Advent of the Archmage - Chapter 221

Chapter 221: The Ghouls of the Black Forest

On the Icy Peak of the Black Forest in the northern part of Norton Kingdom.

More than four months ago, the Norton Kingdom’s army thwarted the first attack from the Dark Elves at Icy Peak. From then on, they charged straight forward through the forest and into the Pralync Kingdom.

As they moved forward, Icy Peak also changed from being a battlefield to the rear camp of the Norton Kingdom’s army. Now after months of construction with almost unlimited funding, it had become a large-scale fortress.

Today, the weather was as terrible as usual with the dark clouds in the sky and the biting wind whistling through the air. The low temperatures here could easily freeze people’s ears off their heads. Nonetheless, the guards of the fortress dared not take their duties lightly even in such weather. A team of soldiers patrolled the outer walls of the fortress. The soldiers rubbed their hands and stomped their feet to keep warm, but their eyes remained sharp and vigilant as they guarded the northern wall of the fortress.

The Black Forest was gloomy and bitingly cold. When the wind blew through the forest trees, it would make an eerie howling sound. Moreover, the forest seemed to be packed with crows which would appear suddenly and caw loudly.

It was as if the Black Forest was haunted!

Just then, the soldiers heard the clip-clop sound of horses approaching the fortress. The guard captain immediately shouted an order, “Everyone, on guard!”

The soldiers gripped their weapons tightly. The archers nocked their arrows, while the other soldiers locked their eyes on the direction where the horse was approaching. If they noticed anything wrong at all, they would not hesitate to attack instantly.

The horse approached closer and closer, and after about half a minute, a group of knights emerged from the dense forest. There were a total of 13 knights, and all their armor had been stained red with blood. The knight in front was clad in dark green armor, and he was carrying a bleeding and dying Magician on his saddle.

“I’m Falcon, Royal Knight of the Norton Kingdom! Open the gate!” shouted the knight who was carrying the Magician.

Falcon, a Royal Knight of the kingdom, was a Level-6 Warrior and the captain of the vanguard. His weapon was the Holy Cross sword. Once Battle Aura flowed into this sword, it would light up in a holy, silver light that was unique to the sword.

The soldiers looked at the sword and waited for another five or six seconds. After determining that Falcon was not pursued by any enemies behind him, they slowly opened the gate of the fortress and let him in.

The knights sped through the fortress gate before it closed up again immediately as all of them had entered. Not a single second was wasted.

Once they were all inside, Falcon carried the dying Magician down from the saddle of his horse and gave him to the knight beside him.

“Quick,” he ordered, “take Artor to the priest!”

The knight then held the young Magician and ran towards a small chapel of the fortress. The Magician, Artor was slashed in the neck, but fortunately, none of his vital veins were cut, so he was still alive.

Falcon continued to gallop more than 150 feet into the fortress square before dismounting. He gave the horse to a soldier nearby while he himself rushed into the command hall.

Inside the hall, there were loud voices from different figures of various positions. Some were generals and officers, while others were clerks and soldiers. They were all discussing their strategic plans.

Falcon walked to the entrance and wiped the blood traces that had been frozen to ice off his face.

“My lord,” he loudly said, “the vanguard camp has been attacked!”

All of a sudden, the hall fell silent. Everyone’s eyes turned to Falcon. Duke Abel, who sat at the head of the long table, turned to Falcon with an expressionless face.

“What did you say?” he asked. “Repeat yourself!”

Falcon rushed into the hall with signs of panic still in his eyes.

“Those ghouls blinded our guards early this morning, my lord,” he reported. “Then the Black Tooth Legion of the Dark Elf army suddenly launched an attack on our camp. There were 5000 soldiers in the vanguard…but only 13 escaped.”

The ghouls were a terrifying group of Dark Elves that suddenly appeared on the battlefields since the war started. Their speed was as fast as the wind, they were almost invisible, and their strength was inexhaustible. Ordinary swords and weapons could never kill them, even when their vital points were struck down. In short, these ghouls were close to supernatural!

Only 13 soldiers in the vanguard camp escaped out of 5000. In other words, the entire camp was annihilated.

Duke Abel’s face turned hard and cold.

“What about Karnose?” he asked Falcon. “Wasn’t he in the vanguard camp? Where is he?”

The Black Forest was where most of the ghouls lay; that was the area around the vanguard camp. To help combat them, the Dawn Swordsman was sent there. As the only Level-8 Warrior in the kingdom, he was deemed as the best person who could eliminate the threat of these ghouls. But no matter how powerful the Warrior was, in the end, he was just one person, while the total number of ghouls wasn’t clear. So far, according to reports, there were more than a hundred of them now. The presence of the Dawn Swordsman could do nothing but temporarily suppress the wild attacks of the ghouls.

Falcon’s eyes turned red as he thought of Karnose.

“I don’t know, my lord,” he said. “To protect us and make sure that we escaped from the camp, Lord Karnose decided to remain there and fight. As for what happened to him now, I…I don’t know.”

It had gone so quiet at this point that a pin dropping on the floor would echo throughout the hall.

The people here had been through wars before, so they knew its harsh brutality well. They knew that even if Karnose was an invincible Warrior when faced with an army, the most he could do was kill a hundred of the soldiers. He still wouldn’t be able to escape certain death himself.

