Advent of the Archmage

Creekwood Village, Night of the Dragon Inn.

Elin welcomed in the unexpected visitor.

"Where's Link?" the person asked as soon as they entered.

It was a female Red Dragon Warrior. She wore regular dragon clothing and makeup. Having hid her dragon power waves, she seemed just like a regular dragon. However, this couldn't fool Elin.

She circled the female Dragon Warrior and smirked. "So, are you the Felina that Link speaks of?"

"Yes. Where's he? How come I don't see him?" Felina looked from side to side. Something had happened to the queen, but the news wasn't allowed to be spread. The Dragon Temple needed guards, so she was forced to stay there. She'd snuck out to visit during her break.

As for the two foreign geniuses brought here, …they were like little dolls to the dragon elders. It was fine to leave them hanging for a while.

Elin did not like these high-level dragons at all. She jumped onto the chair and sat down again with a scoff and pouted. "You brought Link here, but it's already been half a month. All of you ignored him, and he was impatient, so he left."

Felina believed her. "Ah, he left? Left to where? How did he get through the wall of fog?"

Seeing that her anxiousness was genuine, Elin softened. "Fine, I lied. Link's not here. He's doing something really important right now. It pertains to your queen's safety!"

Felina was frightened. This Yabba girl's words were too exaggerated, and she spoke too dramatically. She kept scaring Felina.

The dragon knew Elin and also knew that leaving her in this inn and neglecting her for so long was rude. She could only plead now. "Elin, I'm here to take you two away from the Dragon Valley. You must know, there's been a terrifying change. You can't stay here anymore. Can you please tell me where Link is?"

Her words were effective.

"Hmph, I guess you still have a conscious and know to take us away. Link didn't trust you for nothing."

With that, Elin jumped off from the chair. She jogged over to the window, closed the curtain, and then ran back. Solemnly, she activated the Soundproof Barrier before she continued, "Link is pursuing the hidden culprit who framed the queen. Two days ago, he sent a message that there's been big progress."

Felina shuddered again. "How do you know something happened to the queen?"

"Hey, do you think we're idiots?" Elin side-eyed Felina with her big eyes. "You think I won't know if you hide everything in the Soul Realm? I know the Secret spells!"

Since they already knew, Felina didn't have to waste time explaining. Now, she was very curious about Link's actions. "You said that Link might have found the guy who hurt the queen already?"

Elin nodded lightly. "It's very possible, but I'm not sure about the details. We have very broken communication. You know, this is the Dragon Valley. We don't have any helpers and have to be cautious…Wait, there's something wrong?"

She yelped suddenly.

Felina was already used to how the Yabba girl spoke, so she just asked, "What now?"

"No, no, something happened to that guy. Oh, oh my god, his aura disappeared! He was killed!" Elin shot up. Without caring about Felina's thoughts, she grabbed Felina's hand and asked in panic, "Did you bring your weapon?"

"Of course. I'm a Warrior, and my weapon never leaves me!" Felina could sense the graveness of the question.

"Then follow me. I'll explain on the way." Elin rushed toward the inn's exit.

Felina was utterly confused, but all she could do was follow.

The two sped out of the inn and ran in the direction of the circus. After around 65 feet, Elin couldn't keep going. "I'm exhausted," she said to Felina. "I can't run quickly. Carry me."

In Felina's eyes, Elin was like a little girl. Hearing this, she reached out and set Elin on her shoulder. "Okay, sit tight. Point out the direction, and I'll take you there."

"No problem…Oh, you don't run as smoothly as Nana. This isn't comfortable…Ah, go that way. Yes, not in the direction of the circus. It's a forest on the side. Be careful. The killer might still be near."

Clink. Felina took out her two dragon claws. "Now, can you tell me what exactly happened?"

So Elin started explaining. "It's like this. You never showed up, right? So we thought it was weird and started to look and look…just like that."

She rambled on and said a bunch of things. It was kind of messy, but Felina understood. Stunned, she sped up.

Five minutes later, they were out of Creekwood. In the forest about one mile away, they found the corpse of a regular dragon. He'd been stabbed through the heart from the back. His face was in shock, clearly not expecting this.

Elin jumped down from Felina's shoulder and circled the body. "He was killed in the circus and then brought here," she asserted. "Look, this is the killer's footprint. Ah, this guy must be really powerful. Look, he traveled more than 130 feet with one step."

Felina saw this too. She was a Warrior and found more precise information from the footprint. "This is a Warrior at the pinnacle of Level-6. From the print, it's a female."

