Advent of the Archmage - Chapter 446

Chapter 446: Impossible!

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

Dragon Valley.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Four Red Dragon Warriors descended from the sky. When they touched the ground, all four of them changed into their half-dragon forms, their magnificent scarlet armor clasped tightly to their bodies.

“This was the latest scene. Amil, did you find anything?” Felina looked towards one of the dragon Warriors.

This Warrior had recently reached the peak of Level-8. He was also an expert tracker for his age.

He kneeled down, observing the ground closely.

They were standing on the bare forest ground. Around them were a few tree stumps left behind by the villagers nearby after cutting down the trees. There were traces on the ground, but no footprints, as someone had taken great pains to erase them. The only thing that indicated something had happened here were the traces of blood that had soaked into the earth.

From the blood emanated faint signs of Dragon Power, which could clearly be picked up by any dragon.

After inspecting every corner, Amil shook his head. “The killer was cunning, I’ll give them that. Left not a single clue that could be traced back to them, and I just can’t find anything here that could be of use to us. Maybe we should ask around in the nearby village, see if the villagers had seen anything unusual.”

The four Dragon Warriors looked at each other and nodded.

There was a village just two miles away from where they stood. They marched off in single file, and before long, the village of dragon commoners came into view, sandwiched in a narrow valley between two mountains.

“This village is big; there must be around 2000 people living in it. I think we should split up and ask around.”

The others nodded and did as they were told.

…

As the investigation into the Dragon Valley murder case was underway, back in the Dragon Temple, the Magicians of the Emerald Circle were still deep in a discussion concerning the spatial cracks, unaware of what had happened.

In the great hall were the core members of the Emerald Circle; there were six Legendary Magicians in total, including the Red Dragon Queen herself.

Some of these powerhouses were renowned figures, such as the Red Dragon Queen and the representative of the High Elves, Bryant. Others, however, had secluded themselves from the world, virtually unknown across the continent, like the Dwarf Mountain Sage Heroto, the Neanderthal Lucia Silverstar, and two others, who had chosen to shroud themselves in a veil of magical light. One of them was a Dark Magician, and the other a wielder of Light Energy, their identities a mystery to everyone.

The Emerald Circle was a loose collective whose members were concerned only with issues surrounding the World of Firuman itself. The war between good and evil was the least of their concerns.

Though the members of the Emerald Circle who came amounted to more than 100, most of them were basically there to exchange magical knowledge among themselves. Only those six Legendary Magicians were busy discussing the matter of resolving the spatial cracks.

In truth, they were probably the only ones there capable of resolving this issue.

Seated at a round table, the Red Dragon Queen spoke solemnly, “I imagine you must have seen the Void crack on your way.There’s no point in hiding the fact that we dragons are the ones responsible for it. But what’s done is done; all that matters now is how we should go about making things right. I have given out the exact spatial data on these cracks to all of you, and I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Bryant spoke first, “Cracks of this magnitude have always been hard to resolve. Your Highness, your numbers have pointed this out clearly. Even with my current level of power, the most I can hope to do is slow down the tearing of new cracks, but to actually seal them shut…”

He slowly shook his head at the futility of the idea.

At this point in time, Bryant had fully recovered his calm, dignified demeanor befitting of a Legendary Magician. The injury inflicted upon him by Link back in Ferde had also fully healed, and the only thing reminding him of that incident was a false tooth in place of the one that had fallen out. Nobody had noticed the difference, though.

Not satisfied with Bryant’s answer, the Red Dragon Queen turned towards Lucia Silverstar.

The Neanderthal shook her head, holding it in one hand. “I haven’t recovered from my injury, my head feels as if it’s on the verge of splitting from any mental exertion right now. But I’ve seen your numbers. I fear that even in my prime, I may not be able to fare any better than Master Bryant.”

The Red Dragon Queen’s expression was grave as she looked at the remaining three Legendary Magicians.

The Dwarf Mountain Sage Heroto raised his shoulders before speaking brusquely, “Honestly, with all the trouble Isendilan has caused, if he was still alive, I would have slaughtered him with my bare hands.”

Seeing the grave look on the Red Dragon Queen’s face, he added hastily, “Cracks caused by divine magic can only be undone by divine magic. As we sorely lack in strength, the best we can do now is stopping the cracks from spreading… There is a type of Black Kun rock to the north of the Hengduan Mountain Range; it possesses special properties which may allow us to stabilize the spatial integrity. I have some with me, maybe it can be of some use to you.”

“You have my thanks,” said the Red Dragon Queen gratefully.

Just then, the Dark Magician suddenly spoke, “I heard that Master Link has also arrived here, he should be familiar with spatial magic. Why isn’t he here with us?”

The Dwarf Heroto spoke up as well, “Strange indeed. It’s been days since, where could he have gone to?”

At this, the Red Dragon Queen stiffened slightly, while Bryant remained silent, his head drooping forward.

After a few moments of silence, the Red Dragon Queen finally spoke, “Master Link is at the moment researching a new form of magic in the Gray Furnace Valley. I’ve sent someone to notify him of our meeting, but he still hasn’t responded. Something must be holding him up.”

