ALL NOVEL Chapter 471-474
Chapter 471: Are We at a Dead End Already? Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Crack, crack, whoosh, whoosh.
In the mountainous forest, one man and one woman flew by, one after another.
It was Kanorse and Annie who had just left the fortress. They’d already run more than ten miles and were panting for breath, but they didn’t dare slow down.
“Hurry, Annie. They’re catching up!” Kanorse urged from the front. He was a Level-9 Warrior and was much stronger than Annie, a Level-7 Assassin. He was in better shape.
However, he was totally out of breath too. When they faced those scouts from the MI3 earlier, he’d blocked almost all of the arrows. At the last moment, he even activated Battle Aura to escape with Annie. This used up a lot of his energy.
Annie didn’t speak. She maintained her breathing pattern and sped up slightly.
She was in bad shape. Her leather armor had split open, revealing many injuries. The deepest wound was at her waist. She’d been sliced by a dagger, and the blade had dug in half a centimeter. Every step sent pain flaring up her side.
After sprinting for half an hour, they burst free from the forest and returned to the main road. There were no soldiers here. They began sprinting again.
Tut-tut, tut-tut. Clattering of hooves sounded before them. Shaken, the two hid behind a tree and listened closely.
They heard voices.
“It’s so tragic. The epidemic appeared in Gladstone too.”
“They’re done. The Bloody Butcher is coming for a massacre again.”
“Ah, the world is becoming messier and messier. How are we supposed to live?”
“Let’s not care about all that. We’ll go south after getting our reward. I heard that Ferde is good right now. There’s a Legendary Magician protecting the place too. I bet it’s safe.”
“That’s right.”
The voices got closer. “They’re mercenaries for hunting demons,” Kanorse whispered. “Two of them. Judging from the sounds, their horses are good. Rest here, and I’ll go steal their horses.”
Annie nodded. She really couldn’t keep running. It would be better with a horse.
Kanorse ran out. After a while, Annie heard some muffled sounds and then a whistle. She walked out and saw Kanorse leading two horses over. Not too far from him, the two bruised mercenaries rolled on the ground in pain.
“Get on,” Kanorse called. He gave Annie a black horse that was more muscular of the two.
They mounted the horses. When they passed the mercenaries, Annie tossed down some gold coins. “Don’t go north. It’s not safe. Take the money and hurry to the South!”
The two mercenaries had thought that they had the worst luck and were about to cry. Seeing the money, their bruised eyes brightened. They immediately flipped over and fought for the coins.
After that, Kanorse and Annie urged their horses forward and galloped southward on the road. They only slowed down after half an hour when the horses were tired and changed to a trot.
By now, the strong tonic Annie had drunk earlier went into effect. Her side wound had closed and was both numb and itchy. It didn’t hurt anymore.
“Why would the general try to catch us?” Kanorse asked the question that had been bothering him.
Annie was drinking water. Hearing this, she answered coldly, “He went mad… I can feel that it’s not my father inside that shell. It’s a demon!”
“Your Highness, are you sure?” Kanorse was in disbelief. He thought Annie was just saying things out of anger.
Annie sighed. “It’s what I suspect. Earlier, he gave me a letter to send to the South. He specifically said that even if he sends someone to take it back, I should ignore it. He seemed conflicted when he said that as if there was another soul inside him.”
Kanorse was terrified at this. The venom of the Dark Serpent had invaded him before so he could relate to this feeling. At that time, there was another consciousness fighting for control of his body. When he lost control, it would be like he was asleep. He wouldn’t know what he did at all.
But when he had been controlled, he emitted strong dark energy. The general didn’t. The priest in the fortress said he was very normal.
So what was going on? Kanorse didn’t understand.
The two were quiet after that. They both had heavy thoughts.
After around half an hour, they reached a boulevard with trees on both sides. Here, Kanorse’s ears suddenly twitched. He pulled the reins immediately. “Stop.”
“What’s wrong?” Annie already had a crossbow in her hands. She looked cautious.
Kanorse also grabbed his lightning magic sword. “This road isn’t normal,” he whispered. “I think I hear something odd.”
The two looked around cautiously.
Cuckoo, cuckoo. A bird sang loudly in the forest, and a few birds flew into the sky.
Scritch, scratch. A few squirrels jumped around on branches and fought with each other. They looked normal.
After a while, Annie shook her head slightly. She didn’t find anything wrong.
Kanorse also looked unsure. He really had felt something weird, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. Giving up, he kept up his guard while saying, “Maybe I heard wrongly. Let’s go.”
