Advent of the Archmage

Korora Mountain Range

Link stood to face the shadows. He didn't rush to attack but instead squinted his eyes, trying to use the Vision of Truth to identify any weak points. He found that the enemy had no special features, nothing that resembled a core. It just seemed like a long tentacle that couldn't look any plainer.

Inside it, Link could see dark purple energy coursing in a path very much similar to the shape of the tentacle. It was a simple straight line that had no nodes or connection points.

Having no core meant that this enemy possessed no vulnerable points. This was a fearsome enemy.

However, just because it didn't have a core didn't mean that it had no blind spots. There were certain movements that a tentacle could not make, and especially under stress, Link was sure that he would find a loophole to exploit.

With this in mind, Link came up with his strategy to deal with the Void Beast.

Link first began to retreat. Spatial Spells would be able to unleash their full strength at a greater distance.

On his own body, he cast a Lightweight spell and slowly tip-toed forward. He was just like a piece of leaf, floating in the air. Then, as he walked forward, the Dragon King's Fury sword and the Burning Wrath of Heavens wand appeared in his hands.

Controlling them with his mind, two crystal red lines shot out from the two weapons.

These were the Demon Slayer whips. As they extended out in mid-air, small points of lights began to form on the crests of the whips. No, not points of lights, these were more like miniature suns!

There were over 20 of these miniature suns that shone brilliantly in the dense forest, illuminating it and chasing away the gloom.

Far away, Gaimin couldn't see clearly what was happening. All he could see was a brilliant flash of light that blinded him and forced him to squint his eyes.

That wasn't enough, and soon, Gaimin took out a pair of dark protective goggles that Yabbas used when they were digging tunnels and put them on. Only then did he feel better.

Meanwhile, Link was giving his all in the battle, and the fight was becoming intense.

Screech! The Void Beast let out a screech as a jet-black tentacle shot straight towards Link.

The initial speed of the tentacle was so fast that Link could not even see it when it began to move. However, after reaching a distance of 60 feet, its speed dropped by ten percent. When it had reached 180 feet, its speed was not even half of its initial speed.

This was because of the spell formation restricting it.

Although its speed was still incredible and normal people would not even be able to react, Link could now trace it with his eyes. Controlling the whips with his mind, he attacked the tentacle.

There were actually over 15 tentacles that shot out towards Link. Initially, the creature had no weaknesses. However, as it went on the offensive, it began to reveal some weak points.

The tentacles were just like arrows, and the force of the attack was concentrated at the front. That meant that the greatest amount of energy was condensed at the tip of the tentacles. Obviously, Link could not afford to clash head to head with this condensed energy. However, because the energy was concentrated at the front, that meant that the creature's original body was not as well protected as it was before.

Furthermore, because the tentacles were shooting forward at such speed, it would be difficult for them to change directions rapidly. That was another huge weakness.

Link controlled the whips to wave about in the air, avoiding direct contact with the tentacles. Watching how they moved, they looked just like little fish.

These fish weren't harmless at all. They were extremely lethal, like man-eating piranhas.

Boom! One of the crests on the whip made contact with the side of a tentacle. This was meant to test out the strength of the attack. Link observed the results intently, focusing on the details of how the creature responded to the attack.

As the whip made contact with the tentacle, he could clearly see how the crest exploded, and all its energy shot out into the tentacle. As this happened, the energy in the crest was consumed, and it dimmed.

Concurrently, the red energy shot into the tentacle. In the beginning, the tentacle was completely unable to resist the attack, and the energy burst out unrestrained within its body. This completely disrupted whatever control the creature had over the tentacle as a big hole was blasted in the middle of the tentacle. The tentacle softened and lost its attacking ability.

Soon after that, Link discovered that a barrier formed over the exposed walls in the wound of the tentacle. Then, this barrier separated the energy surrounding the wound and began to rapidly absorb the energy.

As this happened, Link saw how the fire energy within the wound dimmed and was extinguished, while the tentacle which had initially lost its strength and gone limp began to straighten up again. The wound closed up, and it mended its injury.

My attack was too weak; I need to use more strength!

In the earlier attack, Link used 200 Dragon Power points which he concentrated into his single attack. Such an attack reached a strength of Level-10 and was enough to threaten the tentacle. However, because it wasn't strong enough, it was unable to completely destroy it.

Link decided to use more power in his next attack and increased his Mana output to 300 Dragon Power points per crest. This increased his attacking power by 50%.

Boom! This time, a black tentacle immediately broke off after it was attacked.

