Ambition

The carriage continued forward, accompanied by the sound of drumming hooves outside. Although Merlin did not lift the curtain to look, the bumps he felt inside the carriage gave him a rough idea of how fast it was moving.

"Whoosh."

Suddenly, the carriage gradually came to a halt. The curtain was yanked open, and a gust of cold wind swept in.

"Father."

A trace of puzzled expression appeared on Merlin's face as Old Wilson was the one who pulled open the curtain.

Old Wilson nodded slightly, then climbed directly into the carriage. His complexion was still somewhat pale, though he already looked much better.

"Father, are your injuries alright?"

Merlin looked at Old Wilson's abdomen, where there was still a cut on the black armor.

"I'm fine, just a minor wound."

Old Wilson paused, then raised his head, fixing his gaze intently on Merlin for a good while before letting out a long sigh. "Merlin, you have truly grown up and can shoulder the heavy burden of the entire lineage! There are some things I must tell you."

"Father, if there is something on your mind, just say it."

Merlin shifted his position as well, leaning his body as far back against the carriage as possible.

"It's about this incident. Do you know what the Church's major move is?"

Old Wilson's expression also grew solemn.

Naturally, Merlin shook his head. Although he had guessed that this matter was certainly no small affair—otherwise Old Wilson would not have rushed back so anxiously—he did not know the specifics.

Usually, the Light Church possessed supreme authority within the Light Kingdom and even several other minor kingdoms. Everyone believed in the God of Light, making the Church the spiritual leader of the entire Light Kingdom.

Merlin could not fathom why the Light Church would make such a massive fuss to seize Blackwater City.

Old Wilson shook his head helplessly. "Originally, this matter was the most heavily guarded secret of secrets. All these years I merely had some guesses, but now it seems those guesses are about to turn into reality. In the Light Kingdom, the Light Church does not cover the sky with one hand. There is still a check from the Light Bright Royal House and a crowd of major nobles. Even if there is a gap between the two sides' forces, it shouldn't be too massive."

"However, in recent years, the Light Church has expanded far too rapidly, and they have also recruited a considerable batch of small and medium nobles. Using the name of the gods, they have frantically expanded their armed forces."

Merlin nodded. The Light Church's armed forces were probably those Guardian Swordsmen. Even those who were not Light Swordsmen, as long as they were willing to defect to the Church, the Church would allow them to become swordsmen within the Church and grant them a certain degree of assistance.

These swordsmen would imperceptibly be converted into the Light Church's sphere of influence.

"Ambition, an unstoppable ambition! When the Light Church's power swelled to a certain extent, they finally erupted... Although I cannot know the situation in other places, I can roughly guess that the Church's forces hold an absolute advantage. Their move this time is precisely to overthrow the Bright Royal House and establish a brand-new nation ruled by the Church."

Merlin's expression shifted. He thought of certain church-state unified nations from his past life. The Light Church's goal was clearly the unification of church and state; the Church no longer wanted to merely be a spiritual leader, but instead wanted to directly rule a vast realm.

The Light Kingdom was about to undergo a drastic change!

Seeing Merlin's shifting expression, Old Wilson nodded with satisfaction, then said with a bitter smile, "Merlin, the Light Kingdom is bound to descend into chaos, which is why we must hurry back to Blackwater City as soon as possible to rescue everyone inside the Wilson Family."

If the Church truly harbored such ambitions as Old Wilson anticipated, then next, the entire Light Kingdom would inevitably plunge into absolute chaos. Inside Wilson Castle in Blackwater City, there were Mei Xue, the housekeeper, and Big-breasted Madam, among others—all people Old Wilson could not bear to abandon and must go save.

Old Wilson had never mentioned spellcasters, nor had he asked about Merlin's affairs, as if he had forgotten about the matter entirely. Yet Merlin knew Old Wilson was deliberately not mentioning it.

However, by this point, it was necessary for Merlin to offer Old Wilson some explanation.

"Father, my teacher was a spellcaster within the Black Moon Kingdom, but he has already died, killed by a mage from within the Church."

Merlin's tone was very calm as he simply explained the business concerning old Aita.

"Merlin, I fought and slaughtered across the battlefield with the Black Moon Kingdom for so many years, and I've also witnessed some of their spellcasters... They command powerful and mysterious forces, standing above ordinary mortals. Even powerful Elemental Swordsmen are not worth mentioning in their eyes, and only the mages from the Inquisition within the Church can compare to them."

Old Wilson paused, then chuckled and continued, "Therefore, you have become a powerful spellcaster, and I am proud of you! The entire Wilson Family will be proud of you!"

With that, Old Wilson turned and jumped down from the carriage.

Merlin felt a slight sense of relief in his heart. Old Wilson had survived the slaughterhouse back then. Having witnessed both the Black Moon Kingdom's spellcasters and the Church's mages with his own eyes, he naturally understood that spellcasters were true powerhouses wielding formidable might, rather than the evil heretics the Church proclaimed them to be.

Old Wilson being so understanding saved Merlin the trouble of wasting breath on explanations.

Merlin opened the carriage curtain and saw that the sky had gradually grown dim. Many knights had already begun lighting torches for illumination. At this speed, even traveling day and night, they would not reach Blackwater City until tomorrow.

Having been jostled in the carriage all day, coupled with the fact that he had just consumed a massive amount of Mental Power to simulate a second spell model, even Merlin felt somewhat tired. Thus, he leaned back obliquely inside the carriage and gently closed his eyes to rest.

Merlin knew that returning to Blackwater City tomorrow certainly would not be peaceful; both magic power and Mental Power needed to be recovered as quickly as possible.

A light snow was still drifting in the morning of Blackwater City, and some ice crystals had already formed on the ground, making it appear extremely slick.

There were still very few people on the streets, making it look quite desolate.

A crowd had gathered at the city gates. They were all small merchants and vendors of Blackwater City who had prepared early in the morning to leave the city to conduct some business, but this morning, the city gates remained tightly shut and were not opened.

"What is going on? Why haven't the city gates been opened?"

"Last night, it seemed many knights entered the city. I wonder what happened."

"When on earth will the city gates open?"

In front of the city gates, many people were discussing animatedly, though most had no idea what reason caused the gates to close.

"Blackwater City is probably about to face a massive upheaval..."

Only some knowledgeable and shrewd individuals perhaps caught a glimpse of the signs, and thus hurriedly turned around and walked toward their homes.