Advent of the Archmage

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

Player has activated mission series: Protect the Realm Crack!

Activate Step One: Army of Destruction in the Shadows

Mission Content: Investigate the Army of Destruction near the crack. Determine their motive.

Mission Reward: 40 Jogu

Seeing this reward, Link’s heart jumped. He’d made a promise with the Travel Magician to exchange 300 Jogu for the way to fully fix the realm crack. Skinorse had sent someone to bring him some Jogu recently. Now, he had 273. If he had these additional 40, he would be able to solve the problem completely.

In this case, Link accepted without hesitation.

During this time, the airship had risen to two miles in the air. The range of Celine’s large fire gun was 2.5 miles. This height was perfect, with some space for sudden changes.

She took out five Thorium bullets and pressed them one by one into the gun. Aiming at the Dark Elf Magicians in the distance, Celine said, “Shooter in position!”

“Fighters prepare,” Link ordered again.

All passengers on the airship had been trained. They weren’t very familiar, but all were above Level-8. Their brains worked quickly, and voices sounded within half a minute.

“Magicians are in place! Airship vector defense force field activated! Magic cannon charging, complete in 20 seconds.”

“Warriors in place!”

“Cannons in place. Ready to fire!”

Link felt the Mana within the entire airship. It seemed to be bubbling, but it was stable overall. This was the result of using many new spells. After ensuring that the ship was in perfect state, he said to Merlin, “Approach target. Prepare to attack!”

“Yes.”

Merlin turned to give his crew a series of orders. The airship had entered combat state.

Link didn’t stay in his position during this. He didn’t check the magic projection in the command cabin. Instead, he walked to the window and used his naked eye to observe the ground.

The lake below was very wide, more than six miles in diameter. There were many small islands in the center. Those Dark Elf Magicians were there. From his position, Link could see six Magicians in a circle. Thick Mana waves rippled from them. He could sense that each was above Level-7.

There was a stone tablet before each Dark Elf Magician. The tablets were covered in dark purple light that connected the tablets like a belt. Looking from the sky, he could see a dark purple six-point star.

Obvious Mana waves came from the star. He could see a 600-feet-wide pure black matter hovering in the center of the star.

What was pure black matter? It was something that light could enter but never come out of. The most direct characteristic was that it was darker than anything around it. It was an abnormally pure blackness.

Inside it, Link sensed a horribly distorted space. He looked down at the Eye of the Realm bracelet on his wrist. The crystal had a weak red glow. This meant that there was a passage to another realm here. The pure black matter must…was probably the exit to that passage.

Since it could activate the Eye of the Realm, this meant that the Dark Elves were probably summoning some powerful existence. It would be bad news if they succeeded.

So he had to stop them.

But for some reason, Link felt that something was wrong. It was like he’d missed something when calculating earlier.

What’s the problem? Link stared at the magic seal on the island, brows slightly furrowed.

At this time, Merlin reported loudly, “Lord, we’ve arrived at the attack position!”

His voice shook Link awake. He thought for half a second and then ordered, “Shooters attack at will. Magic cannons, prepare!”

The magic cannon was the most powerful and most large-scale weapon on the airship. Its core was a meteorite Gildern had found from the Free Trade Confederation black market in the South. The original idea came from one of the Mage Tower’s apprentices called Akeers. After Link, Eliard, and the others perfected it through deep research, it resulted in this magic cannon.

Its range reached three miles, and its attacks reached Level-16. One attack could cover 1000 feet in diameter. After recharging, it could fire three times consecutively. On this moving platform, it was Ferde’s most powerful weapon.

Celine started shooting as soon as Link gave the order.

Bang! With the gunshot, a white-gold beam shot down from the airship. It crossed almost two miles instantly and shot into a Dark Elf Magician’s head.

The crystalized Thorium bullet was at Level-13 and had impressive anti-magic elements. It should be able to break through any defense barrier in Firuman.

But then something happened.

When the white-gold arc was 150 feet from the magic seal, a huge lattice shield made of many runes suddenly appeared. It shone faintly with a blue glow. After appearing, it easily blocked Celine’s attack. This shockingly penetrative bullet hit it and disappeared without a ripple like a leaf falling into water.

Seeing this, everyone on the ship widened their eyes. Someone even gasped, muttering reflexively, “How is this possible?”

Everyone in Ferde knew how powerful Celine’s fire gun and especially the Thorium bullets were. Link had created the Thorium bullet, but many Magicians had participated in the design process. To Magicians, these bullets were the kryptonite for magic barriers.

