Chapter 165: The Most Fearsome Person in the World

  Here is the translation:

  Xia Ya endured and endured, but next to her, Duoduo finally couldn't bear it anymore. With a cold laugh, he said: "This kind of story can actually be made up. Hmph, do you think you're telling a fairy tale to deceive children? This kind of story can be heard for eight segments in any tavern in town for just one copper coin." The big sister was furious and glared at Duoduo with a fierce gaze, which immediately scared the magician into shrinking his head and hiding behind Xia Ya. "I know you don't believe me!" she said with a mix of sadness and anger. "But I have evidence!" She raised her left hand high, unfastened the leather strap on her armor's armguard, and pulled it down. Then, she rolled up her sleeve and held out her wrist, saying: "Look! This is my evidence!" Her forearm was thick, and on her wrist, there was a faint purple ring that seemed to be made of some kind of crystalline material. Although it was purple, it had a slightly transparent appearance and emitted a dazzling, mysterious glow. On its surface, there were irregular patterns that added to the air of mystery.

  "It's just a bracelet." Xia Ya shook her head.

  "Please take another look." The big sister shook her head, her tone miserable.

  Xia Ya's heart skipped a beat, but the other person's expression didn't seem fake. She calmed down and took a closer look, soon spotting the subtle difference in the bracelet.

  This bracelet is extremely small, almost just wrapped around the opponent's wrist, and the skin on the wrist is tightly attached to it, as if there is no gap at all. To know, generally speaking, bracelets are usually slightly larger than the size of the wrist, so that they can be easily removed from the palm.

  This small little bracelet is tightly wrapped around the wrist, and at a glance, it can be determined that with such a small size, it is impossible to take it off from the palm of the hand!!

  But then comes the question of how she put it on in the first place?! This small bracelet, it can't even be taken off, so how did she manage to wear it initially?!

  "Could it be the kind that can be detached from the ring?" Xia Ya couldn't help but lean in a bit closer, and the big sister also cooperated by rotating her wrist slightly, allowing Xia Ya to take a closer look at the entire appearance of the bracelet. After taking a close look for a while, Xia Ya was certain that this bracelet was absolutely seamless, without even a single thread of an opening seam on its surface, and it was definitely not the kind that could be folded open.

  "I have another one on my right hand." The big sister's eyes were filled with bitter tears, her voice was a little hoarse, and she said in a low tone, "When I was 10 years old, someone forcibly put this bracelet on me, and then I couldn't take it off again. Over the years, whether I'm eating, sleeping or bathing, I have to wear these two things. They're too small, and there's no way to take them off. Moreover, these two bracelets carry a vicious curse against me. If I don't take them off for a day, I won't be able to return to my original form." You, how did you put it on in the first place?" Xia Ya's heart finally wavered and she believed three-tenths of what was said.

  The other person's expression was somewhat sentimental, somewhat indignant, and their eyes gradually became distant as they slowly began to recount: "...... Before I was ten years old, I was very cute and pretty. At that time, I was lively and active because my father was a martial artist, and after my mother died, he raised me alone. Since my father's side were all rough and bold warriors, I was raised as a boy from a young age, so I became quite tomboyish."

  At that time, Father led his men to migrate and came to live on the Tongjiao Mountain near Jiaojiao Town. We originally lived a good life here and established our tribe's village.

  One day, I met a strange woman in the mountains. The woman looked very peculiar, wearing a black long gown with the hem trailing on the ground and a pointed hood on her head. I was digging out a squirrel's nest on the mountain when the woman suddenly appeared from the woods as if she had just blinked into existence. At that moment, the brim of her pointed hood blocked my view of her face, so I couldn't see what she looked like, but I remembered that her voice was very hoarse and raspy, yet sharp, similar to the sound of field mice gnawing their teeth at night in the summer fields.

  I was a bit scared at the time, but she had already walked up to me and let out a laugh that sent shivers down my spine. She said to me, "What a pretty little girl you are! You have great talent, how about becoming my apprentice?" I was young at the time, although I was scared, I was also curious about this strange person, so I asked her what she meant. She said she was an extremely powerful magician and if I followed her, I could become just as powerful in the future.

  Then she performed a few small magic tricks for me, turning the squirrel I had caught into a rabbit, then changing it into a sparrow, and finally pointing at the sparrow with her finger, which turned it into a stone.

  I saw her fingers, both slender and long, with long fingernails that were all painted black.

  I was still young at that time, and I got very excited after a glance, couldn't help but want to agree, then brought her back to the tribe to see my father.

  As soon as my father saw this person, he seemed extremely nervous and uneasy. This strange female lawyer told my father her intention, saying she wanted to take me away as an apprentice. How could my father bear to part with me? He immediately opened his mouth to refuse.

