Chapter 485: Peculiar
From Thorne Merlin's perspective, the young mage's sudden reappearance as a Family Councilor after months of absence was suspicious—there had to be some hidden agenda, perhaps even some underhanded means involved. If today's events reached the Family Council, it was likely that the young mage's position as councilor would become untenable...
Thinking this, Thorne Merlin cast a sympathetic glance at the young mage. He knew misfortune was about to befall him; in the long history of the Ancestral Grounds' Family Council, this young mage was destined to be the councilor with the shortest tenure.
At that moment, Thorne Merlin probably hadn't noticed that Uriel Merlin and Edgar Merlin, standing nearby, both looked pale, cold sweat beading on their foreheads as they watched him anxiously.
In fact, Edgar Merlin had been half scared to death the moment he entered the Council Hall.
He was still reeling from the shock of seeing the young mage slaughter the Blazeforge Orc Shamans. When Thorne Merlin started scolding the young mage, Edgar was genuinely startled, staring at Thorne in disbelief—was this guy tired of living, daring to provoke the young mage?
He'd witnessed the young mage's power firsthand—calling it terrifying would be an understatement.
Consider this: those dozen Blazeforge Orc Shamans were all at least top-tier Archmage level, with three of them possessing the strength of Title Archmages. Their combined combat power was enough to wipe out even a Fifth Level Title Archmage.
Yet, the outcome was utterly unexpected. Such an absurdly powerful lineup couldn't even scratch the young mage—instead, he casually took all the Blazeforge Orcs' lives.
That was downright terrifying...
Edgar Merlin had spent years either in the Ancestral Grounds or waging planar wars—he'd seen it all. He could easily tell that the young mage's true strength was on par with a Sixth Level Title Archmage, maybe even stronger.
And yet, the young mage was supposedly just a Fifth Level Archmage...
The more Edgar thought about it, the more the cold sweat poured down his forehead. If things were really that simple, he wouldn't be so shaken. Maybe others didn't know why the young mage had charged out of the fortress, but Edgar knew perfectly well. No exaggeration—his actions had saved the entire Planar Legion and crushed the crisis before it could even begin.
Had the young mage not killed the Blazeforge Orc Shamans, the consequences would have been unimaginable: endless elemental creatures would have flooded the entire Inferno Fortress, eventually leading to its fall and capture by the Blazeforge Orcs.
That would have been a devastating loss for the Merlin Family...
But now, Thorne Merlin, still clueless about the truth, was harshly reprimanding the young mage, even insisting on reporting the matter to the Family Council to have him punished.
At this point, Edgar Merlin was genuinely sweating for Thorne Merlin. He steeled himself and stepped forward. Seeing the young mage's calm expression, Edgar finally sighed in relief and cautiously said, "Well, Lord Thorne, that's a bit much. The Merlin Archmage, like you, is a commander of the Planar Legion, with decision-making power equal to yours. Besides, the Inferno Fortress hasn't fallen. I think we should just let this go—escalating it to the Family Council wouldn't do anyone any good."
"Lord Edgar is right. We're all Merlin Family here—there's no need to make things so tense. And clearly, the Merlin Archmage was acting for the greater good. Lord Thorne, try to be a bit more understanding. This is your first time working with the Merlin Archmage; you'll have plenty of time to get used to each other..."
The elderly Uriel Merlin wiped the sweat from his forehead and shot Thorne Merlin a look of utter disappointment. He felt he had to speak up—if Thorne kept this up, disaster was inevitable. No exaggeration, he was genuinely saving Thorne Merlin from himself.
Right or wrong aside, just the young mage's strength alone was enough to make anyone despair.
If you anger the young mage, the consequences could be unimaginable.
"Lord Uriel, Lord Edgar, you..."
Thorne Merlin's expression shifted, a look of deep astonishment crossing his face. He could hardly believe that these two powerhouses from the Ancestral Grounds were actually speaking up for Matthew Merlin.
He might be one of the Planar Legion's commanders, but when facing those from the Ancestral Grounds, he still had to show respect. All these experts drawn from the ancestral ranks had powerful backgrounds. If it weren't for the special circumstances this time, he probably wouldn’t have had much chance to work with them.
And as far as he knew, the Title Archmages from the Ancestral Grounds were all extremely proud. Though they showed him respect as a commander on the surface, he doubted they truly respected him inside.
That was the real reason for his shock—why would Uriel Merlin and Edgar Merlin, both from the Ancestral Grounds, speak up for Matthew Merlin? It was simply unfathomable...