But now, it was easily blocked by a shield. This was incomprehensible.

Link squinted at the shield. His vision was shocking. The collision had happened quickly, but he’d seen every detail. With his bottomless magic knowledge now, he figured out the shield’s general operation mode after thinking for a little bit.

“This shield is interesting. It isn’t strong in itself, but there are many latent magic seals 150 feet around the shield. They can quickly absorb the energy of attacks and use it to strengthen the shield. The stronger the attack, the stronger the shield.”

“Lord, will our cannons be unable to get through too?” a Magician asked.

“Not sure, but the situation is very strange. Use the cannons for unexpected events. Don’t use them too casually.” Link trained his eyes on the magic seal. A few seconds of silence later, he smiled. “This shield is powerful, but there is a fatal flaw. Watch me.”

He continued, “Felina, you all follow me to the deck.”

“Yes, Lord.”

The weakest of the eight Red Dragon Warriors was at the pinnacle of Level-8. Felina herself was at the pinnacle of Level-9. In addition, dragons had extreme recovery rates. This was a powerful force.

Arriving at the deck, Link said, “Transform into dragon form. I need your dragon breath flames!”

The eight Warriors jumped up. When they were 300 feet above the deck, a red light flashed past. Eight young dragons over 150 feet long appeared. They formed a circle and looked down at Link, waiting for his order.

Link stood on the deck and raised the Ode of a Full Moon sword. Mana surged into it. Half a second later, a six-foot-wide Spatial Distortion sphere appeared at the tip. It started rising.

“Blow fire at this with all your might for at least 20 seconds!” he ordered.

Roar! The eight dragons started at the same time. Eight thick beams of fire spewed from their mouths, burying into the sphere. They all wanted to show off their power before Link, so they used all their strength. Everyone lasted for 25 seconds. Felina even maintained it for 35 seconds.

When Felina finished, Link’s Spatial Distortion sphere had turned into a blue “lava” sphere. It kept vibrating and spinning. It seemed unstable as if it could explode any time.

The eight dragons were all shocked. They could clearly see the power contained within the thing. If it exploded within the airship, it could blow it to smithereens. If they were hit, they would be cremated directly.

They all subconsciously moved away from the dark blue lava sphere.

Link took a deep break, focusing his thoughts. “Singularity transformation!” he whispered.

Around 500 points of his Realm Essence followed the Ode of a Full Moon to the sphere. Under the restraint of this force, the huge “lava” sphere instantly shrunk to the size of a sesame seed. It didn’t glow either. If one didn’t pay attention, one wouldn’t notice its existence.

Then Link reached out and grasped the tiny thing with horrible power.

“Okay, you can come down.” Link walked to the edge of the deck with the thing and ordered Celine, “Listen to my orders. Be prepared to shoot at any time!”

“Understood.”

Link threw the tiny sphere down towards the island. When it was around 300 feet from the shield, Link suddenly said, “Shoot!”

Bang! A white-gold arc flew down. An instant later, the blue shield appeared again with a soft buzz. Here, Link used his thoughts to activate the Spatial Distortion sphere.

That moment, everyone on the airship saw a blinding flash on the lake. They were all forced to squint.

After the blue light faded, the Dark Elves, magic stone tablets, and even the island had disappeared. All that could prove that the island had once existed was a bubbling patch of lava on the lake’s surface.

The entire island had melted!

That moment, Dark Magician Glyn felt something from hundreds of miles away. Furrowing his brows, he said to Molina, “The trap in the lake has failed. He already undid my shield.”

“That fast? Is his power damaged?” Molina frowned slightly. She didn’t think to use the shield to defeat Link. She’d only wanted to weaken him and raise the chance of success. Now, it seemed that it hadn’t been effective. The opponent’s feelings hadn’t been affected by the demons at all. They were still terrifyingly calm.

How can there be such a frightening Magician in the world? Dammit! A shred of doubt appeared in Molina’s heart. Would their carefully prepared plan… No, she couldn’t think that. Her master’s wisdom was boundless. If he attacked personally, that mortal would definitely die!

Glyn shook his head. “It only took three seconds. He didn’t use brute force to undo it. Instead, he used a tiny flaw in the shield’s Mana cycle. This trap probably didn’t weaken him.”

Molina let out a long sigh, pushing down her worries. “The Ferde lord is definitely troublesome, but our magic seal is the true tactic. Glyn, go get ready.”

“As you wish, Saint.” Glyn bowed to Molina. His body blurred and then disappeared.