Little Pink Starfish

As the gates of the Mage Association were blasted open, neither Fire God nor Zhaohua had time to react—a brilliant burst of light had already flared.

This was expected. No matter what, this was the headquarters of the Mage Association, the grand base of magicians. That towering Mage Tower wasn’t built just for its looks.

When Pei Sen blasted the gate open, the Mage Tower’s defensive magic array activated automatically and began to retaliate. What lit up wasn’t just light—it was a flame capable of melting anything, extremely dangerous.

“Crap, are they going to die just like that?”

The power of the magic array’s counterattack was clearly far beyond what their level could withstand.

At that moment, Fire God and Zhaohua felt an incredibly comforting warmth. Looking closer, they saw a tiny glowing sparrow hovering in front of them, its tiny wings fluttering… Under normal circumstances, they’d think wings that small couldn’t possibly lift such a plump little body.

“This is…”

They’d seen this cute little creature perched on Eagle’s shoulder earlier, so now—was it Duke Eagle himself protecting them?

The searing flames shot from the magic array were indeed blocked by the light shield generated by the glowing sparrow. Not only were Fire God and Zhaohua unharmed, the HP they’d lost during the earlier battle was rapidly regenerating.

“So strong!”

No matter the game, this would be an enviably powerful healer!

“A magic array of this level is no big deal,” said Pei Sen as he watched the magicians fleeing deeper inside. He knew they were likely going to inform the higher-ups of the association.

At this point, Fire God and Zhaohua were also feeling the gazes from all directions, making their scalps tingle.

“This is bad. Looks like we’ll need to find somewhere else to lay low,” Fire God thought regretfully. What a shame—they hadn’t managed to snag many magic skills from the Mage Association yet.

The staff in Pei Sen’s hand also came from the sigil ring. To be honest, this staff wasn’t all that powerful. When Pei Sen was still just a high-level mage, it was a perfect fit. But now that he had ascended to legendary mage, it was starting to fall behind.

But fortunately, wasn’t this the Mage Association? A place with centuries of deep heritage, and no shortage of legendary mages in its history—surely there’d be a staff suitable for him here.

Eagle also noticed the group that had gone to call for backup. He recalled the content of the letter sent by the Mage Association. “Still don’t quite get it. What exactly are they trying to pull?”

The ransom price the Mage Association proposed was clearly problematic—very problematic.

Frankly speaking, these magicians weren’t particularly good at scheming. Compared to the Church of Light, their hypocrisy was amateur-level, and in terms of manipulation, they were far inferior to those scheming nobles. So Eagle had immediately seen through their ploy.

Pei Sen also found it odd. “Logically, they should know we already wiped out the Church of Light. They shouldn’t be trying something so petty.”

“They probably still haven’t given up on your sigil ring.” That was the real conflict of interest. The greedy magicians of the Mage Association were still too arrogant and confident, unwilling to give up their desire for the sigil ring.

Pei Sen nodded. “Probably. That’s why the letter emphasized wanting to speak to you in person… Maybe they’re confident they can capture you under Sadin’s protection.”

“Not surprising. After all, they do have a legendary mage,” Eagle said mockingly.

But Pei Sen couldn’t help thinking of Mebrek, the legendary mage of the Berfield Family who had left the sigil ring to Eagle. Had he ever considered how much trouble this ring would bring to Eagle? Without him, without the players, it would’ve been almost impossible for Eagle to keep the ring on his own. The ring might’ve fallen into Kesso’s hands from the very beginning.

Then again, considering this mage had cursed his own family with an inescapable fate, he probably hadn’t thought that far ahead… Sometimes, magical talent and capability didn’t equate to sound judgment.

If Mebrek had been so prudent, his family wouldn’t have ended up so miserable, and Leiser wouldn’t have brought about Eagle’s tragedy because of his own curse.

One could only say that while Mebrek’s power was undeniable—so much so that even the Mage Association couldn’t do anything about him—he was equally skilled at causing trouble, reckless and without strategy to speak of.

“To think they’d barge in knowing full well we have a legendary mage… That, I truly didn’t expect.”

At that moment, an elderly man with silver hair descended from the Mage Tower. He wore a black mage robe—clearly of exceptional quality. Though black, it shimmered with eternal starlight. As he moved, the galaxy-like light swirled faintly, truly mystical.

“I am Elrich, president of the Mage Association,” the old man introduced himself.

As the president of the Mage Association, his appearance did align with what one might imagine of a powerful mage.

But Pei Sen merely glanced at him. “I don’t care who you are. Where’s your legendary mage? Hurry up and bring them out. A place like this should at least have one legendary holding the fort.”

Elrich looked somewhat embarrassed. “…”

“So what?” Pei Sen said coldly. The staff in his hand glowed slightly. With a flick, a cluster of ice blades burst from the ground, sending Elrich flying into the air!

And at his throat, a sharp ice spike hovered.

“Or do I need to kill you first, before your legendary mage deigns to come out?”