In other words, the top Warrior of Norton Kingdom had now almost certainly died in battle.

Silence lingered in the hall. No one made a sound for three minutes. Then, Duke Abel stood up and took a deep breath then looked around at all the generals in the hall.

“It’s time to shrink the line of defense!” he said coldly.

At present, there were 190,000 soldiers in the North divided into ten regiments. These regiments were centered in Icy Peak which then formed a defense line facing the north of Black Forest. The vanguard camp, on the other hand, was kept 50 miles further north of the fortress.

Once the vanguard camp was attacked, there was now only one legion left to protect the fortress. The situation had become a little too dangerous. If the defeat had come from a normal battle, the Norton Kingdom army would certainly be able to counterattack from the flanking sides of the battlefield and teach the Dark Elves a harsh lesson. But now that these ghouls came into the picture, things had gotten a lot trickier.

These ghouls hid in the Black Forest and were almost untraceable. The scouts from the MI3 weren’t able to fight against them, and all that encountered the ghouls had died with very little exceptions.

So far, the number of scouts in the forest kept dwindling, and the army received less and less information. By now, the links between various regiments had almost been cut off by these ghouls which made fighting a war that much more difficult.

In this case, the safest strategy was to retreat the line of defense. Duke Abel still had some doubts about the decision, but now that the best Warrior in the army had fallen and the entire vanguard camp was annihilated, he had to make up his mind.

The generals had nothing to say, either. Everyone knew that at this point it was basically impossible to fight on. They’d even begun to draw up orders to get ready to withdraw.

Duke Abel then turned to a man wearing gray leather armor beside him.

“Karnose might still be alive,” he said, “I want you to send out a search party and find news of Karnose.”

That man was Dilo. He was the commander of the scout team of the MI3. He was responsible for collecting information on the battlefield. A month earlier, he did an excellent job and had almost squeezed the life out of the Dark Elf army. But ever since the ghouls appeared, the tables were turned completely.

Dilo frowned when he heard Duke Abel’s order.

“My lord,” he said with a lowered voice, “the Black Forest is infested with the ghouls. If we send more people out into the forest, there would only be more people dead.”

He did not say this out of cowardice. He’d seen what happened in the last half month how with every team of scouts he sent out into the Black Forest only about 10% survived and came back alive. At this point, all the news the king and the army received was in exchange for the scouts’ lives.

Naturally, as the leader of these scouts, he was sad to see his elite members sacrificed one-by-one.

But Duke Abel got furious as he listened to Dilo’s reply.

“Stop your excuses!” he spat. “This is a military order! Find him at all costs!” He was well aware of the dangers in the Black Forest. Still, Karnose wasn’t just a Level-8 Warrior—he was the source of morale for the entire army.

If even the Dawn Swordsman had fallen, how would the rest of the army find any courage to continue to stay in the North? How would they fight on in this war?

“As you wish, my lord,” said Dilo. He had no other choices. Then, he rushed out of the hall and began to carry out the orders.

To everyone’s surprise, Dilo returned again to the hall after ten minutes.

“What’s the matter?” Duke Abel asked impatiently.

“My lord,” said Dilo in a hushed voice as he walked up to the duke. “The princess insisted that she wants to join the search party. I came to ask you for your advice.”

“…”

The Iron Duke’s jaw dropped for a few moments. He wanted to tell Dilo to refuse his daughter’s request, but just as he was about to utter the words, he discovered that everyone in the hall was watching him. They must’ve heard of what happened now.

He hesitated for a while, but finally, Duke Abel gave Dilo his decision.

“Let her go,” he said with a trembling voice. “Don’t treat her any differently from other members of the team. The search and rescue of Karnose is the most important thing.”

His daughter, Annie, was now only a Level-4 Assassin. In the past, this level would be considered powerful. But now with the ghouls around, sending someone of her level out into the forest would practically be a death sentence for her. Yet now, he could do nothing to stop it; it was the price he had to pay for being the commander of the army.

Duke Abel then stood up and announced, “I must go get some rest.”

He turned away from the command hall as all eyes watched him leave silently. The Iron Duke seemed to have aged ten years in the last few minutes. Even his walking gait had gotten weak now.

“Dilo,” the duke’s adjutant whispered, “you must not let anything happen to the princess.”

“I will do what I can,” said Dilo with a thin smile. In truth, it was too late for him to do anything now.

…

The news that the vanguard camp was attacked and that the fate of the Dawn Swordsman was unknown couldn’t be kept a secret for long. When the search party left the Icy Peak, all tens of thousands of people in the fortress had heard of the news by then.

For a time, the air in the fortress was extremely tense. Although the main force of the army had not been lost, their morale suffered a deep plunge. At that moment, the Black Forest had become less of a battlefield, but more of a deep abyss that sucked lives into its deep and dark underbelly.

No more than half an hour after the search party left, a figure clad in a loose black cloak walked out from the forest near the fortress. It was Link.

He’d just arrived, so he knew nothing about the current situation.

He stared at the strong and magnificent fortress in front of him and couldn’t help but admire it.

“They’ve built such a large fortress in less than six months’ time,” he exclaimed. “What a feat!”

