Fierce Battle (Part One)

Jia also stopped in her tracks, turned around, and said in a low voice, "The thing is, Mr. Aita actually gave an item to me. At first I didn't know what it was, but after going back yesterday, I opened it up and discovered a message from Mr. Aita inside, telling me to transfer the item over to you."

"Teacher Aita's thing is with you?"

Merlin's gaze stared straight at Jia, and he continued to ask, "Where is the item?"

"I've hidden the item in a secluded place, come with me."

With those words, Jia turned and left.

Merlin narrowed his eyes, staring at Jia's back, and ultimately still followed behind Jia.

Just stepping out of the small building, Moss came forward to inquire, "Young Master Merlin, do you need a carriage?"

Merlin waved his hand and said, "No need, I'll be out for a bit. You just wait right here."

Seeing Merlin heading out together with a beautiful woman, Moss tactfully asked nothing further and returned to the carriage.

Thus Jia and Merlin, the two of them walked on foot and turned several street corners, finally arriving at a pleasant-looking courtyard.

"Let's go, the item is right inside."

A trace of imperceptible sharpness flashed in Jia's eyes, and she led Merlin into the courtyard.

The courtyard was extremely spacious, with only a few sparse, bare large trees, yet there was no snow on the ground, indicating that someone cleaned this place frequently.

There were several stone steps in the courtyard; stepping up the stone steps led to a large door, which appeared to be the living room.

The large door was tightly shut. Jia arrived before the large door, suddenly turned around, and frowned as she said, "Merlin, the item is right inside. Why did you stop?"

Merlin stopped in his tracks. He raised his head to glance at the tightly shut large door, and a trace of a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Jia, how many people are inside the house?"

Jia was slightly startled, but her expression remained very calm as she said, "This is a secret stronghold of mine, and only I know about it."

"Is that so? Then let me test it out."

As his voice fell, two balls of fire instantly appeared by Merlin's side, floating quietly in the air and radiating a terrifying temperature.

"Lord Loren, make your move!"

Jia immediately shouted aloud, and her entire body retreated rapidly toward the interior of the house. However, Merlin's speed was even faster; the two balls of fire floating in the air, guided by Merlin's mental power, flew swiftly toward Jia, leaving wisps of black smoke in mid-air.

Bang, bang.

Two crisp sounds rang out. One of the fireballs smashed directly onto Jia's thigh, though she seemed to have prepared in advance, holding a small shield in her hand that happened to block the fireball. However, because the fireball burst open, the intense impact directly knocked her crashing into the house, her life or death unknown.

The other fireball crashed against the sturdy large door, and the scorching high temperature directly burned a large hole through it.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

A series of black arrows shot out from inside the house. These black arrows were very short and came densely packed like a blanket; at a glance, anyone could tell they were not bows and arrows, but a heavy crossbow.

The speed of the arrows was extremely fast, covering the sky, and nearly ten of them arrived all at once. The spell model within Merlin's sea of consciousness shook violently, and another two balls of fire appeared.

Merlin hurriedly jumped backward, and immediately afterward, the two fireballs instantly exploded. The powerful impact blasted the incoming arrows into several pieces, and they fell down onto the ground in disarray.

The courtyard grew quiet again. Merlin vigilantly gazed into the house as a figure slowly walked out to the exterior, standing on the stone steps and looking down at Merlin from a position of superiority.

"To think you discovered us... Was there a flaw in our end, or did something go wrong with Jia?"

As the dust and smoke cleared away, Merlin could clearly see the appearance of that figure on the stone steps. This was a middle-aged man around forty years old, close to two meters tall and powerfully built, with a face full of bristly whiskers. He grasped a greatsword in his hand, and his entire body exuded a strong sense of oppression, resembling a dormant wild beast.

The spell model within Merlin's sea of consciousness was fully absorbing the fire elements from the outside world. He had cast Fireball a total of four times just now, and that gray horizontal bar had turned red, meaning Greater Fireball could now be triggered.

"Jia was tricking me, but how could I not be utilizing her? Her words were full of loopholes. In Old Aita's hut, the reason I didn't kill her was simply to have her lead you all out."

"Although the Light Church is very dangerous, they won't pay attention to tiny Blackwater City, so I will be very safe. You lot are different, however; you know my identity, which makes you a major hazard that must be eliminated!"

Merlin's tone also grew cold. In reality, back at Old Aita's hut, Merlin had already seen through Jia's lies, yet if he had killed Jia right then and there, the people from the Black Moon Kingdom behind her might have followed the vine to unearth him.

Therefore Merlin had temporarily spared Jia, playing along with the ruse in order to wipe out the Black Moon Kingdom forces behind her in one fell swoop.

The whiskered man's face remained very calm as he said indifferently, "Young spellcaster, you are indeed clever, but you spellcasters are all the same: self-righteous and arrogant, especially that old fellow Aita. He wouldn't even listen to my orders, and for the sake of a spellcasting tool, he not only left Blackwater City without authorization, but also secretly took you in as a disciple. Hmph, it's fortunate he died early; otherwise, I would have let him know that spellcasters aren't all that remarkable either!"

The imposing aura on the whiskered man's body surged once more, and a powerful sense of pressure washed over him. This pressure made Merlin sense danger as well; the opponent was definitely not an ordinary elemental swordsman, and likely stood at the Third-Level Elemental Swordsman rank or higher.

Furthermore, from the opponent's words, Merlin sensed that the whiskered man was extremely displeased with Old Aita, and even harbored a deep-seated prejudice against spellcasters.

This was a person who utterly loathed spellcasters.

"How could Teacher Aita be someone you can compare to? Cut the crap, we'll only know who wins after we fight!"

Merlin stopped talking nonsense as well. With a slight flick of his hand, a ball of fire flew toward the whiskered man with a swish.

Before the fireball could even approach the whiskered man, the latter stamped his foot fiercely, causing the entire courtyard to seem to tremble. A surge of raging flames instantly rose up across the surface of his body.

The flames were fully half a meter high, scorching the air until it warped. This was a powerful Third-Level Flame Swordsman!

It was Merlin's first time seeing a Third-Level Flame Swordsman. The most powerful elemental swordsman he had ever witnessed before was Swordsman Borg, who had accompanied Jason the mage of the Church to Blackwater City some time ago, yet Swordsman Borg was merely a Second-Level Elemental Swordsman and far less formidable than the whiskered man before him.

"Heheh, the zero-level spell Fireball? Young spellcaster, let me show you the power of a flame swordsman manipulating fire—Flame Slash!"

The whiskered man raised the greatsword in his hand. As though entirely unfazed by the terrifying temperature emitted by the fireball, he brought his greatsword slashing straight down fiercely.