Chapter 434: Act 186 – The Final Moment (Part 2)
“Xi.”
The gentle calling seemed softer than the howling wind outside.
The red-haired girl looked up. Veronika was sitting not far away, both of them hiding in a natural windbreak formed by the inwardly concave black rocks. This kind of terrain was not uncommon in this area, perpetually shrouded in strong winds and sand.
Veronika seemed to want to break the silence but suddenly didn’t know where to start, as the girl in front of her bore a strong sense of vigilance. This was not surprising for Xi, considering they had previously been enemies.
However, the lady commander eventually chose to speak.
Xi blinked her beautiful amber eyes, looking at the noblewoman from the Cruz Empire with curiosity. The relationship between them had seemingly transformed from hostility to a subtle mutual reliance, giving her an unreal feeling.
Yet, more than that, there was a sense of unease—not from fear or nervousness about her situation, but from concern after leaving her lord.
This unease reflected subtly in the girl’s expression; her brows were slightly furrowed, forming fine wrinkles on her forehead, and her eyes were filled with worry.
Veronika sighed, “You don’t need to worry too much. Your lord will definitely be safe.”
The comforting words somewhat eased the girl’s tension, at least her hands were no longer clenched into fists. Then the lady commander flashed a kind smile:
“In the Cruz army, there’s a saying; those with strong fates are favored by the stars above.
“It is said that a baby born on a night when a brilliant starry river stretches across the sky is a child of the stars. The children of the stars are blessed with luck and can astonishingly turn misfortunes into blessings. I see this potential in him.”
Xi did not understand why Veronika suddenly mentioned this to her; she stared wide-eyed in disbelief at her senior, as if questioning: Do the Cruz people really have such a legend?
The distance between the two women narrowed significantly.
“Where are you from?” Veronika suddenly asked.
“I—” Xi began to quietly say the word “I,” suddenly becoming alert. She looked at the lady with a suspicious gaze. However, the latter shook her head with a smile, unable to suppress a soft laugh.
“You don’t need to be nervous; I’m just curious.”
Xi tilted her head, looking at her in confusion.
“I’ve seen many outstanding young people, but none like your lord,” Veronika shook her head—though over a hundred years old, the lady warrior still retained the youthful vigor of her most energetic years; calling her a stunning beauty wouldn’t be an exaggeration. However, at this moment, seated on the sandy ground, she appeared somewhat weary: “If one genius appears among a hundred people, your lord must be the kind that only emerges once in a thousand years.”
“I do not doubt his future achievements at all, but I am just curious; how could someone like him really appear in the border province of a small country? Brendel said he is a minor lord on the borders of Erluin, but it seems too legendary to me.”
“Just like those described in knight novels,” Veronika turned her head, a wise smile flickering in her emerald green eyes, “but everyone knows, stories are just stories.”
Xi stared at her in a daze.
“I mean no harm, just curiosity.”
“I don’t know,” the girl looked down, shaking her head.
The lady commander appeared to want to discern the truth behind Xi’s words from her expression but did not press further. It was as if their conversation was merely small talk, and she nodded.
“That little girl knows him better than you.”
For some reason, Xi understood Veronika was referring to Antinna, and she nodded.
“What a mysterious little fellow,” Veronika instinctively licked her lips, a habitual action reminiscent of two or three decades ago when encountering a tenacious opponent on the battlefield, a wild light flickering in her emerald eyes.
She turned back, “Are you still worried?”
Xi shook her head; she did not want to show cowardice in front of others.
Veronika merely smiled slightly, “Once the winds and sands die down a bit, let’s go look for him.”
The red-haired girl, startled, suddenly looked up at her, tail flicking.
The lady commander said no more; in fact, she rarely revealed such an approachable side. It was only that this lonely girl touched some soft spots within her.
It reminded her of her younger days—
Veronika watched Xi’s reaction with keen interest. But at that moment, an abrupt sound rang out from the outside wind and sand.
A clattering of stones slipped down the mountainside in the fierce wind, as if someone was walking between the cliffs.
The footsteps startled both women. Veronika instinctively reached for the sword at her waist but remembered that the Azure Sky had already been handed to Brendel.
Just as she raised her head, the footsteps grew closer, and then a voice called out in the wind and sand:
“Are there other travelers inside? Can you let me in to escape the wind? This weather is really unfriendly.”
Hearing this voice, Veronika’s brow arched slightly.
“Please come in, Lord Earl,” the lady hesitated for a moment before responding.
The person outside seemed slightly taken aback by her answer, as if surprised, but quickly rushed in. The cave grew slightly darker as the newcomer, one hand resting on his sword, looked down at Veronika from the cave’s entrance.
“Veronika!”
What Xi saw was a familiar face.
Gray Saint Mephistopheles.
……
Since entering the black obsidian giant door guarding Valhalla, it felt as if they had entered a vast underground space, the entire area immersed in endless, silent darkness—Brendel and the others had progressed a good distance under the lack of light before their vision began to adapt to the environment.
They gradually realized they were walking up a cylindrical “bridge,” surrounded by many other “bridges” similar to this one, all converging upwards to form a gentle slope.
These “bridges” had no guardrails, which sounded somewhat dangerous, but in reality, the cylindrical surfaces were several dozen meters wide, making walking on them relatively stable.
However, when they occasionally looked back down, the “pillars” behind them seemed to plunge into an endless darkness, appearing as if they had no end, while gazing upwards, the apex of the “pillars” infinitely extended into the enveloping darkness.
This optical illusion almost made one think they were ascending vertically, as if walking in the void before the creation of the world, a single misstep could lead to an endless abyss.
