"Bang."

Outside the Imperial City, Merlin was preparing to attack and capture Pope Philandeny. However, he discovered that while Philandeny did not have the power of a Great Legend, he had a precious item that enabled him to tear open space at will.

Therefore, Philandeny managed to escape. However, he was the only one. Besides Philandeny, hundreds of thousands of troops sent by the Holy Light Empire as well as numerous believers including dozens of red-robed bishops and black-robed Inquisitors, had died under the attack of almost fifty Great Wizards.

Those with faith were incredibly frightening. Even regular soldiers would fight back maniacally. Only a very small group of people with shaky faith would throw away their weapons and surrender to the Kingdom of Blackmoon.

Merlin no longer got involved but instead, watched the scene indifferently until the battle was over. The entire land in front of the Imperial City was stained dark purple with fresh blood, and a thick bloody stench filled the air.

"Wizard Merlin, we've defeated the Holy Light Empire and safeguarded this free country!"

"We won, we finally won!"

Many Spell Casters felt a sense of redemption. From the previous sense of despair to the current clean sweep of victory, the rise and fall felt like a dream to them. Several Spell Casters were crying tears of joy.

The eighth prince was also watching the scene in front of him with a thumping heart. Just not too long ago, the royal family was in grave danger, and at risk of being wiped out. However, this battle had defeated the Holy Light Empire. Other than Philandeny and a few odd soldiers who managed to flee back to the Holy Light Empire, all the others perished here.

"Wizard Merlin, this is all thanks to you. If not for your victory over the Divine Believer, I'm afraid the Imperial City would've been invaded by now!"

Thinking of their helplessness against the Divine Believer back then, the eighth prince could not help but feel traumatized. He knew that the outcome of this battle was turned around by Merlin alone.

Merlin remained calm. Looking at the dwindling battle, he said slowly, "There are many things to do after a battle, so I won't stay here. Take a few days to rest. Although the Holy Light Empire has been defeated, the Holy Light Empire and the Church of Light still exist!"

Merlin cast his gaze into the distance. His meaning was crystal clear. At the same time, the eighth prince was undeniably thrilled as he recalled his previous agreement with Merlin.

It appeared that his aspiration for the Kingdom of Blackmoon to rule the entire world was not impossible!

…

Back in the silent castle, Merlin's expression turned thoughtful. He reached into the spatial ring and grabbed the God-Binding Disc.

Currently, the God-Binding Disc was covered with cracks all over, obviously damaged. This was the price he had to pay for extracting that sliver of the Lord God of Light's divinity from Bonnet.

Unfortunately, Merlin was not a Great Alchemist. Otherwise, he could probably try to mend the God-Binding Disc. After all, the God-Binding Disc had an obvious suppressive power over the gods.

"Whoosh."

Merlin opened the God-Binding Disc. Immediately, an overwhelming godly authority filled the entire room. The divinity was motionless, apparently suppressed by Merlin.

With regard to divinity, Merlin was thoroughly familiar with them. Back then, he had absorbed a lot of divinity. The divinity of gods had many benefits including healing injuries and increasing Mind Power.

However, the divinity that Merlin obtained before this all came from the ordinary gods, most of them lower rank gods. He had never obtained divinity from a middle or upper rank god. Meanwhile, this sliver of divinity before him belonged to a Lord God who had founded a god organization.

The overwhelming godly authority was not able to suppress Merlin. He observed this sliver of divinity carefully. Besides the overwhelming godly authority, it contained the concept of light.

With just a little touch, he could sense various characteristics of light, such as sacredness, everlastingness, gentleness, and so on. Most of all, Merlin wanted to use this sliver of divinity to improve his understanding of light in order to gain enlightenment of his Darkness spells.

Merlin now had the Five-Elemental Wizard Heart. He was only one step away from consolidating the Six-Elemental Wizard Heart and becoming a Great Wizard. Nevertheless, this one step seemed insurmountable.

In fact, Merlin had already tried simulating the fusion of the Darkness-type Wizard Heart in the Illusory World but the end result was still a failure.

After watching it for a moment, Merlin still did not gain any enlightenment. This sliver of divinity had become a burden for Merlin. Considering his current level of Mind Power, what he lacked was not Mind Power but enlightenment. No matter how much further his Mind Power increased, it would not help his enlightenment of the Illusory Heart.

Therefore, the Illusory World had reached a bottleneck. Using this divinity to increase his Mind Power would be useless.

"Divinity is all-powerful. Even an Honored Legend would covet it!"

Merlin contemplated for a moment Then, his eye flashed bright as an idea struck. Simulating the fusion of Wizard Heart in the Illusory World was simply a simulation. There were still plenty of differences from a real-life fusion.

However, a real-life fusion would pose come risks. Nonetheless, with this sliver of divinity, Merlin could try to forcibly fuse the Six-Elemental Wizard Heart.

