Plop. Link jumped out of the airship and landed in the forest a few miles south of the Orida Fortress.
"Wait nearby for me!" he called. After waving to Lannie inside the airship, he began rushing over to the Orida Fortress.
After a while, he walked out of the forest and onto the wide road. Here, he walked while observing the footprints on the ground. It had rained a few days ago, and the ground was muddy. He could easily see the footprints.
A while later, he sighed. There are demon footprints but not too many. They're messy too, so they should be running disorderly. It's not too troublesome.
Confirming that the demons didn't have a large-scale southward migration, Link was much more relaxed. He cast the Invisibility spell on himself and sped towards the fortress.
Ten minutes later, he was below the Orida Fortress.
It had only been ten days since that final battle. The demons wouldn't clear the battlefield either, so the fortress still looked the same as that day.
The dirt was all red and littered with corpses. Because it was winter and the temperature was low, the corpses were only slightly decayed. The air was filled with the heavy smell of death. Outside the fortress, there were wild dogs and vultures everywhere. They tore at the endless corpses.
Reaching the first layer of walls, Link saw a Level-1 demon gnawing on a body. Its lips smacked and looked like it was enjoying the meal. Link ignored the demon and went around it.
Maybe it was because they were closer. The low-level demon felt something and stopped eating. It made a noise and looked in Link's direction. The pair of yellow vertical pupils stared where Link was standing with suspicion.
Link decided to walk over. He twirled his sword and with a stabbed the demon's head. With a clean sound, the demon was nailed to the ground.
The commotion was very small and didn't alert the higher-level demons. Link pulled his sword out and continued forward.
At the inner square of the Orida Fortress, the situation was more hellish than hell. There were at least three layers of corpses piled on the ground. Blood formed various small puddles on the ground. The bodies of humans, Dark Elves, and demons formed mountains.
Many demons squatted in the sea of blood and mountain of bodies. It seemed to be lunchtime. The demons grabbed casually at the bodies. Some ate humans, but most ate Dark Elves.
The reason was simple: Link had cooked the Dark Elves, and they were less rotten. They tasted better.
Crack, smack. Mmm…
The sounds of cracking bones, tearing at meat, and swallowing bloody water all mixed together. It sent chills down one's spine.
This was true hell!
Even though Link had witnessed countless tragedies before, this still made his scalp numb. All he wanted to do now was to burn it all with fire!
He counted the demons before him. There were around 18000. At least this saved Link the time from finding them all.
Standing at the tunnel door of the city wall, Link started casting spells. Rather than offensive spells, he used Spatial Spheres.
Poof, poof. Two Spatial Spheres flew out. One landed at the opening while one landed in a hole not too far away. Then there was a burst, and two Spatial Restraints appeared, blocking the exits.
"Huh?"
"Who's there?"
"What happened?"
The demons were surprised. They stopped feasting and looked to the door. Link canceled the Invisibility spell and stood near the door. Gazing around the square, he said, "I'm back."
The demons exchanged glances.
"Who's that?"
"He's covered in fog. I can't see his face."
"He's alone. Did he bring fresh food?"
The demon closest to Link roared menacingly and rushed over at him. It was a Level-6 Blade Demon. It was more than eight feet tall, and its hands had transformed into swords. Its body was like a praying mantis, so it had another name—the Mantis Demon.
He went into a hunting pose and pounced at Link.
Link didn't move. He activated the surround attack effect of the Dragon King's Fury sword. At the same time, he activated the Demon Slayer Whip. A thin string whipped towards the Mantis Demon.
Kapoof! With a strange sound, the demon was halved in the air. The cut was scalding, and plumes of hot steam rolled out.
The other demons had been getting ready, but seeing this, they all froze. Many even retreated.
"I recognize him. He's Link, the human Magician!"
"Didn't the Princess go capture him? Where is Her Highness?"
"Did something happen to her?"
The princess was gone, but the terrifying human Magician was back. He'd even sealed off the exits. What was he doing? Was this going to be a massacre?
The demons stared at one another awkwardly. They felt doubtful and fearful. They didn't have a commander and were clueless as to what they should do.
