Magic Battle

At the old man's words, Li Lin frowned slightly. When they entered the city, Duncan had told him many things about it, but he had never mentioned anything like a "magic ban." That was easy enough to understand: as far as Duncan knew, there were no mages in their group.

Now, faced with this turn of events, Li Lin reacted swiftly.

As a low incantation sounded, rings of light spread out one after another like ripples on water, then slowly faded. The old mage looked at Li Lin in surprise. What he was chanting was nothing like any magic the old mage knew, and the spell he used did not seem to have any effect. Yet, for some reason, it left the old mage somewhat surprised.

If any mage from the age of the Magic Empire had still been alive and present, they would have seen at a glance that Li Lin intended to kill. The Spatial Confinement Barrier he had just cast was an essential opening move for any mage intent on killing an opponent, much like two knights pointing their swords at each other in declaration before a fight. Once this kind of confinement barrier was cast, no mage could teleport into or out of the area until death.

Of course, a thousand years after magic had gradually fallen into decline, this unspoken custom, akin to a declaration, had long been forgotten. Though the old mage was advanced in years, there was still a considerable gap between him and Li Lin. Even setting aside those thousand years, back when Li Lin became a mage, the title of Arcane Mage was not something one could obtain through talent alone. It required vast accumulation, practice, application, and exploration to attain true power.

As the old mage saw it, the young man before him had merely cast a spell he did not recognize at all, but it appeared to be neither an attack nor a defense.

Perhaps it failed.

He told himself this, then quickly retreated. He thrust both hands forward, and specks of red light gathered between his palms before bursting forth toward Li Lin. When it came to offensive magic, the old mage had ample confidence. He had studied these spells for decades and had long since gained considerable insight and experience. For that very reason, few could withstand his attacks. Even mages skilled in defensive magic would find it difficult to withstand his spells head-on unless they had reached the level of an archmage.

Hundreds of fist-sized fireballs flew at their target, carrying enough heat to reduce Li Lin from a human being to a pile of ash. But faced with this powerful magic, Li Lin merely sighed and shook his head.

The art of magic really has fallen into decline.

Sighing, Li Lin raised his right hand.

There were no extra words, no chanted incantation. As if sensing the power of the magic before him, the vanished runes on the back of Li Lin's hand reappeared. But unlike before, this time they did not quickly combine. Instead, they shifted back and forth, jumping several times before forming an ornate, intricate incantation only when the fireballs were about to engulf Li Lin himself. Facing the destructive flames before him, Li Lin's expression turned cold, and he shouted in a low voice.

"Extinguish!"

At Li Lin's shout, the fireballs that had filled the sky suddenly vanished. It was as though someone had invisibly doused them with a bucket of cold water, putting them out completely.

What happened?

The old mage was shocked. He could not understand it at all. The young mage before him had not chanted an incantation or shown any sign of casting a spell, yet he had completely erased his attack? How had he done it? Who was he?

Though filled with questions, the old mage did not stop. He hurriedly summoned his mental power again and began another round of attacks.

But Li Lin clearly would not give him the chance.

He thrust his right hand forward. The magical radiance spreading over it turned his palm pitch-black. Then Li Lin opened his hand, grasped at the empty air, and suddenly clenched it into a fist.

The old mage's incantation was cut short at once. His mouth hung wide open, but he could not utter a word. A powerful force had gripped his heart tightly, and even the old mage could not escape the immense pain that came with the pressure. His mouth gaped as he let go of his staff and clutched the robes over his chest with both hands, as though that could resist the force. But it was a futile struggle. No one could escape it.

"Heart Extraction..."

The old mage struggled to utter the name of the spell. It was an ancient and powerful necromantic spell that could ignore magical defenses, pierce an enemy's body directly, and seize his heart. From then on, whether he lived or died was in the hands of the spell's wielder. Although the old mage had been sufficiently cautious, Li Lin had not made a sound or spoken a single incantation. Naturally, he had no way of imagining that his opponent had prepared such a terrifyingly powerful advanced spell with a mere gesture.

Why? Why didn't he chant?

The old mage racked his brains, but could not understand why. He felt that all the strength had left his body, and he even had the illusion that it was only because his opponent held his heart that his body was still standing there.

