by Zhuang Bifan
Of course, he would do so if he was left with no other choice, but now he had a better alternative to going head-on with the enemy.
Disintegrating Array, an Alchemy Array used by many alchemists. Its main purpose was to disintegrate an Alchemy Array, such as the one modifying an Alchemy Colossus. Many precious ingredients were needed to make an Alchemy Colossus, and were not readily available most of the time. Hence, they'd be replaced with normal ingredients first, and those replaced with others once available. Often, many modifications were needed to craft an Alchemy Colossus, especially when it was built by an individual Alchemist.
Many Alchemists only used normal ingredients to craft the Alchemy Colossus at first, and only replaced the parts bit by bit when they obtained more appropriate ingredients.
The replacement was also unlike a simple replacement of parts, as the material could be different and have different tolerance. Hence, in order to maximize the effect of each ingredient, the Alchemy Array also had to be continually modified, or else the replacement of ingredients would have no effect.
As the Alchemy Arrays on the Alchemy Colossus were not separate but closely connected to each other, modifying one of them often required the modification of a dozen others as well. It was like replacing a gear in a machine—it had to fit right in with the rest, and then… a chain reaction was inevitable.
Sometimes, one was better off starting all over again rather than modifying an Alchemy Array. If only normal ingredients were used, then it would be easy to start over when making an individual part. Nearer the end, however, there would be more precious ingredients that would require modifications, and the losses from a mistake would become bigger—more than an average person could afford. Hence, an Alchemy Master created the Disintegrating Array, which would allow them to wipe away part of the Alchemy Array without harming the ingredients.
Science was a double-edged sword, however, and it was also the case in Anril. The Disintegrating Array was merely an auxiliary array that would make the job of an Anril easier. However, someone thought of using it in war, and made winning far too easy.
In order to protect themselves against such unscrupulous tactics, Alchemist started looking for ways to prevent their Alchemy Array from disintegrating, while those who studied the Disintegrating Array studied new ways to modify the Disintegrating Array. This conflict continued until today, and now the Disintegrating Array was not a foolproof method, but depended on who was using it and on what.
The four Alchemy Colossuses were all near the Legendary level, but they were not quite there yet, which meant that the Alchemist who made them was merely an Alchemist Master. Since an Archmage and a Legendary-mage were worlds apart, so was an Alchemist Master and an Alchemist Guru.
A Disintegrating Array created by an Alchemist Guru like Lin Li was more than enough to deal with the creations of an Alchemist Master. After all, the creations of an Alchemist Master were too amateurish in the eyes of an Alchemist Guru.
Lin Li squatted unceremoniously on the ground, a huge double-edged sword in front of him serving as a tabletop. He placed each ingredient carefully on the wide surface of the sword and started working once the ingredients were all laid out, his hands moving so quickly they blurred.
Firstly, he mixed the ingredients—blood of a high-ranking magical beast, juice of a rare magical plant, and the powder of a crushed high-ranking magical crystal, all measured precisely before they were mixed. If other Alchemists saw this, they would scold Lin Li for wasting precious ingredients—fancy using these only to make a Disintegrating Array, something that was no longer as powerful in the eyes of other Alchemists.
While Lin Li might not be able to create the most perfect Disintegrating Array in a hurry, he would be able to get rid of the problem before him now with these precious ingredients. This was no waste to Lin Li as long as the ingredients did what they were supposed to. Moreover, this was nothing to him; he had yet to count the riches acc.u.mulated over the years in the Throne of Darkness.
After setting aside the mixture, Lin Li took the standard equipment of the Tower of Dusk, a Sunset magic staff. In his opinion, this was the most suitable equipment to modify, and he intended to turn it into a Disintegrating Array equipment as the Sunset magic staff should be able to cope with the changes in array1.
Lin Li then took out a crystal pen and filled it with the mixture before using it as a fountain pen and writing on the Sunset magic staff. A sizzling sound could be heard when mixture touched the magic staff, leaving slightly translucent silver markings on the magic staff.