He then quickened his pace and approached the fortress gate.

Chapter 222: To Think It Would Be Someone as Prominent as You

Ice Peak Military Fortress

In order to keep his mission a secret, Link stood in front of the fortress door clad in a low-level magic robe. He then shouted at the guards on the outer wall. “I am Mirose, a Magician from the East Cove Higher Magic Academy, here to join the army.”

“Prove your identity!” the captain of the outer guards replied. He did not receive any news that a Magician from the academy would be arriving at the fortress today. If it were an ordinary Warrior, he would not even bother entertaining him. He might even order for him to be killed if he got too close. However, the other party now was a Magician; he had to be cautious.

Proving my identity? Link was slightly stunned at this request and thought for a moment before replying, “I am friends with a disciple of Dean Anthony named Marco. If you do not believe me, you can testify with him.”

Although his mission was a secret, King Leon had already arranged everything beforehand. The alias Mirose was also one that they decided on together so as to ensure consistency.

The guard captain hesitated. He knew Marco personally and, in the past, such an action would be enough for him to let his guard down. However, the situation now was extremely tense. How would he know if this person was not a Dark Elf spy?

He then said, “Please wait while I get Marco here.”

He then immediately turned around and walked towards the Mage Tower in the fortress. Link naturally could only wait outside the castle wall.

Ten minutes later, Magician Marco appeared on the castle wall with a perplexed look on his face.

Mirose? Who is that?

He received news two days ago that the academy would be sending a young Magician named Mirose over to the fortress. This news was exceptionally strange. He could not understand why the academy would send merely one Magician over. It would be fine if that Magician were strong and famous. However, Mirose…Could it be a name of a Magician’s Apprentice?

From the castle wall, Marco looked down and saw a young man standing right outside the castle wall, looking at him with an inviting smile on his face.

Marco could recognize this person just from a glance—black hair and black eyes with a youthful demeanor. There was only one person in the entire academy who looked like that—the new Master Magician Link Morani!

He was, after all, a Level-4 Magician and could maintain his composure. Although he was excited and surprised at Link’s arrival, he did not show any of those emotional fluctuations on his face and said, “He is someone from the academy. Let him in.”

With his testimony, the guard captain was naturally relieved and ordered the guards beside him, “Open the gate.”

The rattling sounds of gears could be heard as the drawbridge was lowered slowly to pave the way for Link’s entrance. Before Link could enter the fortress, Magician Marco had already come out to welcome him.

After reaching Link’s side, he looked around to make sure no one was looking before whispering in excitement, “Sir, I have been informed that a combat Magician would arrive. To think that it would be someone as prominent as you!”

Link had already made his name known throughout the Magician world reaching the status of a master at a tender age of 18 years old. His accomplishment of defeating a Level-8 demon with a Level-9 spell had also proved his overwhelming strength, just shy of reaching the Legendary status.

Under his dazzling brilliance, Wavier of the South, Eliard who managed to become a level-3 Magician in half a year, and other Magicians who call themselves genius all dimmed in comparison.

Link smiled meekly and corrected, “I am not a master. I am Mirose, a Level-2 Magician. Have you forgotten?”

“Oh, yes, yes. It is Mirose.” Marco nodded.

Link headed into the fortress while Magician Marco followed hastily behind like a follower.

“Where is the Dawn Swordsman? Bring me to him.” Link did not waste a single moment. He knew that the longer he stayed in the fortress, the likelihood of his identity being exposed would increase.

He was the nemesis of the Dark Elves, the criminal who killed the Constellation Assassin of the Norigan Familia. If the Dark Elves had noticed his arrival in the Dark Forest, they would definitely pursue him with all their might.

However, this sentence caused a frown to appear on Marco’s face, his melancholy obvious.

Link suddenly got a bad premonition and said, “What happened?”

Marco whispered, “The pioneer group that the army sent out had been breached and annihilated by the Dark Elves. Kanorse had chosen to be the defensive force for that mission and is nowhere to be found. The Duke had sent out a rescue team for this purpose alone. Even Princess Annie went along this time around.”

Link as startled at the news and paused, “When did this happen?”

“Just an hour before you arrived. The rescue team was just dispatched. However, the Dark Forest is infested with ghouls; I’m afraid this mission will also…” Marco did not complete his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Link captured a single word in his entire speech and asked, “Ghouls? You mean the things that recently appeared in the Dark Forest?”

An expression of fear immediately appeared on Marco’s face. “Yes, that’s them! They are way too strong! The entire army is in a state of despair. The ghouls have nearly taken over the entire Dark Forest!”

Upon hearing those words, Link fell silent and stopped moving forward. He then heard the rattling sound of gears coming from behind him. The guards were retracting the drawbridge.

“It seems like I need to take action now. Marco, tell them to lower the drawbridge. I am setting off now.” Link walked towards the fortress gate.

“Link…I mean, Mirose…alone?” Marco followed behind Link hastily as he signaled for the guards to lower the drawbridge.

“No, I will catch up with the rescue team and move together with them. The Duke made the right decision. The Dawn Swordsman’s current state cannot be ambiguous! In fact, he must live!”

He needed the strength of the Dawn Swordsman to deal with the enhanced demonized Dark Elves called ghouls.

