Chapter 281: Metamorphosis
"A hundred years after the Dragon-Slaying War, a sudden catastrophe struck—the Merlin Family's strongest members vanished almost overnight..."
"Vanished?" Leon's face showed genuine astonishment at this. A noble house powerful enough to take part in the Dragon-Slaying War—even if its strength had waned over a century—shouldn't just disappear in a single night, right?
"From then on, the Merlin Family's status plummeted, falling from the empire's elite to the dust..."
"I never would've thought..."
"But before that disaster, the Merlin Family did indeed use a blood-dripping dragon's head as their family crest. You can find this in the ancestral records."
"So, the badge you gave me might actually be an heirloom from the Merlin Family's ancestors?" Leon held the damaged badge up, examining it for a long moment before asking, still puzzled, "How did you get it?"
"Uh, I think it was when the sky turned red..." William Merlin scratched his head, looking just as baffled. "But I don't remember the exact time. Everything was chaos—weapon fragments, shattered armor, corpses, one after another, raining down on the Path of Planes. I could hardly dodge, let alone worry about anything else. When things finally calmed down, I found the badge lying at my feet..."
...Leon was speechless for a moment. He'd thought the Dragonblood Beastmen stumbling onto the three-headed golden dragon's blood was coincidence enough, but William Merlin's luck was even more absurd—he'd somehow managed to pick up a badge from the Merlin Family itself.
But this badge...
Thinking of this, Leon glanced again at the damaged badge in his hand. He couldn't shake the feeling that some strange power lingered around it...
It seemed...
It seemed to be a power belonging to the soul itself.
Leon didn't understand much about soul-level powers, so he couldn't figure it out right away. After a moment's thought, he called for Lord Shaun.
"Come, Lord Shaun, take a look at this badge—see if you notice anything strange..."
"Ah, the Dragonslayer's Badge!" Lord Shaun was far more discerning than Leon. The moment the badge was brought close, he exclaimed, "This thing has quite a background! Where did you get it? Listen, anything left behind by the Thirteen Noble Houses is bad news. It's not much lighter than the imperial family's bloodline curses. If something goes wrong, it's fine if you die, but don't drag Lord Shaun down with you..."
...Leon had to take several deep breaths to suppress the urge to stuff Lord Shaun back into the ring.
"Wait..." Just as Leon was debating whether to teach this guy a lesson, Lord Shaun suddenly cried out, "This isn't right. That bleeding dragon's head belongs to a Life Red Dragon. Of the Thirteen Noble Houses that fought in the Dragon-Slaying War, none ever battled a Destruction Black Dragon. This must be a fake..."
"Enough nonsense. I called you out to check if the badge is wrapped in soul power—not to debate whether it's a fake. You've been locked up in Prince Barov's tomb so long your memory's shot..." Leon snapped back.
Still, after snapping at him, Leon couldn't help but feel a grudging respect...
Lord Shaun's insight really was on another level; none of the Thirteen Noble Houses had ever fought the Destruction Black Dragon.
Because back then, the one who personally faced the Crimson Life Dragon was the empire's greatest alchemist, Igor the Azure Sage.
At this, Leon suddenly froze.
Could it be that the Merlin Family had some connection to Igor the Azure Sage?
Thinking it over, it actually seemed possible. The Merlin Family, as participants in the Dragon-Slaying War, left behind a crest featuring a bleeding Destruction Black Dragon's head. That would mean they likely fought the Destruction Black Dragon, and historical records say it was Igor the Azure Sage who faced it.
With that in mind, the two sides might really be linked in more ways than one.
At the very least, they must have fought side by side...
"That's right, there is a soul power wrapped around this badge..." As Leon was pondering all this, Lord Shaun finished his inspection, boasting for a moment before his voice faltered, now tinged with confusion: "But this is strange..."
"What's wrong?"
"The soul power wrapped around this badge isn't a curse, nor is it a protection..."
"That is..."
"Uh, if I'm not mistaken, the power wrapped around this badge is most likely... meant for inheritance—for Soul Inheritance."
"You mean, Soul Inheritance?" Leon's expression instantly turned bizarre.
No wonder this damaged badge ended up at William Merlin's feet...
Leon had wondered how the Merlin Family's badge could just happen to land at a descendant's feet. It was even more unlikely than the Dragonblood Beastmen stumbling upon the three-headed golden dragon's blood.
Now, it seemed this was anything but a simple coincidence...
Maybe someone would ask, why not Leon?
Wasn't Leon also a Merlin Family descendant...?
True, the body Leon now inhabited was Merlin blood, but the soul inside came from thirty thousand years in the future...
"That's right, Soul Inheritance. But as for how it actually works, don't count on me—I won't touch it, way too risky..." With that, Lord Shaun stretched lazily and, without waiting for Leon to press further, dove straight back into the ring.
...Watching the ever-cautious Lord Shaun disappear, Leon couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.
But then again...
Leon didn't really need to ask anyone else about how Soul Inheritance worked...
"Try channeling mana into the badge during your meditations these next few days." With that, Leon tossed the damaged badge to William Merlin, not caring whether he understood, and sat back down to continue his unfinished analysis of the Silver Dragon Blood.
Time slipped by, day after day...
In the blink of an eye, another half month had passed.
The return journey along the Path of Planes was taking even longer than Leon had expected...
Through the distorted void, it was still clear—the Apocalypse Storm was ravaging the Apocalypse Plane, its blood-red hue flooding nearly every corner. The only place untouched was the Void Graveyard, where Leon had once set foot.
But that was only a matter of time...
Once the Apocalypse Storm erupts, the whole world will be reduced to nothingness—even the Void Graveyard, where the corpses of Primordial Deities lie, won't be spared.
After half a month of effort, Leon finally managed to extract another hundred thousand runes from that single drop of Silver Dragon Blood.
At this point, the Mana Harnesses within Leon had accumulated a staggering two hundred thousand runes!
In Northend World, even a Title Archmage would be terrified at the sight. Two hundred thousand runes—what does that mean? It’s almost omniscience and omnipotence. The spells that could be formed from these runes are simply breathtaking. Such an insane accumulation would be shocking even in the peak era of magical civilization.
No mage in history had ever amassed such a staggering number of runes.
Not even a mage with Mana Harnesses could manage this...
Now, the Mana Harnesses inside Leon had reached their limit. Even nine Mana Harnesses couldn't contain such a vast number of runes. Leon could clearly feel how cumbersome and bloated they’d become—sluggish, awkward, like someone who’d overdosed on supplements and couldn’t even walk straight...
At this point, he had only two choices.
Either spit out the excess, or completely digest it...
Spitting it out was definitely not an option for Leon...
So the only choice was to digest the supplements completely...
For the next half month, Leon sat on the Plane Path, never once getting up. Everyone could clearly sense a tremendous magical fluctuation radiating from him, and it never ceased. He was like a tireless machine, endlessly channeling mana.
Yes, this was exactly Leon's state now.
For a full half month, the Mana Harnesses inside Leon never stopped for a moment, always running at full speed. At first, their cumbersome state made them run sluggishly, but gradually, the speed increased and Leon controlled them with more ease, until in the end, it was no different from before.
Normally, by now, the Mana Harnesses would be back to normal and Leon should have stopped.
But Leon didn't stop...
Because Leon could sense the Mana Harnesses were undergoing new changes.
For ten whole days, Leon didn't move.
But the magical fluctuations he radiated only grew more astonishing...
During these ten days, whether it was Sylas West, Fran, Lance, or Salomon, all looked at Leon with fear in their eyes. They sensed that if this young Archmage opened his eyes, Northend World's magic system might be overturned once again...