Merlin bared his snow-white teeth.
“How dare you!”
As he waved his right hand, countless feathers shot out from his sleeve. Each one contained enough firepower to easily burn a person.
Bang! Kaboom!
In an instant, the swarm of beetles turned to ashes by the burning feathers, and the bomb dust beetles among them exploded before even reaching Merlin.
At that moment, the floor, walls, and ceiling surrounding Merlin began to writhe and distort.
Swish! Swish!
As if tearing through the air, the sound of wings filled the space, and tens of thousands of beetles flew towards Merlin.
He laughed as if it were ridiculous, then suddenly narrowed his eyes. Despite the flame surrounding him, those two eyes gleamed with a cold light.
Whoosh!
The flame enveloping his body burst out explosively. All types of approaching beetles couldn’t get near him.
Those without fire resistance burned on their way, and even those with it ended up with their limbs or heads charred, unable to function properly.
The attack of countless beetles couldn’t inflict any damage on Merlin.
But one thing was certain: they blocked his ears and eyes.
Shiiik.
In the noisy and dark world of beetles, the sound of something rushing in echoed.
Merlin’s eyes moved first. He quickly turned his head to look in that direction and stretched out his right hand.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Another flame erupted from his right hand.
It soon completely engulfed the skeleton that was rushing towards him.
Merlin’s eyes widened.
“A skeleton?”
At that moment, taking advantage of the gap, some of the beetle swarms managed to get close to Merlin’s body.
The bomb dust beetles at the center of the swarm simultaneously raised their tails and pressed them against Merlin’s torso.
The explosions were multiple.
Bang! Kaboom!
Unable to open his eyes due to the explosion right in front of him, Merlin staggered back a few steps, struggling to keep his balance.
Three skeletons clung to his back. Each skeleton held a sharp icicle.
Three sharp icicles pierced Merlin’s body. But they melted away the instant they touched his body.
Merlin, with his face contorted, caused a massive explosion.
Kaboom-!
The skeletons flew back and crashed into the wall, and all the beetles were caught in the explosion, leaving not even ashes behind.
The furniture and decorations in the mansion, protected by magic, all burst apart. Moreover, even the marble floor was completely shattered.
As Merlin stood up, the wings covering his body spread wide to the left and right.
There wasn’t a single wound on his body.
“Hahaha. Skeletons? So you’ve mastered death magic!”
Merlin began to stride forward once again.
[What should we do, Master? He seems unaffected.]
“It’s alright. Let’s keep buying time.”
The insects flew in again, and the skeletons soon got up and rushed at Merlin.
Merlin, with a hardened expression, shot flames in all directions.
Insects burned up, and skeletons exploded. But they endlessly rushed at Merlin, restraining him.
Thanks to this, Merlin couldn’t climb up to the second floor for quite a long time.
When he finally stepped on the last stair leading to the second floor, he smiled cynically.
“Seems like you can’t pull any more tricks.”
But at that moment, two skeletons quickly crawled along the floor and grabbed Merlin’s feet.
Merlin immediately sent out flames, but the skeletons fulfilled their duty before being completely incinerated.
“Ugh, uugh!”
Merlin’s body teetered, then fell backwards, rolling down the stairs.
The beetles gathered again, and the skeletons hid among them.
Merlin, who had rolled to the front door, regained his posture and stood up, then looked at the stairs and gritted his teeth.
“You little bastard! Let’s see how long you can keep this up!”
He covered his entire body in flames and advanced towards the stairs again.
After doing this several times, the number of beetles had significantly decreased, and there were no intact skeletons left.
But it was just a delay tactic.
Merlin shouted as he reached the second floor.
“Ran! Before I burn you, I’ll rip off all your limbs and tear out your guts!”
He started walking relentlessly in one direction.
There were no more insects or skeletons left to stop him.
Merlin walked almost running and mercilessly kicked the tightly closed door.
Bang-!
Powerful flames struck the door, and it burst open backwards.
Fabre, kneeling in the center of the room, and Merlin’s eyes met.
Merlin’s momentum, which seemed ready to charge in at any moment, disappeared in an instant.
Merlin’s eyes were still fixed on Fabre, but his face had hardened, and his feet had stopped at the doorway.
“This room… is it your castle?”
Fabre just glared at him without saying a word.
Beetles gathered around Fabre. Unlike the beetles on the stairs, each of these contained magical power.
Merlin snorted.
“I see. You tried to excite me and push me into this room in one go. You must have racked your brains, you impertinent bastards.”
Merlin clasped his hands together. A red light began to flow between his hands. Soon, the light turned yellow and flickered with flames.
In that state, he knelt on the floor and placed both hands on the fallen door on the floor.
He closed his eyes and read a spell in a small voice.
Shaaek-!
I tried to use the remaining three skeletons to push Merlin into the room.
