The Journey Ends

For thirty days, although the sailors aboard the sea vessel had remained at peace under the threat of force, Ikidan, as their leader, never dared relax in the slightest.

Perhaps for now, sailors like them, who possessed the strength of knights, were extremely powerful compared with these wizard apprentices who knew no magic. But what about later?

Later, when these wizard apprentices truly learned magic, they would absolutely be able to kill any knight with ease, and they had limitless potential for growth. This was something every wizard apprentice understood clearly in their heart.

As for knights like them, even if they were lucky enough to advance to legendary knights, in the end they could only become servants of some powerful wizard, seeking even greater strength.

Just like the previous legendary knight Balon, and even the current legendary knight boatswain, both had become servants of great wizards.

At the end of the day, this was a world controlled by wizards!

It was precisely because he understood this that Ikidan knew that although their group of sailors was currently much stronger than the small groups formed by these wizard apprentices, the other side looked down on them from the bottom of their hearts, and even rejected them.

This was an aversion toward outsiders.

Therefore, Ikidan never dared relax, especially not toward the five great spellcasters among the wizard apprentices.

Even if the so-called five great spellcasters, the five great heavenly kings, had magic that true wizard apprentices would laugh their teeth off at, they still possessed the power to easily kill ordinary knights.

And today, when Amlund announced that the "Blood Sail Alliance" had been formally established, Ikidan's heart gave a jolt.

Bad!

Almost without thinking, Ikidan instantly drew his long blade. Completely ignoring the idiots behind him who had not yet reacted, he roared, "****, what Blood Sail Alliance? Without the consent of us sailors, don't even dream of establishing this Blood Sail Alliance today!"

As he spoke, Ikidan said icily to the somewhat hesitant wizard apprentices, "Whoever dares join, the sailors will kill without mercy!"

Although Ikidan's heart trembled with fear, he forced a fiendish expression onto his face and glared viciously at those wavering wizard apprentices.

Perhaps he would not be able to stop these wizard apprentices from forming an alliance in the future, but right now he had to stop them, or else all of them sailors would undoubtedly die!

Only then did the many sailors behind Ikidan react one after another, picking up their weapons and standing beside Ikidan, staring viciously at the wizard apprentice camp opposite them.

Correspondingly.

The five spellcasters of the wizard apprentice camp stood at the very front, while the squad members belonging to the spellcasters stood behind them, each revealing their weapons and staring fixedly at the sailors.

Amlund stared at Ikidan and said coldly, "Today, five people from you sailors' camp must be thrown into the sea! If the five of us are together, you're sure to lose!"

"You're welcome to try."

Ikidan did not give an inch.

"Hmph! Do you think the wizard apprentices on this sea vessel are still the children from a month ago?"

Amlund gave a cold snort. The blue gemstone ring on his left hand flashed faintly, and along with an incantation, a golden, glittering sword of light floated before his chest. The next instant, it flashed and vanished.

Pfft!

Ikidan barely dodged the light sword's fatal attack, but a bloody gash was carved into his right shoulder. At the same time, moving so fast it was almost like a phantom, a white puppet swiftly dug out the sailor leader's heart.

The white puppet was only a little over half a meter tall, its entire body a vast expanse of white, giving it a somewhat pure appearance.

However, in its hand it clutched a bloody heart, still beating nonstop.

Holding the heart, the puppet let out a pure giggle like a little girl's. Looking at the many sailors pouncing toward it in fear and fury, the puppet fled like a naughty child who had secretly eaten candy.

With a thud, the sailor leader who had lost his heart fell.

On the other side, Green and Yorkris charged in perfect coordination toward a sailor bound by vines. Yorkris blocked the other sailors rushing forward to help, while a cold light flashed in Green's eyes, and he cleanly and efficiently slit the sailor's throat with his dagger.

Boom!

A scorching fireball...

A moment later, many wizard apprentices surrounded the sailors who could still stand, and quite a few wizard apprentices felt excited inside.

The reason for their excitement was not only because these wizard apprentices would not have to risk their lives fighting for the next three days, but even more because, through this great battle, all the wizard apprentices had truly glimpsed some of the formidable power possessed by wizard apprentices.

This power belonging to wizards was something knights simply could not resist.

This was a sublime power!

A mere five of the weakest wizard apprentices and twenty-odd support personnel could easily defeat more than twenty strong, sturdy knights!

Once they arrived at the wizard academy, these wizard apprentices, who had experienced repeated tempering between life and death, would inevitably absorb any power that could increase their strength in the fastest and most efficient way they could, gaining a rebirth that shed the mortal body and exchanged the bones.

