Chapter 696 - Yousre My Only Hope (2/2)

The old man was walking so fast that Link had to jog after him.

The two were soon inside the Frozen Palace. The Archmage’s footsteps did not stop. Once they reached the middle of the palace’s main hall, the Archmage waved a hand. As if in response, the rune circle beneath their feet glowed, revealing a secret storage space.

“Rise!” The Snow Mountain Archmage waved his hand again. An ice pillar began rising from the middle of the storage space with a sound of ice breaking. A crystal box was set on the pillar.

The Archmage opened the box with another wave of his hand. A colorless crystal as big as a pigeon’s egg floated out of the box. As soon as it came into contact with the air in the outside world, it was immediately surrounded by a milky white mist. The temperature in the hall instantly dropped to negative 30 degrees. Link could not help but shiver in the sudden cold.

“Swallow this, quick!” The Snow Mountain Archmage quickly gave Link the crystal. The cold was so intense that it was as if there were hundreds of cold needles piercing his face right now.

Link could not imagine how his stomach would react to being forced such an ominous-looking thing. He had no idea what the Snow Mountain Archmage was making him eat.

Game system, do you know what this is? thought Link. He knew the Archmage would not try to harm him. He just wanted to know a bit more about the crystal before he put it in his mouth.

Scanning… Scan complete. It’s a Flawless Frozen Essence.

Flawless Frozen Essence

Quality: Level-19

Effect: The Essence is made of pure concentrated Frost Power. Anyone who takes it will experience an intense cold. If they manage to survive it, their power level will be increased by one level. Otherwise, their body and soul will be frozen solid.

(Note: Great power comes at a great cost!)

After reading through the crystal’s effects, there was no doubt in Link’s mind what he was supposed to do right now. These were dangerous times. Link had to take a leap of faith. He opened his mouth and bit into the Flawless Frozen Essence. Ignoring the growing numbness in his mouth, he let the crystal slide down his throat and into his stomach.

Link’s thoughts flashed through his mind so quickly that the Snow Mountain Archmage did not even detect Link’s initial misgiving about swallowing the crystal.

He did not think that Link would take it so willingly. He then laughed out loud. “Good man, Good man! Seeing how much faith you have in me, you have my word that I will do whatever it takes to get you out of Aragu alive!”

Link could barely hear what the Archmage was saying. The only thing he was feeling right now was the indescribable pain in his stomach. It was as if hundreds of knives were now cutting up his intestines into ribbons. The coldness had also spread to every corner of his body, threatening to turn him into a human-sized popsicle.

The pain was excruciating. However, Link’s mind still remained somewhat lucid. Heh, I could still feel pain, which means that the crystal’s coldness hasn’t completely ruined my body yet.

If his body were to go completely numb, he would have to activate the Crown of Eternal Night’s Ultimate Darkness Form in order to boost his own magical resistances and mitigate the damage done to his body. However, the situation seemed a lot better than he had expected.

Link was now in so much pain that he could barely stand up. He plopped down on the ground, fighting off the biting cold in his body.

The Snow Mountain Archmage was silently watching over him in a corner.

At that point, the red glimmer in the sky had intensified. The snow and clouds in the sky outside the Frozen Palace had somewhat cleared.

Half a minute later, a terrible voice exploded like lightning in the air. “Iyr, hand over the intruder and pledge your allegiance to the Ruler of Light and Darkness or die!”

The Inferno Archmage, Sastor had arrived.