On the nameless island, Wizard Bayton waited patiently outside the volcano. Occasionally, there were some wicked-looking insects that would crawl up beside him, but they were all exterminated by the spells that Wizard Bayton had cast.

"Fire!"

A wave of Fire elements sparkled on Wizard Bayton's body. He had cast another Fire-type spell, the scorching flame burning with intensity as it disintegrated two black beetles into ashes.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

Right then, it felt as though the whole ground started quaking.

"Hmm? What's going on?"

Wizard Bayton scanned his surroundings. It seemed that there was an earthquake. However, when he looked further, puffs of black smoke started billowing from within the volcano, so he figured out the real reason for the quake.

"Not good, the volcano is going to erupt!"

Wizard Bayton had seen a volcano eruption before. Although it was only a view from afar, that kind of horror and shock implanted a huge impression in his mind.

This type of volcano eruption was terrifying. Even a Seventh-level Spell Caster would need to deal with it cautiously. If one was inside the volcano, incomparably hot lava would spew out in that instant. Even if it was a Seventh-level Spell Caster, when facing boiling hot lava aided by the horrifying ejection force of the volcano, one would not be able to protect themselves against it too.

"Wizard Merlin is still inside the volcano!"

There was a slight reluctance in Wizard Bayton's eyes. Now, the ground quaked even more violently. This signified that the volcano was stirring up a ferocious eruption, and once that happens, the entire island would be in a dire state!

"No, before the volcano erupts, I must quickly get Wizard Merlin out of there."

Wizard Bayton inhaled deeply, then propelled himself into the air, flying toward the volcano which was billowing with black smoke.

…

"It's so hot! If I keep on like this when the volcano really erupts, it'll only be a dead end for me! I must leave the volcano as soon as possible!"

Merlin sensed a gradual emergence of intense danger from the base of the volcano. He knew that the lava was in turbulence, and was about to be expelled from the volcano. By that time, even a Seventh-level Spell Caster would not survive, much less himself.

Now, he had to leave as soon as possible.

Originally, Merlin thought that he still had time to cut out more Lava Soil which were embedded in the rock wall. However, the situation had become dire, and he could not care so much anymore.

He swiped his dagger agaisnt the rock wall with force.

"Chi!"

The sharp dagger dislodged Lava Soil instantly, but it was only half of it. Merlin did not have time to give it another go, so he could only store the harvested Lava Soil into his ring.

Merlin then proceeded to climb toward the volcanic crater hastily.

"Boom!"

Finally, the volcano erupted. The terrifying magma spewed out, and Merlin felt as though his entire body was about to be set ablaze. He mustered every ounce of energy in him, let out a loud yell, and fiercely propelled his own body toward the crater of the volcano.

"Swoosh!"

Merlin gave his all as he leaped out of the crater. Soon, he noticed Wizard Bayton who was in mid-air.

Wizard Bayton saw Merlin at the crater, delight appeared on his face. Nonetheless, he heard the roaring sounds of the volcano too and knew that if no action was to be taken, and even if Merlin escaped to the crater, he would still be burned to death by the sweltering lava.

In that moment, intense Wind elements emerged on Wizard Bayton's body – it was his flying spell.

"Wizard Merlin, don't move. I'll try my best to get you out of there."

Upon finishing his sentence, Wizard Bayton proceeded to cast a Wind-type spell. Immediately, a gust of strong wind hoisted Merlin into the air. It then carried him toward the vast sea with great speed.

Wizard Bayton's Magic Power was extremely strong. However, to support Merlin's weight, a staggeringly huge portion of his Magic Power was drained, and before long, it was completely exhausted.

That was also the reason why Wizard Bayton did not bring Merlin along to fly when they were departing from the Violet Flame Island. The Magic Power in Wizard Bayton's body was not enough to support another person in the air with him.

In order to sweep Merlin up into the air, Wizard Bayton could only sacrifice and spend all his Magic Power. Even with that, it was only roughly sufficient to move Merlin to the sea near the beach.

"Boom!"

Wizard Bayton could not support him anymore, so Merlin was hurled straight into the sea. By now, the volcano had completely erupted. The sky was filled with smoke, and the entire small island was shaking slightly.

Merlin swam from the sea to the beach gradually. Though he was drenched wet, he still could not hide the delightful expression on his face. After all, he could be considered lucky to have cheated death. If not for Wizard Bayton, there was no way he could have escaped unscathed.

"Wizard Bayton, it's really all thanks to you this time. Otherwise, my fate would've been sealed."

Merlin said breathlessly.

Wizard Bayton landed on the beach from mid-air. The sight of the volcano which looked like it was roaring still struck fear in his heart. He gently shook his head and replied, "I think we better leave now, it's too dangerous here."

The volcanic eruption was appalling. Even a stronger Spell Caster would be stricken with fear.

