End of the Magic Era

‘I am saving you, isn’t that obvious?!’

After two sentry towers had already been sent to heaven, how could Sauss dare to try and make excuses to Lin Yun. These fighters were elites of the Viper Nest. If Mafa had made another move against them, Sauss wouldn’t have been able to endure it.

“Great Mage Merlin, can we discuss things inside?” As soon as he thought of the possibility that Lin Yun might cause further harm to his forces, Sauss didn’t dare to keep him waiting outside, so he invited Lin Yun into the wooden house.

Three people entered the wooden house together: Lin Yun, Sauss, and Bell…

After taking a seat inside, Lin Yun glanced at Bell. He had heard people saying that the Viper Nest had a very powerful Great Mage, and that even Solomon had once praised him. After looking at Bell, Lin Yun guessed that this should be that person.

He seemed be an exceptional Great Mage, around 6th or 7th Rank… And with a very powerful Magic Conducting Rune.

Great Mage Bell’s true fighting strength should be higher than his rank would suggest.

Lin Yun was truly a bit afraid of this most powerful mage of the Viper Nest.

If the Viper Nest had made their base in another place instead, Lin Yun might not necessarily have dared to go over.

But since this was the Poison Fog Canyon, everything would be a lot easier.

“Great Mage Merlin, this is truly a misunderstanding…” Sauss bowed his head far faster than Lin Yun had imagined. This time, all Sauss could think about was how to send this demon away.

This demon’s destructive power was too frightening. He strolled inside and casually killed twenty or so elites of the Viper Nest, toying with his forces for all the while. If he had kept going, the Viper Nest would have been destroyed.

He was a living curse…

‘How come I never heard about Locke Merlin’s son being such a demon? Wasn’t it said that Locke Merlin’s son had no prospects and was still a young Magic Apprentice? Damned Magic Apprentice…’ Sauss inwardly cursed while grinding his teeth. ‘If someone mentions that, I’ll show them to those two demolished sentry towers.’

“Hmm, Leader Sauss…”

“There is no problem, Great Mage Merlin, I understand!” Sauss only wanted to get rid of this guy as soon as possible, so he hurriedly agreed to the conditions Lin Yun had yet to say. “Five Apprentice Alchemists, 200 000 gold each. Along with what Rios broke, a total of two million gold. Rest assured, I’ll have someone deliver a crystal card to the Gilded Rose tomorrow. Does Great Mage Merlin still need anything else?”

Sauss’ last sentence was purely out of politeness…

But being polite didn’t matter, as Lin Yun wouldn’t be courteous with him.

“Yes, there is still something…” Lin Yun suddenly recalled the familiar magic fluctuation that he had sensed when he entered the Poison Fog Canyon. If he wasn’t wrong, it had most likely come from that place that had been mentioned by countless mages during the pinnacle of the magic era.

He definitely wouldn’t hold back when it came to matters related to that place.

That region might mean nothing to others, but for himself, it was an opportunity to have five Magic Arrays.

“…” Hearing Lin Yun’s words, Sauss felt like slapping himself twice. ‘It was just small talk, small talk! Damn, you were the one that proposed this, are you going back on your words already?’

But the words were already spoken, so Sauss couldn’t back out.

Thus, Sauss had no choice but to brace himself and squeeze out a twitching smile. “Great Mage Merlin, w-what do you need? Please do not hesitate!”

“Since Leader Sauss says so, I won’t need to be polite about it…”

“…” Sauss felt the vein on his forehead twitching as he mentally complained, ‘Since when were you polite?’

“I believe Leader Sauss also knows that my Gilded Rose has some level of cooperation with the Silver Moon Mercenaries. I agreed to provide a large amount of alchemy products to the Silver Moon Mercenaries battling in Edge Rift. Poison Fog Canyon is basically the only route to get there, and thus, I would like to discuss with Leader Sauss if my Gilded Rose’s caravans could be allowed to pass freely through the Poison Fog Canyon in the meantime.”

“This…” Sauss hesitated a bit and frowned.

It wasn’t that Lin Yun’s conditions were harsh and unreasonable…

The issue this time was caused by the Gilded Rose’s caravans entering the Poison Fog Canyon. Lin Yun’s request could be considered an attempt to settle the problem in good faith.

