Advent of the Archmage

Orida Fortress

When a Level-14 meteorite appeared in the sky, Kanorse’s face instantly turned ashen.

“General, we couldn’t stop him!” The strategy analyst’s face was white as a sheet of paper.

If the Light Canopy were still there, they could easily block a Level-14 spell. But now, the canopy was damaged and couldn’t be used within a short period. If this spell fell upon them, it would be a feat if one-tenth of the Warriors in the fortress could survive.

That one-tenth would be horribly injured too. How could that number of soldiers with a damaged fortress fend off an army of 200,000?

The Doomsday Meteor was about to land. There was no time to consider or hesitate. Kanorse grabbed his Lion’s Fury and rushed out of the command tower.

“General?!” his subordinate yelled.

“From now on, you’re the general!” Kanorse yelled back. He trained his eyes on the Doomsday Meteor while rushing towards it. He would stop it, even if it meant paying with his life!

…

The Beastman Army on the other side of the fortress

Avatar, the Glorious Warlord and Beastman king, saw Kanorse at once. He looked up at the Doomsday Meteor, hesitated for half a second, and then rushed towards Kanorse.

“Lowly sneak attackers, if I survive, I’m gonna rip you apart!” The Beastman king never spoke with sophisticated vocabulary, but he knew that if the meteorite landed, his Warriors would all die.

These Warriors were the insurance for his race’s survival. If they all died, the fate of Beastmen would become miserable. Avatar couldn’t let that happen.

On the fortress wall, Jacker, clad in Legendary armor, was also watching the meteorite. From his spot, he could clearly feel that it would fall on the wall—right where he was standing.

If he didn’t dodge, he would be the first to be killed. He also saw Kanorse and Avatar. He knew what they were thinking because he had the same thoughts.

“Retreat, everyone retreat! Find somewhere to hide!” Jacker radiated with golden Sunlight Power. He tossed his sword away and grasped his heavy shield with both hands.

At the last moment, he saw a young man looking at him from the near distance. He knew this guy. He was Thoreau, a prodigal Warrior. Only 19 years old, he was already at Level-9 and had unlimited potential.

“Live and tell the lord that I died without regret!” Jacker yelled.

Thoreau nodded forcefully, tears rolling down his face.

During this time, the Orida Fortress’ Mage Tower had reactivated the shield that covered the entire fortress. But it was only at Level-10. It couldn’t stop this Doomsday Meteor at all.

Magicians, archers, and all types of heavy artillery kept attacking the meteor, trying to make it ignite beforehand, but it was all useless.

The structure of the Doomsday Meteor was ten times more stable than the usual Level-14 spell. There was also a special shield around it that was probably around Level-12. This shield blocked all disturbances.

More accurately, this was a Level-14 spell with a Level-12 shield! Someone had worked hard on this Doomsday Meteor to turn the Orida Fortress into a zone of death!

Just now, Kanorse and Avatar reached Jacker. The three didn’t talk. They understood each other with a glance.

The three Legendary Warriors looked up and activated their power. Kanorse turned into a flash of silver light, Jacker was gold, and Avatar was bloody red. Their battle auras melded together into a dark red glow of more than 15 feet wide.

At that time, the Doomsday Meteor was around 600 feet from the fortress. For Legendary Warriors, this was enough for them to attack!

The Warriors in the fortress heard a piercing yet muffled thud. The dark red glow lifted from the wall and shot towards the blue-white Doomsday Meteor like a rocket.

An instant later, they collided. There was a blinding flash in the sky. Everyone inside and outside the fortress shut their eyes reflexively, not daring to look.

Under the blinding light, the temperature rose 30 degrees. The North was originally freezing, but it became stifling now. All the snow melted.

Boom. There was a muffled explosion that spread in all directions like thunder. Then, there was another muffled boom. This came from the fortress wall. Something still crashed into it.

Smoke rose up, covering the sky.

When the dust subsided, everyone saw the wall clearly. The sturdy wall now had a huge hole 30 feet deep and 90 feet wide.

