Advent of the Archmage - Chapter 275

Chapter 275: Nana, Keep Them Alive!

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

Ferde Wilderness

“You old dog, run faster! He is going to escape soon!” Wavier hollered.

After blocking Link’s Level-9 spell, Wavier felt extremely accomplished, as though he were already at the peak of his life. He waved his wand brazenly and cast an agility spell on himself. He then chased after Link with big strides.

Aymons was slightly offended at being addressed as an old dog. After all, he was highly respected within the Dark Forest. As he moved towards Link, he snickered at Wavier, “Look at your arrogant face. I can even hear your family jewels knocking into each other. Take better care of them!”

“One day, I will turn you into a dead dog!” Wavier kept a spellcasting distance of 270 feet from Link. Blood-red rays shot from the tip of his wand. Once Aymons reached his side, he would cast a simultaneous spell together with him.

Time seemed to pass extremely slowly. After three seconds, Aymons finally got into the spellcasting range as he decisively shouted, “Dark Crystal Dragon Cannon!”

Dark Crystal Dragon Cannon

Level-7 Spell

Effect: Concentrates dark elements to form an extremely sturdy spear. It possesses great penetrative power. If it fails to pierce through an opposing force, it will explode instantly, turning into a powerful dark elemental Flame Blast spell.

(Note: Aymons’ trump card; you will not be able to defend against it!)

Within half a second, Aymons completed the casting of this Level-7 spell. Upon completion of the spell, the black colored crystal at the tip of his wand immediately turned translucent. In the air, a 15-foot-long spear spinning at a high frequency flew at top speed towards Link.

This spear was extremely fast. It left a long black line of destruction in its trails.

“Great! You are truly something, old dog!”

Wavier commended on Aymons spellcasting technique. The blood-red brilliance at the tip of his wand had also taken form. He had learned his lesson this time around and stopped casting light-based spells. Instead, he used a wide-area offensive spell, “Messenger of Death!”

Messenger of Death

Demon God Spell

Effect: Summons a flock of crows. Each crow is extremely agile and possesses extremely high offensive power. They can completely devour the flesh of the opponent. In this process, crows can devour life force as well, making themselves stronger.

(Note: The crows would bring about the orders of the Reaper. Welcome to hell, mortal!)

Caw! Caw!

The crows appeared consecutively from Wavier’s wand, making a sinister sound as they emerged. They had extremely black feathers and bloodshot eyes. Within a second, fifty crows had already been summoned, circling at high speed in the air. The area seemed as though it was covered in a layer of thick black mist.

This black mist then quickly charged towards Link.

Both the Dark Dragon Crystal Cannon and the Messenger of Death were very agile spells. Even if Link had mastered spatial magic that could deal with most mortal attacks, it would still be difficult for him to escape.

At that moment not only Wavier but even Aymons felt a little short of breath.

Link Morani—the person who destroyed their plan to massacre Gladstone City the moment he appeared. He then single-handedly destroyed the Level-8 Demon Tarviss and saved Dawn Swordsman Kanorse from the Dark Forest. He even killed the wielder of the Divine Gear Auselia.

He was an exceptional prodigy, the strongest combat Magician, the Chosen One and much more. He was given many accolades and emitted such a blinding brilliance that Magicians of his generation could not even hope to compare.

However, this legend would come to an end. Furthermore, he would be the one personally ending this spectacular legend. It was impossible for him to stay calm.

Ah, this must be the greatest achievement of my life, Aymons thought.

From today onwards, no one in Firuman will be able to defeat me! Celine, you are mine! These were Wavier’s exact thoughts.

At that moment, Link seemed to have given up on defending against such an attack. He even stopped running away, merely standing at his original position and casting a Level-5 defensive spell on himself.

“Has he given up? What a clever yet helpless choice,” Aymons sighed.

“That’s not fun! Why won’t he struggle?” Wavier seemed extremely dissatisfied.

However, just when this thought appeared in their minds, there was a change in the situation!

Aymons suddenly felt that something was amiss, as though he was locked on by a ferocious beast. He felt a shiver down his spine as he said, “Not good, it’s an ambush! This will be fatal!”

He had lived for over 70 years and had ample battle experience, especially in protecting himself. Once he realized he was trapped in these situations, he decisively gave up on controlling the Dark Dragon Crystal Cannon and charged the defensive ring on his hand with mana. The ring then brightened up and instantly formed a high-level defensive spell, Multi-Crystal Barrier, around him.

Multi-Crystal Barrier

Level-7 Spell

Effect: Concentrates dark element particles into a web of intricate lines. Extremely effective against both physical and magical attacks.

(Note: It is very gorgeous as well.)

Instantly, countless dark elemental threads appeared around Aymons. The threads were extremely thin and numerous. They crossed each other in an orderly fashion, creating an exceptionally beautiful and translucent crystal barrier.

When this spell was completed, the ring on his finger turned into fragments. His offensive spell, the Dark Crystal Dragon Cannon had also disintegrated due to the lack of control, turning into a meaningless cloud of dark elements.

However, this was not enough! Aymons could still feel the danger incoming!

He then pointed his wand in a direction and cast a wind-elemental spell. He then flew in the opposite direction from the force of the gust of wind.

Just when he completed the action, he heard a crisp sound around him. A white spot then could be seen on the crystal barrier.

Following which, the crustal barrier disintegrated into nothingness. At the same time, a flattened Khorium bullet not larger than the size of a thumb fell onto the floor.

“A magic pistol? Such firepower? And such accuracy?” Aymons was horrified. He clearly adjusted his position the instant he felt danger. However, this bullet still managed to hit him. If not for the Multi-Crystal Barrier spell, this bullet would definitely have pierced through his head.

Aymons suddenly felt a wave of terror overwhelming him. He immediately decided to escape.

However, the moment he took a few steps, that familiar sense of danger once again rose in his heart. He immediately kept closer to the side of the pathway and cast a defensive spell on himself.

This time around, he had already lost his strong defensive spell equipment, thus weakening the defensive capabilities of his spell. It was only Level-4 in strength.

Miss! Miss your shot! Don’t hit me! Don’t! Aymons prayed extremely hard in his mind. In the face of that firepower, his weak defensive barrier would mean nothing.

Boom! His thigh was shot. It seemed like the gods did not answer his prayers this time around.

The Level-4 defensive spell only weakened the force of the bullet slightly. This protected Aymons’ life, although the explosion from the bullet still blew off both his legs, causing them both to become completed crippled. They were instantly turned into bloody foam. The shockwave of the bullets even affected his hip area.

“Argh…!” Aymons whimpered as he flew out of his trajectory. He dropped his wand as the intense pain overwhelmed him, ripping him of his sense of reason. He tumbled on the ground as he screamed.

He had completely lost all battle capabilities.

…

Three seconds ago.

Wavier did not notice any dangers. However, his crows, the messengers of death seemed to be in big trouble.

Boom! The air seemed to be trembling as the wind roared.

A figure appeared in the middle of the crows. She was simply too fast for the naked eye to keep track of. Wavier could not even see her physical shape; he merely noticed that the number of crows in the air was declining swiftly.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The crows all became balls of blood-red shadow upon a series of explosions.

With incomparable speed and impeccable skills, a powerful spell was destroyed in an instant. This was something an ordinary person would never have imagined.

“What is happening? Is this magic?” Wavier had not reacted to the situation. He thought that the shadow he saw was a peculiar spell that Link had invented.

On the other hand, Alloa had already seen through Link’s tactics. She stared at the flurry of images in front of her and sighed, “Is this the magic puppet that defeated Auselia? She is indeed exceptional.”

Within a second, Nana had destroyed all the crows. Her body then became slightly more visible. However, this visibility merely lasted for a tenth of a second.

Boom! With another explosion, Nana disappeared from her original position.

When she appeared once again, she was already standing behind Wavier.

Wavier had a horrified expression on his face. He looked down at his body before turning to look at Nana, who was behind him. There was only one thought in his mind. How can she be this fast?

The moment this thought flashed through his mind, Wavier’s body crumbled into pieces. He was stabbed at least 20 times in that instant, causing his body to turn into countless meat pieces and bone fragments. None of these pieces exceeded the size of a fist.

A translucent soul then appeared from his body. Although Wavier’s physical body was dead, he had an immortal soul, granted to him by the demon god. This soul quickly left the battlefield in search of another body.

The traveling speed of a soul was extremely fast and exceeded the reaction time limit of an ordinary human. Wavier thought that he would be safe and specifically chose a path that was only 90 feet away from Nana.

Wavier’s thought process was simple. He merely wanted to see what this terrifying figure looked like.

However, in the next moment, something even more horrifying happened.

With another explosion, Nana once again flew at top speed towards Wavier. She then swung her main dagger, the Last Nightmare, forward, causing circles of powerful air ripples to appear in the air. It charged towards Wavier at an insane speed.

“This…How can this be!” Wavier was almost scared out of his wits. His only thought was then to escape, with all his might.

This time around, he was successful. The soul had no specific shape nor presence. Furthermore, it had an extremely high traveling speed. He managed to narrowly escape Nana’s attack.

He then ran without turning back even once.

Nana, on the other hand, was a perfectionist. The moment she realized that her attack was unsuccessful, she immediately gave chase, striking fear to the depths of Wavier’s heart. Wavier then accelerated and ran even faster.

The traveling speed of the soul could reach 3000 feet in a second. Nana lost Wavier after just a short while, though she did not seem to have any intention of giving up. Link then stopped her.

“Alright, come back.”

It was only then Nana gave up. She then turned in another direction and leaped forward, appearing right in front of Aymons. She was planning to end his life!

“Keep him alive!” Link frantically shouted.

Swish! Swish! The sound of slashing blades echoed through the forest. Nana put away her dagger after slashing Aymons for a few times.

Since her master had ordered her to keep Aymons alive, she had to do so. However, apart from the things sustaining his life, nothing else should remain. For example, the legs, the hands, his hair, eyes, ears, and many more. Those that were useless could be severed in case of any hidden dangers.

“Just give me a quick death!” Aymons laid helplessly on the ground.

He was still alive, although his body was already entirely useless. He had turned into an empty Dark Elf pillar, where only his torso and head remained.

Chapter 276: Two “Madmen”

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

Ferde Wilderness.

“Celine, how come you’re here?” Link welcomed her happily.

To be honest, it had been a bit dangerous. If he hadn’t sensed Nana’s aura, Link would have drunk the medicine from the Red Dragon Queen.

Holding the pistol, Celine walked over. She glanced at Aymons, whom Nana had turned into a flesh stick, and then at Alloa. One second later, she looked down at Alloa’s chest and back at her own. Her expression immediately grew unfriendly. “Who is she?”

Link didn’t feel this change. “She’s Alloa,” he explained. “She had just escaped from the Dark Elves in the North.”

Alloa nodded. “I came to the South just to find Link. I appreciate his accomplishments in spatial magic.”

“Oh.” Celine nodded coolly and tossed over a cloak. “Put this on.”

“Thanks.” Alloa knew that she looked pathetic right now. She caught the cloak and covered her body.

On the other hand, Link walked over to Aymons and asked softly, “You’re Aymons, right? I didn’t expect that you would voluntarily run from the North to my territory.”

Aymons clenched his jaw. “Stop wasting your breath and just kill me.”

“It’s not that simple. You’re a core member of the Silver Moon Mage Council and the owner of Horton. You can’t die so easily. You must go out with a boom.” With that, Link turned and told Nana, “Take him back to Scorched Ridge but be gentle. Don’t let him die.”

“Understood!”

Nana walked up and circled Aymons. She couldn’t find any way to hold him, so she decided to swing him over her shoulder.

Then Link walked to Alloa’s side. He cast Levitation on her and used the Magician’s Hand to pull her down the road. Celine stayed beside Link. She would constantly eye Alloa and then look at herself. Her pretty brows were furrowed as if she was troubled.

Link still didn’t notice anything was amiss. He was busy thinking about the Dark Serpent Divine Gear. He kept asking Alloa as they walked.

“How are your injuries?” Link asked.

“It’s no problem. They’ll be mostly recovered after ten minutes.” Alloa smiled politely. She was much more sensitive than Link and could feel Celine’s annoyance at her. Therefore, she purposely distanced herself from Link.

“Shouldn’t I try to help you fix the bone?” Link eyed Alloa’s calf. He noticed it was less twisted now.

“No need. My undying body comes from the power of the laws. It’ll recover completely after some time.”

“I see. That’s so interesting.” Link studied her calf and grew more excited about the information Alloa would provide about the Dark Serpent.

Seeing him like this, Celine was even more upset.

At the side, Aymons had recovered a bit. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Alloa, it wasn’t enough to betray our tribe and now you want to become a blasphemous woman too? You will have a tragic ending.”

Alloa glanced at the Dark Elf stick and turned towards Link. “He’s completely overtaken by his anger and keeps spouting nonsense. Can you make him shut up?”

