Advent of the Archmage - Chapter 270

Chapter 270: Pursuit in the Forest

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Girvent Forest

After watching Dorias leave with Dark Elf Prince Walter hanging from his mouth, Link cast a Traceless spell and snuck forward.

Perhaps due to the commotion from his previous fight with Walter, the battle sounds in the distance had disappeared. The forest had become silent again.

Link followed the direction the sound had come from and crept forward. After around 300 feet, Link saw the first corpse—an Undead Knight.

According to Gildern, these knights were practically impossible to kill. However, in battle, the other party seemed to have a solution against the Undead Knights. The corpse before Link now seemed to have been filled with some horrible power. The gray-white skin was riddled with holes like a sieve. Black blood flowed out of the holes and corroded the grass around him.

The blood was poisonous, so Link didn’t dare touch it. He carefully bypassed the body and continued forward. He tried to organize his thoughts about the relationships between everyone.

“Alloa betrayed the Dark Elves, so they wanted to capture her. That makes sense, but then what’s with these Undead Knights?”

Their armor had the Delonga Royalty’s emblem, so they were from the South. Could it be the Syndicate? But wasn’t the Shadow Stalker working with the Dark God? Why would a mistake like this happen?

If it was the Syndicate, it wouldn’t make any sense. While thinking, Link suddenly remembered what Skinorse had told him. He’d said that Wavier had become Demon God Tabinos’ slave and had created these Undead Knights.

“So these Undead Knights have nothing to do with the Syndicate and belong to Wavier himself?” Link wondered aloud. “Or more specifically, are they under Tabinos?”

Demon God Tabinos was not compatible with the Spider Queen Lolth that the Dark Elves worshipped. It was understandable if the believers of both sides fought over the Maiden of Truth.

However, this explanation also had uncertainties. How did Wavier get the information that Alloa had escaped from the North? Pondering hard, Link could only come to the hypothesis that Wavier had something to do with the Syndicate, but they were only close on the surface and had internal conflicts.

In order to capture the Maiden of Truth, the Dark Elves asked the Syndicate for help. In the process, they found Wavier, but the Dark Elves didn’t expect Wavier would break the alliance halfway through.

This was the only logical explanation Link could think of. Of course, this was only Link’s guess. As for the truth, he still had to see. He followed the signs of struggle and continued forward.

After around 650 feet, there was a clearing in the forest, but it was covered with corpses! This was probably the scene of the previous battle.

Link circled it, studying the traces in the area carefully.

“Eight Undead Knights, two Dark Elves…” he said to himself. “Hey, these are ghouls. Many footprints—Undead Knights, ghouls, this hoof print…Is it a demon?”

After investigating for five more minutes, Link discovered that three new people had joined the fight. One was a demon, and one was a Dark Elf Magician.

The last one was the most mysterious. The footprints indicated that he had existed, but he’d always stayed in the sideline, watching without participating. Link didn’t know what kind of power he had.

“This guy stood by the tree without releasing any aura. He seems similar to a common man but who exactly was he? Is he from the Dark Elves’ side or Delonga?”

Things were becoming more and more complicated; Link grew more cautious.

Investigating for a bit longer, Link confirmed that the enemy was still up ahead and he started pursuing.

There was another forest. The tall arbor blocked the sunlight, and the lush shrubbery practically blocked off all paths. The only path available had been created forcefully by someone. Here, the Undead Knights had abandoned their horses and went by foot.

From the prints, they had been here less than ten minutes ago.

Link observed carefully the entire way. His target was not the Undead Knights, ghouls, or the Dark Magician but the mysterious man who didn’t fight. This guy felt the most threatening, and Link had to be cautious of him.

The mysterious man was very prudent. He didn’t leave behind many traces, but they still existed. Link was detailed too. He never lost his target during this entire time.

After around two miles, he came across corpses again. There were three—two ghouls and one Undead Knight. Link glanced around and felt something was amiss.

Before, the Undead Knights had all seemed mutilated, but this corpse was better off. It had fallen mostly because his head had been chopped off. Link realized that the Undead Knight’s body still maintained its vibrant strength. If someone found his head and put it back, he would probably be able to stand up again after a period of time.

The ghouls’ corpses were much worse off. Two seemed to have exploded. Their internal organs, blood, and muscles were scattered on the ground, turning this place into a hell on earth.

After observing for ten seconds, Link concluded, “The mysterious man finally acted. His spell was…huh, it’s the Black Fire Beetle!”

Black Fire Beetle

Level-4 Dark Magic

Effect: Creates a beetle with very high penetrative abilities. The beetle contains extremely condensed black flames. Once inside the target’s body, it will either become parasitic or explode depending on the situation.

(Note: Boom! An exploding watermelon!)

The problem was, this Dark Magic spell was very powerful for sneak attacks, but the spell structures were also complicated. It was much higher than the difficulty of a Level-4 spell. The difficulty and effect were unequal, so very few people would choose to learn it. In the game, the Dark Magicians Link had encountered who used this spell were almost all demon god believers. This was because the demon god’s power could lower the difficulty of the spell.

Link got an idea. “Demon god believer Wavier, did you come too?” he asked aloud.

This was his guess. Following this idea, Link started investigating the situation of the small battlefield in detail. Within two minutes, he found a large number of clues. He had mostly recreated the battle in his mind.

The Dark Elves captured Alloa and continued northwest, preparing to retreat…From the marks, there weren’t many Undead Knights anymore, only…13. Two ghouls were left to stop the incoming enemy. Two against one—they could’ve killed the Undead Knights easily, but Wavier suddenly came out…Now, the Dark Elves should be at a disadvantage. This Dark Magician used three Level-6 spells and ten Level-4 spells along the day. Here, he only used a Level-3 spell to block the path. His Mana was practically all spent.

Link had received a lot of information from the countless small clues. He had a general idea of the opponent’s power.

He continued chasing for around one mile. Along the way, three more Undead Knights had fallen while more ghouls had died. There were nine, all killed from exploding.

Link could see from the footprints that the Dark Elves were disordered. The footprints had different depths which reflected their anxiety. On the other hand, Wavier’s footprints were all equal. He was like the king of the jungle, calmly advancing and reducing the places his prey could run to.

“Wavier is much stronger than before. Seems like the demon god has given him many benefits.”

