The flame sprite's abilities were not very strong. In terms of pure strength, it was merely equivalent to a Fifth-level Spell Caster. Moreover, if a real battle began, it was not even at the standard of a Fifth-level Spell Caster.

The flame sprite was able to escape for such a long time only because of its unrivaled speed. Even after Merlin cast Flash Wind in addition to the Fourth-level Spell Rainbow Wind, he was barely able to keep up with the flame sprite.

However, this group of strangely-dressed Spell Casters had now formed into what looked like a formation of a Runic Magic Circle shaped like a pocket, trapping the flame sprite within.

The flame sprite began to panic and lost its wits, its body raging with flames once more. It was a sprite which had originally been born from flames, so naturally, it had perfected its control over fire.

"Boom!"

Endless flames began to rapidly cover the entire sky with shocking power. However, regardless of whether it was Merlin or that strange group of Spell Casters, they were not afraid in the slightest.

This was because Merlin had Fiery Collapse or his Defensive spells, and was not fearful of the flame sprite's flame attacks at all. As for the strange group of Spell Casters, they had formed a gigantic formation that seemed to somehow combine their powers. Upon seeing the sweeping flames, they immediately cast an Ice-type spell.

Instantly, swathes of ice crystals began to form in mid-air. Even the flame sprite's blaze was unable to escape and was frozen in place.

Merlin squinted slightly. These Spell Casters were completely different from the Spell Casters he had met before. They were merely Fourth-level Spell Casters but when grouped together, they were able to explode with the strength of a Sixth-level Spell Caster.

Even the flame sprite was forcefully halted by them as it was suppressed in a flash!

"Haha, so it's a flame sprite. This is a treasure indeed. To think that we've encountered such a treasure during this trip. We should get a great reward if we bring it back, right?"

"That's to be expected. A treasure like the flame sprite can only be found through sheer luck. It is our great fortune to be able to encounter it. However, there's still someone there. What do we do?"

These Fourth-level Spell Casters only seemed to notice Merlin now. Following that, the leading Spell Caster waved one hand. "Kill him. It's his bad luck that he has met us!"

However, before they could move, Merlin had struck. He had noticed the ruthless look on their faces and knew that they must have killed a certain number of Spell Casters. Their vicious nature was revealed in each of their eyes.

Spell Casters like these were significantly different from the Spell Casters Merlin usually met. It was as if he had arrived at an entirely new world.

"Darkness Illusory Death!"

Merlin did not hold back, and a blood-red light flashed over his body. The number of people he had killed was not few either. Seeing that they were about to attack, he did not need to spare their lives.

Therefore, a stretch of darkness descended. Almost every Spell Caster was instantly caught in an illusion. However, since this was Darkness Illusory Death, it also had an enigmatic power instead of merely causing illusions.

"Chi-chi-chi."

In the boundless darkness, Darkness Element which was initially acting normally now seemed to transform into the sharpest weapons, slashing unceasingly at every Spell Caster.

These Spell Casters were caught in the illusion and were faced with the slashing and strangling of Darkness Element. They could not put up the slightest bit of resistance. This was clearly a massacre and not a fair fight. Once Merlin displayed Darkness Illusory Death in addition to being combined with Darkness Heart, it was rare for a Spell Caster to be able to resist the attack.

Therefore, even if there were more of these Spell Casters, it was of no use as they were facing a Darkness Wizard.

One after another, the Spell Casters dropped. There were even many who were still sunken in the illusion, having no clue of what was happening as they were slashed and strangled to death by Darkness Element.

Merlin looked at his palm. He could feel a cold, dark force coming from the dead Spell Casters and worming into Darkness Eye in his palm.

"Negative energy!"

Merlin mumbled in a low voice. Darkness Eye was able to absorb negative energy, increasing its own strength continuously. Merlin had long been warned by Wizard Leo to be careful of the negative energy of Darkness Eye for there were also dangers along with its benefits.

Its advantage was that Darkness Eye relied upon absorbing negative emotions to gradually grow stronger. There was the fourth form, the fifth form, and so on, which could be cultivated in the future. However, the risk was that the stronger Darkness Eye became, the harder it was to control, likely to ultimately lead to a backlash.

The area shrouded by Darkness Element had now turned into a killing field. The corpses of the Spell Casters fell to the ground, and the air was suffused with the acrid stench of blood.

Merlin did not kill all of them, leaving behind two Spell Caster for inquiries.

"Swish."

Just then, the flame sprite grabbed the opportunity to escape. However, this time, Merlin would not let it escape so easily.

"Runic Heartprint, seal!"

Merlin's eyes flashed coldly and the imprint of Runic Heartprint flickered constantly on his forehead. Following that, mysterious runes flew out abruptly, forming a Runic Magic Circle in mid-air.

This Runic Magic Circle fell from the sky, completely binding the flame sprite.

