End of the Magic Era

“Let me rephrase this! The Black Tower is commandeering your Three Great Mercenary Groups!” Solan glared coldly at the trio.

“Commandeering? With just you?”

The irascible Dean sneered as he looked at Solan, some faint sparks flickering over his body. With the power of a 3rd Rank Sword Saint, Dean wasn’t putting Solan in his eyes.

Solan was still a High Mage when Dean had become a Sword Saint.

But, at that time.

A voice suddenly echoed.

“Okay, stop there. Your three mercenary groups seemed to have forgotten that the Black Tower isn’t discussing with you, we are taking you over! Do you not know what that means…?”

Everyone felt a huge power descending when that voice suddenly appeared.

That power was unfathomable. Delson and Rolf, those rarely seen experts, didn’t have any thought of resisting that power. The Line Canyon seemed to have been silenced, the trio’s faces turning ashen.

They instantly understood. Solan wasn’t alone, he had a more powerful existence behind him.

Speaking of which, that person who appeared… He was an old man in his sixties, seemingly no different from an ordinary old man. But he was emitting a frightening aura.

“Representative Weiss…” Delson felt a chill run down his spine. He knew that this man was one of the seven Representatives of the Black Tower Council.

Perhaps Solan couldn’t represent the Black Tower earlier, but Representative Weiss could! The Council of Seven was almost the highest authority in the Black Tower.

“Representative Weiss, how come you are here?” Delson squeezed out a smile, his voice shivering, not from excitement, but from fear. “Our Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group obeys the Black Tower’s command.”

Although they were both Archmages, he was only a 3rd Rank Archmage. He had no confidence when facing Weiss. He believed that as long as Weiss was willing, he would immediately end up dead.

Moreover, as a member of the Council of Seven, Weiss only needed to say one word to cause endless trouble for his mercenary group.

“Representative Weiss, we also wish to obey the Black Tower’s command…”

Rolf and Dean glanced at each other and before helplessly looking at the other side. Since the Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group had already admitted defeat, there was no meaning in standing against the Black Tower.

“I don’t have time to waste on this. Solan, the three mercenary groups will follow your arrangements.” After saying this, the old man’s silhouette disappeared.

The appearance of a Representative made the three wishful mercenary groups feel hopeless. They might be able to ignore Solan Monchi, but they couldn’t ignore Representative Weiss.

Although the Vice Leaders and the Leader had some reputation in Okland, and countless people wanted to befriend them, they understood that they weren’t on the same level as Weiss.

They gradually felt that the irresistible reward they had been thinking about was becoming more and more illusory.

The three mercenary groups, under Solan Monchi’s guidance, rushed to the Black Tower’s camp. The Line Canyon was indeed full of danger. The deeper they went, the more magic beasts they encountered.

In a bit over half a day, they encountered over a dozen waves of magic beasts. Fortunately, the three mercenary groups had plenty of people and didn’t suffer many losses.

In the temporary meeting room of the three mercenary groups, Delson, Dean, and Rolf were gathered, quarreling over loot. This kind of scene would have never happened before. Before, the three mercenary groups needed to cooperate tightly in order to guarantee their safety.

With the Black Tower appearing and forcibly commandeering them, they were no longer able to complete the commission of the Odin Kingdom, so they couldn’t rely on that extremely lavish reward…

Although they still cooperated, they weren’t as close as before.

Lin Yun was sitting in a corner, not cutting into the conversation, frowning thoughtfully instead. The appearance of the Black Tower was beyond his expectations.

For a Representative to come, it could be seen how much value the Black Tower accorded to this place.

Well, Lin Yun wasn’t completely shocked by the appearance of the Black Tower.

In those years, the Gaugass Battlemages had been part of the Black Tower for over a millennium. During that millennium, they swept through all of Okland’s forces and even the peak Cloud Tower had no choice but to lower their heads in front of the Black Tower. If not for that huge disaster three centuries ago, the Gaugass Battlemages would still be fighting alongside the Black Tower. It wouldn’t be surprising if some clues about the Gaugass King were left behind.

But this definitely wasn’t good news for Lin Yun. The situation of the Tulan Mountain Range was complicated enough. His five-man team and the three mercenary groups had been benefiting from each other, but now, there was also the Black Tower.

