End of the Magic Era

A shadow flashed past. It was the Three-Eyed Secret Wolf. Its gaze landed on the soul fragment of the Ancient God and it let out two whines as it kept circling around the soul fragment, howling in excitement as if it had found a new toy. It tried to grab the soul fragment with its small claws, but it just kept failing.

There were originally two soul fragments, but since they were from the same God, they had completely fused. Moreover, many changes had taken place.

Had Lin Yun not left, he would have shockingly found that the Ancient God’s soul fragment actually had a strange character on it… This strange character couldn’t be described with words, and its appearance would be forgotten after looking away.

This character was undoubtedly harder to decipher than those in the Book of Death.

The character on the forehead of the Three-Eyed Secret Wolf also seemed to be changing, becoming a bit similar to the character on the Ancient God’s soul fragment.

A few days later, Lin Yun was in the Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group’s camp. The three mercenary groups kept pushing deeper into the Tulan Mountain Range and Lin Yun could feel that the magic beasts they met on the way were getting more and more powerful.

Especially that pack of over twenty Amethyst Magic Apes. Each of them was over level 25, and if not for the Archmage stepping forward to take care of them, the losses of the three mercenary groups would have been disastrous.

The relationship between the three mercenary groups had subtly changed after the Wyvern attack. They originally quarreled over the distribution of resting areas and had set up their camps in a triangle, separating from each other as far as they could… They had clearly been guarding against each other.

Now, the three Vice Leaders were frequently gathering to discuss some matters, but they weren’t as hostile towards each other as before. Although they would occasionally quarrel, their relationship was a lot better overall.

Lin Yun had seen all these changes, and he naturally knew that the three mercenary groups had realized how dangerous the Tulan Mountain Range was after the Wyvern attack. If the three mercenary groups didn’t unite, their journey would be a lot more dangerous.

In a tent…

“Captain Commander Henri!”

Sitting in front of Orson was a thin, middle-aged man. Even if he was arrogant, Orson didn’t dare to show off in front of that man, remaining humble instead.

This was because Orson knew that this middle-aged man wasn’t someone to be trifled with. He was a 9th Rank Expert Swordsman in his forties, the leader of five elite teams in the Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group, Captain Commander Henri.

Apart from the Leader and the Vice Leaders, the Captain Commander’s position was the highest.

Orson truly couldn’t be arrogant in front of Henri!

“Captain Commander Henri, there is something I need to tell you.” Orson paid attention to Henri’s expression as he excitedly reported, “I saved someone called Mafa Merlin in the Traces of Misfortune not long ago, but that guy is a complete scoundrel, a greedy coward, a despicable bastard!

“On the night of the Wyvern Attack, not only did that Mafa Merlin stay out of the fighting, not even attacking a Wyvern, but he even stealthily stole our loot! Captain Commander Henri, how could we keep providing shelter for such a person? I feel we should drive him away!

“Hmpf, keeping such a person in our Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group’s camp can bring nothing good. He might even lie to defend himself, he is that greedy, that kind of thing…” Orson was too excited, and due to that, he seemed to have forgotten about maintaining proper decorum in front of Captain Commander Henri, continuously spluttering at him. Fortunately, Henri had very good self-control, so he only frowned and wiped his face.

After saying so much, Orson reached to get some water to soothe his dry throat, before looking at Captain Commander Henri once again and issuing his final conclusion. “In short, such scum would definitely cause trouble if he remains in our camp!”

“Hmm?” Henri stared at Orson with a strange look.

After a minute, Henri nodded. “Alright.”

“Come with me, Captain Commander Henri, I know where that guy lives…” An ecstatic expression appeared on Orson’s face as he led Captain Commander Henri to Lin Yun’s residence.

Orson had thought of this plan on the night of the Wyvern Attack. He thought that since that guy was only a 2nd Rank High Mage, he wouldn’t be able to survive the magic beasts after being kicked out of the mercenaries’ camp.

Not even a corpse would be left…

But Orson didn’t do so right away. He waited patiently, remaining low-key for the past few days and hardly appearing in public. He only made his move three days later, when they reached the depths of the Tulan Mountain Range, which had magic beasts over Level 20 hiding in every corner. Only then did he look for Captain Commander Henri and describe Lin Yun in the worst possible light.