By this time, Felina had already completed a tracking spell. Pointing in a direction, she said, "She went that way and was really fast. Should we follow?"

Felina had wanted to take Link away from Dragon Valley, but now that this happened, her original intent had flown out of her mind. At this time, all that was in her mind was to find the truth. Putting Elin back on her shoulder, she started sprinting.

"Of course, and we have to know who she is! And what she wants!"

By the time of her last word, Felina's voice had become icy cold, the Red Dragon armor appearing on her body.

…

Duke Osiris' territory.

Link was currently sneaking into the castle.

It wasn't that he wanted to die, so he was playing hide and seek with a powerful Red Dragon. This was a mission that he'd decided on after careful planning and ensuring that it was safe.

The dragon duke wasn't at the castle at the moment.

One day ago, Link had had someone send a letter to the castle. He had forged some information regarding the Dragon Temple in that letter. Half a day later, the dragon duke was tricked into leaving.

Link estimated that he had two hours of relative safety. If he couldn't find any information within those two hours, this mission would completely fail. He'd have to retreat and run to the Dragon Temple for refuge.

The dragon duke would definitely know that someone had broken into his castle and could find Link quickly. Only the Dragon Temple could protect Link from being killed.

Two hours was not a lot; time was tight.

It was three o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was hanging high in the sky. It was very bright and difficult to sneak in. Thankfully, Link was skilled in the Invisibility spell. The security around the castle wasn't very high either. Five minutes later, he and Nana successfully slipped into the castle's garden.

The garden was filled with lilacs. No one could discover them bent over in the flowers. Here, Link whispered to Nana, "I'll go in to investigate. You stay here and come to me immediately if I'm discovered."

Two people were too big of a target and too dangerous. Link was also worried that Nana couldn't complete such a difficult infiltration mission.

"Understood."

Link nodded. Bending over, he walked along the small path in the garden, sticking to the blooming flowers. After around 300 feet, he was by the castle's outer walls.

There was a ring of bushes around the castle. Link dove into it and used the bushes as cover. He crawled around 60 feet in the grass and reached a door.

To ensure the success of the infiltration, Link had circled the castle many times from afar and had analyzed the castle's structure in detail. He might be a bit off about the inner structure, but there would be no problem with the outside.

For example, he knew that this door was the back door. Entering from here, he would reach the castle's kitchen. He'd seen servers move groceries into here. At mealtimes, smoke would come out from a nearby window.

It was already past lunch now, so entering from here should be safe. However, the door was closed. He couldn't just open it for no reason, but he also didn't have time to wait for it to open.

Link squeezed some leaves, and there was a faint magical flash. The leaves turned into a cat with a silver swordfish in its mouth.

The silver swordfish was a precious ingredient. It was definitely a waste if a cat got it.

Then Link flicked his finger. The "cat" jumped onto the kitchen windowsill and started meowing.

A few seconds later, angry yells came from the kitchen. "You damn beast. I'm gonna kill you!"

A fat middle-aged man ran out of the kitchen, yelling. Link immediately made the cat jump down and run into the garden. The man wielded a stick and ran after it.

Using the Invisibility spell, Link ran in through the opened kitchen door. The infiltration's first step had succeeded!

The castle's kitchen was spacious. There were chefs working inside, but Link easily followed the aisle out. Behind the kitchen was the dining room. It was furnished with black carved wooden tables and wall paintings. There was no one present.

This was even safer.

Link stuck to a wall and walked out the kitchen. There was a long hall after that and a staircase in the middle. Across from the stairs was the lobby of the first floor.

He hid in the dining room's doorway and stuck out his head, carefully investigating the hallway. He could see two fully-armored guards at the base of the stairs. From their auras, he could sense that they were two Level-7 Red Dragon Warriors. They'd blocked off the passage to the second floor.

Huh, it'll be hard to bypass them! Link thought.

His goal was the library on the second floor. If he wanted to find evidence, the library would definitely be the first destination. But how could he get to the second floor?

Just as he was racking his mind, another problem occurred.

A black-haired woman in a long dress walked down the stairs. "Guards," she said. "A rat has infiltrated the castle. Find him!"

Seeing the woman's face, Link's heart shuddered. He felt heart palpitations and shrank back like lightning, but it was too late. He'd been discovered.

Immediately after, he heard the woman's voice come from the stairs. "Huh? Guards, look over there. There's something amiss!"