So Link looked at Nana. “Knock him out.”

As soon as he said that, there was a thud. Nana had smacked Aymons’ temples, and the Dark Elf lost consciousness. “Master, he will be out for 15 hours.”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Link was very satisfied with Nana’s efficiency at handling orders. Then he turned toward Alloa. “There’s no one being loud anymore. Can you tell me the specific data now?”

Alloa nodded but then asked Celine, “Do you have a dagger?”

“Huh? Dagger? Why do you want it?” Celine snapped out of her thoughts. She found it strange, but she still handed over her self-defense dagger.

Alloa took it and, without another word, stabbed her abdomen. She made another horizontal slit and blood came flowing out. Alloa just wrinkled her brows as if she felt no pain. She reached in, felt around, and pulled out a bloody Magic Crystal.

Both Link and Celine were shocked by this self-mutilating action.

Alloa nonchalantly wiped away the blood on the Magic Crystal and gave it to Link. “This contains the records of the Divine Gear’s fusion process,” she explained at the same time. “The first thing I received after finishing the research was endless vitality. Look, my wound has already healed.”

The two glanced at Alloa’s abdomen. Indeed, the gaping wound had already disappeared without a trace. Even the blood had disappeared, and all that remained was a smooth abdomen. Alloa’s calf had mostly healed as well. It was only slightly swollen now but the swelling was decreasing at a visible rate.

“Wow, this is too miraculous.” Even Celine was impressed.

Alloa covered herself with the cloak again and sighed. There was no joy in her expression. “An undying body is good for the average person, but it’s a drawback for me. I’ve lost all magic power. This Magic Crystal is the only thing I took from the North.”

Link had already started looking through the contents. After a few glances, he couldn’t help but praise, “This is a priceless gem…Oh my god, this is incredible, unbelievable!”

The first half was said to Alloa; he’d already started murmuring to himself in the second half.

Alloa didn’t find this strange. To be honest, she had been just like this when she saw the fusion process for the first time. Seeing Link so immersed in it, she turned toward Celine. “I’m only interested in his brain,” she said softly. “I’m not interested in him as a person, so don’t worry.”

“What do you mean…Don’t worry? I’m not worried.” But Celine felt caught, and she blushed.

“A Dark Elf’s average life expectancy is 150 years. I may look young, but I’m already 40 years old so you can’t lie to me… Alright, I’ll stop now. I only care about the world’s mysteries. Everything else is a burden.” Alloa chuckled lightly.

She didn’t betray the Dark Elves just because they were crazy. The main reason was because they couldn’t accept her research of Divine Gear and no one could understand her.

Thankfully, there was someone like that in the South. Therefore, she quickly abandoned the Dark Elves.

On the other hand, Link was completely immersed in the Magic Crystal’s records. There was only a tiny portion that he could completely understand. He was confused about the other 99.9%, but that was why he was even more excited.

After coming to this world, he had read countless magic books. None of them had been difficult to him; there was no challenge. Now, he had run into true trouble. If he could solve this, it would definitely be a huge achievement for him!

After reading for around 20 minutes, Link suddenly wrote a line of succinct runes in the air with his wand. “Is this the core law that you found?” he asked Alloa.

Glancing at it, Alloa’s eyes focused and became extremely serious. After around one minute, she nodded. “Pretty much. Your Rune Formation is more succinct than mine, but there can be errors if you describe it like that. Look, the conclusion I got is like this…Do you have pen and paper?”

She couldn’t use magic like Link, so she needed to handwrite it. Link passed her pen and paper. Alloa wrote as she walked, and she gave the sheepskin back to Link after five minutes.

“This is my conclusion.”

Link studied it and praised it. “Amazing, I didn’t think about a lot of this. However, I think you can still revise it here… Like this, look.”

Link gave the scroll back. Alloa sank into deep thought after she read it, but she started scribbling again after a few minutes. Then, she handed it to Link. After reading it, Link frowned as well and started revising again.

Along the way, the two barely spoke and just passed the scroll back and forth. The sheepskin was not that big, and it was soon filled with Rune Formations, Mana equations, hypotheses, guesses, and more. It was so messy that no one else could understand it.

Celine peered at it, but she gave up. To her, the runes looked like a child’s doodles. She couldn’t understand either of them.

When the two reached Scorched Ridge, they were completely submerged in the world of the laws of Divine Gear.

Link was dazed. If Celine wasn’t there to guide him, he probably would have walked straight into the sea. Alloa was in a similar state; her eyes were unfocused, and she moved stiffly as if her mind was gone. No one knew what she was thinking.

Celine was so bored she could only talk to Nana. “Nana, look. They’ve gone mad.”

Nana looked from Link to Nana with her big clear eyes. “With Master like that, I can fight 100 of him by himself,” she said sweetly.

“Okay, all you know is fighting.” Celine pouted.

The gate of Scorched Ridge was right ahead. There was a luxurious carriage parked in the square behind the gate. It was marked with the emblem of the East Cove Magic Academy. Some big figures had come.

Celine was forced to interrupt Link. “Link, wake up. I think we have guests.”

“Ah…Oh, oh, got it,” Link patronized.

At this time, Celine could already see the guests. She reached out and pinched Link’s waist with all her power. “Oh, it’s the dean of the East Cove Magic Academy!”

Link finally woke up. He smiled apologetically at Celine and returned the Magic Crystal to Alloa. “Go rest, and I’ll come find you as soon as I’m free.” Then, he said to Celine, “Dear, help me arrange a place for Alloa to stay.”

Whenever Link called her dear before, Celine would have a comeback ready. Today, she didn’t say anything and just pulled Alloa away with a smile.

“Nana, you can go too. You don’t have to follow me around the camp. Oh, right, take Aymons to Gildern to take care of. Tell him not to let this guy die.”

“Yes, Master.”

Link walked over to Dean Anthony. “Master Anthony, how come you’re here?”

Anthony looked older than before. The wrinkles on his face seemed to be carved in, and he was more stooped too. He found the pathetic-looking Aymons odd, but he knew Link would explain, so he didn’t ask.

Instead, he sighed. “I was coming to discuss about the North with you and relax a bit. However, on my way here, I received Grenci’s letter…Now, the South is more important.”

The threat of the North’s Divine Gear was still present. Now, there was also the undead army in the South. The Norton Kingdom was truly in trouble.

The undead army was especially chilling. Anthony understood clearly that if the army was allowed to grow, it would become a calamity that would sweep through the mainland within half a year.

Link grew serious. “You came just in time. I have something to discuss with you too. It’s about what just happened in the Girvent Forest, but it should be good news.”

Chapter 277: Wavier Must Die!

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

Scorched Ridge Camp

The secret meeting was held in the parliament hall within the newly-built Mage Tower.

The people present in the meeting were Dean of the East Cove Higher Magic Academy Anthony, two masters of the six-man council Master Grenci and Master Ferdinand, High Elf Princess Milda, promising High Elf Magician Romilson, and lastly, the owner of the Mage Tower, Link.

There were a total of six people. Three of them were established and respected members of the Magician world, while the other three were budding Magicians, looked favorably upon.

The Mage Tower was newly-built. Naturally, all the equipment inside was new as well. The hot summer sunlight became extremely gentle and pleasant after passing through the crystallized exterior of the Mage Tower, which served to refract the sun rays at an optimized angle. The temperature magic circle in the hall made sure that the interior of the Mage Tower was always at a comfortable temperature. There was also a wind magic circle that constantly brought a cool breeze to anyone within the tower.

It was a very comfortable environment, though it did not seem to help ease the atmosphere in the hall.

Everyone stepped into the hall with extremely heavy hearts.

Anthony sat in the main seat of the long table and listened intently at Link’s report of the incident in the Girvent Forest. When Link was done, he knocked the table lightly as he frowned, his eyes full of disbelief. He then said, “Is Wavier truly so strong now? He can defend against a level-9 spell?”

Grenci, Ferdinand, and the two High Elves also turned to look at Link, waiting for his answer.

Link recalled the battle scene and nodded his head before saying, “He is indeed terrifying. However, he still has weaknesses.”

Upon speaking, Link pointed his wand into the air. A hologram then appeared in the air and displayed a blurry image. It was the exact battle scene when Aymons, Wavier and he were engaged in a fight.

As this image came from Link’s memory, it was somewhat distorted, as Link’s focus was purely on his spellcasting and the battle at that time. However, this did not affect the details that he intended to show.

“Take a look. In this entire battle, Wavier cast four spells. These spells looked no different from any ordinary dark magic. However, after closer inspection, I realize that Wavier’s exterior undergoes major changes every time he cast a spell. As he uses up more energy, he becomes more like a corpse, especially so after defending against my Level-9 spell. Wavier’s looks seemed to change dramatically at that point. There is still one more important detail.”

Link then displayed another image in the air. This image was a lot clearer than the previous one. Wavier’s expression and Aymons reaction could be clearly seen from the image.

This image still came from Link’s memories. The clarity of the image suggested that even during the most intense of battles, Link still had a subtle and delicate perception of his surroundings. Everyone present showed an expression of shock and awe, especially Romilson, whose face seemed completely horrified.

Originally, he thought the only difference between Link and himself was their battle experience. However, he was proven wrong yet again. Link could easily squash him with his adept control of the battlefield.

“What a monster!” He could not help but mutter.

Link then pointed into the deceptively real image in the air and said, “I have tried to recreate the scene from the battle. Look carefully, before I cast my Level-9 spell, Wavier looked like an ordinary person. However, the moment he cast the blood crystal shield, his life force was rapidly depleted. When the collision of the two spells reached a climax, this shield was once shattered. Following which, Wavier did not hesitate to sacrifice four Undead Knights and use their life force to reform his defensive spell.”

At this moment, Romilson frowned as he asked, “Are you saying that Wavier is using life force to maintain his spells?”

“Exactly. The spells that he used after this are also based on the same principle. These spells neither a limit to their power or a certain magic structure. As long as there is enough life force, it can become as powerful as it wants. However, the moment the amount of life force depletes, these spells will be nothing more than child’s play!”

Upon hearing those words, everyone exchanged glances as they had already come to a conclusion.

Milda then said the thought that was in everyone’s mind, “That is to say Wavier is using a Demon God Divine Skill!”

A Demon God Divine Skill was a branch of Divine Skills, as it originated from a god. They were extremely perfect as well and could do what mortal Magicians deemed impossible.

For example, reviving spells, complete recovery spells and prophecy spells were all power that ordinary Magicians were unable to achieve. However, priests could accomplish all of those easily. The reason for that was the use of Divine Skills.

“Then, isn’t it simple? We merely have to stop Wavier from absorbing life force in the middle of a battle,” Romilson said casually.

However, the moment those words escaped his mouth, everyone stared at him with a strange gaze.

“This… is there a problem?” Romilson felt that his train of thought was accurate.

Princess Milda patted her forehead and felt extremely embarrassed. She then rebutted, “Do you think that he would not store excess life force? Furthermore, he has 30000 Undead Knights under his command. Their life force is completely open for his absorption. How are you going to stop him?”

“This…” Romilson’s face immediately turned red. This was indeed a huge problem.

This was only a small interlude to the main topic. Anthony then patted the table lightly before saying, “Simply because Wavier possesses such qualities, we will have to destroy him before he becomes stronger. If we continue to let him run wild, no one would be able to defeat him. Link, what do you think?”

This young man excelled at creating miracles. One could simply find him in times of trouble.

Link already had a plan. He said, “There is a problem with an undead army. It is too reliant on the Necromancer. This is an organization that is extremely centralized. As long as we can defeat the central figure, everything else will fall apart naturally. By this logic, we do not have to deal with the Undead Knights; we only need to form a small group and head straight for Wavier.”

In fact, everyone present could come up with this plan. However, they lacked the resolve and determination. They were afraid that this small niche group would end up making a mistake, causing the mission to fail.

On the other hand, Link seemed to be able to see through the mist and guide them onto the correct path.

“But you mentioned that he has an indestructible soul,” Grenci said.

Link nodded and said, “Indeed. Therefore, we will need the help of the Holy Knights, just like how they helped us imprisoned the soul of Blood Demon Talon 200 years ago.”

The soul belonged to the realm of the gods. Mortals had little to no understanding of this area. Both the demon god and the God of Light had a deep understanding of this realm of power. Their underlings would thus have the power to deal with the soul.

Blood Demon Talon also liaised himself with the demon god and attained an indestructible soul. However, it had been 200 years since he was captured. Many had already forgotten the details of his downfall, though Link still remembered it clearly.

Upon saying those words, a detailed plan formed in Link’s mind. Furthermore, this plan was highly feasible.

Anthony thought for a moment before saying, “The pope and the archbishop are both stationed at the Northern Fortress. However, the bishop of Hot Springs City is still present. I will contact him.”