No one doubted this!

In this battle, four sailors died, seven were seriously wounded, nine were lightly wounded, and one fell unconscious.

All the surviving sailors were tied up hand and foot with ropes by the wizard apprentices.

The wizard apprentices' side also paid a certain price.

Although Green was fine, Yorkris had suffered minor injuries, and the other spellcaster squads had even lost a few careless fellows. After all, in the final stage, those strong, sturdy sailors really had fought with their lives on the line.

Watching the many wizard apprentices enthusiastically join the Blood Sail Alliance, the five spellcasters could not help revealing quite satisfied looks of accomplishment.

Amlund sighed. "What a pity. A few more died than necessary."

Everyone was stunned, but at this moment they no longer paid attention to such minor details again.

Among the core members, several relatively weaker female wizard apprentices recorded the names of each person registering to join the alliance and informed them of the responsibilities and obligations they should fulfill after joining.

From time to time, carefree laughter from some wizard apprentices rang out on the deck. For the oppressive atmosphere aboard the sea vessel, this counted as quite precious.

"Haha, weren't you all so arrogant before, calling us meat pigs? Why aren't you arrogant now? Hahaha..."

Early the next morning, the Faceless Mask wizard's ear-piercing cackle rang out just the same.

"Kekekekeke, looks like there were quite a few changes on the ship. Not bad, not bad. Ten fewer, even."

The crowd of wizard apprentices were brimming with energy and confidence, no longer as cold and emotionless as they had once been. It was as if some force had twisted them into a single rope, though that rope did not look especially sturdy.

Yun Li and Bibilionna had no reaction at all to the many wizard apprentices now linked together on the deck.

For these two, the moment their talents had been discovered by wizards, they had been treated like precious treasures. On top of that, they possessed the power to kill others with ease, so they had never experienced the cruelty endured by the lowest-level wizard apprentices.

Instead, it was Solam, that fellow who had always been mysterious, who seemed very curious about this newly formed alliance on the steamship, glancing now and then at the five spellcasters.

The boatswain's expression was extremely ugly, because essentially all the sailors on the ship had once been his subordinates, yet now they had become meat on the chopping block for these wizard apprentices, liable to be thrown into the sea at any moment.

Amid everyone's differing states of mind, Faceless Mask suddenly said to the Blood Sail Alliance wizard apprentices, "However, I have some bad news for you..."

He deliberately drew out the word "bad" for a very long time.

The many wizard apprentices, who had been full of energy and confidence, suddenly changed expression and stared fixedly at this evil, perverted, cruel, terrifying wizard, afraid he might say something outrageous.

Everyone subconsciously moved a little farther away from the other wizard apprentices beside them, afraid that some uncontrollable accident might happen in a moment.

"This bad news is... kekeke, kekekekeke..."

Amid the wizard's strange, treacherous laughter and the apprentices' tense panic, Faceless Mask said loudly, "We will arrive at the Wizard Continent's Black Isotta Wizard Academy by this evening, so I'm afraid those sailors you caught won't be of any use anymore. Kekeke, kekekekeke. Well? Are you disappointed?"

The moment they heard this, almost every wizard apprentice felt an impulse to go mad.

If they had not lacked the strength, some of the more hot-tempered fellows would absolutely have rushed up and slapped this old thing to death.

However, after they calmed down, a little excitement finally appeared in everyone's hearts. Were they finally about to reach the wizard academy?

Back when they had watched other apprentices being thrown into the sea again and again, every wizard apprentice present had sworn to themselves that they would learn powerful wizardry and take control of their own fate!

The cruelty of more than a month of mutual slaughter aboard the steamship had almost become an indelible brand in the lives of all the wizard apprentices.

However, along with that slaughter, the wizard apprentices who had luckily survived had also been tempered, learning the cruelty and preciousness of the wizard's path. In the future, they would go farther than others.

That day, the wizard apprentices stayed on the deck, constantly gazing into the distance.

Gradually, more ships began to appear around them, and there were faint, indistinct changes along the line where sea met sky.

Evening. The setting sun sank in the west.

As the boatswain skillfully dropped anchor, this steamship that had sailed across the endless sea for more than two months finally reached an unfamiliar pier and harbor. Amid the irrepressible excitement of the many wizard apprentices, countless black crows suddenly poured out from beneath Faceless Mask's wizard robes, slowly lifting him up.

"Kekekekekeke, little ones, welcome to the great Black Isotta Wizard Academy of the Wizard Continent!"