Advent of the Archmage

Chapter 461: Make a Fortune Without a Sound

On the sea

The three Ferdian warships dragged the giant thing and sailed slowly on the sea. They didn’t go towards Ferde and leave the thing there. Otherwise, the entire world would know that they stole the High Elves’ island, and that would cause a bunch of problems.

For things like this, it was better to make a fortune without a sound.

They sailed for three days, carefully avoiding all other ships. By dusk of the third day, the three warships stopped in a secluded bay in the south of Ferde. It was around six miles from land.

“Alright, all of you go back to the pier. Remember, nothing happened today!” Link said to Jacker, who was on the warship.

“Understood!” Jacker saluted at Link.

Whoosh. The warships started steering towards the Ferde Port. Link stood on the giant floating mine, watching them fade into the distance.

He took a deep breath and started pouring Dragon Power into the ore. After a few seconds, the Dragon Power was equally distributed inside the ore. He used more than 10,000 points during this process.

“Spatial Distortion: Anti-gravity Force Field!”

With a soft hum, a thin ring of detailed runes spread out across the surface with Link as the center. Two seconds later, it surrounded the entire piece of ore.

The first time Link used Spatial Distortion was at the Northern Skeletal Fort. It was still a Spatial Distortion spell but now, it was much more complex and detailed than before. This spell contained Link’s all-new understanding of space and rich experience.

The runes lasted for two seconds. Then this hundred-thousand-ton rock started floating up. Whoosh, whoosh. The water around it washed away, slowly revealing the true shape of the ore.

Originally, the rock was 300 feet wide and 900 feet high. After Link changed it with the enchantment spell, its bulk was at least eight times larger and had doubled in size.

When this giant piece of rock was 60 feet in the air, it was practically like a floating city!

The Dragon Power he’d added in was being burned up at 500 points per second. Link knew he couldn’t maintain it for long. Using his thoughts, he pushed the rock towards Ferde at 120 feet per second.

Whoosh, whoosh. Gales of wind sounded in Link’s ears. It was the sound of this giant rock tearing through the air.

After around 20 seconds, it was thousands of feet inland and Link couldn’t keep going. He sagged and the huge rock plummeted. Two seconds later, there was a muffled boom. The ground was crushed and the rock cracked into many big pieces.

Link estimated that if he used the Anti-gravity Force Field to lift something that heavy to 2500 feet in the air and slammed it down, its power would be equivalent to a Legendary spell.

Of course, doing that was too stupid. If he was disturbed while doing it, he would be in trouble. He was just imagining it for fun.

The place Link chose was very remote. The soil was rocky and infertile so no one lived around here. Naturally, no one noticed this commotion.

Throwing down the ore, Link used the force field to float down slowly.

While descending, he suddenly felt that he should use a force field to make a spell for him to travel faster. He didn’t dare use it before because his Mana recovery rate was too slow. Flight spells would use up a lot of Mana and make him vulnerable. But now, his Dragon Power was recovering at 30 points per second. If he could make a spell that used up less than 30 points, he could travel without tiring out.

That’s a good plan. I’ll develop it as soon as I have time. It has to be flexible and as fast as possible. At least, it can’t be slower than my dragon form… Wait, if I add this force field to my dragon form, won’t I be even faster?

The more Link thought of it, the more amazing it felt.

By then, he had landed on the rock. He had around 3000 Dragon Power points left so he poured it in again, reaching the rock surrounding the ore.

“Higgs Force Field!”

The rock instantly became as soft as water. The gyromagnetic iron started sinking into the “rock water.” After a few seconds, the entire piece of ore was hidden within the water.

After this, Link let out a relieved breath. Heh, even if the High Elves discover this, I can say it’s Ferde’s own mine. They have no evidence and can’t take it away. They can only stare at it.

This was around 30 miles from Scorched City. Link jumped down from the rock and started sprinting towards Ferde. He was so fast that he made it within ten minutes.

Link told Lucy of the location of the gyromagnetic iron to Lucy. She would arrange everything after this while Link went back to his Mage Tower.

Even with his physical strength, he was exhausted from all these days’ work. At the top level, he filled the large bathtub with hot water. He rested in the hot water for half an hour before he recovered.

While lying there, he heard a click from the entrance of the hall. Celine was back. She’d taken the ship to the port so she was a bit slower.

Seeing that Link was back and still in the tub, she also stripped and walked in. Sitting across from Link, she washed herself while saying, “Link, I’m going to start learning enchantment magic!”

Link laughed. “I hope you don’t lose interest fast.”

“I definitely won’t! Look at my Mana.” Celine swam towards Link and cuddled up to him. She reached out and released Mana. A dark blue ball of light appeared on her pale and delicate palms.

When the light appeared, Link felt his heart skip. This was a sign of his soul being affected. He was a Legendary Magician and had a powerful soul. It was impressive that his soul could be so easily affected.

He studied the ball of Mana. Unexpectedly, it was at Level-7. It looked like dark blue, but if he squinted, he could make out endless magic runes flowing within.

So powerful. No wonder Celine has the foresight talent. This is such unique bloodline magic… This is the power of time. When I have time, I’ll have to study it. Link sighed within. No wonder Nozama, the Lord of the Deep, tried everything to get this daughter back to the Abyss. If trained, Celine could definitely become a terrifying soldier.

“How about it? Am I powerful?” Celine asked proudly. “Of all the Magicians in the Mage Tower, only Elliard is a bit stronger than me. The others are all weaker.” She put her Mana away and rested her head against Link’s chest. While drawing circles on his muscle, she murmured, “When I learn enchantments, I’ll modify my large fire gun until it’s a Legendary weapon. By then, even you can’t beat me, haha.”

She had a great vision and Link had to support her. “Your Mana is indeed enough to learn enchantments. I’ll be writing spells during this time. Just take them and if you have questions, write them down. I’ll answer them at night.”

Celine was satisfied. “I knew you’d support me. Here, let me reward you.”

She turned and sat in Link’s lap… After a while, Celine was tired and fell asleep. Link was revitalized. He returned to his library and started writing.

The night was silent.

The next morning, Lucy came to report about the gyromagnetic iron. Her eyes were bloodshot; she probably didn’t sleep at all. Handing a scroll to Link, she said, “Lord, we’ve already built the mine and arranged the mining work. According to the plan, this mine can support 18 months of financial operations.”

“Eighteen months…that should be enough.” Link nodded. He was very satisfied with this. It was enough for him to establish the enchantment industry as a pillar in Ferde.

There were two obstacles in completing this: enchanters and High Elves.

Currently, almost all advanced enchantment equipment in Firuman were produced by High Elves. It was practically a monopoly. Link would be stealing business from them.

This would be challenging but that would be for later. Right now, he needed a large amount of enchanters. Where would he get them? Other than training them in his Mage Tower, another source would be the magic academies all over. Amongst them, the East Cove Magic Academy was the most important.

Seeing Lucy’s fatigue, he tapped her lightly and cast Essence Vitality, a dragon healing spell.

Essence Vitality

Level-10 Legendary Healing Spell

Cost: 1200 points

Effect: Dragon Power transforms into the essence of light and pours into the target’s body. It can greatly raise their vitality. The duration decreases as the target’s level increases. It can last at most 30 days.

(Note: Gift from the Red Dragon Queen.)

Lucy had worked the entire night and kept yawning. Her head felt heavy and dizzy too. But with this spell, she shivered and then all the fatigued disappeared. She was hundreds of times livelier, as if she had an infinite amount of energy.

She knew this was the spell’s power. “Thank you.”

Link smiled. “Alright, don’t tire yourself out. There are many things you can tell other people to do. You’re my most important manager.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Lucy’s heart was warm. However, she was totally energized now. As soon as she left Link’s room, she dove back into work.

Link chuckled. Scorched City was able to develop so quickly and the territory was able to improve all because of these loyal followers.

By now, Link had finished the Enchantment Outline and Basic Enchantments. He spent another hour packaging them into books. After letting Celine know, he got a carriage and started towards the airship stop in Scorched Ridge.

The airship stop obviously belonged to the Yabbas. It wasn’t open to the public yet. As the lord, only he could use it. The airships there could count as his private jets.

After getting in, Link said, “To the East Cove Magic Academy.”

If he wanted to find talents from the academy, he would obviously need his tutor Herrera’s help. The two books he had were basic enchantment books. Link prepared to publish them to give his new writing career a good reputation.

After this, he planned on writing intermediate and advanced enchantment spells, and even at the expert level. He would keep these higher-level books secret. They would become the core of his planned workshops’ competitive edge.

Chapter 462: The Incurable Illness

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

From the sky, one could clearly see the patches of ravaged earth scattered throughout Girvent Forest from the devastation of a recent war.

The forces of Delonga had been annihilated completely in the war against Ferde’s army. Also taking into account the fact that Link was the Legendary Magician presiding over Ferde, Delonga had no choice but to retreat.

Unfortunately, just as he had expected, Delonga’s sworn enemy, the kingdom of Southmoon, didn’t pass up such a chance to swoop in for the kill.

At this moment, the kingdom of Southmoon had planned on dealing the finishing blow to Delonga in his moment of weakness.

As both Ferde and the Southmoon Kingdom were allies, Link could not have wished for a better outcome.

Once the kingdom of Southmoon finished off Delonga, business between Ferde and Southmoon would be even smoother than before.

While Link’s head was filled with such thoughts, the airship pilot in front said to him, “My lord, we’re approaching East Cove Magic Academy. Do you wish to land inside?”

“No, try to land as far from the academy as you can. Don’t want to give the people inside a fright.”

He was now a Legendary Magician, and also the first officially recognized Legendary Magician among the human race. If news of his return got out, everyone from the academy would come out in full force to welcome him, and that would be a big waste of his time.

On a patch of empty land in the woods outside East Cove, the airship landed. Link exited the vessel and began heading for the East Cove Magic Academy. After walking a few feet towards it, he used Dimensional Jump, making the necessary calculations.

Hum. There was a bright white light, and Link vanished instantly. A few seconds later, he was standing in front of Herrera’s magic tower.

The academy was quiet, as always. There were a few magician’s apprentices running down the stone path leading towards the magic tower. They didn’t seem to notice Link, who had suddenly apparated there.

Walking up to the magic tower’s entrance, Link gently tapped on the rune of the entrance. A soft bell-like sound echoed within. After a while, the door opened, and an apprentice, no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, peeked out from behind it.

He looked at Link and was stunned for a bit before he asked, “Hi, can I help you?”

Link was wearing a dark blue Assassin’s Robe with a sword hanging from his waist. Judging by his muscular physique, the apprentice figured that he must have been a warrior. The warrior’s body was adorned with a dazzling assortment of magical equipment, and at that point, the apprentice had refrained from making any further assumptions of the person in front of him.

“Is Master Moira here? I have some business with her.”

“You wish to see the advisor? Um, she’s currently not in the tower.”

Slightly disappointed, Link asked again, “Then, do you know where she is now?”

“She’s probably at the Heaven’s Thorn. She should be back soon.”

“I see. By the way, is Magician Rylai in?” Link asked once more, deciding to see his disciple.

“She’s in. Wait here, I’ll go get her.”

“Alright.” Link stood by the door and waited for him.

The magician apprentice closed the door behind him. A moment later, the door opened again, and Rylai stepped out of the tower, smiling.

She was a bit puzzled by this at first, as she did not really have any warrior acquaintances, but upon seeing Link, her face immediately split into a smile, and she shouted gleefully, “Master, why are you here?”

Link smiled back gently. “I’m here to see my master, as well as my own disciple. Aren’t you going to let me in?”

