Chapter 378: Act 134 – Brendel’s Staff (Second Update)
“What’s the matter, Carglis?”
“Lord, there’s a bit of a problem,” Carglis replied, glancing towards the forest.
In the forest, the Druids were interrogating the captured Gold-maned Lionmen—members of the withered wood council—who clearly had not expected anyone to dare to cause trouble at the front lines at this time, let alone that Brendel could still be considered their ally.
This infuriated them greatly, as the antics of those Toquinin bipeds were nothing short of a waste of their time, and at this moment, time was nearly equivalent to life.
However, the Lionmen felt greatly wronged; they had learned that Erluin’s envoy brought only twenty or thirty guards to trouble Brendel. Even with a couple of golden-tier warriors in the mix, they hardly regarded such a small troupe, and Lawak and his deputy thought that even if they wiped these people out, it wouldn’t take up much time.
They did not expect things to go against their wishes. The Cruz people had not informed them of Brendel’s true strength, which ultimately led to their defeat.
Of course, it wasn’t that Faina and her group deliberately wanted to harm these fellows; in fact, the noble heirs themselves were quite surprised. They had originally thought that even if Brendel had one or two golden-tier warriors by his side, he could not possibly be a match for several hundred silver-tier Lionmen.
It should be known that although the Lionmen did not have much impressive swordsmanship, their racial affinity for wild combat and strength prayers was a unique fighting art, making them extremely powerful. Generally, even a silver-tier human would not necessarily be their opponent.
Unfortunately for the Lionmen, Brendel did not have ordinary people under his command.
The Fireclaw Lizardmen, hailing from the elemental planes, were as strong or even stronger than the Lionmen in combat. Xi, as a messenger of the God of Thunder, was almost unbeatable among golden-tier warriors, not to mention she had absorbed the power of the Golden Apple.
And among them, Kuran, who seemed the most ordinary, possessed absolute power in the mid-golden tier, far exceeding his peers, and was a veteran of the November War with experience that was dreadful in its extent.
As for Brendel, he had already been armed to the teeth with various skills and equipment, making him a monster of golden stage capabilities. Even he was unsure of just how strong he could be in a fully powered state.
Thus, all the unexpected circumstances led to the tragedy of the Toquinin Lionmen.
However, Brendel did not care about their fate. He wiped the dark blade of Harangya before sheathing it and turned to ask, “What’s the issue?”
Carglis casually sat beside Brendel, stretched, and bluntly surprised Brendel: “Lord, someone is scheming against us from behind.”
“Oh?” Brendel was taken aback.
“The Erluin envoy, the Toquinin bipeds have both come to trouble us. I don’t think this is a coincidence,” the young man whispered. “If Earl Ouding’s trip was pressured by the Cruz people, then the coincidental appearance of the Toquinin bipeds is hard to believe without a Cruz shadow behind it.”
Brendel suddenly understood: “That is indeed the case.” However, he furrowed his brow. Toquinin was a force of the Hallowed Temple of Earth; how could the Cruz people collude with them?
If the Cruz were truly planning to support Toquinin to suppress Erluin, it would undoubtedly be devastating news for Erluin.
But would the Temple of Fire agree?
Even if the Cruz held sway over the temple’s discourse, such actions would inherently contravene their doctrine; the temple would not easily compromise. Even at a cost, targeting Erluin seemed somewhat counterproductive.
He looked at Carglis in confusion.
“You must be wondering how the Cruz convinced those bipeds to come after us?” Carglis replied. “It’s actually quite simple; just let those bipeds know that Erluin is no longer a threat.”
“You mean the news of Erluin’s division?”
“Yes, Lord. I see the Erluin envoy has not yet been able to contact the outside world for information. How could those underdeveloped bipeds have learned of Erluin’s division?” Carglis theorized. “Or is it that Toquinin’s civilization level is already higher than Erluin’s?”
“Cruz,” Brendel shook his head in response. The costly long-range messaging spell could only be accomplished by the Cruz or, possibly, the wizards from Bud. Yet those wizards, being aloof as people of Silver, seemed to have no need to get involved.
Moreover, even if those cunning old men wanted to find a stumbling block for the Cruz, they would hardly consider an insignificant nation like Erluin.
However, Brendel suddenly realized, glancing surprisedly at Carglis.
He could draw conclusions because he understood historical trends and knew the relationships between Cruz, Toquinin, and Erluin better than anyone else here, along with the esoteric knowledge not known to others.
But this young man from Minate only used a few scattered pieces of information to analyze and reach a conclusion—his mind worked remarkably well! If an ordinary person were to ponder and find the problem after the fact, it could be attributed to careful thought. But this fellow had just chased away those Toquinin Lionmen and already sensed the subtle hints of the Cruz behind it.
He even thought, did this young man already consider this when the bipeds appeared?
Brendel suddenly felt it might be wise to bring this guy onboard. Although Sir Minate himself was just an average lord, his son was no ordinary person.
He looked at Carglis, thinking how such a person could remain obscure in history; a young man like this should soon rise in the forthcoming era of conflict and chaos.
