End of the Magic Era

Lin Yun was quite surprised that the fifth ancestor survived. Those people paid such a heavy price, and successfully lured Agalon and the others into the trap. It was difficult for them to get out of the Kingdom of Nightmares once they entered.

Lin Yun felt a strong headache when he considered how to rescue Agalon and the others.

It was quite easy to enter the Kingdom of Nightmares. Lin Yun knew of a dozen ways to enter that place. However, he needed to make full preparations in order to leave it.

After he entered the Kingdom of Nightmares, his Natural Demiplane would probably be blocked. In that illusionary world, everything might be fake. However, if he died there, he would truly be dead.

Lin Yun searched his memories for a moment, and remembered an item he saw at the auction of the undead. He didn’t know what was inside the box, but he remembered the special symbols on the box.

The symbols were meant to seal the power of nightmares. It was sort of a mental protection. He didn’t pay much attention to it when he last saw it. When he considered the Kingdom of Nightmares, he remembered the symbols he saw earlier. If his guess was correct, the box probably contained the Kingdom of Nightmares’ remains, likely a part of his body.

By assembling the pieces of the King of Nightmares’ bones and soul, he would have a key to open the Kingdom of Nightmares, and then get out of it. But that was just in theory…

What he needed was something else that was more important.

The cursed who had lost their souls walked in black nightmares. They were cursed forever, and couldn’t find any rest…

Lin Yun felt a headache when he remembered something he read before. In order to return, he had to make use of someone else’s power, to wit, that of the cursed who were soulless—vampire ancestors.

The vampires’ 13 ancestors were soulless, but lived a good life. It was said that their souls were extinguished because of the power of the curse. They lived eternally like liches, but could never have any rest.

It was said that the 13 vampires were servants who attended to the Kingdom of Nightmares when he was alive because they wouldn’t be affected by the power in it. To prevent the Kingdom of Nightmares from turning into a mess, the King of Nightmares needed someone to do the chores for him.

Therefore, he created the 13 vampire ancestors with his power.

That was just a rumor which might not be true, because the King of Nightmares’ power was always mysterious. However, it had been confirmed that vampire ancestors were unaffected in the Kingdom of Nightmares.

With the right method and the key to the Kingdom of Nightmares, the odds of a vampire ancestor leaving the Kingdom of Nightmares were the highest. They were guaranteed to escape as long as they didn’t die there.

When the Plane of the Undead was conquered, all the 13 vampire ancestors were caught and leashed like hounds. They were sent to help with the exploration of the Kingdom of Nightmares.

The crazy mages then figured out the way to enter and exit the Kingdom of Nightmares. A lot of mages even specifically visited the Kingdom of Nightmares for inspiration.

They had left a lot of notes about the Kingdom of Nightmares, so Lin Yun knew how to access the Kingdom of Nightmares and how to quit. However, the main problem was to catch a living vampire ancestor.

The living vampire ancestor would be like a seeing eye dog or a landmark. To leave the Kingdom of Nightmares, the best solution was to use a living vampire ancestor as coordinates.

Killing a weak vampire ancestor wouldn’t be a problem. A couple of high-ranking vampire ancestors had died. It shouldn’t be hard for him to kill one of the weaker vampire ancestors. However, to catch them alive…

That would be a major problem. Lin Yun scratched his head so hard that sparks burst from his skull continuously.

“Never mind. I should just pay another visit to the auction house, and see if I can gather a complete key…”

He arrived at the auction house that was made of the enormous obsidian again, and transformed into a human being, enshrouding himself in a black mist with the power of the Origin Chapter.

He saw a lot of undead creatures in the auction house, but the items to be auctioned were clearly not as impressive as last time. After Lin Yun came in, the skeleton who wore a ragged hat greeted him and led him upstairs.

He once more met Lilith, who was writing something quickly on the desk. The Forgotten Book was floating in front of her, along with a dozen more books. Those books were all turning quickly. It seemed that Lilith had encountered some sort of problem.

After Lin Yun walked into the room, Lilith immediately rolled the books with a few of her thick tentacles, and put them back to where they belonged.

“Oh, dear human being, you’re still alive. The Plane of the Undead hasn’t been very peaceful recently. I thought you had died, which would’ve been the most unfortunate news.

“It’s so great to see you again. We may continue our deal. Do you have more Kelingo spells? There are a lot of new things in the Forgotten Book that you may be interested in. Would you like to take a look?”

