"Haha, finally there's someone who accepts the challenge. We'll get to see some action."

The two guardians saw that Merlin had finally agreed, and appeared overjoyed.

"Whoosh whoosh."

The two guardians did not hold back. They brandished the pikes in their hands and thrust forward bluntly. The force was formidable, whistling as it sliced through the air. There were even faint cracks in the space.

To break space in one strike, was the level of a Great Legend. It was not surprising that Wizard Byron said that the Great Wizards of the royal family had never been able to get past this.

"Good attack!"

Merlin's body flashed with a light which clung to his skin, just like a layer of armor that protected Merlin's body fully.

"Bang bang."

The two pikes stabbed into Merlin viciously, and the light over his body burst into ripples like water. Although the force was great, it did not harm Merlin at all.

"Hmm? He's able to withstand a blow from us. Very well, again!"

The two guardians appeared even more elated. They suddenly put away their pikes, then began to vibrate violently. Each vibration caused further cracks in the small space around them.

Merlin's face turned grave. The bodies of these guardians had no trace of Elemental fluctuations. What they cast would not be a spell. It would be more like martial arts of the martial arts robots.

He had never expected that martial arts could be this powerful.

"Ice Seal!"

Seeing through the moves of these two guardians, Merlin did not hold back. An apparition of the Wizard Heart appeared behind him, exuding a powerful and unseen force.

"Crack crack."

Following that, the Ice-type spell burst out instantly, second only to an Honored Legend's power. It froze all the surrounding space. The two guardians were no exception and were frozen, unable to move.

"You've won. You may enter!"

The two guardians exchanged a glance, and noticed the astonishment in each other's eyes. In such a long time, it was the first time someone had directly defeated them.

"Haha, Wizard Merlin, you've won. You can enter to select a treasure!"

On the side, Wizard Byron saw that Merlin had easily defeated the two guardians, and his heart fluttered in excitement. Finally, these two were defeated. He had previously attempted to pass through as well. Naturally, he knew how impressive these two guardians were, yet unexpectedly, they were easily defeated by Merlin.

It was not surprising that even the fabled Divine Believers who possessed the strength of god were defeated by Merlin.

"What is this place? Who are you?"

Merlin did not enter directly, and instead, questioned the two guardians.

The two guardians still seemed caught up in shock. Upon hearing Merlin's questions, they broke out into mysterious smiles. "The exact nature of this place will be known to you in the future. As for us, we're puppets with life given by Master!"

"Puppets? You're both puppets? Puppets with life?"

Merlin's expression froze in shock. He had seen many puppets but the common thing was that they were all just puppets. There was no way to bring them to life.

Even the Ultimate Arcane Wizards or the ultimate existences of any civilization in the Void Zone would have no way of creating life. This was creating something from nothing, thus involving the natural order.

However, now these two guardians said that someone had bestowed them life. Merlin's mind was a complete blank.

"Alright, go in then. Hehe, there are still challenges waiting for you inside. You're not too shabby, being able to pass this round but the following challenges will be the true tests. It depends on how far you'll be able to go."

With that, the two guardians returned to their positions, flanking the door. There was a flash of light, and they became two stone statues once more.

"Rumble."

The gigantic stone door began to rise gradually, revealing a pitch-dark entrance. Instantly, the force of the Origin grew even stronger.

Merlin snapped out of his contemplation. This secret place was full of mystery. Whether it was the emergence of the Dimension Origin's force or those two guardians who called themselves puppets yet possessed a life force, everything seemed suffused with secrets.

Perhaps the answer was beyond the door.

"Wizard Byron, you wait here first. I'll try my best to get a treasure on par with the purple gold crown!"

Following that, Merlin took a deep breath. He did not remove the Defensive spell, and cautiously walked into the mysterious entrance.

…

Behind the stone door, Merlin felt a chill. Even though he had the protection of the spell, that chill still wormed into his body. Merlin shut his eyes lightly and inspected his body, and a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

"It's not an actual chill. Instead, it's because… I'm afraid!"

It was true. Merlin was afraid. Ever since he came from Blackwater City, he had progressed step by step to where he was now, second only to an Honored Legend. If he used the warship, he could even explode with the fighting power on par with an Honored Legend.

Nonetheless, Merlin was now deeply frightened!

"Back during the civilization war, the situation was so desperate. Even Honored Legends would die. A Lord attacked me before, and so did a Rock Progenitor. I wasn't even afraid then. Now that I'm in this mysterious place, why is it that I feel fear?"

Merlin mumbled to himself. With each word he spoke, his eyes grew brighter. By the end, his Mind Power even surged out, startling Titus who was in the Illusory World.

"Huh? Merlin, your Mind Power has grown stronger and solid now. I can even feel a trace of your will!"

Will – this was something only an ultimate existence could manifest, just like the Lord God of Light. By relying on just a small trace of his will, he nearly pushed Merlin to the end of his tether.

Titus could now feel a trace of Merlin's will, which was astonishing.

"Nothing much, it's just I've come to a realization."

Merlin smiled. He had just banished his fear completely, and was filled with bold courage. Even if he was facing this unknown secret place, he would no longer be frightened.

"Merlin, be careful. This place is giving me a strange feeling."

