End of the Magic Era
chapter-286

"How does that concern you?" William remained expressionless. Although it had already been many years, the fact that Ross went against everyone's advice and insisted on leaving to attack the Crimson Fort still weighed heavily in William's heart. After saying that William ignored Ross and pushed him aside. "You are blocking our way."

"..."

Ross stood awkwardly as he watched the two of them leave. He had heard people saying that the most outstanding genius the Watson Family had produced in centuries, the one who had disgraced him, Stan Watson, was killed in the Aurij Mountains.

Moreover, he had been killed while under the protection of the Red Dragon Mercenaries, in front of the 1st vice leader, Anna.

Ross was left stunned...

He had fought Stan Watson in the Raging Flame Plane, and since then, he had always used Stan as a lofty goal to strive towards. Ross could even say that he was the one who understood Stan Watson's strength the best. How could he not know how powerful he was?

There were countless members of the younger generation, and the only difference that mattered was power. Only a few of them could lead far ahead of the others.

Stan Watson was one of them.

Ross Merlin knew that Stan had already become an 8th Rank High Mage and that he'd been very close to advancing to the 9th Rank. He was so close that people already considered him an Archmage.

But this time, Stan Watson had been killed.

And this had involved the Red Dragon Mercenary Group, Okland's number three Mercenary Group. They were powerful enough that they could already be ranked among the twenty strongest forces in Okland. Ross had seen Anna fight with his own eyes and knew that she was a very powerful Expert Swordswoman. Few people could get the chance to study under the Storm Sword Saint Talos, and even fewer could learn the Sky Aura.

They had even taken fifty mercenaries with them, making that a group that could rival an Archmage. How could they let someone they were escorting die in front of them?

At that time, Ross recalled something William said.

Their younger cousin had asked how Ross compared to Stan Watson.

Back then, William had answered, "How could he be compared to a dead person?"

Ross then suddenly realized that the suddenly rising William might know some information that hadn't been publicly revealed.

Thus, Ross wanted to ask him how much he knew about Stan's death.

This matter was very, very important to Ross.

It was related to a secret that only Ross knew.

But things had unfolded poorly for him.

Ross knew that William's behavior was he'd always believed that his older sister died because of Ross' actions back then.

In the past, Ross wouldn't have cared about what William thought because the gap between the two of them was too great. No matter how unwilling William was, he would have no choice but to answer if Ross wanted to know something.

Unfortunately for Ross, it was different now.

William's sudden rise changed everything.

Even now, Ross still couldn't accept the fact that William had defeated him.

It wasn't Aube, it wasn't Leon, it was William.

Although William couldn't be considered mediocre among the younger generation, Ross had never thought much of him. The gap between them was huge, an entire tier! When Ross became a 5th Rank High Mage, William was only a 5th Rank Great Mage.

But now...

Just half a year later, William had shockingly stepped into the High Mage realm and defeated him in a one-on-one fight.

Ross couldn't understand how this had all happened.

The gap between them had already been breached, so it would be very difficult to get an answer from William.

But he couldn't help himself, so he still had to ask.

This matter was too important to Ross.

'What about Anna?' After thinking for a long time, Ross thought of the 1st vice leader of the Red Dragon Mercenary who had been present on the scene. 'She might be able to tell me something…'

...

As Ross left the Merlin Manor, Ofran looked anxious in his stone tower.

'How could it happen so coincidentally…' Ofran was sitting on his chair, a bitter smile on his face.

Originally, Ofran had raised that condition to get Mafa to back off for now.

But he hadn't expected something so fortuitous to happen.

Just as he raised that condition, Stan Watson died.

Ofran couldn't help cursing inwardly when he thought of that.

'You were a freaking 8th Rank High Mage, not much worse than me, how could you die like that? What should I do…

'Do I really have to face the pressure of the Elder Council and let Mafa enter the Ancestral Land? This is very troublesome…

'You trash, Stan Watson, couldn't you have just remained in the Watson Family Manor? Why did you have to go to the Aurij Mountains? How could you be so worthless as to die with fifty Great Swordsmen and one Expert Swordswoman guarding you?

'Hmm… It was mentioned that the killer was a young mage.'

As his train of thought reached this point, Ofran suddenly became puzzled.

'Could that be one of Mafa's helpers?'

After thinking carefully about it, Ofran couldn't help considering that possibility.

'Mafa Merlin, just who are you?'

Ofran tried to wrap his head around it.

'...The boss of the greatest alchemy store of Thousand Sails City, his wealth can only be described as tremendous. He also seems to have ties with Solomon of the Sage Tower, and Solomon is Star Sage Jouyi's disciple. It wouldn't be difficult for him to use his relationship with Solomon to hire one or two helpers from the Cloud Tower.

'The one who killed Stan Watson might be a young mage from the Cloud Tower… But who could it be...? Although there have been a lot of talented mages appearing in the Cloud Tower in recent years, I don't recall any being young and that frightening.

'Maybe he asked another force? After all, with the huge amount of wealth he possesses, it wouldn't be very difficult for him to have someone kill Stan Watson.

"Haaa…" Ofran couldn't help sighing.

He hadn't expected this to happen.

