Chapter Summaries

Merlin witnessed Ice Sprites fighting and devouring one another, then learned from the Frost Lord that this was their only path to reaching Seventh Level. The Frost Lord revealed that he had established the Frost Territory to protect the Ice Sprites while they pursued this dangerous transformation, but every attempt besides his own had failed.

• Merlin asked Aining whether the Frost Lord had visited, and Aining said he had not appeared for three months.
• Merlin, Aining, and Watson explored the palace as Aining explained why so many Ice Sprites lived there and described their transformations.
• Merlin watched two Level Six Ice Sprites fight to the death, and the victor swallowed its opponent before exploding in a failed transformation.
• The Frost Lord appeared and told Merlin that Ice Sprites had to devour one of their own level to transform and reach Seventh Level.
• The Frost Lord explained that he founded the Frost Territory to shelter Ice Sprites and help them grow strong enough to resist spellcasters, but he remained the only one to succeed.

Merlin realized Frost Lord planned to devour a fellow Ice Sprite and transform, and learned that Black Crow Mage had been hired to help fight Paodo. When Black Crow attacked Merlin over rumors that he held the second volume of the Book of Vastness, their clash ended only after Frost Lord intervened.

• Merlin asked Frost Lord whether he intended to devour another Ice Sprite, and Frost Lord confirmed he sought greater strength to protect his people.
• Frost Lord said they would depart once Black Crow Mage was ready, and Aining warned Merlin that Black Crow was a feared Seventh-level Spellcaster with a poisonous Alchemical Monster.
• Black Crow arrived with his Alchemical Monster, and Frost Lord introduced Merlin as Dark Fire Venerable and a companion against Paodo.
• Black Crow insulted Merlin and sent his Alchemical Monster to attack him, but Merlin blocked its venom with flames and engulfed it in his Dark Phantom Slaughter spell.
• Frost Lord tore through Merlin's darkness and separated the two with an ice wall, stopping their fight.
• Black Crow told Merlin he wanted the second volume of the Book of Vastness and said they would spar again.

Paodo’s past as a Seventh-level Ice Sprite was revealed when the Frost Lord and his allies tracked him down and demanded that he return to help the Ice Sprites. Paodo refused, and the ensuing ambush left him facing the Black Crow Mage’s poisonous Alchemical Monster.

• Paodo patiently explained first-level wind spells to a young mage and told her that Spellcasters stronger than Fourth Level existed beyond the Icebound Snowfield.
• A mysterious mage exposed Paodo as a Seventh-level Ice Sprite, while Paodo’s aged teacher revealed himself to be his servant and another Seventh-level Spellcaster.
• The Frost Lord confronted Paodo, explained that he wanted to devour him to transform and protect the Ice Sprites, and attacked after Paodo refused to join him.
• Merlin cast Dark Phantom Slaughter, but Paodo used his Mental Power to dispel the darkness and reveal the surroundings.
• The Black Crow Mage’s poisonous Alchemical Monster charged Paodo, who blocked its attack with an ice wall before recognizing the monster and its controller.

Paodo overwhelmed Merlin, the Frost Lord, and the Black Crow Mage until Merlin freed the Alchemical Monster with his Ashen Flame and helped turn the fight against him. After Paodo's elderly servant was killed, Paodo unleashed a desperate transformation and seized the Frost Lord, preparing to devour him.

• Paodo revealed his true form and froze the Alchemical Monster, then fought off Merlin, the Frost Lord, and the Black Crow Mage with his powerful ice magic.
• Merlin used Ashen Flame to melt Paodo's ice and free the Alchemical Monster, allowing it to join the attack and push Paodo onto the defensive.
• An elderly Mage appeared to help Paodo escape, but the Black Crow Mage killed him with poisonous black mist.
• Paodo grew into an armored monster, endured the attackers' blows, and seized the Frost Lord before opening his mouth to devour him.

Merlin stopped Paodo from devouring the Frost Lord, but the Frost Lord swallowed Paodo instead, leaving the outcome of his transformation uncertain. Black Crow Mage then attacked Merlin to seize the second volume of the Book of Vastness, and Merlin revealed a strange blood-red eye in his palm as their fight escalated.

• Merlin used Ice Dominion and Ashen Flame to stop Paodo from devouring the Frost Lord and brought Paodo to the brink of death.
• The Frost Lord froze the pleading female wizard, then swallowed Paodo to attempt his own transformation.
• Black Crow Mage demanded the second volume of the Book of Vastness and sent his Alchemical Monster to attack Merlin.
• Merlin used Ice Dominion to restrain the Alchemical Monster, but Black Crow Mage empowered it with blood-red lights, transforming it and restoring its wounds.
• Merlin confronted the charging Alchemical Monster and revealed a strange blood-red eye in his palm.

