Chapter 299: Taking Care of Business
"Wh-what are you trying to do!" The young Grand Mage's face grew increasingly pale as he stared at the Dragonblood Orc's dark red visage. It looked utterly monstrous—especially when the Dragonblood Orc grinned at him while gently stroking the adamantine warhammer in his hands. The feeling was as grotesque as it gets...
"What am I doing? Hehehe..." The Dragonblood Orc was completely lost in the ecstasy of wielding such a powerful weapon, laughing foolishly for two out of every three sentences. In the eyes of the young Grand Mage, that grin was enough to nearly scare him into wetting his pants...
"You... you... you..." The young Grand Mage kept retreating until he bumped into the courtyard gate, his eyes filled with terror. "Don't come any closer..."
"Hehehe..." The Dragonblood Orc advanced step by step, wielding Slaughter.
The whole scene was downright bizarre...
Fortunately, William Merlin was never valued by the Merlin Family, so ordinary people rarely visited his courtyard. Otherwise, anyone witnessing this might think the Dragonblood Orc was about to do something unspeakable...
More than a dozen Swordmasters lay sprawled on the ground. Nearby stood the young Grand Mage and a Highland Orc—one backing away, the other closing in. For a moment, the atmosphere in the courtyard grew truly strange...
Thankfully...
At that moment, someone came to the young Grand Mage's rescue.
Because William Merlin had returned...
"What the hell happened?" William Merlin had just arrived, only to find his front gate smashed. His face immediately darkened.
But soon enough...
William Merlin saw the bizarre scene for himself...
One backing away, one closing in—the young Grand Mage stammering threats, the Dragonblood Orc giggling idiotically. The whole spectacle was so absurdly funny that William Merlin instantly forgot about the ruined gate and simply folded his arms, standing there openly to watch the show...
"William Merlin, y-you—you’re harboring a Darkflame Orc! I’m going to report you to the Elder Council!" The moment William Merlin appeared, the young Grand Mage clung to him like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Though, the way he shouted was a bit off...
When William Merlin heard the guy actually dared to threaten him, he swallowed the words he was about to use to stop the Dragonblood Orc and instead switched to a cold, disdainful smirk. "Go ahead and try..."
"You..." The young Grand Mage's face froze instantly.
William Merlin’s status wasn’t as high as Owen Merlin or Ross Merlin, but as a direct member of the Merlin Family, harboring a Darkflame Orc might mean years in prison for an ordinary person. For a Merlin Family direct descendant, though, it’d probably just earn him a couple of stern lectures. Even if he reported it to the Elder Council, what would really change?
By comparison...
My own troubles right now are way bigger...
That damned Darkflame Orc was closing in on me with a ferocious grin, hands fiddling with that terrifying weapon. This was no joke—if I even got grazed by it, I'd be nursing broken bones for months!
"William Merlin, if you do this... Ross won't let you off!" The young Grand Mage couldn't hold it in any longer, so he tried pulling rank by invoking his own powerful backer.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as he'd imagined.
"Heh, Ross..." That name, which held endless power in the young Grand Mage's mind, only earned a cold laugh from William Merlin.
If this had been before...
William Merlin might've been wary of Ross.
After all, Ross was one of the Merlin Family's most outstanding geniuses—in terms of power and talent, he even surpassed Owen Merlin and Leon Merlin. But because he was from a collateral branch, he'd always been overshadowed by Owen.
But William Merlin wasn't the same as before anymore...
That half-year in Seaview City had pushed William Merlin to a whole new level. He’d seen a ninth-tier Grand Mage defeat a Title Archmage with his own eyes—so why would he still worry about Ross Merlin?
Not to mention, William Merlin had just inherited the Soul Inheritance from that broken badge—he was a changed man, having stepped into the realm of Archmage. His future was limitless. If the young Grand Mage thought invoking Ross Merlin would intimidate him, he was sorely mistaken.
"William, it's only been half a year, but you seem a lot bolder now..."
At that moment, another group of people walked in from outside.
The one in the lead looked about thirty, his demeanor relaxed and casual. Though a long scar ran down his face, it didn’t make him ugly—instead, it added a heroic charm. Just by standing there, he drew every eye in the courtyard: the Swordmasters sprawled on the ground, the young Grand Mage and Dragonblood Orc caught in their standoff, and even the newly transformed William Merlin couldn’t help but stare.
He was just that kind of person—born to be the center of attention.