"Fine, I won’t pursue this matter further..." Thorne Merlin’s face grew dark and uncertain. Since Edgar and Uriel Merlin had both spoken, he couldn’t ignore them. After a pause, Thorne shot a sharp look at Leon: "Matthew Merlin, you’d better remember your role as a commander of the Planar Legion. Know what’s appropriate and what’s not. I don’t want to see anything like this happen again..."
With that, Thorne Merlin’s face remained stern as he pulled out a map from the side, spreading it across the table. His gaze toward Leon was openly hostile: "This is probably your first time at Inferno Fortress. As one of the commanders, I think you need to get familiar with the situation here. This map covers the whole region—take it with you and study it when you have time."
Leon glanced at the map on the table, nodded lightly, and said nothing. At the center of the map was clearly the location of Inferno Fortress.
"You should know the origins of Inferno Fortress—it was three hundred years ago that Thornton Merlin slew the mighty Hellfire Demon, allowing the Merlin Family to take it over." Thorne Merlin’s tone was impatient, but for the sake of the bigger picture, he had to share some key information with the young mage. After all, he’d spent more than a decade in the Blazeforge Realm, and there were few in the Merlin Family who knew Inferno Fortress better than him: "You probably can't imagine how dangerous this place is. Within a hundred miles, there are more than a dozen locations infested with elemental creatures, all marked on the map. Matthew Merlin, remember—never go to those places. If you provoke the elemental creatures again, it'll be another brutal fight!"
He really had no confidence in the young mage, so he could only give a reminder in advance. Pointing to several spots on the map, Thorne continued: "Inferno Fortress has been under Merlin Family control for years, and we've discovered more than a dozen mineral veins nearby. But only ten have actually been developed—the rest are just too dangerous. Even Title Archmages would be at risk there. Two of the veins are right next to the Blazeforge Orc Tribe, so we can't touch them at all."
"So many..."
Seeing all those marked mineral veins, Leon was secretly shocked. The wealth these veins could generate might not compare to the Bone Plane, but it was still nothing to scoff at.
"As for the Blazeforge Orc Tribe..."
Mentioning the Blazeforge Orcs made Thorne Merlin's face darken: "Actually, three hundred years ago, Inferno Fortress was controlled by this tribe, guarded by a Hellfire Demon from the depths of hell. Back then, many factions from Auckland tried to claim the fortress, but all suffered heavy losses. It was only when Thornton Merlin acted that the Merlin Family finally took Inferno Fortress. Over the years, the tribe hasn't let it go—they've sent countless Blazeforge Orcs to try and retake it. Especially one hundred and fifty years ago, when nearly all their strongest fighters attacked. That war was brutal; we barely held the fortress, but the Merlin Family paid a terrible price. More than ten Title Archmages fell in that battle."
"The Merlin Family controls three fortresses in the Blazeforge Realm, but even if you add up the other two, they're not half as important as Inferno Fortress. This place is our foundation here—if we lose it, we lose our right to compete in the Blazeforge Realm." Thorne Merlin glanced at Leon, a hint of worry in his eyes. "Lately, I don't know what's going on, but the Blazeforge Orcs have been attacking Inferno Fortress more fiercely than ever. Today's battle was already the fifth this month, and each assault is stronger than the last. In the past, they’d never do this—sustained fighting drains them too much. Usually, they’d only attack once a month at most."
"Uh..."
At that moment, the two standing behind Leon—Edgar Merlin and Uriel Merlin—exchanged a strange look when they glanced at Thorne Merlin. They didn’t say anything, but privately they thought, 'You probably don’t know there are more than a dozen powerful Blazeforge Orc Shamans waiting in the wings. If you did, you’d be scared out of your mind...'
For the next half hour or so, Thorne Merlin dumped all the important information about Inferno Fortress onto Leon, who then returned to his own quarters.
"It really is strange..."
Back in his quarters, Leon was still mulling over the Blazeforge Orcs, his expression heavy with worry. Something just felt off. The elemental creatures and orc shamans that appeared in today's battle were definitely formidable.
If he hadn’t discovered the presence of the orc shamans, it would’ve been a disaster—Inferno Fortress might’ve fallen. From what Thorne Merlin had told him, there had to be some hidden agenda behind all this. Otherwise, why would the orc tribe go to such lengths for a single fortress?
After all, this was already the fifth time this month...
Even for an orc tribe, launching so many high-frequency attacks in such a short time would be exhausting.
He could clearly sense that the orc tribe was holding something back. Today’s battle and the previous four all felt like warm-ups. The next wave of attacks would probably be even fiercer.
End of chapter.