Chapter 648: Act 10 – The Demon
“Dear sister, how long do you plan to pretend to be asleep?”
The young man tilted his head as he stood by his cousin’s bed, observing her for a while before responding with a smile. His tone was soft and sweet as if honey could flow from it, but the sarcasm in his voice sent chills down the spine.
Dierphir coughed softly, a sickly blush rising on her pale cheeks. Her long, thick eyelashes slowly opened, revealing bright, clear eyes that stared at her brother. Deep within her gaze, weakness was barely concealed, but it burned with a flame of hatred.
“What do you want, Ackle?”
“You heard what I said before, didn’t you? Surely you know what I’m after?” The young man leaned down, focusing on his sister’s eyes. “Hand over the Broken Sword Ring from Yan Fortress, and I will spare you today.”
“What if I say no?” Dierphir’s gaze shifted away in fear.
The young man chuckled coldly, grabbing her chin and turning her face back to him. He gazed greedily at her features, the face of his own sister: “Do you think I wouldn’t dare to touch you, dear sister?”
“You’ve gone mad!” Dierphir trembled, reading the fervent possessiveness in her brother’s eyes. Whether it was fear or anger, her body shook. The girl’s face, already pale, became nearly translucent, like jade.
“What a perfect masterpiece. My old, blind uncle actually produced a daughter like you.”
The young man sneered, one hand slipping down to press against her chest. “I’ll count to three. Tell me where the Broken Sword Ring from Yan Fortress is, or don’t blame me for being rude.”
“One.”
“Two.”
The countess trembled slightly, but she stubbornly shut her eyes. She knew very well that her brother was not the kind of gentleman who would keep his word. If she spoke up now, a tragic fate awaited her.
“If you dare to touch me, Ackle, you will never get that ring for the rest of your life.” Dierphir forced herself to calm down and replied coldly. The Broken Sword Ring was a symbol of the Earl of Yan Fortress, passed down since the time of the Siphai Dynasty. For the Yan Fortress family, this ring was as important as the Lionheart Sword was to Erluin, or the Flame Blade Odrefice was to the Cruz Empire. Without this ring, the Earl of Yan Fortress could never claim legitimacy.
“Wrong answer. Three.” The young man laughed coldly. “My dear sister, you’ve made a mistake. Do you really think this ring is important to me? The position of Earl of Yan Fortress will eventually belong to me, and whether I have those trinkets is of no significance. Compared to that, I’m far more interested in you.”
With that, he yanked open the first copper button on Dierphir’s blouse.
“Ah—!” Dierphir felt a chill across her chest as snow-white skin was revealed. She couldn’t help but let out a scream. “Ackle, you really are mad!”
The countess finally felt fear setting in, struggling violently. But the young man answered her with unsettling excitement: “Yes, I’m mad, dear sister, but this is your doing!”
Saying that, he pressed the weak Dierphir back onto the bed. “I’ll give you one last chance, Dierphir, the ring of the Yan Fortress family.” Ackle shouted angrily.
“I would rather d*e than give it to you, Ackle.” Tears streamed down the countess’s face helplessly.
“Then you can go d*e.”
But just as the young man’s words fell, a cold voice responded, “Yes, I also think certain beasts should go d*e.”
“Who!”
The sudden voice made Ackle turn in terror, but all he saw was the door behind him shattering like paper. A black longsword shot through, and in the next moment, it was right in front of him.
“No,” the handsome young man let out a shrill, desperate scream. “d*mn Anurek, where are you!”
……
Nia recovered consciousness after a brief period of unconsciousness, as if she were slowly awakening from a long dream. She only remembered having a nightmare in which the demon she most dreaded appeared.
A dialogue gradually became clear from her sleep:
“Brendel, after Ampere Seale is done, I want to go with you to Toniger.”
“Your Highness…”
“What’s wrong, not welcome?”
“No, I just find it a bit strange. Why would Your Highness suddenly want to go to such a remote place? To be honest, I would rather stay in Ampere Seale.”
“Because I have a best friend who was secretly taken back to the territory by a certain Lord. She is my best friend, and she was hurt because of me. I must go see her.”
The man’s voice suddenly turned awkward with a cough.
The two voices grew closer, and the Lady Knight realized that it was the princess and the Earl. So, the Earl had already woken up? She thought, and instinctively stood up to go greet them, wondering why she had suddenly fallen asleep.
But when she moved slightly, she realized her hands were tied behind her back. In fact, she was completely bound to a pillar. Nia instantly woke up, and everything that had happened before flooded back into her memory.
“Miss Dierphir!” The Lady Knight couldn’t help but call out softly. She blinked her eyes open and saw Brendel and the princess pushing the door to the hall open with a creak.
She immediately spotted the handmaiden beside them.
