light Magi utilized to lure him out of hiding was a vial containing the Extract of a Wisdom Tree.
The mythical Wisdom Trees possessed the vast intelligence of an enlightened Magus, and their refined extract carried the miraculous property of permanently expanding one's spiritual force.
When paired with other high-tier treasures during a breakthrough bottleneck, its efficacy was unparalleled.
In reality, Leylin did not fundamentally require such an item to progress his own cultivation; his deep foundations allowed him to steadily accumulate power without artificial aids.
However, he was well aware that if he combined the extract with the specialized wooden cup crafted from the bark of that same Wisdom Tree—which Alistair had previously stolen—the dual artifacts would drastically shorten his accumulation time to reach his next breakthrough.
He had purposely refrained from hunting Alistair down earlier simply because he knew both items would inevitably converge at this exact trading event.
Why waste effort tracking two separate targets across the continent when they were bound to deliver themselves to the same room?
The moment the auction reached its climax, the trap was sprung, and all hell broke loose inside the grand hall.
The hiding Rank 2 Light Magi lunged from the shadows, intent on tearing Alistair to pieces.
However, the rogue Magus had anticipated the betrayal, recieving reinforcement from a Rank 3 Dark Magus named Fedlan.
In an unbelievable escalation that stunned the audience, the Light faction immediately deployed their own hidden powerhouse, a Rank 3 Magus, Hoduke.
The two Rank 3 titans instantly pitted their strengths against one another. Fedlan took full advantage of to launch a ruthless attack against Hoduke.
While the world outside his viewing box dissolved into an absolute cataclysm of elements, Leylin simply chilled in his private room, swirling wine in a glass as he watched the apocalyptic confrontation with a calm, analytical gaze.
Amidst the screaming chaos, Alistair successfully managed to break through the initial perimeter, fleeing into the wilderness with the Wisdom Tree extract and the wooden cup, a desperate tail of powerful pursuers screaming closely behind him.
Setting his glass down, Leylin silently melted into the shadows, joining the fray from the rear.
His current speed following his breakthrough to the Peak Rank 2 level, Elemental Authority was nothing short of monstrous, not even the trailing Rank 3 Magi could easily track.
Becoming thoroughly bored by the repetitive, sloppy spellcasting of the combatants, Leylin decided to bring the farce to an end.
Single-handedly, he initiated an absolute massacre. Moving like a god of death through the forest, he systematically executed every single pursuer.
This included the entire council of the Thirteen Sages of the Iron Crown, completely eradicating the core of their faction along with their specialized ancient inheritance warriors, the Steel Knights.
Without a hint of hesitation, he went on to slaughter Alistair, before turning his blade to execute Jajone the beloved, son of the Rank 3 Magus, Lord Eric.
The terrifying demonstration sent shockwaves through the survivors. The community was left gaping in absolute horror at the fact that Leylin Farlier was not merely a young genius playing at politics, but a formidable, lethal powerhouse capable of reshaping a battlefield by his own hand.
He had slaughtered three veteran Rank 2 Magi and multiple Peak Rank 1 combatants in a matter of minutes, intentionally leaving only his former academy chairman, Siley, alive to crawl back and tell the tale.
The name of Leylin Farlier resonated far and wide, transcending his previous reputation. Before this event, he was viewed merely as an important individual due to the political weight of his alleged backing; now, he was recognized as a force of nature in his own right.
Predictably, the established factions were deeply displeased by his daring. In the eyes of the conservative elders, Leylin's bottomless greed had finally brought an irreversible disaster upon his head.
He had thoroughly offended the core administrative interests of both the Light and Dark Magi alliances. While past structural grievances could be smoothed over for profit, this public execution directly dismantled their personal authority.
Most dangerous of all, his blades had drawn the absolute, bloodthirsty ire of the powerful Rank 3 Magus, Lord Eric.
Leylin was officially branded as a top-tier fugitive, his head marked for execution.
Yet, despite possessing multiple methods to easily erase the tracking mark branded onto his aura, he intentionally chose to keep it active.
He maintained a steady, calculated retreat in the exact direction of the Astral Castle, openly alluring the enraged Eric to follow him into his domain.
Driven by vengeance, Eric took the bait. He marched upon the territory in a temporary alliance with Hoduke and a third, unnamed guest Rank 3 Magus.
The Light Magi organizations had suffered devastating casualties over the past year and stood precariously on the brink of the Third Magi War; they could not afford to allow an unpredictable, volatile variable like the Requiem to remain active on their borders, terrified he would eventually incline his strength toward the enemy camp.
Their strategy was to use their overwhelming numbers to completely suppress Leylin, hold his Rank 3 master back through a coordinated siege, and then forcefully blackmail him into absolute subordination or simply slaughter him to seize the Requiem's accumulated vaults.
