Chapter 424: Act 177 – The Battle of the Gorge (Part 1)
The fierce wind sliced through the cliffs like a knife.
As they delved deeper into the ancient canyon, the wind that swept through the valley grew stronger; strangely, the wind did not disperse the fog, instead, the White Mist often accompanied the gusts, swirling clouds and raising dust, reducing visibility in the gorge significantly.
This situation, on one hand, helped Brendel and his companions evade Andisha’s tracking, but on the other hand, trekking through the valley became increasingly difficult.
Brendel clung to a protruding rock, squinting against the wind. He turned around and extended his hand to Xi, who was climbing up below.
He helped Xi onto the platform, followed by Faina, while Veronika managed to climb up with Medephis’s assistance on the other side.
Finally, Brendel ascended against the wind.
“Up ahead is the legendary Storm Circle, right? It’s said that no one can pass through that wall made of fierce winds,” Veronika said, bracing herself against the Azure Sky while speaking into the wind.
She looked back, her emerald eyes fixed on Brendel: “What do you plan to do, young one?”
Although the Crusian warrior goddess appeared weak, her spirit seemed undiminished.
Brendel reached the platform, where the valley split into two; on the other side was a bottomless gorge. The black granite was sheared in the middle, with a smooth and flat fissure, as if a gigantic crack had opened in the earth.
The wind blew continuously along the direction of the crack, weaving white lines that resembled currents suspended in mid-air, always moving in one direction.
The lair of the Saintly Hydra was just below—
This spectacular scene left Brendel momentarily speechless. After a moment, he turned back and answered, “The way through the Storm Circle is beneath the ground. For nearly a century, the Druids have poured countless resources into this place, trying to locate that passage.”
“They found it?”
Brendel shook his head.
“So you know?” Veronika looked up at him, asking.
“I’ve read about it in an ancient document; it should be nearby.” Brendel had a tendency to develop his excuse into a potential fact, scanning the area. The entrance to the underground passage lay beneath the gaping chasm, but getting down was no easy task.
At that moment, Brendel noticed Xi looking strangely at her wrist.
He felt a tinge of embarrassment, unable to help but touch the bite mark on his wrist; he truly didn’t know how to explain—was that not a sort of kiss as a greeting?
“But damn it, how come life payments can’t be withdrawn automatically!”
The timing of Xi’s awakening was just too uncanny; Brendel felt a headache coming on, but he turned to see Medephis, that damned androgynous vampire, merely averting his gaze.
“Uh… we need to get down from here,” Brendel awkwardly changed the subject. “It seems a bit difficult; I’m not sure if there’s a way down.”
“Down from here?”
This was the first time Faina, the Crusian noblewoman, spoke since waking up. She seemed to snap out of her daze, frowning and raising her eyebrows high.
Faina glanced at the dark chasm below, her face turning pale.
“Isn’t that too far-fetched!?”
“For a pampered, weak, and useless young lady, it certainly is.”
Medephis responded with unexpected speed, expressionless, looking at Faina, who gazed at him with disbelief: “So, please don’t casually question the master’s decisions—”
“You!”
“Alright, Faina.” Veronika interrupted them: “Since an ancient document mentions that passage, there might just be a way down. Let’s check.”
“Sorry, there isn’t such an ancient document!”
Brendel thought to himself.
However, he indeed came up with a possibility: the player who previously entered the Loop of Trade Winds didn’t have half his current strength, which meant they clearly could not have climbed down this cliff, indicating that a path must exist somewhere along the cliff.
Before that, Brendel drew a card from his mage system’s deck, which was the Sacred Sword.
He frowned, wishing for the Silver Colt so that after three trips he could have transported everyone to the bottom of the gorge. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.
It had been nearly three stages since leaving Saintly White Stone. So far, he only drew the Holy Archangel, the Golden Battle Flag, and this Sacred Sword card.
In addition to his original hand, consisting of Bloodroot Vampire, Wind Spirit Spider, Sacred Sword, Fire Giant, Charge, Energy Loss, and Fire Claw Bugler.
