Chapter 491: Act 239 – The Evil Power
As Brendel and Charles approached the stone coffin, a chilling sensation emanated from it. This coldness was starkly different from the harsh, knife-like chill he had experienced in the mountainous regions of Alkarsh; it bore an insidious malice that struck at his heart, sending shivers down his spine. “What the hell is this?” Brendel exclaimed in shock, immediately feeling an evil thought invade his mental realm.
“Mortal, bow before me!”
A voice, heavy and dignified like thunder rolling from the horizon, resonated within him. This was bad; it was a mental corruption! The alarm bells rang in Brendel’s mind. Corruption spells were among the most wicked of dark magic, capable of transforming individuals with free will into slaves of the caster by obliterating their souls and memories. Such spells completely scorned the dignity of life itself and had been expressly forbidden for research and use in the wizardry regulations over seven hundred years ago. Only a handful of heretics and a few necromancers might secretly study them, but Brendel never imagined that a heretic or a necromancer would be lying within the coffin.
Even a thousand years ago, necromancers or heretics wouldn’t dare build a tomb for themselves, let alone the fact that most necromancers sought immortality, with half of those who perished over several centuries dying unnatural deaths.
Necromancers also never believed that souls would rest peacefully in the earth.
“Cower, tremble, weep helplessly for your sins, and accept the boundless wrath of heaven and earth!” the booming voice shrieked.
Brendel managed to calm himself; the immense pressure in his mental world manifested before him as a boundless giant. He looked up and found himself standing on a vast, pitch-black plain before this giant. The giant raised its hand, pressing it down towards him like a mountain, transforming the sky and earth into a backdrop of chaos, as if the center of the world was that ever-growing hand.
“Get lost!”
Brendel gritted his teeth and shouted. He knew this was an illusion, but still, as that gigantic hand approached, he couldn’t help but feel cold sweat trickling down his back; the sense of reality was too overwhelming, and the pressure made it hard for him to breathe.
Theoretically, mental corruption spells targeted the psyche, and as long as one’s will was strong enough, the opponent would have no power over them. He had encountered similar situations in games before, but unfortunately, there had been no successful instances. The will of a warrior was notoriously weak; he would often lose control the moment he was struck by such attacks, regaining consciousness only in a resurrection temple.
This unfortunate experience was of no help to him, for in this world, there were no second chances.
Brendel tightened his nerves, preparing to face the impending cataclysmic strike. He couldn’t help but wonder, having faced a wolf’s crisis and survived unscathed, would he capsize in this gutter? Just as he thought this, the colossal palm came crashing down from above—this mental attack was aimed directly at his soul, ignoring nearly all external defenses, and warriors had the frailest mental resilience; normally, it would be devastating—yet what Brendel didn’t expect was that the giant hand hadn’t even touched a single hair on his head when it seemed to encounter some enormous resistance above him, exploding into countless fragments with a resounding crash.
He saw the hand seemingly strike something, creating a fissure in its center, then multiple cracks appeared, quickly shattering into countless pieces and dissipating.
“This is impossible!” The booming voice suddenly fell silent.
After the giant’s hand crumbled, it dissipated like a wisp of light breeze. Brendel felt that the once terrifying spiritual impact was now like a gentle wind brushing over the surface of water, only creating ripples on his mental barrier.
“What? This…?”
Brendel was momentarily stunned. His first reaction was that perhaps the creature in the coffin was all façade, but clearly, there was a problem; to cast such advanced dark magic, its level should at least be comparable to that of Charles. There was no way it couldn’t breach even a warrior’s mental barrier.
In fact, the issue wasn’t just a mere breach; it didn’t cause even the slightest impact—the crude analogy would be that it hadn’t even scratched a single hair.
It felt as if he knew the opponent was a terrifying big BOSS; he had braced himself for that lethal strike, and then suddenly, the creature transformed into a harmless little rabbit. The contrast was too great—what the hell was going on?
Just as Brendel was in a state of confusion, a shrill scream suddenly pierced through the infinite darkness: “Impossible! You cannot be human; how can a human possess such formidable willpower! What are you?!” The vast voice in the sky now carried a hint of a hoarse break, resembling a crazed woman tugging at her hair.
