Advent of the Archmage
chapter-176

Demons were creatures from another dimension. They would not simply appear in Firuman out of thin air. Someone must have opened a portal to the abyss and summoned them.

Where was the location of the portal? Who was the summoner? These were the things Link wanted to know.　　

After casting an unmodified Edelweiss spell onto himself, Link walked towards the demon and raised his wand. A Sacred Whistle appeared at the tip of his wand. The whistle spun at a high speed and released a piercing screech through the atmosphere. Visible air ripples could be seen around it. Link positioned it only around two feet away from the demon. As long as Link release the spell, the Sacred Whistle would pierce into the demon's skull and deal a fatal blow.　

The demon was evidently becoming nervous. His bloodshot eyes stared at the whistle defensively.　

Link stared silently at the demon with a smile on his face. He was familiar with the temperament of demons. When they were in good health and at the peak of their strength, they would be arrogant and explosive. However, when they lost all these advantages, they would not hesitate to abandon their pride and integrity to beg for mercy.　

Survival of the fittest was the way of life in the environment they were brought up in. Anything else was secondary as long as they could stay alive. This was especially true for low-level demons. In the abyss, they were often bullied and repressed by the stronger high-level demons. Their pride had long been trampled on and destroyed.

After ten seconds, the demon could not maintain his composure anymore. He screamed, "I surrender…I surrender!"　

Link had a look of satisfaction while Eleanor stared at him with a puzzling expression. She did not expect the wild ferocious demon they had just fought would say such cowardly words.

Link kept the scared whistle spell on hold and asked, "Who is your summoner?"　

"Aymons de Romilson. He is a Magician like both of you. He is Level-7 in strength.　　

"What about the location?"

"The Horton Tower to the North. In the middle of Kuroshio Lake. I arrived in this world around ten days ago."

"What is your purpose of coming here?"　　

The demon showed signs of hesitation and fell silent.　　

The Sacred Whistle at the tip of Link's wand immediately dashed out and pierced through the abdomen of the demon before exploding inside his body. This injury would not be lethal but would cause unimaginable pain to a demon's body.

Around 0.1 seconds after the release of the first Sacred Whistle, Link was already prepared with another one fully charged at the tip of his wand. It seemed as though the previous release was all but an illusion.

However, the pain was about as real as it could be. The burning sensation in his abdomen caused the demon to flail around on the ground in pain. He immediately roared his reply in fear that he would once again be subjected to the same treatment, "To protect the Holy Maiden. Yes, it is to protect her!"　　

"Her name?" Link replied almost instantaneously. This was to give the opponent no time to construct his thoughts and thus forcing him to speak the truth.

"Elena," The demon mentioned a familiar name.

"If you are protecting the maiden you should know the person of contact. Are they the Dark Elves?" Link asked. There was no point in simply protecting her. Elena had already gotten the structure of three Mage Towers of the academy. She must have been tasked to deliver them back to their base. The low-level demon in front of them would definitely not be enough to accomplish this task. The Dark Elves must have sent someone else as a point of contact.

"Yes...oh no actually… Ahh! Yes, there is one! He is a Dark Elf named Lawndale Markins. I came here together with him!" The demon grimaced in pain as his moment of hesitation had once again earned him a blow of the Sacred Whistle. 　　

"Where are they now?" There was not a hint of emotion in Link's voice or face. But there were already violent ripples in his heart. If Felidia, Alina and Ainos were the three musketeers of the Silver Moon, then Lawndale Markins and Aymons de Romilson would be the two pillars of the Dark Elves!

They were not extremely talented individuals nor did they accomplish any feats in the game. In fact, they even seemed mediocre at their very best. However, if one were to look down on them, they would definitely suffer the taste of defeat.　　

They belonged to the group of people who would never make mistakes and advance their motives carefully step-by-step. One would usually call these people strategic geniuses.

A race would need people like the three musketeers to raise morale. They were important people as well, although they were more like the icing on the cake. There would be no serious ramifications if they did not exist. However, if people like Aymons who could stabilize and analyze the situation clearly did not exist, a race might face complete destruction. 　　

"The fight with the Dark Elves has only just begun," Link sighed.　

However, Link concealed his emotions extremely well. The demon could not see through his expression. Furthermore, the fear of being tortured had already put him under great pressure. He could only speak the truth now.　　

"In Chestnut Village. I beg of you please kill me. I have already told you all that I know." The demon was clear of his situation. He knew that he could not escape from Link alive. All he wanted was a quick and painless death.

Eleanor softly whispered, "Chestnut Village was where I found Elena. I know the exact location."　　　

Link nodded slightly and asked, "You said that Elena was a Holy Maiden. Which God is she serving?" This was what Link wanted to know.

However, the demon repeatedly shook his head, "I have no idea. I truly don't. It was Lawndale who called me here. He calls her the Holy Maiden and therefore I do as well. Why would I bother to ask who she serves?" This was the truth. He said it without hesitation.

"How strong is Lawndale Markins?" This was the last question. According to history, the Lawndale in this timeline had not fully matured. He should even be slightly weaker than Felidia.　

"He is extremely weak! I can destroy him with one hand! His magic is a joke. If he did not know my real name, I would have smashed his skull a long time ago!" The demon lashed out, confirming Link's suspicions.　　

