The cold winter night came especially early. The sky had been dim only moments ago, but now it had completely darkened. Everything was pitch-black; one could not see one's fingers before one's eyes.
Count Sailin immediately lit a candle. The faint flame swayed ceaselessly in the wind. Everyone's eyes were somewhat bewildered, because Merilon and the old man in black robes had both vanished without a sound.
Just then, a series of dull sounds arose. The place that had been empty moments ago seemed to twist in the void, and Merlin once again sensed the obscure elemental fluctuations from Merilon.
Those were fluctuations of dark elements!
"Whoosh, whoosh."
Two figures appeared from the darkness out of thin air like ghosts, instantly returning to the spot that had just been empty. They were Merilon and the old man in black robes.
However, both of them looked somewhat disheveled now. The old man in black robes in particular had a flushed face, blood surging upward, while his body trembled without end.
"Cough, cough..."
The old man in black robes coughed violently. His flushed face gradually turned crimson, as though blood might drip from it at any moment. In the silent night, he looked especially frightening.
"Dark-element spells truly are formidable!"
The old man in black robes stopped coughing and raised his head slightly. Even his voice trembled. Merlin could clearly sense that the old man's mental fluctuations were extremely intense, accompanied by threads of restless elements.
There were fire elements, earth elements, and wind elements among them. These were all Spell Models constructed by the old man in black robes. They were very likely on the verge of slipping out of control. His Spell Models were unstable, and he was using Mental Power to forcibly stabilize those restless Spell Models.
During the