Merlin fled the Black Crow Mage and his seemingly immortal Alchemical Monster rather than risk unleashing the Dark Eye’s sealed fourth form. Their chase led them to Gustin and his companions, who had just uncovered the Egudo Secret Treasure, and Merlin’s crash among the Puppet Guards left them fearing the guards would awaken.

• The Black Crow Mage used blood-red mist to help the Alchemical Monster withstand Merlin’s Ice Dominion, Dark Eye, and Ashen Flame, so Merlin fled instead of releasing the Dark Eye’s fourth form.
• Merlin told Aining and Mage Watson through the Contract Paper to follow him without alerting the Black Crow Mage, and they pursued him.
• Gustin and his two companions used an old map to reveal the Egudo Secret Treasure castle and its petrified Puppet Guards.
• The Black Crow Mage struck Merlin’s Black Cloud, sending him crashing into the stone statues and knocking them aside.
• Merlin rose unharmed, confronted the Black Crow Mage, and displayed the Dark Eye as Gustin feared the Puppet Guards would awaken.

Merlin unsealed the Dark Eye’s fourth form, killed the Black Crow Mage, and suppressed the resulting backlash with the Flame Law. As the Egudo Puppet Guards awakened and charged, Merlin prepared to stop them with Ice Dominion.

• Merlin used the Dark Eye’s fourth form to tear apart the Black Crow Mage’s Alchemical Monster, deprive the mage of elemental power, and burn him to ashes.
• Merlin turned toward Gustin and the others, but the awakened stone statues drew his attention before he could act against them.
• Merlin used the Flame Law to suppress the Dark Eye’s backlash and regain control of its power, though doing so consumed Law Power.
• The stone statues shattered, releasing stone Puppet Guards led by a dark-red puppet, which ordered them to attack Merlin and the other intruders.
• Merlin summoned Ice Dominion as the Puppet Guards charged across the snowfield.

Merlin defeated the castle’s Puppet Guards and learned from Number Three that his former master, the Legendary Mage Egudo, had conquered a Plane. After realizing the Dark Eye had influenced him to kill the three spellcasters, Merlin entered the castle and began to take control of Number Three, while learning that reaching Egudo’s Plane would require leaving the Land of Glory as at least a Great Mage.

• Merlin froze and destroyed the Puppet Guards, then spared the badly damaged dark-red puppet after it offered secrets about Egudo and his Plane.
• Merlin killed Gustin’s three spellcaster companions, then realized the Dark Eye had fueled his indifference to killing and resolved to suppress it with Laws.
• Merlin entered the castle with the puppet, who identified himself as Number Three and said Egudo had died, leaving him free of his former master’s control.
• Number Three told Merlin that Egudo had conquered a prosperous Plane and knew its coordinates, but said leaving the Land of Glory required becoming at least a Great Mage.
• Merlin asked how to control Number Three, and the puppet explained that Merlin could imprint a mental mark on his heart; Merlin extended his Mental Power toward the control core.

Merlin gained control of Number Three and discovered a strand of Divinity hidden in the castle by Mage Egudo. After spending several days breaking the Rune Formation that sealed it, Merlin used the Divinity to increase his mental power and woke wondering how much it had grown.

• Merlin formed a contract with Number Three and learned that the castle held no treasures except for something his former master had sealed away.
• Number Three led Merlin to a hidden room where a Rune Formation suppressed a strand of Divinity extracted by Mage Egudo.
• Merlin used the Rune Heart Seal to decipher and break the Rune Formation over several days.
• Merlin absorbed the Divinity, and his mental power began growing rapidly as white light enveloped him.
• Merlin's consciousness returned after less than an hour, and he prepared to check how much his mental power had increased.

After Divinity raised Merlin’s Mind Power to Peak Sixth Level, he left the Icebound Snowfield with Aining, Watson, and Number Three to seek the Third Volume of the Book of Vastness and a new Law at Heaven-reaching Peak. There, Merlin ignored the Mill Family and flew toward the summit, triggering its runes as its members came to confront him.

• Merlin discovered that Divinity had raised his Mind Power from early Sixth Level to Peak Sixth Level and considered seeking more, though he knew it was unlikely.
• Merlin decided to return south for the Third Volume of the Book of Vastness and a new Law, since the Laws suppressing the Dark Eye’s fourth form would last only about a year.
• Merlin summoned Aining and Watson, then departed the Icebound Snowfield with them and the puppet Number Three.
• Merlin and his companions reached Heaven-reaching Peak, where the clues from the first two volumes indicated the Third Volume and its owner’s Law were located.
• Merlin identified the Mill Family at the mountain’s base and flew toward the peak, triggering its runes and drawing several Mill Family spellcasters toward him.

