End of the Magic Era
chapter-22

The agitation then turned into a blood-curdling screech.

'Fuck, this really is a swamp!'

Fario was trapped inside the swamp. His fat body was desperately struggling, but the more he flailed, the quicker he sank down. In a short time, he was chest-deep in that black mud!

"Careful! This is a Rotten Swamp!" The 9th Rank Mage in the middle of the group shouted a warning to the Viper Nest group while quickly casting a spell.

Rotten Swamp was only a 3rd Rank spell, so it couldn't enter the eyes of a 9th Rank Mage. One Soil Petrifaction would easily solve it.

In fact, that 9th Rank Mage did just that. He quickly chanted his incantation and that Soil Petrifaction spell quickly took shape. As long as he controlled the spreading of the Rotten Swamp, they could easily take their time to help Fario escape from it.

But, just when the 9th Rank Mage was about to cast the spell, a deathly chill blanketed the area, and before he could react, the swamp was already frozen over.

"This…" The 9th Rank Mage suppressed the Soil Petrifaction spell. It wasn't even a matter of whether he should cast it or not anymore. At this moment, he felt a small backlash, and this pain was truly hard to bear with. The swamp was already frozen, so his spell was simply meaningless now. But he couldn't just not do anything. Did he have to helplessly watch as Fario was turned into an icicle? This was someone that the chief had personally asked him to protect...

Fortunately, the 9th Rank Mage didn't have to keep thinking for long.

Because Lin Yun had already approached.

"How come you are so free today, Uncle?" Lin Yun walked along a small path, not getting close to the 9th Rank Mage, who was still dumbfounded. He stopped at the edge of the frozen swamp and squatted down and smiled as he looked at Fario.

"Re-re-release me!" Fario had never been in such an awkward situation before, with more than half of his body frozen in the swamp. Under the bitter chill, his teeth were chattering constantly. It felt as if countless knives were cutting his body.

He couldn't escape, but he wasn't sinking either. After the swamp completely froze over, it was as hard as steel. Not to mention Fario, even a 10th Rank Warrior wouldn't be able to struggle free.

"Sure, I can get you out without any problem. But… Uncle, there is something I don't understand. You brought so many people to my house today, what for?"

"Cap-capturing a thief, ow…" Fario just started talking when he suddenly felt emptiness open up below his feet. He sank down a bit more. Feeling completely terrified, Fario waved his arms around wildly as he shouted, "Qu-quick, grab me! Pull me up!"

"Uncle Fario, you are definitely dishonest." Only when half of Fario's face was left above the swamp did Lin Yun casually grab Fario's collar. "Are you such a magnanimous person that you would muster such a large force for a thief?"

"Ge-Get me out first!" Fario urged in a muffled voice, not saying any more this time.

Thus, Lin Yun didn't say anything else and simply loosened his grip.

"Ahhhhh!"

As Lin Yun let go, Fario let out a blood-curdling shriek. The two fat hands flailed around chaotically, trying to clutch on to one last hope for survival. After struggling, he barely managed to grab the corner of Lin Yun's gown. Fario held on as if his life depended on it. "Mafa, I am your uncle, ge-get me out of here…"

"Enough, Fario shut up!" The 9th Rank Mage who had been watching the play while completely dumbfounded finally shook himself out of his stupor. He raised the staff in his hand and a vine suddenly appeared beside the frozen swamp. Imbued with the surge of mana from the 9th Rank Mage, this vine grew to have a length of a few meters and the thickness of an arm.

Immediately afterwards, the vine swept over the struggling Fario and he was pulled out from the frozen swamp steadily dropped on the ground.

"I wasn't done questioning yet…" Lin Yun patted the dust from his gown while grumbling, but he didn't actually care that much.

He was quite sure that Fario was at most an errand boy. No matter how much he questioned him about it, he wouldn't learn much.

Moreover, there was still that 9th Rank Mage.

That mage had no idea that he had been silently marked as a target for questioning. He was frowning, looking at the young mage causing problems for him.

This young mage had to be the owner of the house, Mafa Merlin. He seemed to be about 20 years old and wearing a brand new black gown, so he shouldn't have been a Mage for long. And judging from the two spells he had cast, he was probably somewhere between 3rd and 6th Rank.