After around 300 feet, Link suddenly felt something wrong. Then, a black shadow abruptly jumped out of the forest nearby. Without hesitation, it swung a sword at his area.

Poof! The Battle Aura created a seven-foot-long arc through the air, slicing down towards Link’s position.

The opponent sensed my existence but couldn’t determine my specific position, Link thought. This attack is to force me out! If an Undead Knight can create a Battle Aura Cut, he’d be at least Level-6. So powerful!

His fight with Dark Prince Walter had made a big commotion. If Wavier was here, he’d definitely know that someone was chasing after him. If he kept some Undead Knights behind, it was to delay Link.

These thoughts flashed past Link’s mind. He reacted instantly. Casting Cheetah’s Agility on himself, he ducked down speedily. With a whistle, the Battle Aura Cut flew past, a hair’s breadth above Link’s head.

He had dodged the attack but also revealed his position. The Undead Knight adjusted his body slightly and unhesitatingly charged at Link.

Link focused, and the opponent’s actions slowed instantly. He aimed carefully and activated the Vector Force Field.

The Vector Force Field may only be a Level-1 spell, but Link had greatly improved the spell’s structure. Now, its power was comparable to a Level-3 spell.

Of course, this wasn’t much to a Level-6 Warrior. However, after experiencing so many battles, Link had raised his understanding of a Warrior’s different actions of instinctive reactions. Using a force field against them was easy and familiar.

As expected, there was a light thud. The Undead Knight had been attacked by the force field in mid-charge. The crash sent him stumbling back. Because he had been running at full speed, he lost his balance suddenly and couldn’t recover.

The forest’s terrain was complex. The Undead Knight’s left foot had a misstep and twisted. With a crack, a bone was broken, and he flew out. The sneak attack had succeeded; this Undead Knight was no longer a threat.

Link dodged beforehand and avoided the Undead Knight’s flying body. However, he was still in danger; two knights had been left behind.

While the previous one charged, the other also started charging from the other side of Link.

Link’s solution against this knight was even simpler. He hid behind the two-foot wide tree beside him. The opponent instantly lost sight of him, but it was difficult to turn while sprinting. The Undead Knight could only halt but he reacted quickly too. He instantly activated the Battle Aura Cut to chop down the tree.

Link didn’t give him the chance. He had completely grasped the Undead Knight’s rhythm!

After hiding behind the tree, he didn’t waste any time. He pounced sideways but halfway, he flashed and cast the Traceless spell. He disappeared into thin air, and his aura disappeared.

When the Undead Knight hurried to the tree, Link was already gone. The knight looked left and right. He swung his sword wildly at where Link could possibly be hiding but how could Link be there?

Helpless, he turned back to his companion. “Ford, how are you?”

“Broke my kneecap. I’ll need half a day to recover.” Undead Knight Ford’s voice was gloomy.

His kneecap had been twisted badly, but as if he couldn’t feel any pain, he sliced it open with a sword and started fixing the bone.

While treating himself, he asked, “Where’s he?”

“He slipped away like a rat. I don’t know where he went!”

“He must’ve gone after Master. Leave me here and go reinforce him!” Ford said anxiously.

“Okay!”

The Undead Knight flew deep into the forest. However, he didn’t notice that while he was running, a figure was following dozens of feet behind him.

It was Link.

If he went alone, he wouldn’t be able to know the enemy’s specific location. He would need to spend time searching for clues and also be cautious of attacks. Now, he had a straightforward guide. It was much safer this way.

Chapter 271: It Sure is Crowded Today

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Girvent Forest

“Master, there are four of them left,” an Undead Knight whispered.

A black-robed Magician stared silently by his side. He looked extremely ordinary from his features. There was neither a veil of black aura encircling him nor a pair of merciless bloodshot eyes. The only thing peculiar about him was his skin color.

It was sickly white and had sort of a matte finish to it, making it look just like a corpse.

There was a vacant space a few hundred meters away from them. On the open space was a Dark Elf Magician and three ghouls huddled together in a circle. In the middle of those two parties was their target, the mixed blood Dark Elf Alloa.

This woman was petite in size and looked disheveled. She was drenched in blood, and her hair was a tangled mess. It covered her features completely, and the low-quality cloth used to make her blouse was also completely tattered. From afar, one could tell that this woman had a very good figure, especially her waist. Her waist was extremely thin, giving her an exaggerated hourglass figure.

Alas, there were only undead and Dark Magicians on the battlefield. Furthermore, they were amidst a heated battle; no one bothered to stop and observe her beautiful figure.

From afar, the Dark Magician opposite used a spell to increase the volume of his voice. He shouted, “Wavier, you will regret what you did today!”

Wavier then smiled as many wrinkles showed up on his dried face. He then lifted his wand and instantly, the tip of the wand was enveloped in a thick black mist. “Stop talking trash; leave Alloa with me, and I will let you go.”

“Do you think I am a fool? Alloa’s fate can only go two ways. She either dies, or she’ll be taken back to the Dark Forest. As for you Wavier, the Death’s Hand will not let you off easily after what you have done today. Prepare yourself and await death in Delonga!”

This Dark Elf Magician spoke with an accusing tone. However, Wavier merely pouted and ignored his aggression. He then turned to the Undead Knights beside him and said, “Kill them.”

He had nine Undead Knights with him and would have no problem dealing with three ghouls. Furthermore, that Dark Elf Magician was almost out of Mana Points. He would not be much of a threat.

The Undead Knights immediately rushed towards the Dark Elves.

On the other side, as Alloa stared at the Undead Knights who were closing in, she whispered, “Rovia, you have no chance of winning. Kill me.”

Rovia was the name of the Dark Elf Magician. He was a member of the Silver Moon Alliance and was Level-6 in strength. He just turned 35 years old and was a rare magic prodigy in the Dark Elf race.

Upon listening to Alloa’s words, Rovia squinted her eyes. He did not reply to her statement and merely suppressed his anger. His fine Magician upbringing allowed him to control his emotions well.

The Dark Elves consider betrayal as one of the most intolerable crimes. Alloa’s actions had already crossed his bottom-line. In his eyes, Alloa was already a dead person. If not for her value to his race, he would personally give her a taste of misery over and over again.

However, a ghoul beside him did not manage to contain his anger. It’s face immediately contorted and swung his hand at full force on Alloa’s face. Alloa then fell onto the ground light-headed after that huge impact.

