End of the Magic Era

Translator: Shiraishi  Editor: TheAlliance

“You…”

When he heard the conditions raised by Lin Yun, Karl Watson suddenly felt incredibly irritated. In the end, he had no choice but to restrain his anger. If the deadlock continued and the Black Tower got to take over the Horn of Fertility, his Watson Family wouldn’t get any benefits.

He took a deep breath and gradually calmed down. “Merlin, if you have no other requirements, let’s start planning the collaboration. First of all, this attack on the Horn of Fertility is extremely important, our two Families must…”

But just as Karl started talking, Lin Yun gently tapped the table and interrupted Karl. “I have one…”

“What do you have?” A puzzled expression appeared on Karl’s face.

“I have another requirement…”

“…” Karl took another deep breath. If it weren’t for the fact that he needed this for the good of the Watson Family, he would have already started cursing. ‘That guy doesn’t know his limits! I only said that for appearance, but he actually took it seriously…’

He truly wanted to ask the young mage if he knew how great of a bargain he was already getting.

Had it been in any other situation, then let alone a Planar Commander like Mafa Merlin, even if the Patriarch of the Merlin Family, Ofran, dared to raise conditions so excessively, Karl likely would have just refused, terminating the negotiations.

But he obviously couldn’t do that now.

“Go ahead…” After being silent for a while, Karl once again opened his mouth and let out those words in a dispirited manner. He looked as if he had aged ten years. He was truly going crazy because of that Mafa Merlin.

“Our Merlin Family’s half has to be the part bordering the Wailing River…” It would actually end up inconveniencing him if that part fell into the hands of the Watson Family.

“Okay, I agree to your requirement…” Karl frowned as he accepted Lin Yun’s request. The Watson Family would lose out, but not that much. The area bordering the Wailing River was a bit more fertile. “Mafa Merlin, can we discuss the details of the cooperation now? It would be best for your Merlin Family to transfer your Planar Legion tonight and join our Watson Family in the morning…”

Karl seemed a bit worried as he continued, “You might not know, but the Black Tower somehow got hold of that information and recently started transferring their Mage Legion. We will end up with nothing if we delay too long and they make their move.”

“Haha, Sir Karl, I think you are worrying too much! If the Black Tower is also participating, it would be better for our three forces to unite. That way, capturing the Horn of Fertility will be a lot easier…” Lin Yun faintly smiled, seemingly to not care about the Black Tower’s actions.

Karl looked at Lin Yun strangely when he heard this. ‘What’s going on? Is that Mafa Merlin crazy? Doesn’t he know how powerful the Black Tower is?’

The Black Tower was a behemoth that towered over the kingdom. It was hardly an exaggeration to say that apart from the Cloud Tower, the Black Tower could crush any other force, and the Watson Family was no exception.

At this time, Karl Watson truly felt that this commander was lost in his own fantasy. How could the tyrannical Black Tower agree to work together with them? After all, although the Watson Family and the Merlin Family were genuine first-rate forces, the power of these two Families was inferior to even just a third of the Black Tower.

Why would they make an agreement with them and share the spoils?

Did they even have anything worth offering the Black Tower?

Karl knew that it was impossible. He took a deep look at Lin Yun and inwardly shook his head. Although this young mage was definitely capable in some ways, he was still too young and inexperienced, or else he wouldn’t have said something some preposterous.

“Although your words make some sense, it is simply impossible. The tyrannical Black Tower simply wouldn’t be willing to work with our two Families. Moreover, you should understand that even if the Black Tower agrees to cooperate, it would make them the ones in charge, marginalizing the benefits that our two Families would obtain. I think you should put that idea out of your mind…” After saying this, Karl felt thirsty, so he grabbed the cup of water in front of him and quickly took a few sips.

But at this time, Karl froze as he drank the water and choked. He saw a familiar silhouette enter the reception room and he subconsciously stood up. “Sir Weiss, how… How come you are here?”

He truly hadn’t expected that a Representative of the Council of Seven would come to the Flame Demon Fort.