This strength could be considered pretty good for a 20-year-old youth. But it was just pretty good. As a someone at the peak of Mages, he could easily crush such a young mage.

Thus, the 9th Rank Mage didn't bother being wordy with the other side and directly told him, "Mafa Merlin, hand over the deed and I'll guarantee that I'll let you and the people living in the house go."

"Let me think about it…" Lin Yun surprisingly didn't refuse outright, showing a complicated expression instead.

"You'd better consider it well... I rarely give such a chance to people. I'll give you ten seconds to choose whether you'll die with the deed, or hand it over to save your life."

"I mean, I was thinking about whether I should let all of you off or not…"

The entire area went silent after Lin Yun's words.

The 9th Rank Mage's face was filled with shock. He didn't dare to believe what he had just heard. After being left speechless yet again for a few seconds, he finally reacted. He hadn't misheard, that young Mage truly said that he was considering if he should let them off...

"You are courting death!" The 9th Rank Mage took a deep breath and barely restrained his anger. When he spoke, his voice was cold and sinister.

Cold and sinister voice, ashen expression… Even Fario, still shivering on the side, could see that this 9th Rank Mage was truly infuriated.

This was a clear provocation. Putting aside the fact that he was a peak existence among Mages, even if he had been less powerful, he definitely wouldn't have been able to put up with it.

"Kill him!" The infuriated 9th Rank Mage waved his hands, and the few dozen subordinates, who were looking at Lin Yun like he was their prey, simultaneously advanced toward him.

They were elites of the Viper Nest, with the weakest one having the strength of a 3rd Rank, and the most powerful one already at the 7th Rank. With a few dozen of them, that force was not inferior at all to most average mercenary groups. To be able to casually send such a force, besides the few peak powers, in the entire Thousand Sails City, only the underworld's Viper Nest could do so!

That group of elites from the Viper Nest was made up from three different kind of classes: Archers, Warriors and Thieves. When the 9th Rank Mage gave his order, the Warriors and Thieves unsheathed their weapons and rushed ahead, the Archers took position on favorable terrain in an instant while nocking their arrows, waiting for the fight to start before piercing the target's chest like vipers.

As they rushed out, some of them even cursed inwardly. For just a 20-year-old mage, did they really need to use elites of the Viper Nest?

But soon, they didn't dare to think that way anymore...

Because Lin Yun had already completed his first spell. Another Rotten Swamp formed once again. Not even 10 meters from Lin Yun, more than a dozen Warriors holding large swords had been rushing up at him, before the ground beneath their feet suddenly softened. They felt as if something was dragging them down, pulling them into the muck.

No one could have expected that Lin Yun would be able to cast a spell this quickly. Rotten Swamp was a 3rd Rank spell. An ordinary Mage would need at least 20 seconds to cast it. Even a 9th Rank Mage would still need about 10 seconds.

But that Rotten Swamp had fully formed in less than five seconds.

What kind of concept was that?

This was almost an instant spell!

This was an inconceivably quick Rotten Swamp. It instantly broke the rhythm of the group from the Viper Nest. Among the few dozens of fighters from the Viper Nest, the few Thieves had yet to come around to surround him, and the Archers had suddenly loosed their arrows in panic, causing them to be lacking in accuracy. More than a dozen arrows shot out, but some weren't even close, and the rest seemed to miss Lin Yun ever so slightly, not even touching his clothes.

The most frightening part was that Lin Yun had already readied another spell!

This second spell was even faster than the first one.

It was completely instantaneous, with no incantation and no gesture, only a sharp Icicle spell...

Only a whistling sound pierced through the air as the large icicle ruthlessly flew forward, instantly piercing an Archer's shoulder. This didn't slow the icicle's momentum as it kept going and nailed itself to a tree, along with the unlucky Archer. His "advantageous" terrain became the most loathsome location for him.

The icicle was the size of an arm, and it had pierced straight through his shoulder, pinning him to the tree. This kind of pain was hard to bear, even for an elite of the Viper Nest. A mournful scream echoed, and all those who heard it felt a chill.

"Metamagic?" The 9th Rank Mage froze as he recognized what had happened.