Annie grasped her automatic crossbow too. This crossbow was custom-made and very powerful. Link had personally modified it for her too. It had Level-8 strength. She kept looking left and right, fully alert.
After a few hundred feet, nearly solid, white fog suddenly appeared before them. It was evening now, and the temperature was dropping. It was quite normal for fog to appear in a northern forest. However, they were being chased, and the fog would obstruct their vision. It was quite scary to walk in like this.
“What do we do?” Annie asked.
As soon as she spoke, there were short consecutive sounds. She could see something moving around in the trees.
Annie was on high alert. Hearing the noises, she raised her crossbow and pressed the trigger. Bang, bang, bang. Arrows shot forward.
Argh! There was a sharp cry, and a wild boar ran out. Its stomach had a gaping hole, but it was still alive and ran away crazily.
Seeing this, Kanorse sighed in relief. “Oh, it’s just a wild boar… careful!”
He saw a black shadow suddenly appear behind Annie’s horse. They’d found a great location—it was Annie’s blind spot!
Seeing that the man was about to attack, Kanorse unsheathed his sword with a clang. Power surged into it, and there was a loud crack. A bolt of lightning struck towards the shadow.
He was now at Level-9 and could instantaneously cast Level-9 lightning attacks. As long as the opponent was below Level-9, they would all be defeated with one bolt of lightning.
But this shadow wasn’t!
Dark red light glowed around him. When the lightning struck, the white light enveloped him like a silver web. It looked beautiful but was stopped outside the red glow. The man wasn’t hurt or obstructed at all.
However, Kanorse’s attack reminded Annie. She didn’t know where the enemy was, so she didn’t attack. Instead, she activated an Assassin’s Battle Technique: Instant Step.
Gray mist flashed around her, and she teleported 30 feet, appearing behind a big tree. Then she reached out and located the enemy according to sound. She shot arrows continuously at the black shadow.
The enemy’s red glow was highly effective against pure magic attacks, such as lightning, flames, and wind knives. However, it was nothing against solid attacks like these arrows. These attacks could only be defended with battle armor or specific spells. He didn’t have any of these.
Faced with the powerful arrows, the black shadow dodged quickly. This was the best time for an attack.
Kanorse jumped down from his horse and pounced towards the shadow. But when he was in mid-air, he heard the triggers of a crossbow and whistles in his ear.
“Another Assassin!” Shocked, Kanorse waved his lightning sword, blocking the arrows. He blocked nine in one second and landed on the ground.
Once he landed, he charged towards the shadow that attacked Annie. At the same time, he yelled, “Your Highness, be careful! There are two of them!”
Behind the tree, Annie had already emptied a quiver. She took out a new one and reached out, shooting towards the other shooter without hesitation.
Kanorse was dealing with the black shadow. Annie was sure that, if one-on-one, Kanorse could definitely defeat him. She just had to create this situation for him—if only for one second.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Arrows flew through the forest and then Annie heard crisp clangs. The enemy had blocked her arrows. Judging from the sounds, they did so easily.
So powerful and fast! Annie was shocked at this. Her arrows were Level-8 and could pass through Level-8 material. If the enemy was so casual, they must be at Level-9.
The shadow had blocked Kanorse’s lightning bolt earlier. He must be at Level-9 too.
These two Level-9 fighters had popped up out of nowhere and even had automatic crossbows that were solely for the army. Who were they? Where they her father’s lackeys?
These thoughts flashed past her mind. At the same time, she emptied another quiver and pulled back to refill it. Then she heard Kanorse yell, “Your Highness, move!”
What accompanied his voice was a wild whistling sound. Annie knew immediately that it was a Level-9 attack!
In danger, she activated the Instant Step again, jumping away from the tree. Almost at the same time, the tree she had hidden behind was shot through with a glowing red spear.
The spear was extremely powerful. It didn’t hit Annie, but while passing through the tree, the air current and wooden shards crashed into Annie. Her body shook in the air as if something dug into her back. She lost balance and crashed onto the ground.
Boom! She fell around 60 feet away into some bushes. Then she got up to hide behind another tree. As soon as she got up, her legs lost power, and she lost control, falling to the ground.
Now, she felt extreme pain from her back. She reached behind and discovered her armor had been ripped apart. It was warm and wet, covered in blood. She seemed to feel some bloody holes too.
Then she realized she couldn’t move at all. Her entire body seemed to be broken.
