Advent of the Archmage - Chapter 335

Chapter 335: Letter from the North

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

Whether for good or evil, Isendilan was monumental to the dragons.

Not only was he a duke, but he was also the first non-royal figure to reach the Legendary level within the past five thousand years. His death represented the end of an era.

Theron and Olisa froze for a while before leaving without looking back. Isendilan was dead. The future he’d promised was now a fantasy, and everything they did was meaningless.

The Wild Beastmen retreated like a tide as well. They’d lost all will to fight.

Felina stood dazedly, staring at the mountainous dragon corpse. As a dragon, she didn’t regret killing Isendilan; she just felt sad.

No matter how strong one was, no one could escape the fate of death.

At this time, Isendilan wasn’t completely dead yet. He still had one last breath, and he stared at Link, a few hundred feet away, with his listless eyes. He couldn’t figure out why he died at the hands of a human. Even if Link had some special trick, Isendilan was ten times more powerful and had the Divine Spell. How could he lose?

While he was trying to figure it out, he suddenly saw the magic puppet in the near distance. A black cat snuggled in her bosom, a small head peeking out and sneaking a glance at him.

“Ha…ha…It’s you…Magician, one day, you’ll die to the hands of that cat too,” Isendilan uttered his last words. He let out a long breath and slowly closed his eyes.

Elodim looked at the dragon, speechless. You’re dead, and you still cause trouble for me.

He scrambled out of Nana’s collar and leaped onto her shoulder. A grin blossomed on the cat’s round face. “Don’t listen to his nonsense,” he said to Link. “Look how powerless I am. How can I hurt you?”

Link didn’t comment. He walked over to Avatar, who was lying on the ground, and asked, “How are you?”

Avatar smiled weakly. “Alright. I’ll be fine after some rest. Lord Ferde, I’m honored to fight alongside you.”

This human Magician made the biggest contributions to the final victory. If not for him, all of them would die at least twice.

Link chuckled and pulled Avatar up. “All of us were indispensable.”

Holun walked over too. He was excited at taking revenge and started yelling when he saw Link. “Master, the axe you gave me is honestly like Divine Gear! And I would randomly change places a few times. Did you do it too? That’s so cool, but sadly I’m not strong enough. Otherwise, I’d kill that dragon with one blow.”

As he spoke, he kicked the dragon corpse to vent his anger.

Link didn’t know how to continue the conversation with a brute like Holun. He could only say, “As long as you’re satisfied with the axe.”

“Satisfied, I’m totally satisfied…I heard that bathing with dragon blood will make you bulletproof. I’m going to try.” His train of thought moved quickly. His focus switched as he talked and ran over to rub dragon blood all over him.

Link shook his head helplessly.

Becoming bulletproof with dragon blood was a lie created by the lord of a territory tormented by an evil dragon. Its point was to tempt people to kill the dragon. Only Holun would believe something so stupid.

Avatar was embarrassed too and sighed. “That’s just how he is. I’m sorry.”

“No, he’s straightforward,” Link said with a smile. Looking at the mountain-like corpse, he suggested, “This is still a duke. What do you think about letting the dragons take care of his body?”

Avatar thought for a moment and nodded. “You’re right.”

If he was a regular Beastman, he would definitely want to torture the body to take out his anger. However, Avatar considered the dragons’ feelings. They were still a powerful race and becoming enemies wasn’t a smart move.

Link turned to Felina. “This is done, and I found the black cat. Would you like to report back to the Red Dragon Queen?”

“Uh…oh…okay,” Felina agreed, nodding. She looked down. Wanting to speak but stopping herself multiple times, she finally sighed. She glanced at Isendilan’s body and back to Link before transforming into a dragon and flying towards the Dragon Valley.

Isendilan had died. She must bring this message back as soon as possible. As for Link…they were just friends.

There was nothing much after that. Link prepared to return to the White Cloud City to rest for a few days. After his Mana recovered, he would set out and return to the Norton Kingdom.

On the way back, the Beastmen were extremely respectful. The wolf knights and grand shaman would all bow before speaking to him. Halfway there, a Beastman scout suddenly ran over. There was a human on the horse behind him.

Link looked over and saw someone familiar. He then realized that the newcomer’s armor was the dark leather armor of the MI3 with its emblem. He could guess why the man was here.

The wolf knight stopped in the distance and bowed to Link. “Master, this man is looking for you.”

Link nodded and explained to Avatar, “This is a scout from the Norton Kingdom. He’s my friend and is probably here about the Northern Dark Elves.”

“Oh, then you two talk.” Avatar nodded and distanced himself from Link.

Skinorse walked his horse over. He saw Avatar and Holun in the distance and shocked flashed past his eyes. When he was beside Link, he said, “Lord, I heard from them that you’ve just defeated a legendary dragon?”

“Indeed. We’re on our way back to rest and ran into you.” Link nodded. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “How’s the North?”

At this, Skinorse grew serious. He pulled out a scroll and gave it to Link. “The specifics are here. Take a look.”

The scroll contained the Norton army’s magic seal and Duke Abel’s personal stamp. This was confidential information.

Link undid the seal with practiced ease and started perusing the content.

The Dark Elves have started wildly summoning demons. Currently, the ratio of Dark Elf Warriors to demon Warriors is now six to four. There’s also a succubus who calls herself Misamier. She’s terrifying, and no one is her match. Aymons fused with the Divine Gear and practically sealed off the Black Forest. No one knows what’s happening inside. The king, the church, Master Anthony, Dirk, king of the dwarves, Milda, High Elf Princess, and I all believe that the Dark Elves may perform their final attack at any time. We are on the cusp of danger. Master Link, we need your power and wisdom.

Link didn’t expect things to be at this state. He collected the scroll and said to Skinorse, “It seems that we must depart immediately. Wait a moment for me to say goodbye.”

“Yes, Master.” Skinorse nodded respectfully. He was much calmer now, and his airhead feelings had decreased.

Link steered his wolf to Avatar.

“Is the situation bad?” Avatar guessed from Link’s expression.

He nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately, I can’t return to the White Cloud City now.”

“In that much of a hurry?” Avatar was slightly shocked.

“I can’t waste a second.” Link was already regretting sending Felina back. If she was here, he could save a lot of time.

Avatar pondered for a long while before saying, “Go then but remember, you are the friend of the Beastmen forever.”

Link nodded. He gestured at Skinorse and Nana and waved farewell at the Beastmen. He left their procession.

Holun had been with the Beastmen Warriors but seeing Link leave, he found it strange. He charged over on his wolf and asked, “Master, where are you going? Aren’t we going back to the White Cloud City together?”

“Something similar to Isendilan’s problem happened in the Norton Kingdom. I must hurry back.”

“Ah, I see.” Holun scratched his head. He wanted to say something, but Avatar’s voice rang out.

“Holun, don’t waste the Master’s time. Come back.”

Helpless, Holun could only say, “Then be careful on the road. I’ll go back now.”

Link continued forward.

Holun returned to Avatar and whispered, “Why did you stop me? Master Link helped us so much and is our friend. Why can’t we help him?”

“I obviously know we should help.” Avatar glared at him. “But our strength is too loose right now. How can we be of use? We need to create a strong army before we can help, understand?”

“Ah, I see. That makes sense.” Holun nodded earnestly.

There was more than Avatar didn’t say but Holun wouldn’t understand the clash of interest between races.

On the other hand, Link raced forward on his horse. Behind him, Skinorse said quietly, “Lord, those Beastman are powerful and respect you. They can be reinforcement.”

Link glanced at him and nodded lightly. “You have sharp eyes. They can be strong reinforcement indeed, but they’re too loose now. We need to wait a while.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you see the Warrior with the battle axe just then?”

“That leader’s? He’s strong, very strong, and I see the ambitious in his eyes.” Skinorse nodded.

Smiling, Link said, “He’s a leader with foresight. If I’m not wrong, he’ll become the king of the Beastmen very soon. At that time, he’ll come with his army even without our invitation.”

Skinorse was stunned but still worried. “Beastmen are powerful Warriors. If they’re united and have such a powerful leader, I’m afraid—”

“That is a problem to consider.” Link nodded. He looked far into the blue sky and mused, “This wouldn’t be a good thing in times of peace. But now, a heroic Beastman leader is much better than someone untalented. As for fights between our races, that’s in the future. Let’s get past this first.”

If they couldn’t get past this, everyone would be dead. There would be no future.

Skinorse didn’t reply anymore. They galloped side by side. Just then, the black cat lying on Nana’s shoulder suddenly said, “Link, I have two pieces of news for you—one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Chapter 336: The Grounded Yabba Airship

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

The black cat suddenly spoke, causing Skinorse to jump in fright. However, Skinorse had experienced things from all over the world and had seen many unbelievable things himself. Therefore he was quickly able to regain his composure.

He gazed at the black cat perched on Nana’s shoulder unmoving and laughed. “This cat is cute.”

The black cat rolled its eyes at Skinorse and said indifferently, “When I’m talking to Link, mortals like you shouldn’t butt in.”

Its voice was very clear and bright. Coupled with its round face and eyes that were half closed as though asleep, it gave off an impression that it couldn’t care less. Seeing it would make one want to grab it and give it a hug.

Skinorse laughed once more and said, “Hehe, how interesting. You talk really big. Could you possibly be the cat god?”

The black cat’s eyes were half opened, and it said lazily to Link,” Are you going to listen to me, or let this mortal continue interrupting me?”

“Alright, go ahead,” Link said. He smiled apologetically to Skinorse, thinking of the confrontation between him and the black cat. “Let’s go with the bad news first.”

“The bad news is, Isendilan used two other divine spells, causing the rift to expand greatly. Because of that, the energy from the Sea of Void is entering into Firuman and causing the density of Mana to increase rapidly. In one year, it will be double from now, and in two years, quadruple. The Mana would build up to a point where Firuman can no longer handle the Mana and Boom! This place will become a great big firework.”

Skinorse was stunned. He swallowed his saliva, saying to Link, “Lord, this cat is talking nonsense right? Isn’t Firuman doing fine?”

Link didn’t answer Skinorse. He had been prepared for the black cat’s news. “How long do we have?”

“About 15 years. Unless something unexpected happens, there’s no way to undo it. Anyway, I’ve got no ideas.”

“What about the good news?”

“Good news is, I’ve figured out the rule of the Dark Serpent, and I know the way to defend against the dark magic. If you want to learn it, it’ll take about half a month…But this magic will require huge amounts of Mana. You won’t be able to handle it alone and will need to construct a large magic seal.”

“No problem, you can begin teaching me now,” Link said. His current Maximum Mana was 18500 points. After slaying Isendilan, he had about 700 Omni Points. This enabled him to raise his maximum Mana to 25500 points.

It seemed like a lot, but if he were to consume all his Mana completely, it would only be enough to cast one Level-11 Legendary Attack magic spell. He definitely wouldn’t be able to deal with the dark magic alone.

As for the collapse of Firuman, it sounded very serious, but it actually wasn’t. They still had 15 years which was a pretty long time. The most important danger right now was the Dark Serpent, and they could decide what to do with the rift after getting past this obstacle.

Meanwhile, Skinorse could feel his heart thumping. He had no idea how true the black cat’s words were, but judging from Link’s serious expression, he was sure that it was 90 percent true.

“Sir, you’re joking… Right?” Skinorse asked once more. He was holding on to the thin thread of hope.

The black cat turned to look disdainfully at him. “Pitiful mortal, do I look like the type to joke?”

Link nodded his head. “It’s true. Regarding the rift, it’s good enough that you know about it. Don’t spread it.”

