by Zhuang Bifan
"Gerian is not the only mage in the Emerald Tower…"
"Mage? Are you joking? My old friend, didn't you always tell me that in the world of magic, level is everything? An Archmage can easily kill tens of Magic Shooters. Now that we, Shadow's Nest, have you, an Archmage, other than Gerian fully recovering his powers, who else in the Emerald Tower can be your opponent?"
"Hmph, Gerian? So what if he recovers his powers… He is not the one I'm worried about…"
"Oh?" Ronald could not help but be afraid for a while. His only eye was filled with shock. "Could it be that there's another Archmage in the Emerald Tower other than Gerian? My old friend, don't joke with me. If there had been such a person, then wouldn't we have been unable to take over the Demon Fall Valley?"
"I'm not sure if that person is an Archmage, but there is one thing I am sure of. If that person had been around when we attacked the Demon Fall Valley, then even if we were able to take over the Demon Fall Valley, we would have paid a very heavy price…"
"There is really such a person?"
"Yes…"
The old man's voice was very soft, but Ronald always felt that this old friend of his sounded very ghastly for some unknown reason.
"His name is Felic."
"Ah?" When the ghastly voice was heard, Ronald had a shock. After that, he suddenly laughed loudly. "Hahaha… Oh my God. I was wondering whom you were talking about. So the person you were talking about is that pharmacist from the Emerald Tower? Stop joking. Indeed, my old friend, I admit that that pharmacist is powerful. He is able to concoct the Arcane Magic Potion and Wild Elixir at such a young age. But so what? He is only twenty years old. Even if he were to study magic from the day he was born, he only has the power of a Magic Shooter now at best. With your powers, you can turn him into ashes just by moving your fingers. Let me say this: what is wrong with you recently? You become timid after encountering some obstacles. Even a twenty-year-old kid makes you scared…"
Ronald's words were very rude, especially so for that last sentence. It was blatant derision, but the old man seemed not have heard it. His eyes just stared into the mountain range in the distance. After a long pause, he finally let out a soft sight. "Ronald, you have never seen that Felic before. You have no idea how terrifying he is. If it was any other Magic Shooter, I would probably tell you 'no problem, he is not my match', but this Felic is really different. I am not confident… I really do not have any confidence at all."
"Why?"
"Why?" The old man suddenly laughed, but this laughter was indeed a little miserable. It was hoarse and heavy, just like the sound produced when two shards of glass were rubbed against each other. "Do you know that when this Felic was only level-eight, he could already resist my mental strength suppression… Do you dare believe it? A level-eight mage resisting an Archmage's mental suppression. Ronald, you haven't seen it before, so you won't be able to imagine how terrifying he is…"
"Say no more!" Maybe it was because the old man's words were too direct, but Ronald's voice was rather rude. He gripped the sides of the sentry tower, and his gaze fell upon the continuous chain of mountains. Over there was the only entrance to the Demon Fall Valley. "If it really is as you said, that Felic can go against an Archmage, what of it? Could it be that you think that the Emerald Tower still has the guts to come to the Demon Fall Valley again? Could it be that you think that they really have the ability to take back the Demon Fall Valley? Its not that I, Ronald, am boasting. If the Emerald Tower really dares to come to the Demon Fall Valley again, I would eat up this sentry tower— f*ck!"
Ronald's voice had not even fallen when his gaze suddenly froze. After that, a chain of vulgarities was spewed by him.
It was because he clearly saw that there was a cloud of dust in the continuous chain of mountains in the distance. Based on years of experience, Ronald could tell with one look that this was a battalion with more than a thousand men. F*ck, this really is like seeing a ghost. A battalion with more than a thousand men coming over to the Demon Fall Valley? Could it be that they did not know that this place belongs to our Shadow's Nest, and barging in without an invitation equates to declaration of war?
