The Ninth Wizard Oden left, leaving behind only traces of scorched battle marks on the ground.

Merlin's expression was pensive as he stared in the direction that Wizard Oden and his men had disappeared towards. Truth to be told, he was actually at a disadvantage in the last battle. If they had continued to battle, he probably may not have gained an upper hand at all.

"Looks like my abilities are still not enough. Even at my best, I can barely compete with a Sixth-level Spell Caster!"

Merlin had initially thought that once he constructed his Darkness Vortex Darkness-type spell, then most of the Sixth-level Spell Casters would no longer be worthy opponents. It now seemed like this was not completely true. The Darkness Vortex was indeed strong, especially in cases where Merlin was strengthened by the Darkness Heart. It could engulf the Spell Caster's spirit, causing them to fall into an illusion.

Nevertheless, the Darkness Vortex was still a type of hallucinating dark spell, and many Spell Casters once they reached the Sixth-level would have attained an immense level of Mind Power. Thus it was difficult to entrap them in an illusion.

Moreover, even if one were so lucky to break through the seven levels of Mind Power, the casted illusion would have been severely weakened. This was the reason that Merlin's Darkness Vortex only managed to trap Wizard Oden in the illusion for a very short time.

In addition, Merlin's Fiery Collapse completely failed to defeat the Sixth-level spells. He was unable to overcome even the general Sixth-level defensive spells, not to mention inflict damage on Wizard Oden, who had mastered Defensive-type spells.

This time, it was lucky that Wizard Oden was being cautious of Merlin and dared not face him properly. Merlin could not guarantee that he would be as lucky as this every single time.

The Snake Elder resumed his human form, but his face was extremely pale. It appeared that he must have used up a lot of elemental power and sustained heavy damage. After all, in the beginning, he was fending off Wizard Oden's attacks alone.

"Wizard Merlin, thank you very much for your help this time. Otherwise, we fear it would have been for the worse.

The Snake Elder shot a complicated look at Merlin. Originally, he thought that he had understood Merlin sufficiently and knew his powers well enough. However, it seemed that he was still far from fully comprehending the force that was Merlin. He was amazed that Merlin was able to not only resist but also scare away Wizard Oden. Needless to say, that was not a feat easily achievable by an average Wizard.

Even though Oden had left, Merlin still dared not lower his guard. He said with a low voice, "They may have departed temporarily, but no one knows if they would change their mind. We better hurry and be on our way."

The Snake Elder and the others nodded in agreement. If the fourth prince had sent Oden to them, then the conflict between the princes must have escalated beyond boiling point. In fact, the situation might be even worse in the Imperial City.

This trip the Imperial City, what would happen next; no one knew.

Over the next few days, Merlin and the Snake People focused all their energy on their journey. Since they no longer had to put up with the two ugly Wizards, the Snake Elder and his people could put their Flying spells to work.

Merlin, too, had a Flying casting tool that allowed him to keep up with them, but it consumed large amounts of elemental crystal stones.

Along the way, Merlin gained a better understanding of the alpine Beast People. The speed and strength of the wolf girl Jelena, in particular, left a very strong impression on him.

If Jelena's Mind Power had been a little stronger, Merlin may not have been able to conquer her. On the contrary, she may have been able to harm him. Once the alpine Beast People transformed into their true forms, they each possessed unique strengths.

However, the number of alpine Beast People was simply too small. The Snake People, for instance, only had approximately three thousand people, barely enough to maintain a small tribe. They were very rare indeed.

Even the alpine Beast People, all together, only had a few tens of thousands in population. Despite being so strong and capable, they faced problems raising offspring like normal people. Every alpine Beast couple who wanted to procreate would have to experience various difficulties, sometimes even life-threatening ones, in order to produce offspring.

This was also the greatest weakness of the alpine Beast People. The ancient Spell Casters might have used the most advanced spell casting methods to create the alpine Beast People, but ultimately they were a failed product; a race with irreparable defects.

Once upon a time, the alpine Beast People had a population of a few million. However, following the difficulties in reproduction, there were only tens of thousands of their people left today. They also tended to live in extremely remote places and within relatively bad environments.

Many alpine Beast People could not help but escape the perilous mountains, but as they look different from normal people, they easily stirred up panic among the masses and as a result, faced dangerous situations.

Therefore, the alpine Beast People retreated back into their respective tribes and began to approach specific forces. The Snake Elder chose to support the eighth prince, in hopes that if the eighth prince became the king of Blackmoon, then the Snake People tribe would gain a big enough piece of land for themselves to live out a quiet life.

The wolf girl Jelena was from the alpine Wolf People tribe. Most probably, she had the same thought as the Snake Elder as well to support one of the princes so that if he became the king, they would be able to obtain a piece of land and live a quiet life.

The only misfortune was that the different camps that they chose ended up pitting the Snake Elder and the Wolf Girl Jelena against each other; even though both of them had originated from the same alpine Beast People group.

"This world is getting more and more interesting" Merlin murmured under his breath. From a Spell Casters' world, he already thought it was beyond comprehension when the mysterious relief sculpture appeared, but now there were also the strange alpine Beast People as well.

The alpine Beast People were truly most powerful in their true forms, whereas their spells, runes, etc were just supplementary abilities. However, when they revealed their true forms and fused with it, they were truly terrifying. It was no lesser than a Spell Caster with Pandora Demon Ability.