Skinorse suddenly felt like there was no more hope in life. “Sir, is there any way to repair it?”

Looking at Skinorse, Link didn’t continue giving him extra pressure and stress. “Yes, there is.”

Skinorse let out a sigh of relief and pat his chest. “That’s good, that’s good. Gave me a shock.”

The black cat disdainfully rolled its eyes again before it began to lick its paw.

They hit the road again, and along the way, the black cat began to teach Link how to resist the Dark Serpent’s dark magic. It was very deep and obscure. Out of curiosity, Skinorse attempted to listen in on the conversation. Within three minutes, his head already felt like exploding.

Compared to this, he’d much rather play with the pretty magic puppet girl. The other party’s reactions were very interesting, and it kept him entertained to no end.

Three days later, Link arrived on the border between the Golden Plains and Norton Kingdom.

This time, Link headed directly north, so they were traveling towards the northeast. After exiting the Golden Plains, they arrived at the perilous Hengduan Mountain Range.

This was the continent’s biggest mountain range, spanning over 600 miles. Within it lived the Yabbas, Dwarves, and other Barbarian tribes.

The majority of the mountain range was covered in perilous terrain, with narrow paths that only mountain goats could traverse. Link and his party slowed down their pace by a lot.

At this point, Link no longer recognized the way. Fortunately, Skinorse was very familiar with the geography of the continent. He explained, “From here, we will pass through the Hengduan Mountain Range, about 800 miles long. After exiting the mountain range, we will need to walk for another 130 miles. There’s a region there that would bring us straight through a corner of the Dark Forest. It could be dangerous.”

Link asked, “Is that the fastest route?”

“Probably. Based on our current speed, we’ll get there in about half a month,” Skinorse replied.

“Half a month? That’s quite a long time. Do you know where the Yabba city is?” Link’s idea was to use the flying spell Storm Eagle to fly a short distance to reach the nearest Yabba city. Once there, they could use a flying ship to get to Orida Fortress. This way would save them a lot of time.

Skinorse waved his hand, saying helplessly, “The Yabba city is hidden deep within the mountains. There are also many hidden barriers surrounding their city. I’m not a Magician, and I don’t really know their location.”

Link only had a rough idea on where it was, and that was only from his experience in the game. Now, in reality, there would definitely be some differences. If he just went there without being able to find it, they would waste even more time.

Link also could not do anything. “Then let’s pick up the pace.”

He decided that he would use the Storm Eagle to help them travel the last part of the journey. That would help them save a lot of time.

Hengduan Mountain Range’s trails were difficult to traverse. They were many steep cliffs around, and Skinorse’s warhorse had fallen, breaking its leg. The wolf from the Beastman tribe was more adapted to this terrain and carried Link forward, bounding from rock to cliff agilely.

However, Skinorse was the one leading the way. Link had no choice but to let him use Nana’s wolf while Nana herself had to walk.

In this manner, they rushed forward for two days when they suddenly saw black smoke coming from a forest in a valley up ahead. Every once in a while, there would even be sounds of explosions. They could vaguely make out flames in the distance. Clearly, there was a huge fire up ahead.

“What’s going on?” Skinorse’s curiosity was piqued.

Link immediately cast a Traceless spell on the group. “Come, let’s go take a look.”

The three of them increased their pace, climbing up onto the mountain cliff. Then, they descended down into the valley where they entered the thick forest. After walking for another three miles, they finally found the source of the flames.

“It’s the wreckage of an airship! It just crash-landed!” Skinorse carefully approached the airship to inspect it.

“Wait, come back! There’s a demon in the sky!” Link warned.

Through the dense canopy, he could see ten black figures with black wings circling in the sky. Each of these figures was about 13 feet long, with a wingspan of over 16 feet. They held weapons that emanated black gas.

Based on the aura, these demons were at least Level-6 or Level-7. There was even a level-8 Warrior among them. Looking closely, there were many corpses around the area. Some of them were Yabbas, while others were demons. There was also a dark elf and his mount, a black winged condor.

“Those are Winged Howlers, a high tier demon. They’re very hard to deal with and will let out ear-piercing shrieks. They can also reach high speeds of 600 km/h,” Link said, carefully observing the situation.

The airship was already covered in the sea of flames, and the flames were reaching tens of feet high. Even where they were standing, 160 feet away, Link could feel the heat from the flames.

Obviously, the airship was no longer serviceable.

Skinorse said skeptically, “This place is 300 miles from the Black Forest. Why would these elves and demons come here, and why are they attacking the Yabbas? Based on what I know, the Yabba cities have heavy fortifications and numerous magic cannons on their walls. They also have many high-level magic guns. It’s not wise to attack them.”

Link kept his silence. Based on his memories of the game, the Yabbas were exterminated by the combined force of the Dark Elves and the demons. It wasn’t because the Yabbas were weak. No, they just had too few people, and even fewer Warriors, less than twenty thousand. These Warriors were all spread out among the various cities.

At the same time, they were also overconfident in their military superiority based on their magic abilities and magic cannons, airships and high-grade magic guns. Besides using rune stones to hide their cities, they had few other defenses.

Ultimately, there was a traitor within their clan.

Because of the collusion between the internal spy and aggressors, the Dark Army paid a huge price in order to successfully destroy the Lariel, the capital of the Yabbas. Following that, the surrounding cities were sequentially destroyed, and all their populations killed. It was very cruel.

Now, the situation was happening again, and furthermore, one year earlier than in the game.

Link had no way to know if the airship was unexpectedly attacked or if the Dark Army had mobilized their forces. He needed more information.

In the game, after the Dark Elves conquered the Yabba cities, they gained huge benefits, including the mighty magic cannons. They also gained the magic airships that could transport huge amounts of troops, and this gave the allied forces no small amount of trouble.

It was important for them to figure out the situation.

“Lord, are we attacking?” Skinorse asked softly.

Link shook his head. “No, these Winged Howlers fly very quickly and are now quite dispersed. If we let even one escape, it would bring us a lot of trouble. We’ll wait for them to go before searching the surroundings for survivors. We can ask them what happened.”

Chapter 337: The Yabba Race Currently Being Massacred

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

At first, Link didn’t have to care about the Yabba race since the Orida Fortress was in danger. However, he vaguely felt that something was wrong.

He felt that Aymons sealing off information from the Black Forest not just to prepare for the final attack. Aymons was probably taking advantage of the humans’ fear of the Divine Gear to secretly attack the Yabba city.

If the Dark Elves had powerful magic muskets and airships in the last battle, it would be a disaster to the Orida Fortress and the entire Norton Kingdom!

This worry meant that Link had to find out about the Yabba race’s current situation.

He waited patiently in the forest for half an hour. The screaming winged demons finally left. They didn’t go toward the northeastern Black Forest as he’d expected and flew northwest instead.

This meant that they probably had another mission, which increased Link’s worry.

“Let’s go take a look,” he whispered.

Skinorse led the way, and Link followed. The two of them used the forest’s vegetation as protection and snuck past the still-burning airship frame. The fire had weakened quite a lot, and they didn’t feel the heat beside it.

Walking up to a Yabba corpse, Skinorse started studying carefully. “This Yabba man is wearing an engineer coverall. He’s probably an engineer. There’s an emblem here of blue wings and gears. Master, do you know what it is?”

Link thought back to the previous game and quickly found the corresponding information. “The wings and gears mark should be the emblem of the City in the Sky, Pollol. The Pollol City is one of the Yabba’s important cities. They’re especially skilled in creating magic airships…This situation is bad. Continue searching for clues. We must know what’s going on.”

Skinorse nodded. He circled the airship and checked every corpse.

There were a dozen bodies of demons on the ground. Other than the hard-shelled armor that only demons had, they had nothing else so Skinorse and Link couldn’t find out anything other than what kind of demon they were. There were seven or eight Dark Elves. All of them had an emblem on their armor of a moonflower wrapped around a bloody sword.

“These are members of the elite Dark Elf air force, the Wings of Moonlight. Why are they here?” Skinorse’s voice was filled with shock, and the worry on his face deepened. It was clear that he’d thought of something.

After searching for a while longer, he suddenly called out, “Master, look, this Yabba man has a hidden letter.”

The letter was very deeply hidden inside an inner layer of the corpse’s clothes. The demons had searched this body before but just couldn’t find this letter.

This showed how skilled Skinorse was. His acuity was almost like gut instincts, and he could easily find critical clues.

He handed the letter to Link. It had the same City in the Sky emblem, but there was no magic seal, so there was no obvious magic aura. Opening the envelope, he took out the letter, but it was white. There was nothing on it.

“A blank piece of paper? Why would he hide it so secretively?” Skinorse was watching, and he found it strange.

“It’s not blank.” Link shook his head. Every enchantment Magician was almost instinctively sensitive to the elements of the material. Link was so as well. The moment he received the letter, he felt that there was something about it hidden.

“Element Detection.” Link cast a Level-1 enchantment spell.

Ding. A ball of powdery light appeared out of thin air and sprinkled onto the letter. Something miraculous happened.

There really was writing on the blank piece of paper. Because of the different material, it absorbed the element detection powder differently as well. Words appeared on the paper instantly.

The letter was written in the Yabba language. Skinorse was illiterate, but Link could read it, so he read it out loud in the human language.

“Respected human general, my race has suffered violent attacks from the Dark Army. We don’t know how many there are, but from the current situation, there seems to be more than 30,000 soldiers. Half of them are demons. Our city is in extreme danger. Practically all the civilians in the nearby towns have been killed…Lariel is on the brink of danger as well…I ask for your reinforcement as chancellor of the High Mountain Council.”

This was a letter for requesting reinforcements. It was written to Duke Abel of the Orida Fortress.

Link looked back at the airship. From the damaged frame, he could guess that this was not the main airship that the Yabba race used. Instead, it was an extremely fast airship for sudden attacks. It was longer and narrower than the ones Link had once made. There were fewer magic muskets on it as well.

It was obvious that it had burst out of the siege to ask for reinforcement but still couldn’t escape from the Dark Army.

The more Skinorse thought, the more shocked he became. “No wonder there was no action from the Black Forest these days. I can’t believe they were attacking Yabba cities without us knowing. They must want to receive their magic muskets and battle airships!”

Link nodded and said, “There’s still not enough written on the letter. Let’s follow the trail and see if there are any Yabba survivors.”

The Yabba airships had come under fire long before they crashed. They had been exploding as they flew and lay scattered on the ground. The trail was obvious.

The two followed the visible airship parts everywhere and went northwest. After around one mile, they reached a large patch of thick grass. Skinorse suddenly stopped.

“Master,” he whispered. “I feel something wrong. I think someone’s on us.”

Link felt it as well. The opponent had some odd trick that allowed him to see through Link’s Traceless spell. However, Link didn’t feel much danger despite having eyes on him.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “It should be a Yabba survivor. If I’m not wrong, his magic musket is pointed at our heads right now.”

“Having their magic musket pointed at my head…doesn’t feel good.” Skinorse’s handsome face had a wry and uncomfortable smile.

In Firuman, the dwarves were the first to invent the magic musket. The dwarves and Yabbas lived in a mountain range, and they often traded with each other. The magic musket was powerful but didn’t require much physical strength so the thin Yabbas grew to love it. They developed the weapon and created many powerful muskets. With it, they became known for their musketeers in the mainland.

In Firuman, “having Yabba muskets pointed at one’s head” had become an idiom that meant absolute death.

On the other hand, Link was searching for the Yabba. After around three seconds, he shook his wand, and a sesame-sized dot of light flew out soundlessly.