Milda then asked, “Since we are doing an assassination, we will have to discuss the members involved. I believe the opponent will not give us many chances to accomplish this. If we fail this time around, it would be extremely difficult to do this again. Therefore, the members of this mission must be extremely strong. We must have confidence in the success of this mission.”

“Both my magic puppet and I will take part,” Link said.

The bulk of the Norton Kingdom army was in the North. The strongest available combat Magician that was left in the South was Link. Furthermore, he was the most familiar with Wavier’s fighting style. He had no reason to stay out of it.

As for Nana, it had already become a habit to bring her everywhere as his personal bodyguard.

Milda then added, “Count me in as well. I have fully recovered after resting for so many days.”

Romilson quickly continued, “Since the princess is going, I am going as well.”

Anthony, Grenci, and Ferdinand could only smile bitterly as they watched. They were all too old for such an intensive infiltration mission. They would only be a burden if they joined.

Anthony pondered for a moment before saying, “Since it is an infiltration mission, you will need as much speed and anonymity as you can get. I will make a trip to the Yabbas. In three days, I will bring back a combat airship after three days.”

An airship was a convenient long-distance flying vessel. It could also be equipped with a variety of weapons. An airship was like a floating and mobile fortress. It had always been a prized treasure of the Yabba race.

The fact that Anthony could promise an airship in three days demonstrated his wide connections.

With the help of an airship, they would not have to worry about infiltration and retreating.

Ferdinand then mentioned, “I know the Chief Court Magician in the Southmoon Kingdom. Both of us used to study in the same magic academy when we were younger. I will pay him a visit and ask for his help. The appearance of a huge undead army is also a huge threat to the Southmoon Kingdom. I believe he will assist us in controlling the Delonga Kingdom.”

It was also important to disperse the strength of the undead army.

Lastly, it was Grenci’s turn. He laid out his hands helplessly as he said, “I do not have any connections. However, I have a bit of experience in alchemy and have a collection of potions back in the academy. Some of them can be used to heal wounds while some to raise offensive and defensive power. I won’t keep them in my stash anymore. Make a trip to the Mage Tower and take all that you need.”

After the Holy Knights, the airship, potions and a huge group of court Magicians were in place, the assassination could begin.

Link then added, “Wavier’s physical body has been destroyed by my magic puppet, Nana. After he returns to Delonga, he will accumulate an insane amount of power. He will also devise plans to defend against Nana. Before we leave, I will make some adjustments to her.”

Everyone nodded. Link’s magic puppet was extremely strong and could determine the success of this mission. This was a common consensus.

The discussion ended here as everyone went to prepare whatever they needed. Link then approached Anthony and said, “I have captured two important figures of the Dark Elves in this mission. One of them is Dark Prince Walter, while the other is an elder of the Silver Moon Alliance, Aymons. I believe sending them to the North will be a good idea. We might be able to delay the time of the decisive battle.”

At this moment, the entire Kingdom was searching for a way to defend against the Dark Serpent. The longer the time they had to prepare, the higher their chances of success.

Anthony was slightly surprised at these two opportune hostages and said, “You are right, I will inform the people at MI3 to take care of this.”

“That will be great.”

Following which, Link went to find Alloa.

Alloa had already changed into her sleeping attire at that time. She was wearing a blouse and let her hair down freely on her shoulders. Her pair of crimson eyes typical of Dark Elf royals was exceptionally charming. Her figure was even more attractive.

Upon seeing Link, she smiled and said, “I can feel a sense of animosity on your face. Are you preparing to kill people? Let me guess…Is it Wavier?”

“This is not difficult to guess.” Link laid his hands out helplessly. He then glanced around the room and asked, “Where is Celine?”

The moment he asked that question, a mysterious smile crept up on Alloa’s face. She then said, “I cannot tell you. She said it was a surprise.”

“Surprise?” Link did not understand. However, he chose to ignore it and simply wait patiently for the surprise to happen. He then continued, “Do you know magic puppet theory?”

“I started learning about magic puppets after Auselia was defeated by one. You can say that I have a little bit of experience with it.”

“That is sufficient,” Link was slightly surprised. He also only began delving into magic puppet theory after Auselia was defeated. Currently, he was already considered a master in the field. Based on Alloa’s intellect, if she mentioned that she had experience with it, it would probably mean that she had already done ample research.

“Do me a favor; I need to adjust a few flaws that Nana has.”

Nana was almost perfect. However, the fact that her body was made of metallic substances was a fatal flaw.

Wavier was an intelligent person. He would definitely sacrifice more souls to Tabinos after returning to the Delonga Kingdom and ask specifically for Divine Skills that could defeat Nana. Such spells would usually be magnetic in nature and were not difficult to master. Once Wavier mastered such spells, Nana would be in trouble. Therefore, Link had to get rid of this shortcoming.

Alloa certainly would not reject this offer. She nodded and said, “Making improvements to Nana? I am extremely honored to do so.”

Chapter 278: Link is No Longer My Threat

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

Alloa’s personality was very similar to Link’s, especially in how she could sink into the magic spell she was studying and forget all about her surroundings.

That day, they lost track of time in the enchantment room. They used Elemental Healing to replace eating.

Alloa wasn’t familiar with Nana’s body structure, so they didn’t start directly on the modifications. Instead, she studied the information on the structure. During this time, Link read the first magic spell book that the system had rewarded him—Integration of Time and Space.

This was a book purely on spatial magic but also tied in concepts of time. Space and time involved the basic nature of the world. Even Link felt the Mana theories in the book were obscure. Thankfully, he had been deducing the spatial thesis all this time and was extremely familiar with space. After three hours, he had a general understanding of it.

There was not much content in the book. The core was an explanation of how to use spatial power to influence time. It was a great supplement to Link’s spatial thesis.

After finishing, he looked up at Alloa. Seeing that she was still immersed in the explanation of Nana’s Mana structure, he didn’t disturb her. He took out his thesis and started deducing further.

The Integration of Space and Time had given him a lot of inspiration, so this time, the deduction was very successful. He made big advancements in a short while, and he came up with an entirely new spatial formula.

The Integration of Space and Time says that space and time are one body and can transform between each other. Turns out it’s right. Ah, what a wonderful world.

Link’s inspiration bloomed. He continued going through the formula. After another period of time, the formula before him was completely different—it was replaced with a Mana structure.

This structure was abnormally complicated, even surpassing the Titan’s Hand that Link had modified. It contained nearly 1500 runes, including Link’s newest results as well as integrating all of his past knowledge of magic.

Looking at the splendid Mana structure diagram, Link was satisfied. However, there was still room for improvement, so he continued revising.

This time though, things weren’t as smooth. Link was quickly stumped while fixing a flaw. There seems to be a logical endless loop. Tsk, how can this be? Is this the highest level for this spell?

He couldn’t figure it out and made no progress in half an hour. Link didn’t force it though. He told Alloa that he wanted to go walk around outside and clear his mind. Alloa was completely immersed in the magic puppet structure, so she just waved to show that she heard him.

Link opened the door and started out. He pondered while walking and reached his room in the Mage Tower without realizing. Looking at the window at the end of the hallway, he saw that it was dark out. He took out his pocket watch and realized that it was already 11 at night. Link sighed.

Time really flies. Whatever. My body can’t be compared to Alloa’s, so I’ll go rest and wait until my mind is awake to continue.

He opened the door and entered his room.

The room was very big and had a living room outside. When he walked into the living room, he surprisingly found Celine curled up on the leather chair, asleep.

She was a light sleeper. When she heard the noise, she twitched and opened her sleepy eyes. Seeing it was Link, she woke up immediately and jumped up from the chair. Smiling, she asked, “Link, are you done?”

When she stood up, Link realized that her clothing was weird. All she wore was a black robe. It was really, really thin and he could vaguely see her graceful curves through the fabric under the magic light’s illumination.

After a few takes, Link confirmed that other than the robe, Celine wore nothing else. Seeing that Link had found out, Celine blushed profusely, but she didn’t hide. She smiled shyly and made some poses.

“How do I look?” she asked playfully.

Celine was tall at 5’5″ and only a bit shorter than Link. Usually, Link didn’t feel much when he looked at her body. But now, Celine was basically displaying her entire body. Link could see a pair of long, straight legs that became thicker as he looked up, turning into a perky butt. Higher up, her curves turned smaller into a thin waist. She had a perfect hourglass figure…Link’s heart started pounding.

“Pretty.” Link felt weird, but he wasn’t stupid enough to ask stupid questions like “why are you here?” and “why are you dressed like this?”

“Do you want to see more?” Celine’s cheeks were as red as an apple. She looked up with shy flirtatiousness. Link’s reaction satisfied her because he was finally not like a block of wood.

Her anxiousness from before had faded a lot, and she became confident. Hehe, she thought happily. Seems like I’m pretty attractive.

Link gulped; he didn’t feel tired at all now. He nodded and said, “Of course I want to see.”

“Then bring me to the bedroom.” Celine opened her arms wide.

Link didn’t use any spells this time. He wasn’t that strong, but Celine wasn’t heavy. He picked up his lover and entered the bedroom.

Everything else happened smoothly… Afterwards, Link was in a great mood. He hugged Celine’s soft and warm body, a hand toying with the small red nub on her breast. “What happened today?” he finally asked.

“Nothing, I just wanted to be intimate with you.” With that, Celine suddenly flipped onto Link, pushing her chest out. “Am I pretty or is Alloa pretty?”

Link was kind of confused. Celine’s breasts weren’t big, but they weren’t small either. They felt great to the touch, and they hung in front of him now, trembling a bit. Link would be an idiot to talk about Alloa now. He closed his lips around a breast without hesitation.

“You bad boy!” Celine yelped, forgetting her question completely.

They did another round.

Link overslept that night, which rarely happened, He had planned to only rest for four hours, but he ended up waking up the next day.

After waking, he felt unbelievably refreshed, and his mind was abnormally clear too. He quickly found the answer to the unsolvable problem from last night. It was as if all his pores were clear now too.

“Ah, why didn’t I think of this earlier?” Link was overjoyed. He was just about to get out of bed when he touched a warm and soft body. He suddenly thought of what happened last night. Seeing the beautiful feminine body beside him, he felt a rush again.

No, I can’t. Lust is the path of decline. Enough is enough! With extreme self-restraint, Link pulled the covers over Celine and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Celine didn’t wake up. She made a soft noise and turned over to continue sleeping. Link padded out of the room. Once outside, he cast Elemental Healing on himself and ordered one of the Mage Tower’s maids to make Celine breakfast on time.

The maid was a 40-year-old woman and was obviously experienced. Seeing Link’s state, she smiled brightly until Link escaped. He ran all the way to the enchantment room. When he opened the door, he found that Alloa was still studying.

After looking, he realized she was not looking at the magic puppet’s structure. Instead, she was staring blankly at Link’s spatial thesis. More specifically, she was in deep thought over the Mana structure Link had left last night.

Link had had a taste last night and suddenly thought of Celine’s question. He took a look at Alloa’s chest and was shocked. I was wondering why Celine asked me that! It seems that she felt threatened, haha.

So he had to thank Alloa for their night.

Hearing the noise behind her, Alloa turned around. When she saw Link, she waved without any sign of fatigue. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Link was feeling energetic. Seeing that Alloa was reading his thesis, he asked with some pride, “What do you think?”

“Not bad. It’s pretty deep and completely different from my direction of study, so it enlightened me.” With that, Alloa handed a copy of handwritten notes to Link. “This is my research. Perhaps it will be helpful to you.”

Link accepted it. He flipped through it and instantly felt that he had received something treasurable. “I’m sure this will help me greatly.”

He was itching to start reading immediately, but Alloa stopped him. She pushed Link’s Mana structure over. “You wrote this last night, right?” she asked.

“Yes, but I didn’t finish yet. I ran into a problem last night and couldn’t solve it.” Link pulled a chair over and sat across from the enchantment table.

Alloa’s brows knitted. “I looked through your train of thought. It’s intriguing, but there’s an endless loop. I thought for half a night and thought that if you continue down this road, the spell’s power will be limited even if it’s successful.”

Link laughed. “I was thinking that too, but I have a new path now.”

Alloa’s eyes brightened. “Coincidentally, I do too. How about we both write ours down and see whose is better?”

“Sure.” Link laughed out loud. He took out pen and paper and started writing.

This time, his thoughts flowed smoothly. Within ten minutes, an entirely new Mana structure appeared on the paper. It was mostly similar to last night’s, but many details had been changed, especially one part of the core. The endless loop was broken, bringing new hope to the spell.

Alloa finished too and pushed her scroll over. Link did the same.

They exchanged the scrolls and fell silent after reading. Then they met each other’s eyes and burst into laughter. It felt as if they had found their soulmates.

Their solutions were exactly identical. They both wrote on their scrolls that they were the most powerful, but the spells had the same structure.

