Chapter 380: Act 136 – The Battle Begins (First Update)
The black forest stretched endlessly under the night sky, resembling waves in the dark, while the howls of wolves echoed throughout the woods, responding from afar and near.
With each howl, it grew closer, and the air seemed thick with the low roars of baring-toothed beasts, dark creatures weaving through the underbrush. Occasionally, they stopped, raising their heads to keenly scent the air for life, their hardened nostrils surrounded by a swirling white mist.
A point of red light flickered in the darkness, soon revealing scattered crimson glimmers that connected to form what seemed like an endless ocean.
The youths inhaled sharply, and those Erluin nobles who had not yet retreated turned pale.
“Prepare for battle!” Earl Ouding realized they had no way to escape under these circumstances. The general decisively commanded his knights.
At this time, Brendel’s young followers had already formed their formation.
“Maintain formation!” someone shouted.
Brendel turned back to see the leaders of each group keeping the lines. Although many of the young people looked pale, the leaders performed admirably, showing at least calmness under pressure.
“Use the spears first!” Kuran shouted from alongside the youths. “Quick, grab your spears!”
A phalanx of spears quickly formed in the open space.
“Level the spears! Level!”
“Spread out the formation!” The leaders’ shouts echoed back and forth.
The spears were slowly leveled—sharp blades reflecting the golden light of the campfires shimmered, almost appearing to extend forward. As the wolf pack halted, the sea of red lights suddenly settled.
“They want to test us,” Kuran said, examining the formation composed by the youths, then walked back to report.
Brendel nodded, then raised his hand to toss a red light toward Kuran: “Catch!” The old swordsman was startled and instinctively caught the red light. He opened his palm to reveal a vial covered in sealing runes inside, filled with a glowing blood-red potion resting quietly.
“Drink this.”
“What is it?”
“Dragon Power Potion,” Brendel answered.
Kuran pinched the vial of Dragon Power Potion between his thumb and index finger, shaking it as he looked at him: “I’ve used this stuff before; it’s only effective the first time, right?”
“The garbage you took, made from dragon blood moss, can barely count as a Dragon Power Potion. It might as well be called a Cow Power Potion. Drink it, and let me show you the true power of a Dragon Power Potion.” Brendel disdainfully replied. The vial he had tossed to Kuran was high-quality, made from real dragon blood materials purchased from the Green Tower. Though it was not true dragon blood, it was a level above the blood of five-headed lizard.
Brendel had brewed a hundred portions of this high-quality Dragon Power Potion using dragon’s kin blood. Besides distributing them to the young people, he had more than enough for each of his capable subordinates—unfortunately, cards do not allow the use of any items or potions outside of them.
The potion made from five-headed lizard blood was even more abundant, a portion of which Brendel intended to use on the upcoming White Lion army, while another part was planned for the heavy-duty cave-dweller assault soldiers, also to secure Tagib’s loyalty further.
Kuran looked at the dragon blood potion in his hand, hesitantly downed it, but his expression changed instantly, eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at Brendel.
“This… this is…”
Brendel smiled slightly, not answering, just raising his head to look at the front line.
His young subordinates clutched their spears tightly, nervously forming a defensive line, while the knights of the Erluin delegation marched simultaneously into their left flanks, and the Fireclaw Lizard, under Repal’s command, entered the right flank—
“Left flank ready!” On the front line, the Knight Captain reported to Earl Ouding.
Repal set down his dual-headed sword and entered the formation.
“My lord!” Carglis and the first team leader, Jenos, both turned around.
Brendel looked at the two; Jenos was a boy with short, light gray-blond hair, the leader of the first group, the son of a leatherworker, but he had begun to show traits of a proper soldier.
Brendel pointed at his chest and nodded at them.
Jenos immediately understood, taking a deep breath and turning back, but suddenly heard someone mockingly say beside him, “Oh, the leatherworker’s son is going to fight alongside us?”
Jenos turned back to see it was a young man with gray hair, dressed in simple leather armor, casually resting his hand on his waist and smiling at him—he was Roland, the leader of the fourth group, from a noble estate.
Under normal circumstances, Jenos would have shot back a retort, but he was not in the mood; he focused on the approaching monster threat, feeling the ground tremble, gripping his sword tightly.
Roland, receiving no response, also glanced at the tide of black wolves, exhaling gently.
They had come out for excitement, but this situation seemed quite thrilling indeed.
He raised his hand: “Dragon Power Potion!”
“Consume the Dragon Power Potion!”
The leaders issued the orders almost simultaneously.
