Chapter 546: It Was Just Impossible

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

The World Impaler was the highest pinnacle of High Elf magical worksmanship. It was made from the oldest branches of the World Tree.

This sword had two particularities that defied conventional understanding. Firstly, it could pierce through anything that existed in Firuman. Be it ethereal or physical, it could pierce through anything. Even space was not immune to it. It would be able to kill anyone you wanted dead if supplied with enough Legendary-level power.

There had been historical accounts of High Elves wielding the World Impaler with all their power to strike down their enemies 50 miles away.

Secondly, the sword was incredibly fast.

Due to its unimaginable speed, it was usually used in ambushes. A competent enough wielder of the sword would be able to strike their victim’s vital points, ending them on the spot before they even realized what had happened.

A High Elf poet once wrote a poem in praise of the sword: “Swifter than time, it was the God of Light’s divine retribution, the herald of the end of days!”

In fact, this sword was also known as one of the strategic-level weapons forged by the High Elves, a national treasure of the Isle of Dawn. It rarely saw any use, and still, Link never imagined that he would see it so soon in Ariel’s hands.

The sword’s target was Celine. If Link was not standing beside her, Celine would surely have been dead!

Link realized what his opponent was aiming for. If something happened to Celine, Link would lose his composure. Taking advantage of this, the Ethereal Prince Haromed would be able to turn the tables on them. At that point, Link’s squad would be decimated.

He was now seething with anger, but still his mind did not stray. On the contrary, an extreme calmness had cleared his mind. His mind was now working at twice its usual speed. He had now entered his Ultimate State.

Before his eyes, the world around him had slowed down so much that everything seemed to have come to a complete halt.

Under these circumstances, Link’s Dragon Power flared up. In a thousandth of a second, he had spent 1000 Dragon Power points. A portion of this Dragon Power was used to maintain Link’s current accelerated speed of thought, while another portion was used to repair the damage that was spreading across his body while he was in his Ultimate State.

The only thing that was still moving in this standstill was the World Impaler, ripping through the air like a sewing needle.

In an instant, the sword inched closer towards Celine’s back. It was simply too fast. Celine had realized that something was wrong. Her body moved, instinctively trying to dodge the fatal blow coming from behind, but Celine’s speed was nothing in comparison to the World Impaler’s.

She then saw Link and stopped, ignoring the threat behind her. She turned and fired a shot from her magic rifle at Haromed the Ethereal Prince.

Bang! A streak of red light extended out from the rifle’s barrel towards the Ethereal Prince’s head.

At the same time, Link drew out his Dragon King’s Fury sword. The sound of wind and lightning erupted from it. With Dragon Power blazing fierily from its blade, Link swung the sword in an arc at the World Impaler.

The World Impaler’s wielder seemed to be unaware of the sword’s current state, as it pressed on forward without dodging or parrying Link’s attack.

An instant later, there was deafening clang. Link’s sword collided against the World Impaler, sending out an explosion of energy.

While the Dragon King’s Fury sword did not stand on equal ground with the World Impaler in terms of quality, it did not collide head-on with the World Impaler and was able to come out relatively unharmed. On the other hand, the World Impaler’s wielder was not as powerful as Link. Under such circumstances, the result was a stalemate.

When the two swords rebounded from each other, the bullet from Celine’s magic rifle had flown nine feet through the air. It was still another nine feet away from the Ethereal Prince.

Link managed to match the World Impaler’s incredible speed at that moment.

When the explosion of energy occurred, Link had a hand pressed gently against Celine’s back. A spatial barrier appeared behind Celine, shielding her from the shockwave.

Its attack impeded by Link, the World Impaler retreated immediately from him, as if trying to regain its momentum and strike a second time when it was ready.

I’m not letting you go! Focusing his will on the Dragon King’s Fury sword, Link sent it flying out. Stacks of runes appeared on the blade, and the Dragon King’s Fury sword pursued the World Impaler.

Link activated four Despair Balls which appeared in the air 50 feet from each other. After zipping in and out of the magic spheres, the Dragon King’s Fury sword finally appeared about 100 feet away from Link.

At that moment, Link sensed that the World Impaler had stopped moving. He took it to mean that it had returned to its owner.

He quickly estimated his opponent’s position and sent his sword hurtling towards where she would most likely appear in the next second.

An instant later, Link felt that the sword had pierced something. Judging from its impact, it was probably flesh that the sword had struck. But the sensation only lasted for a moment. Link felt the sword budge slightly, and the resistance to the sword’s tip was gone.

Link summoned his sword back. He saw fresh blood stains on the sword’s tip. With another nudge of his will, he activated a simple Magician’s Hand. The blood stain floated up from the blade and was then stored away by Link in his spatial pendant.

In the field of Secret Magic, blood was purported to be the soul’s vessel. Through even a drop of blood, Secret Magicians could easily track down its owner.

Link was not too familiar with this branch of magic. However, Eleanor, Evelina, Vance, Elin, and the others had accomplished much in this field. Tracking their enemy with a drop of blood should not be a problem to them.

