Chapter 151: Act 84 – The Story of the Turbulence and the Fish (6)
“What’s wrong? Not going to speak?” Conrad chuckled softly, drawing a dagger and tapping it against the girl’s cheek. “Since those who left aren’t your companions, why risk your life to protect them?”
The cold blade of the dagger reflected an eerie glow, emitting a slight chill akin to an icy surface.
As if sensing the coldness transmitted from the blade, the girl moved slightly but took a deep breath, responding softly yet deliberately, “…Not being able to defeat you is my… own responsibility. My own… matters, I alone… bear the consequences. Only the weak… rely on… endangering others to… preserve themselves.”
“I am different from you…” she replied as if there was a flame burning in her half-open eyes.
“Is that so?” Conrad was not angry. “But I have little patience. You must understand that the Grey Wolf mercenary group has about seventy or eighty members, and not every one of them will be as silent as you for strangers. They are mercenaries, and I remember that loyalty of such magnitude is not typically expected from them. Since that’s the case, the final result won’t change, so why maintain your resistance? I don’t take pleasure in killing, which is why I’m giving you a chance, young girl. You don’t want to go cry to your weak Lady Martha, do you?”
Xi’s eyelashes fluttered.
The young man waited for her response.
But the girl merely gritted her teeth and shook her head gently. “Others are others, I am I.” That was her answer.
“Then it seems we have to part ways, young girl.”
At that moment, Xi tensed up, her face turning pale—after all, she was just an ordinary person, and even though she was used to the life-and-death situations of mercenaries, she still felt fear at the last moment. Yet this fear did not defeat her resolve; she bit down harder and remained silent. Her hands balled into tight fists, as if accepting her fate, tears flowed down the corners of her tightly shut eyes.
Conrad turned his head.
The dark priest of the Black Fire Cult, who had been standing behind him, nodded. Indeed, as Conrad had said, these Grey Wolf mercenaries appeared to be theirs for the taking. As for the captive, there was no need to concern themselves with her, especially according to the definition of mercenaries—while these desperate individuals would fight to the death, they would not easily give up their lives for some meaningless persistence.
Makarolo and Bud were to keep that secret; others were irrelevant.
The two were well aware of this.
The young man grasped the dagger and thrust it toward the girl’s chest.
The dark priest looked on coldly, as if the blossoming crimson blood signified not the loss of a life, but merely an aesthetically pleasing canvas. He heard the red-haired girl produce a choking sound, Xi seemed to desperately try to grasp something at the last moment, but as her eyes suddenly opened wide, her gaze gradually turned hollow, losing its luster.
Consciousness and strength were rapidly leaving her body, yet in her final moment, she couldn’t help but wonder—did that person know that she had already died? Life truly was this fragile…
She suddenly felt extremely fatigued, but then felt something placed against her chest—
“What is that…?”
…
“What is that?”
Conrad turned around, seeing the dark priest of the Black Fire Cult, clad in a black robe, placing a black-red gem that emitted a faint glow against the center of the girl’s corpse. Immediately, several beams that resembled plant roots extended from the gem, with dark light seeping into the wound beneath the dagger and spreading along the girl’s halted blood vessels towards her limbs. Soon, a layer of faint red mist enveloped the entire corpse.
“Divine blood, my lord.” The dark priest answered succinctly.
“You intend to awaken her as a spirit puppet?”
“No.” The dark priest shook his head.
“This woman can resonate with her weapon, and has the ability to defeat our high-ranking worshippers with the power equivalent to downstream silver, which indicates she possesses great potential. This potential comes from her having achieved such mastery at such a young age.” The shadowy man whispered under his cloak, “I’m giving her the blood of Thor Kaiba. If I can successfully awaken a divine envoy, this gamble will be worth it.”
“High-ranking divine blood?”
Conrad couldn’t help but squint: “How did you acquire it? Normally, a lower-ranked priest like you shouldn’t have access to items of this level.”
“Just a coincidence; luck plays a significant role, chaos is the ultimate principle.” The dark priest replied.
The young man let out a light hum, looking down at Xi’s corpse, where black-red beams had gradually enveloped her into a cocoon of light.
“The chances of failure are quite high.” He said.
“Then losing just a quality corpse isn’t much of a loss.” The dark priest answered coldly.
“Suit yourself, I need to launch the attack now. You’d best keep your distance; Bud and Makarolo are not ordinary individuals. If they fight seriously, I might even lose half my life.” Conrad turned, glancing outside the forest. Although he spoke such words, his gloved right hand casually rested on the hilt of his slender sword.
The dark priest was aware of the priorities of this operation, so he did not dispute it, merely lowering his head to step aside. But he paused and looked up to ask, “That group who left, is that truly the ‘Aike’?”
“Very likely.”
Conrad walked out of the forest, answering without looking back. “Regardless, it doesn’t matter. They cannot escape here. If I want them dead, they will die.”
