Chapter 66: Sacrifice

The news soon spread through the whole Jarrosus City like wind.

Everyone was flabbergasted, including Castellan Isaac. They were shocked by the Guild of Magic’s high-handedness. To them, the Guild of Magic now was absolutely an unreasonable bandit. All the while, the forces in Jarrosus had been able to maintain a semblance of calm because everything was done behind closed doors.

The struggle between the major forces had always existed, but no one had dared to put it on the table.

Often, there were two forces fighting in secret, but when the two leaders met, they would talk harmoniously about wine and roses. It was like when the auction was held—of all the various forces present, who did not have any enmity with another? But under the seduction of the 33 bottles of Arcane Magic Potion, the auction still went smoothly and no one was killed on the spot.

Everyone knew that the Guild of Magic had the supremacy in Jarrosus now.

But no one could have imagined that they would be so arrogant and insolent, completely disregarding the rules of the game and directly putting the fight on the table. In just one afternoon, the Guild of Magic wiped out more than 20 businesses of the Merlin Family. These included several casinos ran jointly with the Blood Brotherhood and two merchant ships moored in the canal.

This afternoon alone, the Merlin Family lost countless gold coins.

For a while, all the forces were outraged, especially the Blood Brotherhood which had several casinos smashed by the guild’s mages. Aaron Matsis almost had an heart attack from the rage. “F*ck you, Gerian! You’re seeking death like this. If you continue to do this, we’ll all just have to die together!”

But in the face of Gerian’s anger, who would dare to go to the Emerald Tower to reason with him?

The leaders of the dozens of forces were not idiots. The incident that happened at the Demon Fall Valley and the Guild of Magic’s revenge on the Merlin Family… it was obvious what was the connection between them. Everyone knew that Gerian was retaliating, so who would be that ignorant to offer themselves up in such a sensitive time?

The chaos did not subside until evening.

At this time, the Merlin Family was already in disorder. When news came in the afternoon, anger had seized Old Merlin’s heart and he fainted right on the spot. When he woke up, his face was still livid as he ordered the servants to call for his brother, Evan.

“Look at what you’ve done!” Old Merlin seemed to have aged several decades after he woke up. The ever-energetic Matthew looked so old and weak at the moment.

“Big Brother… Let me explain…”

“Explain?” Old Merlin’s face was leaden, and his somewhat murky eyes stared fixedly at Evan. “How many times have I told you? Things must be done cleanly and never leave any tail behind; look at what you have done? Of the three traitors from the Guild of Magic, two have been poached by other forces, and the remaining one is even more impressive, getting found by the Guild of Magic. I really can’t understand, what exactly are you trying to do? Why did you not silence him? Do you think the Merlin Family today can still be as reckless as we were in the past?”

Evan opened his mouth, trying to defend himself. “I’ve only wanted to give it a shot, see if I could persuade them to work for the family. After all, they are Magic Shooters… It’s a pity to kill them off. I’m doing it for the sake of the family…”

“For the sake of the family? Hahaha…” Old Merlin laughed in anger; streaks of blood were apparent in his eyes. “Now, are you happy? Just this afternoon, the Merlin Family has been greatly undermined. Do you know how much we have lost in the afternoon? Including the two ships in the canal, it’s a total of 3,700,000 gold coins! Evan… It’s 3,700,000 gold coins… Is the family earning so much in one year? And the two merchant ships were the ones that helped the Duke smuggle his goods. Fario had a hard time setting this up for us, but after what happened, do you think the Duke will still be willing to trust us?”

Evan was completely dumbfounded hearing the huge figure.

“Forget it…” Old Merlin sighed heavily, his expression dejected. “Let’s not talk about this first. To be honest, I have to bear a little responsibility too. I knew you have been indecisive since young, but I still allowed you to handle this matter… How’s Cromwell lately?”

“Cromwell is improving fast. He has reached level-twelve yesterday.”

“Not bad…” There was finally a glimmer of relief on Old Merlin’s face when he heard the news, but his expression turned gloomy at once. “This kid has been getting more sensible lately. Unfortunately, as descendants of the Merlin Family, we sometimes have to make some sacrifices…”

“Big Brother…” Evan hesitated. He paused between words as he said, “Cromwell is the only heir of the Merlin Family… Even if he could kill that pharmacist from the Guild of Magic in the duel this time, his whole life would be completely ruined. A Magic Shooter who would never progress… Isn’t this a little too cruel to Cromwell?”

“It is a necessary sacrifice…” Old Merlin’s expression was cast in shade, but the look in his eyes was extremely resolute. “What the Guild of Magic has today was brought by the mage called Felic. Do you remember my battle with Gerian? If he hadn’t taken out the bottle of Awakening Potion, Gerian would long be dead. I knew then that as long as this young man is present, the Guild of Magic would come to dominate Jarrosus City sooner or later. The Arcane Magic Potion auction confirmed my speculations. Two major families had conveyed their friendly intentions at the same time. Did you think they were trying to butter up to Gerian? You are wrong… They were actually trying to butter up to that young potion master!”

“But, I heard that Felic is merely a low-level mage. Cromwell doesn’t necessarily have to…”

“Low-level mage?” Old Merlin chuckled bitterly. “Didn’t Cromwell tell you that the other party had only used a magic spell to cast him out of the Emerald Tower? This is a real magic genius. He possesses an extremely powerful mental strength and mana. Even I had to utilize my Archmage strength to defeat him. It will be terrifying to allow such a magic genius like him to grow… He has to die in this duel!”

When Old Merlin had finished, he closed his eyes wearily and never looked at the horrified Evan again.