Chapter 382

The Phoenix's blessing granted him the power of immortality.

Even if reduced to ashes and utterly dead, he could revive once more.

The current Lin Cheng no longer needed to fear Zeref, and possessed power no less than the other's!

Of course, the above was not the main reason Lin Cheng had actively drawn Zeref out.

Now was the Great Transition period, with all forces appearing one by one; the Alvarez Empire had also emerged, but was still in the probing stage and had not fully integrated itself in.

Such a situation was clearly not the outcome Lin Cheng wished to see.

Therefore, pulling Zeref out was the main purpose of Lin Cheng's trip.

As one of the sources of evil, his appearance would inevitably stir a terrifying wave across Ishgar, including the entire world.

The shock of it was likely no less than the news of the overlap of another world.

And all of it stemmed from Zeref himself.

Although he had been wandering the world, vanishing for a long time, rumors of the Black Mage progenitor, Zeref, had always existed in this world.

One could say he was the origin of all darkness in the world, the root of all evil.

His black magic attracted countless Anheigong Society, who pursued him at all costs; the demons he created still existed in this world, endangering the lives of its people.

17　　No matter where one went, legends of the Black Mage Zeref existed everywhere.

Once the news that the Black Mage Zeref was still alive became known, the entire world would tremble!

And the Black Mage Zeref, appearing once more before the eyes of the world, would inevitably be unable to return to his former life, and could only obediently be swept into the tide of the era Lin Cheng had created — this was the ultimate purpose of Lin Cheng's trip.

It was foreseeable that, with the Black Mage from four hundred years ago joining the plot, the ensuing script would become unprecedentedly interesting and thrilling.

Of course, even if Lin Cheng had not appeared, Zeref on his body would have shown himself on his own; he himself had merely disrupted Lee his plans in the process.

Lin Cheng had even once suspected that this very raid by Mingfuzhi Sect was itself a plan Zeref had schemed for many years.

After all, Fiss's ability was to erase magic power, and it did not possess some special power.

In Lin Cheng's view, Mingfuzhi Sect's actions were merely orders issued by Zeref to dismantle the Pingyi Society's ultimate weapon, 'Fiss.'

The demons of Mingfuzhi Sect, including the King of the Underworld Mard Geer, were all demons created by Zeref; only they would believe the foolish notion that activating Fiss to erase magic power could revive END.

Had Lin Cheng not appeared and absorbed Fiss, the magic power of all Ishgar would have vanished because of it, and at that moment would have been Zeref's cue to appear.

"Isekaijin, the Imperial Knight Guard, the contemporary Sword Saint."

And at this moment, just as Makarov and the others were shaken by Zeref's appearance, on the other side, Zeref was also observing Lin Cheng.

As Lin Cheng had said, Zeref had detected this battle from early on, but because he concealed his tracks and traveled through desolate, uninhabited regions, he clearly did not know much about the information.

"It seems that during my absence, the entire world appears to be undergoing tremendous changes."

"At the very least, I sense a trace of pressure from you."

A seemingly ordinary sentence, but Lin Cheng and everyone present could feel the terrifying pressure coming from Zeref.

Clearly, after witnessing Lin Cheng's battle, Zeref had already gained some understanding of Lin Cheng in his heart.

This was an extraordinarily powerful human — a human whose strength was no less than his own.

This sense of pressure, Zeref had not felt in a very long time; moreover, within it he also sensed the breath of death.

One must know that, because of the 'Curse of Contradiction,' even the Black Dragon King Acnologia, who was stronger than him, had never made him feel the breath of death.

Yet from Lin Cheng, he felt it — and very distinctly!

At this moment, he had longed for this for far too long! Too long! Too long!

It had nearly driven him to the brink of collapse!

Ankhseram's curse had taken the lives of everyone in the Mermaid magic.

The most respected mentor, along with his most intimate schoolmates, had been killed by the curse because of him.

But he had not wished to do so.