Chapter 716: Cemetery Guardians
Although the two dragons had directly killed the silver-armored knights, the mages were incredibly exhausted after having to deal with the Alchemical Undead, followed by the continuous bombardment of the Magical Crystal Cannons. Everyone knew that the closer they were to the mausoleum, the greater the danger that they would face. Hence, they decided to take this opportunity to “repair” the square. To everyone’s surprise, the underground world would actually change from day to night too. At this moment, it happened to be nighttime soon.
However, the dispute between Lin Li and Rosen made the atmosphere in the team seem much more subtle than it originally was. The two had already fallen out; hence, they naturally wouldn’t patch things up and work together again as if nothing had happened.
On Lin Li’s side, Andoine, Aldwin, Macklin and the other mages had formed a group, but Rosen was not alone, either, as 50-odd mages stood on his side with no consideration for the rest.
Seeing such a situation, Aldwin’s face grew even more sullen, while Macklin mumbled incessantly. The mages were the pillar of the Alanna Guild of Magic, and they usually only followed the commands of their President, Aldwin. However, Aldwin had never expected that the 50-odd mages would stand on Rosen’s side at this juncture.
Of course, in theory, the Guild of Magic was subordinate to the Supreme Council; hence, the Guild of Magic would have lesser power and authority than the Supreme Council. Based on this, Aldwin could not criticize Rosen. Otherwise, he might get accused of opposing the Supreme Council, and that would leave him with no means to retort. He had no choice but to consider how he should rectify the problems in the Guild of Magic and solve them after leaving this place lest his manpower got poached without his knowing the reason.
Andoine had also seen the changes in the team. Seeing that Aldwin was gazing at him, Andoine waved his hands, and said, “Don’t look at me. This is his personal conduct and has nothing to do with the Supreme Council.” However, even an arbitrator could not say anything about it, because, in a way, Rosen was really correct.
Seeing this situation, Lin Li shook his head and suddenly got reminded of a phrase: “loyalty only exists because the price offered for betrayal is too low.” All humans had desires; some wanted more money, some were after greater power, and some would betray their brothers for a woman. As long as one tried hard enough, they would be able to poach anyone.
Of course, those circ.u.mstance had little to do with Lin Li; hence, he would not be worried about whether or not his mages of the Tower of Dusk would be poached. He was rather open-minded about such situations, and would let anyone go if they wanted to. However, he would also make them pay the price for causing harm to the interests of the Tower of Dusk.
While taking a break, Lin Li stood in an empty spot beside the campground and released a Death Knight. Although he had vaguely guessed the origin of the Death Knights, the combination of the Death Knights and the Divine Power still made him feel extremely curious. To be honest, Lin Li still found it hard to imagine the idea of creating a microcosm that was put forward by the Immortal King. He felt that it was unlikely for Osric to succeed since the Immortal King had failed.
The knight was exuding a holy aura and riding on the back of a Nightmare, remaining motionless like a sculpture. The silver armor that was covering his body was decorated with elegant patterns, and looked extremely beautiful, exquisite, and lofty. Only through the gap of the faceplate could his light blue soul fire be seen. Its flickering was reminiscent of heartbeat.
However, Lin Li could tell that the silver armor and the defensive mageweaths on it had nothing to do with the strangeness of the silver-armored knights. Moreover, if the pure silver armor possessed Divine Power, the Undead creatures beneath the armor would definitely be burned into ashes.
The Nightmare beast that the knight was straddling was also exuding pure Divine Power that was not inferior to a Legendary unicorn’s. In particular, the unicorn’s horn was like a silver spiral, and seemed to have been condensed with power that was incredibly pure. Its hooves were also covered in silvery-white flames that seemed to be able to purify everything
This is simply an undead nemesis! Lin Li turned around twice, and took a deep breath. Had he not known what kind of body was wrapped under the silver armor, he wouldn’t have been able to link the Silver-armored Knight and the detestable undead creatures together.
Standing opposite the silver-armored knight, Lin Li closed his eyes and carefully channeled his mental strength towards the soul fire hidden behind the faceplate of the armor. The soul fire was the basis of most Undead creatures. Although the Death Knight belonged to another series of Undead creatures, it was still an Undead creature, after all, and had to rely on soul fire to continue moving.
The rules of Anril were such that the soul fire of Undead creatures was definitely among the purification targets of Divine Power. However, Lin Li remembered that Osric had used the Eternal Furnace to create a strong Ghost. Hence, he wondered if he had made any changes to the silver-armored knights’ soul fire.
However, after sensing carefully, Lin Li opened his eyes; the soul fire behind the silver-armored knight’s faceplate seemed to be no different from that of the Death Knight. The only difference was that it was much stronger. After all, a level-22 silver-armored knight could be considered a Retribution Knight.
Since the soul fires were the same, could the problem be with the skeleton? Lin Li lifted the armor of the silver-armored knight again, cut off a piece of bone from the end of the rib, and then placed some experimental equipment in the open s.p.a.ce beside the knight. He then began to a.n.a.lyze the composition of the piece of bone.
After trying various methods, Lin Li discovered a strange phenomenon. The piece of golden bone was resistant to flames, and purification by light was not only ineffective, but also absorbed by the bone. Obviously, it was not a simple bone; Osric had clearly added plenty of things into it.
