Advent of the Archmage

Forest of Poisonous Mist.　　

"Look!" Joseph stared at the area where he could see the black figure. This was a piece of marshland, and the footprints could be seen clearly etched on the soft ground.　

Link walked forward at observed for a moment before saying, "The size of the footprint is around one-foot-long and half a foot deep. It looks like a demon that stands on two feet upright. Its steps are extremely wide. It can cover a distance of nine feet in a step. I predict that this demon is at least nine feet tall and weighs 1540 pounds. It is extremely strong!"

He then circled the area and quickly found more information, "There is a hint of potassium nitrate and sulfur in the air. Looking at this footprint, I would suppose that this demon could not control its power after the sudden change in geography in this area. The area around the footprint shows signs of being charred. If I'm not wrong, this is a Fodor Flaming Demon. It is around Level-7 in strength."

Fodor Flaming Demon

High-level Demon

Description: This demon controls the power of the demonic flame. It uses two flaming machetes as its weapons. Usually, this demon will be above Level-6 in strength. Adult Fodor Flaming Demons can reach Level-7 in strength. Once they become of age, their flames and sword techniques will strike fear into even the bravest of Warriors!

(Note: The perfect fire Warrior)

The moment everyone heard Link's voice, their face was consumed by an expression of horror. Milda then sighed, "It seems like those high-level demons are really here to help Wavier."

Link stood up and cleaned the dirt on his hand from his inspection of the footprints. He then said, "It is something within expectations. Joseph, from now onwards, we will be facing consecutive waves of Undead Warriors and demons. Prepare the Sacred Silver."

Due to its effectiveness against ghouls, the recipe to create Sacred Silver was now widely circulated. The church naturally got hold of this recipe and even made many adjustments to improve its effectiveness. The Sacred Silver in their hands now were at least 50% stronger than Link's original version.　　　

"I understand."　

Joseph took out a bottle and started pouring the liquid Sacred Silver into a special groove made in their swords. This way, as long as a sword of the Holy Knights come into contact with the opponent, Sacred Silver would be injected into their bodies.　

The other Holy Knights also did the same.　

Link then told Nana, "From now onwards, as long as you detect the presence of any demons, eliminate them!"

"I understand, Master!"

Clang! With a light metallic sound, Nana took out her two epic quality daggers. The two daggers were extremely aesthetic, especially the Last Nightmare. The moment it appeared, air ripples appeared around Nana, which was a testament to the dagger's power. This made Nana looked extremely intimidating.

Romilson and Milda were completely amazed at the two daggers. It was the first time they were seeing the true form of this two Epic daggers. They could not help but exclaim softly.

Romilson said in disbelief, "Where did these two weapons come from? Why have I not seen records of them?"　　

How could two such high-quality weapons that even impressed the High Elves not be written down in the annals of history?

Milda was a few steps ahead of Romilson and asked, "Link, you made them recently?"

Link then nodded his head in agreement and said, "It took me a lot of energy to craft them. There is even some luck involved. If I were to do it again, I might not be able to craft something of this caliber anymore.　

Although Link was trying to be humble, it somehow made the High Elves feel bitter.　　

Joseph, on the other hand, did not feel impressed by the daggers. He merely felt that they were extremely beautiful and elegant. Nana also looked strong wielding them, which would be helpful in their future battles.

"Let's go; time is tight." He then probed the rest to move forward.　

Everyone followed tightly behind him. After ten minutes, they realized that something is amiss.

"I think we have come back to our previous position. Look, this was where we walked," Joseph pointed at a cork that was wrapped in aluminum foil on the ground. It was the exact thing that they threw while drinking their potions. The surrounding environment looked extremely familiar as well. As they looked to their side, the footprint left by the Fodor Flaming Demon laid right there.　　

Romilson then snickered as he said, "It is definitely the work of a Light Illusion spell. Simple, I will breakthrough it using a Guiding Light spell!"

He then raised his wand and charged it with Mana. An emerald concentrated light beam then shot out from his wand, extending into the distance.　　　　

The moment this light beam appeared, Romilson's face sunk.

The reason was simple. If it was an illusion caused by the Light illusion spell, the light beam should appear bent and wavy. Based on the property of light, they merely had to follow this curved line of light to navigate out of this area.　

However, the emerald light was shining in a straight line. This suggests that their area was not affected by Light Illusion spell. However, they had also returned back to their starting point even after walking in a straight line…Romilson could not explain this.　

Things were getting complicated.

Milda thought for a moment before saying, "I'm afraid that light is not the thing that was distorted in this area. It is the space. This is probably a demon god spell that Wavier cast to protect himself…Link, what do you think?"

She could not depend on the Holy Knights for such intellectually intensive work, and Romilson had already been defeated by this trick. Furthermore, Link was the only one who had done intensive research into Spatial Magic. He was the only one Milda could turn to.

In fact, the moment Link realized that they had returned to the same point. He immediately started walking around to observe his surroundings. He also cast a few spells to test the waters.

When Milda posted him the question, he was still doing his tests.

After five minutes, he walked back and said, "The space of this area is indeed distorted. However, the curvature is extremely small, making it difficult for us to detect. There are still tests that we can do to determine this. Look."

A silver ball then appeared in Link's hand, as he used the vector field spell to fling the ball upwards. As the ball started rising, it traveled in a straight line. However, upon reaching a height above 15 feet, it's trajectory started experiencing abnormal bending.

"The distortion of space is definitely accompanied by a forcefield. This forcefield has little to no effect on light beams. That was why when Romilson shot that beam of light, it still maintained a straight line. However, this forcefield will have an effect on tangible matter that is sufficiently weighted, especially when they are traveling at high speed. The forcefield will cause its trajectory to change."

