Chapter 458: Evenly Matched

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Wizard Tambert’s face shifted. Upon seeing the pale white flames, he felt slightly intimidated. Even if Merlin was not a Spell Caster from beyond the heavens, he was not a force to be trifled with.

Wizard Tambert dithered for a moment but finally, he tossed away the map in his hands. No matter how important the elemental crystal stone mine was, it was simply not worth offending an evenly-matched Spell Caster.

“Wizard Merlin, this is the map to the elemental crystal stone mine. I’m sure the purpose of your visit to Tagan City is to get this map, right? Here, you can have it!”

Tambert promptly made up his mind and flung the map in his hand. Subsequently, he quickly retreated. He did not wish to remain here for a second longer.

Tambert might be greedy in nature but he was also very cautious and savvy. Upon encountering any sort of danger, he would give up immediately. That was how he gradually came to control Bisque City and became the overlord of the surrounding cities.

However, this time, he was not so lucky.

“Whoosh.”

Merlin reached out his hand and grabbed the map. He did not even look at it. Instead, he stretched out his five fingers, and suddenly, the entire sky seemed to darken.

“Shadow Assassin!”

The Fifth-level spell Shadow Assassin was immediately released by Merlin. This was the first time he was using it against an opponent ever since he constructed the spell.

“Hoo…”

Instantly, the sky darkened and covered almost half of Tagan City. However, this effect was carefully kept in control by Merlin. Otherwise, it would have easily covered the entire Tagan City.

When darkness descended, it was completely impossible to see one’s own outstretched fingers. Most of the people were entrapped in the illusion because Shadow Assassin also contained an illusory effect.

However, the effect of the illusion was obviously ineffective on the Seventh-level Wizard Tambert. His Mind Power surged into the sky like a bright lamp amidst the darkness, completely unaffected by the illusion. He also remained very vigilant as this was a Darkness-type spell, so the slightest lapse in attention would result in danger.

“Whiz.”

Sure enough, Tambert’s vigilance was not in vain. Amidst the pitch-black darkness with neither sound nor sight, an extraordinarily vicious attack lunged at Tambert.

Since Tambert was extremely vigilant, he immediately noticed it coming toward him. Several mysterious runes shone out from the robes on his body, covering and blocking the attack.

The unique characteristic of Shadow Assassin was its constant bidding of time in the darkness. Once there was a slight lapse in attention, the opponent would be killed by its covert attacks. It was important to note that despite being a Fifth-level Darkness-type spell, the attacking power of Shadow Assassin was enough to kill a Seventh-level Wizard.

“Whiz whiz whiz.”

Although Wizard Tambert managed to block the first attack, before he could recover, several attacks began to launch at him from all directions in the dark. There was a horrible-looking evil spirit rushing toward him as well as some black bolts whizzing soundlessly at him.

There were also some web-like Darkness Elements that was moving to enclose him.

This array of attacks all belonged to the arsenal of Shadow Assassin. If an average Spell Caster was entrapped within this spell, there was zero chance of survival. Merlin’s Fifth-level spell had been fused with Darkness Heart, so its power was boosted many folds, and was able to kill some of the powerful Seventh-level Spell Casters.

However, despite of Tambert’s greedy nature, his abilities were not lacking either. He could be considered one of the peak powers among the Seventh-level Spell Casters, just slightly behind those Seventh-level Wizards with Special Pandora Demon Abilities.

Up to this point, Tambert had yet to use his Pandora Demon Ability. This showed Merlin that although Tambert was trapped in Shadow Assassin, and appeared to be falling over his own feet, he had not in fact, revealed his trump card.

“Interesting. If that’s the case, let’s pile it on!”

Merlin reached out and pointed between his eyebrows. In an instant, the sky was filled with glowing runes. They rapidly condensed into a large Runic Magic Circle like a big net, which sped toward Tambert.

Tambert’s face dropped. At this point, he had no choice but to act.

Tambert excelled at Wind-type spells, which were fused with Pandora Demon Ability. Once he lifted his hand, countless Wind Elements began to compress in a repeated pattern, until finally, a long spear was formed.

“Whiz…”

The speed of the spear was extremely fast that its movement was almost invisible to the eye. With a terrifying burst of power, it stabbed Merlin’s Runic Magic Circle. The Runic Magic Circle that Merlin had cast with the help of the Runic Heartprint was only able to entrap an ordinary Seventh-level Wizard. Hence, it was quite powerless in the face of Tambert’s strongest attack.

“Crack.”

The Runic Magic Circle shattered in an instant, and the mysterious runes also collapsed and disappeared.

Merlin’s eyes narrowed. Tambert was indeed Seventh-level Spell Caster at its peak. Even though Merlin had constructed Fifth-level spells, it would be tough to defeat Tambert using only Fifth-level spells and Pandora Demon Ability.

“Glacier Country!”

Merlin was not in a hurry either. He had finally found a powerful Great Wizard who was almost evenly-matched as him, so he was not in a hurry to use Darkness Eye to end the battle. This spar with Tambert would help him discover the extent to which his abilities had evolved.

“Boom!”

Glacier Country descended in an instant. The translucent Glacier Country was a special Pandora Demon Ability though this was only its third form. Regardless, its resulting power was not ordinary in any sense. The fact that it was able to trap some Seventh-level Spell Casters was already quite impressive.