“Oh, come on in. Auntie Herrera will be back shortly.” Rylai skipped cheerfully like a child as she led the way.

Her effusive demeanor startled some of the new apprentices in the great hall.

“Who’s the warrior with Rylai, and why’s she so friendly with him?” asked the apprentice who had opened the door for Link.

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard of any powerful warriors in the kingdom these days… Why did the other apprentices suddenly stand up?” asked one of the newcomers.

He felt himself being pulled up forcefully as one of his companions stood up beside him as well. A low voice whispered in his ear, “What are you still sitting around for, that’s the lord of Ferde!”

“What lord of Ferde? Ah!” The student quaked in sudden realization and stood upright a bit too quickly. There was a sharp pain in his knee, and he staggered forward, falling to a half-kneel on the ground.

Wasn’t the lord of Ferde Link, one of the senior apprentices of the academy, and supposedly the first ever Legendary Magician on the continent? How could he not have recognized him?

The youth who had opened the door for Link was muttering beside the newcomer, “Ah, to have missed out on such a great chance… I really should put my eyes out for not having recognized him sooner!”

Amid the din, Link followed Rylai to the magic tower’s second floor. At first, Rylai had wanted him to wait at the second floor, but Link smiled at her and said, “No, let’s wait at the great hall on the top floor.”

He walked on, this time followed by Rylai.

Upon reaching the entrance to the great hall on the top floor, Link entered the password on a rune beside the door. With a click, the door opened.

The password was still the same as when he had still been an apprentice in the academy.

When they entered the great hall, Link sat on one of the benches, then beckoned to an awkward Rylai with a smile. “Come sit in front of me and take out your notebook. I’ll help you solve some of your problems.”

“All right.” Rylai visibly relaxed as she sat down and handed her notebook to Link.

Link flipped through the thin book for around ten minutes and managed to grasp Rylai’s progress in her magical studies. He indicated an analysis of a Level-3 spell called the Ring of Frost to her and said, “You’ve made a mistake here. At room temperature, the element of water is especially fluid. To have it attain a metallic sharpness, the magical structure should be like this.”

Link extended a finger and traced out the revised version of the magical structure in the air.

Rylai was deep in thought. Ten minutes later, her face brightened. “I see. No wonder I couldn’t seal up the experimental magic puppet with my Ring of Frost.”

She asked, “What about my hydrotherapy spell? The last time I tried to treat a rabbit according to the instructions given, it ended up dead. Though such accidents have been rare, I’m a bit scared now to use this spell.”

Link flipped to the page where she had written down her notes on hydrotherapy. She had recorded down the results of her experiment. From the looks of it, she had felt extremely guilty about killing the rabbit, as she had written down a detailed account of the whole process.

After looking through it, Link understood the reason behind the rabbit’s death and smiled at her. “It’s alright, there was no problem with your spell. The problem lies in the rabbit. You described the rabbit’s whole body as swollen, and there was a viscous fluid coming out of its eyes, correct?”

“Yes, the poor thing.”

Link gave his analysis of the problem at hand. “It was probably a textbook case of elemental imbalance. It was suffering from edema. As an immune defense, its body had instinctively absorbed an excessive amount of water in order to flush out the toxins in its body. At this point, its body was already saturated with too much water. Through your hydrotherapy, its elemental balance was broken, causing the rabbit’s internal systems to collapse as a result.”

“Ah, so I was the one who killed it?” Rylai’s eyes were swimming with tears.

“Not really, it was a terminal disease. Think of it as a form of euthanasia. All right now, don’t cry. I’m going to give you an explanation of the principles of basic magical treatment so that you won’t make the same mistake again.”

“Okay,” said Rylai, wiping her tears away.

Link then wrote the following line below Rylai’s notes on hydrotherapy: ‘The key to effective treatment is the maintenance of internal balance. Achieving elemental balance in another body will greatly improve its chances of recovering from a disease. Of course, things aren’t always that simple…’

Link began teaching his disciple the main principles of the art of magical treatment. Rylai listened attentively, and every time she hit a problem, she would puzzle over it for a moment, but only ask Link for further explanation if she couldn’t solve it herself.

Link would answer her questions with only one sentence, or even one word at times, and Rylai would feel even more enlightened with each answer.

Time flew by in silence as both master and disciple sat in front of one another, completely engrossed in their discussion. All of a sudden, there was a chink from the door of the great hall. Someone had returned.

Without even looking, Link knew that Herrera had entered the room. Her voice reverberated from outside the great hall. “Oh, seems like we have a guest today.”

She entered the hall, a warm and gentle smile on her face.

Link stood up and bowed before her. “Advisor.”

Though he had already completed his apprenticeship with her, he still had nothing but gratitude for having received her tutelage in the past.

Herrera looked at Link, somewhat overcome by emotion. “Ah, time sure does go by fast. In a blink of an eye, you’ve already reached heights never before attained by any other human.”

When the two sat down, Link asked, “Advisor, you seem a bit down today. Is something the matter?”

Although Herrera’s face wore a smile, Link had known her for so long that he knew whenever there was something troubling her. The tips of her brows would droop down slightly, and her eyes wouldn’t open up as much as usual. Link was familiar with all the facial tics of his former advisor.

Slightly stunned by this, Herrera gave Link a forced smile. “Am I that easy to read?”

“No, I just know you too well,” said Link with a laugh.

Herrera sighed. “There is indeed a problem. Up north is a small town called Garrason, where a strange illness afflicts the citizens. Those infected lose all reason and gain a significant boost in strength, then proceed to attack anyone and anything on sight in a frenzy. The disease is also highly infectious; anyone bitten, scratched, or in some cases touched by the infected are infected themselves. Symptoms show within at least ten minutes upon infection.”

Link was taken aback. “Can’t the priests treat them?”

From Herrera’s description, it sounded like an epidemic.

“That’s the most frightening thing about it, the disease can’t be treated by any divine spell!”

Link fell silent. A few seconds later, he asked suddenly, “The state of Garrason doesn’t look too promising, does it?”

Herrera kneaded her forehead. “I guess there’s no point in hiding it from you. Truth be told, Garrason was just the source of this epidemic. The disease is spreading at a terrifying rate beyond the city’s borders, and right now, things have gotten a bit out of control.”

Chapter 463: The Dean is Angry

Translator:Nyoi-Bo Studio | Editor: Vicky_

Mage Tower

Herrera waved her hands. “Let’s move on. It’s rare for you to come back. I shouldn’t worry you about these things. The military will take care of it, and the dean already went there a week ago. They should be able to get it under control.”

Things seemed urgent, but those who had gone mad were all ordinary citizens. No matter what, their combat abilities were limited. Magicians and the military were enough.

Link shook his head. “Tutor, you seem worried. The disease might not be so simple… There shouldn’t be any cases at the academy, right?”

Herrera sighed. “There are some. One is inside my magic cage.”

“Take me to them,” Link said. Not even the God of Light’s divine spell could cure them, and they showed characteristics of a contagious disease. This was strange and unsettled him.

Since Link wanted to see, Herrera wouldn’t refuse him. Standing up, she said, “Come with me.”

The three walked out of the room. Rylai was curious and wanted to see, but Link shooed her away halfway there. “This is for adults. You go read your books.”

Rylai pouted and walked away sadly. Link and Herrera entered the basement of the Mage Tower.

The basement had three floors. The top floor was for food storage. The next was the negative energy pool of the Mage Tower, and the last floor was the magic cage.

Most of those imprisoned there were commonly-seen creatures, such as low-level werewolves, young vampires, and corpse-eating spirits. They weren’t powerful and were used to educate scholars.

The mad patient was imprisoned there, as well.

There were many independent cells in the prison. All the cells were shaped like beehives, and the entrances were locked with translucent magic doors. When the door opened, the creatures all started howling and crying. When they saw Herrera, they started yelling even louder. Some of the more human-like ones even threatened her.

“Let me go, Magician. Otherwise, I’ll rip you apart one day!” a werewolf with sharp claws said.

“Evil witch, you’re dead! Dead! Dead!” That came from a human-faced black widow spider. It sped around its web and shrieked in its piercing voice.

“Oh, oh, so tasty. So delicious!” That was a small corpse-eating spirit.

Then Link entered the hall.

The cells that had been unruly a moment ago instantly silenced. Many creatures shrunk into corners and hid. The human-faced widow spider shook and fell down from its web with a clunk.

Herrera giggled. “These things are only scared of the difficult ones.”

The creatures were sensitive and knew that Herrera was easy to sway, so they liked to throw insults. However, Link had killed countless people on the Northern battlefield and had a deathly air about him. Others might not have been able to sense it, but these creatures discovered it instantly. Faced with this, they were all terrified.

Walking along the tunnel, Herrera stopped at the back right corner. “It’s this cell.”

With a soft poof, she cast a light spell above the cell and illuminated it. Through the translucent magic door, Link saw a person squatting in the corner. He was a muscular man around thirty-five years old. He wore a regular merchant robe, but the fabric had been ripped. It hung around him in shreds.

Stimulated by the bright light, the man looked up blankly at the white light on the ceiling. This allowed Link to see his eyes.

They had become pure black with no sclera or pupil. His eyes were like two black sockets. Then Link looked to his hands, feet, and teeth. There were no changes; they were just like an ordinary man’s.

“The eyes are the only change,” Herrera whispered. “The other abnormalities are all in action and behavior. Look how he’s squatting right now. Doesn’t he look like an animal?”

Indeed, he squatted with his hands on the ground. He looked like he would pounce at any moment.

“Open the magic door. Show me his fighting abilities,” Link said.

Herrera nodded. Before opening the door, she reminded him, “Don’t think he’s always this quiet. When he’s active, he’s quite fast.”

“I understand.”

Buzz. The moment the door opened, the man’s head whipped over. A guttural sound came from his throat and he jumped, pouncing towards Link. He really was quite fast—equal to a Level-1 Warrior. But in Link’s eyes, his movements were in slow motion.

Without even using his wand, he reached out. Dragon Power surged and a Spatial Sphere appeared. The person froze in mid-air.

Link walked closer to investigate. The man’s face was menacing, teeth bared and muscles pulled taut. His skin was pale and wrinkled. He had many rotting ulcers. The worst was on his left leg, where the skin and muscle was decayed to the bone. He didn’t seem to feel any pain. He just looked wild and savage.

It seemed that he’d completely become an animal.

Link circled him and found something that made no sense.

“There are no maggots in his ulcers. Did you treat him?” Link asked. The ulcers were so deep and the environment was so dirty. There would usually be maggots all over, but this man had none.

Herrera shook her head. “Not at all. Maybe his blood is toxic.”

“I didn’t sense any abnormal auras in him, either. It looks just like a regular disease. How long does it usually last?”

“I don’t know the specific timeframe, but this guy is from the first batch. It’s already been three weeks. He eats everything and until now, there have been no weaknesses other than the ulcers.”

Link wasn’t very familiar with diseases and couldn’t find anything wrong by looking. After a few minutes, he shook his head. “Other than losing his mind, I can’t find anything. It looks like rabies, but they live longer.”

This disease couldn’t be cured with divine spells and spread quickly. Other than that, it was nothing special. It wasn’t very threatening, either. Now that the military and Magicians had joined the cause, they could definitely control it.

Link had been unsettled before. After seeing this patient, he felt more reassured. He left the cell, and Herrera closed the magic door again.

“How do you usually treat these patients?”

“We haven’t found an antidote yet. The only thing we can do to most patients is kill them and then burn the corpses,” Herrera said.

Link considered this, then asked, “If a regular person lives near them, is it possible for them to catch the disease?”

