Chapter 797: Act 147 – The Spiral Hall
“Little Kehua, I thought you had distanced yourself from war, but it seems the affairs of the world are still not as you wish.” The voice let out a sigh.
“I too have no choice, Lord Milondar.”
The blue figure nodded, ceasing the conversation with Kehua, and instead addressed Anlek and the others: “I know your intentions, but you may not be aware of the truth behind what you are doing. You are the people of Black Iron. According to my agreement with Crystal, I will not make things difficult for you. The God of Awakening lies beneath this throne; you may choose the future of this world for yourselves.”
After speaking, he cast one last glance at Kehua before his figure gradually faded away, disappearing, leaving only Anlek and his companions in the hall.
“I didn’t expect that agreement to be true,” Anlek said softly. “The Crystal Dragon and the deities made a pact, allowing the generation of Black Iron to govern their own fate. The gods have stayed away from Vaunte, no longer interfering with everything on this land. The so-called Knight of Azure shattering the firmament is merely an opportunity for the beginning of this history. I’m curious about what exactly happened before and after the Battle of Babel.”
He looked at Kehua, but this time the eldest daughter of Echis remained silent and did not respond.
That must be a colossal secret, Anlek thought. But this secret is destined to be buried beneath the dust because once Milos awakens, that dark soul will take the chance to invade. The giant god Milos will no longer be a guardian of order but a true dark giant, and under its power, Erluin will usher in a true twilight. At that time, so-called secrets will have no value because the dead need no secrets.
He turned to the others: “Take action and open the portal to the River of Sulfur near the throne.”
The members of the Everything Returns Society showed excited expressions in their eyes, walking along the spiral long bridge towards the central platform. Anlek quietly observed the scene, then turned back to Kehua and said, “Once that soul obtains Milos’s body, according to the agreement, you will be free; this is also your agreement with Lord Echis. We have no intention to offend.”
Kehua nodded and seemed unbothered by such minor offenses.
She looked in a certain direction in the hall and replied softly, “It seems your guest has arrived, human.”
Anlek slightly startled, then looked up toward that direction. In less than a moment, a figure appeared from that side.
It was Veronika and her company.
At the same time that Anlek noticed them, Veronika had obviously also discovered the presence of the Everything Returns Society.
“Anlek!” This was Veronika’s voice. “I can’t believe you’ve truly fallen to this extent. You are a descendant of the noble sages, yet now you stand alongside the enemies of civilization. Your actions bring shame upon your ancestors, and the proud banner of the raging wolves on the heights will no longer wave from this moment. A family is fracturing because of its unworthy descendant. And this is what you are doing.”
Anlek raised an eyebrow, perhaps not expecting Veronika to arrive so swiftly. However, he did not feel the slightest panic and disdainfully replied, “Clichés, Veronika. Your high position has accustomed you to such grandiloquent speech. But they mean nothing to me. Family and honor are things you can speak of to those struggling in hunger and cold; the so-called glory means less than a copper coin to them. It is the same for me, as I care not for such things; mortals are forever burdened by vanity, which is why they repeatedly commit such petty mistakes.”
“Veronika, tell me, what are family and honor?” He snorted derisively, dismissing Veronika’s words.
“Utterly incomprehensible,” Veronika murmured. “This guy has gone mad.”
Brendel, listening to the conversation between the two from behind, couldn’t help but smile wryly. This was probably due to their differing identities leading to a different perspective. Although Anlek was also noble, he clearly preferred his identity as a cultist, and for those considered mad by the common folk, family and honor indeed held no meaning.
In fact, even from his perspective, he had to admit Anlek had a point; indeed, in many cases, so-called glory was worth very little. Nobles liked to regard their sense of honor as the measure of all things, but in Brendel’s view, this was only a noble’s measure.
However, he only thought about it and did not dare to voice it out loud. He understood that he held this idea because half of his soul came from another era, and in present-day Vaunte, Veronika’s earlier remarks were relatively mainstream. Brendel didn’t want to be non-mainstream, nor did he want to be privately reprimanded by this lady general later; thus, he smartly chose not to tangle with her over this issue.
But that did not mean he agreed with Anlek’s views.
“Anlek, the generation of Black Iron can govern their own fates, but that does not mean you can govern the fates of others. This world is not determined by your will, nor by the Everything Returns Society.”
After agreeing to Dejyar’s request, Brendel returned to Veronika’s side under the cloak of the King of Punic. After passing through the Eternal Square, he indeed entered the Spiral Hall directly, but they were slightly delayed while trying to open that outer door; thus, they entered the hall after Anlek.
Even so, they still heard the last piece of conversation between Anlek and Milos.
Anlek looked at Brendel with slight surprise: “It seems you understand my intentions well, young man. However, I never claimed that what I consider right or wrong needs to be acknowledged by others. If you wish to stop me, it may not be that simple.”