‘Damn Mafa Merlin, you are quite arrogant aren’t you? If you chuckle at me again, I’ll let you know how the word “dead” is spelled. I’ll watch as the magic beasts devour your corpse after you’re expelled, hahaha…’

But, Orson didn’t know that he was just digging a hole, deeper and deeper…

At this time, Lin Yun was in his living quarters with a pile of fangs from the Wyvern King. These fangs were very sharp and if they were successfully turned into weapons and thrown with mana, even 9th Rank Expert Swordsmen wouldn’t be able to block them with their Aura.

The fangs still contained an extremely toxic venom. If infected and not quickly cured, High Mages would see their blood freeze. Ordinary alchemists couldn’t handle these fangs, only Master Alchemists could.

But he wasn’t planning on turning those fangs into weapons themselves. He was actually thinking of using them to increase the power of Xiuban’s Carnage. If completed, Carnage’s power would raise by an entire level and two kinds of attributes would remain on the weapon, Armor Break and Corrosion. These were very important attributes for Carnage.

“Xiuban, bring Carnage here.” Although the two were staying in the camps of two different mercenary groups, quite far away from one another, they were connected by the soul contract. Lin Yun’s summon definitely reached the Draconic Beastman’s ear.

But, at this time…

A loud sound echoed came from outside as two people entered.

The joy in Orson’s eyes couldn’t be hidden, but after entering the tent, he showed an exaggerated expression of regret. “Ah, Mafa Merlin, I’m sorry, our Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group can only carry you up to here…”

He didn’t dare to show off too much with Captain Commander Henri here.

.

“Eh?” Lin Yun frowned as he looked at the two uninvited guests, but he didn’t say anything.

“Mafa Merlin, you have seen what happened on the way. Magic beasts are getting stronger and stronger, and our plate is full just taking care of ourselves, we naturally cannot take care of an outsider like you. You should understand what I mean, right?” Orson sneered as he looked at Lin Yun.

Henri frowned as he looked at Lin Yun, yet he didn’t say anything. His stance was very clear: he wanted that 2nd Rank High Mage kicked out too.

The magic beasts had grown too strong, to the point that the three mercenary groups had no choice but to unite and tightly cooperate to guarantee their safety.

What would happen to a low-level High Mage that wasn’t coordinating with the rest?

After losing the protection of the three mercenary groups, it would be impossible for that low-level High Mage to leave the Tulan Mountain Range. Even if he was at the 9th Rank, he would need pretty terrifying luck to be able to return to Okland alive.

In Henri’s eyes, that 2nd Rank High Mage would inevitably be killed by a magic beast.

Even though he knew the consequences of expelling a member of the Merlin family, he didn’t plan on saving him. After all, Orson was one of them, and he might become a future Vice Leader. He had to be shown a bit of respect, and Mafa Merlin was only an insignificant outsider…

“Haha…” Lin Yun looked at Orson like he’d heard an amusing joke. “You are saying that the Tulan Mountain Range is even more dangerous, yet you want to leave me now? Who will take care of it if something happens?”

“Hmpf! Mafa Merlin, what does your life and death have to do with our Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group?”

‘Hehe, Mafa Merlin, you should know fear now… With one word, I can leave you here to die without even a corpse left, this is the difference between us!

‘Beg for forgiveness? Fuck that! It’s too late for that, I need you dead…’

Captain Commander Henri looked at Lin Yun with a complicated expression before saying in a coarse tone, “Mafa Merlin, leave this camp…”

How could he not see that there had been a conflict between the two?

But if he didn’t know how to make a choice, he wouldn’t have ended up as a Captain Commander.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help Mafa Merlin, but rather that he couldn’t!

“The Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group sure is worth being called the number one group in Noscent… It is quite virtuous and trustworthy. I paid to hire you to ensure my safety, yet you brought me to the dangerous depths of the Tulan Mountain Range before throwing me out there. Are you mercenaries, or robbers?”

Henri’s face turned red when he heard Lin Yun’s words.

“So what? You heard Captain Commander Henri, you should leave the camp immediately! Our Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group doesn’t welcome you!” Orson disdainfully shouted. He indeed saw Lin Yun paying a part of the commission when he reached camp, but it was most likely a dozen inferior mana crystals. “As for your pathetic payment, just wait a bit, I’ll have everyone throw it outside the camp…”