<h4>Chapter 454: Strange</h4>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Shiraishi <strong>Editor: </strong>TheAlliance


    In Thorne’s eyes, the young mage disappearing for a few months before bing a Family Council Member had to have a story behind it. But if the Family Council learnt what happened this time, it might be very difficult for him to keep his Representative status.


    Thinking of this, Thorne looked at the young mage somewhat sympathetically. He knew that Mafa was about to be the Representative that lost his position the fastest.


    Thorne hadn’t noticed that Yuri and Ida had paled. They seemed very nervous as they looked at him with very tense expressions.


    In fact, Ida had been scared to death when he entered the meeting hall alongside Lin Yun.


    He was still in shock from the way the young mage had killed the Raging me Beastmen and was truly terrified when he heard Thorne reprimanding him. He was looking at Thorne in disbelief. ‘Are you tired of living? You actually dare to provoke this young mage?’ He assumed that as a fellow Commander, Thorne should know of the youth’s might.


    Ida had seen the power of the young mage with his own eyes, and saying that it was frightening wasn’t doing it justice.


    After all, the dozen Raging me Beastman Mages were all Peak High Mages at the very least, and there were even three Archmages among them. That had been a terrifying lineup that could even get rid of a 5th Rank Archmage powerhouse.


    But the final oue was unexpected. Such a powerful group was not able to harm the young mage at all and ended up being exterminated.


    This was truly scary...


    Ida had always been either in the Ancestral Land or participating in nar Wars. He was knowledgeable and had enough experience, so he could tell that the young mage actually had strength equivalent to that of a 6th Rank Archmage, or even higher...


    But the young mage was only a 5th Rank High Mage...


    As he thought about it, sweat flowed down from his forehead. If things were that simple, he wouldn’t be so scared. Others might have not known why the young mage left the Fort, but he was very clear about it. It was hardly an exaggeration to say that the young mage’s actions saved the entire nar Legion and removed the crisis as it was brewing.


    The consequences would have been too horrible to contemte if it hadn’t been for the young mage taking care of those Beastmen. Endless Elemental lifeforms would have flooded the me Demon Fort, and it would have fallen into the Raging me Beastmen’s hands.


    It would have resulted in huge losses for the Merlin Family.


    But now, not only had Thorne failed to figure out the truth behind it, he even severely reprimanded the young mage that was responsible for salvaging the situation, and he even said that he would report this matter to the Family Council to have the young mage punished.


    Ida braced himself and stepped forward. Seeing the young mage’s calm expression, Ida rxed and cautiously said, “Err, Sir Thorne, your words are a bit excessive. High Mage Mafa is a nar Legion Commander just like you, he doesn’t have any less decision-making power than you do. Moreover, the me Demon Fort hasn’t been lost. The way I see it, reporting this matter to the Family Council isn’t a good idea.”


    “Sir Ida is right, we are all members of the Merlin Family, there is no need to make such a fuss over this. Moreover, High Mage Mafa clearly thought about the current situation, and Sir Thorne, you have always been a very tolerant person. After all, Sir Thorne and High Mage Mafa are working together for the first time. There will be a lot of time to get used to each other in the future...”


    The aged Yuri wiped his forehead as he looked at Thorne. He felt that he had to say something, or else Thorne would continue causing trouble and make a big deal out of it. But he didn’t want to have to tell a superior that he waspletely wrong... this should be left to the other Commander.


    And regardless of who was right or wrong, just the young mage’s strength was enough to make others despair.


    The consequences of drawing his ire were unthinkable.


    “Sir Yuri, Sir Ida, you...”


    Thorne was shocked by them speaking out. He didn’t dare to believe that these two powerhouses from the Ancestral Land actually spoke on behalf of Mafa.


    Even if he was a nar Legion Commander, he still had to remain respectful towards the people from the Ancestral Land. After all, the powerhouses transferred by the Ancestral Land all had extremely deep backgrounds. If not for the special circumstances, he might not have had the chance to work together with these powerhouses from the Ancestral Land.


    Moreover, as far as he knew, the few Archmages that came from the Ancestral Land were very prideful. Although they always showed respect to their Commander on the surface, they tended to look down on them in their minds.


    This was the reason he was truly shocked. Yuri and Ida came from the Ancestral Land, so how could they speak on behalf of Mafa Merlin, this was unimaginable.


    “Alright, I won’t pursue this matter...” Thorne looked gloomy. Since Ida and Yuri intervened, he decided to show them respect. He sternly looked back at Lin Yun and said, “Mafa Merlin, you must remember your status as a nar Commander. There are some things you can do, and some things you can’t. I hope you can remember this... I don’t want to see something like this happen again.”


