When Archer saw the woman’s smile, he was captivated by it while examining her features. Lucrezia’s platinum blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, framing her face like a shimmering veil that danced in the starlight.

Her striking red eyes gleamed like rubies, drawing him in with their intense glow. Despite being shorter than him, she possessed a strength that radiated from within, and her body was lithe, and looked like an athlete from back on earth.

Archer noticed her robes resembled the ones witches wear, but it looked like she had added on some of her additions, which he liked. Lucrezia smiled at his reaction and said, ”I need your help dealing with some pests that invaded my mountain.”

”Where are they?” Archer shook his head. ”We can sort out your issue before leaving for the empire.”

After he finished speaking, a soft yawn reached his ears, prompting him to turn around. He saw Aeris stretching as she stood up, her eyes fluttering open with a startled expression that adorned her pretty face.

Without waiting anymore, Aeris rushed over to him and warmly wrapped her arms around him. Archer couldn’t help but chuckle as he returned the hug, feeling the affectionate gesture wash over him.

As she reached up and gently grasped his cheek, drawing him closer, he was taken aback by her sudden kiss. However, he returned the gesture, his lips meeting hers in a moment of shared closeness.

Their exchange drew a light-hearted giggle from Lucrezia, who amusedly watched the scene. Soon, they separated before Aeris started checking his body over and was amazed as she saw the wounds heal quickly.

She sensed his mana rapidly flowing into his body to help with the healing, causing Archer to groan. After a few minutes, she was happy he wasn’t injured anymore. Once he was done greeting the Dark Wraith girl, he turned to Lucrezia and asked, ”Where are these intruders? I’ll deal with them.”

Lucrezia pointed north as she replied, ”They are set up in some ruins.”

Archer nodded and started to put on some fresh clothes after casting Cleanse on himself as he spoke to the other, ”Will the Swarm still be able to track me?”

Aeris responded, ”Not anymore, but we cannot risk it for a little while at least.”

His gaze turned to Lucrezia, who agreed with the black-haired girl, ”The little Waith is right. I wiped out everything the Swarm did, but just to be sure, we can fly back, which shouldn’t take too long.”

Archer smiled before he questioned, ”How did you get rid of the poison when my healing couldn’t?”

Lucrezia pulled out a book and responded, ”My mother wrote this as she had a lot of experience dealing with the Swarm.” She ran a hand over the book before continuing. ”Mother and Father found a way to deal with all their poison as the base of it is their evil magic.”

She handed it to Archer, ”Take this and learn the spell. If it won’t instantly heal you, it will stop you from dying while you continue to cast it as many times as you can.”

”Okay,” he took the book with an honest smile. ”Thank you for helping me.”

”It’s not a problem, dragon.” She smirked. ”You just need to keep your end of the bargain, and I’m sure we will get on well.”

Archer stored it in his Item Box before traveling north with Aeris and Lucrezia, who quickly packed everything she needed. After a few hours of trekking through the forest, they found the ruins where the intruders had set up shop.

When they stopped in the treeline, Archer watched the buildings and started spotting bandit guards patrolling outside the ruins. This caused him to chuckle before talking to his companions. ”You two stay here and cover my back. More will appear.”

Aeris and Lucrezia nodded while preparing. Archer smiled as he cast Blink, causing him to vanish from the spit and reappear behind the first guard. He quickly killed the first bandit guard using a small Eldritch Blast that pierced his brain.

After that, he Blinked outside the ruins while taking out the guards before a blast of black acid nearly hit him. Thanks to his senses, he dodged the attack, only to see a crazy-looking Dark Mage standing there.

Archer saw several skeleton-looking guards around the newcomer and cast dozens of Plasma Missiles. One of these missiles slammed into an invisible wall, shaking the ground and causing the shields to shake.

He charged forward, launching Eldritch Blasts at the enemy, who defended themselves with an aura shield. However, Archer noticed that even more Dark Mages appeared from the ruins as they started to cast their death magic at him.

Just before the spells hit him, an ear-piercing scream caused them to soar off course and crash into the nearby buildings as Aeris flew by in the Wraith form. She slammed into one of the shields and started tearing it apart with her shadowy claws, which tore chunks of it.

