End of the Magic Era

That sudden thought shocked Lin Yun.

After carefully considering it, he felt that this might be possible.

The number of Heaven Rank puppets that had appeared in Noscent’s history could be counted on two hands, and three of them had come from the Dark Sage. These three Heaven Rank puppets ended up in Vaughn’s hands, but they never appeared again after the latter’s death.

‘Could this be one of them?’

Lin Yun crouched to check on that trashed puppet. It was truly a Heaven Rank array, but it was too badly damaged. Only some external connectors remained, as well as a few of the most basic functional modules.

There was also the frame.

Lin Yun quickly fished out a glass bottle from his pocket and gently poured a drop of black reagent onto the frame. A red area the size of a thumb appeared where it landed.

“Ember Magic Iron!” Lin Yun clearly recognized it. No wonder he felt that this puppet’s frame looked like it was made of a deeper Magic Iron, it turned out to be Ember Magic Iron.

It was rumored that only the deepest layers of the Abyss could produce Ember Magic Iron. This was a kind of semi-natural magic metal. Ember Magic Iron would come into being when an ordinary Magic Iron Vein underwent the process of being burnt in the Abyssal Flames for thousands of years. Once the entire vein was burnt to ashes, a bit of its essence would be left behind, and this was known as Ember Magic Iron.

The production of Ember Magic Iron was horrendously inefficient, as a Magic Iron Vein would produce, at most, a piece the size of a fist.

But its rarity wasn’t the only shocking part. Ember Magic Iron had extremely high defensive capabilities. It could protect from almost all Heaven Rank spells and physical injuries. Having armor made out of Ember Magic Iron was like having an undying body.

Furthermore, it was also surprisingly flexible, and casting the frame of a puppet with Ember Magic Iron would allow it to be as flexible as a human.

Lin Yun remembered that during the end of the Plane Colonization Era, the Ruler of the Night, who became a Saint Alchemist through his puppeteering, was always followed around by a Sword Saint. In that era, that duo was unequalled. One Heaven Rank Mage and one Sword Saint swept through all enemies.

But the strange thing was that this Heaven Rank Sword Saint never showed his true identity, and no one knew his real name. People only knew that the Heaven Rank Sword Saint would only silently stand behind the Ruler of the Night. Only when he made a move would people feel the power of the Heaven Rank powerhouse.

People had speculated about the true identity of that Sword Saint for a long time…

Up until a few centuries later, when the Ruler of the Night fell into the Abyss. An Archmage found his remains by coincidence, the remains of a puppet. People then became aware that the nameless Sword Saint had been nothing but a puppet.

And the frame of that puppet had been cast from Ember Magic Iron.

The entire alchemy scene was stirred after this discovery, and all alchemists frantically looked for Ember Magic Iron. They were all eager to create a perfect frame out of the precious material to continue the legend of the Ruler of the Night.

It could be seen from this how powerful puppets made out of Ember Magic Iron were. They were very similar to humans and they could use any martial skills and spells.

Noscent’s alchemists always called Ember Magic Iron the living magic metal.

‘It does look like one of Vaughn’s three Heaven Rank puppets…’ After confirming that the frame was made out of Ember Magic Iron, Lin Yun was already certain that this was a puppet inherited from the Dark Sage.

In those years, the Dark Sage entered an Abyssal Gate and only returned ten years later, covered in dust. During those ten years, the Dark Sage walked through many layers of the Abyss, killing one Demon Lord after the other. It was already an open secret that he held a good amount of Ember Magic Iron. It was said that Charles the Emperor’s body armor was forged from the Dark Sage’s Ember Magic Iron.

‘But how could an esteemed Heaven Rank puppet be here in this condition?’ Lin Yun’s mind was filled with countless questions.

An Ember Magic Iron Frame and less than half of a Heaven Rank array, these two alone were enough to confirm the identity of the puppet. This was a genuine Heaven Rank puppet.

The question was…

‘Why was the Heaven Rank puppet broken? Did it fight another Heaven Rank powerhouse? Did Vaughn truly have a Heaven Rank guest visit him in the Four Seasons Canyon?

‘But why did someone come here? For profit?’

This wasn’t too logical. Very few things could attract the attention of Heaven Rank powerhouses. Vaughn’s laboratory sounded very great, but it would be a lot less appealing to those that had already reached Heaven Rank. And let alone Heaven Rank powerhouses, even someone like Star Sage Jouyi might not be that interested if someone dragged him to Vaughn’s laboratory.

‘But if not for profit, then why? Could it be that there is a secret hidden here besides the various magic materials and the set of Crystal Scales?’

Lin Yun thought deeply on the subject, but he couldn’t come up with an answer. Thus, he only shook his head and focused on the Heaven Rank puppet once again.

The extent of damage suffered by the Heaven Rank puppet was truly shocking, to the point that even the skeleton cast out of Ember Magic Iron was irreparable. This was the metal known to protect against Heaven Rank spells! For it to be damaged to that degree, the fight must have been earth-shattering.

‘Unfortunate…” Such a good Heaven Rank puppet, yet damaged beyond repair. Lin Yun felt that this was quite a pity.

Only the control center located in the head was still intact. Lin Yun thought about it for a moment before taking out a level 20 mana crystal from his pocket and embedding it in the mana source and then using some tools to restore a few mana circuits to temporarily link the control center and the mana source.

Lin Yun only wanted to try fixing the control center at first to check if he could make the Heaven Rank puppet recover some functions.

But he didn’t expect that part of the array to suddenly shine after he inserted the level 20 mana crystal.

Lin Yun then saw the eyes of the puppet opening.

‘Fuck…’ Lin Yun was scared stiff. That was a Heaven Rank puppet! Even if it couldn’t completely revive, just regaining a tenth of its power would be enough to instantly kill him and Solomon.

Lin Yun almost subconsciously jumped back while simultaneously casting the Ice Fire Shield, his hand quickly grabbing and opening the Book of Death. He was about to cast an Ultimate Spell when he suddenly heard the puppet talk.

“Is there still someone alive?”

“…” Lin Yun almost choked.

‘Fuck, there are two people standing in front of you, yet you’re still asking if anyone is alive? What are you trying to do?’

And at that time, Lin Yun found out that he had only scared himself. Although the puppet had opened its eyes and mouth, it was only due to the control center being resupplied with mana. The truly threatening mechanical systems had already melted away. Let alone a level 20 mana crystal, even if he specially repaired it, he still wouldn’t be able to restore the mechanical system.

Moreover, a level 20 mana crystal wasn’t nearly enough to sustain the needs of a Heaven Rank puppet.

He had panicked for nothing.

‘Scaring people to death…’ Lin Yun angrily scattered his Ice Fire Shield while putting the Book of Death back into his pocket.

“Is there still someone alive?” the puppet repeated.

“Alive, alive. Don’t you see the two living people in front of you?” Thinking how he’d been scared by a scrapped puppet made Lin Yun rage out of shame.

But as if the puppet couldn’t hear him, it repeated the same question. “Is there still someone alive?”

“What is going on?” Lin Yun felt rather bemused.

Sure enough…

“Is there still someone alive?”

“…” Lin Yun realized that this puppet would only repeat that sentence.

‘Wait, that’s not… Could this be… The Dark Sage was the one to ask that sentence?’

Lin Yun himself was an alchemist. Although he hadn’t reached the level of the Dark Sage, he wasn’t unfamiliar with puppeteering. How could Lin Yun not understand that the puppet was most likely repeating that sentence because it had been implanted by the creator of the Heaven Rank puppet?

In other words…

That question was most likely asked by the Dark Sage himself…