Could it be that he truly perished on the way to Vlada?
With that thought, Brendel couldn’t help but want to pat Carglis on the shoulder, adopting an older-guarantor tone to say, “Kid, I just saved your life. Think about how to repay me, will you?”
Yet, he only dared to think this in his heart; otherwise, he’d surely acquire the title of soothsayer, and one day the Temple of Fire might send someone to tie him to a stake for burning.
Brendel was about to say something when he heard Carglis express doubt, “But the only thing that perplexes me is the motive of these bipeds. Did they travel all this way just to steal your sword, Lord?”
“Although the Sword of Earth is a legendary weapon, those unfortunate beings are at least representing Toquinin’s envoy. It seems a bit beneath them to suddenly turn into robbers, doesn’t it?”
The young man couldn’t help but scratch his head. “Or is this something that has been a tradition for them since ancient times? I really can’t understand—”
Earl Ouding and the female scholar beside him couldn’t help but cough heavily upon hearing this young man, their faces adorned with an odd expression. “Tradition?”
They thought, if the Toquinin Lionmen knew this young man had just branded Toquinin as a nation of robbers, wouldn’t they immediately come marching in?
But Antinna answered his question. The noble heiress approached only after the battle ended. Taking over Brendel’s words, she responded, “The Sword of Earth is a sacred relic of the Hallowed Temple of Earth, worth as much to Erluin as the Lionheart Sword. If the Cruz people know that the Staff of Flame is in your possession, they wouldn’t hesitate to come and seize it.”
“I see,” Carglis understood. “Then this makes things easier to explain. It seems that the Cruz is indeed pulling the strings from behind. Because no outsiders should know that the Sword of Earth is in the hands of the Lord, and even if they did, there wouldn’t be any motivation to spread that news—”
Brendel nodded, his expression darkening. He had thought of this before Carglis had, as he was well aware of the Sword of Earth’s background. Yet these Cruz people were indeed haunting, resorting to backstabbing when direct action fails.
This was not Veronika’s style.
“If Veronika wanted to deal with us, it seems unnecessary for her to play tricks,” Antinna mused. “That general certainly does not need to be so underhanded; we are not her match.”
“Perhaps she doesn’t wish to tear apart her relationship with the Druids?”
“The Druids are not fools.”
“Then it gets interesting.” Carglis suddenly smiled, turning back. “Earl Ouding, it really was the Cruz envoy putting pressure on you, wasn’t it?”
As a senior officer of the Northern army and a noble of the kingdom, Ouding had no obligation to answer the young man’s question. However, since Brendel had fought alongside him before, and the obvious fact that the Cruz were treating them as tools made him feel dissatisfied.
Thus, he nodded, “I know the one who came; she is the daughter of the current Chancellor of the Cruz Empire.”
“Meaning it indeed was the Cruz people, but Veronika was unaware,” Antinna’s eyes lit up as she connected the dots.
Brendel nodded, but what troubled him was that even if this was the case, they could not confront the commander of the Azure Sky Legion, for Veronika might take the imperial prestige into account and turn playacting into reality.
Even if she wanted to reprimand her subordinate for acting on their own, she would hardly extend any kindness towards them, the Erluin people.
“This means, no matter how one looks at it, the Cruz people are not planning to let this go,” Brendel remarked, feeling annoyed about having to deal with the schemes from behind while also countering the wolf disaster.
“Doesn’t matter, we can also retaliate,” Carglis whispered quietly. “Lord, since the Cruz doesn’t strike directly, they must want to see our cards.”
Brendel was taken aback.
“Lord,” Antinna reminded quietly, “Carglis means they should be nearby.”
Brendel immediately caught on, but he did not act immediately. Instead, he casually exchanged a glance with those around him and secretly tossed out a Wind Wisp Spider card.
Brendel threw the card to the ground, causing those semi-transparent spiders to emerge from the bushes without attracting anyone’s attention.
Then he quietly said, “Continue, tell me what they plan to do next.”
Carglis was stunned before quickly understanding that this young lord had already made his move. The young man exhibited a mischievous smile, answering, “It goes like this. Since they want to see where our bottom line is, naturally, they must continuously raise their own stakes—”
“However, regarding stronger leverage…”
“The Temple of Fire,” Antinna replied. “If the Cruz hold sway over the temple, then since they can pressure the Erluin envoy to act against us, they would not neglect to consider the Temple of Fire.”
Hearing “Temple of Fire,” the expressions of Ouding and the noblewoman changed.
“But the Temple of Fire does not entirely obey the Cruz,” the female scholar frowned as she spoke, merely expressing gratitude for Brendel saving her life earlier. “The priests still need a reason to act.”
A reason.
Brendel felt his eyelids twitch slightly; he might have foreseen the opponent’s excuse—“Heavenly Kingdom Armed Forces.” He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, hoping his speculation was unfounded; otherwise, that would indeed be troublesome.
……
(PS: Second update, seeking that mysterious item said to speed up rabbit burrowing, which exists only in the past and in fantasy—tickets, you understand.) (To be continued, to know what happens next, please log in, more chapters available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