When Link was done, he immediately came out of his Ultimate State. Though he had only been in it for five-thousandths of a second, he had already spent 5000 Dragon Power points. An indescribable pain now gripped his head. He was also rendered incapable of casting any spells for a short period of time.

The world around him now returned to its normal speed.

A short while later, Celine’s bullet had reached the side Haromed’s head.

Haromed had just come out from the spatial door. Before he could even react, Haromed was already surrounded by his aggressors in an instant. He panicked and instinctively activated his trump card: Polyclone.

Polyclone.

Level-12 Ethereal Spell

Description: With its affinity for spatial magic, an Ethereal is able to easily feel its way through spatial nodes. Through these nodes, Ethereals can bypass the limitations of most spatial spells.

(Note: The secret art of using these spatial nodes is difficult to master. Not even the Ethereal Prince has a complete mastery of it.)

There was a sudden flash from the bracelet on the Ethereal Prince’s wrist. In a flash, his body was split into three. The three clones were ten feet apart and were identical to one another. What boggled everyone’s mind at that moment was the fact that Celine’s bullet passed harmlessly through one of the Ethereal Prince’s foreheads.

Seeing this, Eliard activated his own trump card without a second thought. The runestone in his hand shone brightly as he began infusing his power into it.

A brilliant red streak of light flashed out towards one of the Ethereal Prince’s clones.

Before letting out his attack, Eliard adjusted the streak of light’s trajectory beforehand so that it would hit the other two clones.

A Level-13 attack was a force to be reckoned with. Ripples spread out from where the beam of light had passed through. The ripples were caused by the surrounding air that had been heated up, though some of them were also due to the slight spatial turbulences in the attack’s trajectory.

Once a Spatial Magician’s power reached a certain stage, any of his or her attacks could visibly affect the integrity of the surrounding spatial fabric itself.

When this beam of light sprang forth, Eliard had already thought of a follow-up attack. If my attack passes through the first two clones, that means the last one should be the Ethereal’s real body. Celine will just need to open fire another time at it, and the Ethereal Prince will be as good as dead.

The beam of light had served its purpose. It passed straight through the first two clones, which shimmered for a moment and then disappeared. Only one Ethereal clone remained in the room.

Celine did not disappoint Eliard. She saw the last Ethereal clone and fired a shot at it.

Ever since she had received her magic rifle, Celine had been training hard every day, especially during her time in the Girvent war. She had spent thousands of bullets during her training. As of now, Celine’s focus and precision were second to none.

She remained unfazed by her first shot that hit nothing. When Eliard’s attack isolated the last Ethereal clone, she had a sudden premonition. Acting immediately on it, she pulled the trigger.

When the beam of light headed straight for him, Haromed began to panic. At the sight of Celine’s barrel aimed squarely at his real body, he instinctively activated his Polyclone technique another time.

In that instant, his body split again into three more clones.

He had thought of making a run for the cellar’s exit, but the spatial imprisonment around him was way too secure. He was still able to use his Polyclone technique, but his power was sealed up effectively by the spatial imprisonment.

Under his current circumstances, the Ethereal Prince could not find any spatial node around him that would be able to facilitate his escape. He could only conjure up more clones of himself to evade his aggressors’ attacks.

Just then, instead of escaping, Haromed decided to retaliate.

But then, tragedy struck!

Just when one of his clones appeared, and his real body was trying to squeeze itself through a spatial node, he suddenly had a sense of extreme danger. What’s going on? What’s going on!

His body shook all of a sudden when he reappeared in another corner. He lowered his eyes and saw that there was a huge bloody hole in his chest. He turned around and saw that the barrel of Celine’s magic rifle was still glowing.

“I’ve been hit? How did she know where my real body was? How is this possible?”

In a second, he had produced 1000 clones of himself, each as real as the other. He did not understand how the woman was able to see through his cloning trick, which was, as far as he knew, faultless.

It was just impossible.

Chapter 547: Battle Invitation at the Cliff Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Basement

There was a basin-sized hole in the Ethereal prince’s chest. His body was almost split into two. With this kind of injury, he still wasn’t dead and was even still conscious.

This was because the body didn’t belong to him. He was just possessing it. As long as the head wasn’t damaged, he could still escape.

Different from regular Ethereals, Prince Harmod’s soul was abnormally strong. Seeing that he was in a hopeless state, his eyes shone with silver light, and he roared. “Ah!”

Ping! With a crisp sound, his bracelet shattered into a burst of light. The white light flowed into Haromed’s head. After that, the air around him blurred. A beam buried into it and his eyes dimmed. His body collapsed onto the ground with a thud, losing all presence of strength.

This time, Haromed had risked everything to escape. The entire process happened in the blink of the eye. The four couldn’t even process it.

Link could have stopped Haromed, but he’d just retreated from the state of extreme spellcasting. His mind hadn’t recovered fully and was still delayed. By the time he recovered, Haromed had already disappeared.

Link shook his still-hurting pain and jumped into the magic seal. He cast a spatial detection spell.