“Your Highness!” Kanorse exclaimed. He grabbed his sword and fought with all his might. One second later, he was stabbed in the side, but he beheaded the enemy.
Yanking out the spear in his waist, he threw it towards the other Assassin without thinking. Without looking at the result, he sprinted into the forest and grabbed the heavily wounded Princess Annie. He activated the Battle Aura and ran into the dense forest.
He could feel blood flowing down his waist and his energy disappearing. Princess Annie’s breathing was weakening too. After a while, he heard noises behind him. The Assassin had caught up.
They seemed to have come to a dead end.
Chapter 472: Trouble Ahead Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Assassin was getting closer behind them. Six hundred feet, 500 feet, 400 feet—the distance between them began to shrink.
He had taken severe damage to his abdomen from the enemy, who was also a Level-9 Warrior like him. Only death awaited both him and Princess Annie if he were to go up against such an adversary head-on.
He ran through the woods, looking left and right frantically for a safe place to hide themselves.
Huge globs of fresh blood flowed out from the open wound and spattered on the ground. Kanorse felt himself growing weaker by the minute. Suddenly, he heard Annie’s weak voice from his arms.
“Kanorse, leave me… I… can’t go on. Take… the letter, go north, give it to Link.”
Annie’s hand was dripping with fresh blood, which had also stained the letter itself. Her face was deathly pale at this point, and her eyes were noticeably dilated. Kanorse began to panic at the sight of this.
“Hold on, Your Highness! Hold on!” Kanorse gnashed his teeth and exerted the last of his strength to widen the distance even more between themselves and the Assassin.
He was a Warrior, and he would be damned if he were to let Princess Annie die here with him!
But as determined as he was, there was no point in resisting the inevitable.
Kanorse’s burst of speed did not last long. Three minutes later, exhaustion finally caught up to him. Due to the intense exertion, the wound on his waist had opened up even more. Half of his body had gone numb, and both his legs had turned to lead. At this point, it was like wading through knee-deep mud.
In his arms, Princess Annie had gone silent. She seemed to have passed out, though she clutched tightly still Link’s letter, which was now crumpled into a ball and soaked in her blood.
There was still nothing but the forest in front of them, which began to grow denser as he ventured deeper into it. His senses sluggish, he had lost all sense of direction and now ran in whatever direction the path in front of him took.
Before long, his vision began to blur. He laughed somewhat bitterly to himself, “Is this it for me?”
A few seconds later, something incredible happened.
Kanorse saw his body running on ahead of him. Like an observer from the outside, he was now looking on as his own body bolted straight on without him.
This was too unreal.
He looked down at himself, and saw that his limbs had become transparent, along with Princess Annie. It was like holding air in his arms.
Kanorse stopped running. “Am I a spirit? Am I dead now?”
As he stopped to wonder at his current state, a voice called to him from behind a tree, “Don’t just stand there, come over here!”
Kanorse turned to wherever the voice came from, but could not see anything. He realized then that this must be the act of a Magician.
He walked over to the tree, and saw to his surprise three people squatting behind it.
He instantly recognized Skinorse among them. The other two were a young woman with wavy hair and a middle-aged man wearing a grey wide-brimmed hat. Judging from his appearance, Kanorse reckoned that the latter must be a Magician.
He opened his mouth to speak, but then Skinorse pressed a finger on his lips. “Shh, not a word.”
Skinorse then took out Annie’s spatial bracelet from her wrist and brought out her crossbow from the bracelet.
“This is good stuff!” whispered Skinorse in admiration, and then from the spatial bracelet he took out the crossbow’s quiver. He turned to his companions and spoke, “Alright now, the Assassin’s approaching. Make sure she doesn’t see us.”
Kanorse held his breath, one hand gripping tightly on his sword.
A while later, the Assassin ran past the tree without even noticing them behind it, as she intently pursued the magical illusion still running up ahead.
Looking at this, Skinorse gave the Magician a thumbs-up, and mouthed out his words noiselessly, “Morrigan, your spell worked like a charm!”
The Magician grinned back at him, apparently pleased at this as well.
The Assassin had now disappeared off into the depths of the woods in pursuit of the magical illusion.
Skinorse stood up and said, “It’s not safe here, we’d best get a move on. Give me the princess, Kanorse.”
Now extremely weakened from the loss of blood, Kanorse handed Annie over to him.
Giving the princess a glance, Skinorse frowned and said to the young woman beside him in an urgent tone, “She’s badly injured. I can barely feel her heartbeat. Moya, quick, she’s in need of an emergency divine spell!”