Brendel’s eyes immediately fell on the members of the Everything Returns Society, who were drawing a magic circle in the center of the hall. He narrowed his eyes; the entire hall was exactly the same as he had seen in the game, except for the floating crystal column above the throne. After pondering a moment, he confirmed he had indeed never seen anything like it before. It seems this was indeed the first awakening of the Sanctuary of the Dormant One, slightly different from what would come later.
“That crystal seems strange; the rest is not a problem. Our primary objective is not the magic circle at the center but the star-shaped stone in Anlek’s hands.” He immediately reminded.
Veronika nodded. Since a fight was now inevitable, she did not hesitate and directly commanded, “Everyone, focus your attack on the central magic circle in the hall!”
Brendel slightly startled; he couldn’t help turning to glance at this lady general. Although she was giving such orders verbally, her gaze remained fixed on Anlek. After a moment’s consideration, he understood the intentions of this lady general. Sure enough, Veronika turned back and whispered to him, “Later, Mephistopheles and I will distract him. You and Miss Alorze go seize the star-shaped stone.”
Brendel nodded; he had to admit that this lady general of the Cruz was indeed as capable as her reputation suggested.
Once Veronika issued her command, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense. In fact, the Cruz officer corps had already begun to spread out along both sides of the hall, standing on the bridge and shooting magical arrows at the central platform. These noble knights, although usually privileged, mostly had at least gold-tier strength. Taking the initiative, immediately saw two members of the Everything Returns Society shot down; one hit squarely in the forehead, the entire head almost exploding like a smashed watermelon, while the other pierced through the arm was a mere light injury.
The cultists only then reacted and erected a magical shield on the platform to block the subsequent attacks. Brendel saw the shield and immediately understood that there was an element-awakened wizard on the platform. The Wall of Truth, at least an eighth-circle spell, had the effect of forcibly separating the inside and outside of the wall into two different worlds, completely immune to all physical attacks; even Charles couldn’t cast such a spell. The witches accompanying him attempted to dispel it, but none succeeded.
Brendel could recognize it, and naturally, Veronika and Mephistopheles wouldn’t be stumped by it. In their eyes, Anlek was indeed well prepared; with an element-level presence involved in the battle, combat power below the golden peak was almost meaningless—of course, exceptions like Brendel, who had fought elemental-processed enemies many times even before the manifestation of elements, but that was entirely thanks to the Traveler Mage system.
Veronika and Mephistopheles both drew their swords and floated into the air; the azure and gray lines of law intertwined. At this moment, Brendel discovered that these two were incredibly well-matched, one the Gray Saint and the other the Azure Saint, working together as if they’d partnered for many years. Sometimes, old opponents can make the best partners because they understand each other too well. There were even people in his previous life who were enthusiastic about Veronika and Mephistopheles’s gossip; Brendel used to scoff at it, but today he had to believe that the existence of any hot topic in the “Amber Sword” had its inevitable reason.
Once Veronika and Mephistopheles joined the battle, the disciples of the Everything Returns Society in the center of the platform became precarious. In Brendel’s view, the elemental-awakened wizard hidden in the crowd was at best only at the element-awakening level, while Veronika herself was at the peak of the laws, and the Gray Saint Mephistopheles was even more extraordinary; he could almost be said to be the first to step into the extreme plain of the Cruz Empire in nearly fifty years. The last was the Queen of Cruz, but that was due to a special circumstance, and before that, only true ancient monsters remained.
As Veronika struck, the wizard could still manage to hold on, but the moment Mephistopheles drew his sword, that magical shield instantly shattered, and all the disciples of the Everything Returns Society on the platform were sent sprawling as if they had been slapped away.
Seeing the battle unfold like this, Anlek couldn’t help but react: “Mephistopheles!” He squeezed out this name through gritted teeth. Although he had heard of Mephistopheles mingling with that young man, he never expected that he would really lower himself to help the Cruz people; that was somewhat beyond his expectations. However, he was not without preparation; Anlek pointed forward with his staff, and five more black-robed knights soared into the air behind him.
Flying without the aid of spells was the most significant sign of element-awakening; however, Anlek surprisingly had nearly a dozen element-awakening-level presences accompanying him. Brendel was at a loss whether to lament Anlek’s elevated status in the Everything Returns Society or to express astonishment at the Society’s incredible strength.
But those elemental-awakened entities themselves were at best only at the threshold of elemental awakening, and while combining forces barely meant they could suppress Veronika, it was entirely impossible to challenge the Gray Saint now. Anlek clearly understood this point; he had no choice but to step back and look at Kehua beside him: “Miss Kehua, only you must intervene now.”
Kehua said nothing and merely coldly nodded.
However, when she turned back, a glimmer that Anlek could not perceive flickered in the depths of her eyes.
Brendel noticed another figure soaring among the members of the Everything Returns Society; he was lamenting Anlek’s wealth of talent when he suddenly picked up on something amiss. Looking up carefully, the striking white hair and crimson eyes of Echis’s eldest daughter were too conspicuous. Brendel inwardly cursed; this wasn’t the slightly dim Kehua, was it?—He was far too familiar with her, the Ice Beauty of the Sanctuary of the Dormant One; which player wouldn’t know her? Moreover, it was under the control of the Dark Soul.