White light appeared and spun around in the air. After around three seconds, fine ripples emerged in the light. They formed a tunnel the size of an arm and forcefully broke through Evelina’s spatial imprisonment, extending outward.

No, Haromed shouldn’t be able to break free. However, the World Impaler had put an opening to the spatial imprisonment. Haromed used it to flee.

Other than the spatial tunnel, Link also clearly smelled a faint aura in the air. It was like incense from earth. It was very faint, but after smelling it, he felt a bit dizzy. His emotions became affected too.

Link was very familiar with this smell. It appeared when a soul shattered. In other words, this was a soul’s “blood.”

“Haromed broke free from the restraints, but he’s hurt,” Link said immediately. “He can’t be far. Let’s go.”

Using the traces shown by the spatial detection, Link rushed out of the yard. The other three ran out of their hiding places, following Link closely.

Link raised a hand while on the road. The light of a detection spell wrapped around his finger. He tested for abnormal waves on the path and pursued Haromed.

Soon, the four left Glen Heights and entered the dense jungle to the west.

Many of the trees here towered in the air. Their rich treetops practically blocked all source of light. Even though it was daytime, the jungle was dark. Plants that liked the shade, such as bushes and vines, took up almost all the space under the trees.

After entering here, they slowed down drastically, especially Link. His body had mostly recovered, thanks to the Dragon Power, but he was still very careful.

“Stay close and don’t get separated,” he murmured. “I can feel that Ariel hasn’t left. She’s still looking for a chance.”

He still felt uneasy, like someone had their eyes on him. Not many in Firuman could give Link such pressure. At the moment, Ariel was the only one.

Just like them, Ariel hadn’t given up yet. She was still trying.

This High Elf genius was truly hard to get rid of.

Evelina was a bit nervous. “Link, you have to be careful,” she warned quietly. “She has never failed in her entire life, and she even brought a World Impaler this time. She’s too scary.”

Celine wasn’t happy at this. Eyeing Evelina, she said, “I think you’re just scared. She fought with Link and got hurt.”

Eveline shook her head. “That was a tie, at most. Link isn’t well off now either.”

She had seen more clearly than Celine and wasn’t that familiar with Link. She didn’t have the absolute trust that Celine had.

Eliard was worried too. He turned to Link and arched an eyebrow while gesturing with his hands. How confident are you?

Link replied, gesturing, At most, we fail at catching Haromed.

This comforted Eliard. Chuckling, he asked, “What is there to be scared of? If that Ariel really is so powerful, why doesn’t she just come out and fight? I think she’s scared of us, heh.”

Link thought a bit and said, “Let’s go. In a battle, the end is decided in an instant. Stop thinking nonsense.”

So the group stopped talking and continued following Link into the forest. They walked like this for more than one hour. They traveled around five miles and reached deep into the forest.

Here, Link’s eyebrow twitched. “The spatial mark is gone.”

With that, he squatted to check carefully. The ground was covered in rotting branches and leaves. Occasionally, some insects would crawl over. It all looked normal.

After a few minutes, Link found a fist-sized claw mark on the roots of a tree.

Evelina walked over to look. “This is the paw print of a Blue Mongoose, but it looks weird. The Blue Mongoose is supposed to be very agile. Judging from the footprint, it’s matured, so why did it leave such an unsteady paw print?”

“Maybe because it isn’t familiar with the body,” Eliard said.

Link nodded and said, “The Ethereal must have possessed this Blue Mongoose. It’ll be easier to find.”

At the side, Evelina cast a beast tracking spell. A red-green spotlight rushed out of her wand. It circled the paw print and then flew away. The group followed it.

After a dozen miles, the tracking light suddenly stopped in place. It circled the spot and then disappeared.

Evelina was shocked. “His aura disappeared completely.”

The injured soul of an Ethereal used his own power to forcefully possess a mongoose in the dense forest. All signs on the road pointed to the fact that he couldn’t control the mongoose perfectly, leaving behind many traces to follow. But now, it seemed to have evaporated.

There was only one conclusion.

“Someone powerful intercepted,” Eliard said. “Maybe it’s Ariel?”

Celine was already holding her guns. “For some reason, I feel like it’ll become very dangerous if we keep pursuing… Link, what do we do?”

Link didn’t reply. He circled the place where the mongoose had disappeared, searching closely while casting different detection spells. Three minutes later, he found a tiny mark in the vines that extended from a tree.

Someone had made it with one’s hand. Judging from the size, it was a woman. Link looked at Evelina. “How is Ariel at martial combat?”

In the game, Ariel didn’t display any of those skills, so Link overlooked it. But after fighting her across space, he realized that she wasn’t so simple.

Evelina shook her head. “I’m not sure, but one year ago, I think she purposely went to learn from a wandering vigilante called Green Leaf Swordsman. He’s apparently amazing at swordsmanship. Later, I saw her practice a few times. She seems good.”

Eliard found this strange. “A Magician practicing swordsmanship? That’s weird. I heard that Elven Natural magic isn’t suitable for martial arts.”

Here, Eliard got an idea. His Sunlight Power was very suitable for martial arts. In combat, it was sometimes more useful than spells. It seemed that he should find some time to learn swordsmanship.

