Chapter 497: Act 245 – Brendel and the Vampire Maiden
Before setting off, Brendel took a look at Andrigraphis’s status. He found that this vampire maiden was more powerful than he had imagined; Andrigraphis was one of the few dual-element users. Besides the soul element typical of undead, she also possessed an element called blood. Having dual elements was a rarity in the Amber Sword—one in ten thousand at best. Brendel had never seen such a thing before; players could never possess dual elements.
Most vampires fought instinctively as descendants of blood, but Andrigraphis was a high-level mage and a rare array magician, and she also had a warrior level as a dual-wielding swordswoman. What a peculiar combination. Brendel was stunned; he had never encountered a vampire with a class level before.
Then he looked at Andrigraphis’s card ability at the bottom: “Pay 5 Dark to place a small squad of Black Derivatives (Bloodline) onto the field.”
At that moment, the Pendulum Man and its clockwork swordsman had gotten very close. Strangely, it seemed to have spotted Brendel but merely commanded the clockwork swordsman to spread out in a fan shape and slowly surround him, while it itself remained stationary, seemingly lost in thought. But Brendel didn’t care what it was thinking; he signaled to Andrigraphis and leapt out from behind the column.
As he rolled to his feet, his charge skill activated automatically, his speed suddenly multiplied several times. The distance to the leftmost clockwork swordsman seemed to shrink in an instant. The puppet hadn’t reacted yet and awkwardly lifted its sword to block, but Brendel had already knocked its weapon aside and stepped forward, creating an illusion. His main body circled around to the back of the clockwork swordsman and stabbed it through the slender neck from behind.
It was as if two Brandels had flanked the puppet, instantly killing it.
Brendel took his shot and, not daring to linger, turned and ran, intending to slip behind another column. However, the expressionless Pendulum Man saw through his scheme; it tapped its heavy bronze staff onto the ground and shouted, “He’s trying to flee! Swordsmen 7, 8, and 9, move forward ten steps! Swordsmen 3 and 4, over the corpse of Swordsman 1, cut off his retreat!”
The Pendulum Man acted like a precisely calculating chess player, and with one command, the clockwork swordsmen successfully cut off Brendel’s escape route.
Brendel cursed under his breath, realizing how the Pendulum Man had developed such a vicious ability. The Pendulum Man was a low-tier guardian of the Tower of Heaven, characterized by high attack, high defense, and thick health, immune to elemental magic, able to use skills like time pause, time rewind, and time vortex within a ten-foot range. Countless melee classes and elementals had been beaten to the ground by it, but that monster moved slowly, making it a perfect target for archers.
However, this version was clearly not the one Brendel was familiar with.
Just as Brendel was thinking this might not end well, Andrigraphis calmly observed him luring the enemy. She then turned back to draw a four-ring magic array on the column, finishing just as Brendel killed the first enemy. At that moment, the Pendulum Man commanded the clockwork swordsmen to change formation and turn to the side, exposing itself to Andrigraphis’s line of attack.
However, Andrigraphis didn’t recall Brendel asking her to attack the large guy. She glanced, targeted her objective, and pointed at Clockwork Swordsman 7. A bolt of pitch-black lightning shot out from the magic array on the column with a crackle, striking the puppet on the head. Even though a transparent magic array appeared over the clockwork swordsman’s head to deflect that attack, it still staggered.
A major feature of magical puppets was their high magical defense, but Andrigraphis wasn’t worried; a hallmark of array magicians was their astonishing spell power. Her finger hadn’t yet dropped, and the first bolt of lightning was merely a guide—leaving a magic mark on Swordsman 7—when the array suddenly emitted a more dazzling black light, releasing dozens of lightning strikes that all hit Swordsman 7’s head.
In an instant, the transparent magic array on Swordsman 7’s head shone brightly until it shattered with a crack, like a nut being cracked open, except it also emitted smoke.
This spell was called “The Nine-Tailed Whip of the Queen of Suffering,” a typical dark magic spell.
With Swordsman 7 dead, a glimmer of hope appeared in front of Brendel. However, before he could rejoice, the Pendulum Man threw down another card. “Doom Guard!” it said coldly, and several light doors opened behind it, revealing spiked black-armored soldiers resembling humans.
These soldiers wielded double-headed swords, and aside from their shoulders, helmets, and lower body, their upper bodies and abdomens were displayed with bronze-toned, well-defined abs and chests, clearly skilled fighters. There were ten Doom Guards in total, and near the two broken clockwork swordsmen and the crystalline bodies scattered on the ground, another light door opened to reveal one Doom Guard emerging from each.
