Chapter 1055: Compensation
Diras kept a dark, brooding expression and said nothing.
There's no evidence now. If I act rashly, that damn Matthew Merlin will seize the opportunity to use it against me, and no one in the Odin Kingdom will be able to support me. Damn it, those bastards from Skyhold City actually sided with that guy Merlin. Just wait—this isn't over...
Diras stayed silent, but his subordinate sneered, walked up to Leon, and flipped over the table Leon was hunched over, deep in calculation.
In an instant, Leon's intense calculations were abruptly interrupted. When he looked up, the runes swirling in his eyes slowly faded away.
Leon raised his head, shock and anger flashing across his face as he stared at the man in front of him.
Before Leon could speak, Diras's subordinate lifted his chin and sneered, staring at Leon as if he were stunned.
"Matthew Merlin, our young master asked you a question, and you dare pretend not to hear? Damn bastard! If you don't give us a satisfying explanation today, you're finished!"
The sudden commotion snapped the other mages out of their calculations. The three alchemists from Skyhold City stared in horror at Diras's subordinate.
Rafael's calculations were interrupted as well; he glared at Diras's subordinate, both shocked and furious.
But Diras's subordinate seemed unfazed, and even Diras, though sensing something was off, just sneered at Leon.
"Matthew Merlin, today you must give us a satisfactory explanation!"
Leon’s expression suddenly grew calm, and he muttered to himself.
"A satisfactory explanation, is it? Fine!"
Diras's subordinate sneered again, full of contempt.
"Country bumpkin from Andalusia—so cheap. If you don't show them some real pain, they just think..."
Before Diras's subordinate could finish, a Hellthorn Vine erupted beneath his feet—thick as a grown man's arm, it spread wildly, instantly binding him tight.
The black-red vine, bristling with spikes, coiled around him like a giant python. In less than a second, it completely enveloped Diras's subordinate, its thorns stabbing deep into his body, the Hellthorn Vine contracting and expanding as if feeding.
As the vine writhed, the thorns inside him sliced through flesh like knives, slowly tearing his body apart.
Blood sprayed, yet not a drop hit the ground—every last bit was absorbed by the Hellthorn Vine.
The sudden turn of events left Diras utterly stunned; he hurriedly activated his Shadow Cloak to protect himself.
"Matthew Merlin, damn it, what are you doing..."
Before he could finish, the sound of bones being crushed echoed. The Hellthorn Vine, like a bloodthirsty python, devoured every drop of blood from Diras's subordinate under Leon's command, then pulverized his bones into fragments.
Sated, the Hellthorn Vine tossed aside the twisted, unrecognizable corpse and disappeared back into the earth.
The man who flipped Leon's table was now thoroughly dead—his magic, blood, even his soul, all consumed by the Hellthorn Vine in Leon's fury. After digesting the soul, the vine might even become a true magical beast, possibly turning part of Hell into a forbidden zone of death...
Expressionless, Leon looked up at Diras.
"You wanted an explanation, so I'll give you one."
Sweat broke out on Diras's forehead; he involuntarily took a step back.
Damn, damn, this guy really dared to attack us—he actually killed someone from the Shadow Tower. Isn't he afraid of our retaliation?
There are so many people here—he can't possibly cover this up. The Shadow Tower will definitely take revenge. Does he really dare to kill me?
With Leon resorting to murder, Diras's confidence faltered. Remembering Leon's previous explosive power—enough to rival a Sky Rank mage—Diras felt cold sweat trickling down his back.
The sudden surge of magical energy and the death—there's no way the others haven't noticed.
Dida La was the first to arrive, frowning at the mangled corpse with shattered bones on the ground.
Diras had just come over with his men to question them, and Dida La hadn't stopped him—he was tired, too, after fighting three waves of demons today.
But he hadn't expected things to escalate this far.
"What happened here?"
No sooner had Dida La asked than Diras quickly hid behind him, still shaken, and pointed at Leon.
"That bastard—I just came to ask about the situation, and he killed someone from our Shadow Tower. Now he wants to kill me too!"
Diras cried thief to catch a thief, the villain accusing first. Leon's eyes flashed with killing intent, and a fierce surge of magical energy erupted from him.