In an instant, Elrich broke into a cold sweat. He almost screamed, “You—you’re a legendary mage now too?!” Gone was the proud, graceful demeanor from moments ago.

Impossible!

The Mage Association, despite its arrogance and confidence, had done some research on Eagle’s entourage in order to deal with him.

The headquarters might be located on the southern continent, far removed from the north, but during Finn Rain’s large-scale operation, a few mages had escaped and provided plenty of intel to the association, supplemented by mercenary reports. Elrich thus had a decent understanding of Eagle.

He knew when Eagle’s butler had started learning magic. Judging by his youthful appearance—at most in his early twenties—even if he’d started learning magic from birth, he shouldn’t have reached legendary so quickly!

The Mage Association had seen many so-called prodigies, but even the most talented hadn’t advanced to legendary before age forty. This butler, an outsider no less, shouldn’t have such talent or power!

At that moment, Elrich was more shaken by Pei Sen’s power than worried about his own life.

“You—you’ve really become a legendary mage…”

Then, a calm voice came from behind.

Pei Sen didn’t turn. He could already sense a powerful magical fluctuation rushing toward him.

This legendary mage wasn’t the one stationed at the Mage Tower, but someone returning from elsewhere.

Pei Sen suspected this was the one originally dispatched to deal with him and Eagle—only now forced to chase them back to the headquarters.

Eagle raised a light barrier single-handedly. Meteorites engulfed in flames rained down upon it like a storm. The cinematic spectacle made Fire God and Zhaohua too stunned to move. Watching Eagle fend it off with ease left them completely dazzled.

“Holy crap, that’s insanely strong!”

“Unstoppable!”

“What’s that spell? Meteor Flame Rain?”

“No idea, but one hit and we’re dead for sure…”

“Duke Eagle is too cool, ahhh!”

“Did you record it?”

“Yeah, yeah! Missed the gate smash, but got everything after!”

The gate blast had been too sudden—they hadn’t had time to react.

Pei Sen didn’t even glance at the wild magical fireworks behind him. Smiling, he said to Elrich, “What now? Looks like that guy won’t make it in time to save you. Still no sign of your tower’s legendary mage?”

He raised his hand—the ice spike now poised to pierce Elrich’s throat!

Just then, a pale green barrier formed behind Elrich, protecting him. At last, someone descended from above.

Compared to the raging magic behind her, this frail, trembling old woman looked like she could die at any moment. Pei Sen doubted she’d need him to do anything. The fact that she could even lift a staff was impressive.

“So, as I suspected—your association claims to have three legendary mages, but only two remain, right? The other one… has completely broken with the Mage Association, hasn’t he?”

Elrich’s face turned ugly, but he couldn’t deny it.

Indeed, the Mage Association once had three legendary mages. The one Pei Sen referred to was named Alex—a very ordinary name, but his power and temper were anything but.

Truthfully, the association had tolerated his attitude for a long time. But he ultimately broke ties with them. Elrich had done everything in his power to ensure that at least the news of the break wouldn’t become public.

As for the elderly woman, Louise, who had saved Elrich—she could barely move anymore. A rare legendary who mastered wood magic, she would have died decades ago if not for her unique constitution. Now, each spell cast could mean her death.

Thus, the only legendary mage still able to fight was the one currently outside the Mage Tower—the strongest of the three, and Elrich’s last card.

It was his certainty that this man could take down Eagle and seize the sigil ring that gave the Mage Association the courage to make a move.

But now, that card was their only remaining hope. The fate of the entire Mage Association rested on this one legendary mage.

They had learned from the Church of Light’s downfall. But being far from the Lanno duchy, they assumed those foreigners couldn’t possibly come this far to destroy them.

Yet—unexpectedly—they had been found. And only by two people.

Pei Sen looked at Eagle regretfully. “Young master, we originally thought of this as a warm-up, but it seems the Mage Association is even weaker than we thought.”

“Then let’s end this quickly. No point wasting time here,” Eagle said decisively.

The meteor shower finally ceased. The legendary mage on the opposing side saw that not only were Eagle and Pei Sen unscathed, even the two mid-level mages behind them hadn’t been harmed.

That light barrier just now… familiar holy power.

“You’ve taken the Church of Light’s power!” he said with a dark expression.

“Taken?” Eagle sneered. “Unlike your Mage Association, we’re not so fond of stealing. This is power from the Light Shards. Didn’t your association lie about studying Light Shards and claim to be able to resolve my physical ailments? You should know what this is. And now, I’ve already absorbed the sixth Light Shard.”

The legendary mage’s expression changed drastically. “The sixth?”

Pei Sen glanced at him. “Young master, no need to waste words with him.”

Yet the only hope Elrich had left—the one legendary mage with any fighting ability—began muttering, “The sixth Light Shard… You’ve become… you’ve already become the new God of Light. No wonder, no wonder—divinity has truly descended!”

As he spoke, his eyes gleamed with fanaticism. He dropped to one knee before Eagle.

“My God, I was once your follower. I have never forsaken my faith. May the Light’s glory shine forever!”

Pei Sen: “…?”

Elrich: “???”