End of the Magic Era

“I heard the Charlotte Family has a True Spirit Magic Tool called the Thousand Souls Sacrifice, is this the case?”

“You, you…” The question Lin Yun asked sounded quite ordinary, but Hanson felt as if he had seen a ghost. His face turned pale as he slowly retreated, his eyes full of fear and alarm as he stared in fright. “How did you know!?”

“Ah?” Lin Yun was surprised at first before figuring out that he misremembered the time. The Thousand Souls Sacrifice had yet to become famous in this era.

This was a secret that lasted a millennium.

It would have normally been another hundred years before that Magic Tool whose power could exceed True Spirit Magic Tools would shock the whole Noscent.

Moreover, it was also an Augment.

“Impossible, Impossible…” Hanson didn’t know about any of that, but once Lin Yun said the words ‘Thousand Souls Sacrifice’, Hanson lost his mind. He was terrified and kept mumbling, “Impossible, impossible, impossible…”

It made sense for Hanson to be scared like that, because after all, the existence of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice might be one of the most important secrets of the Charlotte Family. The Charlotte Family had obtained that True Spirit Magic Tool over a millennium ago.

But the Thousand Souls Sacrifice didn’t bring any benefit to the Charlotte Family…

This sounded a little weird.

A True Spirit Magic Tool’s power was comparable to that of an Archmage. It should be able to display frightening power even in the hands of an ordinary person, so with this kind of world-shaking power, how could the Charlotte Family not get any benefits?

But Hanson Charlotte knew that this truly was the case.

For the past millennium, the Charlotte Family thought of every possible way to satisfy that sinister Magic Tool Incarnation.

Only those who had seen that Magic Tool Incarnation knew how sinister it was. In the Charlotte Family, some were regretful while others were cursing. The regretful ones regretted having provoked that Magic Tool Incarnation, while the cursing ones were cursing that monster to go to hell earlier.

Hanson became a High Mage at fifty and gained the ability to join the core of the Charlotte Family. It was also the first time he came into contact with the Thousand Souls Sacrifice, the first time he saw that sinister Magic Tool Incarnation.

Hanson Charlotte could still remember.

At the time, he had entered the Charlotte Family Ancestral Land, a place filled with skeletons and blood, and which was permeated by a thick, bloody smell.

There, he saw a monster reeking of sulfur and iron, formed only by a skeleton and blood. It displayed a malevolent smile at him.

At the time, Hanson had been completely terrified.

A few decades later, he still couldn’t remember exactly what sacrifice he had offered to the monster or how he managed to leave the bloody and skeletal Ancestral Land.

Hanson could only remember that the monster had been very pleased with his sacrifice and had let out delighted laughter from within the blood and bones.

Then, as he grew stronger and stronger, his position in the Charlotte Family rose higher and higher and he gradually gained the right to know of some secrets.

This was when Hanson learnt that the terrifying monster had been the Thousand Souls Sacrifice’s Magic Tool Incarnation and that a millennium ago, the evil Magic Tool Incarnation signed a contract with the ancestor of the Charlotte Family. It agreed to serve the children of the Charlotte Family at suitable times, but in exchange, the Charlotte Family’s offspring had to keep sacrificing fresh flesh to it.

For the past thousand years, that evil Incarnation had been like a black hole. The Charlotte Family had to use every kind of method to satisfy it, especially with Santon Merlin’s appearance. During the last two centuries, that evil incarnation had truly been the worst nightmare of the Charlotte Family.

At the time, the Charlotte Family didn’t even have time to look after themselves. How could they get enough fresh flesh? After failing to meet the quota three times in a row, the evil Incarnation was thoroughly angered and caused carnage in the Ancestral Land, obliterating most of the Ancestral Land.

In the end, the Patriarch of the Charlotte Family appeared and personally entered the Ancestral Land before having a long talk with that monster. No one else knew the contents of that discussion. They only knew that the Patriarch looked a few dozen years older when he left the Ancestral Ground. He spent an entire night in the room, and when he came out in the morning, half of his hair was white.

Then, the Patriarch gave an order that made everyone feel cold.

