Chapter 599: Act 344 – Beneath the Abyss II
The Eluin Royal First Fleet in the sky fiercely engaged the Cruzian fleet, with Tolemaic-class battleships, purchased from the Wind Elves, outperforming the Perlan-class ships of the Cornelia Fleet that had been in service for twenty years. However, the Cruzian forces possessed stronger fighting spirit and higher personnel quality—despite being just a regional fleet, they undeniably showcased the Empire’s grandeur.
Both sides unleashed their firepower in the sky, launching attacks at each other, and from time to time, warships turned into fireballs and fell from the sky. But once Mister Brendel’s Wind Pseudodragon entered the battle, the Cruzian forces, caught in a vulnerable position, began to show signs of defeat, with the Perlan-class battleship “Yasha” being the first to retreat from combat. The Wind Pseudodragon launched a suicide attack on its magical shield and then exhausted the energy source of this capital ship using its flame magic, causing the now powerless Yasha to crash into the Northern Alliance, resulting in significant casualties.
Soon after, a shell from the Eluin escort ship “Ke Ling” penetrated the magical shield and struck another flagship, the Perlan, killing the captain and first officer on the spot. The Cruzian fleet subsequently disintegrated and was forced to scatter and escape.
With the fleet’s retreat, the ground troops of the Northern Alliance began to flee for their lives, like ants scattering across a hillside, the mournful sound of war horns piercing through the rain.
On the other side—
Under Brendel’s watch, seven Knights of the Sanctuary laid down their weapons in succession; there was no hope for victory on the battlefield, and their resistance had become meaningless.
Quickly, the entire battlefield fell silent, leaving only the sound of pouring rain and the cries of the wounded.
Brendel finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if all his strength had been drained, and sat down on a rock behind him.
Nemeses was currently ordering the survivors to construct makeshift shelters to move the wounded inside.
Most of these wounded were soldiers of the Northern Alliance, with a small number being Cruzian. Due to the Life Codex, there were almost no injured from the princess’s side.
Princess Grifian soon found him.
“Mister Brendel, should we continue pursuing the Cruzian fleet?” the half-elf princess asked hesitantly. The Cruzian forces had twelve main fleets, and Cornelia was merely a regional fleet, akin to the Ampere Seale Navy. In her view, continuing the pursuit seemed unnecessary and could instead provoke the Cruzian.
“We must continue the pursuit, Your Highness; allowing them to reunite with the Northern Alliance would create another problem,” Brendel explained, fully aware of her hesitation. “It would be best to instruct Earl Yanilasu to chase them all the way to Ampere Seale and completely annihilate this fleet.”
His words blatantly revealed his intent to seize Ampere Seale, startling Princess Grifian. In fact, she had discussed this issue with Overwell and Ouding; the Northern Alliance had just suffered a defeat, and the Ampere Seale port garrison had also been heavily damaged, making it reasonable to take advantage of their victory to seize Ampere Seale.
With Ampere Seale, a fortress connecting north and south, they could launch attacks against the north without concern for their rear. But the only issue was the Cruzian’s stance.
Annihilating a Cruzian fleet and defeating their fleet were two different concepts. If they were to draw the Cruz Empire fully into this war for the sake of Ampere Seale, it would seem somewhat unwise.
Considering this, she couldn’t help but fix her beautiful silver eyes on Brendel, as if trying to see through the man’s thoughts—he seemed never to have taken the Cruz Empire seriously, boldly declaring he would wipe out the Cornelia fleet without a second thought; it was rather daring. Even the kingdom’s lone wolf, her teacher, discussed the Cruz with caution, as surviving in the shadow of a lion meant being too ostentatious could lead to disaster.
Brendel, of course, understood this princess’s concerns, but he found them somewhat amusing. “Your Highness, rest assured, the Cruz will not dare to cause us trouble because of this.”
“Why?” Princess Grifian furrowed her brow, feeling this was a bit too blindly optimistic.
“Because of the Wind Elves.”