Buzz. With a light sound, the spatial sphere expanded, successfully restricting the target 150 feet away. Then firelight came from behind the grass. The musketeer had fired subconsciously at the shock.

Sadly, it was useless.

“Let’s go. He’s over there.”

Skinorse had rushed over already. He saw two Yabba people hiding in the grass—one man and one woman. The man was covered in blood and unmoving on the ground. The woman was half-kneeling, a musket with a scope propped on her knee, aimed at where they had been.

Of course, these two people were no longer a threat. They were restricted by the spatial sphere and were so slow they were basically frozen.

In that strange space, Skinorse saw something extraordinary.

He saw a beautiful flame bloom from the muzzle of the Yabba woman’s musket. Inside the flame, a spinning bullet flew forward bit by bit. It looked so slow, but the bullet was able to produce rings of ripples in the air.

It was beautiful.

Master Link’s spell is unbelievable, he thought, impressed.

Link walked over as well. Seeing the two people, he observed them and said, “The man is too heavily wounded and pretty much bled out. He can’t be helped. If the woman doesn’t treat her leg wound, she won’t live for more than three days.”

As he spoke, Link activated a Soundproof Barrier and canceled the spatial restraint.

The Yabba musketeer’s movements sped up, but the musket’s sound was muted within the Soundproof Barrier. Link then canceled the spell.

“Who are you?” The musketeer’s face was bloody and full of vigilance. She wasn’t dumb—when she spoke, she aimed the musket at the ground.

Link introduced himself. “I am Link Morani, the lord of Ferde. As you can see, I am a Magician.”

Skinorse introduced himself as well. “I am the famous wandering vigilante, Skinorse…uh, hey, are you listening to me? Why are you crying? Am I that awesome?”

Before he could speak, the Yabba musketeer gaped at them and tears started streaming out of her bright eyes.

“Master Link, our city is destroyed.” Ignoring Skinorse, the Yabba woman choked out, “The Dark Army invaded the City in the Sky and killed everyone in sight. My father, mother, and brother were all killed. They even ate my brother…They’re all dead. The city is in a sea of fire. My home is gone.”

Who was Skinorse? She didn’t know, but the lord of Ferde, the most powerful human Magician, Link, was known throughout the continent. Link worked with the Yabba race often and Elin, the Lady Fortuna, spoke highly of him as well. All Yabba people were familiar with him.

In their eyes, Link was powerful, fair, benevolent, kind, wise, and basically everything good.

At this time, the Yabba musketeer had just experienced the biggest tragedy of her life. Seeing a strong figure she could rely on now, her tense feelings collapsed, and she broke down sobbing.

Skinorse had been disappointed at first but listening to her, he fell silent too. He’d only joined the army recently, but he had experienced too much tragedy already. He thought of the comrades who had died in the Northern battlefield, thought of their last cries, and thought of the rookies crying hopelessly before the demons.

He also remembered how in one mission, he had a smart girl as his subordinate. Her name was Lily. She had deep blue eyes and a pretty cherry-like mouth. She really liked Skinorse; she would run after him, asking questions, and called him “brother.” She gave herself to him too. At that time, Skinorse even wanted to marry her.

But in the Black Forest, she was ripped apart by a Fear Demon. Her head was torn off, and the beautiful thing rolled to where Skinorse was hiding. The two deep blue eyes stared at him listlessly as if asking why he didn’t save her.

Skinorse felt his eyes grow hot and his vision blurred.

“I’ll go see if there’s anything around here.” He wasn’t willing to cry before the others. With that utterance, he turned around and started investigating around.

Link couldn’t escape. He had to take up the role of a kind elder now. Patting the musketeer’s shoulder, he said, “It’ll get better. Everything will get better. Now, I’m going to treat your wound. Tell me what happened in detail, alright?”

“Yeah.” She wiped her eyes and nodded.

Chapter 338: An Impenetrable Defense Zone

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

Hengduan Mountain Range

Based on the fragmented recounts of the Yabba musketeer while Link was treating her, Link could more or less figure out the details of the Yabba situation.

The Yabba population was about two million strong, and they had nine great cities. As of now, three had been defeated, including the sky city Pollol.

Currently, the Dark Army was besieging Lariel.

Their ship was an assault airship that had flown out from Lariel along with five other ships. Ten battle airships engaged the main force of the Dark army in order to create a distraction for them. However, the Dark Army relentlessly pursued the assault force without care for their own lives.

By the time the high-speed assault ships reached here, they had all been destroyed. Their mission to get help from the outside was a failure.

Among the musketeers, the male who lost the most amount of blood breathed his last breath. Seeing this, the female musketeer couldn’t hold herself back anymore. Tears were streaming down her face.

“Go on, cry it all out.” Link softly patted the musketeer’s head. At the same time, he cast a soundproof barrier around them.

The musketeer hugged onto Link’s leg and burst into tears. Much later, when her face was completely covered in grime and tears, she finally calmed herself down. Wiping her face, she said, “I’m sorry, your clothes are dirty. Thank you, my lord.”

Seeing that she had recovered herself, Link took out a clean handkerchief to clean her face. She didn’t move, allowing Link to do so. This made Link feel like he was taking care of a child.

After he was done, he asked, “What about Elin? Do you know of her situation?”

Elin had left a few days before him. Although she said that she was escorting the people to the islands, her return would have her cross the path of the Dark Army’s advance. He was worried about her.

“Lady Fortuna? She’s now in Lariel. She was the one who advised us to send out people for help. She also said to break out of the blockade and abandon the city because Lariel was doomed to fall… I’m not sure how true her words will be, but all her predictions so far have been true, so nobody would dare to take her words lightly.”

Link let out a sigh of relief. At least Elin was safe.

At this point, Skinorse returned. He seemed calm, but his eyes were still red. “My lord, the situation is not good. The demons are doing a sweeping operation to hunt for survivors. I just saw a squad of them walk past.”

It was indeed bad news.

Link thought for a moment, then said to Nana, “Please carry Melinda.”

Melinda was the name of the female musketeer. Nana was just a little shorter than Melinda by less than three feet. Yet, although Nana was almost the height of a human child, she effortlessly carried Melinda onto her back.

“Let’s go, we’ll continue rushing to Orida Fortress and bring them news of Lariel as well.” Link again cast a Traceless Spell.

Since the Yabba city could manage to get people out of the blockade to send for help, it showed that they could hold on for some time. If Link could get their news to Orida Fortress, they could gather troops to head north in aid of the Yabbas. The Dark Army would then have to face a pincer attack from two sides, and this would lessen the pressure on the Yabbas.

Link actually respected Aymons.

Under the limited time condition of the Dark Serpent, he managed to seize the opportunity to pull so many tricks. Only Aymons could have done this.

Damn it! It was a mistake not to have just killed him the last time!

The group continued to rush onwards. The wolves were too conspicuous, and so they decided not to use them but continue traveling on foot. When they encountered areas that were difficult to traverse, Link used the Level-0 spell Levitation, Lightweight, and some other basic sells to assist them. Sometimes, he would also have Nana carry him over. They were able to maintain a relatively fast pace.

After proceeding for another six miles, Skinorse, who was in the lead, raised his hand and signaled for them to stop. He ducked behind a tree and got Link and Nana to do the same. Then, he slowly pointed to foliage up ahead, mouthing with his lips, “Watch that foliage.”

Link squinted his eyes, staring.

Up ahead was a hazelnut forest. Amidst the dense branches of the forest, in the crown of one of the trees, there was a monkey-like figure sitting there, not moving.

This “monkey” was about three feet tall and had two fleshy wings with sharp tips. Its skin was a dark red, and there were two horns growing from its head. At this moment, its wings were wrapped in itself as it nested in the tree crown. The only thing visible was a pair of black eyes that were unnoticeable unless you looked really carefully.

Skinorse continued mouthing as he explained, “In the Black Forest, this creature is everywhere. The Magicians say it is a low-level demon, but I call them “Red Monkeys.” Its battle prowess is average, about the same as a level-4 scout. However, there are many of them in the black forest. They’re very astute and will usually notice us first. When they do, they let out a sharp call that can be heard from less than a mile away. After that, other red monkeys will continue transmitting that call. Very soon, the high-level demons will come. Even if we kill it before it calls, high-level demons will still come, because they have a signal that they call out every ten minutes…. Listen.”

Skinorse motioned his hand to his ear to signal for them to listen. One second later, Link heard a sharp Jiiiiii sound, something like that of a bat. The sound traveled out, and moments later, the forest was filled with jiiiii jiiiii sounds responding to the first one.

“Based on the sound, it seems that the red monkeys have locked down the whole of this forest. How annoying! We’ve got to be really careful from now on.”

Link finally understood how Aymons managed to achieve a complete information lockdown. With the eyesight of these red monkeys and the battle prowess of the high-level demons and ghouls patrolling around, there was no way for anyone to escape or hide. Human scouts would just meet an early end once they entered.

Skinorse was among the best among the humans already. If even he had no way to deal with this, then no one would.

To make matters worse, because the entire forest was now locked down, even if they managed to sneak through it would cost them a lot of time. Lariel was in an extremely tight situation now, and they needed to get to Orida fortress as soon as possible. What could they do?

Link looked at the red monkey and paused, thinking. “How big are the high-level demon patrols?”

Skinorse thought for a while then gave an estimate of the size of one patrol. “In the black forest, one patrol would be about ten men strong. There would normally be three high-level demons and seven ghouls. Once they hear the signal from the red monkeys, they’ll arrive within three minutes.

Link asked again, “What species are the high-level demons?”

“Among them, there are Fodor Flaming Demons, Fear Demons, Dimensional Demons, Succubi, and about five others, a total of ten types. The Dark Elves have been aggressively summoning demons, turning the whole forest into a hellish abyss,” Skinorse replied.

Link asked, “These demons have roughly Level-8 strength, am I right?”

“Yes.”

This was about enough information. Link evaluated the information he had. “If they’re able to reach within three minutes, that means that in a radius of a mile, there will be one squad of high-level demons. The red monkeys call out every ten minutes, so if we attack immediately after their next call, we will have 13 minutes to move ahead. If we mix in other fake signals, then we’ll be able to delay them further… Okay! We’ll go into action after the next call.”

He decided to forcefully break through.

“Okay,” Skinorse nodded.

Seven minutes later, the red monkey called out again. It was as though it had a clock in its body. The timing was extremely exact.

The moment it called out, Link threw out a dimensional ball. “Spatial Rend!”

He did not use any tricks but attacked directly.

Thud. The Level-4 red monkey had no way to resist the force of the dimensional attack and couldn’t even last one second before turning into a lump of meat. It had no chance to even make a sound.

“Let’s go, hurry up!”

Skinorse once again took the lead, with Link and Nana following close behind. Along the way, Link constantly erased the tracks that they made. He was very careful but also very efficient.

Along the way, they were discovered by other red monkeys. However, the moment those red monkeys opened their mouths to call out, Link immediately locked down on their location with a soundproof barrier. Simultaneously, he cast a Spatial Rend Spell on them, instantly killing the monkeys.

Link’s reactions were becoming faster and faster, and the monkeys had no chance to even call out.

Ten minutes later, the red monkeys began to call out to confirm each other’s locations. Not long later, they discovered that some of their companions had not responded.

Instantaneously, the forest exploded like a beehive. Jiiii! Jiiii! The red monkeys began to call out, and the sounds they were making were extremely shocking and fear-inducing. However, there was also a benefit.

With them calling out, Link was able to pinpoint their locations better.

“How long will they call out for?” Link asked.

“About half a minute. This is to help the patrol squads determine our location,” Skinorse replied.

