Chapter 590 - Visitors from Another Realm (2/3)
Advent of the Archmage
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âFour people passed by here recently. One of them was a human, and the other two were half-elves. Whatâs even stranger is that they all seem to be heading north,â said a human male with a full mat of fiery red hair. He was standing in front of a pile of ashes that had once been a campfire in the Black Forest. His red glowing eyes were narrowed as he observed his surroundings.
Beside him stood someone else. The person was also human. The only difference was that it was a woman.
Her eyes also shone with the same red light. Like the man beside her, the woman was wearing an elegant set of magical armor. A pair of scimitars hung from her waist. Her hair was also a brilliant red and even more luxuriant than the manâs hair. At a glance, it looked like the womanâs head had been set ablaze.
She squatted down and wiped a hand that was wearing a dark red leather glove across a tree stump. She then raised a finger to her eyes, closely observing whatever she had wiped off from the stump. She even took a whiff from it. Five seconds later, she whispered, âHamilton, I sense a familiar hint of coldness in the aura of one of them. Thereâs also a slight warmth in it... Do you think itâs her?â
âIt is possible. The saint told us that she was the Lord of Ferdeâs magic puppet. She has crossed realms to return to Firuman. The first thing sheâd probably do would be to go back to the Lord of Ferde. Noa, weâll need to tread carefully from now on.â
Noa grinned. âSheâs the only one who poses a threat to us. Everyone else isnât even worth our time. The saint was right. This realmâs power level is just too weak.â
âDonât underestimate them,â said Hamilton. He then began walking northward as he continued, âForget what the saint said about keeping them alive. Kill them on sight with all your might. Weâll just have to see if theyâre lucky enough to survive our attacks.â
Noa caught up to him, giggling. âOf course I wonât show them mercy. But I would rather we not come across them too soon. Itâs probably better to let them find the Book of Creation first. Saves us a lot of time finding it ourselves.â
Hamilton shrugged. âThat certainly would be convenient.â
After taking a few steps, Noa suddenly said, âBut really, those High Elves are a bunch of idiots, especially their queen. She thinks she can boss us around and even belittle our bloodline just because sheâs the saintâs mother. I just really want to chop her head off with my sword!â
âAlright now, youâve been saying that ever since we got here. Let her have her way for now. Sheâll get what she deserves later.â
âI just canât stand her!â
âBut you canât deny that her World Tree holds considerable power.â
The two of them were now heading north. They strolled through the Black Forest without an air of concern as if they were simply taking a walk in their own backyard.
After walking for two hours, another group of four arrived at the remnants of the campfire. This time, it was the Red Dragon Queenâs party. When they got there, the Light Magician Halino pointed at the pile of ashes with his wand and cast a high-level detection spell: Time Reverse. A gold shower of light fell from his wand, forming a couple of vague silhouettes around the pile of ashes. The silhouettes then began to move.
There were four silhouettes sitting around the campfire. A huge tent had been set up in a corner. A freshly skinned wild boar was roasting above the campfire. Through the silhouettes, they could see drops of oil dripping from the wild boar.
Halinoâs spell had vividly conjured three of the silhouettes. Two of them looked like half-elves. Their features were handsome. They were sitting around the fire, discussing something. From their get-up and mannerisms, they were probably Magicians.
The third silhouette belonged to a girl who was wearing a full set of armor. She seemed to be around sixteen to seventeen years old. She was sitting near the fire as well, enthusiastically turning the skewer that was holding the wild boar above the fire.
However, the fourth silhouette stood out from the rest. Its entire form was a blur. The figure was basically a condensed ball of light sitting quietly near the fire. It was easy to miss if one was not looking properly at it.
No one could see what the figure looked like or even what it was doing at the time.
Just then, the four of them saw that the human blur waved a hand. An instant later, the figures conjured by Halinoâs Time Reverse spell shook violently. Tried as he might, Halino could not maintain the integrity of the silhouettes any longer. In the end, they all faded back into a shower of light.