Upon seeing Lin Yun, Lilith expressed her enthusiasm with a cheerful tone. She even got an enormous chair that was more than three meters tall for Lin Yun with a tentacle.

Lin Yun put on a weird expression. It hadn’t been long since they last met. Why was Lilith so excited to meet him this time?

“Ah, did I say something wrong? Are you not a human expert? I’ve picked up a lot of knowledge about human beings recently. I have to admit that human beings are stronger than undead creatures in many aspects. You’re shockingly creative. You’re truly a species that’s favored by fate, although most human beings are truly vulnerable…”

Lilith was still speaking in the same cheerful voice as if she were a ballad. Lin Yun heaved a sigh.

“Alright, Lilith. Are you suggesting that we may continue our last deal? Have you found the rest of the pieces?”

Lilith raised her monocle, and extended one of her tentacles, fetching a black stone box from a shelf. On the surface of the fox, a tremendous number of weird patterns had been engraved with the features of the Plane of the Undead.

Lilith opened the stone box. Then, the most unbelievable aura of light emanated from the box. The gentle light enshrouded the box as a vague halo, which slowly expanded, as if it wasn’t suppressed by the obsidian building at all.

Lin Yun glanced at the pieces in the box, and nodded unhurriedly. Only one of them was missing in the box. Judging from its shape, it was exactly the one he acquired last time.

Although it was broken, it wouldn’t matter as long as all the pieces were here. The item was a component of the Book of Death anyway, and could easily be restored through the right method.

Also, that kind of purest light couldn’t have been faked. At the very least, none in the Plane of the Undead was capable of doing that. The fact that it was not suppressed in the obsidian building further proved its authenticity.

Lin Yun threw a space ring to Lilith.

“The Planar Path has been set up in it. I’ve made the Planar Path into a special magic tool. They only need to reassemble the items according to the instructions when they want to set it up. After it’s reassembled, it will be fixed, and cannot be moved again.

“According to our agreement, the buyer will decide where to put the Planar Path, and I won’t know it. Does this work?”

Lilith lifted her monocle, and stared at the space ring for a few seconds. She then quickly nodded.

“No problem whatsoever. Sir, you’re much more trustworthy than the human beings we know. It seems that we can strike more deals after this one.”

Lin Yun closed the box, and then nodded.

“Alright, Lilith. We can start negotiating about other deals. I want everything related to the King of Nightmares, preferably the pieces of his bones and soul. We can talk about what you want in return.”

Wearing a smile, Lilith browsed through the Forgotten Book, and soon found what she wanted. She glanced at Lin Yun in surprise.

“Sir, do you want to go to the Kingdom of Nightmares? Everyone who enters the King of the Undead will be lost forever. Even the King of the Undead is unwilling to go to that place. According to the Forgotten Book, nobody has ever left the Kingdom of Nightmares except a special kind of creature.

“If you want to rescue human beings who are lost in the Kingdom of Nightmares, I suggest you give up. Human beings cannot enter the Kingdom of Nightmares…”

Lin Yun wasn’t surprised at all that Lilith knew what he was trying to do. The Forgotten Book could let people forget things they didn’t want to know, and those things could usually be traded with others…

“Huh, sir, are you not surprised that I know what you’re trying to do? How boring. Just to be fair, I have to remind you that your plan will not work. Even if you get what you want, and enter the Kingdom of Nightmares, you will never be able to escape from it. You will be eternally lost in that place…”

Lin Yun nodded.

“I’m aware of that. One Kelingo spell for the King of Nightmares’ bone and soul pieces. Do we have a deal?”

Lilith covered her forehead, as if she was in a dilemma.

“What a stubborn guy. Human beings are truly stubborn. Fine. I do have a bone and a soul piece of the King of Nightmares.

“However, you must know that the King of Nightmares was very special. He didn’t have many bones. After he died in the Plane of the Undead, all his bones were gone except this part of his skull.

“It’s the most precious treasure. Sir, do you think one Kelingo spell is enough? Our deal should be fair…”

Lin Yun gently shook his head.

The King of Nightmares was indeed special. He was the only god who was a half ghost, and didn’t have a stable body. Still, he had some bones. He wouldn’t have escaped to the Plane of the Undead when he had been dying if he hadn’t been in such a state.

He had run to the Plane of the Undead because he wanted to recover with the power of the Plane of the Undead. It wasn’t hard for his body to transform into an undead creature. Unfortunately, his soul was broken, and it couldn’t be healed in the Plane of the Undead.

