by Zhuang Bifan
The rainbow-colored spike on their tail was their greatest weapon as besides containing deadly poison, it could also release seven types of elemental magic. The level of the magic was determined by the level of the Rainbow Manticore King, but the beast was usually below level-10. Even though it was released at an incredibly fast speed, the spells were usually of no threat to an Archmage.
However, once they reached level-18, they would become true Rainbow Manticore Kings, and while they'd experience great improvements in strength, their elemental magic could also reach level-15. Some mutants might also master destructive magic like Thousand Miles of Ice and Pyroblasts.
But mutant or not, these three Rainbow Manticore Kings were not too big of an issue for Lin Li. Well, not quite as much as a dozen of Azteks above level-18… Pretty sure Mephistos was stronger than that, but maybe he didn't recover all power, and author forgot to say that yet.
Chapter 458 - Same Soul, Different Bodies
The three Rainbow Manticore Kings moved incredibly fast. They had only just charged out from their cage a moment ago, but they were almost at the Humerus Wyrm's side now…
However, what awaited them was a mouthful of ice flames. The Humerus Wyrm was a Legendary creature, and even though it was under the control of an Archmage, it was still incredibly powerful. The ice flame immediately covered an area of at least 100 meters in radius, and the ice and Death Energy permeated the place so densely that even the magical wave felt stifling. Even though the three Rainbow Manticore Kings were powerful magical beasts above level-18, they still could not help but shy away from the powerful Legendary-level creature.
However, even though the three Rainbow Manticore Kings retreated, they did not back off too far away, as they still hovered about the edge of the Abyss Arena. With a blood-chilling look, they kept their eyes on the Humerus Wyrm as well as Lin Li on its back. The Rainbow Manticore Kings were crafty magical beasts by nature, and had a natural knack for hunting. Moreover, the three Rainbow Manticore Kings before them were above level-18, and their intelligence was not far off from humans'.
The Humerus Wyrm made them feel threatened with its aura; hence, they retreated to the edge of the Abyss Arena.
However, that did not mean that they had given up…
Truth be told, even the weaker Hutton and Stephen could detect that the magical wave around them was becoming more intense—especially the earth, water, fire, and wind magical elements. They seemed to be boiling over. Hutton and Stephen's expressions soured immediately. It was no secret that the Rainbow Manticore King was well versed in elemental magic; how could these two Archmages not know that given their experiences? As they looked at the magical elements around them become more and more intense, it would be a lie to say that they were not anxious…
Even Lin Li did not dare let down his guard.
This was how powerful the reputation of the Rainbow Manticore Kings was—they were the servants of the prehistoric magical beasts, the Minotaurs, and were powerful magical beasts born in the Maze. There might be a Thousand Miles of Ice coming from one of those spikes in an instant…
Lin Li stood firmly on the Humerus Wyrm's back and held the Aether Staff in his hand. Without needing a word, an Elemental Shield had appeared. It was made up of the earth, water, fire, and wind Solar Spheres that circled endlessly around Lin Li. Even if a Legendary-mage were to attack Lin Li now, they would have to use at least two spells to break the shield.
However, Lin Li was not in a rush to attack even after conjuring up the Elemental Shield. Instead, all he did was to stand on the back of the Humerus Wyrm and carefully observe the three Rainbow Manticore Kings from afar.
The Rainbow Manticore Kings were difficult to deal with because they were impossible to see through. Nobody knew what magic would come out of the spikes on their tails; it would not be much of an issue if they were simple spells, but one would be in trouble if they were mutants who could use powerful magic like Thousand Miles of Ice or Pyroblast. Hutton and Stephen aside, even Lin Li would be done for if he met with such destructive instantaneous magic without a magic shield.
