Advent of the Archmage Chapter 481: You’re Surrounded!

Chapter 481: You’re Surrounded!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A river cut through the entire city of Gladstone, running from the old parts in the North to the inner city. It passed by the main citadel, through the garden zone, and finally out the business zone.
Basically, everyone used water from this river.
The Dark Elf and Naga priestess' aura went along this river. It was clear that they planned to poison it.
Celine grew fearful as she walked. "That Dark Elf is honestly so horrible. This way, it won't take long before the entire city is infected."
Link nodded. "They've already left for a day. I can sense very slight Dark aura in the water. It's probably too late to stop the infection. The only solution we have now is to find a way to crack this spell."
It had already been a day, and the aura left behind was very thin. Celine couldn't sense it at all.
She stuck close behind Link. The two walked from the garden zone to the old city and reached the mouth of the river.
"They've left the city. Let's go."
There was a city wall that blocked their path. Link took out the Dragon King's Fury sword and drew some runes in the air. With a light tap, a magic door appeared. The two moved through the wall.
Outside the city, they continued up the river.
At first, there were still some residents outside. After around three miles, the terrain became steeper. A mountain and a waterfall appeared. This waterfall was around 150 feet high. Water fell from the sky, crashing against the rock with a thick spray.
This time, Celine felt the thin Dark aura in the air. "It really is the water!"
Link nodded. He could feel the auras of the Dark Elf and Naga priestess. They were on top of the waterfall.
He gripped Celine's waist and used the Void Walk to fly to the top. There, the terrain was much smoother. Forests grew on either side of the river. The water flowed slowly as well. Three hundred feet forward, the water started turning. Past that, there was another small waterfall of a few dozen feet high. There was a pool of water under it, surrounded by rocks.
Link saw their target on a flat boulder. A Dark Elf and Naga priestess were casting a spell.
A large number of runes hovered around them. The Dark Elf added in Dark power while the Naga used the God of Destruction's power. Both formed a misty belt that extended and mixed above the pool of water, creating a ball of dark red light.
Black liquid from the ball of light dripped into the river.
Link studied the rune matrix and felt for the density of the Dark power in the environment. He quickly concluded, "They've maintained this magic seal for half a day. That's enough time for the magic to seep into the entire underground water system of the city."
In other words, it was possible for all average citizens under Level-4 to be infected right now. This was the absolute majority of Gladstone City.
"Should we act?" Celine held her big fire gun, ready to blow their brains out at any time.
"Wait, I'm recording their magic runes… It'll need five minutes," Link whispered.
These guys were Level-7 and eight. Their lives weren't valuable; Celine could kill them with two bullets. The most important matter now was to find a way to decode this spell and save the citizens of Gladstone.
When a spell was operating, fine ripples would appear in the Mana. A powerful Magician could use these ripples to calculate the spell's theory in reverse.
And Link was that type of Magician!
He was now a Level-11 Magician while the opponents were only using a modified Level-3 Undead Ray. The only difficulty was that the God of Destruction's power was involved but other than that, it was an easy task.
The seconds ticked by. Around three minutes later, Link had an idea. He was clear about the specific way the Undead Ray and the God of Destruction's power were combined.
He realized that it was the God of Destruction's power that made the divine spells ineffective. It wasn't much, but it was heavy in nature, much heavier than the God of Light's power in most divine spells—reaching Level-8. The density of divine power in spells cast by Gladstone's highest bishop was only around Level-5. Even the Battle Priest of the Orida Fortress was only at Level-7. They couldn't get past the Undead spell's protective layer at all.
A bunch of foam could never destroy metal.
It was easy now. If Link raised the density of Light power and supplemented with some magic, he should be able to get rid of this plague.
Thinking of this, Link said to Celine, "Alright, get them."
Celine propped up the big fire gun and adjusted the scope. She aimed with practiced ease and pressed down hard on the magic runes. Poof, a bullet flew out.
A second later, the Naga priestess was hit. A fist-sized hole opened up in her head. She cried out and fell over, ending the plague spell immediately. Her death shocked the Dark Elf greatly. He froze instinctively and then jumped behind the boulder, getting ready to run.
He was honestly in panic and even forgot to activate a defensive spell… Of course, it wouldn't work even if he did.
When he was mid-air, Celine's bullet arrived, digging into his back. Boom. The powerful force threw the Dark Elf 15 feet away, his body snapping in half.
He was totally dead.
"Done!" Celine wiped the metal shards off the muzzle with a clean white cloth. Then she blew on it and put the gun away. "Now what?"
Link already had plans. "Go to the church in the city and find a priest. Only their divine spells can defeat the God of Destruction."
Gladstone's church had many priests. They weren't at high levels, but only they had the divine Light power. Their level didn't matter. Link could create a focus crystal to raise the density of the power.
"Then let's go."
"We'll fly back invisible."
They had to find clues when coming, so they'd been a bit slow. They didn't have that worry now. Link picked Celine up, cast the Traceless and Void Walk spell, and started flying to the church.
The church was between the garden and business zone. It wasn't too far, but it was nighttime. Link couldn't see far, so he didn't fly too quickly.
Around ten minutes later, they landed in the square before the church.
As soon as he landed, something felt off. Link sniffed and gripped his sword. "It smells like fresh blood. Someone has just been killed!"
Shocked, Celine grasped her guns.
Link continued forward, quickly getting to the white stone steps before the church. The bloody smell was heavier here with a chaotic aura mingled within. It was the Naga power.
Stunned, Link quietly unsheathed the Dragon King's Fury sword and continued walking. A few steps later, he found a corpse behind the pillar by the door. It was a young priest around 20 years old. There was a hole in his chest; the fresh blood stood in stark contrast to his white robe.
"It's the Nagas! I can sense the commander's aura. She was here!" Link narrowed his eyes, murderous intent rising within.
The church's door was pushed open to allow a person in. Walking through the crack, Link saw that corpses were strewn across the room.
Regular priests, Holy Knights, bishops, and even the servants had all been killed. No one was spared.
Link and Celine walked over. Every corpse had the same wound—a clear hole. The Nagas liked using spears. They definitely did this.
There weren't many signs of struggle, meaning the Nagas were powerful and the priests had no way of fighting back.
Going through the church, Link searched every room but found no survivors. Corpses were everywhere. The divine objects had all been destroyed too. Even the holy water of the repentance pool was polluted with dark magic.
"The commander guessed my plan and destroyed the source of the solution!"
Only a god's power could counter another god. This was the rule!
The Nagas had killed all light priests in the city. Even if Link found a way to cure the plague, he would have no way of doing so. He could only watch helplessly as the plague rampaged through the city.
With the physiques of the regular people, their bodies and souls would be destroyed by the plague. Even if he got rid of the disease, it was useless.
"Those Nagas are so cruel!" Celine's blood ran cold.
Link sank into deep thought. The priests here were gone, but there were still some at the Orida Fortress and neighboring cities. With Link's speed, he could transport them over.
So they must have just done this offhandedly to create trouble for Link…or even to lure him over.
Thinking of this, Link's heart twitched. If he'd guessed correctly, this place was already surrounded. It was easy to confirm this. They knew he was a Spatial Magician. To trap him, they would lock the surrounding space.
He activated his Dragon Power and cast the Spatial Detection spell to test the spatial frequency.
A red dot of light appeared and exploded like fireworks. One second later, Link confirmed his guess. The space here was completely locked. "We walked into a trap," he whispered to Celine.
As soon as he spoke, a seductive voice rang out. "Link, I've waited for more than an hour."
The black-haired Naga walked in from the entrance.
Link smiled, totally unmoved. "Great, I was looking for you too."