Chapter 607: Act 350 – Beneath the Abyss X
“I know, Princess. Listen to me, I’m not jesting with my life. But I have a plan that might work,” Brendel said in a tone unique to players who are eager to try anything. Princess Grifian frowned at him, “Really?”
The half-elf princess’s doubt was endearingly innocent in Brendel’s eyes, revealing a rare girl-like demeanor. He nodded, “Of course, if we can sneak past Jotungrund’s watchful eyes, why not try to dismantle the Flame Gate?”
“But putting aside whether we can destroy the Flame Gate, do you really trust them to help us avoid Jotungrund’s army? Mister Brendel, they are witches, masters of deceiving hearts with words.” The princess made no effort to hide her mistrust, yet this time she stood on Brendel’s side, her bright silver eyes betraying a clear hope—she wanted Brendel to avoid danger.
“Princess of Corvado, I became a witch before your grandfather, Old Oberg, took the throne. The witches know their words will be overheard by the ravens, so they tread carefully. Compared to that, you nobles are sweet-tongued but treacherous,” Babasha chuckled, sounding like an old crow as she responded in her raspy voice.
“Bold dark folk, who allows you to speak the former king’s name so freely!” the princess coldly rebuked, her slender, bright sword trembling slightly in the darkness.
Brendel quickly pressed her hand down, “Babasha.”
“It seems I spoke out of turn, my lord,” the old witch said, looking at Princess Grifian with eyes duller than wooden beads.
“Babasha, the princess is not wrong. You excel at manipulating hearts; while witches never lie, they do leave back doors. I want you to swear by the Goddess of Hell’s Pillars, vow not to betray me. Can you do that?” Brendel pressed one hand against Grifian’s hand and turned to Babasha, coldly asking.
Babasha hunched deeply, a hint of reverence in her voice as she replied, “Indeed, my lord sees all clearly. We are willing to swear by the Goddess of the Pillars of Purgatory, vowing not to betray Duke Toniger’s lord, our master Brendel. If we break this vow, let the blind, limping Diess drag us into the abyss—”
When Princess Grifian saw Babasha place her hand over her heart, she vaguely remembered the witches’ ‘heart-binding’ oath. However, she realized that this oath seemed to terrify Babasha greatly; by the end of her words, the old witch even trembled slightly. She knew very little about witches and found it hard to believe that these cunning women would take an oath so seriously, so she looked at Brendel in confusion.
Her silver eyes seemed to seek an answer.
“Don’t worry, Princess. Now they won’t deceive us,” Brendel said, taking advantage of her distraction to remove her sword and gently returning it to its sheath. He continued, “The Goddess of Pillars, Modest, is their faith; legend has it that Modest was the first witch to steal dark magic from the Sea of Sorcery. She passed this magic to the first generation of prophets among the twelve witch clans, but she was later captured by demons, naked and nailed to a pillar in the Iron Spiked Hell, tormented forever. The blind, limping Diess is her first student, consumed by darkness and turned into a monster. Witches who betray Modest’s oath will be dragged into eternal darkness by Diess, who crawls up from the abyss. This isn’t just a legend; it’s a reality, and for witches, losing their senses to complete darkness is the most terrifying punishment. Since Babasha has made such an oath, she will never deceive us.”
Seeing the princess still puzzled, Brendel added, “This is secret knowledge of the witches, known to very few outsiders.”
“Then how do you know?”
That was a good question. Brendel hadn’t expected the princess to remain so perceptive at this moment. He quickly searched for an excuse, saying, “Because, Princess, you know I’ve read the knowledge of wizards. They are as ancient as witches; although not enemies, they are at least competitors, each aware of some of the other’s secrets.”
Princess Grifian still seemed skeptical. She turned back and asked, “So how confident is she that we won’t be discovered? If it solely relies on the witches’ spells, I believe the commanders of Jotungrund wouldn’t be entirely unprepared. I’ve heard there are more witches underground in Jotungrund. So whether as foes or allies, they can’t be ignorant of the witches’ methods, can they?”
Brendel once again felt the half-elf princess’s calmness. He had considered this question himself; however, in contrast to the princess, who didn’t even understand that the underground only had ‘lords’ but no ‘commanders,’ he had a deep understanding of Jotungrund. Judging based on minimal knowledge placed them at vastly different levels.
He turned to Babasha, hoping for an answer. His plan was still just an idea, but its implementation required more details—no victory in war is achieved blindly, and he was well aware of this.
“Compared to your foolish grandfather, Princess, you are clearly much wiser; the facts match your suspicions,” Babasha mentioned Old Oberg VI again, and the half-elf maiden pursed her lips to suppress her anger. Witches generally looked down upon secular power, and this disdain was one reason they were rejected by society. What puzzled her was why the old witch showed such respect towards Brendel; she was curious about what kind of help he had offered them. She listened as Babasha continued: “However, besides spells, we have some secret knowledge passed down among the witches for generations. Among these secrets is a mention of an ancient hall that has been abandoned since ancient times, hidden in the crevice of the fjords, which can lead to the hills north of Ampere Seale.”
“This is impossible,” she finally couldn’t help but interject. “The former king Eke built Ampere Seale Port almost seven centuries ago. Over the last seven centuries, the Ampere Sealers have explored the area around and below the harbor for signs of the foundation’s looseness beneath the Cathedral of Andeful, and yet there have never been any rumors of ancient ruins.”
