Chapter 1030: Act 202 – Flame of Dawn III
Xi recently often dreamt of this fragmented nightmare. Within the tall and spacious Gothic temple, the broken archways and columns resembled protruding white bones appearing in the dark. A gigantic rose window hung above her, and the soft lead strips absorbed the sunlight, transforming into hues blending purple quartz and sapphire, forming a beam of somber, mysterious brilliance that seeped into the darkness.
She was bound to a cold altar, her hands and feet tightly tied, a strangely shaped dagger protruding from her chest, blood flowing from the wound. The power of life gradually faded, and shadows flickered within the empty temple. No matter how desperately she called out, the people ignored her.
Only one woman beside her rambled on, cloaked in heavy shadows, making it impossible for Xi to see her face or hear her exact words.
After a while, the woman suddenly stepped forward, causing Xi’s eyes to widen.
She let out a scream and found herself drenched in cold sweat, sitting up suddenly in bed. The eerie scenes around her had long vanished, the carved bedposts and sheer curtains quietly melding into the darkness. Not far off, a crystal ornament on her maple desk glimmered faintly—this was still her sleeping chamber, and the gentle moonlight streaming through the window softened the darkness.
Her ponytail had long since come undone, fiery red strands sticking to her face, and the sweat soaked through the blanket, leaving her feeling cold.
Xi dawdled for a moment, helplessly hugging herself, shivering.
“You had a nightmare again,” Avina appeared in her human form, asking with concern.
“……”
“Is it still that dream?”
Xi nodded.
“It’s been tough on you; it must have been suffocating these past few days.”
“That dream…”
Avina gently shook her head, leaned down to open Xi’s arms, and comforted her with a focused gaze: “Witches believe dreams are mirrors reflecting reality, so it’s said that dreams and reality are often opposite. This dream indicates that your lord is coming to rescue you soon.”
Xi raised her head, her gem-like eyes filled with serious inquiry, as if asking: Really?
Avina couldn’t help but laugh, reaching out to tickle her nose: “Of course it’s true! Have I ever lied to you?”
Xi looked at her with deep skepticism.
Avina rarely blushed, sighing: “Alright, let’s not talk about the last time I tricked you with that cake. That was just an accident; why do you hold a grudge like this, little human girl?”
“Because… it’s important,” Xi said in a very quiet voice.
“I understand that it’s important to you, but do you still believe in your lord?”
Xi nodded without hesitation.
Seeing her like this, Avina couldn’t help but pause. “What a lucky girl.” She muttered quietly.
“Since you’re sure your lord will come to rescue you, what else is there to worry about?”
“I worry… about my lord.”
“Silly child,” Avina said softly, patting her shoulder. “Worrying about others at a time like this? You can rest easy; that guy will be fine.”
Accepting Avina’s reassurance, Xi finally calmed down a bit.
“Avina, what time is it now?” she asked, feeling like she had slept for quite a while, her head heavy.
“Wake up,” Avina replied. “It’s already dawn, Xi.”
……
The coach creaked and swayed, the landscape of autumn in Bankler receding behind them. Dazzling gold bathed the vast earth, dotted on the horizon with farmhouses and windmills, while cirrus clouds piled up into mountain shapes, slowly moving with the wind. The tall Cruz poplars lining the road rustled their leaves in the breeze, sunlight streaming through the branches, embodying the vibrant spirit of autumn.
But the people inside the coach had no heart to appreciate this rare beauty.
The second-hand carriage swayed as they traveled, as if it might fall apart at any moment. Inside the canopy was dark and murky, scattered beams of light filtered through the holes in the tent, landing on the faces of Brendel and others, displaying various expressions.
“Who on earth bought this carriage…?”
Faina’s face turned pale; she could no longer hold back her frustration and asked the question. Before she could finish speaking, she had to cover her mouth, her chest turning queasy, rolling her eyes to prevent herself from being sick once again. However, her stomach had only remnants of bitterness left, having already expelled breakfast along with the red wine braised beef and baked trout from last night.
The others felt a bit better, but seeing her condition, they couldn’t help but empathize.
“Himelam…” Brendel’s face also looked grim. Although his physical constitution surpassed ordinary people, this carriage was indeed too much; he had already seen at least three nails happily bounce down from the support beams of the canopy. The entire carriage clattered like it was enchanted, and only the heavens knew when it might collapse next.
With quite a distance left to the imperial capital, Rustra, if they lost the carriage, they would have to walk for a whole day, but by now the sun had passed noon, and the nearest inn was still over twenty miles away.
“I’m sorry…”
The priestess’s expression was quite awkward before the crowd, and she replied helplessly: “Because… it was cheap; the goddess… taught us…”
“Frugality is a good thing,” Brendel sighed. “But you’ve been deceived. This isn’t a second-hand carriage; this one is practically scrap! And those two horses, my God, I can’t bear to let them continue pulling this. If the Animal Protection Association… well, I mean the druids, sees them, trouble will surely find us.”
“A bunch of lawn-playing fools have nothing to worry about,” Andrigraphis replied nonchalantly. “If they dare come, I dare to kill.”
Brendel shot her a glare; the power of those vampire siblings had just barely returned to elemental manifestation, so he didn’t understand where she got such confidence.
“I’m sorry.”
Himelam sincerely apologized.
