Advent of the Archmage
chapter-397

The underground world of Lirico City reached in all directions. A stranger would definitely get lost within ten minutes. Link was no exception.

Thankfully, he had a guide.

"Go left. The ride side is going out the city," the Yabba directed.

"Where are we going?" Link asked. At the same time, he listened closely for any noise behind him. There were many footsteps. Many soldiers had followed him into the underground tunnels.

However, the tunnels were very complex. No demons had caught up yet.

The little thing explained in a low voice, "We're going to the sewage treatment area. It's the lowest part and most complicated. There are also many sturdy valves there. If there are any survivors, they'll most likely be there."

"I see." Link crept forward.

After around 300 feet, Link realized that the noises behind him had become extremely weak. Thanks to the complex layout, Link had easily lost the pursuers.

He let out a breath of relief and continued.

"Left side… Careful!" the Yabba suddenly called.

Her alert was unneeded. Link had realized earlier, and a low-level demon charged out of a corner. Link swung his sword and chopped off the demon's head.

He turned the corner and saw a 150-square-foot room. The Yabba yelped at the sight and buried her face in Link's shoulder, not willing to look anymore. Link narrowed his eyes as well.

The room was filled with bodies. There were around 20 Yabbas and four low-level demons. There was even a Blackshell Sword Demon. The ground was covered in spilled intestines, broken limbs, and a shattered magic musket. The Blackshell Sword Demon was dead too. He was killed by a Yabba's suicidal bomb attack.

That Yabba's body was completely broken. Only half of his face remained. He'd stuffed the bomb into the demon's mouth, exploding the demon's head.

"Wah, wahh." The little thing began crying. She'd turned around at some point and saw that face. "I know him. He's Ferrion, a major. He's really brave, smart, and had so much potential. He was going to be the commander of an airship."

Link patted her back and continued walking.

There was a very sturdy gate at the back of this underground room. Fifteen dim runes flashed around the door. Link looked at it and realized this was a password. If he activated the runes in the wrong order, the door wouldn't open.

"Little thing, do you know the password?" Link asked while checking the runes.

"Don't call me that. My name is Lannie. I don't know the password either, but we can go another way," she said.

But Link didn't move. He was still checking the runes.

"It's useless. You can't decipher it. It's a magic lock. If you don't know the password, there are tens of thousands of ways to input it. This door uses the sturdiest metal of our race. It's really sturdy and… hey, how do you know the password?"

While Lannie was speaking, Link had already started touching the runes. By the time she finished, a soft click had come from the metal door and then it swung open soundlessly.

"It's an innovative rune lock, but it's not that hard. Don't forget that I'm a Magician."

Link entered the tunnel and then looked at the runes behind it. After ten seconds, he pressed lightly. With a click, the door closed again.

Lannie was speechless. After a long while, she said, "Then how come you know swordsmanship? And you're so good at it?"

"I learned it in my free time… Shh… don't talk. This space doesn't feel right," Link whispered.

There was a long passage behind the door, with many pipes in the passage. They should be from the sewage system. They looked undamaged, but Link noticed that the spatial frequency was a bit off.

He walked to the side and touched the wall. His hand came back with a layer of gray-white powder.

Lannie found it strange. "This wall is reinforced by transformational magic. It should be strong and smooth. How come there's powder?"

"It's caused by fine spatial ripples," Link said.

He started looking carefully. After around ten seconds, he stepped back and whispered, "A Dimensional Demon appeared here… And look here."

There were many footprints on the ground. Most were small and scuffed, left behind by retreating Yabbas. Behind them were footprints three times larger.

"The footprints are trapezoidal and very wide. There are claws too. These are the characteristics of a Dimensional Demon. Judging from the remaining aura, these are from one day ago. Hurry!"

Link sped up.

After around 200 feet, the first Yabba corpse appeared on the ground. Only the upper half of his body remained. His eyes were open wide while his small body was halved with some sharp blade. There was a musket beside him, broken in half. In the distance, the wall was charred black. It was cracked, and there were stone shards on the ground.

After a few seconds, Link came to a conclusion. "The retreating Yabbas discovered that someone was after them. This Warrior was left behind to stop the demon. He was broken by the Dimensional Demon, but he took the chance to detonate a bomb. There is a drop of black blood here. The demon was wounded."

Link picked up the broken magic musket. Seeing the smooth cut, his brows knitted. "This demon is very strong. I fear he's reached Level-9. It'll be a bit difficult."

If they fought face to face, Link would have nothing to fear. However, Dimensional Demons loved hiding in spatial folds for sneak attacks. If anything went wrong, they'd hide back into the spatial fold. Dimensional Demons were Assassin demons and extremely fast. This was troublesome.