"Could it be the Emerald Tower?" This thought had just appeared in his mind, but Ronald had already denied it. Of course, this was not because he wanted to eat up the sentry tower, but because he believed that the Emerald Tower could not rally so many people. Even by thinking with his feet, he knew this terrifying number was definitely not something that the Emerald Tower could gather…
Not a single force in the whole Jarrosus could summon so many men, not to mention the Emerald Tower.
Unless they came together…
A thousand thoughts appeared in Ronald's mind. He already did not bother trying to think which one was the most possible one. He hastily reached out with his hand into his clothes, and pulled out a magic beacon. At the same time, he pulled the fuse of the magic signal. Afterwards, a red flare shot into the sky.
"Bang!" The red flare exploded in the air. In an instant, dazzling red light covered half of the Demon Fall Valley.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack! Come out, all of you bastards! Prepare for battle!" Ronald hoarse shouting spread far and wide from the sentry tower. A large number of the members of the Shadow's Nest came out from their tents continuously. All their faces were filled with confusion. There were even people mumbling, "F*ck, it's broad daylight. Attack my a*s…"
After that, they saw the brilliant red flare.
Chapter 287 - Young and Old Archmage
"BOOM!" The loud sound was like a bomb that exploded above Ronald's head. At that moment, Ronald really felt like his head had been bombed. That feeling was like a large and invisible hand had grabbed onto his heart and squeezed tightly. After that, it was like a surge of cold air came from beneath his feet…
There were flares all over the sky. Coupled with the searing heat, they made it feel like a plague was surging towards the guard towers. The power of the Flaming Storm was the most incisive at this point. Ronald was only stunned for a moment, and the sky full of flares already surged towards him. When he realized it, and tried to retreat, it was already too late. He could but watch as the flares swallowed the guard tower.
In that second, Ronald seemed to have heard a hasty chanting. After that, the old man behind him raised his magic staff, and the large gem embedded at the top instantly gave of a dazzling light. In the blink of an eye, a gale swept past. When these two magical forces collided, even space seemed to have been distorted. While the gale swept past and the blazing flames let up for a moment, the old man seized the chance to grab Ronald's collar.
"Jump!"
The two of them seemed to have jumped off the guard tower at the same time. The old man hastily chanted while he was midair. With the support of the Levitation Spell, the two of them landed softly on the ground like leaves.
Ronald was a level-fifteen warrior. After the initial shock, he quickly regained composure a high-level warrior should have. When his feet had just landed on the ground, his crimson red Combat Energy had started to spread. It protected himself and the old man behind him. With the sky full of roaring flares, they could no longer take a step forward.
"It really is him!" The old man did not mention any names, but Ronald knew that "him" referred to the Emerald Tower's Felic.
"What… What do we do?" After thinking about the danger just now, Ronald could not help but break out in a cold sweat. This time, he really did not dare not to trust what the old man said. Ronald swallowed his saliva with difficulty. The gaze from his only eye showed that he was panic-stricken.
"Gather up the forces. We must counterattack as soon as possible. I will try my best to buy you time." After the old man said that, another hasty recitation was heard. With the support of the Levitation Spell, he was like a black arrow, flying towards that chain of mountains.
Lin Li stood at spacious flat ground. He observed the Demon Fall Valley while hastily reciting. At his back, there
were at least a hundred mages gathered. Furthermore, there were countless mages wearing robes in a location further away. They rushed over one by one. At this time, the majority of them were looking at this twenty years old young mage with fear.
Almost all of the mages in Jarrosus had come here this time. Other than the members of the Emerald Tower, there were at least five hundred men that were deployed by the forces of Jarrosus. Within the past few months, they more or less heard from their own leaders that there was a genius in the Emerald Tower. A genuine genius. His talent was unsurpassed, and his strength was immense. At the same time, he had a deep knowledge of pharmaceutics. Almost every praise could be used describing this genius. It was especially so for those like Ysera that knew well how powerful Lin Li was. They gave out warnings repeatedly before setting off. Don't ever go against the words of Mage Felic or question Mage Felic's decisions. Otherwise, even the Magick Potion may not save you…
After the repeated warnings, the name "Felic" had long been etched deep inside everyone's minds. It could be said that none of the hundreds of mages present were strangers to the name "Felic". Other than a lucky few, almost nobody had seen him take action with their own eyes. For most of the mages, everything were just rumors.