“Yes, but not very likely. It’s more possible for weaker ones to be infected. The stronger and healthier you are, the lower the possibility. Currently, nobody above Level-4 will be infected unless they’re bitten.”

Herrera’s explanation was very detailed. It was clear she’d studied this plague.

Hearing this, Link’s worries were mostly gone. He sighed. “Tutor, you’re right. The military and Magicians can easily control the spread of this disease. I hope they can hurry so fewer people will die.”

“Hopefully. And I hope the alchemists can quickly find a cure.” Herrera walked out and said, “All right, we can discuss your matters now.”

Link nodded and handed over the two enchantment books. “I plan on creating an enchantment workshop in Ferde. For this, I want to recruit some Magicians who specialize in enchantments. Apprentices will work, too. I can train them. I wrote these two books for this.”

Herrera paused to flip through the pages. Intrigued, she said, “Let’s go back to the top level. I want to read closely.”

“Of course.”

The two went to the hall in the top level, and Herrera started reading seriously. She read quickly, and the books were simple, without much content. She finished quickly. At the end, she looked up as if anticipating more. “Is that it?”

The book started off complicated and ended simply. It was very interesting, without any of the usual, boring parts. The enchantment methods included were also innovative. Even she was inspired and wanted to go experiment with them.

There were only two books. Herrera felt that she’d only taken two bites and the delicious meal was already gone. It didn’t sate her at all!

“Yeah, I only wrote two books.” Link shrugged.

“There’s no problem in looking for Magicians,” Herrera said. “I’ll publish this news. Many Magicians will definitely come to you. However, these two books aren’t enough for a thank you gift. These are great for the basics, but they’re too simple. There’s none of the truly good content.”

With that, Herrera looked at Link and smiled. It was clear that she required more gifts.

Link sighed. “I’ll send more books as soon as I finish writing. However, only these two can be published. The others will be for your eyes only.”

“That’s better. And how come the foreword for the outline is blank?” Herrera asked.

Link chuckled. “I was hoping you could fill it in for me.”

Herrera smiled. “I would be honored to.”

She immediately picked up her pen. Link took a book and started reading casually. While reading, his ears twitched. He looked out the window.

Outside the window, a group of carriages were entering the East Cove Magic Academy. When they stopped, Link saw Dean Anthony bring a team of Magicians in. Judging from his expression, he was furious.

“Tutor, the dean is back. The situation doesn’t look so good.”

Herrera walked over and did a double take. Seeing Dean Anthony throw his hat to the ground, she furrowed her brows. “I’ve known him for more than twenty years. He’s never lost his temper like this. What happened?”

Chapter 464: The Demon Abel

“Idiot! Madman! Butcher!”

Anthony walked towards the Heaven’s Thorn in large strides. As he was using a magical prosthesis, his gait was unsteady. Walking a bit too quickly, he stumbled and quickly used the Magician’s Hand to realign his body and prevent himself from falling to the ground.

The Magicians behind him all followed Anthony without a word. Most of their faces were grave, while those of the younger Magicians seemed disapproving towards him, as if not in agreement with what Anthony had to say.

Once Anthony regained his balance, he continued striding on, and in no time, finally reached the Heaven’s Thorn. Upon entering the Mage Tower, he then seated himself on the first floor of the great hall. He heaved a sigh at nobody in particular, and then fell silent for a long while, sitting there like a statue.

He loathed the fact that just when the kingdom was finally able to settle down, he had to deal with a self-righteous tyrant with such a huge following. Not to mention, he was completely powerless to do anything about it.

While Anthony fumed, a gentle voice spoke to him, “Is there something wrong, Dean?”

“What else is there? It’s the madman, Abel… Wait, you’re… Link, why are you here?” Anthony stopped short, sensing that something was not right. He lifted his head again to take a better look at the face to whom the voice had belonged, and sure enough, it was one of his former apprentices, Link, who was standing beside Herrera.

These two were the pride of East Cove Magic Academy. Herrera was already a Level-8 Magician, whose magic now rivaled even his, while Link’s magical abilities had already reached the Legendary level. Upon seeing them, Anthony was able to relax a bit.

“Sit, do sit, don’t just stand there,” he said to both of them.

Link and Herrera both sat down, and then Link asked, “Were you referring to Duke Abel of Orida Fortress?”

Anthony’s face fell as soon as he heard his name. He nodded. “I don’t know any other Abel. Do you know what he did?”

Link and Herrera glanced at each other and then waited for an answer from the old man.

Breathing in deeply, the wrinkles on Anthony’s face deepened even more. His voice was considerably muted when he spoke, “Abel had sent 5000 Warriors to keep things under control in the northern town of Garrason, the source of the outbreak as you all probably know by now. The situation escalated, with the infected now scattered beyond the town borders. Our plan was to quarantine the infected, then attempt to look for a cure using samples collected from them, but Abel had deemed them unclean and had all the infected eliminated on the spot. There are at least 30,000 people in Garrason Town, and while almost half of them had shown symptoms of the disease, the rest of them were still sane, and Abel had them all wiped out. He even set fire to the town and razed everything to the ground. In the end, no more than 800 people had survived the madness of this butcher!”

When he finished speaking, Herrera asked softly, “Advisor, is the epidemic under control then?”

“Yes, for now, there seem to be no new cases of infection, which was probably the only good thing to come from this nightmare. But my blood still runs cold just thinking about what Abel did. He’s completely addicted to slaughter, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the bloodlust in his eyes. Did you know? He not only ordered his men to conduct the extermination of the infection, he too had joined in the act himself. I saw with my own eyes how he cleaved a crying girl in two with his sword. There were also many other Magicians who had participated in this monstrous act. At that moment, I thought they had all turned into demons!”

Anthony was nearing 70 years old, and both Link and Herrera took great pride in being his juniors. The old man had bottled up all this frustration in himself, and once an outlet presented itself, he just could not stop himself from venting it out.

From his account, Link understood the present state of Garrason Town.

Garrason Town was 100 miles north of Orida Fortress, and so it naturally fell within Duke Abel’s jurisdiction to deal with the outbreak there in whatever way he deemed fit.

Throughout all this, Duke Abel had fulfilled only his duties, but his actions had been way too excessive. Though Anthony did not agree with such radical measures, some of the other Magicians who had joined in the slaughter alongside the duke viewed the whole affair as a necessary evil to cleanse the region of the disease.

The fact there were Magicians who saw nothing wrong with what Duke Abel ordered them to do had sent a chill down Anthony’s spine.

After listening to all this, Link and Herrera could not help but shiver at the thought of Duke Abel’s ruthlessness and the delight he apparently took in indiscriminate manslaughter, despite the fact that his actions might have yielded results. Still, as both of them had not been on the scene, they couldn’t judge the duke solely based on Anthony’s account of the whole thing.

Herrera could only console the old man at this point. “It’s all in the past now, advisor. Everything will be alright.”

Anthony let out a long sigh and held his head in despair. “To have my people, never once fallen to the Dark Army, fall instead under the butcher knife of my own kin… oh, the shame!”

Seeing their own advisor in complete shambles, Herrera shot a glance at Link, hinting at him to come up with something.

Link began to speak when Anthony suddenly raised his head and looked straight at him. “Link, Abel’s growing more insane by the minute. What’s worse is that he’s doing all this in the name of justice and under the guise of exterminating demons.”

Link knew what Anthony had meant. He wanted Link to intervene in this. Making eye contact with the wizened dean, Link spoke, “How about this, I’ll go to the North for a bit and see what’s wrong with Duke Abel.”

Though Anthony had spoken disapprovingly of the duke, he did stop the spread of the disease, and his actions were still in line with army regulations.

The army was not exactly filled with doctors to begin with; they simply did what they did best—brutally murder everyone on sight in an attempt to nip the outbreak in the bud. What Abel did was cruel beyond belief, but from his standpoint, he may not consider his actions to be out of line.

Still, Anthony was now the second person to come to Link with grievances against Duke Abel, with Skinorse being the first, and both were equally intelligent people. This was enough to warrant Link’s intervention; he should probably go to the North to check on things.

“You should go in quietly without letting him know, or else you won’t see anything there. Duke Abel’s a cunning fellow, he’ll know what’s going on. I’m old and not worthy of his attention, which is why he doesn’t bother hiding his evil deeds from me. However, he’ll sweep everything under the rug immediately if he knows that you’re going there for a visit.”

Link nodded. “I’ll go there and take a look at things myself.”

Anthony was satisfied with his response. He then asked, “I know you’re busy lately, and you won’t go there without any reason. Is there anything the academy can help you with?”

Link looked at Herrera, who then gave Anthony the books that he had brought with him. “These are the enchantment books Link has written. Take a look.”

Anthony flipped through the books for around ten minutes then slammed a hand on the table. “A great read indeed!”

He then sighed. “Pity you wrote only two books. Are there more?”

Herrera answered on behalf of Link, “Link still hasn’t written out the rest. Though, Link plans on establishing an enchantment workshop of his own to compete with the High Elves in the magical equipment business. To accomplish this, he’ll be recruiting a number of talented magical enchanters.”

Before Herrera even finished, Anthony clapped his hands together and shouted, “Then do it! Those High Elves have practically monopolized the whole magical equipment business. They’ve been making a profit out of our pockets for years, to the point of almost drying us out of our finances… You just go ahead and pick the best of the bunch. But make sure none of them are mistreated, or you’ll answer to me personally.”

Link smiled. “That wouldn’t happen.”

Link had planned on making this a long-term affair. Possessing unfathomable secrets of the craft, the High Elves were capable of producing quality magical equipment that had won the hearts of everyone from every other race. Instead of going for a huge bite out of the High Elves’ business, Link had planned on just taking a few nibbles here and there at first.

Later on, some of the people there began discussing a few other details of the collaboration with Link. The discussion went on for a few hours, and in that time, Anthony had lightened up somewhat.

Link and Herrera then stayed at the Mage Tower for dinner, all three of them exchanging interesting anecdotes with each other.

Nearing 70 years old, the old man’s body had shriveled up considerably. With most of his time spent alone without wife or children, he was more than thrilled to be visited by his two former disciples. At the end of the dinner, Anthony was blissfully drunk.

After settling the old man who had now begun spouting gibberish in his bed, Link then escorted Herrera out of the Heaven’s Thorn.

The sky outside had turned dark. With a few street lamps lighting the way, both Magicians walked side by side till they reached the entrance to Herrera’s Mage Tower.

“Advisor, I’ll leave Rylai in your capable hands.”

Herrera smiled at him. “Oh, don’t worry about her, I’m sure she’ll become a great Magician.”

“I won’t be going in then. Give this book to her, make sure she reads it. Also, tell the dean I’ll be heading off to the North soon.”

“Alright, be careful when you get there, I don’t think Duke Abel’s right in the head as well.”

“I understand.”

Link then turned to leave, and Herrera stood at the entrance of her Mage Tower to see him off until he finally vanished from sight. She then let out a soft sigh. The young man who had once consulted enthusiastically with her on magical problems in the academy had now become a lord of the land. The days of him being cooped up in her Mage Tower were long since gone.

Looking at the empty patch of land in front of the Mage Tower, Herrera suddenly recalled the night Link and Eliard fought each other till they were all black and blue.

She remembered every detail of the event as if it had only happened yesterday. She could not help but smile at the memory.

In the distance, Link had left the academy far behind him and found the airship in the woods. At top speed, the airship flew Link back to Ferde. It was only a few minutes before seven in the evening when Link finally reached Ferde. The Scorched City was bustling with activity as always.

