Chapter 698: Act 58 – Elements of Enlightenment III
“What’s going on?” Brendel pursed his lips and grabbed Nemeses, who was about to step forward. He suddenly calmed down, feeling as if he had grasped something faintly, and whispered, “Wait, ice fairies are a timid species. They usually avoid combat and at most dare to use magic to play tricks on adventurers from a distance… It’s a bit strange.”
The Lady Knight struggled slightly, but upon hearing Brendel’s words, she hesitated and stepped forward, crunching the snow beneath her feet. She lifted her head, gazing skeptically at the fairy girl on the ground.
“Nonsense!” The fairy girl grimaced in pain, but still covered her swollen cheek with her small hands, stammering and jumping up to shout, “We are not timid at all! We will fight to the end to protect our home!”
“Protect our home?” Brendel seemed to catch a whiff of something in the air. He narrowed his eyes, resting the blade of Harangea lightly on the ground: “Young one, it seems like you’re hiding a secret—”
“I won’t tell you!”
“The fact that you say you won’t tells me that you do have something to hide—”
“You…” The little fairy was obviously enraged, extending her hands and shouting, “I am the daughter of the North Wind, the sleeping dragon Karateris!” Seven giant circular formations unfolded from her palms, as if accompanied by a deep, beast-like growl. A shard of ice shot out from the center of the formation, twisting through the air toward Brendel.
A seven-ring ice-element spell.
The sleeping dragon Karateris was a famous ice dragon king, and a spell created in its name would naturally not be simple. But Brendel didn’t even blink. It was as if he was waiting motionless for the ice dragon’s strike, then lifted his left hand, and with a snap, he caught the dragon’s head, pulling it gently to shatter the spell into pieces.
“Ah—” The fairy girl stared, mouth agape, at the scene of ice fragments swirling through the air, unable to close her mouth; she never dreamed anyone could dismantle a spell with bare hands—that completely overturned her understanding.
“You…”
“Your spell is useless against me, young one.” Brendel rubbed his left hand, letting the ice shavings turn into snowflakes that fell away. “Alright, I’ve let you attack once. Out of courtesy, it’s your turn to answer my question now—let me ask you, what’s happening with the magic in this forest?”
But the fairy girl’s face suddenly paled. She looked at Brendel as if stunned: “You… how did you know?”
Her expression made Nemeses shake her head nearby; indeed, she was a fool.
“Okay, I also know that the Lord Malorcha you mentioned is the guardian of this forest, the crystal deer of Sacred Seal Valley, right?” Brendel asked, staring at the fairy girl, but suddenly frowned and looked around.
Just a moment ago, he felt as if something was lurking and spying on him.
“Are you the demon from the Black Prophecy who eats the hearts of those whose minds are guessed?” the fairy girl asked, trembling.
“Of course not.” That answer was somewhat amusing, but Brendel couldn’t laugh. For some reason, he suddenly felt a certain presence in the air becoming active. But it wasn’t the fluctuation of magic; rather, his divine blood was stirring within him. He felt a growing restlessness: “I just want to know what exactly happened in this forest.”
“I won’t tell you!” she replied decisively.
“That’s fine, let me guess. This is related to your Lord Malorcha—watch out!” Brendel suddenly turned sharply, pushing Nemeses out of the way as a shadow rushed between them, colliding with the mist tree on the other side of the path. With a series of cracking sounds, countless crystallized trees were broken, creating a pathway through the dense forest.
“That speed—!” Brendel gasped, discovering that with his perception, he couldn’t catch the enemy’s movements. If it weren’t for the sudden stir of his divine blood warning him, he might not have reacted in time to push Nemeses out of harm’s way. Otherwise, the lady knight might have been seriously injured by now.
But what was that thing? The crystal deer couldn’t possibly move that fast; he had only seen such speed in beings like Nicolas and Veronika.
At that moment, Nemeses had also gotten up from the ground, shaking off the ice shavings and gazing warily in the same direction as Brendel.
In the pitch-black woods, rustling sounds were heard, and then Brendel saw a pair of snow-white hooves, followed by long antlers, and finally, a pair of blood-red eyes…
That was definitely not a crystal deer.
Brendel thought of the crystal deer as noble and elegant, one of the most beautiful creatures in the Frosted Grove. It was called a crystal deer because its entire body was snow-white, with crystallized bony plates on its shoulders, legs, horns, and spine, making it look like a beautiful creature sculpted from crystal.
But now Brendel could hardly believe his eyes. The creature he saw resembled a moose, but its half-decapitated head, back, and legs dripped with black liquid, the crystal plates already shattered, and dark smoke wafting up from its wounds.
The most terrifying part was its blood-red eyes, which revealed not a hint of the normal demeanor of a wild beast, only an endless desire for rage.
The monster faced Brendel, locking its gaze on him, exhaling heavily through its nostrils. Brendel furrowed his brows, for at that moment, he heard a low voice in his mind:
“Get out!”
“Get out, human!”
“This is… corruption… how could it be so severely tainted by magic,” Brendel was momentarily stunned. This was no longer a crystal deer but a beast thoroughly controlled by dark magic. The revolting black smoke coursing through it was practically a manifestation of dark magic.
“Human, get out!”
“Lord Malorcha!” At that moment, the fairy girl suddenly screamed, flying towards the monster in a frenzy, but just as she started to fly, Brendel intercepted her with a strike of his sword.