Evelina nodded. “Indeed, which is why I’m confused why she did that. However, Natural magic has a great advantage in controlling plants. There aren’t many clues here. It’s highly possible that Ariel did this.”

Link didn’t think so. If a Magician really wanted to learn martial arts, there were so many tricks they could use. To a Magician, there were only things that they couldn’t imagine. Nothing was impossible.

He already saw Ariel as a martial arts expert now and would treat her accordingly.

Thinking of this, he said, “Let’s go. She still left some signs. She used this vine to swing over and dropped onto a branch 60 feet away… Look, there’s her footprint. Then she used another vine to leave. That’s why there aren’t any marks on the ground. As for the mongoose, she must’ve taken it.”

The four of them were the top representatives of Ferde. It would be embarrassing if their plan was ruined by one person. Ariel didn’t know how to give up, but Link was like this too.

Only those with this personality could keep moving forward on the tumultuous path of power and make shocking achievements.

Celine and Eliard didn’t have any objections. Evelina couldn’t do anything either. She didn’t dare leave the forest alone, so she had to go with the flow.

The four continued pursuing. After around half an hour, a cliff appeared before them with plumes of white smoke under it. It was a few hundred feet high.

An ordinary female High Elf stood at the edge quietly. Her features didn’t stand out, but her aura was indescribable, especially her dark purple eyes. When she looked at them, everyone—including Link—felt ineffable pressure.

Right now, she had a Blue Mongoose the size of a cat in her arms.

She saw Link from afar and turned around, smiling thinly. “I knew you’d come. This cat is nice, but his life is in my hands. I can destroy him at any time.”

Link raised a hand, stopping the group. He stopped at a distance too. “What are your terms?”

“You and I have a battle at this cliff. No one else can help. The winner can take this cat. As for the loser, whether they can live is up to their skills. What do you think?” Ariel’s words were shocking.

Chapter 548: Only One Rule in This World

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

Ariel was the first to be on top of the cliff. It was her domain. Even if she had not set any traps beforehand around the place, she knew the cliff’s geography like the back of her hand.

And now, she threatened the Ethereal Prince’s life. Link naturally had his reservations about a duel with her, and defeat was almost inevitable to those who hesitated even for a second in a fight.

Ariel clearly had the upper hand.

Eliard muttered, “Link, she’s definitely up to something. You can’t agree to this!”

Celine added, “This seems dangerous.”

Evelina stepped forward and said to Ariel, “Winnie, does it really have to come to this? We only want the Ethereal Prince himself.”

Ariel laughed mirthlessly and shook her head. “Evie, you just don’t get it.”

She did not say anything about Evelina being a traitor to her own race. She then turned to Link. “The way I see it, most of the Magicians nowadays do not really understand the true essence of magic. These people are just puppets whose strings are still being pulled by the phantoms of history. They continue to walk on the path that their predecessors had set for them, and never do they once dare stray from it. These people are not fit to be called Magicians.”

Link stood motionless. He did not speak a word. As Ariel spoke to him, he was quietly observing the state of the cliff. He could not find any traps laid out for him. Ariel must have simply wanted a one-on-one duel with him.

Ariel did not mind him scoping the cliff out. She continued, “Those who truly deserve to be called Magicians are few and far between, and incidentally, you are someone whom I had acknowledged as a true Magician. I’ve always wanted to test my skills against yours, but there had never been an opportunity to do so. At least, not until this very moment!”

While saying this, Ariel threw the Blue Mongoose into the air. Like a flash of lightning, the World Impaler in her hand pierced through the mongoose’s head.

The mongoose screeched in pain. Thick green smoke issued out of its nose and mouth. Haromed, the Ethereal Prince, was dead.

Ariel had just casually threw away her trump card, and Link and his party had come all this way for nothing.

“Have you gone mad?” asked Evelina, shocked.

Eliard was shocked as well. However, he somewhat understood what drove Ariel. Link was similar to her in some respects, especially his disregard for everything else in his single-minded pursuit of magical wisdom.

Celine did not say a word. She continued to look at Link, waiting for him to decide.

Link had been holding the Dragon King’s Fury sword in his hand. His eyes fell on the mongoose’s carcass, a look of disappointment on his face. He had intended to use the Level-12 Ethereal Crystal made from the Ethereal Prince’s essence to construct a high-level defensive spell for Ferde, but now, everything had gone up in smoke.

Link then looked up at Ariel. Her face was calm, but her purple eyes burned with a fiery desire to duel with Link.

Link recalled what Ariel was like in the previous game world.

The High Elf princess had a pure passion for combat. She was always first to confront the biggest and meanest demons in the forefront. She had massacred more than 20 chief-level demons, including a Level-18 Fallen Angel.

In the final battle against Lord of the Deep, Nozama, the one who had injured Nozama so severely that he was forced to pull back the Magicians of the demon fortress was also none other than Ariel herself.

Throughout the allied forces, the only one who could match her combat power was Eliard in the late-game stages.

