"The Four Great Warlocks!"
Both Blair and Leylin muttered the title at the same time.
Leylin had a strong intuition for long time that these Beast Tamers shared a relationship with Warlocks, perhaps even serving as the ancestral origin or prototype branch of the Warlock path.
After all, his very journey to this world had been divined by sacrificing a Rank 2 Magus summon.
Yet among the scattered clues he had uncovered since arriving, many details had only served to confuse him and agitate his curiosity further.
To engineer an entire derivative cultivation branch out of this world's natural energy system, the original creator must have been at least a Rank 7 Magus. This world was very likely their private experimental field, or perhaps the direct inspiration behind the Warlock path itself.
The ultimate ceiling for any Warlock was strictly bounded by their bloodline, capping out at Rank 6.
To step any further, one had to break their bloodline shackles and become a Law Being.
To a Rank 7 or Rank 8 Law Being, a Rank 6 Warlock was no better than a mere ant; the gap in strength between them was as wide as heaven and earth.
Ranks 7 and 8 were the true, absolute powerhouses of the High-Tier Worlds.
At every three rank increments, the gulf between Magi took a monstrous leap forward. A Rank 4 Morning Star Magus stood in an unimaginable realm compared to a Rank 3 Magus.
Through the synchronization of their Innate Spell model, a Rank 4 Magus could unleash a final technique that amplified their power by roughly ten times. Against such a combination spell, a Rank 3 Magus was but an ant, lacking any capacity to resist.
The Supreme Magi or Law beings whose descendants or bloodline were used to create Warlocks path cared nothing for the their existence.
In fact, they likely welcomed the creation of such offspring; anyone carrying that bloodline became a naturally branded subordinate, a high-quality slave bound to propagate their ancestral line.
Currently, Leylin did not dwell too long on the ancient origin of Warlocks, feeling instead an intense excitement for the experimental prospects before him.
The bloodlines of these ancient Warlocks and their cultivation methods held immense value. Through them, he might even discover a method to break his own Warlock Shackles, a solution he desperately preferred over eventually confronting the Snake Dowager, the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, the Snake Goddess and origin of the serpent bloodline.
"What do you know about these Warlocks? Tell me all the information you have!" Leylin demanded, his excitement surging.
Unwittingly, a fraction of his Rank 3 spiritual aura leaked out. The wooden chair beneath Blair groaned and cracked under the sudden atmospheric pressure. Her face flushed deep crimson as the air was crushed from her lungs.
Realizing his lapse, Leylin instantly restrained his aura. "Speak."
Blair coughed violently, clutching her throat before her hypnotic posture settled back into place. "I... I do not know much. Information regarding the Emperors is not something I had access to, but I am aware of certain rumors, though I cannot verify their authenticity."
"Go on," Leylin commanded.
"It is said that a true Warlock, the absolute pinnacle of a Beast Tamer does not need to form a soul contract with a Beast," Blair explained softly. "They are born carrying ancient bloodlines that allow them to tap into the innate beasts contained within their own flesh, granting them unimaginable power. At their peak, they could fully metamorphose into the true forms of their mythical ancestors. However, for thousands of years, no one has possessed the capability to reach that stage."
'These Four Great Warlocks must carry the bloodlines of ancient entities with at least Rank 4 strength.' Leylin calculated silently. 'However, due to isolation from the wider multiverse and generations of bloodline dilution, high-grade resources rapidly dwindled, leaving the Brigadier Stage as the peak.'
Even in the Central Continent, the Magi were only able to reach greater heights and recover their past glory through planar Astral Travel, harvesting high-tier resources from foreign realms.
An isolated world, no matter how rich initially, would inevitably run dry of high-class data and energy materials.
Without the fourth and most crucial section of his high-tier meditation technique, Kemoyin's Pupil Leylin could not reach Rank 4 himself.
No matter how formidable his combat foundation was, even at peak Crystal Phase Rank 3, he could not withstand a single direct blow from a Rank 4 Morning Star Magus.
"The strongest among the Four Emperors is generally considered to be the Azure Dragon Emperor," Blair continued. "The others are remarkable in their own right, but the Azure Dragon Dynasty once launched a massive historical campaign to conquer and unite the entire world under a single banner, though their conquest ultimately failed against the combined resistance of the other dynasties."
"So the border clashes occurring across the secondary empires are simply proxy wars between the Great Dynasties?" Leylin asked, connecting the long-standing border skirmishes to this larger geopolitical chess match.
Blair shook her head. "No. All four Dynasties are involved in this conflict, but they are not fighting one another."
"Not fighting each other?" Leylin raised an eyebrow.
"They are fighting separately against a much fiercer, far greater foe," Blair revealed. "A power so formidable that all four Dynasties are actively engaged against it on four separate fronts simultaneously."
Leylin was genuinely surprised. A single faction possessing the strength to hold off all four Great Dynasties at once implied an unbelievable concentration of high-tier power.
"Who is this foe?" Leylin asked. "I don't think under the current jurisdiction and strict control of Four Great Dynasties, any new faction can emerge with that level of strength."
"They are not a new force," Blair answered. "In fact, they are the oldest entity in our world, having existed since the Era of the Gods. They were the original leaders who guided the ancestors of the Four Dynasties during the ancient era. That force is the Church of Leviathan."
"The Church of Leviathan?" Leylin mused. He had seen ancient temples and shrines dedicated to the Church scattered throughout the Felineca Empire, but had assumed they were a politically neutral, strictly religious order. "If the Church was historically uninterested in ruling, why clash with the Dynasties now?"
"In the ancient past, when the Church possessed absolute power, they had no need to govern directly," Blair explained flatly. "However, over centuries, as the supreme ancient entities vanished, the Church's peak strength diminished. Meanwhile, the Dynasties grew in population and martial power. The Dynasties now covet the ancient hoarded wealth and sacred resources of the Church, while centuries of religious rule have bred deep resentment among the populace."
"And the Church?"
"The Church recognizes that its dominance has waned, and its leaders now seek to crush the four Dynasties completely to establish a unified Holy Domain," Blair said. "The fighting in the smaller, weaker vassal empires is merely a preliminary testing of the waters, a playground for the puppeteers. Once both sides have completed their preparations, the true war of extinction will begin."
Leylin fell into deep contemplation. To a Dark Magus, concepts like justice or ancestral rights were entirely meaningless; everything came down to power and resource allocation.
When a dominant entity lost the overwhelming strength that served as its deterrent, its hoarded wealth naturally invited the greed of rising factions.
For several hours, Leylin pressed Blair with precise, detailed questions, systematically mapping out the troop deployments, resource routes, and bloodline traits of the Four Great Dynasties.
Only after extracting every useful fragment of information from her did he break his spell and allow her to leave the office.
As the heavy door clicked shut behind her, Leylin sat alone in the quiet room, staring thoughtfully into the candlelight.
"Black Horrall Snake," Leylin called out softly.
From the deep shadows behind his desk, a massive, dark serpent materialized without making a sound. Its pitch-black scales gleamed under the soft light as it bowed its horned head respectfully toward its master.
"Hissss!" the Black Horrall Snake hissed, speaking in the ancient, sibilant tongue known only to Leylin.