Chapter 374: This Is the End
If Legon ever found out that Matthew Merlin, whom he believed he could manipulate at will, possessed such terrifying combat power, even if Legon had ten times the courage, he would never dare to covet the Gilded Rose again...
Unfortunately, it's too late to say any of this now...
A great battle was inevitable. If Matthew Merlin won, the Merlin Family would lose their Planar Legion commander. If Thorne Merlin won, the family would face an even greater disaster. In short, no matter the outcome, the Merlin Family would suffer severe losses...
Hoffland stood there with a bitter expression, watching the battle unfold, his emotions indescribably complex.
Yes, just as Hoffland had predicted, once this battle started, it could only end when a victor emerged.
After a brief exchange of probing attacks, Leon and Thorne Merlin simultaneously unleashed their full strength.
Thorne Merlin pushed his battle aura to the limit, his entire body seeming to bathe in flames. Leon, in turn, wielded three legendary Essence Relics—Saedus, Arcane Wheel, and the Doombringer Staff. With all three relics unleashed, he managed to withstand Thorne Merlin's nearly invincible sword aura.
In just a brief moment, the two clashed dozens of times.
Thorne Merlin's Crimson Flame Sword roared with wind and thunder with every strike, its blazing flames threatening to devour everything. Leon never ceased casting spells, torrents of incantations pouring from his lips like flowing water, while the surrounding magical energy boiled as if the air itself were boiling over.
By now, both men had begun to lose control over their power. The spells and sword aura spilling out were a disaster for everyone else, and a dozen elders started to withdraw from the Merlin Family Council Hall...
With a thunderous boom, the battered council hall finally gave out under the strain...
In an instant, clouds of dust billowed up. The four-story stone tower that had stood in the Merlin Family Manor for a thousand years could no longer endure and collapsed in a thunderous crash during the pair's full-force collision...
...The elders who had fled far away couldn't help but feel their legs go weak at the sight...
It was terrifying...
This four-story stone tower isn't just any ordinary tower. As the Merlin Family's council hall, it's the very heart of the family, second only to the ancestral estate in importance. Every floor and every inch of wall is protected by alchemical arrays. Even the magic crystal cannons atop Auckland's city walls would need to fire more than ten times to bring it down.
But now...
This four-story stone tower was utterly destroyed by their battle. What does that even mean...
For a moment, everyone's face turned pale.
No one knows how many elders broke out in a cold sweat...
Thorne Merlin, that's expected...
But Matthew Merlin...
No one expected Matthew Merlin's combat power to be this overwhelming. Thinking back to how they had sided with Legon Merlin and Owen Merlin, demanding he hand over the Gilded Rose...
They actually wanted to seize the property of someone like him...
Just the thought of it made countless people secretly shudder; to still be alive now was pure luck...
The council hall had collapsed with a crash, but the battle between the two was far from over. Amid the swirling dust, two figures shot out. At this moment, Leon had activated his elemental avatar, transforming into a fire spirit, unleashing fire spells one after another...
With the Wheel of All Magic assisting him, Leon was casting so many spells every second that it would drive countless mages to despair...
That was something no ordinary mage could even imagine...
At this point, Thorne Merlin's strength was clear. Faced with Leon's near-maniacal spellcasting, Thorne Merlin showed no sign of being overwhelmed. Instead of being forced into a defensive stance, he pressed the attack with his blazing Crimson Flame Sword, launching one assault after another...
Yes, both sides were fighting to seize the initiative...
The style of this battle could only be described as bizarre. Usually, a fight between a mage and a swordsman is the most spectacular—one attacks, the other defends, each showcasing their strengths. But with these two, the usual rules simply didn't apply...
Judging by the scene...
Both men were desperately fighting for the offensive, seemingly unconcerned for their own safety. Most of the time, Thorne Merlin relied on his protective battle aura to withstand Leon's magical bombardment, while Leon, thanks to his elemental avatar's powerful defenses, endured three of Thorne Merlin's sword aura attacks in a row...