But right now, Eliard only had Level-9 Sunlight Power, while his opponent had already reached the Legendary realm before him. Obviously, Eliard was nowhere near Ariel’s level.

It would have been better to have a combat genius like Ariel as an ally. But she was their enemy right now, and one Link had any qualms about killing right away.

And right now, that same enemy had given him the chance to do so.

He took a step forward and said in a low voice. “Ariel Newmoon, do you really think I would take you on one-on-one? Your naivete would cost you dearly.”

As he said this, Link made a few gestures to Celine and Eliard behind him, which meant, “Follow my lead, find an opening to kill this High Elf!”

Evelina was stunned. “Link, you…”

She thought that being a lord, Link would be more mindful of his own reputation and accept Ariel’s challenge.

She did not expect Link and the others to gang up on Ariel.

Eliard was first to initiate the attack. He took out the Dragon Power runestone that Link had given him and cast a Level-10 shield on himself. He then hid behind a rock nearby, waiting for a chance to attack Ariel.

Celine too retreated and climbed up a tree 300 feet away. She then took out her rifle and waited patiently for an opening.

In that time, Link’s eyes did not leave Ariel, wary that she might launch an attack at any moment.

Like a lion that would hunt for prey as weak and defenseless as a rabbit with all its strength, Link never had the habit of giving up an advantage in battle. He, nor anyone else in Ferde, had never concerned himself with heroics. What the Magicians of Ferde had always strived for was a more stable and efficient way of solving problems.

Right now, Ariel was one of those problems that needed to be resolved, and the most efficient way of solving it was by besieging her together. Link saw no benefit in him accepting a one-on-one duel with her.

The High Elf had come looking for her own demise, and so she shall receive it!

Ariel did not anticipate such a response from Link. She laughed coldly. “I thought you were a hero, Link. I never took you for a coward who enjoyed ganging up on people like this! Seems I was mistaken.”

She turned towards Evelina. “Evie, is this who you have chosen to follow? Don’t you feel the slightest bit of shame?”

Though she was a rebel at heart, the mainstream values of the continent resonated with Evelina greatly. Hearing what Ariel had said, Evelina’s face turned red. She went silent for a moment and then stammered, “My lord, I don’t think this is right. Your reputation is at stake here.”

Link continued staring at Ariel. He slowly pulled out the Dragon King’s Fury sword. As the blade hissed against its scabbard, Link’s mind grew calmer. “Evie, there’s only one law in this world that matters, and that’s the survival of the fittest! Morality, code, reputation, they’re all mere tools and fetters that can be discarded at any time as long as the price is right. And right now, you’re being shackled by Ariel’s code of combat.”

Evelina could not think of a rebuttal to Link’s words.

Ariel had heard what Link had said. Stunned for a moment, she sighed. “I admit, I don’t see things as much as you do. Also, I’ve not come prepared to face all of you, which means that this is not a fight I have any chance of winning. Just wait and see, there will be a next time!”

Saying this, she took out a green, fruit-like object. There were silver markings on the fruit. With a slight squeeze, the fruit was instantly reduced to mush. A thick swirl of silver moonlight suddenly obscured her entire body, which then began to fade away.

Evelina shouted upon seeing what had happened. “She’s casting Moonlight, a Level-19 spell! She’s trying to escape!”

Moonlight

Level-19 spell.

Description: The user infuses a large amount of Nature Power into a moonlight fruit from the World Tree in order to cast the spell. After casting the spell, its user will be able to ignore all attacks from the realm of Firuman and teleport back to Andwar in the Isle of Dawn.

(Note: A precious relic of the High Elves.)

“Trying to escape, eh?” Without hesitation, Link stabbed his sword through a Despair Ball, and the sword’s tip appeared instantly beside Ariel. He then let his Dragon Power flow into it in a torrent, activating a new spatial spell: Spatial Disintegration.

Spatial Disintegration.

Rankless Master-level Spell

Cost: 7000 points or more.

Description: The user spends a large amount of Dragon Power and sets the fabric of space ablaze, giving rise to an inferno with unimaginable destructive power.

(Note: It will burn everything to a crisp!)

The spell was Link’s newest invention, a combination of the dragons’ Void Destructor spell, his own Spatial Rend spell and the Boundless Sharpness property of his Dragon King’s Fury sword. Its destructive power was virtually limitless. The more Dragon Power it received, the more destruction it would be able to wreak.

It was safe to say that nothing in the realm of Firuman would be able to withstand the spell’s destructive power. An object would be able to resist it if it was powerful enough, though.

Once the spell was cast, the space around Ariel was engulfed in its fire. The heat was unlike anything she had experienced. Anything the fire grazed immediately evaporated. Not even its ashes were spared.

This was what happened when space was set on fire.

In an instant, the spatial inferno had spread to Ariel’s body. Her eyes widened, and the silver light around her expanded. Bundles of the silver light came off, trying to keep the fire outside the barrier of light.

In that moment, the gentle moonlight and the relentless spatial fire struggled against each other. Violent energy ripples spread out from the clash of the two energies. The spectacle on the cliff was blinding, as if a silver sun had appeared on it.

