Advent of the Archmage

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Golden Plains, night

Ariel studied the merchant caravan in the distance. Getting an idea, she gestured at the others. Look at the caravan. The air seems off.

Elovan and the others looked over. They really did see that, under the silver moonlight, there were some strange ripples in the air around the caravan. These ripples were very fine. Because the caravan was close to the magic seal, one would think that that was the reason if they didn’t look carefully. However, they realized something was wrong after Ariel’s reminder.

Of these six Legendary figures, the three High Elves led by Ariel were Magicians while Katyusha’s group were Warriors.

The three Warriors saw that something was wrong but couldn’t figure out where the opponent was from this. Thus, they turned to the High Elf Magicians, waiting for their conclusion.

Ariel said to Elovan and Milose, “You two protect me. The opponent has very strange power. It’s hidden. I must put all my effort into tracking him.”

She didn’t trust the three from the Army of Destruction. She only trusted her own race.

Elovan and Milose stood to either side of Ariel. Their Natural Power surged into their wands made from the World Tree into the preparatory state.

Seeing that they were ready, Ariel gestured at Katyusha. If I successfully track the opponent’s position, I’ll point him out. Be ready to attack!

Katyusha didn’t like these three young High Elves, but they were cooperating, after all. They’d also treated her group’s wounds and hadn’t done anything tricky. She would manage to trust them this time. She nodded, showing her agreement.

After preparing, Ariel composed herself. She took out the World Impaler and added Natural Power into the magic sword. After half a second, the sword tip glowed and buried into the air.

An instant later, the World Impaler peaked out of the ground near the caravan. After that, a strand of faint Natural Power poured out of the sword. Disappearing into the ground, it entered the grass surrounding the caravan.

The biggest advantage of Natural Power was that it could fuse perfectly with the plants in Firuman. It had a perfect cover in places with dense vegetation. This was something that no other race’s power could rival.

After the strand of Natural Power entered the grass, it started sliding. There were very slight ripples during this, but they were absorbed by the grass. No one noticed.

A short while later, the Natural Power reached where Link and Avatar were hiding.

While Link was focused on setting defensive runes for the caravan, Avatar gripped his obsidian sword. He kept his eyes wide, staring at the place Link had pointed out in high alert.

The enemy hadn’t reacted yet, so he didn’t do anything. However, he couldn’t feel the Natural Power sneaking up at him at all.

Just as the Natural Power was three feet away from him and about to touch his body, Link reached out and pushed Avatar slightly to the side.

A snake-like tentacle of Natural Power slid past centimeters away from Avatar without touching anything.

Avatar was shocked. Natural Power was very subtle, but he was surprised that it was to this extent. He could obviously feel the change in power around him. As soon as Link touched him, he reacted immediately. Without any hesitation, he stepped aside, following Link’s push.

His martial arts skills were practically flawless, and he had perfect control of his body. Even though he was huge, his movements were as light as a feather. He didn’t disrupt anything when he dodged.

He was like a large buffalo that had the agility of a cat. One couldn’t help but be amazed at the sight.

Less than half a second after the first tentacle of Natural Power came, another came. Link was still setting up the runes, but he tapped lightly, and Avatar sensed it. He moved lightly, following Link’s direction. He moved at a speed and distance that was just right to avoid the tentacle.

After that, a dozen tentacles passed by him. Link moved Avatar around as if he were a puppet on strings.

To avoid the intrusive tentacles, Avatar had to make a lot of weird movements too. For example, he had to leap in the air and then spin three times. After landing, he had to go on his tiptoes, arch his back, move his hips with a hand on his pelvis, and much more.

Avatar was annoyed, but he had to follow Link’s orders. It was like performing a weird dance under the moonlight.

He had to make sure Link would keep this a secret. If people found out that the Beastman king did all these weird things, they would dislocate their jaws laughing.

On the other hand, Ariel was deep in thought as she focused on searching. She could feel that the opponent was somewhere nearby, so she repeatedly checked that place. But strangely enough, she just couldn’t find any trace of him time and time again.

After a full ten minutes, she was still fruitless.

At this time, she was forced to retract her Natural Power. Otherwise, she would use up too much power and affect her fighting later.

Retracting the World Impaler, Elovan asked with a gesture, How is it?

Ariel shook her head. I can’t find him, but I can feel he’s less than 2000 feet away!

Beside her, Katyusha pursed her lips with some disdain. She wouldn’t say anything though. Gesturing, she asked, What do we do now?

The opponent was putting runes in the air around the merchant caravan. Clearly, they were getting ready to fight. Since Ariel couldn’t find where the opponent was, there was no reason for them to stay here now.

Ariel was silent for two seconds. As soon as she was about to speak, the situation changed.

There was a soft sound in the air around the merchant caravan. Then the strangeness in the air disappeared. Other than the whistling wind and the merchants’ prayers, the plains grew abnormally quiet.

He finished the magic seal.

He’s going to attack!

But does he know where we are?

The six gestured speedily, trying to find a solution.

The seconds ticked by, but they couldn’t reach an agreement. Ariel finally couldn’t take it anymore and said out loud, “Stop arguing. This Magician is powerful. He knows where we are! Get ready!”

Everyone flinched and then got into defense mode, waiting for the hidden enemy to attack.

But what happened after that was unexpected.

Near the caravan, a pillar of silver light, like moonlight, appeared. It was more than 15 feet in width, and so tall one couldn’t see the tip. More terrifying was that it didn’t rush up from the ground—it descended from the sky.

It was as if a hole opened up in the boundless void and watery light flowed out to somewhere on the plains.

Seeing this, the merchants were shocked. A moment later, they fell into ecstasy.

Shallie excitedly cried, “There really is a god of moonlight. He responded!”

“We’ll be saved!”

Mercenary leader Miro sighed deeply. He’d been on one knee earlier, but now, he knelt fully. Placing his hands on the ground, he murmured inwardly, God, you saved me once again. From now on, I will be your most loyal slave. I am your sword, and your will is my glory!

On the other hand, Ariel’s group all gulped, shivering.

This power was too pure and subtle. Other than the silver glow, no aura seeped from the pillar of light. Right now, the six felt that this beam was so obvious, but it seemed to exist in another realm. They could only see it without sensing it.

“F*ck. Is this really god’s punishment?” The fallen angel gaped at the brilliant silver moonlight. He could feel his hands shaking. His newly-recovered wound was hurting again.

Ariel didn’t know either. She just swallowed subconsciously. It was as if she’d angered some horrible existence today. Before she could speak, she heard Katyusha say, “What if we retreat?”

She could tell from the sight that they weren’t a match.

As a servant of the God of Destruction, Katyusha had some knowledge about divine punishment. The God of Destruction had used the same method to pour power into a sacrifice or a messenger’s body.

In that case, there was probably a god’s messenger nearby. This nameless god had poured his power into him.

From the look of things, there would probably be a terrifying god’s messenger coming after them in a while. If they didn’t escape now, they would have no chance later.

“But we’re six people. There’s probably just one god’s messenger. Maybe we have a chance?” Storm Warlord Parmese wasn’t satisfied.

But just then, Ariel felt something was wrong. The scene looked scary, but it just didn’t feel right.

Like…a god’s punishment shouldn’t be like this.

She didn’t feel the danger of being in a hopeless situation. As a Magician, gut instinct was important, but she didn’t feel the relative danger… What did this mean?

A thought popped up in her mind. What if this is a farce to divert our attention?