End of the Magic Era

Since Prome was rescued and regained control of the Holy Light Alliance, he had been leading the reverends of the Holy Light Alliance, who had always persevered in their faith.

Over these days, all the reverends showed tenacity, the greatest advantage of ascetics, and treated the infected mages day and night, soothing their pain.

That had never happened in real history. Noc had never been killed. The fanatics of the Holy Light Alliance were crazy, but not stupid. Prome had always stayed in the deepest dungeon of the Holy Light Alliance.

The dungeon wasn't opened again until 5,000 years later. What was inside the dungeon were bones that were like sunny crystals. Prome's life had come to an end—he had died in the dungeon. He had been able to resist the corruption of darkness, but not the passage of time.

At that time, the faction of reverends had risen thanks to the quick development of Noscent in the age of colonization. They were no longer the oppressed ascetics in the Holy Light Alliance.

When the reverends were powerful enough to rescue Prome, they only saw his bones, which were known as the Bones of Holy light, in the end. The bones were enshrined as the greatest symbol of holy light in the reverends' main city.

Even Lin Yun couldn't help but respect the legendary reverend who had held onto his faith throughout his life despite all the miseries. It had nothing to do with the man's strength. Lin Yun only admired Prome for the latter's virtues.

At least, Lin Yun didn't think he could've done the same if he were in Prome's shoes. The man was like a saint.

"Sir Prome, thank you for your selflessness. Unfortunately, I don't think the space here can endure the extraordinary power of a level-8 Heaven Rank expert. Maybe we should work on something else."

Prome's eyes were firm and gentle.

"Sir Merlin, I know you're a great Saint Alchemist, and probably the youngest saint of Noscent. Your mastership of alchemy is beyond everybody else's in every aspect.

"I'm sure you can figure out a way to suppress my extraordinary power. I'll be able to give you a hand as long as my extraordinary power is lowered by a level.

"I believe you are aware of the support that a holy light mage can provide in a battle against undead creatures. Please don't refuse me.

"I'm certain that you know the way!"

Before Lin Yun replied, everybody whispered to each other with mixed feelings. Duke Redbud was the first to persuade him.

"Sir Prome, this is a serious situation. That terrifying skeleton king boasts the power of plague that killed a level-7 Heaven Rank light mage. Besides, the space here cannot endure your power. We all appreciate your spirit. It's more important to contain the plague than to kill the wretched skeleton king…"

Duke Redbud tried to persuade him, only to find that Prome showed no reaction at all, and was determined to join the battle.

What a nice guy. There are few such kindhearted and persistent mages these days. No. Everybody who has Sir Prome's virtues has died a long time ago. They cannot live long at all. It's been so many years, and Sir Prome is the only person I know who has such virtues.

However, the skeleton king boasts the dreadful power of plague. Nobody can possibly resist the power of plague except Merlin, a Saint Alchemist. I'm sure Sir Prome is capable of resisting it. However, it's impossible for anyone in level 8 of the Heaven Rank to fight here.

Everybody tried to persuade Prome, but he was so determined that nobody was able to stop him. After a few minutes, they all gave up.

Prome was most famous for his doggedness. He had never conceded even though he had been caged in the sunless dungeon of the Holy Light Alliance for 1,000 years. He'd never abandoned what he believed in. Everybody was aware of that.

They all heaved a sigh of admiration, and knew there was nothing they could do.

The space in the channel could only endure the extraordinary power on level 7 of the Heaven Rank, which depended on a mage's understanding of laws.

The level-7 Heaven Rank experts might not be as strong as each other, but their understanding of laws was basically the same. The percentage of their understanding of a complete law was very similar too.

That was the key. What the channel couldn't endure was the quality, not the quantity.

Every Heaven Rank expert could only control the quantity, but not the quality. For example, Lin Yun could cast a level-10 spell here, which would hardly ruin the channel, but if a level-8 Heaven Rank mage was to cast a level-9 spell here, the space wouldn't be able to endure it, and it would collapse.

It was because of the qualitative difference in their extraordinary power. This space was like a wall made of magic bricks. Normal flames couldn't break the wall even if they were burning all over it. However, a sharp weapon of a Sword Saint's could easily pierce through it.