The high-quality Dragon Power Potions had already been distributed, but Brendel had told the young people to wait until this moment to consume them for better effect prior to battle.
So upon receiving the command, the youths quickly pulled out their Dragon Power Potions and all simultaneously tipped them back.
Under the guidance of Kuran, Brendel, and Otales, they had only just reached the threshold of black iron after a month. The impact of the high-quality Dragon Power Potion on these young people was unimaginable—they felt as though they had just swallowed a wave of boiling fire, their faces instantly flushed.
“Ah, it’s so hot…”
“So warm!”
“This, this feels strange, it’s like my body is on fire…”
They immediately began to shout in excitement.
However, most of the young people who stirred were quickly silenced by their group leaders, who sheathed their swords and scolded them: “Watch your enemies, fools!”
“Focus, don’t lose your attention!” The leaders’ shouts rang out once again on the battlefield.
Behind them, Brendel nodded, then casually tossed another vial toward Earl Ouding: “Catch, my lord!”
“Is this for me?” Ouding stood to the side, initially keeping watch over the movements of the black wolves, surprised by Brendel’s action.
Theoretically, they were still in an adversarial relationship.
He looked at Brendel in astonishment.
Brendel didn’t look back, merely lowered the Earth Sword resting on his shoulder and raised it high in his direction.
“My lord—”
Earl Ouding was taken aback.
“Do you remember, on the ancient battlefield, the six dukes sounded their horns, and the swallow-tailed banners waved high—” Brendel called out loudly, his voice carrying into the night sky.
“Do you remember, where the long swords pointed, glorious knights sang and charged, causing the enemies to flee—”
Brendel turned back, smiling at him: “In the name of Erluin, in the name of the merciful lion—”
The earl, initially dazed, suddenly reacted, drawing his sword, but before he could speak, he heard a voice behind him shout: “In the name of the sword—swear!”
That was a chorus of shouts—
Ouding gasped and turned around to see the knights he had brought drawing their long swords in unison, facing the endless sea of black wolves in the forest.
Brendel pointed his sword forward: “Therefore, the descendant of the late king Eke, Erluin.”
Brendel leveled his long sword: “Kill all enemies!”
The spears were leveled in unison, the blade tips forming a silver parallel line.
From the forest, a howl rang out far away.
The black wolves finally began to move—
The tide of monsters surged like a rolling black carpet, their crimson eyes pushing forward; they had fallen behind, and the ground vibrated as they burst from the forest into the display of the human knight wall.
A dozen lead wolves leaped onto a nearby elevation, raising their heads and letting out a long howl that started high-pitched and turned low in nature.
Countless black wolves surged up from both sides, as if an endless current rushed toward humanity.
Then the dark creatures collided with the humans clad in white armor.
Spears pierced a black wolf, two wolves, several wolves skewered together, dark blood sliding down the spear shafts, the immense impact causing the shafts to creak under the strain, forcing the youths and knights back.
Then came the sound of splintering wood, as spears broke one after another.
“Swords!”
The young people immediately switched to their long swords.
The front line descended into chaos, and Brendel also set down his sword, his retinas interlaced with green light, forming numbers cascading down like a waterfall.
That was experience.
Although it was only a point or two, in just this moment, his total experience surged by hundreds.
Brendel took a deep breath and then consumed a vial of dragon blood potion. The slick dragon blood slid down his throat, and he immediately felt his body ablaze—not painfully, but with a sensation of heat.
However, as this feeling just began to emerge, the green light web on his retina transformed, weaving several lines of small text:
Strength +25, Agility +10, Constitution +20.
Potential 10%.
The high-quality Dragon Power Potion increased his stats by about 20%, but this was due to his high level. If it were his subordinates, the increase would be at least several hundred percent.
Kuran’s increase would be less, but considering his golden mid-tier base attributes, even a few percent boost was remarkable.
As for potential, it was basically the remaining potency of the potion that did not have an immediate effect; the remaining energy slowly transformed the body, although most would be expelled through the circulatory system. But if one heavily consumed that power immediately in combat, the benefits would multiply.
Thus, Brendel flexed his wrist, gazing into the endless rows of black wolves ahead, thinking that it was indeed time to really grind some experience.
Oh, no.
It was time to properly stretch his muscles.
Brendel focused ahead, snapped his fingers: “Sacred Sword Technique, clear a path—”
A pair of enormous, almost battle-crossing azure transparent wings spread from behind him…
…
(PS: This is today’s first update. Why do I have to say this is today’s first update… Strange…) (To be continued. For further developments, please visit us for more chapters, support the author, support official reading!)
