<strong>Scapegoat</strong>


    [From the energy emitted by the spell formation, analysis shows that the probability of a body of consciousness residing in the spell formation is 78.9%.]


    The A.I. Chip’s conclusion was presented before Leylin.


    “A body of consciousness?!” Leylin’s eyes sparkled.


    “Can youpare it with the database and find out what sort of body of consciousness it is?”


    [Searching... Beep! There is no such information in the database. Comparing with Host body’s existing memories...]


    The A.I. Chip operated quickly.


    Secondster, a new conclusion was shown to Leylin: [The body of consciousness emits an aura thates from the Eternal River ins’ secret ne. Determined to be a special being from the secret ne itself! Compatibility withrge tinum gate of entrance to the secret ne: 67%.]


    “tinum gate?” Leylin’s eyes widened, suddenly thinking back to the tinum gate that seemed like an ancient existence, right across from the headquarters. Iplete spiritual force waves were emitted by the gate!


    “From the looks of it, I’m afraid that the tinum door has already evolved to have its own intelligence. However, it was removed by Magi from Four Seasons Garden and sealed here. Hence, its spiritual force waves gave me such a strange feeling...”


    Leylin slowly came up with the entire process that led to this result.


    Though he had no idea why Four Seasons Garden sealed the consciousness of the entrance to the secret ne, there were only a few reasons that Leylin wasn’t going to bother wondering about.


    What he was more focused on was what would happen to the entrance to the secret ne if its consciousness was destroyed.


    After all, the red crystal that Giant gave him was no unsealing spell design! Instead, it would control the spell formation as well as the consciousness within, and destroy them together!


    “A.I. Chip! Simte the consequences of the destruction of the secret ne’s body of consciousness.”


    Leylin spoke quietly, his expression dark and dreadful.


    [Beep! Mission established, beginning topare with high-level patterns. Importing data...] The A.I. Chip intoned loyally.


    After which, the result was ced before Leylin.


    [Based on simted experiments and remnants, if the body of consciousness is damaged, the possibility of the tinum gate being destroyed is 79.8%. Entrance will automatically close and be sealed shut. Another 15.2% chance of the opposite happening. The entrance will then be a public entrance and be open to any living beings... thest 5% possibility has unknown consequences!]


    Leylin, who was silently reading the conclusion, suddenly understood everything.


    The most important part in the battle for the Eternal River ins’ secret ne was the acquisition of the entrance. Seven entrances had been discovered, with four being controlled by the light Magi.


    This control referred not only to the Magi army set up on the outer areas but also to a certain key that could control the opening and closing of the entrance!


    From the looks of it, these keys referred to each gate’s core body of consciousness!


    “If I detonate this area, there’s arge probability of Four Seasons Garden’s entrance disappearing. The dark and light Magi will then hold the same number of entrances and there won’t be any disadvantages when trying to take over the secret ne.”


    Leylin could easily tell the intentions of the dark Magi.


    These Magi were nning to destroy the entrance here!


    Gaining control of the entrance meant obtaining arge amount ofnd, plentiful resources, as well as a huge number of troops. Most importantly, the speed at which spoils of war were transported would be increased!


    Light Magi currently held possession of four entrances. Whether in terms of the areas with radiation or potential battle power, they exceeded the dark Magi by arge margin. Hence, the dark Magi had to think of ways to make up for this handicap!


    Even if this ce was not destroyed, it was still necessary to rob this ce from the light Magi. They would rather have this ce be a public domain than let it be controlled by the light Magi!


    “Shrewd! A very, very clever n!”


    Leylin, who had made sense of this whole situation, couldn’t help but praise the person who hade up with this operation.


    However, as the veryst chess piece in this game, he was in a very difficult position.


    If he destroyed the body of consciousness now, the gate to the secret ne would immediately be damaged and perhaps permanently lose its abilities. This may or may not be a good thing.


    Leylin, who hadpleted this task, would be held in high regard by the dark Magi, but the light Magi would definitely not let him off so easily.


    This was a decision that he needed to think through carefully. Just for that little bit of merit, was it actually worth it to offend the entire light Magi alliance?


    “Is there still... a need to consider any further?”


    Leylin’s eyes brightened.


    “From this crystal and the extremely opportune timing, it looks like there’s someone in the shadows controlling everything. This person also has to have a high position in Four Seasons Garden, or else it’d be impossible for him to do this much... I’m almost sure of who it is! Once this operation is over, he’ll be the one reaping the most benefits. I might even bebelled as a traitor and be chased to death, while he will get the most merits for everything....”


    Leylin’s lips quirked in a cold smile.


    Since ancient times, a spy’s position was the most difficult. Even if they seeded, if the person who instigated the operation was not willing to tie up loose ends, the spy would be the one who would stand to lose the most!


