Chapter 195 (2/2)
“Right now,” he began to analyze, “I’m already able to fight against a Level-8 demon, and I’m still very young. My strength still has a large room for improvement. In a year or two, I might even face a Legendary-level demon. Moreover, this isn’t a battle that I will fight alone. Right now, I’m building my estate and my own army. If Nozama dared to send his demon minions, then I will kill them all. I believe that after ten years, even if Nozama came here himself, I will still face him without any fear.”
Link had said those words with full confidence, and he knew that the confidence wasn’t misplaced or just an illusion of grandeur on his part.
One very simple reason was the fact that the deep abyss where the demons came from was of another realm. The demons must expend a huge amount of energy just to enter this world. According to legends, in order to send the demon Tarviss into this world, a total of 1000 souls of high-level demon Warriors were sacrificed. Such a high price was something that even the great Nozama could not afford to pay easily.
In other words, merely one talented daughter was not worth such a sacrifice.
Dorias was sure it would burst into maniacal laughter had these words been spoken by anyone else. It might even bite their head off afterwards for being so conceited. Still, because they had come from Link, the mighty Magician who had recently killed Tarviss the Level-8 demon, he felt that those words carried much weight and credibility and deserved to be taken seriously.
“Alright, alright, I get it,” said Dorias good-humoredly. “I know you’re a powerful figure yourself!” He then said nothing more and kept on running.
Link was sitting comfortably behind Celine on the tiger’s back, his arms hugging the surprisingly slim waist of the demon Princess. Celine had made no protests at his gesture, making him enjoy the ride back to the North with an unimaginably gladdened heart.
After a while, he decided to break the truth to Celine of his motives.
“Celine,” he said, “I need your help to do something once we’ve reached the North.”
“Go on,” responded Celine with a smile. Although it was true that Link had made a great leap in improvements since she last saw him, she was still at Level-6 herself and was far from useless dead weight.
Link then explained everything from the events leading up to him being awarded a piece of land by the king and his need to change the climate of his estate, up to his meeting with the Lich Vance, and how he promised to help him reclaim his underground palace.
“The underground palace is a complex labyrinth,” said Link finally. “I need the help of a Warrior with outstanding skills, so I thought of you.”
“Then you’ve found the right person,” said Celine, clenching her delicately pinkish fist in the air keenly. She couldn’t be happier to help Link.
Dorias shook his head as he heard Vance’ name and the description of this figure.
“I know the bastard,” said the tiger. “He was the only one in the Azura Tower who refused to leave. He was even less willing to take part in releasing the demon Tarviss. Had it not been for the fact that the tower had been blown up into pieces, I’m sure he’d still be there wasting away in that damned rotten place.”
“What? Is that true?” asked the surprised Link. He was glad to hear of this account of Vance because he had been suspicious of the Lich. But after hearing what Dorias had to say about him, he felt he knew more about the Lich now and started to reconsider him in a new and more positive light.
By the looks of it, Vance might actually be a decent person who was worth cooperating further with. After all, the Lich was the man who had founded the studies of Battle Aura and Battle Art. So, who could be better in helping Link to develop a special Battle Art that could be practiced by everyone in his troop of Warriors?
Meanwhile, Celine was curious about this figure herself.
“Did you say that this Vance is a Lich?” she asked.
“A Lich my ass,” replied Dorias. “He’s just a skeleton!”
Celine turned around to face Link and smiled at him.
“A Lich, a magical beast, and now me, a demon,” she said. “Link, aren’t you afraid that we’d get you into trouble?”
“Hahaha, don’t worry,” replied Link with a smile. “It’s no big deal. I can handle it.”
Link’s remark wasn’t out of arrogance; it was only out of the self-confidence and the faith that things would all work out fine. In the past, he’d been afraid to come into contact with anything or anyone associated with dark magic, and these people were, to the average Magician, just the kind of people that he must avoid like the plague. Yet now, he’d seen through the situation and the consequences that everyone was in much more clearly.
He had been afraid to associate himself with dark magic because he feared that he would be sucked into the darkness and had his wisdom and judgment affected by the darkness himself. He also wanted to protect his resolve and his principles so that he might never deviate from the main purpose that he had been sent here in the first place.
