The Master of Language - T.M.L Chapter 47 (Part 1):

I looked around. The intense heat generated by his fire magic had already been absorbed by the Phoenix’s egg.

“It seems your fire can’t overcome the coldness of the Phoenix’s egg. Well, that’s to be expected. It was the same at the river.”

“You bastard!”

Merlin shouted, extending both hands forward.

A heavy stream of lava-like flames poured towards me.

I glanced at Oshalo, and he immediately came in front of me.

Oshalo formed an ice crystal shield with both hands to protect me from the lava-like fire.

I also waved my staff, conjuring water magic in harmony with the mansion’s protective magic.

Then, it started raining magical water in the room.

Though it was dozens of times smaller than what Master Abana had shown me.

Oshalo and I easily blocked Merlin’s fire magic through water magic.

Merlin spoke as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Impossible. I’ve bet my life! How can you block my fire even when I’ve put my life on the line?”

I looked at him and calmly said,

“Senior Merlin. What do you think it means that I showed you death magic? I have the same determination you put into that declaration magic.”

Not to mention that I’ve employed the Undine from the fountain, the death magic from the skeleton with particularly strong psychic power, the Phoenix’s egg, the mansion’s protective magic, and even the water herbs, but I didn’t feel like explaining all that.

Merlin seemed to feel a sense of despair, his expression blank. He too had instinctively realized that he couldn’t penetrate my defense.

But then his expression suddenly changed.

Ecstasy?

Pleasure?

It was an expression I couldn’t comprehend.

At that moment, Merlin’s fire gradually diminished. Not only the flames spewing from his hands but also the fire flickering from his feathers subsided.

He brought both hands to his chest. Then he lightly shook the feathers that enveloped him.

Dozens of sparks fell to the floor.

With a slight wave of his hand, those sparks gathered together in his right hand.

Merlin stared at it intently and said,

“The skeleton holding the Phoenix’s egg is what you’ve prepared for a counterattack, right? You have no other means left.”

“You never know.”

Merlin smiled confidently.

“Then I just need to deal with that Phoenix’s egg. That’s all there is to it.”

“How? Even with all your fire magic, you can’t overcome this cold.”

“Just because you have that egg doesn’t mean you’re its master. If I awaken the Phoenix with my power, it will follow me.”

What?

Before I could say anything, Merlin stretched out his right hand. The sparks gathered in his right hand slowly flew towards me.

Just in case, I ordered Oshalo. Oshalo combined the ice shields in both hands into one and stood to block the sparks.

The moment those sparks reached Oshalo’s ice shield, they stopped in front of it and slowly began to emit a fiery aura.

An extremely gentle and soft aura.

That fiery aura passed through the ice shield and was transmitted directly to the Phoenix’s egg located in Oshalo’s heart.

Merlin, with his eyes closed, was dedicating all his efforts to transmitting the fiery aura to the Phoenix’s egg.

My mind became incredibly complicated.

If the Phoenix awakens like this, will it really listen to Merlin?

Or is he trying to catch me off guard, hoping I’ll withdraw Oshalo out of fear?

Should I keep Oshalo here?

Or should I withdraw him?

“Having trouble deciding?”

Merlin’s question, piercing my heart, was more threatening than all the flames he had spewed until now.

He spoke without hiding his smile.

“I don’t care what you do. If you leave that skeleton as it is, the Phoenix will be mine, and if you withdraw that skeleton, I’ll just burn your defenseless self. I noticed earlier that your robe seems highly resistant to fire, so even if I burn you, that robe will remain. Then the Phoenix’s egg you’ve withdrawn will be mine too.”

“If you thought I’d be swayed by such a low-level deception, you’re mistaken, Senior Merlin.”

“Then keep the Phoenix’s egg out there. Until I awaken the Phoenix and bring it under my control.”

His voice was drastically different from the anger-filled one he had used until now.

He clearly saw a real chance of survival.

“If that’s really true, why did you tell me, your enemy?”

Merlin bared his teeth.

“You’re cunning but extremely inexperienced. You know nothing about the battles of mages, hehehe.”

He didn’t explain further and concentrated even more on infusing his magic into the sparks.

As a result, the fiery aura transmitted to the Phoenix’s egg grew stronger.

I calmly looked down at him.

The amount of magic Merlin was transmitting to the Phoenix’s egg through the sparks was too much to be just a deception.

Could he transfer so much magic if he wasn’t certain he’d become the Phoenix’s master?

I took a deep breath.

No.

Let’s stick to the original plan.

It’s about buying time.

I gripped my staff tightly and extended it slightly to the side. A streak of fire formed from Merlin’s sparks, connecting to my staff.

I had diverted some of the fiery aura Merlin was infusing into the sparks.

Feeling this, Merlin still smiled leisurely.

“I will add all the sparks I’ve gathered throughout my life and all the magic I possess. Do you think you can prevent the Phoenix from awakening by stealing such a small amount?”

Whoosh-!

As soon as he finished speaking, his sparks burned even more intensely. As he said, the fiery aura I was diverting to the side was insignificant compared to the fiery aura reaching the Phoenix’s egg.

We remained in this standoff for quite some time.

Feathers began to fall from Merlin’s body one by one. His eyes became hazy, and his face grew gaunt.

Instead, the Phoenix’s egg emitted an even stronger cold aura than before, as if it were the opposite of a candle flaring up just before it goes out.

Thus, I instinctively felt that it was closer to the birth of the Phoenix.

Then I heard Fabre’s voice.

[It’s almost time.]

Finally, the time has come.

I raised my head.

And looked at Merlin.

Merlin, with his eyes half-closed, barely managed to look back at me.

“You seem quite exhausted, Senior Merlin.”

Merlin slightly opened his mouth, but soon closed it without saying anything, with difficulty.

I continued speaking.

“If you’re this exhausted, I think I could win even without Oshalo. It seems the Phoenix’s egg demands more fiery aura than expected.”

Merlin’s lips moved again, but he couldn’t answer.

He was too exhausted even to speak.

“Rather than keeping an unnecessary risk factor, I’ll face you with my own power by withdrawing Oshalo.”

Dangun

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