Advent of the Archmage

High Elf Romilson stood dazedly on the beach.

From the corner of his vision, he saw the black-robed Magician leave quietly. He did not know who that Magician was or why he would help them. He’d even sensed a dark aura from the Magician’s magic, but Romilson didn’t want to stop him.

No matter who he was, he had saved them and that was a fact. Romilson knew he wasn’t a match for the Magician either.

The sea breeze blew by, and the crashing of waves traveled to his ears constantly. He stood for a good ten minutes before he finally recovered and went back to Link’s side.

Link was sitting on the beach now. Princess Milda was still leaning in his arms. Her clothing was a bit disorderly with two Mithril tubes reached inside her collar. There was a thin aura of blood coming from her.

"How is she?" Romilson asked. He could see that the princess was much better. Her breathing was more stable, and the darkness of her pallor had faded to nothing.

Link was still focused on detoxifying and nodded when he heard Romilson. "Not optimistic."

Romilson’s heart clenched. Seeing Link’s state, he didn’t dare disturb him and just waited patiently.

After another ten minutes, Link’s finger moved. He said, "The purification is mostly done, but Her Highness’s body is greatly damaged. It’s hard to say...Come, help me hold this."

Romilson hurried over. He knelt down in the sand and held the crude yet effective Mithril blood purifier with both hands.

With his hands free, Link started casting the Higgs Force Field. He connected the entrance and exit tubes with a click. Then, he twisted the dirty filter off.

Romilson pointed at the Mithril tube still connected to the princess’s body and asked, "What about this?"

"The Mithril tube is connected to Her Highness’s artery. Without a priest, the wound won’t be able to heal promptly, so I can’t take it out for now. Hold it, and I’ll anchor it on her ribs with a cloth."

With that, Link pulled out a clean shirt from his dimensional storage gear and tore out a few strips. He lifted Milda’s shirt and tied the tube tightly.

After detoxifying, Milda’s skin was different. It was dazzling white with pinkish breasts. Romilson quickly looked away. Link moved as fast as possible too. He anchored the tube tightly and made sure it wouldn’t move and damage Milda’s artery. Then, he quickly pulled her shirt down.

"Done. Do you have Elf Nectar?" Link asked.

"Yes, yes, yes, I have a bottle," Romilson answered quickly.

"Good. Feed it to Her Highness to replenish her fading vitality."

"Okay, okay," Romilson answered. He pulled out a beautiful crystal bottle filled with purplish emerald liquid.

Link lightly pinched Milda’s chin and throat. Her mouth opened subconsciously, and Romilson carefully poured the Elf Nectar in.

Milda was still unconscious and couldn’t swallow. During this process, Link used the Magician’s Hand to close her windpipe.

After a full five minutes, the mere 50-milliliter bottle of Elf Nectar dripped into Milda’s stomach. Romilson was covered in sweat when they finished.

The Elf Nectar was definitely powerful. Without the Gray Blood Poison’s restrictions, it was fully effective. Milda’s pallor recovered visibly; her breathing became stronger as well.

Link opened Milda’s eyes and saw that the pupils were pale purple again. He used the Flash Spell and the pupils restricted immediately. This meant it responded to the light.

Fully relieved, Link said, "Good, she won’t die. However, she’ll be very weak for a long time."

Romilson wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. He mumbled, "As long as she’s alive, as long as she’s alive."

It was okay if she was weak. The High Elves had tons of ways to restore her health.

Link cast the Levitation spell on Milda again and helped her up with the Magician’s Hand. He said, "Summon your unicorn. Let’s go back to Scorched Ridge."

"Okay, no problem." Romilson obeyed Link’s orders without any temper.

He summoned his unicorn and used the Magician’s Hand to gently place Milda on the beast’s back. Link also summoned his Wind Fenrir and they started back.

After 300 feet, Link turned back. He saw Vance in the shadow by the beach and smiled. Subtly, he made some complex hand gestures to the Lich, saying, Thanks, I’ll come find you after I settle these matters.

Vance reached out his skeletal hand and gestured that he understood. Then, he retreated and disappeared into the shadows.

Nothing happened on the way back. The two men reached Scorched Ridge without any obstacles.

In the camp, the corpses all over the ground had been gathered. Occasionally, there were sniffles and cries but the fire was put out, and order was reinstated.

Seeing Link return, Jacker welcomed him. "Lord."

Link nodded. "Good job, but there’s something else."

