Pine Leaf Village was just around the corner.
"Do not enter the village. Circle around the side," Link said. He had to rush back to Creekwood Village and enter the Dragon Temple as fast as possible.
"I understand." Nana adjusted her position and entered the woods beside the village.
After a while, Link could feel a familiar magic presence in front of him. "Wait a moment; this is someone I know…This is Elin! Felina came too! Nana, head that way."
Both parties were in the forest and merely a few hundred feet apart. They met each other quickly.
Apart from the two people Link knew, there was one more person on the ground. This person was already dead with black foam around his mouth. He seemed to have died of the same poison as the Dragon Warrior Link met.
Link then jumped down from Nana's back and asked in relief, "Elin, Felina, why did both of you come this way?"
The two woman seemed elated to see him as well. Elin pointed at the corpse on the ground and said, "We followed her all the way here. She killed the ordinary dragon in the circus. However, after we defeated her, she committed suicide."
Felina then asked, "Have you found the mastermind?"
Link nodded as he said, "Not only did I find him, I also found concrete evidence. We cannot stay here for long. They have already been alerted, and there are pursuers behind me. We have to rush back immediately.
Upon hearing those words, the two woman exchanged glances and nodded.
Felina transformed into her dragon form immediately. She was around 27-foot-long and around 13-foot-tall. This was exceptionally huge for an ordinary person. She then said, "Climb on, I will bring you guys back. I believe that the elders in the Dragon Temple will not be able to stay so arrogant after you present your evidence."
The traveling speed of a dragon was not to be underestimated. They were still about 30 miles away from the Dragon Temple. However, with Felina's speed, she could reach the destination in less than ten minutes' time.
Link immediately climbed onto Felina's back and said, "Elin, quick."
"Wow, that is huge," Elin exclaimed as she began to mount Felina's humongous body with Nana's assistance.
However, just when she was going to, she gave a shrill cry before she grabbed her head in fear, standing rooted in her original position.
"What is going on?" Felina was startled and immediately turned back. She thought that the spikes on her giant wings had accidentally injured this little one.
Elin's eyes widened in fear as she trembled. She then muttered, "I felt danger, extreme danger! A huge guy, extremely huge, with giant blood-red wings covering the sun, is flying towards us. My lord, we will not be able to defeat him!"
Upon hearing these words, Felina was still slightly confused. Link, on the other hand, was horrified as he said, "Quick! We need to set off! Nana, you don't have to get up, just keep up with us on the ground."
Nana would be faster when she was traveling alone on the ground than if she traveled on Felina's back.
Felina immediately took flight before she asked, "Link, who is the mastermind?"
"It is Duke Osiris…"
Before Link could complete his sentence, he could feel Felina's body jerk suddenly. She then stuttered, "How… how could it be? Why would he do that? This does not make sense."
There were three great Dukes in the Red Dragon race. They were all considered husbands of the Red Dragon Queen, namely Isendilan, Osiris, and Davosus. Although Isendilan had already betrayed the Red Dragon race, the other two Dukes were still trusted and had a good reputation, especially Osiris. He was favored greatly by the queen—how could he have committed such a heinous crime?
"If even you have no idea, how could I hope to understand the situation? However, I found a few peculiar letters. Perhaps his true motives can be found within them," Link said.
At that moment, Link already felt that something was amiss. He looked behind him and saw a faint red hue in the horizon. As time passed, this hue became thicker and denser.
"He has caught up!" Link felt his body tremble as he asked, "Felina, how strong is Osiris?"
"Level-9 strength. He is only a step away from reaching Legendary," Felina said. As both Osiris and Felina were of the dragon race, she could feel clearly feel the terrifying power trailing behind her.
She thought for a moment and landed without hesitation. She then explained as she made her descent, "He is three times faster than I am and he is only three miles away. It will be impossible for us to fly back to the Dragon Temple safely. We have to find another way."
This was the truth. Link nodded his head in agreement as he said, "I have a Dimensional Scroll. It can bring us into the Soul Realm together with our bodies. Should we hide there for the time being?"
Felina had already landed, she shook her head as she said, "I am not sure. Osiris is extremely strong. His power is beyond imagination."
Elin said, "I'm afraid that would not work. I have already seen many powerful dragons enter and leave the Soul Realm easily during my time in the Holy Mountain. As a being that is only one step away from Legendary, Osiris must possess this power as well.
"Then there is one last method. I still have a huge reserve of mana; this is enough for at least six Dimensional Leap spells…"
Felina interrupted Link at this moment as she said, "No, this is not safe. I must have been noticed as well. Let's do this. We will go our separate ways. While he is chasing after my huge body, the two of you will make your way back to the Dragon Temple."
"But you will die!" Elin screamed.
"I am a Warrior! My destiny is to die on the battlefield!" Felina laughed as she said. She then placed Link and the rest on the ground before she leaped into the sky once again.
Not only did she fly high up into the sky, but she also released a huge amount of energy consecutively. She became enveloped in a crimson brilliance as she let out a shrill dragon cry.
This cry reverberated through the entire Dragon Valley, scaring the forest creatures out of their hiding spots.
Link immediately understood Felina's intentions. This place was not that far away from the Holy Mountain. If Felina took such drastic actions, it would definitely attract the attention of the dragons in the Holy Mountain. This way, even if Felina failed to attract Osiris' attention, he would be left with little time to track them down.