The young woman did not need to be told twice. Her hand was already holding a white globe of light, which she pressed against Annie’s chest. Kanorse could see clearly that Annie had begun breathing even more deeply.
It was definitely a good thing they had a priestess in their midst.
Skinorse then waved a hand at them. “Alright, let’s go. The Naga may be back for us soon.”
Saying this, he began leading the way through the woods. He seemed to be the most familiar with this stretch of the woods. After walking along a narrow pathway through the woods, the sound of running water finally reached their ears from up ahead. After a while, in front of them appeared a cliff, which was a hundred feet drop to the ground. A waterfall thundered down along the cliff face.
“This way, everyone this way. Morrigan, you’re up.”
Skinorse then tied a rope around everyone’s waist, while Morrigan began casting Levitation on each member of the party.
“Now jump!”
Skinorse was the first to jump down the cliff, and his two other companions followed suit. Still having his reservations about this, he jumped after the others nonetheless.
The five of them started free-falling along the waterfall. When they reached 50 feet off the ground at the midsection of the waterfall, Morrigan released a Level-3 Gale spell.
With the sudden gust of wind, all five of them were blown towards the waterfall while floating in mid-air. Just when they were about to collide against the waterfall, Morrigan gave his wand another flick, and from the water jutted out a rock which split the downward current of water in half. A two-foot-high, three-feet-wide hole had appeared below the waterfall.
The group floated into the hole, and the rock closed up behind them, bringing the curtain of water back down against the cliff face.
The cave that they found themselves in was around 100 square feet, and the air inside was somewhat humid. With a wave of his wand, Morrigan gathered all the water in the air into a small sphere of water. He then guided the ball of water out of the cave back through the hole beneath the waterfall with his wand. In an instant, the cave felt drier and more comfortable than before.
With a laugh, Skinorse explained, “This is a hiding hole carved out from the cliff face with stone magic by Morrigan himself. It’s pretty handy. With the waterfall outside cloaking our presences, the Naga should not be able to find us here.”
While saying this, he placed Annie on a stone platform, letting the priestess to begin treating the princess’ wounds. Kanorse let out a sigh of relief and took out a bottle of Greater Healing Potion to drink from it.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t start drinking potions now,” said the priestess Moya all of a sudden without looking at Kanorse. She was slowly extracting out the broken pieces of wood from Annie’s back with a silver scalpel.
Somewhat surprised, Kanorse put down the potion. “Then what should I do?”
“Lie down there. I’ll heal you after this,” said Moya reassuringly.
She seemed to be an expert in the healing arts among the group. Kanorse shrugged and found another stone platform to lie on.
Skinorse gave Kanorse a wide grin, pointed at Moya, then gave him a thumbs-up. He whispered, “She’s the leader of this group, her word is law here.”
Kanorse smiled weakly back. He knew that he could trust Skinorse, despite his treasure-hunting tendencies. He relaxed himself on the stone platform.
“Morrigan, I need some clean water,” said Moya.
“Coming.” Morrigan went to the waterfall and filled a silver dish with water from it. A fireball appeared from the tip of his wand and melted into the water, which then began to boil violently. About ten seconds later, Morrigan drew out the fireball from the water, bringing the water temperature down in an instant. All impurities had been removed completely from the water as a result.
Morrigan then brought the water to Moya. Looking at Annie’s back, he sighed. “Her wound looks deep.”
Moya washed the silver scalpel in the water and continued cleaning Annie’s wound. “It’s truly a good thing none of her vital points were hit. The biggest hurdle here is removing every single piece of broken wood from her body. If I miss even one, there may be complications.”
Moya once again conjured a ball of light in her hand and began repairing a broken blood vessel.
As she treated Annie in concentration, on the other side of the cave, Skinorse and Kanorse had begun a conversation with each other.
Skinorse asked, “Why were you being chased by those Nagas?”
Kanorse was somewhat confused. “Nagas? You mean those two Assassins?”
“Of course, didn’t you notice how supple their bodies were? We had crossed paths with them a week ago… I would have surely died right there if I had not run fast enough,” said Skinorse, still looking tense from the memory.
“Tch, I was the one who saved you. You even tore a big hole in the crotch of your pants,” added Morrigan.
Skinorse blushed furiously. “I just couldn’t use my portal rune in time. Do you guys even have one?”
He took out a red runestone and began brandishing it in the others’ faces.
Kanorse asked, taken aback by this, “Wasn’t this given to you by Master Link?”
