End of the Magic Era

"Maybe that devil didn't like Emmy's soul. Or maybe that devil is a good devil?"

Lin Yun proposed a theory that even he didn't believe. Lord Shawn rolled its eyes, and didn't talk. However, it seemed to be truly considering the possibility.

Even the holy light mages, known as the most sacred and devout people, could be corrupted. So, it was not entirely impossible for a devil to betray other devils, and turn into a good devil…

After the soul altar was destroyed, the soul space around the altar was destroyed too. Lin Yun took Lord Shawn up there, and Emmy's soul was floating there, stunned.

The soul altar had been set up smoothly. Countless ghosts had been torn apart as nutrition too. Everything went unprecedentedly well. In the end, she sacrificed her own soul, and invoked a real devil. Also, it was the real entity of a top devil overlord. Everything worked out so well that as long as the devil overlord showed up, it could 100% kill all the creatures here.

But things didn't turn out as she expected. Her soul was spat out after being swallowed by the devil, which even burnt her soul for a long time to prevent any useful information from being leaked out. She wasn't tossed back until all the aura that belonged to the devil lord was erased…

Emmy's faith collapsed. She was completely dumbfounded. It was like she had seen a devil who was even more sacred than a holy light mage. How could this devil overlord have abandoned its natural instincts?

Lin Yun looked at Emmy's soul, who had been completely stunned, with pity, and shook his head. He knew that she would rather die at this moment. The collapse of faith was even more painful than being tortured for tens of thousands of years.

"Lord Shawn, she's all yours."

Lord Shawn cackled, and turned into a streak of light. He tore apart Emmy's soul and entered. A dozen seconds later, Emmy's soul collapsed, and dispersed into spots of light. Lord Shawn flew back angrily.

"Damn it. That bastard's soul was almost collapsing. It had been burnt by hell flames too. Not very much information was found. I didn't find out why the devil overlord spared her…"

"Tell me what you've found."

"Do you remember the Shadow Tower? Two of the Shadow Tower's members that you killed were related to her. Also, the Shadow Tower seems to be closely connected to the Ring of Roses too. They belong to the same organization.

"Back when you were in the Andlusa Kingdom, they couldn't avenge themselves even if they wanted to. When you came to the Odin Kingdom, they decided to seek revenge. They made use of the Lodney Family and the Roosevelt Business Alliance, but to no avail.

"So, they decided to take action in person. I didn't find the name of the organization they belonged to. Her soul had already half collapsed. It completely collapsed when I just exerted some strength.

"Anyways, they call it the headquarters. Someone in the headquarters controlled the Shadow Tower, and someone else controlled the Ring of Roses. Those two are very close, so they sent the Ring of Roses after you…

"They seem to be in the middle of something important, and don't have time for revenge. They've already decided to give up, but this Emmy was unwilling to stop, and took action on her own. That's all…"

Lord Shawn didn't speak quite logically, but Lin Yun was able to understand him. He remembered a thing or two about the people of the Shadow Tower, but not their names. He only knew that he did kill them…

After Emmy died, the soul blockage in this place completely collapsed. Everything collapsed and dispersed. The mist vanished too. The castle and the herbs grown within a radius of several kilometers had all been destroyed. No Screaming Ghosts could be found anymore. The three family leaders had fainted in the destroyed gardens.

Wilder was lying three kilometers away like a dead dog. His face was as pale as a piece of white paper, and his soul waves were disorderly. There was no telling where Reynolds was. He had already disappeared.

Ignoring the three family leaders who ran off at the very beginning of the battle, Lin Yun flew to Wilder, and examined him. Wilder didn't seem to have any wounds, but his pupils were dilating and contracting every now and then, indicating soul damage. It couldn't have been easy for him to resist the crazy Screaming Ghosts for so long. As a steel mage, he was quite vulnerable to those creatures that precisely attacked the soul.

Lin Yun took out some mana water, and gave it to Wilder. A few seconds later, Wilder took a deep breath, just like a dead body that had come back to life. When he saw Lin Yun, he became even paler, and tried to explain.

"Sir Merlin, I truly have nothing to do with any of this. I've been set up…"

Lin Yun waved his hand.

"Enough. Go back to treat your wounds. I have other things to do."

After saying that, Lin Yun left with Lord Shawn. Wilder was slightly relieved to see Lin Yun fly away. He had a lot of thoughts.

I knew that Sir Merlin wouldn't be fooled so easily. He must've realized that I had nothing to do with any of this. I've been set up.

