Unas pulled Natasha aside and whispered in her ear, "Is it possible for Gunsel's memories to be fake?"
"This... I've encountered people who erased their memories to maintain secrecy, but I've never encountered someone who falsified their own memories. The possibility is extremely small," Natasha said, her eyes shining brightly. "My lord, you don't believe his story, do you? This is clearly a delaying tactic."
She actually had one more thing she didn't say, "My lord, are you afraid of Merlin's threat?"
Unas knew it was a delaying tactic, but his subconscious fear of the mage still made him a little uneasy; making an enemy of the entire Dalaran was no joke.
He didn't want to admit he was scared, but the problem was undeniable. "But his threat might be real. How should we respond?"
"Everything needs to be justified. If we really killed him by mistake, Dalaran have a reason to deal with us."
The implication is that there must be sufficient and perfect evidence to prove Merlin's crimes, so that the self-proclaimed righteous mages of Dalaran cannot rightfully carry out their revenge.
"The Giant Fir is destroyed, and there are only spiders here. Our only evidence now is the memory of the clone in Gunsel's Phylactery. Without concrete evidence, this cannot constitute irrefutable proof of guilt. Therefore, we need to collect more evidence."
Unas nodded, a direction forming in his mind. "Since he's conducting human research, he must have experimental records. We must find his notes, as well as the experimental subjects of various races imprisoned beneath Fairy Lake. With these, we won't have to fear Dalaran's wrath."
The top two floors of the Mage Tower were Merlin's most private territory, likely containing his notes. Thinking this, Unas returned to the coffin. "Merlin, I can spare your life for now, but is your promise of a great reward still valid?"
Several Watchers stared at the Paladin in shock and anger. Nightmoon was the calmest among them. "My lord," she said, "His words cannot be trusted. If Dalaran truly intends to deal with us, the Night Elves will stand with you to the very end!"
Unas held up one finger to signal her to be quiet. "I'd like to hear Merlin's answer first."
"Of course, my promise is always valid," Merlin replied immediately. "All my savings are at your disposal."
"So what's the total?" Unas asked, feigning greed. Merlin must be rolling in money, having bought so many Elves at such high prices.
"My most valuable possessions are Spellbooks, rare Potions, and Arcane Artifacts, which are priceless. If you're asking about Gold Coins, I haven't counted them in a long time, but I probably still have several million."
The figures were astonishing. Unas asked in surprise, "Where did this money come from? Did you find the royal treasure of some small country?"
"Heh," Merlin chuckled without answering, "A thousand years is a very long time. Anyone who could live that long would surely have considerable savings, and I am no exception."
"Don't lie to me, "Unas thought, not believing a single word. Merlin must have some secret, illicit income. He was even more certain that the mage was an evil villain, and the last bit of doubt in his heart vanished completely.
"I see. In that case, I would like to collect a small deposit first. Would Your Archmage agree to that?"
"No problem, as long as I get out..."
"Ha," Unas sneered, interrupting Merlin, "Do you take me for a fool? Until the facts are clear, I think you should stay here."
Just then, the blue light emanating from the cracks in the stone coffin disappeared, signifying that the Absolute Defense Shield had finally dissipated. Unas remained calm and stopped Nightmoon from speaking with a glance.
"If that's the case, I'm sorry I can't give you the deposit, because my vault is on the very top floor of the Mage Tower."
"You can't go, but your butler can. It's in our hands now. Here's what we'll do: give Talo's Order to take us to the top of the tower to collect the deposit."
This was Unas's true purpose. Gunsel had spent a long time trying to break through the top two floors of the Mage Tower, and it was even more uncertain how long it would take Huoye to do so. Therefore, Unas wanted to trick his way up to obtain Merlin's notebook.
But Merlin wasn't fooled. "I can order Talo to go up and retrieve the deposit, but you can't, because I've set the highest rule on the magic gate leading to the upper levels—no one except me and my Construct Servants can pass through."
"Is that so?" Unas frowned and thought for a moment, knowing he couldn't fool the old man, so he said, "Let's do it this way. Ashina, go and bring in that puppet."