The dwarf’s response was blunt as usual. “If that’s the case, let him be. Power informs insight. He has just recently reached Legendary status, he probably shouldn’t be able to come up with anything worth our attention. The spatial cracks are expanding as we speak. The longer we delay, the more difficult it will be to stabilize them. We’d best get started.”

When he finished speaking, he took out a greenish piece of rock, which, judging from its size, weighed around 100 tons.

“Use this to carve a rune stone, surround a crack with it, and then place a protective barrier over the outer layer of the crack. This should be enough to stop it from spreading. We should be thankful the crack isn’t that big as it is now. If we had been a year late to notice the crack, I fear there would have been nothing we could do about it at that point.”

The Legendary Light Magician, who had kept silent all this time, produced a magical image above the round table with a gentle wave of his hand. “All we need now is a stabilizing spell. I have here a prototype, a stable three-state model proposed by Spatial Magician Lawson 800 years ago. Perhaps it can serve as an inspiration to everyone here.”

Bryant, who had pulled himself out of his reverie, began examining the magical structure for ten or so minutes before speaking, “This is a very concise spell, one that follows a different path from mine. Perhaps they can be used in tandem to attain an even more effective stabilizing spell.”

He then drew out a magical structure of his own.

Everyone looked on attentively as they began discussing the two magical structures at hand.

They were all Legendary Magicians, a feat attesting to their passion for magic. No sooner had they begun their discussion than they were already engrossed in the exchange of ideas.

In the course of their deliberation, an entirely new spell was slowly given form.

Throughout all this, the Red Dragon Queen expended much of her energy, while the Mountain Sage Heroto was as blunt as ever, speaking his mind without holding anything back. Bryant and the Light and Dark Magicians, while being somewhat reserved, contributed still to the best of their abilities. Only Lucia Silverstar, besides pointing out a few structural problems here and there, kept silent for the most part, using her throbbing headache as an excuse.

Everyone was aware of what happened to her back then, and so they did not press her.

A whole day went by in the heat of their discussion, and everyone went back to rest, only to pick up where they left off the next day.

In ten days, the spatial stabilizing spell was complete.

In the space of those ten days, all members of the Emerald Circle, including the Red Dragon Queen, had attended their meetings, save for Lucia Silverstar. Using her headache and general enfeeblement as an excuse, she had been absent for at least half of those meetings.

On the eleventh day, everyone, except Lucia Silverstar, whose continued absence nobody seemed to mind too much, began their work on perfecting the stabilizing spell.

At this point, the spell was in its final developmental stages, and all that remained were a few kinks that needed straightening out. The general atmosphere among the Legendary Magicians then was one of relief.

The Red Dragon Queen seemed a little bit more relaxed. Though they were unable to seal the crack up completely, they still managed to come up with a way to stop its expansion. Maybe one of them could come up with an even more efficient solution to their predicament at a later date.

She stretched for a bit and was about to speak when suddenly, she noticed Pettalong at the entrance of the great hall. He stood with a beckoning look at the queen.

Seeing the troubled look on his face, Gretel rose from the table and excused herself. “Excuse me for a moment.”

She walked straight for the entrance, cast a soundproof barrier around herself and asked, “What’s wrong? Has another Void creature appeared in the Dragon Valley?”

“No, worse. The whole village of Vida was wiped out, 100 miles away from here. All 60,000 of them… All of them slaughtered.” The Red Dragon Elder could not bear to finish his sentence.

This may be one of the worst catastrophes that had ever happened in the Dragon Valley in the last 5000 years. Worse still, they had no idea who the culprit was!

“What did you say?!” Gretel trembled furiously, unable to maintain the Soundproof Barrier any longer.

Sixty thousand people had been found dead in the village nearby. She could not believe what she had just heard.

Chapter 447: The Tyrant Reappears

 

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

Dragon Temple

Returning to the roundtable, the Red Dragon Queen’s eyes were a bit red. She sat down and said with a trembling voice, “Everyone, something happened within the Dragon Valley, and I must return to take care of it. My apologies, I may not continue to participate in this conference.”

Mountain Sage Heroto was a bit curious. “What happened?” he asked.

Gretel didn’t want to tell them because it was her race’s own matters. Even if she told them, the Emerald Circle couldn’t help. They would only lament about the dragons’ bad luck.

Unless it involved the overall safety of the Firuman Realm, the Astral Magicians of the Emerald Circle wouldn’t care. They were high up and never acted like busybodies.

But seeing the Mountain Sage like this, a shred of hope rose in her. “A powerful demon appeared inside the Dragon Valley and killed an entire village.”

“Oh, such a tragedy,” Heroto sighed. And then…and then that was it. His curiosity was satisfied, and everything else was none of his business.

Furthermore, a village getting destroyed was nothing to a Legendary figure. Any spell over Level-8 could achieve it. Compared to the crack in the realm, it was too insignificant.