“You traitor! How dare you speak!” This ghoul spoke coldly as he walked forward, pressing one of his feet on Alloa’s thighs. He then started grinding his feet with fervor.

He possessed Level-6 strength, and Alloa had slender legs. She would never have been able to withstand that pressure. Instantly, the sound of bones cracking reverberated through the atmosphere. Her legs also started to show signs of deformity.

“Haven’t you discovered the law of the Divine Gear? Aren’t you immortal? Then, I will make you experience what hell is like!” This ghoul snickered as he pressed down with even more force.

Alloa’s body trembled violently under the immense pain. The only thing she could do was to scream involuntarily. Her body would twitch ever so often from the great pain.

Rovia stared at the scene without compassion. Five seconds later, he then spoke, “Alright, stop. We should focus on the enemy. Do not lose hope! We still have reinforcements coming. The prince and Master Aymons are coming over to help us. We only have to hold on for a while longer.”

The three ghouls were revitalized upon hearing those words. They immediately put up a defensive posture and prepared themselves for the enemy.

“After the battle begins, be careful of the beetles on the ground. Do not let Wavier have a chance to sneak up on you,” Rovia whispered.

The three ghouls nodded.

At that moment, an Undead Knight had already reached a distance 90 feet away from them. He bellowed and charged straight towards Magician Rovia.

A ghoul stood in his way without any hesitation. He did not have any weapons with him. The only weapon he had was the body bestowed to him by the Divine Gear.

Boom! A huge collision occurred on the open field. Both of them appeared to be of equal strength!

The Undead Knight swung his sword towards the ghoul. However, the material used to create the sword was far too ordinary. The ghoul could grab the sword with his bare hands. Although his claws suffered deep cut from that collision, such wounds were nothing to a ghoul as they would heal in a matter of seconds. His other hand then became enveloped in a black aura as it swung at full speed towards the abdomen of the Undead Knight.

This black aura was terrifying. In previous battles, as long as an Undead Knight came into contact with it, they would explode like water balloon instantly. There was no way to survive that attack.

“This will not work on me!” The Undead Knight held a shield in his left hand and blocked the ghoul’s attack just in time. He then pushed his shield forward with all his might, shouting, “Go to hell!”

Boom! After a muffled collision sound, the ghoul could be seen being knocked back. He staggered as he tried to maintain his balance.

“Be careful!” Rovia suddenly shouted as he pointed his wand at the ground, “Wind Blade spell!”

A crescent-shaped translucent wind blade then flew towards a specific direction. Half a second later, the wind blade had collided with the beetle that was crawling at high speed on the ground.

This spell completely destroyed the magic structure of the beetle and caused it to disintegrate almost immediately. The elemental energy within the beetle exploded instantly, and the area around a 15-foot-radius from it was covered in a fiery wave of incandescent flames.

This was a Level-4 spell. If it exploded within the body of a ghoul, it could be lethal. However, now that it was released outside of the ghoul’s body, coupled with the fact that this fire-elemental spell was not pure in nature due to the corruption of dark forces; it had almost no effect on the ghoul.

The ghoul merely covered his face to shield himself from the heatwaves.

“Wavier, you have gotten the Divine Liquid and created the Undead Knights. How dare you go against my race. Aren’t you afraid that we will retract our forces?” Rovia snickered.

Wavier then said with a smile on his face, “Divine Liquid? I think it is more like a poisonous concoction. However, there is one thing you got wrong. I did not give my Warriors the perfected version of the liquid. Therefore, they could attain strong vitality while not at the expense of being controlled by the Divine Gear. If you don’t believe me, you can bring it back and test it out…Of course, that is, if you survive this battle.”

At that moment, a huge explosion sound could be heard. This sound was extremely low, much like the rumbling sound when a fireball exploded within an underground chamber.

Following which, a ghoul could be seen being torn apart by the explosion.

“He insulted Alloa and even broke her leg. This means that he needs to receive some punishment. Rovia, you will support my decision, won’t you?”

Wavier then smiled. The beetle that was released previously was just to attract Rovia’s attention. When he was preoccupied dealing with that beetle, another one had already crept onto its intended target.

This ghoul was so focused on the onslaught from the Undead Knights that he did not realize any peculiarities. From his own perspective, his life probably ended in the most unexpected way possible.

Rovia then gritted his teeth. He hated people who thought that the world revolved around them simply because they are more privileged or born with stronger talents. They would even flaunt their skills in the middle of a battle. He wanted to smash Wavier’s head into the ground before stomping it to pieces if he could.

However, all these were simply thoughts that he could not fulfill. Rovia snickered and said, “Doing such things would make you a traitor of the Syndicate. Don’t think that you can escape from their clutches!”

Wavier then laughed as he said, “No, no. That’s not right. The Syndicate wants this to happen. You really think that Morpheus wants to work with you lunatics? You guys want to destroy the entire human race! Morpheus was, after all, a human, though the destruction of his race probably means nothing to him. He will choose to ignore the incident today as long as it does not infringe on his fundamental interests. If I give the Syndicate more benefits, they would then have no reason to intervene!”

Morpheus only wanted to become a god. In this aspect, the Dark Elves could possibly help him do so. However, Wavier’s master Demon God Tabinos could help as well.

In this case, to act ignorant and stay passive would be the best strategy for Morpheus.

Rovia immediately fell silent. He had access to secret documents in the Dark Forest and had a good grasp of the situation as well. He knew that Wavier was speaking the truth.

Wavier seemed to be intoxicated with such an overwhelming victory, and he chuckled, “Alloa is like a priceless treasure. After I get my hands on her, I will cherish her well and capitalize on her wisdom. I will not torture her like all of you did!”

Rovia then shook his head and said, “You are being too optimistic! This will be dangerous!”

At that moment, the screams within the forest ended. The Undead Knights had attained a victory, losing five of their members to all three ghouls.

Wavier then smiled and said, “Alright, it’s over, Rovia.”

However, before he could speak, a voice appeared from the sky, “No, it has just begun!”

Wavier was taken aback and lifted his head immediately. He then saw a giant owl with a white-haired, old, Dark Elf on its back.

This was one of the pillars of the Dark Elves—Level-7 Master Magician Aymons.