“Is there a max limit for this spell?” Link asked while laughing.

Alloa shook her head. “The only restraints should be the spell caster’s own power. With your current Mana, you can probably reach the pinnacle of Level-7. If you add some medicine and wands, it’ll be even stronger.”

“Why don’t you name it?” Link asked. For some reason, the game system didn’t give a reward. There probably weren’t enough Omni Points.

Alloa thought for a moment and said, “This combined the mysteries of time and space’s laws. The original state of magic is a small ball, so let’s just call it Space-Time Orb.”

Once she said this, a message appeared in Link’s vision.

Player created spell Space-Time Orb

Space-Time Orb

Non-level Master Magician Spell

Effect: Create an incredible ball of time and space. This ball can change its shape at the spell caster’s will. It possesses the amazing power of killing all organisms and freezing time and space!

(Note: Link’s toy ball.)

At this moment, Alloa looked at the spell’s structure and could not help but sigh. “Ah, giving myself the undying law was the worst idea. Now I’m looking at such a beautiful spell, but I can’t learn it. It’s such a pity. Such a pity!”

It was like a man who had been starved for three days and three nights suddenly tied onto a chair and placed before a feast. It was torture.

“Is there no way around it?” Link asked.

“There is. If we completely understand the Dark Serpent Divine Gear and then I light the Sacred Fire, I’ll be able to go against Firuman’s laws.”

“Light the Sacred Fire…How about we think about more realistic problems now? Are you familiar with Nana’s situation now?”

“Yes, and I have some ideas already. Look at this.” Alloa took out another scroll for Link.

Link studied it and sighed after ten minutes. “Alloa, this is perfect. This way, not only will Nana not fear magnetic spells, but she’ll also be able to use them.”

No wonder she was the Maiden of Truth; she was incredibly efficient. Not only did she understand Nana’s structure within a day, but she’d even found a way to make up for the flaws. She was amazing!

Link was completely impressed.

“Then let’s start with the modifications. I’ll call Nana over.”

…

Just as Link and Alloa were busy with fixing Nana, Wavier had returned to the Delonga Kingdom in the South. He was in a hidden valley. It was his own Necropolis.

After resurrecting a corpse, he had prepared long ago, Wavier’s eyes darkened. “Link is no longer my threat. I must find a way to deal with that piece of metal.”

He couldn’t do this, but he believed his master would have an idea. However, he needed more sacrifices for this.

Thinking of this, he called, “Taroko! Taroko!”

After a while, an Undead Knight dressed in glamorous black thorns walked over. He was shrouded in a cloud of dark red blood mist, and he grasped a sword made entirely of white bone.

Clang. Taroko stabbed the sword into the ground before him, and he knelt onto one knee. “Master, what is your order?”

Wavier gazed at Taroko in satisfaction. This was his strongest Warrior with perfect battle techniques. He strengthened Taroko, no expenses spared. Now, Taroko had reached Level-8 and was an important general of the Necropolis.

“I need as many living humans as possible. At least 10,000!”

“Yes, Master. Give me two days!” Taroko said hoarsely. His tone was emotionless. Ten thousand living beings were like 10,000 ants to him.

Chapter 279: Saving His Mentor

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

The creaking sound of wheels could be heard.

A prisoner carriage was heading slowly northwards on King’s Lane.

There were two people inside the carriage. One of them was Aymons. He had neither arms nor legs and was thus placed within a bag made out of ropes. The material was extremely soft and comfortable. He had also been given some basic treatment for the wounds he suffered from that battle. The second person was Dark Prince Walter. Walter was a young man and had a strong physique. He thus received harsher treatment. He had injuries all over his body and was wearing an inmate attire with an unbearable od

The carriage was filled with feces. A small part of it was from the previous inmates who stayed in this carriage. However, most of it came from the both of them. This was the most embarrassing part of the entire trip.

“Aymons, are you alright?” Walter asked, concerned about Aymons’ wellbeing. Aymons did not move for the entire trip and had faint breath. Walter could not help but worry.

Seeing that there was no response, he then shouted, “Master? Master? How are you?”

As he shouted, he stuck his hand into the rope bag.

Aymons finally spoke, “Stop shaking, I am still alive!”

“How are you feeling now?” Walter asked concernedly.

Aymons then replied grumpily, “Look at my current state. I am placed inside a basket like a goddamn baby. Do you think I would feel good?”

As Aymons spoke, he shook his body to show his displeasure.

Walter fell speechless. Although the situation was dire, he could not help but laugh upon seeing Aymons actions.

“I’m sorry, Master, I did not mean to laugh at you, I just cannot help it. Hahaha…Pft…” Walter felt that he was seeking joy amidst sorrow.

Aymons was too devastated to feel anger anyway. He said, “Laugh all you want. Laugh while we still can.”

The moment Aymons said those words, Walter stopped laughing. He truly felt like crying. As the prince of the Dark Elves, his powers were completely sealed by his enemy. The muscles in his arms and legs were also destroyed. They even smeared a withering poison on his wounds. He had become a completely useless individual.

He had no hope of recovery. The people who administered these treatments on him were not humans, but High Elves. They were a hundred times more effective in these areas. He would live the rest of his life as a cripple.

From his perspective, he would be better off dead.

“To think that after chivalrously roaming the Dark Forest for 20 years, Dark Prince Walter would end up dancing with excrements and urine in the final moments of his life!” Walter sighed as he said. He looked forward to the end of his life, which would also mark the end of this humiliation.

Aymons stayed silent, although his mood was no different from Walter.

The people in charge of bringing them back to the Fortress were elite scouts from MI3. There were 30 of them. Furthermore, the Norton Kingdom also assigned 100 well-equipped elite Warriors as extra defenses.

The war had lasted for a long time. Those who managed to stay alive were all experienced soldiers. They carried out their mission with an expression of indifference, bolstered by their strong physique.

The elite scouts around the carriage could understand the Dark Elf language. The moment they heard Walter’s words, he turned his head and snickered, “I say the both of you deserve it! Why didn’t you guys stay in the Dark Forest? Instead, you went to the territory of the revered Demon Slayer! Isn’t that courting death?”

Another scout then laughed, “I think they are not courting death; they are merely too dumb!”

The scouts immediately laughed hysterically. One of the scouts even found a stick to poke Aymon’s rope bag as he was feeling bored. He then sneered, “Hey, look at this old guy. Everything below his waist was completely severed! Do you think he is a male or a female?”

“If I were to say, the part above his waist is a male, but anything after that belongs to a female,” another scout laughed as he said.

“Haha, this Dark Elf had an interesting life.”

“Well, the Dark Elves are capable of anything. I even heard that the Silver Moon Family allows incestuous relationships. What were they thinking?”

A scout then stared condescendingly at Walter and provoked, “That is simple. We have a Dark Elf royal right here with us.”

Following which, this scout stuck his face closer to Walter and said, “Tell me; how does it feel getting it on with your sisters?”

Walter felt that his lungs were going to explode anytime soon. He gritted his teeth as he said, “You despicable ants! Be glad that you did not see me before today. If not, you people would already be weeping in hell!”

Splat! The sound of meat tearing and being squashed echoed through the area. A scout had cut off a lump of meat from Walter’s crotch area.

Walter merely felt a chilling sensation around his crotch. As he looked down, the place where his prized possession once lay was now an empty space. Blood was gushing out profusely from the wound.

“Ah? Argh!”

The scout was way too fast. It took Walter’s body three seconds to register the intense pain. He then cried out in despair.

The scout then threw the severed piece of meat on the ground as he laughed, “A prisoner should act like a prisoner. You will have to pay a price for spouting nonsense. Look, your prized possession is now food for the dogs.”

The Warriors who accompanied the scouts on this mission all laughed at these words. No one thought that this was a cruel act. They had experienced true terror and cruelty on the battlefield. If they ended up in the hands of the Dark Elves one day, they would be subjected to torment a hundred times worse than this!

This was war.

At that moment, the carriage had already reached the north side of the Norton Kingdom. It was less than 125 miles to the Orida Fortress. Usually, they should be safe when they were in this proximity to their home base. However, all the scouts heightened their senses in case of any emergencies.

Before they left, Master Link had specifically mentioned the high possibility of a Dark Elf ambush along the way. The people from MI3 had great respect for Link and took his words seriously.

After around a mile, a huge overgrowth could be seen on King’s Lane. The scout leading the way suddenly lifted his hands and took the Sacred Silver crossbow off his back. He then shouted, “My brothers, there is something wrong with the road in front! Be prepared!”

The forest was extremely thick with overgrowth. There seemed to be no peculiarities, except for the fact that it was way too quiet. The closer one got to the forest, the more intense the uneasiness.

“Leader, shall we burn it down in flames?” a scout whispered.

The trees of the Dark Forest were sturdy and sparse. It would be a futile attempt to burn down the Dark Forest. However, the trees here were crumbly in texture and densely packed. Anyone inside would be burned into a crisp if they set fire to the area in front of them.

After the scout leader inspected his surroundings, he felt great imminent danger and nodded. He then shouted, “Set fire!”

At the same time, he ordered, “Get into formation, stay alert!”

All the elite Warriors immediately took down the shields on their backs and formed a compact shielding formation around the carriage. On the other hand, the scouts took out countless low-level fire elemental runes and threw them into the forest after activation.

Boom! Boom! The fire runes were engraved with a Level-1 fireball spell. Upon landing in the forest, it exploded and ignited the flammable overgrowth around the area. The flames then began spreading.

Everything was fine…until something strange happened!

At the spot where the flames were the most intense, fire elementals started concentrating and moving as though they were alive. Eventually, a terrifying giant more than 15-foot-tall appeared, his body covered in flames.

The moment this giant appeared, it bellowed before charging straight towards the carriage.

“It’s a summoning spell! Quick, the dispel scroll!”

A scout immediately brought out a scroll shining with a silver hue. He immediately tore it apart. This scroll was special; after tearing it, the mana energy stored within would be released. A Level-4 dispel spell then formed swiftly in the air.

A silver hue then spread with the scout as the center in all directions. The flaming giant was also engulfed in this spell. Upon touching the silver hue, the giant stopped in its tracks before the fire elements condensed within its body lost control, causing flames to erupt from its body and eventually disintegrate.

The scouts then took out another scroll enveloped in a silver brilliance as a backup. This was an extremely strong Level-6 magic scroll. It could instantly cast a strong defensive spell. It was a gift from the High Elves for them to defend against any strong Dark Elves Magician they met along the way.

He kept it close to him the whole time. The moment he felt the presence of a Level-6 spell, he would activate this scroll instantly.

“Be careful! The ghouls are here!” Someone shouted.

Within the flames, many figures charged forward at high speed. They were extremely fast, and there were more than 20 of them. This normal forest fire seemed to do little to no damage to them. Not only was it not effective in causing injuries, but the fire even ignited the burning desire to kill within these ghouls.

Whooo! The ghouls were emitting a strange sound as their bodies burned with flames. They looked like demons possessed by flames as they charged forward.

“Shoot!” The leader of the scouts shouted. They were all elite troops of MI3. Everyone was equipped with the newest Sacred Silver crossbow and had experience in dealing with ghouls. They adapted to the situation with ease.

Boom! Boom! The crossbow arrows rained down upon the ghouls. Countless white lines flew through the sky as the arrows were imbued with tracking spells to make sure they hit their target.

These arrows were made specifically to deal with objects moving at high speed. They could adjust their trajectory and was the perfect weapon against the ghouls.

In an instant, the sound of arrows penetrating flesh echoed through the forest. The accuracy of the magic arrows was at a staggering high. Screams of pain could be heard constantly from the ghouls. The Sacred Silver was indeed a huge bane to their powers.

There were 20 ghouls to begin with. They started charging at the 150 feet mark. However, when they reached the 90 feet mark, there were only eight of them left. The rest were already lying motionless on the ground.

“Kill them all! Kill them all!” The leader of the scouts bellowed and quickly reloaded his crossbow. He then continued firing at the ghouls. He had already practiced these actions more than a thousand times during the war and completed it in less than a second.

The crossbow then continued firing at high speed.

Within the timespan of three breaths, the last ghoul fell at a distance of 15 feet away from everyone.

“Tsk! A bunch of fools who only knows how to charge!” The scout leader spat at the fallen ghouls and checked his crossbow carefully. After making sure that there were no damages, he then put away this treasured weapon safely.

He then ordered, “Alright, burn these ghouls and collect all the undamaged arrows. Keep an eye out for them! These arrows are not cheap!”

The moment he finished his sentence, an astonished voice rang behind him, “What? Why is the carriage empty?”

Everyone immediately looked behind, and sure enough, the prisoner carriage was completely empty. Two of their prized prisoners were gone just like that.

“The lock is damaged, someone saved them!”

“But we did not see anyone; we were guarding the carriage!”