  The woman's temperament seemed to be very eccentric, and as soon as she heard her father refuse, she got angry on the spot. I remember his cold laughter sounded like a night owl hooting, questioning his father, "Do you know who I am? How many people in this world have begged me to be my apprentice but couldn't?"

  "My father looked very scared at that time, but he loved me after all and didn't want to sacrifice me, so he still steeled himself and said to the man, 'I know your identity. People like you are high above us, we lowly ants don't dare resist. But this is my only daughter, I don't want her to become some kind of strong person, I just hope she can live a peaceful life, even if it's an ordinary one. When she grows up and meets a man who truly loves her and marries him, from then on she'll be a good wife and mother, living out the rest of her life in peace and happiness.'"

  That woman listened, but seemed to be very disdainful. She said, "Your daughter is already so beautiful now, and when she grows up, it will be even more impossible to find a man who truly loves her. Most men in this world are infatuated with beauty, and they may not love your daughter as a person, but rather her appearance. The peaceful and happy life you mentioned is simply impossible. Her beauty is actually the root of all her troubles."

  "My father still refused, and the woman became extremely angry. She argued loudly with my father for a few sentences before turning hostile. 'You think I'm afraid to take action just because you've taken a liking to my daughter? You're the kind of person who could be killed with just a flick of my wrist.' My father continued to resist weakly, but I know your abilities. However, I only have this one daughter, and even if you kill me, I won't let you take her away! If she becomes a magician, she'll never be able to marry or have children for the rest of her life!"

  When they quarreled, I was just beside them watching and listening. I was very scared in my heart because I felt that Father was also extremely intimidated by that woman, but only for me, he insisted on holding on. That woman looked short and thin, but gave people a very frightening and dangerous feeling.

  "In the end, that woman suddenly burst out laughing and pointed at my father with her long black fingernails, saying 'Good for you, consider yourself lucky. If it were someone else who disobeyed me like this, I would have killed them already. But your identity is different, so I won't lay a hand on you out of respect for your ancestors. However, a small punishment is unavoidable!'"

  After she finished speaking, she took out two bracelets from her wide sleeves and I remembered that at the time, she just lightly beckoned me over. At that moment, I felt as if I was sleepwalking, dazed and confused, losing consciousness, and walked to her side in a trance-like state. She put the two bracelets on my left and right hands, and then I suddenly felt my whole body stiffen, and I fell to the ground, unable to move.

  Lying on the ground, I couldn't even move my eyeballs, only feeling a dull ache all over my body. I heard my father's terrified scream and the vicious words left by that woman as she departed: "You don't believe me? Try it out then! See how your daughter changes into something else, what kind of marriage and children will she have in the future?! This curse is my magic, no one can lift it for me. Even if you understand it clearly, there's no one on this continent who dares to help you break the curse I've placed!! Remember, within ten years, if your daughter finds someone who truly loves her and is willing to marry her, then the spell will naturally be lifted, even if I lose my bet! But once those ten years pass, this curse will become permanent, even I myself won't be able to lift it!"

  After she finished saying those words, the woman floated away and I never saw her again.

  But then I fainted too, and when I came to, after I woke up, I...

  Her face was filled with resentment and hatred, her eyes blazing with anger, her teeth clenched in a loud gnash, her fists tightly clenched: "I've become this kind of person! A lovely little girl turned into a muscular man! From the age of ten, I'm no longer beautiful. As I grew older, my body became more robust and my appearance uglier. My strength also increased with each passing year. By thirteen, even my father was no match for me!"

  Xia Ya heard this and finally let out a sigh, her eyes fixed on the bracelet on his wrist, frowning: "If this bracelet can't be taken off, then can't it just be cut off?"

  "You think I haven't tried?" the big sister said with a hint of resentment. "I've tried every method, from cutting to chopping, but no matter how sharp the tool is, it can't cut through this thing. Even using fire to burn it, water to soak it, or ice to freeze it, nothing works. And what's even stranger about this bangle is that when I was 10 years old and put it on, it was very small and fit tightly around my wrist without any gaps. But now that I've grown up and my wrist has thickened a lot, the bangle still fits snugly around it. It seems to grow with me, getting bigger as I get older, so it's neither too tight nor too loose. It won't constrict me uncomfortably when I'm small, nor can I find a way to take it off even when I've grown up."

  Oh? This is indeed very mysterious.

  Xia Ya was also a bit curious "Can't even use knives and axes? Is this thing that hard? I don't believe it, let me try!"

