The First Magic World War

Charles's mind slightly thundered, and although he subconsciously looked down on the old chancellor who single-handedly planned the siege on Zimmerman, which led to the collapse of the Axel Dynasty, he still became extremely vigilant when he actually faced him.

An individual who could become the Imperial Chancellor of the empire would never be someone easy to deal with.

A simple person could not achieve what Wood Brandon had done.

Charles did not show any fear or dread, instead, he asked with a face full of curiosity, "How can the Blood Clan have children?"

Wood Brandon smiled faintly and said, "Adopted!"

Charles displayed a look of astonishment and after a long while, he said in a low voice, "You mean to say you became part of the Blood Clan before you had a chance to have a few of your own?"

Wood Brandon hadn't expected Charles to be concerned about this matter. He took a small twig out of his sleeve and said, "My children are all dead! Don't get me wrong, if they had become part of the Blood Clan, they would probably be five or six hundred years old by now."

Charles didn't ask why he didn't turn his children into the Blood Clan, as people always have their reasons. Nor was he shocked by Wood Brandon's true age, having met a few bona fide members of the Blood Clan, he was quite used to it by now. He simply asked another question, "Did you infiltrate Fars for Byron?"

Wood Brandon gave a wry smile and said, "No, I just pursue a life of freedom and ease."

"You probably don't know how boring the life of Byron's Blood Ancestors can be. They gather every day for banquets, can't drink alcohol, only blood, and call over a bunch of vulgar, ugly women..."

"The life aboard the Holy Light Divine State Title is far more interesting!"

Charles became slightly solemn and asked, "You've been aboard the Holy Light Divine State Title?"

Wood Brandon nodded and said, "I've even been out to sea with you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have waited for you to return to the Old Continent to start this rebellion, because I was also in the fleet. According to timing, when Brittany was on the front lines and you hadn't come back, that was the best opportunity."

"Your twenty-two centime campaign really opened my eyes."

"I pride myself on having unparalleled strategies in my life, and looking across the whole continent, there are few who could match up to me, yet I didn't expect to be forced by you to abandon the identity of Wood Brandon."

"Those interesting novels, how did you come up with them?"

Charles, thinking back to those novels, could only say, "That is a collective intelligence."

Wood Brandon shook his head and said, "It's definitely not collective intelligence. I believe it might happen once, but so many instances, that's just ridiculous."

Charles didn't want to discuss third-rate novels with Wood Brandon and changed the topic to something he was genuinely curious about, "Why did you entice Axel to attack Zimmerman?"

Wood Brandon said indifferently, "Personal vendetta."

Charles was about to retort, for a personal vendetta, would he really sacrifice the potential of the Fars Empire? The future of the Axel Family? But then he remembered that this person before him was not human nor a Farsian. How could he care about the rise and fall of human nations and families? Even without these incidents, his "fake age was almost up," and this identity would soon be unusable.

Moreover, as a member of the Blood Clan, he might have some attachment to Byron and killing Fars would greatly benefit the Blood Clan.

Charles made an expression and gesture as if he had more questions to ask, but he didn't utter a single word. Instead, like magic, he drew out the Red-Blue Rattlesnake and pulled the trigger.

The Arthur Clan Gunmanship he learned from Juno was displayed to perfection in that moment.

With a swirl of the twig in his hand, Wood Brandon deflected the two bullets with an invisible force, his technique unfathomably skillful.

Without hesitation, Charles switched to Collapsing Mountain, unifying his body and gun like a dragon's agile darting, perfectly executing the Asilo Clan's Wings of Heaven Spear Technique in an instant, launching a tempest-like assault.

Wood Brandon still used the twig in his hand to gently tap and deflect, casually fending off all of Charles's spear moves. Although Charles had noticed the twig when Wood Brandon first took it out, it was only now he was certain that the twig was at least a High-Level Transcendent Extraordinary Object, or perhaps even at the Sacred Level, otherwise, it absolutely wouldn't have been able to withstand his two forms of gunmanship.

Charles closed in and switched to Blood Rose. His swordsmanship was superior to his gunmanship and, combined with Quickness Technique ×32, of which five points came from the Red-Blue Rattlesnake's augmentation, he wielded a Magic Rapier like lightning and thunder.

With the boost of Quickness Technique, purely in terms of swordsmanship, even a Second Level warrior would find it difficult to withstand this barrage of rapid sword strikes. Wood Brandon, however, flicked the twig in his hand and, astonishingly, performed the exact same swordsmanship.

After a flurry of rapid sword exchanges, Charles retreated as soon as his Stellar Battle Qi showed signs of faltering and called out, "Mirror Martial Arts?"

Wood Brandon nodded subtly and said, "Even though Duke Mecklen possesses extraordinary talent, and perhaps has borrowed the power of deities to advance his cultivation impressively, I have indeed spent several more years in practice, and my explorations in the Infinite Mirror Realm are inevitably a bit further along."

