End of the Magic Era

“Cough…”

Arthus was lying on the ground, constantly spitting blood as he returned to his human shape due to his serious injury. Blood kept flowing from his wounds and he was in very bad shape.

‘F*ck, I’m done for…’

Even moving was very difficult. It looked like there was only one path ahead of him.

But after ten seconds, Arthus found out that the person holding the staff didn’t approach him or continue attacking.

At that time, Lin Yun, who was still in his living quarters, was using his Magic Array to observe the scene of the puppet dealing with Arthus. He was grinning widely. “You should count yourself lucky that only the defense system of the puppet was enabled…”

In fact, Lin Yun had already noticed that very powerful Sword Saint lingering near the camp for the past several days. He had naturally recognized that it was the Sword Saint who had previously impersonated a Demon to surprise attack the camp. He was probably a member of the Watson Family.

This kind of harassment had caused Lin Yun to lose patience.

Although this person was a terrifying High Rank Sword Saint, he couldn’t be considered much of an opponent for the current Lin Yun. The recently upgraded Doom Staff and the recently restored Heaven Puppet both had the strength of 7th Rank Archmages, not to mention their power when it was combined.

Even if the opponent was an 8th Rank Archmage, it would be able to hold its own against it for a while.

Killing a 7th Rank Archmage, it would be a piece of cake.

But Lin Yun carefully thought about it, and chose not to kill that 7th Rank Sword Saint because it wasn’t worth it. After all, Lin Yun would need the help of the Watson Family while exploring the Wailing River.

For a while, Lin Yun flipped through the pieces of paper, carefully checking the four scenes to make sure he hadn’t missed any details. Half an hour passed before footsteps could be heard outside as a silhouette hurriedly entered.

“Sir Lahn, is there something you need?” Lin Yun put down the pieces of paper in his hands and turned to look at Lahn Merlin.

“High Mage Mafa, someone is looking for you… He calls himself Rhett Watson.”

“Rhett Watson? I don’t know him…” Lin Yun looked at Lahn and shook his head. He only knew a few people in the Watson Family.

“But… But…” Lahn had an awkward expression. He could naturally tell that the young mage didn’t want to see Rhett Watson.

“But what?”

“Rhett Watson claims to be a Representative of the Watson Family’s Ancestral Land, and it doesn’t seem to be a lie…”

“A Representative of the Watson Family’s Ancestral Land?” Lin Yun suddenly furrowed his brows with a pensive expression on his face. ‘The Watson Family’s actions might have something to do with this Representative…’ Lin Yun then looked at Lahn and nodded. “Then hurry and have Sir Rhett come over.”

“Yes.”

Lahn left the living quarters and only returned ten minutes later. He was followed by a thin and bony old man with grizzled hair. He was wearing a gray robe and holding a magic staff emitting intense fluctuations.

Rhett Watson casually examined his surroundings and looked for a place to sit. After a minute, his gaze fell upon Lin Yun and he asked in a very calm voice, “You are Mafa Merlin?”

But he wasn’t calm at all…

He could vaguely remember what had happened half an hour ago. A bloody Arthus swayed back to camp. His miserable appearance made Rhett feel numb. He was an esteemed 7th Rank Sword Saint…

Even in the Andlusa Kingdom, this kind of person could be considered to be at the apex.

Arthus had stayed in the Watson family for more than two centuries with a very special task, which was to protect the lives of the Patriarchs. Over the course of this long tenure, Arthus had been injured no more than ten times.

But after coming to the Horn of Fertility, he had been injured twice in just over ten days. And it was hardly an exaggeration to say that someone who could injure Arthus to that extent had to at least be on the level of an 8th Rank powerhouse.

More importantly, Arthus’ injuries had something to do with the Merlin Family…

The first time, he had been hurt by a mysterious Frost Dragon, and this time, he learnt from Arthus that it seemed to have been a human-shaped puppet.

Arthus had thought that it was a person at first, but that person’s casting ability was just too frightening and also completely disregarded mana exhaustion and casting cooldowns. After some careful observation, he understood that it was a human-shaped puppet.

After hearing this news, Rhett couldn’t help feeling shocked. Perhaps the Frost Dragon from ten days ago was just passing by, but what about this puppet?

The power of the Merlin Family in the Horn of Fertility wasn’t as simple as he had imagined.

