Chapter 180: Act 114 – Final Battle (2) (First Update, Exhausted and Seeking Subscriptions and Recommendations)
“Medisa.” Brendel gestured to the silver elf girl beside him.
The princess of the Hayan Empire raised her hands to hold the silver helmet with wings, firmly putting it on before mounting her horse. With one hand, she lowered the faceguard covering the upper half of her face and replied crisply, “Here—!” Her snow-white chainmail gloves tightened around the silver spear, the tip pointed towards the sky. The half of her small face visible beneath the visor showed tightly pressed cherry-colored lips—the maiden’s aura suddenly turned solemn.
The unicorn stomped its hoof, fully armored as well. The silver chainmail of the elf was intricately crafted, providing incredible protection against slash and pierce damage. Over it lay a snow-white battle cloak emblazoned with the emblem of the lily flower of the elven empire. Medisa looked the same, entirely in white, with her silver armor shimmering beneath the cloak, making it seem as if a holy white knight from a myth was stepping down from a scroll, transforming fantasy into reality before everyone’s eyes.
“Go!”
The young girl nodded, her unicorn accelerated as she rode, and they appeared on a broad avenue after rounding a broken wall. This was the path used by the silver elves in ancient times to perform rituals—where noble priests accompanied by elven monks carried the sacred relics of the elven goddess Saya. Hundreds of years had passed; although the grass now covered the former white marble pavement, history silently settled in this mute relic that could not express what had once transpired. Yet the young knight swept over the pavement, as if the elven cavalry from the rituals of yore had once again passed through this avenue, solemnly conveying the will of the goddess—
Silver Elf!
Far behind the lizardmen, Conrad narrowed his eyes, turning to grab Yuhjiker by the collar and roar, “You bastard, what have you done! That’s a silver elf! The silver elf of Hayan! How did you provoke them!?”
Yuhjiker was startled as well. He had been planning to deal with the silver elves’ royal tomb here for years, initially being cautious, fearing those legendary elves who dared to charge into the ranks of the dark legion singing hymns might one day come for him. But as days went by without incident, he came to believe that the reclusive silver elves truly kept their promise and no longer appeared on the continent. Furthermore, the leader of the lizardmen even suspected that this proud race had long been extinct for some unknown reason.
That so-called great escape was likely just a lie.
But as he relaxed his guard and grew bolder day by day, and as he edged closer to the elven royal tomb, the silver elves finally appeared once more. Although Yuhjiker’s sight was not as sharp as Conrad’s, who possessed golden-level abilities, the sight of the white armored silver elves, adorned with artistic battle skirts, was beautiful enough to be considered a work of art. Beyond the silver elves, he could not find another warrior so flamboyant on the continent.
He took a sharp breath and, still gripped by Conrad, shouted, “Donald, young man—look over there!”
Conrad turned his head—
He looked just in time to see Brendel and Xi appearing to the left and right, separating behind the elven knight like two flames, one silver and one red. After briefly pausing, the two flames shot into the battlefield with such speed that they were almost untraceable—by the time Conrad focused on them again, a silver sword and a crimson spear had already taken off the heads of two soaring lizardmen. “Damn it…” Conrad dropped Yuhjiker, his keen eyes instantly seeing that Medisa and Xi were stronger than himself, while the young man, although only at the silver tier, had proven to be no easy opponent. Though he didn’t know where these powerful foes came from, he recognized the red-haired girl with the ponytail—she was Xi, whom he had killed that night. Even though the Dark Cleric had forcibly resurrected her with divine blood, wasn’t she supposed to have become a divine envoy?
But at this moment, Conrad exhaled and calmed down. At least he was certain that the inept Dark Fire Cleric was likely in deep trouble; only the uncertain was truly worthy of fear.
“I’ll handle that over there; you better reclaim your stronghold before I solve the issue.” He shot a cold glance at Yuhjiker, then took off a pair of dark iron gloves to put on. The lizardman leader, feeling uneasy, dared not respond, knowing that Conrad was on the verge of an explosion and might very well end his life in a moment of carelessness. Normally, he would confront him fearlessly, but now he didn’t want to provoke misfortune.
However, seeing Conrad turn to leave, he stammered, “Silver… silver elves?”
“Handle it yourself.”
Conrad coldly huffed without looking back. If the silver elves were indeed roused by this mindless lizard, he had no need to wade into this muddy water. Although the Custodians, as a large organization, might not necessarily fear the silver elf empire of Hayan, especially given that they had been hidden for so long and had already been forgotten, they were nonetheless legendary warriors not to be trifled with lightly.
That foolish lizard was merely a pawn that could be tossed aside at any moment. In fact, he was more concerned about how to explain the “sacrifice” of a low-tier Dark Cleric. Compared to these mindless reptiles, the status of the Dark Fire believers among the Custodians was far superior. Their leader, the Bug Lord Mayard, was one of the twelve Patriarchs, and simultaneously one of the four great leaders, with considerable influence.
