Chapter 1281: Questions
'No wonder Sir Agalon told me there was a problem with my fighting style, especially against stronger opponents. It turns out my fighting style was just getting worse, with just a small change in the way I use my Natural Demiplane I was able to injure that oppressing puppet and almost got rid of it.'
The large bat puppet was thoroughly enraged, the talent rune on its throat kept on shining and its attacks became even more frantic. Despite the fact that it could no longer hide its sounds and tracks, it filled the area with afterimages of itself.
Lin Yun remained calm and placed the tip of the Draconic Staff on the Book of Mantras, extracting a complex spell covered in blinding lightning out of the Book of Mantras.
In an instant, countless lightning bolts converged together to form a twenty-meter-long electromagnetic track. Lin Yun placed his special artillery shell at the start of the track.
Lightning bolts frantically flickered in circles and the special artillery shell sped up along the tracks before instantly disappearing.
Less than a second later, an explosion echoed eight hundred meters away. The large bat puppet's silhouette reappeared, seemingly out of nowhere. The artillery shell shot by the Railgun hit its right cheek and shattered, but it took out most of the puppet's head along with it.
Instant kill…
In an instant, the headless body of the large puppet fell down from the sky and fell towards the steel city like a meteorite.
Lin Yun flew over and caught its body mid-fall before flying away without even looking back.
The steel city's defensive buildings and weapon systems were all activated when Lin Yun caught the puppet's body. Innumerable thick lasers and flaming lightning bolts covered the sky and charged towards Lin Yun.
But these attacks no longer had an effect on Lin Yun. By the time the puppets came out of the steel city, Lin Yun had already returned to Agalon's hiding spot with the bat puppet's corpse. Only a ruling puppet which surpassed the Heaven Rank could find tracks of Agalon's hiding spot.
Agalon was also grinning, he was clearly very satisfied by Lin Yun's battle, even if he didn't express it.
"5th Rank Heaven Puppets' ability to use law power is very limited. Even if they possess talent runes, they aren't as flexible as human mages.
"Even though they are inflexible and use law power in very inflexible ways, their talent runes make them very powerful and the spells they release are far more powerful than 5th Rank Heaven Mages.
"But the parts of the laws they possess and the way to use them are already set in place. 4th Rank Heaven Mages who could truly use law power could deal with a 5th Rank Heaven Puppet, especially if they had some comprehension towards the puppet's laws. It's just a matter of qualifications.
"As for you, the projection of your Natural Demiplane's laws is very comprehensive. Most of the laws used by 5th Rank Heaven Puppets should have already evolved within your Demiplane. Getting rid of these guys should be very easy for you, you spent a lot more time than needed…"
Lin Yun listened to Agalon's words with an open mind. Agalon was right, it wouldn't have taken more than ten minutes if Lin Yun had understood earlier and broke away from his old fighting style.
Even a puppet which had awakened wisdom was very dull compared to a mage, they were too inflexible. The time Lin Yun had wasted would have been enough for a 5th Rank Heaven Mage to get rid of him a few times.
Lin Yun was surprised by the power created after merging the original abilities of the Spell Wheel, Book of Mantras, and the Magic Array.
The puppet's fighting style and movements were mostly controlled by the control system, and thus there was a pattern. Moreover, Lin Yun had been able to hit with the Railgun after analyzing that pattern and correcting the irregularities. This made Lin Yun realize the true use of the Magic Array.
The Magic Array was the strongest Magic Conducting Rune during the peak of Noscent, it had the most formidable computing ability. And now, Lin Yun could experience why the Magic Array was the best.
Increase in magic power, casting time reduction, mana consumption reduction, accelerated mana recovery…
More than 90% of its functions were inferior to other Magic Conducting Runes, yet the Magic Array was still publicly known as the strongest Magic Conducting Rune. After all, talent was the least valued part during Noscent's peak, Heaven Rank powerhouses were roaming the earth and it wasn't an exaggeration to say that Archmages were inferior to dogs.
Lin Yun thoroughly understood now, even if he had the information and descriptions, it wasn't as good as experiencing it himself.
