Wisps of negative energy wormed into Darkness Eye. Merlin could even sense the "glee" of Darkness Eye in his palm. Before Wizard Leo died, he had told Merlin that Darkness Eye was sentient.

Merlin now felt even more keenly that Darkness Eye was sentient indeed. Darkness Eye only required a continuous supply of negative energy to grow. The master of Darkness Eye would finally be unable to suppress it and suffer from a backlash.

In its lengthy history, most Spell Casters who cultivated Darkness Eye had, in fact, died due to the backlash from Darkness Eye. It was not surprising that Darkness Eye was called a cursed power.

"Want to come out? Without my permission, you have no way of doing so!"

Merlin seemed to be speaking to himself. In his eyes, he glimpsed an enormous ghostly face which snarled as it battered against the unyielding cage. Once it broke through, the ghostly face would surge out and swallow Merlin.

This was the fourth form of Darkness Eye which had been sealed by Wizard Leo using the last of his strength. Now that it was stimulated by the negative energy, it was futilely trying to break the seal.

"Darkness Eye has always been a concealed danger!"

Although Merlin knew that Darkness Eye could not become much of a threat within a short period, if there ever came a day when he unleashed the fourth form of Darkness Eye and resulted in its backlash, he could still use the Flame Maxim to quell it by force. He would not end up like Wizard Leo who died due to the backlash.

However, even the fourth form of Darkness Eye would result in such a terrifying backlash. In the future, there would be the fifth, the sixth, even the seventh form – how dreadful would those be?

Anyone who cultivated Darkness Eye would have no way of getting rid of it unless they acted like Leo, who paid with his life to seal Darkness Eye. Only then could he extract Darkness Eye. Nonetheless, in that particular case, Wizard Leo had died all the same.

Merlin could not bear the burden of such a cost! Thus, in the long term, Darkness Eye was really an unstable, dormant danger. No one knew when it would suddenly flare up.

These thoughts flashed across Merlin's mind all at once because Merlin's recent massacre had generated great amounts of negative energy. This was absorbed by Darkness Eye, which tried in vain to tempt Merlin to unleash its fourth form. Thus, all of these considerations crossed his mind.

Nevertheless, the priority now was to suppress the Spell Casters below because numerous beams of colossal Mind Power had soared into the sky, threatening to dispel Darkness Illusory Death.

Darkness Illusory Death was not of much use against Spell Casters above the Seventh-level. Therefore, Merlin pointed to the space between his eyebrows with both hands. The Runic Heartprint instantly emerged once more.

"Seal!"

Mysterious runes rapidly flew out from the Runic Heartprint, glowing brightly in the sky. Following that, they were directed by Merlin's Mind Power and rushed down immediately toward a few Spell Casters with formidable Mind Power.

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh."

This time, Merlin freely displayed the amazing capabilities of the Runic Heartprint. Blocks of mysterious runes quickly filled the sky, and powerful Runic Magic Circles were consolidated one after another. Then, they all flew downward.

All those who were bound by the Runic Magic Circles, even if just for a while, was enough to please Merlin because he had employed the Runic Magic Circles only to restrict their movements.

"Fiery Collapse!"

Pale white flames burst out in an instant, and like the spark that started a prairie fire, quickly extended in all directions. The area which was engulfed in darkness was turned into a sea of fire.

If Runic Magic Circles and Darkness Illusory Death were unable to cause those Seventh-level Spell Casters any real damage, then the current Fiery Collapse caused them no end of dread. This was because the Seventh-level Defensive spells they had cast were unable to withstand even the slightest contact with Fiery Collapse.

By relying on the second form of Fiery Collapse, Merlin had eliminated a few Seventh-level Spell Casters before so those Seventh-level Spell Casters could not afford to underestimate this attack.

"Let's go quickly. Dark Fire Incarnate is far too fearsome. We have no way of contending against him!"

"Dark Fire Incarnate – from now on, there's one more terror in Subzero Snowfield!"

