by Zhuang Bifan
For example, a person who suddenly received a large amount of money would more likely than not fail to plan their finances well, and end up squandering away the money. On the other hand, those who earned their money through hard work would know that each cent did not come easy, and they would know how to manage their money better.
Hence, one could imagine that a large number of mages with magical talent would be ruined by the magic tides. Hence, the human magical civilization, at least in their generation, would almost be tantamount to becoming stagnant.
Lin Li had yet to reach the level of being responsible for the prosperity of the world. Hence, he did not care about the wellbeing of other mages, but he had to consider the mages of the Tower of Dusk, especially the elite ones who had potential. Lin Li did not want the magic tides to destroy the future of the Tower of Dusk.
Hence, Lin Li was now eager to rush back to clean the mess created by the magic tides. He was not in the mood to waste time in the Brilliance Shrine at all.
Of course, Englos and the others understood how Lin Li felt. Hence, they did not insist on making Lin Li stay. After Lin Li agreed to visit the Brilliance Shrine often in the future, they saw Lin Li off to the foot of the Holy Mountain together. The fact that almost all the senior executives of the Brilliance Shrine were sending a young mage away had caused a huge uproar in the city.
After bidding farewell to Englos and the others, Lin Li used the Power of Flight to fly back to the Sky Castle. The massive Sky Castle that was like a gloomy cloud slowly moved in the direction of the Breezy Plains.
In the process of the flight on the Sky Castle, Lin Li had also begun arranging the mages under him to familiarize themselves with the operations of a portion of the Sky Castle. After all, the power of the Sky Castle could not be exerted by a single person.
Besides, after Lin Li gained control of the Sky Castle, there was still a lot of work for him to do. For example, back when he followed Arbitrator Chris to the Sky Garden, Chris used a teleportation technique that did not require a Teleportation Portal at all to bring them to the Sky Garden at any time. However, it required some detailed settings.
Chapter 1013 - Battle
Lin Li did not want to have to rely on flying whenever he boarded the Sky Castle. He felt that it would be much easier to open up a Teleportation Portal. Hence, the first thing that Lin Li wanted to do was to reset the teleportation function. Fortunately, Lin Li had obtained a large amount of information about the Sky Castle from the control crystal. Hence, it wasn't that difficult for him to set it up. It only required him to set a teleportation icon and activate the teleportation function of the Teleportation Portal in the Sky Castle.
As he flew towards the Breezy Plains in the Sky Castle, he saw that Doland City and the area where the Tower of Dusk was located were currently shrouded in the thick fog from a battle.
When Lin Li left three years ago, there was already a Magic City prototype in the surroundings of the Tower of Dusk. The scale of the Magic City had already expanded greatly after three years of development. However, it did not give off the vibe of a newly built city—especially the buildings in the periphery of the city that was covered in traces of war.
Outside the Magic City, there was a team composed of thousands of mages and mercenaries, which was launching a fierce attack on the Magic City. Dozens of massive weapons were roaring loudly. Large burning stone balls and gigantic arrows that were as thick as a human waist were constantly bombarding the city walls around the Magic City, causing ripples to form on the magic shield that covered the walls.
The one who was commanding the team to attack the Tower of Dusk was none other than Canuman, the President of the Guild of Magic of Geresco City. The people around Canuman were just as strong as him, and the way they dressed showed that they were obviously not from the Guild of Magic. There were even some who were not humans.
There was a ruthless-looking dwarf with only one eye, an elf with a face that was covered in sanguine lines, a Necromancer who was covering his face with a hood, and a person with a seductive-looking upper body and a serpent's lower body. Besides, there were also a few human powerhouses—Sword Sages, Assassins, and of course mages. However, all of them seemed sinister.
"Canuman, didn't you say that they were extremely weak? Why haven't we entered the city after more than 10 days?" asked the elf who had sanguine wreaths on his face, and was emitting a bloody aura instead of the natural aura of an elf. It was as if he had just come out of a pool of blood.