“Half a minute? That’s fine.”

Link waited for half a minute. As Skinorse had said, the red monkeys stopped calling out. Immediately, Link unleashed his attacks, using Spatial Rend to soundlessly kill the red monkeys, leaving no traces behind!

“Alright, let’s go.” Link waved his wand, and the group continued rushing forward. At the same time, he erased their tracks and left misleading tracks in their place.

He was by now very proficient at this, and the misleading tracks were very effective. Along the way, the red monkeys had already called out three times, but the high-level demons had yet to find them.

They maintained their pace rushing forward.

“After not being able to find us for so long, they’ll go crazy soon. They’ll probably break out of their patrol routine and activate more patrols. We’ve got to be more careful!”

…

Amidst the forest, two patrols had already been activated. Although they followed the tracks left by Link, they could not find the intruders.

After coming up empty-handed multiple times, the leader of the patrolling teams sensed that something was wrong. He ordered a ghoul behind him, “You, report back to the base that something is off. Some slippery rats have entered the forest. We need reinforcements.”

“Understood!” The ghoul rushed back to deliver its report.

Chapter 339: The Demons are the First to Benefit

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

After a period of rushed travel, Link’s group made their way over for more than 40 miles.

Here, there was a drastic change in the mountain’s geography. There were rocks everywhere while the trees and vegetation lessened. The view was wide, and there were fewer places to hide.

This was both a pro and a con.

Here, Skinorse whispered, “The red monkeys disappeared. It appears that we’ve left their blockade.”

Link let out a breath of relief. He’d been fully focused while traveling down the mountain path earlier. Every time a red monkey discovered their traces, he would kill it at once and make sure it would be executed flawlessly. This really did use up some energy.

He looked at Melinda on Nana’s back and asked, “How’s the wound on your leg?”

“It’s alright. It doesn’t really hurt anymore.” Melinda looked at Link with wide eyes filled with reverence.

This reassured Link. He glanced at the black cat. It was pretty obedient—probably because it tasted some benefits at the Crystal Blue Lake. Now, it hid inside Nana’s shirt with only a head peeking out.

Seeing that Link was looking at it, it narrowed its emerald eyes and meowed as if saying, Jealous? Well, that sucks because this is my personal seat.

Its appearance made the others really want to beat it up. At least, Skinorse had glanced at it many times already. It seemed that he was about to yank the cat out from Nana’s collar and jump in himself.

Link didn’t have time to bother with it. He turned to Skinorse and said, “How much farther away is Orida?”

Skinorse was very familiar with the North. Hearing the question, he composed himself and looked down at his watch. Then he looked at the sun, took out a triangular thing, measured the angle, and came up with a calculation. “I think there are around 700 more miles. If we continue forward, we’ll pass through the southern corner of the Black Forest after 400 miles.”

“We can’t go into the Black Forest. How about this? We’ll take a detour south, and after we get to a safer place, I’ll summon a Storm Eagle. The spell can help us fly around 60 miles.”

The Storm Eagle consumed a great amount of Mana. Link now had a maximum of 18,500 Mana Points, but this could only last for five minutes. The Storm Eagle’s top speed was around 1500 feet per second, so they could fly 60 miles in five minutes. He still had to save some Mana so while this spell looked cool, it wasn’t that useful.

Skinorse had no objections, of course. Crossing through the Hengduan Mountain Range was honestly too dangerous. One mishap could have them end up surrounded by high-level demons. It was like flirting with death.

Everyone turned and started going south.

After around half an hour, a gorge appeared up ahead. It was extremely narrow; the narrowest place wasn’t even 15 feet wide. From the distance, it seemed to be entirely closed up. The walls on either side were very steep; on average, they were more than 2500 feet high. If one stood in the gorge and looked up, one could only see a sliver of the sky.

It was very windy in the gorge. Perhaps the wind passed through some unique rock formation because they kept hearing cries and it was hair-rising.

Melinda curled up on Nana’s back in fear and explained softly, “This is the Wailing Gorge. It’s more than 30 miles long and contains many branches and caves. It’s like a maze once you enter it, and it’s really easy to get lost.”

Skinorse had heard of the Wailing Gorge before. “This gorge has many legends,” he said. “Legend says that there’s a horrifying secret hidden here. Someone had buried countless treasures but put an evil curse on each one. Anyone who tried to get the treasure died. Apparently, one thousand years ago, the last emperor of the Goldweed Dynasty retreated into the Wailing Gorge with his last army and never came back out…Anyway, it’s really dangerous.”

Link knew a lot of information about the gorge as well, but they were from the past game. In the game, there were at least ten storyline quests, both big and small, hidden in each fork inside the gorge. Many parts were still off-limit to players even later in the game.

This was a mysterious gorge filled with unknown danger.

After thinking, Link asked Melinda, “Is there a way to bypass it?” Unless there was no other way, he didn’t want to pass through the creepy place.

“I don’t know.” Melinda shook her head. “We’ve only ever flown past with our airships.”

“What if we pass from the walls on the side?” Skinorse suggested.

“That might work…wait, probably not. Look there!” Link pointed to the sky behind them.

Skinorse and Melinda turned around to see many blurry black dots appear in the sky. Counting quickly, there was more than 100. Without a doubt, the demons must have caught up.

“I can feel that these demons are really powerful and there are too many of them. We’re not their match so we can’t go on top. We have to enter the gorge!” Link said.

The gorge was narrow, and the walls on either side effectively blocked the enemies’ vision. It could greatly decrease the aerial threat.

Faced with more than a hundred high-level demons, this was their only choice.

“They sped up. They probably saw us.” Skinorse’s voice was a bit panicked.

Link decisively used Teleportation. They disappeared at the gorge entrance under the white light. When they reappeared, they were already inside. The transmission spell could make the enemy lose them temporarily, winning them more time.

“Traceless!” Link cast another invisibility spell on them all. Not only would this spell hide their bodies, but it would also block their voices, auras, and anything else that could be used to track them.”

“We can’t beat wings no matter how fast we run,” Link said. “Speeding up won’t help. We can only try to hide from their pursuit.”

As he spoke, Link cast another spell: Pursuit.

Pursuit Spell

Level-5 Secret Spell

Effect: Borrows mysterious power from time to point out a safe path for the user.

(Note: It will tell you the right answer.)

There was a small puff, and faint white mist appeared in Link’s eyes. The thread of mist extended forward, pointing out the way forward.

“Follow me.” Link followed the white mist and strode forward.

Faced with more than 100 high-level demons, Skinorse was a bit panicked too. He had fought with many high-level demons in the Black Forest before, and he knew clearly how terrifying they were.

As for Melinda, she had no idea. At this time, she clung to Nana tightly, and even her musket was trembling with her. Only Link was as calm as before. He was the anchor of this temporary team so they would do whatever he said. No one would object.

…

Whoosh…rustle… The flapping of wings created the sounds of air moving. A group of demons flapped their wings and landed at the entrance of the gorge.

There were more than 120 of them. Most were Winged Howlers and above Level-7. One-third of the group was at Level-8. This was a very powerful force.

It would be unimaginable in the past, but recently, the demons summoned from the Abyss were less restricted by the laws. The reduction of the power had lessened. The demons summoned to the World of Firuman were all strengthening at incredible speeds.

Now, their strength was already at a terrifying extent.

Link was probably the only one who truly knew why. Faced with this, he could only chuckle bitterly.

Who would be the first to benefit once the Mana density of the world rose? It was not the humans, not the High Elves, not any of the natives. The first to benefit were the ones who were already powerful in the foreign world—the demons!

This kind of delay existed in the previous game too. For more than five years, demons dominated the World of Firuman without any restraint. There wasn’t a single person strong enough to fight them in the entire world.

After five years, the strong of the various races started strengthening as well, until they could restrict the demons.

“I saw them disappear here.” A Winged Howler sprawled on the ground, carefully investigating the footprints on the ground. His two hooked noses twitched without stop. A few seconds later, he had another conclusion. “General, their scent is in the gorge’s wind. They’re inside.”

The general in question was shrouded in black mist and his features difficult to see. The only feature that could be seen clearly was the two eyes glowing with misty red light. His wings were different from the Winged Howlers.

They had a layer of membrane on their wings while he had black wings. And instead of one pair, he had a smaller pair under the large wings.

He landed slowly and shook his body. The wings transformed into a black mist that melted into his body and a hollow voice sounded. “The human Magician has a very special status. Try to capture him alive.”

“General, capturing a Magician alive is playing with fire,” a Winged Howler said, discontent. Capturing someone alive meant holding back and doing that in a life-or-death battle was flirting with death. No one would be willing to do so.

Crack. With the crisp sound, the demon suddenly spun and flew into the air. A ball of black mist slowly dissipated where he had been standing. No one had seen what the general had done. He was too fast.

“Remember, I’m not discussing with you. I am ordering you! I like giving people the chance to redeem themselves but one chance. Understood?”

The black shadow bent over slightly, staring at the fallen Winged Howler with blood-red eyes.

The Winged Howler was at Level-8 but was defenseless before this black shadow. He was unwilling but didn’t dare show it. “Yes,” he muttered.

“Good.” The black shadow straightened and pointed down at the gorge. “The wind pointed out a direction, but it won’t do so forever. We must hurry.”

Chapter 340: But I’m Right Behind You

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

The Wailing Gorge

Wuuuu wuuuuu!

A gust of wind blew past, and instantly, it created a sound like that of children crying. It wasn’t just a normal cry either, but more like a heart-rending cry that was forcefully pushed out. It made people who heard it feel like their heart was being squeezed, and it would make their hair stand on ends.

In the gorge, it was very dark. Although there were clear skies for a hundred miles all around, the amount of light inside was minuscule. Perhaps it was due to the walls blocking the light inside the gorge. In some corners, it was as dark as night.

After a moment, the wind blew in again from the front, carrying with it the smell of rotting corpses. Who knew who these corpses belonged to, or even what creatures they were?

Skinorse rubbed his shoulders, edging closer to Link. However, he still explained, “The wind in this ghastly place is very strong. I’m starting to feel cold too.”

The Yabba musketeer, Melinda, didn’t say anything, but she gripped on tighter to Nana’s clothing. Every now and then, she would look backwards, as though afraid that there would be a black claw that would grab onto her and drag her away.

Link was still in a better situation. He was occupied with casting spells, and this kept his mind from wandering off. Therefore, he looked somewhat calm.

As for Nana, she opened her eyes wide, looking left and right in curiosity. After all, it was her first time coming to a place like this.

The black cat was naturally not the least bit scared, but it had its own troubles. “MEEOOW! Let go, you scaredy cat! Stop grabbing my ear!”

Melinda had grabbed onto the cat’s ear, squeezing onto it tightly no matter what the cat did. This caused the cat a lot of frustration on the journey through the gorge.

The group of them thus proceeded like this through the strange place. After walking for about half an hour, they heard a sound of rustling carried by the wind.

They looked up and could make out the figures of two 12-foot-long Winged Howlers flying overhead.

The group immediately backed up. Although they knew that the Howler had not discovered them, they still reduced the sound of their breathing nonetheless, trying to remain as hidden as possible.

Only after the demons had flown off, Skinorse softly said, “These two demons look very strong, much stronger than me. Could they both be Level-8 demons?”

He had the strength of Level-7, but while facing these demons he could feel immense pressure from them. This showed that the demons were clearly a full stage higher than he was.

Link nodded his head. “Indeed, they’re both Level-8 monsters. They’re probably about ten times stronger than you.”

Skinorse was speechless. Ten times! How could he even fight them?

