Advent of the Archmage

The creaking sound of wheels could be heard.　

A prisoner carriage was heading slowly northwards on King's Lane. 　　　　

There were two people inside the carriage. One of them was Aymons. He had neither arms nor legs and was thus placed within a bag made out of ropes. The material was extremely soft and comfortable. He had also been given some basic treatment for the wounds he suffered from that battle. The second person was Dark Prince Walter. Walter was a young man and had a strong physique. He thus received harsher treatment. He had injuries all over his body and was wearing an inmate attire with an unbearable od　

The carriage was filled with feces. A small part of it was from the previous inmates who stayed in this carriage. However, most of it came from the both of them. This was the most embarrassing part of the entire trip.

"Aymons, are you alright?" Walter asked, concerned about Aymons' wellbeing. Aymons did not move for the entire trip and had faint breath. Walter could not help but worry.

Seeing that there was no response, he then shouted, "Master? Master? How are you?"

As he shouted, he stuck his hand into the rope bag.　

Aymons finally spoke, "Stop shaking, I am still alive!"

"How are you feeling now?" Walter asked concernedly.

Aymons then replied grumpily, "Look at my current state. I am placed inside a basket like a goddamn baby. Do you think I would feel good?"

As Aymons spoke, he shook his body to show his displeasure.

Walter fell speechless. Although the situation was dire, he could not help but laugh upon seeing Aymons actions.

"I'm sorry, Master, I did not mean to laugh at you, I just cannot help it. Hahaha…Pft…" Walter felt that he was seeking joy amidst sorrow.　

Aymons was too devastated to feel anger anyway. He said, "Laugh all you want. Laugh while we still can."　　

The moment Aymons said those words, Walter stopped laughing. He truly felt like crying. As the prince of the Dark Elves, his powers were completely sealed by his enemy. The muscles in his arms and legs were also destroyed. They even smeared a withering poison on his wounds. He had become a completely useless individual.

He had no hope of recovery. The people who administered these treatments on him were not humans, but High Elves. They were a hundred times more effective in these areas. He would live the rest of his life as a cripple.　　

From his perspective, he would be better off dead.　

"To think that after chivalrously roaming the Dark Forest for 20 years, Dark Prince Walter would end up dancing with excrements and urine in the final moments of his life!" Walter sighed as he said. He looked forward to the end of his life, which would also mark the end of this humiliation.

Aymons stayed silent, although his mood was no different from Walter.

The people in charge of bringing them back to the Fortress were elite scouts from MI3. There were 30 of them. Furthermore, the Norton Kingdom also assigned 100 well-equipped elite Warriors as extra defenses.

The war had lasted for a long time. Those who managed to stay alive were all experienced soldiers. They carried out their mission with an expression of indifference, bolstered by their strong physique.

The elite scouts around the carriage could understand the Dark Elf language. The moment they heard Walter's words, he turned his head and snickered, "I say the both of you deserve it! Why didn't you guys stay in the Dark Forest? Instead, you went to the territory of the revered Demon Slayer! Isn't that courting death?"　　

Another scout then laughed, "I think they are not courting death; they are merely too dumb!"

The scouts immediately laughed hysterically. One of the scouts even found a stick to poke Aymon's rope bag as he was feeling bored. He then sneered, "Hey, look at this old guy. Everything below his waist was completely severed! Do you think he is a male or a female?"　

"If I were to say, the part above his waist is a male, but anything after that belongs to a female," another scout laughed as he said.

"Haha, this Dark Elf had an interesting life."　

"Well, the Dark Elves are capable of anything. I even heard that the Silver Moon Family allows incestuous relationships. What were they thinking?"

A scout then stared condescendingly at Walter and provoked, "That is simple. We have a Dark Elf royal right here with us."

Following which, this scout stuck his face closer to Walter and said, "Tell me; how does it feel getting it on with your sisters?"

Walter felt that his lungs were going to explode anytime soon. He gritted his teeth as he said, "You despicable ants! Be glad that you did not see me before today. If not, you people would already be weeping in hell!"

Splat! The sound of meat tearing and being squashed echoed through the area. A scout had cut off a lump of meat from Walter's crotch area.　　

Walter merely felt a chilling sensation around his crotch. As he looked down, the place where his prized possession once lay was now an empty space. Blood was gushing out profusely from the wound.

"Ah? Argh!"　　

The scout was way too fast. It took Walter's body three seconds to register the intense pain. He then cried out in despair.　　　

The scout then threw the severed piece of meat on the ground as he laughed, "A prisoner should act like a prisoner. You will have to pay a price for spouting nonsense. Look, your prized possession is now food for the dogs."

The Warriors who accompanied the scouts on this mission all laughed at these words. No one thought that this was a cruel act. They had experienced true terror and cruelty on the battlefield. If they ended up in the hands of the Dark Elves one day, they would be subjected to torment a hundred times worse than this!　

This was war.　　

At that moment, the carriage had already reached the north side of the Norton Kingdom. It was less than 125 miles to the Orida Fortress. Usually, they should be safe when they were in this proximity to their home base. However, all the scouts heightened their senses in case of any emergencies.

Before they left, Master Link had specifically mentioned the high possibility of a Dark Elf ambush along the way. The people from MI3 had great respect for Link and took his words seriously.

After around a mile, a huge overgrowth could be seen on King's Lane. The scout leading the way suddenly lifted his hands and took the Sacred Silver crossbow off his back. He then shouted, "My brothers, there is something wrong with the road in front! Be prepared!"　

