Chapter 414: Act 167 – Death?
Amann saw the increasingly large head of the vaporous Saint’s Hydra reflected in his eyes. He watched as this monster opened its massive jaws; within the swirling mist, every sharp tooth was clearly visible and getting closer. Unable to help himself, he widened his eyes and shouted nervously, “Let me go! Are you crazy!”
“Tsk, tsk, even a revered high priest of the temple would fear madness?” Brendel held Amann by the waist with both arms and charged forward, revealing his snow-white teeth as he sneered.
“Brendel!” Veronika turned her head to see the young Erluin crashing into the Saint’s Hydra while holding Amann. Her eyes narrowed instantly, and she shouted, “Let him go! What are you doing?” She couldn’t believe Brendel dared to put Amann in such danger. While she may not have held Amann in high regard, witnessing a high priest of the Temple of Fire die here—while she was a witness—would complicate matters significantly.
Moreover—
“Let go! Young man, you’ll die too!” Amann had never been this terrified since becoming a priest. He felt as if his blood had turned to ice, almost rendering him incoherent.
“I won’t die,” Brendel lifted his head, looked into Amann’s eyes, and smiled slightly.
Amann was momentarily stunned by Brendel’s gaze before screaming like a pig being slaughtered, “You… dare to murder a high priest of the Temple…”
Brendel merely scoffed.
In an instant, the two of them crashed into the open jaws of the Saint’s Hydra. A fang nearly half a meter long pierced through Amann’s back as he gazed in disbelief—this time, even the holy robe couldn’t save his life—he coughed up a mouthful of blood as intense pain caused him to tilt back his head and cough violently.
But Brendel was not well off either; another fang pierced through Amann’s body and into his chest. Brendel merely adjusted it slightly to avoid his heart, puncturing his lung instead—creating a large hole there.
Brendel immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
The green patterns on his retina had turned red; this was a serious warning of life-threatening danger. Since being resurrected in Brendel’s body, he had never encountered such a situation before.
It was no longer just blood loss; internal organs were seriously damaged, and he was facing heart and lung failure. This was serious.
“Lord!”
Brendel heard a scream from the forest; it was Xi’s voice. He simply shook his head, and after a brief moment of confusion, his consciousness regained clarity.
Shades of light gray began to present themselves in his retina.
This meant that his indomitable will had started to take over his body, but he only had a few minutes. This time, however, it seemed the injuries were too severe; his formidable indomitable talent was displaying extreme reluctance, and signs of fatigue were appearing in his body.
But such fatigue shouldn’t have existed while under the influence of the indomitable talent.
All these thoughts flowed through Brendel’s mind like a silent stream, and he realized he had regained clarity while shaking his head just as the Saint’s Hydra’s jaws snapped shut, preparing to bite down.
Brendel knew what it would mean if that creature took a bite out of him. Wanting to survive, he loosened his arms around Amann’s back—the priest’s body tilted as if he had already lost his breath—taking advantage of the moment, Brendel drew the Earth Sword from behind him and thrust it upward.
The Earth Sword sank deep into the vaporous mouth of the Saint’s Hydra, and the enormous creature let out a roar that echoed through the valley, clearly in pain.
Brendel took the opportunity to withdraw his sword, his right hand aiming forward with the Queen Wind Ring, shooting a wind orb aimed at the monster’s throat. The airflow concentrated and surged forward, plunging deep into the throat of the vaporous Saint’s Hydra; the mist erupted like blood blossoms, while the colossal recoil threw him out in an instant.
Brendel was hurled into the air by the immense force as if he were a cannonball crashing into the forest; he felt he had broken several tree branches before plummeting heavily into a thicket.
Were it not for his muscles and internal organs being nearly a hundred times tougher than an ordinary person’s, this impact would have caused fatal damage. Instead, Brendel only felt dazed from the jolting impact; he initially tried to get up, but the sharp pain overwhelmed him once more, and he collapsed to the ground.
Brendel gasped for air, coughing violently due to the pain in his lungs. Looking up, he saw that his savior, high priest Amann, was dead, while Veronika was still entangled by the Saint’s Hydra. The temple’s aspiring knights were unreliable.
This meant that there were no more obstacles ahead.
Brendel struggled against the pain, trying to stand up and escape into the forest while under the influence of his indomitable will, but it was at that moment he felt a soft hand pressing on his shoulder—then he saw Xi’s face.
“Lord!” Brendel heard the red-haired girl with a long ponytail call out, her voice filled with tension and fear.
