The banquet in Stan Town’s square was still going on. The aroma of roasted meat and fine wine almost spread to every corner of the fragmented world.
Taran and the others had already gathered all the corpses in front of the magic array that linked to the Moon Bay fragment world. This was the entrance to the [Bridge]. They stared at the place where the banquet was being held, unable to stop swallowing hard. An indescribable regret surged from their hearts. Several of them even shot hateful glares at Taran, wishing they could hack him to pieces right there.
It was because Taran had told them that betraying Stan Town and joining Moon Bay would bring them a better life on the Godsin Continent. That was why they chose this path. But now?
If there was any way to make Ye Chui accept them again, they would do anything. Unfortunately, they knew it was already too late.
In the firelight, Ye Chui, Cass, Merlin, and Green walked over together. Following them was the dragon-turtle Sanbao. Ye Chui was holding Serti’s severed head in his arms. Taran and the others looked at Ye Chui with pitiful, pleading eyes, but the moment they saw the modified firearms in Cass’s and Green’s hands, terror and fear flashed across their faces again.
“All the corpses have been collected? Then we can send you on your way now.” Ye Chui completely ignored their gazes, turned to Merlin, and asked, “How do we send them off?”
“The [Bridge] is actually a form of spatial magic. Of course, this is not the kind of magic on the Castro continent that requires a grimoire to cast. It is a much more ancient magic, one the Church calls dark magic.” Old Merlin, supported by Green, slowly raised his right hand. With his left hand, he took a mana scroll from his robes, tore it open, and let the mana flow into his body.
Old Merlin was using a low-grade mana scroll. Back when Stan Town had just been transported here, Cass had sold many items from the town to obtain some mana scrolls, along with books related to scrolls and magic. Thanks to those, Old Merlin had become both a [Bridge Builder] and an [Inscriber].
For a magus to master these abilities in such a short time was proof enough of Old Merlin’s exceptional talent.
He began to cast the spell.
The magic array beneath Taran and the others gradually lit up.
While this happened, Old Merlin continued, “I have actually known about ancient magic for a long time. Back then, I chose to live in seclusion in Stan Town because it was on the border, allowing me to study these forbidden fields without worry. Once magic reaches my level, it becomes very easy to sense that the power used by magi and magicians is fundamentally the same. The only difference is that ancient-era magicians enjoyed far greater freedom.”
A trace of pride appeared in Old Merlin’s eyes. He looked at Ye Chui and Green, then asked in the tone of someone who had uncovered a great secret, “Do you know why?”
“After the Age of the Gods ended, the gods or demons who caused the fall of the gods created grimoires to restrict the power of the human race. In the Age of the Gods, humans could sense magical elements and cast spells without grimoires. But now, if humans want to wield magic, they must use a grimoire as a medium. All grimoires were likely created by demons. If one day the demons decide to destroy humanity, or if humanity begins to resist demonic rule, the demons can instantly strip every human magician of their power with ease.” Ye Chui explained immediately.
This was the conclusion they had reached after countless adventures.
Green added, “Grimoires are the shackles the demons placed on humanity. To control humans, the demons also established the Heavenly Punishment rules. Any human who reaches the level of Sword Saint will suffer Heavenly Punishment. Yet even if a magus becomes a Saint Magus, they will not be struck by Heavenly Punishment. That is because even a Saint Magus can be reduced to an ordinary person in an instant if the demons wish it.”
Hearing their words, Old Merlin stood there stunned. So that was how it was. They knew even more than he did.
“The so-called [Bridge Builder] is actually someone proficient in ancient spatial magic.” Old Merlin coughed once, put on an expression of being very pleased that they knew so much, and continued, “The power of a [Bridge Builder] includes [Building] and [Opening]. [Building] means establishing a bridge to other fragment worlds. [Opening] means activating the bridge. [Opening] is simple. With my current ability, I can already do it. But [Building] is still too difficult for me.”
As Old Merlin spoke, the characters of the magic array fully lit up. A pillar of light shot into the sky. Taran and the others, along with the corpses from Moon Bay wrapped in the light, rapidly turned ethereal, as though they had become flying sand and fragments. Then they vanished completely along with the pillar of light.
When the light pillar faded, the magic characters on the ground still shimmered. Those characters looked like red-hot iron branded into the earth.
Ye Chui stared at the characters thoughtfully.