There were three burnt bodies in the hole. Judging from their figures and armor, one could vaguely distinguish them. General Kanorse’s body wasn’t even complete anymore. He was clearly dead. Beastman Avatar and Sunlight Army commander Jacker’s bodies were still whole, but they were not moving. No one knew if they were alive.

There were also thousands of bodies around the hole. They were the Warriors who hadn’t retreated in time. But these losses were nothing compared to what would have happened if the meteor had smashed down directly.

When this happened, Princess Annie was in a hidden corner of the fortress. She had entered the Legendary level now. When she saw Kanorse’s corpse, she covered her mouth, trying not to cry.

The general and war god of the Norton Kingdom, the man who always smiled gently at her, was gone.

She saw Warriors rush to the hole and take the three bodies. She heard some yell happily that someone was still alive, but she also heard sobbing. General Kanorse was still dead.

…

Outside the Orida Fortress

Dark Magician Eugene was ecstatic!

The human army lost three Legendary Warriors at once. Her threat was gone instantly; she could unleash her power now. The Orida Fortress also lost their general and had such a big hole in the wall. If they still couldn’t win, the Army of Destruction could change their name to the Army of Failures.

She stood up and ordered, “All fronts charge and attack with full force! I’ll clear the path!”

With that, she transformed into a puff of black smoke and rushed into the sky. Aiming at the hole in the wall, she cast a Level-10 Dissociation Ray.

Boom! The crack widened. After the loose rocks slid down, the bottom of the hole was less than 150 feet from the ground.

“It’s so sturdy. So unfortunate!” Eugene couldn’t help but praise it. “Since it’s so sturdy, I won’t look for trouble.”

If it was a regular wall, her spell could have destroyed the entire thing. Though she was a Level-14 Magician, she’d only upgraded recently and hadn’t learned Level-14 spells yet. She could use Level-13 spells though. Without the threat of Legendary Warriors, one Level-13 spell could kill more than half of the Warriors.

Eugene moved her wand to cast a Level-13 spell.

“Your Highness, wait,” Molina said.

“What?” Eugene turned.

“There are more than 40,000 Beastmen inside the fortress. They’re all powerful Warriors. We are in a good state and it’s a pity to kill them all. What if we persuade them to join us?” Molina asked.

Eugene considered this and nodded, smiling. “Good idea, but we still need to give them a taste. I’ll take care to kill those humans but not Beastmen, hehe.”

In that case, Molina wouldn’t object.

Eugene focused on casting the spell. However, she’d underestimated the army’s power and the dangers of the battlefield. There were countless eyes and elites on the battlefield. They wouldn’t let her cast spells safely.

Just then, around 500 streaks of fire shot out from the Orida Fortress. Crossbow archers and magic fire gun shooters seemed to have planned to shoot together. They had the same target—Eugene, casting a spell in the air, and the range of 60 feet around her.

Eugene was in the middle of spell-casting when the attacks rained down. The weakest spell was Level-8, and there were around 500 of them. She was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

This was an all-encompassing attack. She had nowhere to hide, and regular shields couldn’t stop them at all. Eugene didn’t even have time to cast a powerful shield.

Oh no, I was too cocky! My stupid habit! Eugene wanted to slap herself. But she was a top fighter of Firuman for centuries and still had life-saving tricks.

She immediately stopped casting spells. At the same time, a rune flashed in her hand like lightning. Activating, it buzzed, and Eugene disappeared in the white light. She re-appeared hundreds of feet away.

She wasn’t a spatial Magician and couldn’t do transmissions well. Teleporting hundreds of feet was already her limit.

But then something happened!

Before she could even steady herself after appearing, she saw a shadow charge towards her at an incredible speed. The shadow was already 15 feet away from her.

A thought flashed into her mind. Oh no, an Assassin!

It was none other than Princess Annie!

She’d turned her sadness and fury at Kanorse’s death into power. Ignoring her own life, she snuck into the Army of Destruction’s camp to assassinate their general. This was her responsibility as a Legendary Assassin and the only way to save the Orida Fortress.

Kanorse, I hope you will protect me from heaven. Annie was nine feet away from Eugene.