Advent of the Archmage

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

Woo, woo. The wind on the plains at night was like a ghost’s wail. The moonlight was ghastly pale in the sky, illuminating the world with cold light and turning it into a ghost region. All the animals were quiet because of the seemingly repressive atmosphere. There was no noise.

After Link uttered that phrase, Elovan’s heart skipped a beat. His eyes flew to Link, and then he lowered his head, gripping his World Tree magic wand. “Lord,” he mumbled, “how do you prepare to punish us?”

Milose hadn’t been tortured, so he was in a better state of mind than Elovan. It had been many hours since the horrible torture; he’d recovered greatly. Hearing Link’s words, he inhaled sharply. “Link, you’re the lord of Ferde. You can punish us if you think we’ve committed something bad, but you should still consider the interests of Ferde, right?”

Link nodded. “You’re right. I indeed must consider the interests of Ferde. That is why I can’t let you return to the Isle of Dawn.”

“You want to kill us?” Milose paled.

“That’s not the best plan.” Link shook his head. With that, he smiled at Elovan. “If I remember correctly, you’re from a commoner family in the Isle of Dawn. Your father is a minor official while your mother died while giving birth to you. That is why your father has hated you since your birth. He thinks you’re the physical incarnate of bad luck, is that right?”

Elovan nodded silently.

His background wasn’t difficult to investigate. Once he entered the Legendary level, it was like entering the spotlight. Anyone who wanted to know his past only had to spend some money. Link was the lord of a wealthy territory. It was extremely easy if he wanted to know these things.

Reminded by Link, Elovan couldn’t help but think of his past. When he was little, he would be beaten and punished by his father for no reason. At eight years old, he was forced out of his home. No matter how he cried and screamed, it was to no avail.

If the old Magician in the village didn’t adopt him, if he didn’t display high magic talent, he would definitely be part of the Isle of Dawn’s lowest class.

Seeing Elovan sink into deep thought, Link turned to Milose. “As for you, your bloodline isn’t that pure. You have a tinge of human of blood given by your great-grandmother. Because of that, you’ve always been marginalized. It doesn’t matter how excellent you are…In reality, this is the same for your father and grandfather, right?”

This hit Milose’s weak spot. He also lowered his head in silence.

Mutt!

Scum!

Get out of the Isle of Dawn!

These were the phrases he’d heard the most. Whenever he had a conflict with someone else, High Elves would insult him, either to his face or behind his back. Whenever he heard these words, it would feel like someone stabbing his chest with a knife. It felt horrible.

Then Link gazed at Princess Ariel’s spatial seal statue and smiled. “Look at this one, the noble elven princess. She isn’t as powerful as you two, she isn’t as skilled as you two, but just because of her status, she received the powerful World Impaler. Look at the magic bracelet on her wrist and the beautiful magic robe on her body. Tsk, so enviable.”

With that, Link suddenly turned to the wand in Milose’s hand. “Hmm, you actually treasure a wand made from a twig. The Mana inside that wand is as messy as a pile of trash.”

That really hit Milose hard. Even though they were all from the World Tree, the branches had different qualities too. His wand indeed had the lowest quality of the four Legendary Magicians. His hand retracted subconsciously, hiding the wand that Link had insulted.

Link chuckled. “You can hide the wand, but you can’t hide your robe. Your robe…tsk, it’s only for an elite Magician, right? I thought Legendary Magicians should wear the Wild Robe that Sonya and Elovan have. Why are you wearing a Natural Robe? Did no one tell you or did they not make it for you yet?

Milose’s face reddened. Link was right. Of the five new Legendary Magicians, only he was still wearing a Natural Robe. It was difficult to make a Wild Robe, so only one was made per month. He was last in line.

This wasn’t that bad, but after Link pointed it out, he felt humiliated.

“No, it’s just not my turn yet. It’s not—”

“Oh, it’s not your turn yet. So why are you last?”

“I…” Milose couldn’t reply. He knew the reason—it was because of his bloodline.

After that, Link turned to Elovan. Even though he had a pure bloodline, he didn’t have a powerful family. His treatment wasn’t any better.

“You’re wearing a Wild Robe, but it just feels weird for some reason. Oh, they really slacked off when making it. Look, you also have the Natural Guidance spell, but your guidance rate is only 70%. Ariel’s is 98%. Compared to hers, yours is just a rag.”