‘What’s going on?’

But when Weiss entered the reception room, he didn’t say anything to Karl. He only gave him an indifferent glance before turning to Lin Yun. “High Mage Merlin, I wonder if you have thought about the cooperation offer I brought up last time?”

‘This…’

Weiss going straight to the point like this made Karl feel foolish. He simply didn’t believe what he was hearing… The tyrannical Black Tower was actually offering to work together with the Merlin Family.

Was this real?

Karl truly couldn’t come up with any reason that they would do this. It made no sense to him.

With the power of the Black Tower, would they still need anyone’s help to take over the Horn of Fertility in this situation?

And not only did they want to cooperate with the Merlin Family, but Weiss, a Representative of the Council of Seven, personally made the trip to the Flame Demon Fort to ask if they had thought about it.

‘Insane, this is simply insane…’

After Weiss made his offer, his eyes flickered over Karl Watson once again and he started frowning, clearly recalling the disgust he had felt towards Mark Watson half a month ago. That previous interaction had soured his feelings about the Watson Family. “If the Watson Family joins in too, then both the Merlin and Watson Family can have 30% of the territory. The remaining will belong to our Black Tower. As for the troops, our Black Tower already dispatched two Mage Legions…

“Naturally, this is only the preliminary cooperative action of the three forces. Once we seize the Horn of Fertility, our Black Tower will start attacking the surrounding forts. We can decide whether or not to continue working together at that time. Our Black Tower won’t interfere with your decision…”

“Eh…” Karl was thoroughly dumbfounded. He stared foolishly at Weiss as he let out a strange sound without being aware of it.

The more he listened, the more he felt that something was wrong.

He had initially been shocked that Weiss was intending to work with the Merlin Family, but it was further compounded when he also extended the offer to the Watson Family. Since Weiss said it, it was an official invitation from the Black Tower. This meant that the Watson Family had some worth in the eyes of the Black Tower. Why else would they invite them?

But when he heard how the territory would be divided up…

‘This isn’t a dream, right?’

He clearly heard the allocation of the loot proposed by Weiss. The Watson Family and the Merlin Family got such a great bargain! This was simply inconceivable. According to the loot distribution, these three forces would divide the land nearly evenly. Since when had the tyrannical Black Tower ever acted like this?

He suddenly felt that the Black Tower was somewhat unfamiliar…

Yeah, it was that kind of feeling…

After all, he had been the Watson Family’s Patriarch for a few decades now, and it wasn’t rare for him to meet with the Black Tower in Okland. He had more or less come into contact with the Black Tower’s Council of Seven, including Harren, and he knew the horror of that force.

In the upper circle of Okland, most people knew that the Black Tower usually put profit before everything else. As long as there was something to be gained, they would recklessly fight over it. It was to the point that a vast majority of the other forces of Okland had suffered a loss at the hands of the Black Tower, and the Watson Family was no exception.

And even if they felt slighted, they wouldn’t complain, for the simple reason that it was the Black Tower!

In the entire Andlusa Kingdom, only the Cloud Tower didn’t need to be especially respectful to the Black Tower.

Karl always felt that if any force tried to work with the Black Tower, not to mention getting any benefits, just avoiding losses would be quite good already. But just now, Weiss had proposed such generous terms. If the Watson Family only cooperated with the Merlin Family, then even though they could sure gain control of the Horn of Fertility, they likely would have suffered many casualties. But it would be different with the Black Tower joining. With the three major forces jointly attacking the Horn of Fertility, they would easily eliminate the Fireblade Tribe’s army.

Karl was immersed in bliss. But then, a dull voice echoed in the reception room.

“Sir Weiss, isn’t your Black Tower taking too much? This won’t do, you have to give some up…”

When he heard this, Karl turned and looked at Lin Yun as if he had seen a ghost. ‘That Mafa Merlin looks so shrewd, how could he be so foolish at such a crucial time?

‘Getting such benefits from the Black Tower is already a gift from heaven, yet you are stupidly haggling over it!’