Merlin reached Heaven-reaching Peak after the Book of Vastness volumes revealed that its Third Volume was likely hidden inside a Rune Formation at the summit. He killed the Mill Family’s three Seventh-level Mages who tried to stop him and prepared to break the formation.

• Merlin destroyed the crude Rune Formation at the foot of Heaven-reaching Peak and flew past the Mill Family Spellcasters guarding it.
• As Merlin climbed the mountain, the two volumes of the Book of Vastness began glowing, confirming that the Third Volume was likely nearby.
• At the summit, Merlin found a complex Rune Formation surrounding a flat area, and the Book of Vastness glowed more intensely as he approached it.
• Three Seventh-level Mages of the Mill Family arrived and demanded that Merlin leave, but Merlin attacked them with Ice Dominion and Ashen Flame, killing them.
• Merlin ordered Aining, Watson, and Number Three to kill anyone else who came to the summit, then turned back to the Rune Formation.

Merlin found the third volume of the Book of Vastness beside a Thunder Law hidden beneath Heaven-reaching Peak, guarded by a powerful rune formation. The three volumes merged, dissolved the formation, and revealed that the Book of Vastness could let Merlin safely absorb the Thunder Law.

• Merlin broke the rune formation concealing the cave beneath Heaven-reaching Peak and followed the trembling Book of Vastness volumes into an underground chamber.
• Merlin discovered a Thunder Law and the third volume of the Book of Vastness sealed behind a complex rune formation created by a Legendary Mage.
• Merlin let the first two volumes fly toward the third, and all three merged into a single golden Book of Vastness.
• The merged Book of Vastness caused the rune formation to dissipate, releasing the Thunder Law's violent power, which the book shielded Merlin from.
• Merlin read the book's instruction to hold it while absorbing a Law and approached the Thunder Law.

Merlin obtained the Thunder Law with the three fused volumes of the Book of Vastness and learned that its creator, Saitu, would offer him a chance to become his student. The Law could suppress the Dark Eye's backlash for several decades, so Merlin left it unused for spell derivation and flew to confront the Mill Family.

• Merlin endured the Thunder Law's pressure and absorbed it into his Sea of Consciousness using the Book of Vastness.
• Merlin learned that Saitu had left the Thunder Law as a way for its inheritor to seek him out and face his test.
• Merlin determined that the Thunder Law could suppress the Dark Eye's backlash for several decades, but decided to conserve it rather than derive Fifth-Level Spells.
• Aining told Merlin that the Mill Family had stopped sending people, and Merlin flew toward them with Aining, Watson, and Number Three following.

Merlin and his companions arrived at the Mill Family after the family’s three Seventh-level Mages went to investigate them and never returned. Merlin captured the patriarch and demanded to know how the three large Spellcaster Organizations had been defeated, while his growing killing intent troubled those around him.

• Three mages from Osum, led by Haibei, flew toward Heaven-reaching Peak after destroying the Xina Family and set their sights on the Mill Family.
• The Mill Family’s spellcasters debated fleeing Osum’s retaliation, while the patriarch said the three Seventh-level Mages had gone to investigate suspicious intruders.
• Merlin, Aining, Watson, and Number Three entered the council hall and revealed that the Mill Family’s three Seventh-level Mages would not return.
• Number Three crushed the patriarch’s defenses and dragged him before Merlin, while Aining and Watson suppressed the other mages.
• Merlin asked how the three large Spellcaster Organizations had been defeated, and his killing intent grew as he pressed the patriarch for an answer.

The Mill Family patriarch told Merlin that Osum had defeated the Southern Spellcaster World’s forces with help from Northern Spellcaster Organizations and was now destroying families and organizations. When Osum’s Mage Haibei and two allies attacked the Mill Family, Merlin stopped their flames with Ice Dominion and went out to confront them, while the family found itself trapped inside his spell.

• The Mill Family patriarch explained that Osum had beaten the Southern Spellcaster World’s coalition and was attacking Spellcaster Families and Organizations.
• The patriarch said Osum’s three spellcasters, led by Mage Haibei, were heading toward Heaven-reaching Peak, and the attackers arrived at the Mill Family hall with a Seventh-Level fire spell.
• Aining and Watson cast Seventh-Level ice spells, but the golden-earringed Osum mage overwhelmed them with Magic Energy.
• Merlin used Ice Dominion to extinguish the flames across the Mill Family and flew out to face the three Osum spellcasters.
• The Mill Family patriarch realized Merlin’s spell trapped the family inside, and the family’s spellcasters followed him outside, prepared to help him fight Osum.