A full ten minutes passed before he spoke again. “Why do I feel that the demons have gotten much stronger than before? They weren’t this strong a month ago.”

Link naturally knew the reason but chose not to say it. He simply said, “Perhaps the demons that Aymons is summoning are stronger than before?”

Skinorse did not doubt what Link had said. He cursed, “Aymons is mad! All the Dark Elves are mad! They’re going to do themselves in some day.”

Not long after the two demons flew off, the group heard footsteps coming from behind them. At the same time, they also heard voices speaking in the demon’s language. Skinorse and Melinda had no way to understand it, but Link had done some research into the language spoken in the abyss, and he could vaguely make out the gist of what he heard.

“This damn gorge! How many passages are there?”

“Where do you think those little rats are hiding?”

“Who knows. They might be huddled up in some hole. I’m just annoyed at the commander’s orders. Capturing a Magician alive? That’s just suicide!”

“Hush! Don’t let the commander hear you. You know his temper.”

“Let him hear me then! What, can’t we speak the truth?”

There were eight demons in this group. They took advantage of their superiority in numbers to walk brazenly through the gorge, not bothering to hide their position.

The demons were huge, and their speed was also fast. Looking at the situation, it would only be minutes before they caught up. This was different from the situation with the demons flying overhead. The gorge was only ten feet wide. If the two groups engaged in combat, the demons would definitely notice.

Link glanced around and suddenly spotted a human-sized hole. The hole was pitch dark. Nothing could be seen within. However, Link could make out the sound of wind from the other end of the hole. That meant that there was an exit at the other end of the tunnel.

These demons were huge, above nine feet in height. The hole was rather small, so they would definitely not be able to enter. It would be much safer than walking normally.

Link pointed at the tunnel. “Let’s go in.”

“Lord…. can we not? I think it’d be better if we just ran faster,” Skinorse said. Looking at the hole gave him the chills. The tunnel was pitch dark, and there were even weird noises coming out of it. Furthermore, what made them even more afraid is that, in order to escape the demons’ pursuit, they would have to grope their way forward in the darkness with no light. Who knew what they would find inside?

Melinda was about to burst into tears at this point. She didn’t say anything but pouted her small mouth at Link. Her face was pleading. Clearly, she did not want to go in either.

Hearing the footsteps behind getting closer, Link said determinedly, “Stop dilly-dallying; quick go in! Skinorse, you’re first. Nana, follow him, save him if anything happens. I’ll bring up the rear.”

Although they could run quickly, could they hope to outrun the flying demons? Furthermore, if they ran, they would make even more noise and expose their own position. Perhaps that would lead to even greater trouble.

Entering the tunnel was definitely the best solution.

As for what they might encounter inside the tunnel…well, they would deal with it when the time came. It would definitely be easier to deal with than the pursuing demons.

Link’s command was absolute, and Skinorse could not think of any other way out either. He could only grab his dagger in his right hand and feel his way forward with his left hand, creeping forward one step at a time in the darkness.

Nana quickly followed. Link went in last.

Just as the group was about 90 feet into the tunnel, behind them in the passageway they came from came the sound of footsteps running past. The demons had arrived and walked past the hole.

Link carefully listened to the sounds of the footsteps go by. Just as he let out a sigh of relief, the demons suddenly turned back and Link heard a sound. “Hey, there’s a hole here.”

“I feel that there’s something suspicious about it.”

“Let me smell it.”

There was the sound of something sniffing, and in a few moments, a demon voice said, “Indeed! There’s a scent on the walls. They’ve definitely gone through here!”

“This hole is so small; we can’t go in! How do we get them?”

“It seems that only someone of the commander’s size can fit inside. Should we inform the commander?”

“Of course! Hee hee! Let the commander go in alone and attempt to catch the Magician.”

Upon hearing this, Link again let out the breath he was holding back.

The scent on the walls was probably because of Skinorse’s sweat. Just this little bit of trace had given them away. The demons were definitely astute. Fortunately for them, only the commander demon could chase them inside here, and Link was confident of dealing with one commander.

Thinking about this, Link said, “Hold up.”

Skinorse and Nana stopped and watched as Link took out his wand to draw out magical symbols in the air. With each stroke of his wand, one line of glowing light appeared in the air.

His speed was very fast, and in about ten seconds, the air was filled with the light of radiant magic runes. Link pointed the staff towards the stone wall and said softly, “Seal!”

The runes flew up onto the stone walls. Clang! The cavern walls shook slightly, as though a hammer had knocked into it. Immediately, a magic formation emerged on the walls.

Following that, the tunnel started to change.

As the magic formation glowed with light, a magic door appeared behind Link. The magic door’s surface was rough and looked like a mountain wall. It gave the impression that it was a dead end in the tunnel.

That was not enough. If it were just the magic door, the magical aura emanated from the door would easily be detected by the opponent. Then, they could easily break through the barrier.

Link continued drawing more magical symbols. Ten seconds later, another set of runes appeared.

“Seal!”

Clang! The sound appeared again, and this time, the runes appeared on the magic door. When this magic formation was completed, the magical aura of the door immediately disappeared. Now, it looked no different from an ordinary door.

Skinorse could not spot any defects in the door. If he hadn’t just come from the tunnel, but discovered the door on his own, he would have assumed it was part of the stone wall and be tricked by it.

The black cat also praised, “Hey, isn’t this one of the tricks I taught you? Not bad, you’re already putting it to good use. You’re definitely smart, much better than that blockhead Isendilan.”

Link shook his head, saying, “According to the demons, the commander is really incredible. This may not be able to trick him. I’m merely using it as a warning system.”

If the magic door was broken through, Link would detect it and know that the demon commander was catching up. He would then be able to make preparations.

He said to Skinorse, “Okay, let’s continue. Go forward another 300 feet, then I’ll be able to safely give us some light.”

Skinorse felt a lot more relieved and continued feeling his way forward in the darkness.

The tunnel gradually grew wider. After about 300 feet, what was originally tall and wide enough for just a single person suddenly expanded out. From the echoes of their footsteps, they could tell that the tunnel had gotten bigger.

“Lord Link, are you still behind me?” Melinda asked, suddenly feeling frightened.

“I am,” Link replied. Hearing his calm voice made Melinda feel a lot more reassured.

However, it was at this moment when there was a wuuuuu sound coming from the tunnel. As a strong gust of wind blew past them, it made them lose their balance for a moment.

The strange wind blew for about three seconds, and then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped.

The one in the lead, Skinorse, let out a sigh of relief and forced out of laugh. “That gave me a fright. I was afraid something would happen.”

The group of them continued walking forward.

However, after ten seconds, Skinorse suddenly called out, “Hey, Nana, what are you doing beside me? I brushed your hand just now.

The next moment, Nana’s clear voice sounded out. “But I’m right behind you.”

At this moment, Skinorse felt like his heart was going to stop.

Chapter 341: The Night King’s Sadness

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

The Wailing Gorge, cave.

Nana was behind him, so whose arm did he just touch?

Skinorse felt goosebumps all over him, and cold sweat sprouted all over his back. He had the sudden urge to get up and just run.

Poof. Link cast an illumination spell and weak light lit up the cave. Under the dim yellow light, Link saw two pairs of wide eyes and two faces filled with terror. One was Skinorse, and the other was Melinda, the Yabba woman.

As for Nana, she was how she always was. The black cat was curled inside Nana’s shirt, licking its paws as if the outside world had nothing to do with it.

As for the surroundings, the cave tunnel was already very spacious. It was 50 feet wide and more than 15 feet high. There were pebbles scattered all over the ground, and to the left, there was a huge ten-foot tall semicircular boulder that blocked everyone’s line of sight. Many stalactites hung down from the ceiling of the cave. There were two dark tunnels up ahead, one of which had wind traveling through, creating eerie keening sounds.

“N-nothing? But I clearly felt something. It was soft and kind of warm.” Skinorse was about to cry. He flattened himself against the wall and gripped daggers with both hands in a defensive position. Only like this could he be slightly at ease.

Whoosh. Link cast another light spell. He lit up three in total, and three fist-sized balls of milky white light flew out. One was stuck above Skinorse’s head, one stuck onto the ceiling, and another turned and flew behind the boulder in the upper left.

The space was instantly illuminated, and everything became clear. No blind spots were left. Skinorse was a lot more reassured. Gripping his daggers, he inched towards the boulder. He thought that it was the only possible hiding place. If that thing he touched really existed, it had to be here.

He was already prepared to fight.

Three feet, six feet, nine feet… After six more feet, he would be behind the boulder. Here, Skinorse pounced using his experience and rolled forward after landing. He ended in a half squat behind the boulder, his dagger before him and ready to go in either direction.

If there was someone hiding behind the boulder, Skinorse would charge like this to ensure he wouldn’t be attacked.

“Where is he? Where? Still no one?” Skinorse felt that he was going to have a mental breakdown.

The cave was only so big, and this boulder was the only hiding place. If there was nothing here, then what the f*ck did he touch?!

“Skinorse, m-maybe you imagined it?” Melinda asked timidly. She was curled up on Nana’s back as if she wanted to disappear.

Skinorse lost his confidence. He lowered his head and looked around. If that guy really existed, there should be footprints on the ground. Skinorse started suspecting that he’d imagined it because there were no footprints at all.

“Lord, do you sense anything wrong?” Skinorse felt that he was so nervous that he made a mistake—and a rookie mistake at that.

Link didn’t speak after casting the light spell and carefully investigated the surrounding marks. At this time, he’d already found some abnormal marks.

“You were right. You probably did touch something. Look here,” Link said, pointing at the center of the boulder.

Skinorse looked over. There was a small scrape at the six-foot point. It was a fresh mark as well. It seemed that the thing had gone deeper into the cave.

“It probably flies, and after you accidentally touched it, it was scared too and immediately flew away. It’s silent when flying or it’s very quiet and was covered by the wind in the cave on the right.”

While speaking, Link ended the light spell, only keeping the one on top of Skinorse’s head. “If I guessed correctly,” he continued, “there should be some abnormal things in this cave. The thing we just ran into should be like a detective sentinel.”

In the game, these sentinels were called “Night Whistles.” They were a type of trained bird unique to the Wailing Gorge. If a Night Whistle was discovered inside a cave, it was a sign that there was definitely a storyline quest inside.

If Link was correct, the one right ahead was called “The Night King’s Sadness.”

Sealed locations like caves had fewer geographical details, so this place was practically identical to the game. When the familiar semicircular boulder appeared, Link immediately confirmed his guess.

After knowing this was a storyline quest, Link felt relieved but also annoyed.

The reason was simple. The final boss in this quest, the Night King, wasn’t too powerful but the way to win was really messed up. If the player had bad luck, they would feel like smashing their head against a wall.

The quest was called the Night King’s Sadness, but it could easily end up being the player’s sadness.

Link had done this storyline quest at least 100 times in the game. He passed after completely wracking his brain every time just to win a double mount that the Night King dropped.

When he got it, Link swore that he would never come to this messed up place. But now, in real life, he was back.

On the other hand, Skinorse heard that there were sentinels and scratched his head. “Lord, there are two roads up ahead. Which way should we go?”

“The left side, the one without wind,” Link said.

“Ah, but the right side has wind. That means there’s an exit.” Skinorse didn’t understand. He liked adventures, so he knew this type of basic knowledge.

Link had already gone toward the left. “The wind isn’t natural. It’s a wind element spell. I can feel that it will end up as a dead end.”

Actually, Link couldn’t tell at all. In his opinion, this wind was exactly like natural wind. Link only knew because he’d fallen for the trick before.