He looked at Wavier from a vantage point and snickered, “Young man, let me give you some words of caution. The power of a demon god is not infinite. Your end is already in sight. You are destined to just be a demon god’s plaything!”

“Aymons… you have arrived,” Wavier muttered as his wand began to glow with a blinding brilliance. “I have always respected you. Now then, let me see if you are really as strong as the rumors said!”

However, Aymons shook his head to everyone’s surprise. He then said, “No, I did not come to fight. I am here to settle the dispute!”

As he said those words, he lifted his wand and pointed towards Alloa and said regretfully, “She is the source of this conflict. After her death, all will come to an end.”

A beam of purple light appeared from his wand and charged straight towards Alloa. At the same time, a few spatial ripples appeared around Alloa. She seemed like she was covered in a vortex of lenses.

The beam then missed its target. Alloa was still alive!

Aymons then frowned as he squinted his eyes at the thick overgrowth in front of him. He then sighed, “It sure is crowded today.”

Chapter 272: You All Have the Intelligence of Mortals

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Girvent Forest.

Wavier seemed to have been prepared. “Link, you’re finally here,” he said, laughing. “You’re faster than I expected.”

Even though there were many rumors about Link, even though he had once killed Level-8 Demon Lord Tarviss, Wavier’s power was nothing like before. He wouldn’t go look for trouble with this genius younger than him, but if they ran into each other, Wavier wouldn’t retreat.

If he could kill Link, Wavier’s name would be known throughout the mainland within a night.

After he spoke, the forest was silent. There was no response.

“What, you’re going to keep hiding?” Wavier sneered. “You refused to come out at the Opal City too and secretly used the Teleportation spell to take Celine away. Do you want to do that again?”

Wavier already knew about the event at the Opal City—Andrew had told him. After learning about this, his first reaction was jealousy. He was endlessly jealous of Link.

He would possess the woman he wanted. Someday, his undead army would flatten Ferde, kill Link, and he would take Celine for himself. He believed it would not take long.

After a while, there was still no response. There was no abnormal aura in the surroundings either. The opponent was well-hidden.

Aymons was waiting for Link’s reply too. Seeing this situation, he said, “I don’t think he’ll come out by himself. Wavier, Link also came for Alloa. I’m determined to kill her. What do you think?”

Wavier sneered at this. He instinctively wanted to disagree, but then he saw Aymons’ eyes. Those white eyes stared at him, seeming to send a message.

He was an intelligent man and instantly understood. This old guy wants to use Alloa to force Link out!

Link was hidden very well right now. They couldn’t find him, but according to his earlier actions, Alloa was his weakness. If Link acted again, he would reveal himself and sink into danger.

Even more, if Link didn’t act, Aymons would use the chance to kill Alloa. In that case, there would be no point of conflict between him and the Dark Elves. They wouldn’t need to fight anymore.

This was hitting two birds with one stone for Aymons.

This old guy is such a cunning fox! Wavier thought. Thinking of this, he nodded and took the chance to make it beneficial for himself. “You can kill her, but I need more venom from the Dark Serpent. If you don’t give it, don’t blame me for continuing to fight against you.”

“No problem.” Aymons was decisive. He raised his wand, poured Mana in, and slowly created a Flame Blast fireball.

“Rovia, move aside. I’m going act!” Aymons said.

Magician Rovia walked to the side instantly. He understood Aymons, so he was on full alert. As soon as Link appeared, he would attack!

Alloa lay on the ground. She had recovered consciousness now, and most of her wounds had healed. She knew her death was coming, but she still wasn’t afraid. Instead, she laughed. “Aymons, I knew I would die in your hands the first time I saw you. I guess I was right.”

Aymons multitasked. He cast spells while he said coldly, “In that case, had you prepared to betray long ago?”

“I guess. At first, it was just an idea. Later, you killed countless elves to summon the Dark Divine Gear. Recently, you started summoning demons at all costs. This made me feel that the Dark Elves had gone on a mad road. You will go extinct, and I don’t wish to be with such an idiotic race.”

“Idiotic?” Aymons was shaken, but he didn’t become angry. Instead, he shook his head and sighed. “You’re not exactly wrong. Unfortunately, not many of our race are clear-headed.”

Of course, he knew that the Dark Elves were in a dangerous situation. The entire race was like a carriage racing down an uneven pebble road. One small mishap would cause a disaster.

All he could do was try his best in keeping the carriage from overturning.

Heaving a sigh, Aymons completed the Fire Blast spell. “You are very clear-headed, but you chose to betray us, so you must die. Farewell, Alloa!”

The blue-white fireball came closer and closer. Alloa closed her eyes, but for some reason, her lips were curled into a smirk.

Hum. There was a soft sound, and a red dome barrier appeared around Alloa, protecting her. The next instant, the Fire Blast spell was activated. With a boom, flames burned around the blood-red barrier, but they couldn’t break through.

Aymons frowned and turned toward Wavier. “What are you doing?”

In the last moment, it was Wavier who acted instead of Link. Wavier shrugged. “Sorry, I thought you would pretend to kill Alloa, but I didn’t expect it to be true…To be honest, I must have Alloa. If I can’t…Everyone. Will. Suffer!”

Wavier forced the last few words out from between his teeth, one-by-one. He was not joking.

“You’re crazy!” Aymons had finally lost his temper. Wavier’s interference had made his earlier actions seem just like a fool.

Wavier laughed maniacally, cackling. “I am indeed. I killed my advisor with my own hands and sacrificed my soul to the demon god. Why would I still care about the rules of the mortal world?”

With that, he walked toward Alloa. As he walked, he said, “My master’s majestic power flows within me. If you think you can kill me, feel free to try. If you have no confidence, then let me take Alloa away!”

Dark Elf Magician Rovia couldn’t keep watching. He raised his wand at Waver. “Ball of Decay!”

Black light gathered at the tip of Rovia’s wand. It quickly formed a thick ball of black light the size of one’s head. But at this time, Wavier raised his wand and pointed carelessly at Rovia. “Take a break!”

Boom! A red ball of light formed instantly. It rushed toward Rovia and exploded. The attack’s speed was extreme and only took 100th of a second. Rovia’s Ball of Decay hadn’t even formed completely, and Aymons had no time to interfere.