Archmage Solan, Representative Weiss, and the Black Tower’s mage legion… This was a frightening line-up suddenly appearing! They directly pressured the three mercenary groups, and it might not be that easy if he wanted to explore the vestige of the Gaugass King on his own.

‘Had I known earlier that this would happen, I would have left for the Tulan Mountain Range earlier. Although it would be risky, I wouldn’t have to worry about others making my plans go awry.’

But, just as Lin Yun thought about this, he heard a noise outside his tent…

“Sir Solan, you, you… You can’t go in.”

“Fuck off!”

A cold voice echoed as the mercenary guarding the meeting room was thrown off his feet, before heavily crashing into the meeting room.

Solan walked in with firm steps. He gloomily looked around before finally seeing Lin Yun. ‘Sure enough, it’s him!’

He didn’t participate when they met those several hundred magic beasts. Instead, he stood in the distance, waiting, when suddenly, a familiar silhouette flashing in his field of view. He suddenly recalled why that silhouette felt familiar. It was actually Mafa Merlin from Thousand Sails City!

He had heard that Mafa Merlin had come to Okland and spent 37,000,000 golds in an auction. At the time, he had just returned from the Pale Plane and had a huge pile of issues waiting for him that he couldn’t get away from. He then followed Weiss to the Tulan Mountain Range and was surprised to learn that Mafa Merlin was also here!

He knew of Mafa Merlin’s actions in Thousand Sails City. The Monchi Family had to struggle on the verge of destruction. Solan had been taken back to the Black Tower by his teacher when he was very young. For forty years, Solan rarely had any contact with the Monchi Family. There was nothing he could do about it. When he returned to Thousand Sails City for the first time in a while last year, he didn’t head for the Monchi Family, but rather, for Mafa Merlin’s home.

He had seen many ancient materials and lots of information in the Black Tower, and he found clues to a plane that was likely located in Mafa Merlin’s residence. There might be a Planar Path leading to another plane there.

What did a completely new plane represent? He knew that better than anyone. To any mage, that was a golden paradise, with countless precious magic materials. Any time a new plane appeared, countless forces would fight over it.

Thus, Solan didn’t hesitate and immediately got on the move. Not long after Locke Merlin’s shipwreck, the Monchi Family followed his hint and started fighting over that residence.

In Solan’s eyes, with the power of the Monchi Family in Thousand Sails City, there would be no difficulties, and everything would go smoothly.

But, it was far from that. Not only did everything go wrong for them, but Mafa Merlin’s Gilded Rose quickly rose up. In a short year, the Monchi Family could no longer be considered the Merlin Family’s rival. Even so, Solan wasn’t worried. He had become an Archmage in the Pale Plane. He was originally planning on dealing with all his matters before going to Thousand Sails City to kill Mafa Merlin and take away his Gilded Rose and house…

But that Mafa Merlin had run out of luck. He followed the Three Great Mercenary Groups to the depths of the Tulan Mountain Range and was spotted.

Thus, everything became a lot simpler.

“Solan Monchi, what are you trying to do? Our three mercenary groups are discussing some important matters, what are you rushing in here for? Did you really think that because of Representative Weiss, your Black Tower can interfere in the matters of our mercenary groups? This is definitely out of the question! Now get lost!”

Vice Leader Dean of the Temple Knights had an irascible character and just happened to have been embroiled in an argument. After suffering so many hardships to enter the Tulan Mountain Range, they were taken over by the Black Tower. He had been restraining his anger, but he had lost in the loot distribution just now and had been angrily quarrelling with Delson. Solan Monchi was definitely entering at a bad time.

Normally, with the pressure put by Weiss, Dean might have still endured.

“Solan Monchi, you are too excessive…” Delson’s expression was cold, and anger could be felt in his tone. They were the top three mercenary groups of Okland. Even if they were pressured by Weiss and had to lower their heads to Weiss, they still wouldn’t put any importance on someone like Solan Monchi.

On the way, whether it was Delson or Dean, or even Rolf, they all looked at Solan in an unpleasant way.

‘We are afraid of the Black Tower, of Representative Weiss, but who do you think you are, Solan? You only just became and Archmage and you think you can interrupt a meeting of the Three Great Mercenary Groups?’