That elf was one of the fallen ones who had turned into blood elves, betrayed the Goddess of Nature, and surrendered to evil. They turned their backs on their faith in the Goddess of Nature, and made a deal with demons to exchange for greater power. For the sake of obtaining the power from demons, they indulged in endless killing to acquire more souls.
Canuman took a look at that elf, but he did not get angered by his derisive comment, because he knew what to expect from those damned fallen elves. At the same time, they also had strength to match it. Although Canuman had successfully reached the peak of the Legendary-realm, he still did not have the confidence to have an advantage against the blood elf.
"Vesha, this battle is too boring. Why don't we return to the tent and do something more interesting?" The one-eyed dwarf playfully flirted with the serpentine woman next to him as if there was no one around while supporting his weight with his giant axe on the ground.
Faced with the teasing and flirting of the one-eyed dwarf, the serpentine woman Vesha did not seem weak. She smiled, and said, "Sure, I hope your bones are stronger than I thought." While saying that, she swung the long snake tail behind her twice.
"These mercenaries are really sly. All they do is take money without doing what they're supposed to. Seems like we really have to give them a little push," the Necromancer whose face was covered in a large hood spoke in a hoarse and sinister voice. Before the ones around him even said anything, he raised the Skeleton Staff in his hand.
Black fog appeared on the battlefield immediately like tidal waves, and surged towards the mercenary corps that were currently attacking the city. All the mercenaries that came in contact with the black shrieked immediately as if they were put through massive agony. After the screaming vanished, the mercenaries that were eroded by the black fog had become completely different. The skin and flesh on their bodies had fallen off, and they had become Skeletal Warriors.
However, the Skeletal Warriors that were transformed from humans were emitting silver rays of light because all the power of their bodies was gathered in their bones. They were clearly much stronger than ordinary Skeletal Warriors. Besides, unlike ordinary Skeletal Warriors that only knew to fight with their own power, they had inherited a large portion of combat experience before their deaths. Hence, not only did their power not weaken, it even increased greatly.
"Damn it, Sandos, are you trying to turn us into the public enemies of the entire Anril?" Canuman wanted to get them to stop, but it was already too late. He had no choice but to yell at the Necromancer angrily.
"Canuman, your mission is to attack the Tower of Dusk. Once we get the Tree of Eternity, you don't need to worry about the rest. Besides, I'd like to remind you that we can't stall for time and hold the Ashen Warlock back for too long. If he manages to rush over in time, we will be punished," the Necromancer Sandos warned Canuman in a gloomy tone.
Upon hearing Sandos' warning, Canuman immediately stopped being angry. He had no choice but to turn around and give an order to his team to attack in full swing. Actually, his orders were redundant. The mercenaries had already turned into Skeletal Warriors who were not afraid of pain and death. Hence, they were no longer sneaky, and instead focused all their attention on the battle.
Although Canuman's mages were shocked by the change of those mercenaries, they did not get into a commotion because of that. They continued to execute Canuman's orders, and let a large number of magic spells to bombard the gate of the Magic City.
A
lthough Sandos' words had clearly given the blood elf a reminder, the others dared not stand by the side idly and watch the battle. Instead, they took out their weapons and joined the siege. The one-eyed dwarf wielded a wheeled axe, the blood elf picked up his sanguine longbow, and Sandos summoned the Tide of Death, causing the endless army of Undead creatures to join the battle.
Although the Tower of Dusk had a strong defense, their strength lay in the tower itself and the Eternal Furnace. The area outside the Magic City, especially the part that was built after Lin Li's departure, had a relatively weaker defense because Lin Li did not arrange any mageweaths or Alchemy Arrays there. Besides, other than the mages and the fearless Undead creatures, there were also numerous powerhouses that were at the peak of the Legendary-realm on the enemies' side. That power had far exceeded the current capacity of the Tower of Dusk.