But Sauss was somewhat worried…

Many people knew that in the past decade, Sauss had been thinking of every possible way to expand in the depths of the Poison Fog Canyon, but had never told the real reason to anyone.

This was because Sauss knew that the depths of the Poison Fog Canyon held a temple…

In those years, when Sauss was still a good-for-nothing, he once went into the Poison Fog Canyon and found the corpse of a powerful swordsman. Sauss had inherited his sword skills from that powerful swordsman. But Sauss’ talent wasn’t very great, so he was only a 4th Rank Great Swordsman.

However, the inheritance of the swordsman’s skills wasn’t all that he found… There was also a diary.

Written in this diary was the reason that the Great Swordsman crossed the sea to reach Thousand Sails City. He had been heading for the temple hidden deep within the Poison Fog Canyon.

When Sauss first read the diary, he was truly frightened.

After getting some results with the swordsman’s inheritance, Sauss established the Viper Nest and joined the power struggle within Thousand Sails City. Over the course of the next twenty years, Sauss managed to grow the Viper Nest into becoming the largest underground force, and to everyone’s shock, they went and occupied the Poison Fog Canyon.

The Poison Fog Canyon was truly too important to Sauss…

Important to the point that Sauss wouldn’t tolerate anything unexpected.

Lin Yun’s condition sounded reasonable and fair, but if something went wrong, it would mean twenty years of wasted effort to Sauss.

Thus, Sauss thought for a bit before deciding to refuse.

As he opened his mouth to reply, Lin Yun cut in.

“Oh right, Leader Sauss…” When he saw Sauss frown, Lin Yun guessed that he would refuse. But this was related to an opportunity to quickly get five Magic Arrays! How could Lin Yun let him refuse! Before Sauss could say a word, Lin Yun took out a glass bottle. “I heard that the poison fog from the Poison Fog Canyon has caused the Viper Nest a lot of trouble over the years, so I specially prepared this potion before coming to see you.”

“A potion?”

“Yes, a potion that can protect people from the influence of the poison fog.” Lin Yun opened the bottle, and a faintly sweet fragrance spread through the wooden house. “I call it Magic Spring. It’s quite potent, so there is no need to use a lot. One bottle is enough. Put it in a ventilated place and within three days, the poison fog will become harmless to your subordinates.

“This kind of potion exists?” Sauss suddenly felt elated. If this Magic Spring really was as mystical as the young Great Mage claimed, his plans to expand toward the depths of the Poison Fog Canyon could finish perhaps three years sooner.

In the past ten years, the poison fog truly had caused the Viper Nest a lot of trouble. They would lose about ten elites every month because of it.

Sauss truly wouldn’t have expected these negotiations to bring him such pleasant news.

‘Wait a second… That’s not right!’

Just as Sauss was about to thank Lin Yun and accept, he realized something wrong. The smile on his face stiffened, and his face turned deathly white. Although his eyes were still looking at Lin Yun, his gaze was now filled with anger and fright.

‘No good, this isn’t an offer to help the Viper Nest! This is an open threat! This young mage showing me the Magic Spring potion is a way to tell me that the Gilded Rose has already thoroughly researched the poison fog in this canyon. If he can make a potion that can restrain the poison fog, then he can also probably also make a potion to strengthen the poison. He might even be carrying such a potion at this moment! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to come to the Poison Fog Canyon alone, even if he is a 5th Rank Great Mage!’

As his thoughts reached this point, Sauss felt a chill spread through his body.

If such a potion appeared in the Poison Fog Canyon, then a calamity would befall the Viper Nest. The threatening poison fog would turn into a monster that devoured lives rampantly, and the Viper Nest’s hundreds of elites, raised throughout the years, would vanish in an instant.

Sauss felt the strength seeping out of his body. He sat there in a daze, staring at Lin Yun with complex feelings.

‘Locke Merlin’s son is too frightening…’

“Great Mage Merlin surely has more than one potion?” Despite Sauss knowing that he shouldn’t provoke the young mage in front of him, when he thought about the Viper Nest stepping into hell, he couldn’t help being a bit sarcastic.

“Haha, naturally. If Leader Sauss feels that one bottle isn’t enough, I can offer a few bottles,” Lin Yun responded with a smile.