At that moment, Rafael finally snapped out of it and rushed over, grabbing Leon first.
"Archmage Merlin, don't be impulsive, calm down..."
After soothing Leon a bit, Rafael immediately turned and started berating Diras.
"Diras, has your brain gone rotten? Do you have no basic sense? Don't you know how massive the calculations for an alchemical array are?
Damn bastard, we've spent five days gathering most of the data. Today, we finally got the crucial numbers and changes. If we run the calculations in one go, we could crack the outer layer of this alchemical array today!
Now look what you've done—damn idiot! All our work wasted. You barged into the alchemy lab, flipped Merlin's table, and broke the calculation process. Five days of effort, all ruined by your moronic subordinate.
Killed him? So what? If Merlin hadn't done it, I would have personally taken care of that fool myself.
You idiot, trying to frame Merlin? Let me tell you, nearly all the calculations here were done by Merlin himself. We only helped with the secondary data—the main calculations had to be completed by a single person in one go.
Only Merlin could handle it, and he's been working nonstop for a whole day. Now it's all destroyed by your moronic subordinate!
Diras was stunned, finally realizing something was seriously wrong. Dida La turned and gave Diras a hostile glare.
A mage of this caliber, even if not skilled in alchemy, knows the basics and can set up or break simple arrays.
Now it was clear why Leon had flown into a murderous rage.
Dida La listened to Rafael's furious rant, his nostrils flaring with sparks.
He spat a burst of flame onto the corpse of Diras's subordinate, instantly reducing the twisted body to ashes.
"Serves him right for dying. Who gave him the guts to interrupt a Worldshaper at work!"
Diras looked aggrieved, anger simmering but unspoken, forced to quickly distance himself from the incident.
"I never told that idiot to do this. I just wanted to ask about the progress. Who knew he'd take it upon himself to flip Archmage Merlin's table and interrupt his calculations..."
Leon radiated cold fury, itching to kill Diras on the spot.
After berating Diras, Rafael quickly grabbed Leon again.
"Archmage Merlin, I saw the whole thing. Diras was at fault, but when he arrived, he didn't forcibly interrupt our work. Maybe it's just that after fighting three waves of demons today, everyone's nerves are shot.
That's understandable. No one expected that idiot to be so reckless. Dead is dead—if he hadn't died, I'd have torn him to shreds myself.
Bastards who waste our time and energy are a menace even when alive.
Since that idiot's already dead, let's just drop it and focus on speeding up our work. What do you think?"
Rafael tried to talk Leon down, worried he'd lose his temper and kill Diras too.
Dida La understood the situation. Though angry, he couldn't let Leon kill Diras. But right now, Leon was their main hope, so Dida La joined Rafael in trying to calm things down.
"Archmage Merlin, that idiot's dead and gone. But this has already cost us a lot of time. If we keep getting delayed, we might not be able to hold out.
Diras was at fault, but it's not all on him. If we run into more demons, let Diras pull his weight. Let's not waste any more strength here—what do you say?
As for all the wasted effort, let Diras make it up to us!
Both Dida La and Rafael kept trying to calm Leon, who suppressed his anger and stared expressionlessly at Diras.
Diras was furious but didn't dare say a word. No matter what he said, everyone blamed him for ruining five days of work, and nobody was going to let it go.
Seeing Diras frozen for ages, Dida La frowned and glared at him.
Diras's face turned bright red. After a long pause, he reluctantly took some items out of his spatial ring.
"I've got some clarity potions and stamina potions here—all made from the finest ingredients by top alchemist potion masters. True Spirit grade.
And some rare crystal pens and inks from my personal collection..."
Diras handed them over, pained. These were the best compensation he could muster—top-tier alchemical tools and potions, all meant for alchemists.
Potions for alchemists are expensive, far pricier than those for combat mages or swordsmen. Strict standards—any side effects or weak results, and they're worthless.
Only a tiny fraction of potions are perfect enough for alchemists to use—the market price is dozens or even hundreds of times higher than regular potions.
After more coaxing from Rafael and Dida La, Leon finally accepted Diras's compensation, though clearly displeased.
The experiments continued, but progress slowed. In the days that followed, as Leon and Rafael pressed on, the frequency and intensity of alchemical array activations increased—more demons kept appearing.