In the gloomy room, the purple-haired old man was closing his eyes lightly as if in a meditation, but his face wore a suffering expression that made him look vicious.

"Snap!"

On one of the purple-haired old man's fingers, a ring engraved with runes suddenly cracked open with a loud snap, fell to the ground and broken into pieces.

"Colton is dead?"

Immediately, a huge wave of change washed over the purple-haired old man's face. His body, which was initially somewhat stooped, instantly straightened up. His aged face contorted faintly as well, and a bleak air was exuded all over his body.

"Whoosh!"

An enormous gust of Wind Element rose around the purple-haired old man. He rapidly rushed out of the gloomy room, and behind him, a dim shape of a hulking Alchemy Creature, covered all over in a layer of silver armor was trailing behind…

…

"He's dead?"

Merlin had cast Furious Flame. In the blink of an eye, the turbulent flames had swallowed the alchemist who had fallen into an illusion under Dark Mist. The alchemist did not have any robes or any such Defensive casting tools on him.

Therefore, the alchemist did not even release a scream before he was incinerated beyond recognition by the ferocious fire. He was practically turned into soot and emitted the thick stink of charred flesh.

After finishing off the alchemist, Merlin turned his gaze to the mighty Alchemy Creature behind him. This Alchemy Creature which had extraordinary strength was not too slow as well. It was nearly impossible to kill and could be considered an indomitable Alchemy Creature.

However, after the alchemist had died, green mucus was secreted from the Alchemy Creature's body which seemed to drip all over its figure.

At places where the green mucus had passed by, the Alchemy Creature's skin began to rot immediately. The same happened to its muscles and bones, which began rotting at a visible pace. Blisters bubbled up one after another as its viscous blood dripped onto the ground.

In a very short time, the mighty Alchemy Creature was reduced to a puddle of blood. In that puddle were strands of green mucus, which was a nauseating sight.

Merlin frowned as he watched the Alchemy Creature turned into a puddle of blood. He had the faint notion that this was a sort of technique alchemists used to control their Alchemy Creatures. Once the alchemist had died, the Alchemy Creature under their control would also die of some reason.

"Wizard Merlin, what happened here?"

Wizard Burton, who had been watching everything, came out of the room, dumbstruck. His residence was in complete disorder. Even the courtyard walls had collapsed from the impact, resulting in a huge breach. It was evident that the Alchemy Creature's strength was frightening indeed.

"Creak."

The door to the other room opened as well. To their surprise, it was the black-robed old man who had shut himself in his room for one or two months. He seemed to have been roused by the pandemonium going on in the courtyard earlier and had opened his door to see what was happening.

"Wizard Merlin, what happened exactly? I've heard a huge commotion, and seemed to have detected Elemental fluctuation."

The black-robed old man and Wizard Burton had come toward Merlin. Both of them were frowning as they stared at the corpse that had been burnt to a crisp, and the foul-smelling puddle of blood.

Merlin's expression changed as he spoke in a low voice in dismay, "I don't know what's going on as well. I was just coming back from a visit to Sterling House when I bumped into this mysterious alchemist. He suddenly began to attack me, and after a fierce battle, I managed to kill him."

"Wizard Merlin, how did this alchemist look like? In other words, did he have any distinctive features?"

Wizard Burton asked hurriedly. He had been in Floating City for so many years and knew many people. Perhaps he would be able to identify this alchemist.

Merlin then gave a detailed description of the alchemist's appearance. Wizard Burton frowned all the while listening to him. Once Merlin had finished speaking, he began contemplating, as if searching, in his mind, for an alchemist who was similar to the person Merlin had described.

Suddenly, Wizard Burton jerked his head up, and asked in a low voice, "Wizard Merlin, did the alchemist's Alchemy Creature possess a particularly large body?"

Merlin nodded and thought of the many peculiarities that the particular Alchemy Creature possessed. Thus he said quietly, "That's right, his Alchemy Creature had exceptional strength, and not only was its body physically powerful, but a mysterious layer of silver substance also appeared on its hands…"

Before he could finish, Wizard Burton immediately interrupted Merlin, and said anxiously, "Oh no! The alchemist you've killed might very possibly be Colton, a student of Wizard Sammir! The strange silver substance appearing on their Alchemy Creatures is an alchemy technique that's unique to Wizard Sammir. It injects mithril, which is malleable and durable, into the bodies of the Alchemy Creatures. The mithril would form into all kinds of weapons or armor over the surface of their bodies, making them difficult to fight against!"

"Wizard Merlin, you must've offended Wizard Sammir in some way. Leave this place immediately. In fact, it's best if you leave Floating City. Wizard Sammir is a powerful Third-level Spell Caster, and his alchemy techniques are even more terrifying. The Alchemy Creature he transfigured had once clashed against a Fourth-level Spell Caster without defeat. If he's out to get you, you'll be in real danger!"

Although Merlin had never heard of Wizard Sammir, his heart sank at the sight of Wizard Burton's anxious state, as well as the information about the 'Third-level Spell Caster' and 'fought against a Fourth-level Spell Caster'.

Even though Merlin was still somewhat confused about this sudden twist of misfortune, he knew that now was not the time to find out the cause of all this. Instead, he had to leave quickly.