Titus' expression turned serious. In the Illusory World, he could see everything clearly. Moreover, as a powerful being who had created an Illusory World, his perceptivity toward danger was rather keen.

Merlin bobbed his head. It was true that after he had passed those doors, he kept having this odd feeling. The walls here were covered in a thick blanket of dust with cobwebs hanging around. The air was filled with a stultifying force.

After walking a distance, Merlin noticed that the walls now bore monumental stone carvings. However, the people in these carvings were peculiarly shaped and even looked rather barbarous.

After walking further, Merlin discovered that the sprawling stone carvings on the walls had changed again. There were faint signs of some Normies, and gods as well, more than one.

As he went on, the stone carvings kept changing. This time, some Spell Casters seemed to have appeared. These Spell Casters were still weak, and they were passing on knowledge about spells to some Normies.

Merlin suddenly realized what this was, and quickly turned around, observing the first stone carving. It was a record of the Glorious Land's development.

From the beginning, the stone carvings only displayed a scene of wilderness. "People" had not even appeared. Thereafter, some barbarians appeared and gradually evolved.

At an unknown time, gods appeared. Soon, they were drawing upon the people's faith, compelling everyone to worship them devoutly. This was the era of the gods' rule.

The gods ruled for a very long time until the birth of the Spell Casters. From the start, the weak Spell Casters had begun by questioning the gods. There would always be a group who would not hand over their souls to the gods completely. They had independent thinking, and slowly started to realize that the gods were enslaving them.

Therefore, to seek power to contend against the gods, they discovered that hey could construct Spell Models using Elements which were all around them to resist the gods. With that, Spell Casters were born!

The birth of Spell Casters was an irreversible movement. Soon, the gods found out about the Spell Casters. Thus, began the first war between Spell Casters and gods.

At that time, Spell Casters were too weak, to the point where the gods did not even need to attack. All they needed was the church to suppress the Spell Casters.

Spell Casters lay low for a period, following which they rose up explosively once again. This time, the first Great Legend appeared, who led the Spell Casters in their second insurgency to contend against gods.

It was just a shame that there was more than one god. In addition, the gods of the Glorious Land were particularly powerful. A mere ordinary Legend with one Maxim had no way of fighting them.

In the end, the first Great Legend died but the spark of Spell Casters had been produced. After another long period, the second Legend was born. However, after this Legend's emergence, the Spell Casters finally exploded with full force, and successively produced many Great Legends.

This was the third time Spell Casters had risen. This time, they had finally defeated a few gods, achieving an unprecedented expansion, and began their fight against the gods.

War, endless war! During the third time Spell Casters rose up, what they were greeted with was an endless war. Nonetheless, each time the Spell Casters were about to be defeated, another Great Legend would appear.

At first, it was a Legend who had achieved the ultimate Maxim, becoming an Honored Legend. In one fell swoop, that Legend defeated the joint attack of a few powerful gods, saving all the Spell Casters.

However, the counterattack of the gods was even more forceful. When the Spell Casters were at their most desperate moment, someone consolidated two ultimate Maxims, becoming the first Great Lord.

Spell Casters struck back in force, and began to produce more and more Lords and Honored Legends. The gods were slain, defeated, and exiled one by one…

This was the lengthy war between Spell Casters and gods. From the first insurgency to the third, it spanned tens of thousands of years.

Finally, Spell Casters established the Molta Empire. This was considered the Spell Casters' most glorious era. When the Spell Casters exiled the gods, they had also discovered the Void Zone, and began to set foot into it.

The following history was known to Merlin. The Void Zone had countless foreign civilizations yet, the puny Spell Caster civilization was not vanquished but instead, grew stronger. Among the ancient Lords, the first Ultimate Arcane Wizard was born. Following that was the birth of the second and third Arcane Wizard, and up until today, when the Spell Caster civilization was still sustaining its olden glory.

The monumental stone carvings on the passage's wall ended at the point where Spell Casters stepped into the Void Zone. Nonetheless, Merlin was shaken to his core as he stared dumbly at these carvings.

If these were real, these massive stone carvings had documented the growth of the Glorious Land from nothing to where it was now.

Who could carve the extensive history and growth of the Glorious Land in such detail? Not even the most ancient Lord or the most ancient Arcane Wizard would be able to do this.

"The oldest records in the Void Zone didn't even mention the first and second uprising of the Spell Casters, only the third time. The Spell Caster civilization of the Void Zone had always accepted that the third uprising of the Spell Casters was when the Spell Caster civilization really began!"

If these stone carvings were true, then all the Spell Casters were mistaken. Before the third insurgency of the Spell Casters, there were two other times, only they were suppressed by the gods, ultimately failing.

Spell Casters had been born a very, very long time ago, always struggling against the gods. It was not as it was recorded in the Spell Caster civilization where the uprising of the Spell Casters was an irresistible force, and everything went smoothly.

Before that, there were two crushing defeats!

"Who could make these monumental stone carvings?"

Merlin stood up, and glanced around alertly. Without realizing it, he had already traced the stone carvings to a large, spacious hall. The force of the Dimension Origin was scorching like fire, and was very obvious now.

"You must be the one who passed through the door guarded by those two idiots?"

At the center of the hall, there was a colossal statue with the body of a lion and the face of a human. It suddenly spoke, and its booming voice even caused the dust in the hall to rain from above.