“He cheated it from him!” Morrigan interjected.
“To deceive others is a talent in itself, and sadly, not many are gifted in it,” said Skinorse slyly. He put back the runestone, and then asked, “I see that both of you are heading south and that there’s a letter in Princess Annie’s hand. Whose letter is it, if I may ask?”
Skinorse brought out the letter that was drenched in the princess’ blood.
Kanorse did not bother hiding the truth. “We were to send it to Master Link on the marshall’s orders… Seems that the marshall has come across some problems.”
“I see. Well, let’s have a look at the letter then, shall we?” said Skinorse.
“No, it’s only for Master Link’s eyes… Ah, you…”
Skinorse had already torn open the envelope. “Don’t be such a stiff, Kanorse. I’m just taking a peek at the letter, it’s not like I’m going to swallow it.”
He took out the letter, and after reading it a few times, he frowned at it, clearly troubled by its content.
When he had finished reading the letter, Skinorse gulped, wet his dried-out lips with his tongue, and stared at his companions. “There’s gonna be trouble, people!” he said hoarsely.
Chapter 473: Destiny Cannot Be Defied
Waterfall cave
Skinorse read the contents of the letter.
“Master, I cannot control the demon in my heart… The will to kill is eating away at my soul. A sinister existence is tempting me. She also planted a plague in Gladstone… Ah, I must control myself… no, no, that’s too hard. I don’t know what I may do. I just want to kill right now. I want to kill everyone… I need power… ah, I can’t control myself anymore!”
Both the letter’s content and handwriting were messy. There would be pauses occasionally too. One could feel the writer’s conflicted thoughts. Skinorse read softly; the content made everyone in the cave quiet down.
When he finished, the cave was silent. The only sounds came from Priest Moya. She was treating Annie’s wounds. Her expression was still calm, and her movements were steady. She didn’t seem affected at all.
After a long while, Kanorse said, “I saw General massacre Garrason Town with my own eyes. Many innocent civilians were killed just for interacting with victims of the plague. There were more than 30,000 people in the town. Less than 800 survived. If Gladstone really had the plague, I’m afraid…”
Gladstone City had a population of more than 100,000. The army had gone once the plague erupted. With the general’s current state, there must have been an unprecedented massacre.
“I’m afraid Master Link might be the only one to stop Duke Abel,” Morrigan said. “We must bring this letter to him.”
“Who’ll do it?” Skinorse asked.
As soon as he spoke, everyone looked at him, including Priest Moya.
“Your Battle Aura is now at Level-8,” Morrigan said. “You’re best at sneaking around, and you’re fast. You aren’t hurt either. You are the most suitable.”
“By myself?” Skinorse wasn’t confident. Nagas had stopped Kanorse earlier. This meant that they knew about the letter’s existence.
He knew first-hand how terrifying the Nagas were. If he ran into them on the way, he would basically be dead meat.
At that time, Moya pulled all wooden shards from Annie’s back. She took out a thin silver needle and threaded it to start stitching up Annie’s wound. While threading carefully, she said, “Princess Annie and Kanorse’s injuries are very grave. This is a juncture. Especially Kanorse, I can feel that his energy has changed. When he recovers, he might level up to the Legendary state, but this requires rest. He shouldn’t exert too much energy for the next month.”
Morrigan shrugged. “I’ll only hold you back. My magic is needed to keep this cave hidden as well.”
Skinorse made a face and scratched his head. “I shouldn’t have looked at the letter. Now I’ve dug a ditch for myself.”
If he knew this would happen, he would’ve minded his own business instead of saving them.
Kanorse looked apologetic. “Should I go with you?”
Skinorse sighed, shaking his head. “It’s fine. You’re so injured, you’ll kill me.”
He put the letter away and said to everyone in the cave, “Alright, I’m going now. This will be very dangerous. If you have any lifesaving things, please give me some.”
Moya tossed over a bottle. “This is a highly effective potion, equal to a Level-7 healing spell. Use it when needed.”
Morrigan tossed him a ring. “Apparition Ring. This is what keeps me alive. You know how to use it, right?”
“I know; I’ve wanted this ring for a long time. Thanks.”
Kanorse thought for a while. He didn’t have anything and could only shrug. “Sorry.”
Skinorse wasn’t surprised at this. Kanorse was a pure Warrior and only knew how to fight head on. He wasn’t from a high-class family either. The only good thing on him was the sword that Link had made for him.
If he had any lifesaving things, he wouldn’t get beaten by the Nagas so badly.
