Chapter 34: Act 26 – The Elite Withering Beast
“You’re going to scold me, right, Brendel?”
“No, hurry over. Be careful.” Watching Romaine being so cautious, Brendel couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated. He looked up; three juvenile Withering Beasts had already appeared on the rock they were previously occupying. He turned around to survey the surroundings—these shrub monsters had encircled them in just a short while. After the undead were wiped out, they became the sole target in the canyon, especially since the future Merchant Miss was holding the glowing Zanglight Prick, a magical weapon that attracted these golden tree’s magical servants like a candle in the dark.
And indeed, it was a candle in the dark.
Brendel could almost hear the golden magic tree’s thirst for magic screaming in his mind, but he didn’t dare to dwell on that thought—time was pressing, and they might encounter more Tree Men if they didn’t leave soon. He turned back to Freya, “How are you holding up?”
Freya nodded.
“Then let’s go up from the other side. Hold your sword carefully.” He said as he passed the maiden’s sword back to her. Although the Withering Beasts had taken the high ground on this side, there were still no shrub monsters on the opposite side.
In fact, these animated plants weren’t fast; their efficiency in climbing over the interlocking rocks was on par with a regular person. However, they excelled in numbers and their familiarity with the terrain, coupled with their high physique, stamina, and resilience. Brendel knew they needed to find a way to halt these monsters.
He couldn’t help but glance up higher.
Freya placed her bloodied hand on the rock wall, wincing in pain. But gritting her teeth, she tore a piece of cloth from her sleeve to wrap her hand and then climbed up, gripping the sharp stones.
Brendel watched this scene from behind, feeling a mix of admiration and concern. But there was no time to waste; he took the Zanglight Prick from Romaine and protected her as they climbed. Turning back, he saw two juvenile Withering Beasts climbing up from below.
“Brendel, hurry up!” Romaine called out.
Freya’s face turned pale with anxiety, and she immediately lay on the rock, reaching out her hand to him.
But Brendel had no time to respond; the two shrub monsters, lacking intelligence, half-stood up and hissed threateningly at the young man.
In a sense, Withering Beasts could not be considered intelligent life. They were merely puppets of the golden magic trees.
Brendel swung his sword, and a faint glow made the two monsters recoil slightly. Just as he intended to take the opportunity to grab the future Valkyrie’s hand, they let out a low growl and lunged at him.
Looking for death!
Brendel’s heart burned with anger. Leveraging his 2.1 agility level, he pushed off the rock wall, leaping over the two shrub monsters—his feet landing, his upper body already adopting the most standard attacking stance.
A horizontal slash.
Freya gasped, realizing how far behind she was compared to Brendel. Her talent wasn’t extraordinary, but her greatest pride was that she could work harder and focus more than the average person; being the best swordsman among the Buche militia didn’t mean her talent was exceptional, as most people overlooked the sweat she put in for this achievement.
This was also why Marden admired her and made her the militia captain.
However, her swordsmanship was merely solid, while Brendel’s seemed honed to perfection; if one had to describe it in a word, it would be “neat and clean.”
With one sword stroke, a head fell; there was not a hint of mistake.
The headless Withering Beast burst into a ring of silver flames from the severed neck and quickly turned into a pile of ash on the ground. The other Withering Beast let out a horrendous scream and swung its elongated claw at him—indeed, the claws of the Withering Beast were much longer than what an average person would expect. Most attackers wouldn’t show their true capabilities before launching a strike, causing many to fall victim, but Brendel wasn’t fooled.
Ridiculous; he had already been caught off guard by this once in the game; how could he fall into the same pit again?
Thus, he was prepared and raised his sword just in time. The shrub monster’s claw struck the Zanglight Prick, erupting in a shower of silver sparks. The Withering Beast shrieked and staggered back, but although Brendel was puzzled, he could not give up such a great opportunity to attack.
He took a lunging step forward; the elven sword in his hand carved out a striking silver line. In fact, he had performed such aggressive attacks countless times in the game; he was more than familiar with it. However, his physical attributes and skills felt incredibly awkward at this moment—especially the timing of his sword strike, which was worlds apart from what he was used to.
He thought if he were facing an iron-tier swordsman, they would easily dodge this sword strike, but the juvenile Withering Beast wasn’t capable of that.
One sword pierced the throat.
Seething hot silver flames erupted from the leaf-shaped blade, turning that Withering Beast into a pile of ashes in an instant. Six golden orbs floated through the night sky and then merged into Brendel’s chest.
To be honest, the “purification” effect was far more lethal to the undead and dark creatures than Brendel had imagined, yet he had never seen anything similar in the game, so he had no basis for comparison—
“Brendel, I didn’t know you were this strong!” Romaine was momentarily stunned.
Freya was likewise left speechless, having originally believed Brendel was just a militia member from Bruglas. But now, thinking back, it seemed this young man must have been deceiving her; she wasn’t foolish—how could a militia be this powerful?
