Chapter 588: Act 333 – The Battle of Saintly White XVII
When Earl Finn was at a loss for words, the Brule infantry on the front line of the valley encountered trouble. They suddenly found themselves flanked by the Naga Royal Guard and the Light Cavalry composed of officers from the Royal Knight Academy. The vanguards of the Finn and Constantine divisions, which had originally blocked the two armies, crumbled away as if the ice and snow had melted. By the time Viscount von Dougnin realized what was happening, he understood that it was a trap.
It was an illusion.
The Finn and Constantine divisions were pinned down on Mount Machenko and Mount Villerko, their soldiers lacking the courage to traverse the explosions and flames; yet Brendel had commanded the Naga priesthood to conjure up an illusion that the vanguards of both divisions had arrived—using the water vapor in the air to alter light refraction and create a mirage. This was indeed the specialty of water elementalist magic, and the naturally hydrophilic Naga priests were particularly adept at it. More importantly, Brendel was familiar with every formation on the other side; the banners and knightly crests could be forged to look identical—this was precisely why Viscount von Dougnin had stumbled into this cleverly laid trap like a fool.
Now, under his command, the Brule infantry launched an attack solely against the noble private soldiers of Earl Ouding, forming the only salient of the Northern Alliance, while the Light Cavalry, made up of the Naga Royal Guard and the officers of the Royal Knight Academy, unobstructedly circled behind them, encircling them.
Viscount von Dougnin could only hope that Earl Finn and Baron Constantine would suddenly come to their senses and appear to block these two armies. However, the explosions atop Mount Machenko and Mount Villerko had been ongoing for nearly five minutes, and the enemy archers seemed to be raining explosive arrows over both positions, creating a barrage that obstructed any movement. He didn’t even dare to hope the longbowmen on the opposing side would take a break due to exhaustion; he could tell at a glance that they had divided their archers into several teams to alternate shooting. And with the cowardice of those two fools, it was unlikely they would appear on the battlefield before the enemy ran out of arrows.
Thus, the outcome was increasingly difficult to change.
The Brule infantry now found themselves under attack from both sides. They had originally harbored desires to cross through the main position of the Princess, but Brendel’s appearance shattered all their hopes in an instant. The infantry faltered; although they still resisted, it was only a matter of time before they collapsed within the encirclement.
The changes at the front line quickly reflected on the entire battlefield. Earl Victorkin finally realized he had been tricked; now he had to either continue to send in reinforcements to rescue the Brule infantry or risk it all and launch another attack.
But the commanders next to him might not support his views. All the Northern Alliance commanding officers on this battlefield came from similar noble backgrounds, and there was a saying about the lips and the teeth; if lips were gone, the teeth would be cold. His expression fluctuated, cursing Finn and Constantine inwardly, but he still needed to make a decision quickly.
Because right behind the Brule infantry were the heavy cavalry and heavy infantry of the Field Division, those fully armored earth-dragons prepared to accelerate. This valley was a giant slope, and the heavy cavalry charging uphill was extremely tiring; they only had one chance to break through the enemy.
“My lord, make a decision!” The old subordinates of Earl Victorkin mentioned this in unison, understanding their lord was in a dilemma. “No matter what decision you make, we will support you.”
Earl Victorkin smiled bitterly: “The only option now is to find a way to liberate the Finn and Constantine divisions. As long as they can appear on the battlefield in time, there may still be a chance for redemption.”
Everyone’s eyes lit up; this indeed was a solution. “Why not order the Dragoons to join the fray? Only they have that agility. Only by harassing the enemy archers from the air can we rescue Earl Finn and Baron Constantine.”
It’s not that simple, Earl Victorkin couldn’t help but shake his head. Yet he was somewhat helpless, as this was the only card left to play; although the Northern Alliance was powerful, they couldn’t fully exert their strength in this valley. If they didn’t strike quickly and decisively, this battle could take quite some time.
The longer the night drags on, the more dreams may come.
Thus, nearly the entire night was spent mobilizing the Dragoons of the Black Blade Corps into the skies, awaiting the opportunistic Southern army Dragoons below, along with Brendel’s ever-present “Heavenly Sovereign”—at least all the noble commanders of the Northern Alliance believed so.