"Ross, what are you doing here?" William Merlin tensed up immediately. For every younger member of the Merlin Family, Ross was an inescapable shadow.
Anyone bearing the Merlin surname simply couldn’t ignore Ross Merlin’s existence.
Born to a collateral branch, he had no powerful supporters and no outstanding talent. At twenty-four, he was just a fifth-tier mage—barely qualified for the Gilded Rose Mercenary Corps. Back then, who even knew Ross Merlin’s name?
But after turning twenty-four, Ross Merlin rose like a comet.
In just one year, he went from a fifth-tier mage to a Grand Mage—five tiers in a single year. That alone caused a sensation in the Merlin Family.
And that wasn’t the end of it...
After that breakthrough, Ross Merlin kept surging ahead—another year, another five tiers, becoming a fifth-tier Grand Mage. Two years later, he boldly stepped into the realm of Archmage. And the Arcane Sigil he possessed was none other than the Endless Spring—a legendary rune that hadn’t appeared in the Merlin Family for nearly five hundred years, once wielded by the legendary Thornton Merlin and said to grant limitless magical power.
When all nine Endless Springs fused together, Ross Merlin’s magical power reached a level ordinary Archmages couldn’t even imagine. With this rune, unseen for five centuries, Ross Merlin—despite being from a collateral branch—firmly claimed the title of strongest among the Merlin Family’s younger generation.
And this wasn’t self-proclaimed...
Three years ago, Ross Merlin ventured deep into the Blazeforge Realm, single-handedly stormed the Crimson Fortress held by over a thousand Blazeforge Orcs, and fought for seven days and nights without rest—ultimately seizing the fortress from their grasp.
That battle shot Ross Merlin’s status sky-high in the Merlin Family, turning him from a collateral branch member into a strong contender for the next family head.
Even Owen Merlin and Leon Merlin—outstanding in their own right—were left speechless.
Even though William Merlin had undergone a complete transformation during his half-year in Seaview City, and now felt capable of facing Ross Merlin head-on, when Ross Merlin actually appeared, William Merlin couldn’t help but furrow his brow...
He couldn’t help it—the memory of Ross Merlin’s battle in the Blazeforge Realm was just too vivid.
It was an almost instinctive reaction...
But fortunately, in the next moment, William Merlin's furrowed brow relaxed again.
Because William Merlin had realized that he was no longer the same person. The half-year in Thousand Sails City had completely changed him.
Now, William Merlin commanded the Gilded Rose's mercenary corps, with fifty High Mages serving him. Not long ago, he had even entered the alchemy laboratory of Vaughn, the last Creator of the Third Dynasty. William believed that everything he experienced there—never mind Ross Merlin, even Thornton Merlin might not have gone through such things.
Not to mention, behind him stood his unfathomable cousin from Mafa.
If there was anyone in this world who could still make William Merlin feel fear, it would be this cousin from Mafa. William understood better than anyone just how terrifying his cousin truly was...
Look at Hubert—one casual strike with Slaughter, and over a dozen Swordmasters were lying on the ground. A High Mage nearly wet himself on the spot. Impressive, right?
And look at me—just half a year ago, I was a Level 5 High Mage, and now I'm a Level 2 Archmage. At this rate, I'll keep climbing at a terrifying speed. By the time I become a Level 9 Archmage, I probably won't even be forty. Isn't that miraculous?
But William Merlin knew that, whether it was the formidable Hubert or his own miraculous progress, they were both merely creations of that cousin from Mafa.
It could be me, it could be Hubert, and naturally, it could be someone else...
Hubert and I are just lucky enough to have followed this cousin from Mafa.
Compared to that, what does Ross Merlin amount to?
Even if Ross Merlin is the strongest among the younger generation of the Merlin family, even if he possesses the long-lost Fountain of Eternity, when he stands before a titled Archmage, he’s not much stronger than an ant, is he?
Yet that cousin from Mafa, even when he was just a Level 9 High Mage, had already defeated Fran, a titled Archmage, head-on...
The difference between them is simply too vast...
Given all that, what is there to be nervous about when facing Ross Merlin?
“Heh, I heard from the others that you brought our little cousin back from Thousand Sails City, so I came by to check in. By the way, where is our little cousin?”
“Little cousin?” By now, William Merlin had completely returned to normal. Facing Ross Merlin’s lofty inquiry, he didn’t feel the slightest urge to get angry—he just smiled: “Our cousin from Mafa went out to take care of something. He should be back soon...”