Advent of the Archmage

Three days later

Link’s party arrived at the cave on Darrow Peak, near Black Eagle City.

They were all ready to leave Aragu, even though the three months’ deadline wasn’t up yet. The demon army outside of Orida Fortress had lost their commander, and future developments were unpredictable.

Anyway, after the three of them had reached Legendary level, their growth rate decreased significantly. It would do them no good to spend any more time here, and they might as well return as soon as they could.

At the cave entrance, Link looked at Milda. "Are you sure?"

Milda nodded. "It’s too dangerous to leave Saroviny here alone. At least, we must have someone here to restrain her."

It was true, but Link would be hard-pressed to take up this responsibility. He had many other responsibilities to handle. Riel was even less suitable to do this. Milda was naturally the best choice. As an elven princess, Milda had beauty comparable to Saroviny.

At their level of strength, it was obvious that they would not speak without due consideration. Once Milda made her decision, it would be hard to change her mind.

"Milda, your strength is not comparable to Saroviny’s, you won’t be able to fight her," Riel advised. He also hadn’t expected Milda to really offer to stay behind. Riel actually did not have a good impression of her before. He thought that she was short-tempered and petty. Now, though, he had a newfound respect for her.

"I won’t be alone. There’s still the Level-19 Archmage. As the strongest in this world, he definitely would not let Saroviny take control of the Fire Sect by herself. He will definitely do something to prevent her from growing too quickly. As for me... I brought some Legendary spell books with me. Given some time, I’m sure I’ll be able to master Legendary spells too."

She had been keeping it a secret until now, but at this point, there was no longer a point in hiding it.

Although what Milda said was true, it did not diminish the danger. This was especially so in the beginning while she was still weak. Furthermore, Milda was exceedingly beautiful. Even if she entered the Fire Sect, she would attract unwanted attention and may ultimately meet a bad end.

Fate was completely unpredictable. Even if one put in their best effort, things still may not turn out as desired.

After thinking for a while, Link said, "Alright, Nana will stay here with you."

Nana was a Warrior. Unlike Magicians, their strength would immediately increase upon reaching the Legendary level. Although they would not have the versatility and special abilities that Magicians possessed, for Nana, her speed was already her hidden trump card. Furthermore, she had the Breakpoint dagger. Link decided that this was for the best.

Link turned and said to Nana, "Nana, come here."

Nana walked to Link’s side, and Link reached out his hand, which now glowed with the light of transformation magic. He reshaped Nana’s ears to become pointy and also changed some of her facial features. Now, Nana looked much more like an elf. This would prevent her from being attacked by the Laguans.

After he was done, he instructed, "Protect Milda as you would protect me."

"Nana understands," Nana replied. She walked over behind Milda.

Link pondered for a little more, then he took out a talisman-inscribed rock and handed it over to Milda. "This is a Loco Stone that I created; it can provide me with your coordinates. If you meet any danger, you can use it to contact me, and I will come over to help. However, dimensional teleportation takes up a lot of energy. After using it once, I will need time to recover, so it would be best if you could give me half a day’s warning if you know you’re going to go into a dangerous situation."

"Understood." Milda nodded her head. She solemnly received the Loco Stone from Link. Not only was this a hidden trump card, but it was also an escape route for her. It was very valuable.

"Then, we’re leaving."

Link indicated to Riel to get ready and turned to enter the cave. Before he could walk off, he heard a sound behind him and was immediately hugged from behind in a warm embrace. It was Milda. At the same time, he felt her push a necklace into his hand.

"This is a Thorn necklace. Only qualified members of my race are allowed to wear it. Bring this to my mother and tell her this is my decision and that she doesn’t have to worry."

"I will," Link promised.

Milda continued softly, "Also, if I perish, help me erect a tombstone in Ferde. On it, write "Milda Morani," okay?"

Link shuddered. He turned around and embraced Milda. "I will!" Link promised.

Link lowered his head and kissed Milda softly on the forehead.

Then, he let go of Milda and said to Riel, who had not spoken a word since earlier, "Let’s go."

