The group consisted of both men and women, all very young and dressed in fine clothes. Their magical energy fluctuations were quite strong. At this moment, they were chatting with smiles on their faces, showing no signs of tension, as if they were not undergoing a bloody trial in a secret realm.
Merlin was surprised to find the insignia of several wizarding families on these people.
"They are from wizarding families, and some powerful wizarding apprentices who are on good terms with these families." Morin immediately noticed the anomaly.
Seeing their expressions, Morin quickly understood what was going on.
Clearly, once inside the secret realm, not only will powerful wizard apprentices from other wizarding organizations unite to wipe out weaker ones, but members of other wizarding families will also unite to surround and kill the remaining wizard apprentices.
After all, they are all from wizarding families, so they have a high degree of mutual recognition and are likely to band together and work together.
Whether they will fight each other or something else later is a matter for later. Right now, we just need to take care of the others.
This is a very safe thing to do, and there's no need to think about it too much.
This area is primarily inhabited by wizard families from the Azure Ring and the Dark Forest.
"Look what we've found: a lone wizard apprentice."
A slender wizard apprentice with light freckles spotted Morin and his eyes lit up. He spoke in a teasing tone, as if playing a cat playing with a mouse.
"Hmm, their strength is not bad. They've actually reached the level of a third-class apprentice. Not bad, quite impressive."
"But what's the use? There are so many of us here, we could easily kill him."
"That makes sense…"
"Haha, let's think about how to mess with this poor guy."
There were about seventeen or eighteen people in this group, including eleven or twelve third-class apprentices. At this moment, they were laughing and joking without any restraint.
No one believed that Morin could still be alive. In their eyes, Morin, this suddenly appearing wizard apprentice with considerable skill...
They're doomed.
"The Leonina family, the Walker family, the Hanos family…" Morin's gaze swept over the frivolous and unrestrained wizard apprentices, and he thought to himself, "And… the Olivia family."
His eyes slowly narrowed.
There aren't many wizard apprentices here, but they represent quite a few wizard families, encompassing almost all the wizard families of the Blue Ring and the Dark Forest.
"I am Watson, from the Hanos family." The freckled wizard apprentice looked at Morin, who stood quietly in front of him, with a hint of contempt in his eyes, and said, "Wizard apprentice, no matter which wizarding organization you are a member of, you are going to die today. No one will come back to save you. Now, what's interesting is how you will die."
"Haha, you're right."
"That's true."
The others burst into laughter.
"Oh, really?" A hint of coldness flashed in Morin's eyes.
With a flick of his wrist, Morin had already grasped several alchemical grenades.
"Alright, let's disable his mobility first, then we can play with him slowly." Watson smiled and chanted a few spells. A pendant on his chest resonated with him, emitting a faint blue light. It was actually a demonized item.
"Alremon..."
Watson recited the final incantation while making the spell-casting gesture.
Crackling sound.
A vast expanse of blue lightning transformed into a lightning grid, crackling and surging as it rushed madly toward Morin in front of him.
"court death!"
Morin's eyes turned cold, and with a slight flick of his wrist, he tried to throw the alchemical grenades out.
His method was simple: he threw out alchemical grenades and blew them up.
However, just as Morin was about to make his move, suddenly, a large shadow appeared in front of him.
Whoosh.
The moment it touched the shadow, the powerful lightning net vanished instantly, disappearing without a trace, as if it had never existed.
A group of people dressed in black robes, their garments fluttering, slowly floated down from the sky.
The leader was dressed in a silver robe. He was elegant and his hair was blowing in the wind. When he raised his head, his face was revealed.
Was it him?
Morin looked at the figure in the silver robe and immediately recognized who it was.
"Long time no see, Morin."
Aaron looked the same as before, his features were unchanged, and his face was normal, but he gave people a very unfamiliar feeling, as if he had become a different person.
He exuded a hidden yet immense aura, causing those around him to feel restless and agitated from the inside out.
He was smiling at Maureen.
"Aaron."
Morin thought for a moment, then nodded in response.
His gaze swept over the group of men in black who were respectfully surrounding Aaron, and he was startled.
At the same time, Morin was also very surprised that Aaron was able to see through his disguise.
You should know that Morin had made complete preparations; without the strength of a formal wizard, no one could detect the slightest abnormality in him.
"Morin, it's alright, leave this to me."
Aaron smiled and gestured to Morin.
He turned around and looked calmly at the slightly bewildered wizard apprentices.
"Ah, I didn't expect anyone to come here to die. How foolish," Watson paused for a moment, looked at Maureen, then at Aaron, a mocking expression on his face, and said, "You're this so-called friend of Maureen, aren't you? Tsk tsk, seeing so many of us, you still dare to come out, really..."
Bang!
Watson was reduced to a shower of blood and flesh, and exploded on the spot.
Aaron slowly withdrew his hand, raised his eyes, and looked ahead.
"This is so annoying," he muttered.
All around was quiet.
Morin was slightly surprised. Watson was a third-class apprentice, and quite strong, yet he was killed by Aaron with a simple wave of his hand.
How could that be?
The wizard apprentices were even more shocked, staring at Aaron with disbelief in their eyes.
"The Azure Ring, the Dark Forest, what a coincidence," Aaron said with a smile.
"Who are you! How dare you kill Watson? Do you even know who Watson is? He's O..."
