End of the Magic Era
Chapter 70: Ice and Fire

Lin Yun clearly saw the lady coming out of the painting, her bright eyes had turned into soul fire, blood slowly falling down from her eye sockets, leaving behind bloody marks on her beautiful face. Her long red hair was like red snakes, emitting some hissing sounds...

A cold wind blew through the hallway, carrying a hoarse and sinister laughter. In an instant, the hallway was filled with a thick bloody smell.

'Blood Banshee?' Lin Yun frowned. Although he already knew that the painting was strange, he never expected it to be that strange...

That was a Blood Banshee...

Even among undead lifeforms, Blood Banshees were known for their evil ways. Every Blood Banshee had inevitably experienced endless pain and torture. It was said that they suffered enough torture for their souls to be completely ripped apart before they could transform into a vicious ghost and mature into a Blood Banshee. They were level 16 at the very least and had all kinds of abilities. Even peak Great Mages weren't willing to deal with Blood Banshees, even if they ended up winning, it wouldn't be without a cost.

'So unlucky…' Lin Yun inwardly cursed. He didn't stop moving his hands, doing a few gestures and controlling the storm of flames to block the Blood Banshee's attacks.

Lin Yun's Magic Array had merged a total of four metamagics and five spells, of which Flame Storm was the only Great Mage level spell. Under the effect of the Magic Array, that Flame Storm's might was already approaching High Rank.

But Lin Yun clearly knew that even if this Flame Storm could pin down the Blood Banshee for some time and give her some injuries, it still wouldn't be able to kill the Blood Banshee.

The Blood Banshee was an undead lifeform, her power originated from her soul shattering. She might dread flames and loathe light, but the only way to kill a Blood Banshee was to destroy that shattered soul.

Sure enough, Lin Yun's Flame Storm forced the Blood Banshee in a corner. Within the crazily rotating storm, countless flames were burning the Blood Banshee's body. Due to the Magic Array's strengthening, the might of each flame wasn't inferior to a Flame Burst. But it only caused the Blood Banshee to let out a blood-curdling scream.

Lin Yun felt pain even with his mind protection, that was the scream of the banshee, directly attacking the mind and soul. If it had been in Thousand Sails City, that scream would have been enough to kill hundreds of people.

The hallway still felt shaky after the banshee scream was over. Countless lamps had fallen from the stone walls, and cracks had appeared on Lin Yun's Ice Wall...

'No wonder no one is willing to provoke a Blood Banshee…' Lin Yun was frowning, the Blood Banshee was such a strange lifeform. It really was nauseating. Even if his mind defenses could withstand the scream, the intensity almost made him deaf.

Lin Yun Flame Storm exploded up when the banshee's scream shattered his Ice Wall...

Bright flames flew as a rumbling sound echoed. The might of that explosion was far more astonishing than the previous Flame Bursts and Fire Arrow Rain.

However, Lin Yun's expression became heavy.

He had noticed the shadow flitting across the flames...

That was naturally the shadow of the Blood Banshee. The hallway lost its only source of light after the explosion of the Flame Storm, plunging in the darkness once again. Lin Yun's reaction could be considered quite fast, a Light spell immediately following the descent in darkness. But the Blood Banshee's speed was far faster than Lin Yun.

Lin Yun only heard a gust of wind as the shadow swept over. Before the light could blossom, a red snake was already flying over. Only a "bang" could be heard as the Light and that red snake exploded together. The long hallway was once more covered in darkness.

'So fast…' Lin Yun's heart tightened. He hurriedly put up an Ice Fire Shield. A blue and red radiance firmly guarded Lin Yun.

Lin Yun knew that this kind of dark area was the prefered fighting environment of undead lifeforms, especially for a frightening monster like existence such a Blood Banshee. Once in the dark, their fighting strength would be doubled. This was too disadvantageous to himself.

The only thing Lin Yun could do right now was using the Ice Fire Shield to protect himself… And wait.

Wait until the Magic Array spell combination was completed…

The Blood Banshee launched her real attack when the Magic Array combined the spells. Her monster-like speed even made Lin Yun, who had been using a Magic Array-merged Haste, breathless. The red and blue radiances flickered very fast as the Ice and Fire Shield started being overworked.

Gasping breath, frantic roars...

That dark hallway felt like one of those monster arena.

