Chapter 496: Act 244 – The Pendulum
The footsteps became increasingly clear, mixed with a heavy metallic tremor. A tall silhouette emerged from the darkness, towering like a wall, followed by the outline of a cold, metallic face appearing from the shadows, expressionless and devoid of emotion. Half of its face was covered in crystals that extended down its barely noticeable neck to its shoulders, forming a massive growth. It wore a long cloak, with metallic embellishments hanging down to the ground, and an iron-like hand emerged from beneath the cloak, gripping a bronze staff the thickness of an adult human’s arm.
The monster stopped not far from Brendel, and his heart sank as it positioned itself right next to the Ground Sword that had been flung away. After it halted, both Otales and Brendel could hear a rhythmic ticking sound emanating from its body, reminiscent of a heartbeat – the sound of a pendulum. Beneath the cloak loomed a massive pendulum, driving the monster’s movements like a wind-up toy.
This was the guardian of the Tower of Heaven’s Remnants, the Lv92 Pendulum Man. Brendel’s complexion shifted; the Babel Fortress was thousands of miles away, how could a Pendulum Man appear in this place? Had the world completely unraveled? Moreover, the Tower of Heaven had been updated in the seventh version; with the current strength of the Pendulum Man, it was a top-tier entity across Cruz. In the Age of Blossoms’ End, even three Veronikas wouldn’t necessarily be able to rival it.
Brendel couldn’t help but swallow nervously.
Otales seemed unfamiliar with this monster; she instinctively sensed that the newcomer was hostile and noticed Brendel’s slight change in mood. She asked, “Do you know what this thing is?”
“This is a Pendulum Man,” he stumbled over his words, unsure how to describe its strength, “In short, it’s very powerful, far stronger than us. The only good thing is that this creature is a magical puppet and won’t utilize elemental forces. Do you have any way to escape?”
“Don’t expect me to be a savior; that won’t be good for your growth,” Otales replied sharply.
“Right now, we can’t afford to think about growth; if we can’t escape, we’ll all be done for,” Brendel thought.
However, the Pendulum Man appeared to ignore Brendel, or perhaps it was merely indifferent. It cast a cold glance at the Ground Sword on the ground, reached out, and a chain extended from beneath its cloak, coiling around the Ground Sword before tossing it back toward Brendel. With a clatter, the Ground Sword landed by Brendel’s feet, spinning slightly. He stared in confusion, wondering what this meant. Did the Pendulum Man adhere to the knightly spirit and refuse to kill an unarmed enemy?
Did that mean as long as he didn’t pick up the sword, everything would be fine? Brendel momentarily indulged in that thought. However, the looming Pendulum Man was indeed extraordinary; the most striking feature was the crystals on its face and shoulders, something ordinary Pendulum Men lacked. Yet this was not good news for Brendel; whether an elite individual or a boss monster, it was beyond what he could handle.
To be honest, he couldn’t even fight the ordinary ones.
After tossing the Ground Sword at Brendel’s feet, the Pendulum Man spoke with a cold metallic tone: “A mere traveling mage apprentice using this sort of thing; truly boring.”
“What the…” Brendel’s face turned pale as the Ground Sword was scorned, but he resolutely picked it up—after all, there was no need for deceit against someone he couldn’t possibly defeat: “You’re a traveling mage?”
“You don’t seem to understand; traveling mages are powerful beings who view the planes as their chessboard and have no need for such weak tools,” the Pendulum Man replied, disregarding him while pointing at the sword in his hand. “I am not a traveling mage, but I follow a great master whose power you cannot imagine.”
As it spoke, it waved the bronze staff, summoning a card that materialized and opened a portal, from which a squad of puppet swordsmen marched out with a ‘clap-clap’ sound. These puppets shimmered with a bronze luster, their bodies and limbs studded with countless rivets, brandishing flower-patterned swords, and each carried a massive wind-up device on their backs. There were over twenty of them, and as soon as they appeared, the Pendulum Man waved his bronze staff forward: “Attack! Exile the invaders—”
“Claiming you’re not a traveling mage while using fate cards; where’s the justice? Where’s the law?” Brendel shouted in his heart, hastily retreating. Although these puppets, known as Wind-Up Swordsmen, were only level forty, their numbers were overwhelming, not to mention the Pendulum Man himself, so Brendel dared not linger and quickly withdrew.
But the Pendulum Man scoffed coldly: “Fate Duel Arena.”
It slammed the bronze staff into the ground, making a loud bang as a card fell from the sky, drawing a light circle with nearly a mile radius on the ground. Brendel, moving incredibly fast, crashed into the edge of the circle, resulting in a loud bang as he struck his head and was sent reeling.
