End of the Magic Era
Chapter 1265: Perfect Acting and Exorbitant Price

1265 Perfect Acting and Exorbitant Price Unfortunately, he still died because his soul was cut in half. His soul wasn’t that powerful after all. The attack only felt like a needle piercing his skin, but the pain was unimaginable to his soul. His soul was cut in half and he died in an instant.

The Heaven Rank powerhouse died and his soul was torn apart. The earth elements converging around John’s body rapidly dispersed and boundless mana burst out of his body, soaring in the sky like smoke.

It took less than ten seconds for the mana covering John’s body to thoroughly disappear. His body also fell towards the ground.

Lin Yun released a two-meter-big Mana Hand and caught John’s corpse. He stripped him of all his items and even directly collected that silver-colored piece of metal.

In a small mountain village in the distance, the two sweating Archmages sighed in relief seeing John’s death.

“Fortunately, that moron was eliminated…”

“Yes, fortunately he was killed before releasing that steel spell, or this would have become troublesome…”

“Right, it’s better for him to have died. At least he died as a Death Sickle bandit, he had nothing to do with our Rodney Family…”

Enderfa floated towards Lin Yun, his three faces solemnly looking at John’s corpse.

“Merlin, why did you kill him like that? He is definitely a direct member of the Rodney Family, didn’t you see him taking out a medium to cast? That was a unique metal material, he was about to cast a steel spell of the Rodney Family.

“I wanted to see it… Moreover, that spell would have exposed his identity as a member of the Rodney Family and exposed their relation to the Death Sickle bandit group. This was more than enough evidence…

“I would have liked to see how the Rodney Family would be able to keep their foothold in the Odin Kingdom once it was known that their direct descendants controlled the Death Sickle bandit group.”

Enderfa grumbled a bit, but Lin Yun only smiled.

“I purposefully stopped him from casting that steel spell. Killing him if he cast that spell wouldn’t have been great.

“If I could capture him alive before he released that steel spell, I would have gotten a Heaven Rank Death Sickle bandit, that would have been worth a lot of money. But a living Heaven Rank Rodney is completely worthless…

“If he cast that spell, I wouldn’t have been able to kill him. If I did, the Rodney Family would have counterattacked, saying that I infiltrated their family’s territory and killed a Heaven Mage of their family who was dealing with the Death Sickle bandit group…”

Hearing Lin Yun’s words, Enderfa suddenly came to a realization and noticed Lin Yun’s smiling expression.

“I have to say, Merlin, you are getting increasingly more wicked. But you are right, you only killed a Heaven Rank Death Sickle bandit, the Rodney Family can only grind their teeth and spit out blood. Moreover, they have to keep smiling and thank you even though you killed one of their own.

“You are truly getting more and more evil…”

Lin Yun smiled.

“It is how it is. It would be impossible to discuss with the Rodney Family if he released that steel spell, but now? Hehe…”

Lin Yun landed on the ground while holding onto John’s corpse and calmly waited. At the same time, those two Archmages in the distance quickly sent a simple report to their family.

In less than half an hour, a member of the Rodney Family came and listened to the detailed report of the two Archmages before sighing in relief.

Playing by the rules was still necessary. Since there was no proof, the Rodney Family could deny all they wanted and no one could do anything. But if there was iron-clad evidence brought up to light, that matter would become very troublesome and the Rodney Family’s reputation and fame would be completely destroyed.

The member of the Rodney Family that came to negotiate was a 3rd Rank Heaven powerhouse, he flew over with the two 9th Rank Archmages in tow.

“Oh, it turns out to be Sir Mafa Merlin! I really didn’t expect Sir Mafa Merlin to personally come and eliminate these damned bandits.

“Our Family had just come to a decision to cooperate with the Gilded Rose to eliminate those damned maggots and sent the news to the Gilded Rose. I truly didn’t expect Sir Mafa Merlin to have already acted on your own.”

The Rodney Family’s Heaven Rank powerhouses appeared to be very cordial, but his eyelids involuntarily twitched and a trace of anger could be seen in his eyes when he noticed John’s corpse.

Lin Yun was smiling as he glanced at the two Archmages and casually said, “Oh, it was like that? I was away for a bit and accidentally heard that these damned guys actually attacked a few of the Gilded Rose’s convoys. Since they were discovered, death is the proper outcome for these guys wasting the Gilded Rose’s resources. This would prevent others to think that the Gilded Rose is easy to bully.

“If someone else thinks that they can put their hands on the Gilded Rose, they would be unable to keep them.

“Well, Sir, do you need anything? Otherwise I’ll go back. As for this Death Sickle bandit group, there is no need to thank me, I only destroyed them for the Gilded Rose.”

After saying those words, Lin Yun grabbed John’s corpse and turned around.

The Rodneys suddenly became worried.