The deaths of those dozens of high-tier believers could still be brushed under the rug—after all, this operation had made quite a stir and even involved a duke of the kingdom. But the loss of a low-tier Dark Cleric was something that hadn’t happened in the organization for at least ten years, and just thinking about it gave Conrad a headache.
He raised his head, icy gaze locking onto Brendel, Medisa, and Xi. In his view, the only viable plan now was to find Duke Luun’s heir and take it step by step.
…
“Drive those lizardmen off the central battlefield!” Brendel shouted, slashing down a lizardman warrior with his sword before instructing Xi beside him. The red-haired girl nodded. She flicked her fiery ponytail and turned, sweeping her battle spear backward, unleashing a lightning arc that sent out a crackling sound. The lizardmen immediately retreated, with those who were slow to escape instantly turned to char and then exploded into ash.
“Well done!” The young man praised without reservation.
Though the lizardmen were only around level 20, their sheer numbers were overwhelming. Along with Naminez, he had a total of twenty-one silver mid-level elven guards, plus seventeen mid-range black iron mercenaries—yet there were easily five to six hundred lizardmen, not counting Conrad’s more than a hundred dark mercenaries. If they charged en masse, the consequences would be dire.
Thus, he had to find ways to reduce the lizardmen’s attacking front, minimizing their numerical advantage while maximizing their personal strength.
The method was simple—he, Medisa, and Xi would firmly hold the center of the battlefield.
However, Brendel did not expect that before he could explain his thoughts, the red-haired girl seemed to intuitively understand his intent. Such tactical insight did not seem typical for someone trained in a mercenary group. Nevertheless, his praise made Xi turn to him, her expression puzzled. “Why are you praising me?” the red-haired girl asked, “Are you trying to win my favor?”
“Hah—indeed, you did well, do I need any other reasons?”
Brendel caught a lizardman’s spear with his sword, flipping it over with a slash. He took a breath and replied.
“Whatever.” Xi glanced at him before turning back. She had once fought for the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, but she had no family; every member of the group had been her family. She wanted to protect her home, but now that home was gone, leaving only hatred behind. She had always preferred action over words, being a somewhat taciturn girl. She only knew that what she did was right; there seemed to be no instances of praise before.
Because everyone’s gaze was fixed on Aike, be it the captain or others. Even she felt the same.
However, Brendel’s thoughts were different. He didn’t like overthinking complex matters. He only knew that Xi had golden-level strength now, and the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group, where she could once find her footing, was no longer in existence. Given the opportunity, it would be foolish not to draw her into their ranks. He had his principles in certain matters, but he was also not rigid or inflexible.
Fatefully, he, Xi, Medisa, and even himself had mastered long-range attacks before evolving into elementalists, so even though they were at the silver, gold, and gold levels, their combined destructive potential on the battlefield was terrifying. Xi was fine; she had gained all her skills through resonating with the Element of Thunder, mostly executing a single thunderous slash. Medisa, as an elven princess, had originally practiced only the basic sword techniques of the elven sanctuary before her transformation into a ghost knight, learning charges, spirit spears, and devastating strikes; she was practically a moving human cannon. He himself was even more formidable, possessing combat techniques that would make anyone bleed just from watching—charge, power burst, White Crow swordsmanship, and front-line breakthroughs; these were all the coveted skills of warrior classes.
Not to mention the conflict aura from the badge and the windball from the Queen Wind ring, along with the fireball spell from the Fire Ring; at his level, Brendel couldn’t imagine having a better setup. After all, no matter how good the equipment, there were limits on willpower; he remembered those RMB warriors from years past.
With these three present, their combat power was exponentially elevated. Moreover, the most fortunate thing was that neither Medisa nor Xi, despite their formidable strength, were experienced women. Brendel, having scouted for renowned players in the past to form his group, had honed the skills of persuasion to easily draw two young girls into his ranks—oh, no! It should be said that pulling them into his faction was really an easy matter for him.
But more than this, what puzzled him now was—having already set up, with tactical intentions clear, why was Conrad still not appearing? At this moment, the lizardman army had been pushed towards the sides by the three of them, and with the mighty personal strength of the silver elves, they could easily defend the narrow openings on both sides, even alternating with mercenaries to conserve energy.
Their opponent should not have failed to see this.
But what was going on?
He raised his head, scanning the surroundings and privately wondering if the opponent had already realized he wasn’t Aike and thus retreated? Or was there some other plot? But this question was quickly answered. Just as he and Xi repelled the fifth wave of attacking lizardmen, he suddenly heard Medisa’s loud warning from the left flank:
“Watch out!”
A violent gust of wind surged from the rear.
Great, the enemy was underground!
(PS: Continuous eruptions, exhausted and seeking support. To thank everyone for their support, I can only work harder at writing. The Prophecy Emperor’s jokes are repeated; do they come every day to the review section to say it’s fun?)(To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in and read legitimate copies!)