As Link spoke, he used the Magician's Hand to retrieve his silver ball. He then used his wand to draw a few ridiculous lines and runes in the air, as though he were calculating something.

After around five seconds, he said, "I think that the space distortion here is not done by Wavier, but by a Dimensional Demon!"　

Dimensional Demon

High-level Demon

Description: This demon has the inborn ability to control space. It can even use space as a shield for its physical body and achieve a concealing effect. This is the reason why it is termed the most powerful Assassin demon!

(Note: This demon is the nightmare of all Magicians!)　

The moment the name, Dimensional Demon appeared, everyone's faces including the Holy Knights paled in unison.　　

The reason being this demon had made countless assassination victories in the World of Firuman. This applied to both the High Elves and the humans.

It's most recent victory was around 300 years ago. Its target was Legendary Magician Bryant. After the assassination, the Dimensional Demon escaped with serious wounds while Bryant disappeared without a trace, leaving a huge amount of blood at the battle scene.　　　

Many people believed that Bryant was eaten by this Dimensional Demon on the spot.

How could they then not be afraid when such a terrifying Assassin appeared within the Forest of Poisonous Mist?　

Romilson swallowed his saliva quickly. He was Level-7 Magician and knew many offensive spells by heart. However, he knew that none of his spells would have any effect on the Dimensional Demon. 　　

You could wreck the environment as much as you want. The Dimensional Demon would merely hide in its safe dimensional crack and attack when you ran out of stamina, ending the battle.

"What should we do now?" Romilson looked at Link with a worried face. His handsome face seemed right on the verge of tears.

Everyone then turned to look at Link. He was the only one who could come up with a solution to this problem.　

Link did not speak. He merely started casting a spell and lightly tapped the air with his wand. A transparent ball the size of his fist then appeared in the air and stayed motionless while floating.

He then told Romilson, "Use your Guiding Light spell and shoot it through the center of this sphere."　　

"Alright," Although he had no idea why Link had such a peculiar request, Romilson followed the instruction immediately.　　　　

The emerald light beam shot out, and it still formed a straight line into the distance. Link then turned to Nana and said, "Take note of your surroundings. The moment there is a distortion in space, act quickly."

"Nana understands!" Nana then settled herself in her battling pose. She would offer support the moment she felt something was amiss.　

Link then said to everyone, "Be on alert and follow me forward. Romilson, come forward as well. Keep your Guiding Light spell active! Milda, charge a Level-7 defensive spell but do not release it. When you are sure that someone is going to get hurt, protect the victim immediately."　

"Alright." The two High Elves nodded.　

Link then proceeded forward. He walked in a weird direction, not one that followed the trajectory of the Guiding Light spell. He deviated slightly from the beam of light, and as he walked, he explained, "I have already calculated the curvature of this space just now. This beam of light will reflect the true structure of this space. From the curvature, I have made some changes to the direction that we should head to go forward. From a higher angle, this beam of light is actually bent, and while the path we are taking might look bent in this space, it is actually the true straight path."　　

This speech was slightly confusing. The Holy Knights felt like it was suicidal trying to figure out what Link just said. However, the two High Elves could understand it completely.　　

This was merely the basics of Spatial Magic and was not all that difficult.　

Milda even asked, "The small ball that you released previously—was that an anchor point?"　

"That's right. I have to make sure the starting point of the light beam is not adjusted by the Dimensional Demon, which explains the need for an anchor point. In fact, we need a new anchor point every 300 feet. Repeat this process for a few times, and we will be out of this distorted space."　

As Link explained, they reached the 300-foot mark. This distance was already the maximum distance for remote control of the Guiding Light spell. Link thus released a new anchor point.

Following which, he did not set off immediately. Instead, he started a new round of tests and calculations.　　

After a series of calculations that no one understood, Link pointed in a direction and said, "Just a few moments ago, the Dimensional Demon made some adjustments to this distorted space. Therefore, this is the direction we have to take. Romilson, use the Guiding Light spell here."

"Alright," Romilson would just follow whatever Link told him to do.

After the light beam was shot into the distance, Link brought the group forward again. This time, his path was even more peculiar than the previous one. In no way did anyone else felt that they were walking in a straight line. Link would take them from left to right then to the left again, stopping every so often to do a few tests.

The others could not see the point in these actions. However, Milda watched the whole process in fear and apprehension.

She was the only person present who could understand the meaning of Link's actions. Although the situation appeared calm, Link was already engaged in a battle with the Dimensional Demon. 　　　

This battle looked passive enough, though it was in actually extremely intense. The moment one party made a slight mistake, they would immediately suffer the reaper's scythe.

After around 150 feet, Link suddenly stopped in his tracks and raised his wand, "Cut!"

A transparent ball appeared at the tip of his wand. The moment this ball appeared, it turned into the shape of a sickle and charged towards a supposedly empty space 90 feet in front.

Boom! This attack actually managed to hit something. In the next moment, the air seemed to be distorting, and a black shadow appeared in the atmosphere. It was the Dimensional Demon!

In this silent yet intense confrontation, the Dimensional Demon had been trying to interfere with Link's judgment by changing the space constantly. His brazen acts had eventually revealed his hiding spot!　　

Link had secured a victory in this battle amongst the shadows!

"Nana!"　　

Boom! Nana disappeared from her original position and appeared in front of the Dimensional Demon in an instant. Her auxiliary dagger then tried to stab the demon with unimaginable speed, her main dagger, the Last Nightmare, following closely behind.　

Cling! A crisp snapping sound rang. Splash! A second sound of splashing blood then followed. A pool of black colored blood gushed out of the demon's body. In the next moment, the Dimensional Demon's body disappeared into the air.

He was escaping!