At that moment, Merlin’s left hand detached from the floor and he snapped his fingers.
A wave of fire swept down from the top of his head, along his body, and touched the feet of the three skeletons.
The skeletons burst into flames in an instant.
Merlin looked at Fabre with a menacing expression.
“Death magic is truly something you can’t let your guard down against until the very end. Seeing how Ran used this spell without hesitation, you must know death magic too.”
“No. I don’t know it.”
Merlin laughed out loud.
“Hahaha. Well, I can find that out at my leisure after I burn that cocky bastard. First, your beetles are quite annoying, so I’ll confine you here.”
He lifted his right hand from the floor. Two streams of flame burst from the floor, then quickly circled around Fabre’s room.
From those two streams, translucent flame barriers formed up and down, completely isolating Fabre’s room from the mansion.
Merlin turned his body and left a parting word.
“If you don’t want to become ashes, you’d better wait quietly in here.”
After finishing his words, Merlin looked straight at where I was.
More precisely, at my consciousness observing him through Jangshir’s magic, the Thousand-Mile Eye.
“Enjoying the show from over there? Your tricks can no longer stop me. I’ll come for you next, pluck out your eyes, and crush your ears.”
In an instant, Merlin’s body turned into a bird. With just one flap of its wings, the bird created a storm-like wind.
Flap-!
The bird left a trail of flames, then became a beam of light and flew towards me at lightning speed.
Bang-!
That explosive sound was heard not by my consciousness, but by my physical ears.
I cut off the magic I was giving to Jangshir, and soon my consciousness returned to my body.
In front of me stood Merlin, who had appeared after breaking through an entire wall.
“Did you really think you could lure me into that kid’s room with such a pathetic trick, you scum? Now, as promised, I’ll burn you over and over again.”
Despite his words, Merlin didn’t attack immediately and carefully examined me and my surroundings.
Then he muttered in a low voice.
“Hmm, there’s still something left. Despite the flames I brought, I don’t see fear in your eyes.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
“The magic floating around you, your aura. Even I could be in trouble if I move recklessly. You’re a cunning bastard.”
“You’re quite cautious, Senior Merlin. Why did you stupidly send only your familiar before?”
“Don’t try useless provocation. It won’t work.”
He folded his arms. And with eyes flickering with flames, he carefully looked around me and my surroundings. Seeing small sparks rising from the feathers he wore, it seemed he was ready to cause an explosion at any moment.
How much time had passed? Merlin nodded.
“This is… fundamentally water magic. It’s quite impressive for an apprentice to prepare in such a short time.”
The flames rising from Merlin’s body flickered greatly.
“However, it’s not offensive at all. It’s purely defensive. It’s barely enough to defend against fire. There’s no sign of any magic meant to attack me.”
That flame grew larger and emitted an even brighter light.
“That means you must have a separate means of attack. To counterattack the moment I attack you!”
With a loud shout, the flames shot up in all directions like an explosion.
A magician’s magical power and dignity come from their confidence.
It seems his confidence has risen as much as he has spoken.
Since entering the mansion, he was emitting the hottest flames yet.
Merlin spread his clenched fists wide. Then, flames generated from his feathers, filling the room with intense heat.
The floor, walls, and even the ceiling were slowly melting, but Merlin continued to raise the heat regardless.
That formidable heat began to break down the magic around me one by one. And the heat that penetrated inside quickly heated the air.
It gradually became difficult to breathe.
Even if I blocked it with water magic, because it was heat rather than fire, it was equally impossible to breathe.
I had to take out Oshalo from inside my robe because I couldn’t bear it anymore.
When Oshalo came out, cold energy burst from the fire familiar’s egg embedded in his chest, cooling the surrounding heat.
Merlin stammered in a voice that couldn’t be more surprised.
“Th-that… C-could it be a Phoenix? S-so that’s how you! You could know the identity of my familiar!”
The anger that filled Merlin’s eyes was replaced with writhing desire.
Because desire is better fuel than anger.
Judging by his eyes and expression, it seemed he would have already offered his soul if he could.
It seemed all the anger he had shown so far had turned into desire.
This seems to be certainly a Phoenix egg.
Then why does it contain such cold energy?
Merlin’s pupils shook greatly.
Along with it, the flames surrounding him also trembled.
“If, if I only had that… I, I too.”
He quickly hardened his face and spoke urgently.
“Hand over the Phoenix, Ran. Then I won’t kill you.”
Won’t kill me?
I tilted my head.
“You already declared it. You said you’d die if you don’t kill me.”
Merlin quickly continued.
“Don’t you know about the Phoenix? It’s a bird that doesn’t die even when it dies. If I have that, I can live even if I die.”
It seems the Phoenix has other effects that I don’t know about.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“You don’t think I’d hand over the Phoenix just believing those words, do you?”
Merlin growled.
“Then I’ll vaporize your body, and take it afterwards!”