At least it had an evident suppressing effect on the Seventh-level Spell Casters.

“Crack crack.”

Following the descent of Glacier Country, frigid blasts began to swirl freely. The area which was covered by Glacier Country was frozen into transparent ice crystals.

Wizard Tambert bit his lip. He could feel that this was the most challenging and dangerous battle he had ever encountered. Merlin’s endless arsenal of attacks had long-since stirred up Tambert’s desire to retreat. However, he was currently trapped by both Glacier Country and Shadow Assassin. He had no way to retreat, so he could only choose to fight on.

“Fire!”

Tambert gritted his teeth, and a blazing fire began to burn on his body which spread quickly.

These flames were unlike ordinary flames. The heat that it radiated was on par with the frigid blasts in Merlin’s Glacier Country. With the intermingling of hot and cold, the frigid blast was completely unable to come close to Tambert.

If Merlin was able to wield the fourth form of Glacier Country, then its power would be increased once again to unimaginable levels. Then, it would be able to easily suppress not only Seventh-level Spell Casters but also Eight-level Spell Casters without Pandora Demon Ability!

However, the current state of Glacier Country had only achieved its third form. It was able to suppress an average Seventh-level Spell Caster but not Wizard Tambert, who possessed few types of Pandora Demon Abilities. Within the wisps of flames, he conjured clear traces of powerful Pandora Demon Ability.

Therefore, Glacier Country and Shadow Assassin were only able to contain Tambert and consume his Magic Power but were unable to kill him within a short period of time.

Finally, Merlin had encountered an evenly-matched opponent. Back in the Glorious Land, he seldom encountered Seventh-level Spell Casters with Pandora Demon Abilities. Even those with Pandora Demon Abilities usually only had two forms or just ordinary Pandora Demon Ability.

Basically, it was very difficult to meet someone like Tambert who possessed several Fusion Pandora Demon Abilities, and achieved the third form for each of them. He was also a Seventh-level Spell Caster to boot, so it was not surprising that he could become the overlord of this area. Probably, Tambert had also experience in vanquishing powerful Spell Casters beyond his level.

However, this encounter with Merlin was shocking for Tambert. He only had the power to resist but not to counter-attack. Moreover, looking at Merlin, it seemed like he had not yet displayed his full force.

At this moment, Tambert was no longer confident. All he wanted was a chance to escape.

Indeed, Merlin had not wielded his entire arsenal. Since Glacier Country, Shadow Assassin, and the Runic Heartprint were unable to kill Tambert, he still had Incinerating Fire.

“Boom.”

Without any warning, Merlin’s Incinerating Fire burst into the sky and began to spread rapidly. The blaze burned ferociously toward Tambert, its scorching temperature just as formidable as the flames conjured by Tambert earlier.

“Hum hum.”

Concentrated Earth Elements appeared all over Tambert. Then, like a tortoise shell, it securely protected his entire body. At the same time, the runic robes that he wore discharged mysterious runes that blanketed him.

Merlin’s flames were only able to burn outside the robes but could not hurt Tambert at all. Despite wielding all types of techniques, he was unable to defeat Tambert.

Seeing this, Merlin sank into contemplation. He now basically knew the limit of his abilities. Excluding the fourth form of Darkness Eye, his abilities were only comparable to a peak Seventh-level Wizard.

Basically, he was at the same level as Tambert, so he could only suppress but not kill him.

Of course, if Merlin was desperate, he could try to compete on the rate of consumption of Magic Power. Since he was attacking and Tambert was defending, the latter’s rate of consumption would be greater. Hence, Tambert had a higher chance of depleting his Magic Power first, and be defeated.

Nevertheless, this was only a wild guess. The amount of Magic Power was mainly determined by the Spell Models that was constructed. As for the amount of Magic Power in Tambert’s reserve, it was anyone’s guess. Furthermore, continuing this line of attack would take at least a few hours.

Tambert saw that Merlin seemed to have run out of means, so he spoke, “Wizard Merlin, you can’t defeat me. Why don’t you withdraw your spell? I’ll go back to Bisque City and stop interfering with your actions in Tagan City. Deal?”

Tambert, too, did not want to continue depleting his Magic Power here. He had never faced a crisis as perilous as the current situation. Even when he was facing off against an Eighth-level Wizard, he had been able to escape. He did not expect that he would be held down by Merlin.

The true reason that made Tambert feel afraid was that Merlin was merely a Fourth-level Spell Caster.

“Unfortunately, I want not only Tagan City but also your Bisque City!”

Merlin had already made plans in his head. He needed to build a force in this new dimension – a force that would help him collect various types of resources. While it was convenient to work alone, at the same time, he would lose out at collecting resources.

Especially now that he obtained a huge elemental crystal stone mine, he needed an equally colossal force to help him manage the mine, and turn it into wealth.

Therefore, Tambert’s Bisque City was naturally the best choice. For that reason, Tambert must die!

Sensing Merlin’s murderous intent, Tambert appeared a little maniacal and laughed. “Haha, Merlin, your abilities may be impressive but I’m afraid it won’t be so easy to kill me!”

Merlin did not speak further. Slowly, he extended his right hand and unfurled his fist, revealing the constantly blinking, demonic-looking blood-red eye in his palm.

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