Chapter 624: Act 367 – Requiem XVII
As soon as the horned demon fell, the unleashed lesser demons immediately scattered in front of the flaming sword master Nicolas. This was not unexpected for Brendel; the demons from the Sulfur River underground were never a qualified army. They were chaotic, selfish, bloodthirsty, and brutal, often preferring to slaughter unarmed civilians rather than fight for the common good—especially the lesser demons.
At this moment, the knights of Lantonrand finally broke through to form a bloody path to join Brendel. The knights suffered heavy casualties, with almost everyone injured, reducing their numbers by more than half. Yet, they did not collapse, as Brendel’s seemingly divine offensive injected a powerful confidence into everyone.
However, casualties had been anticipated. What truly invigorated them was the flame door that turned into countless sparkling embers scattering in the rain—no one dared believe they had actually accomplished it.
In fact, it was Brendel who had achieved this.
Nicolas stepped forward and lifted Brendel from the ground. At this moment, Brendel’s injuries had almost healed—thanks to the holy water—but the holy water could not alleviate the weakness from blood loss. He supported Antinna and glanced at everyone, seeing trust etched on their faces.
“Master Gherlok, teleport us to the vicinity of the teleportation portal near the seaside,” Brendel said.
Mage Gherlok looked at him; not everyone had such unwavering resolve in critical situations. He had seen many noble heirs who bragged about their exploits but froze in fear on the battlefield—their previous fights were far less chaotic than today’s scene.
He nodded, picked up his staff, and began to chant the spell. The laws of space and time held the highest authority among all forces, second only to existence itself. Even a grand sorcerer like him, who stood on the side of truth, could not easily connect with the highest-level laws.
In fact, teleportation spells began from the ninth ring—elementalists called it the Four Realms Bridge, while law sorcerers referred to it as a bending teleport. However, this was a clever trick. Elementalists reached specific regions through four corresponding elemental planes, while law sorcerers projected themselves into the sea of magical power and returned to the primary material plane to teleport.
However, both methods were incomplete. The former could only reach specific locations, while the latter had no fixed teleportation points, purely random, and often utilized for escape.
True spatial spells existed only above the tenth ring and within the realm of law magic. Law sorcerers required the highest authority from the Codex of Order to open a spatial gate, a process that exacted a heavy toll, meaning high magical and physical exhaustion for the sorcerer.
Additionally, spells above the tenth ring shared a characteristic—they not only consumed magic power but also burned the magic pool’s upper limit. The burned upper limit of the magic pool could only recover slowly through limited means, typically the passage of time. Thus, one rarely saw a high-level sorcerer repeatedly cast spells above the tenth ring using magic potions.
This was a form of punishment from high-level laws towards mortals requesting powers beyond their grasp.
But this was only true for mortals. As far as Brendel knew, the People of Silver could ignore penalties from spells below the thirteenth ring, just as Bud’s sorcerers could use thirteenth ring spells like mortals casting spells below the tenth ring, while the People of Gold faced no such limitations.
Thus, the Flaming King’s Flash Sword could only be passed down among golden folk like dragons and could never be created by any other black iron or People of Silver.
Aside from these romantic fantasies and legends, there was a famous rumor concerning the Amber Sword. It suggested that the People of Gold had perished due to the excessive use of spells. Therefore, some believed that the punishment of the highest law was, in fact, a protective measure for the black iron folk.
Of course, Brendel had no way to determine the truth.
But he understood that once Gherlok finished casting this spell, he would effectively become useless. Without this powerful sorcerer’s assistance, their situation could become even more precarious. This was why he insisted on preserving the old wizard’s ability until it was time to destroy the second teleportation portal.
Destroying two portals felt vastly different from just one; if only one remained, there might still be a glimmer of hope, but with two, only despair would linger.
As Gherlok pronounced each spell powerfully, the knights surrounded him. In the distance, the scattering lesser demons were being driven back by the approaching brutish demons. Each of the three teleportation portals was guarded by a large number of demons. Particularly near Ampere Seale port, many brutish demons were flapping their wings into the sky, and Brendel understood that many high-ranking demons were surely commanding them.