Brendel, on the other hand, saw the Lady Knight bound to the pillar at a glance. He remembered this cow-like Lady Knight. The first time he met Dierphir, he had crossed swords with her. He remembered her name was Nia, Dierphir’s personal knight.
“But what’s going on here?” His expression changed immediately.
“What on earth happened?” The princess also turned back to question the handmaiden.
Before they could step outside into the courtyard, they saw the handmaiden standing pale outside, and when they asked her what happened, she stammered and couldn’t answer. Realizing something was wrong, he and Princess Grifian hurried over, bursting through the door without knocking, only to be met with this scene.
Brendel rushed to Nia’s side, untying the ropes binding her and removing the cloth stuffing her mouth. Nia felt the obstruction in her mouth disappear without having a moment to catch her breath before shouting at Brendel, “Mister Brendel, hurry and save Miss Dierphir!”
“Where is she? What happened?” Brendel’s face changed.
After he and the princess left the ‘Lucetia’ weapons and armor shop, they had, on a whim, decided to visit the countess. The princess mentioned that Dierphir’s condition was not good; forcing her to use the demon armlet had drained her life significantly. Although she ultimately survived, her later life would likely have to be spent in a wheelchair.
Brendel intended to comfort this countess, actually anticipating the outcome; the Demon King can’t be controlled by just anyone. Everyone thought they were facing d*ath and recklessly allowed Dierphir to resort to such a method, but to his surprise, the one with the most severe consequences post-battle was this young girl from Yan Fortress.
However, Brendel didn’t see it as an insurmountable problem. At least the legendary Spring of Life in the Black Forest could perfectly resolve this issue. Of course, to others, the Spring of Life was merely a vague legend, but it wasn’t so for him. Brendel believed that if he waited a little longer, entering the Black Forest to seek the Spring of Life was not impossible.
But until then, he felt it was necessary to help Dierphir calm herself.
Yet, to his shock, he encountered this situation as soon as he arrived.
In fact, even before Nia spoke, Brendel had more or less guessed who the enemy was. The only forces that could trouble this countess were the three factions. One was the demon, but the demons wouldn’t retaliate so quickly. Moreover, even if the Lord of Chaos sought revenge, he would first go after him rather than this countess.
Then there was the Temple of Fire, but using demonic magic could be a serious issue, and the Temple of Fire wouldn’t lash out at this juncture to slap themselves in the face. Plus, they wouldn’t resort to such a pathetic tactic as kidnapping a noble; they could shut down the Temple of Fire right after.
So, it must be the power struggles within the Yan Fortress family. In fact, Brendel realized something was wrong with the Yan Fortress even when he first infiltrated the estate and encountered Dierphir. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent a girl like Dierphir to represent the Earl of Yan Fortress in such a place and brought along one of the strongest fighters from the Yan Fortress internally.
But he didn’t expect that the Ampere Seale War had just ended, and those clueless nobles would come looking for trouble. And they were directly attacking Dierphir.
Brendel’s anger flared up like wildfire.
“The lady is on the second floor in her room; someone is intending to do her harm—!”
“Which room is hers?” Nia’s words were cut off as Brendel interrupted, his icy tone causing her to pause slightly, as she didn’t understand why he was so enraged.
To her, Brendel was one of those responsible for Dierphir’s current state. She had no fondness for Brendel, but at this moment, she had to weakly reply, “It’s the third room from the left upstairs, my lord, please hurry and help the lady…”
Before the Lady Knight’s weak words finished, Brendel had already unsheathed the Sword of the Earth with a sharp sound. The dark blade sent a chill through her heart. She could feel the murderous intent radiating from the young lord, and in the next moment, Brendel vanished from her sight.
The Cruzian Flashblade.
Brendel was wielding the Flashblade. He swung it backwards towards a pillar on the second floor balcony, severing it along with himself and the sword, then landed steadily on the balcony.
The door to Dierphir’s room stood before him.
But at that moment, Brendel’s keen hearing caught the last of the dialogue between Ackle and Dierphir. It was almost enough to drive him mad upon hearing it.
Was this still human?
Though he had heard unsavory rumors about noble families in Erluin, as an older brother, how could you inflict such malice upon your own sister? Whether it was his modern soul or the spirit of the naive boy from Buche, Brendel could not accept it.
His heart turned cold; he had only felt such anger when witnessing Grudin’s actions at the Fir Castle. The elements of the space solidified with their owner’s rage, and before he even drew his sword, a wave of white frost exploded outward from him.
Brendel lunged forward with his sword.
The door shattered into pieces, and then he saw that shockingly bewildered face. Though extraordinarily handsome, it was ugly like that of a demon.
……
(PS: Today’s two updates are here! We’ll continue tomorrow! Please vote!) (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)