The two Archmages lowered their heads and didn’t dare to speak, they felt that Lin Yun’s gaze had a deeper meaning, as if he had already discovered them before. As for the 3rd Rank Heaven powerhouse, he was even more anxious.

‘Sh*t, John is a member of our Rodney Family, a 2nd Rank Heaven Mage who knows steel magic, there are too many people that could recognize him.

‘Ordinary mages and small forces might not be able to recognize him, but any member of a major force with a bit of knowledge would know that John was a direct member of our Rodney Family. It’ll be very troublesome if John’s corpse is taken away.

‘I definitely can’t let Mafa Merlin take away his corpse. F*ck, did the guys in charge of intelligence eat sh*t while growing up?! How is Mafa Merlin a 1st Rank or 2nd Rank Heaven Mage? He is obviously a 3rd Rank Heaven Mage, and from what these two morons said, he is stronger than the average 3rd Rank Heaven Mage.

‘Could those idiots not find any valuable information apart from the fact that Mafa Merlin is the true owner of the Gilded Rose…?

‘Even though I don’t want to, I can only keep a friendly smile on…’

“Sir Mafa Merlin, I’m called Pass Rodney, you can call me Pass. There is something I’d like to discuss with Sir Mafa.

“It’s concerning that damned bandit’s corpse…”

Pass paused, confidence visible in his eyes.

‘In any case, I can’t let Mafa Merlin think that I value John’s body. I’ll use some small negotiation techniques to show that I don’t attach too much importance to it, I believe that it’ll be easier to discuss then.’

Lin Yun casually froze John’s body into a chunk of ice before putting it into his Spatial Ring.

“Eh, is there a problem with that bandit corpse, Sir Pass? If there is no problem, I can freeze it and hang it at the entrance of the Gilded Rose so that all bandit groups will learn the consequences of attacking the Gilded Rose’s convoys.

“I can use Black Gold Ice to prevent any possible disease from spreading. Alright, thank you for the reminder Sir Pass, see you later.”

Pass was stunned as he watched Lin Yun’s movements.

‘Sh*t, is that guy a barbarian? This was clearly negotiations, could it be that he didn’t even understand that I was trying to negotiate with him? Does he have no intention of conversing with me?

‘Damned b*stard, how could you do something like this and leave without talking?

‘What a joke, how could you take John’s body away and hang it at the entrance of the Gilded Rose encased in Black Gold Ice? Isn’t that a huge waste of money?

‘A fist-sized chunk of Black Gold Ice is worth over a thousand purple golds, and the bigger the Black Gold Ice, the more expensive it gets as its price increases exponentially. To encase an entire body in ice, one would need over ten million purple golds.

‘Sh*t, has that guy gone insane? Does he plan to freeze John’s corpse and put it on display for a millennium?

‘Let alone a millennium, the corpse would still remain intact after ten millennia…’

Pass panicked as he noticed Lin Yun about to fly away.

“Sir Mafa Merlin, please wait a moment! Please listen to me before making a decision!”

Lin Yun frowned as he looked at Pass

“Sir Pass, my time is limited, I don’t have time to waste…”

Pass smiled wryly and kept his calm.

“Sir Mafa Merlin, this guy was named Dess, he was the leader of the Death Sickle bandit group. He was a very vicious 2nd Rank Heaven Mage. He caused so much damage to the Rodney Family that it could fill up an entire book.

“I don’t remember how many times he led his bandits to our Rodney Family’s territories. In our territories, the name Death Sickle and Dess are even used to scare children. When children are crying, those names could even scare them to the point where they would go silent.

“In the past, one of the neighboring villages refused to submit to Dess… In the end, men, women, children and elderly were all hung alive at the entrance of the village.

“He even captured the granddaughter of an ancestor and tortured her to death before throwing her corpse at the entrance of the Rodney Family to humiliate us…”

“And that was my younger cousin…”

At those words, Pass started choking with emotion. He gnashed his teeth, apparently recalling some depressing matter.

Floating next to Lin Yun, Enderfa was looking at the scene with shock. One of his faces was even admiring the performance.

“Our Rodney Family attacked the Death Sickle bandit group several times, but who knows how many tunnels these damned rats dug under the mountains. As long as our Rodney Family’s powerhouses come, they would disappear within these countless passages.

“They would only come back when our family’s powerhouses departed, before fiercely retaliating against us. They even slaughtered a small city belonging to our Rodney Family, looting everything there.

“Our Rodney Family couldn’t dispatch a 3rd Rank Heaven powerhouse to keep watching this place. Ultimately, we ended up being in a deadlock.

“This time, the family was determined to cooperate with the Gilded Rose to eliminate these sinful bandits!

“But before the fight even started, Sir Mafa Merlin personally made a move and killed that rat Dess.

“That’s excellent…”

Lin Yun watched Pass’ performance with admiration. Even Lin Yun, with the insight of a 3rd Rank Heaven Mage, couldn’t see anything wrong with it. Whether it was his state of mind, mana fluctuations, or even the speed of his speech, everything was flawless.

