Chapter 144: Act 77 – Night Attack (Part 2)
It was almost midnight.
Brendel could not help but recall that strategy guide, which mentioned that after the story entered the ‘extermination of the lizardman thieves’ arc, the enemy would launch their first attack one night at midnight. The enemies referred to in the guide were naturally the Druids or the ‘Card’ mercenary group on stage—
‘……The sudden attack was very fierce; one could say that we were all caught off guard. The attack started from the northern hillside, but anyone who tried to flee southward would likely face death; because in fact, the main force of the monsters (Druids) was evidently in the south. Well, this at least proves that the advanced AI promised by Torrential rain is not merely a gimmick on paper…’
‘Our countermeasure was to try our best to save the “Gray Wolves” mercenary group from destruction. It is worth noting that “Maned Wolf” Makarolo and the Deputy Leader Bud both possess extremely strong combat capabilities, roughly equivalent to players at level 45 and level 55, ensuring their survival is the most crucial aspect of helping you complete your mission.’
‘However, we discussed another viable plan, stemming from a small discovery we made to the east later on. I think Torrential rain clearly considered the coping abilities of players at this level stage, and thus they designed a light altar in the eastern region…’
‘Our team discussed how to utilize this, but regardless of the method, it was undoubtedly essential that you could save the doomed fate of the “Gray Wolves” mercenary group. This might be a crucial condition for achieving 100% completion of this storyline mission—’
Brendel rubbed the tip of his nose; rather than a guide, it felt more like a summary of lessons learned. The unique nature of storyline missions meant he couldn’t repeat them, and he had previously approached the entire story with the mindset of reading a novel—after all, witnessing a group of players’ actual adventures was thrilling.
Especially using his imagination to fill in the gaps in the text; that immersive feeling was Brendel’s favorite part.
“Damn it, if you write a battle report, at least clarify the time, place, and characters for me!”
What made Brendel curse was that the guy who wrote the strategy guide seemed to have a bad habit. Terms like ‘one night at midnight’ appearing in a serious summary—was that really acceptable?
He hadn’t thought much of it before, but now he realized this kind of sloppiness was harmful. Of course, at that moment, he couldn’t drag that guy from across the internet to hear him say things like ‘Men of honor, cute big breasts’; now he could only rely on his own experience to compensate for the guide’s shortcomings, with the remainder of the hope likely directed at the sky—
Of course, hoping that Leidi would hurry up and finish talking!
He certainly wasn’t aiming for any 100% mission completion. In previous games, achieving perfection came with so-called double rewards, but in this real world, where could he find some ‘system’ to claim rewards?
Was he supposed to silently pray to the sky, “Lady Martha, drop a pie down here”?
Certainly unrealistic.
Brendel’s plan was clear: while previously he didn’t understand the overall story direction, he finally noted it down and naturally had to revise his strategy. He now wanted to detach from the “Gray Wolves” mercenary group before the Druids launched their attack, then hurry to that light altar to open another storyline.
Then he would directly use that line to take down the lizardman bandits, get the Philosopher’s Stone, and then make his exit.
As for whether the “Gray Wolves” mercenary group lived or died, it was of little concern to him. Hundreds of mercenary groups in Vaunte disappeared yearly due to various conflicts; he didn’t think he currently had the ability to subdue “Maned Wolf” Makarolo or Bud.
After all, one was a level 45 great swordsman, and the other was a 56-level knight of the Church who had awakened elemental powers—of course, the individual might not acknowledge this. However, regardless, Brendel wasn’t even daring to think about such big shots for the time being.
What he relied on now was finding potential future prospects like Antinna and Tam; since he could see into the future, long-term investment was evidently the way to go for low risk and high return.
Unfortunately, while imagining was beautiful, reality often went against expectations. Not to mention that the plan itself had no flaws, but Brendel certainly hadn’t considered unforeseen circumstances like the one he faced now.
While he was entangled in his thoughts, young Miss Romaine couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Brendel.”
She raised her lovely brows, poking him in the back, and called out in what she believed to be a tiny voice. Of course, what the Merchant Miss deemed ‘tiny’ was often just her one-sided view of the matter.
Everyone present was startled out of their wits by this sudden voice.
In fact, Romaine’s voice wasn’t very loud; it was about the same as how she usually spoke, just a little more urgent. Yet in the quiet night, amid the stillness of the forest, it felt jarring.
“Br…”
Brendel quickly covered the mouth of this wildly nervous young lady and turned his head, only to see Leidi stop, his expression wary as he glanced around.
In that moment, Brendel almost felt like strangling this bratty girl; however, he certainly wouldn’t do that because he couldn’t bring himself to.
Fortunately, Leidi seemed only to be tense for a moment before returning to converse with his companions. Brendel let out a sigh of relief, then thought of something and turned to glare at Romaine fiercely.
