A Wizard’s Secret

Blessed with a wild power, the force of Taran City swelled up frenziedly. Traces of mysterious energy were bestowed upon Wizard Finello. From a distance, the entire Taran City seemed to have turned into an ocean of fire, flooded with a firestorm of horrifying force.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Two figures sprinted from afar and stopped at Taran City. They were the two ugly Wizards.

However, when they saw the frightening state of Taran City, their faces revealed how aghast they were.

“Damn it, Finello has summoned the full strength of the Modoya Magic Circle! The Modoya Magic Circle is a Runic Magic Circle that Finello unexpectedly obtained. Setting it up is a complicated process, but once it’s done, it’ll gather the powers of all Spell Casters within the Runic Magic Circle and control all Elements. All of these forces will be bestowed upon the user, and his powers will increase by many times over instantly.”

The two ugly Wizards who wore huge jade-green earrings appeared very unhappy. In such a situation, entering Taran City would be heading to their own doom.

Perhaps if they had appeared in Taran City earlier, Finello would still have some reservations and not dare to attack Merlin. However, now that he had summoned the full force of the Runic Magic Circle, it was inevitable that he would attack to kill. Even if the eighth prince became furious later, Finello was capable of engaging the troops of other princes.

Still, if Merlin died in this manner, the first ones to bear the brunt of his death would be the two ugly Wizards.

“We can only wait and pray that Merlin won’t die off so quickly. There may still be a chance for us to make it. We need to ask for Snake Elder’s help now!”

The two ugly Wizards were rather powerless now, so they quickly sent out a mysterious rune that sank into the air and flew off into the distance in the blink of an eye, carrying a message for Snake Elder in Wilson Castle.

…

“Whoosh!”

A rune twinkled slightly and turned into a beam of white light as it was caught by Snake Elder.

The initially calm face of Snake Elder changed abruptly after he saw the white light.

“Crush.”

The tables and chairs around Snake Elder were suddenly ground to a fine powder by a violent gale. The entire room swayed and tottered as if it was on the verge of collapsing.

“Damn you, Finello, damn you! Ruining the plans of His Royal Highness the eighth prince, not even ten thousand deaths would be enough for you!”

The pale face of Snake Elder was now flushed red. At first, there were only green scales on his neck, but now a green force emerged around him and intricate scales rapidly wrapped around his entire face, making him look sinister and frightening.

“I hope I’m not too late!”

In a single step, Snake Elder disappeared from the room and quickly transformed into a green whirlwind, flying into the distant sky.

…

In Taran City, Merlin watched calmly as Wizard Finello’s force continued to grow. From a Fourth-level Spell Caster’s force, it kept growing, wildly growing, until it suddenly broke through to the Fifth-level and kept on increasing.

The entire Taran City was covered in runes. Merlin could distinctly feel that Taran City had been under the control of Wizard Finello through the establishment of the Runic Magic Circle. Every Spell Caster within the area was firmly controlled by Wizard Finello regardless of whether they were willing. By now, their bodies no longer belonged to them, and all their Magic Power, elemental force, and the rest of it was completely stripped away and turned into runic force which was absorbed into Finello’s body.

This was the power of the Runic Magic Circle, a power that had never declined ever since the golden age of Spell Casters. At one time, runology was something that powerful Spell Casters must master.

“Haha, Merlin, I couldn’t find you in the Wilson clan before this since you hid in the Dark Magic Region, and no one could do anything. Now, it’s too bad that you’ve shown yourself, and you’ve come to Taran City! This is the Modoya Magic Circle that I’ve studied for decades. What do you think? It’s not bad, isn’t it? How do I fare against the Spell Casters of the Dark Magic Region? Your Dark Magic Region specializes in runology, but I’m afraid that no one is more accomplished in this field than me…”

Wizard Finello was covered in dense lines of mysterious runes from head to toe and was enveloped in a layer of brilliant, colorful light. In a single step, he traversed a distance of several meters, and after a few quick steps, he was standing before Merlin, staring at him in a composed manner.

“A roaming Wizard is only a roaming Wizard in the end…”

Merlin shook his head lightly and a mocking smirk appeared on his face. It was true that Wizard Finello now appeared very powerful, having designed such a formidable Modoya Magic Circle, but his technique of setting up the Runic Magic Circle was passable at best.

The lofty towers in the Dark Magic Region, in truth, represented a Spell Caster’s deepest understanding of runes. For instance, even though Wizard Leo’s tower did not seem to contain any sort of power, Merlin knew very well that it would be impossible for even a Seventh-level Spell Caster to break in.

The towers of the Dark Magic Region were the truly scary parts of the organization. Being the Dark Magic Region that specializes in runology, they had practically channeled the strongest powers of runes into the construction of those towers.

Merlin even had the idea that, if the Wilson clan became a Spell Caster clan sometime in the future, he could build a runic tower in Wilson Castle using the tower-building method of the Dark Magic Region.

