Chapter 1012: Act 183 – Battle of the White Lion VI
Like liquid gold, the metallic substance flowed and transformed in Brendel’s palm, containing a material akin to light. A milky white glow poured out as the liquid moved, resembling a magnificent gem of light.
Brendel gazed intently at this beautiful thing—this was the complete form of the rule fragment when activated. It embodied the laws of Vaunte, a part of the Tiamat Codex, or rather a fragment, the closest product to the source of the world, the supreme creation of the gods. In his previous life, he had never encountered such a thing, and at this moment, he felt a deep admiration within, setting aside its implications and merely appreciating its perfection—it was indeed a thing of great beauty in Vaunte.
At the moment of infusing magical power into the rule fragment, Brendel understood how to use it. The primary function of the rule fragment was to construct laws, which was its essence—an authority of the Tiamat Codex itself. It is well known that the world of Vaunte was once a chaos, devoid of day and night, and with no seasonal cycles; there might still be rain, snow, and thunder, but they were inherently without rules, merely manifestations of chaos and disorder. The laws established by Martha provided the basic rules for this world—sunrise in the east, stars fading in the west, gentle winds, rain, dew, and even lightning—therefore, sentient beings could thrive on the land blessed by the goddess.
Upon obtaining the rule fragment, Brendel naturally came to realize a fact: the goddess Martha’s blessing—the laws of Tiamat no longer existed in this world. The meteor shower seen by mortals before the Eternal Night was a scene of this immense law shattering and falling; however, even in its shattered form, the fragments still protected this world, as if activated by a mysterious force, guarding their respective regions of descent.
Could this be what is known as Martha’s profound love for the children of the earth? Brendel felt a warm response emanating from the rule fragment in his hand, stirring his heart slightly; the feeling was akin to a mother’s care for her child—she reluctantly had to leave but would not let go of her children in this world.
Martha inscribed the final guideline in the Tiamat Codex, which stated that even when everything was irrevocably lost, there should still be a final opportunity granted to the beings of Vaunte. Yet the fact was that the entire world had already been fragmented—Brendel opened his palm, and the mass of light began to rise slowly. He issued an order to retract the powers of the rule fragment, spreading them across the entirety of the Fatan Port area, from the Gold Needle Forest to the Leviathan Valley, from the Silver Bay to Owesen, and throughout the southern regions of East Mezz, the laws melted away like snow and ice.
At Fatan Port, the dawn barely emerged above the sea before it was quickly swallowed by darkness. The residents of the harbor experienced a spectacle from morning to evening; on the surface of the water floated a layer of glimmering gold, as if set ablaze. Above the harbor, Delphi and Oni and Marjory witnessed the layers of clouds collapsing deep within the inner sea; the sky seemed to transform into a black hole, devouring everything. On the pitch-black curtain, flickers of starlight shone but were not the lights of stars; instead, they were the reflections and flickers of the sea of magic.
Twelve moons appeared on the surface of the sea.
In Leviathan Valley, generations of mountain people lived on this land leading to the Valarch mountains. They had erected countless strange wooden carvings within the forest; it was said that these dark carvings of spirits and monsters protected the souls of their ancestors amidst the mountains. At this moment, the mountain folk fell to their knees in terror as a multitude of hazy shadows moved through the forest—figures that were grayish-white, seemingly from countless eras before. They passed through the pitch-black wooden carvings, silently walking deeper into the forest.
In Owesen, a biting cold wind from the Alkrash mountains swept from the northwest to the southeast, causing all things to wither away, as if winter had arrived prematurely. In an instant, the earth was covered in white frost. The town guards stationed at Owesen city witnessed this strange scene; a frigid wind rushed from the northwest of the harbor, blowing across the port, and a cacophony like thousands of pieces of glass shattering broke out from the docks. Then, the entire sea began to freeze, the icy surface rapidly expanding toward the harbor, crushing the docked sailboats; the wooden hulls emitted urgent sounds before shattering under the immense pressure, and sailors jumped from their vessels in a panic to escape.
Not far from the harbor, in a castle, icicles quickly adorned the stone windows. Behind the window, Duke Ambronner watched impassively, his gray-blue eyes devoid of emotion. He extended his gloved right hand out the window, brushing aside the icy cones, watching the shattered pieces of ice fall with a crack.
Outside, the once sunny skies of the southern East Mezz turned dim from light blue to deep blue, then transitioned into a breath-stealing dark crimson, finally becoming sheer black, lacking any luster—like a heavy shroud covering the sky.
With the change in light, the candles within the room seemed to burn even brighter, illuminating the duke’s gaunt face, revealing its somber contours in the interplay of light and shadow. Snowflakes had unknowingly piled upon his shoulder in full military garb. He turned around, tightly gripping a bone staff—the staff was unique, not crafted from human or any known animal bones. It was dark red, covered in scaly patterns, and at the top lay a massive claw gripping a skull—which was not human either, but a small demon skull, dark in color with three eyes; in fact, this was the skull of an Infernal demon.
Duke Ambronner held the bone staff, shaking off the snow from his attire, speaking to the lord of Owesen, Earl Brill: “It seems Her Majesty did not deceive us. This world is no longer the one we once knew. Beneath this calm surface lies dire calamity, who would’ve thought what that undead elf lady said was true? It seems she has succeeded; let our undead army set out now.”
Earl Brill, a witty middle-aged man with a deep friendship with Duke Ambronner, couldn’t help but jest despite the terrifying scene before them: “You call this situation calm, my old friend? I doubt anyone in the empire would be as composed as you right now.”