Now it made sense, but she shook her head. “Mister Brendel, the support from the Wind Elves isn’t as great as you might think. If the Cruz merely intends to punish us through the hands of the north and doesn’t plan to actually conquer Eluin, the Sanctuary of Saint Ausoor won’t likely take action.”
“That’s because they aren’t receiving the benefits they should,” Brendel replied, shaking his head and sighing. “After all, Eluin is a vassal of the Temple of Fire, and this internal conflict is also under the jurisdiction of the Temple of Fire; how can the Temple of Wind intervene? All four major temples have an understanding regarding this matter.”
“Exactly,” the princess nodded.
“In that case, we should declare the newly formed Eluin’s allegiance to the Temple of Wind,” Brendel said matter-of-factly.
“This… but…” Princess Grifian was taken aback, looking at him as if he were a monster, completely unsure how he could have such an idea. After all, the Eluinians were the descendants of the Flame King, and as a human nation, psychologically, they were much more inclined to belong to the Temple of Fire rather than the Temple of Wind. Thus, the nobles had considered relying on the Temple of Wind—not to mention that their primary interest was just to use the Temple of Wind to contain the power of the Temple of Fire.
It was like haggling, but ultimately it meant falling into the embrace of the Temple of Fire.
However, no one expected that Brendel was a freak. As a half-transmigrator, he had no sense of belonging to the so-called four major temples. In his previous life, he had lived under the jurisdiction of the Temple of Fire, the Temple of Wind, and the Sanctuary of Light. As a player’s perspective, he favored Fanzan’s Sanctuary of Light—at least until they stabbed him in the back in the game.
In this life, the Temple of Wind’s Otales had always accompanied him through adventures, so comparing the two, his feelings were likely deeper for the Temple of Wind.
Brendel quietly observed the princess, whose hesitant expression began to clear. She looked up and seriously regarded Brendel. “I admit this is a choice, but we will only consider it at the last moment, is that okay, Mister Brendel?”
Brendel nodded; he knew it would be difficult for not only the princess but also the Eluin nobles to accept this proposal right away. Change requires time and a catalyst, and he roughly understood that the princess likely intended to use this as leverage for a final negotiation with the Cruz.
She was likely to succeed.
Eluin’s geographical position was too significant; to the south lay the vast and endless wilderness and Black Forest, which was also a check on Madara’s movements. For the empire, Eluin was both a source of resources and a natural buffer zone, and the Cruzian’s attention to Eluin was not without reason.
But the same went for the Wind Elves; otherwise, they wouldn’t have supported the establishment of Ekle and secretly backed King Obergo VII in forming a new fleet while helping Eluinians train naval talents. Tolemaic-class battleships were not the main type in active service for the Wind Elves but were still considered first-class warships from over a decade ago.
The Cruzian understood this weight. If the princess announced her side’s allegiance to the Temple of Wind, it could potentially trigger a holy war between the Temple of Fire and the Temple of Wind.
However, the princess seemed worried about potential misunderstandings and added, “Mister Brendel, please believe me; I am not being willful. The people of the kingdom are descendants of the Flame King, who have believed in the Temple of Fire for generations. Changing this notion is not something that can happen overnight.”
“Your Highness, you don’t need to explain,” Brendel said, feeling a bit moved; she really didn’t have to explain to him at all. After all, she was the princess, and theoretically, he was her knight, her subject—though Brendel himself might not hold this concept firmly. To him, everyone was born equal—but he understood that the princess, having grown up in a royal family, would never think this way. Her willingness to confide her thoughts to him was proof that she valued him.
People are inherently dependent on each other, and Brendel savored this feeling of satisfaction.
“However, the Cornelia fleet must be completely destroyed; we must occupy Ampere Seale, so we have leverage for negotiations,” Brendel reminded her, secretly feeling a bit uncertain. Completely annihilating the Cornelia fleet was small potatoes; what mattered was that he had taken down Williams in front of everyone. After all, the fleet belonged to the empire, and the vice captain of the Knights of the Sanctuary was from the Temple of Fire.