Mirror Martial Arts can simulate an opponent's martial techniques, but such imitation is only in form, lacking the essence – it can at most mimic the swordsmanship of the Asilo Clan, but it is impossible to replicate the Quickness Technique.

The fact that Wood Brandon could do this meant he must have made other discoveries within the Infinite Mirror Realm, or perhaps his own speed was that quick.

Charles wasn't interested in analyzing how Wood Brandon managed to do it. When one tactic failed, he immediately switched to another, grasping the Blood Rose and lunging forward once more, unleashing a second barrage of rapid strikes. Holding a Red-Blue Rattlesnake in each of his Flame Hands, he fired over a dozen shots in the blink of an eye, each bullet aimed at Wood Brandon's vulnerabilities.

The former Imperial Chancellor of the previous dynasty finally revealed a strange smile, stepping back into the Magic Mirror. Clearly, even if his mastery within the Infinite Mirror Realm far exceeded that of Charles, he still could not withstand the combined techniques of the Asilo Clan's swordplay and the Arthur Clan's gunmanship.

Charles dared not pursue Wood Brandon into his Mirror World. Every Van Gaal Family member's strength is greatly amplified within their own Mirror World.

He turned and retreated into his own Mirror World, only to see that outside his own Magic Mirror, hundreds more Magic Mirrors had appeared, an overbearing and unreasonable force intent on tearing through the void to invade his Mirror World.

Charles was slightly startled – he had never before encountered a Van Gaal Family member and hadn't expected that they had such aggressive techniques capable of intruding into a Mirror World.

Wood Brandon intended to use his Mirror World to invade Charles's Mirror World.

Without hesitation, Charles stepped back and in the next second appeared beside Antonio. With such a strong ally, why wouldn't he make use of him?

Antonio seemed to have just woken up and upon seeing Charles, he asked in surprise, "What's the matter?"

Charles's hairs stood on end, and with a thrust of his sword, a look of shock appeared on "Antonio" as he caught hold of the Blood Rose and asked, "How did you see through my Mirror Shadow?"

Mirror Shadow is able to reflect any enemy, even oneself, into a false figure capable of possessing a strength comparable to the original, though of course not beyond the ability of the caster.

Charles kept silent, refusing to reveal how he had discerned the secret of the opponent. Otherwise, if Wood Brandon knew this secret, he might make adjustments and succeed in ambushing him next time.

Charles leaped through several mirrors in succession, but Wood Brandon followed like a shadow. He seemed unable to escape no matter what he did.

Charles had left Ysamiel in Nansela to command the fleet, but he still had other means to save himself. In a low voice, he commanded, "Sage of the Mirror! Come forth."

A woman with a curvaceous figure, seductive appearance, and alluring charm appeared. She wore a magic robe that left much exposed, akin to a bikini uniform, with a new pair of black stockings gracing her long, shapely legs, and even more eye-catching, a pair of open-toed silver high heels, enhancing her irresistible allure.

Charles hurriedly asked, "Why can he pursue my Mirror World?"

The Sage of the Mirror's voice was as enchanting as a siren's call, captivating and bewitching as she replied, "This is the power of a Spirit of the Mirror that has cultivated to beyond the sixth layer and awakened the Spiritual Hunting Dog!"

Charles was shocked and asked, "Can the Spirit of the Mirror undergo such a transformation?"

The Sage's voice was alluring, yet her words were deliberate and precise as she answered, "Each time the Spirit of the Mirror ascends, it gives birth to a new Mirror Spirit! Each Mirror Spirit has extraordinary abilities. They can enrich the ecology of the Mirror World and can be commanded by the master of the Mirror World. The Spiritual Hunting Dog emerges from the void, able to track across dimensions. Once targeted by them, there is no possibility of escape."

Charles had put serious effort only into the Quickness Technique, opting for a ×27 multiplier, while seeking greater heights for his other abilities rather than greater depth in any single Special Ability.

Charles's eyes suddenly brightened as he spotted dozens of creatures, like wolves yet not wolves, mist-like and elusive, doggedly tracking him. The Sage of the Mirror then explained, "Spiritual Hunting Dogs are conceptual beings, nonexistent if unknown by others, only to chase prey for their master. But once the pursued learns of them, they manifest and begin to tear at their prey."

Charles really wanted to curse. He yelled, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Before the Sage could respond, Wood Brandon's voice echoed through the void, "Even if she hadn't told you, I would have. The outcome remains the same."

"Go, my little darlings."

Dozens of Spiritual Hunting Dogs lunged towards Charles. Charles activated his Collapsing Mountain technique, but as his spearmanship passed through these hunting dogs, it was as if passing through mist, without any resistance.

Charles certainly didn't dare let the pack of hunting dogs pounce on him as he was absolutely sure that even if the Collapsing Mountain couldn't stop the Spiritual Hunting Dogs, they would leave wounds when they bit him.

Putting away Collapsing Mountain, he drew another weapon – the Blood Spirit Rhinoceros.