Once the first teleportation portal was destroyed, the demons took a moment to process this blow. They likely never anticipated that a handful of humans could defeat their kind; not even the knights of Lantonrand had considered it.
However, the demons reacted swiftly.
Countless hellhounds and brutish demons surged from the south, with roughly two thousand meters separating each of the three portals. The plains between them allowed all to clearly see the chaos unfolding.
This was much stronger than the previous motley group of lesser demons. The key difference was that both hellhounds and brutish demons, in terms of individual strength, far exceeded the knights and witches of Lantonrand, not to mention their sheer numbers were thousands of times greater.
It was like the scene of an apocalypse.
“We will teleport approximately twenty to thirty meters to the left of the portal, but we cannot get any closer; I fear it may trigger an abnormal response from the portal!” Gherlok suddenly shouted as a circle of white light expanded from his staff.
Brendel immediately felt the tremors in space.
This was the true feeling of the supreme law descending; he had experienced such oppressive sensations many times before. It was entirely different from ordinary portals or the way his Flash Sword operated. This feeling was akin to Martha herself arriving and personally opening a grand door for them.
“The power of the teleportation will crush the demons in that location. But don’t expect too much; they are not fools!” Gherlok continued to remind them, “Be wary of sudden enemies appearing around you.”
The knights, experiencing such a scene for the first time, felt a chill run down their spines. But before they could react, the scenery around them began to twist, and in the next moment, the massive golden-red teleportation portal appeared before them.
The immense visual impact left everyone momentarily speechless.
But they quickly paid the price for their astonishment, as the edges of the portal were almost entirely occupied by high-ranking horned demons and demon sorcerers. They had long noticed the spatial disturbance on the other side of the battlefield. However, at such a distance, the demon sorcerers could not cast a dimensional anchor to lock onto the battlefield. But as soon as the knights of Lantonrand appeared, the prepared demons immediately launched their attack.
Compared to humans, these demons were much more familiar with spatial magic. Only one horned demon collided with the shaking spatial laws and was instantly crushed. However, the remaining horned demons successfully crossed the magical array and grabbed a knight, dragging him out.
In a split second, three knights and one witch were dragged out and killed. If it hadn’t been for Nicolas and the old white lion knight Reld’s quick reactions, the casualties would have been even higher.
The knights were now alarmed and enraged, but it was not their fault; after all, Brendel hadn’t been able to guide them through a practice run. Reacting, the knights quickly discovered they were already surrounded, with all kinds of demons rushing at them from all directions, the majority of which were hellhounds and horned demons, alongside others that even Brendel couldn’t name.
However, the truly threatening ones were just the horned demons and demon sorcerers.
Fortunately, this time was slightly different from the previous situation. At the very least, it was no longer Brendel fighting alone. With the flaming swordsman, the old knight Reld of the White Lion Legion, and a knight from the Temple of Fire working together to tackle the horned demons, Brendel focused on attacking the demon sorcerers.
Although he was still somewhat weakened, he was the only sorcerer present capable of dealing with those demons. With no choice, Brendel entrusted Antinna’s protection to the princess and charged into the rear lines of the demon army.
Two horned demons attempted to block him, but Brendel didn’t even glance at them, delivering a swift Flash Sword that sliced past the two. “Cover me!” he shouted, and Nicolas and Reld, realizing the moment, quickly executed their respective attacks from either side.
Reld’s strength was on par with the horned demons, but Nicolas far surpassed. The horned demon had no chance to retaliate against him, quickly falling before their blades. The swordsman then turned to help the old white lion commander deal with the remaining horned demon, easily dispatching the high-level beast in an instant.
“Nicolas, I never imagined I would need your help one day; I must be getting old,” Reld exclaimed with a sigh as the area around them was quickly cleared of brutish demons.