It was a magnificent plan on paper, executed with the flawless confidence that only three combined Rank 3 Magi could wield.
There was just a single, variable that they completely failed to emphasize in their calculations a mistake that doomed their entire coalition to a horrific failure.
In their arrogance, the three Rank 3 powerhouses didn't care about the strategic implications of launching a frontal assault on an enemy's primary headquarters.
While they were logically aware that any official Magus would make proper, fearsome arrangements for defense arrays within their home ground, they looked at one another and scoffed.
There were three of them; what could possibly go wrong against a single Rank 3 magus?
The moment their boots crossed the perimeter of the outer wards, they realized with absolute horror how catastrophically wrong they were.
The traps did not merely flare; the entire castle structure came alive, locking them into a massive, inescapable defensive formation that was reinforced directly by the core matrix of the Secret Plane itself.
Utilizing the advanced blueprint variations he had extracted from the Secret Plane Builder's Book, Leylin manipulated the spatial coordinates of the fortress, turning the geometry of the castle into a lethal, crushing vice.
Trapped like rats inside a collapsing spatial anomaly, the three titans were systematically torn apart.
Leylin then effectively slaughtered Lord Eric along with the second guest Rank 3 Magus, rendering their immense power completely useless against the weight of the dimension.
Hoduke was the sole survivor, left breathing only because Leylin required a broken, wretched messenger to cement his victory.
Before being allowed to crawl out of the blood-stained courtyard, Hoduke was forced to ink his soul onto a strict armistice contract, binding him to a degree of subordination in exchange for his life.
When the barely breathing, crippled form of Hoduke returned to the Light council to deliver the terms, a suffocating silence paralyzed the entire Magi community of the South Coast.
There were only about ten odd Rank 3 Magi existing across the entire expanse of the continent; the rise or fall of even a single one was an earth-shattering event that created massive ripples for a century.
Now, two of their primary pillars had been completely erased from existence in a single afternoon, dying at the hands of the exact same master.
Following the execution, the Astral Requiem issued a cold, public decree to the world.
They formally stated they had no active intention of pursuing further territorial warfare or hunting down the remnants of the defeated factions.
However, the message carried a chilling, implicit warning: any future cross of their borders would result in the absolute extinction of the offending party.
Showing a complete lack of interest in the upcoming continental war, the Requiem pulled its forces back into the shadows of the castle, choosing to focus entirely on passive, internal development.
Faced with an indomitable fortress, the terrifying personal prowess of Leylin Farlier, and the alleged presence of an enigmatic, supreme Rank 3 guardian holding the strings from within, the organizations of the South Coast both Light and Dark alike finally understood a fact.
They looked upon the black towers of the Astral Requiem with dread, collectively resolving not to cross their path again, allowing the rising overlord to reign in peace.
_____
Deep within the subterranean depths of the Astral Castle, inside Leylin Farlier's private chamber.
The air within this secret room was heavy with high-grade defensive spell formations and thick elemental particles that hummed in resonance.
Sitting cross-legged on a cold obsidian platform, Leylin breathed in a slow, rhythmic pattern.
He had already achieved the pinnacle of Rank 2, standing firmly within the absolute threshold known as Elemental Authority.
In the hierarchy of Magi, this stage was peak of Rank 2, where a Magus's control over his elements both the internal magic and the external particles drifting in nature, fused together to act as a single, unified extension of his will.
When this elemental authority expanded beyond the control capacity of a Rank 2 vessel, the ambient energy would be centralized.
It would collapse inward under its own immense pressure, forming a true, consolidated internal core that propelled a Magus into the realm of Rank 3.
To reach this precipice, Leylin had walked a path carved out of pure slaughter. Over the past two years, he had hunted down, executed, and devoured hundreds of powerful Magi.
Backed by a relentless supply of high-tier spiritual potions and exotic resources plundered from secret plain, his foundations had been pushed to the peak.
Furthermore, his ancient bloodline had reached an immaculate tier of refinement. Because of his soul affinity, he never had any problem mastering the Kemoyin Pupil meditation technique.
The Giant Kemoyin Serpent bloodline inside his body, was from a formidable Rank 4 creature, it had been purified to a high degree of concentration.
His spiritual force was abundant, his bloodline was fiercely stable, and combined with the computational powers of his A.I. chip, he was the strongest Rank 2 magus in history.
With a soft thought, Leylin called upon his familiar system link. 'A.I. Chip, display my current status and confirm my bloodline purity parameters.'
In an instant, a translucent blue matrix overlay projected directly across his vision, scrolling through lines of complex data at a blinding speed.