"Young Master Hutton, we cannot fight anymore, let's retreat!" Yeric had come back to Hutton again, but this time not of his own accord—he had been forced back by the enemy. He was not alone; the mages from the Tower of Dusk and the Malfa Family were all forced to retreat into a tiny space.
Hutton did not waste any time and waved the magic staff in his hand, sending a spell at the enemy. He was a level-19 Archmage, after all, and him joining alleviated the burden on the others. But still, it did not change the situation at all.
"President Felic, please do something, or else we're all going to die." Seeing his men fall one by one, Hutton could not help but panic—they were all the elites he had.
"Young Master, let's retreat, we've already done our part. What else could he do even if he joined the fight?" Yeric glared at the busy Lin Li before a thought surfaced in his head, and he quickly whispered in Hutton's ear. "Young Master, this is a chance for you."
Hutton frowned before he lowered his voice, confused, and asked, "What chance?"
"Young Master, this Felic is not acting like a President at all. He does not care about his men at all, and they may already be upset with him. Why not take this chance to help them? As long as half of them remember our help, then the Malfa Family can…" While Yeric did not fancy Lin Li, he could still tell that the mages of the Tower of Dusk were useful, and thus he plotted to steal them from Lin Li. In other words, he's going to enchant a staff with an array, sort of.
Chapter 483 - Disintegrating Array
Hutton was taken aback, and could not help glancing over at Lin Li, afraid that the latter heard what they were talking about. Seeing that Lin Li showed no reaction, he breathed out a sigh of relief before glaring angrily at Yeric, and said, "Shut up. We are allies, how can we do this? You'd better get this thought out of your head."
Hutton was envious of the mages that the Tower of Dusk had, but he reminded himself that this Felic was a monster; how could you even think about offending a 20 years old Legendary-mage? While he knew that Yeric had good intentions, and that this method could be used on other groups, just because they could not escape from the 10 level-18 Archmages and the Alchemy Colossuses did not mean that this Felic could not.
Damn it, where did the decisive young master from their past victories who was the one who could not keep their eyes off these mages as if they were beauties go to? Yeric was incredibly frustrated; he had come up with such a good idea, yet his young master was too preoccupied with respecting his ally. Where did being loyal get you to these days? An ally was meant to be betrayed!
"Young Master, I have the good of the Malfas at heart! You see, this President may be cowardly, but his mages are really quite decent. If we can win them over, then at least we would have gained something from this trip." Yeric continued persuading Hutton.
"Shut up!" Hutton was so afraid that he felt his soul leaving him and forced his words out through gritted teeth. Damn it, cowardly? Even the Highlord of the Abyss of Tharlen has fallen in Felic's hands, what is there that he cannot do? You want to steal his mages? I will be thankful if he does not steal mine!
Yeric could not comprehend the way Hutton was acting, and could not help thinking that Hutton had to know something about this President Felic after spending so much time with him. Why else would he be so defensive about this fellow? Seeing that his persuasion was futile, Yeric could only take a step back and consider the alternatives. If he could not
steal these mages, surely he had to make sure that he did not die here as well? Hence, he tried again. "Young Master Hutton, no matter what, we must retreat! If all the elites die here, what are you going to tell the council?"
They were already at conflict with the council when they set off on this trip, and if the elites really all died here like Yeric said, Hutton would be in huge trouble with the council. Hutton hesitated and looked over at the battlefield, and saw that both the mages from the Tower of Dusk and the Malfa Family were struggling to hold on against the enemy who had already gained the upper hand. It was only a matter of time before they suffered a complete defeat. Looking at those injured, he could not help being angry that most of them were from the Malfa Family, with only three mages from the Tower of Dusk.
"Young Master, give the command now, we cannot afford to delay any longer!" Yeric shouted anxiously.
Hutton raised his hands slowly and let it drop heavily, all while Yeric watched on, but his next words made Yeric feel faint. Hutton's voice was a little hoarse, but his attitude was firm when he said, "Endure a little more, my friends. If we can get through this together, I'll surely reward you accordingly after this."