Beside her, Bryant asked out of concern, “Do you need help?” Gretel’s eyes brightened a bit, but then Bryant continued, “I’m quite interested in dragonification. If you can show me a bit, I am willing to help.”

“Thank you for your concern, but I think I can resolve it.” Gretel sighed inwardly. She shouldn’t have been delusional. Now, she was treated as a joke. Standing up, she said, “Everyone, I will go now. As for the rune for the crack…it will be up to you all.”

“Go now. The stabilization is already completed. We’ll take care of the crack,” Heroto waved his hand and said before the other Magicians could speak.

Seeing this, the other three didn’t say anything else.

Bryant shrugged. He’d wanted to get benefit from this, but since Heroto was like this, he wouldn’t add insult to the injury.

Gretel smiled gratefully at the dwarf. She told the servants to serve them well and hurried out of the room.

Pettalong and the other elders were already waiting outside.

“To Vida Village!” Gretel walked out of the temple first.

…

One hour later, Gretel led the five elders and close to 100 Warriors to the sky above Vida Village.

This was a quite prosperous village in the Dragon Valley, but now, it was deathly silent.

The faint smell of blood floated in the air. From the sky, they could see many dried corpses on the streets. The entire street—the entire village—was covered in corpses like this. Even the livestock had not been spared!

It was practically like hell.

Using her extraordinary vision as a dragon, Gretel quickly found similarities between the corpses. They all had a hole close to 15 centimeters wide. Judging from their appearances, it seemed that all their liquids had been sucked out through that hole.

The moment she saw the holes, Gretel’s pupils constricted. Judging from the size and the tactic of sucking one’s life essence, could it be that the Void Tyrant was back?

How could it get inside the Dragon Valley? The spatial barrier of the Dragon Valley was very thick. How could it get through? Or did someone summon it?

With that thought, Gretel was so shocked she almost fell from the sky.

“Your Majesty, what’s wrong?” Pettalong asked immediately. He could sense that the queen had discovered something.

Gretel took a deep breath. Turning around, she ordered the Warriors, “Go back to the temple!”

The enemy was not something a regular dragon Warrior could face. Basically, any that went would die. They didn’t need to be sacrificed so meaninglessly.

The Warriors were confused, but they followed the queen’s orders and flew back towards the Dragon Temple. Only the Red Dragon Queen and the five elders remained in the sky.

Gretel was silent for a while. She seemed to be making a huge decision. Finally, she said, “We’re going to the Gray Furnace Valley.”

“Your Majesty!” Pettalong was shocked. “He’s the black dragon,” he reminded.

“He will completely destroy our tradition!”

“Your Majesty, you can’t be brash!”

The elders all spoke over each other in a hurry.

Gretel smiled bitterly and shook her head. Looking at the destroyed Vida Village, she murmured, “A Legendary Void creature destroyed this village. I am most likely not its match.”

With that, the elders stared at each other, falling silent.

What could they do if even the queen wasn’t its match? They couldn’t force the queen to fight it. What if something happened to her? They didn’t even dare to think about that.

After hovering in the air for a while, Pettalong said, “Your Majesty, it’s getting late. Shall we go?”

The other elders didn’t speak; they acquiesced. They couldn’t help it. The situation forced them to do this.

Thus, the group of six turned and flew towards the Gray Furnace Valley.

To the Red Dragon Queen and the elders, Dragon Valley was very small. It would take them less than half an hour to fly across it. It was less than 100 miles from the Vida Village to the Gray Furnace Valley. With their speed, they arrived within eight minutes.

In the sky, Gretel could see from the distance that there was a newly-built house in the valley. Using her sharp vision, she saw Link on the second-floor balcony.

His arms were folded behind his head, and he lay on a stone chair. He seemed to be resting.

Pettalong was instantly annoyed. “This guy. I thought he was studying magic, but he’s sleeping!”

Gretel shook her head. “No, he’s not sleeping. I’m sure he’s thinking about something. Don’t come over. I’ll talk to him alone.”

She started descending from a distance. When she was around 300 feet away from the ground, Gretel started transforming into human shape. Then she cast a Levitation spell and floated towards Link’s house.

The moment she arrived at the balcony, Link’s voice rang out. “Your Majesty, did you run into a problem?”

As he spoke, he opened his eyes but didn’t get up. He remained lazing on the chair. Since he didn’t plan on having a close relationship with the dragons and they’ve started fearing him, he didn’t care about taboos or customs.

Seeing his lazy attitude, Gretel suddenly wanted to leave. She’d been the one to distance herself earlier, and now she was here to ask for help. This change made the high-and-mighty Gretel uncomfortable.

She’d always been the pride of the race. When did she ever beg anyone? However, she couldn’t be stubborn at this time.

Calming herself, she said quietly, “I saw the Void Tyrant inside the Dragon Valley. It just devoured a village of 60,000 people.”

With that, Link grew serious and sat up immediately. “Where is it now?”

He didn’t ask why the Void Tyrant would appear in the Dragon Valley. Since the queen had told him like this, it was definite news. The Void Tyrant had to be rid. Otherwise, it would keep absorbing energy and become stronger and stronger.