When he entered the great hall on the first floor of his Mage Tower, Link found himself face to face with a familiar figure, that which belonged to the High Elf named Bryant.

Link was a bit taken aback by his appearance, but he knew then why Bryant had shown up.

Bryant had smugly seated himself in the great hall, surrounded by Link’s magical apprentices who were too afraid to come close to him. Celine, Red Dragon Elder Pettalong, Felina, Vance, Jacker, and the other powerhouses were all glaring fiercely at the High Elf.

Upon seeing Link’s arrival, Bryant stood up, and a smile spread across his face. “The lord of Ferde, you sure are a busy man.”

Despite the smile on his face, his eyes indicated no good will, and Link knew in an instant that the High Elf had not come with good intentions.

Chapter 465: Give You a Gold Coin for Compensation

Mage Tower

Bryant’s arrival was unexpected but also made sense. It would have been stranger if the High Elves had no reaction to Link stealing the island.

After a pause, Link smiled. “The weather’s nice today, with the night wind bringing the fragrance of flowers. How about we walk down the street?”

Bryant shook his head. “The mortals on the street are like ants. It’s boring. How about we go to the rooftop of your Mage Tower? Just the two of us?”

“Sure.” Link nodded and signaled with eyes for everyone to stop worrying. He reached his arm out in invitation. “After you.”

Bryant stood up and started up the spiral staircase around the wall of the Mage Tower. Link followed him. He didn’t look guarded; he seemed prepared.

At a turn on the first level, Bryant stood saw Eliard at the corner. He glanced at him, did a double-take, and his eyes lit up. He shook his head and sighed. “What talent. It’s a pity he’s staying with the humans.”

With that, he continued climbing up.

After he climbed a few steps, Eliard suddenly said, “Bryant, Link told me about you, so I know you. I know people like you. I look down on you even more, traitor!”

Bryant paused, his power pulsing. Link stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. Smiling, Link said, “Do you lose your temper so quickly with juniors too?”

“Hmph!” Bryant retracted his power and continued walking to the top of the Mage Tower.

The two soon reached the top level.

They were about 300 feet high above ground, and the surroundings were all flatlands. From the top, they could see dazzling lights from the thousands of houses in Scorched City. They were like a sea of stars. The view looking down at them was like a god looking down at all life.

“You did a good job building up this city in two years,” Bryant nodded with satisfaction.

Link shook his head. “You have no right to comment on my matters. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that phrase, but I won’t allow it in the future.”

“You… Fine, it’s good for a youngster to have attitude.” Bryant glanced at Link and smiled. “I thought you would die in the Dragon Valley, but I didn’t expect you’d be so lucky. Not only did you survive, you even started stealing things in the sea.”

Link moved his hand slightly. Light flashed and a chair floated up. He took a seat while saying, “I don’t know what you’re saying. Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re here. We don’t have anything to discuss, right?”

Bryant wanted to pull over a chair like Link, but he tried and failed. He knew Link had messed with something to stop him, so he could only stand.

He turned to stare at the dark sea in the distance. Suddenly, he said, “Scorched City is a great place. It’s so close to the sea and a deep water port. The bad thing about living by the sea, though, is that if there’s a storm or hurricane, nothing will be left.”

That was a potential threat.

Link leaned back in his seat and rested his chin on a finger. Grinning, he said, “Yes. Just like the Isle of Dawn, we all depend on the sea.”

The Isle of Dawn was an island. Both of their territories had similar geographical characteristics. There was no point in threatening each other.

Bryant chuckled and looked at Link with disdain. “Our race has governed the Isle of Dawn for millenniums. We’ve experienced countless storms. We’re not worried.”

The High Elves were proudly isolated. They’d fortified the Isle of Dawn long ago until it was as sturdy as an iron drum. Link’s threat wasn’t very realistic.

That was the truth, and Link couldn’t refute it. However, he changed the topic and smiled. “Everything about the Isle of Dawn is great, except it’s too isolated. It’s surrounded by water and doesn’t have many mines. You don’t have anything and need to be supplied by the mainland. If a storm hit and all the merchant ships were blown off course, what would you do?”

He couldn’t take care of the Isle of Dawn, but he could stop the ships. That was one disadvantage of sea transportation. Once targeted by someone, there was nowhere to hide. As long as Link put all his effort into fighting the High Elves, he could destroy the entire trade system by himself!

Bryant swallowed his words at this. He stared at Link for a long while before saying, “You’re only one person. We have tens of thousands of high-level Magicians in our military.”

Since they were at this point, he didn’t use euphemisms anymore and spoke straightforwardly. Link was unmoved. He was clear on the High Elves’ situation.

In the game, he’d entered the Isle of Dawn and was familiar with the general geography, many details of the palace architecture, the extraordinary Magicians, and more.

By now, Bryant was sure Link had stolen the gyromagnetic iron ore, but Link would never admit it. More importantly, since Bryant had come personally to talk, it meant the High Elves didn’t want to fight him now. Maybe they were scared or just didn’t want to ruin the relationship more.

This gave Link some leeway.

“Bryant,” he said. “You probably didn’t come here just to argue with me. Otherwise, that would be useless.”

Bryant finally gave his terms. He pointed at where Link had hid the gyromagnetic iron and said, “My race wants half of that!”

“What if I say no?” Link asked in reply.

Bryant wasn’t surprised at this, but he was sure he could convince Link, because he had a hidden card!

“Then neither of us will get it. My warships are already aimed at it. If you don’t agree, we will shoot a Level-10 Dissociation Ray. All the gyromagnetic ore will evaporate.”

Link thought for a moment but still shook his head. “If you do, you’ll die. I’ll destroy those Silver Storm Sparrows. From today, my dragon Warriors and I will block all merchants going from the Isle of Dawn to Firuman. No ship will pass!”

He said all this in a calm tone as if he was just stating facts. At the same time, a black seal appeared in his hands.

When Bryant saw it, he flinched, finally losing his cool. “The Dragon Duke Seal, it’s black, the Red Dragon Queen, how… how?! That old hag… You’re only twenty-one!”

The black Dragon Duke Seal was special. Bryant was very smart and had read many books. He was familiar with all of these secrets.

Before seeing this seal, Bryant was confident in his trip. But now, Link unexpectedly had the dragons’ support… The High Elves weren’t afraid of dragons or Ferde, but when they were allied, they were more than a match for the Isle of Dawn.

Link didn’t speak. He stayed silent, waiting for Bryant to sort through his thoughts.

After a long while, Bryant finally recovered. He still wasn’t willing. Staring closely at Link, he said, “Are you really going to turn my race into your enemies? Think carefully. This will be an extremely difficult road. Three hundred years ago, I tried it too, but reality told me it was impossible.”

Link didn’t reply. He stood up and retreated, taking out the Dragon King’s Fury sword. He didn’t use any power but pretended to stab Bryant three times.

It was strange. Link’s sword didn’t contain any power, and his movements were laughably slow. He was stabbing seemingly unimportant areas on Bryant’s limbs instead of critical organs, too. But Bryant’s body shook violently with every stab.

After those three stabs, Bryant’s forehead was covered in sweat. His face was as white as paper.

Clang. Link put his sword away and smiled thinly. “I’m good at casually finding someone’s Achilles’ heel, and that’s true for both people and races. If you don’t trust me, we can try it.”

Bryant could barely stand up. “Thirty percent!” he gritted.

Link shook his head.

“Ten percent. Nothing less!”

Link still shook his head. He tossed a gold coin at Bryant. “If you really want to benefit, you can have this coin. Nothing more.”

Bryant didn’t want to accept it. He didn’t even reach out, but somehow, he felt something cold in his hand. It was the gold coin. Link had used a spatial spell to transport the coin into his hand.

The coolness stimulated Bryant’s palm, making his cheeks burn. An ineffable humiliation surged in his heart. He took out his wand, his Mana automatically surging.

Link chuckled. He just watched Bryant, waiting for him to do something.

Slowly, the Mana ripples on Bryant’s body calmed down. He stared at Link, having seemingly aged many years. “Young man, you will pay for your arrogant actions!”

With that, he turned and left. His silhouette was slouched now, and the powerful aura was gone. All that remained was the thick feeling of age and lethargy.

Seeing his back, Link knew that the talks were over. He would soon welcome the High Elves’ attacks.

“I heard that the High Elves have a secret force called the Black Thorn. The Assassins are all very skilled. Among them, there’s a duo called the Double Shadows. They have a Legendary dagger each and high speed magic equipment. They’ve never failed any of their missions. Go back and tell your queen that I’d like to witness them.”

Bryant flinched. He was extremely shocked. Both the Black Thorn and Double Shadows were confidential secrets of the Isle of Dawn. If Link knew, it meant he’d made sufficient preparations.

He didn’t know that Link had received all this information from the game.

“Your wish will come true.” Bryant sped up.

He left the Mage Tower without stopping. Once outside, he transformed into a cloud of light and flew towards the sea. After a while, he was above the gyromagnetic iron. He saw light in the mine. Many miners were digging right then with continuous dings and clings.

He impulsively wanted to throw a corrosive light ball down and turn all the damn miners into mud, but he forced the urge down.

Flying past it, he was thousands of feet into the sea. There was a ball of mist there. Passing into it, he saw the three Silver Storm Sparrows anchored there. Bryant landed on the deck of a warship.

A Magician instantly went over. It was Level-9 Magician Vonhelon. “Prophet, how was it?” he asked.

“It’s over.” Bryant’s face was dark.

“Then… do we?” Vonhelon pointed at the mine in the distance.

“No, let’s go back. The situation is beyond my expectations. When we return, I will personally report the specifics to Her Highness.” With that, Bryant went straight into the cabin, leaving a confused and upset Vonhelon.

After a while, the High Elf fleet started back. Whoosh, whoosh went the crashing waves. The three ships quietly left Ferde’s sea.

On the seaside, Link watched as the Silver Storm Sparrows left. He let out a relieved breath. He had actually had been worried that Bryant would lose his temper and act recklessly. Things would have become troublesome, which was why he’d run over.

Now that they’d left, the situation was much better.

Seeing the Silver Storm Sparrows fade away, Link turned to go back into the Mage Tower, but after a few steps, he suddenly felt something and looked towards the southern sea. He could feel something hiding there. It was a weird thing that seemed to follow the Silver Storm Sparrows.

Almost at the same time, a message popped up in his vision.

Activate Mission: Pursuit

Mission Content: Sneakily follow the High Elves’ Silver Storm Sparrows

Mission Reward: 10 Jogu

Link was already curious. He immediately cast a minor Levitation spell and used the Spatial Distortion Force Field to push himself. He also cast an Invisibility spell and started following the Silver Storm Sparrows from thousands of feet away.

Chapter 466: An Underwater Ambush

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

On the flagship of the Silver Storm Sparrows

Bryant had cooped himself up in his cabin ever since he returned.

There was something wrong with him as if everything in his body had all been used up. He simply leaned motionless against the edge of the bed in his cabin.

A while later, he took out his magical notebook for a read, which he would usually do to regain his composure.

However, this time, it seemed to not work on him as before.

As he stared at his notes, the only thing that popped up in his mind was the scene back on the rooftop. He could not stop thinking about the face of the young Magician, his words, his every action.

After a long while, he exhaled. “That year when I had just reached Legendary, I exuded the same vigor as he did, but it all ended when I met Fiona…”

There was no going back at this stage. The only thing left for him to do now was to walk this path to the end, and Link would have to die and be deprived of any chance of joining the High Elves if Bryant was to do so in comfort.

Bryant closed his notebook sharply, stood up and headed for the door to take in the sea breeze on the deck.

