Advent of the Archmage

Chapter 480: Power Beyond Comprehension

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

The Hell Beast Zampo bolted towards the flower garden area outside the cemetery, under the cover of the fog.

Once it started picking up speed, nothing could stop it.

However, this time, its pursuer was more than a match for it.

Link burst out of the cabin and began chasing after it. After no more than three steps, he vaguely sensed the beast's intentions.

It seemed to be trying to lure him away from the cemetery. Knowing this, Link decided to strike first.

He thrust his sword out, a Despair Light Ball forming around its tip. In a flash, the Dragon King's Fury sword appeared 200 feet away, right beside the Zampo.

"Spatial Shackle!"

With a soft hum, a fluid-like ripple began spreading out in the air, instantly trapping the beast like a net. Just then, the beast's body began to turn transparent in an attempt to phase itself out of its restraints.

"Phase Lock: Activate!"

This was a Secret Spell. Its main function was to disrupt dimensional transference and all other magical fields.

In the realm of magic, it was a well-known fact that it was easier to disrupt a spell than to build it from the ground up. Disrupting his opponent's Realm Conversion spell was a simple enough affair for Link, despite not being familiar at all with Realm Magic.

A rune began taking shape from the tip of Dragon King's Fury sword and then impressed itself upon the Zampo's body. With a violent tremble, its translucent body was pulled back to the physical realm.

At this point, the extra-dimensional creature had nowhere else to run.

Link walked towards it, his eyes not leaving the creature for a second.

It was approximately three feet long and completely covered in mucus. From afar, the creature resembled a giant toad. The only difference was that tentacles sprouted from its entire body. The same sticky fluid dripped from every tentacle and hissed sinisterly as it touched the ground.

"Ew, disgusting! It even smells worse than it looks!" Celine pinched her nose in disgust.

Link walked around the summoned beast and saw a contract rune shimmering through the layer of mucus on its back.

"The nerve to send such an abomination after me!" Link chuckled coldly and gave the rune a tap with his Dragon King's Fury sword. He then infused his Dragon Power into it, tracing back an unseen path in the Void all the way to the Magician who had summoned the beast.

Three seconds later, Link widened his eyes. "Found you!"

The enemy Magician was hiding behind a tree, 800 feet away. He was almost surprised that someone would be bold and dumb enough to hide so close to the action. Link once again thrust his Dragon King's Fury sword out, conjuring three Despair Balls in the air. In an instant, the sword's tip appeared exactly 800 feet away, piercing directly into the Magician's arm.

Once his sword found its mark, Link willed out a spell: Demonic Seal!

With his Dragon Power flowing through the Dragon King's Fury sword, Link began etching out a simple, yet powerful rune formation. The runes began creeping into the Magician's body and then into his bloodstream, effectively blocking off the flow of his power.

Dimensional Jump!

As Link activated Dimensional Jump with his sword, a white light began radiating from the Magician's body.

Now rendered completely powerless, he could only watch on as his body rematerialized in front of Link.

Hum... There was a white light in front of Link. Half a second later, there was a thump on the ground. A Dark Elf in a black robe with silver stripes fell to the ground rather unceremoniously.

The Dark Elf quickly flipped himself over on the ground, trembling furiously as he stared at Link fearfully.

Before, he had felt the presence of someone in the cemetery. Gradually, he sensed that the intruders were more powerful than he could hope to handle. He had summoned the Zampo to lure them out of the cemetery and hid himself far away from the place so as not to be discovered. He did not expect that he would be caught so soon!

The Dark Elf's opponent had an 800-foot casting range and was even capable of forcibly teleporting him to his side.

Exactly how strong was this man?

Link sheathed his sword back into the scabbard. He walked a step forward and swept his gaze across the Dark Elf Magician from head to toe. He then said coldly, "A Level-6 Summoner of the Silver Moon Council. Not bad."

"You... You're Link?" He recognized Link. Stories of his feats had spread far and wide across the Firuman continent alongside his description as a young, black-haired Magician. Among the human race, he was a peerless hero. But among the Dark Elves, he was a butcher who had slaughtered thousands of Dark Elf Warriors, the boogeyman Dark Elf parents told stories about to their children to put them to sleep.

The Dark Elf Magician trembled even more violently.

Link did not reply him. Instead, he asked, "What is the cause behind the city's epidemic? Tell me everything you know. Or else..."

Saying this, he pressed a palm slowly into the air at the Zampo. Dragon Power streamed out from his palm as he began weaving an intricate magic seal in the air. From the seal, an indistinct ripple began extending outwards.

The ripple moved towards the creature inexorably till it finally penetrated its body.

Spatial Rend!

The beast, who was restrained in place by Link's Spatial Shackle, suddenly shivered. A second later, there was a ripping sound from its body. The creature was disintegrated into a cloud of white sand which scattered across the ground.

The Dark Elf recoiled in shock upon seeing this. He was now gulping in irregular breaths of air.

