Chapter 416: Mageweath array
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Even Lin Li’s expression changed after he had analyzed all 13 of the mageweaths. This was definitely the work of a Guru, and was comparable to the All-Kill Array of the Tower of Dusk. In fact, it was even more cleverly designed than the All-Kill Array.
The 13 mageweaths encompassed decay, gravity, deadly poison, fear, hallucinations, seduction, and the dark. Under the control of the mageweath array, these seven different kinds of energy were able to take on any formation and become frighteningly powerful. Moreover, the mageweath array relied on the Gloomy Dark as a source of mana—in other words, the 13 mageweaths were able to directly absorb energy from the Gloomy Dark.
That was the highlight of the entire mageweath array in Lin Li’s opinion.
This was because the Gloomy Dark was the purest form of Dark Force in the world, and thus, the 13 mageweaths could just use the absorbed energy directly without having to convert it into another form. This meant that there would never be a risk of mana exhaustion.
“Impressive…” As a true Guru of Inscription himself, Lin Li knew better than anyone else that in terms of mageweath design, it was much harder to harness the strength of a mana source the more powerful this source was. Take Lin Li for example, the biggest problem he’d encountered while designing the All-Kill Array was not how to balance the 10 unique mageweaths, but how to integrate the All-Kill Array into the power system of the Legendary magical crystal.
It was hard enough with one Legendary magical crystal, but what about the Gloomy Dark that was much more powerful?
Seems like Osric was not the only genius in the once unparalleled and glamorous dynasty.
Lin Li was staring so intently at the mageweath on the moonstone that Adelo could not help but ask, “Mage Felic, why are you…?”
“Do you still have Summoning Scrolls?”
“I do…” Adelo paused in surprise before he searched his pockets and retrieved a white Summoning Scroll. “But I’m only left with the one used to summon the Three-eyed Demon Wolf, those above level-15 have already been used against the Skeletal Warriors. I wonder if…”
“It’s fine.” Lin Li shook his head as he took the Three-eyed Demon Wolf Summoning Scroll, and gently tore the seal in the middle. The Summoning Scroll immediately turned into a puff of smoke, and the blurry outline of a Three-eyed Demon Wolf appeared. Lin Li could not be bothered to wait until the smoke dissipated; hence, he only used his mental strength to give a command. “Go down the stairs.”
The Three-eyed Demon Wolf was merely a low-ranking magical beast, after all, and with its pathetic intelligence, it did not understand how scary the altar was. Hence, Lin Li had barely given his command before the Three-eyed Demon Wolf rushed down the stairs.
“Mage Felic, what are you—”
Adelo had just started speaking when black fog engulfed the surroundings of the altar. While the fog was not too thick, it did loom over the place. Then, it was followed by the cry of the Three-eyed Demon Wolf from within the black fog…
Everyone besides Lin Li was stunned by the cry as they would never have thought that the altar that had been abandoned for over 1,300 years would have such terrifying traps hidden within. Johnathan was especially affected as he broke out into cold sweat. If Mage Felic had not stopped him earlier, it would have been him letting out the cry instead…
“I understand…” Adelo stared at the altar with a pale face and evident fear in his eyes. “So my teacher has been wrong all this time. He always thought that it was the Lich attacking him, but to think that it was a trap within the altar itself…”
“This trap is called the mageweath array,” Lin Li said with a smile, but did not continue explaining how powerful the mageweath array was. There was no way he could do that anyway—there were less than 10 people in the world of Anril that understood the concept of a mageweath array, and of course neither Adelo nor his teacher were part of those 10. No matter how he explained it to him, there was no chance of Adelo getting it…
Moreover, Lin Li had more important matters to see to now.
It was true, the person who designed the mageweath array was a genius indeed, and even Lin Li did not think he would be able to come up with such a cleverly designed mageweath array. But, even if he was not able to come up with it, it did not mean that he could not replicate it. Once an Inscriber reached the realm of a Guru, there was not much difference in abilities; the only difference lay in whether or not one was able to think of it. As long as he copied down the mageweath array, he would be able to replicate it perfectly after studying it for a couple of days at most.
“Ujfalusi, you have half an hour to copy down the patterns on this.”
“Alright, Master. ”
Ujfalusi finished copying after half an hour, and Lin Li raised his Aether Staff as he slowly walked over to the altar.
“Everyone, stand back.” Lin Li started chanting after he warned them. It was still a Pyroblast, and was still executed so fast that it had been nearly instantaneous.
“BOOM…!”
