Advent of the Archmage

Gloomy cave.

With a soft poof, a Level-7 Winged Howler suddenly shook and collapsed, eyes rolling to the back of its skull. He convulsed a few times and then died.

There was a fist-sized hole in the back of his head. Silver liquid flowed from it—Sacred Silver. Behind it, a small figure hid in the darkness like a wraith.

It was Nana.

"Dammit, I said to be careful when you turn corners. Be careful! These idiots just don’t care," the Level-8 Winged Howler cursed at the front.

When the enemy had performed the sneak attack, he’d clearly felt the signs. Unfortunately, he was at the very front of the line and couldn’t turn around in time. By the time he did so, Nana had already succeeded and retreated.

"Head, what should we do now?" There was another Level-7 Winged Howler of the trio. He was shaking in fright.

Only two were left in the group now. If the enemy attacked again, he would be the one on the ground.

The Level-8 Winged Howler mused for a while. He was scared too. This messed up place connected in all directions, and the enemy seemed to be really familiar with the tunnels. They’ll get toyed to death before long. "Let’s get out of the cave."

F*ck the mission and f*ck the Magician. He wanted to stay alive.

The two Winged Howlers retreated along the original path.

Thankfully, they’d left marks along the way. Otherwise, they would probably get lost while retreating. After going down the confusing paths for around 1000 feet, another turn appeared. This was different from before—it was more spacious, without many places to hide.

"I’ll go forward, and you follow. Be careful this time!" the Level-8 Winged Howler said.

"Got it."

The Level-8 Winged Howler brandished his huge sword and walked forward guardedly. After making the turn, he looked back and forth before turning to the Level-7 Winged Howler. "Coast is clear."

The path after the turn was very wide with unobstructed sight. It was very safe.

But just then, there was a tiny sound. The pop was completely unnoticeable. The next moment, the Level-8 Winged Howler seemed to be hit by something in the head and was thrown to one side.

His temple suddenly exploded and his pupils, flesh, broken bones, and brains splattered in all directions. The Level-8 Winged Howler instinctively pushed off, and he flew sideways. He crashed against the stone wall and then rolled back down. Then he started convulsing on the ground.

Half of his head was gone, and even a demon couldn’t withstand this injury. He was just struggling for his life now.

At this sight, the Level-7 Winged Howler began shaking. He didn’t know who the attacker was and definitely didn’t know how they attacked. All he could do was be scared.

There was a magic puppet behind them, and now, there was a mysterious killer before them. He didn’t even know where to run. This practically 14-foot-tall giant curled up against the tunnel’s side. He hugged his knees, curled his wings around him, and just shook in fear.

On the other side of the turn, Melinda hid behind a rock barely three feet tall. Seeing the demon on the ground, she shook her fist excitedly.

The black cat was reliable for once. After its modifications, the musket was at least five times more powerful and barely made any sound! Back in the day, her musket could only scratch these big demons, and they’d recover soon after. This time, she’d blown out half of the demon’s skull with one bullet!

"Master Link, I can help you now!"

"Okay, leave now," the black cat urged. "Go towards the left tunnel!"

Melinda immediately stood up from the rock. Hugging the musket, she limped down the tunnel. Because of her good mood, she was pretty fast and scurried past like a little mouse.

...

The other side.

After finding the chance to kill some Winged Howlers, Nana returned to Link’s side. She picked him up and started forward again.

"That way," Link said, pointing at a tunnel. This was the path to the heart of the flames in the center of the mountain. It was very dangerous, with all sorts of fire element beasts and extremely high temperature. But for some reason, Link’s thirst was getting clearer. He wanted to go somewhere hot right now.

Rather than making him uncomfortable, hot air made him indescribably happy.

Nana obviously didn’t care because she couldn’t feel the heat. Even if she jumped into lava, it would be like a bath for her.

The further they went, the wider the tunnel and higher the temperature. It was already above 120 degrees, and a faint red glow even appeared at the end of the tunnel.

Link actually felt more comfortable. He could clearly feel waves of heat dig into his skin, seeping into his body and merging with the mysterious warm current.

After that, the warm current grew even larger. Its speed quickened as well. Link felt his body temperature rise continuously like he was on fire, but he didn’t feel any discomfort at all. Instead, it felt insufficient. It would never be enough.

It’s only a spark. It’s too weak. I need a blazing fire!

"Nana, hurry forward. Walk against the right of the wall and be careful. There’s a fire-bellied salamander on the left. Do you see it?"

The tunnel was very spacious now. It was more than 100 feet wide and 65 feet high. The six-foot-long salamander curled in a small lava shaft without moving. It looked just like a withered tree.

Nana’s movements grew lighter.

Fire-bellied salamanders were easy to deal with but would cause a large commotion. It could alert the demons chasing them.

After traveling more than 150 feet like that, Nana brought Link halfway up the Azzaro Volcano. It was very wide and spacious here. Everywhere was filled with a dark red glow. There were patches of lava here and there, while a lava pond made up the center.

The lava bubbled and gurgled, spitting out plumes of fire and smoke. Occasionally, a burst of heat would rush out before white-hot lava would spew out like the prominence on the surface of the sun. The heat here was unbelievable, distorting the air. Waves of fire were everywhere. Link’s Flame Controller robe and Nana’s leather armor couldn’t withstand this temperature. They started to curl and singe. Then a ball of lava spouted, and a drop fell on the clothing, burning it up.