"Wizard Hill, let's go. We'll talk once we've left Floating City!"

Merlin made the prompt decision to leave Floating City with the black-robed old man.

"Hold on, I still have to finish preparing Purple Stone Powder Potion to bring with me."

The black-robed old man had been roused by the commotion in the courtyard, so there were still many potions in the house which he had been preparing. Just as he had turned and entered his room, Merlin's eyes narrowed as he keenly sensed a peculiar aura.

Following that, in the narrow alleyway outside the quiet courtyard, an old, purple-haired Spell Caster gradually appeared.

"We can't leave anymore… Wizard Sammir has already arrived!"

When Wizard Burton saw this purple-haired old man, he shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly as he spoke.

"Wizard Sammir!"

Merlin muttered over and over to himself. His guard had gone up immediately as he locked his gaze on the purple-haired old man not far away from him. Wizard Burton had turned pale just talking about this Third-level Spell Caster, Wizard Sammir.

Merlin did not expect that Wizard Sammir would show up so quickly.

"Are you the one who killed Colton?"

Wizard Sammir's eyes focused slightly, and with a spread of one great hand, a stream of scarlet light flew out from his five fingers. Merlin felt a scorching wave of heat on his face.

"Gale!"

Merlin's heart gave a jolt. Wizard Sammir had begun right away, and his first attack was such a formidable Third-level spell. This firelight seemed modest but it contained a terrifying power.

Upon reaching the wall, the firelight instantly liquefied a huge hole in the solid wall. Furthermore, a violent blaze had consumed a large part of the wall in raging flames.

Merlin trembled inwardly. If he had chosen to block that attack, he would have been caught in that roaring blaze by now.

A Third-level Spell Caster was far too powerful. Merlin had no intention of staying around any longer. His only thought now was to escape, the further the better.

"Whoosh!"

An intense surge of Wind Element rose around Merlin and his speed increased exponentially. It was the strengthened version of Gale that he had cast in order to retreat as fast as possible.

Wizard Sammir frowned slightly and seemed to be talking to himself, "What I hate the most are Spell Casters with Speed spells. Water Whorl!"

Wizard Sammir stretched a hand and pointed at the sky. Immediately, threads of water vapor condensed rapidly as if the atmosphere had suddenly become humid.

A sphere of water appeared in mid-air and spread out following the ripples of the water. The range covered by this sphere became wider and wider, and in a flash, it had completely blanketed Merlin.

At that moment, Merlin felt a strong binding sensation constricting him until he was unable to move.

This was a Water-type Binding spell. After joining the Dark Magic Region, he had almost never met anyone who constructed Water-type spells. He did not think that he would encounter a Spell Caster who constructed such a spell in Floating City.

Moreover, this Water-type Binding spell, once cast, was strikingly formidable.

"Darling, go on. Capture him, but don't hurt him!"

Wizard Sammir said gently to the enormous Alchemy Creature behind him, whose body shone all over with an intimidating air.

"Thump!"

Compared to Colton's Alchemy Creature which Merlin had seen, who knew how much stronger was this gigantic Alchemy Creature? The force of its steps crushed the bluestone floor tiles under both its feet. Thereafter, its hulking frame leapt up into the air, and its large shadow loomed over Merlin's head.

Staring at this unbelievably ferocious Alchemy Creature, Merlin dared not hold back any longer, and roared out, "Guardian Monument!"

He cast Guardian Monument three times in a row. Then, he cast the strengthened version of Guardian Monument through the Enhancing casting tool to act as a final defensive barrier.

"Crash! Crash! Crash!"

Three loud crashes – the ordinary Guardian Monuments which he had cast were unable to obstruct this frightening Alchemy Creature, whose entire body was covered in a mercury-like layer of silver armor. This was mithril, an especially durable mineral. It was very ductile yet resilient at the same time. However, it was highly toxic, and even those Elemental Swordsmen with exceptional physical attributes would undoubtedly die if they swallowed mithril.

He did not know what special alchemy technique Wizard Sammir had used to enable mithril to be injected into the bodies of Alchemy Creatures. Not only did the Alchemy Creatures survived, but they utilized the durability of mithril to perform countless changes, forming weapons and armors. It was indeed extremely terrifying.

Even the Spell Casters who held fast to the ancient alchemist traditions would have to admit that the current alchemists had made innovations and breakthroughs in terms of techniques in transfiguring Alchemy Creature. They had created many new alchemist techniques.

At the present, Merlin was facing one such horrifying Alchemy Creature. In one of its hands was a sledgehammer formed out of mithril, which was soon ruthlessly smashing down toward Merlin's head.

The three layers of Guardian Monument that Merlin cast previously had been destroyed by the Alchemy Creature. Now, the Alchemy Creature had formed a silver sledgehammer out of mithril in order to wreck the strengthened version of Guardian Monument cast through the Enhancing casting tool. This was Merlin's final defense.

"Boom!"

The Alchemy Creature was three meters tall, the height of a small giant. The muscles on its body bulged, containing its explosive strength. It raised the silver sledgehammer, which cut through the air and smashed into Guardian Monument.