Simply put, the empire could suffer embarrassment, but the Temple of Fire had to maintain its dignity. They could very well demand that the princess turn him over.
He refrained from glancing at the princess, who was just about to turn seventeen.
Princess Grifian nodded firmly. “I understand. I will immediately order Earl Yanilasu to continue the pursuit, completely annihilate the Cornelia fleet, and seize Ampere Seale harbor while we’re at it. Mister Brendel, I will strive for the greatest interests—for both Eluin and its people. I will seriously consider your advice—”
“I will never let Lord Darus’s tragedy repeat itself.”
Brendel recognized this as a promise, and he bowed solemnly to the princess. She turned to leave, and he suddenly heard Otales’s voice lightly in his mind:
“This princess truly has great skills; I bet you’re utterly moved, little one.”
“Well, not particularly, just a bit of warmth,” Brendel replied.
“See? You’re really a little fool. The power you displayed in the earlier battle is already enough to prove that you are the only one she can rely on, and her greatest asset—deep down, you know it’s not your power, but she won’t see it that way. Her concern for you is merely a means of the royal family to gather hearts,” Otales said seriously.
Brendel chuckled lightly, feeling quite touched. He knew Otales was reminding him to be cautious, fearing he might suffer a loss. “Thank you, Lady Otales.”
“Hmph, just know that,” Otales replied. “I’ve seen enough of court struggles. I admit that the little girl is still rather innocent, but who knows if that will change in the future? You need to keep your eyes peeled.”
“Of course,” Brendel increasingly felt that Otales was like his sister, only someone close to him would offer such gentle reminders.
Flashes of explosions occasionally lit up the horizon; those were the cannon fire from the Eluin Royal First Fleet in pursuit.
The battle had come to a pause.
Brendel was gradually dissolving the cycle of adversity, which, while strong, was quite exhausting to maintain. Just a little while into it, he felt extremely fatigued. The legendary traveling mages from history—be it Tumen or Chunximan, or the Dark Dragon Odin—were all top-tier during their time, and sustaining such a level of energy expenditure would be as easy as breathing for them, but for him, it was somewhat taxing. After all, he only possessed the power of Elemental Manifestation at the peak of Gold.
However, he remained cautious and did not allow the vampire pseudo-girl Medephis to relieve him of his powers—she had already reached the stable phase of her peak laws, and with Williams gone, she was essentially the strongest combat power on the battlefield.
Moreover, the Nightmare Furnace Construct had not been dismissed, leaving behind over seventy Metal Beetles. Brendel held onto a card labeled Anxiety, meant to replicate the real Lightning Storm, which was also one of his trump cards.
With these two trump cards, Brendel felt secure enough to put away the Life Codex and the Despair Wooden Horse, and then disbanded the Doom Guard. After all, summoning undead creatures carried a negative reputation in human society. Brendel didn’t want to have titles associated with ‘undead’ or ‘dark’ as prefixes, as it would tarnish his reputation too badly.
To be frank, if this battle hadn’t been so crucial, he wouldn’t have planned to use this card at all.
He looked up at the explosions beyond the rain curtain and soon thought of something else. He hurriedly called for Flour and whispered some instructions to the wild elf girl.
Flour immediately displayed an expression of discontent.
This time she firmly rejected him. “I refuse; that’s too much, my lord.”
“Why? It’s just a matter of inspecting the bodies,” Brendel didn’t understand why Flour always reacted so strongly.
“In any case, I refuse!” Flour glared at him fiercely and then turned to leave. She preferred to be seen by her lord as an Elementalist, not an autopsy officer.
Brendel stood there, embarrassed. He had finally found a cute companion in the team, but she simply despised inspecting corpses. It left him feeling quite helpless. He sighed and turned back, intending to find some other way to persuade the young lady, but suddenly his eyes widened.
“Don’t—!” he almost cried out, but it was too late; Nemeses had already moved a few corpses of the Sanctuary Knights aside, and those dreadful black hands tugged up Williams’s body as well.