Link walked forward. His murderous intent was to the extreme. He'd become cold and calm like an icy lake. "To be honest, you're all corpses to me already," he said in a frigid tone.
"Presumptuous! Kill him!" A Fodor Flaming Demon shot up and charged at Link.
"He's alone!"
"We're not failures like those Dark Elves!"
The battle had begun!
The demons started charging, but Link moved forward instead of retreating. Spatial Restraint, Instant Flash, the Demon Slayer's Whip, crowd attack effect, and the Assassin's Robe were all activated instantaneously and cast at once.
Fiery red fog appeared and covered the entire square within seconds. Then it grew heavier, heavier, and heavier until it blocked all vision.
Orida Fortress
Duke Abel patrolled the inside of the fortress as usual. Only then could he calm the more and more obvious restlessness.
It had been ten days, and there was still no news of Link. He was anxious.
But as the general, he couldn't show any of those emotions. While patrolling, he endlessly cheered the soldiers on. It had only been ten days, but he was already mentally and physically exhausted.
Now, the only good news was that the demons outside the fortress were reducing. He didn't know why but it was still encouraging.
Just then, a soldier ran over.
Abel furrowed his brows. He recognized this soldier to be a sentinel from the rooftop. "What's the hurry?"
"Something strange happened inside the fortress. Duke, I think you should take a look."
Duke Abel's heart jumped. "I'll go now. Who else knows?"
"General Kanorse, Princess Annie, High Elf Romilson, and the others are all there," the sentinel reported.
As they spoke, Duke Abel arrived at the rooftop. He could look down on the entire fortress from here. Doing so, he discovered a very obvious ball of fiery red fog above the square in the distance.
The fog was very thick so he couldn't see the exact situation. He couldn't hear outside the fortress either due to the barriers.
"Does anyone know what's happening?" Duke Abel asked.
No one replied. After half a minute, Romilson said hesitantly, "It looks like Master Link's power, but it's too far away. I can't tell."
"Kanorse, what do you say?" Duke Abel asked.
Kanorse shook his head. "I don't think so. Look at the fog. It's fiery red and a bit transparent as well. Instead of fog, it looks like water… No, it's like a ball of burning fire. Look, the air above it is distorted. It should be the fire's heat waves. Master Link isn't that strong.
"Look, that demon wants to climb out." Annie suddenly pointed at a black spot on the wall.
Everyone squinted and saw a Fodor Flaming Demon appear on the tall fortress wall. It looked really pathetic. Its entire body was scorched black, and smoke rose up from it.
That wasn't it. Its body was still on fire. The fire was very strange—the flames were as beautiful as crystals. The Fodor Flaming Demon continuously used his strength to extinguish the flames but to no avail.
Not only were the flames not put out, but they grew even bigger!
The demon seemed to be screaming. Its entire body on fire, it stumbled for a few dozen feet on the wall. Then it dropped to the ground.
The fire continued burning. Under everyone's eyes, the demon was burned to ashes.
"It's very pure flame power," Romilson couldn't help but say. "I've never seen anything like this before. It's unbelievable!"
Kanorse stared at the red fog and whispered, "Clearly, a very powerful figure has arrived. It is highly possible that it is the reinforcements Master Link found. This power reminds me of the Legendary dragons."
Duke Abel also stared unblinkingly. The red fog would dissipate sooner or later, and they would see the truth.
It didn't take long. After around ten minutes, the fog started thinning. Then with a whoosh, the fog broke apart. A young black-haired man in a dark blue battle robe jumped onto the wall.
"It's Master Link!" someone yelped.
"How can it be him?"
"When did he become so strong?"
Just as everyone was in shock, a Dimensional Demon appeared behind Link. It was covered in flames as if wanting to make a suicidal attack.
Everyone yelped involuntarily. But then they saw Link stab backward without even looking back. His sword glinted, and the demon was cut into two. It screamed and fell from the wall.
Seeing this, Duke Abel let out a sigh of relief. "We're safe. Activate the shield and open the gate," he ordered. "Welcome the Lord of Ferde back!"
He didn't know why Link suddenly became this powerful, but the demons were defeated. That was enough.