However, he shook his head, looking at the bone staff in the duke’s hand: “But I still don’t trust those undead from Madara. They are not our kind. Old mate, do you really believe they will be so generous to aid us? Furthermore, joining forces with the undead from Madara would leave us with a bad reputation; other temples might unite against us.”
“This is the will of Her Majesty,” Duke Ambronner replied quietly, as he removed his gloves and placed his right index finger atop the staff.
Two glimmers of red light shone forth from the dark skull.
At Silver Bay Coast—
This area was already enveloped by howling ice winds. The sunny conditions of the southern East Mezz coast had vanished entirely, even the vast seas had thick layers of ice, the waves freezing at their last moment, forming layers of ice like mountains. Looking southward along the frosted coast, the end of the horizon formed a gray-blue frost plain.
The piercing winds mixed with snowflakes swirled in the air; palm-sized snowflakes cascaded down in layers, quickly forming a foot-deep blanket of snow on the ground. The world became a white expanse, seemingly covering all signs of life.
Yet beneath the snow layer, some entities that did not belong in this world were waking up.
With a muffled sound, a figure cloaked in tattered black robes suddenly crawled out from beneath the snow, the two points of soul fire glowing red beneath the dark hood. Upon reaching the ground, this undead immediately raised the bone staff in its hand, and in an instant, a forest of withered bones rose from the snow—skeleton soldiers emerged one after the other, shaking off the snow upon them, until in what seemed like an instant, a vast army exuding the aura of death appeared in this world.
And in Wain, on the main road from Owesen to Fatan, countless similar scenes replayed repeatedly.
Lines of drake-like creatures of the White Legion rampaged through the snowy night, their saddles occupied by black-cloaked necromancers—or rather, corpse-witches—accompanied by more than a dozen knights of the White Legion armed with replicas of the bone staff held by Duke Ambronner, leading groups of undead armies through the night.
Every undead army had only one destination.
That was Fatan Port.
But in Gold Needle Forest, a different scene was unfolding.
The bone staff in the hands of the decayed knight, Cru, emanated red light as well, but at this moment, he had no mind to focus on the changes in his staff, for a far more spectacular scene was unfolding above the forest.
The brilliance of the entire world seemed to be captured within the sphere of light floating high above; hundreds of millions of golden threads of law flew in from all directions of the sky, converging here. The ball of light suspended over the forest now resembled an eternal sun, rising slowly above the treetops.
This valley and forest were bathed in dazzling radiance, turning the forest into a silvery white.
All who witnessed this scene—not just Cru, but even the young followers of Juliette—were left in astonishment. Some gazed with reverence at Brendel, who cradled the light sphere with one hand; their hearts stirred inexplicably. Especially Cru, who was sensitive to the power of life, felt more acutely than anyone else the immense life force radiating from the light sphere. This power was almost limitless; just a fraction of it would turn him—not just him, even the undead army he controlled—into ashes.
He did not know how Brendel had attained such terrifying power, but without a doubt, the young lord from Erluin had already been placed in his mind as someone absolutely not to be offended.
If he had any other thoughts before, now he could only think of willingly serving Brendel.
Realizing this, the dark noble from Madara could not help but bow even lower.
Meanwhile, in the skeletal wagon behind the undead army, Juliette finally noticed the extraordinary occurrence outside. The leader of the Female Mercenary Band had fallen silent after hearing Mel’s words, recalling why she had joined this small group—certainly not having the same ambitions as the young man before her, perhaps merely for self-preservation, which later added a bit of admiration for Brendel and respect and gratitude for his grandfather.
Beyond that, she hadn’t thought much of it; in fact, since her sister’s death, she had seldom pondered unrealistic things.
However, after this battle, everything seemed slightly different…
She could not articulate where this difference came from, but looking at the sword steadily embedded in its sheath, with the emblem of the white lion on the hilt and the crest on her breastplate, everything seemed to be faintly revealing answers.
At this moment, a brilliant light suddenly flared up outside the wagon, making Juliette momentarily stunned. She could not help but look in that direction: “What place is this? What’s happening outside?”
“This is still Gold Needle Forest; we are heading toward Silver Bay Coast, leader,” Cru replied. “As for what’s happening outside, you’ll have to ask Lord Brendel.”
Juliette furrowed her brow but did not rush outside. Instead, she asked, “How long was I unconscious?”
“Not long, milady; you were quite injured, but thanks to the holy water, your recovery has been relatively fast. From yesterday until now, it has only been seven or eight hours,” Mel answered.
“Seven or eight hours? It should be early morning now?” Juliette was slightly taken aback. “But just now, I felt like it was dusk. I thought I had been unconscious for an entire day?”
“That could be said,” Cru interjected. “According to Lord Brendel, from now on, the time of normal people will have no significance for us.”
Juliette had yet to comprehend the meaning of this sentence when she felt a gathering of light outside, then she heard Brendel’s voice from outside the wagon: “What he said is correct. From now on, in the East Mezz region, day and night, and even time itself will have no significance. You might see some bizarre things; however, do not mind it. I suggest you adapt to this situation before preparing for battle.”
“Lord Brendel?” Juliette asked, puzzled. “What does this mean?”
“It means nothing,” Brendel replied. “Just know that long ago, we referred to this kind of world as the World of Eternal Night.”
“In here, Martha’s laws no longer apply—”