The King of Nightmares’ bones were indeed rare, but it would be outrageous to claim that only one of them was left. Lin Yun remembered clearly that the King of Nightmares’ skull was made of 17 bones. 11 of them were gone, and the last six were all in the Plane of the Undead.

One of them turned into the Death Knight’s mount. The other five had always remained the same. Nobody could destroy the King of Nightmares’ skull in the Plane of the Undead. Nobody even knew how to do that.

The god’s skull was almost indestructible anyway. This auction house, according to Emir, was a property of the Lord of Greed in the Plane of the Undead. Lin Yun remembered a thing or two about the Lord of Greed, who was basically the God of Wealth in the Plane of the Undead. He was one of the best wealth collectors here.

But there were no detailed records. Nobody had seen the Lord of Greed. They didn’t know how strong he was, either. He had never participated in any war, and didn’t have a territory. However, the other undead lords all knew that it was best not to offend him.

Lin Yun didn’t at all believe that the Lord of Greed only had one piece of the King of Nightmares’ skull.

All the five keys that he remembered were made of raw materials from the Plane of the Undead. Also, it wasn’t difficult to find the five pieces of the skull. The warhorse made of the last piece of the skull wasn’t killed by the crazy mages, either.

As for the King of Nightmares’ soul pieces, there were even more of them. He was a half ghost anyway, and he died because of a broken soul. There were many more soul pieces than there were bones.

“One Kelingo spell in exchange for a piece of the King of Nightmares’ skull. I’m fine whether or not you’re willing to sell a soul piece to me. After all, the King of Nightmares left plenty of soul pieces. It shouldn’t be difficult for me to find them. If I remember correctly, they’re available in the Ghost Canyon and the trisection of the Nether River…”

Lilith gazed at Lin Yun.

“The soul pieces in the Ghost Canyon are already gone. The trisection of the Nether River… How do you know that the King of Nightmares’ soul pieces are there?

“No, two Kelingo spells at least. That’s my limit!”

Lin Yun shook his head again.

“Lilith, greed is the greatest sin. This is the last Kelingo spell I know. It’s a fair deal. I know where I can find the pieces of the King of Nightmares’ skull, but I would rather save my time by trading with you.

“In fact, if we hadn’t made a nice deal, I would’ve looked for another Devil’s Secretary. I think they’d be happy to exchange two things that are useless to them for a precious Kelingo spell.

“Besides, if I don’t have other choices, I can simply trade with the Lord of Greed. But I don’t think an exchange with that guy will be pleasant. You see what I’m getting at?

“You are not the only one who has what I need, but I’m the only one who has what you need. This is unequal. I’m actually paying more than you do!”

Behind Lilith, dozens of tentacles were swinging. Lilith stared at Lin Yun with wide eyes. It was not until a dozen seconds later that she finally shook her hands. One of her tentacles fetched a black obsidian box from the top of the shelf.

“Fine, greedy devil. Damn it, even the greediest devil that I’ve seen is not as good a businessman as you are. You’re truly a horrifying man. I believe you can trick a devil into offering his territory to you.

“One Kelingo spell. Here are the bone and soul pieces of the King of Nightmares you asked for.

“However, before sealing the deal, I must warn you that you cannot escape from the Kingdom of Nightmares even with those pieces. Although you are greedier than a devil, I don’t want you to die in the Kingdom of Nightmares…”

Lin Yun smiled, and didn’t say anything. He quickly signed his name on the contract that Lilith had prepared. After reaching an agreement, he wrote a Kelingo spell in the Forgotten Book.

Looking at the Kelingo spell in the Forgotten Book, Lilith put on a smile. The Kelingo spells were as important to her as laws were to a mage. Every Kelingo spell could only be used once. After it was used, the Kelingo spell would be completely wasted.

In this age, there were plenty of Kelingo spells that hadn’t been used yet. They weren’t supposed to be discovered until a long time later.

Only rare stuff was valuable. Even undead creatures understood that principle…

Obtaining what he wanted, Lin Yun opened the box, and saw a bone the size of a hand. The bone seemed unremarkable, but when he gazed at it, he felt like he was in a trance. The longer he stared at it, the stronger the trance became. Even his soul was affected.

Lin Yun was completely reassured after he felt that. The bone was real.. He didn’t have to check the soul piece, which was like a bomb that might explode any time, at all, because of the god’s soul power in it. If it exploded, the tiny piece the size of a fingernail would be as powerful as a level-10 spell…