He was more than familiar with the Zampo's power level, and he knew that he would definitely be killed in an instant if the beast had decided to turn on him. However, after seeing with his own eyes the creature being disintegrated into dust so casually by the Magician before him, he felt that his understanding of magic had been completely subverted.

If he was capable of this much bare-handed, would the world itself crumble before him if he held a wand in his hands?

"Still not talking?" Link held a hand before the Dark Elf and began charging up Dragon Power in his palm. Magic runes appeared around his hand one by one, ready to send him off to the same fate as the beast he had summoned.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" The Dark Elf hugged his head and began screeching pathetically. "I don't know much. I was only sent here to scare people off. The one responsible for the epidemic was Eilos. He was behind everything."

"Eilos? Is he a Dark Elf as well?" Celine asked.

"Yes, he's a Dark Elf. He once served the Spider Queen as her priest. He now worships the God of Destruction. The epidemic was his idea."

"Where is he?" asked Link. He was now getting a clearer picture of the situation.

"I don't know. He had already left early in the morning. He said... He said that the Envoy of Slaughter approaches and that he needs to hurry." The Dark Elf's tone was apprehensive, as if fearing that Link might not like what he had to say.

This was shocking news.

Eilos might be looking to accelerate the spread of the epidemic, and with no cure of the disease in sight, this may spell a catastrophe unlike any other... Link dared not think further on the subject.

Link took a deep breath and continued his interrogation. "Is there any way to stop this epidemic?"

The Dark Elf shook his head. "I don't know, I'm just a Summoner. Disease Magic isn't really my area. You'd better ask Eilos himself. He's the expert on the subject."

Upon hearing this, a game message popped up before Link's vision.

Mission: Find the source of the epidemic.

Player will receive 100 Omni Points upon completion.

Player will also receive Scapegoat Doll (Legendary).

New Mission Activated: Find Eilos.

Details: Find Eilos, the one who has been behind the plague in the city, and retrieve the cure to the disease from him.

Mission Reward: 15 Jogus.

Link accepted the mission and then looked at the Dark Elf with a smile. "I'm sure you probably have some way of contacting this Eilos person. Tell me now, how can I reach him?"

The Dark Elf shouted, "I don't know... I really don't. We all get our orders from the Agatha Nagas. We simply obey them. There's literally no communication among us Dark Elves. Please don't kill me, I've told you all that I know. Really, that's it!"

Celine whispered to Link, "I think he's telling the truth."

Link nodded. The Travel Magician's scroll had said that the Dark Elves were basically the Nagas' slaves. They had lost all autonomy and now served as the Nagas' pathfinders and kamikaze troops.

If this was all the Dark Elf had to offer him, Link decided that he had outlived his usefulness to him. He drew out his sword in a flash and sheathed it back into its scabbard.

For a moment, the Dark Elf's body ceased all movement. Then, a bright red line appeared on his forehead, and with a thump, the Dark Elf's head rolled lifelessly to one side.

"Let's go. We'll need to go deeper into the cemetery," said Link.

The fog in the cemetery had thickened. After walking a few hundred feet forward, a large tombstone appeared before them. On the slab of stone, Link could see the bloody runes as described in the cemetery guard's records.

"I sense divine power coming from this place," Celine said softly.

Link nodded. "It's the God of Destruction's power. There's also a bit of Dark Power here. Stay outside the magic circle. I'll take a closer look at the runes myself."

As soon as he stepped within the boundaries of the circle, he could feel a sudden vibration running through him, as if something was trying to pierce through his body. Link shielded himself from this invisible force with his Dragon Power.

"It's Level-7 power. No one in Gladstone could have resisted this level of power. Let's take a look at the runes... As I suspected, the magic circle has the Undead Ray spell as its core, while being surrounded by divine runes. A curious combination indeed. With both Divine Power and Dark Power interlocked with each other so intricately, I fear that removing the influence of both powers from the bodies of the infected without harming any of them may be a far trickier business than I had hoped... I need more information on this spell," said Link.

"Then we'd better look for Eilos, fast," said Celine.

"Guess there's no other way." Link kneeled on the ground in the rune circle, intently looking for further clues. Half a minute later, he frowned. "The situation doesn't look too good. Besides Eilos, there's another Agatha Naga involved. From the footprints left on the ground, the Naga doesn't seem to be physically strong. She must be a Naga Priest."

Link stood up. "Let's go, then. Our enemy did not seem to have bothered covering their tracks. We may be able to easily find them."

...

Outside Gladstone City

Around ten shadowy figures had appeared in the woods. One of them was Katyusha, who seemed to be leading the party.

They ran through the dense forest and before long, reached an empty patch of land. There, they found what appeared to be a boat carved out of a single wooden log.

Katyusha approached the boat for a closer look at it and said, "I was right. Link is now in Gladstone. Let's go, we need to smoke him out of the city!"

"Yes, Commander."

The party of Nagas continued on towards Gladstone City in search of Link.