The forest was extremely thick with overgrowth. There seemed to be no peculiarities, except for the fact that it was way too quiet. The closer one got to the forest, the more intense the uneasiness.

"Leader, shall we burn it down in flames?" a scout whispered.

The trees of the Dark Forest were sturdy and sparse. It would be a futile attempt to burn down the Dark Forest. However, the trees here were crumbly in texture and densely packed. Anyone inside would be burned into a crisp if they set fire to the area in front of them.　　

After the scout leader inspected his surroundings, he felt great imminent danger and nodded. He then shouted, "Set fire!"

At the same time, he ordered, "Get into formation, stay alert!"　

All the elite Warriors immediately took down the shields on their backs and formed a compact shielding formation around the carriage. On the other hand, the scouts took out countless low-level fire elemental runes and threw them into the forest after activation.

Boom! Boom! The fire runes were engraved with a Level-1 fireball spell. Upon landing in the forest, it exploded and ignited the flammable overgrowth around the area. The flames then began spreading.

Everything was fine…until something strange happened!　　

At the spot where the flames were the most intense, fire elementals started concentrating and moving as though they were alive. Eventually, a terrifying giant more than 15-foot-tall appeared, his body covered in flames.

The moment this giant appeared, it bellowed before charging straight towards the carriage.

"It's a summoning spell! Quick, the dispel scroll!"

A scout immediately brought out a scroll shining with a silver hue. He immediately tore it apart. This scroll was special; after tearing it, the mana energy stored within would be released. A Level-4 dispel spell then formed swiftly in the air.　

A silver hue then spread with the scout as the center in all directions. The flaming giant was also engulfed in this spell. Upon touching the silver hue, the giant stopped in its tracks before the fire elements condensed within its body lost control, causing flames to erupt from its body and eventually disintegrate.

The scouts then took out another scroll enveloped in a silver brilliance as a backup. This was an extremely strong Level-6 magic scroll. It could instantly cast a strong defensive spell. It was a gift from the High Elves for them to defend against any strong Dark Elves Magician they met along the way.　

He kept it close to him the whole time. The moment he felt the presence of a Level-6 spell, he would activate this scroll instantly.

"Be careful! The ghouls are here!" Someone shouted.　　

Within the flames, many figures charged forward at high speed. They were extremely fast, and there were more than 20 of them. This normal forest fire seemed to do little to no damage to them. Not only was it not effective in causing injuries, but the fire even ignited the burning desire to kill within these ghouls.　　

Whooo! The ghouls were emitting a strange sound as their bodies burned with flames. They looked like demons possessed by flames as they charged forward.

"Shoot!" The leader of the scouts shouted. They were all elite troops of MI3. Everyone was equipped with the newest Sacred Silver crossbow and had experience in dealing with ghouls. They adapted to the situation with ease. 　　

Boom! Boom! The crossbow arrows rained down upon the ghouls. Countless white lines flew through the sky as the arrows were imbued with tracking spells to make sure they hit their target.

These arrows were made specifically to deal with objects moving at high speed. They could adjust their trajectory and was the perfect weapon against the ghouls.　　　

In an instant, the sound of arrows penetrating flesh echoed through the forest. The accuracy of the magic arrows was at a staggering high. Screams of pain could be heard constantly from the ghouls. The Sacred Silver was indeed a huge bane to their powers.

There were 20 ghouls to begin with. They started charging at the 150 feet mark. However, when they reached the 90 feet mark, there were only eight of them left. The rest were already lying motionless on the ground.　　　

"Kill them all! Kill them all!" The leader of the scouts bellowed and quickly reloaded his crossbow. He then continued firing at the ghouls. He had already practiced these actions more than a thousand times during the war and completed it in less than a second.

The crossbow then continued firing at high speed.　　

Within the timespan of three breaths, the last ghoul fell at a distance of 15 feet away from everyone.　　

"Tsk! A bunch of fools who only knows how to charge!" The scout leader spat at the fallen ghouls and checked his crossbow carefully. After making sure that there were no damages, he then put away this treasured weapon safely.

He then ordered, "Alright, burn these ghouls and collect all the undamaged arrows. Keep an eye out for them! These arrows are not cheap!"

The moment he finished his sentence, an astonished voice rang behind him, "What? Why is the carriage empty?"　

Everyone immediately looked behind, and sure enough, the prisoner carriage was completely empty. Two of their prized prisoners were gone just like that.

"The lock is damaged, someone saved them!"

"But we did not see anyone; we were guarding the carriage!"

The scout leader's face immediately sunk. He walked towards the carriage, and after careful inspection, he gritted his teeth and said, "It's the work of a Dark Elf Magician. Where are the hounds? We will catch up to them! They must not have gone far!"　　

"Leader, all the hounds are dead…No, one of them lives! It's old Hallie!" The scout shouted.

Old Hallie was a ten-year-old hound. The fur on his body was sparse and usually hounds his age were no longer suited for the battlefield. However, resources were scarce in the Norton Kingdom. Their war horses and hounds were depleting at an insane rate. They had to use whatever they had.　

This old hound was extremely intelligent. It seemed to have detected danger a long time ago and got out of his cage early, escaping death.

Hallie was brought to the carriage for a sniff. It then barked a few times at the forest which had not been burned down and rushed inside.

"Follow him!" The scout leader waved his hands and commanded the scouts to charge forward.

After a few steps, a scout shouted, "Look! It's footprints! They must not have gone far!"

The scout leader was elated. He exclaimed, "There should not be many enemies. Just one or two Magicians. Everyone spread out, be careful of any ambush attacks!"