In ten years, the Dawn Swordsman would still be the strongest Warrior in the World of Firuman. By that time, he would have reached the highest Legendary level and be conferred the title of a Divine Swordsman. Eliard and he would be collectively called the two saints of the human race, serving as the two psychological pillars in the war.

These were sufficient reasons for Link to go out of his way to rescue Kanorse.

At this moment, the drawbridge had already been lowered. Link then cast a Cheetah’s Agility onto himself and rushed out of the gate. He then cast a Level-0 levitation spell which increased his speed drastically to 150 feet per step. He then floated with ease down the slope of the Ice Peak, hastily making his way into the Dark Forest.

Before long, he reached the boundaries of the Dark Forest and seemed determined to enter the dangerous foothold of the Dark Elves.

A troop of guards looked at him from the castle walls with a stunned expression on their faces.

“That Magician is entering the Dark Forest alone? Is he insane?”

“Is he trying to commit suicide?”

“Did anyone of you realize that his spellcasting speed is extremely fast?”

“So what if he is fast? He is alone!”

The captain of the guards had already made his way down the castle walls and walked towards Marco. He then asked curiously, “Sir, what is going on with this Mirose guy?”

He had only just arrived but left immediately for the Dark Forest. What is going on?

Marco then stared as Link’s figure disappeared into the shadows of the Dark Forest. He then shook his head, “Warrior, this is not something you should know.”

If the Dawn Swordsman Kanorse was the pillar of support to all Warriors in the Norton Kingdom, then Link, the Magician who single-handedly defeated the great demon Tarviss would be a Legendary figure revered by all combat Magicians.

If he could not save Kanorse from this predicament, then possibly no one could.

…

The Dark Forest

Thirty-Five Elite Scouts clad in black leather armor rushed towards the enemy’s base under their disguise and concealment. They were heading towards the vanguard camp to rendezvous with the surviving troops before infiltrating the enemy’s base together to save the Dawn Swordsman.

The Scouts’ eyes shone with a bladed resolve, though not a shred of hope could be found in those eyes. From the moment they entered the Dark Forest, they were prepared to give up their lives.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

A crow flew across them, seemingly mocking this group of human scouts who was overestimating their abilities.

The sound of their feet sinking into the thick layer of snow on the ground accentuated the sinister atmosphere of the Dark Forest. Among the scouts who were traveling in a scattered formation, four of them were gathered together. In the middle of this group was Annie Abel, the only daughter of the Iron Duke. She was closely protected by three guards surrounding her, ready to take any lethal blows for the princess the moment danger struck.

Although Annie did not want this to happen, this was her father’s arrangement. She could only accept disdainfully.

All of her subordinates had already lost their lives in this northern war of the Dark Forest. The previous time when they were met with danger, almost all of the comrades delved into a frenzy trying to protect her with their own lives, creating opportunities for her to escape.

At that moment, she saw Aldivin’s head getting completely severed by a ghoul. The blood from his neck spurted nearly three feet into the air as his eyes from the severed head still shone with camaraderie and rage. She also saw Molly’s petite body being torn in two by the ferocious ghouls. Despite the brutal treatment she was subjected to, she still held on tightly to the ghoul’s leg, even so after she had lost consciousness. She had seen way too many sacrifices. Yet, she was still alive.

She then looked at the scouts surrounding her. She saw three pairs of eyes bursting with youth and hope for a better tomorrow. They were just like Aldivin and Molly, people who were supposed to be enjoying the vibrancy of their youth.

Annie could not help but feel a sharp ache in her heart upon seeing those faces. The scene from that fateful night was still etched deeply in her mind. Her heart convulsed with despair, seemingly dripping blood with every beat.

She hated that she was of noble blood. If not, she would have fought to her death with the ghouls as well. That would probably be better than living while shouldering the sacrifices she had witnessed and endless pain she was going through.

Suddenly, the captain of the scouts raised his hand to signal for them to stop. The scouts then immediately froze in their tracks before finding cover to hide.

Annie then hid behind a fallen tree.

The forest had become exceptionally quiet. The chirping of the birds and screeching of the insects had instantly disappeared, leaving only the sound of the howling wind. It was as though all life in the Dark Forest had momentarily vanished into thin air. Annie then stole a glance at the tree she was hiding behind. She saw a small lizard who seemed to be moving in an eccentric manner. It quickly hid inside the fallen tree, as though it was afraid of something. It was not just the lizard. The ants, caterpillars, spiders and all other small insects were fleeing the area in fear.

Annie had once witnessed such a scene. She knew what was happening.

Her heart thumped violently and held her dagger tightly in her hands. Although it was still not sufficient to kill a ghoul, her dagger smeared with holy water would pose a threat to the ghouls.

The atmosphere had instantly become oppressive. Annie saw that all of the scouts clutched their daggers tightly while their bodies trembled. This was not due to the adrenaline before a battle, but due to fear.

The strong gust of wind could be felt followed by the sighting of a shadow moving at high speed.

Annie gave a long sigh and surprisingly felt more calm than ever. They had been discovered. The ghouls were here. This would be the final battle of her life.

