Chapter 387: Thunder
"Huh..." Leon mused, watching the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf go limp the moment it was stuffed into his pocket. The little beast stopped its frantic clawing and chewing, even its howling protests faded to a pitiful whimper. Well, look at that—turns out all it took to tame a monster was a bit of pocket real estate. Maybe I should try this technique on troublesome apprentices.
No, no, no, it wasn't just quieter...
At this moment, the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf was wriggling ecstatically in Leon’s pocket—like it had discovered a treasure trove of chew toys. "If only all my problems solved themselves this easily," Leon thought, wondering if he should be worried or just grateful.
"Well, that saves me the trouble..." Leon thought, trying to puzzle out the wolf's sudden docility, but his mind quickly gave up. Whatever—Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf wasn't exactly a threat, not with those arcane rings binding it. If it decided to rebel, at worst, I'd lose a pair of socks. Some legendary beast.
After confirming this, Leon glanced into the distance, where Dean and the Thunderbird were locked in a fierce battle with the Frostwolf King.
This Frostwolf King was a nightmare incarnate on the battlefield...
Leon estimated it was at least Level 33, maybe even 34. Its fighting strength could rival Thorne Merlin—never a comforting thought. Even Leon himself would have to break a sweat, but Dean and the Thunderbird were somehow holding the line against overwhelming odds. Not bad for a bunch of mercenaries.
No, no, no, they weren't just holding their ground...
During this battle, Dean made a critical decision: he took advantage of the Frostwolf King's entanglement and rallied the entire mercenary company together...
Two more Accelerate spells shimmered around them, and in a blink, Leon and Hubert vanished from the chaos, leaving the howling, blood-soaked battlefield behind—a retreat so smooth it bordered on magical cowardice.
"Huh, Dean actually has a brain," Leon mused from afar. Judging by the way things were going, the mercenary company might just pull off a miracle—without his help, for once.
At first glance, it looked like the mercenary company was surrounded by wolves, but a closer look revealed they were backed against a cliff, only needing to defend three sides. Compared to being attacked from all directions, this was a huge improvement.
More importantly, before this, the mercenary company had been split up by the Frostwolf Pack, fighting separately without any coordination...
But now, things were different...
Now that the mercenary company was fully regrouped, under Dean’s command, their combat power exploded with newfound strength—a far cry from their earlier scattered chaos.
And Dean was clever—
He kept the Frostwolf King occupied, not trying to deal much damage himself, but making sure the mercenary company could focus their attacks on the king.
Don't underestimate that focused barrage...
Within the mercenary company, there were over a dozen Phantom Archers, three Archmages, and more than ten Grand Mages. The damage from a concentrated attack far surpassed anything Dean could do alone.
"So much for offering to help before leaving—clearly, that's not needed anymore..." Leon thought, watching the battle unfold. If he couldn't read the situation by now, he might as well bash his own head against a wall. Sometimes, being the clever one felt like a curse.
By now, the outcome was obvious...
The Frostwolf Pack kept charging in waves, the mercenary company kept losing people, and Dean was covered in wounds...
But all of this was worth it, because the Frostwolf King kept taking heavy blows.
Right now, with Dean tightly locking down the Frostwolf King, the mercenary company had already focused their attacks twice, leaving the king in much worse shape than Dean.
Once the Frostwolf King died, thousands of Frostwolves would scatter like headless flies, and the mercenary company could clean up at their leisure.
Seeing this, Leon knew the mercenary company had this battle in the bag.
Which was fine—at least he wouldn't have to jump in and help.
With that thought, Leon didn't hesitate anymore. He patted Hubert on the shoulder: "Let's go..."
"Oh..."
Two more Accelerate spells, and the two of them quickly left the area...
"Damn it, don't let me see you again!" At that moment, Dean was still trapped by Frostwolves, cursing furiously. No compassion, no humanity—watching the mercenary company fight for their lives, and Leon just walked away like it was nothing. Was he even human?
Too bad Leon had no qualms about leaving them to fend for themselves. With a Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf in his pocket and a Dragonblood Orc at his side, he cheerfully left the battlefield. A few minutes later, he found the three Merlin brothers, who had just finished off a group of magical beasts.
"How'd it go?" The three, who were resting, immediately came over when they saw Leon return.
"A little something." Leon replied with a calm smile. Just looking at his expression, no one would guess he had just caught one of the rarest Three-Eyed Shadow Wolves in Northend's entire history...
