Chapter 281: Rematch

"Stan Watson!" Ross suddenly flew into a rage when he heard that name and roared, "I'll step on him sooner or later and show everyone that Ross Merlin is a hundred times stronger than Stan Watson!"

"What happened to him?" Lin Yun asked William with a strange expression. He didn't listen to Ross or even spare him a glance.

"Well, in the past..." William didn't try to act tactful and he said this with a loud voice so that Ross would hear.

"William, shut up!" The enraged Ross became furious like a lion. He clenched his fists as his eyes turned red and glared at William with fury and killing intent.

To Ross, Stan Watson's name was taboo.

This was an open secret in the Merlin Family. Few people would dare to mention his name in front of Ross.

Three years ago, Ross entered the depths of the Raging Flame Plane and charged into the Crimson Fort occupied by a thousand Raging Flame Beastmen. He spent seven days and nights there fighting them before he defeated the army and took control of the Crimson Fort.

After that fight, Ross' position in the Merlin Family had skyrocketed. From a member of a side branch, he became one of the core members of the Merlin Family, one of the three geniuses alongside Leon and Aube, and he even gained a seat at the Elder Council.

But...

While Ross was flushed with success, the Watson Family joined the fight over the Raging Flame Plane.

That was the first Planar War that Stan Watson participated in.

This young genius of the Watson Family became a dazzling light in the Planar War. The Watson Family's planar legion was an irresistible force under the leadership of Stan Watson, managing to defeat the Merlin Family's three planar legions. Hundreds of Merlins died at Stan Watson's hands, including Ross' younger brother.

In the end, the two dazzling geniuses had a decisive battle at the foot of the Crimson Fort.

That battle caused a commotion all through Okland. Who knew how many people had rushed towards the Raging Flame Plane to try to catch a glimpse of their decisive battle when they heard about it?

But...

That battle had already ended.

It had only taken ten minutes for the 6th Rank High Mage, Stan Watson, to toss away the 4th rank High Mage, Ross Merlin, who was just one step away from the 5th Rank.

This battle left everyone disappointed.

It also showed that the 5th Rank was a dividing line that couldn't be broken. The Endless Spring lost, and Ross Merlin fell down from his lofty position. He spent three years hating Stan Watson continuously, thinking of that disgrace and wanting to avenge his younger brother.

But no matter how hard Ross trained, when he lifted his head, he would only see Stan's back.

Day after day, year after year...

Stan Watson had already become Ross' nightmare.

He would become crazed every time his name was mentioned.

"Haha..." William chuckled.

William naturally knew why Ross hated Stan Watson...

But Ross didn't know that William hated Stan even more.

Besides William and his father, not many people knew of this matter.

Earlier, when William and Lin Yun left Ofran's study, William had said something as they walked. He once had an older sister who died in the Raging Flame Plane.

Lin Yun didn't say anything about it before.

But William knew that Stan Watson was already dead.

"Why did you waste a Runic Shield in front of that Fire Dragon?" Lin Yun completely ignored the raging Ross, but he also didn't pay attention to William wanting to get back at Ross. He only looked at him with concern as he asked that question.

"I..." William looked awkward.

"Don't tell me that you don't know? In a battle between High Mages, whoever is forced to use their Runic Shield first tends to lean towards their defeat. What were you thinking?"

"I only..." William subconsciously lowered his head under the criticism, his voice extremely low. "I just felt that I couldn't handle that Fire Dragon..."

"Fire Dragon is only a 5th Tier Spell!" Lin Yun was dissatisfied.

"But, his Magic Conducting Rune is the Endless Spring..."

"Haha, he might have the Endless Spring, but don't you have Metamagics? Did you forget about it after becoming a High Mage? As long as you had Empowered Spell and used an Ice Field, it would have let you resist over half of the damage. If you had used an Instant Spell afterwards, you would have easily taken care of that Fire Dragon. But you chose to use Runic Shield. Didn't you know that you would have no decent defensive spells in reserve if your Runic Shield broke?"

"I know, but...."

"But what? Didn't you feel the outcome? You were swatted like a fly after using that Runic Shield."

"I'll pay attention next time..."

"I don't have that much time to spend on you. Go now! If I see you using Runic Shield negligently again, I'll have a chat with you about you taking advantage of my matters!"

"..." William suddenly paled.

Although Lin Yun hadn't said anything specific, how could William not know that he was referring to Stan Watson?

After half a year in Thousand Sails City, William had gained a good understanding of his younger cousin.

That young High Mage wasn't concerned about the life or death of Stan Watson. To him, Stan was only a ticket to the Ancestral Land. Whether the ticket was intact or damaged, this young High Mage simply didn't care.

But if someone took advantage of that in the middle...

That would definitely be a problem.

Mafa wasn't Ross.

Ross' fire spell would at worst injure him seriously...

But it would be a lot more serious he made Mafa unhappy.

The Draconic Beastman had made him unhappy in the treasure house.

In the end, Xiuban had nightmares for two weeks.

Every time he saw a flame, he would weep, howl, or laugh hysterically. William felt his blood run cold when he thought of Xiuban's condition.

"I'll go immediately!" William didn't dare to hesitate, and he picked up his magic staff before walking over. "Ross, you coward! You heard Stan Watson's name and started soiling your pants! If you aren't frozen in terror yet, how about coming for a second round? I shall see if the Endless Spring is as frightening as you make it sound!"

"William..." Ross' eyes were originally already red at the mention of Stan Watson's name, but after hearing William, he became downright terrifying. "Are you courting death?"

"Yeah, I am courting death, bite me!"

"Good, I'll do as you wish!" After saying this, Ross' aura changed as the Endless Spring activated once more, bursting out with full power. Vast amounts of mana flew out like a tide, even causing the mana in the surroundings to be crazily absorbed like a whirlpool.

"Shit..." William was stunned.

It seemed that Ross hadn't used the Endless Spring to its full extent earlier. The current Ross was the one who single-handedly took over the Crimson Fort and defeated a thousand Raging Flame Beastmen. These mana fluctuations could only be described as terrifying. Even a High Mage like William felt dread as he stood in that vortex of mana.

But...

It was only a wisp of dread.

This couldn't compare to having to face his younger cousin.

William unhesitantly tightened his grasp on his magic staff and started casting the first spell of this battle. It was a Flame Burst, a Flame Burst that held his determination. William wanted to gain the initiative by striking first.

He had only said those words in order to enrage Ross.

In William's eyes, a furious Ross would inevitably rush and attack, so the Flame Burst he sent out should be able to get some results. Even if he couldn't injure him, it should still make Ross flustered.

But he hadn't expected that before his Flame Burst was even launched, Ross had already prepared a Counterspell.

"Fuck..." William cursed.

This Counterspell was too disgusting...

It stopped the Flame Burst at the most crucial time.

If he hadn't changed his Meditation Law Set to Crimson Heart, greatly improving his control over fire spells, this Flame Burst would have left him in an awkward situation.

'Shit, that Ross is too crafty...'

William suddenly discovered that after the start of the fight, Ross was no longer as riled up as before. He kept his emotions in check and was like an accurate machine, relying on his Counterspell to gain the advantage before retaliating with some accurate spells that were troublesome to deal with.

William was in a miserable state.

"I see, you are truly foolish..." At this time, a helpless voice resounded from behind. "Although your Meditation Law Set is the Crimson Heart, does that mean that you are limited to fire spells?"

"Hmmm?"