Chapter 223: A Magician’s Wisdom

The three ghouls seemed to be bursting with unbridled fury and pride when they first appeared. However, they were defeated in an instant and were now flinching around helplessly on the ground.

If they hadn’t witnessed the scene with their own eyes, no one would have believed it. Hence, when this Magician clad in a grey robe emerged from the back of a tree, the scouts who were lucky enough to survive involuntarily walked towards him. Their hearts were filled with deep gratitude and admiration.

In the Dark Forest where danger and despair lurked in every corner, there was nothing more reassuring than the support of a powerful Magician.

Both the scout captain and the vice-captain did not survive the assault. The remaining scouts were all around Level-4 in strength, and as the daughter of a duke and the strongest scout alive, Annie hence assumed the position of temporary captain.

Link was still wearing his hood at this moment, causing Annie to not recognize him. She merely felt that this figure was somewhat familiar, though she could not point out exactly why. She walked forward and bowed respectfully, saying, “I’m Annie Abel. Dear Magician, thank you very much for your help.”

She was also extremely grateful to this Magician. However, she was still devastated as the three young guards who were protecting her did not make it through the assault. This made her extremely guilty and depressed.

“I’m late. Sorry for the delay,” the Magician replied in a low voice. Annie’s eyes brightened upon hearing this voice. It was familiar as well.

She recollected herself and carefully observed the man standing in front of her. The more she looked at him, a figure started forming in her mind.

A faint voice started appearing in her head—could it be? No way!

He was now a Master Magician and the lord of a territory. There were even rumors that he would be one of the candidates for the next Dean of the East Cove Higher Magic Academy. How could such a prominent figure come and fight on the frontlines of the war against the Dark Elves? Even if he really wished to assist in the war, he should be positioned within the fortress as a defensive triumph card.

In the next moment, Link took off his hood and revealed his true identity. As he stared at Annie’s astonished face, he introduced, “Princess Annie, I am Magician Mirose. I will be assisting you in the search for the Dawn Swordsman.”

As he spoke, he winked at Annie to signal that he did not wish to reveal his status.

It really is him!

Annie was just about to shout his name when she saw his signal. She then swallowed her words and said, “Oh, it’s Mr. Mirose. I am extremely honored to be able to fight alongside you.”

The familiar voice and face instantly dispelled half of the heaviness in Annie’s heart.

He actually came. The person who pulled Gladstone out from the clutches of the Dark Elves—the person who saved her life twice in a row had really arrived. At this moment, Annie felt as if her soul had found an anchor.

This feeling was as though a person drowning in a river and getting swept by raging currents suddenly found a solid tree branch to grab hold of, dispelling all feelings of panic and despair.

Link, on the other hand, did not feel these emotional fluctuations. Annie was simply a good friend in his memory. Furthermore, they had not met for over half a year and had grown apart.

After greeting them, he then turned to the scouts beside him and said, “Although these three ghouls are already seriously injured, they are still alive; don’t kill them. Send them back to the Ice Peak. We are going to study them and find their weaknesses.”

Upon hearing those words, Annie immediately selected ten scouts and said, “All of you and this group, bring these hideous creatures back.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The scout quickly used ropes to secure the ghouls together, and before long, they were prepared to return to the fortress.

Link walked over and took out a scroll and three bottles containing a thick silver liquid. He then walked up to a scout and said, “The bottles contain Sacred Silver while the scroll is enchanted with the Blessing of Light. If you meet any ghouls along the way, activate the scroll and smear the Sacred Silver onto your weapons. This should be enough to scare them away.”

The scouts valued Link’s advice greatly and carefully took over the precious Sacred Silver and scroll.

After that, Link turned to Annie and said, “Ten scouts might not be enough for a safe return trip. We need at least 15. Your Highness, you should return as well.”

There were 21 scouts who survived the onslaught. If 15 of them were to return, there would be six left for the mission. Coupled with Link’s power, this should be enough to rescue Kanorse. Furthermore, as they were infiltrating the enemy’s base, a larger group might not be beneficial.

“I will not go back!” Annie shook her head firmly, “‘Your Highness’ does not exist during a mission. We are all simply scouts from MI3.”

Link fell silent for a moment. Since the other party was not willing, there was no forcing it. He nodded. “That’s fine as well.”

After which, he then randomly selected five scouts and said, “You guys go back as well. Remember that the ghouls have some sort of mutual connection between them. They should already know that their comrades are gravely injured and will be on your heels. I will try to delay them for half an hour. In this time, you guys will have to rush back to the fortress at top speed. No stopping along the way! Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir!” The scouts replied in unison.

At that moment, Link’s word was their command. He had a lot more power than Princess Annie as he had just displayed his unparalleled power against the ghouls. He was the absolute most powerful being in the Dark Forest.

This offensive power was what soldiers on the field looked up to!

“Alright, get going!” Link pointed in the direction of the Ice Peak Fortress.

The 15 scouts then carried the three gravely injured ghouls and rushed straight towards the Ice Peak Fortress.

Link stared at the remaining six scouts and said, “We have to do something to buy them some time.”

“Please give your orders!”

Annie spoke with a respectful voice as well. She realized that the young man in front of her was no longer the shy reserved person she knew in the past. He was still as powerful and calm as ever, though he seemed a lot more dependable and firm now.