But not everyone was frowning; at least beside the vampire princess, Medephis was fully absorbed in the beams of sunlight streaming through the holes in the canopy, the light patches landing on his smooth nose, resembling delicate freckles. The more beautiful-than-a-maiden vampire youth was focused on counting how many holes were on the canopy, completely engrossed, quietly murmuring whether he counted seventy-one or seventy-two.
On the side, Brendel spotted Romaine, who was secretly laughing, clearly pleased.
Noticing Brendel’s frowning gaze, the Merchant Miss answered with a mixture of guilt and laughter: “Uh-huh… Brendel, if you had let me step up sooner… uh-huh… it wouldn’t be so troublesome… ah, my stomach, hahahaha, this carriage is actually super interesting, isn’t it?”
“Ah—!” Before she could finish, Brendel pinched her cheek.
Brendel glared at this mischievous person; she had snuck down from the ship, and it would have been one thing if he hadn’t caught up with her, but now she dared to push her luck—what a death wish.
“It hurts, hurts, hurts,” Romaine leaned sideways, tears almost falling. “B… Brendel, I’m sorry!”
“Sorry for what?”
“Not saying anything super interesting at a serious moment; as a merchant, I should at least have some social awareness—uh-uh! I… shouldn’t have snuck off the ship.”
Brendel couldn’t help but glare at her coldly before releasing his grip. He knew clearly the pure intentions in her heart—to stay with him against all odds. He felt touched; however, this kind of reckless behavior was utterly lawless—and this wasn’t the first time; she hadn’t changed despite repeated admonitions.
Once freed from his grasp, Romaine darted behind Medisa like a frightened rabbit, furrowing her brow and glaring at him with evident dissatisfaction.
Medisa smiled helplessly: “My lord, rest assured. Mr. Charles will maintain this carriage with magic; it should be okay until we reach the outskirts of Rustra. Miss Romaine was left behind by Madame Mistral, so it’s not entirely her fault this time.”
Brendel frowned. Lady Silver Dragon had finally left the convoy two days ago, and before that, she suggested that Romaine stay, but he hadn’t agreed. It was said that a genuine expert was needed to disguise as a merchant group, but he knew this disguise was not truly meant to fool the Queen of Silver, but rather to avoid troubles along the way. Moreover, Delphine had managed the business of House Nidwen and could easily be considered competent.
Yet, he always felt that Mistral had deeper intentions; otherwise, she wouldn’t have smiled and remained silent on the issue.
Looking back, Lady Silver Dragon might have known that Romaine had secretly used magic to hide in the convoy, perhaps even lending a hand.
What puzzled Brendel was why she would do such a thing.
“However, it seems that at least part of Madame Mistral’s advice was quite sensible,” Mr. Charles suddenly smiled, coming to Romaine’s rescue.
Opposite him, the imperial chancellor’s daughter, Delphine, visibly blushed without a trace of showing it, but did not refute and silently turned her head. She had managed the family’s business activities before, but in fact, that was merely to set the direction and determine strategic intents. The trivial details below were to be handled by capable subordinates.
A few days ago, she had assured Brendel that she could fully handle this position, but what was the reality?
When they arrived at the bustling market of Eleven Leaf City, Delphine helplessly found herself utterly at a loss, utterly clueless on how to buy a second-hand carriage. She knew the prices of bulk goods in the area of the Hochland Inner Sea for this autumn and summer and understood the trends, knew every intricate detail from charcoal production, storage, transport to sales in Cloak Bay, knew when to stock up on which goods, and how to deal with the most powerful merchants within the Empire.
But she didn’t know how to haggle with a bony, slightly monkey-like second-hand dealer.
In fact, she managed to offend him completely in just two sentences; in the end, it was Himelam who bravely stepped in and spent a significant amount to buy back a “second-hand carriage.”
And that’s this old carriage—
Faina was still leaning against the edge of the canopy, dry heaving, and the atmosphere inside was momentarily awkward. Brendel shook his head; who could be blamed? Himelam had done quite well; before being summoned as a card, she was merely an inexperienced girl. Most of the priestesses of the Earth Goddess were ascetic monks, and it’s likely she never left the temple before that.
He lowered his head and returned his attention to the metallic shards in his hand.
These shards were originally part of the Blade of Flames. Over these past days, with Sidney’s help, he had gradually begun to sense their resonance with the soul of Odrefice within him, appearing to reactivate the Blade of Flames just as Sidney had said—though it was only a matter of time. However, as the Odrefice soul awakened further, he felt something strange.
While awakening the Odrefice soul, he sensed he was often brushing against two other laws within the elemental realm: one was burning and passionate, like a rushing fire; the other was deep and hopeless, like the darkness of an abyss.
He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but these two laws were quietly enhancing the power and realm of his primary law. In just two weeks, he felt he was already on the edge of grasping the true essence of the truth—which actually represented reaching the peak of a realm. This fact frightened him; in his memory, the elemental realm could nearly only be enhanced gradually. In the game, experience at this level would be converted into order power, and to level up, one had to keep doing tasks to find opportunities to advance.
And for the natives, it was even worse; they usually could only enhance their realms by comprehending the laws, like Veronika and Mephistopheles, stuck at a particular realm for decades was quite common.
At least Brendel had never heard of any external forces that could help boost one’s elemental realm.
He couldn’t determine whether it was an illusion or if it was because his other half, belonging to Sue, was different from this world. Hence he dared not disclose this secret to Sidney, only waiting for time to prove everything.
……