Not the strongest spells, nor the fastest casts, but it was the most efficient when dealing with enemies. As long as the user was powerful enough, they could perfectly analyze and predict their opponent's path and actions. It was like they knew in advance what their opponent would do ahead of time and just needed to put a trap on their path.
Trying to use brute force against an inconceivably fast flying 5th Rank Heaven Puppet with a talent rune was simply impossible.
After a battle, Lin Yun felt reborn, as if he had completely undergone the transformation of the Heaven Rank.
He dismantled the bat puppet and put away all the components. Many of the components could be used to upgrade Pabiete, and there was even a ball that could continuously devour mana like a black hole.
Lin Yun's expression shook when he saw that black substance and took out a mana isolating device he had previously prepared to gather that black substance.
Agalon still had a serene expression, he wasn't shocked to see that black substance.
"Sir Agalon, what is that black substance?"
Gandaph had been unwilling to explain last time. He wouldn't stop talking if it was another matter, but he would only chuckle whenever that black substance was mentioned.
Agalon didn't directly answer Lin Yun's question. He instead looked him straight in the eyes and asked, "How is your research of that black substance faring?"
Lin Yun shook his head, "I've only discovered that this black substance keeps devouring mana, all kinds of mana. Even when lying down on the ground, it's still devouring the mana in the surroundings. I haven't figured out where the absorbed mana is going, I've tried all kinds of methods to track it, but I couldn't track it down.
"I've used some of it to create a puppet devouring system…
"Sir Agalon, what is it?"
Agalon nodded, before disappointment flashed in his eyes.
"I originally hoped that you would gain some enlightenment towards the future by researching that thing, but it looks like it didn't work.
"That kind fell from the Starry Sky Battlefield. The Puppet Plane doesn't have an outer protective layer, allowing all meteorites to successfully fall down. That black substance is such a thing.
"This place has the most of it, it simply can't be found in Noscent. As for what it is exactly, you'll have to figure it out yourself."
Since Agalon didn't explain, Lin Yun knew that there was no point in asking about it anymore, he instead asked about something else.
"What's going on with the Starry Sky Battlefield?"
Lin Yun kept hearing about this Starry Sky Battlefield. There was that Starry Sky Path controlled by the Merlin Family, back then he had seen a large number of corpses floating within the void, including a Deity's corpse.
And he just heard about the Starry Sky Battlefield again. The Merlin Family's Starry Sky Path most likely led to that Starry Sky Battlefield.
'Just what is the Starry Sky Battlefield?' Lin Yun had been looking for an answer for a long time. There had only been bits and pieces of information left in the future Noscent. Most powerful existences weren't recorded as dead, they had left for the endless void, never to be seen again.
When Lin Yun just transmigrated to this era, he only thought that the formidable mages appearing within these few dozen millennia ended up lost within the endless void.
After all, the space occupied by the endless void was far greater than Noscent, they simply couldn't be compared. It was hard finding a stable Starry Sky Path with the starry sky's fluctuations. They could end up lost in the starry sky for all kinds of reasons, never to find their way back.
But it now seemed that there was very little possibility of that being the case. These people didn't get lost, they definitely went to the Starry Sky Battlefield.
Faced with Lin Yun's question, Agalon remained silent for a moment.
"As for the matters of the Starry Sky Battlefield, you'll know in due time. This isn't a suitable time, you'll gain nothing from learning about it now.
"Let's go to the next location, I've found another opponent for you."
Lin Yun was helpless since Agalon didn't give him an answer, he knew that asking anything else was useless.
They arrived at another steel city after flying for a day. That steel city was about the same size as the previous one, and once again, Agalon threw a rune towards that steel city.
Lin Yun still didn't know what it was, but a level 45 puppet flew out of the steel city within a couple seconds.
The puppet was over eight-meter-tall, had six legs, and four arms. It was holding a seven-meter long silver bow in its right hand.
The longbow had a metallic shine to it, it didn't have a bowstring, was covered in a large amount of strange patterns, and a talent rune could be seen in the very center of the frame.
Lin Yun's expression changed when he saw that puppet, and he ended up being kicked out by Agalon once again. The centaur-like puppet raised its bow and put its left hand where the bowstring should have been.
In an instant, a bowstring made of light suddenly appeared, along with a silver white arrow of light.
