Chapter 169: Top Floor
Translator: s.h.i.+rais.h.i.+ Editor: TheAlliance
The force from such a powerful Flame Impact at such close range wasn’t something Harrison could withstand. Only a scream pierced the air as the young Great Mage flew out of the Ash Tower’s entrance and fell heavily to the ground while wreathed in flames.
A few mages of the Ash Tower, but they couldn’t help feeling fear when they pa.s.sed Lin Yun…
By the time they rescued Harrison, the High Mage wearing an ash-colored robe had slowly walked down the hall. Lin Yun and Solomon remained still.
Especially Solomon.
Solomon had come today with a high authority pa.s.s. It was too bad for the Ash Tower. Who asked them to host the Magic Hand’s gathering?
Now that Jouyi and Osul were there, the Ash Tower’s mages wouldn’t dare to make a move against him even if they were a hundred times more courageous. Thus, Solomon only looked at that High Mage without blinking as he curiously asked Lin Yun, “Merlin, this isn’t like you…”
“Haha…” Lin Yun chuckled but didn’t explain.
Because Lin Yun already knew that Solomon wasn’t wrong. This truly wasn’t like him. With someone like Harrison insulting him, he normally would have just exploded his head like a watermelon.
But in that split second, Mafa Merlin’s memory flashed before Lin Yun’s eyes.
It had been a thorough humiliation. Mafa Merlin had wept, struggled, and pleaded, but Harrison wouldn’t let him off. It was just like a cat playing with a mouse, continuously teasing and humiliating him. Various low-level spells struck Mafa’s body one after the other…
Harrison only knew that he had been driven out of Thousand Sails City after that time, but he didn’t know that Mafa had been stuck in bed for three months, having nightmares every night and moving like a walking corpse all day long.
It was those memories that made Lin Yun change his plan.
Not to mention the High Mage telling him to stop, even an Archmage wouldn’t have been enough to make Lin Yun refrain from casting this Flame Impact.
“Better let me take care of this…” Solomon shook his head, knowing that it was time for him to act as he stepped forward.
At this time, the High Mage had drawn closer and all the mages around made way for him.
“Solomon, step aside…”
“You are funny, if I step aside when you tell me, won’t I become a laughing stock?”
“I don’t care if others laugh at you, but for you to be able to enter the Ash Tower this time is entirely due to the reputation of your teacher, Star Sage Jouyi. Don’t blame me for being rude if you still don’t know what’s good for you,” Dylan said with an icy tone as he stood less than ten meters away from the two.
“Dylan, don’t you feel that your words are very interesting?” Unfortunately for him, Solomon wasn’t the kind to comply. “We have been fighting for decades. When have you ever been polite to me?”
“Solomon, the youth you brought over is not bad. He already has the strength to defeat Harrison at such a young age, showing that he is a rare talent. But don’t you forget that this is the Ash Tower. He seriously hurt Harrison in front of so many people, so he should have been prepared to pay the price.
Even Solomon had no choice but to admit that Dylan’s words were reasonable…
As the master of the Sage Tower, how could Solomon not understand this? Regardless of what Harrison did, as long as he stood within the Ash Tower, the Ash Tower had a duty to set things right for him and get him out of his predicament. Otherwise, who would be willing to join the Ash Tower in the future?
Moreover, Harrison was a Great Mage. There were plenty of those in the Ash Tower, and Dylan might not even remember his name, but Dylan had to let others see the att.i.tude of the Ash Tower.
Unfortunately, Solomon had his own troubles.
And they weren’t small.
Dylan simply didn’t know the ident.i.ty of the one who injured Harrison.
He was someone that Solomon’s teacher personally recommended to the Magic Hand, not to mention that there was also Osul. This Artisan definitely wouldn’t fail to support Merlin. If Solomon didn’t protect Merlin properly, the consequences would be too horrible to contemplate.
Thus, Solomon didn’t even pause to think before resolutely shaking his head.
“Impossible…”
“You…” Dylan’s face froze. Solomon’s firm att.i.tude was completely unexpected to Dylan. He had already said this much, but Solomon still insisted on protecting this young man. He had the expression of someone ready for a war.
“Dylan, I won’t lie to you. Merlin is someone I cannot hand over. If you must act, then let me see how much progress you’ve made in the past twenty years.”
