Advent of the Archmage

The night was dark—starless and moonless.

Grove was covered in red firelight. He focused entirely on the defensive pose.

Suddenly, another black shadow flashed across his vision. At the same time, he felt surges of numbness in his heart area. He knew immediately that the opponent wanted to attack his heart. He swung his sword and covered his vulnerable area.

Cling! There was a sharp sound, and sparks flew in all directions, illuminating the surrounding sight. Grove saw a human girl with a ponytail flash across him. Then, he heard the wind. Shocked, he struck to the right without thinking. There was another cling; he had accurately hit the opponent's sword.

Even though he'd blocked the attack, the opponent's speed still shocked him. Who exactly is this? How can she be so fast?

He didn't have time to think any further because another attack had come. It was as fast as a gale of wind; he didn't even have the chance to catch his breath.

Ding! Dang! Cling! Clang! A flurry of sparks flew away. Three seconds later, Grove's left arm was stabbed. The blade buried straight into the bone, and pain besieged his heart.

Ha, I was waiting for that! Grove was happy rather than shocked. The opponent was too fast, so he'd always been passively defending. But this didn't mean he was destined to lose. As an experienced fighter, he immediately decided to use a baiting technique.

He turned his injured arm, ignoring the pain of the blade twisting in his muscles and bone. Dragons were strong physically, and this pain was nothing.

He only had one goal—restrict the sword's movement. At the same time, he swung the sword in his right hand down at the opponent's head. He'd prepared a long time for this move and did it seemingly without warning. The angle was close to perfect as well. Battle Aura burst on the blade, about to be released.

Clang! This move was blocked by the opponent's second sword, but it wasn't strong enough. Grove added pressure to his strike. The opponent's hand moved to the side, and Grove felt something give. He knew that the opponent had no more strength and couldn't block his attack.

"Die!" Grove roared, his Battle Aura exploding.

Buzz. His Level-8 Dragon Battle Aura burst gathered into a crystal-like substance and burst from his sword. It struck the opponent's body sideways. A burst of Battle Aura at this close distance basically sealed off all escape routes of the opponent.

You're dead meat now, right? Grove thought. No matter how fast one was, it was impossible to be faster than the Battle Aura Cut.

Boom! There was an explosion in the air. In the last moment, Nana suddenly let go of her sword, the Last Nightmare, and sped backward. She used all her power, even activating the force fields under her feet. This made her even faster; she surprisingly was just as fast as when she charged at full speed.

Something ridiculous happened.

This fatal Battle Aura Cut was fast, but it just couldn't catch up to the speed of Nana's retreat. It was always around two feet behind.

One-tenth of a second later, Nana had retreated almost 300 feet. She'd dragged things out until the Battle Aura had faded!

Grove's heart pounded. This speed was unbeatable. The fatal move he'd prepared for so long had unexpectedly been avoided by the opponent just like that. It was a blow to his ego.

However, he still had the upper hand because he'd forced the opponent to let go of her weapon. A fighter without a weapon was like a tiger without its sharp teeth. Their destructive power would decrease by at least 90%.

Blech. He yanked the sword out of his left arm. Dragon power instantly poured into the arm, and the wound recovered speedily. In the blink of an eye, he could move it at ease. After around ten minutes, the bone would probably be completely healed as well.

It was the left arm anyway. He mostly used it to maintain his balance; a little wound wouldn't affect his fighting much.

As for the sword, it looked nice. Grove decided to put it into his dimensional bracelet... But after a few tries, the sword was still in his hand. Strangely, he couldn't put it in.

It really is a good sword, but it's inconvenient to keep it on me. Grove was conflicted. He eyed the opponent. She had stopped charging and stood around 150 feet away, staring at him.

It was dark, but Grove could feel that her eyes were still on the sword in his hand.

"Haha, you want this? Don't even think about it. It's mine!" Grove laughed loudly. He put the sword in his belt and grasped his own sword, attacking again.

Nana didn't have her weapons anymore. Seeing the opponent advance, she neither met him nor escaped. She just dodged left and right.

She was fast, and now that she was focused on protecting herself, she was impossibly fast. She floated around like a weightless leaf. Grove put in all his effort but couldn't danger her one bit. He couldn't even restrict her movements.

Five seconds later, Grove knew that he'd never be able to hit his opponent like this. He might even use up all his energy and die.

I must think of a way to end this! Grove stepped back, the gears in his mind whirring.

He actually did this because he had no other way. The opponent was honestly too fast, and he couldn't escape from her. In this battle, he would either lose and die or kill the other. These were the only two choices.

Seeing that he'd retreated, the girl didn't bother with him. She sped backward 100 feet, her eyes still trained on the sword. It was obvious that she valued it highly.

Got it, haha. A light bulb flashed in Grove's mind, and he had an idea. He grasped the short sword again. To be honest, the sword was truly beautiful. There were even rings of airwaves around the sword. It was obviously an extraordinary object.