This was the first trick of the Night King’s Sadness. The pioneer gamers would see that the left was still while the right continuously had wind. They would instinctively feel that there was something in the right and go that way.

However, the result was the wind would lead them into the maze-like tunnel and run into a bunch of wind element creatures. There were usually two endings after choosing the right side. One, the player would accidentally attract too many creatures and get killed; two, the player would get completely stumped by the maze and return to the cemetery to be resurrected. (The game didn’t have the Hearthstone.)

The ones who could exit the maze were either geniuses or were lucky enough to win the lottery.

The tricks here could be used on rookies but also experienced players. Link was now completely focused. He was ready to deal with the Night King’s traps.

Link’s words were very reliable. Since he said the right side was a dead end, Skinorse walked towards the left without any hesitation.

“Wait, let’s leave a mark behind.”

With that, Link walked to the right entrance. He pointed his wand forward, and a light spell appeared, flying deep into the cave. The spell had a unique characteristic—it had a very, very long range.

Its Mana structure was introverted and very stable. After completion, it would steadily release light until all the Mana inside was used up. The Magician didn’t need to consume energy during the process to maintain its existence. This resulted in its super long range. Basically, the light spell could be shot as far as one could see.

Link controlled the spell along the tunnel. Unsteadily, it flew 650 feet before sticking onto the wall.

“This spell can last three minutes,” he explained. “The entire time, it’ll release large amounts of Mana aura—”

Before he could finish, the black cat stuck out its head and said, “And then the demon general will charge into there and end up in the maze. Meow, Link, you’re evil. I like it.”

Link shrugged in admission.

Deep inside, he was impressed. As expected of a god, the black cat immediately understood the inner structure of the cave. Of course, even though it looked extremely cute, it was actually cold inside. It would sacrifice anything for freedom, which was evident from his actions.

Link was still cautious of it.

Hearing their words, Skinorse was rest assured. Under the guidance of the light above his head, he took the lead and entered the left cave. He walked forward while Link stayed behind to erase their marks. He wiped away all the footprints, spell auras, odors, and everything else.

The path was mostly smooth, and nothing abnormal happened.

The further they went, the more spacious the cave became. After five minutes, Link suddenly felt something. Then he heard a boom come from behind them.

“What’s that?” Skinorse’s footsteps faltered.

Link was a bit surprised by this. “My Magic Door was broken in. It seems that the demon general truly is powerful and we can only fool him for so long. Don’t worry. Let’s continue.”

After around 300 feet, there was suddenly a glowing Magic Door before them. A sentence was written in magic runes. Mortal, what is the biggest lie in life?

There were three choices under it: love, power, and wealth. There was a blank space after it, as well as an explanation below it. If you want to enter, answer the question.

Seeing this, Link sighed. This was first trick for experienced players. In the game, countless good men were wrecked by this Magic Door.

Chapter 342: Mind-boggled to the Point of Desperation

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

In the tunnel

Skinorse walked in front of the magic door, inspecting the words carved on the door. “Hmm, this door… Power, Wealth, Love… These are all life’s great lies. However, they aren’t really the greatest.”

Using his dagger, Skinorse drew some lines on the door. As the sharp edge of the dagger brushed the surface of the door, it created a sharp scratching sound. However, it did not even leave a mark on the door. Skinorse turned to Link, saying, “Lord, this door is really sturdy. How are we supposed to break through? Don’t tell me we really have to answer the question?”

As an adventurer, Skinorse felt that it could not be so simple.

The black cat in Nana’s bosom looked at the door. “Meow, this door is really interesting.”

Saying so, he ducked back into Nana’s chest, not bothering to speak further or explain the method to get past the door. Looking at it made Skinorse’s gums itch.

Link looked at the door and sighed to himself. In his previous life, he was played to death by this very door.

At that time, he was still inexperienced and had come with some friends to explore this dungeon. Upon reaching this door, the group of them had sat down discussing the topic of what life’s greatest lie was. Their discussion lasted three days and three nights. Finally, because of some accident, they realized they were tricked.

Link walked forward and, using his wand, wrote down a line in the blank space on the door. “You are the greatest lie!”

Life’s greatest lie?

How could there be anyone answer to this question?

The most hateful thing about this door was that it used the players’ self-doubt to lead them on. The more the player thought about the answer, the more they would wrack their brains to come up with more and more answers. However, all of that was just wasting the player’s time.

The answer was simple. The key to opening this door had nothing to do with the complicated looking question. The only purpose for the question was to con you.

The moment Link wrote this on the door, an illusory voice sounded out from the door. “Wrong answer.”

This response from the door was also a con.

In most situations, when someone tells you that your answer is wrong, you would naturally reconsider what the correct answer could be. However, that would just mislead you deeper and deeper into the con.

Ultimately, this trap made use of the player’s self-doubt to keep them from proceeding. During the game, many teams were toyed with in this manner by the Night King.

“Lord, the answer is wrong,” Skinorse said.

Look, this fellow fell into the trap.

Link replied, “If I were the creator of this magic door, I would not bother putting a real answer. If I’m not wrong, these are the only four words that this door knows.”

As he said this, Link selected “power.”

As expected, the door immediately replied, “Wrong answer.”

“Then how do we enter?” Melinda asked.

“Don’t rush,” Link replied.

Link walked around the magic door until he reached a part of the door not under the light. There was a normal looking stone sticking out from the stone wall.

Link took a clean cloth and lay it on the stone. This was to ensure that he did not leave his scent behind. Then, he pressed down hard onto the stone. Suddenly, the stone was pushed into the wall! Immediately, the magic door started ringing, and after three seconds, it vanished.

“What…!” Skinorse suddenly felt that the world was truly treacherous. A simple trap like this could have led him around in circles forever. How would people dare to adventure like this?

“Alright, don’t worry, let’s go in!” Link instructed urgently. The magic door made a lot of noise before it vanished and would surely have alerted the pursuing demons. They definitely could not afford to dally any longer.

After they entered the passage, Link pressed down hard on another similarly normal looking rock. Ringgg. After ringing again, the passage they were in lit up, and two seconds later, the magic door was back in place.

This magic door was a very high-level door with the strength of Level-8. Link hoped that it could delay the demon commander. It would be the best if the commander fell into the trap and wasted time solving the riddle. Even if he didn’t but used brute force to break through the door, Link could use it to gauge the demon commander’s true strength.

Once the magic door was reformed, Link warned the rest, “Later on, we’ve got to be more careful. There could be Assassins appearing at every trap we encounter. Also, watch your step, don’t step into any holes. Any of them could be dangerous.

The trickster door was only the beginning. After passing the door, there were all sorts of other traps that made adventurers nervous or irritated. Without knowing it, they could find themselves in trouble.

Skinorse swallowed his saliva. Earlier, he had been tricked by the magic door and was feeling less confident about himself. However, he was the only Assassin with the highest agility in the group. Therefore, he still went ahead to scout for traps.

The path behind the magic door was very wide, about ten feet wide and five feet high. Magic lamps hung on both sides of the passageway. Under the dim light of these lamps, the passageway could be seen clearly enough. Link stopped his light magic.

“Watch out, these lamps aren’t meant to guide us, it’s for Assassins to conceal themselves. As we walk in this lit place, we would naturally feel more at ease and let down our guard. Also, because of the flickering light, it would distract us from focusing on the shadows and help to conceal any Assassins hiding inside. In this situation, we have no way of knowing when the Assassins may rush out.”

“What should we do then?” Melinda asked. She was currently standing under the glow of the lamps. As she looked around, she could see dark areas but couldn’t see anything in them.

“Well, it’s easy. I’ve got a way,” Skinorse replied. He took out an eyepatch and used it to cover his eyes. With one eye covered, he looked like a pirate.

Link immediately understood what he was doing. “Great idea!”

With one eye covered, they could walk around in the light with no worries. When they entered the darkness, they could take off the eye patch to see normally as the eye covered by the eye patch would already be acclimatized to the darkness.

Hearing the praise, Skinorse was delighted. “Heh heh, I learned this from a pirate. Whenever they pilfered others, they would often rush from the brightly lit deck into the darkness below deck and back again. Without this trick, they would have more difficulties adjusting to the change in vision.

The group continued walking. After about 3 minutes, Skinorse suddenly raised his dagger and cast out his battle aura, looking very fearsome.

Clang. The moment he cast his battle aura, Skinorse was knocked backwards by a figure cloaked in the darkness. He staggered a few steps back, trying to stabilize his footing. His both hands gripping the daggers were also hard at work fending off the attacks emerging from the darkness.

“Look out below! Levitation!” Link shouted, then immediately cast a spell onto Skinorse. The moment his spell was completed, Skinorse had stepped onto a piece of stone slab.

Because of the effect of the Levitation Spell, he did not step down onto the stone slab but only brushed the surface.

The trap did not trigger.

Immediately, Link followed up by throwing a dimensional ball the size of a sesame seed. The dimensional ball exploded directly in front of the Assassin, constricting the dark figure’s movements.

The group was finally able to see the figure’s features.

Its body was shrouded in a dark green fog, making it look like it was covered in a dark green cloak. Looking carefully, it didn’t seem to have legs and was levitating in the air. It also didn’t have a face, and here its head was supposed to be was completely covered in the dark green fog. It looked very much like a specter.

Amidst the fog, there were two crystal claws that glowing with red light.

At the moment, the claws were clashing against Skinorse’s daggers over and over again. Each time they clashed, the crystal claws would glow a little brighter. After many clashes, the crystal was now glowing brightly, and they even seemed to be emitting a red fog which vaguely sparked with electricity.

Those with some fighting experience could tell that these pair of crystal claws would soon unleash a terrifying attack.

However, it didn’t have the chance.

Link spent 1000 Mana on this Spatial Shackles Spell. The spell was over Level-8 while this Specter Assassin was only Level-7. It had no way to resist.

Its movements slowed down until they came to a stop.

Skinorse took advantage of the opportunity to regain his bearings. He looked at the stone slab he had nearly activated, noticing an array of creamy white runes flashing on the slab. It would have activated a lightning trap.

Normally, he would have easily noticed this trap, but in the midst of being sneak attacked, his concentration was fully directed at fending off his opponent’s attacks and had no time to look at where he was stepping.

If he had been alone, he would certainly have stepped onto the slab, activating the lightning trap. Even if he did not die in the trap, he would be paralyzed. In a place like this, that was essentially the same as dying.

He rejoiced in his heart and rushed over with his daggers aimed towards the Specter Assassin.

Puff puff puff. His daggers pierced continuously into the fog-covered body. However, it was as though he was stabbing into the air, and Skinorse could not feel any resistance from the stabs. His opponent also showed no signs of injury.

“Don’t tell me it can’t be killed?” Skinorse exclaimed.

“This is a specter, its body is completely spiritual and normal attacks have little effect. Nana!”

Nana rushed forward, drawing out the dagger that would make even exiled gods nervous. The dagger slashed across the specter’s body. Whoosh. The specter was ripped into two halves. The dagger had also slashed across one of its crystal claws which immediately split like a jelly bean, spilling out red light.

After being cut in half, the Specter Assassin dissipated into smoke. Its crystal claw fell to the floor with a clang.

Link picked the claw up and kept it. It was excellent material.

“Wow, Nana, that was great. What kind of dagger is that?” Skinorse could immediately tell that the dagger was special. Just watching it cut the crystal claws alone made him very moved. One had to know that the crystal claws were extremely hard and he could not even put a scratch on it.

“I made it,” Link replied instead.

Skinorse was instantly filled with a sense of jealousy. Link was a Magician famous throughout the continent. Any dagger he made would definitely not be ordinary.

However, this dagger was really powerful.

