End of the Magic Era

‘He was a 9th Rank Great Mage when he crushed an Archmage. And he had already set foot in the High Mage realm, his strength reaching an unfathomable level. Trying to blackmail such an abnormal existence, are you tired of living?’

Unfortunately…

Ross didn’t know about any of this.

“It’s just a small matter. Since our younger cousin isn’t around, you can help me pass on the request,” Ross said before his expression became serious. “But I truly didn’t think that you would become so bold after going to Thousand Sails City. You even dare to shelter a Dark Flame Beastman and watch as he attacked my people. Don’t you know the relationship between Harvey and me?”

“Cousin Ross…” As William started to respond, the young mage that was hiding behind Ross suddenly chimed in, “William is holding you in contempt! When that Dark Flame Beastman attacked me, he said that you aren’t anything special!”

“Haha, It looks like you have grown a lot after half a year in Thousand Sails City, William…” Ross’ gaze became even colder.

“Alright, Ross, you don’t have to continue with the nonsense. You should be able to discern truth from falsehood, Ross. I’ll still advise you, you should think twice before trying to walk over Cousin Mafa’s head…” William didn’t plan on explaining any further.

Ross’ goal was extremely clear. He had sent his people to start a conflict. As long as he had the upper hand, he would force Mafa Merlin to equip and supply his mercenary group.

His method was a good one, but he had tried it on the wrong person.

“Haha, let’s have a go then. I want to see how much progress you made in Thousand Sails City in half a year and whether Harvey’s words are right… We’ll see if you have the right to belittle me…”

With these words, Ross immediately roused his Magic Conducting Rune without letting William reply. Endless Spring revolved at maximum speed and a huge amount of mana started flooding Ross’ body.

At the same time, he drew a strange rune in the air.

After completing the rune, a ball of fire rose up and flew towards William. This was a 5th Tier Spell, Fire Dragon. It consisted of flames transformed into a Dragon Breath, and although it wasn’t as terrifying as an actual Dragon Breath, it already had the characteristics of one: high temperature, high toxicity, and enough power to melt even steel just by grazing it.

But Fire Dragon was a 5th Rank Spell. Even if Ross was a High Mage, he shouldn’t be able to complete it that fast. He took only one second to cast the Fire Dragon after drawing the rune.

That was almost no different from an instantaneous spell.

This was thanks to the Endless Spring.

As the most powerful Magic Conducting Rune of the Merlin Family, the power of the Endless Spring wasn’t something that other Magic Conducting Runes could compare with. It could be considered one of the peak Magic Conducting Runes in the entire Andlusa Kingdom.

The mana recovery was shocking, and although High Mages with the Endless Spring didn’t truly have an endless supply of mana, it was very hard for them to run out with basic consumption.

Moreover, after the nine Endless Springs fused as one, there would be a special spell slot. This spell slot could store a spell that didn’t surpass the caster’s rank, and if the need arose, they could use a rune to cast that spell.

Such as this Fire Dragon.

The most frightening part was that after the Fire Dragon spell went through the Endless Spring’s nurturing, its might increased and couldn’t be compared to an ordinary version of the spell. When that mass of fire rose up, William felt an aura of destruction. It wasn’t much different from a true Dragon Breath…

“Shit…” William felt the horror of the Endless Spring.

But William didn’t think that Ross would use the most powerful card in his hand. This wasn’t just teaching him a lesson… If that spell hit him, even if he managed to survive, he would still be crippled.

Unfortunately, William didn’t have time to think about it now.

He didn’t think too much about it and let out a Runic Shield.

Usually, using a Runic Shield at such a time would be very stupid.

Ross would immediately follow with a spell after that Fire Dragon, but William had already lost valuable seconds on a Runic Shield. If another spell landed on it, it would almost certainly be shattered.

But he didn’t have much time to think.

After casting the Runic Shield, a rumbling sound could be heard as the Fire Dragon clashed with it. The tyrannical flames exploded, making the shield flicker twice before it was split open by the enhanced spell.

‘So powerful…’ William was startled, but he took advantage of the valuable few seconds he gained from the Runic Shield to cast a Fire Elemental Incarnation. He then used Flame Flash and instantly appeared behind Ross.

“William, you are so naive…” What awaited William was a large hand.

A loud crashing sound echoed.

That was from the hand slamming the ground. William didn’t even have time to react before he felt that huge power crashing into him. It felt as if a large rock had fallen onto his body. Everything spun around him as he spat a mouthful of blood.

“Runic Shield, haha, William, it looks like your harvest in Thousand Sails City was pretty good, you are already a High Mage…”

“The Endless Spring is so troublesome…” William coughed some more blood. He was extremely pale, but his eyes were bright and scary.

He had understood.

It looked as if he had lost this battle very quickly. Ross only cast one Fire Dragon and almost settled the fight.

But in reality, William found out from this that the gap between him and Ross wasn’t as big as he had imagined. He hadn’t lost because of the Fire Dragon, but because of the Endless Spring.

He had lost to the most powerful Magic Conducting Rune of the Merlin Family.

If he had a powerful Magic Conducting Rune of his own, the outcome of this fight would have been uncertain.

As he thought of this, William looked forward to it.

He looked forward to the next fight against Ross.

Because his younger cousin had promised to impart him a Meditation Law Set far surpassing the Crimson Heart once he stepped into the High Mage realm. That Meditation Law Set was so amazing that he would even be able to rely on it to reshape his Magic Conducting Runes if he was willing to, or so his younger cousin had said.

Reshaping his Magic Conducting Runes!

He would stand on the same starting point as Ross if he could do that. At that time, the battle wouldn’t be settled by one Fire Dragon.

William now truly understood how much he had gained in Thousand Sails City. He now had some hope to defeat Ross, the existence he’d been forced to look up to, the Ross he had never hoped to catch up to.

He would have never believed it possible before going to Thousand Sails City.

He only needed time now.

Time wasn’t a problem for William, as he was patient enough.

But…

William being patient didn’t mean that others would be patient.

As William coughed blood, someone entered his courtyard.

“Well, Cousin, you are admitting defeat too early…” Lin Yun held his Spiritual Magic Staff as he slowly entered the messy courtyard.

“Haha…” William’s heart sank as he saw Lin Yun coming into the courtyard. A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he struggled to reply, “Nothing I can do about it, a Fire Dragon Spell nurtured by the Endless Spring isn’t something I can currently resist against. It’s fine, he won’t be my opponent if I have three months…”

“William, it’s not your style to say something so bold…” Ross sneered at William before looking at the approaching Lin Yun. “I suppose you are our younger cousin from Thousand Sails City? Hmm? William, how about you make the introductions?”

That last sentence was actually an attempt to get a reaction from Lin Yun.

Unfortunately, Lin Yun didn’t even look at him. He walked to William and took a bottle of Health Potion from his pocket and frowned as he asked, “How is it? Any severe injuries?”

“I’m alright…” William coughed blood again before drinking the Health Potion. After a short time, his face regained some color. Then, William pointed at Ross, “This is Ross Merlin, one of the most outstanding geniuses of the Merlin Family, and alongside Aube and Lyon, he is considered the future of the Merlin Family…”

“And compared to Stan Watson?” Lin Yun grinned.

“Haha, how could he be compared to a dead person…” William couldn’t help chuckling when he heard that question.

William didn’t need to ask the result of Lin Yun’s trip…

He knew that since Cousin Mafa personally went to take care of this, Stan Watson was definitely dead.