His attitude warmed Gretel’s heart. He didn’t talk about trades or benefits. Instead, his first thought was how to solve the problem. Fellow brethren were always more reliable.

Gretel’s expression had been cold, but now it softened. “I don’t know. I don’t have any information on it after it destroyed the village. It’s in hiding.”

Next, Link asked the second critical question. “How is Lucia Silverstar? Where is she now?”

“Lucia Silverstar?”

Link’s expression was grave; his train of thought was very clear. “Yes, she’s the one who’s most familiar with the Void Tyrant and the one who interacted with it first. We don’t know where it is now, but Silverstar will definitely give us some critical clues!”

These days, he had been studying dragonification but he still clearly remembered the details that happened that day. Actually, if not for the distant attitude of the dragons, he had planned on asking Silverstar about the Void Tyrant.

However, the Red Dragon Queen frowned. “She should be resting in the temple. Her injuries still aren’t healed completely. But for some reason, I think she’s a bit odd.”

Hearing this, Link was already up. “How so?” he asked.

“I can’t explain it. I’ve seen her many times before and she’d always been an eccentric girl, but this time, she gave me another feeling. Maybe it’s because of her injuries…”

This was enough. “Take me to see her!” Link cut the queen off with a wave.

His tone was full of authority. Though his expression was serious, there was no panic. He seemed to always have a clear target and Gretel nodded without thinking. “Okay, we’ll go now.”

“As fast as possible. The situation might be really bad!” Link had a vague guess, but it was a horrible idea. He hoped that it wouldn’t be proved right.

“Can you fly now?” Gretel was worried Link hadn’t learned yet.

“Of course. I’m not the best, but I can do basic flying,” Link said. Actually, he was being modest. His flying was quite skilled after all these days of practice.

Gretel was assured. She soared into the sky and transformed into dragon shape. Then she hovered to wait.

Without caring about the house below him, Link transformed right there. The house rumbled and cracked like shattered stones. Then he pushed lightly and easily started flying with the help of his wings.

Approaching the queen, he circled and said, “Let’s go.”

Gretel began flying towards the Dragon Temple. After a while, she couldn’t help but ask, “Where are your thorns? And…that thing?”

“I modified it,” Link answered casually.

“Mo…modified? How?” Gretel was completely shocked. She’d never heard of this. Any dragon who messed with their Heart of the Dragon would die!

She had never heard of anyone who dared to modify the heart. Even more incredible, Link had actually succeeded? How did he do it?

“Let’s go!” Link didn’t feel like explaining. His wings pumped, and there was a boom in the air. He’d surpassed the sound barrier. His body shot towards the Dragon Temple like a flash of black light.

Gretel was forced to flap her wings and follow. After a while, the elders rose up too, but they were much slower. The old dragons tried their hardest, but Link and Gretel were gone within a few seconds.

The elders stared at each other in shock.

Finally, Pettalong sighed helplessly. “It seems that the Black Dragon King’s appearance is a sign from the ancestors. They must have a plan, and we can’t escape from it so easily!”

The other elders sighed as well.

Earlier, they’d watched the Red Dragon Queen’s conversation with Link from afar and could feel Link’s mightiness. Before him, even the majestic queen seemed to lose. The black dragon’s power was already clear.

On the other hand, Link only spent three minutes before he arrived at the Dragon Temple.

The guards had been standing at the entrance lazily. When they saw the black shadow that covered the sun, they were all frightened. At closer inspection, they realized it was the black dragon and were even more dumbfounded.

Boom! Link landed. The ground shook, and the Warriors tottered. An Apocalypse Dragon Guard was nearby. He ran over, waving his spear and yelling, “Invader!”

Link didn’t move. When the Apocalypse Dragon Guard arrived, he raised his front claw and flicked in the guard’s direction. A shockwave hit the guard, and he shot back like getting hit by a cannon, three times faster than when he’d charged.

Seeing the other Warriors about to fight, the queen called from the air, “Stop!” She soon landed as well.

When Link saw her, he turned back into a human while asking, “Where is Silverstar’s room?”

“I’ll take you there.” Gretel also felt that the situation was off. With no time to explain to her Warriors, she also turned into human shape and rushed forward to lead Link.

Near Silverstar’s room, Gretel felt something wrong. She couldn’t sense any aura. At the door, she looked inside and yelled, “She’s not here!”

Lucia Silverstar had said she had a horrible migraine before today’s meeting and went to rest. Why wasn’t she in her room now? Where was she?

Chapter 448: The Winds of Change

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

The Dragon Temple

Link followed the Red Dragon Queen to Lucia Silverstar’s room, and in great strides, reached the side of her bed. He then cast the Detection Spell that he had recently mastered.

“Void Eye!”

Void Eye

Level-11 Detection Spell

Energy Cost: 300 Dragon Energy

Effect: Will dye any trace of the Void’s aura in one’s surroundings.

(Note: One’s power level determines one’s field of vision.)

A point of bright red light shone forth from Link’s hand, which began scanning the air in circles.

