Chapter 593: Act 338 – Glory II
In the desolate black tower of the plateau, the scholars burdened by the wilderness, and the melodious wind songs, this is the impression the world has of Karasu. The black tower wizards originated from the legacy of the People of Silver; when the first generation of gray-robed wizards began to construct tall towers in northern Daniel, Erluin had yet to be established.
To this day, there are still famous black tower ruins near Silver Horse City. However, the wizards have long since migrated north, establishing enormous libraries and cities in the regions of Nale and Chaan. The black tower wizards are closely related to the Highland Knights of Daylinjie, both adhering to an ancient treaty inscribed on parchment made from black goat skin, which is still preserved in the great library of Chaan.
When Williams saw these troublemakers appear, his expression darkened visibly.
He looked up and saw several gray-robed mages of the golden level atop each of the four square towers. For these high tower wizards, the black tower they painstakingly built is a complete magic array; on each of their respective towers, their spells can receive maximum enhancement, rivaling even elemental powers.
“High tower wizards, do you dare defy the Taftaka Pact—!”
But the gray wizards ignored him entirely. As soon as the black tower emerged, the chanting of spells rose high amidst the heavy rain: “O King of Azure Calamity, grant me the authority of the elements, deep ice lance—”
From the top of the four towers, a slanted white magical array appeared, its secret patterns and incantations swirling together at a point, then each shot out a cyan-blue translucent beam directly targeting the fleet of the Temple of Fire. Instantly, alarm bells rang out on the three floating battleships of the Temple of Fire, the commanders screamed, and the Perlan and Taylor began to maneuver in defiance of reason, the floating magic cores emitting an unbearable buzzing sound, arcs of deep blue electricity flashing across the hull.
Williams gritted his teeth and slashed towards that direction, a gold-red sword light resembling a fiery whip in the night sky lashed out a hundred feet long.
But that was actually an irregularly derived line of magic, a scorching golden line moving in a zigzag pattern that instantly severed three blue beams, leaving one that still grazed the bottom keel of the Taylor, producing a crisp sound as a layer of ice a foot thick immediately formed on the mithril hull, while rainwater flowed down the solid ice, quickly crystallizing into a long icicle.
The massive weight caused the Taylor to tilt slightly downward.
Williams disappeared from the sky in an instant and reappeared before the four square towers. This was not teleportation, but an action so swift that the naked eye could not catch it.
“High tower wizards, you better have an explanation.”
“Haha, the Crusian surely is arrogant. We have long severed our ties with the Silver Alliance, so refer to us as the black tower wizards, Lord Williams.”
Williams coldly fixed his gaze on the wizards atop the tower.
“As for why we are here, this is Erluin’s civil war. We choose to support the Corvado royal family; it seems this has nothing to do with you Crusian.”
Princess Grifian, in the forest below, could not help but gently press her hand against her chest upon hearing this. Her delicate fingers clenched into a fist; but of course, she knew that these reclusive wizards would not support her for no reason. The only one present related to them was the former genius of the Palos family—Charles. And connected to them was the descendant under the name of Darus, the Earth Sword Saint.
Her gaze turned to Brendel.
“The Corvado royal family has associations with heretics; in the eyes of the Temple of Fire, they do not possess the qualifications to inherit the throne. High tower wizards, the holy war is imminent; I suggest you do not get involved in this conflict.”
Williams raised his hand, and the entire battlefield suddenly came to a halt. The monks of the Temple of Fire and two hundred flying cavalry immediately stood still in the air, while the Northern Coalition retreated like a tide, distancing themselves from the knights of Lantonrand.
The high tower wizards were a substantial headache; he truly did not wish to entangle them in this ever-growing vortex.
“Ridiculous—” An angry rebuke.
Brendel held a golden card tightly but paused his actions. He raised his head and coldly interrupted Williams, “The Corvado royal family has associations with heretics, based solely on your word?”
Williams, interrupted by Brendel, turned pale and retorted coldly, “Here, I can naturally represent the Temple. I disdain to explain to a sinner like you; you only need to understand that the Temple will never err.”
