Advent of the Archmage

Tap, tap, tap.

Link rode the Nightmare Beast with Celine along King's Lane, heading towards River Cove town.

King's Lane used to be filled with many people. Many of them were merchants from the South heading towards Hot Springs City. Some of them who were tired from their travels would stop by River Cove Town to take a break.

Now, however, the wide road was deserted, and there was not a single person in sight.

Link and Celine proceeded onwards. After a while, they came across several large trees. On both sides of the road, bodies hung from the tree branches swaying lightly in the wind. They looked like fruit.

This was the 13th tree they saw like this, with rotting corpses hanging from the branches. Crows with bloodshot eyes were perched on the trees, looking ravenously at the corpses. Wild dogs patrolled beneath the trees, also eyeing the corpses hungrily.

Caw, caw!

As the Nightmare Beast approached, the wild dogs retreated, barking fiercely as they did. The crows joined in the noise-making, flapping their wings and cawing loudly. It seemed like they were waiting for the dogs to rush up to attack the Nightmare Beast and the people on it, so that they would get new fresh meat.

The crows were smart.

Woof! Finally, one dog couldn't resist anymore and lunged forward.

Whoosh. Link used the Demon Slaying whip. There was a flash of red, and an instant later, the dogs, trees, and crows were engulfed in a burning flame.

As the tree burned, Link rode the Nightmare Beast off into the distance.

After another short distance, they heard horses ahead of them. Minutes later, they caught sight of a troop of black-clad riders. There were about 50 of these riders dressed in glossy, black armor. Their helmets were especially imposing, shaped like skulls.

Celine began to tremble. She whispered, "These are wild hunters; every single one of them is at least Level-5. The most dangerous thing about them is their ballistae. Each ballista has incredibly destructive power."

The leader of the black riders looked at Link and called out. "Hey, I heard that the Ferde Lord is personally coming. Is that you, young chap?"

Link eyed the person who had shouted out to him. He was at the peak of Level-6. Furthermore, Link detected a trace of dark energy within their bodies. After sensing it carefully, Link understood their origins. He asked, "Are you the followers of the Shadow Stalker?"

These riders were the equivalent of the Holy Knights in the Shadow Stalker's hall.

"Our master is indeed the Shadow Stalker! Ferde Lord, you shouldn't have come. Get ready!"

Clang. Instantly, the 50 riders raised the grey crossbows they were carrying.

"Do you have any last words?" The leader asked Link. He was in no hurry to attack.

Earlier, Flame Demon Alino had rushed back in a panic, shouting that the Ferde Lord had come and that everyone should flee. Hah! Wasn't it just two people? They had an army over 15,000 people strong. Would they be cowed by just two people? What a joke!

Seeing the 50 crossbows pointed at them, Celine asked Link anxiously, "What do we do now?"

Link patted Celine's trembling hand to console her, and said to the riders, "You guys talk too much."

The moment he was done speaking, there was a vibration in the air. Suddenly, the black riders were caught in a Spatial Sphere. It was Link's Spatial Shackles. This time, he didn't use many Dragon Power points, only about 200.

Against Level-6 opponents and below, 200 Dragon Power points were more than enough.

The result was that these riders couldn't move an inch. They looked exactly like statues. The only one who seemed to be able to resist it was the leader, the follower of the Shadow Stalker. Inside his body, the dark energy was vibrating, as though he was preparing to use some divine skill that the Shadow Stalker had imbued him with.

Divine power could indeed break through Link's Spatial Shackles. Unfortunately, this man was far too slow.

Even if you possessed an incredible weapon, if you moved as slowly as a snail, you would only be crushed to death in the end.

The crystal red-like silk appeared and struck towards the riders who were arranged neatly in rows.

Smack! Boom! The whip struck them, and the sound of many small explosions occurred together. These successive explosions lasted for about three minutes, sounding like beans popping in a pan. Soon after, the 50 riders were transformed into a bloody mist. Not even their corpses were left behind.

"Disperse," Link said, using his spatial energy to clear out a path. Two invisible forces seemed to appear out of nowhere, pushing the bloody mist apart and forming a clear path through it.

Link directed the Nightmare Beast to continue walking towards River Cove Town.

He did not mind taking his time, because he wanted the enemy to have enough time to gather their strength, so he could destroy them in one shot. He also wasn't afraid that the enemy would take the chance to escape either. Any commander would first test out the enemy's strength before choosing to turn tail and escape.

Behind him, Celine was speechless. Before Link left for the North, she knew that Link was powerful, but at that time, she could still gauge Link's power. Now, Link's strength seemed to possess an unfathomable depth that she could not figure out.

Soon, they could see the inn of River Cove Town in the distance.

Link felt a little nostalgic. Long ago, he had spent his days here writing his thesis on space and learning magic. Those days were so carefree and peaceful.

Screech! From high in the sky came the calls of Griffins as over a thousand Dark Griffin Knights flew towards Link, blotting out the sky in a sea of black.

In the town, countless soldiers streamed out, so many that they were literally uncountable.

Twang, twang, twang! The sound of bowstrings being released reverberated through the air as a horde of arrows rained down on Link.

Finally, one Warrior clad completely in a skeletal-like armor, and a dark aura rushed out of the sea of enemies. He shouted, "Kill him! He's only one person!"

Link did not guess wrong. The enemy did not choose to escape. Rather, they chose to gather their strength and fight. Since that was the case, Link was happy to let them all die here.

Celine warned Link, "That's the commander. Over there! The Magicians have started their spellcasting!"

Link nodded. He pointed his wand forward and said softly, "Spatial Spell: Gravity Depression!"