Just as Solomon said that, peak High Mage mana fluctuations were unleashed. In a flash, the entire hall was filled with a heavy pressure. A few of the weaker mages couldn’t help shrinking away in fear.
Dylan frowned, sullenly looking at Solomon, trying to see through his intentions.
The hall was filled with hostility for a long time.
“Solomon, come up!” But a voice came out of the 2nd floor at this time, from where Dylan had been earlier.
This time, it was Star Sage Jouyi.
Jouyi didn’t even look at Dylan. He just beckoned Solomon to get to the 2nd floor while indicating him to take Lin Yun along with him. But such a simple movement immediately made the hostile atmosphere in the entire hall disappear without a trace.
“Solomon, you’d better stick around this young man to protect him,” Dylan threatened.
When Dylan had heard Jouyi’s voice, he knew that he had lost the best opportunity.
Although he had the strength of a peak High Mage and might be slightly stronger than Solomon, he simply didn’t have the qualifications to speak when facing a peak Archmage like Jouyi. Let alone him, even among the peak mages of the kingdom gathered in Oddrock City, there wouldn’t be more than three that were able to contend with him. As for the others, even his own teacher, Shadow Ashes Kave, was still a bit inferior.
Thus, Dylan could only grit his teeth and mutter those words before leaving with the seriously hurt Harrison.
“Thankfully, that b.a.s.t.a.r.d was scared away…” Solomon let out a long sigh of relief when Dylan’s shadow disappeared.
If the two mages had a fair fight, Solomon would only have a 20% chance of winning. He couldn’t do anything about it, as ever since he almost died in a volcano, Solomon had been plagued with an injury and hadn’t been able to progress for two decades. During that time, he had seen the 5th Rank High Mage Dylan slowly overtake him and then leave him far behind. It would be a lie to say that Solomon wasn’t worried.
It was possible that he would die when Dylan entered the Archmage realm. His teacher had no direct relation to the Sage Tower, so the battle between the two major mage forces would be one-sided…
But fortunately, there was this Merlin in Thousand Sails City.
As he thought of this, Solomon eased up a bit. As long as Merlin was still there, as long as the Gilded Rose was standing, the Sage Tower wouldn’t be eliminated by the Ash Tower.
The two of them took the stairs to the 2nd floor and found Jouyi already waiting for them.
“Merlin, we already came to a decision on the matter of you joining the Magic Hand, it was thanks to Osul this time. I never expected the opposition to be so strong,” Jouyi explained while leading the two to the top floor of the Ash Tower. “Oh, right, Merlin, I originally thought of letting you take a few spell matrices of the Fanrusen Formula tomorrow to exchange for knowledge and familiarize yourself with people. But it looks like you can’t do as you please for now. Although Osul and I put enough pressure on the matter, you might have to take out some profound magic knowledge tomorrow and thoroughly leave them speechless.”
“Okay, I’ll think of a way.” Lin Yun nodded. He didn’t mind Jouyi’s suggestion.
Originally, Lin Yun had come to the Magic Hand’s gathering to trade magic knowledge for resources. He had the Soul Walker and the Strongest True Spirit Magic Tool, those two gluttons.
The Soul Walker was actually not that bad; he would be satisfied as long as he had enough mana crystals.
But the “Doom” Magic Staff was actually a bottomless pit. 28 arrays, 17 augments, this was enough to make a Heaven Mage go bankrupt.
If he wanted to make them recover their true power, Lin Yun could only find ways to get more resources.
Even if Jouyi hadn’t told him, Lin Yun had already been ready to share some time-transcending magic knowledge to the gathering.
The three men quickly reached the top floor. That area had temporarily been expropriated by the Magic Hand, and even the Ash Tower’s own mages weren’t allowed to enter this area.
The gathering of the Magic Hand would officially start the next day. After being urged by Jouyi, the three returned to the rooms they were a.s.signed so that they could rest.
Meanwhile, a young mage knocked at the door of Dylan’s study.
“Cha… Chairman… That Mafa Merlin… He went to the top floor…”
“Ah?” Dylan frowned and suddenly got up.
The top floor of the Ash Tower had been commandeered for use by the Magic Hand. Besides those partic.i.p.ating in the gathering, only their disciples could enter.
‘Could it be that Mafa Merlin isn’t Solomon’s disciple, but Star Sage Jouyi’s?’