"Young—" Yeric opened his mouth, wanting to continue persuading, but he was cut off by a voice that suddenly came from the side.
"Thankfully, I made it…"
Lin Li finally finished the last stroke and linked the Disintegrating Array to the Sunset magic staff. Light seemed to flow through the writings to the magic array. The 24 nodes covering the staff lit up one by one, while the silvery translucent substance that formed the lines connecting the entire magical array seemed to glow with a faint silvery light as the light flowed through it.
When Lin Li had first arrived in Jarrosus, he had feuded with the local magical family and arranged a duel with their heir. Before the duel, he had crafted a gold rod with deep silver, and used this gold rod to dissolve the advanced magic of his opponent into nothing. But still, this was not something used in fights, and he did not use it much after that. How was he going to touch another mage with a rod in a fight, after all?
The effect of the Disintegrating Array was different from yet somewhat similar to the way the gold rod worked, but they were both unorthodox methods in duels. While there were people who used it for a period of time when the Alchemy Array was in vogue, it was still only an auxiliary method, and ultimately something used chiefly in production.
However, there was no rule saying that he couldn't use it for something else; thus, the Disintegrating Array was no longer a tool of production in Lin Li's hands.
"Hey, you're awake! What a time to be awake, though. If you were any later, you would be the only one left here." Yeric had been chided by Hutton because of Lin Li, so although he spoke sarcastically, he was already holding back quite a bit.
Hutton glared at Yeric before anxiously telling Lin Li, "President Felic, you are finally done. I guess there is no need for further introduction of the situation. I wonder what our next step should be?"
Yeric was quite upset with Hutton, and thus he ignored the glare and continued mocking, "Yeah, President Felic, I hope you can turn the tables around and allow our men to retreat now."
"Yeric, shut up!" Hutton quickly shouted at him to stop in shock, and silently scolded him in his mind. Damn it, you can go ahead if you're courting death, but don't drag the Malfa Family down with you!!
"Young Master, wake up, do you really think he can turn the situation around? Who knows how he became President, but I know for sure it was not by ability. Look at him now, his allies and men are fighting with their lives on the line, yet he is not doing anything, and even left the job of commanding them to someone else. What is there that he can do??" Yeric was furious, and even his attitude towards Hutton was bad. Whom was he kidding? Even if Master Cheyenne was here, it would not be an easy task to deal with these people—even a Legendary-mage would have trouble with the four Alchemy Colossuses because they were too hardy. President Felic was a 21 years old youth, and at most an Archmage, so it would make no difference if he did anything.
Hutton was a sight to behold! What was he to do with such a disrespectful subordinate?! Fearing that Yeric might have annoyed President Felic, it would not have been an issue if this was a wasted trip, but now he did not know whether his subordinate hadn't deeply offended President Felic.
Hutton was so angry that he raised his magic staff and was about to hit him with it, but just as he raised his magic staff, he saw that Yeric had turned pale and froze like a statue, almost as though he had seen something terrifying.
Hutton cursed in his mind. Damn it, you were happily chiding away and even asked me to wake up; now who is the one who looks like an idiot?
But soon Hutton realized Yeric wasn't scared of him. A figure flew ahead—it was President Felic, who had been busy with God knew what earlier.
Yeric was on the verge of breaking down, or perhaps he already had, and it took all his strength to remain standing there. He never thought that the supposedly cowardly and incapable fellow he was scolding was… a damn Legendary-mage.
An Archmage could only use a Levitation Spell to fly, but a Legendary-mage was different. Yeric saw that Lin Li did not even utter a word, nor did the magical wave around him change before he flew into the sky as though it was second instinct for him.
He had offended a Legendary-mage! The person he had been making snide remarks about for the whole day was actually a Legendary-mage! This 20-odd years old President was actually a Legendary-mage! All these unbelievable thoughts seemed to hammer away at his nerves, and it was only a matter of time before they snapped.
