Chapter 604: Act 348 – Beneath the Abyss VII
Dark clouds gathered in the north, and the direction of Ampere Seale Port was pitch black. However, outside the port, there were sparks scattered like flowing lava across the ground, characteristic of the demons’ scorched earth. The teleportation gates clearly linked the River of Sulfur to Erluin, revealing overlapping scenes on both sides.
On the scorched earth, the modified teleportation gate emitted a scarlet hue, visible from this direction, resembling agate scattered on a pitch-black carpet.
The scene looked like the end of the world, causing everyone to hold their breath involuntarily. Mister Brendel was deep in thought over the princess’s question, when suddenly the ‘clouds’ in the sky roared and changed direction. The princess and the others were momentarily stunned, sensing something was amiss. The knights exchanged glances, then instinctively turned their gaze to the young lord nearby.
After all, none of them had actually encountered the creatures of Jotungrund, and the most knowledgeable person here was undoubtedly the lord from Duke Toniger.
Brendel regained his senses and looked up to notice the change in the sky, his expression shifting dramatically as he shouted, “Quick, cover anything reflective with your cloaks!”
The griffins had an exceptionally broad field of vision and were very sensitive to light, collecting shiny trinkets to adorn their nests, similar to their winged brethren. For the same reason, they could easily catch faint reflections from miles away, making them excellent scouts—something reflecting like armor had caught their attention. It was a moment of oversight on his part, forgetting to warn the others.
It was likely due to having seen the army of Jotungrund earlier that his mind had slipped.
Everyone hurriedly wrapped their armor with cloaks, securing the ties at their collars. But it seemed they were a bit late; as they raised their heads, they saw several ‘clouds’ in the northern sky moving southward, groups of the peculiar winged creatures dispersing across the skies, flooding in an instant.
Brendel turned back and saw that everyone had turned pale, with Princess Grifian no exception. They numbered only seventeen, while facing thousands of griffins.
Even a knight instinctively reached for his sword, causing Brendel to leap forward and grasp his hand. “Don’t move! They haven’t spotted us yet!” he shouted, fearing that someone might panic and draw their sword; once the blade reflected light, it would be too late.
“Quick, find a place to hide!”
Brendel was very familiar with the habits of the griffins; these cautious creatures would certainly come to investigate after being alerted. They preferred to operate in groups but wouldn’t necessarily have discovered their hiding spot yet. After all, they were still several miles away, and the griffins might not pick up the subtle movements beneath the forest.
However, the knights had already lost their resolve, and Brendel’s words became their only lifeline as they retreated behind the black pine forest, seeking a place to conceal themselves. Brendel pulled the princess to hide beneath a massive rock, the grayish-white stone lying atop the mount, covered in damp moss.
Once he settled the princess, he stood at the cave’s mouth. He looked up to see Earl Ouding crouched behind a rock opposite him, shouting toward him.
“Mounts!”
Brendel suddenly remembered that everyone’s horses were still at the mountain’s foot, feeling overwhelmed. It was obviously unrealistic to rush down the mountain now; he could only hope that Martha had kept the griffins from noticing the steeds up there.
In just a few minutes, the griffins had already screeched in with great speed.
The sound of flapping wings overhead made it clear that those winged creatures were dangerously close. His heart raced, but Brendel didn’t dare to peek outside. He turned back to see Princess Grifian sitting nearby, looking at him. Though she appeared a bit tense, her eyes conveyed calmness.
“Don’t worry,” he mouthed to her.
Princess Grifian nodded gently, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword.
He looked upward again. Earl Ouding’s face was also pale. The two exchanged bitter smiles; he could hardly be in a much better position. While he dared to face Williams, that was with the influence of Chunximan’s deck in hand, but now it was seventeen against thousands of griffins. The numbers looming in the distance were ten times theirs; being overwhelmed was certain.
Fortunately, although griffins were very sensitive to light, their vision was quite mediocre. Moreover, being very cautious, they likely wouldn’t descend through the canopy to investigate.
Knowing this gave Brendel some reassurance.