“I’m not dead yet,” Brendel replied weakly.
“Almost, though,” Otales’s voice rang out, somewhat stern. “You’re being reckless; do you even understand your current situation? It’s a miracle you’re not dead.”
“I have confidence.”
“Your confidence is a bit excessive,” Otales said, unusually irritated.
Brendel couldn’t help but laugh—but that laugh turned into a series of violent coughs. He squinted and saw the head of the Saint’s Hydra he had injured thrashing in the air, fearing that creature would find out he wasn’t dead yet and come after him; he quickly whispered to Xi, “Get me out of here.”
Xi quickly supported him to prevent him from collapsing to the ground. However, she immediately turned back to wipe her tear-streaked eyes—she nodded, feeling some relief that Brendel could still communicate with her. Xi was already strong enough, but just the thought that Brendel might die made her feel helpless.
Compared to that, she would rather die in front of her lord.
At least that would save her from grief.
With this feeling—perhaps tinged with a bit of selfishness—Xi tightened her small fangs, bracing Brendel as they were about to move forward, but at that moment, Brendel suddenly spotted something glimmering in the grass not far away.
“That thing!” Brendel pointed over there.
Xi paused, blood-soaked, and looked in that direction—it was Brendel’s blood—quietly lying in the grass was a gemstone, a gray gemstone.
“It’s Amann’s gemstone,” Otales thought to herself, surprised.
“Yeah.”
“You’re still paying attention to such things at a time like this?”
“Taking advantage is in a player’s nature… I can’t forget my roots…” Brendel replied weakly, but his voice was fading.
“Player?” Otales paused.
“Ah,” Brendel weakly nodded, “this is… my essence, so no matter what… I can’t forget my… purpose.”
“Lord!” Xi shouted, her voice becoming distant.
“Pick it up,” Brendel commanded, “Give it to me.”
Xi hesitated, but after gritting her teeth, she complied.
Brendel felt the gemstone placed in his hand, and he finally felt at ease enough to close his eyes—though he didn’t know what the gemstone was, since Otales recognized it, it must not be a common item. Such a convenient benefit, he certainly wouldn’t let go of it.
For a moment, he felt Xi guiding him through the forest, not knowing if the Saint’s Hydra was pursuing them. He struggled to unfasten several vials of number 21 holy water strapped to his belt—though this substance’s effects were even less than number 5 holy water, its quantity was sufficient—Brendel had acquired quite a bit of this inferior holy water from Grudin’s Duke’s collection.
Some of it was unfinished products he managed to produce with Media’s assistance, but most had been distributed.
Brendel gulped down five vials all at once but only felt slightly better. Number 21 holy water was the final product of mass-produced holy water, and even aspiring priests could make it; however, the effects left much to be desired, to the point it was regarded by players as merely pain relief.
In reality, it was pretty much that.
After drinking all the holy water he and Xi had on hand, Brendel felt that he had merely restored his life level to a precarious average, but his situation was still chaotic, with damaged lungs and yet-to-heal wounds that could take his life at any time.
It would all depend on luck now.
He took a deep breath and said, “Xi.”
“Hmm?”
“Listen carefully.”
“Lord?”
“Head south from here; there should be another supply point.”
“A supply point?”
Brendel coughed and realized he didn’t have much time to explain. The alerts coming from his retina were increasingly dire; he knew that in his current condition, he faced imminent danger to his life.
He inhaled, briefly explaining, “Like the Saintly White Stone, just take me there.”
“Are we not going back to find Miss Media? Your injuries, my lord?” Xi asked with a frown.
Brendel shook his head, “Don’t go back.” He knew that if Veronika hadn’t been killed by the Saint’s Hydra, she would have certainly pursued them. Furthermore, if that woman did die, there existed the fog wraith in the valley, and venturing in would be suicide.
“But…”
“No buts,” Brendel firmly stated. They had no way back; their only chance of survival lay in entering the Loop of Trade Winds’ center.
Only he knew how to access the central area of the Loop of Trade Winds.
There, he could shake off all dangers.
Moreover, only by entering the center of the Loop of Trade Winds, could he have the chance to see the legendary Valhalla and ignite the flame of civilization within the Black Forest.
That was also the first goal he set upon arriving in this world.
The first step towards changing Erluin—
He closed his eyes, “This is an order…”
The effect of the indomitable talent came to an end at that moment.
…(To be continued. For what happens next, please log in for more chapters and support the author by reading the official version!)