Brendel lowered the broad blade of Harangea to block her path, coldly stating, “If you don’t want to die, stay here.”
“I don’t trust you, human!” the fairy girl shouted, then scrambled up to try and flutter her wings. This time, Brendel had no time to waste with her, turning the sword around and knocking her back into the snow.
“Hold her down, I’ll deal with this monster,” he said to Nemeses.
“Don’t!” The fairy girl screamed, but her protests were in vain, as Nemeses had already grabbed her from the ground.
“Ah, you bad woman, let me go!”
“I won’t allow you to harm Lord Malorcha!” The little fairy screamed immediately.
Nemeses glanced toward where Brendel was, then turned back, “Brendel won’t harm your Lord Malorcha; don’t worry about it.”
The fairy girl immediately responded with dissatisfaction, “I don’t believe you humans.”
The lady knight glanced at the small creature beneath her grasp. After pondering, she suddenly reached into her pocket and produced a candy the size of a bean, popping it into the fairy girl’s mouth.
“What do you mean by—uh, uh, what is this… ugh.” The little fairy’s cacophony of squeaks quieted down immediately.
Meanwhile, Brendel turned back to see that the monster seemed prepared to attack. It circled him, lowering its head and rubbing its hooves against the ground, white mist puffing out from its nostrils.
Brendel took the situation more seriously, raising the Earth Sword.
“Human, get out!”
“Is that all you can say—ugh!” Before Brendel could finish, he felt a tremendous force suddenly come from the sword. With a loud crash, he didn’t even see the trajectory of Lord Malorcha’s movements before its antlers collided with the blade of the Earth Sword.
It was as if it had always been there.
“This is… spatial elements?” Brendel’s heart raced; he quickly used both hands to support the Earth Sword. The blade of Harangea bent under the immense pressure, emitting a squeaking sound: “No, wait…”
He dismissed this notion.
Because Lord Malorcha suddenly raised its head again, crashing its antlers heavily against the long sword. The weapon dipped slightly, and Brendel almost lost his grip.
This was about stabilizing the earth—
Brendel squinted, having realized the source of its power. The power of chaos. This crystal deer unexpectedly possessed an incredibly strong chaotic force. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread; this was utter corruption. For it to be tainted to this extent, what could have this creature done to incur such wrath?
But just then, Malorcha tilted its head, and Brendel’s Harangea emitted a series of crackling sounds. Luckily, thanks to its indestructibility, he didn’t have to question whether the sword could withstand the next moment.
Before him, the monster’s blood-red eyes flickered, and a deep voice echoed in his mind: “Let her go, human!”
Let her go?
Brendel was taken aback, then realized the monster was referring to the little fairy in Nemeses’ hands. “So you still have some reasoning—”
He struggled to reply, the force of this cursed crystal deer was simply astonishing: “Right… the guardian spirit of Sacred Seal Valley…”
A shrill, sharp sound rang out.
Lord Malorcha turned its head and forcefully knocked the sword from Brendel’s hands. Then it stepped back and rushed forward, its massive figure simultaneously appearing in front of, behind, and on either side of Brendel.
Clang, clang, clang, clang.
Brendel intercepted the four attacks from Lord Malorcha in succession, his multiple images dissolving one after another amidst the swirling snowflakes.
“Human, let her go, get out of here!” The voice in his mind grew increasingly stern, seemingly carrying a warning.
“Damn it!” Brendel shook his hand vigorously. Although he had barely managed to parry the four strikes using Queen Wind’s Nine Stars, the power of Lord Malorcha was simply too terrifying.
After failing its attack, Malorcha immediately retreated, raising its head to watch him warily.
“Looks like your reasoning is intermittent—” Brendel clenched his teeth and couldn’t help but ask, “Guardian spirit of Sacred Seal Valley, tell me quickly, what happened here? The magic in the Frosted Grove has faded, and this is related to you, right?”
But before he could finish, Lord Malorcha’s figure flickered.
“Crap!” Brendel gasped, hurriedly retracting his sword to block the oncoming antlers.
But he never expected this monster could accelerate as well.
A sound akin to glass shattering pierced through the stillness of the forest like a whistle. Brendel stared dumbfounded as the Earth Sword spun out of his grip.
A sword saint.
Couldn’t hold onto his own sword.
Brendel could hardly believe everything he was witnessing, a flicker of furious rage igniting in his heart. He turned and glared at the monster that had once again retreated from his sight. “Fine, since you want to play like this—”
Duke Toniger clenched his fist, “I will accompany you to the end—” A ball of black flame erupted from his palm.
“Dragon of Fury Alphons, be fervent!”
With a roar, countless ice shards were hurled away from Brendel, blown out by the force of the gust.
……
(PS: This is the last update for this month. Starting from the 15th, I can basically guarantee a daily update of ten thousand words. Everyone can see that. This month, I wrote nearly 180,000 words, far surpassing my previous monthly speed of about 120,000 words. Even considering last month’s backlog, it still exceeds significantly. At this point, I can say that I’ve made good on my promises and covered everything owed.
So today, I can sincerely ask everyone to support me with monthly votes~ right? Please continue to look forward to updates next month, and I will keep it up as always. I hope you all continue to support me as well.)(To be continued. If you like this work, please consider voting for it on Qidian (qidian.com); your support is my greatest motivation.)