“But you have to admit, Princess, that this land was no unclaimed territory long before the Erluin built the port. Besides the Silver Elves, other civilizations had thrived here before; secrets are called secrets because they aren’t widely known,” Babasha remarked with a smile.
“I remember now, are you talking about that ancient leaking passage?” Brendel recalled that there was indeed such an ancient ruin near Ampere Seale, but it was so weathered by time that it only left a passage winding through the underground cliffs. Inside lurked a spider mother of unknown age, a level 57 BOSS.
To be honest, he would rather not provoke that creature if he could help it. A giant spider mother with the power of the side of truth in a narrow passage, along with her countless offspring and ubiquitous webs—just thinking about it sent chills down Brendel’s spine.
The key point was that he had never heard of that ancient passage leading to the hills north of Ampere Seale; he only knew one side of the passage extended deep into Anlek’s mountains.
“My lord, we actually don’t know how the situation is below that hall.” Upon hearing Brendel’s words, Babasha was even more certain of his identity. Everything was as prophesied; the witches’ secrets were to him like an open book, ready to be perused. “But since my lord also knows of this passage, it certainly exists.”
This time, Princess Grifian believed her, because Brendel would never lie to her. She turned back and asked, “Brendel, is what she said true?”
“I have heard of such an ancient passage,” Brendel said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He had almost slipped, nearly revealing too much. He cursed Babasha and the old witches for using this so-called “witch secret” against him. “But can this passage really lead to the hills north of Ampere Seale? …Well, the wizard’s writings did not mention this.” He felt that if this continued, the previous forum materials might completely turn into the wizards’ library.
“This is a secret passed down through generations, it can’t be wrong. This passage connects one side to the mountains and the other to the hills to the north.”
“Then it should be correct; it aligns with what I know.” Brendel quickly confirmed that there might be a secret passage beneath that ancient passage. At this point, he became quite curious—given how close it was to Ampere Seale, many players had explored this ancient passage over the years, and yet no one had discovered this other secret passage.
One must understand that there should be no unexplained secret passages in a game; there had to be corresponding benefits. With this thought in mind, Brendel felt a blazing fire of anticipation igniting within him; there were too few undiscovered secrets in the land of Order in Amber Sword.
He was surprised to encounter one today.
He lifted his head and said, “Babasha, if I’m not mistaken, that underground passage’s entrance should be some distance from here, right?”
“Yes, my lord,” Babasha replied respectfully. “That entrance should be east of the foot of the mountain mansion at Langding.”
“Who has a map?”
“I do,” Earl Ouding immediately pulled a wooden tube from his waist, uncapped it, and took out a waterproof parchment map. The accompanying knights promptly spread it out; the parchment map was about half a person’s size, displaying the entire area around Ampere Seale.
Such high-precision maps were rare in this era, even in the army, they were considered top-secret and could fetch a hefty price on the black market. Players back then definitely didn’t possess such quality items, and Brendel didn’t expect Ouding to carry something so valuable. He couldn’t help but compliment, “I didn’t expect Earl Ouding to carry such good items; quite thorough preparation.”
Earl Ouding glanced somewhat awkwardly at Princess Grifian, “It was Princess who asked this old minister to bring it.”
Brendel immediately glanced at the half-elf maiden; unfortunately, there wasn’t much expression on the princess’s face, and she was even slightly frowning. He sighed and looked at the map. On the map, there was a place called Silver Tip Hill east of Langding’s mountain mansion; if he remembered correctly, the secret entrance to the ancient passage should be near there.
However, there was still a question.
“If I’m not mistaken, that secret entrance to the ancient passage should be sealed by ancient magic, right? Can you find a way to open that seal?” Brendel looked up at Babasha.
“Of course, the one who sealed that ancient passage was indeed witches, my lord,” Babasha answered, a bit smugly. She had the right to be proud; witches had a long tradition in Vaunte, having once followed the Dark Dragon and possessing vast, unknown dark secrets and histories. “Opening that secret door requires a ritual, allowing only twenty people to pass at a time. However, once through, whether heading north to the hills of Ampere Seale or south into Anlek’s mountains will be up to my lord’s decision.”
“So it means we must enter that ancient passage, no matter what?” Princess Grifian asked.
“Pretty much, unless we’re willing to fight our way out, but that might be a forlorn hope,” Brendel replied. However, Princess Grifian still furrowed her brow, “But they also don’t know exactly what dangers lie below that ancient passage; it’s uncertain what awaits us.”
“Regardless, it’s better than sitting still,” Brendel said stubbornly, “Besides, I know what lies below with at least an eighty percent certainty. Please trust me, Your Highness.”
Princess Grifian looked at him, finally nodding, “Alright, I believe you.”
“And one more thing.” At that moment, Earl Ouding suddenly spoke up. Under everyone’s gaze, he stepped forward and pointed to a spot on the parchment map—shortly, the map became soaked with water as he said, “There’s still some distance from here to that place. Just now, we saw at least more than one Jotungrund army entering the forest from the mountaintop. If we go this way, will we run into them head-on?”
Brendel looked at the map, deeply furrowing his brow. He knew Earl Ouding spoke the truth; they had seen the glow of embers near the Ampere Seale harbor from the mountaintop, likely the light of lava and torches. Continuing north like this would surely increase their chances of encountering trouble, not to mention the countless harpies overhead.
He pressed his lips tightly together, frowning as he exchanged glances with Princess Grifian. Both saw the same message reflected in each other’s eyes:
“We need to request reinforcements—”
……(To be continued. If you like this work, please go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