Evelina, who was standing nearby, could feel the heat from the cliff. Fearing that she might also be caught in the inferno, she quickly took a step back and cast a defensive spell on herself.

As soon as she backed away, there was a sudden bang. A streak of light shot out from the top of the tree beside her. The attack hurtled towards the ball of silver light and merged with it in an instant.

Evelina was stunned. Did Celine open fire? Did it even have any effect?

A moment later, she heard a pained moan. Before long, the silver ball of light before them disappeared. Ariel was gone without a trace. The spatial inferno had also gone out. All that remained on the cliff was a smooth rock surface that looked like it had been polished recently.

In the end, Ariel still managed to elude them.

“What happened to her?” asked Evelina as she rushed to Link’s side.

Link sheathed back his sword and spoke plainly, “Both her legs had been burned badly. My Dragon Power had entered her body. I was able to cripple her in the end, so even if she’s not dead, she’ll probably wish that she was at this point.”

“Ah! Did she really lose?” Evelina stammered.

“She has paid dearly for her arrogance. Even though Moonlight was a high-level spell, its area of effect was way too small. I was able to break through it with everything I had,” explained Link.

The spell was indeed Level-19, but the amount of Nature Power that Ariel had infused into the World Tree’s fruit was too little. In the span of a mere half-second, Link had used up 15,000 Dragon Power points and was able to reduce the Moonlight spell to a paper-thin layer. Celine saw the opportunity and took her shot. Her bullet broke through that last layer. Without losing its momentum, it struck both of Ariel’s legs. Once embedded inside her body, Link’s Dragon Power immediately spread inside her.

If the Moonlight spell’s teleportation ability did not activate in time, Ariel would have been a pile of smoldering ashes by now.

Eliard came out from his hiding place. The fight had already ended before he even had the chance to make a move. Right now, his heart was beating violently in his chest. His yearning for Legendary power had intensified now. After calming his nerves, Eliard asked, “Link, what’s our next step, now that the Ethereal Prince is dead?”

“We’ll continue our journey down south. I have no intention of making this trip a wasted one. We’ll go after some normal Ethereals. Of course, we shouldn’t take too much time in this. I’ll give us two more days. We’d best pick up our pace now.”

“Alright.” Eliard and Celine did not seem to object to this.

Adrenaline was still pumping through Evelina. She made a conscious effort to nod back at Link.

…

Isle of Dawn, Andwar, beneath the World Tree

A flash of silver moonlight suddenly appeared in the air. Two seconds later, a figure fell to the ground. It was Ariel.

She was in bad shape. Both her legs were gone, Her body was a melted mess of flesh and blood. Hot air issued out of her nostrils and mouth. Though she was barely able to withstand the agony, she writhed and screamed uncontrollably in pain.

When she appeared, the World Tree’s Nature Power flowed into her body. A few seconds later, the Dragon Power that had been rending through her body was suppressed completely. Ariel sighed in relief, glad that the pain was finally over.

She laid quietly on the ground, letting the World Tree heal her wounds. This time, her wounds were severe. Her legs were beyond restoration, and the World Tree could do nothing about it. Still, it served as a cruel lesson for Ariel.

She looked at the World Tree and swore through gritted teeth, “Thank you for the lesson, Lord of Ferde!”

Minutes passed in silence, and then she heard footsteps. Ariel turned and saw a familiar figure. It was her mother, the queen of the High Elves.

“What happened?”

“Mother, I met Link. I lost to him.” Ariel sighed. Her losses had been grievous.

“It’ alright, what matters is that you came back here alive. Tell me exactly what happened.”

Ariel nodded and recounted the events that had transpired to her mother. When she was done, the queen was silent for a few seconds. Then she said, “He even managed to break through your Moonlight spell. I can’t believe his power has grown this much.”

“He did use up all his power trying to break through it, though,” added Ariel.

“In any case, this is bad news. Looks like the thing up north needs to speed up. Once you recover from your injuries, go to the North immediately.”

“But mother, that’s where the God of Destruction’s forces lie.”

“I know. All the more reason why you should go there now. The Dark Elves must exist. The humans are our shield, and what good is a shield without a spear? Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Ariel was silent. She wanted to voice her objection against the matter in the North. Suddenly, she remembered what Link had said. In this world, there was no clear distinction between light and darkness.

Only one rule reigned supreme, and that was the survival of the fittest.

And so she nodded. “I understand, mother.”

Chapter 549: More Importantly, It’s Growing

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

Two days later, Link’s group returned from the South, fully loaded.

This time, they brought back 569 Ethereal Crystals. They’d practically wiped out all the Ethereal Warriors around the Syndicate.

After returning to Ferde, Link didn’t rest. He immediately gathered the core Magicians of the territory to start producing Ethereal magic equipment.

This equipment could transform into Legendary-level power, making up for the lack of high-level martial combat in Ferde. In other words, these were strategic resources. They had to be perfect and flawless.

Naturally, this required powerful Magicians.

At the present, there were six core Magicians in Ferde. Other than Link, there was Eliard, Vance, Alloa, and Celine.