Excellent!

This attack was effective, and Link's killing intent was stoked. He immediately raised his pace of attack.

Boom, boom, boom! Multiple small explosions arose, sounding like beans frying in a pan. The sounds weren't actually very loud, but after each attack, the air shook from the shockwave released by the energy.

Everywhere the shockwave passed through, things were reduced to rubble. A stone was immediately crushed into powder while a tree trunk cracked. Behind the shockwave, there was a secondary wave that knocked the tree over and reduced it to bits.

The resulting sounds were very shrill. It wasn't that they didn't have enough power, but because of the high pitch of the sounds, normal people just couldn't hear it.

Nine hundred feet out, Gaimin felt his ears hurting. Without any hesitation, he cast a barrier to protect himself.

A watery barrier rose up around Gaimin, blocking out the sound. Nevertheless, as the shockwave battered against the barrier, it created other smaller shockwaves.

Is this the power of a Legendary expert? This strength is truly terrifying! Gaimin's heart was pounding so hard that he couldn't take it. He immediately pulled out his flask of alcohol and took a swig. As he felt the warm alcohol flow down his throat and into his stomach, spreading out throughout his body, he finally felt more at ease.

Numerous black tentacles were destroyed by Link's attacks. Even then, many more black tentacles shot out to take their place. Yet, none of them could reach within 150 feet of Link before being destroyed. It seemed like this would continue and eventually result in Link's victory.

However, things were not that simple!

Link noticed that the tentacles that he destroyed lay on the floor. Yet, after a while, they would begin to wriggle and make their way back to the main body of the creature like little worms.

Then, they would burrow into the tentacle and merge into it, looking as natural as bubbles merging into the water.

In three seconds, Link had destroyed 15 tentacles and did a decent amount of damage to the creature. However, at the same time, these tentacles absorbed his energy. This energy was unexpectedly used to regenerate its tentacles.

Ultimately, this meant that the creature had taken almost no damage while Link had expended over 4700 Dragon Power points, a large portion of his total capacity.

This can't be! I'll lose at this rate!

Link immediately canceled the use of his Demon Slayer Whip and activated a dimensional jump, reappearing 900 feet behind his current position. This was just outside the range of the tentacles.

The tentacles stopped their pursuit. After making some shrill noises, they retreated back towards the main body of the creature.

Immediately after that, the girl's voice again called out for help. "Help, save me! Quick, this is unbearable!"

Link shivered. He realized that the tentacle creature had felt his power and was now actively doing its best to get rid of the girl that was restraining it to get back its freedom. This way, it would be able to use its full power and deal with Link.

Damn! If only I had someone to help me get rid of the tentacles that drop off! Link sighed.

Dealing with all these tentacles was already taking up all his concentration. He felt like he was about to reach his limit, but he couldn't watch as the enemy regained its strength without doing anything.

Gaimin asked cautiously, "Master Link, what's wrong?"

Gaimin could also see that Link was expending a lot of effort but to no avail. Link was simply being taken advantage of by the creature.

"Let's go, we'll find someone who can help us," Link declared. He stood up and was of a mind to look for the Red Dragon Queen. She was a Legendary Warrior and was probably the only one who can completely destroy the tentacles.

The only problem was, would the little girl be able to last till then?

Suddenly, Link had a weird feeling in his heart and turned to look towards the western sky. As he saw a red figure in the sky, he smiled.

The Red Dragon Queen was already on her way. This was like rain in the middle of a summer drought. Of course, Felina must have had informed the queen.

However, the moment he relaxed, there came another shrill cry. "AHHHH, I can't do this anymore!"

The sound was extremely loud and shrill, like the last ditch effort before death.

Link immediately knew that the situation had turned bad. The girl must not be allowed to die, otherwise, there was no way for them to fight this creature.

He couldn't just sit around waiting for the Red Dragon Queen to arrive. He immediately rushed in due to the urgency of the situation and was about to attack using a Spatial Shackles spell when he remembered that the enemy was a Void Beast, one that could cross the void. Spatial spells would probably be ineffective against it.

He used the Demon Slayer whip once again to attack the creature.

Screech. After being attacked, tentacles once again shot out towards Link. However, Link could tell that this attack was not lethal and it was just meant to drag out time to enable it to finish off the girl. It seemed determined to break through the girl's barrier.

Hold it… Link suddenly had an idea. If the creature was able to come up with a strategy, it meant that it was able to think. For it to be able to think meant that it had to have something like a brain. Then… where was this brain located?