The other scouts stared at Link with admiration, waiting for his orders.

Link then said, “Pass me your daggers.”

The six scouts passed their daggers to Link without hesitation. Link then took out a bottle of Sacred Silver in liquid form and activated the Magician’s Hand. The 12 daggers then instantly levitated into the air before arranging themselves neatly in front of Link.

These daggers had anti-magical properties. However, Link’s abilities had long surpassed such ordinary anti-magical enchantments. They were all useless against his spells.

After the daggers were arranged properly, the silver liquid floated out of the bottle. This Sacred Silver was created by Link himself and was able to maintain its liquid form due to the Higgs Field Transformation spell that Link was adept in. As the Sacred Silver made contact with the atmosphere, it quickly turned into a near transparent film. This transparent film then swiftly coated the daggers held in a neat formation. Following which, a large number of magic runes appeared in the air. These runes rotated quickly in the air while getting closer to the daggers with every spin until they finally wrapped themselves onto the daggers evenly.

The scene looked just like many fireflies dancing around the levitating daggers.

Three seconds later, Link then raised his Burning Wrath of Heavens Wand and pointed it gently at the daggers in the air, “Magic Stabilize!”

Crisp Metallic sounds reverberated through the forest as the runes knocked themselves onto the surface of the daggers, engraving their powers on the ordinary weapons. With each sound, a clear rune symbol could be seen appearing on those daggers.

Around three seconds later, all the runes in the air disappeared, and the appearance of the dagger had changed completely.

Originally, these daggers were grey and black in color. However, they were now dark silver and a row of beautiful rune engravings could be seen running through the middle of the dagger. The runes also shone with a slight silver hue that was exceptionally clear in the Dark Forest.

What was more incredible was that all 12 daggers looked exactly the same.

The scouts all looked at the scene with disbelief. They had never seen such mysterious, enchanting magic in their entire life. Even Annie was dumbfounded at the sight.

This was actually pretty normal, as Link had already mastered the art of enchanting. For a simple enchanting processes like this with not much technical difficulty, he could do it simply with a few waves of his wand. He was too used to it.

With another action of his hand, the 12 daggers slowly floated back to the hands of the scouts.

He then said, “I have enchanted Sacred Silver onto these daggers. The ghouls would not be able to regenerate as fast if you wound them with these weapons.”

Their regenerative abilities were one of the ghoul’s greatest advantages.

After that, Link waved his wand again to activate the Magician Hand.

Under the surprised expression of all the scouts, the crossbows and arrows scattered around the floor all started drifting towards Link and were once again arranged in a neat formation in front of him. Link quickly swept his gaze over these weapons and decisively threw five thoroughly damaged crossbows and 20 unusable arrows away. He was then left with 20 usable crossbows and 160 crossbow arrows.

Link then once again displayed his powerful control of magic. There seemed to be countless invisible hands working on all these weapons at once, putting the arrows back into the trigger and fixing the acceleration mechanism all at the same time.

Within two minutes, the 20 crossbows were all as good as new.

Link then took out another bottle of Sacred Silver and started creating many transparent films in the air before coating the crossbows the same way he did with the daggers. Half a minute later, the crossbows had all turned dark silver though there were no changes in their physical appearance.

With a gentle flick of the wand, the crossbows flew towards the scouts. They got two crossbows each, evenly distributed amongst the remaining members.

“Take care of them. They will be your weapons against the ghouls.”

The scouts mechanically took over the crossbows as they were still in awe of Link’s abilities.

These crossbows were usually termed as a disposable weapon. It was extremely troublesome to fit the arrow onto the crossbow again after firing. Usually, it would take around half an hour to fix one crossbow. However, the Magician in front of them fixed 20 crossbows and even enchanted them with Sacred Silver in less than three minutes.

What he was doing was no less than a miracle.

Right after the preparations were complete, Link felt a magic fluctuation in the atmosphere. He felt a few dark creatures moving at high speed towards them. It was the ghouls!

“That was fast!” Despite his preparations, Link was still surprised at their speed.

He raised his wand and methodically cast a spell at each of the scouts. A ray of light then flowed towards the scouts like streams of water, causing them to vanish from sight.

Finally, Link then entered the stealth state himself.

A voice seemed to appear out of nowhere from the seemingly empty forest. “The ghouls are here. There are four of them. They are definitely here to observe the battlefield. Hide yourselves well and wait for your chance to launch attacks. Don’t worry about them retaliating; I’ll stop them!”

At the last sentence, Link’s voice had already become muffled, and it was impossible to tell exactly where it was coming from.

Link’s inspiration for this stealth spell came from Vance’s concealing spell. However, he had made some alterations to make it a more flexible spell for individual use. The sound technique was called resonance reverberation, a spell he learned from the magic notes that the Master Magicians from the academy had given him.

Link was well versed in all these small magic tricks after being exposed to a great deal of magic materials. This included the Higgs Field spell that he just used to create the Sacred Silver.

This was where the foundation of a Magician lay.

Link had already started combining the expertise of many masters of his era, even becoming a master in his own right. Although his strongest spell was still only a Level-6 spell, his combat powers had at least double since the time he slew Tarviss.

In the forest, the scouts lay quietly in wait.

