End of the Magic Era

Translator: Shiraishi  Editor: TheAlliance

This news spread throughout Noscent like a long wing unfolding. Everyone felt that Pikeman’s idea was too crazy.

But the opposing voices were disregarded.

Because in that era, Pikeman was the supreme authority when it came to the field of alchemy. Everyone else could only look up to him.

Not long after he made his suggestion, the 3rd Dynasty’s Royal Family gave Pikeman huge support and dispatched countless troops and Court Alchemists to various mountain ranges to capture magic beasts and transport them back to the imperial capital for Pikeman’s experiments.

The 3rd Dynasty used up a great quantity of resources in the span of three years, and at that time, Pikeman’s experiment also reached its end. After many repeated attempts, he finally succeeded in implanting a magic beast’s organ into a puppet, and just as he said three years before, the puppet’s strength greatly increased.

Although the research had consumed a terrifying amount of resources, the benefits it brought to the 3rd Dynasty could hardly be put into words. It could push the 3rd Dynasty to new heights.

Not long after, the group of Court Alchemists mastered the remodelling method of Pikeman’s research, and all the puppets of the empire were moved to the imperial capital. It took nearly a year to put magic beast organs into all the puppets, but it greatly increased their power.

This was originally a good thing…

But then, the puppets began to sometimes go out of control and injure people. This matter didn’t get much attention at first because the alchemists thought that those were isolated incidents caused by issues with those particular puppets. But as time passed, more and more puppets went berserk.

Just like locusts, it quickly spread, and the puppets of many cities joined up to rebel, completely freeing themselves from human control. In a short three months, many cities fell, putting a shadow over the entire empire. They dispatched countless troops to suppress those puppets, but they were unable to stabilize the situation.

At that time, more people felt that it might have been Pikeman’s wave of remodelling that made those puppets berserk, putting the empire in a crisis.

But realizing that was useless, as it was already ongoing…

After a full ten years, the 3rd Dynasty greatly suffered. Their army steeply declined as they annihilated those puppets one after the other.

The crisis this time greatly reduced the 3rd Dynasty’s strength.

Pikeman no longer appeared afterwards.

Some speculated that Pikeman knew that only death awaited him after he caused that disaster, so not long after the puppet insurrection, he escaped Noscent and fled into the boundless planes. Others thought that Pikeman hadn’t been able to escape and was secretly executed by the Royal Family.

In any case, everything regarding the puppet insurrection had become a taboo. No one even dared to mention Pikeman’s name.

As for the Royal Family, they meticulously erased this part of history. The alchemists of the later generations simply didn’t know that there had been an Artisan named Pikeman.

But during the peak of the Magic Era, a crazy group of mages excavated numerous tombs until they finally discovered that hidden part of history in a tomb belonging to a descendant of the Royal Family. At that point, Pikeman’s name once again echoed in Noscent.

That secret part of history where countless puppets were remodelled, implanted with magic beast organs and strengthened to extremely formidable levels, followed by the insurrection and the loss of countless cities.

Noscent’s mages were shocked when that part of history came to light, and it also answered a huge question: Why had the flourishing 3rd Dynasty declined out of nowhere, to the point that it eventually met its destruction?

Countless alchemists frantically searched for the results of Pikeman’s experiments. It was a fatal temptation to them. After several years of research, they finally found some clues.

To be more accurate, they found some ruins, and the owner of those ruins was an alchemist living at the same time as Pikeman. He was also an Artisan, and after surviving the puppet insurrection, he decided to preserve Pikeman’s data. But unfortunately, the information contained within that crystal disk had already been damaged over the years, and those alchemists weren’t able to find out the complete remodelling method.

But…

Even an incomplete part of the method was enough to make those alchemists happy, because at the time, puppeteering had already plateaued. There hadn’t been any new breakthroughs for dozens of years. In the end, the group of alchemists studied that method for a few years before coming to a conclusion. This train of thought had the potential to cause an important breakthrough in the field of alchemy…

But there was still a crucial point left.

