“Sizzle!”

The tallow candle was sizzling as it burned, with wisps of gray smoke mingling with the scent of burning fat, permeating the air.

Actually, with Lynch’s current level of magic, solving the lighting problem would be a breeze. Moonlight Gem, Magic Crystal, or even a simple Witch Array could easily provide illumination. The storeroom was also filled with a pile of witchcraft items capable of providing light.

These things could effortlessly bring him brighter and softer light. Candles, with their instability and pungent smell, were indeed outdated.

However, Lynch still chose to use candles for lighting in his residence, not for any special reason, just out of habit.

When he first came to live in the low stone house district on the Outer Ring of Shadow Land, candles were all he had. At that time, he had nothing, and even a few pieces of Magic Stone income each month was problematic, making any high-end items unaffordable.

Only these cheap worldly items accompanied him through countless days and nights, supporting him through the toughest apprentice period.

Reading under the dim candlelight, with the smell of burnt fat, had become an indelible mark upon his soul.

In short,

Lynch is a very nostalgic person.

“How could this happen?!” Reading the letter, Lynch unconsciously rubbed his brow.

In the letter, the situation of the Tavendish family was described as very dire.

Since the war began, the Freemasonry Church had launched a brutal and bloody war against all the major Wizard Families. The more powerful the wizard family, the more they were targeted, and a giant like the Tavendish was no exception.

White Castle, Lost Manor, Forbidden Forest, Elegant Valley… none of the Tavendish’s strongholds were spared from the Freemasonry Church’s bloody massacre, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

Lynch frowned: “What on earth does this Freemasonry Church want?!”

Honestly, Lynch couldn’t comprehend the actions of the Freemasonry Church.

If they merely wanted to seize power, there was no need to go to this extent. The right course of action would have been to cooperate with these Wizard Families after securing the main authority, to jointly construct a new order.

Win over some Wizard Families, eliminate others, and use the remaining pieces of the pie to reward the new ruling class. This should be the proper way of power transition, shouldn’t it?

But the Freemasonry Church was doing nothing of the sort—they seemed set on exterminating all the Wizard Families in the Ancient Ruins.

No negotiations, no compromises, not even an option for surrender.

If it were ordinary muggles falling into their hands, they might have a slim chance of survival, but purebloods from Wizard Families would truly be killed on sight.

Truly heads rolling, rivers of blood.

“Is this to completely destroy the Witch Domain of the Ancient Ruins?”

As a muggle, Lynch naturally understood the profound hatred they harbored towards these lofty Wizard Families.

After all, on that land, Wizard Families monopolized all resources, dominated various resource sites, controlled all knowledge channels, and seized every opportunity to gain Extraordinary Power.

Every small step a muggle wizard made on the Wizard’s Road was deeply restricted by them, with access to resources and growth potential requiring their approval.

On one side were the high and mighty purebloods with endless Magic Stones and never-ending access to rare resources.

On the other side were muggles who, for a few or dozens of Magic Stones, had to rack their brains, rise early, and toil away, exhausted to the brink of collapse.

The haughty purebloods could do whatever they pleased with muggles, wantonly trampling on their dignity, while muggles, to please the purebloods, had to debase themselves, willingly becoming their playthings.

In such extreme inequality, the breeding of hatred was only natural.

But that’s just from the perspective of ordinary muggles. Once the Freemasonry Church had seized power, they shouldn’t confine themselves to a muggle identity—they should, by process, define themselves as the new ’purebloods.’

Purebloods should cooperate with purebloods, the new class with the old power class, forming a new ruling class as was the course, right?

“Erodion…”

Staring at the name repeatedly appearing in the letter, Lynch thought it truly terrifying—no one understood what this unruly individual wanted. What Erodion was doing was already way beyond Lynch’s comprehension.

If he was seeking power, he already held a noble position as the Witch Master of the Shadow Tower, one of the four rulers of the Ancient Ruins, a very exalted rank.

Perhaps balanced against the different Wizard Families limiting him, his status was nominal, but after leading the Freemasonry Church to seize power, he indeed grasped actual authority, rendering further extermination of Wizard Families unnecessary.

Shouldn’t everyone come together, form a small circle, establish a new order, and jointly rule and exploit the groups outside the circle?

Could it be…

This guy really intended to pursue some ideal of equality for all?

“Too brutal!”

Shaking his head, Lynch pulled his wandering thoughts back, continuing to focus on the letter’s content.

Fortunately, the Tavendish family, being large and well-established, although severely struck at the start of the war, quickly reacted and efficiently organized a resistance.

Currently, forces from the Southern part of the Ancient Ruins and parts of Starshine Castle have set up a defense line near the Southern Coast.

According to Fran’s investigation, Avery had also successfully relocated to this defensive line, and should currently be with the other family members, although due to the chaos there, more precise details were beyond Fran’s reach.

Lynch loosened his furrowed brow.

This was perhaps a silver lining amidst misfortune. Although the situation wasn’t very favorable, it seemed relatively secure for now. Being near the Southern Coast meant they could retreat via sea if push came to shove, so safety was, at least temporarily, not a concern.

“Such a worry…”

It was quite peculiar, indeed. As a muggle, he should, logically, align with the Freemasonry Church. Seeing these high-flying purebloods being slaughtered should please him, since his forced exile was ultimately due to these purebloods.

However, in reality, here he was, concerned for a most noble pureblood. Even without considering Avery, he bore little animosity towards these Wizard Families and purebloods, merely viewing them as differently positioned.

To him, judging right from wrong was more about interests rather than emotions—despite the wizard families pursuing him relentlessly, he experienced little hatred, mostly finding them slightly revolting.

Moreover, if one day his influence grew enough to conflict with these Wizard Families over interests, he wouldn’t hesitate to—

Crush them.