Without realizing it, Merlin had acquired the nickname of "Dark Fire Incarnate". Of course, Merlin obtained this through his killings and his force. It was merely a nickname, yet it encapsulated Merlin's most frightening techniques.

However, Seventh-level Spell Casters were formidable, after all. The Runic Magic Circles which Merlin had constructed in a hurry could not hold on for long, so a few Spell Casters broke out of the binding of the Runic Magic Circle. Thereafter, they quickly escaped from the burning sea of fire, terror-stricken.

Following their departure, the name of Dark Fire Incarnate would also reverberate across Subzero Snowfield!

"Dark Fire Incarnate?"

An eerie smirk appeared on Merlin's lips. He had not expected that he would have such a nickname, one that was unmatched in its tyranny. In the southern Spell Caster world, not even those Ninth-level Spell Casters would dare to go by such an imperious title.

However, this was not the southern Spell Caster world but the incomparably chaotic Subzero Snowfield. Here, there was a simple method to obtain a nickname, which was to slaughter!

It was just like in the case of that Mad Wizard Mobundo, who was malevolent and unscrupulous but with powerful abilities. Once he began killing, he had no mercy, so he achieved the label of Mad Wizard, making Spell Casters clenched their jaws when they mentioned him.

"Master!"

Just then, Ernie and Watson hurried to Merlin's side. Their current appearance was rather pitiful. They had fled from the caves previously. Although they used two puppets to withstand the first wave of attack, they were still in a dangerous situation as they were bombarded by countless spells.

If Merlin had not appeared in time and cast Darkness Illusory Death inundating all the Spell Casters here, Ernie and Watson would have been in a less favorable situation.

Buoyed by the elated adrenalin of having narrowly escaped death, their minds could think of nothing else when they saw Merlin's god-like display of might.

"Master, we spotted Mad Wizard Mobundo escaping earlier. Heh, only Mad Wizard Mobundo could instigate so many Spell Casters to attack!"

Upon mentioning Mad Wizard Mobundo, an expression of rage flashed across Wizard Ernie's face. It looked like Mad Wizard had made him suffer in the past.

"Master, do you want us to hunt down Mad Wizard Mobundo?"

Wizard Ernie currently appeared to be incomparably disconcerted, yet he wanted to chase after Mad Wizard Mobundo. It must be a matter of pride. Merlin could tell that although Mad Wizard Mobundo's powers were not that great, he had many tricks up his sleeve. Moreover, he was treacherous and cunning, being able to stay on in Subzero Snowfield without trouble despite offending so many. Naturally, there must be something special about him, and he would not be that easy to kill.

"There's no need to create further trouble. Come on, we can't stay here any longer."

Merlin looked at the utter state of disorder that stretched across the front of the Thousand Miles Snow Cave. The stench of blood pervaded the air. He knew that they must not linger on here. If they did so and attracted Eighth-level Spell Casters, they would be in danger.

Thus, Merlin, Wizard Ernie, and Wizard Watson quickly left the Thousand Miles Snow Cave.

…

The icy wind wailed in the white, blinding expanse of the snowstorm. Three figures sped along in the air.

"Master, the snowstorm is far too violent. Should we find a place to rest first?"

These three individuals were Merlin and his two Seventh-level slaves. They were flying aimlessly, only wanting to leave the Thousand Miles Snow Cave as far behind as possible. They did not expect to encounter such a huge snowstorm in their journey.

The forces of nature were still beyond Spell Casters. Even a Great Wizard would become helpless when faced with certain powers of nature. Only the Great Legendary Wizards had the ability to shift even the weather and the landscape.

Merlin nodded in assent. There was really no point in continuing their flight with such a powerful snowstorm, so they found a cave which was relatively dry as a temporary shelter from the snowstorm.

The climate of Subzero Snowfield was so unpleasant that even Spell Casters found it hard to take. It was thanks to this that no Normies lived in Subzero Snowfield despite the provision of ample land. Only Spell Casters were able to survive in Subzero Snowfield.