At that moment, Li Lin paid no attention to the old mage's feelings. He was using the spell's source to learn everything the old mage knew. First, he did not believe the claim about the magic ban. Moreover, mindful of keeping up his disguise, Li Lin had suppressed his magical fluctuations. Given his current strength, it was unlikely anyone could detect them. Anyone who could detect his magical fluctuations had to be powerful. Yet this old mage had been subdued in a single move; clearly, he did not have the ability to sense Li Lin's power. Li Lin had to find the answer at once, then kill him to keep him quiet.

The force grew stronger and the pain more pronounced. The old mage had nearly reached the end of his rope. His mouth was wide open, but the pain kept him from chanting a single incantation, leaving him even more puzzled by Li Lin's ability to cast without chanting. Perhaps it was a final surge of clarity before death, but the old mage's dimmed eyes suddenly cleared. He saw Li Lin's pitch-black right hand, and even the beautiful magical radiance emanating from its back.

In an instant, an ancient legend surfaced from the depths of the old mage's memory. When he was still an apprentice, his teacher had mentioned it with an expression of reverence and longing while telling him about the history of the Magic Empire's civilization.

"There is a group of mages whose power is so great that they no longer need to rely solely on the troublesome method of spoken words to cast magic. They have found a better way. These mages inscribe the three hundred and thirty-two characters that represent the fundamental power of magic onto their bodies, where they resonate with their souls. With a turn of their thoughts, they can combine these characters at will, allowing them to cast spells more quickly and conveniently."

At this point, his teacher had paused. His face showed an excitement and respect that the old mage had never seen on his teacher's face before.

"They are the strongest in the Magic Empire: Arcane Mages."

The old mage's recollection ended there.

Li Lin clenched his outstretched hand.

There was no flash, no thunder, no explosion. The old mage's body simply crumpled to the ground. His eyes remained wide open, but the flame of life within him had gone out. No one could see that the heart inside his chest, which should have been beating, had become lifeless, mangled flesh.

It all ended so quickly that, to the elves, only a brief moment had passed. Panicked and uneasy, they watched the figure of the man before them. Though Li Lin's earlier threat had been quite effective, it was nowhere near as effective as the power he had just unleashed. The elves were not ignorant of magic. On the contrary, their innate sensitivity to it made them far more perceptive than humans of the changes in Li Lin. In their eyes, the man who had not seemed particularly powerful just moments ago had now become like a huge sun, releasing boundless energy. When the old mage fell and Li Lin stopped, the fire of energy around him also went out, and he returned to his original state.

Heart Extraction was a terrifying necromantic spell, but it had other uses as well. In his previous life, Li Lin could be said to have been a powerful, omnipotent Arcane Mage. He had held the number-one position firmly and had never been surpassed by anyone. Later, however, for certain reasons, Li Lin had abandoned and forgotten many spells and powers. The only spells he currently retained were some necromantic spells, mental manipulation spells, and a few general-purpose spells that seemed relatively rare now but had been relatively ordinary at the time. He had forgotten and transferred the rest.

Even so, Li Lin had never regretted his decision.

Using this spell, he could seize another person's heart and even draw memories from it, especially from those with weaker constitutions. A contest between spells was more often than not a contest between powers. Though the old mage's strength was relatively impressive, before Li Lin, whose power far surpassed his, those magical defenses were almost as thin as paper. Moreover, mages were not a particularly sturdy sort to begin with, so Li Lin could naturally succeed with ease. If his opponent had been a dwarf, a sneeze from him might have been enough to render Li Lin's spell ineffective.

With this, Li Lin had learned everything from the old mage's final memories. Although the magic ban was real, the old mage had not noticed Li Lin's actions. On the contrary, he had been drawn there by that elf. Perhaps her sneaking around had aroused the old mage's suspicions and caused him to follow her in secret. That was why he had appeared when the elf attacked Li Lin and detected the magical fluctuations involved.

With that, the matter was clear. The elf was obviously a companion of this group of elves. Perhaps she had been following the elves kidnapped by humans all along, trying to rescue them, but she had never expected that while the mantis stalked the cicada, the oriole was behind it, and that she herself had become the target of someone else's pursuit.

But this was not a good time to discuss it. Li Lin glanced at the sky and frowned.

Then he turned to the elves and sighed.

"Leave here at once and return to your homes. Don't get caught by humans again. I can save you once under the covenant, but I can't be your savior forever. Now, leave here at once."

With that, Li Lin turned and walked toward the shattered entrance. The evening wind stirred the dust on the ground, and in the blink of an eye, the mage's figure vanished completely from the elves' sight.