At the same time, there was a knock on the cabin door, and a voice spoke from outside, “May I come in Prophet?”

It was Magician Vonhelon. He was a High Elf noble with pure High Elvish blood running through his veins. Even though he called Bryant “Prophet,” he knew Vonhelon had never thought of him as an equal.

Of course, this was all trivial to him.

“Enter.” Bryant removed the rune lock from his door.

Vonhelon entered the cabin and closed the door behind him. He then spoke with a low voice, “Prophet, I must know, what is going on right now?”

Tonight, they had retreated from Ferde without any confrontation. This was humiliation of the highest order for both the Silver Storm Sparrows and the Magician Army. The ships’ crew and members of the Magician Army were all greatly aggravated by this.

Bryant did not even bother hiding the truth from him. “Link and the dragon race have formed an alliance. He is now married to the Red Dragon Queen.”

This alliance with the dragon race was the only element he could not ignore. Bryant did not doubt what Link had said. Scorched City was now filled with a massive number of Red Dragon Warriors, including a Red Dragon Elder. Surprised to see this at first, he later learned that it was due to the fact that Link had been proclaimed as a duke of the dragon race.

Vonhelon was simply dumbfounded at Bryant’s response. It was something no one in their wildest imaginations would have conceived, a bad joke that would elicit only a bitter laugh from anyone who heard it.

The High Elf Magician spread out his hands. “I didn’t think it would turn out like this. My apologies, Prophet, for having suspected you, but this is just outrageous!”

“If I had not seen the Red Dragon Elder back in Ferde, I would not have believed it myself… Still, if Link does not wish to give up the mining island, we may have to go to war over it. And our chance of coming out victorious from that war would be slim.”

“Surely you don’t mean to dispatch the Black Thorn?”

“Link knows about the Black Thorn, as well as the existence of the Double Shadows. I don’t know how he had all this information, but one thing I know for sure is that he is now more than prepared for any attempts on his life. The chance of success to kill him in his sleep with an assassin is also pretty small.”

Vonhelon was at a loss for words and fell silent for a long moment before he finally spoke with a troubled tone, “I guess we should leave it to the queen to decide how best to proceed from now on.”

There were only two options to choose at this stage: either they admitted their defeat, or they picked up their arms and fought to their bloody deaths, and Vonhelon knew that conceding was the best option they had right now.

In the 3000 years of High Elf history, this may be the first time that the Silver Storm Sparrows had retreated without a fight.

This was truly a huge blemish on their personal record.

Depressed, Vonhelon headed back for the door and was ready to leave, when all of a sudden, a deafening boom rocked the cabin window from outside.

Through the window, Vonhelon could see that a nearby Silver Storm Sparrow ship had been split in two by a black silhouette that had risen from the depths of the ocean.

The resulting shockwave hit the side of the ship that Vonhelon and Bryant were on, violently tipping the entire ship to the other side and sending both High Elves tumbling in the cabin.

While tumbling in mid-air, there was a flash of white light from Vonhelon’s body. He had cast Teleportation, and with a soft hum, his body had vanished from the cabin. There was another hum, and the High Elf reappeared a few 100 feet above the ship in the air.

Bryant’s body, on the other hand, had dissolved into mist. With a whoosh, he rushed out of the broken window and into the air outside.

As the two floated in the air, they saw the same black monstrous figure from the ocean depths slamming into the Silver Storm Sparrow ship which still had not regained its balance. With a deafening crash, the sturdy warship was also smashed into pieces.

In the midst of all this, the ship’s crew and Magicians on board were either dead, badly injured or had fled for their lives. Everything was in chaos, and the sea was stained red with High Elf blood.

With the second Silver Storm Sparrow ship destroyed, the black shadow headed straight for the third ship with unimaginable speed.

“Stop it!” shouted Bryant. At the same time, he began chanting out a spell, and a queer silver leaf shot out from his Legendary magic wand, Fiona, towards the black figure.

This was Bryant’s ace in the hole. Like a silver bolt of lightning, the leaf slashed across the black figure in the sea.

But he had not accounted for the thing’s reaction time. As soon as he cast his spell, the black figure had dodged it by sinking back to the ocean depths.

“It’s trying to flee! Realm Conversion!”

There was a blinding flash of light before Bryant’s eyes as the silver leaf turned translucent. It then pierced through the ocean’s surface in pursuit of its prey without even slowing down, as if the seawater had for the moment ceased to exist around the leaf.

Just when it looked as if the leaf was about to reach the black figure, all of a sudden, there was another ear-splitting shockwave from the ocean’s surface. The last Silver Storm Sparrow ship was demolished in an instant by another black shape that had pierced through the vessel’s bottom.

In no more than five seconds, all three Silver Storm Sparrow ships were completely obliterated.

Without losing its upward momentum, the huge black shadow rose up into the air from the ocean.

At that moment, Bryant could see clearly what they were up against. It was a silver pomfret, but it was ten times the size of a normal silver pomfret. It was 30 feet long, and the compact scales across its body was a dark red color radiating with the light of magical runes.

“It’s a Magical Beast! There are two of them!” Bryant roared.

Floating in the air beside him, Vonhelon pointed his magic wand at the massive fish and screamed out a spell, “Vacuum Blade!”

Vacuum Blade

Level-8 Spatial Spell

Description: Creates an absolute vacuum by removing all air in a space with Mana. The resulting vacuum is incredibly sharp and can cut through any material in existence.

(Note: A secret spatial spell of the High Elves)

A thin film of silver light streaked through the air, and in a tenth of a second, it struck the silver pomfret!

Boom! The dark scales of the monster fish emanated a faint red light. Almost immediately, the Vacuum Blade was dispersed into the air, leaving the fish’s body basically unscathed. A second later, the fish fell to the water and dove back into the dark ocean depths.

Bryant witnessed all this with a look of amazement. “This is divine power! This is no ordinary Magical Beast, it’s a Divine Beast!”

Only with divine power was it able to completely nullify a spatial magic attack.

Just then, his silver leaf had caught up to the magical beast that was still rapidly diving into the ocean.

With a chink, the silver pomfret’s body also emanated the same dark right light to defend itself from Bryant’s attack. However, the silver leaf was more than ten times stronger than Vonhelon’s Vacuum Blade and was able to pierce through the fish’s defenses. It struck the fish’s body, leaving a wound that was half a foot deep on it.

But… the silver leaf was only able to go so far before it pulled back to regain its momentum in the water.

A wound half a foot deep was only a flesh wound on a fish of that size. With a flick of its tail, it began to accelerate once more to the surface. This time, it began gulping down the surviving crew members floating on the ocean surface.

“Help!”

“My leg, my leg!”

“Oh God, help me!”

The crew members floating on the sea were still disoriented after being hit by the initial shockwave. At that point, except for a few Magicians who had managed to keep themselves afloat in the air, the rest of the crew members were all still floating in the water, including the commanding officer of the fleet.

In the middle of the ocean, they were all powerless in the face of these monstrous silver pomfrets capable of sinking all their ships into the sea in mere seconds.

The other fish had also returned to the surface and began its indiscriminate slaughter of the remaining elves.

The seawater was instantly dyed red with the blood of their prey.

More than 30 High Elf Magicians floating in the air began casting their spells frantically at the silver pomfrets, but their assault was completely ineffective against them.

Out of all the High Elves in the fleet, only Bryant had managed to deal any damage to the fish, but even with his strongest spell, he was only able to leave a small wound on the fish’s body.

The faces of the Magicians in the air had all gone pale. They hurled their spells down at the fish in desperation, but their efforts were all futile. They could only watch on helplessly as their kin were horribly swallowed alive by the monster fish.

The number of High Elf crew members was drastically reduced in an instant.

“Prophet, what should we do now?” Vonhelon shouted. He was now at his wit’s end.

“We can only run at this point. I sense that this is only the beginning of an ambush. It’s too dangerous to stay here now!” Saying this, Bryant began flying straight for the continent.

He shouted back at the other Magicians, “Everybody, head for the continent, hurry! Hurry!”

They had not left the continent too far behind, which made it the only possible place to run to. If they were to head out any further into the ocean, they would surely be killed.

Watching the two monstrous fish on the ocean surface and their surviving compatriots still shouting for help from below, the other Magicians hesitated for a few seconds, then bit their lips and gave up all attempts to rescue them.

Looking away from the floundering crew members, one by one they flew behind Bryant and fled for the continent.

Just as they had flown for a couple 100 feet, a voice rumbled from the ocean surface. “Why are you all leaving, Magicians? You’ve only just got here.”

The voice was echoing off from every direction. There was no way to determine which direction it was coming from. It was as if the entire ocean below them was speaking to them.

Now that was a terrifying thought.

Even Bryant was stunned for a moment, and he then roared out, “Link, I know it’s you. If you want to kill me, just do it out in the open. Spare me the cowardice of an ambush!”

“Hahaha, Bryant, you really are funny. As a reward for your folly, I’ll kill you last.”

Vonhelon’s eyes widened as he looked about, desperately searching for the enemy, but only darkness greeted him. He roared again, “Who are you? Are you not Link?”

“Who I am matters not, what matters now is that all of you should die right here, right now!”

Suddenly a beam of dark red light shot out from the ocean. Unable to react quickly enough, one of the Magicians was pierced by the beam of light. Looking down, he saw that there was a gaping hole the size of a fist in his chest before he fell, wide-eyed, from the sky.

Bryant instantly lost all will to fight back upon seeing this. “This is divine magic! We can’t fight this, run now!”

Strictly speaking, all divine magic was beyond Level-19, but its power was considerably diluted due to being only supplied with power from the Mortal Realm. Still, divine magic was capable of overcoming any other spells in the Mortal Realm, including Legendary spells.

The enemy had managed to keep himself hidden. Even now, Bryant still could not find out where his opponent had hidden himself, and to top it all off, he was also capable of using divine magic. This was a fight none of them could win. Escaping was the only option.

Chapter 467: Why Did You Save Me?

On the sea

As soon as Bryant finished speaking, there were three poofs. Three dark red beams shot out from the sea, coming at him from different directions.

Each beam was extremely consolidated and as thick as an arm. At a glance, they looked like three dark red crystal thorns. Not only were they attacking Bryant, they also sealed all of his escape routes.

At that moment, Bryant felt a wild and destructive energy coming at him. It felt like he had been struck by lightning and was immobilized. He couldn’t even think properly.

All that remained in his vision was boundless red light. He only had one thought: So the God of Destruction really exists.

Only a god could have energy like that.

Faced with the attack, any delay was fatal. Bryant was about to hit, but then a misty ripple suddenly erupted thirty feet in front of him. The three beams buried into the ripple almost simultaneously and slowed down.

That was when Bryant finally reacted. His body transformed into a haze with a whoosh, and he put his all into running from the path of the red beams.

Crack, crack. Behind him, it sounded like crystals were being shattered. He looked back and saw that the spatial magic had shattered. The three beams shot through the place where had just been.

So close! Bryant couldn’t help but feel belated shock. He really had brushed shoulders with death.

Immediately after, he looked in another direction. There, a black-haired youth in a dark blue robe hovered in the sky. He hadn’t put away his magic sword yet; the white glow around him hadn’t faded either.

It was Link. He had arrived and saved Bryant.

Why did he do that? Doesn’t he know that I’ve always wanted to kill him? Bryant was utterly confused.

“Don’t hesitate!” Link yelled. “That’s the servant of the God of Destruction! We must fight together!”

As he spoke, he glanced at his vision and chose to accept the mission. It was a follow-up mission to the last one.

Reinforcement

Mission Content: Help the High Elves defeat the servants of the God of Destruction. Protect the Silver Storm Sparrows from damage.