In the first few rounds, the air remained unchanged, but Link had felt something in the room.

The Void Eye scanned the place a few more times, and the faint traces of the Void began surfacing in the air in red. Gradually, a thin red mist began forming around the bed in front of Link, where a distinct red human-shaped silhouette could now be seen.

Gretel had then entered the room, and seeing the hazy red silhouette, she understood immediately what Link’s spell was used for. She whispered in disbelief, “The Void Tyrant was brought in by Silverstar?”

“It was probably her,” said Link, nodding, as he began scanning other parts of the room with his Detection spell. “The Void Tyrant had cleverly concealed himself; there was barely any trace of the Void’s aura to be picked up here. I suspect she must have been under its influence when she summoned the Void Tyrant into our world.”

At this, Link’s train of thought cleared up even more, as he recalled what he had seen back in the woods that day. “Back in the woods, I came across the body of a Yabba half-dragon. Did you manage to find out who she was?”

“Yes, her name was Emilia, a member of the Emerald Circle as well. Silverstar had explained that the half-dragon was under the influence of a Void presence, and so she was forced to kill her and her underlings with the help of the Void Tyrant. We did not suspect a single thing then,” said Gretel, clearly troubled by all this.

Link had already checked most of the room but was unable to find any further clues that could be of use. “What’s important right now, is finding Silverstar. But she’s a threat to everyone around, so it’s best if it’s just the two of us going after her. I hear that there are four other Legendary Magicians here, maybe they could provide their assistance.”

Gretel shook her head. “No, they’re still busy crafting the anti-crack rune, they probably won’t be able to help us.”

“Anti-crack rune?” Link did not quite understand.

Gretel began explaining the whole affair to Link. When she had finished, Link was silent for a few seconds. Then, he spoke, “I think it’s best to put off the matter with the spatial crack. Right now, we need to deal with the Void Tyrant as soon as possible, or it will become far too strong for us to handle if left unchecked. The way I see it, the Void Tyrant holds a higher priority than the spatial crack.”

Link then turned to leave the room, and asked, “Where are they now? I’ll meet them personally.”

Gretel quickened her pace to catch up to him. “No, you don’t understand, the Emerald Circle is a loose collective that exists solely to safeguard the safety of the whole realm. To them, anything else is of little to no importance. They won’t intervene in things they deem not worthy of their time.”

Link was stunned for a moment. Of course, how could he have forgotten?

Even in the previous game world, Link had been one of the high-level members of the Emerald Circle and understood the underlying principle of this organization better than anyone else. The Astral Magicians there were shrouded in mystery. Their existences were virtually unknown to any other player, though Link had only met these enigmatic characters maybe two or three times.

These Legendary Magicians had pierced through the inner workings of the world, and as a rule, did not meddle in earthly affairs. Right now, as the Void Tyrant was an internal issue among the dragon race, they would simply watch the whole thing unfold as mere observers on the sidelines.

But Link did not believe in absolutes. If done right, anyone in this world could be persuaded to accept his point of view.

After much thinking, an idea came to him, and he asked, “You were saying you had been perfecting a spatial crack-stabilizing spell. Can I take a look at it?”

“Of course.” Gretel gently flicked her fingers, and an overly complicated three-dimensional magical structure appeared in the air.

If he had remained as he was back in the East Cove Magic Academy or even the last time he was in the Dragon Valley, he would not have made head or tails of any of this; but now, he had no problem understanding every inch of the magical structure before him.

Walking around the magical structure as it floated in mid-air, Link was able to understand the key sections of the spatial stabilizing spell. After walking around it again, and with another closer look, he finally said, “Not bad for a spatial spell, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement… Let’s go, you lead the way, I’m confident that I can convince them to aid our cause.”

Gretel headed for the great hall, not entirely reassured by Link’s words. “Are you sure? Bryant had said that he would only help in exchange for the art of dragonification.”

Link started at this. “Bryant was made a member of the Emerald Circle?”

“Yes, he has already been a member for the past 150 years as a representative of the High Elves.”

“Well then, now I’m sure I can convince all of them!” Link smiled inwardly.

Gretel could not fathom what Link was planning, but seeing the confidence in his eyes, she did not press any further. Should he fail, Link risked only disgrace, but the dragon race would be able to hedge their losses should he succeed.

In a few minutes, they had reached the entrance of the great hall. Despite bracing herself for the humiliation to come, the Red Dragon Queen was still not used to this. In all her lifetime, this may be one of the few times she had to beg for help from someone else.

Still trying to keep her emotions under control, she felt someone patting on her shoulder and saw Link smiling reassuringly at her.

“Don’t worry; besides, I’m the one who has much to lose from this.”

Slightly stunned, she felt her face growing hotter from embarrassment. How could she be thinking of herself at a moment like this? Link was the one who would be doing the convincing, and the one who would be on the receiving end of any mockery should this backfire would be Link himself as well. What did she have to lose?

Straightening up, and with a deep breath, Gretel smiled apologetically at him. “Sorry… And thank you.”

