Chapter 504: Act 252 – The Underground Secret, Another Bloodline
“Tumen said that they have a supreme leader in the north, who, along with that powerful woman, follows him. That person is called Odin. They have been fighting against cultists and demons that spread from the fiery hell to the surface, these beings are also the enemies of the Master. Therefore, my Master agreed to join this war—this war lasted for decades until the great battle finally began.”
“That must have been the last few wars between the Dark Dragon and the cultists. By that time, the Duskgazer Dragon had already been defeated in the sky by the Knight of Azure, and the chaotic power was subsequently contained. After concluding those wars, Odin unified the entire Vaunte, and the blood-soaked ancestors believed they had exchanged their sacrifices for the hope of dawn, but what they didn’t expect was that the tyranny of darkness and brutality was just beginning.” Otales suddenly said with a hint of melancholy in Brendel’s heart. “If it weren’t for that, there wouldn’t have been the later Saintly War, nor the Four Sages. Because of one person’s reason, countless lives were cast away in vain; he was once a hero, and I have no grounds to hate him, but I still cannot forgive his actions.”
Brendel silently nodded. He knew this part of history—the Knight of Azure shattered the sky, bringing about the second era, but the first ten centuries of the second era were still shrouded in darkness. It is said that Madara, the Witches, and the Minren were all remnants of the Dark Dragon, and they were the main enemies Brendel faced in past games. Although he coincidentally accepted Odin’s legacy, he did not harbor no grudges in his heart.
However, Otales sensed Brendel’s thoughts and was secretly astounded by this young man’s comprehension of history. The history she spoke of was already unknown to people today; only the wizards buried in scrolls all day in the Silver City would possibly know a fraction of it. Yet, Brendel was not particularly surprised by what he heard; the details that slipped out so casually had already made Otales suspicious.
Legends tell that the Dark Dragon perceives the human heart and understands all things. This is an ancient prophecy of the Witches, and Otales was aware that the blood of the Dark Dragon now flowed through Brendel. She could not help but wonder if this was truly merely a coincidence.
But Brendel had already grasped the ins and outs of this war. He simply raised his head to look at the towering dome of the underground hall that gradually faded into darkness, his curiosity growing stronger. Yilian, who stood nearby, seemed to see through his thoughts; she hesitated for a moment, but considering that Brendel had already been acknowledged, she spoke, “Young boy, if you really want to know the secret here, I can take you to a place.”
“Hmm?”
Brendel turned his head.
The place Yilian spoke of was at the back of the entire hall. However, she indicated that she needed to tidy up the corpse of the Pendulum Man before she could take Brendel there. Brendel did not object, quietly waiting aside. Regarding the Pendulum Man, the most unique enemy he had ever encountered, he held the respect that anyone with their own persistence and beliefs should receive.
The Centaur Lamia carefully secured the remains of the Pendulum Man on her back; her movements were gentle, as if she were afraid of damaging her companion. However, the heavy Pendulum Man was much heavier than her, making the scene somewhat comical, but at that moment, no one could laugh.
As soon as the two set off, Brendel discovered a problem. He found that the Golden Banner could not be taken away; it turned out that this treasure was rooted in the ground as soon as it entered, forming a range resembling a treasure barrier. Within this range, all treasure and creature cards would be upgraded by one level. But this range was fixed, with a radius of about one thousand meters, and could not be moved.
This was a bit awkward. Brendel tried every possible method but could not pull out the Golden Banner. Finally, it was the Centaur Lamia who reminded him that such treasure barriers generally have two modes of action—one attaches to a specific object and only affects that object. The other attaches to a location and affects a certain range. The Golden Banner was clearly of the latter type, which meant waiting for the reset phase to return to the deck for the next use.
Brendel felt somewhat helpless but also relieved. The Amber Sword had never had an irrefutable equipment item, and presumably, the fate cards were the same. Moreover, since the Centaur Lamia had also mentioned that a Traveler Mage was not an invincible existence, it was possible for there to be other powerful beings that could rival them, indicating that the power of fate cards also had its limits. In fact, Brendel had already discovered that fate cards had many restrictions, such as entry conditions and mana limitations. Yilian had also informed him that the “land” of a Traveler Mage was not infinite, and the capacity of that “land” was closely related to the strength of the mage. She told Brendel that once he became a formal Traveler Mage, he would understand this.
Realizing the limitations of the Golden Banner, Brendel instead felt a sense of relief. Compared to other card restrictions, this hardly seemed like a limitation. This was the strength of secret rare cards. Though the Centaur Lamia herself was not a Traveler Mage, she knew enough about many of their techniques. She told Brendel that due to the Golden Banner’s power, it could very well become the most core card in his deck. In that case, he would need to find ways to include cards that had filtering effects, so that he could grab the Golden Banner from the deck first in every battle.
She suggested that usually there are two ways to draw cards. One is to increase the chances of obtaining a specific card by drawing more hand cards, such as her Mind Acceleration barrier. The other is to filter for a specific type of card from the deck, like choosing a creature card from the deck to draw into the hand or a treasure card to draw into the hand.
