401 Holy Light, Gloomy Dark

After being baptized by the Eternal Light Spell, the Scar of Death became unusually bright, and looked like a piece of pure sapphire. Warm sunlight fell on it, filling the Scar of Death with the aura of life. All the Undead creatures summoned by the Tide of Death had disappeared, and so had the Vampires that had previously forced them into dire straits. Even the stench of decay that had once permeated the air seemed to be expelled by the Eternal Light, and the whole world was suddenly purified.

However, the 20 Death Knights were unscathed…

They rode their Shapeshifters and held a sharp sword each; they looked like black statues as they surrounded the young mage and trapped him in the center…

The scene scared everyone silly, and all of them suddenly became fully alert after having let down their guard earlier.

Nobody would have thought that this would happen. Could these Death Knights be made of steel? Alright, even then, shouldn't they have melted under the scary strength of the magic earlier? How could they be unharmed?

"What do we do…" Adelo looked blankly as he felt utter fear and devastation while looking at these black statues.

Adelo could see from between these Death Knights that the young mage was now very weak—his face was pale, and his breathing was shallow as he barely propped himself up with his mage.

Yet, his opponents, the 20 Death Knights, stood there unscathed.

What do I do, what do I do, do I attack?

Adelo mopped his sweat as he felt anxious while being caught in a dilemma. He had two choices now: one was to help, and another was to escape with the Teleportation Scroll. The first choice was undoubtedly a gamble, a gamble that the powerful 20 Death Knights might be close to being defeated. However, if he bet wrongly, he'd have to pay with his life. The second option was much safer, but if he did that, then his mentor Cheyenne's entire plan would come to an end…

Adelo was not the only one in a dilemma, as Rina, Ujfalusi, and the rest were also stuck at a crossroad themselves. They realized that the 20 Death Knights did not do anything after surrounding Lin Li, but remained there quietly, almost as if they were protecting him.

Hence, both parties carried on without making a move…

Perhaps Lin Li was the only one who wasn't nervous at all, for only he knew what kind of magic he had used earlier.

That was a level-21 Eternal Light Spell, known as the holiest of all magic. It was comparable to the Holy Cleansing Spell of the Brilliance Shrine when used against Undead creatures and demons. With just one blow, even a Lich or a Demon Lord would be heavily wounded, much less a mere Death Knight.

They had not been purified simply because he had had no such intention.

But, Lin Li did not have the time to explain this…

He was really busy.

Adelo thought that Lin Li looked very weak, but, on the contrary, Lin Li felt stronger than ever. After using the Eternal Light Spell, Lin Li was immersed in a strange state; it was hard to describe it, but if he had to do so, he could only say that he felt unimaginably powerful—scarily so. He felt as though he held the world in his hand, and even the Death Knights that he had been no match for were now as tiny as ants to him. He could easily crush them with a finger if he wanted to…

Lin Li even felt that if he used the Eternal Light Spell again, he would not even need three minutes, no, not even two minutes for it to light up the whole Scar of Death.

The once incredibly complicated elemental structure was now clear to him, and the power of the magic that he had been once incapable of manipulating suddenly yielded to him. It was as if all he had to do was say the spell, and this level-21 magic would do as he wished…

Lin Li knew that this was a gift from the Eternal Light Spell…

Even though he was still at the peak of level-18, and his abilities did not change much from before, after he used the Eternal Light Spell, his understanding and grasp of magic were entirely different from before. This had to be what they called experience—there was a difference between having used a Legendary-realm magic and not having done so, definitely a difference.

Even though he'd relied on the power of the Multicolored Potion, the spell came from his mouth, and the elemental structure was pieced together by his mental strength. This couldn't be changed, so this level-21 magic had left a deep mark in his brain.

There was no greater wealth than this in the eyes of a mage.

If he did not have enough mana, he could supplement it with potions, and if he lacked mental strength, he could also make up for it with magical equipment. If he lacked the knowledge, he could also rely on his books. However, if he did not have enough experience, there was nothing he could rely on.

Why was a good magic teacher so important? It was because they could pass an entire lifetime's worth of experience to you, which could help save you from many wrong turns in your journey of learning magic. If magic was like a vast sea with no boundaries, then a mage apprentice was like a tiny boat in the middle of the sea, and the teacher was like a guiding light pointing him in the right direction…

But, some experience couldn't be taught even with the brightest light.

Many things could only be understood, but not verbally taught. Only after one had experienced them would one truly understand what they were like.

Just like Lin Li—his teacher was Andoine, a Legendary mage renowned in Anril, who even had a good chance of becoming an Arbitrator.

Logically speaking, Lin Li had talent and passion, even mastering close to 10 core magical mantras, so coupled with the Legendary-realm teacher he had who was not afraid to teach him everything he knew, Lin Li should have reached the Legendary-realm by now. Why had he not done so, then? That was because he did not accumulate enough experience…

The Legendary-realm was like a pavilion in the air—many mages spent an entire lifetime trying to reach it, but they might not even get close, only standing on the side faraway as they looked at it respectfully and longingly. Only the lucky ones who found the stairs were able to reach it by following the steps.

And these stairs were called experience…

After absorbing the gift of the Eternal Light Spell, Lin Li might still be at level-18, and would not look too different, but his understanding of magic would be entirely different. The Legendary-realm was no longer mysterious to him now, and everything was within reach. As long as he accumulated enough experience, he would be able to take the life-changing step.

This was a complicated and slow process, and merely re-living the moment had taken Lin Li an hour.

In that hour, the advance party gradually realized that the 20 Death Knights did not look like they were intending to harm the young mage.

Still, nobody dared to lower their guard…

They were powerful Undead creatures that could rival Liches and Humerus Wyrms. Who knew how long this strange situation would continue? What if they decided to do things differently all of a sudden? One attack from them would leave everybody with devastating regrets! With that in mind, everyone remained highly strung up and ready to go.

Until an hour later…

"Alright, the fight is over, keep your weapons…" Lin Li said something that nobody would have thought of as he suddenly opened his eyes.

What surprised them more was that after Lin Li said that, the 20 Death Knights really did as he said and kept their weapons. The strongest of them even jumped off his Shapeshifter and knelt on one knee before Lin Li.

"We await your orders, Master." The Death Knight's voice was hoarse and deep, but everyone heard it clearly.

"My God…" Adelo's eyes were as round as saucers now. This was even scarier than the level-21 magic from before! How could this Felic command the Death Knights? Has… has this world gone mad?

Even the Tide of Death was not able to summon them, and even Liches could not control them. Even a fool knew that only a Retribution Knight could give orders to them!

Could it be that the magic from earlier was not the Eternal Light Spell, but a mysterious ritual that could make a human a Retribution Knight?

Of course, Adelo could not be blamed for thinking that way…

He was only an Archmage at the peak of level-17, after all, and even though he had a Legendary-realm teacher, he was still far away from the Legendary-realm himself. He had only heard of level-21 magic like the Eternal Light Spell, and all he knew was at most that the Eternal Light Spell was the bane of all evil existences…

When it came to the details regarding the Eternal Light Spell, perhaps even his Legendary teacher would not be able to give a detailed explanation, as in the Legendary-realm, a level could make a whole lot of difference. Naturally, a level-20 mage would not know a level-21 spell in detail.

Only Lin Li who had used the Eternal Light Spell himself knew that this level-21 magic was called the bane of all evil existence not only because of its devastating powers.

Legendary magic was called Realm Magic because all the rules besides time and space could be altered in this realm.

And that applied to light and darkness as well…

Under the cover of the Eternal Light Realm, even the Holy Light could become the Gloomy Dark…