She pushed the doors into the great hall, and within, the four Astral Magicians were in the midst of putting on the finishing touches of the spatial stabilizing spell. They turned towards Gretel with a questioning look.

The Dwarf Mountain Sage Heroto asked curiously, “Your Highness, didn’t you say something big had happened? I didn’t think you would be back so soon.”

Gretel did not reply; instead, she stood to one side, allowing Link, dressed in a dark blue Assassin Robe, to enter the room. His eyes fell on the magical structure above the table and shook his head, smiling. “Forgive me for speaking so bluntly, but this spell you have here is pure rubbish!”

The four Astral Magicians were rendered speechless and looked at each other before exploding on Link.

The ever brusque Mountain Sage Heroto was first to speak. “You’re Link? Young man, I have farted for far longer than you have been alive to utter nonsense like this. How dare you call this spell rubbish?”

Bryant spat out coldly, “Know your place, whelp!”

The Dark Magician laughed coldly. “You have spunk, young one.”

The Light Magician did not say a word and instead turned towards Link, waiting for an explanation from him.

At that moment, Gretel had an urge to hide herself in the nearest hole she could find. She did not expect Link to start off with such insolence; he had basically dug his own grave by speaking that way!

Link chuckled, striding towards the table. He then pointed his magic wand at the magical light construct and began rearranging some of its details.

He was able to retouch ten or so sections of the structure with a few deft movements. With a light wave of his hand, the runic silhouette began slowly revolving. Link gave it a couple brisk taps with his wand, removing and adding runes wherever he saw fit. Half an hour passed, and an entirely brand new magical structure was left floating above the table.

Link stowed his wand back with a smile. “Though your original spell would have been able to stabilize the spatial structure, it lacks the capacity to stop the spread of Mana effectively. As most of you should know, Mana is able to keep any spatial tear open. Ever since the appearance of the crack, the density of Mana in the world had risen to 80 percent, and the Space Barrier of Firuman has thinned considerably. But with my spell, any collateral effect brought about by the spatial crack will be contained within the barrier; even if the space within the barrier has collapsed, it won’t affect any other parts of the realm of Firuman.”

Link applied much of what he had learned recently into designing the spell. Of course, he had only scratched the surface of his newfound knowledge. The core fruits of his research remained untapped.

Still, the spatial spell that an expert Spatial Magician such as himself had concocted should prove to be much more effective than what any of these dabblers could hope to conceive.

The other Magicians were able to recognize the workmanship that had gone into the newly designed magical structure. They simply marveled at it without a sound.

After a moment, Heroto spread out his hands. “Alright, it certainly looks better than before.”

“Hmmph!” Bryant let out a huff of discontent through his nose.

The Dark Magician expressed his acknowledgment as well, though reluctantly. “I guess you do have the right to speak.”

The Light Magician, however, asked, “There’s more to this, isn’t there, Master Link?”

Hardened in the ways of the world for as long as any of them could remember, these Astral Magicians knew Link would not have helped them without reason.

Link smiled coyly. “I guess there’s no point in hiding the matter. Lucia Silverstar is in deep trouble.”

By centering the conversation on Lucia’s position as an equal among the Emerald Circle instead of bringing up what had befallen the dragon race, Link had hoped that the Magicians would be more willing to help out.

The idea of saving a fellow member would sound far more appealing to this lot than meddling in the affairs of the dragon race, even though the end result of either path was essentially the same.

Upon hearing this, Heroto the Dwarf bellowed, “What happened? She was just fine the other day, what happened to her? Where is she? No, let’s just go get her!”

Still harboring much resentment towards Link, Bryant laughed coldly. “About Lucia…”

Before he could finish, Link interrupted him. “Your Excellency, I have always had the utmost respect for you. Our legends have portrayed you as nothing less than a legendary savior to us humans. I do sincerely hope that you could come visit me in Ferde again; I’ll make sure to give you the proper treatment befitting of an honored guest such as yourself, if there is such a chance, of course.”

Bryant’s face stiffened considerably. “Thanks. But Lucia’s matter takes precedence at the moment. We should resolve it quickly.”

His eyes were fixed threateningly on Link, and the message was clear to him, What happened in Ferde stays between us, no one else should know about it.

Should anyone else catch wind of his humiliation, his reputation would crumble in an instant.

Link nodded, satisfied that they were able to come to a mutual understanding.

He then turned to the Dark and Light Astral Magicians. “As far as I know, Lucia Silverstar has been possessed by the Void Tyrant, if nothing is done, things may get out of hand quick… What do you think?”

After pondering in silence for a bit, the Light Magician spoke, “I will help you in tracking down Lucia, but I will not aid you in dealing with the Void Tyrant.”

The Dark Magician also spoke up, “I’m with him. We’ll look for the girl with you, but you’re on your own with the creature.”

This was more than enough. Link took a step back and bowed before the Magicians in gratitude. “You have my thanks.”

And so the matter was settled.

In the entrance, Gretel looked on, dumbfounded.

Four Astral Magicians, two of whom had decided to help, while the other two had chosen to sit on the sidelines. This outcome had far exceeded Gretel’s expectations. She stared at Link, a mix of admiration and dread on her face.