The Lamia thought for a moment and told Brendel that the core card in the Pendulum Man’s dark adversity—Despair Wooden Horse—was indeed such a card. However, it was used to filter creature cards and its effect was stronger than ordinary filtering cards. But how powerful, the Centaur Lamia did not elaborate—seeing Brendel’s expression, she finally said, “I and the Pendulum Monster acknowledged you as the heir to the Paradise of Adversity, so this core card will be yours sooner or later. Let me keep some suspense for now.”
The fact that she could say such a thing hinted that she had slightly stepped out of her previous sorrow, and Brendel felt a sense of relief.
As the two spoke, they entered a small patch of natural caves that had not been artificially sculpted, where there was a cave resembling an underground wind tunnel, typical of karst landscapes. Such areas were incredibly dangerous during underground explorations; the Crusian people referred to such places as Enorel’s Maze, with Enorel being a monster with goat-like ears, said to be a servant of the Earth Goddess who took pleasure in building mazes. However, no matter how complex a place became after thousands of years of exploration, it would lose its sense of mystery. Yilian expertly guided Brendel through the lengthy cave as if she were strolling in her own backyard.
Then they entered an artificially dug passage at the end of the karst cave. This passage had descending stairs, and upon reaching the bottom, they appeared in a larger cavern. As soon as Brendel stepped into this cave, he was stunned by the sight before him—he saw that the walls of the cave were lined with an unending array of crystals, and within those crystals were sealed three people.
The first person Brendel saw was the Traveler Mage Chunximan, an elderly man. He was dressed similarly to an ordinary wizard; although he retained the appearance of his living self, his skin was gray, muscles slack, and lines of wrinkles hung down as if drained of vitality, as though the internal dark injuries had consumed all his life force, ultimately perishing here. But even with such an aged exterior, one could still sense the immense power contained within that frail body. Brendel initially did not recognize the old man as Chunximan, but for some reason, as soon as he laid eyes on him, he felt a sense of insignificance as if facing the entire world. When he glanced at the expression on the Centaur Lamia’s face beside him, he fully understood.
“This is your Master?”
The Centaur Lamia nodded, gently placing the remains of the Pendulum Man by the crystal, this time without shedding tears.
At that moment, Brendel suddenly noticed that the crystal wall seemed to subtly ripple with patterns. He was startled and looked closely to find that it was indeed true. He suddenly raised his head; the patterns flickering on the crystal wall connected to the ceiling of the cavern, and Brendel quickly realized that the ceiling was also cast with a series of mysterious runes in secret silver, just like the magical formation on the ground of the hall outside.
He paused slightly, initially unsure of its purpose. But suddenly, he drew in a sharp breath, for the aura emanating from the crystal was clearly drawing from the power of the three individuals inside to sustain itself. With Martha present, these three people in the crystal must have willingly sealed themselves inside; what kind of power would allow such formidable beings to willingly relinquish their lives to guard this place eternally?
He felt a dryness in his throat and could not help but reach out to touch the crystal. Then he turned his gaze to the second person, a middle-aged swordsman with chiseled features, looking strong and vigorous. Even with his eyes closed, one could feel his impressive dignity and aura. Brendel could not refrain from asking, “Who is this?”
“This is the most outstanding swordsman I have ever seen, the leader of the indigenous people of this place.” The Centaur Lamia looked at the middle-aged swordsman with a respectful expression.
Brendel then looked at the third person, and with just one glance, he found himself unable to look away.
He had never seen such a beautiful sight; the girl sealed within the crystal resembled a goddess from legends. She wore a pure white silk gown, a style that had become exceedingly rare in modern times. It somewhat resembled the white robes of ancient Greek city-states, but layered and enriched with modern flair. The skirt was embedded within the crystal, blooming as if caressed by the wind, like a pristine white lotus.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment. The girl, eyes closed, appeared to be no older than seventeen or eighteen. Her long hair spread out in every direction, white as ice; her eyelashes and skin too bore the same color, almost as if made of ice crystals, devoid of any blush. The entire figure, together with her saintly white gown, formed a uniquely beautiful scene. Brendel had never seen such a stunning woman before, especially one with such an aura.
“Is she dead?”
He couldn’t help but ask with a tinge of reluctance.
The Centaur Lamia nodded.
Brendel knew well that he had asked a foolish question; the three individuals within the crystal clearly belonged to the same era, and they had been resting here for thousands of years. However, for some reason, upon seeing this woman, he felt a faint sense of something amiss. He suddenly experienced that subtle feeling—one might say it was familiar. He couldn’t understand why he felt this way—he could swear he had seen or heard of such a scene in any world.
For a beauty like this, Brendel believed he would certainly have retained some impression after encountering her once.
But at that moment, the first images that sprang to mind were those of Aunt Jennie, followed by Romain, and lastly Babasha— that old and ugly woman. Brendel suddenly jolted, realizing, and blurted out, “The Witch!” He recalled who this girl was—the Ice Queen, the first Witch King before the golden age of the Witches.
Suddenly, a deep resonance echoed within the crystal, sound pulsating down to the ground as if responding to something.
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please feel free to support it with recommendation votes or monthly votes on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