Nicolas glanced at him, saying, “That may be, but this fight reminds me of the past.”
The old knight was momentarily taken aback, realizing he referred to the holy wars of years gone by. He couldn’t help but look a little melancholic. “Indeed, if it were possible, who would wish to harm each other?”
They exchanged glances and shook their heads. They understood that although the princess held power now, the northern nobles were unlikely to compromise. For the moment, they stood united only because of the demons.
To put it bluntly, the princess’s strength was still too weak; otherwise, Reld would not have chosen the Siphai family in the first place. He received favors from the Corvado family but only wanted the kingdom to suffer less from the ravages of war. For that, he was even willing to bear the shame of gaining a bad reputation, but the old man never dreamed that the situation he had worked so hard to maintain would devolve to the current plight.
He faintly felt that perhaps he was wrong from the beginning, but he didn’t understand where he had gone wrong. In fact, Brendel was not mistaken; Reld’s participation in this action was merely to validate certain ideas in his heart.
But these were not things Brendel needed to consider. In fact, simply surviving was already a luxury.
He plunged into the demon sorcerers’ ranks, and those demons were using spells to support their kind, quickly fell silent. These creatures relied on instinct to cast magic, not actual mastery of magical knowledge. As Brendel tore into their midst, they instantly faltered. Relying on their immunity to fire magic, they began to randomly hurl fireballs, but aside from killing numerous lesser demons, nothing touched Brendel’s skin.
Brendel understood these creatures’ habits well. He charged into the chaos and then quickly retreated. To the onlookers, this maneuver seemed bizarrely incredible, but the demon sorcerer’s following actions soon proved his wisdom. He waited until these monstrous beings had exhausted their fireballs and then made a swift return to start his own slaughter, causing chaos among the demon sorcerers.
These were lessons paid for in blood by players years ago, but now it was Brendel who reaped the benefits while the demons bore the brunt of the misfortune. They likely never dreamed that a human would be so familiar with their combat styles—in fact, these chaotic beings likely didn’t know what they would do next themselves.
Yet Brendel did know.
This was the gap.
Gherlok’s teleportation spell quickly achieved great success. Although the horned demons organized a counterattack, under the assault of a truth-aligned swordsman and two similarly advanced elemental masters, this counterattack appeared feeble; aside from killing a few knights, it accomplished little. The humans quickly approached the teleportation portal, and Antinna again showcased extraordinary talent, finding all the nodes in less than a minute.
Such an ability impressed everyone regarding this noble lady. Understandably, while Wood explained the characteristics of the Flame Door, the points connecting it to the spatial laws were not fixed. Identifying these connections required not just magical knowledge but also a sensitivity to the flow of magical power.
Indeed, sensitivity to magical flow was the most crucial talent for a sorcerer. From this perspective, Brendel realized that this aide of his possessed an unexpectedly extraordinary magical talent.
However, it made sense; those talented in magical instruments typically also had some magical aptitude. As a genius in this field, having exceptional talent in magic was quite reasonable.
Quickly, Brendel’s thoughts were validated. Gherlok immediately recognized Antinna’s talent. In fact, he praised her extensively. When searching for the third node, the old sorcerer merely provided brief guidance, and Antinna quickly pinpointed the location by sheer intuitive feeling.
According to Gherlok, such an ability could be described as genius.
Brendel noticed the old man seemed inclined to take her on as a disciple. That would be a good thing, provided they could survive to return.
Finally, the second teleportation portal collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Everyone couldn’t help but cheer, but only Brendel truly felt an increase in pressure. He had exhausted nearly all his means, but there was still one more portal left.
Two thousand meters away.
Countless demons surged forth.
Brendel looked at the distance that wasn’t particularly far but also not very close, and for the first time, the concept of a chasm crossed his mind. To be honest, if asked how he could destroy the last teleportation portal now,
Brendel would probably only answer this way:
With willpower!
Or perhaps, wait for a miracle.
……(To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to recommend, vote, or support it; your support is my greatest motivation.)
