Chapter 429: Act 181 – The Gates of Valhalla
Brendel and Faina arrived in a pitch-black canyon where a majestic stone gate stood right at the center. Flanking it were two statues almost a hundred meters tall carved from rock, depicting Keldon, the bearded Winter King, and Kod, the axe-wielding warrior. Both hailed from the pantheon of war gods in Cruz mythology.
Standing beneath the enormous statues, the pair felt no taller than the giants’ big toes, dwarfed by their enormity. Faina tilted her head up, noticing a row of cuneiform inscribed upon the stone gate.
“Delruha prepared this for the final battle; O stars in the sky, may you continue to illuminate the earth a thousand years hence—”
The text was in an ancient language, most of which was lost after the War of the Saints. Since the azure knight pierced the heavens with his spear, initiating the second epoch of the world, millennia had passed since the ultimate battle. Yet today, seeing this stele, the weight of history resonated through the ages.
“A thousand years hence, the stars will continue to shine upon the land, and you may now rest.” Brendel looked at the stele softly uttering the words.
Faina stared silently at him, unable to respond.
An eerie stillness permeated the canyon.
Brendel first confirmed this place as the gate to Valhalla. This remnant had originally been a fortress built against the Duskgazer Dragon, the site for the final battle. Like most sacred grounds, Valhalla was destroyed during that terrible war, leaving only scattered history and legends to trace its origins.
After reflecting, it was time to connect with the Druids according to plan. Brendel needed to transport Funiya to this location through the space gemstones provided by the Druids. She was the key to unlocking this gate.
He moved to the base of the massive door, sweeping away a layer of loose earth with his glove, revealing the stone beneath. He then drew a circle with Veronika’s sword, placing four green gems at the circle’s cardinal points.
He continued, refining this arcane diagram.
Faina found a piece of rock to sit on, hearing the thunderous roar of the holy multi-headed dragon on the other side of the valley, its sound shaking the canyon itself. The girl couldn’t help but hug her knees, fear gripping her.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Just business. So, you go keep watch. Unless Andisha’s woman actually arrives, even if the sky falls, don’t interrupt me.”
“Hey?” Faina raised her eyebrows in surprise; this Erluin bumpkin dared to order her around?
“Aren’t you willing? Never mind then, after all, that woman is furiously angry—she’d torture you properly before killing you,” Brendel continued nonchalantly, while carefully inscribing the magical array.
“Oh, by the way, I heard they cut off limbs, planting hellish plants on the stumps—thirsty for blood, have you seen?”
The noblewoman turned pale, stuttering at Brendel, “Y-you shouldn’t say such terrifying things!”
“Isn’t it the truth?”
Faina’s rose-like lips moved as if her tongue were tied, managing finally to squeak out, “I-I’m watching over you because you saved my life, repaying a favor, that’s all—”
She said, pouting, looking toward the other side of the canyon.
Brendel chuckled to himself knowing the young lady had a temper, but was actually quite easy to handle—indeed, the quintessential tsundere. He turned back to the array, the spatial magic being among the most complex forms of arcane diagrams he had dealt with. Before executing this plan, he had meticulously discussed its feasibility with the great Druid elder.
Their conclusion was to designate coordinates through a rune array, with true spellcasting performed by the senior Druids of the Withered Tree Council. The challenge here was the distance for the spell and the transmission over dozens of kilometers.
The first challenge was not hard to solve. Being adept at alchemy, drawing the rune array wasn’t difficult for Brendel either. After carefully memorizing the elder Druid’s scroll containing the rune array, he left the sample behind.
For transmitting the spellcasting energy, green shard agates were used. These high-grade crystals from the Storm-Stilled Mountain possessed a rare resonance property, which was essentially a low-level spatial phenomenon, often used by wizards as a medium for spell transmission.
But such long-range casting covering dozens of kilometers, none could guarantee success because the plan itself carried some inherent risks. The Druids were prepared to succeed or perish in this attempt, seemingly putting all their hope into this.
Still, Brendel knew fully well that this plan was nowhere near as perilous as the Druids imagined. In the game, players had successfully completed long-distance spell transmission, not just once, but several times during great battles.