In the cave, Wizard Ernie started a bonfire. The red flames were reflected upon the faces of Merlin and the rest, shifting incessantly along with the cold wind that blew in from time to time.

Merlin thought back to the battle today. His Darkness-type spell in addition to Darkness Heart was now so formidable, and it was unaffected by the number of Spell Casters.

Perhaps other Spell Casters would be afraid of the joined forces of countless Spell Casters. In such a case, even Seventh-level Spell Casters could be overwhelmed and killed. However, with Merlin's Darkness-type spell, he could place everyone into an illusion no matter how many of them.

Besides the Darkness-type spell, the might of Fiery Collapse had also increased. The second form had improved its powers greatly, reaching the peak of a Seventh-level spell, which was also its limit. Any spell that was not on the Eighth-level would be unable to block the scorching of Fiery Collapse. It was because of Merlin's powerful Darkness-type and Fire-type spells that he was named Dark Fire Incarnate by the many Spell Casters of Subzero Snowfield!

Still, other than these spells, what pleased Merlin was the use of the Runic Heartprint. The Runic Magic Circles created by the Runic Heartprint had miraculous strength. He was able to contend against eight Seventh-level Wizards, defeat them, and even turn two Seventh-level Spell Casters, Ernie and Watson, into his slaves. He could not have done all this without the Runic Heartprint!

The functions of runes did not merely include attacking, defending, and binding, which were not that different from most spells. They could further be used to create Runic Magic Circles to be used to teleport over long distances.

Nonetheless, this would require Runic Magic Circles that were set up in advance. The one-way teleportation could only be carried out after the two Magic Circles were mutually activated. Otherwise, if one traversed through space aimlessly by carelessly using a Runic Magic Circle, one was very likely to become trapped in a Spatial Gap, which was akin to seeking one's own death.

The only exception was Spatial-type spells. Only then would one be able to freely traverse space. Nevertheless, even then, one would need to use up an inconceivable amount of Magic Power, which most Spatial Wizards could not endure.

Ever since Merlin had arrived at Subzero Snowfield, he discovered that the Runic Magic Circles he created here were unable to react with the Runic Magic Circles surrounding the Dark Magic Region. In other words, he had no way of teleporting there directly. He would still have to rely on flight to return to the vicinity of the Dark Magic Region in order to locate the Runic Magic Circles to enter the Dark Magic Region.

"Subzero Snowfield is a good place indeed. At the moment, the southern Spell Casters must have descended into chaos. It looks like I should stay in Subzero Snowfield for a period of time and set up some Runic Magic Circles for emergency use!"

All these thoughts crossed Merlin's mind. Although Subzero Snowfield was disorderly, this could not be more suitable for Merlin. Moreover, he was able to avoid getting involved with the conflict between the southern Spell Caster world and Ozmu.

Thus, he should leave behind a few concealed Runic Magic Circles in Subzero Snowfield. In the future, if he encountered danger, he would have the chance to escape in this direction through the Runic Magic Circles set up by the Runic Heartprint.

If Merlin had set up a few hidden Runic Magic Circles in Subzero Snowfield beforehand, he would not have to force his way out of the Thousand Miles Snow Cave, and could instead bring Ernie and Watson directly to the Runic Magic Circle, teleporting their way out.

This was a frightening characteristic of a runologist, who was unmatched in their ability to escape. According to Merlin's understanding, that Mad Wizard Mobundo who had offended many Spell Casters, including a great number of powerful ones, was himself a runologist who was highly accomplished in runology.

It was by relying on Runic Magic Circles that Mobundo had escaped from being killed repeatedly, surviving up until now.

"Hum."

At last, Merlin set out a Runic Magic Circle in the cave. He did not keep this a secret from Ernie and Watson. They were Merlin's slaves, so Merlin controlled their every gesture and every word. Even if they knew that Merlin had arranged a Runic Magic Circle here, they would not dare to mess it up, to say nothing of telling others.

Therefore, the other two might as well pretend that they knew nothing, and closed their eyes to restore the Magic Power they had used up today.