Nonetheless, it was only a vague plan for now. There were many other factors to consider, and the Dark Magic Region might not necessarily agree to reveal their method of building towers.

Therefore, as he looked at Wizard Finello trying to make a big show of his runes, Merlin did not know whether to laugh or cry. A roaming Wizard could only know so much. Wizard Finello thought that just because he had spent his life studying runes, he had achieved some amazing accomplishment, but in fact, it had not a single redeeming feature!

“Merlin, you’re so stubborn. I’ve heard that you’ve killed Weiss and Bluebird of Ozmu and obtained their Pandora Demon Abilities. Heh heh… So, now you’re under the delusion that you’re some bona fide prodigy, that you can look down upon everyone? That’s where you’re greatly mistaken, for they were no more than Third-level Spell Casters. I’m a powerful Fourth-level Wizard, now blessed with the Modoya Magic Circle which combines the powers of over a hundred Spell Casters in Taran City. Now, I’m comparable to a Fifth-level Spell Caster! Haha, do you know how strong a Fifth-level Spell Caster truly is?”

Finello’s face was ashen. Merlin’s contemptuous look a moment ago had made him feel a flash of humiliation. At this moment, the force surrounding him became even more ferocious. With a simple lift of his hand, violent gusts of wind spun into Storm Giants that whistled as they thundered toward Merlin.

“Earth Veil.”

A dirt-yellow light instantly materialized over Merlin, wrapping around him securely. The defensive strength of Earth Veil, after being combined with the Pandora Demon Ability, Fuse Earth, reached the standard of a Fifth-level spell. Thus, Merlin was not fearful at all.

“Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!”

Mysterious runes, which carried the force of a storm within them, crashed into Merlin noisily, but Merlin did not even take a single step back and appeared very calm.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

Merlin shook his head, and then lifted his head abruptly, and extended his hands in a clap.

“Pandora Demon Ability, Fiery Collapse!”

The white flames quickly surged from Merlin and flew toward each of the Storm Giants. All of the Storm Giants, upon encountering the white blaze, shattered instantly and were completely scattered in the wind.

“Weak, far too weak.”

Merlin’s Fiery Collapse destroyed everything in its path. None of the runes were able to hold it back. The flames rapidly gathered and began to speed toward Wizard Finello who was in mid-air.

Wizard Finello’s face shifted slightly as he saw the white flames. He drew in a deep breath and runes began to emerge over his body and quickly solidified in mid-air.

“Spirit of Modoya, I summon your Image!”

Most of the runes on Finello quickly vanished and the force around his body was greatly diminished, but those runes began to burn and transform into a raging blaze. These flames gradually converged in mid-air and formed a golden Flame Giant.

The golden Flame Giant was faceless, and its entire body burned with a fiery blaze. As it faced Merlin’s Fiery Collapse, the golden Flame Giant simply reached out a large hand and smacked it down heavily. The surrounding Flame Element was erased suddenly and a high whistling sound could be heard.

“Sputter! Sputter!”

Merlin’s white flames, under the furious hit of the golden Flame Giant, quickly vanished. Fiery Collapse was no longer of any use.

Merlin narrowed his eyes slightly. Ever since he had cultivated Fiery Collapse, it had never failed him despite only reaching the first form. In particular, after the Flame Maxim was forcibly combined into the spell, the might of Fiery Collapse became even greater and was even a threat to a Fifth-level Spell Caster.

Since Fiery Collapse was no longer effective, Merlin took a step back, and an icy chill appeared in his hand.

“Pandora Demon Ability, Glacial Finger!”

An icy blast of air quickly flew toward the Flame Giant but before it could reach the Flame Giant, it was evaporated due to the high temperature. It was useless as well.

Currently, among Merlin’s Pandora Demon Abilities, Glacial Finger was comparatively weaker and could only be used against Fourth-level Spell Casters. Glacial Finger became useless against an opponent stronger than that. After all, it was not combined with any other spells.

“Haha, Merlin, now that you’re trapped in my Runic Magic Circle, there’s nothing for you to do but die!”

Finello saw that the golden Flame Giant was effective, so he cast more Flame Giants one after another. His powers seemed to be limitless, and he unleashed five golden Flame Giants in a row.

In an instant, the Flame Giants were everywhere, trapping Merlin in the middle. These Flame Giants were comparable to a Fifth-level Spell Caster and possessed terrifying strength, so even though Merlin had the Pandora Demon Ability, Fuse Earth, he dared not lower his guard.

As he looked at the approaching Flame Giants, Merlin drew in a deep breath, and the black robe he was wearing fluttered lightly. He stared at Wizard Finello and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

“Enough of playing around. It’s time to end this!”

Even after Merlin spoke, Wizard Finello still wore an unabashed smile on his face.

“Whoosh…”

Suddenly, everyone could not help but look toward the sky. Peculiar darkness that looked like a tidal wave was descending…