Chapter 825: Extortion
The man in black robes stared into the heart of Inferno Fortress, striding in as if he were entering his own backyard.
"Quick, hurry and inform Lord Thorne and Archmage Leon—Baroque from the Black Tower is here..."
Leon was in the alchemy lab and had already given strict orders: unless Inferno Fortress was on the verge of destruction, no one was to disturb him. The Merlin Family naturally wouldn’t dare interrupt now, so the news went straight to Thorne Merlin.
Thorne Merlin’s face changed drastically as soon as he heard the news, his expression turning extremely grim.
Speaking of Baroque, Thorne Merlin could barely contain his hatred. The Merlin Family’s troubles in recent months weren’t just the work of the Watson Family; the Black Tower had been targeting them in tandem.
All the original commanders had gone to the Small World and hadn’t returned for months. Both families sent new commanders, and when these newcomers saw how weak the Merlin Family was—how even their commander was only a Fifth-Rank Sword Saint, yet still claimed a large share of the spoils—they naturally showed no courtesy. Eventually, their intentions turned malicious.
Baroque, though newly arrived, was already a handful—arrogant in both word and deed. Glynn Watson’s insults stung, but even he couldn’t match Baroque’s naked contempt; Baroque looked down on everyone as if they were beneath him.
Now, Baroque was swaggering right into the Merlin Family’s Inferno Fortress, and no one could stop him. That said it all.
Thorne wore a bitter smile, but didn’t dare say a word.
Damn it, how is this bastard so lucky? When he first arrived in the Blazeforge Realm, he was just at the peak of Eighth-Rank Title Archmage, but in only three days, he broke through to Ninth-Rank Title Archmage. Now, not only is he the Black Tower’s controller here, he’s also their number two.
Forget it, I’d better go see what he wants. This guy is never easy to deal with, probably has some outrageous demand again. As long as it’s not too much, I’ll just let it slide...
Damn bastard, I’d love to smash his face in with a punch. Ugh...
Just over a month ago, this guy showed up in the Blazeforge Realm and immediately continued the Black Tower’s old strategy—teaming up with the Watson Family’s higher-ups, always sending Merlin Family people to the most dangerous places.
He even agreed without hesitation when Glynn Watson suggested sending me to assassinate the Fireblade Tribe’s chieftain.
Because at that time, Baroque had just broken through to Ninth-Rank Title Archmage—a very dangerous stage. His rank hadn’t stabilized, and his magic was leaking everywhere. To a mage, he was like a beacon in the night, way too conspicuous to get near any battlefield.
Sending me to assassinate Hobart was partly to weaken the Merlin Family, but also to buy him time. That’s why he agreed so quickly.
When I found out, I just gritted my teeth and kept quiet. And now this guy’s barged straight into the Flame Demon Fortress—unbelievable.
I’m furious, but I know now’s not the time to make things worse. Lately, Baroque’s been the talk of the realm. He’s young—by Ninth-Rank Title Archmage standards, practically a kid. He’s decades younger than Heron, the Black Tower’s chairman.
And now he’s already the Black Tower’s second-in-command. Once Heron enters the Black Tower’s sanctuary, Baroque is guaranteed to become their new chairman. The Black Tower will be entirely in his hands.
Right now, in the Blazeforge Realm, every decision the Black Tower makes is basically up to Baroque. The Merlin Family’s strength has grown recently, but if you count the members we lost in the past months, we’re still not back to our peak. If you include Archmage Leon, we’re stronger than a few months ago...
This guy is arrogant and full of himself. Just a few days ago, I heard a Black Tower Title Archmage disagreed with him on something trivial, and Baroque immediately sent him to the most dangerous frontline. Even everyone close to that Title Archmage got reassigned.
Thorne walked up to the lounge doors and immediately heard Baroque’s loud, obnoxious voice from inside.
"...What’s going on? Has the Merlin Family gotten this poor? You’re actually serving guests fruit that’s been sitting around for two or three days? And I’m the future master of the Black Tower! This is outrageous..."
Then Thorne heard the sound of things being smashed. He scowled and pushed open the lounge door.
The lounge had an oval-shaped round table, over twenty meters long. Only the two ends were left open for seating—the host’s seat for the Merlin Family’s commander, and the other for important guests or the opposing commander during negotiations.
Baroque was swaggering in the host’s seat, completely ignoring the fact that he was trampling all over the Merlin Family’s dignity.