The scout leader’s face immediately sunk. He walked towards the carriage, and after careful inspection, he gritted his teeth and said, “It’s the work of a Dark Elf Magician. Where are the hounds? We will catch up to them! They must not have gone far!”

“Leader, all the hounds are dead…No, one of them lives! It’s old Hallie!” The scout shouted.

Old Hallie was a ten-year-old hound. The fur on his body was sparse and usually hounds his age were no longer suited for the battlefield. However, resources were scarce in the Norton Kingdom. Their war horses and hounds were depleting at an insane rate. They had to use whatever they had.

This old hound was extremely intelligent. It seemed to have detected danger a long time ago and got out of his cage early, escaping death.

Hallie was brought to the carriage for a sniff. It then barked a few times at the forest which had not been burned down and rushed inside.

“Follow him!” The scout leader waved his hands and commanded the scouts to charge forward.

After a few steps, a scout shouted, “Look! It’s footprints! They must not have gone far!”

The scout leader was elated. He exclaimed, “There should not be many enemies. Just one or two Magicians. Everyone spread out, be careful of any ambush attacks!”

Chapter 280: Fuse Divine Gear? Sure

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

Rustle, rustle. Close footsteps sounded in the forest. Lawndale had cast the Levitation spell on Aymons and Walter and then pushed them through the forest with the Magician’s Hand.

“Lawndale, you shouldn’t have come!” Aymons couldn’t see, and his Mana had been completely sealed off—he was completely useless now. Only death awaited Dark Elves like him, and he didn’t want to involve his favorite disciple.

After Walter lost his man’s pride, he became completely decadent. “Lawndale,” he said in pain. “The Master is right. If you really want to help, kill me!”

Lawndale didn’t speak. He glanced back, sensing that the human pursuers were getting closer and closer. There were also barks from dogs, shocking him. He immediately realized that he had panicked while rescuing them and made a mistake. He didn’t kill all the hounds.

He was not as fast as the scouts, especially with two others with him. If he kept running like this, they would catch up.

He was a Level-6 Magician right now, but those human scouts weren’t weak either. From their past exchanges, he could see that they had rich experience in dealing with Magicians.

Even more importantly, they had an advantage in numbers and also had consecutive crossbows. If they opened fire, Lawndale could kill half of them at most. Then he would be killed by the remaining half of the enemies. His teacher and Prince Walter would be defeated too.

The situation was horrible.

“Look, he’s there! Hurry, I can see him!” someone behind him yelled. It was a human scout; they were around 650 feet away.

An old hound raced before the team and growled loudly. This old dog’s teeth were dull, and its fur had started molting. Its eyes were cloudy too, but it was still ambitious.

Aymons panicked. “Lawndale,” he said furiously. “I command you to put me down and go! Go before it’s too late!”

Lawndale shook his head. “No. Teacher, I will take you to the North.”

As he spoke, he suddenly started running in another direction. The scouts behind him did not give up. They were less than 600 feet away now. With this distance and the hounds, Lawndale practically had nowhere to run to.

Just at this moment, there was a loud boom behind him. A huge pillar of blue fire shot up to the sky. It was the Hellfire that Lawndale had prepared!

Inside the fire, four scouts were burned directly to ashes. The other scouts were terrified and stopped immediately.

Hearing the explosions, Lawndale said, “I set many magic traps in this area. If they dare to chase after us, at least half of them will die!”

Aymons sighed. “Ah, you’re still as thorough as ever, even though I made such a big mistake of being captured.”

Of all his disciples, Lawndale was the most similar to him; he also thought the highest of Lawndale.

There was a messy commotion behind them.

“Be careful; it’s a magic trap! F*ck! Spread out, spread out! Watch your steps!” the lead scout yelled.

Thankfully, the old hound Hallie was fine. The dog was abnormally sensitive to danger. Even though it ran in the front, it had carefully avoided the trap.

Boom! As soon as the leader finished speaking, another scout stepped onto a trap. Thankfully, the group had already spread out with 50 feet between them. This time, the trap didn’t hurt anyone else.

However, setting off so many traps had scarred all the scouts mentally. They all grew fearful, and they slowed down considerably.

The distance increased again.

“Follow old Hallie! It can avoid the traps so follow it!” a scout suddenly cried. He’d discovered that the dog would go around all the traps.

The scouts followed his suggestion, and it worked. Everything was safe if they followed in Hallie’s path.

In the distance, Lawndale frowned. He had prepared carefully before rescuing the two and set ten traps along the way. He’d put great thought into every single one and were hard to miss. How come there were only two explosions?

Walter realized what was wrong. “It’s that hound. It’s leading them.”

Lawndale glanced back and saw the dog cleverly bypass a trap. The scouts behind it ran along its path, turning Lawndale’s trap into a piece of decor. He couldn’t believe his fatal trick would be ruined by an old dog. Thankfully, he always had a backup plan.

After another three minutes, the scouts at the front were around 250 feet away. They had already raised their crossbows and were ready to attack. At this time, no one cared about the lives or deaths of these three Dark Elves. No one thought about keeping captives; they just wanted to kill these three guys.

“They’re going to attack!” Walter exclaimed.

He was very clear about the power of these continuous crossbows. One or two were fine, but there were at least 30 soldiers. If they started attacking, there could be more than 100 arrows in an instant. In this situation, even a Level-6 spell wouldn’t be enough. Furthermore, Lawndale didn’t even know Level-6 defensive spells.

Lawndale could feel the danger too, but he knew he was already safe. A river had appeared before them. It had fast rapids and was more than 300 feet wide. The deepest part was 100 feet, and it had many undercurrents too. Even the strongest Warrior would have a hard time swimming past it. However, it was no problem for a Magician.

Lawndale sprinted to the riverbank and jumped. Simultaneously, he cast the Levitation spell for himself. Then he multitasked and cast a Level-4 defensive spell—Frost Crystal Shield!

Ping! Ping! Ping! As soon as the shield was formed, five or six white dots appeared on it. The enemy had attacked, and the rate was abnormally dense.

Ping! Ping! Ping! There were three more arrows, and the Frost Crystal Shield cracked just like that. It had only survived for around one second, and Lawndale had only floated out around 30 feet. More arrows came, but Lawndale discovered he had no time to cast spells.

How can the human crossbows be so powerful? He was totally shocked, but thankfully, he had a third trick. He had a very strong Defensive Magic Tool with him.

Buzz. With a soft noise, a light green halo appeared. This was the Level-5 defensive spell Advanced Arrow Defense.

Puff, puff, puff, puff. The arrows rained down like a thunderstorm. After three seconds, the Level-5 spell was defeated too, but Lawndale’s group had only floated out around 130 feet. They were still within range of the arrows.

“Shoot! Kill them all!” the lead scout roared.

Boom, boom, boom! Nearly 30 scouts stood in a row and released a flurry of arrows at Lawndale. After the Frost Crystal Shield was broken, Lawndale had run out of tricks!

Are we really going to die? Lawndale didn’t expect he would end up like this. He couldn’t help but think of how Link had brought some scouts into the Skeletal Fort and left unharmed. Now, he only faced a few scouts but had become so pathetic. He was forced into a dead end by a dog.

Are we really that far apart? Lawndale was depressed.

At the last moment, Walter, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly jumping before Lawndale.

Pop, pop, pop. Nine arrows shot into Walter at once. All of his vitals were stuck with Sacred Silver arrows, but he still didn’t die. Blood trickling from his mouth, he said, “Lawndale, when you return to the Black Forest, tell…tell Wasia…I died on the battlefield—”

Before he could finish, an arrow shot through his head.

Lawndale was shaken. Using Walter’s block, he completed another defensive spell, but it was too late. Walter was dead.

Pop, pop, pop. Arrows continued to bury into Walter’s body, practically turning him into a training target. Using this opportunity, Lawndale finally floated more than 250 feet; they were out of the range of the humans’ continuous crossbows. They were temporarily safe.

Plop. Lawndale let go of Walter’s body, letting it disappear into the water.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “I’ll tell Wasia that you’re a hero!”

Wasia, the royal princess, was Walter’s aunt. Ten years apart, they were aunt and nephew, as well as lovers. This was common in royal families.

Wasia was also a genius Magician. She was 46 years old and was already a Level-7 Magician. She followed the royal family’s low-key style, but everyone in the Dark Elf Magician world knew that she had a powerful Warrior talent. She also had a staunch temperament.

Lawndale could already imagine Wasia’s reaction after learning about Walter’s demise. She would definitely go onto the battlefield to take revenge personally.

After that, Lawndale and Aymons were both silent. They floated toward the other riverbank without a word.

…

The other side.

The scouts looked at the rapid current powerlessly. The leader’s expression darkened. He turned back and said, “Did anyone bring the mail carrier crows? Send this news to Orida Fortress. Tell them to barricade the front.”

For them, this was the most embarrassing solution and had low a chance of success, because the enemy was a powerful Magician. He had a thousand ways of passing through the kingdom’s Iron Wall Defense Line.

“Yes,” a subordinate answered.

After a while, a few crows flew up. They flapped their wings, heading toward the Orida Fortress.

Lawndale discovered this too. He knew that within a short period of time, there would be many human scouts and Magicians on the road to stop him. His only solution in the Norton Kingdom would be to hurry up.

“Lawndale, you shouldn’t have rescued me!” Aymons said again.

“Actually, this wasn’t only my idea. Chancellor Romand supported me too,” Lawndale said.

“Romand? Ah, he only cares about his spells. Since when would he care about other things?” Aymons didn’t understand this. Romand, chancellor of the Silver Moon Mage Council and the only Level-8 Master Magician of the Black Forest, was obsessed with magic. All he thought about was studying spells and rarely took part in the government affairs of the Black Forest.

“The fusion of the Dark Serpent failed. This is the biggest event in history. Of course, the chancellor will pay attention. In reality, he already knew about your situation. His idea was, if you agree, you can fuse the Divine Gear.”

“Me? But I’m disabled now. If I can do, I definitely will, but I don’t have the Silver Moon blood. How do I fuse it?”

The fusing of Divine Gear had always been limited to the Silver Moon royal tribe.

“This is not a problem. We can perform a sacrifice to the Lady of Darkness. I believe she will agree for you to handle her weapon,” Lawndale said.

The Divine Gear would not care that Aymons was disabled because it could easily recover his power. It just needed Aymons’ head.

This way, Aymons would only have half a year left in existence. After half a year, the Divine Gear would return to the void, and his soul would be torn to pieces.

He agreed without hesitation. “Let’s do it!”

Chapter 281: Honestly, I Do Not Like These Wretched People

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

Three days later, in a valley within the Ferde Wilderness

The valley was extremely spacious. The two mountains surrounding it was more than 300 feet in height, making it impossible for anyone outside to notice what was going on in the valley.

There were 14 people standing in the middle of the valley: Link, Milda, Romilson, Nana, eight Holy Knights, and two archbishops. They were all members of this assassination mission.

It was right in the heat of summer. The sunlight shone mercilessly on their faces. Although there were spells that could lower the temperature around them, it was still uncomfortable to stand under the sun. Everyone had a look of restlessness on their faces.

“Why are they still not here?” Romilson said impatiently.

Link then took his watch and said, “We are still five minutes away from the agreed timing. The Yabba race is pretty punctual. They should be here anytime soon.”

“I’ve heard that the battle airship of the Yabba race is not that reliable. It could fall from the sky just due to a slight navigation error. Is that true?” a Holy Knight wiped the perspiration from his forehead as he said. He was wearing an entire set of Sacred Silver imbued armor. It was extremely stuffy and warm.

Romilson laughed as he said, “There is truly more to be desired for its reliability. However, it is indeed extremely fast. Furthermore, even if it truly falls, we still have some levitation spells. We will be fine.”

“Alright. Stop spouting nonsense.” Milda stared at Romilson sternly. Romilson then shrugged his shoulders and stopped talking.

Four minutes later, the whirling sound of machinery could be heard from the sky. In a few moments, a huge black shadow appeared on the sky above the Ferde Wilderness.

Everyone glanced towards that direction.

This was an extremely huge airship. It was 50 feet long and 20 feet wide. The exterior of the airship was made from a pure black metallic substance. There were a huge number of magic circles drawn on top of the metal. The air right below the airship also showed signs of distortion, with huge fluctuations in the wind elements around the airship. On the sides of the airship was one black cannon each. They were the Yabba race’s prided magic cannons. It was rumored to have an extremely fast firing frequency, up to a maximum of 30 shots per minute. The firepower of each shot was no weaker than a Level-6 spell. It possessed extremely terrifying offensive power on the battlefield.

This humongous object slowly descended. By the time it reached the ground, the magic circle at the bottom of the airship had made contact with the valley.

Whoosh! A huge amount of dust and gravel were blown up from the ground, coupled with a strong gust of wind.

Link immediately released a Level-2 defensive spell, enveloping everyone in a light glow, preventing them from being hit by the wind.