The ponytail-wearing youth, who was specifically responsible for running errands, quickly brought in Talo, who had lost all four limbs. Unas pushed open the coffin lid, and Merlin was just about to sit up when a red crystal sword was placed against his neck.
"Lie down." Unas's tone was unquestionable, his vigilance at its peak. He would not hesitate to sever the mage's head at the slightest sign of anything amiss.
Merlin sensed the Paladin's murderous intent and had no choice but to obey orders, abandoning the opportunity to take risks and engage in underhanded tactics. In fact, he could have controlled the butler to self-destruct and then found an opportunity to Blink away. As long as he could escape the Anti-Magic Room, eliminating these people would be a piece of cake.
But the sword at his neck and Unas's resolute gaze made him hesitate, but the Paladin's attitude also deeply angered him. Fortunately, he was very composed and did not show his momentary rage.
Even though Merlin had already returned to his coffin, Unas continued to hold the sword to his neck. "Now you can give the order. You said you have millions in cash, so let's round it up to a million as a deposit."
He made exorbitant demands to convince the mage that he was truly a greedy human being.
Merlin couldn't say he had no doubts, but he had no choice but to believe that the young man before him was a rare, greedy Paladin.
"Hello, Master."
"Hello, dear Talo."
The master and servant greeted each other as usual, which seemed really strange in such a tense atmosphere.
"Go to the top floor and retrieve one million Gold Coins, then hand them over to the Knight before you."
"Yes."
The conversation ended without any unusual events occurring during the simple process.
Unas quickly had Ashina drag Talo out again, then breathed a sigh of relief. "You truly keep your word. I now think we might have really misunderstood you. A person who keeps their word can't be a bad person."
"Can you believe..."
Merlin only spoke half of his sentence; no one will ever know what the second half was, because he could never speak again. The red crystal sword slashed down without warning, instantly beheading this historical hero mage.
The Resurrection Spell he cast on himself was incomplete; it only restored the desiccated body to a young and vibrant form, failing to perfectly integrate with his soul. This left him in a peculiar state of being Half-Human, Half-Undead, which is why he fell into a deep sleep.
So even though his head was severed and his neck was completely cut off, the characteristics of the Undead took effect, and he did not die immediately. Another beam of purple light shot out from his eyes and flew towards the ceiling and disappeared.
With lightning speed, Nightmoon flicked her wrist and pinched a Silver Marker between her fingers, swiftly inserting it into Merlin's earlobe. Unas also sheathed his sword and thrust again, piercing Merlin's Temple.
He was now beyond dead, and a sliver of golden light floated out of the coffin and merged into his body, Unas to level up once more.
Five bursts of golden light emanated from his entire body, signifying that he had actually leveled up five times!
Merlin Firestone truly lives up to his legendary status. In the game's parlance, his level is definitely high enough to Raid Boss. Unas, who was only level 45, must have killed monsters many levels higher, and the experience rewards were unimaginably generous.
Strength +20, Agility +5, Constitution +25, Energy +10 – his total attributes instantly increased by 60 points, making Unas feel refreshed. He also gained 5 skill points, leaving him unsure which skill to allocate them to.
Upon reaching level 50, you can also choose your talent tree.
Divine Strength: Permanently increases your base strength by 20%.
Holy Awakening: There is a very small chance that casting any spell will grant you a full-body recovery effect.
Ancient Kings' Guardians: Summon a Heroic Spirit to fight for you.
In addition to the previously introduced Divine Strength and Holy Awakening, a new talent has been added, commonly known as the "Little Golden Man." This is the origin of the Paladin's reputation as an actor in the game, and players jokingly refer to it as the "Little Golden Man" bestowed upon Paladin.
Unas chose the new talent without hesitation, but immediately realized he had been tricked. The talent was grayed out and unavailable, with an additional description. "Requires the soul of a hero."
There's no such explanation in the game; reality is definitely different. This explanation seems to require finding a Heroic Spirit willing to accept the summons? But where do you find Heroic Spirit?
Unas was lost in thought, but the people around him quickly came to their senses. They were all stunned by the Warden's sudden move. They had been talking peacefully, but suddenly he attacked. Such methods made them both admire and fear him.
