614. Chapter 614: Act 357 – Requiem VII
Although he was curious about why the cave dwellers appeared in this underground ruin, Brendel calmly buried this curiosity. He quietly glanced in the direction the cave dwellers had left, unable to avoid maliciously speculating whether they would be torn to shreds by the vengeful Mother Spider, but left it at that. Then he calmed his slightly frayed nerves and signaled the others to continue moving forward.
Considering that they might encounter more enemies, no one spoke. Instead, they lowered their footsteps, and the sound of shuffling echoed eerily in the dark underground, creating a somewhat serene tranquility around them. But this was merely a surface calm; everyone understood the lurking dangers beneath this apparent quiet. Although the knights were not familiar with creatures from the dark underground, they had at least heard of their notoriously sharp hearing.
No one wanted to stir up trouble at this moment—
The cracks in the rock walls began to narrow, but gradually, segments of artificial tunnels appeared intermittently. Ancient ruins frequently emerged during this journey, giving the impression that these broken walls were mixed with the natural rocky walls. The subsidence caused by earthquakes often led to such results, but in a world of magic, powerful magical forces could also create similar scenes—Brendel carefully observed the silent scenery bathed in darkness; he didn’t need to guess, as past players had already discussed it.
In fact, such players who were intoxicated by exploring the history and background of the game existed everywhere. They tirelessly dug into the underlying aspects beneath the cold rules of the game, searching for the details sparked by the planners’ inspirations.
Indeed, they had many achievements. “Amber Sword” was undoubtedly an excellent game; it had countless histories and details, so intricate and vast that it was hard to believe it was merely a game. Those histories tightly followed the rules of history, suddenly achieving perfect coherence, and players rarely found loopholes, like a real world.
Brendel himself had read many such documents, but he was neither a so-called storyline enthusiast nor a lore lover. He simply felt that understanding some tasks and backgrounds related to ancient times in the game was beneficial for achieving his game objectives.
He considered himself a centrist, but perhaps because of that, he had never been among the top-tier players, even though he devoted much more time than others.
However, since he had traveled to this world, his experiences and knowledge—whether regarding gameplay or lore—provided him with an astonishing advantage. He led the team through the fragmented tunnels for more than ten minutes, until Babasha stopped at one location.
Brendel felt they had entered a smaller hall, completely constructed from cyan granite. This feature was very distinctive in the game, which was why he managed to recall the name from his fuzzy memory—Room of Contemplation.
The reason it was fuzzy was that, in the game, this place was not prominently featured within this dungeon. It was originally supposed to be a side hall within the underground ruins, a place for its residents to pray. In fact, there was a wall fountain on one side of the granite hall, which had a statue, but unfortunately, it had already collapsed and could no longer be identified.
Brendel instinctively looked in that direction and indeed saw the fountain from his memory; however, it had long run dry, leaving only tiered basins. This place in “Amber Sword” should have served as a temporary resting spot for players, as large dungeons in the game were generally not exceedingly vast. Players might linger in dungeons for days or even longer, so designers had to create places where they could log off and rest.
The ruins of Ampere Seale were divided into two parts: the upper level being the ancient temple and the lower level being the lair of the Mother Spider. This dungeon was not the largest Brendel had encountered, so it only had two resting places—one towards the north, leading deeper into the Anlek Mountains, and the other was this one.
Thus, Brendel could barely remember the name of this resting place. If it had been a late-game dungeon with large or super-large ruins, having dozens or hundreds of resting spaces, it would have been odd if he remembered such a mundane resting spot’s name.
However, this hall had already been thoroughly explored by prior adventurers, and every inch of its ground was imprinted with players’ footprints. Witches, Black Tower Sorcerers, Star Mages, and even Dwarven Runesmiths had repeatedly experimented here, and no secrets could remain.
Therefore, Brendel couldn’t help but curiously look at the old witch Babasha, wondering what she could conjure up. A secret that had not yet been discovered by players in an ordered space—just the title of it in his previous world would already be explosive news—
Then he saw Babasha walk towards the fountain, unable to suppress a frown. As the only prominent decorative feature of this Room of Contemplation, it had naturally received the most attention from players. Players had even dismantled the fountain and breached the wall behind it, but gained nothing.
“Is there something here?” Driven by curiosity, he couldn’t help but ask. “But there shouldn’t be any mechanisms; it’s just a regular wall, right?”
“Your insight is sharp, my lord,” if Brendel wasn’t clear on Babasha’s meaning, he might have thought this was a nauseating flattery. However, many Lantonrand knights couldn’t help but show displeasure, and even Princess Grifian frowned, although half of her frown came from confusion.
Babasha spoke while already reaching the fountain. She respectfully explained, “My lord, you are indeed very perceptive. There are indeed no mechanisms behind this wall, nor are there any hidden passages. However, for us witches, this pool itself records certain things.”