But at that moment, he felt a strange thrum in his mind, as if his heart skipped a beat, sensing that someone was peering into his secrets.
While the others were fine, Brendel, with his wealth of experience, immediately recognized what this was—magic! Divination magic! He was certain a pair of malicious eyes were scrutinizing them through a crystal ball, and the demon sorcerers draped in blood-red robes from beneath the River of Sulfur were particularly skilled at this.
Beside him, the princess’s face had turned pale, her slender body trembling slightly, as if she had sensed something too. Instinctively apprehensive, Brendel quickly warned her, “Don’t think about anything that worries you! Think about what to eat tonight—annoying carrot stew or oatmeal!”
The half-elf maiden looked at him with confusion in her silver eyes.
“This is demon magic, dark magic; it will influence your mind and see through your thoughts. The more fear and negative emotions you have, the more it can see what you fear the most. That could expose our position!”
“But I don’t hate eating carrot stew,” Princess Grifian replied somewhat pitiably.
“…That’s impossible,” Brendel was taken aback.
But it didn’t matter whether it was possible or not. Just as the two felt slightly more at ease, a distant scream pierced the rain curtain. Someone had been discovered. Brendel’s heart sank, regretting not having everyone hide together earlier; after all, he was the only one with experience in evading divination magic.
“Mister Brendel,” the princess whispered.
Brendel’s grip tightened on the hilt of his Earth Sword. Should he rush out? The griffins were merely silver-tier monsters; every knight he brought was at least silver-tier peak himself, and rushing out might save the other.
But what about the princess? If he attacked, could he lead these people through thousands of griffins and find a way out?
Brendel had no confidence at all.
Then, he felt a cool finger press against the back of his hand. “Mister Brendel, I understand your thoughts. Thank you,” Princess Grifian said softly. “But no matter what, please don’t betray our ideals and pursuits. That is our value for existing.”
She nodded at him.
Brendel felt a slight warmth in his heart.
He suddenly understood why Otales had warned him to be cautious around Princess Grifian; he hadn’t taken it seriously before. Because Princess Grifian had never changed; if she chose to compromise, she wouldn’t have split from the royal faction. In the face of ideals and reality, she had always been that saintly white princess. Brendel had never seen anyone embody wisdom and conviction so fully.
Before this, the players of Erluin had never seen such a thing either.
He determinedly raised his sword and charged out. A griffin immediately swooped down from the sky toward him—its beautiful female head had red eyes flashing with spite, claws outstretched like eight daggers flying at him.
Brendel remained calm, pressed his lips together, stepped back, raised his Earth Sword, and slashed upward, promptly severing the griffin’s claws. The griffin lost its balance with a shriek, plummeting and crashing headfirst into a black pine tree, its brain splattering.
It was then that Brendel finally saw the knight who had been dragged out; the situation wasn’t looking good, as he was being besieged by seven or eight griffins. Without a second thought, Brendel raised his hand and sent a wind burst flying toward that direction; the wind struck through the treetops, solidly hitting two griffins, instantly tearing their wings apart and spilling a rain of blood.
The sudden attack startled the griffins, who began screeching and scattering. The knight finally found a moment to breathe, turning back to give Brendel a grateful look.
“You shouldn’t have come out, my lord,” he said with a smile.
“I don’t want to hide like those northern cowards. You’re with the royal faction, aren’t you?” Brendel inferred the man was likely from Lantonrand.
“Exactly.”
Brendel nodded. “I’ve heard the royal faction never abandons its companions; since that’s the case, everyone, let’s face them head-on. Today we’ll carve a bloody path; these monsters won’t stop us!”
The knights were stirred up, unable to contain their cheers. They all drew their swords and quickly gathered.
Now everyone was exposed in the griffins’ line of sight, who screeched angrily in the sky, but the power of Brendel’s wind burst made these cautious creatures hesitate to attempt another strike.
Brendel then reached out to help Princess Grifian; in his impression, this determined princess would certainly stand on her own. But this time, she placed her hand in his, smiled politely, and took his support to stand beside him.
