Chapter 248: 248. Night of the Banquet - 13
Merlin was also intrigued by the deaths of Carl's group. He understood that either Orion's family or Carl's family could survive the coming year, and so the possibility that Orion was responsible for their deaths was highly likely. That was why he wanted to bring Orion to the Celestial Court, where they had various methods to extract the truth from a culprit's mouth.
However, there was also the issue of strength. Orion was indeed strong for his age, but to kill Carl's group as easily as he did would require the strength of a Diamond rank, which seemed impossible since everyone in the hall could see that Orion had only recently reached the Silver rank.
Therefore, Merlin was eager to try out the Mirror of Black and White to uncover what exactly happened in the dungeon.
"Give it to me, and I'll find out for you," Merlin promised.
The masked man nodded and handed him the mirror.
Kane watched with a blank expression.
Gripping the mirror in his hands and examining it for a moment, Merlin nodded and said, "I'll begin." Supplying the mirror with enough mana, it burst into grey and white light and floated out of Merlin's hands.
Before everyone's eyes, many scenes from across the world began to flash in the light until it stopped at one scene.
Orion's heart nearly stopped when he saw what was displayed in the grey and white light.
It was the scene in the dungeon.
A blue wolf raged across the boss room, with people fighting it using all kinds of powers. After some time, the wolf became heavily wounded, and Carl stepped up to attack. Then, a moment later, the scene showed Orion disappearing from the restricted barrier.
The scene shifted again, showing Orion waiting outside the barrier, watching the battle unfold between the people and the blue wolf. In the end, the blue wolf was almost defeated when it began to prepare for self-detonation.
At that moment, Orion moved.
Everyone watched as he took out a white mask, and red flames as bright as blood enveloped him completely. The guests were shocked by this, but the real shock came when the red flames turned pitch black, forming a hood around him.
Then he walked, seemingly passing through the barrier, and appeared in the boss arena. The scene shifted once more, showing how Orion killed them with just a snap of his fingers.
As soon as Carl's group of four was killed by Orion, the mirror stopped shining and returned to Merlin's hands.
Everyone's attention soon turned to Orion. Many questions were on their minds, but the most pressing were how he dared to kill people from the Archons and the source of his strength. They couldn't understand how Orion had suddenly become so powerful—to the point where he could kill peak Platinum rank experts with a snap of his fingers.
Orion's father and mother were also shocked. Barion's expression was grim, while Olivia covered Ella's eyes, her face filled with shock.
Even his friends, like Runo and Erick, were stunned. They didn't care about the killing itself, but they did care about the fact that Orion had killed people from the Archons.
No one had ever killed members of the Archons before, and those who had were executed on the spot when discovered.
Therefore, whether it was his parents or his friends, their faces were clouded with worry.
"To be able to kill Diamond rank experts so effortlessly, I wonder what other secrets you're hiding," Merlin said to Orion, his smile devoid of warmth. He had already suspected Orion was the killer, just like his daughter Luna, so he wasn't surprised.
Orion said nothing to Merlin. He couldn't say anything, as everything he had wanted to keep hidden was now out in the open.
Merlin then turned his attention to Kane. "Do you still want to interfere?" he asked with a smile.
"You don't understand..." Kane muttered, drawing a sword. It was the same sword Orion had seen in Aethelgard City, in the cave of the God of Slaughter.
Merlin's expression darkened when he saw Kane take out the sword.
"If I want something, nobody can stop me from achieving it," Kane said, his words sending a chill down everyone's spine. "Not even Merlin the Magician—the 3rd rank in the Celestial ranking."
At the same time, an intense blue aura erupted from Kane, causing some weaker guests at the Gold rank or below to be blown away by the shockwave.
"You!" For the first time since Merlin's arrival, pure astonishment appeared in his eyes. "Your strength—" he stammered, his voice trembling with shock.
"You're right," Kane grinned. "I may or may not have surpassed you, but we'll only know once we fight."
He held his sword and pointed it at Merlin. "The question is, are you willing to fight?"
Merlin's expression turned grim when Kane challenged him. The last time they fought, it caused utter devastation, and even then, Merlin had barely managed to defeat him.
Now that Kane's strength had significantly improved, Merlin understood that the fight would be even more challenging than last time.
But he also couldn't let go of Orion. Orion had killed members of the Archons, and that only meant death as punishment. However, because of the secrets Orion possessed, Merlin wanted to bring him back to the Archons so he could thoroughly investigate him.
"Kane, the strongest genius of the Three Domains—I will accept your challenge, but on the condition that if I win, you won't interfere anymore in the matter of Orion and his family," Merlin stated his condition.
Orion's expression turned anxious when Merlin included his family. 'It looks like it's now or never.'
On the other side, Kane smirked, "Only if you can win, that is."
"Give me a minute," Merlin said, turning his attention to everyone else in the hall. "You've seen everything. Orion has killed people from the Archons, and now I, Merlin the Magician, command you to kill everyone from Orion's family except for Orion and his father. Do it."
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