Link instructed, “Let’s slow down. Make sure to look carefully where you’re walking. There will be many traps where you least expect them, and, although you would not normally step on them, you might be led towards it when fighting with the Assassins.”

This was the most dangerous part.

“Understood,” Skinorse replied, becoming extremely alert.

The group continued on meeting three more Specter Assassins along the way. This time, Skinorse was prepared for them, and together with Link and Nana, easily dealt with them.

They followed the curving passageway for another 450 feet before encountering a spiral staircase leading downwards.

Seeing the many magical doors that flanked the spiral staircase made the group nervous. There was one door every ten stairs. Looking down, there were 500 stairs, meaning there would be 50 doors.

At the end of the stairs was a dead end. There was simply no exit.

Meaning to say, if there were an exit, it would be found among one of these doors. However, who could say which door led to the exit and which led to a dead end? Worse still, which door would lead them into danger, and how were they to open these doors? They would need to try every door.

Even Link felt a headache coming after seeing this.

“Life Stealing Ten Thousand Door Array.” This was the most painful part of the mission “The Night King’s Sadness.”

It was naive to think that the 50 doors was all there was to the Life Stealing Ten Thousand Door Array!

Here, players would experience what it meant to be mind-boggled to the point of desperation.

Chapter 343: Unbelievably Strange

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

Cave.

“Lord, it’s a dead end?” Skinorse gaped at the spiraling steps.

The first Magic Door was in the near distance. He walked up and tried with his dagger. There was a sharp scraping sound, and a faint scratch appeared on the smooth Magic Door. It faded slowly and disappeared completely after three seconds.

“This door isn’t very sturdy. I can destroy them easily, but there are too many.” He estimated that he could force through five doors, ten doors, and even 20 doors but 50 would exhaust him.

Link had a headache too.

The reason was simple. The space in the spiral steps was very unusual and was finely folded multiple times. Only one of these doors was the true exit, but its position wasn’t set. It could randomly appear as one of the 50.

In the previous game, Link had tried more than 100 times. Every door had once been the exit, but as a player, they could only gamble their luck.

They had to break through door after door and go in to check until they found the correct exit. If one was lucky, the first would be the exit. If one was unlucky, it could end up being door 50. That would be honestly depressing. Some players were even stuck in this place for an entire week.

Link was quite lucky in the other world. Paired with some tricks, he could usually find the right exit within five tries. However, that was a game, and this was reality. Link didn’t know if his tricks would work.

Of course, the most important task now was to open the doors.

Forcefully breaking them was possible, but these Magic Doors were all around the pinnacle of Level-6. It was too consuming and wouldn’t work in the long run. Fortunately, Link was prepared.

He took out the dark red crystal claw blade taken from the Undead Assassin earlier. After modifying it, it had become a 20-centimeter-long, two-centimeter-wide crystal stick. Holding this stick, Link walked towards the first Magic Door. He studied the wall carefully. After around one minute, he found a centimeter-long crack in the wall.

Found it. It’s just like in the game! Link was overjoyed. He took out his wand and pointed at the crack lightly. “Cleansing spell!”

Faint light loomed over and lightly cleaned the crack of dust and pebbles like a duster. Finally, it revealed a small hole around two centimeters wide. It was the exact size of Link’s crystal stick.

Link stuck the stick into the hole and started pouring Mana into it. At the same time, he explained, “This should be the keyhole of the Magic Door. A key made from the Undead Assassin’s claw blade won’t be rejected by the Magic Door’s power…Wait, the position is wrong.”

He pulled the crystal stick out and continued to add Mana in to investigate. After around three seconds, Link slowly pushed the stick in again. He went millimeter by millimeter, and after around three millimeters, a slight crack sounded in the hole.

“Got it.” Skinorse was overjoyed when he heard the sound.

Link activated an enchantment again and modified the crystal stick bit by bit to the shape of the lock’s structure. After around ten seconds, Link gently turned the stick. Buzz…buzz…buzz… The Magic Door beside the hole hummed lightly. After around ten seconds, the door transformed into light and disappeared.

“The door is open!” Melinda laughed and clapped her hands. She looked at Link with reverence.

“Hmph, you haven’t seen anything.” The black cat looked at the cheering Yabba woman with disdain. Then it changed its position and curled up again as if things had nothing to do with it.

“Skinorse, investigate the path!”

“Okay.” The guy brandished his dagger and rushed to the front again. He walked in and, after a bit, he said, “Come in, it’s safe…but it’s a bit strange. I think we’ve been here before.”

The group entered. Link glanced around and sighed. “Let’s go. This door is the entrance to a looped space. It’s not the exit. Let’s continue forward.”

The place they were at was completely identical to the entrance of the Door of Lies. This door was like a transmitter among the steps. They stepped through and returned to the entrance.

“Lord, why don’t we go back?” Skinorse asked curiously.

Link pointed behind them. “Are you sure you want to go back?”

Skinorse walked to the door behind them and instantly had a fright. When they came in, there were still steps. Now, it had become a bottomless hole. He couldn’t see anything in the hole while violent wind kept blowing through. It was really strong too and caught Skinorse by surprise. He lost his balance and actually floated. It seemed that the wind would suck him in.

Nana hurriedly grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

Regaining his balance, Skinorse felt that even his breaths were shaky. His legs felt like jelly, and he could barely stand.

Link tossed a rock into the hole. One second, two seconds…After more than one minute, there was a sudden boom, and a lick of fire shot out from the hole. The flame was light blue and was abnormally hot. Skinorse was a bit closer to it and his face hurt from the heat, forcing him to activate his Battle Aura to defend himself.

“That scary?” Skinorse gulped. The rock took one minute to land, there was wild wind, and there was Level-8 explosive fire in the bottom. If they retreated, they would definitely die.

“This is a one-way looped space. There is no way back.”

“What’s a one-way looped space?” Skinorse asked as if he wasn’t in dire danger.

Before Link could reply, the black cat cut in. “Mortal, take it easy with your poor brain and let it live a few more years. You won’t understand even if I tell you.”

Link shrugged and said, “You saw the general situation. We can only go in one direction and go past the places we’ve already been through. As for the specific theory, are you sure you want to know?”

He understood the theory and could even make something similar. Decoding this type of space wasn’t that hard either, but there was a big problem.

This one-way looped space had dead ends. This meant that once it was decoded and the space collapsed, there was a high possibility that everyone inside would be brought to the dead end—the bottomless fire pit they’d just witnessed.

From what they’d seen, this dead end was abnormally horrifying, and there was little chance they would survive.

Thus, Link decided he would just follow the spatial laws obediently. He could get out anyhow.

Skinorse didn’t believe him. “Tell me. I’ll listen.”

So Link started saying, “It’s like this. The single loop doesn’t actually exist. It’s one-way because dead ends exist. It’s a Mana transformational equation—”

After that sentence, Skinorse knew that listening to it would be torture. “Lord, I realized my mistake. I don’t want to listen.”

“Then let’s keep walking.”

Skinorse looked at the gradually disappearing Mana equation in the air and sighed, his heart still unsettled. He continued leading the way.

The group traveled around 900 feet down this familiar path when another downward spiral staircase appeared. There were fifty doors around the steps; it was identical to the scene earlier.

“We’re back,” Link said.

“But didn’t we already open the first door? This one is closed.” Skinorse felt mentally and physically exhausted. This place was too strange and was almost beyond his ability to comprehend.

Melinda found a detail this time. She pointed at the footprints on the ground and said, “We really did come back. Look, those are our footprints.”

Skinorse looked down and let out a long sigh. He’d already given up on wondering why. Since he couldn’t figure it out, he would hand the brain work to the Magician.

“Lord, what do we do now? Do we continue with the second door?” Skinorse asked.

As he spoke, he felt like an idiot that didn’t know anything. The black cat especially looked at him as if he was an ant. It was okay once or twice, but after being looked at like that for so long, even Skinorse was starting to doubt himself.

Link shook his head. “No, we’ll still try the first door.”

“But didn’t you say the first door is that one-way looped space thing? If we go in, wouldn’t we come back?” Skinorse didn’t understand while Melinda was staring at Link too.

“The situation has changed.” Link shook his head. “This door is completely new. Let me put it this way. The first door in front of us now is different from the first door we just opened. You know, doors are connection points in the space. These points can be ordered randomly…Whatever, just follow me.”

Nana was completely uninterested in this. She only looked inside the cave curiously. Melinda and Skinorse didn’t understand even if Link explained. The black cat didn’t need him to explain, so his explanation was meaningless.

As for why they would still open the first door, this was a trick he’d learned from the experience in the game. It may be a preference of the one-way single loop’s designer. There was a strange pattern to the position of the true exit.

If the first door opened was a one-way single loop door, there was a very high possibility that the true door after coming back would follow Fibonacci’s numbering.

If the door was number one, the second time, it could be one, but it could also be two, three, five, eight, thirteen, and so on. If he tried according to this method, he would definitely find the exit within six tries.

Link had played the Night King’s Sadness more than 100 times in the game, and this pattern was never wrong.

He found the keyhole in the first door again and stuck the already-created key in. He twisted, and with a crack, the Magic Door disappeared again. Skinorse was the first to enter again.

After entering, he sighed sadly. “Lord, we’re back again.”

“Then continue!” Link didn’t feel dejected at all. As long as the second try was another one-way single loop instead of some strange space, it meant they were right.

They walked to the entrance of the spiral steps again. This time, Link went to open the second Magic Door.

They were all familiar now. Link quickly adjusted the key’s shape, twisted the key, and the Magic Door disappeared with a buzz. The group walked in again.

Once they did so, Skinorse sighed again. “Back again.”

Link looked carefully and shook his head. “No, it’s not the same. Look behind us.”

Everyone turned around and discovered that it wasn’t the steps they’d entered from or the fireless pit behind them. Instead, it was a bright tunnel.

The walls on either side had become extremely smooth, clearly polished with care. Every 30 feet, there would be a magic light on the wall. It could be seen that there was a bright hall at the end of the tunnel. The scene in the hall could be described as resplendent.

“The exit?!” Skinorse was overjoyed and almost ran over instantly.

“Wait, be careful!” Link called out. When Skinorse stood still in confusion, Link picked up a rock and tossed it towards the exit. The moment the rock passed through the Magic Door, there was a soft noise, and the rock was sliced into dozens of pieces. Each piece was less than one millimeter thick.

Skinorse paled immediately. He couldn’t see anything in the tunnel, but such a fatal trap was hidden in it. It was terrifying!

“It’s a Spatial Slicer. Look carefully. Do you see anything?” Link asked in warning.

Skinorse calmed down and investigated for a few minutes before finally nodding. “It’s a bit different, but it’s too well-hidden.”

When they’d found the exit just then, he was ecstatic and wouldn’t notice such a small mark. If Link hadn’t called out to him and ran over happily, he wouldn’t be Skinorse now. He would be pieces of Skinorse.

“How do we decode this—”

Before Skinorse could finish, a giant explosion sounded in the tunnel. Then the exit that they’d found with so much difficulty collapsed and disappeared. It revealed a broken tunnel—the position of the Door of Lies.

A black shadow shrouded in black mist, and bloody eyes stood in the tunnel, roaring angrily, “Lies! They’re all lies! Damn Magic Door! It’s lying to me!”

When he saw Link’s group, the anger vanished. He burst into laughter. “Hahaha, seems like I’ve come at the right time!”

Everyone blanched and gaped at each other. Skinorse wanted to kill this bastard. They’d finally found the exit, but it disappeared just like that.

However, reality was cruel, and this demon was very powerful. Even Link couldn’t defeat him, let alone Skinorse!