He didn’t want to associate himself with the Magicians who practiced dark magic or to any creatures who had been involved with dark energy, because he was worried of the public opinion and his reputation.
In the past, he was only an insignificant Magician’s Apprentice of the East Cove Magic Academy, so such a negative reputation might indeed be unfavorable to his growth and progress as a Magician in the future. This was because he could easily be ousted and banned from the world of magic simply because he’d made one Master Magician suspicious of him. Even Herrera might easily discard of him and send him away had she found out that he was involved in less-than-savory things like dark magic.
But now, he had gained his own reputation and status and was no longer an insignificant weed on the ground. He was a mighty oak tree that stood proud and tall among the others. His words alone carried great weight and influence throughout the Norton Kingdom and maybe even the whole Firuman continent. By this point, he had little cause to worry himself about such petty matters as a little criticism from the public.
As the saying went, when the water was too clear there would be no fish. If he, as a lord in his own right, were too rigid with rules and too obsessed about towing the line there wouldn’t be much hope in his future. The most important thing to do when attempting something important was to amass alliances and forces from as many areas as he could.
Now, it was the Lich Vance who was able to help him to transform the climate of his estate. He now believed that Vance deserved his full trust, so Link would cooperate with him without any hesitation or misgivings about the Lich’s shady past.
It was as the popular saying went: a true hero did not concern himself with the past, only the present.
As long as Link knew the limits that he would never cross, even if the truth were exposed, no one would be able to punish him for anything. At most, someone might exhort him about the matter, and Link already had a way to deal with this—he would just ignore them!
Seeing how confident and calm Link had become now, Celine couldn’t help but recall the events during that fateful night in Gladstone.
He was still a young boy then, she thought. But in a blink of an eye, he has now become a noble lord with a high reputation as a Magician across Firuman. Ah, how time flies, and how quickly he has changed. Celine wasn’t too disturbed by these turn of events, though. She just settled down calmly and found herself a comfortable space right there in Link’s arms.
The three of them chatted and laughed for the rest of the journey. Dorias’ body had almost healed perfectly now, so his speed had improved and was as lightning fast as it had once been when he was in his prime. And so they headed to the North.
…
At the same time, Opal City had descended into utter chaos. The demons had appeared on the streets and were in a fierce battle with the Magicians. About 236 civilians were caught up in the scene, of which 127 were dead. It was simply a massive disaster!
Soon, the whole city was overcome with panic. The people were in fear while the leaders pointed their fingers at the Magician’s Alliance and accused them of misusing magic. The Magician’s Alliance, in turn, retorted that it was their duty and highest priority to exterminate the demons and that the deaths of the civilians were unintended but inevitable. While it was a pity that many innocent people were caught up in this event, the Magician’s Alliance had promised to make compensations to the families.
The leaders of the kingdom then replied that human lives could not be measured by gold coins. The Magician’s Alliance had been too rash and allowed too much power, so there must be an established royal decree that would limit the activities of these Magicians. This statement received widespread support from the people as soon as the word spread out.
The people didn’t care whether there had been demons or not; what they knew and clearly saw was that the unlucky people had died horribly, or they were heavily injured because of the Magicians.
At last, the Magicians Alliance had to relent and give in to the pressure from the authorities above and the common people below.
Meanwhile in the underworld, as the highest authority of the Leo Kingdom’s branch of the Syndicate, Bren was not happy of their limited success in constraining the Magician’s Alliance at all. His face was as dark as the blackened bottom of a pot because Princess Celine had once again slipped through their fingers. Furthermore, all three demons were now killed by the Magician’s Alliance, so he no longer had the aid of the Lord of the Deep, Nozama anymore.
Overall, everything had been an utter failure!
It was true that he knew where Celine had fled to, yet he couldn’t think of a way to pursue her in the North. Besides, Bren knew that it would be crazy to attempt to recapture Celine from the hands of that bastard.
The members of the Syndicate knew how stormy Bren’s mood was at the moment, so they all avoided him the moment he approached.
Meanwhile, the Necromancer Andrew had gone out every day and wouldn’t come back for about twenty hours. He’d wear a maniacal smile on his face every time he returned—only heaven knew why he would act so bizarrely.