In that moment, a thousand grass mud horses galloped through Brendel’s mind.
“What’s wrong?” the Lady Knight wondered, slightly startled by his abrupt shout, turning back to look at him.
“… Did those knights have any loot?”
“Oh, I checked. Their magic has decayed significantly, leaving behind just a few flame-patterned long swords from the Sanctuary,” Nemeses replied, her expression unchanged. “However, these long swords are decent, as our kingdom lacks the technology to forge them.”
Brendel felt darkness cloud his vision.
In fact, he had sensed trouble the moment she approached the corpses, as this woman resembled his senior too closely, triggering an instinctive sense of crisis that their dark hands might be similar.
But he still held out a sliver of hope, only for Nemeses’s answer to shatter his last flicker of optimism. The naked corpse of a Sanctuary Knight yielded only a standard long sword; this was no longer just a touch of black magic; at that moment, Brendel felt his senior’s expression was even darker.
“Wh-where is Williams?”
“Haven’t checked yet,” Nemeses answered, oblivious to the fact that the man before her was likely considering how to topple her. “Let me see.”
“Don’t—!” Brendel felt as if he had been struck as he watched Nemeses remove a ring from Williams’s hand.
He was instantly dumbfounded.
It was a silver ring adorned with a very unique pattern.
“This ring seems to have not yet decayed in its magic,” the Lady Knight replied seriously after inspecting it.
“Brendel!” Otales suddenly called.
Brendel quickly nodded. “Understood.”
At that moment, both of them had seen clearly the pattern on the ring, which was divided into nine branches, each so familiar to him as it was the Wind Mark of Saint Ausoor.
The second Wind Ring.
In that moment, Brendel finally understood why Williams recognized his swordsmanship at their first meeting. “Let me see it!” He stepped over to Nemeses.
The Lady Knight, so reminiscent of his senior, glanced at him, nodded, and unhesitatingly placed the ring in his palm.
“How do you use it?” Brendel asked.
“Inject your power of laws into it,” Otales seemed a bit excited, as each ring contained a spirit, those were her old companions.
Brendel did as instructed.
Suddenly, a flicker of white light emerged between him and Nemeses. The next moment, a semi-transparent spirit-like elven girl appeared between them.
She was quite short, just a bit taller than Princess Grifian.
Her skin was fair with the characteristic shimmer of the Wind Elves. Her ears were pointed, and she had long purple-blue hair tied into a playful ponytail. She wore a set of tight leather armor, but most strikingly, she carried a long elven bow that was almost as tall as she was.
She appeared as if just awakening, yawning drowsily upon her emergence.
“Who are you?” Nemeses was startled for a moment, a hand immediately resting on the hilt of her sword. However, she likely also guessed that this elven girl was related to the ring in Brendel’s hand, so she didn’t draw her sword.
At that moment, Brendel heard Otales’s soft exclamation in his mind.
Then, the Lady Knight directly manifested next to him, appearing on his other side.
“Ah!”
Now it was the elven girl’s turn to widen her eyes; she seemed oblivious to Nemeses, incredulously staring at Otales.
“L-Lady…”
Otales shot her a glare.
The elven girl jumped in surprise and shouted, “L-Lady!”
“Lady…?”
Brendel was taken aback; could it be that there were servant-master relationships among the followers of the Wind? He hadn’t heard of that. He didn’t notice the look Otales gave and merely found the interaction between the two curious.
Otales then smiled satisfactorily at the elven girl.
Brendel looked at the elven girl with confusion. “Hello, I’m Brendel. May I ask, what is your name, beautiful lady?”
The elven girl looked at both Brendel and Otales, likely guessing their relations. So she answered, without hesitation:
“Hello, Mister Brendel! I am Knight of the Sharp Blade Otales, the chief archer under Lord Wind! Please take care of me! Ouch, that hurts…”
With a loud bang, she suddenly hugged her little head.
……
(PS: 5K long chapter, I overused the term ‘war death’ previously; I apologize; I woke up late and was quite confused…) (To be continued. If you like this work, please feel free to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