She managed to get through the shield and started slaughtering the Dark Mage who attacked them. When Archer saw this, he rushed forward and used his always-activated Anti-Magic skill to strike the shield, causing it to crumble into rouge mana.

When that happened, Archer launched himself toward the male Dark Mage and slashed his throat before blinking toward another group. He cast a spell called Crown Of Stars that he hadn’t used for a while. The spell summoned a dozen violet orbs that circled his body.

A group of Ghouls approached, and the spell shot toward them like miniature rockets. The creatures dropped by the dozens as the orb separated like cluster bombs that exploded on contact.

Just as Archer did that, he scanned the three surviving dark mages.

Mortus Grimwood

Level: 123

Rank: Magus

Isolde Graveborn

Level: 150

Rank: Magus

Morrigan Bonecaster

Leve: 320

Rank: High Mage

Archer grinned as the excitement surged inside him. He lunged toward the High Mage, who panicked and tried to defend herself, but he was too quick. His tail lashed out and pierced the woman’s throat before he Blinked at the other two.

He finished them off using Plasma Missiles that burned right through their chests, causing them to drop to the ground. Once Archer was done with his attacks, he used Aura Detector to scan the area and was shocked when he received the results.

‘Why is she here?’ Archer internally spoke, but that’s when a powerful aura washed over him, causing his body to lock up.

As that happened, he saw a figure emerge from the foliage. Standing seven feet tall, the man had jet-black eyes and wore the familiar robes the others wore. However, he noticed a bright red star emblazoned on his chest.

Archer scanned him while the man approached.

Malachar

Level: 801

Rank: Demi-God

Just as the man reached him, another strong aura washed over the forest and slammed into the powerful dark mage. That’s when Archer spotted Lucrezia, who started chanting in an unknown language and punched out at the necromancer.

He saw her fist connect with Malachar’s chest, which caved in. When that happened, Archer was shocked but quickly scanned the Death Witch.

Lucrezia Bloodthorne

Level: 973

Demi-God

‘Oh **. She’s strong!’ Archer thought.

Lucrezia quickly dealt with Malachar, who couldn’t keep up with her attacks as she blended magic with close combat. Archer watched her jump in the air and dodge a swing of the man’s arm.

When she did that, Lucrezia’s foot connected with Malachar’s jaw, causing the Demi-God to crumble under her assault. Archer rushed into the building the enemy was guarding as the Death Witch dealt with the Demi-Gods.

As he entered, he spotted a large hall with a counter stretching from one side. Archer noticed there were several doorways behind it with rotted wood frames. Dust covered everything, and piles of ruined furniture littered the place.

Archer looked around, wondered what this place would be used for, and guessed a meeting room. Once checking out the hall, he used Aura Detector to scan the building, causing him to sense dozens of other beings inside.

But the person Archer was after was further inside, so he followed in and found a back room where he spotted several people chained to the wall while a dozen others were lying there lifeless with bruises covering their broken bodies.

He spotted the person he was searching for and rushed over to her. It was the necromancer Demecia and the rest of her people. She was injured all over and looked like she was starving.

Once reaching her, Archer cast Aurora Healing on the pale-

skinned woman, who started to come to her as his blue eyes opened, and when she spotted him, a bright smile appeared as she started to speak in a labored voice, ”The Death’s Whisper Guild captured us just as I was signaling for you as they hate you due to your actions against the Novgorodians who are their man backers.”

Archer nodded as he used Mana Manipulation to remove the chains that easily clamped onto her. Once Demacia was free, she spoke as she tried to stand but fell over, ”Help my sister, please.”

Demacia pointed to the opposite corner, where a woman was covered in blood and looked like she was beaten and only wore a tattered rag. He approached her, causing her to flinch, ”I’m not going to hurt you,” he held up his hands. ”I’m just going to heal you and cover you up with a blanket.”

The woman calmed down when she spotted Demacia stumbling up to them, ”Morana. Archer isn’t going to hurt us. He will take us away from this nightmare.”

Archer then heard a quiet voice speak, ”Okay.”

He smiled before crouching down while holding his hand out, ”Take it, Morana.”

A slender hand emerged as she began to sit up, granting him a clear view of her. Determinedly, she grasped his hand firmly. Seizing the moment, Archer quickly cast Aurora Healing, enveloping her in its soothing violet light.

Please let me know if you spot any mistakes, and I will edit them. Thank you

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