Celine especially had studied Link’s enchantments for about half a year without rest. Paired with Link’s obvious help, she was very advanced in enchantments now. She was practically equal to Vance and the others.

Other than Alloa who used Link’s Dragon Power due to her special circumstances, the other five were all above Level-8. Eliard’s Sunlight Power was even in the upper stages of Level-9. His power was quite active too. Soon, he would reach Level-10.

This was the most powerful force in the history of humanity; they could look over any other human territory arrogantly. However, compared to the 80,000-strong Magician army of at least Level-6 Magicians from the Isle of Dawn, they were still far off.

Just these few hundred Ethereal Crystals was already stretching them thin, let alone being able to deal with the Isle of Dawn. Each Ethereal Crystal had a unique function. They couldn’t use mass production. Due to the high level, they also couldn’t get help from ordinary Magicians.

Thus, the six had to process the crystals one by one. It was very inefficient.

The bottom line was that Ferde needed top-level Magicians. Thus, after working for a day, Link and Eliard walked to Evelina’s imprisonment room.

Even though she’d gone to the South and had worked hard, she was still technically Ferde’s prisoner. Plus, her many subconscious reactions along the way had showed that she didn’t really want to join Ferde. She was just staying here due to fear of Link’s power.

This wasn’t a good thing, because once she had the ability to escape from Link’s control or was intimidated by someone stronger, Evelina would sell Ferde out. It was just like how she’d betrayed the Syndicate.

Halfway there, Link asked, “Eliard, what do you think of Evelina?”

Link’s knowledge of her was limited to the game. There, Evelina had been a wandering vigilante. She’d walked around and sometimes joined important battles but never joined the core of the alliance.

In reality, Eliard was always with Evelina. He would be more familiar with her.

Eliard flinched and then nodded. “She’s good. I would sometimes discuss magic with her, like secret spells and techniques. She would answer straightforwardly without keeping anything back.”

“Oh.” Link seemed to have some thoughts.

Since she was at the point of sharing secret spells with Eliard, there was something to be considered. Just like technology from earth, there were two levels of spells.

The first was magic theory. This was the basics and there was nothing to hide. Even if you figured it out first, others wouldn’t be too far off.

For example, Link had created the spatial theory. There must be other spatial Magicians in the world that reached similar levels but were just a bit off. There wasn’t a really significant gap.

The second level was in specific applications. This was the specific spells and techniques. These were secrets—the things that could cause the gap in abilities.

For example, everyone knew the principle of leverage. However, some would use a wooden stick to throw stones while others would use a catapult. The difference was too big to put in words.

It could be said that secret spells were a Magician’s best tricks. They wouldn’t tell people who weren’t close or trusted. Since Evelina shared them with Eliard so straightforwardly, she either had feelings for Eliard or Ferde. They were both good things.

These thoughts flashed through Link’s mind. “I see,” he said. “Later, you persuade her. I’ll just stand to the side.”

Eliard nodded. He’d been wanting Evelina to join Ferde. He had said this many times before, but Evelina never gave a definite answer. She always had some worry. He didn’t mind trying to persuade her again. If she didn’t agree, he would come a second or third time. He felt that if he tried enough times, she would agree.

The place where Evelina was “imprisoned” wasn’t far. It was a guest room in Eliard’s sub-tower. The two arrived quickly.

At the entrance, Link stood to the side while Eliard knocked. “Eve, are you free?”

“Of course. Come in,” Evelina said.

Eliard opened the door and entered.

Evelina was only imprisoned in name. In reality, Eliard didn’t put any restrictions on Evelina. As long as she wasn’t walking around on the street, she could use all the resources in the tower, such as the Elemental Pool and alchemy room.

The guest room had everything necessary too. Eliard had even remodeled the room in the style of the High Elves.

Entering the room, one could see many fine silver veins on the doorframe. Going further in, there was a sturdy and smooth wood floor and a deer head hanging on the wall. The living room had an elven warmer. The bedroom, bathroom, and toilet were all decorated sincerely too.

Link followed Eliard into the living room and felt that he was in a different world. It wasn’t like a room in a Mage Tower at all. It was more like a house in the woods.

In the room, Evelina was lying lazily on a leather chair, reading a magic book. Link peered at it and discovered it was the enchantment book he’d written.

Seeing Link and Eliard come, Evelina set the book down. Her hand twitched and an innocent-looking magic puppet brought two cups of hot water over.

This magic puppet was a top-class product of the Gold Rune Workshop. They were mass-produced now and were popular with the nobles. Many people would come to Ferde just to order a pretty servant. The price was good too. The workshop had a list of specific prices, clearly stating the different materials and functions. The price went from 500 to 10,000 gold coins.

Evelina smiled. “You two must be busy. How come you’re here?”

Link sat on the side without replying. He just blew at his hot drink. Eliard cleared his throat and said straightforwardly, “Evelina, here’s the deal. We sincerely invite you to join Ferde.”

Evelina arched an eyebrow. Smiling at Eliard, she said, “Aren’t I already in Ferde?”