“It’s alright. These things and Princess Annie’s crossbow should be enough.” Skinorse put everything away and said, “Time is tight, so I’ll go now. Moya, if anything happens, don’t cry for me. Just pray, and I’ll go to heaven happily.”
“Psh!” Moya rolled her eyes and went back to the treatment, ignoring him.
Skinorse chuckled. He turned to look at the waterfall and took a deep breath. Then he said to Morrigan, “Give me a waterproof shield.”
Morrigan took down a Level-2 Protective Barrier. A glassy glow enveloped Skinorse, and he started running. At the mouth of the cave, he jumped in a standard diving form. He burst out of the waterfall. Only his voice traveled back to the cave, “Everyone, the amazing hero has stepped onto an epic path again.”
Everyone in the cave was speechless.
Outside, Skinorse slid down the waterfall and quickly entered the pool of water below. He struggled for a while before he was free from the fast current. By the time he climbed onto the bank, the protective spell was already dim.
However, its job was done. Skinorse was still dry. His Battle Aura vibrated and broke the enchantment. The light gray Battle Aura emerged, obscuring his body.
He ducked into the forest and disappeared.
Not long after, a Naga appeared by the water. She circled the place. After a while, she sped towards the direction that Skinorse had disappeared in.
However, successfully pursuing someone depended on brains instead of speed.
The Naga wasn’t very successful. After half an hour, she had to stop because she’d completely lost Skinorse. She paced around, seemingly very agitated. A few minutes later, she sped towards another direction. After many miles, there was an empty space around 150 feet wide. It was an empty camp surrounded by a wooden wall.
Two big and meaty demons stood by the entrance as guards. There were seven or eight Nagas and more than 20 Dark Elves inside.
A Dark Elf went up to the Naga. “Lord, you’re back.”
The Naga nodded and tossed her spear to the Dark Elf. She went towards the round-topped wooden cabin in the center of the camp. At the door, she knocked lightly. “Commander?”
“Enter,” a soft female voice said. At the same time, the door creaked open.
The Naga walked in. Inside, a black-haired Naga was twisting around in incredible postures on the ground. She was working out.
Other than the impossible flexible body, the black-haired Naga looked just like a human girl. Her body was even smaller than the average Naga. The only special characteristic was a dark red spear mark on the left side of her forehead.
Seeing her subordinate, she brought her feet down from the back of her head. Glancing at the subordinate’s expression, she asked, “Why did you fail? Was Ellie killed?”
The Naga nodded and spat, “We were going to succeed, but a human Magician popped out, saving them. I found their aura later, but he’s very tricky, and I lost him.”
“Did they take the general’s letter?” The black-haired Naga covered her forehead. She seemed to have a headache. The human general was about to become the master’s killer, but then something like this had to happen.
After a few minutes of silence, she suddenly said, “Link destroyed Master’s altar. This means he will go north soon. Since we can’t stop the letter, let’s go stop Link.”
“How? We don’t know how he’ll get there.”
“That’s easy. Link has Yabbas in his territory, and he has their airships. Since he’s going north, he’ll most likely use their ships. That way, he’ll go in a straight line from Ferde to the Orida Fortress. If we go straight south, we’ll definitely run into him.”
The other Naga was still hesitant. “Commander,” she said softly, “Link is a Legendary Magician who specializes in spatial magic. I’m afraid we’re not his match.”
Earlier, he’d destroyed three altars and killed two pets. This type of ability was honestly terrifying.
The black-haired Naga scoffed. “He’s powerful, but we have more people. I want to experience his power too! I believe that even if I can’t kill him, I can definitely defeat him. We don’t have much time. Let’s go now!”
As she spoke, she stood up and grabbed in the air. Light flashed, and a spear crackling with silver lightning appeared in her hands.
It wasn’t just lightning. At closer inspection, one would see that when the spear’s tip cut across the air, it would create ripples. The silver-white body also had a line of golden Agatha runes.
Translated, it meant, “Destiny cannot be defied.”
Seeing the spear, the Naga Warrior was stunned. “The Spear of Victory! Did Master give it to you?”
The Spear of Victory was an upper order Legendary weapon. It was ranked fifth of all the Legendary weapons in Agatha history. Usually, the God of Destruction would only give it to his most beloved and talented Agatha Naga.
The black-haired Naga looked proud. “Yes, he gave it to me. I believe it will bring victory to us, just like in history!”
The Naga Warrior lowered onto one knee and sighed. “That human Magician is going to be in trouble!”
