Chapter 701: Act 60 – The Element of Enlightenment
The crystallized blood glowing with a faint blue light shone on the snow nearby.
The Miss Faerie in Nemeses’s hand hung her head as if lifeless, her slender shoulders trembling slightly.
In fact, the task of obtaining the crystallized blood could already be considered complete. However, there was still one issue: Brendel could not be sure whether the corrupted crystallized blood really counted. Moreover, the peculiarities of this forest piqued his curiosity; he knew that there had been some hidden quests in the past in Amber Sword.
Whether this one qualifies as such is uncertain, but it’s always worth a try.
He looked at the corrupted crystal stag struggling on the ground, somewhat puzzled. What had happened to transform it into this state? As a being coexisting with magical power, crystal stags rarely fell into madness over dark magic.
Furthermore, it was strange that the creature seemed to be resisting the encroachment of dark magic, meaning it was not willingly corrupted. But how could a keen magical creature be tainted by dark power—
And then there was that strange Miss Faerie.
Brendel stepped forward, “Anger and anxiety will magnify the dark side a hundredfold. If you continue this way, you’ll only sink deeper. I can sense your struggle; can you hear me—”
The stag snorted, glaring at Brendel with blood-red eyes.
Brendel paused slightly; he wasn’t a Druid and didn’t know how to soothe animals. He even had no related experience from his previous life, which left him a bit pained. This crystal stag seemed to possess a flicker of reason but also displayed a restless demeanor.
He didn’t understand why it was so agitated; it didn’t make sense. Corrupted creatures, even when tainted, were merely filled with hatred and murderous intent like the black wolves in the Black Forest. This kind of hatred was cold, not frantic; yet he felt a sense of restlessness and urgency from Malorcha, as if it wished to drive them away.
He hesitated, cautiously placing a hand on Malorcha’s neck.
But at that moment, a glint of murder flashed in the corrupted crystal stag’s eyes, as if it had been waiting for this moment. Its weak head, which seemed incapable of movement, suddenly whipped around.
Three translucent ripples appeared in an instant before Brendel’s eyes.
His pupils contracted slightly—surprisingly, the fatal weakness behind the stag’s horns didn’t apply to the corrupted stag! He had clearly calculated its hit points, which was why he hadn’t doubted when Malorcha fell. But unexpectedly, it was also calculating him.
Brendel’s heart raced as threats of death made his brain operate at lightning speed. At that moment, he suddenly realized that this corrupted crystal stag likely understood the difference between its powers and those of its kind!
“Damn it!” Brendel cursed inwardly, slashing toward Malorcha with his sword while simultaneously activating Queen Wind’s Nine Pulses and Blink in the opposite direction. The corrupted crystal stag howled as it was flung away, crashing through three crystallized fog trees—but it wasn’t good for Brendel either; his figure faded layer by layer amid the ripples from its antlers, but when he reappeared, a bloody gash had formed on his cheek.
That last strike had been too close.
“You bastard, don’t think my patience is limitless…” Brendel muttered angrily to himself; after all, completing the hidden quest was not as important as his life. The previous strike had already made him feel a deep threat.
Just as he was about to continue, he stopped.
He saw Malorcha stagger to its feet. The wound on its neck had not yet healed, and it had lost a leg; it seemed that all of its elemental power was now focused on suppressing the encroachment of darkness, meaning it was difficult to utilize any healing powers.
Yet even so—
The crystal stag wobbled toward Brendel and Nemeses, magical power still swirling around its long horns, accumulating strength for the next attack.
It lowered its head, its red eyes flickering with flames of anger, its long horns pointing toward Brendel.
Brendel was a bit dazed; in Amber Sword, he had experienced many battles after the crossover, but he had never faced a situation like this. The only similar experience was probably in the outskirts of Ribau.
All he saw before him was a beast, yet he faintly perceived the image of the white knight Aibodun, who kneeled with a sword yet still possessed a proud heart—just from a beast, this illusion arose.
The corrupted creatures had no thoughts, only understood slaughter. Pain, death, and fear could not prevent them from continuing their assault, much like the undead of Madara.
But Brendel knew that this stag was different; it was struggling, not from a desire to kill, but from something he couldn’t comprehend, something sustaining its fight.
But what could it be—
“Do you want to protect this forest?”
The magical flames flickered on Malorcha’s long horns.
