Advent of the Archmage

It was already five in the evening. Being winter, it was dark now.

But with this kind of lighting, the swaying air waves became even more obvious. The starry bits of light in the ripples danced like fireflies.

The situation was odd and Elin whispered, "Let's go around it."

Link nodded. He looked at the ball of ripples and walked for around 150 feet. But then something even stranger happened.

He discovered that even though he was going straight and towards the same direction, the path curved without him realizing. The ball of ripples appeared before him again.

As a spatial Magician, Link naturally knew what had happened.

"We can't avoid it. The space here has been completely distorted. We'll run into it no matter where we go."

Elin was a bit frightened. "What should we do?" she whispered.

"Let's go meet him." Link took a deep breath. Taking out his Dragon King's Fury sword, he walked over to the ripples.

Around 30 feet away from it, the air suddenly shook and a wispy voice said, "Mortal, go south. This is already a land of destruction."

As the voice spoke, there was an inexplicable pressure. Under this, even Link couldn't take another step, let alone Elin.

There was nothing before them but in their minds, there was an extremely steep mountain. They were faced with a bottomless abyss and neither could walk forward.

Link wasn't a brash person. Once he felt this pressure, he retreated.

The wispy voice rang out again. "Mortal, that is a wise choice."

Link didn't speak. He kept retreating until he was 200 feet away. Elin was a bit confused. "Are we really leaving?" she asked softly.

Instead of speaking, Link just shook his head lightly. Retreating more, he said softly, "I can't feel its presence anymore. Do you feel danger?"

Elin closed her eyes to sense and shook her head. "I can't feel it at all."

"Then we should be safe. Now, I'll teach you a spell. Do as I say, understood?" Link said.

"Yes." Elin nodded.

Link took out his notes and flipped to a page. Pointing at a Mana structure, he said, "This one. Construct this portion now."

This spell was Link's greatest accomplishment in spatial magic—the Spatial Sphere. The structure was extremely complex. If Link guided Elin as he'd done for Master Green, she would definitely fail.

Thus, Link divided the spell into portions for Elin to construct while he would control the precise vibrations of the Mana structures. The process was complicated but Link did all the cumbersome work so it didn't take much time.

After around 30 seconds, Link said, "Alright. Now don't think about anything but don't relax your control on the structures. Yes, like that. Relax, relax some more. Give some of the control to me… Yes…"

For a moment, Link felt that his thoughts were combined with Elin's. Not only was he controlling the vibrations of Elin's Mana, he also felt some of her emotions. There was fear, worry, and reliance. It was complicated.

While controlling the vibrations of the structures, Link also tried to smooth the unexpected feelings.

After a second, there was a soft hum; a Spatial Sphere appeared. Link moved his thoughts and Elin immediately felt it. She controlled the Spatial Sphere and threw it towards the air ripples.

Distortion. Increase spatial frequency! Link thought.

There was another soft sound. The Spatial Sphere exploded in the heart of the air ripples. The swaying ripples suddenly tightened like someone squeezing a ball of cotton.

It disappeared just like that.

Link let out a breath and sped forward. When he passed where the ripples had been, the huge mental pressure didn't appear.

For some reason, Elin's face was red. "Lord, was that spatial magic?" she asked curiously.

Her voice was still chirpy like a child's but it also felt soft and a bit coquettish. Link guessed that it was because of their psychological exchange earlier. He just pretended he didn't know and nodded.

"Yes, that was spatial magic. On the surface, it increases spatial frequency but it actually thickens the Space Barrier."

Elin immediately tossed the strange feeling behind as she grew curious. "So you mean that the air ripples earlier were actually caused by the Space Barrier thinning?"

Link nodded. "Yes. The Mana density there was too high. Mana has the effect of enlarging space. The denser it is, the more space swells. The entire space will thin as well, the force of laws weakening. Of course, the barrier is still there so the other can only sense unclearly. When we retreated enough, he couldn't see us anymore."

Hearing this, Elin understood already. She gripped Link's shirt in fear and asked, "Then is the existence in the Void a god?"

Facing a god was terrifying for mortals. Link guessed that it was the God of Destruction, but no one was sure about things in the Sea of Void. It was only a guess. All he could say now was, "Maybe but I'm not sure. But we're inside the realm. Even the strongest god can't come into the mortal world. Don't be scared."

There was something Link didn't say. If the realm was like a house protecting mortals, then the house of Firuman was now collapsing. However, this reality was too scary. Link didn't want Elin to be worried for nothing.

"Oh," Elin replied. She was still anxious and gripped Link's shirt without relaxing.

The sky grew darker as the two continued going after Akensser.

They passed through three streets and entered the main road of the inner city. Link saw Akensser's group from afar.

At this time, they were less than 1000 feet away from each other. Link could faintly sense the levels of the enemies. Surprisingly, the Agatha Nagas were all at Level-9. One was physically small but her aura was obscure and deep. When Link sensed her, his heart trembled.

He could feel that this Naga probably had Legendary power. Different from those soldiers in Aragu, she was a true Legendary fighter!

Of the 43 people, 42 were at Level-9 and one was in the Legendary level. This was truly a horrifying force. Even if there were more than 5000 musketeers inside the city, it was useless. They would be destroyed.

This must be the first batch of the God of Destruction's army. And they're elites, Link thought.

"I feel that the Nagas are an abyss of death," Elin whispered. "Each one is really, really scary. They'll destroy my people!"

Link nodded lightly while plotting in his mind.

He was alone. Elin could only help hide him; her combat power was basically zero. Faced with 43 powerful enemies, there was no way to win. In reality, if he couldn't use magic, he would feel accomplished to just kill ten with guerilla warfare.

But he didn't have to force himself to fight now.

The game system's mission was to capture a Naga and interrogate about their specific motive. By that time, he could complete the mission, receive the reward, rid himself of the Void's breath, and recover his magic ability.

That way, he would be able to fight with these Nagas.

Thinking of this, Link realized that the only thing he could do was create a commotion and find the chance to capture a Naga. With that in mind, he turned around. At the nearest corner, he took out one of Riel's bombs. He had nine left; it would suffice.

He adjusted the bomb to detonate after 15 seconds and tossed it overhand.

There were two benefits to this type of throw. One, it was slow and quiet, making it hidden. Two, it would fall from the sky while landing. They couldn't determine where exactly it came from.

Five, four, three, two, one, go!

Boom! The bomb exploded amongst the group of Nagas. A huge white fireball rose up.

"A sneak attack!" Akensser's sharp voice cried. He was a craftsman, but while Yabbas researched magic machinery, craftsmen were all Magicians as well. He knew basic defensive spells. The light of magic wrapped around his body now and he was unharmed.

"From where?"

"I don't know!"

"Master told me that the powerful human is coming. You, you, and you—you three go stop him! The rest hurry and follow me! We can't delay Master's orders." The voice came from the smallest Naga.

Two Nagas started going backwards while the others, including Akensser, sped towards the Light Wall.

The Light Wall was relatively independent. Even if the magic net collapsed, the wall would still stand. It was a Level-9 shield and was very sturdy. However, without the magic net's support, there was no energy supply. At this time, the wall's light was gradually dimming. It had lost the ability to attack objects that approached it as well.

A Light Wall like this couldn't stop the Nagas at all.

Link heard the Nagas clearly. He was certain that these Nagas were preparing to do something big.