"Right, we definitely need to leave here at once!"

Merlin nodded too. This nameless island was too perilous. Nobody could tell what kind of danger would happen following the volcanic eruption. Their safety would only be ensured by leaving the nameless island as soon as possible.

Thus, Merlin quickly sat on the little boat. With Wizard Bayton taking helm, they started departing from the nameless island.

The little boat gradually drifted away from the nameless island. From afar, only thick black smoke could be seen from the nameless island accompanied by growling sounds from the volcanic eruption that were spread by the wind.

"We've finally left, but this sea still remains dangerous. I can't believe that a volcano which hasn't erupted for several decades, chose to erupt today… Luckily, I still managed to obtain Lava Soil, so the journey wasn't futile after all!"

A smile etched on Merlin's face. Although it was urgent back inside the volcano, and half of the Lava Soil was not retrieved in time, with the other half of Lava Soil that he currently possessed, it was already enough for him to cultivate the first stage of Pandora Demon Ability, Fuse Earth.

As soon as he finished cultivating the first stage of Pandora Demon Ability, Fuse Earth, Merlin's Earth-type defensive spells would then hugely improve.

"No way, Wizard Merlin. Look, what's that in the water?"

Just when Merlin was exhaling a long sigh of relief, awaiting his journey back to Fort Udon and finishing the cultivation of Pandora Demon Ability, Fuse Earth, Bayton seemed to have realized something, and his expressions changed.

Merlin's gaze followed Wizard Bayton's and shifted to the sea waters surrounding the little boat. Indeed, the sea waters were initially calm and peaceful but for no apparent reason, numerous bubbles started appearing. It was just like boiling water, bubbling one after another.

At that time, the little boat had already left for quite a distance from the nameless island. However, the surrounding sea waters had air bubbles emerging from the water surface.

"Be careful, the changes might be due to something in the water!"

Merlin immediately became vigilant. Such a strange phenomenon must be caused by unknown changes. Otherwise, there would not be a peculiar sighting like this at the vast sea region for no reason.

"Hum! Hum! Hum!"

Along with the bubbles, a huge whirlpool gradually formed on the calm sea. It was a large whirlpool, swirling up huge chunk of seawater, sweeping everything around it into the whirlpool.

Even Merlin and Wizard Bayton's little boat was sucked toward the whirlpool by its strong current.

"Not good. Quick, leave!"

Merlin reacted instinctively, jumping into the sea instantly, while Wizard Bayton immediately flew into mid-air. Just when he was about to distance himself from the whirlpool, it seemed as though a huge invisible hand emerged from within the whirlpool and captured Wizard Bayton.

"What in the world is this thing underneath the sea? Wizard Bayton, watch out!"

Merlin's Mind Power seemed to have vaguely detected the invisible hand stretching from within the whirlpool. Yet, it did not bring any effects as the giant hand grabbed Wizard Bayton directly in mid-air, forcibly sucking Wizard Bayton into it.

"Wizard Bayton!"

Merlin could only watch as Wizard Bayton was swept into the whirlpool. In the blink of an eye, he was nowhere to be seen. It was feared that anything drawn inside such a terrifying whirlpool would only be shred into pieces.

Wizard Bayton had been dragged into the whirlpool, so he was most likely doomed.

Deep in his heart, Merlin felt grievingly frustrated. He could not believe that having just escaped from a terrorizing volcanic eruption, they met with another accident and that Wizard Bayton had perished in the whirlpool.

He had no idea how the whirlpool was formed. It came out of the blue, and its destructive power was too horrifying. It was shocking to how it was able to grasp Wizard Bayton mid-air, sucking him into the whirlpool directly.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Huge water column rose into the sky as the giant whirlpool became larger, drawing in everything in the vast sea. Merlin could even make out some big-sized sea beasts getting sucked into the whirlpool one by one, disappearing without a trace.

"Swoosh!"

At this moment, Merlin felt an eerie feeling, he felt like he was being watched by some unknown entity. Then, another invisible big hand extended from the whirlpool and directly grabbed Merlin.

"Oh no!"

Merlin had just witnessed this invisible big hand drag Wizard Bayton into the whirlpool.

It was his turn now.

"Pandora Demon Ability, Glacial Finger!"

Merlin reached out and pointed his finger, and the extremely cold air froze the sea waters in front of him into a layer of thick ice crystals. Even though the chill of the Glacial Ice Finger was great but when it came to this strange invisible big hand, it had no effect at all. The chill that permeated the air was crushed by the invisible hand.

Thereafter, the invisible hand grabbed Merlin fiercely, and he felt like he lost control of his movements. His entire body went stiff and was dragged directly into the huge whirlpool by the invisible hand.

"Swoosh!"

Merlin felt a strong pulling force as though it was tearing his body apart. Merlin had no resistance against the huge pulling force and was directly plunged into the sea by the whirlpool.