For a moment, the sky and ground were in chaos, but the effect was quite limited. The Black Blade Corps, in addition to local troops’ Dragoons, was at least three times the number of the Southern army’s Dragoons; however, their battle strength was uneven, and with the Dragoons not having had ample rest, their fighting capability was lowered by at least half. They were pressed against the Southern army’s Dragoons, whose numbers were much fewer than their own.
Now the commanders of the Northern Alliance realized something was off; not only had the Finn and Constantine divisions not been liberated, but the battlefield had fallen into an even greater stalemate. Meanwhile, the heavy cavalry of the Field Division began to accelerate, and the battlefield had reached an unresolvable situation.
And what Brendel awaited was precisely this moment.
The heavy cavalry of the Northern Alliance was crossing the flower-covered plains, storm clouds gathering above them. A new storm was building in the offshore waters of Ampere Seale, and darkness began to fall. If one extended their hand on the battlefield at this moment, they would see light raindrops beginning to drift down from the sky.
With the uniform steps of the earth-dragons, the ground began to tremble once again. This tremor was different from the slight shaking when the light cavalry charged; it felt as if the entire battlefield had emitted a roar, like rolling thunder sweeping in from the horizon.
And in the skies above, genuine thunder was rumbling ominously.
“Lady Sea Witch, please order your subordinates to attack those heavy cavalry!” Brendel suddenly shouted.
Buchilite leisurely observed the heavy cavalry of the humans. This was the first time the Grayfin Naga fought on land against humans, and it was valuable experience for them. She half-raised her hand, her four long and slender fingers connected with colorful membranes, which appeared strange to humans but had a kind of feminine grace.
The Naga priesthood began to cast spells once again, ice blades reappearing over the battlefield. Their human opponents were still recovering; as a single-class silver-tier elementalist, blessed by the Sea God, these sea witch priests had an overwhelming advantage in magical power compared to their counterparts in the Northern Alliance, allowing them to re-enter combat in a shorter time.
However, what Buchilite did not expect was that before they could control where the ice blades would land, the entire space seemed to freeze in an instant. Countless silver lines of law suddenly appeared among the clouds, enveloping the entire battlefield and weaving a huge barrier.
In a moment, all spells were rendered void.
“Spell dismantling!” Buchilite frowned.
Spell dismantling was indeed the specialty of a law wizard.
But such a wide range and powerful effect would require the opponent to be at least an elemental-tier wizard. Buchilite was clearly unfamiliar with the strength of humans, but Brendel knew who had struck—the chief wizard under Duke Siphai, Mage Gherlok, a pinnacle law wizard of Erluin.
The enemy could hardly wait, but at last, that guy had made a move.
That was all that was needed.
He immediately turned and shouted, “Antinna!”
“I’m here, my lord!” the noble lady shouted amidst the crowd.
“Now!”
“I understand!”
“Everyone,” Brendel suddenly raised his head and howled to the sky: “Block your ears.”
“Ah…?”
The situation on the battlefield was rapidly changing; even the princess’s side was stunned by the wolf pack that Brendel had suddenly summoned. Princess Grifian and Overwell were not ignorant individuals; they recognized that those were black wolves, not high-tier magical creatures in the Black Forest.
However, according to the legends of the mountain folk, black wolves only appeared in groups during catastrophes—this was the “wolf calamity.”
“Mr. Brendel, he…?” Princess Grifian stared blankly at the black crystal on Brendel’s forehead, which emitted a ghostly glow, and pallidly asked, “What is that…?”
Overwell also furrowed his brow.
“Ha ha,” only Earl Ouding chuckled lightly: “The Dark Lord walks with the wolves; before the end, calamity follows. To say that a pack of black wolves is an omen of disaster is just the witches’ baseless rumors; it is the ignorance of the mountain folk that causes them to believe. I have seen the true wolf calamity at the Loop of Trade Winds—however, even disasters may be overcome by human strength.”
“Mr. Brendel is what makes me believe in this,” Earl Ouding said with a smile. “Someone can bring light in the dark; I have witnessed this all.”
Princess Grifian remembered his experiences, slightly feeling relieved and nodded, but still could not help glancing curiously at Brendel.
But no one realized that further away, deep in the forest atop Mount Anlek, an elderly voice was softly reciting the same words:
“The Dark Lord walks with the wolves; before the end, calamity follows. In his eyes, the world has no secrets.”
“The prophecy is being validated one by one.”
