Chapter 495: Act 243 – The Traveling Mage?
In the darkness, a shadow flickered and vanished. Brendel hesitated for a moment before drawing his sword and giving chase. The corridor seemed endless, with the light of the fluorescent stones stretching forward, continuously revealing gray-white walls. This color indicated that a layer of lime paint had been applied to the rocks, a method commonly used in tomb passages to waterproof against erosion.
Footsteps rapidly amplified ahead, indicating that a cavity had appeared. Brendel slowed his pace, and an outline flashed ahead. To his surprise, the crystal statue he had seen before appeared before him, raising its hand to shoot two crystal spikes.
“Damn!”
Brendel raised his sword and with ‘clang, clang’ broke the spikes into pieces. Gritting his teeth, he shook his hand. Martha was on top of that monster; its brute strength was truly frightening. The creature, seeing its attack fail, immediately retreated, its movements not quick but vanishing in the shadows.
Brendel cursed furiously from the depths of his heart, a curse that would make even the designer of this scene tremble, and hurried to pursue again. But after only a few steps, he halted, turned back, and raised the fluorescent stone. The dim light seemed to break through the limitations of the narrow space and spread in all directions, illuminating a deep corridor.
Unintentionally, he had dashed out of the long passage.
Before him was a spacious hallway resembling a grand hall. Rows of columns stood in the profound darkness, and the glow from Brendel’s fluorescent stone only lit a small area nearby, far less than one percent of the total space. The corridor extended further, with a black-and-white marble floor, covered in dust and cracks, yet it was easy to imagine that this was once a magnificent underground hall.
“……”
Brendel couldn’t help but hold his breath; this place did not seem like a tomb at all. Even a king’s mausoleum would not be constructed in such a manner. “Eh?” He suddenly murmured, realizing that the ground and the lower part of the columns were covered with patterns. Initially thinking they were murals, he stepped closer and discovered the so-called patterns were silver filigree cast in grooves embedded in the marble.
Brendel’s hand trembled as he nearly succumbed to the urge to kneel and use the Sword of the Earth to dig out these shining silver patterns, for he recognized it was mithril—only mithril would be used for such creations:
Rune Magic Array.
But he forcibly resisted. He lifted his head, casting his gaze over the entire hall, where the vast, silent darkness seemed to harbor an overpowering force that rendered one momentarily speechless: this giant corridor was actually a Rune Magic Array! Suddenly, he recalled his past experience in delving into the Winter Temple—the legendary sanctuary of the North Wind Goddess, Jupis, a winter realm protected by four goddess statues, with golden runes stretching for miles, forming a fierce, perpetual gale—equally magnificent and grand.
However, this magic array before him resembled a cemetery even more, the silver runes on the corridor floor seeming to have long since lost their function, with everything in utter silence and boundless tranquility.
“What is this place?” Brendel muttered to himself. Curiously, he advanced along the marble floor inscribed with worm-like silver runes, the sound of his footsteps echoing hollowly in the darkness, appearing like a small light point slowly moving in the boundless dark world.
The legendary Winter Temple was the main temple of the North Wind Goddess, secluded from the world, located within today’s Distant Fog Mountain range. Yet, what divine being constructed this tomb, hiding such an astonishingly grand structure underground?
As he walked for a while, he suddenly remembered something and called out to Otales, quietly asking, “Lady Otales, are you there?”
“Hmm, I’ve been here all along,” the calm voice of the Lady Knight echoed in his mind, “Are you planning to go in and take a look?”
Brendel nodded.
“Have you heard of this place before, Lady Otales?”
“I don’t know it, never seen it.” Otales seemed curious too, “But this place is significant; the runes on the ground seem to be older than from my times. Young boy, you truly have a knack for stumbling upon such incredible things.”
Brendel forced a wry smile.
“Shh,” Otales suddenly said, “That thing is near you.”
“That thing?”
Brendel suddenly realized it was the crystal statue, cursing under his breath for its persistence. He was about to turn around, but Otales called to him, “Don’t move; it’s behind you. Pretend to walk forward until I tell you.”
Brendel’s eyes brightened. The monster seemed familiar with this location’s layout; if it was set on playing hide and seek with him, it could indeed be a bit troublesome. However, following Otales’ method might indeed trick it into coming within striking distance.
He mentally agreed, continuing to walk forward without looking back. Having endured many trials with the elven sister, he completely trusted Otales would not betray him.
The two advanced slowly down the corridor, their footsteps rhythmically echoing like the pendulum of a rusty clock, ticking away. Brendel rested one hand on the hilt of the Sword of the Earth, presenting an outward appearance of observing the surroundings, while his focus remained in the back, waiting for the monster to appear to strike.
After a brief pause, Otales suddenly called out in a low voice, “Left rear, behind the third pillar!”
