Chapter 408: Corpse Explosion

There were way too many mages in Anril. Even Andoine, who held an important position in the Supreme Council, could only describe their number as “hundreds of thousands” when he talked with Lin Li…

However, hardly a thousandth of them had seen a Legendary-mage in person, much less witness a fight between two Legendary-mages.

This was not an exaggeration, as most mages in Anril did not know how Legendary-mages dueled; they were not much different from an average person in that aspect. Many mages thought that a fight between Legendary-mages would be as grand as the battles in historical records, where they hurled Legendary-level magic at each other, and that the Elemental Power would be enough to shatter the ground. Hence, they were thought to only use Archmage-level magic sparingly as an accent to the fight.

The truth was the opposite, however, as Legendary-mages rarely used Legendary-level magic when they fought each other, and even if they did, it was often for other reasons—they would use them to distract their opponent or to pressurize them. These were merely tactics, however, and did not determine if they would win in the fight. They still relied on level-18 and level-19 magic to truly win.

This was because when a mage entered the Legendary-realm, their understanding of magic also reached new heights. They started to realize that they could simplify all the complicated theories, and began to take on a more straightforward approach towards magic. However, this did not mean that their approach became crude or superficial, as it was a blend of their profound understanding of complicated techniques as well as the most essential of core magical mantras, thus resulting in a new style of magic.

This style of magic could never be replicated, as it was something that developed naturally after one reached the Legendary-realm.

Just like Lin Li now…

Even though he had the help of the All-Knowing Potion, as soon as he had the strength of the Legendary-realm, he adopted such a style almost immediately. If the mages from the Daylight Square were witnessing this, they would find it hard to believe that this young mage who cast spells without an additional syllable in his chanting or an additional movement in his gestures was the same young talent who had demonstrated various fancy techniques of casting spells back in the Daylight Square.

Lin Li was like a different person now as there was no trace of the Archmage from the Daylight Square on him now. Each of his spells was filled with a beautiful simplicity, and nobody would think he was a young mage only in his twenties based on the way he cast spells. The way he simplified his techniques effectively was something that one would see once in a while observing mages who had studied magic for decades.

The Lich that rode the Humerus Wyrm was like that too. He had always hidden in the Scar of Death, and once fought the Legendary-mage Cheyenne, resulting in both suffering heavy injuries. In this fight, he, too, demonstrated his great understanding of magic.

The thousands icicles had just melted when the Lich chanted one line, and green toxic fumes started spreading nearby. They seemed to have a life of their own as even though the cave was spacious, the fumes did not spread everywhere, but stayed concentrated in one spot, looking from afar like a moving snake.

This was a level-15 Withered Fog, one of the most infuriating Necromagic of all as it’d poison any living person who came in contact with it. If one did not have at least Theurgy of level-15 and above or a potion that could save their life, they’d be dead in seconds. The worst thing was that the Withered Fog was made up of death aura, which was naturally sensitive to the Scent of Life. Hence, it’d search for living creatures upon release and cling to them relentlessly.

As soon as the Withered Fog was released, almost half of whatever they could see was now covered in it as there were patches of green everywhere.

“This bastard…” Lin Li felt a headache coming when he saw the green fumes as even though it could not hurt a Legendary-realm powerhouse, it could deal damage to others. That was the infuriating part of the spell as even though it was not very powerful, it was horribly clingy, and required a long time to neutralize. Hence, he had no choice but to be wary of it.

Thankfully, he had reached the Legendary-realm with the help of the All-Knowing Potion…

Lin Li cursed angrily in his mind as he quickly started chanting a level-20 Great Purge Spell. Aldwin had used it back in the Daylight Square to get rid of the Blood-vine Spell that Gryffindor was trapped in. On some levels, the Great Purge Spell was like the Eternal Light Spell, but it was easier to execute and less powerful. However, they were both used to deal with evil creatures. Be it Undead creatures or demons, they would all be exterminated by the light of the Great Purge Spell.