“A Level-9 demon,” Link muttered. “He’s a fallen angel and is very powerful. We’re not his match. Retreat.”

Chapter 344: “My Love, Did You Return?”

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

“Run?”

When the dark figure laid its eyes upon Link, it let out a hollow laugh. “Run! Run if you can! I love hunting my prey! Kukukuhahaha!”

Skinorse immediately moved in front of Link to block him, facing off against this fellow shrouded in black mists. His heart was thumping, and he whispered to Link, “Lord, I feel like the moment we move, we’ll be killed.”

Link was a Level-7 expert and was definitely one of the strongest among the human race. Facing off against an otherworldly demon, that however meant nothing. He could be killed in an instant.

The difference in power was so great that it could not be made up with Battle Art or tricks.

The demon’s hearing was excellent, and it was also in no hurry to attack. Laughing, it mocked, “At least you’re clear on your situation, smart man. However, that’s still not going to save you. DIE!”

Suddenly, the demon commander attacked.

Skinorse watched as the demon commander raised a finger and a streak of black light appeared in the air, flying towards his forehead.

If it hit, Skinorse’s head would definitely explode, and he would die.

Fortunately, Link was as fast as the demon commander. The moment the demon commander stopped talking, Link noticed the Mana fluctuations coming from him. In that instant, Link had prepared his defenses.

A dimensional ball was flung over by Link, meeting the streak of black light in mid-air. Bang! As the two collided, they exploded just hairs away from Skinorse’s body.

Link did not dare to hold anything back. In that instant, he expended 5000 Mana to cast the Spatial Shackles spell, causing it to reach the peak of Level-8 and approach the strength of Level-9.

However, a skill flashed by in that exact instant.

This skill looked completely pitch black, as black as ink. On the surface, it looked somewhat translucent. The moment it collided with the Spatial Shackles, Link felt the shackles shake violently. Moments later, the Mana within it was disrupted and burst into chaos, collapsing the spell.

The Spatial Shackles spell which cost 5000 Mana could not even block the demon’s casual attack for one second.

This was the strength of a true Level-9 demon!

Furthermore, this demon was a fallen angel and was one of the strongest. Its total strength placed it among the top three demons, the Three Great Gold Demons.

Lord of the Deep, Nozama, was a mixed blood demon. Half of his blood came from a fallen angel. It was because of this that Celine’s demon form possessed black wings.

Link already knew that he could not hold anything back nor did he have time tangle with the demon. The only thing he could do was try his best to escape.

Thus, as he released the spatial skill, he was also multitasking on other things.

The moment the spatial skill was broken by the demon, Link’s mind was racing through multiple courses of action.

His black eyes lit up with threads of cold white light. This would only happen when a calm person pushed their soul to the limit, causing it to emit soul light.

Rustle. The Demon Slayer Whip appeared, and red colored light flashed. The whip lashed out and curved back to hit towards the back of the fallen angel’s head.

This was not all!

Multitasking two things was not Link’s limit. While simultaneously controlling these two spells, Link prepared one more skill: Dimensional Jump.

As the Spatial Shackles and the Demon Slayer Whip appeared, a white column of light enveloped him and his team members.

One second later, the Spatial Shackles was destroyed. Nonetheless, that was enough to give Skinorse some time to react.

His Battle Aura exploded out, drawing his dagger and holding it in front of himself.

Clang! A sharp sound rang out. The Demon Slayer Whip was destroyed by the fallen angel. Against a Level-8 attack, this expert merely needed to raise his hand and flick a finger to destroy Link’s attacks.

However, that gap was enough.

The next instant—whoosh, a sound rang out. Link, Skinorse, Nana and the rest of them disappeared. The fallen angel’s attack arrived the moment they disappeared, but it was nevertheless too late and only hit air.

“That’s fast! HA, they’re going to be worthy prey!” The fallen angel was excited. He could already detect Link and the rest, in another passage a few hundred feet ahead. He rushed forward.

Meanwhile…

Link had already planned out where to teleport them to. He could not teleport them out of the cave. The outside was definitely surrounded by demons already. They could only proceed further into the cave.

As the teleportation ended and the group of them appeared, Skinorse coughed up a mouthful of blood. Both of his arms were trembling like mad, and he struggled to maintain a firm grip on his daggers.

Just before the teleportation activated, he had clashed once with the fallen angel’s attack. Just that one attack which had already been diffused by Link’s spell caused his arms to hurt as though seriously injured. The shock of the impact went all the way to his chest, and his internal organs were rattling.

“Level-9 demons are so powerful! What a bitch!” Skinorse laughed bitterly.

“Stop whining, mortal. It’s fortunate enough that you’re still alive.” The black cat had at this point stuck out its head. It had a never-before-seen serious expression on its round face. It turned to look at Link and asked, “Hey, do you have any idea how to escape?”

It knew that it could no longer sit around without caring. Link had once said that if he died, it would die too.

Link took a deep breath. His head throbbed, but he could still go on.

“I’m fine. I’ve got a plan to escape. Just follow my lead.”

He inserted the key into the keyhole of the first magic door and turned. The door disappeared. It was opened! Once again, it led into an empty space.

Link could feel the aura of the fallen angel nearby. After pausing for a second, he instructed, “Go in, go in!”

They ran in through the magic door and once again found themselves at the Door of Lies.

At this point, the fallen angel arrived at the spiral staircase. He looked down and saw the spiral staircase surrounded by numerous magic doors as well as the footprints on the floor. He immediately appeared outside of the first magic door and drew out a curved black knife, slashing at the magic door.

Dense energy rushed into the knife, causing the knife to glow with black energy. Wham! The magic door was blasted open.

Behind the door was a wide space filled with earth puppets. Link and the rest were nowhere in sight.

“Damn it! It’s a dimensional spell!” The commander immediately knew what he had gotten himself into.

However, he once again felt for his prey’s auras and realized that they were back at the Door of Lies.

He immediately turned back to give chase.

After passing through a passage, he caught sight of Link’s party. More accurately, he caught sight of a group of figures surrounded by a column of white light. “Don’t run!”

The fallen angel dashed over in an attempt to stop them from disappearing.

However, Link had already estimated the time he would take. They vanished just as the fallen commander reached them and once again appeared at the spiral staircase.

The first door that had been destroyed appeared again.

Inserting the crystal key, Link turned it again, and the door opened. This time, they were lucky. There was no empty space or earth puppets. It was just a one-way looped space.

This was another special feature of this magical array. Different ways of opening the door would lead to different portals. Using the key to open the door would have a much higher likelihood of reaching the true exit as compared to smashing it down.

Link waited patiently. After about three seconds, when he could feel the fallen commander approaching, he instructed, “Enter!”

Whoosh. Once again, they reappeared at the Door of Lies.

The fallen angel learned from his previous mistake. Instead of smashing down the door, he turned back, heading for the Door of Lies. However, the moment he laid eyes on Link’s party, they once again disappeared in a flash of white light.

He felt intense anger rising up from the depths of his heart. He felt like he was being led around by the nose by Link.

“Stop right there! I dare you to run again!” The fallen angel’s voice boomed like thunder, reverberating throughout the mountain.

Link ignored him.

This time, he arrived at the second magic door, and as usual, inserted the key into the keyhole and turned. The door opened, and once again, it was an empty space. However, Link had the feeling that on the third try, the true exit would once again reveal itself.

After waiting for the fallen angel to rush over to them, he instructed the rest to enter the door.

The fallen angel immediately turned around and, without any hesitation, dashed towards the Door of Lies. He knew that any magical spell would consume Mana, and that was especially so for a big spell like group teleportation. He didn’t believe that Link could use it often.

When Link arrived at the Door of Lies, he looked backwards. As expected, the tunnel appeared.

He had 4600 Mana points remaining as well as 700 Omni points. That was more than enough to use Dimensional Jump again. The walls of this tunnel out were also covered in lines, clear evidence of a Spatial Slicer Trap. Link didn’t disrupt the trap but simply used teleportation instead.

Whoosh. They disappeared, and the next time they reappeared, they were in the inner region of the tunnel.

“Come on, let’s go,” Link urged. He looked back and saw the fallen angel rushing towards the tunnel entrance. When the fallen angel caught sight of Link, his bloodshot eyes turned even redder.

“Brat, you’re not running this time? Have you run out of Mana?” He stared at Link, walking forward with big strides.

Link watched as the fallen angel approached Spatial Slicer Trap. Then, in order to distract him from noticing, Link suddenly turned around and taunted the fallen angel, “Look at your wings. Are you a bird? Or a person? Or maybe a bird person?”

The fallen angel’s eyes became more bloodshot. “Hmph, your self-confidence is puzzling.”

He strode forward, entering the tunnel.

Slice. All of a sudden, the fallen angel’s body was sliced by the Spatial Slicer trap.

Link watched as the black mist around the fallen angel’s body suddenly contract, before dissipating. The red color in the fallen angel’s bloodshot eyes also lightened.

No matter how strong an expert was, as long as he was caught off-guard, even a normal knife would be able to cut him. There was no need to talk about the Spatial Slicer Skill, which was famous for cutting through anything.

The fallen angel was distracted by Link’s taunts and got himself injured by the Spatial Slicer Trap. If not for his quick reactions, jumping back the moment he noticed the trap, as well as his strong demonic life force, he would have been cut into slices of meat by now.

Even if he didn’t die, his injuries would not be light.

He retreated to the entrance of the tunnel with black blood dripping off his body. His hollow voice sounded out. “Magician, well done, you tricked me. But don’t think you’ve won! You’re still going to die today!”

The fallen angel suddenly knelt onto the ground. Instantly, blue flames emerged on his body, surrounding him and burning every inch of flesh on his body.

The black cat immediately called out, “He’s using Soul Recovery! Let’s go!”

Soul Recovery

Angel Bloodline Ability

Effect: Burns a portion of soul energy to heal any injury.

(Note: Cause a permanent decrease in angel’s power.)

Link knew the side-effects of this spell used by angels. However, a Level-9 demon, even after it had its power reduced, was still extremely dangerous.

He immediately turned and ran. As the group of them rushed through the tunnel, emerging into a big hall, the door to the tunnel closed. The fallen angel inside the tunnel disappeared from view.

Skinorse laughed in delight. “Ha! He’s gone. Now he won’t be able to find us.”

In order to escape through this space, they had expended a lot of energy. Skinorse did not think that the fallen angel, being the coward he was, would dare to open each of the 50 doors to find the tunnel again.

Melinda also exclaimed, “God of Light, we managed to escape from that demon!”

The black cat’s voice shook them out of their excitement. It coolly said, “This may not necessarily be a good thing. Look ahead. This place belongs to somebody.”

They were in a big, resplendent looking hall. The hall was very wide and was about 300 feet long, covered in rich decorations which were almost all made of gold.

In the center of the hall, there were many lifelike gold sculptures with strange expressions on their faces. Most of these expressions were twisted in fear, giving people the impression that they were fleeing for their lives before falling to a magic spell that turned them into gold.

At the very most center of the hall, there was a golden throne. The throne was made of pure gold, and on it were carved lines and words of epic stories. On the throne sat a man.

He wore a gold-colored mantle, as well as an eye-catching crown. However, his body was very thin, and he looked like a bag of bones. Even his skin was a dull gray.

“That is an undead!” Skinorse said under his breath.

The undead had its had lowered. One hand supported its forehead, while the other was busy holding a piece of gold in the shape of a rose.

Upon hearing the disturbance, the man’s body didn’t move, but a deep, magnetic voice called out, “My love, did you return?”