Merlin confronted Mage Haibei, an Eighth-level darkness Mage from Osum, after protecting the Mill Family from the other Spellcasters’ attack. Merlin used the fourth form of the Dark Eye to strip Haibei of control over the elements and left him unable to cast spells.

• Mage Haibei recognized that Merlin, not a member of the Mill Family, had suppressed his companion’s spell and demanded to know who he was.
• Merlin identified himself as a Spellcaster of the Dark Spirit Domain, and Haibei recognized him as the inheritor of Mage Leo’s Dark Eye.
• Haibei launched an eighth-level darkness spell at Merlin without warning.
• Merlin unleashed the fourth form of the Dark Eye, using Law Power to suppress its backlash as it consumed the Thunder Law he had inherited.
• The Dark Eye deprived Haibei of control over the darkness elements, and Merlin told him he would never learn what became of Klais.

Merlin defeated two Osum spellcasters but Mage Haibei escaped using a Dark Shadow substitute puppet. Worried about the Dark Spirit Domain amid Osum’s advance, Merlin returned there alone, leaving Aining, Watson, and the Number Three puppet outside.

• Merlin’s Dark Eye and Ashen Flame destroyed Mage Haibei’s Dark Shadow, but Haibei escaped before Merlin could catch him.
• Merlin used the Ice Dominion to suppress and burn Haibei’s two Seventh-level companions to ashes.
• Merlin left the Mill Family behind, and its patriarch decided to relocate the family from the Southern Spellcaster World.
• While flying toward the Dark Spirit Domain, Merlin considered the cost of using the Dark Eye and concluded that his Mind Power and strength were not yet sufficient for the coming threats.
• Merlin activated an abandoned Rune Formation with his Dark Spirit Ring and returned to the Dark Spirit Domain, leaving Aining, Watson, and the Number Three puppet to wait outside.

Merlin returned to the Dark Spirit Domain and went to the Seventh-level Mages’ meeting to report on the turmoil threatening the Spellcaster Organizations. He forced his way into the Dark Spirit Hall, where Mage Robia noticed that Merlin might have broken through.

• Merlin found the Dark Spirit Domain peaceful and reflected on his ties to it and Mage Leo’s legacy.
• Merlin flew to the Seventh-level Mages’ tower and learned from Alvis that Mage Robia and the other Mages were meeting in the Dark Spirit Hall.
• Merlin used the Rune Heart Seal to disable the hall’s Rune Formation and opened its doors despite Alvis’s warning.
• Mage Robia questioned Merlin’s abrupt entrance, then sensed that Merlin had broken through, drawing the attention of the gathered Seventh-level Mages.

Merlin returned to the Dark Spirit Domain as a Fourth-level Spellcaster and told its mages that he had fought Mage Haibei and killed two Seventh-level mages from Osum. After Merlin demonstrated overwhelming power in the Dark Spirit Hall, Mage Xing Luo declared that Merlin had surpassed Mage Leo.

• Robia welcomed Merlin as a Fourth-level Spellcaster and dismissed Alvis before asking why Merlin had returned.
• Merlin recounted his battle with Mage Haibei and the two Seventh-level mages, then asked about Osum's growing power and the turmoil in the Southern Spellcaster World.
• Robia tested Merlin with a water spell, and Merlin countered by unleashing Ice Dominion and Dark Phantom Slaughter across the hall.
• Merlin's spells overwhelmed the hall's rune formation and injured several mages before he withdrew them at a calm voice's command.
• Xing Luo emerged and said Merlin's strength surpassed Leo's, giving him standing equal to the Dark Spirit Domain's senior mages.

Merlin learned that Osum had defeated the three major Spellcaster Organizations with help from the Northern Spellcaster Organization, and that Mage Dema had died in the fighting. With the Dark Spirit Domain facing a crisis and divided over its leadership, Merlin became its Fourth Elder.

• Mage Xing Luo told Merlin that Northern Spellcaster Organization Archmages had ambushed the southern forces, killing three Archmages, and suggested Osum had offered them an irresistible temptation.
• Merlin urged the Dark Spirit Domain to prepare for Osum’s attacks and learned that Mage Dema had been killed by an Osum Archmage.
• Mage Xing Luo proposed appointing Merlin First Elder, but Mage Doan and other Mages objected that the Elder Council had to approve the appointment.
• Merlin declined the First Elder position, and Mage Xing Luo made him Fourth Elder after no one accepted his challenge to test Merlin’s strength.