Moreover, the players used as many as six shard agates in one instance, and as few as one in another. Later, experts on forums deduced that generally four were sufficient to achieve a success rate above 97%.
The Druids provided twelve gems, more than enough. However, Brendel planned only to use four, siphoning off the rest for his personal collection.
Shard agates were exceedingly rare; missing this opportunity might mean no better chance for easy profit in the future.
Having arranged the array, he pointed his sword at the center of the inscription, loudly reciting, “I invoke, in the names of Storm and Time, the sovereign between the Third and Seventh Stars, let the mysterious force traverse the night sky—By magic’s name, Dalarstel.”
The young man’s voice was so loud it echoed in the valley.
“Dalarstel…”
“Stel…”
Faina was startled, turning around to see a bluish glow emanating from the magic array beneath Brendel’s sword, as if liquid flowing across the diagram.
“What’s this magic? You bumpkin, invoking Storm and Time Dragon Dalarstel, an uppermost dragon, you can cast such advanced spells?”
“It’s a spatial spell, but it’s cast by them, not me. This is merely a coordinate array.” Brendel no longer intended to hide anything, lifting his eyes to see three or four streaks of green cutting through the clouds above, the edges of the vast gear-shaped construct in the sky beginning to revolve.
This signified the laws responding to the spell magic.
“Spatial magic, but you invoked Time and Storm Dragon? Spatial magic… I’m confused about which rank it falls under…” Faina could not recall such details; she had not yet reached such mastery.
“All space-related spells must invoke authorization from the Time and Storm Dragon, you did not know?”
“I-I of course knew! I just questioned this one!” The young lady blushed.
“Ah?”
Faina’s face reddened further, fuming, “So, why is this necessary?”
“Miss, does no one tell you how bad-tempered you are?” Brendel shook his head, sighing, “Time and space are unified, existing only in different dimensions.”
What he actually referred to was a doctrine formed by the Silver School, its founder William Pister, the master of all spatial magic studies, reputedly incomparable in the realm of studying voids in the world of Vaunte, from the past to the present.
But before his words faded, a weathered voice unexpectedly rang out, “Hmm? Young man, from whom did you hear these words?”
Startled, both Brendel and Faina instinctively turned around. Yet they saw nothing at the source of the sound. Narrowing his eyes, Brendel questioned directly:
“Are you from the Silver Alliance? Why not show yourself?”
The elder laughed heartily, “Haha, young man, your reaction is quite quick. But such a provocation has no effect on an old man like me.”
Still speaking that way, the elder dispelled his invisibility, revealing himself.
Seeing the silver-robed elder towering before him, Brendel immediately narrowed his eyes —William Pister, one of the twelve Silver leaders of Bud Wizards— some say he’s three hundred years old, others four hundred. His legends spread not only among Bud Wizards but also familiar to many commoners.
Even a poet named Korgo created a book titled A Great Mage’s Story: Sponsored by Pesta and Written by Korgo. Pesta, a notable merchant near Ampere Seale, was known for his whimsical inclinations; it was one of these whims that popularized William Pister’s tales among the common folk.
Seeing the elder, however, Brendel couldn’t help but wonder if William had claimed royalties or fees from Korgo?
Seeing Brendel’s gaze, William understood that he had been recognized. A hint of surprise flickered in his eyes: “My, you know me?”
“Many people know you. One of the Silver Twelve Rings, the owner of Kanaqi, the esteemed leader of wizards.” Brendel replied.
“Ah, I do have many titles these days,” the elder chuckled, “but most only hear my name, few recognize my face. Let me see, you also know the unity of space and time…”
William narrowed his eyes. This doctrine was his own creation and still immature, not widely accepted, and even some of his old friends disagreed. Unexpectedly, this young man uttered it offhand with complete confidence. This piqued the elder’s interest.
“You-you—” At that moment, Faina finally realized who was in front of her. She couldn’t believe her eyes, rendered speechless.
“Seems even the young miss recognizes me, how honored I am,”
Brendel couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. What brought this old man here? He knew the Bud Wizards had arrived, yet never imagined one of their leaders, a force likely equal to Andisha, would show up.
“Don’t worry,” William seemed to read his concerns, smiling gently, “I merely came out of curiosity.”
“Curiosity?”
