Advent of the Archmage

A hush fell upon the elves beneath the wall. They started to retreat beyond the reach of the human archers.

After about ten minutes, Lorde stepped out from among them.

A faint, red glow emanated from the gear he wore; a similar but stronger glow shone from his weapon. The light from his weapon was so dense, it seemed that it might burst into flame at any second.

He took a few steps forward and pointed his sword at the city. His low, deep voice reverberated throughout the battlefield.

"It’s time to end all this!"

Before he even finished, five Dark Elf generals stepped out from behind him, all clad in fine armor. They glowed with different colors of Battle Aura. From the luminosity of their auras, one could tell that they were all very powerful.

The vanguard of the Black Iron Garrison had already arrived. Their reinforcements would arrive soon, leaving the Dark Elf Army with little time. Lorde wasn’t about to test Gladstone’s strength. He would gather his forces and take the city quickly.

"Warriors, charge with me!"

Lorde shot out first, his generals quick on his heels. One followed tightly behind him while the other four spread out and attacked different parts of the city wall.

Their human counterparts were mainly Level-3 Warriors, with only one Level-4 among them. With the five of the generals attacking from five different locations, they would be unstoppable.

They were followed by countless Dark Elf Warriors.

If any of the generals gained a solid footing on the city walls, countless Dark Elf Warriors would surge up onto it, expanding their territory. Against the meager defenses of the humans, they would be able to take the city with just one breakthrough point.

On the city walls, the command had already been passed to the most powerful warrior on the human side—Minx.

His tall build and the magical glow of the Rock Armor drew eyes. He had gained standing among the human troops by striking a powerful Dark Elf general down the walls earlier.

As an Assassin, Annie had already blended into the darkness. Only in the dark, was she at her best.

Minx saw disaster when Lorde appeared.

As a major in the Black Iron Garrison, he had access to a list of the current Dark Elf generals. The one who stood before him, glowing with dark red Battle Aura, 6’2’’ tall and holding a blood-red broadsword, was sure to be Lorde, the youngest marshal of Pralync, the kingdom of the Dark Elves.

Lorde, widely known as the Bloody-Handed Demon, had a reputation for being cruel and ruthless. In his younger days, he had often attacked human villages, leaving only death in his wake.

Disturbingly, he not just massacred his victims, but also took joy in torturing them. Being captured by him was truly devastating.

But Lorde could afford to be as cruel as he was. A powerful Level-6 Warrior, he also held the Epic weapon, Blood Pride.

Minx was just a Level-4 Warrior. There was no way he’d hold up against Lorde!

But this was war. War didn’t give anyone a chance to choose their opponents. He’d been prepared to fight to his death when he rode the griffin into Gladstone that night.

Between his thoughts, he ordered the two Level-3 Warriors beside him, "All three of us will stop him! For as long as we can!"

"Yes, General!" The two Warriors wore determined expressions. They already knew their deaths were near.

"The others, split into groups of three. One group to each Dark Elf general. Annie, support them where you can," Minx rushed, laying out his strategy as quickly as possible.

The soldiers carried out his orders immediately.

Seeing that Lorde had entered the range of their crossbows, Minx roared, "Shoot! Shoot the one holding the red sword!"

Lorde was unmistakable. The archers trained their crossbows on him. Huge bolts flew towards Lorde in the midst of loud bangs.

"What a joke!" Lorde sneered.

His voice rang loud and clear throughout the battlefield, giving the human warriors intense pressure while raising the spirits of his own army.

Lorde didn’t even try to evade the huge bolts hurtling towards him. He swung his sword and faced them head-on.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The loud clashes that rang out seemed endless. With each collision, the Blood Pride which Lorde held flared up in red light, splintering the crossbow bolts in half!

Minx watched, his heart racing. Such a force was far beyond his powers.

I will probably be killed right away, Minx laughed bitterly inside.

The Dark Elf Marshal was far more powerful than Allonse from the Black Iron Garrison. He had formidable, magical weapons that Allonse lacked. He was also younger and fitter than Allonse. Minx was sure that in a one on one battle, the one who fell would certainly be Marshal Allonse.