Old Merlin took a heavy breath, sat down on a nearby rock with Green’s help, and kept explaining, “Ancient magic is extremely profound. On the Castro continent, some people awaken ancient magic by accident. The Church calls these people heretics. The nun Rosia from Stan Town had a son who accidentally awakened ancient magic, which led to his execution. That was why Rosia went mad and tried to summon an apostle. You should already know these things.”
“However, the ancient magic Rosia’s son awakened was only at a very basic level, far from truly qualifying as ancient magic. I had already been researching ancient magic for a long time. During my time on the Godsin Continent, studying some of the documents here confirmed one thing for me. The core of ancient magic is a language, a profoundly mysterious language. Mastering that language allows one to communicate directly with the magical elements between heaven and earth. This magical language consists of thirty-two characters. I have now mastered five of them in a basic way.”
Old Merlin once again showed that “I discovered a great secret” expression. He stood up from the rock with an air of mystery and said to everyone, “Mastering the entire language would allow one to wield ancient magic. But the more advanced magic characters must be exchanged using Heavenly Ladder points. You can start by learning the five characters I have comprehended. Later, you can exchange for the others. Each of these magic characters carries meanings that ordinary language cannot describe, so you need to study them carefully. I think within one month, I should be able to help you fully comprehend them.”
“Wait a moment.” At that point, Serti’s head, still held in Ye Chui’s arms, suddenly interrupted Old Merlin.
Everyone turned to look at Serti.
Serti continued, “If I am not mistaken, the language you are talking about should be Dragon Language, right? Dragon Language is composed of exactly thirty-two magic characters. There is no need to exchange for them. I can teach you directly. It is not that difficult. Once you understand it properly, it is actually quite simple.”
“…Huh?”
Old Merlin was stunned for a long moment and could not respond.
In this fantastical world, under the power of magic, all kinds of bizarre things could happen. A talking severed head was strange and macabre enough, but it was not impossible. That was why, although the residents of Stan Town, including Merlin, Cass, and others, were very curious about the beautiful talking head travelling with Ye Chui’s group, they were not particularly shocked and had never directly asked how the head came to be.
But now, this head was claiming to know all thirty-two magic characters, which were said to be fully mastered only by those from the higher realms?
She even said these magic characters were actually Dragon Language?
And that it was simple?
Old Merlin’s body trembled slightly. He pointed at Serti and asked Ye Chui, “Is, is what she said true? Who… who is she?”
“My name is Serti. I am a Dullahan, one of the undead ferrymen among the Gods race. Though now I am only a head. My body was blown up.” Serti introduced herself.
“You are actually from the Gods race…” Old Merlin and Cass looked at Serti in disbelief.
Serti shook her head slightly in a nod and continued, “The magic you mentioned is something I know very well, because it was created by my useless little brother. Dragon Language was something he learned from the mouth of an Ice Dragon.”
“Wait…” Cass waved his hand, looking a bit confused, “Ice Dragon, creator of magic… If I remember correctly, the one who accomplished all this should be the Magic Emperor, right? Legend says he was the one who started the Age of Magic.”
The Magic Emperor was known to almost everyone. Of course, in people’s legends, he was not exactly a heroic figure.
About twenty-five thousand years ago on Castro, there were many races, and humans were only one very weak race among them. It was because of the Magic Emperor’s appearance and his creation of magic that humans could resist the other races and eventually become the rulers of the continent.
Yet the Magic Emperor, who achieved such great deeds, later tried to destroy the entire continent for some unknown reason. That was when the God of the Gods rose up, fought against the Magic Emperor across a battlefield of ten thousand years, finally killed him, and ushered in the glorious era of the Gods race.
From then on, the Magic Emperor became a term of contempt. Expressions like “the Magic Emperor’s fart” and “the Magic Emperor’s curse” even became common sayings.
“Yes, yes!” Serti immediately became cheerful when she heard Cass mention the Magic Emperor. “The Magic Emperor is my useless little brother, the one I beat up from childhood!”
Old Merlin and Cass: “…”
That boast was so shameless that Old Merlin felt his old face had nowhere to hide.
“Can, can you teach me Dragon Language?” Old Merlin hurriedly asked right after.
“Of course. Not just Dragon Language, I can even teach you the advanced magic of the God of the Gods’ Dragon Language.” Serti said with a smile.