He was truly hating the guy that just died. Lin Yun couldn’t help admiring such acting.

“Sir Pass, rest assured, I’ll definitely let that guy’s corpse hang at the entrance of the Gilded Rose for a millennium… No, at the entrance of Neverwinter City for a millennium so that everyone can spit on him when passing through the entrance. Whoever spit on him would have a 1% discount… No, a 2% discount on the Gilded Rose’s items!”

“Items aren’t cheap after all, a small discount might add up to a few dozen purple golds. 2% of the most expensive item of the Gilded Rose could amount to 10,000 purple golds.

“Any higher and the losses of purple golds would be considerable…

“And that’s just for the price of spitting on a terrible bandit leader when entering the city.

“I believe that no one would refuse such a deal.”

Hearing these words, Pass’ face turned green and he no longer dared to put on a performance. He then promptly stopped Lin Yun.

“Sir Mafa Merlin, that Dess caused a lot of damage to our Rodney Family’s territories, I hope that Sir Mafa Merlin can hand over the corpse to our Rodney Family.

“Our Rodney Family will hang his corpse to let those that suffered under his hands spit at him…”

Lin Yun frowned and Pass was startled. He was afraid that Lin Yun would refuse and give up on negotiating, thus, he gave him his best offer.

“Naturally, Sir Mafa Merlin personally got rid of that terrible Dess so you can also take him back to hang his corpse at the city gates to warn those daring bandit groups.

“It’s truly unsuitable for our Rodney Family to act like that. You can make an offer. In order to show you our sincerity, our Rodney Family will compensate you. After all, it wouldn’t be fair for us to get benefits when you were the one that painstakingly fought…”

Lin Yun smiled and nodded.

“Good, since that’s what you want, it’s not impossible to give it to you.”

Pass hurried to strike while the iron was hot.

“Please quote a price, we will definitely compensate you properly.”

Lin Yun smiled and took out a list of items before handing it over to Pass.

“I didn’t think of a good compensation, but it just so happens that I have a list of the materials recently procured by the Gilded Rose. As you know, our Gilded Rose’s convoys has been attacked by those stupid Death Sickle bandits several times and we are lacking some materials.

“If you compensate for the materials, then I’ll also let your Rodney Family keep all the wealth within the Death Sickle bandit group’s treasury. After all, the Death Sickle bandits had been plundering for a very long time. Even though their treasury must be buried under the mountain and might need some effort to locate, it must contain a lot of treasures.”

Pass sighed in relief.

‘Just some materials? I thought that guy was about to be greedy… I didn’t expect him to only ask for some materials. The rumors regarding Mafa Merlin aren’t very accurate. Wasn’t it rumored that he was even greedier than a Dragon? He only asked for some materials.

‘And he doesn’t even want the treasures of the Death Sickle bandits. Maybe that guy doesn’t want to trouble himself with digging.

‘He doesn’t know that there are no treasury in the Death Sickle hideout. All the treasures already returned to our Rodney Family. Those bandits are only the weapons of the Rodney Family.

‘It looks like the Gilded Rose had a really hard time and need to purchase their materials externally. Mafa Merlin asking us to compensate with materials makes sense.’

Pass had been making conjectures as he opened the list of items that Lin Yun handed over.

After checking that list of items, Pass’ pale face turned greenish, before turning red. He almost choked.

His hands shook as he looked over the list of items.

Eternal Gold Essence – 500 kg.

Star Mithril – 600 kg.

Enchanted Quicksilver – 1000 kg.

Draconic Inkblood…

‘Damn, since when can those precious materials be weighed in kilograms? And hundreds of kilograms at a time. An ordinary alchemy device can only use a few grams at a time and that would be considered extravagant. Even if one made a True Spirit Magic Tool, they wouldn’t use more than a kilogram.

‘These precious materials are all in the hundreds of kilograms, ordinary materials are in the thousands and magic metals go so far as several dozen thousand.

‘Sh*t, that guy wants so much material… Is he trying to feed a Heaven Rank gold-eating beast? With the Gilded Rose’s current scale, even three years wouldn’t be enough to use everything…

‘That guy is crazy, a madman, he actually wants so much…’

Pass’ face turned red from anger and his hands were shivering as he looked at the list of items until his eyes bulged out and he loudly shouted, “Impossible! No way! Sir Mafa Merlin, I came and showed my sincerity, but you are too much! You don’t have a single wisp of sincerity!”

Lin Yun didn’t get angry and just smiled at Pass.

Pass complained for half a minute, only to discover that Lin Yun was still smiling and ignored him. This instantly scared Pass.

‘Sh*t, did Mafa Merlin discover something? No way, that idiot John didn’t cast a steel spell before being discovered. Mafa Merlin couldn’t have found anything.

‘Then why is his smile so scary…?’