End of the Magic Era

“Sir Dephew, please leave immediately, or I’ll have to ask the Holy Land to arbitrate.”

Harren had a grave expression and used a stiff tone to say those words to Dephew right after landing.

Dephew was about to snarl back, but seeing the coldness in Harren’s eyes, he paused as he seemed to recall something. “Sir Harren, you don’t need to say anything. I’ll also inform the Holy Land of this matter! You actually chose to work together with such a weak guy… This is simply humiliating the Black Tower’s Holy Land!”

“As for you, Mafa Merlin, don’t think that you have the qualifications to stand here just because Sir Harren is helping you. A trashy force like yours should remain far behind everyone else to pick up leftovers. To dare run over here, hmpf!”

Dephew knew that since Harren appeared, he wouldn’t be able to get his way right now. If he pushed any further, he would end up in a direct conflict with Harren.

Seeing Dephew leave, Harren faintly sighed before immediately walking towards Lin Yun with a rare smile on his face.

“Sir Mafa, I’m really embarrassed… This Dephew was dispatched from the Black Tower’s Holy Land to provide assistance, and you have seen the current situation. The overall circumstances are of the utmost importance. If internal strife breaks out, we will be in huge trouble.

“Although this guy is extremely loathsome, in the end, he is still a member of the Black Tower’s Holy Land. I know he isn’t even worth your time and I already told him that you are very powerful, but that idiot doesn’t believe me.

“He has high status in the Black Tower’s Holy Land. Or it might be better to say that his backer is a Heaven Rank powerhouse. If he dies here, I’ll be in just as much trouble as you… It is very likely that our plan would be greatly affected, as would the entire military campaign.

“Sir Mafa, please don’t lower yourself to that idiot’s level. When I saw him earlier, I just avoided him. I really don’t want to see him. If we weren’t at such a critical juncture where we need every able body, I would have already applied to send him back to the Black Tower…”

Harren bitterly smiled as he kept explaining to Lin Yun. He really was a bit scared that Lin Yun would dare to get rid of Dephew in the Sunset Fort. He then looked at the surrounding mage army and noticed that they were all holding their staves with no fear.

Harren noticed that these Archmages didn’t seem to have a high rank, yet none of them looked worried. This clearly showed that they believed that in a fight, the one to die would definitely be Dephew.

Harren continued his persuasion for a few minutes until Lin Yun frowned and put his staff away, and without saying a word, the mage army left in unison.

Seeing this scene, cold sweat dripped down Harren’s neck.

‘Thankfully I reacted to Dephew’s aura in a timely manner. If they really attacked, that idiot would have already died.’

Harren sighed in relief after managing to convince Lin Yun not to get rid of Dephew, but he still didn’t feel at ease.

‘I can persuade Mafa on this side, but Dephew is an idiot… How could he not listen to me? I told him early on that Mafa Merlin was a lot more frightening than he imagined and that he shouldn’t treat him as an ordinary Archmage…

‘Forget it, I’ll warn Dephew again after returning so that he won’t be too excessive. Otherwise, Mafa Merlin definitely won’t be willing to put up with him.

‘Truly annoying… How come the people coming out of the Holy Land are so arrogant? Do they really think that the Holy Land is unequalled? Could it be that they think that mages from the Holy Land are all more powerful than those from outside?’

Before leaving, Harren couldn’t help leaving some parting words. “Sir Mafa, if that Dephew looks for trouble again, please be lenient, the current circumstances… Ah, look at me rambling on…”

After saying half of the sentence, he trailed off uncomfortably.

Lin Yun faintly nodded as a sign of acknowledgement.

Harren hurriedly left and looked for Dephew before warning him again in a solemn voice. But Dephew simply didn’t believe Harren’s words. Harren eventually gave up for now, as he saw that Dephew seemed to know that nobody could go overboard during this critical period. That reassured him ever so slightly.

For the next three days, Dephew went to look for trouble at the Merlin camp each day, and although Harren had warned him not to attack, that didn’t stop his tongue from moving.

The second time, Lin Yun instantly turned around and left after hearing a few words, fearing that he would kill that guy if it continued.

Then, Lin Yun shut himself in his own house and laid down a soundproof array. He even had his fifty subordinates remain hidden and not leave the place.

Every time Dephew came, he would speak his fill before leaving. He wanted to directly attack Mafa Merlin, but he remembered Harren’s words and could only make up for it with his tongue. He would definitely be punished severely if he acted against his allies, so Dephew didn’t actually attack.