Mission Reward: 20 Jogu

Additional Reward: The player will receive five Jogu with every Silver Storm Sparrow saved.

Link was too lazy to do something as unrewarding and difficult as protecting the Silver Storm Sparrows.

In reality, he’d already arrived when the servant of the God of Destruction had attacked the first Silver Storm Sparrow, but he’d just watched. He gave up on the additional fifteen Jogu.

When the three Silver Storm Sparrows all sank and the servants prepared to attack the surviving High Elves, Link pretended to have just arrived and saved Bryant.

Link wasn’t a nice guy, and the High Elves weren’t either. Bryant thought that Link had killed his granddaughter and probably wanted to take revenge.

But now, the God of Destruction’s servants had appeared. Link guessed that they wanted to destroy the fleet to intensify the conflicts between Ferde and the Isle of Dawn. Link could use this chance to make the High Elves realize how powerful the God of Destruction was—to let them know there was a terrible enemy lurking in the shadows. That way, they wouldn’t keep bothering Link.

As for whether the High Elves would suffer great casualties, Link didn’t care. As far as he knew, there were more than forty Silver Storm Sparrows. Losing three would just make the lesson memorable.

These thoughts were all running through Link’s mind. No one knew. Judging by his actions, he had shown up to help at the most critical moment.

On the other hand, Bryant seemed to wake from his trance at Link’s words. Faced with this big enemy, he had no other thoughts. He could only choose to ally with the human. “I don’t know where he’s hiding!” he yelled.

The most awkward thing was that he wouldn’t fear these enemies if they were face to face, but they were hiding in the sea for surprise attacks. Their hiding techniques were advanced, too. He had no target at all; he was a sitting goose.

As he spoke, Link moved his force field to approach him. He took out his magic sword and pointed at the sea’s surface. “I’ll save the people first. Watch out for me.”

Spatial Distortion: Symmetrical Gravity Force Field!

A huge force field spread out, pressing down across thousands of feet of water.

Something strange happened. Under the force field, the seawater became concave, dipping down dozens of feet. It looked like a basin in the middle of the sea. The High Elf survivors in the area felt the opposite force. They had been struggling to escape from the scary silver fish but now, they floated into the air.

From the beginning of the attack to then, only around eighty High Elves were still left. The enemy was obviously very skilled.

When they floated in the air, the fish in the sea tried to jump up to attack. However, the force field acted on them, multiplying their weight.

Plop, plop. Two fish burst from the sea but were forced back down before they could reach thirty feet above sea level. They couldn’t catch up with the floating elves.

This scene was too astounding. All the High Elf Magicians, including spatial Magician Vonhelon, were all dumbfounded. They couldn’t believe a Legendary Magician could have such mind-blowing power!

“Take them away!” Link roared.

As soon as he spoke, there were small poofs from the sea. Some dark red beams shot towards him. They also contained horrible destructive intent, trying to crush Link’s will.

However, he was different from Bryant.

Legendary Dragon Power coursed through his veins. He also had the Heart of the Dragon. His soul was protected by layers of Dragon Power and wasn’t affected at all. This was a dragon’s natural advantage. Otherwise, they wouldn’t survive the chaos in the Void when they entered the Sea of Void.

Link didn’t move, but he was multitasking. Poof, poof, poof. Three balls containing black vortexes appeared before him. They were Despair Balls.

However, the three destructive beams didn’t hit the Despair Balls because they were stopped halfway through.

A watery shield more than fifteen feet wide shot up before Link. The watery surface crystallized, turning into a smooth mirror. The next moment, the beams hit the mirror. Poof, poof, poof. The shield melted, but the beams reflected back into the sea.

Bryant had acted.

At the same time, the other Magicians, led by Vonhelon, reacted too. They started to help the survivors Link had pulled into the air.

There were more than thirty Magicians and they were all above Level-7. Vonhelon was at Level-9. Helping the survivors was an easy task. They quickly grabbed them all and started retreating.

Link deactivated the large scale force field. During this process, his eyes remained on the sea. He had the Vision of Truth; this was his greatest advantage. The enemy couldn’t hide when he had this vision.

The sea didn’t exist in his eyes. He had confirmed the enemies’ locations during the last attack. Under the Vision of Truth, he saw three light spots hiding in the water. They looked like Agatha Nagas.

“I see them,” he called to Bryant. “They’re 300 feet deep. I’ll point them out and you attack!”

Bryant shook his wand. The silver leaf flew out and floated beside him, waiting for Link to point out the targets.

Link focused his gaze and pointed the Dragon King’s Fury sword in the air. “Despair!”

Poof. A Despair Ball appeared before Bryant. He’d seen this spell before. After a moment of hesitation, he shot the leaf into the ball.

At the same time, another Despair Ball opened up beside a Naga. The silver leaf shot out and buried into the Naga.

The Naga had a sturdy divine shield. When the silver leaf collided with it, there was a bright flash. After a tenth of a second, the leaf dimmed and returned to Bryant. The Naga’s shield had thinned too. Only one more hit was needed.

“Despair!”

Another Despair Ball appeared before Link. He stabbed his sword in. Poof! The sword tip was behind the Naga. It easily broke through the thin shield and stabbed into the Naga’s head.

“One down, two to go. Again!”

Link tossed another Despair Ball to Bryant. This time, Bryant didn’t hesitate at all. He shot his silver leaf in, his intensity at least ten percent stronger than before.

Boom!

The leaf fought with the divine shield again. Waves tossed, and the shield was destroyed. The Naga was hit by the leaf, too. She didn’t die, but she became dazed. Link stabbed again and easily took care of her.

Two of the three were killed almost instantly. The third felt something amiss and fervently swam deeper. At the same time, two large silver fish swam towards her to protect her.

“One more. She’s about to escape. I’ll force her out and you get ready!” Link called.

Poof! A Despair Ball appeared. It was more than thirty feet wide and used up more than 2,000 Dragon Power points. At the same time, another six-foot-wide Void Destructor fireball appeared on his other hand. He waited instead of rushing the attack.

When the Naga and two fish grouped together, he tossed the Void Destructor into the Despair Ball.

Boom! Bryant saw a huge flash under the water. The entire sea turned crystal red. After that, the sea started swelling up from the fireball’s force and became bloated.

In Link’s Vision of Truth, he saw that the three guys had the daylights blasted out of them. The two fish and Naga started floating up. The divine shields were mostly gone, too.

“Now!” Link yelled.

This time, Bryant saw the enemies. They were semi-conscious; it was the best time for an attack.

His silver leaf pierced the sea surface. It shot through the Naga and then towards one silver fish. It buried into one of the fish’s eyes and out the other, then it went towards the second one, hitting its head in the same way.

Whoosh. The leaf came back out, returning to Bryant’s wand.

The servants of the God of Destruction had all been killed. The sea returned to silence.

Link looked to Bryant and smiled thinly. “Do you feel the power of the God of Destruction now? He’s been watching us from the darkness, trying to make us fight. That day at the lighthouse, your daughter used similar power to kill me. After she failed, she suffered from the backlash of the power.”

Bryant looked to the ruins of the fight in silence. After some time, he asked, “Why did you save me?”

He could tell that Link could easily kill them all. The other High Elves were still alive and could attest to his innocence. He hadn’t had to save Bryant at all.

If Bryant had been in this situation, he would have watched Link get killed without any hesitation, then come out to save the others.

Link smiled. “I want to see if the human hero from 300 years ago really lost his conscience.”

With that, white light flashed, and half a second later, Link disappeared. Only Bryant remained, hovering silently above the sea.

After a while, Vonhelon rushed over. “Prophet, are we safe?” he asked.

“Yes. The servants are all dead. Those are the corpses.” Bryant pointed at the Nagas floating on the surface. “Take them back so we can study them.”

“Our ship is gone. Where do we go?” Vonhelon asked.

“Go back to Ferde. We’ll ask the lord for a ship.”

“Will he try to negotiate?”

Bryant frowned slightly. The High Elf’s words suddenly felt jarring to his ears.

In the current situation, the Ferde lord was no longer their enemy. They had a mutual enemy—the God of Destruction. Since Link had saved them, why would he pull tricks for something as small as a ship? And even if he did, so what? He had just saved them. They had to repay the act anyhow.

“So what?” he retorted. “Do you have any other ideas?”

“I understand.” Vonhelon turned back. He grouped the survivors and flew towards the mainland.

Bryant didn’t speak during the trip. No one knew what he was thinking about.

Chapter 468: The Shadow of Destruction

When Link had returned to Ferde, he immediately went to the harbor and found the commander of the navy Grayson there.

“There will be a couple of High Elves coming in later. I want you all to prepare a three-masted merchant vessel for departure and stock it up with enough water, food, and medicine. Give the ship to them when they arrive, and just accept whatever they have to offer for it,” said Link.

“Yes, my lord.” Grayson found his order to be a bit odd, but as it had come from the lord of Ferde personally, he did not think too much about it and did as he was told.

Link then left the harbor. Half an hour later, a soldier reported to him that a group of High Elves had arrived at the harbor.

Back at the harbor, Grayson saw that there were at least 100 High Elves, every one of them wearing the same dark green battle robe. Most of them looked completely worn out, with some of them bearing grievous wounds on their bodies. One of the more severe ones had even broken an arm.

A white-haired High Elf stepped out from the group and said to Grayson, “You must be the commander of the navy here. We need a ship to head back to the Isle of Dawn. Of course, you’ll be richly compensated for your troubles.”

Saying this, the High Elf took out an exquisitely-crafted magic sword which emanated thick ripples of magical power. Grayson instantly liked what he saw.

He had already prepared the merchant vessel for the High Elves as ordered by his lord, and without any reservation accepted the sword with a smile. “You’ve arrived just in time. I already have a ship ready for you and your men.”

He then called to one of the sailors, “Jadence, take them to their ship.”

Bryant was the High Elf who had approached the commander. He was stunned upon hearing this, not expecting things to go so smoothly that he feared he might be going into a trap again.

Looking at the mistrustful look on the High Elf’s face, Grayson added, “It was an order from our lord, so don’t just stand there, let’s get a move on now.”

“Oh, I see,” said Bryant softly, visibly relieved by this.

After the bustle around the ship had died down, the High Elves were finally settled on board the ship. As the wind direction was not right, some of the High Elf Magicians set up a simple wind rune on the ship, and the merchant vessel slowly began its departure from the harbor.

In no time, they had left the harbor far behind them.

Bryant stood on the deck, silently watching the flickering lights of the harbor in the distance.

Beside him came the sound of footsteps clacking against the wooden deck. It was Vonhelon.

He reported, “Prophet, there is medicine on the ship, and our Warriors have been treated without too much trouble.”

“Alright then.” Bryant had mixed feelings about this. He did not expect such thoroughness from Link.

Vonhelon was also visibly troubled by this. They had come with their own warships, and now, not only were they saved by Link, but they were also riding his ship back to the Isle of Dawn. It was humiliating, to say the least.

After a while, Vonhelon, spoke, “Prophet, was that really the God of Destruction?”

“Yes. I felt his presence… He’s an even more fearsome dark god than the Spider Queen Lolth. Historical records have shown that his appearances have always brought about great calamities to all of Firuman. This time… may not be an exception.”

Vonhelon let out a long breath, before saying, “This is also a chance for the lord of Ferde to shine, you know.”

The God of Destruction was a mutual enemy to all existence on the continent, and even the High Elves were powerless to put up any resistance against him. However, there was a chance that the God of Destruction may be vanquished by the lord of Ferde himself, and at that point, no one would be able to halt his progress forward.