The Withered Fog was no exception…

Lin Li chanted very quickly. Before the green fumes even spread out completely, the light from the Great Purge Spell already shone everywhere as the whole place was lit up by the blinding rays of light. Once the whole place shone brightly, the green fumes also disappeared like dust in the rain as they dissolved into the light.

That’s not right… For some reason, however, Lin Li did not feel settled at all after the Withered Fog dissipated, for he felt his heart clench as though there was an impending danger…

Then, Lin Li smelled a stench of decay…

F*ck! Lin Li lowered his head unconsciously, and immediately cursed as he saw that the ground beneath his feet had loosened after the Withered Fog disappeared. There was even a decayed arm sticking out of it—it was reaching for his right foot.

This was a level-15 Death Revival, an unpopular Necromagic spell which made use of death aura to create corpses. Necromancers rarely used it as Necromagic was not too adept in the process of creating, and even creating corpses would require way too much mana. Moreover, these corpses created from death aura were not very powerful, and even though they were created by a level-15 spell, they could easily be wiped out by normal level-10 fighters.

However, when these corpses appeared under one’s feet, they still made people break out in cold sweat—even a Legendary-mage…

Lin Li did break out in cold sweat when he discovered the corpses beneath his feet.

“Retreat, quick!”

There was another use for corpses summoned by Necromancers in fights, which was to cause explosions!

While the level-14 Corpse Explosion was not of a high level, it was scarily powerful, especially when executed by a level-20 Lich. This was because the scale of the explosion depended on the number of corpses—the more there were, the bigger the explosion. The Corpse Explosion back at Blackhills Town almost blew up the whole inn; one would be a fool not to run away if the level-20 Lich used a Corpse Explosion right now…

Lin Li had actually discovered the corpses in time as they were only just appearing, and had yet to surround the advance party. If the Lich were to use the Corpse Explosion now, it would only be the few ones that had already surfaced exploding, which would not be very powerful, as the ground would act as a buffer for the explosion from those that were still buried underground.

The Lich would have to wait a moment for all the corpses to surface if he wanted the Corpse Explosion to reach its full potential. This was provided that the Lich was willing to wait as even a few seconds would suffice for the whole advance party to retreat to a safe distance.

Everyone’s reflexes had become incredibly quick after having spent the past few days fighting in the Scar of Death. All of them—the ones he had brought from the Tower of Dusk, Adelo and his men, and even Reggie and the rest—were very alert to their surroundings. Shortly after the warning echoed, they all sensed that there was impending danger, and managed to evacuate to a safe distance in just a split second.

But then, the Humerus Wyrm turned around…

Since the fight between the two Legendary-mages had started, the Humerus Wyrm was no longer under the Lich’s control, and because its wings were still restrained by Lin Li’s magic, flying was no longer an option as well. Hence, the dozen or so people in the advance party as well as the remaining Death Knights were able to hold it off for a while.

But now that the advance party was running for their lives, the remaining Death Knights were unable to handle the Humerus Wyrm alone. Thus, the Humerus Wyrm suddenly turned around, and its long whip-like tail swept over abruptly. In that second, everyone heard a low sound breaking through the silence…

The Humerus Wyrm was dozens of meters long, and its tail made up half of that length. Everyone only saw a shadow sweep by when that low sound was heard, and the cave suddenly started shaking with a booming noise.

“Bloody hell…” All Lin Li saw before his eyes was darkness. The Humerus Wyrm’s tail had shattered the smooth walls of the cave, causing debris to fly everywhere. Due to the strength of the Humerus Wyrm, this debris flew like cannonballs, and even the incredibly hardy Death Knights were forced to take cover.

But the moment that happened, a problem arose.

Without the Death Knights tying it down, the Humerus Wyrm regained its freedom, and it spread its wings as its huge body swooped over like an attacking hawk, moving dozens of meters towards them in just the blink of an eye.