Although this was not a very powerful bind, without the power of a Seventh-level Spell Caster, one could forget about escaping the suppression of this Runic Magic Circle. It was more than enough to deal with the flame sprite!

Having captured the flame sprite, Merlin could breathe easily now. He dispelled Darkness Illusory Death, and the two Spell Casters he had intentionally spared recovered their senses.

As they saw before their eyes — Merlin and the mass of dead bodies on the ground — an alarmed look flashed across their eyes, and they said shakily, "O' Wizard, we're Spell Casters of Subzero Snowfield. We've offended you this time. Punish us as you will!"

"Subzero Snowfield?"

Merlin furrowed his brow. In the southern Spell Caster world, if he had killed so many Spell Casters and Fourth-level ones at that, he would have thought that they came from a powerful spell casters' organization. However, it turned out it was a spell casters' organization which he had not even heard of.

"Where's Subzero Snowfield? What are you doing here?"

Merlin continued his inquiries.

The two Spell Casters raised their heads to look at Merlin. Although they thought it was a strange question, they did not dare to disobey, and answered quietly, "Subzero Snowfield is a massive country in Thule, a country consisting purely of Spell Casters…"

Before they had finished, Merlin's mind flashed with understanding. He instantly recalled the extremely mysterious place to the north of the Kingdom of Blackmoon called the Ice Nation!

Within the Ice Nation, most Spell Casters constructed Ice-type spells. They researched Ice-type spells intensively throughout their lives. Pandora Demon Abilities and other knowledge regarding Ice-type spells were developed by them to the peak. Furthermore, they were very different from Spell Casters within the Kingdom of Blackmoon.

"You mean the Ice Nation?"

Merlin spoke slowly as he fixed his gaze upon the two Spell Casters.

The two Spell Casters nodded hurriedly. It looked like this was the Ice Nation of the legends. Due to its unusual geographical location, most people besides Spell Casters would have no way of surviving in it.

In addition, the Ice Nation was a land of bitter cold, and the various resources needed by Spell Casters were scarce indeed. Therefore, many Spell Casters were unwilling to go to the Ice Nation. Over time, the Ice Nation seemed to become cut off from the rest of the world, existing only in the ancient records of a few spell casters' organizations.

"I didn't think that I've reached the Ice Nation. Tell me about the situation here."

Merlin did not have much understanding regarding this fabled country. Still, the distance between the Kingdom of Blackmoon and the Ice Nation was far too great. He did not expect that having chased the flame sprite the entire way, he had arrived in the Ice Nation.

Nevertheless, this indirectly demonstrated that the flame sprite and Merlin could move at an incredible speed. In reality, by using Rainbow Wind to its full potential combined with Flash Wind, Merlin's speed was astounding. It was a wild chase that took such a long time. Reaching the Ice Nation was not too far-fetched.

Upon hearing Merlin's question about "the Ice Nation", the two Spell Casters cautiously asked, "Sir Wizard, is it your first time coming to Subzero Snowfield? In this part of the world, almost no one talks about the Ice Nation as we now call it Subzero Snowfield."

"What do you want to know about Subzero Snowfield?"

Merlin thought for a moment, then asked softly, "What powerful spell casters' organizations are there in Subzero Snowfield?"

"Spell casters' organizations?" The two Spell Casters laughed bitterly. "There are no such spell casters' organizations in Subzero Snowfield. In general, it's every Wizard for themselves. You might think that there are so many of us, when in fact we only banded together recently."

Gradually, as the two Spell Casters gave a detailed explanation, Merlin began to have a rough idea of what Subzero Snowfield was like.

Subzero Snowfield was a peculiar place. Here, there was nothing that could be called a treasure, and the various resources needed by Spell Casters were almost depleted. Therefore, ever since the Spell Casters' most glorious era, almost no one was willing to come here.

For the following thousands of years, a few Spell Caster began to gather here for various reasons, gradually forming Subzero Snowfield.

Although Subzero Snowfield was established and Spell Casters gathered here, there was not a single spell casters' organization. An organization like this would need a heritage and inheritances. Furthermore, as a mighty force, it would need to be supported by a colossal amount of resources.

Subzero Snowfield did not fulfill any one of those prerequisites, so there were no spell casters' organizations in Subzero Snowfield. Everyone here was a lone wolf, and would sometimes struggle ferociously over a small number of cultivation resources.

This was the reason for the intense hostility that surrounded everyone as Merlin had perceived when he saw them.

Seeing that Merlin was deep in thought, the two Spell Casters were on tenterhooks. In Subzero Snowfield, a fight could break out at any time, and even a single word of disagreement could lead to a fatal brawl. They were not like those Spell Casters with profound knowledge. Conversely, they were more like the brutal Elemental Swordsmen.

Therefore, they were paying close attention to Merlin's attitude, hoping that he would be satisfied with their answers and thus spare their lives.