"You want it back, right? In your dreams!" Grove raised his battle sword and moved to strike down at the short sword. It was a good blade, but he was aiming at the weakest part. He could definitely destroy it!

As expected, Nana was tricked. She immediately charged and stabbed her other sword, Whispers of the Forest, forward to stop Grove's action.

"I was waiting for that!" Grove's sword stopped in mid-movement and turned around toward Nana. At a glance, it was as if Nana was voluntarily slamming her vital parts onto Grove's sword.

Cling! At the last moment, Nana blocked the attack with her other sword. However, it wasn't strong enough and couldn't completely block the attack.

This time, Grove didn't release his Battle Aura. He unexpectedly kicked Nana's calf. The idea behind this was simple. You're fast, aren't you? Then I'll maim you!

Thud! Grove's foot kicked something, and he was immediately in intense pain. In the corner of his vision, he saw that the opponent had used her extreme speed to kick at the last moment. Their feet met in the middle.

Grove was well-prepared, so he was much more powerful than Nana who'd acted hurriedly. Her foot was forced backward, and she practically lost her balance. However, Grove paid a great cost as well.

He had no clue what the opponent was made out of. She was extremely hard, and the kick had resulted in a bloody hole in his foot. It was like he'd been stabbed.

Whatever. This is a rare chance! Bearing the pain, Grove still didn't use his Battle Aura. He lifted his left fist and activated his dragon power. His entire fist was covered in red light. It slammed down towards Nana's neck like a cannon.

In his eyes, the opponent was slim and slender. His clenched fist was thicker than her neck, so this punch could definitely snap it!

This was another unexpected move. Nana had always relied on her speed and weapons to fight. With her speed, most opponents were defeated instantly. She'd practically never experienced a fist fight before.

Now, she used her left hand to block the opponent's battle sword and had lost her balance from the kick. Helpless, she raised her thin right arm, clenched her small fist, and stubbornly met Grove's fist halfway!

Boom! Nana's fist was forced back, and her arm swung backward too, slightly distorting. She almost completely lost her balance again. In return, there was another deep and bloody hole on the surface of Grove's fist.

"Damn!" Grove clenched his fist, enduring it. He knew this was the best time for a fatal attack.

"Die!" Dragon power burst from Grove's sword again. It was another Battle Aura Cut!

This was a true fatal attack. Nana had nowhere to dodge at all.

However, she wasn't alone!

Link had finally caught up. When he arrived, he saw Nana fighting the opponent with her fist. Seeing this, Link knew that Nana would lose because she'd never had experience in this. There wasn't much time. He focused his gaze, and the entire world slowed down!

A second later, the Demon Slayer Whip appeared.

A string appeared in the air. It was the same width as an arm and looked like a fiery-red crystal. The string curled toward the towering black shadow like a snake.

On the other side, Grove had naturally seen Link. In reality, he sensed Link the moment he appeared. Paying attention to the big picture was a required quality for all powerful Warriors. However, he was busy with the opponent in front of him when Link appeared. He was about to kill his opponent, so he didn't respond to Link.

His mindset was simple. Even if you're a powerful Magician, I'm so close to your companion. Will you still use a destructive spell and risk accidentally hurting your friend?

Feeling secure with that knowledge, he focused entirely on killing the strange girl. He would deal with the man later.

When his Battle Aura Cut was released, the Demon Slayer Whip had also arrived.

The whip's front portion was highly curled and shone with blinding light. It was a perfect eruption point. When the Battle Aura Cut flew out ten millimeters, it collided with the whip's eruption point.

Boom! The Level-8 powers crashed. It was not that large of a scale, but it still caused a big commotion. A snow-white light erupted in the dark night. Like lightning, it illuminated the night sky. Simultaneously, a shock wave was set off, forcing Nana and Grove back.

Nana was safe instantly, while Grove had sunk into danger.

His left fist and foot had deep bloody holes and couldn't move easily. Before his eyes, the red crystal whip swept over like a shadow.

The whip was very strange. It was unbelievably agile. The first moment, he thought it would hit his chest, and so he swung his sword to block it. The next moment, the whip twisted sharply, releasing a blinding light and then hit his side.

Crack! His arm was whipped. As if he was struck by lightning, the flesh on his arm split open, and the side of his body went numb.

Crack! Crack! Crack! The air continuously popped and cracked. The whip danced like a snake and three more blinding spots lit up on it. Every light spot hit Grove with accuracy, completely dazing him.

He'd never seen an attack like this. It was shockingly fast, and its attack angles were unbelievable. If his body wasn't injured, he could block it once or twice. However, his hands and feet had holes, and he couldn't make any effective responses at all.

Boom! The last attack came, throwing Grove into the air. One second later, he crashed onto the ground and fell unconscious.

Before passing out, his last thought was, I finally get it. The little girl is a magic puppet!

He'd battled with a magic puppet for so long and used countless tricks but ended up being wounded all over. Finally, he was picked off by the magic puppet's owner…It was honestly depressing.