As his opponent drew closer, he roared, "Shoot, delay him!"

The archers on the city wall shot their arrows down at Lorde. The arrows rained on him with hissing sounds, barely giving him enough room to evade.

But Lorde’s defenses were incredible. Perhaps he was still wary of the crossbow bolts, but he completely disregarded the common arrows.

Casually raising a hand to block some arrows which might have posed as a threat, he allowed the rest to just land on his armor.

Ting! Clang! The arrows rained down on him in a flurry of noise. The horde of arrows left white dots on Lorde’s armor, the only sign that he had just been attacked. The normal arrows were no threat to him.

Quickly, Lorde charged within 130 feet of the city. He then paused, allowing his generals behind him to take the lead.

"Go ahead, I’ll catch up later!" he instructed.

He was the marshal, the leader, and soul of the army—nothing could happen to him. Attacking the city personally would be extremely risky. He needed someone to draw away the gunfire.

"Yes, Marshal!" The Dark Elf generals nodded and went on charging towards the city walls without an ounce of hesitation.

Fwoosh. Fwoosh. Fwoosh. The generals threw multiple grappling hooks up the walls. Within seconds, more than twenty sturdy ropes hung down the stone structures, allowing the Dark Elf Warriors to stream past Lorde and climb up the city walls.

The average human Warrior was relatively equal to Dark Elf Warriors in combat. Perhaps human Warriors had some advantage in terms of strength, but Dark Elves were slightly more agile. They had equal chances of victory and losing when they faced each other.

But there were too many Dark Elf Warriors on the city walls—there was even a Level-4 Dark Elf Warrior among them and a Level-6 Warrior eyeing them from below the city walls.

The human Warriors couldn’t keep up. Their morale reached rock bottom and their defenses looked as if they would be breached at any second.

The Level-4 enemy Warrior was about to reach them. Minx, knowing that he was forging a path for Lorde, had no choice but to charge forth to try and stop him.

He caught sight of Annie in the shadows under the city walls.

She was no longer masked. The moment Minx saw her biting her lip, deep sorrow and regret in her dark blue eyes, the realization hit him. He knew what she was thinking.

Once he rushed to engage the Level-4 Dark Elf Warrior, the Marshal below would charge up past him. No one would be able to stop the powerful elf then.

He would massacre the human troops.

When Lorde stepped foot on the wall, Minx would surely die. The entire suicide squad would die. Annie would die. And Gladstone would fall into the enemy’s hands within the blink of an eye.

Then, the residents of Gladstone—hundreds and thousands too would be massacred by that demon.

It would be the most tragic night in human history.

The situation was as clear as day to him, but he was powerless. As he rushed past Annie, he said, "Annie, run! Leave this city!"

He had watched her grow up and had always seen the proud, strong woman as a little sister. If Gladstone was doomed to fall, he would die with it.

But he hoped that Annie would live on. He hadn’t thought that Annie would shake her head softly, her expression sorrowful yet determined. She had long since accepted her fate.

As Minx’s shield engaged with the Dark Elf general’s sword, the Dark Elf marshal’s wild laughter rang out from below the city walls. "Hahahahah. Let the flowers of fresh blood bloom!

His figure blurring into a blood-red haze, he charged to the bottom of the wall and prepared to scale it.

Despair loomed over the hearts of the human warriors.

No one noticed a shadow slip into one of the archer towers stationed between the battlements. The archers were dumbfounded at the sight of a figure floating up to them.

Luckily, the young man was a human, otherwise, they might have attacked.

"Shhh," The young man wore a smile as he indicated the archers not to shout out. A young woman, so beautiful that she didn’t seem human, floated up from behind him.

The young man was Link, and the young woman none other than Celine in her human guise. Her identity being special, she wouldn’t take part in the battle directly but would keep Link safe instead.

On the archer tower, Link could see the Dark Elf Marshal as he prepared to scale the walls.

Link’s face stayed calm despite the raging Mana within him. The corner of his lips twitched up into a small smile as he slowly lifted his Fire Crystal Staff.

A Level-6 Warrior, eh? Why don’t you have a taste of my augmented Flame Blast?!

Let the battle between magic and Battle Aura begin!