Those that were more timid had maintained a peculiar reverence for him from the start, viewing him as though he was a demon from the Abyss. Those that were braver had thought otherwise. They had always felt that no matter how powerful this Felic was, he was just an overrated young genius…
But now, be it those braver or those more timid, they had a thorough understanding of the prowess of this young mage. There was incomparable strength and violence. In just that short instant, he had already cast almost ten Flaming Storms. The casting speed was fast, and the execution was powerful. It was simply terrifying…
Almost all of the mages could not tolerate it, and swallow their saliva. They used a gaze normally designated to view monsters as they stared at that young mage who was reciting incantations. All of them could not help but mumble to themselves, "Is this something a f*cking human can do? Could it be that this guy's a magical beast that's wearing human skin?"
"Weird, why is this guy so familiar?" After Lin Li had released the tenth Flaming Storm, he took a breather. After that, he saw that there was a familiar silhouette flying from afar. Lin Li could not help but feel uncertain. He pointed at the familiar silhouette flying over to him and inquired Gerian, who was beside him.
Gerian was laughing while watching Lin Li cast spells. Each time a Flaming Storm was cast, Gerian's smile would get more sheepish. When the tenth Flaming Storm was released, the fatty had already turned around and looked at the leaders of the 16 forces with a gaze that was up to no good. The meaning behind his gaze was just too obvious. Take a look, just take a look. This is the pride of the Emerald Tower. All you of trash actually dared to be arrogant when the Emerald Tower was down and out. Do you want to end up like Shadow's Nest?
Nobody wanted to…
So, the leaders of the 16 forces buried their heads. Nobody dared to look at Gerian. It was not a joke. To look straight at this fatty at this time? What if he took it as a challenge? This damned fatty was still gullible, but what if Mage Felic took it seriously?
After scanning through the faces of the leaders of the 16 forces, Gerian finally gave a satisfied smile, but he only smiled midway when he heard Lin Li's voice from the side. After that, Gerian's smile suddenly froze. "F*ck, that's Old Merlin!"
"What?"
Lin Li had a shock, and looked at the silhouette flying fast in the sky. The more he looked, the more familiar it was. It was the same magical wave, and the same figure. The only thing that was different would be that he seemed to be more frail as compared to back then in Jarrosus. But, the magical wave being emitted from his body seemed to be stronger than before..
"It really is Old Merlin…"
"Nonsense, I have fought with Old Merlin for decades. Even if he were to turn into ashes, I would still recognize this old man…" Gerian finished his rambling, and then started to frown. "F*ck, this old man. I knew that he wouldn't disappear so easily. As expected, this old man had actually teamed up with the Shadow's Nest. I told you so—where else could that idiot, Evan, get such balls. He knew that he could not afford to offend the Emerald Tower, but he actually dared to go against me every time. So, it was actually this old man pulling the strings behind the scenes…"
This time, Gerian was really troubled.
Old Merlin was one of the strongest mages in Jarrosus. Even if it was Gerian with his full powers, he had not been able to overcome this old man after fighting for tens of years. The only time he won was when he relied on the Awakening Potion that Felic gave him.
"F*ck, this time, it really is going to be troublesome. My mana has collapsed, where do we find an Archmage to take him out?"
"I'll go talk to him…"
"What are you going to talk to him about—" Gerian had not finished speaking when the expression on his face froze. He stood there with a dazed look; his mouth was wide open as though he had seen a mouse r.a.p.e an elephant. "F*ck, what the hell. Bastard, when did you break through to the Archmage realm? Why is it that I did not know of it…"
"You didn't ask me, either…" Lin Li dropped that sentence, and flew over towards Old Merlin with the support of the Levitation Spell.