Link had already asked all his questions. He reckoned that the demon had outlived its usefulness and fired the Sacred Whistle straight into his skull.　

The demon jerked violently before he became completely motionless. Following which, a huge amount of black smog emerged from its body. This gas corroded everything along its way and in the blink of an eye, the land had turned into a polluted marshland. The surrounding vegetation withered at a speed visible to the naked eye, while the ground turned into a noxious concoction of poison and mud. For the vegetation that was slightly further away, they escaped death narrowly, though, the color of their leaves and bark had turned many shades darker. It was extremely ominous looking.

This gas extended to a full 30 meters before dissipating.　　

Link knew that if he left this land as is and let the powers of nature purify it, this land would take at least three years before it would return to its original state.　

Eleanor's eyes widened in horror. "How terrifying! The Legends have stated that after our forefather killed a powerful demon, the poisonous smog would pollute lands even hundreds of miles away. I have always thought they were exaggerating. Now, it seems like they were speaking the truth."

Link nodded. "We were lucky that this demon was not strong. We can purify this easily with flames. Eleanor, I need your help for this one. Use the Flame Blast spell."　　

"I understand."

The two of them stood with their backs against each other and started using the single directional Flame Blast spell consecutively.　

The boiling magma flowed through the lands and roasted everything along its way. The soil was swept violently through the currents while the vegetation was burned to ashes. Amongst the violent fluctuations of energy, the demonic forces were decomposed into a more basic elemental energy.　　

When they were done, green smog could be seen rising from the ground. However, the ground had already turned from an ominous black color to one that was normal. There might still be some residual demonic energy here, but those were negligible.　　

After the purification, Eleanor led the way while Link followed behind. They made a beeline for Chestnut Village.

On the way, Eleanor introduced the situation to Link. "Chestnut Village is not huge. There are only about 200 people in it. It is a small farmland that belongs to a noble in the area. After a month of observation, I realized that Elena is extremely good at hiding her identity. She looks just like an ordinary countrywoman, Lisa in front of everyone else. I could find no flaws in her acting. If not for the fact that I've seen her resurrection first hand, I could not have imagined that she was the Holy Maiden."

Link could totally imagine the situation. He once stayed with this woman for several months in the same Mage Tower and failed to find any flaws in her disguise. Even a genius like Eliard was played like a pawn by her hands. She was a dangerous woman.

Link then asked, "Did you see the Dark Elf, Lawndale Markins?"　　　

"No. I have no idea if he made contact with the Holy Maiden. I did not notice his existence at all. He must have been concealing himself well."

"This Dark Elf is not very powerful. However, he is extremely vigilant. As the demon contractor, he should be fully aware that the demon is dead. We need to hurry."

Link summoned the Wind Fenrir and sat behind Eleanor after helping her up. The Wind Fenrir then darted out like a gust of strong gale, charging straight towards Chestnut Village upon Eleanor's directions.　

…

Chestnut Village.　

Elena felt slightly uneasy. As a countrywoman, she was weaving using the spinning wheel in her room.　　　　

In order to play a variety of roles, she learned a number of skills. Weaving was an essential skill that all countrywoman needed to know. As a veteran actress, she was of course, well-versed in it.　　

The spinning wheel creaked with a routine rhythm, but Elena's mind was completely not focused on her current activity.

Four days earlier, the demon found a person peeping at her. He had not returned after giving chase for such a long time. It was starting to feel strange.

"Did something happen?" Elena felt uneasy. However, she had to maintain her composure and not show any signs that could reveal her true identity. Her role as a countrywoman had greatly restricted her movements. Furthermore, she had lost all her powers due to her resurrection.　

At that moment, a faint figure appeared in the dark corner of the room. A soft voice then rang in her head, "Elena, leave now. Darl is dead. We have been exposed."

This came as a shock to Elena. She had witnessed the demon's power first hand. Who could have killed him in the Girvent Fores?　

However, now was not the time to be worried over such things. In fact, after knowing that Darl as dead, she felt unexpectedly calm. She then spoke, "Lawndale, do not care about me. I have no powers now and would only slow you down."　

She still intended to leave. However, she had no powers and had to be sure that Lawndale truly wished to protect her and take her away. If he left her to her own devices in the middle of the road, she would be in trouble.　　

"How can I do that? You are the sacred Holy Maiden. You must stay alive. Stop hesitating, come with me!" The voice sounded determined. He then walked out of the dark corner and revealed his appearance. It was a Dark Elf about 25 years of age. He looked extremely ordinary and his eyes did not have the usual evil charm that most Dark Elves had. In fact, there was a hint of loyalty in them. He pulled Elena's hand and dashed out of the room.　

"But I will slow you down," Elena once again spoke in a delicate voice.　　

Lawndale had a passionate expression on his face and assured, "Don't worry, I will see that you are safe even if it meant sacrificing my life!"

Upon hearing those words, Elena bowed her head and gently whispered, "Thank you, Lawndale."

A smirk then appeared on her face as she thought, What a gullible young lad. 　　

However, as Elena was feeling satisfied, she did not realize that the Dark Elf who was holding her hands so firmly was staring at her with a look of mockery.

Using slutty tricks to deceive me? I am only doing this out of respect for master. If I am successful, good for you. If I am not…you are merely a disposable prostitute, Lawndale thought with disgust.