End of the Magic Era

Lin Yun didn’t plan on bickering with Sauss. He only shook his head and said, “Wait a minute.”

“Ah… I’ll wait..” Sauss might not have noticed at first, but he understood everything a few moments later.

Because just as he spoke, dust could be seen rising from just below the red cloud.

“Oh my god…” Sauss held his breath. That cloud of dust was simply ten times higher compared to the one around the large Thunder Elephants.

“… How… How many magic beasts are there?”

“There should be a few hundred…”

“I’ll go organize the main force…” Sasu’s expression also sank. With one look at their momentum, he was able to determine that this beast tide might be the end of this joint exploration of the nine major forces.

“Hold on… Leader Sasu.” Lin Yun thought for a moment before telling Sasu. “I think that we should still rely on the camp for defense and try to hold on as long as possible without staking it all against these magic beasts.”

“This won’t do. In that scenario, the magic beasts would keep…” Sasu subconsciously shook his head, but he then seemed to think of something. “Merlin, did you discover something?”

“I didn’t, but I have a feeling that the Four Seasons Canyon isn’t too welcoming towards us.” As Lin Yun said that, he sensed the mana fluctuations in the air, and he could clearly feel that there was some sort of strange power in the Four Seasons Canyon.

“The Four Seasons Canyon doesn’t welcome us… What do you mean?”

“I can’t explain it concretely, but the way I see it, we should defend the camp as much as possible, I’ll lead a few people to see if we can find the origin of this magic beast tide.”

“Okay.” Sasu didn’t ask much and only nodded to express his approval. In his heart, he already knew that this young Great Mage would never do anything he wasn’t sure of. Since he’d made this suggestion, he definitely already had some clues.

“Great Mage Merlin, I’ll go with you!” Sauss promptly volunteered.

“Leader Sauss, you have been operating in the Poison Fog Canyon for so many years, you definitely have some experience in defensive battles. It would be better if you remain on this side to help Leader Sasu. How about I take Leader Solomon and Leader Badrack with me to investigate?” Sauss’ fighting strength was still a bit inferior, so Lin Yun recommended Solomon and Badrack. One was a 9th Rank High Mage while the other was a 9th Rank Spirit Archer. With himself added on top, he was guaranteed to be able to move in and out of the beast tide.

“Okay.”

“No problem.”

After the two agreed, Lin Yun shouted to Xiuban, and the group of four left the camp. They followed a river that cut the Four Seasons Canyon in two and went around the beast tide.

“Merlin, did you actually find anything?” Solomon was blunt with Lin Yun and asked him right after leaving the camp.

“Yes, I did…” Lin Yun paused and then continued, “Didn’t you notice that the mana of the Four Seasons Canyon is a bit too vigorous?”

“Yes, I seemed to have that feeling. But what’s the issue with the mana being too vigorous?”

“The mana is too vigorous, it’s not supposed to be like that normally. It’s so abundant that you don’t need to do meditation to lure it towards you…”

“Then what’s wrong?” Solomon still couldn’t understand.

“…” Lin Yun irritably rolled his eyes.

It wasn’t as if Lin Yun had never been to a place with such abundant mana. The camp in the Bone Plane was the convergence of endless Soul Fires, condensing the mana within the camp into a liquid state. But when Lin Yun had walked through that camp, he had only felt that everyone’s aura was filled with mana. It definitely wouldn’t be like this, where mana would strive to rush over, as if it was seeking them out.

“And there was the Shadow Wolf…”

“What about the Shadow Wolf?”

“The color of the Shadow Wolf’s eyes was abnormal, a deep red, like blood. It had clearly fallen into some berserk state. Moreover, the Shadow Wolf had a very strong aura of life. Even after its death, it still had far more energy than the usual Shadow Wolf…”

“I still don’t understand…”

“Okay, I’ll be blunt… I suspect that the Four Seasons Canyon is being influenced by a mysterious force, and that the force is controlling the entire canyon. Mana, Shadow Wolf, beast tide…”

“I understand, you want to go around in order to find the source of this force?”

“Indeed, if we don’t find that power source, then the magic beast tide won’t stop. It might not be impossible to deal with twenty-three Thunder Elephants, a few thousand Flame Crows, and a hundred random magic beasts, but what happens after annihilating them? What if there is an even bigger wave? Such as another group twice the size? Anyways, if we can’t find that source soon, we’d better pack up and return to Thousand Sails City.”

“Do you know where that source might be…?”

“If my guess isn’t wrong, it should be behind the beast tide.”

“Guess?” Solomon didn’t feel too reassured.

“Of course it’s a guess…”

“Why don’t you guess somewhere else?”

“High Mage Solomon, do you know how to ride horses?”

“What do you mean, of course I do!”

Lin Yun gave Solomon a strange look and asked, “Then when you are riding your horse, where do you use your horsewhip when you want it to go faster?”

“Naturally…” Solomon started to reply before abruptly stopping. He looked at Lin Yun before suddenly looking enlightened. “You are saying that the force… That force is herding these magic beasts?”

“I can’t say that for sure, it’s only a conjecture for now…”

“…”

The party of four cautiously circumvented the main part of the beast tide, trying to slowly infiltrate the rear. When they brushed past the beast tide, Lin Yun felt a cold sweat dripping down his forehead. This was too frightening. The army of Flame Crows covering the sky, the temperature they emitted… It truly felt as if the sky was melting. Meanwhile, several hundred magic beasts converged together and surged like a river towards the camp.

“I wonder if Sasu can hold it…” Even Solomon was worried at this time.

“It should be fine for now, but…”

Lin Yun shook his head and didn’t continue speaking, but both Solomon and Badrack understood the meaning. There might be more magic beasts after this wave. That might be something that the forces of Thousand Sails City couldn’t handle.

After speaking for a bit, the group of four entered a forest. Solomon promptly reminded them, “Everyone be careful. The vegetation here is very…”

“Help!” A cry of distress issued from behind before Solomon could even finish his words. The three turned to see thick vines tightly coiling around the Draconic Beastman and pulling him into the depths of the forest as he kept struggling…

Lin Yun instantly sent two Wind Blades that severed the two vines in the air, sending Xiuban tumbling to the ground.

“Fuck, where did those damn vines come from…” The Draconic Beastman crawled up from the ground, cutting a sorry figure. He wiped his forehead while cursing.

“Shut up, just be careful…”

Unfortunately, just as Lin Yun chided him, a trembling noise followed and a few fierce shadows appeared like pythons coming out of the bushes, instantly coiling around the Draconic Beastman, once again.

“Help me, Sir, help me!” There were four vines this time, and each of them was as thick as a thigh. Their sharp thorns penetrating Xiuban’s chest. Blood could be seen flowing down the vines as Xiuban’s dark red face twisted from the pain.

“Fuck, I just told you to be careful!” Lin Yun scolded. He cast Haste on himself before flying forward ten meters like an arrow. Immediately after, the four vines pounced at him, but Merlin kept incanting, Slow, Wither, Weakness. He threw out a few debuffs in a row…

“Merlin, careful! Those are Thousand Eyes Vines!” Solomon warned. He also cast continuously raising two Ice Walls to seal the path of the Thousand Eyes Vines.

But the Ice Walls were too fragile for the vines. Just as Solomon cast them, a thick Vine rushed up from under a brush and only a snap could be heard as a hole appeared through both of the walls. Following the vine’s fierce attack, both walls collapsed, shattering into pieces.

At the same time, the four vines that caught the Draconic Beastman already disappeared within the depths of the forest.