Brendel sneered. To be honest, if not for the excessive clout of the Temple that necessitated clearing the princess’s innocence, he had no interest in looking at the face of this person. Historically, Williams appeared to him as a complete fool, “Whatever is right or wrong will be judged by you, but it will never be wrong. Pity that Saint Ausoor, Fanzan, and even Erlandta would not agree with your nonsense. The Temple makes no mistakes? Is the history of the high priest of the Rus being bought off by the Everything Returns Society during the Year of Division a figment of imagination?”
“What rus high priest?” Williams’s expression changed slightly as his hand rested on the sword hilt.
“The high priest Hanfuke of Rus was like a son to the people and was once a strong candidate to become a central priest, yet he mysteriously vanished. The Temple claimed he died of illness, which is laughable; how could a dignified priest fall ill? Was it not the curing spells you studied diligently after the Year of Division? I seem to remember those existed as far back as the Year of the Saints?”
Williams’s expression shifted from green to black, but Brendel did not intend to let him off. To be honest, the Temple of Fire, with its massive structure, had been penetrated like a sieve, with the edge regions like Erluin already thoroughly infiltrated. The Anrodus he encountered in the Loop of Trade Winds was surely not the first dissident and would not be the last.
“It is laughable that the illustrious Temple of Fire is so pressed for excuses. Perhaps this is due to excessive bureaucratic rigidity, but it is a pity that your authority has indeed sunk deep into people’s hearts, such a bizarre reason even goes unchallenged. But do you truly believe the nations of the continent other than the Crusian are fools?”
Brendel’s words seemingly froze the battlefield. To utter such things once would have been blasphemous. For thousands of years, commoners under the four great temples never thought to question the authority of the supreme.
Moreover, the nobles were not without their suspicions about the underlying issues; they just kept it to themselves.
Brendel continued, “Furthermore, you think no one is aware of all the secrets involved? Do not forget there are too many eyes in this world. The wizards document history, the astrologers foretell the future, yet only you would assume you have evaded detection. Although the religious events in the Rus region have been sealed for nearly three centuries, there are plenty of records in Buga and the White City; even under the Temple of Fire, many descendants of the informed still live in Jakka and Yaladbu.”
“You think I’m lying? Let me tell you. In the Year 101 of the First Era, in Exifran—”
“Enough!” Williams looked at Brendel as if he had seen a ghost—what he had just mentioned was the most strictly prohibited secret of the Temple of Fire. In truth, the upper echelons of the Temple were aware of the infiltration from below, yet there was nothing they could do, as they could not disclose everything since authority was everything to the Temple— but the question was, how did he know?
As Brendel spoke of the Year 101 in the First Era, Williams felt as though he had been stabbed in the chest; that was precisely the key point of that religious incident. He did not know how Brendel knew these details, but he could certainly be sure that if this were a nightmare, Brendel was surely his greatest nightmare at that moment.
Such a serious leak of information, even if he were implicated, would bring him great trouble. Although he was the deputy leader of the Knights of the Temple, do not forget that the Knights of the Temple had one leader but seven deputies.
“This is the difference between sages and mortals; when hearts are restless and are bought off by heretics, it can only mean they have willingly fallen. What has this to do with the Temple? The Temple’s handling of such scum only proves that the internal affairs remain pure.” Williams forcibly suppressed his unease and replied seriously.
“Smooth-tongued, Lord Williams, if this were a single case, it would indeed be so. But from what I know, the Temple’s performance on the periphery seems to be less than what you claim, such as—” Brendel retorted aggressively.
“Less nonsense!” Williams dared not let him continue. If this went on, he truly feared he would find himself before a religious tribunal. “And you are the same, descendant of the Cadilos family. Sixty years ago, the Temple made a colossal mistake. But we will never err again.” He turned his gaze coldly toward the wizards atop the tower. “You should all remember everything that happened in the Feifa Peak Valley. If you do not wish to be embroiled in this colossal trouble, turn around and leave at once. Today I can pretend you never appeared.”