Seeing this, the Dark Magician Eugene let out a humph. âThatâs definitely the lord of Ferde. No one else could pull off such a trick.â
The other party must have disrupted the flow of Time power. In Firuman, aside from a couple of the High Elves who had spent a long time studying Time Magic, only the lord of Ferde could do such a thing.
The Mountain Sage Heroto sighed, stroking his white beard. âI had seen the lord of Ferde back in Dragon Valley. He was still such an innocent little thing back then, like a sprout that had just poked its head out from the soil. Who would have thought that he would become so powerful in less than a year? Itâs incredible.â
Gretel did not say a word. She was still gazing absently at where Linkâs silhouette had been.
Noticing Gretelâs current state, Eugene said, âYour Highness, Linkâs most likely heading north to search for the Book of Creationâs fragment there. Try not to let your heartstrings be pulled by a few words from Link when we catch up to him. If you canât even do this, I suggest that you go back to Dragon Valley right now.â
Gretel let out a long sigh and looked sideways at Eugene, smiling bitterly. âIâm fine, thanks. Just worry about yourself. Iâm not the one making life difficult for everyone in Firuman, anyway.â
âAlright, alright, point made.â Eugene raised his hands in defeat. He then turned to Halino. âLinkâs a handful by himself. Now that heâs involved in this, what should we do now?â
Halino thought for a moment, then said, âI donât think we need to worry about him too much. The lord of Ferde is a reasonable man. Weâll try to come to an agreement with him if we see him. Heâll probably accept our terms as long as Ferde stands to profit from them.â
Just then, Heroto burst out angrily, âWell sure, heâs a bloody businessman who only thinks about profiting off everyone he meets. Heck, heâs probably hoarded all the gold in Firuman for himself in Ferde by now.â
âThatâs enough! Letâs continue our journey, shall we?â said Gretel.
The four of them fell silent. They then activated their spells and continued their journey towards the far North.
Ten minutes later, Halino suddenly said, âStop, somethingâs not right. There are two people up ahead. I can sense that theyâre extremely powerful!â
Eugene had sensed them too. He emerged from a black ball of mist. âStrange, Iâve never felt such powerful Warriors in Firuman before. They also seem to be no more than 30 years old. Has something changed in the world?â
He was shaken by this. All this time, Halino was the only person who had stood on equal footing with him in terms of power. Now came along these two youngsters whose power surpassed even his. This was just not possible.
Gretel stopped. She pricked her ears and then closely felt the two youngstersâ power levels. Ten seconds later, she spoke, âThese two are not from Firuman. I heard them mentioning something about a saint, the Aragu Kingdom, and a Black Blood Rose. They probably came from the Aragu realm. Link once told me about that place. The Mana there is extremely saturated. Itâs probably five times that of Firuman.â
Eugene was stunned upon hearing this. He was now even more curious. âSo thatâs why those two possess such power. Theyâve been living in a Mana haven. From the looks of things, those two donât seem to be up to anything good. Why donât we take them on now?â
âWhy would you want to pick a fight with them right now?â The Mountain Sage Heroto did not agree with Eugeneâs suggestion.
Eugene immediately replied, âI highly doubt those two come all the way here from their native realm with good intentions. Heroto, would you have minded if I barged into the dwarvesâ underground capital one day without even saying hi to you?â
Heroto glared at him. âI would have you escorted out of the city in a coffin if you so much as came near the place!â
âHahaha, thatâs my point. Those two fellows didnât even bother introducing themselves to us, the rightful inhabitants of this realm. Halino, you up to it or what?â
After thinking for a bit, Halino said, âYou do have a point. Weâll need to at least ask what they had come here for. Itâs just two Warriors anyway. Though they may be more powerful than us individually, we could set up a trap for them. Subduing them shouldnât be a problem.â
âHehe, itâs not every day you would agree with one of my ideas. Then letâs do it.â