“My king, you have indeed returned…”
Brendel’s howling resonated through the forest, and even the black wolves beside him paused. The next moment, everyone felt the ground tremble slightly. It wasn’t the shock of the heavy cavalry charging, but truly the entire valley shook.
Large numbers of soldiers lost their footing and fell to the ground. The heavy cavalry of the Field Division was worst off; they had just begun to accelerate when lines of them toppled forward, and many knights hadn’t even made it to the battlefield before they had broken their necks from falling.
But at this point, no one paid attention to the unfolding events on the battlefield.
Because a terrible roar was emanating from underground, causing everyone to look down. The ground was gently shaking as if pregnant with some horrifying energy, and the faint roaring sounded like the roar of a gigantic beast.
And it was approaching.
The massive sound source was quickly approaching the surface, and then everyone looked up. Suddenly, the already darkened heavens flashed, filling the entire battlefield with a blinding white light. But that lightning did not descend from the rumbling clouds; it arose from beneath the ground.
It seemed as if a mouth had opened on the peak of Mount Machenko, and a dazzling white light surged forth from below.
“Earl Finn is finished…” Earl Victorkin saw this scene and could think only of one idea. Suddenly realizing something, he turned in terror, shouting with his mouth agape towards his subordinates.
Yet amidst the sea of blinding white light, the massive sound seemed to drown everything. After a sharp, ringing explosion, everything fell silent. Everyone saw the people next to them screaming in terror, but they only saw their mouths moving without any sound.
The high-pitched sound waves swallowed all noise, curiously rendering the world silent. People could no longer hear a single sound.
Then horror swept like a piercing explosion sound, as if a hurricane had blown through. Everyone instinctively recoiled; the terrible shockwave surged through the battlefield like a radiant circular ring, blowing away light infantry, heavy infantry, and knights mounted on earth-dragons alike. They flew back a dozen meters before crashing onto the grass once more.
In that instant, the entire valley trembled, as if the northern branch of the Anlek Mountain Range was about to collapse entirely.
The white light instantly severed the connections between Mount Machenko and Mount Villerko.
After a long while.
When Earl Victorkin finally managed to climb off the ground and regain his senses, he looked at the battlefield ahead, unable to stop his brain from going blank. The heavy cavalry formations of the Field Division had completely vanished, half of the heavy infantry had disappeared, and nearly a third of the Stevenson division had also been lost.
Mount Machenko had almost disappeared, and Mount Villerko had been flattened by nearly half.
Between the two peaks, the ground only remained a deep chasm, below which was like an abyss, shrouded in white mist. But before Earl Victorkin could find any command suitable for the situation from his muddled mind, the swirling white mists seemed to come alive, rising continuously, and forming a gigantic, spiraling tornado.
Everyone still alive couldn’t help but raise their heads, gazing up at the rapidly expanding storm, which stood several dozen meters tall. It was evidently more than just a wind, for everyone felt a tremendous pressure descending upon the battlefield.
And a majestic voice followed, reverberating throughout the entire battlefield.
“Lowly mortals, thank you for undoing my seal,” a thunderous voice billowed forth amidst the wind—the storm clouds were gathering above him, and the rain on the battlefield suddenly intensified. Lightning began to flicker between the clouds, gathering towards this whirlwind, “but I abhor anyone disturbiNg the elegance of the calm.”
Amidst the heavy rain.
All those around Brendel were dumbfounded by this sudden change, but he merely raised his head, staring at the extremely familiar scene, feeling only a sense of wonder.
Even the entrance lines remained unchanged.
Then this fellow’s temperament should have remained unaffected, haha.
At the other end of the battlefield, Mage Gherlok suddenly changed his expression. The archmage who was in the midst of casting spells quickly turned, anxiously shouting to Earl Victorkin, “Quick, have your subordinates prepare for battle, fast, or it will be too late!”
In fact, it was already too late.
The whirlwind suddenly let out a cold grunt of extreme discontent: “What is this…” A silver line of law struck out towards the air, then exploded in a bright arc of electricity, “Dismantle spell?”
“You dare use a dismantling spell to attack me?”
“You’re walking to your death, insects.”
Gherlok raised his head, his face pale as he looked at the countless lightning vortexes that had suddenly appeared above him, and innumerable bolts of lightning extended out from these vortices.
In an instant.
The battlefield became a storm of lightning clashing with each other.
……(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