“Ariel is a princess,” Elovan refuted weakly.

“Oh, she’s a princess. A princess is so high-class!”

Here, Link suddenly undid the spatial seal on Princess Ariel. Time started acting on her body again. Link had stabbed her heart. A strong figure wouldn’t die from it, but it was still a heavy injury.

Once the seal was undone, Ariel collapsed onto the ground. Her body was limp and powerless.

Link cast a dragon recovery spell for her, managing to heal her wound and keep her alive. However, she still couldn’t move. Any movement would cause extreme pain.

She scanned Link, Elovan, and Milose. Link had a cold sneer, Elovan looked downtrodden and weak, and Milose’s face had a fury that even he didn’t realize he had.

Ariel was smart. She knew immediately that things would go bad now. These two High Elves would probably turn towards Ferde.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she felt her tongue go numb. Something restrained her. Other than “ah,” she couldn’t say anything else.

Link activated the Magician’s Hand, and Ariel’s World Impaler flew to him. Then he gave it to Milose. “Take it and stab Ariel’s chest in one move!”

Milose gaped. He reached out but didn’t dare accept the World Impaler. “No, I can’t. I can’t do that. I’ll die!”

If he did it, he would never be able to turn back and return to the Isle of Dawn.

Link scoffed. “Oh, so you can live if you don’t do it?”

Milose winced. He looked up at Link to see that his hand was already on his sword. He knew Link. He knew Link had top-tier swordsmanship and magic. With their close distance, Link could kill him and Elovan in an instant.

They wouldn’t even be able to fight back.

Should he die now?

Or kill Ariel, join Ferde, and fight for a chance to live?

It wasn’t even a choice.

Trembling, Milose took the World Impaler. Grasping it with both hands, he moved towards the struggling Ariel.

“Ah, ah, ah!”

Ariel screamed with her eyes wide open. Her movements were too big and opened her wound many times. Link was forced to heal her a bit so she wouldn’t die halfway through.

Finally, Milose got to Ariel and pressed the sword tip to her chest… Then he relaxed his hold. Due to gravity, the sharp sword pierced Ariel’s chest, nailing her to the ground.

Link recorded this entire process with a Memory Crystal.

After Milose was done, he said to Elovan, “You too. Stab her.”

Elovan had already given up. He was willing to do anything to live and was more resolute than Milose. He walked over, yanked out the World Impaler, aimed at Ariel’s heart, and stabbed down.

“Uh.” Ariel twitched violently. Grasping the sword hilt, she gaped at Elovan.

Now, she realized that her tongue wasn’t restrained anymore. She could speak. Voice rough, she said, “Why?”

It could be said that Milose had been forced, but Elovan had done it without hesitation. He’d decided on joining Ferde.

Elovan didn’t reply. He pulled out the World Impaler and turned to Milose. “Milose, I belong to Ferde now. What about you?”

The sword in Elovan’s hand dripped with blood as he spoke. It was as if he could kill Milose if needed too.

Milose had no way back. He stepped forward, grabbed the World Impaler, and raised it. He stabbed through Ariel’s forehead, nailing this talented High Elf princess to the ground.

Then he said, “Me too.”

He’d thought it through.

Technically, Milose was a half-elf. He knew that Ferde had a half-elf with a high position too. That guy was called Eliard.

Since Eliard could accomplish that, why couldn’t he? In Ferde, he had opportunities that he would never have in the Isle of Dawn!

Link chuckled. He waved, and the World Impaler jumped out of Ariel’s forehead. Her corpse ignited too. It burned to ashes in the fire and blew away with the wind.

Link could control Milose and Elovan, so he chose to take them in. Princess Ariel was a top talent. She hadn’t matured fully, but she would definitely become a terrifying Magician in the future.

Link wasn’t confident he could control someone like that, so he chose to destroy her.

He still had one more captive—the Naga, Katyusha.

He’d thought of a way to deal with her too. However, he didn’t have the needed method of control. For this, he had to return to Ferde and brainstorm with the core Magicians.

“Alright, my companions, let us return to Ferde. Once there, you must change your appearance and identity for safety.”

“Yes, Lord.”

Elovan and Milose saluted to Link.