  As he spoke, he directly pulled out the fire fork and pointed it at the woman in front of him. The woman shouted loudly, "Raise your hands high and don't move randomly, my weapon is extremely sharp, be careful not to hurt your hand."

  The other party raised his hand as he spoke, but smiled bitterly and said, "Sir, it's no use. If you insist on trying, you'll know once you've tried."

  Xia Ya snorted, naturally disbelieving in his heart. Since he got this fire fork, he had never encountered anything that his fire fork couldn't pierce!

  "Be careful." Xia Ya shouted, raised her hand and quickly cut down, the fire fork accurately fell on the bracelet. "Ding"... followed by a crash!

  The bangle shattered and turned into countless fragments scattered all over!

  Xia Ya was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Haha! Look, isn't it done now? You're not deceiving me, are you? What's so special about this bracelet, it shattered with just one slash!" However, the woman smiled wryly and sighed, "Sir, take another look." The fragments of the bracelet turned into a cloud of powder, but then gradually shone with a purple light, swirling into a circle of light, which finally condensed and reappeared on her wrist as a brand new bracelet, identical to the original one!

  Xia Ya was stunned, then he looked at the woman in surprise: "Really?! Are you telling the truth?!"

  "This is indeed a magical bracelet!!!" Suddenly, Er La's tense voice came from deep within his mind.

  "What a powerful curse spell!!" (Huh?)

  Xia Ya suddenly heard Dora's voice, was stunned for a moment, and then heard Dora continue to say in her mind, "This is the power of magic! It can combine two completely different systems of spells, curse black magic and transformation technique, so perfectly. This person has such strong magical attainments! You'd better not use that fire fork again! Any strong equipment made by a powerful magician like this will automatically have a magical imprint attached to it. No matter where you are in the world, if someone damages their magical equipment, they will immediately know through the magical imprint! And listening to her story, that cursed magician has a biased and narrow personality. You're just a small fry, an ant-like thing, if you're hated by such a powerful person, they can crush you with just a finger!" Hearing Dora's serious words, Xia Ya took a deep breath, stood there for a while, then looked up at the woman and asked, "Uh, that... the female magician who cast the curse on you, do you know who she is?" The woman nodded, her expression complex: "I know her name. Over the years, my father and I have tried every means to find some magicians to help us lift the curse, but where can we find truly powerful magicians? Even if we occasionally found two or three magicians, as soon as they saw the magic properties on this bracelet, they would recognize its origin and run away with their tails between their legs. They wouldn't dare to try to lift the curse! Otherwise, that person has a strange personality, and will definitely retaliate if provoked. If we provoke her, we'll be in big trouble!" After a pause, she looked at Xia Ya with a strange gaze and finally revealed the identity of the person:

  "That female magician who cast a curse on me back then, her name is Merlin." "MERLIN!!!!" It was Dororo who exclaimed, and upon hearing this name, his face lit up with excitement:

  "Merlin!!!" This time it was Philip who exclaimed, his face changing color, his eyes filled with a look of horror.

  "Mei Lin!!!!" This final exclamation was actually made by Sharuba!

  Xia Ya looked at Sharuba in surprise, "You all know this name?!" Sharuba nodded seriously, "I do. As a Byzantine, especially in the military, it's rare to not know this name." Xia Ya scratched his head, "Huh? It's really strange... Is this woman from the Mei Lin Temple very famous or something? Why is it that whenever you guys mention her, you all look like you've been possessed by a ghost?" This time, Philip answered his question. As the former leader of the Silver Python Warrior Team, he had seen and experienced many things. His facial muscles twisted into a forced smile, "Sir, this Mei Lin...". He glanced around nervously, as if even mentioning her name made him uneasy, like she might suddenly appear from nowhere.

  He paused for a moment before continuing, "This Merlin, the great mage, she's not from Byzantium, but rather a powerhouse from Lantis. And when it comes to her abilities, well, she's widely recognized as one of the greatest mages in the world!" Dororo couldn't help but interject, "If we're talking about the strongest people in the world today, everyone has their own opinions, and the top few have their own unique skills, making it hard to say who's truly number one. However, if we're talking about who's the most feared, the most terrifying, the one who makes your blood run cold just by hearing their name... I think aside from Merlin, there isn't a second person who comes close!" The most fearsome person in the world?!

  "Sir, you don't know, especially in our Byzantium, the name Merlin has become a taboo, it's not easy to mention!" "Why?" Dororo also shrank his neck like Philip, looked around nervously, and smiled bitterly: "Because this is a great shame for our Byzantium magic association." Dororo's expression was strange. "So, this Merlin magician, she has two nicknames, one is the most terrifying person in the world... and the other is... the Shame of Byzantium."