Then, another low sound was heard…

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“Oh, no!” Even Lin Li paled at that. If the walls of the cave were destroyed by one sweep of the Humerus Wyrm’s tail, how was the advance party supposed to survive that? It would be a miracle if even half of them made it out alive.

Luckily, Adelo reacted quickly. Just as the sound was heard, he had already broken the scroll in his hands, and a golden light appeared, enshrouding everyone.

What a waste of a Divine Prevention Scroll… Lin Li immediately saw that it was a Divine Prevention Scroll from the Brilliance Shrine. That was level-18 Theurgy, and was able to shield the user against one attack from a Sword Sage. It was a priceless treasure, and even Paladins in the Brilliance Shrine were given only a small number thereof. If outsiders wished to get their hands on it, they would have to use very unusual means…

But this precious scroll was misused by Adelo. There were many other ways they could deal with an attack from the Humerus Wyrm’s tail, and it was unnecessary to resort to wasting the precious Divine Prevention Scroll. This was something that could not even be bought with money, and when it occasionally appeared in the black market, it would be sold for close to a million gold coins.

But that was not the worst part, as the disadvantage that lay in using the Divine Prevention Scroll was that it formed a shield of divine energy, which would also limit the movement of the user while protecting them. In other words, everyone was forced to remain in their spot for at least five seconds after the Divine Prevention Scroll had been used…

In other circumstances, five seconds would not have been much, but now, it could force them to take a passive stance…

Just as Lin Li was silently worrying, the long tail of the Humerus Wyrm directly struck the golden light, causing an explosion of lights. Sparks flew everywhere, making this eerie place light up as brightly as fireworks in the night sky would.

The dozen or so people of the advance party narrowly escaped death thanks to the Divine Prevention Scroll, and all held grateful expressions, thankful that Adelo had used it quickly enough…

All except Lin Li…

And truth was, Lin Li was right. After the golden light dissipated, hundreds of corpses surfaced from the ground…

Moreover, these hundreds of decaying corpses were coming at them from every direction.

Lin Li felt his hair stand on ends at the sight. God knew how scary it’d be if hundreds of corpses exploded at once…

Lin Li knew very well that he could not allow the Lich to use the Corpse Explosion. Even if he was capable of protecting himself, the rest would surely perish.

He could not care less now. He had already retreated out of the area using the Power of Flight, but he paused in midair as he concentrated all of his mental strength before speeding towards the area with the most corpses, chanting quickly at the same time…

It was an Ice Wall Spell. After mastering level-18 magic, Lin Li had been using it quite often as he found it more sturdy than the Four-element Shields. Besides neutralizing most magical attacks, it could also block physical attacks, which made it more practical than the Four-element Shields.

Of course, it was merely practical…

He would be dreaming if he thought that an Ice Wall Spell would be able to shield them against the explosion of hundreds of corpses. Even though Lin Li now had the ability of a Legendary-mage, and was able to conjure 20 Ice Walls at once, there was no way that would be enough to resist the terrifying Corpse Explosion.

Luckily, it was not Lin Li’s aim to completely neutralize the Corpse Explosion. All he wanted was to buy some time to stop the Lich from casting his spells.

The speed at which he moved thanks to the Power of Flight was astonishing indeed as he moved as quickly as lightning. In a flash, he had flown into the center of the corpses. At the same time, Ice Walls appeared everywhere, and shielded the advance party reliably.

Just as these Ice Walls appeared, the Lich in the sky had raised his magic staff, and the corpse nearest to these Ice Walls exploded with a booming noise…

What more, this explosion spread like wildfire, and continued endlessly. In a short span of time, nearly a dozen corpses exploded, and this was done by the level-20 Lich too. The scale of this explosion was worlds apart from what the Necromancer did back in Blackhills Town. A hole had appeared in the half a meter thick Ice Wall in a split second, and as sounds of explosion continued endlessly, this hole grew bigger…

“This… this is too scary…” No matter how brave he was, Adelo was still scared half to death as he heard the loud sounds of explosions from where he stood at the center of the Corpse Explosion.