That was a qualitative boundary. It was fine whatever one did as long as one didn't cross the boundaries. But if one did, the least power that one unleashed would result in great damage.

That was why high-level experts could cause significant damage when they only employed a bit of their power.

Obviously, a mage could control the quantity of their power, but not the quality. In order to participate in the battle, Prome had to lower his extraordinary power below level 8 of the Heaven Rank, but he was incapable of doing that.

Everybody tried to persuade Prome, but failed. Then, some of them began to persuade Lin Yun, hoping to suppress Prome's power to level 7 of the Heaven Rank through alchemical methods.

Lin Yun didn't care when the first person came, but he felt a headache as more and more people came.

Also, he realized that some of the people who came to persuade him only wanted to solve the problem of plague and infections sooner, but some others simply thought there was no stopping Prome, so they came to persuade him.

After all, Prome was the leader of the Holy Light Alliance and a level-8 Heaven Rank expert. Even undead creatures admired him for his virtues. There was nothing they could do to change his mind except trying to persuade him.

A day later, the Lionheart Prince wrote a letter to Lin Yun, and informed him of the situation. He asked Lin Yun to try to lower Prome's level and bring him to battle.

After all, the task was very important. If the skeleton king wasn't killed, there probably wouldn't be another chance. Also, it was impossible to delay any longer. Nobody knew or dared to think what would happen if they delayed.

Lin Yun heaved a sigh, and went to Prome. He saw that Prome was soothing the pain of a badly infected mage with holy light spells. The plague had been slowed down thanks to the power of magic and Lin Yun's potions, but it was only delayed, and not completely ended.

He watched Prome comforting the infected patients with a gentle smile, which seemed to be quite touching, and gave confidence to a lot of mages who were getting desperate, convincing them that things would get better.

Heaving a sigh, Lin Yun waved at Prome from afar.

"Sir Prome, I do have a way to lower the level of a Heaven Rank mage by suppressing their understanding of laws and their extraordinary power. However, the process is agonizing, and requires your full cooperation. After the suppression, you will be weakened to level 7 of the Heaven Rank. But there may be troublesome side effects. Even your soul might get hurt…"

Before Lin Yun finished, Prome had nodded with a smile. He gladly accepted the offer, as if Lin Yun had just invited him to dinner.

"Then, thank you for your trouble, Sir Merlin. I knew you had a solution."

Inside the alchemy lab, a set of special alchemy devices had been placed in the center. There were alchemy arrays on the floor and the ceiling. Along with the alchemy devices in the center that looked like an operation table, they formed a special Heaven Rank alchemy array.

Prome was lying on the alchemy devices. His hands, feet, shoulders, and head were all fixated, making it impossible for him to move. When the alchemy arrays started functioning, some of Prome's extraordinary power was suppressed. He didn't resist at all. He looked like an ordinary person who was rather muscular at this moment…

Lin Yun took out seven narrow, long metal needles that were covered in complicated and weird patterns on their tips. A special magic tool had been embedded in the rear end of each of the needles.

Lin Yun stabbed the needles into Prome's limbs, until only their rear ends were exposed to the air. They had penetrated his bones, but wouldn't affect his movement.

Four needles were pressed into his limbs. One of the remaining needles was stabbed into his chest, one into his back, and the last one was pierced into his head from the very center of his scalp.

Prome remained calm and expressionless throughout the whole process. However, his pale face and his cramping muscles suggested that it was so painful that he couldn't even control his own body any longer.

There was cold sweat on Lin Yun's forehead too. He had to be extra careful with the last needle because it might hurt Prome's soul, which would be very troublesome. In this age, there were few potions or methods to treat soul wounds.

Lin Yun did know many potions and methods that could treat soul wounds. However, the materials they required were nonexistent in this age. The most important component of the potion for soul wounds, which would be available in any alchemy store 10,000 years later, hadn't been discovered yet, because it wasn't from Noscent, but was the local specialty of a new plane to be discovered thousands of years later.