Riel didn’t move. It seemed like he had just made a hard decision. After a few seconds of silence, he reached into his dimensional bracelet and took out a large crystal. The crystal shone brilliantly, reflecting five beautiful colors that flowed like water. He walked over and handed it to Milda.

"This is for you. It’s called the Heart of the Mountains, a treasure dug out from deep inside the mountains. I was planning to use it to make a weapon for myself, but I now give it to you. I hope you’ll use it well. Quick... Quick! Take it, don’t let me see it anymore!" Riel said. His face twisted in pain.

Milda was really amused by his behavior. She received the Heart of the Mountains from him and bent down to kiss his forehead. "Goodbye, friend."

This caused Riel’s dark face to flush. He felt faint and giddily followed after Link. Even after reaching the cave entrance, he was still faint and did not recover.

Finally, Link activated the teleportation spell. White light flashed, and a few seconds later, Link and Riel vanished from within the cave.

Milda watched until the two men completely disappeared. She sighed. Turning to Nana, she said, "It’s just the two of us now."

"Master will return," Nana replied, smiling.

Milda laughed too. "Yeah, he will."

She walked down Darrow Peak. When she reached the foot of the mountains, she found a quiet area and took a deep breath, kneeling onto the ground.

"Honorable one, Greer Seymor, Lord of the Flames, savior of the Laguans, I implore you, receive my loyalty," Milda said softly.

There was no reply.

Milda did not find this surprising. If a god replied every time someone invoked his name, the god would become a slave of the people.

Milda was determined, and she repeated it once more, twice, thrice. When she repeated it for the fifth time, she felt something stir and had the feeling she was being watched by some existence.

Under that gaze, Milda felt as though her secrets were being seen through and her soul was facing a burning fire.

A voice sounded in Milda’s heart. "Mortal from Firuman, I’ve heard your calls, but I know that you cannot truly be loyal to me. Tell me, what do you want from me and what do you hope to gain from me?"

A Level-19 existence was unfathomable and could see through Milda in a glance.

Milda was shocked. Nonetheless, she had prepared for all these possibilities. She said humbly, "The flames helped me remove the slave collar and returned me my freedom. Your cause will need the help of many mortals. I am willing to become one of these mortals."

The voice did not reply, but the gaze was still there.

This lasted for about five minutes before the voice spoke again. "I see somebody inside your heart. She is called Saroviny, and she is the Holy Maiden that I have selected. She can help me expand my influence, but as for you, she is your enemy. Tell me, why should I accept you?"

Milda continued, "Saroviny is a sharp and dangerous blade. She is the incarnation of destruction and slaughter. Your cause cannot be achieved with just this. You require creation and order. The sharpest blade will require a good sheath to protect its edge, just like after burning through the fields, you need to till the ground and plant good seeds to get a harvest."

The voice was silent again. This time, the silence did not last long. After five seconds, the voice said again to Milda, "You are a wise Laguan and possess a beauty that exceeds most mortals. You will indeed be useful to my cause. However, you are the disciple of the God of Light. Okay... we will make a loyalty contract."

"I obey your orders, Lord of the Flames." Milda breathed a sigh of relief.

The next moment, a force pressed down onto Milda from out of nowhere, and Milda felt her forehead getting hot. This lasted for a few seconds before receding. Finally, the voice said again, "Go to the Great Beast Forest. My little lambs are ready to receive their new Holy Flame Envoy."

Finally, the gaze was retracted.

Milda summoned a mirror and used it to look at herself. She could see a bunch of silver flames dancing on her forehead and knew that this was the binding agreement between her and the existence from before.

...

After activating the teleportation, Link and Riel found themselves in an unknown realm. In this place, they could see strange lights and grotesque scenery. Everything was distorted, filled with colorful lights and even traces of lightning. Link could hear Riel’s rough breathing beside him.

He could feel that they were moving forward rapidly, as though in a high-speed car. He could also feel infinitely many disorganized Mana strands rushing towards him, as though they wanted to tear him to pieces!