Milda then glanced at Link before asking, “You seem to have achieved another breakthrough in your spellcasting techniques?”

Link nodded before saying, “I have to thank Alloa for this. She helped me perfect many of my spellcasting techniques these few days. I have also progressed greatly in the area of Spatial Magic.

“That mixed-blood Dark Elf? I am curious. Why did you choose to believe her right away and even shared Nana’s information with her? What if…”

Milda did not complete her sentence. Link naturally understood what she was getting at. He could not mention that he had information from the game. Furthermore, history was changing in this world. If he continued using his in-game knowledge to judge a person’s character, there was bound to be problems. One example would be Wavier. He was not an interesting figure in the game. However, he had turned into a huge boss in this timeline.

More often than not, the final state of a person was determined not by their character or personality, but by their fate.

Therefore, although Link had pretended to give Alloa great trust on the surface, he had planned many things in the shadows. He then said, “I did not believe her entirely. I have placed many spies around the Mage Tower. This was also the reason why I did not bring Celine with me this time around as well.”

With Alloa’s wisdom, these spies would not be able to fool her. However, Link believed that if she harbored no harm, she would not be affected by time as well.”

At that moment, the airship had landed, and the door on its left open. A staircase was then lowered, and a small, green-haired Yabba stood at the door. He waved at them as his sharp, child-like voice echoed through the area, “Hey, big guys! Come on in!”

Link and the rest then walked over.

Fortunately, the airship that the Yabba race created was not as small as their build. In fact, their airship was really spacious. Furthermore, it was extremely luxurious. It was filled with many magic circles meant for increasing the comfort of the ride.

“Come, sit here.” The previous Yabba led the way and only stopped when they reached the front of the airship.

The front of the airship was in the shape of a semicircle. There were large transparent windows around and provided a good view of the surrounding area. Everyone also got to know the name of the Yabba along the way. He was called Merlin, the captain of this ship named USS Owl.

“Hey big guys, sit down. I have heard about your encounters. Killing a Necromancer…That is truly an exciting adventure. It should be fun!” Merlin found a chair for himself and lifted his head to look at everyone enthusiastically.

Everyone exchanged glances in confusion. From their perspective, this mission was extremely dangerous, and they had a high chance of dying. However, this little guy actually mentioned that it would be fun. That was unimaginable.

The name of the commander of the Holy Knights was Joseph Hannibal. He was a level-7 Holy Knight from the church and was extremely powerful. He was 38 years old and once single-handedly defeated an evil, thousand-eyed demon from another dimension. He had a prestigious reputation in the church and was one of the six　Knights of Judgement. The success of this mission depended largely on him.

He then whispered to Link who was beside him, “Master, I feel that this little guy is not very reliable.”

Link the smiled and said, “Don’t worry; they are usually like this—careful but adventurous. The moment the battle begins, you will realize that they are extremely reliable partners.”

Link was not exactly soft when he said those words. Merlin could hear them clearly and smiled cheerfully at those words. He then said, “Master Link is right! You can leave it up to us the moment the battle begins!”

Milda also started to converse with the Yabba. She said, “Three years ago, I met Lady Fortuna Elin. Is she alright?”

Upon mentioning about Elin, Merlin did not smile. His face sunk as he frowned and sighed, “Not good. Not good at all. Elin seemed to have seen a terrifying future. She kept saying that the Dark Elves would infiltrate our Scientific City of Lariel. She has been persuading the king to move northwards. However, all of us thought that the Dark Elves had no such power.”

Link was startled when he heard those words. He then asked, “Do you guys not trust her?”

Merlin shrugged his shoulders and said, “Elin has great talent in the field of magic. That is something no one doubted. However, something like seeing the future is only possible if you are a god. This thing is way too intangible. Furthermore, the Yabba race has already lived in Lariel for 3000 years. You cannot possibly ask an entire race to move just because of a vague prophecy. Am I right?”

He was right as well. Prophecy spells were often vague and mysterious. After all, no one knew what the future held.

Merlin then laid his hands out helplessly and sighed before saying, “Actually, I do believe Elin on this. The Dark Elves are too insane. Who knows what they are capable of? However, the faith of one person is not enough.”

This was the internal politics of the Yabba race. No one dared to continue this conversation. Milda then broke the silence by saying courteously, “May the God of Light be with us.”

Everyone then echoed her words, “May the God of Light be with us.”

The atmosphere was slightly tense, and after a few minutes, Merlin broke the silence as he brought a letter to Link. He said, “Duke Abel wanted you to have this when we passed by the Orida Fortress. From his looks, it does not seem to be something good.”

Link was startled and tore it open upon receiving it. After reading the letter, Link’s face sunk.

“What happened?” Milda asked.

Link then handed over the letter.

After Milda saw the letter, she pursed her lips in silence. Seeing that Joseph was interested as well, she handed the letter over.

After Joseph read the letter, he patted his thighs in exasperation and gasped, “The Dark Elves truly are nothing but trouble!”

This letter was not some top-secret. Soon, everyone in the airship had taken a look at it, though their faces were now ridden with worry.

There were a total of three information on the letter. Firstly, it informed that Aymons had been saved by the Dark Elves while Dark Prince Walter was killed on the spot. Secondly, it mentioned that Aymons had fused with the Dark Serpent, making him the wielder of the Divine Gear. Thirdly, MI3 had found the presence of high-level demons heading southwards. Currently, they were still keeping tabs on them, though their destination was unclear.

The first two pieces of information did not have much impact on the people here. However, the last one was strange no matter how one looked at it. high-level demons were creatures summoned by the Dark Elves, and they listened solely to the Dark Elves’ command. Why would they head south?

Romilson asked, “Do you think they are here to support Wavier?”

Lin sighed as he said, “Without the first two pieces of information, I would not be sure. However, now that Aymons has fused with the Divine Gear, I can confirm that we will be meeting a large number of demons at Wavier’s Necropolis.

Aymons took part in the battle that day as well. With his intellect, he could definitely guess their follow-up plans. Sending high-level demons to stop them now could prevent unnecessary trouble. Even if they did not make an attempt to kill Wavier, Aymons would suffer no loss as well.

High-level demons were extremely strong creatures that came in different varieties. Each of them had a specific battle style that was unique and powerful.

In essence, it was bad news.

Everyone fell silent. Even Merlin, who loved adventures stopped joking around. Adventuring was one thing, but if the opponent was so strong that they did not stand a chance, it would not be fun.

Nana immediately asked, “Master, do I have to prioritize demons in battle?”

She was not afraid at all. Her voice was as crisp and clear as ever. Under such circumstances, it even sounded as if she was slightly excited.

Merlin looked at Nana as he patted his head and said with a bitter smile on his face, “Master, you magic puppet is so interesting. I think I have fallen in love.”

…

South, Necropolis.

A group comprised of 13 high-level demons arrived at the entrance of the Necropolis. The leader of the group had curly horns, a glamorous human face, two purple wings, huge breasts, long legs, and a curvy butt. She had two purple scales covering her important body parts and sheep hooves. She even possessed a sharp thorn whip as a weapon. She belonged to a highly-regarded race of high-level demons called Fine-Scaled Succubus.

She stared at the Necropolis and cracked her whip with great force, making a loud snapping sound. She then smiled sinisterly and said, “Frankly speaking, I don’t really like these bunch of skeletons. They don’t know how to have fun.”

Chapter 282: Necropolis (1)

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

Whirr, whirr. Under the soft hum of the magic seal’s operation, the USS Owl flew through the thick clouds three miles in the air. It flew toward Delonga at the speed of 300 miles per hour.

Going from the Ferde Wilderness to deep inside the Delonga Kingdom did not take even one hour. Afterwards, the airship slowed down and began searching for the specific location of the Necropolis.

Skinorse’s intelligence had mentioned the existence of a necropolis, but the specific location was still unknown. They only knew that it was in central Delonga. As for the information about 30,000 soldiers, he had received it from a prisoner of war. It was a conservative estimate.

The actual situation was unclear.

Looking for places was easy for the Yabba race.

“Activate the Detection Magic Seal…Begin searching for dark waves,” airship commander Merlin ordered seriously. He was completely different from the smiley man from before.

Whirr. With a soft hum, a clear apparition appeared in the air of the airship. It recorded the specific details of the ground below the airship. The forest, paths, bridges, villages, passersby, and even their faces could be seen clearly.

Beep, beep, beep. Every two seconds, a blue ripple would scan the image, and every living organism in it would glow.

The average person glowed dimly. According to their different body stats, the glows of different basic elements would appear. Blue, green, white, and other colors were all normal.

After around two minutes, there was suddenly a group of knights with a black halo. There were around 13 of them, all wearing armor. At a glance, they didn’t look any different from the average man. However, at closer inspection, one could see that their eyes and skin were dark. Their armor was in the style of the Delonga Kingdom, but the runes on the surface were all dark runes.

“They’re Undead Knights. They use a special method to hide their aura and disguise their appearances. This is a battle zone, and they’ve appeared here…Oh, they’re capturing civilians!”

These knights ran directly toward a village. When they arrived, they spread out and blocked all the exits. Then a few walked into the village. After saying something, the near 300 villagers were gathered and forced out from the village by the powerful Undead Knights.

The villagers were of all ages. They didn’t know what their fates were, but this didn’t stop their fear. Some women cried out, while some youths tried to escape. This was all to no avail. One fleeing young man was grabbed and had his feet and hands cut off. Rather than killing him, the Undead Knight left him howling on the ground.

This terrified all the villagers. They began crying and screaming louder, but no one tried escaping again.

“They’ll either be turned into sacrifices or undead soldiers. Should we rescue them?” Merlin asked.

“Of course,” Royal Knight Joseph said without hesitation. “We need to capture some Undead Knights to lead the way too.”

Princess Milda immediately disagreed. “I think it’s best if we don’t act. These Undead Knights are psychologically connected to Wavier. If something happens to them, Wavier will know immediately, and our sneak attack will be revealed.”

Their plan this time was a raid. The more sudden and speedy it was, the more likely it would be successful.

Joseph opened his mouth to argue, but finally, he sighed and stopped speaking. Rescuing the villagers now would cause them to lose on the big picture. However, watching these villagers fall into the abyss of darkness and despair was against the church.

“No need to worry,” Link comforted him. “If we hurry to the Necropolis before them and defeat Wavier, the villagers will be saved.”

The churchmen nodded, but their expressions were all heavy.

Then Link said to Merlin, “We must speed up. Wavier’s strength is increasing tremendously!”

Merlin nodded and ordered the pilot beside him, “Extend the detection range to 30 miles and use the Fuzzy Detection Spell!”

The image instantly enlarged and stopped showing the specific details. It only showed the general aura current. The auras were all different colors and kept moving, making it look like a weather radar map.

After flying for around 100 miles, Merlin pointed at a large patch of darkness. “Look at this forest. It has five percent higher black aura density than the surroundings. It must mean something!”

With that, he gestured at the pilot. This tiny pilot manipulated the magic seal before him, and the image instantly sharpened, revealing a dense southern forest.

Royal Knight Joseph only took a glance before saying, “This forest is not normal. It’s too dark and doesn’t have many animals!”

The image continued changing. After a while, Link exclaimed, “Stop! Look at that area!”

The image stopped. It revealed a ball of thick fog that floated above the entire forest. It covered thousands of square miles of land, making it impossible for them to see what was inside.

This was Delonga’s Forest of Poisonous Mist. The entire forest was filled with miasma and having fog was pretty normal. However, the image had shown many clusters of fog, and it was abnormally dense. This was beyond the limit of a natural occurrence.

“Can you scan the auras in this area?” Link asked Merlin.

“Of course.” Merlin snapped, and the area turned into the aura current map from before.

The weird thing was that there were no abnormal aura waves in this fog area. It seemed to merge perfectly with the rest of the forest.

“No abnormalities,” Romilson said.

“No, the biggest abnormality is that there are no abnormalities. We saw that the white fog area is much denser than the surroundings. The surrounding fog areas are filled with thick life toxins. This area is the same, but according to logic, its toxicity should be higher because the fog is thicker. However, it’s the exact same right now!”

“Someone has purposely disguised it,” Milda caught on.

“Merlin, can we see through the fog?” Link asked again.

Merlin shrugged. “We can’t do that. You must know, we’re 18 miles above it. Showing the specific images is already the limit.”

“Then we’ll have to go down and check personally. The fog is filled with natural toxins, and a mid-level antidote will work. Alright, Merlin, find a place to let us down. You don’t need to get too close. Just wait for us outside.”

“No problem.”

The airship started descending and stopped when it was around 1000 feet high. The cabin door opened and the people started jumping out one-by-one. When the Royal Knights jumped, Link cast a Levitation spell for each of them. Then it was Romilson’s turn.

This guy had serious acrophobia. He clutched the door while shaking, too scared to look down.

