Chapter 393: Act 149 – The Mysterious Corpse (First Update)
What is in the Black Forest? That itself is a secret.
…
Elder Ward of the Centaurs didn’t so much discover the adventurers as he did their corpses. Over thirty bodies were sprawled across the forest floor, dressed in light gray robes, beneath which shone silver armor.
Brendel lifted the robe from one of the corpses and saw the deep red flame markings on the silver armor, thinking to himself that it was just as he expected—these people were all from the Temple. In fact, he had sensed this the moment he entered the forest with Quinelle and Elder Ward, just by the arrangement of the bodies.
The longswords scattered on the ground were all of Crusian design; only those of the Temple would so ostentatiously use only longswords. If they were from another human army, one would at least expect to see battle axes or other standard weapons.
Lifting the outer robe confirmed his assumption.
“They are gray-robed monks of the Temple of Fire,” he said as he straightened up to Quinelle and Elder Ward beside him. “I wonder if there are any Flame Guards.”
“They likely did not encounter wolves. However, the neat arrangement of over thirty corpses is indeed strange,” Elder Ward remarked.
“Indeed. If the Temple had gathered the bodies, it wouldn’t make sense for their companions to be left exposed to the elements. Even if they didn’t have time, they could have at least buried them hastily. They know wolves are in the forest.”
Brendel walked to the next corpse and lifted the robe: “Another monk.”
“The key point is that there are no signs of battle,” Quinelle said, occasionally twitching his pointed ears at the low calls of night owls in the forest. “It’s as if they just died in their sleep, with no obvious fatal injuries.”
“Are they all the same?”
“All the same.”
After inspecting the first three corpses, Brendel lifted his gaze, looking across the forest to the other end—over thirty corpses lay scattered, some on the ground and others leaning against trees, but most maintained the positions they had in life.
They lay with closed eyes, weapons close by, as if truly asleep.
Yet the pale skin confirmed that these were lifeless bodies.
This scene felt extraordinarily eerie.
Nearby, Elder Ward and the treant leader Quinelle observed this scene without speaking. They were not surprised by this bizarre situation—the Black Forest was an area no one could fully understand. The deeper one ventured, the more it resembled a vast nightmare, capable of silently luring one into a dream and taking one’s life.
However, Brendel’s thoughts were different from theirs.
“I just wonder if their lives were taken in an instant or if they experienced something beforehand. What caused this? Was it wolves?”
Brendel silently walked among the corpses, reluctant to jump to conclusions. Unlike the two natives who felt helpless, he had noticed some clues by observing the state of the bodies.
Experience of a level 130 warrior was not merely for show.
With their rich experience, both Ward and Quinelle would have to refer to him as a senior.
Brendel suddenly stopped next to a corpse, squatting down to see that the monk clutched tightly a golden amulet. He pried the amulet from the figure’s hand, simultaneously concluding the time of death—the body had already begun to stiffen, the fingers cold, indistinguishable from a wax figure.
Then Brendel placed his hand on the monk’s chest; it still held a trace of warmth, indicating that the Temple had passed through not long ago. But those individuals had gotten there ahead of him, which surprised Brendel slightly—this suggested that the Temple of Fire was aware of the Druids’ plan and had exploited these naive tree folk.
“Hmph, these powerful factions truly possess exceptional sources of information,” Brendel thought.
However, he also understood that the Druids’ large-scale movements could only be concealed from smaller factions like Golden Mane Toquinin or Erluin. Powerful groups like Bud’s wizards, the Temple, and the Crusian had likely already anticipated the outcome of tonight’s activities.
This meant they should have all headed deeper into the Loop of Trade Winds.
Brendel looked at the bodies in the forest and thought, was it really that simple to delve into the Loop? These behemoths of power would hardly expect that he had prior experience.
The deeper he ventured into this world, the more he felt the residual advantage he had as a player.
He raised the amulet to inspect it; it featured a diamond-shaped amethyst, half of which had been destroyed by unleashed magic—legends said amethyst could ward off evil, hence it was often used to create protective charms.
The fact that this monk had died clinging to it indicated he was well aware of the danger.
That meant it wasn’t a matter of having their lives taken in an instant.
Brendel reached a conclusion in his mind and instinctively thought to put the amulet in his pack, reasoning that it might still be useful—items from the Temple typically weren’t of poor quality.
But he quickly remembered that this was not a game; he had no idea how the two individuals behind would react if he took something from the dead.
Centaurs and treants held a deep respect for the dead.