“Oh?”
“You must be quite aware, before the statue atop the pool was destroyed, it was the holy image of the Dark Dragon Odin. This place is of great significance to us witches, but not every witch has the ability to unlock the secrets here,” Babasha replied mysteriously.
Upon hearing this old hag mention the Dark Dragon, Brendel frowned. However, there had already been discussions on the forum suggesting that this statue might date back to before the Saint’s War. Although there was little history before that, it wouldn’t be surprising for the Dark Dragon to once rule the land and have a statue here.
He nodded and felt Babasha’s remark about “not every witch having the ability to unveil the secrets here” drew his attention to the disheartened JarSugar—the young witch had been in a limp state since casting her spell, as if she didn’t even have the strength to move a finger. It was said her condition would last for some time, and she could only cast a spirit summoning spell like the earlier one once a day—however, Brendel’s gaze was drawn to her due to lingering suspicion.
He had long suspected that JarSugar was the purest descendant of the Witchblood lineage.
Everyone knew that among the twelve covens of witches, each had only one purest descendant. For example, the legacy of the witch queen currently resided in Romaine, and he had previously suspected that Romaine’s aunt Jennie was the inheritor of the Eternal Witch lineage.
Seeing his gaze, Babasha’s respect deepened. “No wonder you are the Dark Dragon’s lord,” Brendel thought in his heart, and the old witch smiled with satisfaction. “Indeed, this place requires JarSugar’s assistance.”
Brendel internally affirmed but asked, “Is she going to be alright?”
“What are you all talking about?” Princess Grifian, unable to resist the urge, asked as they continued their enigmatic conversation. Her tone was slightly dissatisfied; it was evident that the princess did not enjoy being sidelined by Brendel. She reminded herself that she was Erluin’s eldest princess and should exercise more proactive authority.
However, in reality, the half-elf maiden could hardly admit to merely wishing that Brendel would not treat her as an outsider. She vaguely sensed that Brendel differed from other nobility; the people gathered around him had formed a power distinctly different from the kingdom’s ancient nobles, a power slightly similar to her carefully cultivated officer cadets from the Royal Knight Academy, yet not entirely the same.
The young men of the Royal Knight Academy inherited her confusion, and it seemed they could only navigate step by step within an invisible vast net, feeling that despair. Yet, seeing the confidence surrounding figures like Kargris and Antinna gave the impression they already had a definite goal.
Regardless, this was sufficient for the princess to notice the distinctions between the power around Brendel and those from traditional noble families. It seemed to be what she had always yearned for; given all that had emerged, she had subconsciously begun to reject the traditional power dynamics of the kingdom—nobles like Makarolo, Livwz, or Duke Anlek—hoping instead to associate herself with Brendel, even if not as a princess.
She had this impulse, but Grifian would absolutely never admit it. She felt a contradiction, a contradiction that even embarrassed her to voice.
Thus, the princess maintained a cold demeanor, locking the secrets within her heart, revealing not a word. She looked at Brendel and Babasha with silver eyes, as if seeking an explanation she desired.
Brendel’s heart stirred slightly as he looked at the old witch. Babasha simply smiled indifferently and said, “It’s quite simple, Your Highness. This pool is actually a teleportation array.”
“A teleportation array? That’s impossible!” Brendel replied immediately. He had a thousand reasons to believe this was nonsense, as players had long debated this point but yielded nothing. He had an almost blind faith in the information leading from the future to this world, convinced those guys would never make mistakes on such naïve issues.
“Lord is correct; it cannot possibly be a teleportation array. But in fact, it has left some kind of information that can instantly grant us a teleportation array,” Babasha answered calmly, even seeming somewhat admiring.
Brendel paused slightly, and his eyes brightened. “You mean this fountain is actually the blueprint for a teleportation array?” he immediately asked.
“Exactly.”
“This teleportation array won’t require the witches to use special means to draw it, right? Wait, that’s not enough; blood refinement, I understand now!” Brendel suddenly realized, enlightenment dawning on him: “Only JarSugar’s blood can draw this teleportation array, right?”
“Precisely as you surmised.” Babasha looked pleased. However, Brendel had already grown weary of her and shouted internally, ‘Damn,’ these guys were incredible. The designers of “Amber Sword” were truly a bunch of scoundrels; he felt uncertain whether to laugh or cry. This was evidently a series of tasks, and to unlock the third part of the Ampere Seale underground ruins, obtaining the witches’ reputation was clearly necessary.
But the problem was, the game had Crusian people, wind elves, and Erluin people, yet no Minren. Even originally dark dragon followers like Madara had friction with the witches; the only place where witches held a good reputation was probably beneath Jotungrund, yet unfortunately, there were no player factions down there.