How would they prevent the puppets from going berserk after remodelling them?

Naturally, this wasn’t a huge problem. While researching the damaged remodelling plan, the alchemists found a questionable portion and focused on improving that part. They were quite certain that the puppet wouldn’t go out of control after being remodelled if they fixed this.

But, a few dozen years later, those alchemists found out that they were wrong.

They had truly underestimated Pikeman’s wisdom.

They originally thought that the remodelling method being damaged wasn’t a big deal and that they would be able to restore it by studying it for a while. Unfortunately, decades passed and they were still unable to complete it.

No matter how unwilling they were, they had no choice but to give up. After all, there was no meaning in continuing that research.

And this had become one of the biggest regrets of Noscent’s alchemists…

They were certain that if they could restore the remodelling plan, or if it hadn’t been damaged, the field of puppeteering would have had its first great reform in a long time and would reach a peak.

“Damnit!” Enderfa cursed as he stared at Lin Yun. “Merlin, you really are a lunatic…”

Enderfa couldn’t understand the young mage’s behavior…

After all, that puppet had been at the Heaven Rank before being damaged. It was crafted by the greatest puppeteering alchemist of all times, the Dark Sage.

Even if it had been damaged, with the young mage’s growth speed, it wouldn’t take long before he could make this puppet’s strength reach an extremely terrifying level, infinitely close to the Heaven Rank, or perhaps even into the Heaven Rank once again.

But…

From the formulas spread on those pieces of paper, he saw that Lin Yun actually wanted to implant the Hydra Heart in the puppet, replacing its original mechanical system.

This was truly insane.

After fusing with the heart, the puppet would inherit the power and magic talent of the Hydra.

But, did the young mage even think of the consequences?

It would definitely end up like what happened several millennia ago, with the puppet going berserk.

What truly angered Enderfa was that Mafa Merlin obviously knew of the consequences but still didn’t plan on giving up.

‘A lunatic, he is really a lunatic!’

Lin Yun’s gaze moved away from the pieces of paper and fell onto Enderfa. He stared at him for a long time before breaking the silence. “Give me Pikeman’s research on the remodelling method…”

“You… I don’t understand what you are saying!”

“You definitely know it…”

“How could I know! If you want to get Pikeman’s research, you should look for him!”

“Haha…”

Lin Yun chuckled but didn’t say anything, only smiling at Enderfa.

“Alright, this matter ends here!” After being watched by Lin Yun for a long time, Enderfa felt uneasy. With these words, he turned back into a black mist and intended to return to the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel.

But he was then blocked by the young mage, making him feel exasperated. “Hell, I’m telling you the truth Merlin! I wouldn’t be helping you if I give you the remodelling method, I would be harming you, shouldn’t you be aware of this!?”

When he heard this, Lin Yun’s smile grew wider, and he also secretly relaxed. “So, you do know…”

In fact, Lin Yun had only been checking. He wasn’t completely certain that Enderfa knew.

Since Enderfa was able to use the written formulas to deduce that he wanted to implant the Hydra Heart into the Heaven Puppet and also had knowledge of what happened in the middle of the 3rd Dynasty, Lin Yun deduced that Enderfa might know some things related to Pikeman’s research.

But he now realized that Enderfa did know.

“F*ck…” Enderfa cursed before sinking into silence. His three faces all turned gloomy, clearly resenting Lin Yun.

In the end, Enderfa couldn’t return to the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel and could only remain in a deadlock.

Half an hour soon passed…

Out of nowhere, Enderfa suddenly started laughing. After laughing for a while, he stopped and said, “As you wish, Merlin…”

A black mist appeared and turned into countless runes. Enderfa then entered the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel, not blocked by Lin Yun this time. Once he reached the Spell Wheel, a sneer echoed, “You’ll definitely regret it!”

Lin Yun didn’t pay attention to Enderfa. He was staring at the runes with a smile, his quill continuously writing as he recorded everything onto a piece of paper…