Chapter 330: Roadblock
At first, Leon had intended to reference the historical Doombringer Staff.
Leon had once conducted an in-depth study of the legendary Doombringer Staff, and the more he researched, the more he realized that its creator stood at the very summit of alchemy. The path taken in crafting the historical Doombringer Staff was, in fact, remarkably straightforward.
But it was precisely because of its simplicity that it was so brutal...
The historical Doombringer Staff was all about endlessly amplifying spellcasting power—pushing it to the absolute limit. Once you reached that tier, the Doombringer Staff naturally became the strongest Essence Relic in existence. The mage wielding it could ignore the difficulty of any spell, casting even the most complex magics with ease; lesser spells of the same rank could even be cast instantly.
And that wasn’t even the most terrifying part. The true horror lay in the fact that the Doombringer Staff’s artifact incarnation also possessed near-invincible spellcasting abilities. Just imagine—facing two opponents in battle, both with monstrous spellcasting power. How could anyone survive that?
Back then, when the Heavenly Mage of Cloudspire Tower wielded the Doombringer Staff, he was practically invincible among Sky Rank mages—sweeping through plane after plane, crushing foe after foe. Some even said that, had he been born in the era of Sandro or Charles, he might still have been overshadowed by those two legendary titans...
Honestly, at the beginning, Leon truly wanted to replicate that Doombringer Staff.
And, to be fair, copying that staff would actually be the least difficult option.
In that vast, decaying library, Leon had pored over every scrap of information related to the Doombringer Staff—memorizing nearly every detail. If given enough magical materials right now, he could easily replicate the strongest Essence Relic within a month.
However...
When Leon stepped into the Merlin Family Ancestral Grounds and witnessed that ancient war during the bloodline ceremony, a bold and reckless idea suddenly sprang to his mind.
Why must the Doombringer Staff be limited to the strongest Essence Relic?
Why can't the Doombringer Staff break through its limits? Why can't it undergo a transcendent transformation?
Once that idea appeared, it became impossible to suppress.
Indeed, the Doombringer Staff is built around the magic crystal of a Soul-Devouring Behemoth. This terrifying core allows the staff to support up to twenty-eight different components, and such capacity means nearly limitless possibilities...
Especially after today's windfall at the auction, Leon finally made up his mind to give it a try...
If he succeeds, six components will be enough to elevate the Doombringer Staff to Essence Relic level. Then, with the remaining twenty-two components, there's at least a sixty percent chance of achieving a transcendent transformation.
Of course, if he fails, there's nothing more to say...
But even failure wouldn't be a loss. At worst, he'd abandon his new idea and return to the path of imitation. After all, with the staff's capacity for twenty-eight components, its place as the strongest Essence Relic is already assured.
But to break free from the constraints of the historical Doombringer Staff and rebuild an artifact with the potential for transcendent transformation is no simple task.
Even someone like Leon, whose knowledge eclipses that of his entire era, now only has a rough idea of how to proceed...
Since this is a brand new Doombringer Staff, it must be built around the Mana Harness, because the Mana Harness is the foundation of my existence—the bedrock of my journey along the magical path.
With this rough idea in mind, the next step was to devise a specific plan for handling the six magical materials.
Honestly, it was mentally exhausting. Each of the six magical materials was a rare treasure, and if used for crafting components, there could be no mistakes. Leon had to think everything through, considering every possibility and detail before finalizing his plan.
The three of them left the auction hall and took a carriage directly to the Merlin Family Manor. The whole way, Leon was absorbed in pondering how to handle the six magical materials, so he said nothing.
William Merlin always followed Leon’s lead. If Leon didn’t speak, he certainly wouldn’t either.
Only Ross Merlin…
All the way, Ross Merlin wanted to speak several times, but the other two’s silence made him swallow his words each time. Inside, though, his thoughts were in utter turmoil.
That’s right, Ross Merlin’s mood was exactly like this—he wished he could resolve all his questions in one breath.
That auction was nothing short of earth-shattering for Ross Merlin.
Originally, in Ross Merlin’s mind, this distant cousin named Mafa Merlin was just running some alchemy business and had a decent amount of wealth.
At first, when Ross Merlin heard that the head of the Hoffland Family intended to summon an alchemy merchant from Thousand Sails City back to the Merlin Family, he scoffed at the idea.
To Ross Merlin, the Merlin Family could easily acquire wealth from planar colonization. For years, the family’s investments in the Flamewrath Plane had never satisfied him—how could one of Auckland’s two great families earn returns there barely better than the likes of the Charlotte Family?
Summoning a lost family member just for money—that seemed like a disgrace to Ross Merlin.
Back then, he hadn’t taken this distant cousin seriously at all.
On the first day the cousin returned, Ross Merlin even sent someone to cause trouble.
On the surface, it looked like Ross Merlin was extorting him, but in reality, it was just his way of expressing dissatisfaction with the family’s decisions…
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He never imagined that after that first encounter, one thing after another would follow…
First, he was defeated by William Merlin in a fair duel, then Stan Watson died unexpectedly, and now there was this unbelievable auction…
Ross Merlin suddenly realized that this distant cousin who had returned to the family was far more terrifying than he’d imagined…
It wasn’t just his immense wealth…
He might also possess extraordinary power.
Otherwise, how could he possibly control that terrifying flame?
Ross Merlin even wondered if the young mage Hannah spoke of was actually this distant cousin…
At that thought, a sudden fear crept over Ross Merlin…
If that was true, then everything he’d done before must have skirted the edge of death countless times.
He could only hope it wasn’t true…
Thinking all this, Ross Merlin sat in the carriage beside his distant cousin, feeling as uncomfortable as if he were beside a furnace. At that moment, he just wished the carriage would hurry back to the Merlin Family Manor, so he could get away from this cousin with so many secrets.