A Wizard’s Secret

“He’s too powerful. I’m afraid only Sir Veron will be able to defeat him!”

The three Sanctuary Contenders looked at one another. They had all become Merlin’s prisoners and had no way to escape.

“You’re all my prisoners now. Anyway, I don’t intend to kill you. The reason I came here is to obtain an item left behind by a supreme existence.”

“Supreme existence?”

The three Sanctuary Contenders glanced at one another. Then, one of the Sanctuary Contenders spoke up uncertainly, “What is the name of that supreme existence?”

Merlin thought about it. Aruba was not a secret. Not only did he create this world, but they had also named a city after him. That was Ruba City, the ground upon which they were standing on at the moment.

So, he replied calmly, “That supreme existence calls himself Aruba!”

“Aruba? Surely, it would be Ruba’s Monument. It was left behind by a great existence. However, many years have passed, but no one had been able to decrypt it.”

“Yes, countless powerful contenders had been trying to decrypt it over generations, but all of them had failed. It’s surprising that someone from the foreign world would come for Ruba’s Monument. What’s more, the great Sir Veron is also trying to decrypt Ruba’s Monument at the moment.”

These people had mentioned Veron a few times. It seemed that Veron was a Sanctuary Contender, and these three people did not even attempt to hide his identity. Apparently, they were all very confident in Veron’s abilities.

“Very well, we’ll bring you to Ruba’s Monument!”

The three Sanctuary Contenders acquiesced to Merlin’s request.

“Just like that?”

Merlin was slightly taken aback. He was actually planning to employ some of his special tricks because he did not imagine that they would agree to it so easily. Merlin had grown hesitant all of a sudden.

Nonetheless, they explained by saying: “Ruba’s Monument is not really a secret. It has always been there ever since the Kingdom of Mobata was established. There have always been rumors saying that it contains an earth-shattering secret. Once the secret is decrypted, it would be possible to break through our limitations. That’s why anyone can go and study Ruba’s Monument as soon as someone they become a Sanctuary Contender. But no one had been able to decrypt its unfathomable secret after so many years.”

Merlin mulled it over. Perhaps this Ruba’s Monument was really left behind by Aruba. In regard to why no one has been able to decrypt it, there might be some mystifying tricks to it.

Merlin wanted to try to decrypt it, as per his nature. However, he also knew that the reason these three had agreed to bring him to Ruba’s Monument was not only because it was a widely-known secret, but because there was a powerful Sanctuary Contender at Ruba’s Monument right now, which was the Sir Veron they had mentioned.

However, the ever-confident Merlin could not care less about Veron. All he wanted was to get to Ruba’s Monument.

Subsequently, Merlin gave a gentle wave of his hand and withdrew the spells on these three men. All of them had returned back to normal. Their gazes on Merlin turned a bit more respectful.

Earlier on, the three of them were unable to put up any resistance before they were trapped by Merlin. Although he did not kill them, they knew that it was simply because he still needed them to lead him to Ruba’s Monument.

“How should we acknowledge you?” one of the Sanctuary Contenders asked.

Despite launching an attack on him previously, they did not know their opponent’s name.

“Merlin,” Merlin replied nonchalantly.

“Sir Merlin, this way, please. Ruba’s Monument is not here but somewhere outside Ruba City.”

“Outside Ruba City?”

Merlin nodded. The tyrant raptor flew over to him instantly with a wave of his hand. Right now, the tyrant raptor was even more in awe of Merlin. Before this, it had been painfully overpowered by the three Sanctuary Contenders. The effects of the special force fields were eternally etched into its memories.

Now, the tyrant raptor finally realized that it was merely the king of the forest. Once it had left the forest, regardless of how weak the Mobatans might appear to be, they were still a force to be reckoned with.

However, those powerful Sanctuary Contenders were still inferior to its master. They had been defeated easily by Merlin. Therefore, the tyrant raptor was very thrilled about all these as well. With a flap of its wings, it followed the three people and flew out of the city.

Throughout the journey, the three Sanctuary Contenders flew in the front. Their speed was not slower than the tyrant raptor.

Nonetheless, their hearts felt extremely conflicted.

“Are we really bringing this Merlin to Ruba’s Monument?”

“Do you have any better ideas besides this? It would not be difficult for him to destroy the entire Ruba City. We might as well fulfill his request. Moreover, Ruba’s Monument is truly not a secret. Any random person from Ruba City would know its general location.”

“Sir Veron should be at Ruba’s Monument, right? When we get there, we’ll report this matter to Sir Veron and let him deal with him.”

The three Sanctuary Contenders discussed but seemed to have run out of ideas after a while, so all they could do was to lead Merlin towards Ruba’s Monument located outside of the city.

Following behind the three of them, Merlin did not use his Mind Power to investigate what they were talking about. The special force fields of the Sanctuary Contenders were truly magnificent. Even the tiniest trace of force entering the periphery of their force fields would be discovered.

This meant that even Merlin’s invisible Mind Power could not escape being detected by the special force fields. As such, he might as well leave them alone. He was sure that they would not act recklessly when they were confronted with his absolute power.

After flying for half an hour, Merlin soon spotted a dazzling palace on the top of the hill. However, the most attractive structure was not the palace but the huge stone monument.

It would be difficult for this huge stone monument to escape anyone’s attention. Its height spanned up to a hundred meters, even higher than the palace itself. The monument also emitted a silvery-white glow that could be seen from afar.

“That must be Ruba’s Monument, right?”

Merlin’s eyes flashed with excitement. This stone monument looked unendingly extraordinary. Furthermore, there was also a familiar aura about it. Merlin searched his mind and decided it was similar to the aura on the sphinx back in the secret place.

Merlin would not know whether it had any life force. Nonetheless, it was confirmed that this stone monument was indeed linked to the secret place. It was most probably left behind by the mysterious Aruba.

“Yes, that is Ruba’s Monument. It has existed since a very long time ago, perhaps even before the Kingdom of Mobata was established. Moreover, even the most powerful Sanctuary Contender from the days of the Mobata Empire was unable to destroy Ruba’s Monument.”

These Sanctuary Contenders harbored complicated feelings for this monument. This Ruba’s Monument was truly magnificent. It was just that they had studied it before and failed to decrypt it.

They were not the only ones. Throughout their long history, countless powerful Sanctuary Contenders had come to decrypt Ruba’s Monument, but none had succeeded. It could be said that every new Sanctuary Contender would first and foremost come to Ruba’s Monument.

Swish! Swish!

The entourage landed before the palace on top of the hill. This was a palace specially constructed by the Mobata Empire back in the olden days for the sole purpose of studying Ruba’s Monument. Back then, only members of the royal family were allowed to rest here and decrypt Ruba’s Monument.

After the Mobata Empire collapsed, this place had been open to the public. Now, anyone could enter.

However, the palace had already been worn down after so many years. They barely managed to maintain the original outlook of the palace after numerous attempts of restoration. This stone monument, on the other hand, maintained its appearance despite the passing of time. There was no change to it whatsoever.

“Sir Veron!”

Upon landing, the three Sanctuary Contenders rushed up about ten meters in front of Ruba’s Monument to meet a middle-aged man dressed in plain attire.

Swoosh!

This middle-aged man was Sir Veron mentioned by the three Sanctuary Contenders. He opened his eyes gently and did not look at the three Sanctuary Contenders. Instead, he stared directly at Merlin.

A powerful force shrouded Merlin.

“You’re not a Mobatan!”

As soon as Veron spoke, his words caught Merlin by surprise.