Just then, a couple of the Red Dragon Elders had returned. They stood beside the Red Dragon Queen, in time to see what had transpired.

Pettalong observed Link, who was able to settle things with such speed and resolve and then looked at the queen beside him. He let out an inward sigh. The times are indeed changing, thought Pettalong rather wistfully.

Chapter 449: In the End, One Can Only Rely on Oneself

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

The Red Dragon Queen was actually a very intelligent person. She could do what Link was doing now. However, she couldn’t be as decisive as him or react as quickly.

This was due to how she grew up.

For two thousand years, Gretel had been high above everyone. She had unparalleled strength and looked down on everyone. She rarely cooperated with anyone and pretty much never asked for help.

Now, times had suddenly changed, but her mindset couldn’t switch fast enough. Under forced circumstances, she could learn to lower herself just as she’d lowered herself to ask Link for help. But this needed time and they didn’t have time.

Of course, she didn’t need to lower herself anymore because Link had already taken care of it.

“Let’s split up and look.”

The Dragon Valley was around 200 miles wide. There were six Legendary people here. With each responsible for a section, they could dig six feet under and find Lucia Silverstar!

The six went to the Dragon Temple Square. After deciding on the signal for help, they started showing their own skills.

Link and Gretel changed into dragon shape while Bryant transformed into a beam of light that shot into the sky. The dwarf dug into the ground and burrowed away.

The Dark Magician ran on the ground. His speed was too fast to describe, and he left behind a blur. One moment he was in the square; the next, he was already thousands of feet away.

The Light Magician was the most dramatic. He transformed into a milky-white two-foot-wide ball of light. Then like lightning, he bolted towards the other direction. He was so fast he was like a meteorite.

Finally, Link and Gretel flapped their wings and left.

Gretel was the Red Dragon Queen, and the elders followed her at all costs. Their reasoning was simple: if anything happened, they would sacrifice themselves to save her.

Unexpectedly, an elder also followed Link—it was Pettalong. Link didn’t refuse. If the elder wanted to follow, then so be it.

Link quickly reached the area he had to search. A dragon’s vision was scarily good, especially after turning into their dragon form. His eyes were basically two high-focus telescopes with no blind spots. If he focused, he could see the engravings on a gold coin miles away.

He was now using those eyes to scan the ground.

While flying, Pettalong flew over. “Lord,” he said. “What do you plan to do after this?”

“Return to Ferde,” Link said while still looking at the ground.

There was a moment of silence. After a while, Pettalong spoke again. “Those are mortal matters. Even if it can prosper, it won’t last more than a century. What then?”

“That’s too far away. I haven’t thought about it.” Link shook his head. He was still looking down. The ground under him was covered in mountains and forests. Occasionally, a village would appear. They all looked normal.

“You are now an important member of our race. Perhaps you should live in the Dragon Valley,” Pettalong said.

Hearing this, Link glanced at him and shook his head. “I know what you’re saying, but Ferde has the one I love. Her Majesty’s matters are none of my business.”

Link wasn’t stupid. All three dukes had died. The game system also reminded him with a note. The dragons had acted strangely too. Because of all this, he’d guessed the situation, but he was too lazy to say it. Now, Pettalong said all that, almost getting to the point. Link had to reject him directly.

The Red Dragon Queen was just a friend. It had been nice working with her on the mysteries of space, but that was it.

Pettalong seemed to want to continue. Seeing that he wasn’t giving up, Link narrowed his eyes and made his tone more serious. “Alright, who can ensure what happens in the future? Let’s take care of this Void Tyrant first!”

This made Pettalong swallow his words, though it didn’t make him happy. Later, he was quiet the entire time, following Link while moping.

Link got rid of the distractions and focused on searching for abnormal marks on the ground. In order to not miss anything, he flew very slowly. Ten minutes later, he’d only flown a few miles, and everything was normal.

At that moment, Link felt something. He looked to the east and sensed the signal. It was from Bryant’s direction.

“There’s something in the east! Let’s go!” Link said. He immediately accelerated. With a boom in the air, his body turned into a black streak.

Pettalong followed with all his might, but seconds later, he couldn’t see Link anymore. He could only sigh. The difference was too large.

When creating his Heart of the Dragon, Link had absorbed much Dragon Power. His limit had increased a lot, reaching 13900. This was Level-11. He used all his power now and was honestly as fast as lightning. He traveled 3000 feet in one second.

The elder obviously couldn’t catch up.

However, this was only a burst. Link could only keep up the speed for one minute. After that, he was only moving at around 2000 feet per second. This speed was great for hurrying.

With this speed, the Dragon Valley was too small. Less than two minutes later, Bryant appeared in Link’s vision. At the same time, he saw Gretel and Heroto. They were all at the Legendary level and had similar speeds.

The situation before him was strange. It was a small city. Bryant and Lucia Silverstar were in a secluded alley. They stood 300 feet away from each other but didn’t do anything.