I don't know what happened. So many Screaming Ghosts attacked Sir Merlin in the end, but he has emerged unscathed, as if he didn't go through any battle at all. There were so many Screaming Ghosts that even the ancestor would've had a lot of trouble dealing with them.

But nothing happened to Sir Merlin at all. Emmy, that b*tch, must've died. Did the sacrificial array she set up not work? Unlikely. I clearly sensed the aura of offering. There was also the vibe of a dreadful devil overlord. But it's all gone now. Sir Merlin has won…

How terrifying. Even the ancestor couldn't have gotten rid of the crisis so easily. However, Emmy has been killed so easily. There's nothing left of her…

Good thing that I didn't keep offending Mafa Merlin, or I would be as good as dead…

Sir Merlin didn't seize the chance to kill me. I should be safe now. As long as I don't offend him again, there won't be any grudge between us…

Wilder put on a smile. Ignoring his soul weakness, he flew towards the Lodney Family unhurriedly.

A dozen kilometers away, Reynolds was observing from a hiding place. Seeing that Wilder was flying away unsteadily, and the mist around the manor had dispersed, he was greatly shocked.

Damn it, wasn't a devil overlord summoned? Why is the battle over already? There's no ominous vibe left at all. Has the devil overlord been killed already?

Wilder is still alive. Mafa Merlin didn't seize the opportunity to kill him. It seems that he isn't as brutal as he's rumored to be. Damn it, I should've helped Mafa Merlin. It would've eased the tension between us, and the Roosevelt Business Alliance might've been able to get Universal Cores from the Gilded Rose again…

It's all screwed now. Even if Mafa Merlin knows that I was set up by Emmy, he won't make peace with the Roosevelt Business Alliance at all.

This was a chance to ease the tension. Maybe the Ring of Roses will retaliate. Well, I can warn them in the name of the Roosevelt Business Alliance. Summoning a real devil overlord outside of Neverwinter City was a violation of the rules. Yes, it will raise public indignation.

Reynolds left quietly, and immediately made an announcement in the name of the Roosevelt Business Alliance after he came back.

He condemned the Ring of Roses for summoning a devil overlord outside of Neverwinter City, which failed but still corrupted the best herb gardens outside of the city.

Reynolds' announcement didn't mention the Gilded Rose or Lin Yun at all. On the other hand, Wilder also made an announcement in the name of the Lodney Family, declaring war on the Ring of Roses because the devil overlord they summoned almost killed him.

The announcements of the two major forces confirmed the event. Soon, the Starry Sky College sent investigators, who found the soul altar, the traces of a ritual, and even the traces of a top devil overlord.

Even though the summoning ritual somehow failed in the end, a lot of people were still scared. Neverwinter City was the biggest city in the north of the Odin Kingdom. If a top devil overlord had appeared next to Neverwinter City, it would've caused tremendous damage, and could've killed dozens of Heaven Rank experts.

After the Starry Sky College's investigators released their investigation report, the Ring of Roses could no longer exist in the north of the Odin Kingdom. Almost everybody had officially stated their rejection. The Starry Sky College and a few other important organizations together demanded the Ring of Roses provide an explanation for the incident.

The Ring of Roses had little influence in the north of the Odin Kingdom to begin with, and it could hardly continue operating here. Its remaining members all retreated.

Lin Yun stopped paying attention to any of that as many difficult problems had appeared in the research of magic battleships. Lin Yun had to solve the problems by himself. To create magic battleships and develop the new plane was the most important thing.

He couldn't count on others for raw materials anymore. Having his own source of raw materials was very important. It was also the biggest factor that restrained the Gilded Rose's development.

The Ring of Roses didn't do anything else, and Lin Yun wasn't anxious. Emmy was already dead. Also, this incident was likely to be Emmy's own decision. It was impossible for the Ring of Roses to step up and defend her. Besides, they seemed to have been distracted by something else that was more important…

The moment he reached the research center in the Raging Flame Plane, Lin Yun was surrounded.

"Sir Merlin, while the massive mana reaction furnace made of such materials is enough to power a big city, we don't have the fuel that it requires at all."

"Even if we make use of level-40 magic crystals, we can only unleash 65% of the reaction furnace's power. Even the best magic crystals can only provide 72% of its power."