Anyone in such an environment would feel their limbs weaken at just a glance; it was even more so for someone in the party.
Brendel had not walked far before he felt another hand gripping his, besides Funiya’s. He turned his head to see a scared and shivering Faina, who had come to his side at some point, her face already pale.
This noble young lady looked at him pleadingly, as if asking him not to make a sound. But Brendel chuckled inwardly; William could not have failed to notice her actions, and Funiya had very sharp ears.
In other words, she was just deceiving herself.
“Can’t even light a torch?” Brendel asked in the darkness.
“Ever-burning torches have no effect here; magic is ineffective, so there might be a strong magic suppression imposed,” the old wizard standing beside him replied, as if discussing something entirely unrelated to himself: “But we could try a higher-level spell.”
“Like an artificial sun.”
“Pass.”
Brendel was very clear about that spell; he did not want to blow this place up. However, the darkness was not too threatening to them compared to the enemies behind them.
The young man turned to look back; the place they had entered was filled with shadows, that was Andisha and her aides circling there.
That was the effect of William’s magic; it had to be said that this grand wizard indeed possessed power that matched his reputation. At least, very few people dared to say they could easily trap Andisha.
The old man noticed Brendel’s expression and couldn’t help but squint and smile.
He stroked the top of his staff and proudly said, “This maze magic should hold them for a while. But, young man, I can’t help you much more.”
Setting an ambush behind the gates of Valhalla was actually Brendel’s suggestion. Though William had fought against Andisha before, he was unaware of the personality of this Patriarch of the Treemancers; but Brendel wasn’t the same. He knew very well that Andisha would take this bait.
Yet the plan had deviated somewhat from his original expectations—
“If I remember correctly, the Treemancers are your enemies, right?” Brendel couldn’t help but ask, “Wouldn’t it be better to take this opportunity to deal with them?”
He looked eagerly at the grand wizard, wishing for him to act so that he wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.
“You dream,” the old man chuckled, “truth be told, I would love to, but that’s one of the twelve Patriarchs of the Treemancers. Although I can’t understand how you got in trouble with this fellow, fighting this woman has a low chance of winning; thus, I won’t easily intervene.”
Brendel secretly eyed the old wizard, thinking it truly fit the nature of these craftsman wizards to quantify the odds of victory and defeat in warfare. No wonder they had never truly failed in any conflict.
In any case, the People of Silver were indeed monsters.
However, he did not intend to persuade William so easily; he still retained some mentalities from the game. At least in Amber Sword, they wouldn’t openly offer players such opportunities for cheating.
“Can’t even pull off a sneak attack?”
“No.”
William shook his head, “Alright, young man, don’t think too much. This maze spell can hold Andisha for at least half an hour because she doesn’t know I’m here. If she sees me, this spell will cease to function.”
“And even without this condition, she would eventually figure out that it’s an illusion. That’s one,” the old man raised a finger, “the second is, I can’t spend too much time with you here.”
“You’re leaving?” Brendel was taken aback; this grand wizard was currently his greatest support, yet he hadn’t expected him to leave so soon.
“The Green Tower is about to be lost; you wouldn’t want your efforts to come to nothing,” William scratched his silver-haired head. To be honest, Brendel found it hard to believe a venerable wizard leader would do something so ridiculous: “Alright,” the old man said, “it actually has nothing to do with me, but since Turiman asked me for help, I cannot refuse.”
The Green Tower is about to fall so quickly?
Brendel had no idea he had already been unconscious for several days; he still thought that no players participated, thus the gap was so significant. However, fortunately, the wizard leader of the Silver Alliance was there, which eased his mind.
If William intervened, the Wolf Calamity shouldn’t threaten the Druids for the time being.
However, no matter what, it also meant his time was limited.
The old man patted him on the shoulder, pulled out a box, and handed it to him: “This is a gift from me to you, young man—inside this box is a cloak that can help you evade Andisha’s perception.”
“Wait,” Brendel called out, “there are three of us, Master.”
“I know,” the old man smiled slightly, “that’s why this cloak is actually for giants.”
“For giants?” Brendel gave him a quizzical look. What kind of strange setting was this?
“Exactly. However, it has a flaw; it can only be used once a day. After using it once, it becomes no different from an ordinary cloak.”
“Do you wizards always have such peculiar items?” Brendel took the box, a little irritated.
Everything happening now reminded him of past experiences in the game; he had no good impression of a wizard’s creations.
“Oh, you seem familiar with them. Now I’m relieved,” the old man smiled and waved his staff in the air, opening a silver light door out of thin air: “But don’t underestimate this cloak. When it is active, even the Dragon King cannot break through its concealment!”
“The Dragon King? You mean Bahamut?” Brendel was taken aback and couldn’t help but look critically at the box in his hand.
Yet whether it was the fire dragon king Bahamut or the war dragon Tiamat, if this cloak was as the old man claimed, it must at least be a mythical artifact.
But was it truly such a thing?
Brendel turned around just in time to see the old man step into the light door. But at the last moment, William suddenly turned back and earnestly told him, “Young man, I’ve given you time. The next part is up to you—”
“Wait, I said!” Brendel suddenly realized, “You haven’t told me what the activation spell for this thing is!”
Unfortunately, it seemed William had clearly not heard his last words, for the light door flickered in the darkness and then disappeared into nothingness, as if it had never existed.
Damn it!
At that moment, Brendel felt a great sense of being tricked.
……(To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, feel free to vote for recommendations or monthly votes on Qidian (qidian.com); your support is my greatest motivation.)