“I didn’t expect Anlek to actually awaken her,” Brendel realized Kehua’s strength. Although she was still far inferior to his cheap teacher, as a spawn of ancient twilight and daughter of Echis, she could be said to have pure blood, incomparable to the likes of Main and Mel. Moreover, as a BOSS, she had many unique skills, and in distraction, Veronika and Mephistopheles might indeed suffer a significant loss. With this in mind, he hurriedly warned, “Be careful, teacher, General! That’s Kehua!”
As soon as Brendel spoke, it attracted Kehua’s attention—there were few people nowadays who recognized her; apart from Anlek, it was because he had seen her true form. But she didn’t expect that someone among the enemy would recognize her human form. Although she was flying towards Mephistopheles, she had other plans; being called out her identity by someone irritated her greatly.
This eldest daughter of Echis inwardly seethed with anger and abruptly turned her gaze toward Brendel, but she never expected Brendel to be well aware of her character; he swiftly pulled the young dragon beside him closer, then lifted the Cloak of Concealment, covering both of them snugly.
“Cloak of Concealment?!” Kehua caught just a glimpse of Brendel’s final action before the two completely vanished. Ordinary invisibility spells wouldn’t fool her perception, but right now, it felt like she had entirely lost the presence of Brendel. She was well-read and quickly guessed the method her opponent had used.
But unfortunately, guessing was one thing; knowing how to crack it was another. The God of Punic in her era was a being on par with Milos, a presence of the same level as her mother. The effects of his cloak were beyond her ability to see through.
The girl silently gritted her teeth, memorizing Brendel’s appearance in her heart, then sharply turned and continued flying towards Mephistopheles.
Seeing her turn away, Brendel could finally breathe a sigh of relief while hiding under the cloak; it was no joke to be targeted by a demigod-like being. Of course, Brendel didn’t know he had already been marked; he thought he had escaped a calamity, and as he sighed in relief, he noticed Alorze beside him with a look of contempt.
“Doing things but not taking responsibility.” The young dragon succinctly commented.
“That’s a bit arrogant.” Brendel glared at the young dragon. “It seems you’re still looking for a promise from me. Do you believe I will make you transform and fly me over? After all, I’m about to find Anlek for trouble.”
“You dare!” The young dragon was startled. While there were often legends of dragon knights in history, in reality, no dragon truly wanted to become someone else’s steed. Just like Queen Anquil, her mount was merely a relatively pure-blooded wyvern; if Brendel genuinely insisted that she become his mount, she would have no face to return to the dragon kin— well, even if she did, the elders would skin her alive; that would be a disgrace to the dragon race.
Of course, while she seemed fiercely resistant on the surface, she was actually a little scared inside. Dragons took oaths seriously; they regarded contracts made under the starry sky as taking place under the witness of Bahamut, so they wouldn’t easily swear; but once they did, even lazy fellows like Stata had to stay in remote places for hundreds of years.
Previously, she thought Brendel was bound to lose, and out of excitement, she dragged Stata and Brendel into that bet. Now it was good; Stata only had to hand in that useless Dragon Heart—indeed, in Alorze’s view, it wasn’t useful at all. But now she was in a predicament, not knowing what bizarre demands Brendel might propose.
“Why wouldn’t I dare? It’s just about whether I want to or not. So you better show some respect toward me, understand?” Brendel felt utterly pleased; during this time, he had been tormented by this young dragon, and now he finally got his revenge; that feeling was simply unparalleled.
“Is that even a request?” The young dragon asked softly.
“Of course, it isn’t!”
“Then why should I respect you?”
“You can certainly choose not to respect me, but I can’t guarantee that I won’t think of making you my mount.” Brendel replied with a sense of entitlement.
“You…” Alorze’s eyes turned red. “You despicable and shameless!”
“Mutual.” Brendel replied, “Alright, I’m done wasting time with you. Now let’s go ambush Anlek. If you manage to seize that star-shaped stone, you might be able to use it to exchange for a request from me.” He knew that relying solely on threats wouldn’t make this spoiled young dragon comply willingly, but if he coaxed her gently, she would likely fall for it.
Sure enough, Alorze’s eyes brightened when she heard this because she realized that if she seized the star-shaped stone first, she could use it to threaten Brendel—if he dared not to annul the bet, she would blow up the star-shaped stone, after all, it would be a mutual destruction.
With this thought, her eyes sparkled with ideas, and she felt incredibly clever.
Both of them had ulterior motives but came to a consensus. The Cloak of Concealment had already been used twice that day, and its remaining duration was not long, so they immediately set off under the cloak, carefully flying towards the direction where Anlek was located, sticking closely to the walls of the hall.
Meanwhile, the battle in the hall had just reached its boiling point.