However, neither she nor Romaine had even begun to grasp the true standards of judging a swordsman, which revolved around balancing speed, strength, and technique. In truth, Brendel’s speed and strength were still quite lacking. But regarding technique—thanks to past experiences, he was able to perform skills that many low-tier swordsmen wouldn’t even consider.
But ultimately, this was pointless, as many techniques without the corresponding power level behind them were just hollow. Like his earlier leap, he had merely taken advantage of the Withering Beast’s clumsiness; against others, he would never dare use such a move.
What a joke—it was like being a target in the air without the ‘Facilitation’ element activated!
However, Brendel had no time to relish the astonishment of the two women; he noticed more Withering Beasts had climbed up and quickly gestured for Freya and Romaine to continue upward while he instinctively glanced at the two piles of Withering Beast ashes. It was like an instinct from the game—humorously, he just wanted to see if any equipment had dropped.
But, as expected, there was none.
It seemed there were indeed some differences from the game. Withering Beasts typically dropped 1-2 copper coins, right? He couldn’t help but shake his head and returned to scaling the rock wall.
The agility of the juvenile Withering Beasts was at 1.2, and while their adult counterparts had strength and physique that far exceeded that of other monsters, their agility was even lower—only two-thirds that of the juveniles. However, Brendel’s was at 2.1, and Freya, as a well-trained militia member, wouldn’t be lower than 1.2; only Romaine lagged slightly, but with Brendel and Freya’s help, she wasn’t too slow either.
Thus, the three of them climbed up along the sharp rocks, gradually pulling away from the shrub monsters. However, the latter’s stamina was unmatched, and the chase continued for several minutes.
At this moment, the advantage of physique became apparent: aside from Brendel, who remained calm and collected, Freya began to breathe heavily. As for Romaine, her face had turned as pale as paper, but when Brendel offered to carry her, she adamantly refused.
Brendel couldn’t help but look back; the monsters were hanging back about dozens of meters away. Fortunately, their lack of intelligence kept them from effectively encircling them; otherwise, they would have been done for. But even so, continuing this way wasn’t a solution, and being caught was just a matter of time, as the juvenile Withering Beasts had a physique higher than Brendel’s.
He couldn’t help but glance up at the distant cliff, thankfully, it wasn’t far now.
Just then, Romaine gasped for breath, “Brendel, look over there—!”
Our protagonist instinctively turned his head, squinting his eyes as he saw a giant Withering Beast, about three men tall and moving swiftly, emerge from a crack in the rocks ahead of them.
Holy hell! An elite individual, the patrol leader! If Brendel had encountered such a creature in a game, he would have been thrilled, but now he only felt a surge of frustration. This beast was a mutated version of the Withering Beast infused with the blood of the golden tree—not only was its physique and strength outstanding, but its agility was also impressive at 1.7.
“Freya, Romaine, get over to that cliff! There’s a rope hook in the backpack. If you can find a way to climb up, those low-tier magical servants won’t be able to catch up to us for a while!” He decisively threw his backpack to Romaine. As the only man present, he felt responsible for covering their retreat.
In the game, although male and female players were equal, a basic etiquette in most teams saw male characters typically taking on the role of covering the rear. Therefore, without a second thought, Brendel made this decision.
“I’ll go with you,” Freya said.
Brendel glanced at her, seeing the seriousness on the future Valkyrie’s face, knowing she wouldn’t be dissuaded, and could only nod. However, he actually needed a helper; at least Freya could excellently fulfill that role unlike Romaine, who was often slacking off in militia training and aspired to become a merchant.
“Romaine, hurry up. It’s up to you now.”
“Yes, Brendel!” The Merchant Miss understood and nodded vigorously, clutching onto Brendel’s backpack, then turned and ran in that direction.
The elite Withering Beast leaped in front of them, while the Withering Beast horde was still about forty meters away. Brendel and Freya exchanged glances, estimating they had about thirty seconds to end this fight.
“This thing’s claws are three meters long, watch its striking range; we should keep our distance. Also, it can launch poisonous spines from its body—avoid getting hit from the front!”
Freya gripped her sword tightly, a bit nervously. She took a deep breath, unsure how Brendel knew these things but also aware he wouldn’t deceive her, so she focused and nodded.
Brendel squeezed his hand, feeling a bit stiff; the previous paralysis poison was starting to take effect. He opened his panel and found his agility had dropped by 0.1. Yet he couldn’t help but glance at that elite Withering Beast, feeling somewhat forlorn. In the game, elite Withering Beasts as patrol leaders only dropped money—over ten silver coins, so certainly here, they wouldn’t drop anything beneficial, right?
Thinking back, it didn’t seem entirely impossible.
(PS. Not enough collections, please collect. Not enough recommendations, please recommend. Not enough clicks, please click. All sorts of data are lacking, rolling on the ground asking for help!)