“Your Highness, Link, you two jump first. I need to prepare myself.”

“Coward!” Upset, Milda walked over and kicked him in the butt. Romilson screamed and fell outward.

Link quickly cast the Levitation spell for him. Otherwise, with Romilson’s current state, he might become the first Magician to die by falling.

After kicking him, Milda smiled at Link. “He would’ve prepared for the rest of his life, so someone had to help him.”

With that, she jumped out, leaving Link alone.

The two priests were responsible for treatment, so they didn’t participate in the battle and stayed in the airship.

At this time, one walked over, handing a palm-sized white carving to Link. “Master Link, this is the carving of Saint Rafael. It is usually placed in the Constance Church of the Hot Spring City and has 200 years of history. Archbishop Teroll asked me to give it to you. It contains Level-9 Holy Power. Take it just in case, but I hope you won’t need it.”

Link accepted the carving. “I understand. Thank you!”

This meant he had a backup that could save his life. After carefully putting away the carving, Link jumped down too.

In order to keep the airship hidden, everyone landed outside the forest. When Link and the others landed, the airship immediately shot up and returned to the clouds three miles in the air to hide.

“Alright, continue surveying the forest and be prepared to give reinforcements at any time!” Merlin ordered.

…

On the ground.

Link and the others all landed. Including Nana, there were 14 people, and they quickly gathered.

Link observed the surrounding situation. He saw that there were many huge beech trees that blocked the sunlight. There was a thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground. Marshes and puddles could be seen everywhere, producing clouds of the rotting odor that floated around. The entire forest was dark, damp, and decayed.

“Ah, these damn mosquitos!” Romilson suddenly slapped himself. When he removed his hand, everyone saw that there was the corpse of a huge piebald mosquito on his face. Then a red bump the size of a thumb appeared on his handsome face at a visible speed.

It itched and hurt. Romilson reached out to scratch it, but he didn’t dare use too much strength. He almost cried out.

After that, the others were attacked by the insects too. They’d just set off but already became a bit disordered. This was kind of unexpected. Even worse, they were all northerners and had no experience in fighting in a southern forest. They did not prepare enough.

Nana was the most at ease. No insects could bite through her metallic shell. Seeing everyone’s miserableness, she found it weird. “Master,” she asked Link, “should I put the insects on the list to be cleared out?”

“…No.” Link was speechless. Nana was so belligerent that she wouldn’t even let the insects go.

A few minutes later, Milda got bitten in the neck. She took out the Elf Nectar and drank it all. Treating bug bites with holy medicine was honestly like using cannons to kill mosquitoes.

After a while, Link suddenly reached out and cast a Whistle. With a thud, a black snake fell out of a pile of leaves. Link walked over and skinned it with practiced ease. Then he took out the gall.

“What’s that for?” Romilson asked.

“These snakes usually eat insects and are the insects’ natural enemy. The smell of the snake’s gallbladder can effectively keep the insects away.” As Link spoke, he burst the gallbladder. Using a wind spell, he turned the bile into a cloud of mist and blew it past everyone lightly.

Link had learned this from a biology magazine. It had explained in detail how to survive in the southern forest, and now, the knowledge was finally put to use.

Indeed, they were bitten less after they were shrouded in the black snake’s smell. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Otherwise, they would probably lose their lives during battle if the mosquitoes kept buzzing in their ears.

Later, Royal Knight Joseph led the group in the front. Link was behind him, pointing the way. After around one mile, the fog suddenly grew thicker, and there was an acrid bite to the smell.

“We’ve reached the miasma area. Everyone, drink the mid-level antidote.” Link took out a bottle of green medicine and drank it all. He had gotten this from Grenci, and it was very effective.

Everyone else started drinking too. As the most powerful Warrior, Joseph was still on guard while drinking. He looked in all directions, cautious of everything. Suddenly, a black shadow flashed past the corner of his vision. Surprised, he downed the medicine and unsheathed his crossed sword.

“Be careful. We might’ve been spotted by the undead!”

At the same time, a message started flashing in Link’s vision.

Mission activated: Wavier’s Necropolis

Mission step one: Find the specific location of the Necropolis.

Mission reward: Level-8 spell book Essence of the Flame.

Link took a deep breath and accepted it.

Chapter 283: Necropolis (2)

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

Forest of Poisonous Mist.

“Look!” Joseph stared at the area where he could see the black figure. This was a piece of marshland, and the footprints could be seen clearly etched on the soft ground.

Link walked forward at observed for a moment before saying, “The size of the footprint is around one-foot-long and half a foot deep. It looks like a demon that stands on two feet upright. Its steps are extremely wide. It can cover a distance of nine feet in a step. I predict that this demon is at least nine feet tall and weighs 1540 pounds. It is extremely strong!”

He then circled the area and quickly found more information, “There is a hint of potassium nitrate and sulfur in the air. Looking at this footprint, I would suppose that this demon could not control its power after the sudden change in geography in this area. The area around the footprint shows signs of being charred. If I’m not wrong, this is a Fodor Flaming Demon. It is around Level-7 in strength.”

Fodor Flaming Demon

High-level Demon

Description: This demon controls the power of the demonic flame. It uses two flaming machetes as its weapons. Usually, this demon will be above Level-6 in strength. Adult Fodor Flaming Demons can reach Level-7 in strength. Once they become of age, their flames and sword techniques will strike fear into even the bravest of Warriors!

(Note: The perfect fire Warrior)

The moment everyone heard Link’s voice, their face was consumed by an expression of horror. Milda then sighed, “It seems like those high-level demons are really here to help Wavier.”

Link stood up and cleaned the dirt on his hand from his inspection of the footprints. He then said, “It is something within expectations. Joseph, from now onwards, we will be facing consecutive waves of Undead Warriors and demons. Prepare the Sacred Silver.”

Due to its effectiveness against ghouls, the recipe to create Sacred Silver was now widely circulated. The church naturally got hold of this recipe and even made many adjustments to improve its effectiveness. The Sacred Silver in their hands now were at least 50% stronger than Link’s original version.

“I understand.”

Joseph took out a bottle and started pouring the liquid Sacred Silver into a special groove made in their swords. This way, as long as a sword of the Holy Knights come into contact with the opponent, Sacred Silver would be injected into their bodies.

The other Holy Knights also did the same.

Link then told Nana, “From now onwards, as long as you detect the presence of any demons, eliminate them!”

“I understand, Master!”

Clang! With a light metallic sound, Nana took out her two epic quality daggers. The two daggers were extremely aesthetic, especially the Last Nightmare. The moment it appeared, air ripples appeared around Nana, which was a testament to the dagger’s power. This made Nana looked extremely intimidating.

Romilson and Milda were completely amazed at the two daggers. It was the first time they were seeing the true form of this two Epic daggers. They could not help but exclaim softly.

Romilson said in disbelief, “Where did these two weapons come from? Why have I not seen records of them?”

How could two such high-quality weapons that even impressed the High Elves not be written down in the annals of history?

Milda was a few steps ahead of Romilson and asked, “Link, you made them recently?”

Link then nodded his head in agreement and said, “It took me a lot of energy to craft them. There is even some luck involved. If I were to do it again, I might not be able to craft something of this caliber anymore.

Although Link was trying to be humble, it somehow made the High Elves feel bitter.

Joseph, on the other hand, did not feel impressed by the daggers. He merely felt that they were extremely beautiful and elegant. Nana also looked strong wielding them, which would be helpful in their future battles.

“Let’s go; time is tight.” He then probed the rest to move forward.

Everyone followed tightly behind him. After ten minutes, they realized that something is amiss.

“I think we have come back to our previous position. Look, this was where we walked,” Joseph pointed at a cork that was wrapped in aluminum foil on the ground. It was the exact thing that they threw while drinking their potions. The surrounding environment looked extremely familiar as well. As they looked to their side, the footprint left by the Fodor Flaming Demon laid right there.

Romilson then snickered as he said, “It is definitely the work of a Light Illusion spell. Simple, I will breakthrough it using a Guiding Light spell!”

He then raised his wand and charged it with Mana. An emerald concentrated light beam then shot out from his wand, extending into the distance.

The moment this light beam appeared, Romilson’s face sunk.

The reason was simple. If it was an illusion caused by the Light illusion spell, the light beam should appear bent and wavy. Based on the property of light, they merely had to follow this curved line of light to navigate out of this area.

However, the emerald light was shining in a straight line. This suggests that their area was not affected by Light Illusion spell. However, they had also returned back to their starting point even after walking in a straight line…Romilson could not explain this.

Things were getting complicated.

Milda thought for a moment before saying, “I’m afraid that light is not the thing that was distorted in this area. It is the space. This is probably a demon god spell that Wavier cast to protect himself…Link, what do you think?”

She could not depend on the Holy Knights for such intellectually intensive work, and Romilson had already been defeated by this trick. Furthermore, Link was the only one who had done intensive research into Spatial Magic. He was the only one Milda could turn to.

In fact, the moment Link realized that they had returned to the same point. He immediately started walking around to observe his surroundings. He also cast a few spells to test the waters.

When Milda posted him the question, he was still doing his tests.

After five minutes, he walked back and said, “The space of this area is indeed distorted. However, the curvature is extremely small, making it difficult for us to detect. There are still tests that we can do to determine this. Look.”

A silver ball then appeared in Link’s hand, as he used the vector field spell to fling the ball upwards. As the ball started rising, it traveled in a straight line. However, upon reaching a height above 15 feet, it’s trajectory started experiencing abnormal bending.

“The distortion of space is definitely accompanied by a forcefield. This forcefield has little to no effect on light beams. That was why when Romilson shot that beam of light, it still maintained a straight line. However, this forcefield will have an effect on tangible matter that is sufficiently weighted, especially when they are traveling at high speed. The forcefield will cause its trajectory to change.”

As Link spoke, he used the Magician’s Hand to retrieve his silver ball. He then used his wand to draw a few ridiculous lines and runes in the air, as though he were calculating something.

After around five seconds, he said, “I think that the space distortion here is not done by Wavier, but by a Dimensional Demon!”

Dimensional Demon

High-level Demon

Description: This demon has the inborn ability to control space. It can even use space as a shield for its physical body and achieve a concealing effect. This is the reason why it is termed the most powerful Assassin demon!

(Note: This demon is the nightmare of all Magicians!)

The moment the name, Dimensional Demon appeared, everyone’s faces including the Holy Knights paled in unison.

The reason being this demon had made countless assassination victories in the World of Firuman. This applied to both the High Elves and the humans.

It’s most recent victory was around 300 years ago. Its target was Legendary Magician Bryant. After the assassination, the Dimensional Demon escaped with serious wounds while Bryant disappeared without a trace, leaving a huge amount of blood at the battle scene.

Many people believed that Bryant was eaten by this Dimensional Demon on the spot.

How could they then not be afraid when such a terrifying Assassin appeared within the Forest of Poisonous Mist?

Romilson swallowed his saliva quickly. He was Level-7 Magician and knew many offensive spells by heart. However, he knew that none of his spells would have any effect on the Dimensional Demon.

You could wreck the environment as much as you want. The Dimensional Demon would merely hide in its safe dimensional crack and attack when you ran out of stamina, ending the battle.

“What should we do now?” Romilson looked at Link with a worried face. His handsome face seemed right on the verge of tears.

Everyone then turned to look at Link. He was the only one who could come up with a solution to this problem.

Link did not speak. He merely started casting a spell and lightly tapped the air with his wand. A transparent ball the size of his fist then appeared in the air and stayed motionless while floating.

He then told Romilson, “Use your Guiding Light spell and shoot it through the center of this sphere.”

“Alright,” Although he had no idea why Link had such a peculiar request, Romilson followed the instruction immediately.

The emerald light beam shot out, and it still formed a straight line into the distance. Link then turned to Nana and said, “Take note of your surroundings. The moment there is a distortion in space, act quickly.”

“Nana understands!” Nana then settled herself in her battling pose. She would offer support the moment she felt something was amiss.

Link then said to everyone, “Be on alert and follow me forward. Romilson, come forward as well. Keep your Guiding Light spell active! Milda, charge a Level-7 defensive spell but do not release it. When you are sure that someone is going to get hurt, protect the victim immediately.”

“Alright.” The two High Elves nodded.

Link then proceeded forward. He walked in a weird direction, not one that followed the trajectory of the Guiding Light spell. He deviated slightly from the beam of light, and as he walked, he explained, “I have already calculated the curvature of this space just now. This beam of light will reflect the true structure of this space. From the curvature, I have made some changes to the direction that we should head to go forward. From a higher angle, this beam of light is actually bent, and while the path we are taking might look bent in this space, it is actually the true straight path.”

This speech was slightly confusing. The Holy Knights felt like it was suicidal trying to figure out what Link just said. However, the two High Elves could understand it completely.