"What kind of fighting style is this...?" Leon Merlin, keeping his distance, watched the earth-shattering battle with terror in his eyes and asked Ross Merlin beside him in a low voice.
"How should I know..." Ross Merlin rolled his eyes, thinking, I'm not a monster like them—how would I know what kind of fighting style this is?
I mean, this kind of fighting style is a little unscientific...
It really is." Ross Merlin nodded in agreement...
For the two of them, this was a battle they couldn't comprehend. A mage and a swordsman fighting like this was, in itself, deeply unscientific.
In fact, it wasn't just them who couldn't understand...
Of all the onlookers, not a single person could make sense of what was happening.
The only ones who truly understood what was happening were Leon and Thorne Merlin...
Only those who had personally experienced this battle could understand why they fought with such reckless abandon.
It wasn't that they wanted to fight this way...
Rather, it was their opponent's strength that forced them to fight like this.
Especially Thorne Merlin...
Thorne Merlin was called the Crimson Flame Sword Saint for his fierce, fiery attacks, but even the most aggressive fighter needs some defense. In fact, at the start, Thorne Merlin never imagined the battle would drag on like this. His opponent was just a mage, even if he had Essence Relics and strength far beyond his peers—against a fourth-tier Sword Saint like himself, that shouldn't have been much of a threat...
But as soon as the battle began, Thorne Merlin realized he was wrong. His opponent's strength was far beyond his imagination.
First of all, his opponent had more than one Essence Relic.
A mass of ever-changing flames, a rapidly spinning disk, and a staff that greatly amplified spells—three Essence Relics in total. Even in the hands of a magic apprentice, these would be enough to face a Sword Saint head-on.
Moreover...
His opponent's true strength was far greater than he'd imagined—enough to stand against a Title Mage head-on. If he weren't already close to becoming a fifth-tier Sword Saint, he would've lost long ago.
Especially after his opponent activated the elemental avatar and paired it with that spinning disk, the pace of spellcasting became utterly terrifying. Thorne Merlin was constantly bombarded, struggling in a torrent of spells.
It wasn't that he didn't want to defend...
He simply didn't dare to defend.
Faced with such a relentless barrage, any attempt at defense would mean defeat. That unreasonable spellcasting style would crush him the moment he switched to defense.
From that moment on, he'd never recover...
At times like this, the only option was attack, attack, and attack again. Only by constantly pressing the offensive could he resist being suppressed, force his opponent to defend, and maybe win. It was a contest of endurance—whoever switched to defense first would lose.
As the fight wore on, Thorne Merlin grew more and more shocked. When had the Merlin Family produced such a monster—so young, yet so terrifyingly powerful? Given time, he might become another Thornton Merlin...
No, he can't be allowed to grow stronger.
If things continue like this, the harm Owen suffered today will never be avenged!
With this thought, Thorne Merlin erupted with battle aura once more, turning his Crimson Flame Sword into a blinding stream of fire. The intense heat seemed to make the very air sizzle...
Previously, Thorne Merlin had already pushed his battle aura to the limit. This new surge would surely damage his body—at best, he'd be weakened, at worst, it could affect future advancement. But at this moment, none of that mattered; his only thought was to kill his opponent immediately...
Yet, just at that moment...
A voice suddenly rang out.
Enough. This ends here.
The moment the voice fell, both Leon and Thorne Merlin suddenly felt a tremendous power descend.
This power was simply unfathomable. Their battle had been enough to destroy the council hall, yet before this force, they couldn't resist at all. Leon's elemental avatar vanished instantly, Thorne Merlin's battle aura snuffed out, and the world seemed to fall silent. Both felt themselves bound by this incredible force...
"Who are you!" Thorne Merlin roared in fury, gripping his Crimson Flame Sword to unleash a sword aura at the intruder. But as soon as he moved, he realized he couldn't muster any strength at all.
This realization sent a chill down Thorne Merlin's spine.