Though Brendel didn’t recognize these NPCs, he could guess that the Pendulum Man’s card wasn’t just a creature card; it also turned the dead soldiers on the battlefield into derivatives. Now, with Andrigraphis having taken down two clockwork swordsmen, the situation had actually become more unfavorable for Brendel.
“See? The mage traveler doesn’t need any knives or swords. Your kind is a disgrace to mage travelers. Let me take care of you,” the Pendulum Man stated flatly, with a peculiar metallic tone.
Brendel barely restrained his frustration, thinking that wasn’t mage traveler power; it was pure level suppression. If he were still at level 130, he could cleave such trash with a single sword without all this nonsense. Mage traveler, what a joke!
However, Brendel, being a warrior, retained a warrior’s spirit. Since he couldn’t evade, he instead faced the situation head-on. The three approaching clockwork swordsmen were all at the golden initial stage; given Brendel’s current strength, he could handle them without issue. However, the sight of thirty-four monsters above the golden level was indeed daunting.
The Pendulum Man seemed disinterested in fighting itself, raising its bronze staff and pointing forward, causing the army to surge, surrounding Brendel in layers.
“Andrigraphis, cover me!”
Brendel shouted as he sliced through one clockwork swordsman with a clean strike. The vampire maiden glanced his way, seemingly uninterested in the battle, and impatiently replied, “I know.” She raised her little hand, and a magic array drawn on the ground began to glow, causing a large black net to descend from above, enveloping half of the enemies.
This spell was called Abyssal Net, and of course, it was dark magic; enemies caught in it would suffer numerous negative states such as slowing, pain, blindness, deafness, and aging. In short, it was an IMBA spell; all array magicians wielded this level of strength; otherwise, no one could stand the slow casting speed.
Once Abyssal Net was deployed, Brendel immediately felt the pressure lessen. The Pendulum Man couldn’t help but frown, which was unprecedented; it was the first time it showed any expression beyond its usual indifference. It looked back at Andrigraphis and waved its staff, sending two Doom Guards breaking off from the battle toward the maiden.
Typically, mage players would cast protective spells and retreat upon a melee attack, but Andrigraphis clearly didn’t belong in the normal category. The vampire maiden bit her thumb, and a drop of bright red blood oozed from her finger, sparkling like a rubies in the snow; with a wave of her hand, blood sprayed from the wound and formed a crescent in the air. This blood-red crescent coiled and transformed mid-air, seemingly guided by her will, turning into two blood-red elf blades—Andrigraphis caught the blades in each hand, which appeared gem-like, crystal-clear, and filled with red blood.
Then the maiden stepped back, demonstrating her strength; compared to her spellcasting talent, her warrior strength was around the peak of silver and the initial stage of gold. However, the oddity was that she could use the blood swords to form a magic array, attacking while casting spells. After just a few exchanges, the two Doom Guards were engulfed in dark clouds, their foreheads flashing green light, evidently afflicted by numerous negative states.
Originally two golden initial-stage warriors, they had been reduced to Andrigraphis’s level, or even slightly weaker.
However, each time Andrigraphis formed a magic array with her blood, her complexion whitened a bit, indicating that there was indeed a cost associated with forming arrays from blood, likely consuming a portion of her health. Brendel observed her in a stalemate with the two Doom Guards, some concern creeping in that she might struggle to handle it. Unable to help himself, he sent a mental message: “Lure them over a little.”
Although he too was surrounded by enemies, he couldn’t bear to watch his companion be bullied.
But unexpectedly, Andrigraphis’s only response was one word:
“Hmph—”
It felt like he had been belittled, and she exuded an air of considerable dissatisfaction.
Suddenly, she stopped, cupped her right hand, her eyes glowing red, and shouted, “Blood Vapor.” Instantly, the two surrounding Doom Guards groaned as countless blood droplets oozed from their bodies, spiraling toward Andrigraphis’s palm to form a bloodball, which evaporated completely in an instant, causing the vampire maiden’s face to regain some color.
Empowered by this attack, her movements became much quicker. With decisive swiftness, she dispatched each Doom Guard. However, after unleashing this powerful move, the vampire maiden appeared exhausted, leaning heavily on her dual blades, gasping for breath.
It seemed she couldn’t participate in battle any longer.
……(To Be Continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