A puppet comparable to an 8th Rank Archmage could only be described as terrifying. At the same time, it also made Rhett feel puzzled… How could the Merlin Family have such a terrifying puppet?

Rhett wasn’t an amateur in the field of alchemy.

On the contrary, he had already become a Master Alchemist a few decades ago and had very high achievements in the puppeteering field. An 8th Rank Archmage puppet… What did it mean?

To a Master Alchemist like him, if he spent enough time, crafted all the materials, and did all the calculations, the crafted puppet would never surpass level 35. Only an Artisan could craft a puppet above that level, but a level 38 or 39 puppet wasn’t something that most Artisans could craft.

In Rhett’s eyes, the creator of the puppet that injured Arthus should be close to the peak of the Artisan realm.

He was close to being a Peak Artisan…

There were very few alchemists like that in the Andlusa Kingdom… No, even in all of Noscent. Even a Heaven Rank powerhouse would lower their head in front of them.

But, the Merlin Family had an Artisan capable of crafting such a puppet… or else they had managed to obtain one from elsewhere.

This was unimaginable.

It was certain that the Merlin Family didn’t have such an Artisan.

“Haha, I am the Mafa Merlin you are looking for…” Lin Yun nodded with a smile, before giving a more serious look. “Sir Rhett, can you tell me why you were looking for me?”

“Mafa Merlin, you shouldn’t have forgotten that matter, right?” Rhett immediately sneered, his face cloudy. “Ten days ago, my disciple Mark came to your Merlin Family and was seriously hurt. Mafa Merlin, what do you have to say about this?”

He then continued, “You’d better follow my suggestion and give a third of your land here to our Watson Family as compensation, and we won’t look into this. If you choose to refuse… Haha…”

Rhett was completely unrestrained…

Even if there was a puppet in the Merlin Family’s camp, so what? With his status as a Representative of the Watson Family’s Ancestral Land, if they rashly attacked him, it would greatly affect the collaboration between the Merlin Family and the Watson Family in the Raging Flame Plane, and the exploration of the Volcanic Mountain Range might end up unresolved.

As a Representative of his Ancestral Land, Rhett naturally knew secrets that these ordinary people couldn’t get access to.

Thus, he had no scruples as he pressed Mafa for benefits…

“Haha, Sir Rhett, I have to say, your suggestion is quite good!” Lin Yun forced a laugh and then scratched his nose. “But I refuse.”

Lin Yun was already quite angry.

The Watsons were way too shameless.

The cause of the incident was Mark Watson deliberately targeting the Merlin Family. Not only did he frame the small resource collection team, but he even killed two of them and hurt most of the others. He then ran to the Merlin Family’s camp and shamelessly asked him for compensation. In the end, he had Xiuban teach him a small lesson.

Normally, anyone would agree that the Watson Family was in the wrong in this matter. Mark was punished for killing two members of the Merlin Family, and Lin Yun felt that it was already extremely forgiving…

But the Watson Family didn’t realize that, so they tried to use a dirty trick and sent a 7th Rank Sword Saint passing himself off as a Demon to attack the Merlin Family’s camp.

And then, Lin Yun once again stayed his hand for the sake of the collaboration and only taught that Sword Saint a small lesson.

But now, this Rhett Watson, who claimed to be a Representative, came to the camp and made a fuss over Mark Watson being injured and was again asking for compensation.

To tell the truth, Lin Yun really wanted to ask this Archmage to wake up.

“You… You said what?”

At first, Rhett was all smiles, but after hearing Lin Yun’s words, he realized that the young mage had refused.

In an instant, Rhett’s expression froze. Only after several seconds did a roar echo as he tightened his grip on his magic staff, crazily rousing the mana in the surroundings, but he ultimately restrained his urge to attack. “Mafa Merlin, I hope you can answer my question after thinking about it. Youths can’t let their emotions affect their decisions. You have to know the nature of this matter. My disciple Mark is the most outstanding youth of our Watson Family’s Ancestral Land. The people of your Merlin Family seriously injuring him like that will inevitably affect his magic path, yet you don’t want to compensate us. How could this be acceptable?”

Lin Yun took a deep look at Rhett Watson before softly shaking his head and saying with a smile. “If we follow Sir Rhett’s reasoning, then I think the Watson Family should also compensate the Merlin Family for our losses. If you are willing to do so, I’ll agree to transfer a third of our territory in the Horn of Fertility to the Watson Family.”