Advent of the Archmage

Screee, Screeee!

Screeching filled the air as the vibrations from the sound waves became visible.

In the distance, hordes of demons were approaching, some flying, many others running. Link could see ghouls, demons and other creatures heading towards him.

If he could use his spells freely, these creatures certainly wouldn't pose a threat. Coupled with the special ability of the Dragon King's Wrath sword, he could single-handedly finish them off. However, right now, his hands were tied. If he fought desperately, he could take out 2,000 demons, but ultimately, he would still be dead meat.

More importantly, his task now was to deliver a message, not to kill the demons.

"My ear hurts!!! Ahhh my ear!!" The little thing on his back started screaming. She was completely tied down onto Link's back and had no hands to cover her ears. The screeching from the demons made her ears hurt badly.

As Link dashed away, he tore off a corner from his shirt and crumpled it into two balls, stuffing the balls into the little thing's ears. As he was done with this, he heard the sound of wind behind him as a Gargoyle lunged towards him.

Link stamped hard onto the ground as he pivoted, slashing with the Dragon King's Wrath sword. Smash! A crystal red light flashed, and the Gargoyle's body split into two.

Countless demons were still rushing towards him from all directions. The demons numbered over 50. There was no way to deal with them by himself; that would only get him caught up in the fighting.

Link's mind spun quickly, and he came up with a plan.

He untied the little thing on his back and held her in front of him instead. At the same time, he supported her neck and head with his other hand. Finally, he took out a grenade. Listening to the sound of the wind behind him, he waited.

Three seconds later, he threw the grenade out behind him.

"Three, two, one, hold on tight!"

The little thing obviously recognized this grenade and figured out what Link was trying to do. She immediately retracted her limbs and buried her head into Link's chest.

Instantly, Link leaped off from the ground.

As his leap took him to a height of 15 feet, a loud boom shook the ground behind him. Light blue flames exploded out and surged towards Link.

The explosion also engulfed the many flying demons behind Link.

Link could feel the heat on his skin. Of course, it wouldn't pose a problem to him, but as for the little thing, she would be burnt to crisp. Link released some Dragon Power, creating a crystal red barrier that would protect her.

Amidst the burning inferno, Link felt a strong force pushing from behind him. Being in mid-air, this generated a pushing force that boosted his jump forward. He shot out of the explosion like a bullet, flying into the air.

In his embrace, the little thing was screaming non-stop. The incessant shrill screaming made Link's ears numb.

Five seconds later, Link had shot out 450 feet. As he landed, Link huddled his body into a ball and rolled along the ground to dissipate the momentum. He protected the Yabba within his embrace the entire time.

Actually, with the tenacity of his body, Link could have landed standing up and still be fine. However, the impact would be too much for the Yabba. In the worst case, her body would be held still within his embrace, but the impact would severely rattle her brain and internal organs, causing internal hemorrhage and resulting in her death.

Nonetheless, although Link had done his best to disperse the force of the impact, the little thing was still knocked giddy. She said breathlessly while in Link's arms, "My head is spinning, the ground is up, and the sky is down, ughhh!"

"You'll be fine soon," Link reassured her. He took out the cloth strip from earlier. This time, instead of tying her to his back, he tied her to his chest.

Once she was tied stably, he instructed, "As I walk forward later, help me keep a lookout behind and quietly warn me of any danger. If I'm going to increase my speed, I'll warn you first. You've got to close your eyes tightly immediately, understand?!"

If she didn't close her eyes, the moment Link picked up speed, that adorable pair of crystal-like eyes would immediately pop out of their sockets. Now that would be ugly.

"Okay," the little thing whimpered. Link could feel her heart beating rapidly. He knew that she was terrified.

The grenade earlier had wrought a fair amount of chaos. At least 20 Gargoyles were killed, and many surrounding houses were destroyed. Because of that, there was a lot of noise and confusion. Making use of the chaos, Link instructed, "Close your eyes!"

The little thing immediately shut her eyes. As she did, the sound of wind rushed past her ears, and a great feeling of inertia pushed against her body, pressing her into Link's chest. Her face especially was buried into his body, and her nose was being flattened against his chest.

Half a second later, the pressure disappeared, and she carefully opened her eyes a slit.

She saw the scenery flash by in a blur as they shot past at high speed.

She had once seen such a sight before; that was when she was on a small airship as it neared the ground. The ground had also passed her by in a blur.

However, that was an airship, a machine. Right now, that speed was being exhibited by a human—a human!

She was stunned. It was said that the Ferde Lord had spells that were undefeatable. Could this be one of those unknown spells?

All doubt about Link had long since vanished.

Along the entire way, she knew that Link had done all he could to look out for her safety. How could someone like this be a dog of the demons?

Meanwhile, Link had used the opportunity to run 1500 feet. Not far in front was Lariel City's outer district. It was now in ruins, and many places were emitting black smoke.

At the entrance of the district, a squad of demons was obstructing the way.

There were ten demons among them. One was a Level-8 Fodor Flaming Demon. Three were Level-6 sword demons, while the remaining six were Level-4 demons.

The demons adopted a defensive formation as they noticed Link.

From afar, Link also noticed them. He did not decrease his speed in the slightest but merely asked, "Where is the tunnel? I need to adjust my angle of approach!"

"Just go straight along this road, and at the third junction, go right 300 feet. There will be a small alley on your right-hand side, inside that alley is the entrance.

Even in this situation, the little thing's directions were very precise. It wasn't something anyone could do.