This time, they only had eight members. However, the despair that once consumed them had now turned into ambition and rage, fueling their actions. They were all looking forward to the arrival of the ghouls, as they now had an extremely powerful leader.

It was time for revenge!

Chapter 224: Cat and Mouse

“There’s someone approaching in front!”

Behind a thicket of bushes, the Occult Dark Elf popped his head out and twitched his nose in the air.

“There’s a strong smell of blood…” the Dark Elf reported. “There’s the smell of human blood…and the blood of our kind…There’s the stench of the evil God of Light as well.”

The bush behind him rustled, and out emerged another Occult Dark Elf.

“Our comrades must’ve been injured, Darco,” he urged. “We must go and help them.”

Right after speaking, the Occult Dark Elf swiftly rushed forward.

The one called Darco hesitated for a while. In the past, he would’ve followed behind his comrade without the slightest pause. But now, there was a thick smell of bloodthirst in the air that was so intense that it gave him an ominous sense. There was another rustling noise behind him. Another fellow Occult Dark Elf had emerged and quickly followed the first one. He was surprised to see Darco still standing there not moving.

“Darco, what are you waiting for?” he asked. “Let’s go!”

As he spoke, another Occult Dark Elf emerged. He said nothing, but he looked at Darco confusedly. His eyes seemed to be asking the same question as the previous Dark Elf.

Darco sighed and began to follow his comrades hesitantly.

The four Occult Dark Elves ran wild in the Black Forest. Their speed was lightning fast, and their footsteps were almost silent. Wherever they went, birds and beasts went silent while the bugs and snakes evaded them.

Half a minute later, their speed finally slowed down. The smell of blood in the air was very pronounced. A little further away, they saw several human corpses lying on the ground.

“We’re near the battlefield now,” one of them said. “I can only see human corpses. Can any of you see bodies of our soldiers?”

“No.”

“Me neither.”

Darco finally caught up to them, and he observed the corpses more carefully. He hid in the most secretive spot and observed for two minutes, then suddenly pointed to a certain direction.

“Look there!” he said.

The other three Dark Elves looked where Darco pointed and saw a pile of intestines among the branches. Judging by the scent, it belonged to their comrade.

Their faces turned stormily dark, as they realized what they saw.

No matter how strong they were, to have the intestines dragged out must mean that their comrade was suffering a serious injury. While he might not yet die, there was no way he could ever fight again.

“Those human scum must’ve dragged this soldier’s body away,” yelled one of them. “We must chase after them and crush them!”

“Wait, calm down,” whispered Darco. “I can sense something wrong here.”

“But we must not let our soldier’s body fall into the humans’ hands!” another Dark Elf spat out, turning to look at Darco with eyes full of disdain. “This is the great leader’s command!”

“Are you scared, Darco?” asked a Dark Elf suspiciously.

“No,” answered Darco, “but I feel that we should be more cautious…” The suspicion in his comrades’ eyes made it difficult for Darco to continue. But he couldn’t deny the strong, ominous sense he was feeling then, even though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly was wrong.

His comrades had by then become impatient of his dilly-dallying.

“The facts are very clear here, Darco,” the Dark Elf beside him coldly said. “Our soldiers met the human scouts, and some of them got defeated because there were too many humans. What we must do now is seek revenge!”

The Dark Elf who’d just spoken was the strongest among the four. After he finished his sentence, he stood up and waved his hand at the others.

“Let’s go,” he said. “We must increase our speed and kill every last one of those humans!”

He was the first to rush forward. The other two then followed him without any hesitation. Darco had no other choice, so he finally followed them in the back. The four Dark Elves did not anticipate the ambush that was waiting for them in front, so they just followed the scent that was in the air and chased after the trails of the humans.

Three seconds later, the first Occult Dark Elf stepped onto a battlefield and found another human corpse. He immediately stomped on the corpse’s skull and crushed it to bits. A second later, the second and third Dark Elf arrived. Then, Darco was there as well. They were eager to catch up to the human scouts, so they ran even faster now, not suspecting at all that their might be a trap set up for them in front.

Just then, they could hear a buzzing noise in the air. The three Dark Elves charged onward when out of nowhere, transparent ripples in the air appeared. The ripples didn’t cover a big area, but they were big enough to envelop all four Dark Elves inside a bubble.

It all happened so suddenly that it was impossible for any of them to make an appropriate response.

In a flash, the four Occult Dark Elves felt as if they were being pushed forward by a mysterious force. Because they were moving at such a high speed, their bodies spent 75% of the time in mid-air. Just when the transparent force field appeared, it caught them when three of the Dark Elves were in mid-air.

As a result, these three were caught completely off-guard. Even though the pushing force wasn’t that strong, it was enough to make them lose their balance. Only Darco managed to avoid the trap. When the force field appeared, his feet were safely on the ground, so he had enough time to crouch down and stabilize himself. The force field wasn’t strong, and he possessed the strength of a Level-6 fighter, so naturally, he could dodge the attack easily.

“Careful, it’s a trap!” he immediately shouted.