This world was getting more and more interesting, and still held many hidden secrets, but Merlin knew that power was of utmost importance. Only with great power, he would be able to stay safe.

This trip to the Imperial City, he would have to find a way to enter the palace's Spell Library, no matter what it took. After all, it was for this sole purpose that Merlin had agreed to go to the Imperial City.

...

Against the bright clear sky, dark shadows began to cast outside the majestic ramparts of the city. Behind those tall white walls was an even taller, twisted tower. Its peak stretched all the way up to the clouds, emitting a faint glow of light.

Any person who saw this tower would feel amazed in the depth of their hearts.

At this juncture, Merlin was staring intently at the unique tower. Although he had been looking at it for a whole hour, his heart still did not manage to calm down.

A Wizard's tower. Merlin had seen such a sight many times in the Dark Magic Region. Even towers constructed by Seventh-level Spell Casters were considered ordinary sights in Merlin's eyes. Bearing in mind that the Dark Magic Region was a Spell Caster organization which excelled in the knowledge of runes, the towers contained therein were all pinnacles of runic knowledge.

This tower, however, was a whole other level.

No matter how many towers that existed in the Dark Magic Region, they were far from comparable to this tower that stood before his eyes. From the very moment Merlin first laid his eyes on this tower, he was shaken to the core.

"Hehe! Wizard Merlin, people who see the Blackmoon Tower always react the same way. When I first followed His Royal Highness the eighth prince to the Imperial City and saw the Blackmoon Tower, I was also astonished. It was hard to imagine, that someone in this realm managed to build such a magnificent and indescribable tower. In fact, this is not even the most magical time to view the tower. You should wait until this evening which would be the night of the full moon. The Blackmoon Tower would be even more glorious and magnificent."

The Snake Elder, too, squinted at the towering structure standing proudly among the clouds. This was the iconic building of the Blackmoon Kingdom the Blackmoon Tower.

To be able to see the Blackmoon Tower, meant to the Snake Elder and his people, that their long, day-and-night journey had finally brought them to the Imperial City.

After a long time, Merlin slowly withdrew his gaze. He sensed that the Blackmoon Tower was not only filled with mysterious power but enveloped the entire kingdom with it. It was almost like it was the heart and core of the kingdom.

The Blackmoon Tower also gave Merlin an unusual sense of tension. Within the sea of Merlin's awareness, the Flame Maxim had always behaved calmly. Now, near the Blackmoon Tower, he could vaguely feel a sense of suppression.

The Flame Maxim was the power that belonged to Legend Nikola, the legendary Wizard. In a way, the Flame Maxim represented the depth of understanding the Legend Nikola had towards flames.

Alas, even though the Flame Maxim might be the same, there were certainly differences in the level of mastery between different legendary Wizards. For legends with titles such as the Legend of Darkness Wizard Oflas to be crowned with the title 'Legend of Darkness' represented that he had achieved an unparalleled understanding of darkness and complete mastery over the Darkness Element.

Legendary Wizards who obtained their titles in this manner were truly forces to be reckoned with. They could banish a powerful god or conquer a plane of existence.

At this very moment, Merlin's Flame Maxim was being suppressed by the Blackmoon Tower. This indirectly spoke volumes about the extraordinary effect of the Blackmoon Tower.

Even since Merlin received the Flame Maxim, this was the first time it was suppressed!

Due to that, Merlin felt a slight quiver in his heart and was very curious about the Blackmoon Tower. He asked the Snake Elder, "Snake Elder, which Spell Caster built this Blackmoon Tower? From the looks of it, it is out of the ordinary!"

The Snake Elder shot a faint glance at Merlin and drew a deep breath. "The question of who built the Blackmoon Tower, I'm afraid even the oldest Spell Caster does not know," he calmly replied. "However, this Blackmoon Tower was not built by the Kingdom of Blackmoon. It was a remnant from the Molta Empire.

"The Blackmoon Tower has mysterious powers. A few Great Wizards of the Kingdom went inside to study the tower and discovered that the power of the Blackmoon Tower can be invoked to protect the entire Imperial City, making it impervious to any form of attack. However, this is related to the mysterious power, which is not something that we can comprehend

"Nevertheless, it is because of the Blackmoon Tower that the Imperial City is completely safe. No matter how many Great Wizards congregate in this place, they are unable to pose any threat to the Imperial City. According to rumors, the Blackmoon Tower contains a stronger power of attack that even the Great Wizards could not withstand. That is the price to pay for invoking the power of the Blackmoon Tower. Perhaps it is too unfathomable"

Merlin gained a general understanding of the Blackmoon Tower's abilities. Since it was inherited from the Molta Empire, it was likely that it was left behind by a powerful Legendary Wizard.

To be able to cover the entire Imperial City and make it impervious, obviously involved powers of nature. Powers which only Legendary Wizards could control. Blackmoon Tower was definitely linked to a powerful Wizard from the Molta Empire.

Thinking of the Blackmoon Tower's suppression of the Flame Maxim, Merlin suddenly felt an impulse to enter and study the tower. However, the Blackmoon Tower was the most secretive core of the royal family, especially the eighth prince. There was absolutely no chance of entering it. Merlin could only dream.

"Wizard Merlin, the situation in the Imperial City is very complicated. Let's seek an audience with the His Royal Highness the eighth prince."