Dazed, Brendel saw stars and nearly fainted, but he quickly received a prompt: “Fate Arena; entering and exiting are forbidden until the duel concludes.” Despite feeling dizzy, he reacted swiftly and shouted, “I admit defeat!”
To his astonishment, the circle flickered and completely dimmed.
“This works?” Even the Pendulum Man was momentarily taken aback.
“You…” Otales, who had been watching as an observer, choked on her words, “Don’t ever say you know me again; it’s too embarrassing.”
Brendel’s face flushed, but at this moment, staying alive was more important. He crawled quickly out of the circle’s range, while the Pendulum Man coldly addressed him in a metallic tone, “Fool, the path to the surface is sealed; where do you think you can escape to?” Hearing this, Brendel remembered this particular detail and felt his heart chill. However, he wasn’t one to easily give up, quickly rolling aside to hide behind a pillar, taking heavy breaths.
“What’s your plan?” Otales asked calmly, still observing from the sidelines.
“What else can we do? Maybe play hide and seek until Charles and the others dig in?”
Otales gave him a sideways glance: “You don’t expect to be more familiar with the terrain than the enemy, do you? Its profession is likely similar to yours. Aren’t you afraid it might summon an array of bizarre entities? Even if this place is huge, it won’t accommodate hundreds of creatures searching together.”
“You’re right,” Brendel nodded; he only made a lighthearted joke to ease the tension. Otherwise, it was really nerve-wracking. He thought for a moment and said, “We have no choice but to go all out against it.”
“How do we do that?” Otales inquired.
“It’s a traveling mage, so I’ll fight it with the methods of a traveling mage. Hmph, although the monster itself is strong, I suspect its summoned beings are not that impressive. Once I defeat its summoned entities, I’ll deal with it however I please.” While Brendel spoke of fighting, the strategy he laid out was carefully considered; even Otales couldn’t find fault with it and nodded in agreement.
Brendel quickly checked his cards, mentally lamenting. To be honest, he didn’t have many cards at his disposal; several key ones used in the Loop of Trade Winds—Wind Elemental Spider, Fireclaw Lizard, and Fire Giant—were all in the graveyard, even the Holy Archangel who could retrieve them was lying quietly there, which made him curse Andish even more.
Then, he still had the Silver Elf Princess Medisa, Highland Sorcerer Charles, the crossdressing Vampire Medephis, and the Lubis mercenaries outside because they hadn’t reached the reset phase yet, so he couldn’t summon them. These were basically all his main forces. In fact, aside from these cards, he didn’t have many other options available.
First, he had six cards in hand (the Blade of White Sun had been used), and the remaining ones included Energy Drain, Charge Rush, Golden Battle Flag, Sigil Summoner, Grave Resurrection, and two Bloodline cards—Lord of the Night and Vampire Baron. Aside from the Eternal Sphere on the field, the rest were related to resource generation or enchantments, largely ineffective in battle.
After thinking, he decided to summon the Lord of the Night, a level 35 elite, at least on par with Medisa. Moreover, this card was also a rare silver card.
His dark element pool was basically full after leveling up in the Black Forest, totaling 30 points. After paying the 15-point cost, a cloud of dark smoke materialized before his eyes. As the smoke dissipated, a half-naked girl appeared.
The girl was so beautiful she seemed beyond human — though she wasn’t human. The vampire girl had skin as fair as ice and snow, with long black hair shining like obsidian, lips as red as blood, and eyelashes gently closed, preserving a state of slumber. Her figure maintained the perfect curve, giving one the impression that adding or subtracting even a slight amount might alter her beauty.
The girl then opened her eyes, revealing cold red pupils that stared intently at Brendel.
She gathered her hands, and black smoke enveloped her form, forming a tight-fitting black evening gown that flared out at the bottom. Brendel was dumbfounded and nearly blurted out, “Isn’t that outfit a bit impractical for battle?”
But the girl impatiently frowned first, “Speak, where is the enemy?”
The enemy was, of course, behind her. At that moment, the Pendulum Man seemed oblivious to Brendel’s actions and was still directing its twenty-plus Wind-Up Swordsmen to advance with a ‘clap-clap’ sound, forming a net to search forward. It had also summoned a mechanical sphere made of gears floating in the air, which Brendel couldn’t identify at the moment, but it was certainly not something beneficial for him. He pointed in that direction to the vampire girl and said, “Those Wind-Up Swordsmen. I’ll attract their attention; you can ambush from the side and take out as many as you can. Is that a problem?”
“Alright,” the girl replied simply.
“What’s your name?” Brendel suddenly asked.
“My name is Andrigraphis, and my family name is Dethys. Remember, I don’t want to repeat myself,” the girl glanced at him and coldly responded.
“This girl is really something,” Otales suddenly thought in his mind.
Brendel smiled wryly.
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to support it with recommendations and monthly votes on Qidian.com; your support is my greatest motivation.)