[Beep! Deep Scan Initiated. Target: Leylin Farlier. Bloodline Stability: 100% capacity for Giant Kemoyin Serpent Bloodline in the vessel is obtained. Purity for breakthrough: optimal threshold reached. Meditation Status: Kemoyin Pupil Stage 2 and Stage 3 completely decoded and integrated. Spiritual Force Assessment: Optimal. Core energy showing initial signs of silver coloration. Impurities minimized.]
[Warning: Bottleneck detected. System recommends application of spiritual catalyst to trigger centralization collapse.]
Leylin smiled faintly as he looked at the data. His spiritual force was already shifting, showing the distinct signs of turning into a brilliant, bright silver.
The only missing piece of the puzzle had been the required chemical reagent to loosen the final, stubborn bottleneck of his mind.
Reaching into his spatial pouch, Leylin retrieved the twin treasures he had secured from the Iron Crown auction: the glowing Extract of the Wisdom Tree and the ancient wooden cup carefully crafted from the bark of that very same mythical tree.
The ancient Wisdom Trees were legendary beings, rumored to possess the crystalline intelligence of enlightened ancient Magi. When the concentrated extract was poured into a vessel carved from its own bark, a unique chemical harmony was achieved.
Combined, these two artifacts possessed the miraculous, reality-defying ability to permanently expand a Magus's spiritual force while seamlessly dissolving the rigid bottlenecks that guarded higher ranks of power.
Leylin carefully uncorked the vial, pouring the thick, glowing luminescent fluid into the wooden cup. The moment the extract touched the bark, a gentle, soothing fragrance filled the subterranean room, instantly calming his circulating bloodline.
Without a hint of hesitation, Leylin raised the cup to his lips and drained it in a single draft.
The effect was instantaneous. A wave of profound, tranquil energy flooded his nervous system, pulling Leylin into a deep, absolute state of enlightenment. The chaotic noise of the mortal world faded into nothingness as his consciousness expanded.
[Beep! Detected high-tier spiritual catalyst. Commencing automated optimization sequence.]
A.I. Chip's cold voice resonated within his mind.
[Taking control of primary energy channels. Initiating spiritual purification... now.]
Under the microscopic management of the A.I. Chip, Leylin's abundant spiritual force began to violently churn.
Guided by the pathways of the third level of the Kemoyin Pupil, his dark, misty energy was subjected to an immense, simulated pressure.
The Wisdom Tree's essence acted like a hot iron, burning away the last lingering microscopic impurities within his sea of consciousness.
Slowly, the dark mist began to transform. It brightened, shifting from a dull gray into a blinding, pristine bright silver.
BOOM!
A cataclysmic force suddenly erupted from Leylin. The sheer kinetic shockwave of his aura blasted outward, causing the reinforced obsidian walls of the underground dungeon to groan under the pressure, the defensive arrays flaring wildly to absorb the shock.
Yet, despite the terrifying power radiating from his body, the internal transition was incredibly smooth.
Thanks to his powerful foundations, and guidance of the A.I. Chip, Leylin experienced the smoothest, most seamless breakthrough a Magus could possibly undergo in their lifetime.
There was no agonizing tearing of his soul, nor any chaotic backlash of elemental energy.
Deep within his sea of consciousness, the newly transformed, bright silver spiritual force began to rotate at a dizzying speed, forming a massive vortex.
The fully materialized silver mist collapsed inward, compressing under the weight of his elemental authority until it condensed into a singular, solid point.
With a brilliant, blinding flash of mental light, the mist vanished. Resting quietly at the center of his mind was a flawless, radiant spiritual force crystal, pulsing with a deep, authoritative power.
Leylin opened his eyes, his vertical amber pupils glowing with an ancient, terrifying intensity before gradually settling back into a calm, deep black.
The ambient elemental particles in the room bowed to his presence, acknowledging their new master. He had successfully shattered his chains, finally stepping over the threshold to become a true Rank 3 Magus.
[Leylin Farlier. Rank 3 Warlock, Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Spirit Knight. Summon—Black Horrall Snake (Rank 1), Vanguard of the Requiem ( Rank 2), Cabourn (Rank 2). Strength: 43.1, Agility: 38.4, Vitality: 49.3, Spiritual force: 203.3, Magic power: 203 (Magic power is in synchronisation with spiritual force).]
[Host has obtained an innate spell upon advancement— Intimidating Gaze!] [Intimidating Gaze: After numerous blood purification, the Giant Kemoyin Serpent, as an elite ancient predator, has its might absorbed and assimilated into the bloodline Warlock. They who held the dignity of creatures from ancient times has a force field with an intimidating effect! Effect: any living being that is within the perimeter will have their powers suppressed. Those with weak willpower will enter a state of confusion. Rank 1 Magus will have their abilities weakened by 50%, rank 2 Magus weakened by 30% and Magi of the same rank will have their stats reduced by 10%!]