Without thinking, Brendel instinctively swung his Sword of the Earth backward, a white light shooting toward the pillar. A massive explosion followed by a scream occurred. Brendel’s keen eyes saw a figure rapidly retreating amidst the dust, but it was clear that the creature had been injured, moving much slower than before.
“Still trying to run!” Brendel felt he would truly curse if this thing escaped. As the monster retreated, he immediately activated his charge skill, transforming into a black streak to cut off its escape route ahead.
Amidst the dust was indeed the previous crystal statue; this creature had unexpectedly suffered a great loss from Brendel’s sneak attack, with one of its legs now broken. Brendel thought it was no wonder it moved so slowly, but that was no reason for him to hesitate. The moment it stopped, the Sword of the Earth was already thrusting toward it.
Although the crystal statue possessed surprisingly high attack power, its agility and defense were unexpectedly low. Theoretically, this level of BOSS should not be so easily struck down by a simple slash. Nonetheless, Brendel would much prefer if monsters had zero defense. He had put all his strength into that sword, a faint white glow flickering above, signaling the use of a piercing strike.
The crystal statue couldn’t evade in time, suddenly producing a playing card in front of its chest. The card rippled outward, coinciding perfectly with the tip of the Sword of the Earth. “Destiny Card!” Brendel was startled, feeling a tremendous force surge from the Sword of the Earth. He couldn’t hold it and let the sword slip from his grip.
Yet, he couldn’t be bothered by it as if his right hand had been rendered numb. He immediately rolled backward, left hand displaying a Bray of the Sun’s Blade card. A beam of platinum light shot from the Bray of the Sun’s Blade, forming a flaming sword in midair, plunging it into the chest of the crystal statue.
The whole space suddenly fell silent.
Then, a crack suddenly appeared in the chest of the crystal statue, rapidly expanding until half of its body was split apart. The statue seemed to want to struggle and leap at Brendel, but it had barely taken a step before it completely crumbled, turning into a shower of crystal shards that fell to the ground.
Both Brendel and Otales were stunned.
Brendel couldn’t help but glance at the Bray of the Sun’s Blade card in his hand—the card had now lost its color, becoming dull. This was because it had been returned to the deck, and a dull card could not be used again until it was drawn once more. However, what concerned him now was whether he had unintentionally wielded a significant weapon.
The Bray of the Sun’s Blade had never been considered a highly damaging offensive card; it merely exhibited special advantages when dealing with the undead. Previously, when he saw the crystal statue using the Destiny Card, his mind went off the rails, thinking that it might be a traveling mage like him, especially when recalling Tumen’s remarks. Yet, he was surprised to find that it was merely a silver imitation.
The contrast was just too great.
Brendel remained dazed for quite a while before noticing a line of hints on his retina: Killed the boss-level monster ‘Half-Crystallized Ledel’, gained 72,310 experience. “Indeed a boss-level monster, Half-Crystallized Ledel—this thing turned out to be an NPC class monster?” He then hurriedly looked into the pile of crystal shards and saw, just as he had expected, something.
A silver card lay quietly among the shards, shimmering under the glow of his fluorescent stone.
“This is a Destiny Card,” Brendel was puzzled; how could this thing use a Destiny Card? According to Tumen, Destiny Cards were the flames of the laws ignited, a principle known only to traveling mages, while ordinary people couldn’t even see such laws.
He rubbed his numb right arm, stood up, and approached to pick up the Destiny Card—silver cards were much rarer than ordinary ones, also stronger for the same cost. The Silver Elf Princess, Medisa, was one such example; at a cost of 15, she was essentially Brendel’s strongest card.
The card depicted a silver ring, engraved with cloud patterns. The card was named ‘Anrodus’s Holy Ring,’ seemingly a treasure, but in reality, it was a spell.
Anrodus’s Holy Ring (Adverse Paradise XX), 10 Light; [Spell—Instant]; Effect: The next attack is nullified. ‘—Sanctuary—’
“Another Adverse Paradise…” As soon as Brendel saw this card, he understood why his previous sword strike had been ineffective. However, he looked it over several times but couldn’t discern what was so special about this card that allowed a monster to use it. If the crystal statue was a traveling mage, it didn’t seem likely; a traveling mage wouldn’t possess only one card, right? At the very least, they should have one land card too.
While he was baffled, a steady sound of footsteps suddenly echoed in the darkness.
Brendel and Otales were both startled; the footsteps sounded very close to them, and before that moment, they had not sensed anyone approaching. Although Brendel felt he could understand his lack of awareness, it was different for Otales. As a spirit from over a thousand years ago, even though her corporeal form no longer existed, her perception abilities had not diminished much.
The Lady Knight immediately realized that the looming figure in the darkness was probably a notably powerful enemy. “Be careful,” she solemnly cautioned.
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your votes for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)