It was obvious Bryant was nervous. He kept looking around as if ready to run at any moment.

While landing, Link, and Gretel changed to human shape as to not cause panic. They descended around the alley, blocking Lucia’s escape routes.

Heroto popped out of the ground. As soon as he appeared, he yelled at Lucia, “Hey, what’s going on? Are you Silverstar?”

Lucia turned to look around her. She sneered and sighed. “It seems that I’ve still been discovered. However, you’re a bit too late.”

“What do you mean?” Bryant was the first to discover her. When he faced her alone, he felt a horrible pressure. Now that Lucia said that, he felt even less confident.

“You’re all here! Saves me time from looking for you all. Now watch carefully, Magicians!” Lucia cackled.

As soon as she finished, there were consecutive booms. The ground shattered instantly, buildings collapsed, and countless black tentacles broke through the ground. The entire city became a black forest.

“I’ve already sucked 10,000 people’s energy. It’s so fresh and beautiful, so vast that I can destroy the entire world. No one can stop me. Now, all of you have come to die. Good, very good. Today, I’ll see what you so-called Legendary figures taste like. Ha!”

As she spoke, the tentacles shot towards the city residents like arrows. They pierced them and started sucking out their energy. Other tentacles shot towards Link and the others.

There were so many tentacles that they could barely hide. They were also very strong. At this time, they entirely unrestricted and they were as fast as shadows. Link couldn’t see clearly at all!

There was no way to block them. If the group stayed in the city, they might chop off many tentacles, but the power they released would quickly get absorbed. More tentacles would be born.

They would die like this!

Under this kind of intensive attack, it would already be a feat to last five seconds.

“Go!”

Link used the Dimensional Jump without hesitation. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Beams of white light flashed. The group that had been surrounded by the black forest was instantly transported outside the city.

From the outside, it was still the same prosperous city. Within ten short seconds, it had become a ghost city. There weren’t even pained cries anymore.

The black tentacles were countless. All one could see were worm-like tentacles swaying in the air. Not only were there a lot of them, but they were also scattered. To hurt any, one needed Legendary power!

Dwarf Heroto gulped. “Your Majesty, you really got into a mess this time. How do we fight this?”

Bryant started backing out too. “Your Majesty, we can’t save Silverstar anymore, and we aren’t a match for this thing either. How about we retreat?”

They weren’t a match. He felt that he could only kill this powerful enemy by returning to the Isle of Dawn, assemble a Magician legion, and cast large-scale Legendary spells above Level-15.

Gretel’s face was ghastly pale. She looked at Link. “How should we fight?”

The other two could back out but she couldn’t. She had to get rid of this creature or else the entire Dragon Valley would be destroyed.

At this time, a light and dark figure appeared.

“Tsk, it’s the Void Tyrant, and it has developed to this state. That’s kind of problematic,” the Dark Magician said. He seemed a bit happy.

The Light Magician sighed. “Ah, the Dragon Valley is in trouble.”

“So will you two help?” Link asked.

The Dark Magician quickly waved his hand. “No, no, no. I said I wouldn’t, so I won’t. Goodbye everyone, I’m leaving now. Your Majesty, you can find a way with the rune. The spell is already completed, so all that remains is physical work.”

He transformed into a black blur and vanished.

After that, the Light Magician also turned into light to leave. “The Dark Magician must have some bad idea. I must go stop him. Your Majesty, I’ll abandon the Dragon Valley and use the Mist Maze to stop him, then find reinforcement!”

He left too.

Heroto sighed. He looked at the Red Dragon Queen apologetically. “Your Majesty, Silverstar is already done for. It’s not that I don’t want to help. I really can’t. I’m sorry!”

He burrowed into the dirt and disappeared.

Bryant was the last one left. He shrugged. “Void Tyrants can continuously absorb energy, but they have a limit. This one is almost at its limit. Obviously, we aren’t his match even if we worked together. I’ll leave first. I must notify the Isle of Dawn.”

His body flashed and streaked away.

Of all the Legendary figures, only Link and Gretel remained. Gretel looked at Link, tears almost falling from her eyes. “What do we do now?”

Only the high-level dragons could retreat. There were millions of regular dragons in the Dragon Valley. It was also the foundation of millenniums of the dragon race. How could she just abandon it?

Link looked at the city up front where demons seemed to be dancing in and thought of how to resolve it. Actually, he wanted to retreat too. As long as he was alive, he could figure out a solution.

Just then, a message appeared in his vision.

Activate Epic Mission: Dragon

First Step: Rescue

Mission Content: Enter the Soul Realm and find Astral Magician Lucia Silverstar’s soul.

Mission Reward 1: 10 Jogu

Mission Reward 2: 300 Omni Points

From past experience, Link knew that if the game system sent a series of missions like this, it meant that it had a way against the Void Tyrant. If he completed each step, he would be able to solve the crisis.

Other than that time with the God of Destruction, the game had never been wrong. Thinking of this, Link accepted the mission.

Looking at the panicking Gretel, he said, “We can’t fight this creature in the Physical Realm. Let’s try in the Soul Realm!”