Bryant felt even more ill at ease, as he recalled Link’s words before he left them on the ocean. He could not help but sigh. Hero of the humans, huh? It’s been such a long time; I’ve almost completely forgotten about it. Do I even deserve a chance to redeem myself now? Bryant thought.

He did not know the answer to that question.

…

Scorched City

At that moment, Link too felt troubled, not by the High Elves, but by the emergence of the God of Destruction.

Instead of magically transporting himself back to his Mage Tower as usual, he had hailed a horse carriage and gotten on it. Link ordered the driver to drive slowly, and he sat in the carriage in silence, ruminating on how to best deal with the onslaught of the God of Destruction.

From outside the carriage, the rhythmic clacking of horse hooves could be heard, along with the sound of wheels grinding against the soil beneath. The city lights twinkled like stars through the window throughout the whole journey from the harbor to the Scorched City.

What had happened tonight had at least alleviated the tension between him and the High Elves, which was probably the only good thing to come from it.

But now, the God of Destruction, who had all this time been lurking in the dark recesses of the world, had risen to the surface to bare its fiendish fangs and sharp claws at the world. His dark forces had appeared for the first time at the City of Lariel, and later below the lighthouse of Ferde’s harbor. And tonight, a High Elf fleet had been obliterated by them on Ferde’s waters.

However, this time, Link was able to see through the concealment of these dark creatures thanks to his Vision of Truth. If Link had not gotten there in time, the High Elves would surely all be murdered by them in the sea, and there would most certainly be a war between Ferde and the Isle of Dawn.

Should such a war be allowed to happen, both sides would sustain severe damage, while the God of Destruction would continue growing in power in the darkness. He could lash out on the world at any given moment, and there would be no one to stop him at all.

This was an enemy more cunning and cruel than any Dark Elf or demon.

The atrocity that the God of Destruction’s dark creatures has wrought tonight was horrific, and I fear the worst is yet to come. Where are they now? And what is their next move? thought Link.

Link realized that he knew little to nothing about the God of Destruction. This was an enemy he had no knowledge of whatsoever.

He grew even more anxious as he pondered, until finally, he called for the driver to stop.

“Sir, is something the matter?” The driver did not recognize Link, but he sensed that he must be an important person.

Link opened the door of the carriage and stepped out. He then tossed a gold coin to the driver. “Just drop me off here. It’s getting late, you should head home too.”

“Many thanks, good sir. You really are a good man.” The driver was overjoyed at being paid such an extravagant fee.

Link walked straight towards a manor not far from where he stood, but he did not enter the manor. Instead, he went around it till he reached an empty clearing. He then found a large rock and sat on it.

He took out the rune stone given to him by the Travel Magician Aisenis and infused magical power into it. A dim white light began shining from it, and Link set the rune stone on the rock. He then patiently waited.

Around three minutes later, Link sensed a faint ripple in the space forming to his side. Seconds passed, and a small Yabba man finally materialized into view. It was the Travel Magician Aisenis.

He saw Link, and his face broke into a smile. “Ah, Magician, it’s been a while. You’ve certainly grown much stronger than before.”

Link cut straight to the point. “You once said that you’re just here for the fun of it, so you must know about the God of Destruction’s invasion, don’t you?”

“But of course,” said Aisenis, still smiling gleefully at him.

“I need information about this. Name your price.”

“Well now, aren’t you forthright tonight. Not that I mind, anyway.” Aisenis handed Link a scroll. “I’m an honest-to-God businessman, and I like my numbers in black and white. Here’s my price.

Link took the scroll and opened it. There was nothing on it at first, but then words began taking shape on the paper. Half a second later, he could finally see what was written on it.

A detailed plan of the God of Destruction’s invasion (latest edition), priced at 80 Jogus.

This was a little expensive. At the moment, Link only had 103 pieces in hand. To have more than half his reserve of Jogus spent in one fell swoop was something he found difficult to swallow. He opened his mouth, ready to haggle further with the Magician.

Aisenis waggled a finger at him, knowing what he was about to say. “My price is written there. No discounts.”

“Is this plan updated continually?” Link asked.

“… You really thought this through, eh? You’ll have to pay more for a continually updated plan, though.”

Saying this, Link saw that a new price had appeared on the scroll, stating that every new update would cost him 80 Jogus. This was way too expensive.

“Alright, I’ll buy it. Just make sure that you give me the latest information on this.”

The little Jabba man leaped up and shouted, “But of course, swindlery and scams are far beneath a respectable businessman such as I!”

“Then I’ll take it.” Link handed a pouch full of Jogus over to Aisenis.

Aisenis’ watery pair of eyes flashed at the sight of the pouch. He eagerly took out a piece of Jogu and bit on it. Laughing out loud, he said, “Ah, genuine Jogu. This is simply wonderful; I can’t believe I’ve managed to earn this much in one night.”

He gave a pleasant look at Link. “Kid, you’ve got a bright future ahead of you, to be able to get this much Jogus in such a short time. I now officially proclaim you to be my most esteemed customer. Take good care of that scroll. If you have any problems, just ask it, and of course, if you’ve stocked up on enough Jogus, you can summon me any time. Your credit score right now is one star, and so you’re allowed credit for as much as 10 pieces of Jogus. If you can get up to five stars, I’ll even let you in on the best way to deal with spatial cracks. You can pay me later, of course.

This did not sound like a bad deal. Link nodded and waved the scroll at him. “Will all that be shown in the plan?”

“Of course, look at the scroll again. It’s already written out the whole plan as promised.”

Link looked through the scroll again, and sure enough, the paper was now crammed with words and diagrams detailing the invasion plans of the God of Destruction.

“Not bad.” Saying this, Link felt the air rushing in to fill the sudden emptiness beside him. Aisenis had already vanished.

Not in the least bit concerned by this, he sat on the rock and began perusing the scroll intently.

Link was mesmerized by what he read from the scroll. When he finished, he drew a long breath. “No wonder Duke Abel changed so drastically.”

He stood up and was about to leave for the North when suddenly he stopped.

“The scroll said that the duke had absorbed the power of every living being he killed. As of now, he has already killed 3980 people and is now a Legendary Warrior. He is also protected by Agatha Nagas from the shadows. I fear that I may not be a match to him if I were to face him alone, and with the God of Destruction still fixated on my land, Abel may be alerted immediately by my absence. I need to flush out the traitors among us!”

Link stood up and headed straight for his Mage Tower. According to the scroll, there was a cult stronghold worshipping the God of Destruction in Ferde called Grissin Altar. It had over a hundred core members, and its peripheral members numbered in the thousands.

He had to destroy the altar, and soon.

Chapter 469: Time to Repay an Old Friend

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

Magician Akensser was still a nice guy. He worked for the money and supplied very detailed information. He had even marked the enemy’s basic power.

This helped Link make specific plans.

The Grecience Altar was mainly used to spy on Ferde’s intelligence. The core worker was only a Level-6 Assassin. They weren’t very strong.

Link’s goal was just to destroy the God of Destruction’s contacts, not kill them. He didn’t care if they ran away. He just didn’t want them messing around in his territory. After he returned to the Mage Tower, he wrote an order to Jacker for him to make a team responsible for clearing the enemy out.

Meanwhile, he prepared to go north.

According to the scroll, Duke Abel was now at the pinnacle of Level-19. His power also had attributes of the God of Destruction. He was powerful and found many excuses each day to kill people and absorb their energy. He would kill at least fifty people a day; he was getting stronger daily.

Link had to go north!

Other than his speedily rising power, there was something else. Because of his great power and high class, he had many followers now. He was gradually becoming a candidate for Norton Kingdom’s new king. After King Leon lost the Hot Springs City, he had become hopeless.

This meant that even if Link could successfully kill Abel, it would cause chaos in the Orida Fortress. As for what he should do, Link had to plan well.

Currently, his dragon form needed five more months to recover fully. His agility was a problem. Thus, he had to research a spell for traveling.

Link already had an idea for this. He had planned on using a force field’s push to gain high speed. The theory was simple, but there were many details to take note of. For example, how to be agile, not leave any trace behind, raise his maximum speed, and more. These all required detailed optimization.

Time was tight, and he would be too slow by himself. He went to find Alloa and started discussing the new spell with her.

The two were both obsessed with magic. As soon as they started researching, they forgot about everything else. Time passed without them realizing.

It was better for Alloa, because she wasn’t too busy and had time to do other things.

Link, though, was the lord. Other than researching spells, he had to write enchantment books and find time to advise Celine and check important documents, among other things. He didn’t even have time to eat or sleep.

Celine was busy, too. She had fallen in love with enchantment magic. She had always seen how busy Link was and wished she could become powerful enough to help him.

Right now, she was practicing shooting, enchantments, and martial arts at the same time. She was so busy she was out of her mind.

On the other hand, Jacker, commander of the Ferde Army, was creating a team to clear the altar. The news wasn’t a secret amongst the upper level of Ferde. The next morning, Eliard found Jacker.

Smiling, Eliard said, “I’ve reached a bottleneck recently. I can help.”

He was now at Level-8; his magic knowledge had reached that level too. He could even do a Level-8 spell. However, he felt that improving more would be difficult. Thus, he decided to change his mindset while also helping Link.

Jacker had already decided on most of the people. Seeing Eliard, he was troubled. “The mission is dangerous. You shouldn’t go.”

Eliard was Link’s good friend and now a Level-8 Magician. Everyone knew he had the potential to become someone great. He could possibly even become Ferde’s next Legendary Magician.

How could Jacker risk losing someone so precious?

Eliard chuckled dryly. “Jacker, I’m not only a scholar. You saw my skills when we cleared the Ferde Wilderness together.”

Jacker shrugged. “It’s different now. Our enemies are much stronger than those small things.”

“My friend,” Eliard replied seriously, “That’s why I need to fight more. My spells can’t just be pretty fireworks… Link is only one person. He’s always so busy and lost all his happiness in life. How can I not help with something so small?”

Jacker was shaken. He quickly nodded. “All right, we’re leaving in the afternoon. Go get ready.”

“That’s better.” Eliard chuckled and returned to the Mage Tower to prepare.

Influenced by Link, Eliard was also obsessed with enchantments. He’d created some magic equipment in his free time, including a wand, a Burst ring, and defensive bracelets. He was practically covered in high-level magic equipment from head to toe.

That wasn’t even it. Eliard had also been working on a magic fire gun. He was mostly done now. He just needed to tie some loose ends.

He’d been inspired by Celine. She had a pair of small guns that were extremely beautiful and powerful, great for defense.

Of course, Eliard had pride. He knew that Link had made the guns for Celine. He obviously wouldn’t ask Link for help. He would make them himself.

However, he’d still borrowed Celine’s guns before working and studied them for a long while. This wasn’t copying—it was referencing. Enchanters didn’t plagiarize.

Eliard was a Magician, and magic was his main profession. He only needed one gun rather than a pair.

Returning to his small enchantment room, Eliard grabbed the half-finished gun. After an hour, he completed the final stabilizer rune. This rune helped with the reaction force of the bullet so Eliard could hold the gun more steadily.

This was his own creation. Celine’s gun didn’t have it.

After finishing, Eliard looked at the eight-inch-long gun. It had a dark blue luster and was covered in silver runes. He smiled.

This gun was practically identical to Celine’s, but the material wasn’t as high quality. It wasn’t as powerful, either. It could only create Level-7 attacks, but it was good enough.

Holding the gun, Eliard thought of how Celine often twirled her gun. He thought it looked cool and tried it.

Clatter. He spun the gun once and it flew away, falling to the ground.