Large fireballs were hurled against the surface of the altar with a bang. Amidst the blindingly bright flames, large pieces of moonstone flew out—a hole was blown in the mageweath array. Then there were two and three, until the number reached 13…
Lin Li used 13 Pyroblasts, and blew 13 holes in the altar. If there were other Inscribers here, they would be cursing angrily because the 13 Pyroblasts were aimed exactly at the core circuits of the 13 mageweaths. In other words, the 13 Pyroblasts completely destroyed this ingenious mageweath array.
“Alright, Brother Johnathan, you can go ahead.”
“Okay.”
Johnathan nodded his head, and headed up the stairs with the six black magical crystals. Under the guidance of Adelo’s magical marker, he quickly lodged the six black magical crystals in appropriate positions.
After the last black magical crystal was lodged into position, the entire cave seemed to become clear. The oppressive and annoying weak magical wave seemed to have been stopped by a mysterious force, and they could no longer feel it.
Even Lin Li could feel that the Holy Light in the Ring of Endless Storm had stopped pulsating, and lay quietly and peacefully instead of its earlier restlessness.
“These six black magical crystals were left behind by the High Elven royals, and were said to have come from an ancient magical beast. The only thing special about them is that they have an insane ability to devour mana, and even an Archmage at their peak will have their mana depleted in an instant. Hence, I had Mr Johnathan hold onto them. Besides, it is written in the High Elven royal’s diary that the bolt in the altar has a strange energy that could only be suppressed by these six black magical crystal. Now, we can safely retrieve the treasure map.”
As the six black magical crystals were devouring the mana, Adelo patiently explained things to Lin Li. The nearer they got to the treasure map within the altar, the more careful Adelo became as he was very afraid that he might do something to cause a misunderstanding between him and the young mage. Adelo was well aware that any misunderstanding that might arise now would not only hurt him, but also the entire Malfa Family…
“Alright, Mage Felic, let’s head up.” Only when the aura of the Gloomy Dark completely disappeared did Adelo and Lin Li head up the stairs.
The process of retrieving the belongings of the royal was simple as the Gloomy Dark was held in the left hand of the Immortal King sculpture, while the treasure map that Adelo spoke of was a yellowed piece of sheepskin lying next to the Immortal King’s sculpture.
Adelo was so emotional that his hands trembled when he picked up the treasure map from beside the Immortal King. This was the key to the Immortal King’s treasures, and there was more than endless wealth in it. There were also instructions on how to achieve the greatest strength, and once he was able to get ahold of that, there was a chance that he might reach the Legendary-realm in his lifetime, perhaps even reaching the peak of the Sanctuary-realm…
It’s been a while, Gloomy Dark…
Lin Li’s hands were trembling slightly too. He already held two out of the seven Debris of the stars: one Light, and the other was the Dark. If he was able to use them well, the Light and Dark would become his most powerful strength, and now that he had both the Light and the Dark, it would be much easier for him to search for the rest as the Debris of the stars resonated with each other, so he would no longer have to wait until he was in the vicinity of one of them to detect its presence.
It was only a matter of time before he found the other five pieces of the Debris of the stars…
Lin Li exerted a huge amount of effort before he finally managed to calm himself down. Then, he gingerly reached out with his still trembling right hand, and took the Gloomy Dark from the hand of the Immortal King’s sculpture…
Now that the six black magical crystals were no longer devouring its mana, the strength of the Gloomy Dark was released immediately. It was powerful and profound, just like the Dark itself. Lin Li held it in his hand as he savored this familiar force. In that moment, it felt as though he was back in the Endless World…
…
By then, the Malfa Family’s team had already crossed the Scar of Death, and set up a campsite in the vast plains. The team seemed entirely different from when they left as they had not only been replaced with many elites from the Malfa Family, but they had also gained a few powerful allies. There were the Syer Bandits that ranked in the top 10 in the Breezy Plains as well as the High Priest of the Darkness Shrine, Sendros.
Frankly speaking, Hutton was taken by surprise when he heard that Sendros was coming as even though the Darkness Shrine could no longer rival the Brilliance Shrine, Sendros was still a powerful individual who stood at the peak of magic. Hutton had long heard from his teacher how scary a Necromancer in the Legendary-realm could be…
Of course, Hutton was aware that the Malfa Family was definitely incapable of hiring someone like Sendros, and the only reason he was here was because his teacher had got acquainted with him in the past.