Moreover, Lin Li had a hunch that these three Rainbow Manticore Kings commanded magic that was not as simple as mere Thousand Miles of Ice or Pyroblast…
This was the Abyss Arena, after all, and it was used to test the prospective Lords of the Abyss. All the Greater Demons that had sat on the throne of the Palace of Darkness had survived this test. Who knew how many earth-shattering fights had occurred here throughout all these years? The Rainbow Manticore Kings could not be as simple as they appeared if they could survive for so long…
Hence, Lin Li did not dare to attack carelessly. After all, he was still an Archmage, and not a true Legendary-mage. Once his Elemental Shield wore off, he'd need another 10 seconds to replenish it, and if the three Rainbow Manticore Kings suddenly unleashed their magic and it was a powerful one, Lin Li would be done for.
And truth was, Lin Li had every right to worry…
The three Rainbow Manticore Kings had only retreated for about 10 seconds before the Abyss Arena's magical wave changed drastically. There was suddenly a chilly and sinister aura amidst the boiling magical elements, and this aura was growing at a tremendous speed. It was only in the blink of an eye that this aura covered the four magical elements…
"F*ck!" Lin Li's expression changed—he was very familiar with this chilly and sinister aura. Ever since he'd come to Anril, he experienced many encounters with energy similar to this—in the Shadowglen, Syer Town, Scar of Death… That was right, this sudden and strange aura was Death Energy in its purest form.
This Death Energy devoured the other four magical elements in the arena in less than 10 seconds, and started growing at a frightening speed.
Lin Li could even feel that this Death Energy was so powerful that it rivaled Legendary-level beings the likes of Sendros.
"Goddammit, why am I so unlucky…?"
Lin Li understood everything at last.
These three Rainbow Manticore Kings were rare mutants indeed. Their very existence would change what everyone knew about Rainbow Manticore Kings. If he lived to tell the tale of the Abyss Arena, he would create a sensation in the whole of Anril. There had not been such a strange Rainbow Manticore King in Anril for thousands of years. Their innate magic was not of earth, water, fire, or wind elements, but of true Necromagic!
Setting the issue of the Rainbow Manticores aside, this was impossible if they considered the timeline of events…
There were many views regarding the origins of Necromagic in Anril, but there was one thing that they were unanimous about. It was that the first appearance of Necromagic was slightly after the birth of the High Elves, which was to say that Necromancers first appeared somewhere in the prehistoric times and the Dark Age.
But what about the Rainbow Manticores?
Legend had it that they were the servants of Minotaurs, and had spent an eternity in the Maze. Only when the High Elves appeared and the prehistoric magical beasts started to decline in numbers did some of the Rainbow Manticores manage to escape the control of Minotaurs and leave the Maze.
In other words, the Rainbow Manticores had a longer history than Necromagic…
Magical beasts were not mages, and all their magic was innate rather than learnt. This magic came from a brand on their soul, and was passed on through generations. This inheritance was something that transcended time and space—even after thousands of years passed, there'd be no change in this inheritance. Of course, there might be mutants along the way, like these Rainbow Manticores. There would be a Rainbow Manticore that could conjure Thousand Miles of Ice or use Pyroblast every few centuries or so, and it'd be called a mutant.
But no matter how they mutated, there was no way the mutation could be so drastic. The Rainbow Manticores inherited Elemental magic from their ancestors, so how could there suddenly appear one that used Necromagic? This overthrew the very law of inheritance—they were as good as two different species
.
However, that was not the worst part for Lin Li.
After all, no matter how a Rainbow Manticore mutated, it did not have much to do with Lin Li. Necromagic was powerful, but it was nothing he could not deal with.
What perplexed Lin Li the most was that these three Rainbow Manticore Kings shared the same soul!
Now that was tricky…
The same soul but in different bodies—this was not hard to comprehend, for it literally meant that different bodies were sharing the same soul. This was something that Lin Li had just discovered as well. He did not notice at first, but after the Death Energy devoured the other magical elements, Lin Li suddenly noticed something amiss.
At that instance, the magical wave in the Abyss Arena seemed unusually unified. Besides the slight disturbance caused by the Elemental Shield, it was as though all the magical waves were emitted by one person.