With that in mind, he placed the amulet back in the deceased’s hand, feeling it wasn’t worth the risk—indeed, he could already sense Ward and Quinelle’s gazes sweeping over him.
He stood up and asserted, “These monks stayed behind to cover the retreat.”
“Cover the retreat?” Elder Ward was taken aback. He had observed the young human moving between the corpses, occasionally squatting down to inspect, seeming slightly disdainful at first. Corpses could convey information, but only veterans who had walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, seasoned hunters, or professional clerics could comprehend this information.
Ward himself was adept in this area—as an old warrior, he could easily distinguish wounds caused by blades from those made by bites, or even the effects of certain magic. Yet, faced with such bizarre corpses, he felt just as powerless.
Did the young man really deduce that these individuals had remained behind to cover the retreat after just a couple of rounds?
It was probably just a guess.
The centaur couldn’t help but furrow his brow; as the commander, making hasty conclusions was irresponsible. He turned to look at the treant beside him, who bore a similar frown but shook his head, signaling him to remain calm.
“Hmph, these indecisive tree folks,” Elder Ward thought inwardly.
Brendel, however, seemed oblivious to Ward’s apparent indifference. He walked to another side, assessing the entire battlefield. Then he identified a direction and pointed, saying, “It seems the Temple people came from that direction, about the same as us.”
Ward was momentarily stunned, as was Quinelle, who looked slightly surprised. They had commanded their subordinates to carefully search the surroundings when they discovered the bodies, and the Druids excelled at this. Before long, they had judged the direction from which the humans entered and exited based on the fallen vegetation in the forest.
Brendel’s assessment was not far from theirs.
“What? You don’t believe me?” Brendel noticed the astonished expressions on their faces. “You only need to search in that direction; marching through the forest should leave many traces.”
“No,” Quinelle asked, “We just want to know how you know.”
“Well—” Brendel thought to himself that it turned out the Temple had already been using such a cross-shaped arrangement for marching during this season. The formation, defended by four guard units around a central point, had become a favorite among players after being modified in the game due to its flexibility in movement, allowing time to react to any sudden situations.
As the commander, he was well-acquainted with this style of movement. Brendel walked over to a tree, saying, “The Temple entered the forest from this direction, sweeping through the left wing; the scouts first spotted the enemy and alerted the others from here.”
He looked up and indeed saw a body high in the treetops.
Then he took two steps to the left to where seven or eight corpses lay, the furthest from the periphery of this position. “The enemy was fast; there was no time to react, hence the first to confront them were the outer gray knights—the Temple’s scouts.”
He lifted the robe, confirming the gray knight insignia.
“Xi!” Brendel called back, gesturing to the red-haired girl, who had been standing next to Antinna and observing the situation from afar. Hearing the command, she couldn’t help but pause slightly.
But as Brendel’s follower, her duty was to obey, and although she didn’t understand, she walked over.
Brendel traced a circle around the positions of the fallen gray knights on the ground, then turned to look at Ward and Quinelle: “The gray cavalry formed a semicircle, spaced widely apart; in this formation, their task was to buy time—these are the elite of the Temple, well-trained, and they know this well.”
“But no battle occurred.” Brendel motioned for Xi to come over, as she passed by the bodies of six gray knights. “They just fell.”
“The last gray knight must have been frightened; he began to turn tail here,” Brendel noticed the signs of broken foliage at his feet and then raised his gaze to another direction. “He fled in that direction, but was pursued, and still, no battle ensued; he fell and died.”
Brendel pointed at a body over there.
“The enemy is very strong,” Brendel signaled Xi to continue deeper into the forest, “the left-wing guard unit prepared to confront them. The decision-makers of the Temple decisively arranged for them to hold the rear, turning the left flank into a rear echelon and retreating in that direction.”
He gestured toward the woods as if he had witnessed the scene with his own eyes.
Elder Ward and Quinelle turned simultaneously, their expressions changing, for Brendel had made another correct guess. Just then, everyone heard a commotion of footsteps approaching from the forest, and the centaur elder and treant leader instinctively turned around—however, they found it was Erluin.
It appeared to be that fellow known as Earl Ouding.
In fact, Brendel had halted the group midway up the hill, taking quite some time without moving forward; it was only out of impatience that the earl had come to find out what was going on. But upon arrival, he was startled.
The forest was littered with corpses.
…
(PS: The battle for Valhalla has officially commenced! This is the first update. The second update will be posted at eight. Additionally, please vote and recommend!) (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please log in; there are more chapters and support the author by reading legally!)
