Chapter 497: Reaching an Agreement
The prerequisite for using that magic artifact was to gain recognition from the Forgefire Clan's ancestors—otherwise, it was nothing but a worthless trinket. When the Black Tower learned this truth, their collective frustration was beyond words.
This became the Black Tower's second great embarrassment, right after the fiasco at the Sun King’s Ruins.
Yet even after things reached this point, the story didn’t end. Thousands of years later, the Black Tower’s magic artifact ultimately fell into the hands of an orc from the Northend World.
His name was Russell, an utterly ordinary member of the orc tribe. But after obtaining that artifact, Russell’s fate took a sharp turn—ordinary was no longer in his cards.
To be precise, the ancestral totem magic relic left by the Forgefire Clan ended up creating a Sky Rank Shaman.
This was none other than Russell, the Sky Rank Shaman who would become a legend in later generations...
Russell’s rise was nothing short of terrifying...
At twenty, he had just acquired the totem relic and was still an ordinary orc. By thirty, he’d reached the level of a Title Archmage; by forty, he stood at the very peak of Title Archmage. That was when Russell’s tribe faced a crisis.
Russell fought against several Peak Title Archmages—individuals who had already touched upon the extraordinary. The battle shook the entire Northend World. Russell, newly crowned as a Peak Title Archmage, revealed the true terror of the totem relic and single-handedly defeated several Peak Title Archmages.
After Russell ascended to Sky Rank, he led the orc tribe to conquer countless planes, defeating one Sky Rank powerhouse after another. As for the Black Tower, all they could do was watch with envy...
Of course, Leon wouldn’t share any of this with Heron. He struggled to keep a straight face, barely suppressing his laughter. In fact, he was even looking forward to the moment when, after wiping out the Forgefire Clan and uncovering the totem relic’s secret, he’d get to see Heron’s reaction. He almost felt sorry for the Black Tower.
It was only because he knew the real story that he dared to make such outrageous demands—claiming seventy percent of the shares and leaving thirty percent for the Black Tower. Honestly, before negotiating with Heron, he’d already prepared for some serious haggling, thinking that getting fifty percent for the Merlin Family would be a win, given how much the Black Tower was contributing.
But he never expected things to turn out like this.
“Merlin, as for the details of our cooperation, you can discuss them with Councilor Weiss—he has full authority to represent the Black Tower.” Heron frowned, looking deeply aggrieved, but inwardly he was delighted. At this moment, he found the young mage more agreeable than ever. The first time they met, he’d gotten a set of Eight Formula Meditation Laws for free. This time, it looked like the Black Tower was getting the short end of the stick, but in truth, the Merlin Family was the one at a loss—a True Spirit Peak magic artifact was far more valuable than a mere Specter Valley.
“Very well, Lord Heron. I’ll go make preparations...” Leon stood up and shook Heron’s hand again, smiling as he left the study. When he opened the door, he found Councilor Weiss waiting outside. After a brief greeting, Leon headed downstairs, but as soon as he reached the first-floor lounge, he spotted a familiar figure.
“Matthew Merlin, what are you doing here!”
Wallace Charlotte, whose figure was somewhat portly, had entered with a broad smile. But the moment he saw that familiar face, his expression darkened completely. He roared, his heart instantly flooding with boundless rage.
What had happened two days ago was the greatest humiliation of his life. Even when the Charlotte Family fell from grace and he had to grovel before Hoffland and the others, he hadn’t felt so disgraced. But Matthew Merlin—a mere youth from the Merlin Family—had, during negotiations two days ago with Hoffland, told him to get lost...
And at that moment, he couldn’t say a word—he could only slink away, round and silent...
Even now, just thinking about it made Wallace’s face flush red. Damn, it was humiliating.
That same night, after returning to the Charlotte Family, he went to see the Soul Requiem and recounted everything that had happened that day. He’d been nervous at first, but the moment the Soul Requiem heard about the young mage, it became furious—not only did it not blame him, it gave him even more support...
As the patriarch of the Charlotte Family, Wallace naturally had to put the family’s interests first. Though he desperately wanted to kill the young mage from the Merlin Family, after the Frostleaf Plane was settled and with the Soul Requiem’s backing, the Charlotte Family’s power had surged.
Actually, the Charlotte Family also held a fortress in the Blazeforge Realm, though it was much smaller in scale. Before gaining the Soul Requiem’s support, the family had already fallen into ruin—just having the resources to control a single fortress was already impressive...
With the Soul Requiem’s support, the Charlotte Family grew more ambitious, setting their sights on the Blazeforge Realm. Wallace’s first target was the Merlin Family’s Inferno Fortress, one of the seven great strongholds there. If he could seize it, not only would it boost the Charlotte Family’s power, it would also weaken the Merlin Family—a win-win.
So, a day earlier, Wallace had assembled a Planar Legion and rushed to the Blazeforge Realm. Hearing that Heron of the Black Tower was at Darkmoon Fortress, Wallace hurried over. In his mind, the Black Tower—one of the kingdom’s two great mage powers—would surely have designs on Inferno Fortress. If they could cooperate and attack together, victory would be almost guaranteed.
With that in mind, Wallace came to Darkmoon Fortress and requested an audience with Heron.
But to his surprise, the moment he stepped into the lounge, he ran into that damned young mage.
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"You... You’re Councilor Suville?"
After roaring, Wallace finally noticed the elderly man standing in the lounge. Looking more closely, he remembered—this was Councilor Suville, who’d been out of the public eye for nearly three centuries. Now a member of the Black Tower’s Seven-Member Council, Suville held an exalted position—even with the Charlotte Family’s rise thanks to the Soul Requiem, Wallace couldn’t afford to disrespect such a senior councilor.
Recalling his earlier outburst, Wallace felt uneasy. He’d come to the Black Tower with sincere intentions, hoping to join forces against the Merlin Family. He’d even sworn to himself to keep a low profile at Darkmoon Fortress—but the moment he saw the young mage from the Merlin Family, he couldn’t hold back his rage. Roaring like that was practically a provocation to the Black Tower...
Right...
But then, Wallace’s tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed. He remembered Councilor Suville’s history: three hundred years ago, Suville was a celebrated young genius, reaching the Black Tower’s power core in middle age and securing a council seat. It was only Thornton Merlin’s rise that interrupted Suville’s magical path, leading to centuries of obscurity—until his recent reappearance in the Black Tower.
Thinking of this, Wallace’s face lit up. Surely Councilor Suville must hate the Merlin Family?
With such a powerful councilor on their side, the Charlotte Family’s alliance with the Black Tower to seize Inferno Fortress was practically a sure thing.
But first, he needed to teach this young mage from the Merlin Family a lesson.
"That’s me..."
Councilor Suville was in a foul mood, his face dark as a thundercloud. Heron’s earlier stance was a bitter pill—if the Black Tower really allied with the Merlin Family, then no matter how much he hated them, he couldn’t use the Black Tower’s power against them...
That left Suville deeply unwilling to accept it.