It was not unusual to see magical beasts sharing the same soul, as there had been at least 10 such cases in the Felan Kingdom since the Dark Age. However, none of these magical beasts lived past 20 years—for a simple reason. It was too much for one soul to take if it was shared by different bodies, especially so for magical beasts whose innate magic came from a brand in their soul. Even the most powerful of souls would not be able to withstand this.
But now, these three Rainbow Manticore Kings sharing the same soul stood before Lin Li, and were conjuring up some very powerful magic.
Now that was a problem for Lin Li…
These Rainbow Manticore Kings were only round level-18, or at most level-19, but after Lin Li realized that they were sharing the same soul, his expression changed.
Three Rainbow Manticore Kings sharing the same soul would be unusually powerful, and even by the most conservative estimate, they would be at least level-20 in terms of combat strength, but the fact that they could use Necromagic made it even worse. Who knew, they might even be close to level-21! Moreover, Lin Li could not even be sure that these damned Rainbow Manticore Kings were not hiding any more secrets…
While all of this sounded complicated, it had happened merely in the blink of an eye, and the Death Energy had devoured all the Elemental Power within 10 seconds. Now, darkness loomed over the Abyss Arena…
Chapter 459 - Dark Decay
"Why am I so lucky…?" Lin Li's face turned green the minute darkness exploded. This damned luck, I could strike lottery with it. How is it that these Rainbow Manticore Kings are all well-versed in Necromagic and it has to be level-20 Dark Decay too…?
Necromagic had always been viewed as magic of the fallen in Anril as mages thought that only those who were evil at heart would pursue something like that. The number of mages studying Necromagic started declining 1,300 years after the Dark Age, and Necromagic became more and more mysterious in the eyes of the people…
So much so that the words Dark Decay had become unfamiliar to most mages, and they had even forgotten about the very existence of Necromagic.
Only someone like Sendros who was incredibly well-versed in Necromagic and had spent a lot of time researching about Necromancers would know something about Dark Decay.
Or perhaps someone like Apophis, a freak who had lived for over 1,300 years and had experienced the war in the ending years of the Dark Age. Someone who had personally seen the damage that the Dark Decay could do on the battlefield…
Lin Li was probably the only one besides them who knew about the Dark Decay…
This was because Lin Li had seen what the Dark Decay was capable of for himself.
Lin Li was still a hunter who used a bow then. He had been carefully treading at the edge of the Well of the Sun, trying to look for a way into it. Lin Li came across the soul of a High Elf then—he had already forgotten the name of the High Elf, and the only thing he remembered was that the soul of the High Elf was capable of incredibly powerful Necromagic, including the Dark Decay…
The soul of the High Elf had used the Dark Decay to wipe out the whole of Lin Li's team, and that was a team of 80 high-ranking people. They were so powerful in combat that they would have been capable of taking down a small city.
Lin Li could still remember that the whole world seemed to have fallen into darkness when the soul of the High Elf used the Dark Decay. The howls and cries of spirits filled the darkness, while toxic fumes permeated the air and Bone Spears flew from every direction. In the dark, his team members seemed to have lost every ounce of their combat abilities: the mages were unable to chant, the warriors could not hold their weapons in their hands, the priests seemed to lose faith in their prayers, and the hunters could not hit their targets at all…
The Dark Decay was like a vicious spiral, pulling the whole team into the abyss of despair.
It was hardly even a fight as Lin Li's team was unable to retaliate at all. The team that was capable of taking down a small city was wiped out in merely 20 minutes; hence, for a very long period of time, nobody dared to go near the Well of the Sun. Even Lin Li himself only dared to challenge it again after he spent two months gathering all the information he could about Necromagic and found a way to curb the effect of the Dark Decay.
While the Dark Decay was not as infamous as the Tide of Death or the Plague of the Undead amongst level-20 Necromagic spells, it was no easier to deal with than either of these in Lin Li's opinion.