In other words, to unlock the witches’ reputation, one had to risk opposing the “government.” While this was slightly better than joining a cult like Everything Returns Society, it was fundamentally still regarded as unsavory.
There had been players choosing such a path, but how many had truly succeeded? How many had encountered the life-and-death witch afterwards?
Very few had entered this dungeon during their previous life, which was merely an early dungeon within Erluin’s territory. Subsequently, it had been occupied by Madara, bearing in mind that Madara and the witches had once been allies but had later become deadly enemies due to the Dark Dragon.
Madara’s territory had hardly any renowned witches existing, which explained a lot.
Thus, nobody had discovered the secret here in the previous game life. Everything seemed to fall into place, but Brendel believed the designers were genuinely perverted. The purpose of game design was to have players unravel riddles, yet to him, the riddles within this ancient ruin were evidently unsolvable.
If it weren’t for his crossing over.
However, this previously unsolvable problem finally had an answer. Drawing a teleportation array didn’t require much blood, nor did it necessitate offering JarSugar’s life in sacrifice—if a kingdom needed to kill a little girl to save itself, Brendel would prefer to take an alternate route, even if it ended up in inevitable failure.
And he believed the princess would support him in this.
In fact, the meaning conveyed through her eyes was also this. However, she displayed greater curiosity about whether this teleportation array could be used elsewhere. This notion greatly piqued Brendel’s interest; indeed, a temporarily crafted and presumably effective teleportation array, even if it could only transport a dozen people, was far more practical than the so-called Flame Gate of the Temple of Fire.
After all, it was cheaper and easier to construct. The fire gate seemed like it could be built in mere moments by the Temple, but it was the combined effort of more than twenty elemental tier experts, not to mention the astronomical sums of money spent.
Were it not for the Holy War, Brendel estimated that even if they burned the temple down, they would be unwilling to invest in the Flame Gate just for a petty internal conflict in Erluin.
There was nothing to feel embarrassed about; regardless of its geographical importance, Erluin remained insignificant in the grand scheme. The only difference was how much cost would be incurred to appease its nobility—nothing more.
However, both were disappointed to find that Babasha indicated this teleportation array was a directional teleportation array with fixed coordinates. In the past, its designers might have had the capability to create similar teleportation arrays that could teleport to other locations, but that did not imply they still could.
The technologies of the residents of these ruins had long been lost to history; all the witches inherited were just a fraction.
Such results were expected, and Brendel wasn’t too regretful. He reassured Princess Grifian, merely silently committing the teleportation array to memory. The array was also a magical array and an alchemical creation; perhaps a future alchemist under his command could improve upon it.
Let’s not forget he had the future’s potential most famous alchemist Tamar in his ranks, and according to Tamar, Antinna also possessed a talent that was not inferior but rather exceeded his—though in the field of magical machinery design and manufacturing. With the presence of these two powerful factions, Brendel felt anything was possible.
He silently noted the magical array as Babasha had already drawn a large magical circle on the ground with JarSugar. Although the magical array required JarSugar’s blood, it was not entirely drawn with blood; otherwise, the little girl witch might bleed out before finishing it.
Witches did not allow outsiders to observe their process of creating magical arrays—though Brendel was an exception. However, Brendel subtly sensed the princess’s thoughts and was not keen to watch a few old women drawing maps. He knew how things worked; though he might not surpass Babasha in alchemy, regarding blood refinement techniques, he estimated no one present could surpass him—a player.
Let’s not forget that Tamar’s blood refinement technique was still imparted by him.
Once the magical array was completed, everyone stood within it. The witches then positioned themselves as planned and began chanting; what they sang was nearly identical to what had been heard in the forest. It seemed to be a segment of specific ancient runes belonging to this place, akin to the password for opening a door, and also part of the witch heritage.
As the chanting began, Brendel felt the surrounding scenery becoming blurry. He felt Princess Grifian gently grasp his sleeve, then immediately let go. His vision blurred, and he found himself transported to an entirely unfamiliar place.
He looked up.
At that moment, he held his breath.
He suddenly recalled a very important thing; before arriving here, he had not asked: “Babasha, have you been here before?”
This dry phrase nearly squeezed out from Brendel’s teeth.
Everyone—including the witches—stared wide-eyed upwards.
They all gazed in astonishment at the grand hall above them. “No… my lord,” Babasha swallowed hard; perhaps this was the only time she had revealed an expression other than that dry smile since entering this underground ruin.
It was a massive hall.
In the center of the hall, above the dome.
A spear radiating lightning in all directions was suspended in mid-air. The spear’s blade was adorned with patterns of falling stars, and the shaft bore the curved writing of the Minren, inscribed with the most famous maxim from the epic of Cruz:
“‘The spear pierces the heavens, and the stars fall to the earth—’”
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