Even if he failed, the divinity should be able to protect his existing Wizard Heart, and mend the injured parts. The benefits of divinity would attract the envy of even Honored Legends, what more the divinity from a Lord God who founded a god organization. Surely, this divinity would be extraordinary.

Thinking along these lines, Merlin took a deep breath, and made up his mind. With this sliver of divinity, it was his best chance. He could not let it go easily.

"The most critical fusion of all!"

An apparition of the Darkness-type Wizard Heart appeared behind Merlin. Then, the bigger Five-Elemental Wizard Heart also made an appearance.

Comparing side-by-side, the Five-Elemental Wizard Heart clearly held an advantage. It was like a gigantic beast that could easily crush the Darkness-type Wizard Heart.

In fact, Merlin also intended to allow the Five-Elemental Wizard Heart to engulf the Darkness-type Wizard Heart to transform it into a Six-Elemental Heart. Then, he would become a true Great Wizard.

With that, Merlin's abilities would undergo a substantive leap!

"Hum."

Suddenly, the two Wizard Hearts began to get closer to each other. Originally, among all his spells, Merlin had the deepest understanding of Fire- and Darkness-type spells.

By an unexpected twist of fate, it was his Darkness-type Wizard Heart that failed to fuse in the end.

In his mind, he recalled the feeling of constructing each Darkness-type Spell Model and the feeling of wielding Darkness-type spells. Even the Darkness Eye appeared among Merlin's memories.

The bits and pieces of Darkness-type spells flowed quietly in Merlin's memory. This way, Merlin gained a deeper understanding of Darkness-type spells.

However, just as the two Wizard Hearts were about to begin the fusion, Merlin discovered that the process of fusing a Six-Elemental Wizard Heart was not simple. The Wizard Heart began to vibrate so strongly that Merlin was almost unable to control it.

At this moment, Merlin immediately brandished the divinity. A warm feeling appeared in Merlin's Awareness. A dazzling radiance shined and rapidly mended the Darkness-type Wizard Heart.

Merlin was stunned. His mind seemed to be completely fixated on the dazzling radiance until it gradually turned into darkness and quietened down.

"Darkness is solitude… This is the Essence of Darkness Element!"

At this very moment, Merlin unexpectedly received enlightenment. Initially, he was about to give up continuing the fusion but upon attaining the dazzling radiance of the divinity, hope was ignited in his heart once again.

Hence, he used the small remaining amount of divinity to continuously shine its radiance in his Awareness. While the divinity mended the damaged Wizard Heart, Merlin also gained deeper enlightenment of Darkness-type spells.

"Fuse!"

The moment when divinity was completely used up, Merlin did not hesitate any longer. He controlled the Darkness-type Wizard Heart and began the fusion. This time, he did not have any protective measures, so it was very dangerous.

Fusing a Wizard Heart to become a Great Wizard had always been the most dangerous stage for Spell Casters. Upon passing this stage, the road ahead would be smooth sailing. Even if one did not become a Great Legend, it was still possible to live for a very long time. There were also no internal dangers such as Spell Models or Wizard Hearts collapsing to worry about.

However, if the attempt failed, Merlin might cause the Wizard Heart to collapse. Even if he did not die, he would be grievously injured, and it would be difficult to recover.

Merlin had experienced this type of danger many times. This was the last time, and also the one with no room for mistakes. His heart was filled with a conviction that he must succeed.

"Boom."

Finally, the two Wizard Hearts slammed together violently and began to fuse. Even though it was only a moment, it felt like an eternity to Merlin.

His Wizard Heart began to vibrate strongly once again like it was about to lose control.

At this time, Merlin thought of Old Man Eita, his father Old Wilson, and his wife Charise. He also thought of the vast darkness of the Void Zone and the painful struggles of countless civilizations.

Suddenly, Merlin realized that he was truly insignificant. Although he was now comparable to a Great Legend, in the infinite Void Zone, he was as insignificant as a grain of sand.

"No matter how powerful an ability is, it'll fade over time! No matter how beautiful a countenance, it'll grow old. No matter how heated a passion, it'll gradually become as cold as ice…"

"Eternity! Only a Maxim will last through eternity!"

At that moment, Merlin's heart seemed devoid of all elements. There were no spells and no Wizard Hearts. There was only a Maxim, an everlasting Maxim.

Only by consolidating a Maxim and becoming a Great Legend would he be eternal. Otherwise, he would eventually decay over a long time!

"Hum."

Just as Merlin fell into this unprecedented line of thought, his entire body jolted as if he was awakened. He sensed that in his Awareness, there was an incomparably powerful Wizard Heart.

Moreover, this Wizard Heart was emitting multi-colored rays. This was the multi-colored Wizard Heart of a Great Wizard.

Merlin had succeeded. He was a Six-Elemental Great Wizard!