This was merely the basics of Spatial Magic and was not all that difficult.

Milda even asked, “The small ball that you released previously—was that an anchor point?”

“That’s right. I have to make sure the starting point of the light beam is not adjusted by the Dimensional Demon, which explains the need for an anchor point. In fact, we need a new anchor point every 300 feet. Repeat this process for a few times, and we will be out of this distorted space.”

As Link explained, they reached the 300-foot mark. This distance was already the maximum distance for remote control of the Guiding Light spell. Link thus released a new anchor point.

Following which, he did not set off immediately. Instead, he started a new round of tests and calculations.

After a series of calculations that no one understood, Link pointed in a direction and said, “Just a few moments ago, the Dimensional Demon made some adjustments to this distorted space. Therefore, this is the direction we have to take. Romilson, use the Guiding Light spell here.”

“Alright,” Romilson would just follow whatever Link told him to do.

After the light beam was shot into the distance, Link brought the group forward again. This time, his path was even more peculiar than the previous one. In no way did anyone else felt that they were walking in a straight line. Link would take them from left to right then to the left again, stopping every so often to do a few tests.

The others could not see the point in these actions. However, Milda watched the whole process in fear and apprehension.

She was the only person present who could understand the meaning of Link’s actions. Although the situation appeared calm, Link was already engaged in a battle with the Dimensional Demon.

This battle looked passive enough, though it was in actually extremely intense. The moment one party made a slight mistake, they would immediately suffer the reaper’s scythe.

After around 150 feet, Link suddenly stopped in his tracks and raised his wand, “Cut!”

A transparent ball appeared at the tip of his wand. The moment this ball appeared, it turned into the shape of a sickle and charged towards a supposedly empty space 90 feet in front.

Boom! This attack actually managed to hit something. In the next moment, the air seemed to be distorting, and a black shadow appeared in the atmosphere. It was the Dimensional Demon!

In this silent yet intense confrontation, the Dimensional Demon had been trying to interfere with Link’s judgment by changing the space constantly. His brazen acts had eventually revealed his hiding spot!

Link had secured a victory in this battle amongst the shadows!

“Nana!”

Boom! Nana disappeared from her original position and appeared in front of the Dimensional Demon in an instant. Her auxiliary dagger then tried to stab the demon with unimaginable speed, her main dagger, the Last Nightmare, following closely behind.

Cling! A crisp snapping sound rang. Splash! A second sound of splashing blood then followed. A pool of black colored blood gushed out of the demon’s body. In the next moment, the Dimensional Demon’s body disappeared into the air.

He was escaping!

Chapter 284: Necropolis (3)

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

No wonder the Dimensional Demon was the archenemy of Magicians. It was extremely fast—faster than the limit for organisms on Firuman!

Even with Nana’s speed, she could only make three stabs. The first was blocked by the Dimensional Demon reflexively. The second was blocked by its cuticle. Only the third one was able to cause harm, and it had fully processed everything by the time she made her fourth stab.

Clang, clang, clang. There were countless clashes, and it blocked all of Nana’s attacks. As he blocked, its figure became blurry and illusory as if it would flee into space again.

Nana couldn’t keep it here!

The Dimensional Demon was about to vanish into thin air soon.

“Restraint!” With perfect timing, Link tossed out a Space Orb. When it appeared, it was only the size of a fist. It was beside the Dimensional Demon in an instant, and it burst, enclosing the demon inside.

The Dimensional Demon was trapped inside, and its body became clear again.

“Brilliant Moon Arc Cut!”

Royal Knight Joseph finally reacted. It wasn’t that he had a slow reaction speed but that Nana, Link, and the Dimension Demon were too quick! His sword sliced through the air. A blazing white arc of light cut toward the opponent.

“Protective Halo!”

The other Royal Knights didn’t stand around either. Each one glowed with heavy light. The light spread out, jumping from person to person. Instantly, everyone was surrounded by a milky white cloud of glowing runes.

Protective Halo

Battle Aura Technique

Effect: After the halo appears, all light organisms within 150 feet will have their defensive abilities against dark power raised by 50%. Protective abilities against biological attacks are raised by 100%, and speed is raised by 50%.

(Note: this holy power comes from the Holy Grail!)

With these actions, the Dimensional Demon was finally hit. It was about to be killed, but suddenly, there were roars. The burning red figure shot out from behind a tree. Its target was none other than Link.

It was a Fodor Flaming Demon!

This Flaming Demon was very powerful and extremely fast. At its top speed, it would leave a trail of fire in the air. Its appearance had perfect timing too—it was the exact moment Link released the Space Orb to capture the Dimensional Demon.

“Master!” Nana wanted to stab the Dimensional Demon to death, but with Link in danger, her target moved to the Fodor Flaming Demon.

Boom! The air exploded, and Nana disappeared. When she reappeared, she was blocking the Fodor Flaming Demon’s path.

The demon seemed to be prepared; it chopped down with its flaming sword.

Clang, clang, clang, clang. Metal clashed against each other. This Flaming Demon’s swordsmanship was practically perfect. It definitely was not as fast as Nana, but each of its actions was both defensive and offensive. Its sword didn’t move too much, and it planned the position of each slice. Just like that, it consecutively blocked all of Nana’s attacks!

They dueled for one-tenth of a second, but their swords hit more than 30 times. Finally, it came to an end.

Nana’s left arm was sliced by the Flaming Demon’s sword. Her sturdy leather armor cracked instantly, and she instantly flew backwards from the force. Nearly at the same time, her other sword, Whispers of the Forest, stabbed the Flaming Demon’s right chest. It pierced the skin of its chest and left a bloody ten-centimeter-wide hole.

However, the Flaming Demon had a strong vitality. Even if there was a wound in its chest, it was still a small wound. It barely affected its fighting.

They were evenly matched; the Fodor Flaming Demon’s swordsmanship was incredible!

Even more terrifying, after Nana was forced back by the strike, the Flaming Demon continued charging towards Link, ignoring its wound.

At this time, the Dimensional Demon started struggling violently. Thick battle aura appeared on its body. Not only did this help it block the Brilliant Moon Arc Cut, but it also loosened Link’s spatial restraint.

Link was forced to use up more Mana to stabilize the spatial restraint. As for the Flaming Demon, he didn’t worry about it because he had teammates.

“Crystal Fortress!”

Milda had been using Level-7 spells the entire time. In the blink of an eye, three semi-translucent crystal arcs appeared before the charging Flaming Demon.

Boom! An instant later, the Fodor Flaming Demon collided with the first fortress. It smashed the wall into bits of light, but it slowed down considerably.

Boom! A second later, it crumbled the second fortress. Its speed had become slower than an average person.

Nana rushed over at this moment.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

There was another round of metallic clangs. After one-tenth of a second, the Fodor Flaming Demon roared in pain. Simultaneously, a large number of metallic shards exploded.

It wasn’t that its swordsmanship wasn’t well enough or that its sword wasn’t strong enough. After hundreds of high-intensity collisions, the demon’s sword was shattered by Nana’s main sword, the Last Nightmare. The Fodor Flaming Demon paid heavily for this accident.

Crack. Nana pierced its right arm, breaking the bone.

The Flaming Demon roared and shot up powerfully. The sword in its left hand struck down at an impossible angle. Thick blood-like light flowed through the blade. The sulfuric odor in the air suddenly made it painful for one to breathe.

Nana instantly retreated. Her past experiences told her that not only were these flames at a high temperature, they were also highly corrosive. She might not be able to withstand them.

Just as she retreated, Romulsin finally acted. It was the Thorn Python!

Boom! The ground cracked apart. A three-foot-wide python-like thing made of countless thorns shot out from the crack. There were countless sharp vines at the tip, stabbing at the Fodor Flaming Demon like spears.

The Fodor Flaming Demon finally gave up on attacking Link. It waved its sword, blocking the vines while retreating.

At the other side, the Dimensional Demon had finally sunk into despair. The eight Royal Knights, including Joseph, had rushed to it. Five crossed swords filled with Sacred Silver stabbed into it at once.

At that moment, Link transmitted his Mana at full power. The spatial restraint’s strength multiplied!

The Dimensional Demon was instantly restricted strongly. It couldn’t even use 10% of its strength. Faced with attacks all around it, it managed to block three swords but was powerless against the other five.

Five swords stabbed into it instantly. Under the battle aura’s force, the Sacred Silver poured into the Dimensional Demon’s body.

It let out a piercing screech. Its body started writhing and convulsing in pain. This was not struggling to escape; this was struggling for its life.

Even a demon could not withstand these injuries.

Seeing this situation, the Fodor Flaming Demon gave up. With a burst of dark red fire battle aura, it sliced through Romilson’s Thorn Python. It used this opportunity to retreat and flee.

Nana followed after with her swords, wanting to keep the Flaming Demon here. They exchanged three blows, and the Flaming Demon was stabbed through the back, while Nana was forced back again.

It was not because Nana was too weak; her body was too light. Though it was made of metal, its goal was to increase speed and agility. While it was sturdy enough, most of the metal had a sponge-like structure. Nana was only around 200 pounds while this Flaming Demon was at least half a ton. Nana couldn’t withstand the strikes at all and had to jump back.

Of course, the most important thing was that the Flaming Demon’s moves had returned to the true essence of swordsmanship. It was abnormally fast, almost 50% of Nana’s speed, and extremely effective. Each strike seemed brash and thoughtless but was all flawless.

This perfect swordsmanship was able to block Nana’s strikes which were faster than the speed of sound!

The Fodor Flaming Demon ran at top speed too, around 650 feet per second. It was abnormally agile as well. After a few turns in the forest, it actually disappeared.

Nana chased after instinctively, but Link called out, “Come back!”

There were more demons up ahead. If they were all as strong as the Fodor Flaming Demon, Nana would be in danger. It wasn’t worth it.

Nana immediately stopped and went back to Link. “Master, the target isn’t taken care of yet.” Her voice was still crisp and lovely without any emotions, but there was a subtle tinge of discontent.

“Don’t worry. There’ll be more chances.”

Link glanced back at the Dimensional Demon. This guy was about to die and was surviving off its strong vitality as a high-level demon.

At 6 1/2 feet, this demon was not that tall. It was a small thing among the other high-level demons. Its muscles and figure were perfect though. If Link’s surprise attack hadn’t been successful and the demon was allowed to use its top speed, probably even Nana would have a hard time against it.

Joseph walked over. He stepped onto the Dimensional Demon’s chest, pointing the crossed sword at its forehead. “Tell me,” he ordered. “Where is the Necropolis?”

The Dimensional Demon didn’t answer. It just laughed—the sharp cackling sound was like a snake screaming.

Joseph stabbed the sword through the demon’s chest, nailing it to the ground. Then he twisted the sword forcefully. “Will you tell me?”

“Sss…Master will take revenge for me!” With that, the Dimensional Demon shook and exploded with a boom. Black blood splattered in all directions.

It had chosen suicide!

Thankfully, everyone was still covered by the Royal Knights’ protective halo. Other than Joseph, they were all far away so only he was affected. Everyone else was alright.

The powerful Dimensional Demon had been killed, but there was no joy in it. Instead, the people grew more somber.

They had had the advantage of striking first against these two high-level demons, and everyone had used all their tricks. But only one was left, and the other had escaped. Even Nana, their strongest fighter, had been unable to capture it.

If there were similar demons in the Necropolis—what would they do?

Everyone fell silent.

Half a minute later, Link said, “This is a mission without any choices. All we can do is go for it so let’s continue!”

Indeed, this mission had no other choices. If Wavier didn’t die, the undead army would surge into the mainland. They would still die on the battlefield. Rather than facing the undead army ravaging their homes, it was better to do their best now!

The group forged on. This time, they felt heavy but also resolute.

It was boom or bust!

…

Necropolis.

The Fodor Flaming Demon ran back and knelt before the succubus half its size. “Master,” it said quietly, “They are very strong. They killed Milote.”

“Oh, even Milote failed?” The succubus sighed at the shocking news. After a few seconds, she looked at Wavier, who was in the distance busy with the sacrifice. She raised her voice and whined, “Wavier, hurry and think of a solution. Two of my strongest Warriors couldn’t stop them.”

Wavier laughed. “Misamier, help me get some more time. Not too long, just one hour. I’ll let them, especially Link, know what a god’s strength feels like!”

He howled with laughter and waved a hand. The Undead Knight beside him dragged another batch of Delonga citizens up the altar. He raised a hand and let the sword fall. Heads rolled down; blood flowing over the entire altar.

A beautiful power descended from the air. Wavier squinted his eyes drunkenly. Watered by this power, his appearance returned to a 20-year-old’s. He looked handsome, arrogant, and lively—other than those two crazed and bloodshot eyes!

“Alright, but I’ll only help you delay them for one more hour.” Misamier stood up. Twisting her snake-like waist, she walked toward the forest shrouded in white fog.