Chapter 445: Act 195 – The Final Moment (13)
“Be careful!” Just as Brendel was fully focused on dealing with Andisha’s attack, Xi suddenly shouted from behind. He tensed up and turned around, only to see a dark light rushing toward him.
Brendel had almost no time to react, but his rich combat experience made him instinctively lunge forward, feeling a sharp pain in his back as he was struck by a projectile.
“Damn it!” The pain made Brendel grit his teeth and curse. In that moment, he had already assessed the attacker—there was only one possible source for the attack, and that was the cleric Amann. The fact that the guy hadn’t died was far beyond his expectations; he had truly been hit by the Sword of the Earth and then suffered another blow, considering that was the consequence of petrification.
“Is that guy some sort of invincible cockroach?”
In Brendel’s experience, a cleric was merely a bronze armor profession, and under such an attack, there was no way they could survive. Even undead creatures wouldn’t stand a chance.
He immediately turned back and indeed saw Amann climbing up from the rubble in the distance, stones and debris cascading off him. However, the traitorous cleric also wore a look of surprise, probably not expecting Brendel to dodge his attack like this. “Huh?” he said softly, looking at Brendel with a strange expression and added, “I’ve seen the most elite soldiers of the temple, but none had such keen reflexes. It seems you are truly not just a petty Erluin noble.”
Amann was quite far from Brendel, but his voice easily reached him, indicating the use of a communication-type spell.
Brendel cursed in his heart. If he were just a small noble, would he be here? He checked his injuries—the green light patterns projected onto his retina were continuously updating data, quantifying the damage—Brendel glanced at it; he was still above ten percent of his life force.
However, due to his earlier blood sacrifice to the golden tree—or rather, a certain thorn that devoured magical power—he had lost too much blood, resulting in his overall life force status turning a poor yellow.
In fact, Brendel could feel weakness slowly creeping along his limbs, a heavy sensation threatening to drag him to the ground.
“It has to be resolved quickly—” he shook his head, trying to keep himself alert.
The situation was somewhat unfavorable; although twisted thorns had spread across the ground, Gray Saint Mephistopheles was still locked in a fight with Andisha in mid-air without gaining the upper hand; the Decaying Lord was eager to leave this area, while Mephistopheles calmly countered, maintaining an undefeated status for the moment.
“However, the accumulation of magical power will deepen rapidly. Andisha must be aware of this; prolonged stalemate is not in her favor; she will surely seek an opportunity to break the deadlock.” Brendel focused on Amann in the distance, analyzing privately.
He knew well that the Arboreal Shepherd was not a gentle believer; even with a slim chance, they would fight to the death.
The battle above would soon determine a victor, but he could not spare attention for that now, as Amann was right in front of him and seemed to have been plotting beforehand—otherwise, he wouldn’t have pretended to be dead when struck by the petrifying arrow. Brendel believed that not just he, but even Andisha thought this “ally” had already perished.
“And now this guy has ‘revived’; is it because he noticed Andisha was in trouble? Or is there another reason?” Brendel furrowed his brow. If it were the latter, it likely indicated that Amann had some confidence.
Like the puppeteer stepping from the shadows, unless absolutely necessary, he must possess an unwavering sense of victory, even if it was simply his own delusion.
Where did that confidence come from?
These thoughts flooded through his mind in an instant when he heard the crunching sound of footsteps. Veronika had already walked over the rubble to his side—this square had become fragmented in previous attacks.
The lady also frowned, as she knew Amann better than Brendel—truth be told, she did not like this cleric; he was too scheming—but such a somber person would certainly not casually stand on the front lines.
The air seemed thick with the scent of conspiracy.
Amann smiled at the two, as if seeing through their thoughts. “You must be curious as to why I am here; this is indeed surprising, that Valhalla truly exists. Regardless, I have to thank you for doing me such a great favor.” While he spoke, he took out a book from his robe, which emanated black smoke, clearly not a good thing, or rather, more like some sort of evil artifact.
“Amann, what are you talking about?” Veronika asked with a frown.
“Veronika, don’t you understand? Valhalla has maintained the stability of the Loop of Trade Winds for thousands of years. As long as that potential spark is destroyed, not to mention Erluin, even Cruz will be heavily affected. To be able to personally destroy an empire is indeed a great honor.” Amann opened the book in his hand and said, “Furthermore, it is said that within Valhalla lies a secret about history; we are fortunate to witness it all.”
“You’re insane!” The Azure Lady’s brows knitted tightly. Although she didn’t care for the cleric, hearing him say such things made her feel a bit shocked.