He'd only brought up such a condition because he knew that it was impossible for Mafa and William with their strength. He'd only wanted to buy time.

He hadn't expected things to blow up.

Moreover...

Link had yet to return, for some unknown reason. Ofran had already tried to call out to him twice, but he hadn't gotten any answer. Otherwise, he could have asked Link what had happened.

Ofran couldn't help feeling his head throb as he thought of this.

"Knock knock knock…"

At this time, someone knocked on the door to the reception room.

"Come in…" Ofran sighed. Who other than William and Mafa would come knocking at such a time?

And as expected...

The two young mages entered the room.

"Sir Ofran, as you wished, Stan Watson has died. Concerning the matter of entering the Ancestral Land…" Lin Yun went straight to the point after entering the reception room.

These words made Ofran feel a lot older. 'Sure enough… It feels as if I ordered a hit…'

"Oh, this…" Ofran couldn't help feeling bitter as he wondered, 'What should I do? Do I really have to confront the Elder Council?'

"Sir Ofran, I hope you aren't thinking of backing out?" Lin Yun asked with a smile as Ofran was hesitating.

"Backing out? No no no, of course not…" Ofran was startled at first before vigorously shaking his head to deny this. The person before him was the owner of the Gilded Rose. The wealth and the resources he held were tremendous. Delaying him was fine, but backing out on a deal could make him abandon any thought of returning to the Merlin Family. Who would believe a Patriarch who went back on his word? If he couldn't agree to this, the other side might even worry whether they could keep their wealth after returning.

'Forget it. If I have to confront the Elder Council, then so be it.'

With that thought, Ofran accepted the situation and made his decision.

"Mafa, I am happy that you can contribute to the Merlin Family. You already proved yourself, so you can enter the Ancestral Land anytime you want. Where do you plan on going?" After Ofran got over it, he simply conceded this favor.

Originally, the young mage would have to wait until the Elder Council negotiated the final result before he could enter the Ancestral Land. It might take ten days, but it might also take over a month.

But Ofran had decided to let him enter the Ancestral Land first.

In any case, he would have to slowly fight with the Elder Council, so why not make Mafa owe him a favor while he was at it?

Sure enough, Lin Yun smiled at Ofran's answer. "Now, of course."

"Good." Ofran didn't hesitate and opened a drawer before taking a crest out from it. "This is the proof needed to enter the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land. William will lead you there later. Also, there are a few things I should remind you of before you enter. You'd best not run all over the place in the Ancestral Land, you should quickly come out after doing the Bloodline Ceremony. Some of the secrets of the Ancestral Land aren't things that you should get into contact with at the moment…"

"I know." Lin Yun nodded. Every powerful Family hid countless secrets in their Ancestral Land. These secrets weren't secrets that could be shared with just anyone.

But Lin Yun wasn't interested in these secrets.

What Lin Yun truly cared about was the Bloodline Ceremony.

William had once told him that after the Merlin children reached adulthood, they could undergo the Bloodline Ceremony in the Ancestral Land, provided they were outstanding enough. Even the oldest members of the Merlin Family didn't know when the Bloodline Ceremony had been established. They only knew that regardless of how thin the Merlin Bloodline was, as long as they underwent the Bloodline Ceremony, they would be able to possess the power of the purest Merlin bloodline.

The Merlin Family hadn't declined after so many years because not only were they able to keep their bloodline pure, but they could also undergo this Bloodline Ceremony.

Lin Yun clearly remembered it.

The Merlin Family started declining several hundred years later, until Flame Ruler Doug was born in the Merlin Family. He was known as the strongest Archmage and made the name of the Merlin Family resound throughout Noscent overnight.

And this Flame Ruler's Magic Conducting Rune was the Magic Array that Lin Yun held.

It was said that this Flame Ruler crawled up from the bottom and was still a Great Mage when he turned fifty.

But after fifty, he found the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land and underwent an ancient and mysterious Bloodline Ceremony, transforming his bloodline into the purest Merlin bloodline. After that , Doug's strength skyrocketed, and within three months, he fused his nine Magic Arrays into one and stepped into the High Mage realm before taking another ten years to become the strongest Archmage in Noscent.

This was all because of that ancient and mysterious Bloodline Ceremony.

And it was because of this that Lin Yun wanted to enter the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land.

Lin Yun was convinced that the pure Merlin Bloodline was related to the Magic Array.

"Alright, if there are no questions, you can go there now…" After making this difficult decision with clenched teeth, Ofran felt as if his head was about to explode. He gave a hurried explanation and then waved his hand, hinting for Lin Yun and William to leave.

"Haha, many thanks, Sir Ofran." Lin Yun didn't hold back and nodded politely before leaving with William.

After leaving Ofran's stone tower, Lin Yun took the time to ask, "Cousin William, where is this Ancestral Land?"

"Do you see that place?" William pointed at the Fallen Star Lake. A precipitous cliff could be seen past the mist covered water whose bottom was covered by a dense fog. It was a bottomless canyon. "That canyon is the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land. It was said that the Merlin Family's ancestor came out of that canyon in his youth and followed the old king to establish the Andlusa Kingdom. Although many children of the Merlin Family have been into that canyon, no one knows how many secrets are hidden within…"