Rovia’s spell was stopped forcefully. The blood-red attack had sent him flying almost 100 feet, crashing against a thick tree.

Thud. Rovia slid down against the tree like a rag doll. He had stopped breathing. Seeing this, Aymons still did not act. He sat atop the Blood-winged Owl and stared coldly at the approaching Wavier.

It wasn’t that he was not angry now. He had just successfully restrained his anger, so he could preserve his logical thinking. He knew clearly that if they fought, Link, hiding in the darkness, would be the one who benefited.

He was waiting!

If he let Wavier take Alloa, Link would definitely do something if he didn’t want another terrible opponent in the future. Aymons was sure of this.

If Link attacked, Aymons and Wavier would have the same target, and they could partner against Link. Aymons didn’t fantasize about killing that human. It would be a victory if Link was badly hurt and ran away. At that time, he would turn back to deal with Wavier.

That was the safest plan.

Wavier squinted and laughed. “Old guy, are you waiting for Link? You’re really looking at the big picture, and I’m kind of touched. Don’t worry. If Link appears, I’ll definitely work with you, hahaha!”

“Madman!” Aymons muttered.

On the ground, Alloa had managed to sit up. Her clothes had become even more torn during the previous struggle. Only a few rags remained, and she was basically naked. She ignored her pathetic state and waited patiently as the situation unfolded.

Seeing her like this, Wavier smiled. “To be honest, you’re a beauty too. If I saw you like this before, I’d definitely fall for you. But now, you’re just a mix of blood and flesh…Oh, I almost forgot that you also have a good brain. Your brain is what I need…Ah, why did you have to run south with your entire body? That’s such a big target. If you just ran with your brain, we wouldn’t have to do all this.”

This was obviously spoken by a madman.

Alloa look sympathetically at Wavier. “You’re a genius,” she replied indifferently, “But still, you only have the intelligence of a mortal.”

Seeing her like this, Wavier was confused. “Tsk, poor girl. Where do you get your confidence from?”

Alloa was still smiling. “Wavier, Aymons,” she said. “You’re all powerful Magicians so let me ask you, how many realms does the Firuman world have?”

“What do you mean?” Wavier was confused. He was a genius but he was still too young, and his magic knowledge was too shallow. All his terrible power came from the demon god. At this time, he didn’t catch the meaning behind Alloa’s words.

However, Aymons was a true Master Magician. After half a second, his expression changed. “No, Link is in the Isomerism Realm!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Alloa’s body vanished. Her presence and aura disappeared as if she had evaporated from the world.

“Where did she go?” Wavier was shocked. What was the Isomerism Realm?

Aymons had already started casting spells while explaining hurriedly, “Link is already here, but he hid into the Isomerism Realm. That’s why we can’t sense him. Now, he took Alloa there too. They’re using the Isomerism Realm to escape! F*ck!”

How could he fall for this trick? Back in the Black Forest, Link was already able to move freely between the realms. How could he not use it now?

Aymons had overlooked it!

With that, Aymons’ spell was completed. There was a flash, and everything desaturated into a black and white world. Aymons, Wavier, and the four Undead Knights had all gone into the Spiritual Realm.

Once they entered, they could sense Link and Alloa’s Mana presence clearly. They could also sense that the two were getting further quickly.

“Hurry!” Aymons seemed flustered for the first time.

Chapter 273: A Gift from the Maiden of Truth

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Ferde Wilderness

Dorias bolted through the Girvent Forest with the Dark Prince Walter at top speed. He was extremely fast and covered more than 30 miles within 20 minutes. He was just about to head straight to Scorched Ridge when he heard trotting sounds in front of him.

Dorias was curious and accelerated towards the top of the hill. He then saw two women riding at full speed towards him.

He squinted his eyes and immediately recognized who they were. One of them had purple colored hair and wore a light brown armor. She also had a magic pistol hanging by the side of her waist—it was Celine.

There was also a young woman beside her with a ponytail. She looked innocent and wore an intricate armor. This was Link’s magic puppet Nana.

The moment he saw familiar faces, Dorias was ecstatic. He bolted forward and dropped the Dark Prince right in front of them. The Dark Prince then grimaced softly, and a trail of blood appeared on his lips. It seemed like Dorias did not put him down lightly.

However, Dorias could care less and asked quizzically, “Celine, why are you here?”

This place was at least 30 miles away from Scorched Ridge. Even if Celine wanted to train her sharpshooting skills, she should not have come so far.

Celine then took a look at the Dark Elf on the ground before a hint of worry appeared in her eyes. She then said, “If you are back with a hostage, I would suppose that Link is alone right now?”

Dorias seemed unworried as he said, “Yes, but it will be fine. Link is fighting them; they will not be able to win him.”

Celine seemed to think otherwise and asked urgently, “Do you know which direction he went?”

“This…I’m not too sure. It has already been 20 minutes since I left him.”

Celine grew increasingly worried. At that moment, Nana spoke and pointed in the north-western direction, “Master is in that direction. He is heading towards us at high speed.”

“Are you sure?” Celine was doubtful. After all, Nana was merely a magic puppet, how could she pinpoint Link’s location so accurately?

“Master’s blood has a familiar presence. Nana can feel it.”

The moment she said those words, Celine was immediately reminded of the situation when they first met Nana. Link suffered a blow from Nana at that time, and the micro-metal on her blade managed to fuse with his blood, allowing Nana to track him down. She even managed to run underwater while trying to eradicate Link.

It seemed that she still had that ability.

“There must be someone going after him if he is running so fast. Let’s go! We will get him!” Celine waved her hands and charged forward, and Nana followed closely behind.

“Then what about me?” Dorias was left alone once again.

“Take that hostage back to Scorched Ridge,” Celine said.

“Alright then,” Dorias once again picked up Walter with his jaws and charged towards Scorched Ridge.

…

Soul Realm.

Link was running for his life while carrying Alloa on his back.

In this space, the power of ordinary spells would be suppressed while the power of the soul would be magnified. Link was somewhat familiar with this space. He could still run at a fast speed despite having an extra deadweight.

However, the people chasing him was fast as well. Amongst them, the most terrifying one was Wavier.

His soul was unusually strong. Link glanced behind him and saw a huge shadow engulfing his sight. Even the sky was dyed a greyish-black due to the dark aura emanating from his soul.