The dark priest revealed a silently mocking smile.
…
In the silent mountains, the tranquility was soon shattered by a spoken sentence—
“So, the lord already knew that was the Duke of Lantonrand’s eldest son?”
“Of course not, Miss Antinna. I only had suspicions at the beginning.” Brendel sighed and replied, “However, the earlier Miss Yula reminded me; she is a Starseer, but she also holds another identity as Aike’s fiancée. I met them once at the Black Tower, I just didn’t recall it at first.”
Of course, the truth of the matter was not as such. Brendel couldn’t have met those two at the Black Tower. But it didn’t matter; he thought no one would challenge him on this. Moreover, he hadn’t told outright lies; he indeed only thought of this matter after seeing Yula, because that Miss Yula was not an inconspicuous person in history; she could be said to be the most renowned Starseer in Erluin’s later history, and simultaneously, her power was exceedingly remarkable.
In the history of the Amber Sword, Brendel clearly remembered Yula as a ‘Chosen One,’ and her being born blind verified this fact from another angle. The Chosen Ones were favored by Martha, yet mortals were still mortals; a flawed body couldn’t accept such perfect power. Thus, when divine power descended, the physical body would inevitably suffer damage.
In the long history of Vaunte, only two Chosen Ones did not have physical flaws—one was the hero of the fiery nations in history, one of the four Saints, the Flame King Gilt. The other was born in this era, currently wielding the cold mercury staff of Madara, the future emperor. All other Chosen Ones, though renowned in their realms, ultimately bore defects.
However, at this moment, stating that Yula could potentially become a master of martial skills, or even after refining the elements, reaching a peak of level 150, once assisting Duke Luun alongside the Valkyrie and the regent princess, such a ‘fact’ might be taken as a joke by others.
“Could it be that her talent as a Chosen One awakened in this battle?” A thought suddenly flashed through Brendel’s mind.
He indeed wanted to recruit this future first-rate powerhouse; unfortunately, Yula at this time had already fallen for Aike, and even though Duke Lantonrand was still inclined towards the royal family at this moment, a break was imminent. Brendel calculated the dates and realized that he neither had the capability nor the time to rectify this matter.
However, he did not worry too much; after all, Aike and Yula eventually brought about a great unification in Erluin during its resurgence, it was just unfortunate that these two genius-level figures both died young. Yula left a daughter in history. He remembered that after the deaths of the regent princess and the Valkyrie, a girl named Ailala Lantonrand Ophelia once led the final resistance in Erluin.
At that time, Brendel had already left the frontlines of the battle against Madara to join the Order of Knights of the Grace Church.
Antinna listened to Brendel’s explanation but still eyed him suspiciously: “Is that so? On the surface, this entire matter seems to be merely a conflict between two mercenary groups, but it actually continues the war among the nobility. Makarolo, ‘the Maned Wolf,’ happens to be Duke Luun’s vassal? The entire Grey Wolf mercenary group is actually the escort for the young man called Aike? So what does the Card Players’ mercenary group want to do—just assassination?”
“No, most people in the Grey Wolf mercenary group might not be aware of this,” Brendel replied, “When Duke Anlek held the power, the Duke Luun’s family was almost entirely slaughtered in that assassination, you should know about it.”
“Of course. The blood of the nobility stained the coup during that month; how could I not have heard about it…” Antinna’s gaze flickered.
“In fact, Duke Luun was already aware of this assassination, which is why he sent out his only child before it happened. Thus, in that turmoil, he actually planned to use the deaths of others to conceal this only heir.” Brendel inhaled deeply, answering calmly.
Antinna was silent after hearing this; the struggle among the nobility was indeed bloody. In a certain sense, Duke Luun’s actions were justifiable.
Romaine glanced over from a distance but seemed uninterested in this topic.
“So, they are likely going to use this only child to threaten Duke Luun?” The noble lady considered this and raised her head to ask.
“Sharp reaction,” Brendel praised. “Duke Luun, at least up to now, is still the royal family’s most formidable supporter. If certain individuals want to take action, they naturally need to first destabilize this ‘pillar of the royal family.’”
“So…?”
Antinna frowned in worry; although the chaotic situation was an advantage for them, as citizens of this kingdom, they naturally did not wish to see the worst happen.
“In no more than three months.” Brendel replied.
“Makarolo was already well aware of all this?” Antinna raised her head to ask, suddenly realizing: “He deliberately lured the Black Fire Cultists over; he wanted to use the mercenary group as bait?”
“That’s likely the case.”
The young girl inhaled; that was over a hundred lives, according to Brendel’s words, they were at least individuals who had followed the other for ten years; although she understood that only being cold-blooded could one survive in brutal conflict, encountering it firsthand still made her feel somewhat chilly. She suddenly glanced at Brendel, uncontrollably thinking: did her lord think this way too?
But Brendel’s gaze remained focused on the valley below; he knew there was a predicament waiting for him to resolve.
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