Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance
This would be a truly bitter struggle…
Lin Yun had one of the strongest Magic Conducting Runes, the Magic Array. He had the Spiritual Magic Staff and the Lava Dominator, as well as the frightening buff of the Angel Potion. His fighting power had reached a level that would make any Great Mage tongue-tied.
But one thing shouldn’t be forgotten: Lin Yun was only a 1st Rank Great Mage.
Indeed, he could kill someone of the same rank in an instant and could even dominate a 5th Rank, but it would become harder and harder to deal with people above the 5th Rank. Just like when he fought the ten Spirit Warriors in the Dark Arena earlier, they had put huge pressure on him and he had only been able to free himself from the Dark Arena by relying on the death energy stored in the Sage Chapter.
And now, Lin Yun was facing three enemies that were on par with 9th Rank Great Swordsmen.
A 9th Rank was a peak Great Swordsman standing at the door to advancement.
The difference in ranks between him and a 9th Rank Great Swordsman was big enough, but he also had to face three of them at the same time. Lin Yun normally wouldn’t have had much chance of success.
But fortunately, he had already touched the Reincarnation Eyes before those three alchemy puppets appeared.
His Magic Array started transforming right after he touched them.
Right now, Lin Yun still didn’t know what this transformation would bring him, but he had a faint feeling that the mana flowing within his body was moving a lot faster than before. The speed of Magic Array seemed to have risen quite a bit, and some of the spell combinations that he could only use in battle while relying on the Sage Chapter didn’t feel as difficult now that he touched the Reincarnation Eyes.
But the most important part…
He could feel that his second Magic Array was in the process of being formed.
Lin Yun felt that he would have to first thank the Reincarnation Eyes if he came out victorious in this battle.
The three alchemy puppets instantly rushed up to Lin Yun and started the battle. No probing, no observing, just a fierce, storm-like offensive. Even the battle-hardened Lin Yun couldn’t help feeling a bit flustered as he cast an Ice Wall in front of him. When he tried to gain some leeway to cast a few short spells, a greatsword emitting raging flames slashed over, crushing the Ice Wall with a crunching sound.
‘So fierce…’ Lin Yun paled. The power of these three alchemy puppets was actually higher than he had imagined.
He even held some admiration for the creator of these alchemy puppets.
Not only was their power and speed not inferior in any way to that of 9th Rank Great Swordsmen, but they had even solved the flaw of puppets being unable to use Aura.
The raging flames coming out from the greatswords wasn’t inferior to a 9th Rank Swordsman’s Aura. Such a thick Ice Wall was broken apart in one slash. At least three Ice Fire Shields would be needed to block a direct blow.
And Lin Yun soon discovered some sort of coordination between the alchemy puppets.
‘They aren’t giving me any way out…’
What kind of Control Rune could make alchemy puppets coordinate with one another like this? Didn’t this need the skill of an Artisan?
Considering that the three alchemy puppets were equivalent to 9th Rank Great Swordsmen, if they could cooperate, then their overall combat potential could only be described as frightening.
This small miscalculation led to Lin Yun’s Flame Barrier being released half a second too slow, with one of the alchemy puppets having already launched its attack. The raging flames from the weapon in its hand almost cut Lin Yun in half.
Fortunately, Lin Yun had noticed his miscalculation and reacted fast enough. He activated the Sage Chapter while casting the Flame Barrier and an Ultimate Frost Armor appeared a meter in front of Lin Yun.
Only a cracking sound echoed as the flaming sword fell heavily onto the Frost Armor.
This Frost Armor had already become an Ultimate Spell, displaying the power of a 4th Tier spell. But it still broke under the flaming sword. At the same time, a huge force struck Lin Yun, sending him flying a dozen meters away like a broken kite.
‘Fuck, truly annoying…’ Lin Yun righted himself and wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth. He then drank a health potion to recover.
This was the power of a 9th Rank Great Swordsman.
That was an Ultimate Frost Armor. It could block an attack from a Spirit Warrior, but it had actually disintegrated under the sweep of that sword, and the remaining shockwave sent Lin Yun flying.