"F*ck, this bastard is getting more and more out of hand. He actually hid it from me…" Gerian's tone was anguished, but his fat face was already smiling jovially. This was truly a surprise within a surprise. No matter how well informed he was, he would never imagine that this kid had already broken through to the Archmage realm after going to Alanna for two months…
"He really is an Archmage…" Ysera had swallowed his saliva. Yesterday, back at the Emerald Tower, he had already faintly felt it, but he just did not dare to believe it. Now, he had seen it with his own eyes. Ysera had no choice but to admit that there were always some people in this world that could not be measured by common sense. Profound knowledge and unsurpassed talent. Many times, they could only be described as "monsters"…
As for the hundreds of mages that came to the Demon Fall Valley this time round, all of their jaws were wide open. If those ten Flaming Storms had made them dumbfounded earlier, then this Levitation Spell almost scared them to death…
F*ck, an Archmage in his twenties. Was there anything more monstrous in this world?
When the crowd was discussing, Lin Li had already flown to the sky above the Demon Fall Valley.
"It's been a while, Mage Felic." This pair of young and old Archmages had stopped at the same time when the distance between them was a hundred meters. Old Merlin's voice sounded more frail than when he had been at Jarrosus.
"It's been a while, Merlin Family Head Matthew."
"I don't know if I can ask what is the purpose for Mage Felic to come over to the Demon Fall Valley today?"
Chapter 288 - Psychic Storm
"You're amusing, Patriarch Matthew. So many of us have come to the Demon Fall Valley, of course we're here to retrieve some items. Do we look like we are on a holiday? "
Lin Li maintained a polite smile throughout the conversation, while his words remained mild. Anyone would have thought he was chatting with an old friend.
Only Old Merlin thought otherwise…
He was hovering less than a hundred meters away from his opponent, and could clearly feel the strong magical wave coming from the young mage. It was an incredibly powerful force, and Old Merlin could not help feeling trepidation despite having prepared himself for it. This force was too strong, and made him feel out of breath—it felt like he was facing a huge dragon even though he was still situated at the outer boundary of the magical waves.
My God… Old Merlin's heart sank as he knew that this young mage had grown beyond what he could imagine.
Even though he'd already known of this young mage's astounding talent back in Jarrosus, and was aware that he would reach a scary heig
hts one day, Old Merlin never knew that that day would come so fast. It had merely been months ago that he had been a level-8 mage, yet now he had become an existence that Old Merlin was no match for…
"Sigh… " Old Merlin sighed quietly, and for the first time felt like he had made a mistake. If he had known that this would happen, he would have kept Cromwell in check instead of letting him mess with the Emerald Tower, and all the more kept him from messing with this scary young mage. Then, all of this would not have happened. While he could not change the fact that the Emerald Tower ruled over Jarrosus now, he could have continued to live there, and Cromwell would not have died in the Daylight Square…
But it was too late for anything now.
The Merlin Family had fallen, Cromwell was dead, and even he himself had to reside in the Shadow's Nest—all of this had already happened.
The regret in Old Merlin's eyes faded as soon as it appeared. When he raised his head again, his eyes were filled with determination. It was too late to say anything now; he had to defeat this young mage and fend off Emerald Tower's attack before he reinstated the glory of the Merlin Family with the aid of the Shadow's Nest. This was his only chance—even if it had but an almost negligible possibility of success…
The magical waves from both of them exploded almost at the same time, and it felt like a strong wind swept past at that moment. Their black cloaks were caught in the wind as magical waves started surging, and the air in the Demon Fall Valley began to feel volatile.
Old Merlin's chanting was unusually throaty as even he had to admit that he did not have an ounce of confidence going against this scary young mage.
This was perhaps the least confident Old Merlin had been in a fight in his whole life—even when he faced Gerian in Jarrosus, he always believed that all he needed was a stroke of luck. Now, however, he knew he needed a lot more than just luck…
That was because he now saw an aqua-colored light coming from the young mage.
Old Merlin knew that it was a Water Shield—one that was coming from a level-16 Archmage…