Chapter 406: Act 160 – Shadow of the Dragon (Second Update)
The sound of a piercing whistle sliced through the air, quickly forming an intuitive concept in Brendel’s mind. If it could be likened to the sharp sound wave created by a whip when it cracks—then Brendel couldn’t imagine how large that whip must be.
To be precise.
It was a whip that swept across the entire forest.
The terrifying sonic boom instantly engulfed the whole forest. Brendel felt a tingling in the back of his head and instinctively pulled Xi forward as they both tumbled into a nearby tree hollow.
Then there was a ‘whump’ sound, as if the noise passed through his brain and resonated with his eardrums. For several seconds, he felt a persistent buzzing sound in his head, gradually regaining his hearing after a long while.
It was truly terrifying.
In the last moment before falling into the tree hollow, he caught sight of the incoming attack—it was a whip-shaped wall of air, about the height of a tree trunk, white and rolling in from afar, sweeping through half the valley in an instant.
As he fell into the tree hollow, the air wall just brushed over the top of his head.
Brendel couldn’t help but shake his head in the darkness of the tree hollow. The previous impact felt like his teeth had cut through his lip, and his mouth was filled with a metallic taste—yet he froze immediately—because he felt something soft responding against his lips.
If it weren’t for the faint presence of the girl in the darkness, he might have completely forgotten that he was pinning Xi beneath him.
Brendel’s face turned bright red.
His eyes gradually adapted to the dim environment of the tree hollow, where even starlight seemed feeble, and he began to see his hands pressing into the damp earth—awkwardly, Xi was pressed right under him, looking at him with her mouth slightly agape, as if she were a startled little animal.
The burning amber eyes of the girl glowed especially bright in the darkness.
But the heat radiating from them was not anger; it was shyness.
She nearly forgot to breathe.
Both of them had blood on their lips, a bit salty and metallic from each other.
Brendel maintained a stiff face without speaking. He sat up and awkwardly reached out to pull Xi up. Although he had resolved not to think about what had happened before, he couldn’t understand why that memory was so vivid and alive.
The scent of the soft girl mixed with the taste of fresh blood seemed to melt away his thoughts.
Though the moment had happened in an instant, it replayed in his memory as if he were forever living in that previous moment.
Neither of them spoke.
Brendel couldn’t help but want to cover his face; this was the initial kiss of a magician from both his previous and current lives, and it had been lost so shamefully for no reason.
He comforted himself, thinking that perhaps the first kiss was supposed to be kissing Little Romain on the forehead—yet this awkward excuse was unconvincing even to himself.
But Xi was also experiencing it for the first time.
The red-haired girl felt as if her whole body were turning hot, ready to melt and seep into the cold earth beneath her; she widened her eyes, bewildered, until she was dazedly pulled up by Brendel.
“Sorry, sorry,” they both said in unison.
Xi let out a small ‘ah’ as she lowered her head.
Brendel felt his face burning, as if the dangers outside the forest had vanished or were completely pushed to the back of his mind, despite his decades of experience in two lives.
Yet in this regard, he felt utterly unprepared.
Until Otales’ soft laughter broke the silence, her bright voice ringing like silver bells in the darkness, bringing Brendel back to reality. “Young boy, you’re truly adorable.”
“Ahem.” Brendel cleared his throat, “What was that earlier? Did you see it clearly, Lady Otales?”
Otales seemed to have discovered a new continent, but she didn’t rush in, replying, “It looked like the tail of something; I shouldn’t have been mistaken.”
A tail?
The word struck Brendel like a bucket of cold water. What kind of tail could be that large? He suddenly froze, remembering that the earlier swipe indeed resembled a dragon’s sweeping attack.
But if it truly was a sweep from a tail—
Martha above.
How large must that dragon be?
“Wait, was it not a tangible being?” Brendel suddenly gasped and asked.
“It seems to be an air-type creature,” Otales answered, “but from a glance, it’s likely some sort of entity made of cloud or mist.”
“It’s a monster,” Brendel corrected him, turning back to Xi.
Xi also seemed to react now, though her face still bore an adorable flush. “I understand, Lord—wait!” The girl suddenly gasped in surprise. “My spear is still outside!”
She lifted her head, seeing Brendel already climbing out of the tree hollow.
At this moment, Brendel was thinking about Mephistopheles and Veronika, who should still be in that open area, but he found it hard to believe that those two wouldn’t be directly taken down by that attack—though it wasn’t impossible, it still felt a bit unbelievable, considering the historical figures he had seen.
Even if he had come to change history.
Yet it felt far too bizarre.
He climbed out of the tree hollow and first noticed that Xi’s Thunder Spear was still lying not far off, but upon seeing the scene outside, Brendel’s expression changed, and he immediately retreated back into the tree hollow—
Xi noticed the unusual expression on her lord’s face, drenched in cold sweat.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
Brendel hurriedly placed a finger over his lips, signaling her to remain quiet.