This spell immediately consumed 7000 Dragon Power points. That was 70% of Link's total Dragon Power points. A clear transparent ball flew out of the tip of his wand and landed on the ground in front of him.

Whoosh! Suddenly, there was a depression in the ground, forming a crater about 5000 square feet wide.

5000 square feet was Link's limit for spatial spells. Within this distance, gravity was increased by a hundredfold!

"Ahhh!"

Crack!

That was the sound of bones breaking. It first came from the Magicians. Most of them were physically very weak. Once gravity was increased by a hundredfold, their bodies became so heavy that they could not withstand the weight. Instantly, they collapsed and were crushed to death!

The next to fall were the Griffins. They were initially about 300 feet in the air. Falling from that height at a hundred times the normal gravity rate, the Warriors on their backs were immediately crushed into a meat paste.

The rest of the Warriors and demons were also not spared. Everyone that was Level-7 and below immediately collapsed to the ground, their bones cracked and their muscles torn. Their brains had by now dissolved into a gel-like fluid.

The trees and buildings around them, within an area of 5000 square feet, were also reduced to rubble.

This gravitational spell's effect lasted for five seconds.

Five seconds later, Link stopped the spell. The whole of River Cove Town was now quiet. Amidst all the blood and gore, a single Warrior clad in black was kneeling on the ground, supporting himself with his sword.

Unexpectedly, he was still alive, but his legs were already broken. They could not handle his increased weight.

He looked fearfully at Link, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

From far away, there were a few moans and groans. Link looked over and discovered the Fodor Flaming Demon. Since the demon was larger, he felt the effects of the gravitational spell even more. All his bones were broken by now, and he was sprawled on the floor, trying to edge away from Link.

"Trying to escape?" Link asked. He pointed his wand at the demon, and a Vector spell was cast. Under the influence of the Vector spell, the demon flew back towards Link.

Just before the demon reached Link, his body was caught in a Spatial Shackles spell, trapping the demon in a small space nine feet in front of the Nightmare Beast.

"Dear, please do the honors," Link said to Celine.

"Sure," Celine responded. She drew her large musket and aimed it in-between the Fodor Flaming Demon's brows. Slowly, she applied pressure onto the musket trigger. BOOM! A bullet shot out of the musket and pierced right through the demon's brain.

The flaming demon died just like that.

In the end, only the commander was left alive. Far away, there were still a few lucky survivors who did not get caught in the gravitational spell. That didn't matter. They had no strength left to fight anyway.

Link could feel that his attack earlier had killed about 13,000 people by crushing them to death.

The commander struggled to get up from the ground, but just as he moved, Link fired a Spatial Shackles spell towards the commander, locking the commander to the ground.

Tap, tap, tap. The Nightmare Beast trotted forward.

Link said to the commander, "After you die, pass this message to Morpheus: He is destined to fail." The Nightmare Beast reached the commander just as Link had finished speaking. It continued trotting forward, trampling directly onto the commander's head. The commander died instantly.

Shadow Stalker Morpheus was a Level-19 Legendary expert and was trying to become a god. This was the truth. However, his physical body had already deteriorated and died. If Morpheus failed to become a god, he would instead die forever. This was an ironclad law, not just in Firuman, but in other places throughout the Void as well.

Therefore, although Morpheus was very strong, there was still a limit to his strength. Most importantly, Morpheus wasn't able to move around himself and could only rely on souls to communicate with his followers.

Therefore, Link was not afraid of him.

Link continued walking slowly towards River Cove Town.

After another few hundred feet, he found other black-clad Warriors that had luckily survived. There weren't many of them, just barely over 30. They weren't strong either, the highest of them only having Level-3 strength. The moment they saw Link, they started retreating in a panic. Even as they retreated, some of they fell over and started crawling backwards on all fours. This was the extent of their fear.

Link looked at them with scorn but chose not to do anything. He said, "Get lost. Go back to Delonga and tell the Delongan King that he will die soon."

The Warriors didn't dare to believe Link when he said that he would spare them. However, after realizing that he had not made any move to attack, they slowly climbed to their feet. Seeing that they were safe, they immediately took off running.

River Cove Town descended into a deathly silence.

After a long pause, Celine asked, "Is this the strength of the Legendary?"

Link urged the Nightmare Beast forward as he replied Celine. "This was a spell I discovered recently. I'm willing to bet that by the time the news reaches the Delongan King, he will immediately choose to kill himself."

This was the reason why Link had let the soldiers leave. He wanted them to spread fear among the South. It was not enough to let one or two go, but with thirty people spreading the word of how Link had obliterated the army with a single blow, his reputation would grow, and people would think twice before messing with him.

On the way back, Link quickened his pace. Half an hour later, they were back at the fortress. Looking at the sky, it was just beginning to turn dark. It was about 5 pm in the evening.

Link merrily said, "My dear, we'll have some good dreams tonight."

…

In River Cove Town

Not long after Link took his leave, a hand reached out from amidst the rubble that used to be the River Cove Town inn. It grasped around, clearing rocks and rubble, trying to claw its way out. Finally, a black robed person crawled out from the rubble.

"Whew…" He sat on the ground, completely drained of energy, and looked at the blue sky above the Girvent Forest. After catching his breath, he got back up and knelt down on the ground, clasping both hands against his chest. In a quiet voice, he prayed, "Oh Master of the Shadows, my Lord, the Ferde Lord has Legendary-level strength now. He has destroyed our plans!"

After a moment, he heard a reply in his head. "Go back to the South and bring everything back with you. Wait patiently. There are many horrifying things happening in the world now. Let us use this chance to have them help us deal with the Ferde Lord."

"Yes, Master."

The black robed man thus responded, and he began to limp his way back towards the South.