Unless you’re a subordinate, only the host sits there. But Baroque acted like he owned the place, while two Merlin Family members stood nearby, angry but afraid to speak up.
On the floor was a pile of fresh fruit—not grown in the Blazeforge Realm, but a rare delicacy from the Northend World!
Every time supplies were delivered, you’d get a handful of these, if you were lucky. Most of the time, even the commander couldn’t get a taste.
Now we’d put out a plate to entertain Baroque, and he actually complained it was picked two or three days ago!
Thorne clenched his fists, nearly fuming, staring at the plate of fruit. His lungs were about to explode. The fruit was called Peacefruit—it’s great for both mages and swordsmen, helping control magic and battle energy, especially during long, grueling fights. It’s a precious resource.
This time, we got a dozen delivered. I haven’t tasted a single one, but I took out eight just to serve Baroque—and he threw every last Peacefruit onto the ground.
Thorne waved off the two Merlin Family members who dared not speak, then took a deep breath to calm his anger.
"Lord Baroque, may I ask what brings you here today?"
Baroque suddenly slammed the table, jabbing his finger at Thorne’s nose as he started shouting.
"Thorne, you owe me an explanation today! Why have so many of our Black Tower people been killed by you? Four or five hundred! Even the weakest were Archmages, and two Title Archmages died—every last one killed by your Merlin Family!"
As he spoke, Baroque’s magic surged, the aura of a Ninth-Rank Title Archmage pressing down hard on Thorne.
Thorne’s breath caught and he instinctively stepped back, face darkening as he glared at Baroque.
"Lord Baroque, when did this happen? I haven’t heard anything about it. There’s been no fighting lately, so how could the Black Tower lose so many people—especially at our Merlin Family’s hands? That’s not funny at all."
Thorne glared at Baroque, this damned greedy and arrogant groundhog. He used to come up with all sorts of high-sounding excuses—now he’s just straight up framing the Merlin Family? Hundreds of Archmages? Don’t make me laugh. Does the Black Tower even have that many?
Damn bastard, if your Black Tower could field hundreds of Archmages, you’d have swept through the Blazeforge Realm ages ago. Wouldn’t have needed three factions to team up against the Fireblade Tribe—and still failed after months of fighting.
Baroque’s eyes flashed and his aura surged, forcing Thorne back a few steps. There was a hint of cold amusement in his gaze.
"Thorne, don’t think I don’t know what happened. In the final assault on the Fireblade Tribe, your Merlin Family attacked indiscriminately—costing us hundreds of Black Tower Archmages. That was our future, all destroyed by you. If you don’t give me an explanation today, don’t blame me for what happens next!"
Baroque looked like he didn’t care about the Merlin Family at all. Judging by his attitude, he might just flatten the Flame Demon Fortress if things didn’t go his way.
Seeing Thorne’s sour expression, Baroque felt pleased with himself. Those Merlin Family fools—he’d finally found an excuse to squeeze them. He’d just finished his retreat when he heard the news: in the battle, the Merlin Family accidentally killed a bunch of Black Tower people.
Perfect. The Horn of Plenty is one of the richest resource sites in the Blazeforge Realm. Giving it to the weak Merlin Family is a waste—they don’t deserve it, not even the worst part of it. Now, it’s time to make those idiots cough up some compensation.
Hmph. If they refuse, they can forget about keeping their fortress. Maybe it’s time they learned what real Ninth-Rank Title Archmage authority looks like...
When Baroque finished, Thorne felt his head ache. He finally understood what Baroque was getting at.
Damn it, when Lord Leon came back, he blasted the Fireblade Tribe’s army with that terrifying magic cannon. Plenty of Watson Family and Black Tower people got killed by accident—but that was days ago! Why is Baroque only showing up now?
This bastard—hundreds of Archmages? At most, two or three hundred swordsmen who were cannon fodder in the Blazeforge Realm. Actual Archmages? Seven or eight, tops. This greedy bastard, inflating the numbers to hundreds!
Didn’t Lord Seth suppress the Watson Family’s complaints? How does Baroque seem completely clueless?
Thorne suddenly felt a flicker of doubt. When Lord Leon showed up with the USS Dauntless and blasted those Blazeforge orcs with the magic cannon, everyone knew about it. But Baroque seems totally out of the loop?
Thinking about it, Thorne realized—this greedy, arrogant bastard is just here to extort the Merlin Family!