Among these, the Bloodroot Vampire and Wind Spirit Spider remained on the board, the Holy Sword had originally been consumed but had returned to his hand at this moment; the Fire Giant was already in the graveyard, having entered combat with Amann, along with the Fire Claw Lord.
Energy Loss had been used up against the Alpha Wolf and recycled into the deck. The Fire Claw Bugler and Spearman should still be on the board, presumably with Antinna.
Besides the Wind Spirit Spider reset from the First Night, Brendel hadn’t had a chance to reset any other cards; he did miss a few chances to reset, due to his unconsciousness.
“Andisha is below.” At that moment, Xi suddenly spoke in a low voice.
Brendel was taken aback; he leaned over to look, and indeed, that woman was following up the valley. However, it appeared she hadn’t noticed them yet, as the wind was roaring in the gorge, from below, only a sky full of dust and mist was visible.
Yet Andisha’s speed made Brendel gasp; after all, that woman had no knowledge of the correct path, and yet she had somehow managed to close in just one step behind them.
The disparity in strength was astonishing.
Brendel quickly lowered his body and gestured for the others to lie flat against the rock. He then turned back, whispering, “Regardless of whether there is a way, we must go now.”
“That woman…” Faina seemed to recall previous events and couldn’t help but shiver. She gripped her hands tightly, her knuckles turning white without her realizing it.
Brendel quickly gestured for Medephis to help the noble lady back while taking Veronika and Xi to carefully retreat, signaling the others:
“We need to move along the cliff and see if we can find that road.”
Veronika and Xi nodded in agreement.
Yet no one expected that while Medephis was helping Faina, she, as if paralyzed by fear, suddenly lost her footing and slipped a foot down.
“Watch out!” Brendel’s expression changed as he exclaimed.
Medephis, quick on his feet, grabbed Faina by the ankle, leaving the young lady dangling in the air. Though the vampire’s strength nearly made the noblewoman weep in pain, he managed to catch her before she slipped away completely.
Faina bit her lip tightly, keeping herself from crying out, looking pallid as she watched a handful of stones roll down the slope, making a clattering noise.
For a moment, everyone froze on the cliff.
Brendel’s face hardened as he stared in the direction of Andisha, but fortunately, the wind in the gorge was loud, and it seemed Andisha hadn’t noticed the commotion.
“Help, help me…”
The noble lady was clearly terrified, her one foot gripped by Medephis, her body swaying precariously on the cliff. Not even a man could endure such a situation, let alone Faina, who had never experienced anything like this.
Seeing her expression, it seemed she was on the verge of tears.
Brendel couldn’t help but glance at Veronika; he truly couldn’t fathom why the cool-headed and strategic female warrior of the Empire would bring along a useless noblewoman.
This was a comparatively tactful statement; in fact, Faina had brought nothing but negative effects to Veronika thus far.
Veronika sighed.
What could she say? This was not her idea; it was entirely Elman’s doing. Moreover, Elman and Faina were both scions of prominent families and not directly under her authority, so she couldn’t say much.
Brendel could read Veronika’s expression, understanding that the Empire was not as unified as it seemed; otherwise, such an important matter would not have sent a team with conflicting interests.
However, this was still better than Erluin, at the very least.
He immediately nodded at Medephis, signaling him to pull the noble lady up—though he would have preferred to gesture for him to let her go, he considered that might provoke Veronika to draw her sword against him immediately.
Medephis followed the instructions, gradually pulling Faina back up. Just then, the group on the platform hadn’t had time to breathe a sigh of relief when, in the next moment—
Brendel’s eyes widened as he watched a short sword slip from Faina’s belt out of its sheath—
The short sword fell slowly.
At that moment, it felt as though time had stretched.
Everyone watched the sword descend, hitting a protruding rock, bouncing off to one side, then continuing to fall, striking multiple surfaces.
Finally, it carried a series of crisp metallic clinking sounds all the way down to the valley bottom.