Yeric was very regretful now. Even though there was another Legendary-mage, Cheyenne, in the Malfa Family, yet Yeric had offended a Legendary-mage because of something trivial. He had seen many conflicts in such a big family, and he was aware of what would happen in the end—he would inevitably be sacrificed in order to appease the other party. But whom could he blame? He was the cause of this, and Hutton had tried again and again to stop him, yet he could not contain his anger enough to see through this.
Hutton felt his worry settle a little as he watched Lin Li fly into battle. While any other Legendary-mage would have made no difference against 10 Archmages and the four Alchemy Colossuses, this President Felic was no ordinary Legendary-mage—anyone would be a fool to think so.
Since President Felic had made a move, he did not have to worry no matter what he decided to do. Hutton was no longer worried about the battle, but the moment he turned to look at Yeric, who still stood there stunned, he felt his anger rising again. "Yeric, what do you think of this dream of mine? Am I awake or not?"
What a nightmare; how he hoped that he was in a nightmare! Yeric felt like he might be better off dying—not only had he offended a Legendary-mage, he had also offended his young master. He silently scolded himself for it—now he did not even have someone to stand up for him, damn it.
"Yeric, I thought you had a lot to say earlier. Why are you not saying anything now??" Hutton became angrier the more he thought about it—not only because Yeric had been rude to him earlier, but also because he was worried that his relationship with President Felic would sour due to this bastard.
"Young Master Hutton, I-I-I… I really didn't know that President Felic was a Legendary-mage…"
Damn it, so you know you're wrong now, huh. "Humph!" Hutton snorted, and said, "If you want to apologize, you should wait until President Felic is back before you say it yourself."
But a sorry might not work… Hutton silently added. He knew that young President's personality better than anyone else—he might ignore you completely and smile at whatever you do, but when things became serious, you'd better start praying. Sorry? Even a kowtow might not work…
The young President Felic was a Legendary-mage! Not only Yeric was shocked, even those from the Tower of Dusk were stunned. 20 years old, even the God of Mages Geresco did not reach the Legendary-realm by the age of 20!
Chapter 484 - Element Annihilation
Gerian the fatty forgot to close his mouth as he looked on. He, who knew Felic better than most, secretly thought to himself, Damn it, he was only a level-7 or 8 mage when he first arrived in Jarrosus, and only started learning magic not too long ago. He seems to improve at a tremendous speed, and just like that, he has become a Legendary-mage.
Ever since Andoine, there had not been a figure like that in Jarrosus, and Gerian was upset that he had nothing boast about whenever he met other mages.
"Damn it, this Felic is from Jarrosus' Guild of Magic; if we were to trace it all the way back and his teacher is Andoine, that old fellow's from Jarrosus too." After recovering from his shock, Gerian immediately started happily picturing what he could boast about in the future. "A Legendary-mage at the age of 20? None of the geniuses that the Guilds of Magic in Felan boast about can measure up to him."
While the old fatty Gerian was happily thinking about everything he could boast about, the others in the Tower of Dusk saw hope. They saw how wonderful the future of the Tower of Dusk could be. A good background and backing were important in every occupation, and if one's boss was influential, then they would be able to enjoy the benefits of it too, but if one's boss was lacking, then there was a limit to how far one could go as well.
"Legendary, Legendary-realm indeed!" Gavin initially only joined the Guild of Magic because of Mr Basel's request, and he was ambitious too. He had thought about taking over after seeing that Lin Li was so young, but after seeing how Lin Li dealt with the Syer Bandits, this thought had been banished.
The fact that the President was now a Legendary-mage did not only concern him. The Malfa Family was able to flourish because they had a Legendary-mage. The Tower of Dusk had only been established not long ago, and they had thought that they would have to work incredibly hard for a long time before they could enjoy some fame. Now that their President was a Legendary-mage, it would not only serve as deterrence to others, but also attract many mages who wished to receive some guidance from a Legendary-mage even at the expense of paying for it.