“Shut up!” Lin Li had his hands tied with continuously re-enforcing the Ice Walls. At the same time, he channeled mana into the Aether Staff like his life depended on it so as to activate the Dragon’s Eye at the tip. He had no time at all to care about how scared Adelo was.

As Lin Li channeled mana into it, the Dragon’s Eye began glowing brighter and brighter. Finally, faint yellow light seeped through the thick walls of ice, and was reflected off the glossy walls of the cave.

The Lich raised his magic staff as well, and a thick death aura started spreading from the black crystal at the tip of the magic staff. More and more corpses appeared from the ground, and exploded right before the Ice Walls. This was the impressive thing about Legendary magic—he was executing a level-15 Death Revival and a level-14 Corpse Explosion at the same time flawlessly.

While they were both Guided Magic, there was no need for elemental sequencing during the process of guiding it; besides that, they were not that much different from average magic. They still required the control of magical elements and the channeling of mana, and any mistake in that process would immediately result in the bite of mana.

Neither of these spells was high in level, as one was level-14, and the other was level-15. This might seem like nothing much to others, seeing as these were merely Magic Shooter-level spells, which were seemingly incomparable to level-20 magic of the Legendary-realm. However, people who truly understood magic would know that the Lich had demonstrated casting techniques of the highest level, for even amongst Legendary-mages, only the most experienced and the most powerful would be able to pull off such an impossible feat.

Using the most profound of casting techniques would naturally result in the most terrifying effect. The Death Revival continued to produce corpses by gathering death aura, and the Corpse Explosion continued to cause explosion after explosion. This meant that as long as the Lich was continuously guiding the spells, this attack would never cease, and even walls of steel would be blown up by it.

Truth was, that was the case…

Corpses continued to appear everywhere amidst the earth-shattering explosions. There were now close to 300 corpses even though there had previously been less than 100 of them. These creatures created from death aura continued to grow in numbers, and inched closer and closer to four walls of ice…

In the end, the whole place was densely covered by corpses.

If they completely surrounded the four Ice Walls, perhaps even Lin Li would not be able to withstand the effects of the last Corpse Explosion, much less the people of the advance party.

In the end, it was an expletive that ended all of this.

“For f*ck’s sake, are you done?”

As the expletive left Lin Li’s mouth, a faint yellow light enshrouded the Lich as the Arcane Wall Spell within the Dragon’s Eye was released at last. As the faint yellow light flashed, the Lich’s chanting ended abruptly, and the endless sounds of explosion suddenly stopped. The ground beneath their feet did not rumble anymore, and the stinky corpses collapsed before Lin Li’s feet as though they were controlled by an unknown force at the same time…

Then, they heard a crunching noise as Ice Walls that had held up against over 30 Corpse Explosions finally fulfilled their last mission after the Arcane Wall was released. Cracks appeared in the walls following the crunching noises, and they grew into deep gashes in the blink of an eye. When these cracks intersected with each other, the Ice Walls finally gave in to the pressure, and fell down with a loud boom.

“Alright, I take back my words. This bastard isn’t more troublesome than Ujfalusi…” Lin Li mopped the cold sweat on his forehead as he walked out from amongst the shattered pieces of ice. “Bloody hell, he’s so much more than just troublesome!”

Ujfalusi had been way too predictable compared to this Lich as all the Necromagic he used right from the first Tide of Death to the Humerus Wyrm failed to pose much of a problem to Lin Li. While the Tide of Death was a level-20 magic, the Undead creatures it’d summoned were too dumb, and could easily be dealt with using a Thousand Miles of Ice. The Humerus Wyrm was slightly more impressive, but unfortunately for him, Lin Li had the Holy Light with him, and managed to blow up the Humerus Wyrm with just a light blow, even bringing down the Humerus Domain with it. In the end, even the Lich himself was forced to make a Soul Contract with a human.

This Lich was different, however…

Lin Li was willing to bet his head that this bastard had received the most proper kind of education in magic possible!