Chapter 541 Arcane Seduction
"I'm going to give Merlin a visit. We might be able to use her heater to keep the barbarians warm." Arad started walking away, and Mira stared at him.
"Stop by the house first and rest a bit," She called.
"I will do that later. It's just a five-minute trip to Merlin and back," Arad replied. If the heater could be deployed to the barbarians. He would want it active as soon as possible.
ZON! Arad teleported, appearing right at Merlin's tower door.
"GAH!" The guard there gasped, "Sir Arad? Where did you come from?"
"Magic, is Merlin inside?" He asked.
The guard smiled, "She is," He approached Arad, "I heard she's about to activate the heater today. I can't wait to see this snow go away," He looked at the whole streets.
It looked beautiful, but the cold really hurt the common people. Firewood isn't cheap, and the hard winter is too long for them to keep up. Most people resort to buying goat and sheep hides to furnish their houses and sleep with multiple blankets to survive the cold.
^I can barely feel the cold, but with how thick Mira dressed, it's pretty hard on the people here.^ He looked at the door.
"She didn't say no one can visit her?"
"No, she didn't warn us. You will find her in her lab. Just try not to interrupt her if she is in the middle of casting a spell." The guard said with a smile, opening the door for Arad to walk and closing it after him.
He looked at the streets, smiling. "Soon, this cold would go away."
ZOOOOOO! The guard saw his shadow extend across the street as a pink flash burst behind him. Before he could turn, a burst of magic flung him into the snow.
"What in the..." He turned back, seeing a massive pillar of pink-colored light extending to the clouds where the tower was. "...In the nine hells is this!"
****
"GAH!" Arad opened his eyes and pointed at the blue sky, his whole body screaming in pain. He barely managed to roll in place, feeling as if his skin was getting ripped apart.
The pain quickly faded as it shifted into the worst headache he ever felt. His vision blurred as he grasped on the grass.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! He couldn't even hear his own voice over the sound of his heart beating in his head, throbbing in pain.
But just as quickly, the pain faded away, and he gasped for air, looking at the endless green fields around him.
"Where am I?" He stood, ^Mom, Doma? Do you know what's going on?^
He stood there in silence. ^Mom? Doma?^
"No reply," He blinked then looked around, seeing the green fields extending as far as he could see.
"What?" He rubbed his eyes and looked again, "It's blurry?" He squinted his eyes, trying to look at a grass blade several tens of meters into the horizon. "I swear I was able to see hundreds of meters away clearly. What's wrong with my eyes?" He rubbed his eyes again.
His void eyes, vampire, and wyrmwolf vision both failed to work.
Arad sighed, sat down, and looked at his hand. He can't use magic. No matter how he tried, he could void step.
^I don't get it. I can feel that this place is filled to the brim with mana, but I can't see or control it with my void.^ He stood, ^I have to move and look for some answers.^
He jumped and fell back on his face. "AHH!" He growled, bleeding from his nose, his face all scratched from hitting the ground. He couldn't get over two meters.
"My strength as well?" He growled. ^This feels like those anti-dragon shackles.^ He growled, wiping his face clean.
^But now, all my powers are sealed.^ Arad stood there, "This is bad,"
CRACK! As he said that, he heard something behind him. He turned.
He saw a naked Merlin, looking at him with a blank expression.
"Merlin?" Her skin looked too pale, and her mana was far lower than what he remembered.
"My Arad," She mumbled, opening her mouth. "MY ARAD!" Her cheeks ripped apart as her body expanded, growing an extra pair of muscular arms with fire gushing out of her now blue skin.
"NO!" Arad turned and started running away as she bolted after him.
^That isn't Merlin. It's a monster.^ Arad looked back, seeing her running on all of her six limbs, growing and giggling like a hyena.
With each step, he could feel his legs getting heaveier as it got harder to breath. ^I can't outrun it. I'm getting exhausted, for real?^ He looked back again, tripping and rolling on the ground.
"YOU'RE MINE ARAD!" She growled, lunging at him with a gaping mouth.
Arad rolled to the side, standing up and punching her in the face.
CRACK! With one hand she grabbed him by the neck, and with another she grabbed his arm, trying to divorce his neck from his body.
"DON'T RESIST! YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" She growled.
"I'm not, you monster!" He bit the arm grabbed his neck, and kicked her in the chest, pushing himself away from her.
^Think! Think! I can feel mana, and there is a monster in front of me. Why I can't use my void?^ He glared at her, noticing the flame on her back.
^That's right, I can't use my void, my innate abilities.^ He smiled, waving his hand up.
CRACKLE! A fire spark flashed from the tip of his fingers, leaving a line as he pointed at the monster.
"I did learn this one, didn't I?" [Fire Bolt] KA-BAM! Fire flashed from his fingertip, exploding at the monster.
"But I seem able to cast magic the human way."
GROWA! "IT'S HOT!" She jumped out of the fire, swinging her arms at him, "GIVE ME A WARM HUG!"
Arad dodged to the side, swinging a round kick at her, [Fire kick] KA-DON!
As the fire exploded, she was sent rolling back as Arad stood, there, his foot ablaze.
"Come at me! As weak as this magic is, I got a weapon!" He smiled, sweating buckets as this was taking a toll on his body.
****
Outside in Alina, everyone had gathered outside the pink pillar, staring at it in awe.
"Sir! We got a result!" A wizard approached the city lord and Aella who sat there, "Is it dangerous? Did you find Arad?"
"We found no traces of Baron Arad around the pillar. He must be inside." The wizard replied. "But we know that pillar is,"
"Spit it out!" The city lord growled.
"That's a labyrinth conjured by Merlin's magic. One of her seems to have failed and activated the labyrinth core she was using with the dragon heart as the core of the heater." He looked at Aella, "This is bad,"
"If it's just a labyrinth, Arad won't have a problem clearing it," Aella said with a happy face.
"But, there is a problem," He looked at her, "This labyrinth is strange. It seems to be created with Merlin's mind, and it's locking everyone out with some rules."
"What rules," Aella looked at the wizard.
"Only wizards can enter, but no one of us was able to, but Arad wasn't rejected. He's a sorcerer, right?" He looked at her.
"Yes, Arad is a sorcorer,"
"That means if he's inside, he won't be able to use his abilities. But he should be able to rely on his physical strength, don't worry." The wizard smiled.
"Sir!" A ranger approached, "We can't send our beasts to scout the inside. That means outside monsters aren't allowed in,"
The wizard nodded, "Another rule. This is getting exhausting,"
Aella blinked. ^Arad is a monster though. Doesn't that mean he has no strength inside?^ She started panicking internally.
"Father!" Abel rushed in, looking at the pillar, "What's going on?"
"Merlin spawned a labyrinth," The city lord replied.
"No, I meant why is aphrodisiac magic spreading across the city," Abel said with a passive face.
"The what?" Aella and the city lord stared at him.
"Sir," The wizard looked at them, "Isn't it getting a bit hot here?"
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