    After saying this, the stern expression was reced with a calm one as he took out a map from the side andid it down on the table. He looked at Lin Yun with hardly concealed disgust as he said, “This should be your first time in the me Demon Fort. As a Commander, I think you need to know more about the current circumstances. This map covers the entire area. You can take it away and carefully study itter...”


    Lin Yun expressionlessly nced at the map on the table and nodded, not saying anything. The me Demon Fort was at the center of the map.


    “You should know of the me Demon Fort’s history, right? The Merlin Family has been upying it for three hundred years, ever since Santon Merlin killed that powerful me Demon.” Thorne sounded somewhat impatient, but for the sake of the Merlin Family, he had to ry important information to the young mage. After all, he had been in the Raging me ne for a total of over a decade. The people in the Merlin Family who knew more than him about the me Demon Fort could be counted on one hand. “You can’t imagine how dangerous the me Demon Fort is. Within fifty kilometers, there are at least ten ces upied by Elemental lifeforms. They are marked on the map. Mafa Merlin, you should keep in mind to never go to those ces. If you attract the Elemental lifeforms over, we might suffer another arduous fight!”


    He didn’t have much faith in the young mage so he had to make him aware early on. Thorne then pointed to a few more locations. “The me Demon Fort has been controlled by the Merlin Family for many years and over a dozen ore veins have been found in the surroundings, but only ten are being exploited right now. As for the remaining ones, the Merlin Family is temporarily unable to use them because they are located in very dangerous areas. Even Archmages would be in danger there. Two of those veins are next to a Raging me Beastman tribe, so there is no way to ess them.”


    “So many...”


    Lin Yun was a bit scared when he saw those marked veins. Although the wealth produced by them couldn’tpare to the total output of the Bone ne, it still couldn’t be underestimated.


    “As for this Raging me Beastman tribe...”


    Thorne’s expression hardened when he mentioned that tribe. “In fact, the me Demon Fort had been controlled by that tribe over three hundred years ago. They even invited a me Demon from Hell to defend it. At that time, many forces of Ond that tried to take over the fort suffered greatly, up until Santon Merlin appeared and obtained the me Demon Fort for the Merlin Family. That tribe had been unhappy with this loss over the years and dispatched many Raging me Beastmen to retake the me Demon Fort. It was even worse one hundred and fifty years ago, when the Beastman tribe sent most of their powerhouses. That war was extremely fierce, and although the Merlin Family managed to keep the fort, the losses were huge and over ten Archmages fell.


    “Although the Merlin Family upies three forts in the Raging me ne, the other twobined aren’t as important as half of the me Demon Fort. This fort is the foundation of the Merlin Family in the Raging me ne. If lost, the Merlin Family would lose the qualifications to fight over the Raging me ne...” Talking about this, Thorne looked at Lin Yun and worryingly said, “I don’t know what’s happening recently. The Raging me Beastmen seem to be attacking the me Demon Fort more fiercely. Today’s battle was already the 5th battle of the month, and the attacks are getting fiercer every time. It definitely wasn’t like this before. After all, the losses are too great. The Raging me Beastmen would usually attack once a month at worst.”


    “Eh...”


    Ida, who had been standing behind Lin Yun, threw a strange nce at Thorne. Although he didn’t say anything, he thought to himself, ‘Had you known that a dozen incredibly powerful Beastmen were behind this attack, you would have been scared to death.’


    After over half an hour, Thorne finished rying all the information concerning the me Demon Fort. Lin Yun then returned to his living quarters.


    “It’s very strange...”


    In his living quarters, Lin Yun was still thinking about the Raging me Beastmen. He truly felt baffled. In today’s battle, both Elemental lifeforms and Beastman Mages appeared, and it was a very powerfulbination.


    Had he not discovered the existence of those mages, this battle would have been a lot more troublesome, and it might have even ended in the fall of the me Demon Fort. Through the information shared by Thorne, Lin Yun could feel that this ce was definitely hiding a secret. Otherwise, the Beastman tribe wouldn’t recklessly start a war to get it back.


    After all, this was the 5th attack of the month...


    Even a Beastman tribe wouldn’t be able to endure a war with so many battles in such a short time.


    Moreover, he could clearly feel that the Beastman tribe was still waiting in the shadows. Today’s battle, as well as the previous four, were only warm-ups. The next offensive might be even more fierce.