Not long ago, Link had met another Yabba called Melinda. After meeting him, she did not hold any sense of suspicion but immediately broke down and lost control of herself.

It wasn't that Melinda was wrong, but in terms of emotional control, the little thing tied to his chest was much stronger than Melinda. This was the difference between a normal human and an elite.

Link guessed that this little Yabba must have some kind of background.

At this moment, Link had already rushed in front of the Fodor Flaming Demon. He drew the Dragon King's Wrath sword, and with one hand protecting the little thing's head, he stabbed towards the Fodor Flaming Demon.

Link's speed was simply too fast. Besides the Level-8 demon, the rest of the demons could not even track him with their eyes. Hence, right now, he only needed to deal with the attacks from the flame demon.

The Fodor Flaming Demon's weapon of choice was a huge war hammer that was emitting flames. The handle was 6-feet-long, and the hammerhead itself was a large metal block that appeared to weigh 440 pounds.

This Fodor Flaming Demon itself was ten feet tall. As Link approached, he swung the hammer and smashed it towards Link. The demon didn't care about precision with this attack. After all, the hammer was so heavy that as long as it connected with its target, the target would immediately be smashed to bits anyway.

This attack was too brutal, and so Link didn't dare to take it head-on. The pure Dragon Power improved his vitality, but it did not give him extra defenses. Although his body was stronger than the average human, it was still far from being able to take a Level-8 expert's attack head-on.

In an instant, Link ducked. Whoosh. The huge hammer swiped across Link's head, missing it by just a few inches.

After Link had dodged this attack, he entered the flame demon's defensive range. The demon's speed was far from being able to keep up with Link, and it was impossible for him to defend against Link.

At this moment, the Fodor Flaming Demon was just like a sitting duck.

Link stood up straight and leveled the Dragon King's Wrath sword, striding forward. His sword slashed across the flame demon's thigh. Swoosh. The demon's leg was sliced off.

"Ahhh!" The demon cried in pain. As his leg was sliced off, he lost his balance and fell towards Link. Link drew his sword upwards in an arc and conveniently slashed off the Fodor Flaming Demon's head. Flaming hot demon blood spurted out, turning into bloody rain.

Within the bloody rain, Link continued moving forward. As he walked through, the bloody rain fell. It looked as though he walked out through the rain, but not even a single drop of the demon's blood landed on him.

Behind the Fodor Flaming Demon were three Blackshell Sword Demons.

These three Blackshell Sword Demons were six feet tall, and their bodies had natural armor. The swords in their hands looked threatening, and they appeared to be very vicious. However, ultimately, they were low-level demons whose strengths were only at Level-6.

Against Link, it was like three street bullies meeting a real martial artist. They looked like monkeys trying out new tricks.

Link used the footwork he learned from Kanorse. Stepping forward to the left, he stabbed once, then took another step and delivered a level strike. Finally, he stepped back to the left and struck once more. In this manner, he easily broke through the three sword demons' defenses.

After he had rushed 30 feet past the demons, blood finally spurted out from the demons. It was like they only realized they were killed when their heads finally hit the floor.

Link was already extremely well-versed with this technique. Even if Kanorse were here, he would not likely be able to give Link many pointers.

This technique did not escape the notice of the little Yabba girl. Link gave her a feeling that he, the lord of Ferde, was immeasurably strong.

Every demon here would be a threat to the Yabbas, even the smallest and weakest ones. The Yabbas required their weapons and could only attack in groups of three. Otherwise, they ran the risk of being completely obliterated.

As for the Blackshell Sword Demons and the Fodor Flame Demons, they would require the heavy-duty magic cannons to deal with them.

However, Link was killing them like he was killing chickens. The entire time, he had been holding onto her and protecting her head with one hand.

What kind of strength was this?

At this point, there were only six low-level demons blocking the way. How could they even dream of standing up to Link? They yelped and scampered to the side.

"Eyes close!" Link instructed. Half a second later, he dashed forward again.

He had now successfully reached the third junction and could see, once again, that many demons were charging towards them.

Among them were ghouls, Dark Elves, and even a few Dark Elf Magicians.

Having the support of Magicians greatly increased the threat of the incoming attack.

Link didn't dare to take any risks and immediately escaped forward. Based on the directions by the little thing, he dashed to the left and continued for another 300 feet. Then, as she had said, there was an alley to his right.

Link entered the alley and ran for 150 feet until he reached a dead end. Here, he noticed a pile of rocks on the ground. Hidden beneath the pile of rocks was a passage to a tunnel.

The little thing noticed the pile of rocks and exclaimed, "Oh no! The entrance has been discovered by demons!"

"Are there Yabbas in the passage?" Link asked, frowning. He could hear the thunder of footsteps. It meant that pursuing troops were approaching.

"Of course! And not just a few," the little thing said.

Lariel City had a complex network of sewage pipes. When the demons attacked, she saw many people evacuate under the city. If not for the fact that she lived in the outer districts of the city and didn't make it in time, she would have taken the chance to hide there as well.

"Understood," Link said. He looked back to see the demons entering the alley. Without any more hesitation, he jumped into the passage.

Because the entrance to the passage was wrecked, the fall down into the passage was very deep, about 30 feet. As he landed, Link rolled a few times to disperse the impact of the fall.

Almost at the same time, something flashed in his vision.

Mission complete: Break through.

New Mission: Assistance.

Description: Assist the Yabba people in resisting the enemy in the underground passages of Lariel City.

Mission Reward: Assassin's Helmet (Epic)