It hurt Eliard’s heart. He quickly grabbed it and examined it closely. He didn’t breathe until he was sure it was okay. My hands aren’t agile enough. I’m not suitable for those cool moves.

Then he took out a bottle of black python oil. He took apart the active parts of the gun and started oiling them. He’d learned this trick from Lannie. It helped raise the reliability and durability.

While oiling, he heard a knock on the door. He opened it with his mind. “Come in.”

Footsteps sounded behind him and stopped not too far from him. The person didn’t speak. Finding it strange, Eliard looked back to see Link staring at the gun.

Seeing that Eliard had noticed him, Link complimented, “Nice gun. It’s pretty.”

“Thanks.” Eliard was really satisfied with the gun. “How do you have time today?” he asked.

Link grabbed a chair and sat down. Chuckling, he asked, “Jacker said you’re going on the mission?”

Eliard put his hand to his forehead and sighed. “Oh, that guy’s such a tattletale. You’re not going to let me?”

“Of course… not.” Link let out a dramatic sigh. Seeing the expression on Eliard’s handsome face change, he was in a good mood. “Magic isn’t just fireworks. Many times, you need actual fighting to have a breakthrough. I obviously won’t stop you. However, the Grecience Altar is for the God of Destruction. That guy likes giving his believers extremely powerful destructive spells. You have to be careful. Here, take this.”

Link handed Eliard a semi-transparent runestone. “I call this a Dragon Stone. It contains highly effective healing magic. You can use it three times, and then it will recharge automatically. Use it once every three days. As long as you don’t hurt your brain, you can stay alive with it, even if your body is in pieces.”

Eliard grabbed the lifesaving object and chuckled. “With this, I can fight without fear.”

“Yes, go without fear. Magic requires unrestrained imagination.”

Link patted Eliard’s shoulder in encouragement, then left. He’d only given himself five minutes for this trip and couldn’t stay too long.

Watching Link leave, Eliard carefully put away the Dragon Stone. He started oiling the gun again. Eliard, keep fighting! he encouraged himself.

With Link’s support, he had practically perfect conditions for learning magic. Any Magician who knew would be jealous. Now, he was a powerful Level-8 Magician. It was time to repay his old friend!

In the afternoon, a prepared Eliard left with the team. There were also two Yabba shooters, more than 100 human shooters, and more than 500 elite human Warriors. This force was enough for a tiny altar.

…

Just as the team set off, Duke Abel, who was reading documents in the Orida Fortress, welcomed a surprise guest.

Chapter 470: The Northern Duke Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Orida Fortress

Duke Abel tore a piece of paper into pieces in a rage. “All sad, pathetic excuses for men. Seems like I was too soft on all of you!”

The document was a report concerning the turnout rate to a military draft he had authorized in a small town in the North. He had expected 3000 recruits from the place, but only 2000 Warriors were sent back to the fortress, which was only two-thirds of what he had demanded. Duke Abel was not at all satisfied by this.

At that moment, Abel could feel the bloodlust rising in him. His nose twitched unconsciously, and his hand reflexively moved towards the handle of his sword. There was an insatiable thirst growing in him.

He craved the smell of fresh blood. He wanted to see a blood mist spray out of a body when it was cleaved open by his sword. Most of all, he wanted to hear the sound his sword would make when piercing through the flesh of another man, as well as the anguished scream of his victims. He delighted in the murder of small children, especially little girls. Their soft bodies were like pieces of tofu; one smooth slice of the sword was all it would take to cut through their flesh, which offered little to no resistance to the blade.

No, he must not think such thoughts. Should he let himself dwell on them any longer, he feared that he might once again resume his murderous rampage outside the walls of the fortress.

His hand gripped tightly on the sword’s handle, then let go of it for a couple of times. As a result of this, his palm was now slick with sweat. After around ten minutes, Duke Abel finally managed to suppress the urge in him to kill.

He let go of the sword’s handle and began reading another document.

Just then, something flashed in the corner of the wall. He immediately had a hand on his sword, and upon raising his head, saw a dark figure standing in the shadowy corner of the wall.

“Who are you?” Abel demanded.

“Who I am isn’t important. What’s important is that you are now in a precarious position, my dear Marshall,” said the dark shadow, its voice sounding almost pleased about this.

Abel laughed out loud. “Ha, I’ve already attained Legendary power, it would not be a stretch to say that I am the strongest Warrior in the fortress. On top of that, I have with me more than 50,000 Warriors in the fortress. Who would dare attack me?”

The shadow breathed out a name. “The lord of Ferde, Duke Morani.”

At the mention of this name, Abel’s face froze up. In an instant, he had changed into a completely different man. He had enough reason to dread Link, the Legendary Magician. Not only did he possess formidable magic, but Ferde also supplied a majority of the fortress’ resources. To offend Link would mean a disruption to that supply of resources, and the whole fortress would be forced to survive on its stockpiles for at most two months.

After those two months, the Warriors would all be without food, and the fortress would collapse on itself.

“Why would the lord of Ferde confront me without reason?” Abel anxiously said to himself.

The black shadow chuckled softly. It was a sharp, whistle sound, which made Abel uncomfortable. He was itching to dive at the intruder and cut him in half, but for now, he would like to hear what it had to say next. So he managed to restrain all murderous impulses in him for as long as he could.

The shadow then spoke once more, “Because of the power you’ve gained. You’re growing stronger through the act of killing. Did you not find it strange, this craving in you for blood and murder?”

Though its voice was soft, in Abel’s ear, it had sounded like a thunderclap. “Yes, what kind of power derives itself from murder anyway? Even the demons aren’t capable of this. I’ve been feeling more and more bloodthirsty lately. If I were to go one whole day without killing someone, I would feel ill at ease and even find it difficult to sleep at night. I even found myself going through the memory of killing a little girl just now… How is this any different from a demon?”

He had already sensed that there was something wrong with him, but he dared not go into it further. Now, as he reflected on his past actions, he could not help but work up a cold sweat.

Duke Abel had not felt the least bit horrified while indulging in his killing spree. After hearing all this said to him by someone else, though, he could not believe he was even capable of such a thing.

Who was behind the dark shadow?

“You hiding in the shadows, show yourself!” Abel drew his sword out. If the intruder chose not to reveal himself, he would not hesitate to kill him where he stood.

The figure chuckled again and stepped out of the shadows. It was a little girl dressed in a black silk dress. Her body was somewhat serpentine, and her features were exquisitely sculpted and sturdy. She looked at Abel with a sly smile.

“Ah… You’re… It’s you!”

Duke Abel took a step backwards. His mind was thrown into disarray. The girl looked exactly the same as the angel of light who had granted him his power. The only difference was their clothing.

“Yes, it’s me. I was the one who had gifted you the power of murder. Thanks to me, you’ve become a Legendary Warrior. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

“You… You’re a demon!” Duke Abel realized he had been tricked.

The girl in the black dress violently waved a hand with a look of disdain on her face. “Don’t lump me in with demons. Those pea-brained brutes are nothing more than my slaves. Oh, my dear Marshall, try not to be too hung up on who I am and start worrying about your current predicament. As far as I know, Link’s on his way to the North, and he already knows about your little secret. If I were you, I would start thinking about how best to defend yourself against the Magician’s wrath.”

Abel fell back onto his chair, muttering, “It’s useless, I’m no match for someone who can extinguish 1000 demons by himself. What’s the point of reaching Legendary if I can’t even go up against that kind of power? I’m finished. My hands are stained with blood. There’s no way he would forgive me for what I’ve done… I’m ruined, ruined!”

Duke Abel began cradling his head and mumbling to himself, with fear, shame and anger all mingled up in him.

The little girl laughed again. “What a coward you turned out to be. Aren’t you supposed to be Duke Abel, the marshall of the northern army, with countless Warriors and Magicians who have sworn their allegiances to you? What have you to fear from Link and his entourage of no more than ten people?”

“He has the power to wipe out an entire army by himself!”

“That’s because no other Warrior has ever been an equal match for him. But now, you’re a Legendary Warrior like him, not to mention the fact that the Warriors in the fortress are all ordinary men. Do you really think he would risk using any area-of-effect spells on them? No, he won’t. These Warriors will serve as nothing more than a human meat shield against the Magician. Do you understand?”

Stunned momentarily by those words, Duke Abel’s rage finally overcame the fear and shame in him. “That’s right, I’m the marshall here. Link has no right whatsoever to judge me. He’s just the whelp of a viscount. No, I won’t succumb. I’ll fight. I must… I must end him!”

The bloodlust that Duke Abel had been suppressing in him all this time finally erupted, with a faint red aura radiating off his body. There was now a blood-red gleam in his eyes.

“Yes, that’s it,” cooed the girl in the black dress softly. “There’s a small town called Gladstone 100 miles north from here where the rage epidemic had once again reared its head. You should take your men there to keep things under control. There are around 10,000 people living there, by the way.”

Abel felt a sudden chill in his blood at those words. He roared at her, “Leave me!”

“As you wish, I’ve already said what I needed to say. Whatever you do next is entirely up to you.” The girl in the black dress retreated back to the corner of the wall and vanished into the shadows.

Duke Abel sensed that something was off. The guards outside should have rushed in immediately to check on him as soon as he started screaming and shouting in the room. However, nothing happened when the girl had vanished without a trace from the place.

Duke Abel slumped back in his chair, not at all bothered to check with the guards outside. His bloodshot eyes stared absently at the ceiling of his study, as the words of the girl in the black dress echoed still in his head.

Gladstone, the rage epidemic, the murderous demon, Link’s judgment… These words swirled persistently in his head like a curse hanging over him.

After a long while, Duke Abel finally shouted, “Guards! Guards!”

The door to his study opened, and a young Warrior entered with a look of reverence as he gazed at the duke before him. “Marshall, how can I be of service?”

“Go, bring my daughter Annie to me!”

“Yes, Marshall.” The young Warrior then stepped back out of the room.

Abel took out a pen and paper and began writing a letter. As he scribbled on, his words became even more muddled up. Once or twice, he stopped writing altogether and stared at the paper as if he could not decide whether to tear it up or not.

In the end, he could not bring himself to do such a thing.

A few minutes later, he finally finished the letter and inserted it into an envelope. He then sealed it up with his coat of arms, and at that moment, the door opened once more. Annie, who was wearing green-black leather armor, entered the room, her face cold and indifferent. When she saw her father, she spoke coldly, “What are your orders, Marshall?”

“Take this letter to the North and give it to Master Link. He is now on his way here. Take Kanorse with you, too.”

“Yes, Marshall.” Annie took the letter from him and then asked, “Anything else, Marshall?”

Duke Abel knew why his daughter had been acting so distant towards him. She had objected to his genocidal campaign against the common folk back in Garrason, but he did not heed her words.

“That’s it. You can go now. The sooner you leave, the better! Remember, do not give this letter to anyone else, even if they claim to be doing it under my name. Understand?”

“Understood.” This provoked a strange look from Annie, but she went off to carry out her orders nonetheless.

After a while, Duke Abel heard the sound of hooves outside. He quickly looked out of the window and saw that Annie and Kanorse had left Orida Fortress on their horses.

Like a trapped beast, he paced the room for half an hour, thinking of what to do next. Suddenly he shouted, “Guards! Guards, come quick!”

The guards outside rushed into the room. “Marshall, is there something wrong?”

“Princess Annie and Kanorse have betrayed me. Contact M13 immediately! Have the commander there send someone to apprehend them! Quick, time is of the essence, under no circumstances are they allowed to escape our grasp!” Duke Abel roared.

“Yes, I understand.” The soldier hurriedly went out of the room to carry out the marshall’s order.