A wizard apprentice suddenly realized what was happening; his face flushed, and he became extremely excited.
Bang!
The wizard apprentice didn't even utter a sound before his body exploded into countless pieces of flesh.
Aaron remained silent, merely glancing indifferently at the wizard apprentices.
"That's Pat! How dare you..."
Bang!
The wizard apprentice who was just speaking was smashed into pieces by Aaron's palm.
Another wizard apprentice, his teeth chattering, managed to squeeze out a sentence through clenched teeth: "You..."
Bang!
Then he died too.
The surroundings were deathly quiet.
Aaron remained silent, his gaze sweeping over each of the wizard apprentices' faces. The Silver Hand stood behind him, dressed in a long black robe, looking like a cold, black glacier.
Although Aaron's gaze was calm, it seemed to carry an inexplicable power that made the wizard apprentices tremble, and they dared not meet Aaron's eyes.
Finally, one of the wizard apprentices couldn't take it anymore. He screamed and yelled, and then he exploded.
"Who are you! Who are you! What gives you the right to kill us! What gives you the right to do this!"
"We are members of a wizarding family, wizarding apprentices from the Blue Ring and the Dark Forest!"
The wizard apprentice's voice trembled, faintly carrying a hint of a sob.
With a soft thud, the wizard apprentice, as if knowing he was about to die, collapsed helplessly to the ground, his expression a mixture of laughter and tears, a deep sense of despair.
Aaron did not make a move.
He lowered his head slightly, and his expression was unreadable beneath his silver robe.
"Why would I kill you?" Aaron chuckled, but there was an indescribable quality to his laughter.
His voice came through.
Let me tell you a story.
"Once upon a time, well, a long time ago, in a duchy in a mortal world, there was a count's son. He grew up with the duke's daughter, childhood sweethearts, and had a very good relationship. The boy had loved the girl since he was a child and was determined to marry her and protect her for the rest of his life."
"This is what the boy has always wanted to do; it has even become his obsession and dream."
"If nothing had happened later, the boy's dream would have come true, but unfortunately, not every story has a happy ending."
"Because of this story, and what happened afterward, and other things."
"The boy and girl were found to have wizarding talent, so they were taken away by a passing Blue Ring wizarding apprentice. While passing through the territory of Skran, they met other companions. Nothing would have happened at first, but then everything changed."
"During the wizard aptitude test, the girl was found to have intermediate aptitude, a piece of trash who kept bothering her was found to have advanced aptitude, while the boy only..."
Aaron tilted his head back slightly, exhaled deeply, and said, "Low-level aptitude."
"And then everything changed."
"The girl started to distance herself from the boy, and they even had a fierce argument, while that jerk slowly gained the girl's favor."
"Finally, one day, the girl stepped into that rubbish carriage and gave that rubbish her most precious thing."
"..."
"The boy has gone mad."
After a moment of silence, Aaron said this.
Maureen, standing to the side, understood what Aaron was talking about. He shook his head and let out a soft breath.
Aaron continued his story.
"Later, this group of wizarding seeds, the boys, were kidnapped by a proud and powerful wizard in the Dark Forest. Well, I guess that wizard wasn't well-intentioned; he probably just wanted to play some games, since the journey would be quite boring."
"So the boy came to the Dark Forest, where he was treated in the darkest of times. While others were taught, his mentors beat and insulted him. He suffered all sorts of humiliation, bruises and scars, and he never missed a day of it."
"However, the boy's mentor was unusually gentle when dealing with other promising wizards, as if he were a completely different person."
"That's true. Who would value a piece of trash with only low-level aptitude even slightly, right?"
"Qualifications, they're all qualifications."
"So the boy became trash, he lost everything, not just the girl, but himself, all gone, all gone."
"There's nothing left."
Tears welled up in Aaron's eyes.
But he laughed and said, "However, it seems that God also felt that the boy had suffered too much and finally thought of compensating him."
"He became a bloodline sorcerer, a powerful bloodline user, and possessed the power of purgatory!"
"From now on, the boy can finally sever all ties!"
"He is a bloodline user, possessing the power of his bloodline. Compared to ordinary wizards, he is equivalent to having the most outstanding talent!"
"He's finally not afraid of anything anymore."
"The Azure Ring and the Dark Forest—he will kill, he will avenge, and he will take revenge on all those wizarding organizations, whether they are apprentices or full-fledged wizards!"
"He can finally step on the heads of those who once looked down on him, humiliated him, mocked him, ridiculed him, and even beat him!"
"He will return all the insults, all the hatred, everything he was given!"
"From this day forward, he is king!"
"He's back!"
"He's back!"
As Aaron spoke, suddenly his body floated in the air, thick plumes of sulfurous smoke and faint flames surging around him, forming a huge black serpent phantom beneath his feet.
Whoosh!
The black serpent phantom was surrounded by tiny flames. Its enormous body twisted and turned, and suddenly, it opened its cold, earthy-yellow vertical pupils.
hiss.
Faintly, the hissing of a giant snake could be heard.
Blackmandor Lava Serpent Warlock!
Aaron's eyes turned into cold, earthy-yellow vertical pupils. He had an eerie aura, and his silver robes billowed and swirled as if the wind were howling and roaring over them.
"I was that boy once," Aaron said softly, but his voice carried clearly to everyone around him. "But now, it doesn't matter anymore."
"My name is Aaron."
"I'm back."