Hence, Hutton was exceptionally hospitable towards Sendros in these days, and arranged a luxurious tent for him. He also personally brought Sendros his meals, and was incredibly respectful to him when he spoke. One thing was certain: the first heir of the Malfa Family was definitely gifted in some ways as he could interact very well with whoever it was. Even the gruff Sendros occasionally gave a stiff smile when he spoke to Hutton.
The tent that Hutton set up for Sendros was in the center of the campsite, and looked luxurious and spacious. Soft, warm carpets lined the floor of the tent, while the furniture was crafted by well-known masters. It was like walking into the emperor’s moving palace when they walked into the tent; it was hard to imagine that this was in the middle of the Blackstone Mountains with their hostile environment.
The only bad thing was that it was too empty—there was only a black-robed Sendros in the big tent. Besides Hutton, who brought him his meals every day, nobody was willing to go near the tent.
It was because this Legendary-mage had a naturally chilly aura, and even the ruthless head of bandits, Vanskore, could not help but tremble in front of Sendros. He had wanted to establish a good relationship with this Legendary-mage the first day he arrived, but after that, this ruthless head of bandits found himself regretting his decision for a good couple of days.
That feeling was too scary…
He was a short and skinny old man; besides having a title of Legendary-mage, there was nothing out of the ordinary about him. However, one could feel a chilly aura seeping into their bones simply by standing in front of him, which felt like falling into an ice cellar and feeling your blood freeze up.
The scariest part, however, was his eyes. Vanskore felt as though there was a venomous snake staring him down every time he recalled his eyes. That feeling made his hair stand, and gave him nightmares for a few nights spent in the Blackstone Mountains. Ever since then, Vanskore never dared to go near the scary Necromancer; he even silently swore that he would never want to see this fellow again if it was possible…
Even the ruthless Vanskore was scared out of his wits, much less the rest. Soon, nobody dared to step into Sendros’ tent besides Hutton.
However, Sendros did not care whether anyone stepped into his tent, as he was only here with them in the Blackstone Mountains to return Cheyenne a favor. More importantly, he was here for the prophecy that had been passed down for 1,300 years in the Darkness Shrine. As for anything else, Sendros could not be bothered about it at all.
Since there was no one around to disturb him, Sendros spent most of his time in meditation, but at his level, meditating was no longer just a means to recover his mana. Most importantly to Sendros, meditation was a way to let him quiet down his thoughts to focus on thinking.
Geresco had long said 1,300 years ago that a Legendary-mage would spend most of their life thinking.
This was no exaggeration at all, as thinking was the most important thing to any mage who entered the Legendary-realm. This was because there were too many things that required their attention. Once they entered the Legendary-realm, they had the right to familiarize themselves with many secrets of the world, and there were too many things that they had to think about, like the constituency of magic and the truth of the world. Thinking in itself was a journey of learning, and just as a mage apprentice thought that meditation was the most important task of all, mages thought memorizing spells was the most important thing, and for Magic Shooters it was studying techniques, Archmages stressed understanding the Rules. It was merely the task that differed depending on which stage they were in…
Like any other day, Sendros started his daily meditation after eating lunch.
But just as he entered a state of meditation, Sendros opened his eyes suddenly.
“How can that be…” His eyes were filled with disbelief, and he looked just like a child who was frightened by lightning.
Luckily, Vanskore was not around, as he would never believe the fact that those snake-like eyes could express such human-like feelings.
What was more unbelievable was that Sendros opened his eyes and immediately rushed out of the tent, even tripping slightly on a few chairs. Thankfully for him, he was quick to react, and while he stumbled, he did not end up falling. However, this still gave everyone a shock as they could not believe that this elderly man running frantically was really the High Priest Sendros of the Darkness Shrine.
“How could such pure Dark Force exist in the world…” Sendros rushed out of his tent with a panicked look as he stared fixedly in the direction of the Scar of Death with a look of shock and doubt.
With his keen senses of a Legendary-mage, Sendros was 100% sure that the sudden burst of Dark Force was coming from that direction. However, even though Sendros had seen many things in his lifetime, some of which nobody would dare imagine existed, he still found it hard to believe that Dark Force as near perfection as this actually existed in the world of Anril…
This was against the laws of the world—there was no way a force could be without a flaw. Anything as perfect as this was surely on its way to its own demise.
But the Dark Force coming from the Scar of Death was so genuine that Sendros could clearly feel every pulse of it; it was a rhythm so perfect it was almost like music.
Could that prophecy be true? The thought flashed like a ray of light in his mind, and the most powerful High Priest of the Darkness Shrine was suddenly stunned…