“Thank you, Mister Brendel,” she said softly.
From her words, Brendel sensed her unwavering trust.
The griffins began their second round of attack, descending upon them like raindrops. Brendel hurriedly led the knights backward; behind them was a dense forest, the canopies of the black pines naturally blocking the griffins’ assault.
However, sooner or later, they would breach the layers of branches and launch an attack. Brendel knew they had to find a way to the foot of the mountain and return to their horses. The griffins excelled in aerial combat, favoring agility, yet were not particularly outstanding in speed or endurance; they needed to shake them off.
At that moment, several griffins had already descended from the treetops. Brendel looked up, seeing those monsters with sharp, keen claws, clinging tightly to the trunks and hopping forward—astonishingly, they were faster than flying, and before long, they hovered directly above them.
This scene was reminiscent of his first encounter with those grotesque creatures near Graywind Harbor’s wetlands. He instinctively shouted, “Shoot them down! Aim for their backs!”
The knights immediately drew their short bows or crossbows, targeting the creatures. The griffins were terrifyingly agile, weaving between the trunks, causing almost all bolts to miss.
However, the knights quickly discovered a trick: they realized that the griffins liked to stretch backward when dodging. With Brendel’s reminder, during the second round of shooting, the knights calculated an advance distance behind the monsters, resulting in over half hitting their mark.
The knights instantly became excited. “My lord, how did you know?”
“Knowledge is power; all answers are hidden in books,” Brendel replied casually.
That sounded like the words of a profound wizard, and the knights showed signs of awe. However, this statement reminded Princess Grifian of the knowledge taught to her by Livwz, ‘Wisdom sharper than blades is hidden in books,’ an ancient proverb of the Crusian people, reportedly upheld by mages.
Her hand was tightly gripped by Brendel’s as they continued to run forward, yet her heart felt calm, thinking that the knight certainly deserved to be a Daniel, with such deep admiration for the knowledge of Highland wizards.
At this moment, Brendel noted that the experience points for the griffins the knights killed would count towards him as well—sixty points of experience. This clearly factored in penalties for team play and level, while those he killed alone only garnered about ninety points experience.
This was just a trickle of experience for him, but it did further confirm his previous speculations about teaming up. It seemed that as long as they were on the same side, they counted as being on the same team; he just didn’t know what the distance limit was.
Their group had already crossed half the forest, with ever more griffins climbing down from the trees around them. Consequently, they couldn’t afford to stop for even a moment; any hesitation would result in encirclement. Two knights had already been dragged out due to a moment’s neglect, and the outcome waiting for them was unimaginable.
As they approached the forest’s edge, an open area lay ahead, at least a hundred meters wide; passing through there would surely unleash the most violent assault from the griffins. In fact, Brendel already spotted a few griffins circling in the sky on the other side.
“What’s the plan, Brendel?” Earl Ouding asked, clearly aware of the dire situation ahead. However, Brendel surveyed his surroundings, momentarily at a loss. He had hardly any usable cards, and the few he had lacked the required elements. He had already summoned the King of Giants’ Cloak once; all he had left was the hidden cloak of Surtur to escape this calamity.
But Surtur’s cloak could only accommodate ten people and lasted less than five minutes.
“Everyone, hold hands and rush together! Be careful not to get dragged away!” Brendel activated his Conflict Aura, and a pale yellow aura spread out from around him. Most of the knights recognized this as the signature skill of a Temple Knight and immediately understood what he intended to do.
It seemed they had no choice but to charge out regardless.
Brendel glanced outside the forest, deciding to cast a Mist of Water or a similar spell. After all, he had Elementalist levels, and the Mist of Water was merely a second-ring spell—it shouldn’t be a challenge. The only issue was that casting it while running in armor had a high chance of failure. After three attempts, he finally managed to cast the spell.
The Mist of Water was essentially about creating a hazy mist, highly effective for preventing precise long-range attacks from enemies. Brendel intended to use this spell to disrupt the griffins’ numerical advantage. However, unexpectedly, the moment he unleashed the spell—
What emerged wasn’t water mist but a pitch-black cloud; it seemed to envelop the entire hillside in an instant, plunging everything into utter darkness.