But the brilliant Holy Light that then emanated from Unas undoubtedly indicated that he was a Priest, a contradictory phenomenon that left the Argent Dawn members utterly perplexed.
After recovering from their initial shock, the night elves immediately began to cheer quietly, their gazes shifting from anger to admiration as they looked at the Paladin. Their minds were not bound by the doctrines of the Holy Light.
"My lord, I knew you wouldn't fall for it. We Watchers will always be your friends." Nightmoon retrieved the Silver Marker and thanked her benefactors who had avenged them.
Unas snapped out of his thoughts on his new talent. "Thanking me now is a bit premature. I can only accept your thanks with a clear conscience after I've rescued your compatriots trapped in Fairy Lake."
Huoye showed no sign of joy, and reminded him, "He just sent another message. Two distress signals in a row will definitely be taken seriously. If he's telling the truth, the people of Dalaran might arrive very soon."
"It doesn't matter, as long as we can get evidence of his heinous crimes."
Unas acted so quickly because he had no choice. Any delay would bring unforeseen changes. The ancient monster who had lived for thousands of years was a huge pressure on him. Keeping him was like having a nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment. He could only choose to act decisively and deal with this heavy burden first. As for Dalaran's retaliation, he would figure out a way to deal with it later.
"Didn't he order the puppet to go up and get the money? Come on, let's follow him quickly. Huoye, you need to carefully observe its method of passing through the magic gate and its secret order. We need to find a way to get Merlin's incriminating evidence. Also, his body is important evidence; it must not be damaged. Quickly move it to the freezer and refrigerate it."
Everyone sprang into action. Unas, Huoye along, hurried outside, only to bump into Ashina urgently reported, "My lord, something's wrong! That puppet has suddenly gone silent. It seems to be malfunctioning. Could you bring it in so that Master Merlin can fix it?"
Unas was momentarily dumbfounded. Did the Construct Servant have to be sacrificed for its master?
Huoye said, "Take us to see it quickly."
The group rushed downstairs. The puppet butler lay motionless on the floor. Huoye fiddled with it for a few moments, then frowned and said, "Sir, I'm not Construct Expert; I can't 'revive' it."
Where can I find Construct Expert?
"In the past, the security of Silvermoon City was handled by War Constructs. I knew many Construct Masters, but I don't know about them now. I haven't been back for a long time. The only other place where you can see so many puppets Dalaran, which was built by you human mages."
Now, not knowing where to look for them, Unas could only pray that the mages of Dalaran wouldn't attack them without asking any questions.
"Never mind, let's go check out that magic door first."
The two went up to the second floor and found the magic door leading to the third floor. It was no different from the light door they had passed through before; it was a wide portal that emitted blue light.
Unas tried to force his way through. He had just leveled up five times and was brimming with confidence. He used all sorts of weapons to stab, slash, and ram, throwing attack skills at the portal without restraint, but all of them were like throwing a stone into the sea.
The portal was like a black hole, capable of absorbing any powerful attack. However, he used too much force a few times, and was bounced away by the portal, falling flat on his back.
He felt even more exhausted than fighting a group of Mutant Spiders, so he had to take a break and let Huoye use magical methods to study it.
The result, of course, was that there was no result. After all, this was the most secure gateway of the legendary mage, and easily breaking through it only existed in dreams.
"I'll tear this entire tower down; I bet I can get in then."
"I'm afraid that won't work," Huoye, still frowning. "This Mage Tower looks small from the outside, but it's actually quite large inside. The area of the first and second floors is definitely not the size we see from the outside. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Spatial Extension is a common technique in Mage Architecture. It's conceivable that the third and fourth floors also feature Spatial Extension. If we rashly use force to break through the tower walls from the outside, it could easily cause the space to become unbalanced and collapse. Although it would only be for a moment, the things inside the tower might be destroyed by Spatial Fragments, or even flow into the spatial rifts. If Merlin's notebook is lost, it will never be found again. Therefore, the only option is to break through the portal and enter openly."
Unas opened his mouth wide, not understanding, but knowing that his preferred brute-force approach might not work here.