Osiris would have to settle everything before the dragons of the Holy Mountain arrived. Furthermore, they would not take long to arrive.
Elin immediately cried as tears flowed down her cheeks. She shouted, "I just took a liking to her and now she is going to die!"
Link felt extremely disdainful as well. He took a deep breath to recollect himself before saying, "Alright, we have to make it back safely. This is the only way we can repay Felina's sacrifice!"
As he said those words, Link cast a Traceless spell on the both of them before he took those secret letters out from his dimensional pendant. He then put them away in his robe. The dimensional pendant was not stable equipment. If Link were to engage in a battle with another Level-8 or Level-9 individual, the dimensional pendant might disintegrate. He could not afford the disappearance of these important letters.
After settling all these, Link turned to Nana and said, "Bring us out of this place."
Nana carried Link on her back once again and placed Elin on her shoulders. She then charged forward with full speed. Although carrying two people greatly reduced her speed, she was still traveling at a speed of 270 feet per second. The last 30-mile stretch of road would take less than ten minutes to complete.
Less than half a minute after they started running, a gigantic figure flew past them. In order to conceal his gigantic figure, he seemed to be flying at a low altitude. Following which, the sound of a sonic boom could be heard. This meant that the figure was flying at a speed faster than sound.
Behind him, a long red hue extended for a distance of 600 feet. His body was also enveloped in a six-foot-thick crimson flame. From afar, he looked like a burning comet dashing through the horizon.
"This power is terrifying!" Elin was completely startled as she gasped.
Fortunately, he seemed to be attracted by Felina and was charging straight in her direction. He did not even notice Link, Elin, and Nana, who were traveling stealthily on the ground.
Link heaved a sigh of relief as his heart sank. If this went on, Felina would definitely be dead.
Sure enough, less than half a minute after that figure flew past, Felina's presence disappeared.
Elin whispered, "Was she killed?"
Link fell silent. Felina was a Level-7 Warrior while the Duke was a Level-9 Warrior. Their strength could not be measured on the same scale. Link could not find a reason as to how Felina could have survived.
Tears started streaming profusely down Elin's face.
Link was extremely sad as well. However, he kept his cool and quickly calculated, "The Duke was traveling at a speed of 1350 feet per second. The Holy Mountain must have individuals that can match that speed. If the dragons of the Holy Mountain had already detected Felina's unusual behavior and sent down a team to investigate… judging from the fact that we are 30 miles away… they would take around two minutes to reach here. With Felina as a decoy, half a minute has already passed. This means that the Duke only has one and a half minute left to act."
Link realized that they still stood a chance after all. In fact, the Duke was the one in an extremely bad position.
"Nana, stop here," Link ordered.
Nana would make lots of movements while she was running. This would make them easily discoverable even if they had the Traceless spell active. They merely had to tide over that one and a half minute until the backup forces arrived.
Nana immediately stopped moving.
Link then jumped down from her back as he muttered, "700 Omni Points, increase Maximum Mana."
His Maximum Mana was 8500 points, and his Mana Points were at 6000 points. He had 860 Omni Points, and after using 700 of them, his Maximum Mana would become 13000 points.
This Maximum Mana was akin to that of a Level-9 Magician. More importantly, with the support of such a huge mana pool, Link could greatly increase the scale of his Spatial Magic.
The Omni Points took effect as Link felt an indescribable feeling surge through his body. Three seconds later, a message appeared in his field of vision:
Maximum Mana Upgrade Complete.
Link took a moment to revere at the huge amount of mana surging through his body before he started casting his Spatial spells.
Link was casting an unprecedentedly huge Spatial spell. It was a spell more than 300 feet in radius and 150 feet in height. The entire space within Link's control became extremely complicated. The space was sealed in a closed loop and filled with space-time traps and folded dimensions. There were even constricted territories within the area.
This entire process took Link five seconds. Following which, he took Elin and Nana to a secret spatial sphere under a tree.
Ten seconds later, the Duke had arrived.
Whoosh! He flapped his wings and slowly lowered his altitude before he landed on the ground.
There were two people beside him. The first one was Felina who was drenched in blood. Her limbs were completely deformed, and her armor was shattered to smithereens. However, she still seemed to be breathing, as evident from the movement on her chest. The other person was clad in a black robe and had a pale complexion. She was Dragon Magician Olisa.
"My lord, please be careful. This space is strange," Felina seemed to have felt something out of the ordinary.
"Hmm," Osiris lowered his head as he observed the area. He then said, "This is some novel tactics. Olisa, I need you to unravel this quickly."
Olisa's face immediately turned red as she said apologetically, "Duke, this…
She was not unwilling to help her lord. However, as an Elemental Magician, there was no way she could dispel a Spatial spell!
"Forget it, I will do this myself," Osiris was not surprised. Although he had not done any research into Spatial Magic, he knew a universal rule.
All spells required Mana Points for sustenance. In essence, everything would boil down to a battle of power. That was something that he definitely did not lack.
He would simply use brute force to crush all the traps and novel techniques used in this space.
He flicked his claws gently to throw Felina to Olisa's side. He then said, "I will try to destroy this thing. If I am not successful after half a minute, you will kill this girl."
He had confidence in his power. However, he would not mind using a few despicable means to achieve his goals as well.