"Not only is the consumption enormous, but it wears out the reaction furnace too. The overall performance of the magic battleship will be reduced by half. It doesn't meet our expectations at all…"

"Sir Merlin, the weapon system's design is basically fine. However, the choices of cannonballs and barrels are major problems. If the barrels are too long, they may be destroyed easily, but if they're too short, they won't have enough power. The cannonballs are a problem too. If they're accelerated too much in the barrels, they might explode prematurely…"

"Navigation is another big problem. Without a map, we may easily get lost in the boundless void…"

Surrounded by so many people, Lin Yun felt a strong headache.

"Stop. Talk to me in turns. Let's go to Fantexi's first."

He came to Fantexi and Pinocchio's lab, where an enormous reaction furnace had been fixed to the ground. The floor was made of the hardest mana-resistant materials to ensure safety and avoid interferences.

It was impossible for the reaction furnace to directly produce enough mana. Fuel was required to trigger reactions inside the furnace.

In this era, due to the limitation of materials and basic technology, it was difficult to create better reaction furnaces.

Fantexi took out two fist-sized magic crystals, and threw them into the furnace. Soon, the enormous amount of mana generated from the furnace was delivered to the entire research center according to the designated route.

The quantity of the mana was thousands of times greater than that generated from other level-3 Heaven Rank reaction furnaces.

Lin Yun stood nearby, and examined the changes inside the furnace carefully. He also read the data that had been recorded by machines. Soon, he frowned.

"It's because of the impurities in the fuel. I'll prepare high-purity magic crystals. Just keep studying while following the current path."

Throwing dozens of magic crystals that were condensed in the Mana Lake in his Demiplane, Lin Yun put the matter aside.

The Mana Lake in his Demiplane contained the purest liquid mana, a lot of which had gathered into crystals. Those magic crystals that were made of purest mana were the perfect fuel for the reaction furnace.

However, there weren't a lot of such magic crystals, and it was a great waste to use them as fuel because the magic battleships needed much more fuel than a few crystals.

Pure fuel could be found in this newly developed plane. It was one of the reasons why it got picked.

Leaving Fantexi and Pinocchio's alchemy lab, Lin Yun went to the Firerock Dwarves' weapon lab.

"Sir Merlin, we've made some progress on the research of the Hand of Destruction. We've improved our laser cannons with our findings to increase their shooting range and speed. They can be used as main weapons."

"However, there is a problem regarding the electromagnetic cannon that you designed, Sir Merlin. According to the specs that you offered, we speculate that to ensure the power, the barrel of the cannon has to be extended to more than 5,000 meters, and even so, the cannon wouldn't be as powerful as you described…"

The Master Alchemist was rather ashamed. It was rather humiliating that he couldn't create a product when he was already given a model.

Lin Yun shook his head. He looked at the electromagnetic cannon they made. Its barrel was 500 meters long. Such a long barrel meant that it could be easily destroyed. If it was destroyed, then the electromagnetic cannon would be useless.

"I'll take care of the cannonball problem. If we cannot lengthen the barrel, we will create an alchemy device, which will generate a mana barrel that will be more powerful and can be longer.

"I'll take care of the material problem. You'll take care of the rest."

The research continued. Lin Yun entered an alchemy lab, and experimented on the new materials he remembered.

It was impossible for him to find new materials that were readily usable, so he could only use new fused materials. Although he knew the percentage of the components of the fused materials, it wasn't easy to mix them up, and create such materials.

After a month of research, Lin Yun finally created five kinds of new materials. Although they weren't as perfect as he remembered, they were enough in this situation.

Handing over the materials to the alchemist team, Lin Yun simply left the matter aside. The Gilded Rose's alchemist team at this moment was definitely one of the best in Noscent.

Although it didn't have many Artisan Alchemists, and couldn't compare to the alchemist groups that had a long history, it was already a good beginning.

Two months later, The Intrepid left the Raging Flame Plane, and appeared in the boundless void. It began to illustrate the map of the boundless void, and mark the dangerous spots.

The newly created magic battleships were experimented on and adjusted in the process. With The Intrepid's protection, they didn't encounter any danger in the process.

The three magic battleships were only 300 meters long. The dense alchemy patterns on their surfaces made them look like three absolute cubes.

Lin Yun simply left everything behind. He stayed in his alchemy lab for research, or studied the truth runes in his Demiplane.

Recently, he had made a lot of progress in the study of truth runes. He had studied almost 5,000 truth runes, and engraved all of them on the pillar. The essentials of his Demiplane had been evolving, but it didn't really change.

The law of darkness was about to be born. Everything was developing fast.