Eliard shook his head. “No, not just like this… What I mean is, we’re inviting you to join the core group of Magicians.”

He was being very clear. Evelina fell silent and glanced at the quiet Link. Then she looked back at Eliard. “You and the lord are both here. Is this the ultimatum something?”

Eliard shook his head. “Of course not. We just need you.”

Evelina pursed her lips. After a pregnant pause, she confessed, “To be honest, even if you have the Ethereal Crystals and Link, I still don’t see Ferde’s future. The Isle of Dawn won’t let you develop like this. When none of the overt tricks can solve a problem, it’ll lead to an outright war.”

Eliard didn’t give up. “That’s why we need you… I need you.”

His words were direct and his tone was earnest.

This wasn’t just Ferde wanting a strong figure to join. After all these days, Eliard felt that he really wanted to be with this half-elf. He didn’t want to become enemies trying to kill each other someday.

Evelina laughed instinctively. Before, she would definitely scoff at something like this. She would sneer and say mockingly, “Who are you to interfere with my fate?”

But this time, her laugh cut off halfway. She saw the fervent anticipation in Eliard’s eyes. For some reason, she felt deep inside that if she missed this chance, she would never find anyone who fit with her so well.

She couldn’t face that heated gaze. After two seconds, she couldn’t do it anymore and averted her eyes.

Lowering her head, she murmured, “Eliard, I’m not as good as you think. I can’t meet all of your expectations—”

Before she could finish, Eliard wanted to try again, but Link reached out to stop him. He stared at Evelina and uttered, “You fear the Isle of Dawn.”

He got straight to the point!

Evelina’s head shot up. “Should I not? The power of an 80,000-strong Magician army can wipe Ferde off the face of the planet. Who can stop them?”

Link shook his head. “No,” he said seriously. “Evelina, you’re too obsessed with the comparison of power. It’s not that important.”

Seeing that Evelina wanted to refute him, Link continued, “I have a sword and the Isle of Dawn has 1000 swords. They can use 1000 swords to kill me, but I also have the opportunity to use one sword to defeat the Isle of Dawn. The number of swords isn’t actually that significant.”

Right now, they were both afraid of each other. Of course, Ferde’s power wasn’t real, but as time went on, they would only grow stronger.

“But the Isle of Dawn has the Level-19 World Tree. You won’t have a chance.” Evelina shook her head.

Link chuckled. “Then why am I still alive?” he asked.

“Uh…”

“I’m alive because the Isle of Dawn can’t handle me. Since they can’t kill me, they’ll be afraid of my reaction. During this time, Ferde will keep strengthening. There are close to 300 million humans. There is unlimited potential. But the Isle of Dawn only has three million people. So what if their power reaches the pinnacle?”

Evelina had never thought of this.

Link continued without stopping, “The High Elves have a stable tradition and they’re used to peace. Their power won’t change too much in the near future, but as you’ve seen, Ferde will keep going. It’s possible that we’ll reach the Isle of Dawn’s level within five or ten years!”

Link didn’t add any fervent emotion while speaking. His tone didn’t change either. He was just stating facts with a cool gaze. It made him seem indescribably confident, like he grasped the truth.

Evelina was a bit swayed.

Seeing her soften, Eliard walked up and grasped her hand. “Eve, why did you leave the Isle of Dawn? Wasn’t it because of the arrogance of those pure elves? Ferde doesn’t have that. Here, the only thing that matters is your magic. No one will look down on you because of your bloodline or background. Ferde is developing quickly, but it’s still fragile. Stay and protect it.”

Conation appeared on Evelina’s face. Her lips quivered; she wanted to say something.

Link chose this time to add, “Eve, the current power difference isn’t that important.”

“Then what is important?”

“Who’s growing.”

As long as they kept growing, they would surpass the other someday.

Evelina’s mouth opened a bit. She looked dazed. Being in Ferde for these days, she indeed saw that the territory was changing. Something new was created almost every day. In the Mage Tower, new spells would be invented daily.

This kind of place was growing indeed. Right now, it may just be a small tree, but as long as it wasn’t destroyed, it would rise to the sky one day.

Then she looked to Eliard. Something warm flowed through her heart.

People were strange. You would feel disgusted by some people at first glance; but for other people, your heart would speed up. To Evelina, Eliard was the type that sped up her heart. In her eyes, this half-elf was practically perfect.

Finally, Evelina held Eliard’s hand too. “You asked me this question more than ten times. This time, I’ll agree.”

Ecstasy filled Eliard’s eyes. If Link wasn’t there, he probably would’ve kissed Evelina hard now.

Link wasn’t stupid. “Eliard, I’ll go now. You can take care of everything else.”

As he spoke, white light surged around him and he disappeared. A short while later, he was inside the main tower. After sitting down, Link took out the Moon Stone reward from the mission. Just as he was about to study it, someone knocked on the door.

“Enter.”

Gildern walked in with a letter. It had a glowing red magic seal. Seeing it, Link’s brows furrowed.

“Lord, this letter is handwritten by General Kanorse of the Orida Fortress.”