Chapter 474: Who’s Ambushing Whom?
Translator:Nyoi-Bo Studio | Editor: Vicky_
Ferde, on the airship’s platform
The Yabba Battle Airships floated 20 feet off the platform, ready for takeoff. Its doors were open, waiting for the people on the platform to enter.
The purpose of Link’s visit to Orida Fortress this time was to revoke Marshall Abel’s authority, but he could not do this alone. Despite being the Lord of Ferde, he was not Duke Abel’s superior. No matter how high his prestige was, Duke Abel would not take a command from him.
Of course, if there was anyone who had the power to give such an order to the duke, it would have to be King Leon himself, who had been residing in Ferde.
And so, King Leon had agreed to come along with him.
Leon had always been concerned about his brother. With the king by his side, Link now stood on solid ground to take action.
He still needed the strength to defend himself against any opposition.
He would have to face Duke Abel’s personal bodyguards, which may include the Agatha Nagas.
He would not be able to cover every contingency in this operation, which was why he had brought in a bit of help.
Celine was one of the people Link had brought in. Her Huge Fire Gun had Level-9 offensive power, and she also had the ability to anticipate attacks. Her striking distance was an impressive 2000 feet, and Link would certainly have the upper hand by having her provide covering fire from afar.
She was Link’s trump card.
Besides her, Link had assembled 40 Warriors armed with magic pistols. If need be, they will rain down a Level-7 storm of bullets in an instant.
He had also brought with him three Level-8 Dragon Warriors, including Felina.
This assembly of Warriors, and the magic cannons the Battle Airships were equipped with should be enough to suppress the entire battlefield.
Before long, everyone had gotten on board. The Battle Airships then began gaining altitude when everyone was settled on board. Once they reached 6000 feet in the air, the airships began making their way straight towards Orida.
After a while in the air, Link suddenly felt that something was not right.
It was a vague sensation, but he sensed that something might happen if they were to fly straight towards the fortress.
Before Link became a Legendary Magician, he had his fair share of premonitions like this. He had a nightmare on the eve of the demon Tarlvess’ release from its imprisonment back when he was still a student at the East Cove Magic Academy.
But it had happened only in his dreams.
While sleeping, the human mind was in a state of repose. During this time, a sense of foreboding may present itself within the dreams of people with stronger spirits, like Magicians, in reaction to impending danger.
However, when one was awake, the human mind was in a state of disorder. Any form of premonition would encounter interference from a stray thought and be easily misinterpreted as a sign of an overactive imagination. In the past, Link tended to ignore these subtle warnings given to him by his mind.
Now, Link sensed that same nagging feeling, though it was a bit too weak. He had no way of knowing whether it was a real premonition or just his mind playing tricks on him again. After much thought, he decided to play it safe.
Before he even spoke, Celine, who was sitting beside him, whispered, “Link, could you have the captain change our current course? There’s something wrong about this.”
Celine had a gift for clairvoyance. Hearing this from her, Link gave his order to the captain without any hesitation. “Merlin, take a detour here.”
Merlin seemed vexed by this. “My lord, I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“Why’s that?”
Merlin explained, “The airship’s flying distance is limited. It only has enough magic crystals to fly for 2800 miles at most. As the straight line distance to Orida Fortress from our point of departure was 1200 miles, we only have enough for a round trip. If we take a detour now, I fear we may not be able to go back to Ferde.”
Link thought for a while, then came up with an idea. “How about this: stop using the magic seal for now, and I’ll use a spatial field to move the airship.”
Everyone in the cabin was speechless at this. An airship of this size weighed around 100 tons. Even if Link managed to keep it afloat in the air, how much power would he need to expend? And how long would he be able to take the strain?
It was also important to note that they still had to fly for a few thousand miles before reaching their destination.
Merlin said uncertainly, “My lord, are you sure that’s alright?”
He had never experienced such a thing in his tenure as the airship’s captain.
Link nodded. “Yes, don’t worry about a thing.”
As Merlin knew how strong Link was, he then ordered the rest of the crew, “Let’s slow down the airship, and have it hanging in the air now.”
Hum, hum… The airship’s magic seal began rotating backwards. After half a minute, the airship had stopped moving forward and was now bobbing silently in the air.
Link began meditating, his mind sinking into a deep concentration. Dragon Power flowed from his body into the airship and distributed itself throughout the vessel’s pressure points. With a sudden push of his will, Link activated a spell that he had spent the last couple of days working on: Void Walk.