Link was horrified as he said, “Tabinos is truly generous. To think that he would give Wavier such a huge boost to his soul power.”

There were two methods to increase the strength of your soul in the World of Firuman. The first was through training. Magicians would meditate to strengthen their souls while Warriors would put in their sweat and tears to grind their tenacity. The strength of their soul would then grow as they develop their strength in the Physical Realm. The strength of a Level-9 Magician’s soul could be around 1000 times stronger than an ordinary human. He could scare the wits out of an ordinary human anytime he wanted to.

The second method was through a divine blessing. Link had the blessing from the God of Light. This blessing, coupled with his training had granted him with an extremely strong soul.

However, Wavier’s soul was at least ten times more terrifying than Link’s!

It truly was infuriating.

Fortunately, while Wavier’s soul was powerful, he did not seem to be used to wielding this power. He was also not familiar with the principles within the Soul Realm, which greatly diminished his traveling speed. He was only slightly faster than Link despite having a soul that was much stronger. Furthermore, Link was carrying a deadweight which reduced his speed.

After Alloa heard Link’s words, she spoke with a nonchalant expression, “Of course Tabinos will be generous. You have no idea what Wavier did.”

Link was startled for a moment before he asked, “How many people did he sacrifice?”

In order to appease the demon god, one would have to make a sacrificial ritual. Furthermore, it had to be the sacrifice of souls.

“At least 50000!” Alloa reported a striking figure.

Fifty thousand souls? Link was horrified.

The Dark Elves merely sacrificed 15000 souls to get their Divine Gear. How did Wavier get that many souls to sacrifice in such a short period of time?

Alloa was extremely observant and could already guess Link’s thoughts from his actions. She then snickered and said, “Why do you think the Delonga Kingdom and the Southmoon Kingdom are engaged in such a fierce war? The deceased Warriors and refugees all add up to an estimated number of 50000. This is already the most conservative estimate.”

Life was truly worthless in times of chaos. One could only give an estimated number of the deaths in a battle, suggesting the cruelty of the war. However, Link did not expect such a huge motive to be hiding in the shadows behind the war.

At that moment, he had a deeper understanding of the darkness in the World of Firuman. In this world, strength would speak for itself. This was exactly why dark forces would easily go out of control, and eventually result in horrifying events.

“This is preposterous! I did not expect such things to happen. Furthermore, it happened in the South, right where my territory is!”

It was no wonder the Delonga Kingdom refugees would seek shelter in his territory. Those ordinary people had no idea what was truly happening within the Kingdom. However, this did not prevent them from sensing danger.

Alloa then sighed as she said, “This is exactly why I wanted to escape from the Dark Elves. They are too scary and too insane. Their actions now will not only destroy their entire race, but also the whole of Firuman!”

Following which, she stared at Link and said, “I intended to approach you the moment I escaped the Dark Forest. However, I met with some accidents along the way and was intercepted by my pursuers the moment I reached the Girvent Forest. However, the result was still satisfactory. You still came to find me.”

“Me? Why me?” Link was perplexed. While he was speaking, he glanced behind him once again.

At that moment, he had already run out of the perimeter of the Girvent Forest onto the Ferde Wilderness. This place had unobstructed vision. He could clearly see that Wavier was merely 900 feet away, with Aymons being 15 feet behind Wavier and the undead knights being 80 feet away from Aymons.

Wavier was able to close the distance by 150 feet every minute. If they continued traveling at their current speed, Link would enter Wavier’s spellcasting range after four minutes.

Link could at most cover three miles in four minutes. He was still some distance away from the Scorched Ridge and would not be able to call for reinforcements in time. However, he did not panic. He still had 7000 Mana Points remaining, which was sufficient to cast a Dimensional Leap spell. When Wavier was about to catch up, he would just use that spell to escape.

If they dared to chase him all the way back to the Scorched Ridge, Link would merely call for Nana and give them a taste of his prided magic puppets power.

Alloa then answered Link’s question very seriously, “Because you know how to use spatial magic.”

“Spatial Magic? What has that got to do with you?”

Alloa then nodded with a serious expression as she said regretfully, “It matters, it matters a lot. The things that I am researching on has already exceeded the wisdom of mortals. You are the only person in the World of Firuman that can understand my research. Therefore, you are the only person I can approach.”

Link fell speechless. This woman seemed to be flaunting her wisdom and intellect as though she was meant to be superior to other human beings.

“What exactly did you figure out?” Link asked. He predicted that these findings would be a rude shock to anyone. This would explain why the Dark Elves would chase her all the way to the South and even send Aymons on this mission.

As he speaks, he once again glanced behind him. Wavier was still leading in the race and was less than 600 feet away from him. Aymons, on the other hand, was already 60 feet behind Wavier.

If Wavier was alone, Link would have already engaged him in a fight. However, there were two Magicians on his trails. Aymons was also a terrifyingly strong Magician. Coupled with the Undead Knights, Link had no confidence in defeating all of them. Therefore, he could only run.

When Link spun around, he noticed a strange phenomenon. He felt that something was obstructing his view. Upon closer inspection, he was then startled. It was Alloa’s chest.

He did not realize before, but Alloa had a pretty developed chest. This was especially so as he was running at full speed while carrying her, causing it to bounce invitingly with every step. Link averted his gaze and ran even faster after that.

On the other hand, Alloa did not realize Link’s peculiar gaze as she was deep in thought. After around ten seconds of silence. She whispered, “My father is a member of the Silver Moon Family. Therefore, the Silver Moon blood also runs through my veins. However, since my bloodline is not pure, I was chosen to be the sacrifice, the vessel for the Dark Serpent.”

“Then why are you? Did you bring the Divine Gear with you? But it doesn’t look like it.”

“I was indeed fused together with the Divine Gear. However, I created a puppet to go through most of the process in my place. Following which, I freed myself from the control of the Divine Gear. I this process, I discovered a principle governing the Divine Gear…And as you have witnessed, I became immortal while being untainted by the powers of darkness.”

Link was dumbfounded upon hearing those words. It was amazing enough to free oneself from the control of the Divine Gear. To be able to discover a principle at the same time required wisdom that exceeded his wildest imaginations.

No wonder she would be revered as the Maiden of Truth and acted so intellectually superior. She was not arrogant per se. Her perspective of the world was merely too different compared to that of an ordinary mortal.