His heart was already filled with shock and alarm as he shouted the warning. After receiving the Lady of Darkness’ blessings, they’d been nearly invincible in the forest and were the ones who’d always attacked the humans. Now that the situation was reversed, he couldn’t help but suspect that something was awfully wrong.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The three Occult Dark Elves were flung out and slammed into the trees. The impact wasn’t serious. There wasn’t even a scratch on their skin, although they did get annoyed for falling into such a simple trap.

“Damn it, it’s a Magician’s trap!” said one of them.

“Come out, you bastard! I’ll tear you into pieces!”

“I detest Magicians the most! They’re weak, and they like to play dirty tricks!”

During their fall, the three Occult Dark Elves didn’t feel that they were in much danger, but they did become furious. Just when they landed on the ground and were getting back up on their feet, they were hit by another wave of attacks!

Clack, clack, clack!

A strange sound suddenly emerged out of the silent forest. In the next moment, a silvery net made of Sacred Silver appeared out of nowhere. This net captured the three Occult Dark Elves within it and because they hadn’t fully recovered their balance; there was no way for them to escape.

Then, there was a sound of metal piercing through flesh followed by the loud cries of the three Dark Elves. These ghouls who were supposed to be invincible were wailing in pain so loudly that it rattled the leaves in the trees.

The tough leather of their armor, their thick skin, and their strong muscles had cushioned the impact of the arrows piercing through their skin, preventing them from harming their vital organs. However, these arrows could still cause excruciating pain that was comparable to hornet stings!

“Ahhh! The damn humans! Kill them! Kill them!”

The three Dark Elves still had some ability to move. They’d already noticed the attackers in the bushes and tried to pull out the arrows from their skin while screaming murder at the attackers. Still, they had been injured after all. Their injuries were quite deep as well because the damned arrows turned out to be poisonous and seemed to suck the strength out of their bodies.

Their running speed was considerably slower now. It was no longer the kind of speed that no one could hide from anymore.

“Shoot!” Annie shouted.

The effects of the attack were alarmingly successful. This gave the scouts a great deal of confidence. Each of them had two crossbows, and one had already been shot, so it wasn’t loaded. They then immediately shot with another crossbow and another silvery net emerged and headed towards the Dark Elves.

One of the Dark Elves stumbled as he attempted to dodge the net and the arrows shot straight into his eyeball, piercing as deep as five inches into his skull.

A brief scream escaped the Dark Elf’s mouth, but it abruptly ended as he fell to the ground. Although he was still writhing about, it was obvious that he’d lost consciousness.

Darco was horrified at the sight of his comrades in pain and dying. He was the only one who escaped the ambush unscathed. He yelled out in fury and charged towards the scout nearest to him.

He was uninjured, so his powers were still at its full potential. He burst into full speed. In the eyes of a Level-4 Assassin, he would seem like a hazy shadow.

In the past, such a ghoul could easily kill eight human scouts in less than half a minute.

But this time, the situation had changed.

As soon as Darco took his first step and his body was aloft in the air due to his speed, a transparent ripple appeared in the air in front of him and slammed his body forward. Darco lost his balance immediately and was flung forward. Although the force wasn’t that great, it happened at just the right moment, causing Darco to fall into the trap completely.

Half a second later, when Darco’s body landed, he learned from his comrades and did not hurry to get up on his feet. Instead, he rolled on the ground until he reached behind a tree, then slowly got himself up.

The look on his face was now full of horror.

He discovered that behind those scouts was a powerful Magician hiding in a dark corner of the forest! The Magician’s level might not be that high, but his ability to find the right moment to unleash his attacks was simply terrifying. With him, the lightning speed that used to be his strongest skill was now wasted.

For a time, Darco hid behind the tree, not daring to make a single move or to attack the scouts. But even if he didn’t move, that doesn’t mean that the scouts would do nothing but wait.

He only stood there for two seconds when he heard the horrifying screams of his comrades again. He took a quick peek and saw that one of them had a large hole in his chest which had been filled with a silvery liquid. The Dark Elf was struggling madly to get the liquid out of his chest and was writhing in pain on the ground. It was truly a horrifying scene.

Ever since receiving the God’s blessings, Darco had never felt afraid before. But at this moment, his blood had run cold.

The puzzling tactics, the hidden Magician, the fearless scouts—all these things had finally made Darco’s courage fail. With a grievous sigh, he turned around and escaped from the battlefield as fast as he could. He was not their match; he must run now and report this to their leader!

However, he’d only taken a few steps before the force field appeared again. What was truly frightening was that Darco had anticipated this move and was prepared for it, yet he was still hit by the force field anyway.

Bam!

Darco was flung through the air.

He didn’t give up and climbed up to his feet and started running again. But then the force field reappeared and struck at him again. Darco got up and ran again; then he fell again. He got up once more and ran only to fall yet again. He was like a mouse caught in a cat’s paw. No matter how much he tried to escape, he just wasn’t successful. No matter how much he tried to dodge or hide, or even crawl on the ground to escape, nothing worked. As long as he exerted the slightest amount of effort to escape, somehow the opponent was able to thwart his moves!

In short, he was now completely at the mercy of the opponent.

After his 30th attempt, Darco fell to the ground and was motionless. He was neither injured nor tired, he just gave up and accepted his fate.

How could there be such a frightening Magician in this world? Darco wondered in full horror.