The Dark Decay already had some features of a Magical Domain on some levels. For example, it consisted of many other spells. Lin Li knew from personal experience that once someone fell into the Dark Decay, they'd be tormented by countless Vengeful Spirits that were hard to deal with. Besides theurgy and magic, the only thing that could do any damage to them was a magical weapon. Moreover, there were also flying Bone Spears and toxic fumes in the Dark Decay, making it a place worse than hell.
To make things worse, the Dark Decay also greatly reduced one's combat abilities, and if one did not have mental strength that was strong enough, it became incredibly difficult to cast spells and use theurgy under the influence of the Death Energy. Mages at lower levels might even find that they'd take 10 times longer to cast the same spell. Besides that, the Dark Decay also weakened the mind and the body; hence, Warriors and Bandits would find it nearly impossible to move an inch when they were caught in the Dark Decay. If they were not careful enough, they might even become possessed by the Vengeful Spirits and turn on their own teammates.
Damn it, what the hell's wrong with these Rainbow Manticore Kings? Lin Li could not comprehend why these Rainbow Manticore Kings which were supposedly gifted with Elemental magic were suddenly using such ghastly Necromagic.
Could it be the incarnation of the Dragon of Destruction messing with me? Lin Li's eyes lit up when he thought of that. That's right, that must be it! No matter the fact that these Rainbow Manticore Kings are mutants or share the same soul, there's no way that they would be able to go against the rule of innate magic inheritance and suddenly become capable of using the Dark Decay.
Magical beasts inherited magic through a brand in their soul, and this rule was one that was set in stone. Even the High Elves who proclaimed themselves to be deities could not change this fact, so the only way this nearly miraculous feat could be possible was if it was done by the Dragon of Destruction.
Lin Li suddenly smiled when he thought of this…
It was not common to see Rainbow Manticore Kings sharing the same soul, and while these two Rainbow Manticore Kings were only around level-18, their magical crystal was definitely well above level-18 due to the fact that they were sharing the same soul. According to Lin Li's guess, it might even be a Legendary magical crystal, and a special one at that.
The mana in the magical crystal was not so important to Lin Li; what he cared about more was whether there was a trace of the Dragon of Destruction's power in it. While it might not be much, Lin Li might be able to use this trace of power to decipher the properties of both Darkness and Evilness after he combined both mana and Rule Power. Of course, this would be after he rea
ched the Legendary-realm. In the future, he might even be able to incorporate these two Rule Powers into his own Magical Domain.
This Dragon of Destruction is a pretty loyal fellow, already dead for so long, yet he still left his old friends such a huge gift… Lin Li could not help but smile at the thought of what he could do with the Magical crystal.
As for how he was going to get the magical crystal, Lin Li was not worried about it at all.
The Dark Decay was really nothing much to Lin Li who had spent two months studying it…
Of course, this was only Lin Li's opinion, and not quite what Stephen and Hutton thought. While these two young Archmages were not familiar with the Dark Decay, they could still feel the strong Death Energy that felt like a downward spiral…
They both knew that this matter concerned more than just two1 level-18 magical beasts. The torrential Death Energy felt as though it might devour the world any second, and even though they were both rare talents in magic and most prominent Archmages in the whole of Breezy Plains, they still felt somewhat helpless before this Death Energy that seemed to drag them in. At that moment, they felt as though they were flames flickering in a storm, as though they might be extinguished by a gust of wind any moment.
They held up a Flame Shield almost simultaneously…
Then, the place was suddenly enveloped by darkness as the Abyss Arena was plunged into pitch-black darkness in a split second. Painful howls and cries filled their ears, while sharp Bone Spears sliced through the air, the sounds ringing in their ears. Toxic fumes started spreading everywhere, and their inky-green hue made them resemble poisonous snakes. In the overwhelming presence of the Dark Decay, even the two high-ranking Archmages could not help losing their cool for a moment.
"Bloody hell…" Hutton kept chanting as he used Arcane Missile to shoot at Vengeful Spirits that were near him, but the Dark Decay was a level-20 Necromagic spell, and could create thousands and thousands of Vengeful Spirits. No matter how fast he could conjure up Arcane Missiles, there was no way he would be able to wipe them out all at once.