Nana was alright, obviously. Strangely enough, Link didn’t feel any pain in the fire either. His skin didn’t even burn. Lava dropped onto him and rolled down like water.

"Master, are you okay?" Nana asked.

"I’m okay. Do you see the tall podium?"

Nana nodded. The podium was 150 feet away. There was a rock protruding from the lava lake, and it glowed red from being baked by the extreme temperature. The heat was truly unimaginable.

"There aren’t any fire element beasts along the way. Put me there, and I’ll rest for a bit." Link was feeling much better than when they’d entered the cave.

"Okay." Nana walked over.

But before she walked 60 feet, a voice rang out behind them. "Link, where are you going?"

Link turned around. It was Misamier. She was hundreds of feet away with two Level-8 demons beside her. Seeing Link, she took out her long whip and strode over.

It was extremely hot here, but it was nothing to demons.

Here, Misamier’s strength had recovered a lot. Though she was far from the pinnacle of Level-9, she was still around the pinnacle of Level-8. With her two Level-8 helpers, they were enough to deal with Link.

"Ignore her and continue forward. Put me on the podium first."

As he spoke, Link picked up his wand. Bracing the searing pain in his head, he cast a Level-0 scream spell on the fire sharks swimming in the lava.

After that, he immediately cast a Level-0 lesser invisibility spell on him and Nana.

"Ah!" The scream scared the large 15-foot-long shark. It instinctively rose out of the water and instantly saw the sprinting Misamier.

"Grr!" The fire shark immediately charged at the intruders.

"F*ck, stop him!" Misamier said to her helpers.

As soon as she spoke, a Level-8 Winged Howler standing at the entrance fell forward and stopped moving. There was a gaping hole on the back of his head.

Misamier’s pupils constricted. This is bad. Link actually has reinforcements—strong reinforcements!

She gritted her teeth. At this point, she had no way back. She had to kill Link!

The other Level-8 Winged Howler was frightened. He’d heard the noise. It had come from the tunnel behind them. He immediately left the entrance and ran over to Misamier.

The fire shark pounced at this time. The Winged Howler waved his sword, meeting the shark.

The shark was only a Level-6 Magical Beast. Misamier knew that her subordinate could easily kill it, so she just warned, "Watch out for sneak attacks. I’m going to kill that Magician!"

With that, she strode over to Link.

At this time, Nana had already put Link on the high podium. Link lay on the ground, and to him, the rock wasn’t scalding. Instead, it was warm—very comfortably warm.

It’s comfortable but still not quite enough. I’m still a little cold. Link instinctively looked at the hottest lava lake. He had the urge to jump in, but this was psychologically challenging. He was still a bit hesitant.

Nana turned around to stop Misamier.

The succubus sneered. "Little girl, you’re not my match anymore!"

Though injured, her power was much stronger than last time at the Necropolis.

Nana didn’t speak. Her leather armor was already damaged by the lava. She tore it off and threw her swords down too. She only had the Breakpoint dagger in her hands.

"Come at me!" Nana blocked the path. Instead of attacking first, she started provoking.

Crack! Misamier cast the whip at Nana, whose reaction was simple. She cut lightly with the Breakpoint dagger.

The attack was simple but also greatly threatening. Misamier was forced to pull her whip back. She knew how sharp the dagger was and her whip was no match. However, she had other solutions.

"Heh, you have a dagger, but sadly, you’re only a Warrior!"

As she spoke, Misamier suddenly reached out. A dark red ball of light appeared in her palm. She hurled it at Nana, and it exploded with a boom.

This was her talent spell!

Caught by surprise, Nana was forced back by the ball of light. She lost balance and fell into the lava.

In that moment, she knew she’d made a mistake. With extremely fast reaction speed, Nana threw the dagger toward Misamier.

Misamier had just cast her talent spell and reacted a bit slowly. Her left leg was hit by the dagger. With a crack, the entire calf fell off from her body.

Plop! Nana was thrown 150 feet away by the explosion and fell into the lava.

Plop! Without her left calf, Miamier lost her balance and also fell to the ground.

It was okay though. A calf didn’t matter much. She was now less than 100 feet away from Link. Before Nana swam back, she could end Link even if she had to crawl!

Misamier began crawling.

After around 60 feet, her heart suddenly tremored. She rolled forward without time to look behind. If her body was undamaged, she could definitely dodge it. However, her calf was gone, so she moved slower.

Poof. Her back shuddered, and she spat out a mouthful of blood. Looking down, she discovered a clear hole in her chest. Then she looked back. At the entrance, a small figure was looking at her with a magic musket.

It was too hot here, and Melinda couldn’t come in. But it was okay because her musket had long range. She could stand far away and fire it.

It’s that Yabba woman. Dammit! Misamier didn’t expect the little thing she’d overlooked would ruin everything.

She looked back at Link. He was still lying on the podium without moving.

Gritting her teeth, Misamier gathered her remaining strength and leaped forward. She grabbed Link and then jumped into the lava.

"Let’s die together!"