“Your motive for finding me is?”

“As you know, the Divine Gear possesses a Divine Skill that can devour souls. I have tried solving it but to no avail. I realize that it would be impossible if I try to do it myself. I need another person who has also exceeded the wisdom of an ordinary mortal to assist me. You are the first person that came to mind. Therefore, I brought with me a treasure trove of the Divine Gear’s statistics.”

Link was taken aback, but this was followed by a wave of euphoria. He said, “Rest assured that I will ensure your safety!”

This was probably the reason the in-game system would issue a sudden mission that had a time-limit. Alloa indeed possessed such value. If he had known this would happen beforehand, he would gladly make another trip to the Dark Forest!

Alloa seemed satisfied at Link’s passion and nodded. She then said, “Enthusiasm is the best mentor. However, we have to first get rid of our pursuers. They are catching up.”

Link nodded and looked behind him once again. Wavier had already closed the gap and was only 150 feet behind. In a minute’s time, Link would enter his spellcasting range.

Link did not dare to take the risk and immediately prepared to use Dimensional Leap to escape.

Dimensional Leap was a Legendary spell whose power was not constrained by the Soul Realm. This was also the reason Link dared to take Alloa into the Soul Realm to begin with.

However, a strange thing happened.

Upon seeing that familiar white brilliance surrounding Link, the black aura around Wavier suddenly increased in size as well. He then snickered, “Link, I knew you would use this dirty trick! Alas, my master had also taught me something. Let me see if you can escape after this!”

A black miasma rushed towards them at the speed of light, covering Link within its demonic grasp. After which, the white glow around Link was blown out like a candle flame in the wind. Alloa and he remained standing in their original position.

Link fell speechless. He had made a mistake by underestimating Wavier’s strength. He should have used Dimensional Leap earlier on when he was still in the lead. The situation was not looking good.

“That should have been Demon God Tabinos’ strength. He had sealed this entire dimension. You will have to defeat them to proceed,” Alloa explained with a nonchalant expression, not showing any signs of fear and shock, as though she had already predicted this would happen.

“It seems like it will be another tough fight.” Link took out the dimensional scroll. Even if they were to fight, he would prefer it to be held in the Physical Realm. Only in the physical realm would he be able to unleash his full power.

Chapter 274: I Blocked It!

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

With a whoosh, Link returned to the Physical Realm.

It was a wilderness covered in broken stones. The deep-plow magic puppet hadn’t reached this area yet, so no one lived here. All he could see was miles of empty land. In the distance, there were some hills.

It was too open here. It was unsuitable for fighting, and there was nowhere to hide. Even if he used a disguise spell, he would be found easily.

Without hesitating, Link tried to use the Dimensional Jump again.

And he failed again.

Link sighed. “It really is the god’s power. This place is sealed from all realms.” Since he couldn’t escape, Link began to prepare to fight.

First, he activated a Level-5 Crimson Edelweiss for Alloa. This defensive spell’s power was now outdated and couldn’t help Alloa block all attacks. However, it could act as a buffer and ensure that Alloa’s body wouldn’t be destroyed.

She was immortal. As long as her body was complete, she would be able to survive.

Then, Link cast the Cheetah’s Agility for himself. This would ensure his speed and strength. At the same time, he said, “Alloa, can you walk?”

When they were in the forest, Alloa’s leg had been shattered by a demon. It had healed a lot already, but it still looked very mangled.

Alloa touched the ground with her broken leg and shuddered. Her features twisted instantly, but she didn’t make a sound. Gritting her teeth, she stood with both legs adamantly. “I won’t die anyway. I can walk so don’t worry about me. Focus on them!”

With that, she limped and ran deep into the Ferde Wilderness. She wasn’t too slow, but it was obvious that with each step, Alloa had to withstand terrible pain. She gasped continuously, running and screaming to vent her pain.

Link watched all this and had to be impressed. What an extremely logical girl.

Yes, logic could almost perfectly control a person’s emotions. She was the same type of person as Link.

During this, Link started preparing as well. He took out the Prophet White Stone. He could only use this stone one last time, but he was prepared to use it without hesitation because Alloa was critical in fighting against the Divine Gear. This involved the fates of countless people.

She could not die. Even more, she couldn’t fall into the hands of the Dark Elves or Wavier. Link would save her at all costs!

After taking out the Prophet White Stone, Link drank a bottle of an Advanced Mana Potion. It replenished the Mana he had used up earlier. At the same time, he activated the Clear Thoughts effect on his Flame Controller robe.

His maximum was 8,500 Mana. The Clear Thoughts effect had an effect of recovering 2,000 Mana within five minutes, so this gave him a total of 10,500 Mana to use. This was great, but it would probably only last one and a half minutes for Level-9 spells.

This meant he must win within one and a half minutes!

At this moment, there was a flash of Mana aura in the distance. Then, several figures appeared out of nowhere. It was Wavier’s group who had followed Link back to the Physical Realm.

There were six men in total. Wavier was the closest to Link, around 400 feet away. Around 30 feet behind him was Aymons. The four Undead Knights were another 15 feet away.

After appearing, Wavier looked at Link and laughed uproariously. “Link, you didn’t expect this, right? No matter how strong you are, you’re just a mortal, but me? I have a god’s strength!”

Link ignored him. He took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts, entering a focused spell casting state. To his perception, time had slowed. At the same time, he started retreating toward the Ferde Wilderness.

Alloa had only run around 30 feet. Seeing how pained she was, Link asked, “Aren’t you a Magician? Why don’t you use a spell?”

Even with a broken leg, she could still use a spell to speed up.

“I can’t. My immortal body has broken the world’s equilibrium. The world’s laws reject me. My magic has all disappeared.”

“Makes sense…” No wonder Link hadn’t seen Alloa use any spells. After entering the focused spell casting state, Link no longer worried about being gentle. Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy hadn’t reached spell-casting range, he got an idea and cast two low-level spells as fast as lightning—Lightweight and Vector Force Field.

The Vector Force Field pushed Alloa forward. With the help of Lightweight, she was at least ten times faster. Practically flying from the collision, she traveled around 30 feet instantly.

This way, Link had nothing to worry about.

At this time, Wavier had rushed over. He was only around 300 feet away from Link. The four Undead Knights were with him, surrounding him protectively. However, Aymons’ actions were more interesting. This old fox paced around 330 feet from Link. He neither approached nor retreated.