The Blood Banshee's sharp nails ripped through the air, leaving behind some sharp sounds. Lin Yun simply didn't have the time to cast a spell, he could only rely on his Ice Fire Shield to protect himself, only able to instant cast one or two spells from time to time to counterattack.

That was Lin Yun...

If it was another 1st Rank Great Mage, he or she would have already died under the hands of the Blood Banshee. That was aberration among undead lifeforms, even a peak Great Mage might not be willing to rashly provoke such a lifeform. They not only had monster-like speed, they also had all kinds of abilities that could target one's mind and soul. This was a nightmare for mages.

Only someone like Lin Yun, someone with so much battle experience that they couldn't gain more, would be able to force a Blood Banshee in a stalemate in a dark and tight hallway.

At this moment, Lin Yun entered a state of extreme composure. Darkness, restricted space and extremely aggressive Blood Banshee, it was as if those didn't exist. Lin Yun's mind was entirely focused on the Ice Fire Shield. The two flickering radiance had already exceeded the Ice Fire Shield's limit.

Regardless how fierce the Blood Banshee offensive was, the Ice Fire Shield would always appear at the right place at the right time. Countless red snakes, lightning-fast sharp nails, none of those managed to reach Lin Yun. Every attack was intercepted by the Ice Fire Shield.

The entire fight kept going for no less than ten minutes...

After Lin Yun drank another bottle of Magic Spring, he finally merged two spells with a Metamagic.

'It's time to reverse the tide.' Lin Yun smiled. The Flame Barrier he had prepared a while ago was cast. The high temperature flames forced the Blood Banshee away, giving enough time for Lin Yun to start his first incantation of the fight.

The incantation wasn't very long, but it was strangely divided into two parts. One was the Flame Spear, while the other was the Frost Lance. Fire and Ice, two opposite type of magic appeared in the same spell. If it came out, all of Noscent would be shocked.

This was considered impossible, even the Ice Fire Shield which could be considered to be a spell of Ice and Fire was in fact just a channelling of both the Ice Shield and Fire Shield.

Ice Magic and Fire Magic were two diametrically opposed extremes, only an Archmage could operate both at the same time, even High Mage couldn't do it because their power was insufficient to curb the conflict between the two powers. That kind of conflict was no joke, a moment of carelessness and the mana would collapse.

High Mages couldn't do it, let alone Great Mages...

But now, blue light flickered in his left hand, a dazzling red light in his right hand. This was a sign of convergence between two type of magic power. This was an extremely strange scene, and yet it was happening in the tomb of a prince of the 3rd dynasty...

This was all because Lin Yun's Magic Conducting Rune was the Magic Array.

Two spell of completely different attributes merged with the metamagic Elemental Burst. That explosion of power far surpassed the previous Flame Storm. This wasn't the might of a single spell, but the might of the Magic Array, one of the most powerful Magic Conducting Rune in the magic civilization. It was revealing its might at this moment.

Flame Spear, Frost Lance...

Completely merged in the Magic Array.

The moment Lin Yun chanted the spell, a dazzling light shone in the dark hallway. It was followed by a blood-curdling scream. This wasn't a banshee scream aimed at his mind or soul, but the last scream of the banshee.

Silence filled the hallway.

The soul fire turned bright once more as snake after snake died, turning into beautiful red hair once again. The bloody scar on her face disappeared, revealing her beautiful face on again. Finally, the Blood Banshee turned into a black mist and returned to the painting.

"Phew…" Lin Yun let out a relieved breath. This fight could be said to be the hardest fight ever since Lin Yun transmigrated.

The Blood Banshee's threat was far higher than anything he met before.

But...

After a tough fight, it was time for the rewards.

Lin Yun picked up the Soul Essence left on the ground, that was the crystallization of the Blood Banshee's shattered soul. The mana contained within far surpassed the mana contained in the Rotten Flower's mana crystal. Most importantly, the Soul Essence of the Blood Banshee was very likely to retain some of the Blood Banshee abilities. It would give him great benefits on his magic path if he was able to study it carefully.

But to Lin Yun, what was more important was the Death Garden behind the Blood Banshee...

Lin Yun clearly remembered that there was one reason why Sandro was called the Sovereign of Death, that powerful Necromancer's control over undead lifeforms was far higher than his peers..

Sandro never told anyone how he gained this ability.

But many mages guessed.

Sandro's ability most likely came from the Death Garden.