If that sword landed on him…
After taking a small loss, Lin Yun put even more effort into trying to keep away from the alchemy puppets as he started casting all kinds of control spells: Slow, Bind, Ice Trap, Shadow Cage, all one after the other. He also mixed in the Lava Dominator’s short distance flight ability from time to time, along with the Magic Array’s Haste, only barely surviving the attacks from the three alchemy puppets.
The pressure was too high, and the offensive of the three alchemy puppets was too fierce. Aside from dodging and casting control spells, Lin Yun couldn’t even stop to breathe.
As for counter-attacking… he was unable to…
The only thing Lin Yun could do right now was stall for time because he could feel that during his constant fighting and casting, his 2nd Magic Array was continuously forming, and it was even speeding up unconsciously. It had only been a condensation of mana at the start, but it now had the embryonic form of a Magic Array.
Even though the 2nd Magic Array was still very small…
No, this couldn’t even be called a Magic Array, this was only a Magic Conducting Rune being carved from mana. But at this time, this was Lin Yun’s best chance.
Once he had two Magic Arrays, Lin Yun’s fighting strength would greatly increase. Even if the 2nd Magic Array didn’t possess mana conducting ability or a melded spell, by coordinating with the 1st Magic Array, he would be able to make use of the two Magic Arrays to complete a simple Formation.
That was the Magic Array, one of the most powerful Magic Conducting Runes of Noscent. If he could complete a Formation, even if it was the simplest Formation, the power it would display could only be described as frightening.
Lin Yun was now gambling. He was betting on himself completing his 2nd Magic Array before exhausting his mana.
Fortunately, Lin Yun wasn’t betting without assurance.
With the Elemental Amber Ring on his left hand and the Spiritual Magic Staff in his right hand, also embedded with an Elemental Amber, Lin Yun was able to use mana far surpassing any Great Mage and could almost compare to a 5th Rank High Mage purely based on the amount of usable mana.
The seconds ticked by, and only after twenty minutes did Lin Yun need to replenish his mana. He extracted the mana from the Elemental Amber Ring, the latter gradually dimming. A third of the 2nd Magic Array had been carved.
Another twenty minutes later, Lin Yun had to replenish his mana once again, while a bit over half of the 2nd Magic Array had been carved.
It looked like victory was within his hands…
But this was the most difficult period for Lin Yun.
The intensity of this battle far surpassed the Dark Arena’s battles. Lin Yun’s brain never stopped doing calculations, and his mind was strained to its limit. Whether it was his mind or body, they both were overworked.
Other Great Mages would have been unable to last longer than twenty minutes in such an intense fight, but Lin Yun had already lasted forty minutes, and it looked like he still needed to last quite a while longer to have hope for victory. This battle wasn’t a battle of strength, but a battle of will.
Lin Yun relied on his exceptional will forged from surviving in the apocalypse-like end of the magic era to keep persevering.
Lin Yun couldn’t feel the time pass. His forehead was already covered in sweat, his face completely pale like a ghost, and even his two-handed grip on the Spiritual Magic Staff seemed to be shaking. However, Lin Yun was still shockingly clear-headed. Each of his spells was extremely accurate and countered the alchemy puppets perfectly. It was as if he had turned into an extremely precise machine, barely surviving in the face of such a dangerous situation.
‘Ten more minutes!’ When the fight reached the hour mark, Lin Yun’s consciousness was already turning fuzzy. What supported Lin Yun at the time was the fact that the 2nd Magic Array was on the verge of completion.
The last part had just been completed, and a brand new Magic Array had already been formed in Lin Yun’s body. What he needed now was to activate this Magic Array.
Lin Yun fiercely gripped the Spiritual Magic Staff as a huge flood of mana poured into him, causing a shock that made him slightly feel the effect of a magic backlash. After suppressing that backlash by relying on his impressive control, the 2nd Magic Array within Lin Yun slowly activated due to the mana shock.