Countless children of the Charlotte Family’s side branches were recalled and informed that they were to be given an extremely rare opportunity. They could enter the Ancestral Land and accept the ancestor’s baptism. If they were lucky, they might be able to obtain the purest bloodline of the Charlotte Family.

And then…

And then nothing.

None of the children who entered the Ancestral Land came out.

The next day, a servant opened the door to the Patriarch’s room and saw his master lying in a pool of blood. That was the first time a Patriarch had killed himself in the Charlotte Family’s history.

From that point on, the Charlotte Family classified the Thousand Souls Sacrifice as the most deeply kept secret. Unless they were part of the core of the Charlotte Family, no one would know about it.

Hanson Charlotte had always been sure that this was a secret only known to a few members of the Charlotte Family, so he had never thought that a young mage from the Merlin Family would mention it.

It was natural for him to be shocked.

Now, the first thought in Hanson’s mind was that the existence of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice was already known to the Merlin Family.

But then, Hanson realized that this shouldn’t be the case. The Merlin Family couldn’t have known of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice. They would have had too many opportunities to force the Charlotte Family into a hole that they would never be able to escape from.

He might have had some relations with Ofran, but for the sake of the Family’s benefits, he would be able to unhesitantly rob them of the Star Gem. This was how conflicts between Families worked. It was just like Santon Merlin of those past years. Even though the Charlotte Family had already expressed allegiance, once he reached Heaven Rank, he still unhesitantly destroyed the Charlotte Family’s power base and reduced that millennial clan to a 3rd rate force.

Was this because there was irreconcilable hatred between Santon Merlin and the Charlotte Family? Of course not. This was because the Charlotte Family’s existence blocked the path of the Merlin Family. If a Heaven Mage also appeared in the Charlotte Family, they would do the same.

But if the Merlin Family didn’t know of the existence of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice, then why?

How could that young mage in his twenties know so much?

“Haha, you are asking me how I know? Sorry, this is a secret that cannot be shared.” Lin Yun smiled, as this was indeed a secret that couldn’t be shared. He certainly couldn’t tell Hanson that he knew about the existence of Thousand Souls Sacrifice because he was from the future.

That was when he learnt that the Charlotte Family sank into eternal damnation. At that time, the Charlotte Family had finally offered enough fresh flesh, making everyone feel overjoyed, as they thought that they could finally use and control the power of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice…

But, they were clueless.

The power of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice wasn’t something they could control. Once it had enough sacrifices, it became a crazy and bloodthirsty monster that reached True Spirit rank. The first time it left the Ancestral Land was to inflict a big blow on the Merlin Family.

The Charlotte Family was delighted after their old enemy suffered so badly and held a long feast for three days and nights to celebrate. But on the last day of that feast, the Thousand Souls Sacrifice burst in and turned the celebration into a funeral. The elites of the Charlotte Family died overnight.

When someone reached the square the next day, only bones and limbs could be seen scattered everywhere. Blood flowed on the square, turning the earth crimson. A monster was amidst the limbs, chewing while laughing heartily.

It was a very terrifying scene.

From that day on, Thousand Souls Sacrifice wreaked havoc throughout Okland and perpetrated countless massacres. The number of lives it swallowed reached a point where it could be compared to a major natural disaster. Ten years later, the Cloud Tower had a Heaven Rank powerhouse abruptly rise up and catch the track of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice in the Aurij Mountains. After an arduous battle, the Thousand Souls Sacrifice’s Incarnation was thoroughly destroyed and the Magic Tool itself was brought back to the Cloud Tower.

A few years later, that Heaven Rank powerhouse gained control of the Black Death Rune. At that time, Black Death Rune was already different from the one that Lin Yun had borrowed. The greatest difference was that it had an Augment that was at True Spirit rank.

That True Spirit Augment was extremely powerful and it burst with extraordinary energy when used in battle. It followed the Heaven Mage as they conquered one plane after another, making the Cloud Tower’s name echo through Noscent.

After thousands of years, people finally learnt that this True Spirit Augment attached to the Black Death Rune was the Thousand Souls Sacrifice.