The platform fell silent; it was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
In the distance, Andisha paused.
Then the woman suddenly lifted her head in this direction—though she could not see the people on the cliff, her purple brows knitted, her heart seemed to confirm the direction where Brendel and the others were located.
Countless vines surged from behind Andisha, enveloping her as she charged forward, transforming into a dark green dragon, suddenly increasing in speed toward their direction.
The rugged terrain posed almost no obstacle beneath Andisha’s feet; the woman moved on the steep cliff as if walking on level ground, instantly closing the distance with them.
“Run!” Brendel was the first to react—he knew Andisha had discovered them—if she couldn’t pick up on such a commotion, she would not deserve to be one of the twelve Patriarchs of the Tree Shepherds.
“Brendel.”
“Don’t speak,” he interrupted Veronika, “according to the original plan, run south!”
Brendel paused: “Take care of Xi for me.”
Veronika frowned and gave him a look; she suddenly realized that this young man might be planning to part ways with them. In fact, Brendel was thinking exactly that; if Andisha caught up, he would have to find a way to divert her alone.
The lair of the Saintly Hydra should be nearby; under these circumstances, bringing other people—with that useless noble lady, in particular—would only be a burden.
He made up his mind in an instant, while Veronika was already dragging Xi to retreat. Medephis lifted Faina up, not giving her time to steady herself before pulling the noble lady’s arm and running ahead.
Faina winced in pain, nearly moved to tears, but she understood she was in trouble, biting her teeth to hold back her voice, stumbling along behind.
Brendel was the last to leave, glancing back from a distance, seeing Andisha’s terrifying speed behind them.
The group fled south along the platform, with one side being an abyss, while the other, the Decaying Lord was also a moving danger; the distance between both was shrinking rapidly.
If it weren’t for the howling wind in the gorge, that woman would have been closing in on them without distraction long ago.
However, the speed disparity was too great; Brendel knew perfectly well that continuing this chase would yield no good result. He turned around, releasing the Eternal Sphere while summoning the Wind Spirit Spiders, instructing them to form a wall between them and Andisha.
The Wind Spirit Spiders arranged themselves in mid-air, seemingly forming a wall that shone with a green light.
“Get out of my way!”
Andisha saw this green wall; at first, she merely perceived those ordinary Wind Spirit Spiders. As the Patriarch of the Tree Shepherds and the Decaying Lord from the Amber Sword, she naturally recognized these little creatures.
She thought Brendel was simply trying to delay time with them, so she let out an angry shout, casually waving her hand, sending countless vines like steel spears toward the wall of Wind Spirit Spiders.
Andisha did not go all out, but this mistaken judgment would cost her dearly in the next moment.
In the blink of an eye, the wall shimmering with green light suddenly shifted, the green light replaced by dazzling gold, making it seem as if the wall of Wind Spirit Spiders was suddenly dyed in brilliant gold.
Then, a flash of golden light erupted.
Countless beams of light shot out from the wall; these beams pierced through the vines Andisha unleashed, instantly striking her body. The Patriarch of the Tree Shepherd let out a scream—though the silver-tier attack was hardly enough to cause her real harm, it was sufficient to leave her flustered and disheveled.
Brendel quickly exhausted all the elemental forces and ordered the Sacred Sword Technique to unleash its attacks without reservation. Waves of light beams made Andisha infuriated; unfortunately, amidst the attacks, regaining the initiative was not an easy task.
And when Andisha finally managed to break free from the barrage of light beams—she found to her extreme anger that Brendel and the others had opened quite a distance between them.
The Patriarch of the Tree Shepherds, utterly enraged, roared as she violently swung a vine, madly tearing apart the formation of Wind Spirit Spiders.
Then she continued forward.
At that moment, Brendel immediately sacrificed the remaining Wind Spirit Spiders—
“Sacrifice a non-black creature to the card, Bloodroot Vampire.”
(PS: 4000 words, testing the waters (To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please log in for more chapters, support the author, support legitimate reading!)
