Chapter 697: Act 57 – Element of Enlightenment II
Creak, creak.
Brendel and Nemeses slowly walked through the Crystal Forest, the frozen branches turning into flying snowflakes under their boots. The two looked up to examine the bizarre forest, where the snow-white world seemed to transform into a palace of ice. Darkness seeped between the trees, swallowing sound, leaving only dead silence.
“It feels a bit strange,” Brendel said, staring at the desolate forest, his breath forming white mist that quickly dissipated in the air.
“I can’t sense any trace of life; it’s a dead forest, frozen to death?” Nemeses placed one hand on her sword, ever vigilant as she watched her surroundings.
“This is the legendary Fog Tree, a fantasy forest coexisting with the Crystal Stag. How could it be dead?” Brendel raised his hands, exhaled into them, and rubbed them together. “This task isn’t going to be that simple; we should be cautious.”
Nemeses maintained a cold expression and unsheathed her sword with a ‘clang’—but Brendel turned around and pressed her hand down. “Don’t be too quick to show hostility; in a place like this, be careful of provoking dark powers—”
But the Lady Knight gently brushed aside his hand and slowly drew her sword, replying, “Don’t worry, I can sense the flow of dark power.”
Brendel watched her draw her long sword.
“You can sense the flow of dark power?”
Nemeses remained expressionless. “Everyone has some special abilities. The magical power appears tangible in my eyes; it pervades this world, bound by invisible forces.”
“That’s the law,” Brendel inhaled lightly. “Moonchild, your talent is better than Senior Baijia’s; it’s a pity you don’t choose the path of a wizard. The Dragon Magic that shapes magical power is tailor-made for you—”
The Lady Knight snapped the blade back, pointing the chilly sword tip at his neck. “I’ve said it before, I am me, and she is she. I don’t want to discuss this with you again; I hope you can learn to respect others a little.”
With that, she slowly retracted her sword. A soft hum echoed, the blade vibrating slightly as if an invisible current surrounded it.
Brendel was slightly taken aback at this scene. The aura surrounding the sword was clearly the flow of dark power—Dark Swordsman—he couldn’t help but glance deeply at Nemeses.
“Sorry—” he replied.
But Nemeses turned around and had already stepped forward.
Brendel watched as the Lady Knight’s straight silhouette in the snow concealed her unique stubbornness and pride.
After thinking for a moment, he quickly followed. He didn’t expect that Nemeses possessed the ability to see the flow of dark power, the Moonchild, whose wizarding bloodline talent was second only to the Blue Calamity. No wonder she was confident she could find the Crystal Stag.
To her, the flow of dark power was tangible; the magical rivers in the forest seemed as real as actual rivers.
As they walked slowly through the forest, passing the silent paths—a strange sensation enveloped Brendel. Despite possessing the dark perception attribute due to his association with fireflies, he couldn’t shake the feeling the magic in this forest fluctuated erratically.
Finally, he asked, “Do you feel the magic flowing in that direction?”
“I don’t know,” Nemeses answered simply.
“What?”
Brendel initially thought the Lady Knight was joking, but upon turning his head, he saw her face was serious. “The magic in this forest seems to have completely faded, but it’s not a dead silence; it feels like it once flowed through these withered paths—”
The Lady Knight pointed at the paths in the forest. “But now, only dry traces remain.”
“What? Are you saying the magic in this forest is dwindling—or has already dwindled?” Brendel looked at her in disbelief.
Vaunte was a world of magic where everything, from grass to trees, was not composed of atoms or smaller substances. Under Martha’s Tiamat law, its foundation was built on the four elements
Fire, Water, Wind, Earth. As for Light and Darkness, they are not elements but merely manifestations of energy.
The four elemental kings, according to their pact with Martha, continuously constructed the borders of Vaunte at the world’s edges, and the entire world was built on this foundation.
However, beneath the elements, the world of Vaunte also harbors a primal force—dark magic. Whether elements or laws, they are just the bricks and blueprints of this world.
But the real foundation of the world is magic.
Without magic, this world would not exist, or rather, it would be a dead silence. Just like this forest, it would wither and become nothing but dust.
Yet this hypothesis is, in fact, nonexistent, for the entire world floats on a sea of magic, and magical energy fills every corner of the world, leaving no possibility for natural black holes.
Unless there is some artificial cause.
Brendel thought of this and suddenly realized: “Wait a minute, are you implying there’s something at the center of the forest?” He squinted and grabbed the sheath of the Sword of the Earth, pulling the dark blade from within.
But just then, a pile of ice shards unexpectedly fell from the branches above them.