But the Merchant Miss was shaking her head impatiently, continuously making muffled sounds, clearly dissatisfied with Brendel’s actions.
Brendel nearly exploded in anger initially, but then he felt something was off.
Romaine might be a bit careless and reckless; on the surface, she appeared indifferent to everything but he knew that this girl, who often smiled like a little fox, was actually very shrewd inside.
Otherwise, how could she never suffer a loss?
Just as he thought of this, he noticed Husher reaching out a rough big hand to hold his hand down. He was taken aback, this was rather unusual; as his summoned creature, these Lubis mercenaries rarely acted on their own.
He looked up and saw a wary glint in the seasoned mercenary’s eyes.
Brendel relaxed his grip, and Romaine stopped.
Not just them; even Leidi stopped once again, the white-haired young man couldn’t help but turn back to glance at them.
The forest seemed to fall silent for a moment—
Not only the people, but even the wind ceased.
“Did you hear something?” Brendel instinctively asked, knowing Romaine’s perception far exceeded ordinary people.
The Merchant Miss shot him a stern glare—then nodded.
Brendel’s nose twitched, and his heart skipped a beat—there was a strange smell lingering in the air. It was a bit pungent, more like a spicy rotten odor, reminiscent of the aroma rising from boiling hot water spewing from underground volcanoes.
The smell of sulfur.
As soon as the thought crossed Brendel’s mind, the longsword in his hand was already drawn out with a ‘swish’. He didn’t think much, it was almost a reflex.
“Those damn black fire cultists! That bastard who wrote the strategy guide has deceived me again; if he had said there were black fire cultists, I wouldn’t have come to wade through this muddy water even if I died!”
He cursed instinctively in his mind.
The black fire cultists belonged to the forces of the ‘Lord of Insects’ Myad under the Twelve High Priests of the Druids, but they were different from those ‘Insect Mages’ who toyed with bugs. These scum among humans were the bastards dealing with those guys from the flaming river of sulfur!
They were collectively known as the subordinates down below!
Simply put.
They were the devil lords of Jotungrund’s underground—
Brendel couldn’t help but slap his forehead in frustration; he should have thought of this earlier. Erluin’s Southlands had always been the traditional territory of the black fire cultists amidst the wilderness. Yet he had been so focused on the Philosopher’s Stone and the oddly behaving “Gray Wolves” mercenary group that he momentarily forgot about this common knowledge.
Was this the proverbial darkness beneath the lamp?
However, the reason Brendel was so wary of these guys was not that their combat power was incredibly strong. Rather it was because these bastards were completely insane; each one was more fanatical than the monks of the Sanctuary, and during battle, they probably couldn’t help charging in shouting they were invulnerable.
Moreover, the demons chained by the black fire cultists varied greatly; while they fought together, they had their own ulterior motives. Ideally, such conditions should significantly affect their combat prowess, but the creatures beneath Jotungrund had an array of bizarre abilities that made them hard to defend against.
What’s more, advanced cultists could absorb demonic power and merge with the demons they had chained. Just the thought of that gruesome scene was enough to make Brendel want to vomit.
Such monsters, one or two might be manageable, but many of them would make even the gods suffer.
Instinctively, Brendel wanted to flee immediately. But just as this notion crossed his mind, a howling gust of wind came from the darkness.
As a level one hundred thirty warrior reincarnate, Brendel was all too familiar with that sound. He instinctively shrank his neck, and sure enough, he saw a black chain with spikes flying out of the forest’s darkness, connecting to its sharp-edged flail—
The spike flail—
“There’s a Spike Flail Lord!” Brendel saw that spiked flail ‘whooshing’ past, knocking down a cluster of trees as thick as a bowl, finally whizzing past Leidi and the young man beside him—though it caused no damage, it clearly left those two stunned.
Brendel, on the other hand, felt his teeth ache.
In the underground hell of Jotungrund, the Spike Flail Lord was a tier higher than the hellhound, a demonic creature of level 29. Previously when he leveled up in the magma pool area at level 30, he had often suffered from these guys, and now the childhood shadows were once again replaying.
However, what happened next gave him no time to handle his aching teeth.
He saw Leidi and that young man turn to run—
“Foolish idiots!” Brendel nearly jumped up in a panic; could a level 29 Spike Flail Lord miss with a flail? This was obviously a test; he understood these cunning intruders all too well. He could almost be sure that there was a scouting squad on the other side.
But now that Leidi had run, she was likely to attract the black fire cultists’ main force.
Of course, he didn’t care whether that guy lived or died; the problem was that their group was also headed in that direction.
Brendel immediately slapped Husher’s shoulder, almost growling in a hoarse voice, “Go catch those two kids! Bring them back!”
(PS. Please give me some support; anything is okay. My results are quite disappointing. It feels really lonely when no one pays attention.)(To be continued… for more chapters, please visit, support the author, and read the official versions!)