Wavier was extremely confident in his power, and he laughed loudly. “Link, have a taste of my master’s power! The Eye of Death!”

Eye of Death

Level-7 Spell

Effect: Creates a huge magic eyeball. Everything under its gaze will become the territory of death!

Blood-red aura poured from Wavier’s wand. It gathered into a huge bloody eyeball 16 feet in diameter. It was very realistic, and once it appeared, it focused on Link.

Poof! There was a light sound, and a bloody beam shot from the Eye of Death to Link.

“Spatial Distortion!” This was the best way to counter beam-like spells.

The next instant, the death ray turned through Link’s Spatial Lens and went around his body. Link was unhurt, and he started fighting back!

Without hesitation, he activated the Prophet White Stone. There was a strong flash of white light. A terrible aura started spreading in all directions. The elements of the Ferde Wilderness seemed to revolt.

The elemental gathering was so fast and violent that the distortion of the air around Link was visible to the naked eye. This was Elemental Turbulence!

Aymons’ expression changed drastically. He retreated immediately and yelled, “Wavier, this is Level-9! Don’t block it!”

“I’m going to!” Instead of retreating, Wavier advanced while laughing maniacally. “I have an immortal soul! I have an undying body! So what if it’s a Level-9 spell? It’s still mortal strength, but my strength is from God!”

As he spoke, countless rays of blood-red light poured from Wavier. They formed a red crystal light shield around him. Countless strange dark runes flew through it quickly.

“The Carmine Crystal Wall!”

Carmine Crystal Wall

Non-level spell

Effect: This spell will suck the surrounding vitality to replenish its own consummation. As long as there’s enough supply, it basically doesn’t have a maximum limit.

(Note: everything can be sacrificed to it. Only it will survive!)

The moment the Carmine Crystal Wall was completed, Link’s fortified Level-9 Titan’s Hand arrived.

At Level-9, the fingers of the Titan’s Hand were more than 10 feet wide, and the palm was more than 150 feet long. The moment it appeared, it clenched into a fist and punched down at the Carmine Crystal Wall.

Boom! Titan’s Fist and the Carmine Crystal Wall collided with a terrifying boom. Pebbles and dust flew up, and one could see the shockwaves in the air with one’s naked eye.

Aymons, who had retreated more than 150 feet, was quickly caught up by the shockwaves. He had a protective spell, but he could barely keep his balance, let alone cast a countering spell.

One second later, the dust settled slightly, revealing the result of the collision.

The Carmine Crystal Wall was still there, but it had dimmed considerably. Inside, the four Undead Knights had all died. They looked strange, their bodies dried like rotten wood. Their soul’s auras had disappeared completely too. It was obvious that the Carmine Crystal Wall had sapped all of their vitality.

However, the four of them were not enough to withstand a Level-9 spell. Wavier’s own body had withered too, looking like a skeleton now.

The Level-9 Titan’s Hand had fallen apart from the powerful reverberations of the Carmine Crystal Wall.

“Hahaha! I blocked a Level-9 spell!” Inside the dim shield, Wavier laughed crazily.

Once upon a time, a Level-9 spell was as far away as the peak of an impossibly high mountain. When he heard from his advisor that a young man from the North had used a Level-9 spell to kill a big demon lord, he was so shocked. He couldn’t imagine what kind of power that was.

But now, he’d successfully blocked a Level-9 attack. This was like a dream. If news of this spread, his name would become a nightmare in Firuman!

“Hahaha, old man, did you see? I blocked it! I blocked it!” Wavier still wasn’t satisfied, so he turned and roared at the miserable Aymons, completely wild.

Aymons was shocked too. He didn’t think that Wavier would become so powerful after defecting to the demon lord. Level-9 spells were at the pinnacle of power, but Wavier could block it like that. He was terrifying.

Not only was his power terrifying, his methods were terrifying too. Aymons believed that if he was a bit closer, Wavier would have sapped his vitality without hesitation to block Link’s attack.

Seeing Wavier like this, he muttered, “Madman!”

After blocking Link’s fatal attack, Wavier had no more worries. He turned toward Link. “Link, today is the day of your death. I’ll take out your soul and imprison it in the wall art of my room. I’ll capture Celine and torture her in front of you. Ha, I’ll torture her to death!”

On the other hand, Link was surprised by this too. However, even if his Level-9 spell had been blocked, it still wasn’t an unacceptable thing because it had done what he wanted it to.

Without wasting his breath, he raised his Burning Wrath of Heavens wand. He activated the flame flood effect and activated a Level-7 pinnacle Titan’s Fist.

Like the last spell, Titan’s Fist crashed against the Carmine Crystal Wall.

There was a crisp sound, and the wavering Carmine Crystal Wall was instantly shattered. Titan’s Fist continued forward, crashing into Wavier.

“I have the Reaper’s Sword. I’ll block it again!” Wavier cackled and put his wand before him. A giant black sword appeared. There was a black halo behind it, similarly filled with runes.

The black sword pierced toward Titan’s Sword while the light protected Wavier. It was a defensive and offensive action in one.

Boom! The fortified Titan’s Fist was shattered. After the spell collapsed, the fire element flowed out but was blocked by the black halo. It couldn’t harm Wavier at all.

The Reaper’s Sword also collapsed. Wavier looked even more withered. He was practically a dried out bag of bones. After blocking Link’s attack, he yelled, “Aymons, when will you attack?!”

After blocking these two intense spells, Wavier only had one-fifth of his strength and could barely keep going.

Aymons finally stopped retreating. Wavier had stopped the strongest attacks, and now it was his turn. “Link, a group attack is a bit shameless, but this is necessary. Sorry.”

He raised his wand and activated a soaring spell. He immediately shot forward and prepared to enter the spell-casting range. However, neither Aymons nor Wavier realized that on a hill three miles away, two more figures had appeared.

Link sensed this, and he was overjoyed. Without hesitating, he retreated. Now, he just needed to drag things out.

…

On the hill.

“Oh no, Master is in danger,” Nana said. With a blast, she disappeared.

Celine sighed. “An impulsive girl, but no matter how fast you are, you’re not as fast as my bullet.” She took out her pistol, found a rock to lie down on, and took aim.