“No, don’t you always call us madmen?” Amann shook his head and smiled hypocritically. “Actually, we are quite similar. The Cruz Empire has killed countless for conquest over the years, and compared to that, our actions appear rather noble.”
“That’s sheer sophistry!” Veronika’s brows shot up like swords, the final syllable of the word ‘sophistry’ seemingly dragged out as she charged directly at Amann, one person and one sword, resembling a misty azure light.
However, Amann seemed to have anticipated this, opening the pages of the book, and suddenly a black light curtain appeared a hundred feet around him.
Veronika’s sword struck hard against the light curtain, producing no effect whatsoever, and the black curtain flashed with a strong light, narrowly sending her weapon flying.
The female sword saint stumbled back a step, barely managing to regain control of the Azure Sky, but the tremendous force rebounding made her half-kneel, letting out a muffled groan.
“Whether it’s sophistry or not doesn’t matter, Veronika. If you have any last words, feel free to tell me; I will respect your choice.” Amann said, holding the book in one hand and looking down at the female sword saint.
He spoke nonchalantly, as if the lives and deaths of everyone present were entirely within his control.
But at that moment, Andisha, who was engaged in a fierce battle with Mephistopheles in the air, grew increasingly unsatisfied as she observed all this, especially when she realized this “ally” was clearly capable of easily resolving the opponent yet chose to feign death, leaving her in a predicament.
Even though she understood that the so-called “cooperative” relationship between them was insignificant, at this moment, the Decaying Lord couldn’t help but roar, “Hamil, aren’t you going to quickly take down those guys? What are you stalling for?”
However, Amann merely glanced at the sky, seemingly uninterested in the woman’s antics. He then lowered his head and continued speaking to Veronika. “So, how do you find my proposal?”
Veronika, grasping her wrist, which had gone numb from the shock, looked solemnly at Amann within the black light curtain. She had completely not anticipated that this cleric had been so underhanded, at least from this spell, it seemed his strength was likely not below that of Andisha.
The tremendous disparity in strength had left her feeling a chill. One Andisha had already pushed them to their utmost; adding another opponent, Veronika could hardly envision any chance of victory.
But just as she bowed her head, urgently pondering for ways to turn the tables, Brendel’s voice suddenly rang out:
“Don’t listen to his nonsense; that’s merely the power of that book. The Barrier of Chaos has only three absolute defenses. I bet that guy doesn’t have the ability to cast it a second time!”
The youthful voice from afar startled Veronika, though she dared not fully trust Brendel’s words. When she looked up, she just happened to see Amann with a ghost-like expression—though relatively speaking, the latter looked more like the conventional “ghost”—yet the treacherous cleric visibly had no mood to investigate this. When Brendel said that, he seemed like a rock had hit his head, buzzing.
Because Brendel hadn’t said a single word wrong.
Although the Azure Sword Saint was a woman, her years of experience on the battlefield had brought her to this point. Just by glancing at Amann’s expression, she knew Brendel was telling the truth, at least mostly so. She immediately devised a plan, quickly grabbing her sword and charging at him.
By the time Amann reacted, it was too late. He cursed under his breath, “Damn!” and snatched the smoky book, retreating while releasing two beams of black light in an attempt to thwart Veronika’s advance.
Unfortunately, the gap between him and the Empire’s Female War God was real. Veronika effortlessly slipped through the space between the two black lights and delivered a solid strike against the black light curtain.
The light curtain flickered, and Amann frantically calculated what spell he could use to block another time to buy himself some time, but at that moment, he noticed Brendel emerging from beneath his cloak, drawing a longbow.
“Bastard!” Amann cursed loudly. Brendel’s actions were always perfectly timed, making him suspect these two had been long-term partners, unaware that with Brendel’s current experience, he could make anyone proficient.
As the bowstring twanged, the black light curtain collapsed.
Veronika immediately seized the opportunity to rush in, but unexpectedly, Brendel stopped her: “Be careful, retreat! The Book of Mavikalt is not that simple!”
At this moment, the female sword saint had completely believed Brendel’s words, halting abruptly. In an instant, the ground less than five feet ahead of her suddenly vanished due to the collapse of magical power, the rocky surface reducing to dust under immense pressure; had she advanced another half-step earlier, she would have met a gruesome end.
After the terrifying tremor, the square was once again enveloped in dust.
Veronika couldn’t help but take a gentle breath and glanced back at Brendel.
“Be cautious; he still has room to counterattack,” but Brendel’s voice continued to come from the swirling smoke, leveling the Sword of the Earth with a tone that didn’t seem particularly easygoing.
…(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