"Please tell me."

Link pulled out his wand and a sheepskin parchment. He pointed the wand at the parchment and activated a Level-1 Magic Image.

A few seconds later, a clear image of the lead Assassin appeared on the parchment. His two daggers were especially detailed, practically identical to the original. Link then used the Copy Spell to write down the leader’s specific characteristics, going into more detail about his weapon. He even wrote down the special effects.

In the end, Link gave Jacker the parchment. "He is the culprit who attacked the territory—a powerful Level-7 Assassin. Release an announcement that he’s wanted. Those who can provide accurate information will be rewarded 100 gold. Anyone who can kill him will get 10,000 gold! One of his weapons is 20,000 gold!"

Jacker gasped. "Lord, isn’t that too much?"

This would be the highest reward money in the history of Firuman.

"It’s not too much. Anyone who can kill this Assassin is worth the money." Link saw that Jacker had more to say and waved his hand. "Don’t. I’ve already decided."

He had an idea of what had happened. The Syndicate of the South and the Dark Elves of the North had schemed together against his territory.

It was a very good move. They’d publicly declared war on him. However, both the Syndicate and the Dark Elves seemed to have forgotten that the world was not so simple. The Syndicate did not own the South either.

There would always be a powerful solo Warrior; there would always be powerful mercenaries. If he provided an extremely high reward, someone would do everything for the money.

Seeing Link like that, Jacker remembered that they’d discovered a clay mine in the territory and had more money than they could spend. He had no need to argue anymore and nodded. "I’ll do it this instant."

Link nodded. He turned to Romilson and said, "Let’s go find a priest."

Scorched Ridge may be small, but it had everything. There was already a small church with a mid-level priest.

When they arrived at the church, the priest saw that it was the Lord and the patient was the High Elf Princess so he naturally worked as hard as he could. Half an hour later, Milda’s outer wounds were mostly healed. The Mithril tube was removed as well.

Afterwards, Romilson took Milda to rest. This was the High Elves’ business, so Link didn’t bother them after arranging their lodging and guards.

Rather than going to rest himself, he started taking care of the other matters. He worked deep into the night until two in the morning. Finally, everything was settled, and peace started settling in Scorched Ridge again.

...

Huff, huff. A black shadow sprinted across Ferde Wilderness, not stopping until he had run ten miles. He panted heavily.

It was the lead Assassin who had escaped earlier.

The previous battles seemed easy, but actually, he had always been hanging by a thread. He had used all his might in every second.

After a short rest, he heard something beside him but didn’t sense any danger. Looking up, he saw the Dark Elf Magician.

"Here for the show?" He was a bit angered. He wouldn’t have lost if this Magician hadn’t helped earlier.

"You must be blaming me, right?" the Magician chuckled.

The Assassin was furious. "Humph, you’re still laughing now?"

The Magician sighed. "It’s great news that you escaped alive. Of course I should laugh."

The Assassin huffed. "But if you helped, my men would still be alive. We could’ve killed the High Elf Princess too!"

The Dark Elf Magician shook his head. "No, you’re wrong. If I joined, we might’ve been able to kill the High Elf Princess, but then Link would’ve been freed too. Then you would realize that you’re faced with a Demon King. We would’ve died in that wilderness."

The leader winced—he hadn’t thought about this. He was only thinking of killing the princess and didn’t consider Link’s potential revenge afterward.

During the fight, Link seemed to have been treating the princess the entire time. Despite that, he was still able to easily stop the fatal attacks. The Assassin thought of Link’s track record he’d heard rumors of. If Link had fought freely...The Assassin shuddered. He truly had been careless.

When he snapped out of it, the Dark Magician continued, "I’m here to remind you that Link will definitely take revenge when he returns. If I were him, I’d announce a great reward to catch you. For example, 5000 gold for your head. How many people do you think would go crazy for that?"

The Assassin paled. Trying to stay strong, he said, "Let me see who dares to accept the challenge. I’ll kill anyone who comes!"

"What if they come in tens or hundreds?"

The Assassin gulped. He sighed and said to the Dark Elf, "Thanks for the reminder. I’ll go hide now."

With that, he started flying to the South without stop.

Seeing the Assassin disappear into the dark night, the Dark Elf Magician sighed. "The mission still failed. That Link is so difficult."

He had to return to the North promptly as well. The Dark Serpent did not have much more time left in Firuman. The victor of the northern war must be decided.