“What’s going on?” The knights were thrown into a panic, and Brendel was startled too; this was certainly not the Mist of Water. Fortunately, he wasn’t unfamiliar with battling in darkness—having fought against Madara’s necromancers in the game for a long time, he had prepared to face various dark spells—Brendel remained relatively calm, instinctively tightening his grip on Princess Grifian’s hand to ensure the spellcaster wouldn’t target them first, while holding his breath to listen to movements around them.
The sound of rain rang out in the distance, but amidst the downpour were the panicked cries of griffins.
It seemed the incoming entities were not enemies.
At least they weren’t the demon sorcerers.
He relaxed slightly, but at that moment, he felt an ancient voice emanating from his mind, “Come with me, my king. Do not mind the dangers around you; head north, I am waiting for you there.”
Brendel paused slightly. “Who are you? How can I trust you?” he subconsciously asked in his mind.
“Use your heart to sense; darkness has no secrets before you. You should be able to feel that I mean no harm.”
Brendel took a deep breath; he truly didn’t have a foreboding sense of danger. Given the circumstances, the entity clearly intended to help him, but caution was always the better part of valor. After hesitating for a moment, he addressed everyone nearby, “Listen to me; hold hands and follow me.”
He then reached out and grabbed Earl Ouding’s hand. Everyone linked their hands together, though Brendel wasn’t sure which direction north was, he felt a vague sense that one direction was safer, so he instinctively began walking toward that direction step by step.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, the griffins’ screams grew fainter in the darkness.
At that moment, everyone couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. After all, if they could avoid death, no one wanted to die, which is why the knights were filled with unabashed gratitude toward Brendel for leading them out.
“Mister Brendel,” Princess Grifian’s voice came from behind, “Was this your spell?”
“No, I don’t know either,” Brendel replied. In truth, he was far from certain; he had already opened his mental link, attempting to contact Charles on the other end. God knew if this was another trap; he had to be cautious.
“Charles, you damn guy, are you listening…”
…
In the pine forest, the officers had set up a temporary camp to avoid the rain. A wooden wall, built from felled pine trees, held up a waterproof canvas, forming a simple tent. Inside the tent, Makarolo and Overwell were embroiled in a cold war.
It appeared as though the royal faction was about to split from the princess faction once again; yet, those present knew it was merely a divergence due to the upcoming battle plans.
Overwell supported Brendel’s viewpoint, believing it was better to delineate defensive zones from the northern coalition for the time being. However, Makarolo completely mistrusted those northern nobles; in his view, the Northern Coalition could serve as the front-line force to counter the demons while they attacked the demons from the flanks—
The sheepskin map, which had been drawn countless times, lay on the wooden table. Nearby, a roaring bonfire blazed, with Antinna quietly conversing with Count Dierphir, the two showing no interest in the nobles’ battle plans; Dierphir looked down on the royal faction, while Antinna only unconditionally trusted Brendel, naturally looking down on the nobles’ suggestions.
However, the fatigue evident on the noblewoman’s face was undeniable, merely suppressed by the effort of avoiding yawning.
Makarolo and Overwell seemed to be natural adversaries; they held differing opinions on the royal faction’s future and now on how to cooperate with the Northern Coalition. However, thankfully, they still acknowledged the current situation, at least not resorting to blows; otherwise, the kingdom’s cunning foxes and lone wolves might end up fighting once again.
Perhaps the older generation of kingdom officials recalled the last duel with a sense of relief. That had been when the two were young; yet, back then, it was for the sake of a beloved maiden, and this time, it was for ideals and faith.
Just as they were about to speak again, Charles walked in from outside, glancing at everyone in the tent and stating:
“My lord is in trouble.”
Everyone froze.
“Well, actually, it’s like this. The princess and my lord have been discovered by the griffins of Jotungrund and are currently surrounded by the demon army,” Charles had to explain again.
“What did you say!?”
