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However, what shocked Qigefei more than his injuries was that the explosive force did not come from the outside, but erupted from the magic rune he had crushed. What exactly happened?

"Heh heh heh, still don't understand, do you? Foolish boy." A cocky voice rang out from below. Then, the massive city lord's mansion crumbled with a loud crash. The golden skeletal body of the "Lich King" stood atop the enormous Black Crystal Bone Dragon, slowly rising from the ruins. He continued, "You've been outsmarted by that mage apprentice from the very beginning."

"What do you mean?" the Golden Eagle Sword Emperor couldn't help but ask.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I must say, that boy is truly a genius, well, at least a genius in destruction. He had long guessed that this Black Crystal Bone Dragon was something we would definitely reclaim, so naturally, he thought of a way to counter it. Although he couldn't crack the control core I set up, it seems he used the limited control permissions to add an additional layer of control outside my system. The effect is probably that once someone tries to alter the control of the Black Crystal Bone Dragon, they would be hit by the full energy backlash of the Bone Dragon. Heh, what a genius! If you hadn't dodged quickly just now, you'd be dust by now. And the other clever aspect of this trap is that it also severely damages the Crystal Dragon's body. Look, even the sturdiest forbidden spell crystal can't withstand internal destruction. It will probably take this master a lot of time to repair it." The golden lich praised while regretfully stroking the scarred surface of his creation.

"Damn it!" Hearing the Lich King's words, Qigefei was even more furious. He shouted at the black mist still floating in the air, "Enlek, come out! This time, I will tear you to pieces!"

"Don't be silly, Golden Eagle boy, your opponent has already fled." Qigefei's angry shout received no response from the enemy, only the Lich King mocking from the side. "You didn't notice? From the moment this 'Dark Banner' summoned the black mist, that mage apprentice was already gone. What's left is just a voice transmission spell."

As he spoke, the golden skeleton waved his hand, dispersing the black mist. What was revealed was indeed only the ring originally used to summon the Black Crystal Bone Dragon, now covered in cracks.

"Impossible! Without the support of this ring and the Black Crystal Bone Dragon, he's just a mage apprentice. How could he deceive my perception?" Qigefei shouted in disbelief.

"Heh, poor boy, do you still think he's the powerless youth from before? Don't forget, the little girl who uses light magic under your lord also grew up in a short time, didn't she?" The Lich King sneered, taking the ring into his hand. "Dark magic is inherently easy to learn quickly. The ring and the Bone Dragon gave him abundant sources of magic power, and the war provided him with endless blood and souls. Have you thought of it? As long as he is willing to make sacrifices to the dark gods, his power growth is almost exponential. And your constant challenges gave him continuous combat experience to hone his skills. Not to mention, he has the full support of the Holy Light Temple and the Dark Mage organization behind him. By now, he probably has more than one epic-level dark artifact on him. In such a situation, do you still think he couldn't escape your perception?"

Qigefei was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected to completely overlook the enemy's growth. Was he too foolish, or did the enemy hide too well? But he immediately shouted at the Lich King, "You already thought of all this, didn't you? Then why didn't you stop him?"

"No, no, no," the Lich King shook his finger, calmly replying, "You've got one thing wrong. I'm different from you. I'm not a subordinate of your lord. I'm just a mage he hired, a researcher, understand? My job is to solve the magical problems he needs addressed. Heh, as for how to defeat the enemy, that's the problem for you warriors, not me. If you ask me, of course, I'll tell you, but if you don't ask, why should I care about such things? What? You're not convinced? Well, how about we switch jobs? You do the magical research, and I'll go to the battlefield to kill?"

"You..." Qigefei was speechless. After thinking for a moment, he finally asked again, "Then what do you think we should do next? Continue to hunt him down, or turn to slaughtering the elite generals of the rebel army?"

"Heh heh heh, I don't think that's a good idea. Your lord's command was only for you to reclaim the Black Crystal Bone Dragon. As for the problem in the northwest, leave it to the Beast King. After all, it's his own problem, isn't it? Since that human boy could outsmart you, do you think he didn't leave an escape route for himself and his subordinates? Also, don't think that your cunning Silver-haired Werewolf lord didn't anticipate today's situation. In fact, he probably considers the current situation ideal. A strong rebel force is holed up in a place that's easy to defend and hard to attack, with the elite of the human resistance concentrated here. As a result, the humans in the vast lands outside have become submissive. And as long as the Beast King is willing to sacrifice some strength to fight a few major battles, it won't be difficult to suppress the human resistance, but not eliminate them. This gives the Beast King the opportunity to advance while leaving plenty of hidden dangers. What a great situation! I'm sure the lord and his wife are laughing very happily now. Do you understand the situation now?"

"This..." Qigefei thought for a moment, then finally nodded, "Fine, although it's a pity I couldn't kill him myself, letting him continue to grow is also an interesting thing. Let's retreat for now."

Just as the old monster Lich King had predicted, when Qigefei's battle report reached the Silver-haired Werewolf, Chen Xuanfeng, he smiled with satisfaction and did not issue any further orders to hunt down Enlek. Although Enlek's strength and wisdom had exceeded his expectations, they still hadn't reached his bottom line. So, he let the lucky boy develop freely.

However, in contrast, the Beast King had no reason to ignore the existence of the human rebel army. Previously, due to constant conflicts with the Saint Spirit Mountain, the beastmen experts under his command had no time to spare. And Samantha, who aspired to be emperor, refused to ask for help from the War Temple or Chen Xuanfeng, which led to the rapid expansion of Enlek's forces. But this time was different. The rebel army had completely controlled the northwest region. If left unchecked, the Beast King's authority would inevitably become a laughingstock for the entire alliance. Therefore, Samantha had no choice but to mobilize three Sword Emperors and lead a thousand elite lion and tiger warriors to the northwest battlefield to reclaim the territory, despite the tight war situation.