Finally, the gate of the Magic City crumbled with a loud roar, and the army of Undead creatures seemed as if they were swarming out from open floodgates into the city. Fortunately, those from the Tower of Dusk were already prepared to retreat, and thus there were not many casualties amidst the chaos.
"Damn it, there's a line of defense!" Canuman and the rest cursed unanimously after seeing the scene behind the gate.
The second line of defense of the Tower of Dusk was built based on the buildings from three years ago, and this line of defense was far more powerful than the previous one due to all of Lin Li's elaborate designs.
However, even though they had retreated to a more solid line of defense, Gavin and the other senior executives who were in charge of commanding the members of the Tower of Dusk did not seem relaxed at all. When Lin Li explored the Tower of Dusk, he brought away a large number of elites of the Tower of Dusk, and left none of the Legendary-level combat forces behind. About seven of the enemies he was facing now were powerhouses who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm and had extraordinary power. Even with a stronger line of defense, he might not be able to last for long.
"Gavin, I think we should retreat to the Eternal Furnace. Only with the power of the Eternal Furnace can we resist these enemies," the senior executives of the Tower of Dusk who were standing in front of the tower said anxiously to Gavin while watching the Undead creatures swarm into the city.
Indeed, although a few mages of the Tower of Dusk had also become Legendary-mages because of the influence of the magic tides, they had just stepped into the Legendary-realm, and could not compare to the powerhouses who were at the pinnacle of this realm. Only the Eternal Furnace at the top of the tower could allow the mages of the Tower of Dusk to temporarily get more power to contend with the invading enemies.
Of course, Gavin knew about that too. However, retreating to the Eternal Furnace meant giving up everything including the newly established Magic City, and perhaps even the Tower of Dusk. Even if they could really make the enemies retreat with the power of the Eternal Furnace, it would not be easy for the Tower of Dusk to return to its original state. It was almost like reversing everything and starting all over again.
If Lin Li was still in the Tower of Dusk, it would be extremely fast for the Tower of Dusk to recover even if everything was reversed. However, the problem was that Lin Li had left the Tower of Dusk for three years, and even though Gavin believed that he would return safely, he did not know when exactly he would return. Gavin did not want Lin Li to come back and realize that the Tower of Dusk had already fallen and vanished.
That was precisely the reason that Gavin implemented a defense plan as such—to preserve the property of the Tower of Dusk as much as possible so that it would not fall apart after this battle due to excessive losses.
"Get ready to activate the All-Kill Array and charge the Magical Crystal Cannons." Gavin helplessly gave a new order to the subordinates around him as he looked at the army of Undead creatures that was attacking the second line of defense.
When Lin Li left the Tower of Dusk, he actually left behind a sufficient number of magical crystals for them. However, there would still be a day that they ran out of magical crystals. Gavin had no idea when Lin Li would return, either. Hence, he dared not launch full-blown attacks at once for fear that they might use up all of the magical crystals and have none left for the crucial juncture.
However, Gavin now had no choice but to make up his mind. If he was not determined, he might not have another chance in the future. If the enemies were to attack, all their magical crystals would end up with others no matter how many they had.
With Gavin's order, the entire Tower of Dusk was immediately shrouded by faint light, and a terrifying atmosphere that was full of evilness and a murderous and destructive aura was spreading out in all directions with the Tower of Dusk as its center. The windows at the top floor of the Tower of Dusk were opened, and the barrels of the Magical Crystal Cannons were stuck out of the windows. The muzzles were also shining with the light of condensing mana.
Seeing the changes in the Tower of Dusk, Canuman frantically reminded the crowd, "Be careful, the Tower of Dusk has a mageweath array called the All-Kill Array, which is said to be a Guru-level mageweath array. Its power is incredible. Besides, there are more than 20 Magical Crystal Cannons at the top of the tower."
"All-Kill Array? What a bold claim. Let me see how the All-Kill Array works!" the Necromancer Sandos exclaimed, clearly dismissive of Canuman's reminder. He swung his skeleton staff forward, and immediately opened four more vortex-shaped doors in front of the crowd. He actually cast five Tides of Death at the same time.