Feifa Peak Valley? Brendel slightly froze; he recalled having heard that name somewhere before, and he immediately committed the place name to memory, preparing to check it in the great library of Chaan when he had the time. Or perhaps it was best to check the history on the ‘Wall of Silver’ in Buga.
However, it appeared the Temple of Fire truly had significant misgivings about the black tower wizards; regrettably, the Corvado royal family failed to capture them back then. Now it seemed the highland wizards bore no ill will toward Princess Grifian. What led to such a divide later on?
Williams thought he could scare off these sudden interlopers, but unexpectedly, a group emerged from behind the gray-robed wizards atop the black tower. Upon seeing these knights clad in sky-blue armor, he inwardly cursed. He saw that the leader among them was none other than the leader of the Highland Knights, Bud.
This handsome middle-aged uncle indeed smiled slightly and replied, “Williams, it seems your memory is declining rapidly; you have the signs of aging before your time. How did I respond to you last time? The decision of the Highland Knights half a century ago is our decision now; when have the Highland Knights ever broken their vows?”
“If you seek war, I will join you. The Temple of Fire is vast, but the blood of the Daniel people has yet to drain.” Bud drew his longsword and winked at Brendel in the forest below. “The descendant of Darus, I have heard you are resourceful; I trust you have no confidence in engaging these Northerners in a battle here. Thus, I will help shield you from these few broken ships of the Temple of Fire; I hope you can teach these arrogant Crusian a lesson.”
Brendel lifted his head, smiling inwardly. The sudden appearance of Aike and the Highland Knights warmed his heart; the people of Erluin were not extinct; at least some still bore the ancient proud blood.
“Of course.”
“However, these seem to be the vanguard fleet of the Crusian; uncle, you must be careful.” He replied.
“Uncle?” Bud laughed out loud, “Thank you for your concern.”
The two chatted freely, while Williams’s rage could almost wipe out the Erluin people. “Since you don’t take good advice and insist on walking down this dark path, then there is no need for further discussion.” He knew with the previous remarks, if he could not kill Brendel today, he feared he would be sent to the religious court tomorrow. He cast one last look at these Highland Knights of Daniel and ceased to speak further.
The negotiations broke down; the attack continued.
The Northern Coalition was regrouping; in fact, the army of Lantonrand also needed time to adjust. But war was imminent. Brendel lowered his head and called out to Aike not far away, “Aike, can you hold off the Northerners?”
“It’s a bit troublesome.” Aike waved his sword, “Did not expect so many.”
Brendel almost collapsed, not expecting the enemy to be so large. He suddenly caught sight of Makarolo, whose face was ashen, and he started to understand the other’s feelings.
But Aike only smiled indifferently, “But it doesn’t matter. Knights fight for ideals and seek only to die!”
Brendel shook his head; this guy was truly a madman. However, he did not want to accompany a foolish knight to his end; the situation below must stabilize before he had time to deal with the temple knights above. He threw the card forward and said, “It’s fine, let me help you.”
“Ah, how will you help?”
Brendel did not need to reply.
For the Life Codex was entering the battlefield.
A pure white light was rising from the Ankle Mountains. It resembled the ‘first light in darkness, granting life and spirit’ from the epic of the creation of the Crusian.
Suddenly, a massive book radiating the purest life force appeared before Brendel. At that moment he discarded the Wave Stone and utilized its ability “sacrifice this card, choose any card from your hand, and bring it into play for free,” placing the 25-cost Life Codex into play without cost.
Life, the domain of Martha.
An overwhelming force immediately swept across the entire battlefield, causing everyone to instinctively turn their heads to gaze in the direction of the rising white light, feeling the thrum within their hearts. Another artifact, Williams felt the fragments of the Flame Blade on his person vibrate gently; this was the resonance between artifacts. But the power of this artifact surpassed that of the Flame Blade Odrefice, for he could deeply feel the awe of the Flame Blade fragments—
He looked up just in time to see Brendel making a second forward gesture to cast a spell. A white light ring unfolded from the young man’s hand—wasn’t he a swordsman? He thought this, but Brendel was actually presenting the mana cost for the Eternal Sphere—its ability was to tap and pay 5 of any mana to create a perfect copy of the next card to enter play.