Brendel startled slightly, instinctively looking up. He saw a fairy standing there, about two or three inches tall, with two pairs of ice crystal wings, looking at them with the same vigilant expression.
“Who are you? Stop right there!” The fairy girl shouted at them with righteous indignation.
“Who are you?” Brendel was taken aback, surprised to find a fairy in the forest, which did not match the strategy guide: “Don’t you go out to steal honey?”
“I…” The fairy girl clearly showed signs of wavering but quickly wiped her mouth and replied, “I’m different from those fools; I am the guardian of the forbidden area. Protecting it is my duty to Lord Malorcha… I—I will never waver for a little benefit!”
“How interesting.” Brendel couldn’t help but become quite intrigued; he had never seen such a special fairy. “So you mean you won’t let us in?”
“Of course not.”
The fairy girl jumped down from the tree, floating a short distance in front of the two, patting her small chest and answering earnestly, “Listen well, unless you step over my corpse, I will never let you pass.”
“Everyone must be responsible for their words,” before Brendel could speak, Nemeses had already raised her long sword with a ‘click’, stepping back and lowering her center of gravity, assuming a stance for military swordsmanship. “In that case, let’s speak with blades—”
“Wait.”
Brendel didn’t want to start fighting right away. The discrepancy with the strategy suggested that this task might hold other secrets. Just as he was about to press his hand on Nemeses’s shoulder, the Lady Knight was even more resolute than he imagined, her form darting towards the fairy, leaving Brendel grasping at air.
“Nemeses!”
“Ah!” The fairy girl was startled by Nemeses’s fervor, but she quickly raised her hands and began to chant in a shrill voice, “Azure Dragon, grant me the blade to slay enemies!”
She pointed forward, and three circular magic circles with a diameter of nearly two meters appeared behind her, with the runes ‘Vir’, ‘Oar’, and ‘Meem’ flashing in succession. A high-level spell; Brendel was stunned—this was no ordinary icy fairy; this was an elemental mage.
A multitude of dazzling, knife-like azure ice shards appeared behind the small fairy, suspended in the air.
“Attack, blizzard!”
“Nemeses, come back!”
A fierce wind swept out from behind the fairy girl, forming a terrifying ice storm in the direction of her outstretched hand. Countless icy blades swirled towards them, snapping trees in half with a ‘crack’ sound.
Nemeses was almost instantly engulfed in the whirlwind; an ordinary person in such a situation would seek to protect themselves and avoid the danger, but the Lady Knight possessed her unique fierceness. Gritting her teeth, she crossed her hands in front of her, and with a loud ‘crash’, the swirling snowflakes immediately froze into a thick layer of ice. Simultaneously, the flying ice shards sliced across her arms, trailing long streams of blood as they spun backward.
The armor of Erluin on her arms tore apart with a ‘rip’, but she continued forward, her feet heavily stepping into the snow, and then she leaped forward. At that moment, the fairy girl couldn’t help but widen her eyes because she saw Nemeses approaching her—gritting her teeth, the burning fighting spirit in her eyes was so intense it nearly seemed to ignite.
Her black hair danced wildly in the wind as Nemeses opened her almost frozen arms, landing a punch on the fairy girl and sending her flying like a shooting star.
Brendel watched in shock as the small fairy tumbled and crashed into the snow-covered ground, bouncing like a yarn ball and rolling for a few circles before finally coming to a stop.
“Wuwu, it hurts, Mama…”
The fairy girl moaned in pain, suddenly bursting into tears, sitting up on the ground and crying uncontrollably.
The sound of her crying was so tragic that Brendel, watching from the sidelines, felt a bit embarrassed. But when he turned to look at Nemeses, he found that the woman, resembling his senior, had a cold expression as she brushed her arm where the ice shards had almost frozen to her skin, causing it to fall away in a cascade along with the blood.
Brendel couldn’t help but hiss softly in his heart; he didn’t even know if this woman felt any pain; it looked like it hurt to him.
“Alright, let’s continue,” Nemeses raised her head and said to Brendel.
“You’re not unleashing all your anger on me through her, are you?” Brendel asked, a bit sympathetically.
The Lady Knight paused, glanced at him, and replied flatly, “I’m not that boring.”
With that, she sheathed her sword and continued walking forward. But just then, the just recently sobbing fairy girl got up unsteadily from the ground, still sniffling, her face bruised as she raised her hands:
“I… I said, you must not go past!”
She replied with a whimper.
Brendel and Nemeses both stopped, looking at the nonsensical little fairy.
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to support with your votes; your support is my greatest motivation.)