The power of souls was filled into the last needle through Lin Yun's hand. He searched for Prome's soul with the needle, and soon detected a pure soul not far away from the needle. That was just a feeling. That was not where the soul was actually at. Things were a lot easier after he figured out the location of Prome's soul.

He slowly stabbed in the needle. A few seconds later, all the seven needles were activated, enshrouding Prome's body with a strange power and sealing him. Then, he detected that Prome's level was dropping from level 8 of the Heaven Rank.

Lin Yun was confused for a moment. When he examined Prome's soul, he found that it was as pure as a newborn baby's, without the slightest impurities or unusual thoughts or waves…

While he considered the question, he noticed that things were changing. The seal on Prome's skin gradually dispersed, and he was stabilized on level 7 of the Heaven Rank.

Opening his eyes, Prome was still pale. He put on a gentle smile the moment he saw Lin Yun.

"Sir Merlin, I'm ready to go."

Hearing that, Lin Yun dropped the question that flashed in his head, and nodded.

"Sir Prome, do you not need a rest?"

The power of holy light appeared on Prome's skin. A few seconds later, he was breathing steadily again, and his pale face was back to normal again.

Without telling anyone, Lin Yun and Prome left the fortress. The fiery area in the middle of the channel meant nothing to them. Lin Yun was the one who released the flames, so it was easy for him to control them. They entered the flames, and the flames automatically made way for them.

The soil had been burnt into boiling crimson lava. There were even fire crystals in a lot of places. Those crystals only appeared in special places in the Fiery Element Plane that had abundant flames.

Passing through the flames, they embraced the terrifying aura of the undead. The undead creatures were still 100 kilometers away, but their aura had already reached this place. The wind of death and the flames collided. The wind tried to blow out the flames, but the flames were unfortunately too massive to be extinguished.

The collision of coldness and heat caused terrifying tornadoes on the land, and they raged and rolled the sand and stone. There seemed to be dozens of mincers swirling on the ground that would rip apart any creature that entered the area.

Standing on the ground, Lin Yun stared at the swirling tornadoes thoughtfully.

"Sir Prome, you'll have to lure the skeleton king here first. Then, if possible, seal the area with Descension of Holy Light, or at least buy me enough time to take the Heart of Plague from the skeleton king."

Prome nodded solemnly.

A space gate appeared in front of them. Both of them stepped into the gate and disappeared. Hundreds of kilometers away, above the ocean of undead creatures, a silver gate slowly opened.

Prome walked out with the holy light staff in his hand. The moment he walked out of the gate, there seemed to be a sun in the sky. The power of holy light quickly spread out, and covered hundreds of square kilometers.

The ocean of undead creatures on the ground all screamed miserably under the illumination of holy light. Those below level 20 couldn't even face the holy light. Black smoke popped up from them, as if they were on fire. In only a couple of seconds, they were already screaming and falling to the ground, as if they were being burnt.

The skeletons fell apart into black bones, and the zombies were burnt into ashes, leaving just black bone pieces. The ghosts were simply purged directly.

The emanation of holy light had instantly killed all the undead creatures below level 20 in the radius of hundreds of kilometers. Those between level 20 and level 30 lasted longer, but they were burnt by the holy light 10 seconds later too.

Lin Yun walked out of the space gate, and looked at Prome, who had turned into a small sun, with admiration. The holy light mages were truly the bane of the undead. They could cause terrifying damage to undead creatures just by releasing holy light.

They could eliminate most undead creatures without casting any spell. Most undead creatures in the ocean of the undead creatures were below level 30. Low-level undead creatures were the majority.

To kill an undead creature below level 20, a fire mage only needed a Fireball, but it was a spell anyway. If there were millions or billions of undead creatures, a fire mage couldn't possibly kill all of them even if they used up all their mana.

However, a holy light mage only needed to emanate holy light to purge the low-level undead creatures. The number of undead creatures didn't matter to them at all.

Prome floated in the sky. His magic power turned into holy light and radiated. All the undead creatures in the range of holy light were purged. Outside the range, a tremendous number of undead creatures were approaching crazily, but they were all purged after they entered the range. Even the undead creatures above level 30 were still completely purged in only a couple of minutes.