Lin Yun felt a sense of crisis when he saw the archer puppet's actions. To be more precise, it was as if his soul had been targeted. His soul was instinctively shuddering from this sense of crisis.
A spatial fluctuation appeared and Lin Yun was dragged a meter to the side, as if he had been sucked through space.
At that exact same time, that silver arrow flew past his head and disappeared into the sky.
The radiant arrow grazed the surface of the Fusion Shield and triggered half of its law runes.
Lin Yun felt a chill, that was a scary experience…
That arrow was unfathomably fast, it was even faster than his Railgun. That bright arrow kept flying into the sky until it disappeared, crossing over a few dozen kilometers in a few seconds.
Even though it was far from the speed of light, it felt just as fast. It could only be dodged ahead of time. Lin Yun was less than two kilometers away from the archer puppet, this was close enough for the arrows of light to instantly hit upon being shot.
Lin Yun used everything he had after dodging, the Spell Wheel, the Book of Mantras, the Book of Death, the Draconic Staff… He even cast Wind Elemental Spirit Incarnation, letting his body drift in the air and continuously dodge without a pattern.
The Spell Wheel swiftly revolved, analyzing the movements of the centaur-like puppet and casually releasing a storm of Four-Element Bombs to interrupt the other side's casts.
But the archer puppet's six legs surged through the air, galloping as if it was on the ground. Its airborne movements were agile and terrifying, it looked like a true Heaven Rank Centaur.
The Spell Wheel couldn't figure out a pattern in the other side's movements, they could even be said to be unpredictable. Ultimately, the analysis revealed a dozen possible paths.
While easily avoiding Lin Yun's interferences, the archer puppet once again drew its bow and shot three silver white arrows. These three radiant arrows were a lot slower than the previous arrow, but they flew in a very strange manner.
The three arrows intertwined as they flew over, flying as if they were revolving around each other. Using pure archery skills, the puppet made the three arrows of light influence each other's power. It looked like there was a pattern, but any small influence would thoroughly ruin the previous analyses.
The three arrows needed five seconds to travel two kilometers, but Lin Yun stopped analyzing them after three seconds and cast a Law Runic Bomb at them.
The exploding power affected the arrows' paths, they instantly scattered in three different directions. They flew into an arc around the explosion before converging and aiming at Lin Yun once again.
'That's definitely cheating…'
Lin Yun was shocked. It's not like he had never seen a Heaven Rank Archer, it's just that the puppet was far stronger than a Heaven Rank Archer!
He had used the explosive power of a Law Runic Bomb, but the three arrows scattered before the explosion could reach them.
Seeing this scene, Lin Yun knew that the only answer to these three arrows was dodging or blocking at a close range, it wasn't possible to dodge ahead of time.
The three arrows flew towards Lin Yun's Fusion Shield. One of them directly landed on it while the other two separated.
The first arrow caused a large amount of law runes to pulsate. The second arrow flew in an arc and hit the other side of the Fusion Shield. The sudden burst of power made 90% of the Fusion Shield's law runes flicker.
Two arrows almost reached the limits of the Fusion Shield in an instant, but the third arrow was the true danger.
Because the explosive power of the arrows was too powerful. The law runes had gathered on two sides of the Fusion Shield, weakening the center.
The final arrow hit the center of the Fusion Shield and tore through it as if it was made out of paper, approaching the hovering Lin Yun from below. It would pierce through Lin Yun's body upon impact.
Destroying his heart and soul in a single hit.
'What a vicious puppet…'
Upon impact, Lin Yun's body shattered into pieces, as if it had been made out of glass, before dissipating like an afterimage. Ripples flickered behind it as a sweating Lin Yun reappeared.
'My life would have ended if not for the timely analysis of the final arrow's path and that last minute Mirror Image…'
Lin Yun had barely dodged when he discovered that the archer puppet was drawing its bow once again.
The Natural Demiplane's projection appeared and the laws' projections started operating against the current laws, offsetting this puppet's law power. But this had little effect against that archer puppet.
The other side was relying on their terrifying archery skills and talent rune to deal with him. Their path, patterns, and the trajectories of their arrows couldn't be analyzed. This battle couldn't continue like that or the next arrow would definitely take Lin Yun's life.
To be continued