“But we are not your enemies—”
The corrupted crystal stag lowered its head as if it hadn’t heard him, power gathering on its long horns, beginning to sparkle. In the next moment, it could unleash its antlers.
But for Brendel, it no longer mattered.
In its current state, he only needed one sword strike to end the battle. Then he and Nemeses could complete their task and leave, the only loss being missing out on the hidden quest.
But as Brendel’s hand rested on the sword, he found himself momentarily unable to strike.
Was completing the task merely for the reward?
It seemed so, yet it also seemed not.
“Speak, you bastard!”
“Don’t…” He heard the Miss Faerie’s agonized wail; that usually cheerful race was helplessly crying out to him, “Please, spare Lord Malorcha…”
Brendel hesitated; the magical energy gathering on Malorcha’s long horns was becoming more pronounced. If it attacked, he would have to respond. The arrow was already on the string—if he didn’t fight back, how could he nonchalantly take the crystallized blood?
“But damn it, it’s not like I want to kill this damned thing.”
This crystal stag had completely gone mad.
But could it withstand another attack?
“Answer me!”
“Damn it, what the hell is going on!” Brendel couldn’t help but shout: “Fine, since this is your choice—”
He took a deep breath and raised his sword.
It all happened in an instant; Malorcha’s blood-red eyes seemed incapable of sensing the existence of everything around it. Yet it lifted its head and tilted its neck.
This was the precursor to an attack.
“Lord Malorcha!”
“Brendel!” Both the Miss Faerie and Nemeses shouted simultaneously, but unlike the former, the Lady Knight maintained her cool demeanor. She looked at the crystal stag and reminded loudly, “The magical power of the forest has all concentrated in one spot—”
“What?”
“Listen to me, all the magic that has disappeared from this forest has gathered in that stag!”
“What!” At that moment, Brendel almost gaped in astonishment as he saw the corrupted crystal stag launch its attack; three waves rippled across the treetops as if stirred by calm lake waters.
But he didn’t even have time to react; three bursts of blood exploded from him, and the light green health data on his character panel suddenly dropped by half, turning into alarming yellow.
But Brendel didn’t even notice the crisscrossed wounds on his chest; he gritted his teeth and endured the pain, the fog in his mind that had once swirled appeared as if it was beginning to dissipate.
The answer lay here—
So this was the key to the quest!
His figure suddenly vanished, reappearing next to Malorcha. The corrupted crystal stag was entirely too weak to attack or defend; Brendel raised the Earth Sword—
“Ah—” The Miss Faerie struggled wildly, at this moment behaving in a manner completely contrary to her race’s nature.
But unfortunately, no matter how fiercely she struggled, she was no match for Nemeses, who calmly pinned her down with two fingers.
Brendel turned his sword around.
He struck down with the sword, the spine harshly smashing into the crystal stag’s skull. He didn’t hold back at all; this damned beast had caused him too much trouble.
With a dull thud, Malorcha fell to the ground.
Yet, as expected, the corrupted creature’s vitality was robust, and even as it lay there, it still glared at Brendel with blood-red eyes, filled with hatred. However, a glimmer of cold murderous intent began to seep through the blood-red, quickly replaced again by confusion—indicating that the encroachment of dark magic had reached its final stages.
“I ask you, have you drawn all of the forest’s magic—” Brendel placed his sword on Malorcha’s neck and asked.
To be honest, this scene was somewhat ridiculous. One rarely saw a swordsman forcing a stag to answer questions with a sword.
But Brendel’s expression was quite serious.
“Get out, human!”
The furious reply in the mind was not unexpected.
At this point, Malorcha’s body was almost entirely shrouded in black smoke. Clearly, the previous battle had depleted too much of its power, leaving it unable to suppress the encroachment of darkness. The infiltration of dark magic was accelerating, and Brendel noticed how its gaze was constantly shifting.
But he didn’t truly need an answer anymore.
“Since you won’t answer, then I will have to find the answer myself.” Brendel suddenly bent down, gripping Malorcha’s neck and pointing his sword at the center area beneath its antlers.
Here was the location of the crystal stag’s magical core.
He exerted a slight force, and the blade of the Earth Sword pierced through the skin, blue blood flowing like a stream. At this moment, Malorcha indeed let out an angry sound and began struggling wildly.
But Brendel could tell it was not out of pain.
…
