The third third-rank wizard of the Borderland would definitely belong to the Stargate Council. But even within the Stargate Council itself, there were different opinions.

However, what should have originally been the Glare Family head and Stargate Council Chairman each recommending one backup candidate became three backup wizards due to both Gorsa and Wind Sprite Pei’er simultaneously proposing Saul as the third third-rank.

For other second-rank wizards, without backing from powerful forces, they didn’t even have a chance to know about this selection.

If others became third-rank beforehand—not to mention the probability—what awaited them was either expulsion from the Borderland or going to the Sighing Wall, that place where the most third-rank wizards gathered.

But although the selection was conducted secretly, some people who shouldn’t have known had already anticipated the development of events.

For example, Kismet.

After saying goodbye to Lucy, he went alone to Clark’s former residence.

The large tree that once hung with white wind chimes, along with the tree house above, had turned into stone sculptures, gradually cracking under the erosion of the northwest wind.

Despite having dealt with Clark, Kismet felt no sadness when arriving at the other party’s former residence.

Those who fantasized about establishing their own strongholds or switching allegiances had also rushed to the wind chime tree house upon receiving the news, hoping to find some third-rank wizard inheritance here.

However, most people still underestimated the gap between third and second rank.

So when Kismet arrived, he saw more than ten wizard sculptures under the tree house.

Like the wind chime tree house, they had been petrified by some unknown force, gradually drying and cracking.

Such a scene quickly scared away others, so when Kismet came several days later, there were no traces of other wizards around.

Ignoring the petrified wizards around him whose faces were frozen in expressions of terror, Kismet walked step by step to the base of the tree.

He looked up, leaped into the air, his body soaring like a bird, then drilled into the tree house through the window.

“Bang!”

His feet hit the ground and immediately broke through the floor. Kismet had to jump up again and hover in mid-air.

Despite being choked by the dust stirred up in the room, Kismet was still in a good mood as he greeted the empty reclining chair: “Pleasant death, Clark.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a vague shadow suddenly appeared on the empty chair, but looking carefully, one could discern Clark’s outline from the shadow.

“Gorsa… he trespassed into… the Borderland…”

Shadow Clark’s voice was very blurred, as if coming from the distant mountains.

But Kismet could still hear very clearly.

“I already know about this.” He shrugged, saying indifferently, “I felt that Mummy Wizard was problematic from the start, so I followed him into the tower and watched him set up the fake Storm Eye to lure you in. Thinking about it, I’m probably an accomplice too?”

Clark, who had originally wanted Kismet to report Gorsa’s whereabouts to the Stargate Council, was suddenly stunned in place.

Kismet acted as if he hadn’t just said something shocking and stepped forward to touch Clark’s shadow with interest.

His hand unsurprisingly passed through the shadow, as if there was nothing there at all.

“Did you leave part of your consciousness and soul in the dream about the tree house?”

“Kismet!!!”

The shadow let out a hoarse howl.

Instantly, a strand of Kismet’s hair petrified, shattered, and silently fell to the ground.

But that was all.

“Although you absorbed the life force of the entire tree house and those wizards who coveted your inheritance, trying to deal with me with such methods is still…”

He was halfway through speaking when he suddenly found his feet had lost sensation.

Looking down, he discovered his feet had somehow already petrified.

“Uh… well, I underestimated you. Indeed, third-rank is third-rank. Even after death, the remaining power is still amazing.”

“I will… devour you too!”

As if absorbing part of Kismet’s life force, Clark’s voice gradually became clear.

Meanwhile, the petrification on Kismet’s feet was slowly spreading upward.

Though called slow, in reality, it would take less than a minute for Clark’s remnant soul to turn Kismet entirely into a stone statue.

Kismet still had one choice: while his upper body could still move freely, immediately fly away from the tree house to a place Clark couldn’t influence.

However, despite just being proven wrong by Clark, Kismet still had no intention of leaving.

He just watched with interest as the petrification spread from his feet to his legs and gradually affected his waist and abdomen.

“Let me see what the great Dreammaker, Lord Clark, can achieve?” Kismet’s eyes lit up, as if appreciating someone else’s destruction.

But the terrible petrification suddenly stagnated just as it reached his chest.

The moisture in his skin and the fluids in his blood vessels and bones began to stir restlessly.

Kismet immediately showed a pained expression, but he forced himself not to scream out.

The petrification on his lower body seemed to have seen a ghost, retreating from his body at an even faster speed.

“Are you testing me?”

Suddenly, several wounds burst open on Kismet’s body, and blood like mice that had been imprisoned for a long time rushed out from his wounds, gathering in mid-air to form a blood sphere.

The blood sphere’s surface rippled slightly, and soon a woman’s face appeared.

Seeing that face, the originally vague Clark immediately dispersed like smoke.

Kismet’s face immediately turned pale as death.

But he still showed a twisted smile, “I can swear on my life that I absolutely wasn’t testing you, lovely City Lord Ophelia.”

As soon as the word “lovely” left his mouth, Kismet lost his floating ability and immediately fell toward the ground at extreme speed, as if struck down by a huge stone.

“Don’t forget your pursuit.” Ophelia said coldly, letting Kismet crash through the ground and into the tree trunk.

Then, the bloody face slowly turned toward the chair where Clark had disappeared, “The power of dreams is good, but the caster himself also easily becomes immersed in dreams. Perhaps that’s the real reason for your ultimate failure. But since you’re already dead, die cleanly and don’t run out halfway to cause trouble.”

The bloody sphere suddenly exploded like a bomb, blood droplets splattering throughout the entire room, then spreading on the walls and furniture.

Finally, the entire room turned blood red.

Clark’s remnant soul, which had disappeared somewhere, appeared again.

“Ophelia, must you do this!!!”

The roaring voice carried faint despair.

Ophelia’s voice came from all directions in the room.

“Although my power cannot be transmitted here, dreams always depend on consciousness. As long as there are no consciousness carriers here, your dream will disappear forever.”

With Ophelia’s cold voice, red blood gradually covered the entire room.

Clark could no longer maintain the pride of a third-rank wizard and began cursing wildly.

However, when the red color dyed the tree house, the big tree outside, and the surrounding petrified people all red.

Clark’s cursing voice abruptly stopped.

Ophelia’s aura also dissipated immediately.

There was no other life around, only Kismet who had been smashed into the soil below the tree roots.

He had almost no moisture left on his body, all skin and bones, like a skeleton.

Kismet struggled to get up, immediately leaning against the tree root and dry-heaving once.

“Ugh… my head is so dizzy.”

(End of Chapter)