Brendel paid five water mana, then copied a Life Codex.
When two Life Codexes floated above the battlefield, everyone was left dumbfounded—dual relics!
Williams immediately sensed danger, although Brendel had yet to launch an attack. But he had a rough idea of the other’s profession—Summoner. He clearly sensed that the two artifact books were summoned into play by Brendel; although he did not know what Brendel was planning, even the pre-summon was an artifact—what could the follow-up measures be lacking?
For the first time, the deputy leader of the Knights of the Temple felt that the battlefield was beyond his predictions. He could never have dreamed that a young man, a mere elemental manifest, would have such a backup.
A young elemental manifest swordsman not even twenty years old, and his true role was a summoner?
Was there still any law of nature? Who would believe this if it were spoken?
At that moment, Brendel raised his head.
At that moment, he gazed into Williams’s eyes as a traveling mage. This was the first time the deputy leader of the Knights of the Temple felt deep fear, as he saw from those young eyes the momentum of someone who overshadowed all, reigning supreme.
As if saying—
Are you ready?
“Stop him!” Williams’s fear surged; he raised his long sword high, using all his might to bring it crashing down.
That slash felt as if a ray of light from the horizon. A gold-red line split the rain curtain; lines of law wrapped around the sword edge, like a divine hand smoothing over darkness. As the sword came down, nearly half the sky was illuminated into pure gold by the peak power of the law.
In that instant, Williams felt as though he had touched the boundary between life and death. The spiral peak suddenly refracted above his head, as laws sprang forth like spread lines in all directions.
Then.
He saw the Polygon of Extremes.
A field of pure white.
The black tower wizards immediately noticed the anomaly of this sword, and Bud was the same. Although they could not perceive the understanding of ultimate power ignited from the flowering elemental point, Bud felt a deep sense of tremor in the air. Williams had actually leveled up at this critical moment?
Was this scientific?
“Master Ashu, teleport! He wants to kill Brendel!” He suddenly grasped the tower crest of the black square tower and shouted toward the left tower.
The gray-robed wizard hesitated for a moment, and suddenly with a clap of his hand, the black tower vanished, then the next instant appeared directly in the path of Williams’s sword.
With a sizzling sound, as if a hot knife cut through butter, a golden flame sliced through the very center of the giant tower. Instantly, the so-called indestructible black tower crumbled; the gray-robed wizards scattered into the air, flying toward the other towers.
Yet Williams’s golden sword flame continued forward, not being hindered in the slightest.
“Ah, the Polygon of Extremes!” Bud finally realized what was happening, the latter half of his words caught in his throat.
Williams suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze calm, he gently exhaled. Pity, it was still just a bit lacking, but this strike truly reached the standard of the Polygon of Extremes. He quietly watched the golden lines of law soaring through half the sky, nearing the treetops, poised to hit Brendel head-on.
This was the power of the Polygon of Extremes.
But at that very moment.
Countless pure white light shields suddenly appeared in front of Brendel, each precisely positioned to block Williams’s golden lines of law, each one deflecting the strongest strike ever launched by the deputy leader of the Knights of the Temple, as if a gentle hand smoothed over the scorching gold lines one by one.
In an instant, the golden flames engulfing half the sky were swallowed by the darkness.
They failed to harm Brendel in the slightest.
Brendel still looked up at Williams, silently forming a word with his lips to respond to the endless questions in the eyes of this high-ranking figure of the temple: “Anrodus’s Holy Ring, 10 light; [Spell—Instant]; Effect: The next attack is nullified. ‘—Sanctuary—'”
Williams’s hand froze completely in midair.
Almost everyone on the battlefield found themselves at a loss.
……
(PS: Oh, oh, oh, the battle has finally started! Aww, I’ve written for so long! It feels like a century has passed! Dear readers, please give some monthly tickets! Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)