When the Tide of Death was in operation, it would consume the caster's mana. Hence, even if there were Necromancers who could cast 50 Tides of Death at once, they would not have enough mana to keep them running. It would be better to focus on sustaining one Tide of Death.
However, the Necromancer Sandos clearly did not care about the Tide of Death's consumption of his mana. Although he had not stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, he had a massive amount of mana that was not something that ordinary Legendary-mages could compare to.
The five Tides of Death and five armies of Undead creatures almost filled the space outside the line of defense of the Tower of Dusk. The fearless Skeletal Warriors were at the front, while the Hell Ghouls were continuously launching Hellfire bombs that rained down on the Tower of Dusk's line of defense. Groups of Vampires were hovering in the sky, looking for a chance to attack. Next, more than 10 Humerus Wyrms spat out erosive dragon breath.
Surrounded by an army of Undead creatures, the Tower of Dusk became a reef in the vast ocean which seemed like it would be submerged in the water any time soon.
However, the Tower of Dusk did not submit. The All-Kill Array was finally activated completely, and the terrifying power immediately engulfed the Tower of Dusk. The Undead creatures that rushed into the All-Kill Array were immediately crushed into ashes, as if they had fallen into a stone mill.
At this moment, the 20-odd Magical Crystal Cannons were emitting incomparably solid mana attacks which formed dazzling pillars of light that were bombarding the enemies. Every mana cannon shot that landed would result in a long empty area among the army of Undead creatures. There were also some mana cannons that were shot at the Humerus Wyrms in the sky. Clearly, the Humerus Wyrms were not actual Humerus Wyrms. Under the powerful mana cannons's barrage, there were some that immediately disintegrated because of the bombardment.
Chapter 1014 - Dwarves
"Atrocious, what are you guys waiting for?!" Sandos seemed rather annoyed when he saw his army of Undead creatures being overwhelmed by the sharp counterattacks of the Tower of Dusk.
"Okay, okay, aren't they just some bones? You can get as many of them as you want," the blood elf said nonchalantly before chanting an incantation.
A huge Six-pointed Star Array emerged in the open space in front of the blood elf, after which a demon engulfed in black gas and with two wings on its back crawled out of the Six-pointed Star Array.
"Destroy them. These are the souls that you want!" The b
lood elf tossed a bead that was filled with an unknown number of souls. He then pointed at the Tower of Dusk. However, when the Soul Bead that the demon wanted to devour rushed towards the Tower of Dusk, the Six-pointed Star Array on the ground did not disappear. Instead, another demon crawled out of it.
10 Legendary-level demons that were wielding pitch-black tridents were dashing towards the Tower of Dusk's line of defense with heavy footsteps. The demons that had Legendary-level power were the Greater Demons that liked trading souls with humans the most. The blood elf summoned 10 of them at once, and he had probably used more than 10,000 souls.
After praying, the one-eyed dwarf raised the wheel axe in his hand, and a thunderbolt suddenly fell from the clear sky, striking the spike at the top of the axe. However, the one-eyed dwarf did not get scorched by it, and instead his body seemed to expand as if it had been filled with gas. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a three-meter-tall giant.
Legend had it that dwarves possessed the genes of the Titans, but that seemed like a joke to most people. The Alpine Giants being the descendants of the Titans seemed like a more reliable claim. However, there was indeed such a legend among the dwarves. It was said that as long as a dwarf could truly awaken his own bloodline, he could transform into a powerful Titan.
It was said that the dwarves had a powerful team that could awaken their bloodlines among the rebellion forces that tried to overthrow the High Elves at the end of the Dark Age. The team, which had less than 100 people, was named after the sacred relic of the dwarves, the Thunder God's Hammer. It also acted like a heavy hammer during the war of rebellion by resisting and thwarting the High Elves' suppression several times. Saladin, the first king of the Dwarf Kingdom, who was also the most famous hero among the dwarves, was the one who had led the team.