More importantly, Link couldn't use magic now. If he could use spatial magic, he could use Spatial Rend to destroy the demon if he tried to hide in space.

What a pity.

"Are we going to keep chasing?" Lannie asked fearfully. She wished Link could keep going to save her people, but he said there was a Level-9 demon up ahead. This was scary.

"Of course, but I need to prepare."

With that, Link looked into the corner and thought, Accept reward.

Whoosh. A shirt and pants fell from the air. They were the Assassin Robe and Assassin Pants.

Link undid Lannie's ties and set her on the ground. Then Link took off his leather armor. Putting on his new clothes, he explained, "I recently made these two pieces of gear and couldn't bear to put them on before. I have to use them now."

He spoke calmly this time. The gear had dropped out of thin air as if he'd taken it out of the dimensional storage. Lannie, observant as she was, didn't suspect anything.

When Link was done, she studied him and couldn't help but ask, "Is it a robe? It's pretty."

It was indeed. The clothing was of dark blue material. One could faintly see many elegant dark silver patterns. There was a faint blue glow around the robe. Looking closely, one could see countless specks of light flying around.

Link didn't notice the appearance. He checked the robe's profile first.

Assassin Robe (Set)

Epic

Current Set Status: 2/6

Effect One: Magic resistance increases by 80% as long as it doesn't affect the spell-caster's magic conductivity.

Effect Two: Shadow effect. When the spellcaster stands without moving, a ball of fog three feet wide will appear from their body. This effect can protect the spell-caster from being attacked at critical body parts.

Effect Three: Activate the "ready" status. Under this status, the spell-caster can cast any spells instantaneously. This effect can be used once every ten days.

Link looked at the pants.

It also had three effects. The magic resistance and shadow effect were the same as the robe. The third, called "Godspeed," was different.

The player could activate this status and increase their speed by three times. The effect could last one hour but had to cool down for one month.

This effect was pretty good. Link could use it to both attack or defend. If his current speed was tripled, he'd be close to Nana. After his magic recovered, he could pair this with Dimensional Jumps and no one would be able to catch him.

The set also had its own attributes. The two pieces of gear already activated it. Link looked over and saw a halo.

It was the Focus Halo. This halo was permanent and had a 30-foot range. Within it, anyone the spell-caster focused on would receive the effect. Their speed would increase by ten percent and their spell-casting speed by five percent.

Not bad. With this set, he was much more confident in dealing with the Level-9 Dimensional Demon.

"Let's go. Is it okay if you follow behind me?" Link asked.

"Of course. I'm great with the musket." Lannie took out the musket she'd put in the holster by her leg and twirled it.

The two continued forward.

After around 300 feet, there was another door. It also had runes, but they didn't glow.

Lannie looked at it strangely. "The door was damaged but how? And how do you use this?"

Link didn't speak. He was looking for a way through the door. He tried the Dragon King's Fury magic sword. It sizzled and didn't give in easily, but he still forced the sword through. This seemed to be the easiest way.

He spent ten minutes and finally cut an opening into the door. The two climbed in.

Once in, Lannie and Link were stunned by what was behind the door.

The walls here had all collapsed. Broken stones were everywhere, practically blocking the tunnel. There were many black bloodstains on the ground. The most eye-catching was a black thing that looked like a lizard's tail.

Seeing this, Link recreated the scene in his mind and couldn't help but praise, "So powerful!"

The Yabbas were very smart. They'd figured out the Dimensional Demon's characteristics and sealed the door. They forced the demon to teleport using its dimensional abilities. The moment he appeared from the spatial waves, the bomb detonated.

Caught by surprise, the Dimensional Demon was hurt badly. His tail even fell off.

Link walked to the tail and studied it. After one second, two seconds, three seconds, his brows knitted. "No, the tail isn't right."

"What happened?" Lannie was frightened.

Link looked up to her. "I underestimated the demon. Look at his tail. The scales are very fine and have rings of blue-gold light. A regular Dimensional Demon wouldn't have these things. If I'm not wrong, this must be part of the royal family!"

Lannie was quite knowledgeable too. Her eyes widened. "You mean, this is a Dimensional Phantom?"

Dimensional Phantom

Dimensional Demon Royalty

Royal Talent: Soul-absorbing Stab. With every kill, the Dimensional Phantom can turn a portion of the target's soul into their own power. To protect the purity of their power, the rate is not very high, but it builds up, especially on the battlefield. A Dimensional Demon can kill a great amount of creatures in a short period.

"No wonder this Dimensional Demon has Level-9 strength. If he was Level-8 at the time of summoning, then he must have killed more than 3000 Yabbas… We must catch up to him!"

This demon chased so relentlessly and so impatiently probably wasn't just to kill them all. It was highly possible that he was about to advance to the next level.