    Besides,pared to a lowly spy like him, there was another spy with a higher position, had been in Four Seasons Garden longer, and was an even more loyal choice.


    If there were conflicts of interest between them, who would Thousand Meddling Hands choose? This was a rhetorical question.


    Besides, the contract he had signed with Giant only specified that he could not help Four Seasons Garden, but the reason he was doing this was for his own benefit. With his own desire to get some benefits from Four Seasons Garden, it was evident that he would not suffer any bacsh from going against the contract’s terms.


    Afraid that Leylin would not agree, Giant did not dare to make the conditions too strict. If the conditions stated that he had to destroy specific things, then Leylin would definitely investigate further and could decide not to sign the contract at all.


    “Shatter!”


    Leylin clenched his fist while facing the blue ball of ice!


    *Ka-cha! Ka-cha!” Countless shards of ice fell from the ice ball, and immediately after, innumerable cracks appeared on the surface of the ice ball.


    *Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!*


    Finally, the entire light blue ball of ice cracked and along with it, the red crystal dispersed into powder.


    This spell design that would cause the spell formation to implode was destroyed by Leylin, just like that!


    Leylin had thought this through.


    It was alright to betray Four Seasons Garden. At most, he would have be the enemy to one more organisation, but destroying the gate of the secret ne would mean offending the entire light Magi alliance!


    The current Eternal River ins’ secret ne was a huge chunk of flesh that dark and light Magi alike were waiting for an opportunity to swallow into their stomachs!


    The gate to the secret ne did not belong to just Four Seasons Garden, but the entire light Magi alliance! Four Seasons Garden was but one of the characters who would look over the entrance. The moment Leylin destroyed the entrance, all light Magi forces would lose their advantage in this battle!


    Since ancient times, destroying a person’s livelihood was akin to murdering one’s own parents. For Magi, the secret ne was a huge gold mine where one could obtain a limitless amount of top grade materials! If he pitted himself against the light Magi like this, he would be chased to the ends of the earth and there would be no end to it!


    On top of that, all of the light Magi powers would be working together to exterminate their enemy! The dangers of this operation were way above that of the times previously when he had gathered spirits and plundered brazenly!


    In the south coast, light Magi were at the top. If the entire light Magi faction was against him, it was impossible for Leylin to stay alive. All he could do was find a deserted ce and live a hermit’s life.


    If he had connections in the dark Magi alliance things would still be fine.


    This operation would be a huge gain on the dark Magi’s side, and based on his huge contribution, he would have afortable life with the dark Magi.


    It was a pity that Leylin had entered Thousand Meddling Hands halfway through and was not as trustworthy. Otherwise, he would not have been deceived into doing this.


    Besides that, he had no backing in the dark Magi alliance and rather, had some foes within!


    After all, Abyssal Bone Forest Academy was a member of the dark Magi alliance. He had brazenly killed off the elder of the Lilytell family, Metallic Lunatic Marb, which resulted in a blood debt!


    After considering the matter carefully, Leylin concluded that exploding the gate to the secret ne did not benefit him at all, and he would have actually be the scapegoat!


    Leylin was definitely not going to do something that would harm his own interests.


    Hence, with onest look at Reynold’s office, he ruthlessly left!


    ......


    *Rumble!*


    Within the headquarters of Four Seasons Garden at the Eternal River in’s secret ne, immense energy waves from spells exploding could be felt everywhere. Mixed within those sounds were miserable cries and maniacalughter.


    The dark Magi’s attack, this time, was very fierce and they had quickly made their way to the centre of the headquarters.


    Hence, Leylin found very few official Magi along the way. Nobody bothered to interrogate him either, so his whole journey out was very smooth sailing.


    Many Magi in ck cloaks were freely venting their dark desires, and some Magi could be seen bursting into mes.


    The violent mes engulfed the area and turned the prosperous and busy trading centre into a sea of fire.


    The official Magi of Four Seasons Garden were doing their utmost to hold back the dark Magi while awaiting support.


    The Magi who had chosen no sides were around mostly to look on without lifting a finger, while only a few who were on good terms with Four Seasons Garden chose to participate in the battle.


    Magi were a bunch of cold people, and seeing that the dark and light Magi were participating in arge-scale battle, most of the Magi present chose to look after their own hide and observe.


    This was obviously the case for acolytes.


    While official Magi were fighting, they did not even have the chance to intervene. Usually, just a stray wave of magic from an official Magus could cause arge number of deaths.


    “Things seem to be rather chaotic!” Leylinughed without care.


    Though he was wearing the attire that belonged to Four Seasons Garden, the expression on his face was veryposed and as cool as ice, as if everything happening here had nothing to do with him.


    “Magus Leylin, what are you doing?”


    At this moment, a figure rapidly appeared before Leylin. It was Dolorin.


    This vice team leader of the defense squad cut quite a sorry figure, his white robes torn into shreds.