After sharing what happened while separated, the five of them glanced at the sky—it was nearly dark. After a brief discussion, they pitched their tents nearby.
In the middle of the tents, a campfire burned, and a Dragonblood Orc sat beside it, muttering curses under his breath...
"Why am I on night watch?" The Dragonblood Orc sat by the fire, gritting his teeth as he complained, but kept his voice low, afraid of disturbing a certain someone who was meditating. "Just because I'm an orc doesn't mean I don't need sleep, right?"
"Ah!"
Just as the Dragonblood Orc was muttering, a sudden cry came from inside Leon's tent.
"Crap!" The Dragonblood Orc nearly jumped out of his skin, convinced his muttering had summoned something dreadful. He slapped a hand over his mouth and darted his gaze about, half-expecting the terrifying Seodorus to materialize from thin air. Survival instincts: not just for humans.
But...
The Dragonblood Orc kept looking around for a full minute, but Seodorus never showed up, and nothing else came from Leon's tent...
Still uneasy, the Dragonblood Orc nervously asked, "Master, what happened?"
"It's nothing. Just keep watch."
"Oh..." The Dragonblood Orc nodded, now sitting quietly by the fire. After that scare, he didn't even dare to mutter under his breath.
What the Dragonblood Orc didn't know was that the supposedly all-knowing Lord Merlin was far less calm than he looked...
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Once Leon returned to his tent, he didn't start meditating right away. Instead, he opened his pocket to let the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf out for some food...
But as soon as he opened the pocket, Leon went berserk...
Leon’s mage robe had two pockets. The left pocket was engraved with an alchemical array to expand its space—a common trick for mages. With all the gear a mage needed, spatial equipment was rare these days, so most relied on alchemical arrays for extra storage.
But there was a drawback to these spatial expansion arrays.
Every time you opened it, you had to unlock the array.
Usually with a spell or a gesture.
For a mage, this was a hassle. Everyone knew how unpredictable combat was—no one could afford to waste even a moment. Unlocking the array was fine in normal circumstances, but in a fight, that brief delay could mean life or death.
So, Leon usually kept essentials for combat in his right pocket—magic items, potions, mana crystals. That pocket was just a regular one, no array. When he caught the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf, he’d tossed it in there without thinking.
And that thoughtless toss was about to cause trouble...
When Leon opened the pocket, the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf was curled up, sleeping soundly and looking utterly satisfied...
"No way..." Leon instantly realized something was very wrong.
Sure enough, when Leon pulled the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf out and glanced into the pocket, he was completely dumbfounded...
Damn, all the mana crystals in the pocket—over a dozen—were gone...
The magic items and potions survived, but judging by the bite marks, they hadn't exactly escaped unscathed. Even my potions weren't safe from the wolf's gourmet rampage. If only magical insurance was a thing.
"Crap..." Leon was stunned. He'd kept over a dozen mana crystals in that pocket...
Those mana crystals were his go-to for restoring mana. They weren't the highest grade, but at least Level 20. As a Magus, anything below that was basically useless to him.
Those mana crystals were his go-to for restoring mana. They weren't the highest grade, but at least Level 20. As an Archmage, anything below that was basically useless to him.
Over a dozen Level 20-plus mana crystals—all gone!
If you converted that to gold, it'd be worth millions!
If you converted that to gold, it'd be worth millions! Enough to buy a small kingdom, or at least a lifetime supply of headache potions.
No need to ask—just look at the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf's round belly...
Leon stood there, utterly helpless, staring at the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf still snoring away. For a moment, he was at a complete loss for words...
It had already eaten them—was he supposed to make it spit them out?
"Huh?" Just as Leon was getting frustrated, he suddenly noticed something odd about the mark on the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf's forehead.
"What's going on?" Leon tensed up. He'd just lost a dozen high-level mana crystals for this Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf—don't tell him it was a fake all along...
"Awoo, awoo..." The Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf was still deep in sleep, belly full of mana crystals, mumbling dreamily and rubbing its stomach.
But the red mark on its forehead really was changing...
He remembered clearly—when he first saw the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf, the mark on its forehead was just a red dot, like a splash of blood from battle.
But now...
That bloodstain had turned into a strange symbol...
"What is this..." Leon frowned, studying it closely—and then just froze.
The mark on the Three-Eyed Shadow Wolf's forehead was none other than the source of all knowledge, the ancient divine script of the Ashan Dynasty!
Leon happened to know what it meant...
Thunder—the world-ending Thunder that destroys all!