Lin Li touched his chin, put away all the experimental equipment on the ground, and then activated his own Magical Domain. However, this time, he decided to use the Power of Light to create a Light Domain to engulf the silver-armored knight.
Soon, Lin Li discovered that the power of the silver-armored knight had been greatly improved in the Light Domain, and even had a tendency to hit level-23. That showed that the silver-armored knights were resistant to the outside world, or rather that the Power of Light that the silver-armored knights possessed should conform to the basic nomological power of Anril.
It seems that the main problem is indeed in the body of the silver-armored knights, and not creating a microcosm to re-enact the Laws like the Immortal King planned. In general, Death Knights did not have strong bodies, and their strength actually came from soul fire and the use of Death Energy. The bones of the silver-armored knight had turned golden, and they seemed to have high resistance to magic. They could even absorb Power of Light.
However, Lin Li could not come up with a method of creation for a Death Knight that could use Divine Power without the rules of the microcosm. There was no longer an answer that could be obtained by research alone. It seemed that the Eternal Furnace had to be restored before he could find the real creation method.
Lin Li put away the silver-armored knight and returned to the place where the team rested. He gave Andoine a brief explanation, and then began to meditate while waiting for sunrise.
The night pa.s.sed quickly, and the team was ready to go at dawn. Just like the night before, they split up into two teams. Aldwin had no choice but to sigh secretly. For the sake of a smooth exploration, he could only try his best to tolerate it.
The team pa.s.sed through the ruined square and arrived at the gate again. Standing on the steps in front of the gate, Rosen took a quick glimpse at everyone. Ever since the conflict that happened yesterday, the relations.h.i.+p between Rosen and Lin Li was no longer reconcilable. Hence, when Rosen looked at Lin Li, he did not hide his hatred and disdain at all.
“Next, we are going to enter the central area of the mausoleum, which is the burial place of Highlord Osric. However, I hope that no one will take this lightly and think that there will be no more danger here. The dangers that might exist in here far exceed the imagination of each of you.” Rosen turned to look at the mages below the stairs, and the solemn look on his face was restored.
Andoine also looked much more dignified and solemn at this moment. He said in a low voice, “Back then, the Highlord Osric had three powerful warriors: Amatir, Angelano, and Eminos. I believe everyone is familiar with these three executioners. According to the data from our research, the disappearance of these three executioners occurred almost at the same time as the death of Osric. It is said that that happened for the purpose of protecting Osric after he was buried here. If the legend is true, then their current strength is probably close to the Sanctuary-realm.”
After hearing Andoine’s words, the mages under the steps could not help but gasp in shock. Amatir, Angelano, and Eminos were significant figures in the history of the Dark Age. As Osric’s most loyal warriors, the three High Elves had killed plenty of people, and even once killed all of the creatures on a certain floor of the Sky Castle. Hence, just like their master, they were each called a butcher. Although the Dark Age had ended for more than 1,300 years, the names of the three executioners had not been forgotten by the people.
However, after being surprised, the mages began to get a little excited. If they could kill the infamous executioners of the Dark Age, it would be a great honor that could not be obtained in this age. In particular, they were absolutely astonished by the real Sanctuary-level power when they saw the two dragons summoned by Rosen.
Lin Li shook his head slightly and looked at the expressions on the faces of the mages. He naturally knew where they got their confidence from, but had no choice but to secretly lament how ignorant they were. If the two dragons could be summoned randomly, this operation would not require the partic.i.p.ation of the mages.
Of course, the mages did not actually get too complacent. After all, they were also elites who had witnessed countless battles. Under Aldwin’s command, the mages formed a tight defensive formation and walked through the s.p.a.cious gate while keeping their guard up.
To everyone’s surprise, the cemetery still looked endless even though they were already in the central area of the mausoleum. There were no palaces or treasures. However, the graves in this cemetery were in the High Elves’ style, and were extremely luxurious. Undoubtedly, only the High Elves were allowed to be buried in those tombs.
The team walked carefully for a while, but did not encounter any danger. As for the three legendary executioners, they were nowhere in sight. Finally, Rosen looked around at the lavish tombs around him, and suggested to Aldwin and Andoine that they split up to search.
Andoine knew that although Rosen seemed to be discussing it with him, he already had an idea in mind. Besides, Rosen’s main agenda was to ask Aldwin for some manpower, and not his opinion. Hence, he could not be bothered to say much, and simply told him not to separate the mages too far apart lest they got into an accident.
Seeing that Rosen had gone to the other side to look around with the 50-odd mages, Aldwin smiled wryly and continued to explore the High Elves’ tombs together with the remaining mages. Although the tombs of the High Elves were not as huge as the ones outside, they still contained plenty of treasures. Among the burial objects, there were some valuable treasures, exquisite works of art, and various magical items.
After a long search, the team harvested a large number of precious items, but did not encounter any danger. The joy of harvest had already made them forget where they were, and all they could see were tombs that were significant enough to be called small treasures. Some people who were too engrossed in harvesting continued to stray further away from the crowd, and even Aldwin had let his guard down. Lin Li and Andoine were the only ones who seemed to be unmoved. They looked around alertly and did not take anything.