“What is that?” he couldn’t help but mentally ask Otales.
“Even if you ask, I don’t know, young boy,” Otales gasped, though the monsters in the Black Forest were diverse, that thing outside was simply too outrageous: “It looks like…”
After thinking for a moment, she found a suitable term: “About ten or fifteen-headed serpent-saurians, perhaps.”
But Brendel waited for quite a while, confirming that the creature hadn’t detected them, before cautiously sticking his head out to examine it. If the first glance was shocking, the second confirmation of its existence dispelled all thoughts of delusion.
Even Brendel couldn’t resist the wave of insignificance rolling up from the depths of his soul; he felt his limbs growing weak.
He lifted his head to look at the colossal creature that towered above the ground—
Above the forest.
Above layers of clouds.
Behind layers of mist, fifteen massive dragon heads made of cloud gazed down upon the surroundings as they rose above the peaks, standing over the forest, with the dark green, layered treetops below resembling a carpet, while the colossal beast appeared more like a white mountain.
A mountain made of clouds.
Brendel couldn’t help but recall the days of summer when he saw thick cumulonimbus clouds in the sky, and this thing bore a resemblance to those ever-changing layers of clouds.
It loomed over the forest, occupying half the sky.
Brendel watched the beast, feeling breathless; was this thing even supposed to appear in this mission? It looked like a creature of the perfect body level.
Mythical beast.
“Brendel,” Otales’ voice echoed in his heart.
“Hmm?”
“This thing… seems to be the Hydra… the progenitor beast…”
“The progenitor beast shouldn’t be a tangible creature, right?” Brendel felt his mouth dry.
“Probably… it might be a projection,” Otales couldn’t confirm, as like the Leviathan of the deep sea, the Midgard Serpent, and the Hydra, such creatures were only legends even centuries ago.
Even a projection could take a person’s life, Brendel thought.
“Wait, Brendel,” the Lady Knight suddenly said again.
“What is it?”
“It seems… there’s fog rising in the forest.”
“Fog?” Brendel paused, and as he looked around, he indeed saw mist beginning to rise slowly within the forest—initially, he thought it was snow fog, but moments later, he realized that the wind had stopped, and the snow had ceased as well.
Only an eerie stillness filled the woods.
Mythology never mentioned that the “progenitor beast” could manipulate fog—
Brendel instinctively looked up, his eyes narrowing as he immediately spotted a massive cloud wall slowly advancing in the sky, and wherever it passed, a series of darkened mountains and forests erupted with thunder and lightning.
And in the darkness, those beams of light representing civilization and order flickered and then extinguished one after another.
Like candles blown out in a storm—
“The clouds are closing together again!” Brendel felt a twitch in his eyelids.
At that same moment.
Hiding beneath the Saintly White Stone, Carglis sat beside Media, tightly gripping the goddess’s hand, staring dumbfounded at the horrific scene as dozens of beams of light in the southern sky simultaneously went out one after another—
One burst after another, first flickering, then suddenly disappearing.
The disappearance of each beam not only represented the extinguishing of life but was akin to the obliteration of a hope in the darkness.
No one spoke.
Antinna sat at the other side of the campfire, her dark eyes reflecting the gradually disappearing light. The air was already chillingly cold as she curled up her knees, seeming to hope that would bring her some warmth.
The Lord was gone, and Xi had been taken away; the sudden change in the sky left Antinna feeling exceedingly uneasy. But she couldn’t show her anxiety; her pale, slender fingers clutched the hems of her dress tightly, revealing her true feelings.
Flour sat beside her, as quiet as ever, which made the noble girl feel a bit reassured.
She took a breath and glanced to the other side.
Veronika had left other people to monitor them, and there were about a hundred members in the Crusian embassy; while it wasn’t impossible for Quinelle’s treants and remaining centaur elders to resist, Antinna did not agree to do so.
After all, they had to wait for Brendel to return.
Antinna glanced at the leader of the Crusian delegation—a lady earl—who was only slightly older than her but astonishingly beautiful.
Her face seemed to merge the smoothness and perfection of a classical goddess sculpture—standing there quietly, dressed in thick, dark purple woolen garments, her lilac hair cascading over her shoulders, radiating an aura of mystery and elegance.
Yet Antinna discerned some similarities between herself and the woman. Both were calm and rational, but the slightly furrowed brows reflected her true thoughts.
“She’s worried,” Antinna couldn’t help but become slightly distracted, lifting her gaze to the sky. “What is she worried about, or does this strange omen signify something?”
But Delphine had not noticed Antinna’s gaze; she was merely staring out at the thickening fog outside the Saintly White Stone, murmuring, “The light has gone out. Is this the magical tide? …Alman, where are you…”
…
(PS: What is going on in this author’s section on Qidian, is there even a shred of dignity here…) (To be continued. For more chapters and to support the author, please log in for official reading!)