Void Walk
Level-11 Legendary Spell
Cost: 10-100 Dragon Power points per second
Weight Limit: 500 tons.
Description: Apply changes in space curvature to generate push. There is no limit to the direction of the push. Change in direction is immediate in effect.
(Note: This is an extremely powerful field spell.)
When the spell was cast, everyone felt a slight tremor in the airship. After a while, it steadied itself once again. Link then said to Merlin, “Alright, you can turn off the magic seal slowly.”
The crew members all looked at their commander Merlin, hesitant to make any move. Merlin too was nervous about this, as he feared that the airship might fall out of the sky at any moment. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally gestured at his crew to do as they were instructed.
The magical power input in the airship gradually began decreasing. Half a minute later, the source of magical power had been completely shut off. Despite this, the entire airship remained floating steadily in the air still.
Link carefully began raising the airship. He could feel his Dragon Power being expended at a rate of around 41 points per second. Taking into account his current Dragon Power recovery rate, which was 37 points per second, he was effectively spending 5 points of Dragon Power every second.
His present maximum Dragon Power was at 13900 points. By pushing the airship forward for 40 minutes with his Dragon Power, Link was able to make up for any loss of magical power the detour might incur.
“Alright, sit tight now. I’m going to accelerate,” said Link.
Link began slowly changing the field’s direction while increasing his Dragon Power input into the airship. The whole vessel began picking up speed till it hurtled through the air even faster than before.
Whoo, whoo whoo… Wind rushed into the cabin as they sped through the air. Merlin looked at the airship’s speedometer and saw that it was indicating a speed of 1060 miles per hour. They were traveling twice as fast as before when the airship was still powered by their supply of magic crystals.
What was even more surprising was the fact that the entire vessel did not so much as sway as it flew through the sky. If it were not for the roaring wind and the rapidly changing scenery, they would not have sensed that the airship was even moving.
The airship’s movement was even steadier than before.
The Yabba crew members within the airship were all stunned by this.
The expression on the three Dragon Warriors was one of pride and reverence towards the display of their duke’s sheer power.
As for King Leon, he initially had some reservations about this journey to the North. However, upon witnessing Link’s power, he let out an inward sigh. He should be safe in his hands.
The rest of the Warriors too looked at Link with fervent admiration.
Only Celine remained unmoved by this. She had already known the extent of Link’s power. Seeing everyone’s expression of awe and shock on the airship, she could not help but smile.
Link, however, was oblivious to his surroundings at the moment. His mind was wholly concentrated on maneuvering the airship through the air while feeling both the inner workings of the airship and any changes in the air current outside.
Five minutes later, the airship was now flying over the ocean and then along the coastline in a straight line.
After flying approximately 500 miles for half an hour, Link began slowing down. When he had reduced the airship’s speed to 500 miles per hour, Link said to Merlin, “Alright, resume magical power input. I’m letting go now.”
Feeling even more confident about Link’s abilities, Merlin commanded his crew to do as such.
The crew began working to increase the airship’s magical power input as they were told. Link gradually lowered his Dragon Power input as he felt the airship regaining control of itself.
Five minutes later, Link finally returned control of the airship back to the crew. Throughout the whole process, the airship did not sway even the slightest bit.
Link then looked at Celine, who instantly knew what he was about to ask. She nodded. “There shouldn’t be any problems now.”
Hearing this, he gave his order to the crew, “Fly us straight to Orida now.”
They had taken the detour completely on a whim. If an accident were to happen at this point, Link had no choice but to accept that luck was never on their side to begin with.
After flying for another 20 minutes, when Link’s Dragon Power had fully recovered in him, Merlin suddenly reported to him, “My lord, there’s something up ahead.”
He then gestured at one of his co-pilots, who tapped on a few runes. A magical image appeared in the middle of the cabin, showing a large eagle with 50-feet wingspan flying in front of them. On the eagle’s back rode ten or so figures.
From the image, Link recognized that those figures belonged to Agatha Nagas. From the looks of it, they were all heading for Orida Fortress. This did not bode well for them.
Link asked, somewhat stunned, “How far are they? Did they notice us?”
“They’re 50 miles away from us and probably still haven’t noticed us,” Merlin replied.
Link thought for a moment, then said, “Follow them closely, I’ll ambush them from behind!”
In the previous game world, with the exception of a few Naga Priests, most Agatha Nagas could not fly. By killing off the giant eagle, he could send the Nagas spiraling to their deaths 6000 feet from the sky!