“Hmm?”
Brendel suddenly realized—willpower? “Hahaha!” He couldn’t help but want to laugh out loud, as he remembered that his willpower attribute had been increased exponentially due to Andisha’s divine blood being infused into him. With his current willpower level, such a degree of mental attack was laughably futile.
If Andisha were here right now, Brendel felt he would definitely want to hug and kiss her; it was simply marvelous. Though he felt somewhat embarrassed, having played the role of a warrior for too long had made him instinctively overlook this fact. He had nearly been intimidated by this creature.
However, he soon smirked, looking up at the heavy black clouds above, thinking let you try to control me—my will is a few hundred strong, and I am immune to spells below ten rings. Even a wizard fully remade with a silver body wouldn’t necessarily have such high willpower. Yet, the realm he was in was clearly an intricate illusion within the spiritual domain. The creature inside the coffin had some nerve, still not retreating. Brendel gritted his teeth and unleashed a mental shockwave towards the sky.
“Ah—!” A chilling scream suddenly echoed from above.
Logically, Brendel shouldn’t have been able to unleash such a mental shockwave without specialized training. However, that only applied to offensive capabilities. In reality, this world was still Brendel’s mental realm, under his dominion. Thus, his attack now served as both self-defense and counterattack; it was absurd that the creature had not realized the extraordinary height of Brendel’s willpower and was caught off guard, suffering a significant loss under Brendel’s onslaught.
“Ahhh—!” The creature, shrieking in distress, finally fled from the illusion, the boundless black plain dissipating in an instant. Brendel jolted awake from his mental world. He was nearly drenched in cold sweat, but immediately heard a concerned voice beside him: “Brendel, Brendel, what’s wrong?”
It was Otales’ voice. She shared a psychic connection with Brendel and sensed his distress instantaneously. However, just as she spoke, Brendel’s eyes cleared, and he regained his composure. The clash in the spiritual realm had appeared intense, but in reality, it had merely taken an instant.
“There’s a monster inside the coffin; I almost fell for its trap.”
“Mental attack?” Otales responded quickly, her expression turning serious.
“Yup.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” Brendel felt somewhat fatigued, as the mental drain had been considerable. Still, he shook his head to indicate he was okay—he believed the creature in the coffin had it much worse. His will attribute was over a hundred points; in this level of mental assault, it was akin to wielding nuclear weapons. He was confident that even if he hadn’t directly defeated the creature, he at least gravely injured it.
“Hehe, it seems I forgot that you, little monster, have been enhanced by divine blood. That creature truly is unfortunate,” the knight sister couldn’t help but chuckle.
Brendel smiled wryly, but Otales wasn’t wrong. He indeed found it hard to claim he still counted as human. With the elite template and divine blood, he wasn’t even sure he could call himself a pure-blooded Erluin anymore.
“Charles, are you alright?” He turned to check on his mage servant, the only one with him when they approached the coffin and triggered the creature’s attack. While he possessed such high willpower defense, Charles didn’t. He was initially worried about him being controlled, but to his surprise, Charles was just standing anxiously by, watching him.
“Are you okay?”
“Lord, are you alright?” Charles echoed, looking somewhat surprised.
“Ah,” the young servant blinked, suddenly coming to a realization, “The effects of mental control don’t apply to me; I am just a card after all. I was quite worried about you, but I didn’t expect you to… it’s unexpected… ahem, your ability to handle mental attacks with such ease is really impressive, truly wise and powerful… Ahaha!” He laughed awkwardly.
Brendel sighed in resignation. Indeed, a golden-tier warrior facing the same-level mental control would have minimal chances of resisting it. But it was unfortunate for the creature; it happened to encounter two oddities—one with astonishing will, and the other completely immune to mental control.
If the creature inside the coffin was a BOSS, it was probably one of the unluckiest BOSSes for the Amber Sword. With that thought, he was ready to open the coffin.
…(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it with recommendations and monthly votes at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