He knew that if he allowed the Mana to rush into his body, he would likely explode into pieces.

Link activated his Dragon Power to defend against this torrent of Mana. It worked! He was not wrong; Legendary power could indeed defend against the pressure from space.

The Dragon Power diminished at a very fast rate. Just when he thought he could not maintain the consumption anymore, whoosh! Immediately after that, his surroundings became calm, and the chaos vanished.

He found that he was in a wide cavern that was at least 60 feet high. A short distance ahead was the exit.

That first Yabba who found herself transported between dimensions mentioned disappearing from a certain cave. This was probably that very cave.

"Ahhhh! Waahhhhh!" Dramatic screams came from beside him and lasted for two whole seconds. Crash. Link felt the floor shake. Turning to see what happened, Link found Riel lying on a crushed stone in the cave. The floor was imprinted with the shape of his body.

"Argh! That hurts!" Riel was rolling around the floor screaming. However, considering that he was still so full of vigor, he probably did not have any serious injuries.

Link focused on checking the condition of his body.

He had 300 Dragon Power points remaining, but they were recovering quickly. Even then, they recovered at 18 points per second, much slower than in Aragu. At the same time, Link noticed that he had received a "Void’s Aura" status.

Void Aura: After traveling through the void, the chaotic aura from the void will stick to the player, preventing the payer from using spells. This effect will begin to disappear after 300 hours and will fully disappear after 30 days.

Link was stunned. He attempted to cast a spatial spell. However, he quickly realized that once the Dragon Power appeared outside his body, a mysterious force would interfere and disperse the Dragon Power, preventing it from forming into a spell structure.

Link slapped his forehead and sighed. "Alright, 300 hours is about 13 days. At least that isn’t too long."

"System, was the data from the teleportation recorded?"

Dimensional teleportation involved traveling through the spatial void. This was extremely valuable data, and using it, Link would be able to make great developments in his understanding of space.

It has been saved as "Dimensional Teleportation: Void" and can be accessed at any time.

"Good."

Link was pleased. He reached out a hand to Riel.

"Ouch, ouch, my bones are going to shatter," Riel whined. He was still lying on the ground, however, the moment he saw Link’s hand, he grabbed it and pulled himself up. After dusting off the dust from his body, he sighed. "I’m finally back. This teleportation was truly vicious; all my strength is gone."

Riel was somewhat weaker than Link and also had a much lower recover speed. His situation was clearly much worse than Link, and without a few days of time, he probably wouldn’t be able to recover his fighting strength.

"It’ll recover shortly," Link said, as he walked towards the cave exit.

Upon exiting the cave, Link found that they were halfway up a huge mountain. In the distance, there was an enormous yellow light shield.

Boom, boom! One after another, purple balls of light flew towards the city, exploding on the barrier. It could be seen that underneath the barrier was a majestic city.

"That’s the Yabba capital, Lirico! Over there are... Dark Elves and demons. It’s the Dark Army!" Riel said, following behind Link.

Link immediately understood what was going on. "The Dark Army’s main force is attacking Orida Fortress, but they left a smaller force here to pretend to continue attacking. This is to prevent the Yabbas from joining the battle."

Based on the time difference, they had spent half a year in Aragu, but that was only about two days here. The news from Orida probably had yet to reach the secondary army here.

With a glance, Link could see that this secondary army was not weak. Using his powerful eyesight, he counted over 4,000 demons, including 30 Winged Howlers flying in the air. The Dark Elves were also numerous, numbering over 8,000.

Something flashed in his vision. Link turned to look. It was a mission.

Rescue Mission: Deliver the message.

Description: Infiltrate the Dark Army’s encirclement and inform Lirico about the situation outside the city.

Mission Reward: 200 Omni Points.

Link thought for a moment and decided to accept it. Orida needed reinforcements anyway, and the Yabba’s flying ship division were extremely powerful reinforcements. The problem was, right now, he was unable to use any spells. Riel too was in an extremely weak state. It would definitely be difficult to deliver the news to Lirico.