“Hmpf, damned Mafa Merlin, you think you can just go into hiding? You had better remain in hiding and never come out!”

On the 3rd day, Harren dispatched someone to invite Lin Yun to a meeting, so Lin Yun came out of his room after removing the soundproofing array.

When he reached the meeting room, the Black Tower and the Cloud Tower’s executives were already present. They all had solemn expressions.

Sir Jouyi was frowning, his eyes carrying a trace of worry, while Harren’s complexion wasn’t very good either. The atmosphere was stifling.

After Lin Yun sat down, Harren slowly started talking. “Since Sir Mafa has arrived, I shall start the meeting. The Raging Flame Beastmen has mustered an army of ten thousand to rush towards the Sunset Fort.”

Hearing this sentence, everyone was in uproar. Lin Yun also slightly frowned, as this was very grim news.

“Everyone knows that the Sunset Fort’s position is very special. Natural strongholds are very rare in the Raging Flame Beastmen’s territory, and the Sunset Fort is on the path leading to the core of the Raging Flame Plane. It is an important place for both our allied armies and the Raging Flame Beastmen.

“Although we knew the Raging Flame Beastmen wouldn’t give up on the Sunset Fort so easily, we hadn’t expected those brainless muscleheads to gather up so quickly.

“Over ten thousand elite troops are pressuring the border and might surround the Sunset Fort at any time…”

Over ten thousand Beastmen… This wasn’t something a fort could endure.

An army of over ten thousand Beastmen was advanding on them, and elite Beastmen, at that. They certainly wouldn’t be short on powerful individuals. Although the three forces here weren’t weak, neither were their foes.

The weakest person in the Sunset Fort was a High Mage. There were many Archmages, and there were quite a few 9th Rank Archmages, not to mention Jouyi and Harren, who were half a step into the Heaven Rank.

But there was a fatal flaw: There were too few people.

There were only a few hundred people in the entire Sunset Fort. Even if they weren’t weak, it still wouldn’t do.

After all, these people weren’t a true army. When in a large-scale battle, unless one had already reached the Heaven Rank, they wouldn’t be able to single-handedly turn the tides of battle.

But the power of a properly organized mage army could be fully displayed in this kind of battle!

Some people had already noticed this bit to some extent but didn’t pay too much importance to it, while Lin Yun clearly knew that in a large-scale military campaign, apart from the Heaven Rank powerhouses, the forces leading the battle towards its conclusion would be the true mage armies!

When Noscent was at its peak, all the various forces put emphasis on nurturing their mage armies and not only their individual powerhouses. The strength of a force’s mage army determined whether or not that force was powerful in wartime.

Now, there were hundreds of people here, and the number of Archmages surpassed a hundred, but they couldn’t cooperate properly. Even if they stood together, they wouldn’t be able to display the power that a mage army could.

And in this situation, not only did they have to face ten thousand Raging Flame Beastmen, but they also had to face the other side’s powerhouses. It was absolutely impossible to defeat them.

There was no chance of victory in a direct battle, but they could delay for some time if they were besieged.

But if it came to that, they would lose their way out.

If the backup couldn’t arrive by then, the Sunset Fort would be snatched away, and the losses of the three forces would be disastrous.

The Teleportation Gate that they’d built had already been connected to the Radiant Fort, and in order to save time and power, it was unidirectional. Its purpose was only to send over the Radiant Fort’s forces, so they couldn’t use it to leave.

Too much time would be needed to build another Teleportation Gate, and it would have to be connected to the Cloud Tower or the Black Tower’s Holy Lands. The kind of Teleportation Gate that could teleport people across planes needed even more time to set up, so that was even further out of the question.

By the time reinforcements arrived, the Sunset Fort would have already been breached several times…

Harren only explained the current situation, and everyone understood the circumstances.

Worry could be seen on Jouyi’s face. He tapped the table with his finger before saying in a deep tone, “We only have one choice, which is to repel the Raging Flame Beastmen’s assault! The Sunset Fort is too important to the Raging Flame Beastmen, and this is their fastest army. If we end up stuck in a siege, their followup armies will keep coming and coming.”

Jouyi’s tone was resolute, but no one answered. They were at their wits’ end.

Using a few hundred people to withstand an army of ten thousand Raging Flame Beastmen? They didn’t need to think about it. The most common Raging Flame Beastman army would have a few hundred powerhouses above level 30!

The Beastmen might even have more peak powerhouses than the defenders, but the most important part was that there would inevitably be Shamans and Priests within the army.