Chapter 776: Act 129 – Brendel’s Decision
“Don’t hit me! I remember now, there really was such a thing…” Shi Ta hurriedly wrapped his chubby little hands around his head and shouted, “I told you, I stole their stuff, but those guys were all broke! They didn’t have anything good to eat!”
The young female dragon grabbed him by the back of his neck and yanked him back, interrupting, “Who asked you that! Tell us, where exactly is that guy Sulash?”
“Oh no, I really don’t know that guy you’re talking about.” The chubby dragon stumbled from being pulled and shrank back in frustration, shouting, “Really, I promise, I swear on the third scale of Lord Bahamut!”
“The Dragon God wouldn’t want someone as shameful as you. Let’s see if you dare to play tricks!”
“Alorze, enough.” Brendel had to stop this farce, “Let go of Shi Ta, I have questions for it.”
The young female dragon responded rudely, “Why should I listen to you?” That said, she released Shi Ta. Poor Shi Ta was shaken to the point of seeing stars and took a while to recover.
Gasping for breath, Shi Ta finally realized that his future employer seemed to have some weight before Alorze. An inherent cunning made him want to hide behind Brendel, but just as he prepared to move his short legs, he was startled into place by Alorze’s golden gaze.
Brendel pretended not to notice the dragon’s little act: “Shi Ta, you say you don’t know Sulash? Then who was the one who made a contract with you?”
“No, that’s not the same thing. The one who made a contract with me was—” the frost dragon suddenly clammed up.
“Was what?” Alorze revealed her white and dangerous fangs.
“No, no, no,” Shi Ta hurriedly waved his chubby arms, “I mean, actually I do know a bit about what you’re talking about…”
“Then why are you keeping it a secret?” The irritable young female dragon kicked at him with her little boot.
“Ah!” Shi Ta skillfully dodged despite his size, shouting, “I’m not keeping a secret, I just can’t be certain!”
“Shi Ta, you can speak freely.” Looking at Alorze and Shi Ta quarreling, Veronika frowned and had to intervene; the two dragons’ lack of a sense of urgency was making her a bit annoyed. She wasn’t sure if it’s a side effect of their long lifespans or if dragons inherently looked down upon these ‘minuscule’ dangers.
“Because the journal mentioned a red pillar of fire, and I saw it too. I remember it appeared around the time of Thunder’s Day. Every night, the pillar would shoot up into the sky, forming a golden swirl in the cloud layer.”
“How long did it last?” Brendel continued to question.
“For about half a year! That spectacle continued for half a year before it gradually calmed down!” The chubby dragon answered in a rapid-fire manner, “But I really didn’t know what that was; I certainly don’t want to go near anything that obviously looks risky!”
“That surprisingly fits your cowardly style. Come on, take a claw from me.” Alorze criticized sarcastically.
“This isn’t cowardice; it’s wisdom. A wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall—whoah—” Before Shi Ta could finish, he narrowly dodged a swipe from Alorze’s sharp claws aimed at his face.
Veronika looked back; behind her, after facing Sibers directly, the egotistical Crusian had seemingly learned to be more reserved. The noble officers had become unusually cautious, their faces a bit pale, perhaps from the cold or from fright.
But the lady commander paid attention to Brendel: “Young child, what is it?”
“Lady Veronika, I’m not as clever as the scholars of the Iniel,” Brendel replied, a bit helpless about the army leader’s blind trust. Memories from his previous life didn’t always apply in this information-scarce Temple of Tired Ones, and even he could only rely on experience to guess at best.
However, he thought for a moment and replied, “But I suppose I have an idea.”
“Look.” Veronika, with her emerald green eyes, looked at him playfully, arching her elegantly curved brows. Unfortunately, this subtle gesture, so out of place for a woman of her age and status, was only noticed by Brendel.
The time frame of around Thunder’s Day lasting for about half a year coincided remarkably with what Shi Ta described. Brendel mused for a while; although there were slight discrepancies in the descriptions, he felt confident that Shi Ta’s account matched something Chief Eagleday had seen in his youth.
He ended his thoughts and looked up: “Shi Ta, do you remember which direction the pillar of fire rose from?”
Shi Ta was dodging Alorze’s attacks, so he answered in a panicked tone, “It was the northeast! I still remember the flames I saw that night appearing in the northern night sky—dear Lord, get Alorze away from me! Ah!”
“The northeastern night sky?” Brendel ignored the chubby dragon’s desperate cries; instinctively, he gazed in that direction, where layers of hard ice and profound darkness lay. In the next moment, he seemed to recall that place: “It’s actually there.”
“Do you have a lead?” Veronika observed the subtle change in the young lord’s expression.
Brendel shook his head; he hadn’t expected it would be in that area. The place Shi Ta described was far from the core area of the Temple of Tired Ones, where there were spiraling black ice, thus known as the Spiral Hall.
But the Spiral Hall was merely a side hall of the Temple of Tired Ones. There was nothing there, only some obstructing Breath of Cold Ice. The Breath of Cold Ice was a magic awakened and activated by dark magic from ancient battlefields and was one of the many small monsters in the Temple of Tired Ones. Brendel remembered that the drop list for these small monsters was pretty good, hence many players would farm there.
That place was the outskirts of the temple; there was no need to trigger the precise sealing of the central instance. The monster difficulty was moderate, with no threshold; at the very least, thousands of players had explored this area, and there was no reason for any secrets to remain undiscovered.
Could it be that there was truly an oversight? Brendel couldn’t help but ponder.
“What’s the matter, young child? What are you troubled about?” Veronika asked.
“Well,” Brendel snapped back to reality, “there’s good news and bad news.”
“What are the good and bad news? Can you tell us, Lord Earl?” The scholar lady was always curious about such riddles, unable to refrain from interjecting.
“The bad news is that Anlek likely doesn’t even need to pass through the precise sealing of the central area of the Temple of Tired Ones. My previous estimate was off; he might even be able to bypass the maze and head straight to his destination.”
Shi Do appeared a bit worried: “Then what’s the good news?”
“The good news is that I happen to know where that place is, and I even know a shortcut that could save us a significant amount of time,” Brendel said hesitantly.
“In that case, what are you hesitating for?” Veronika looked at him in confusion.
“What I’m hesitating about is that all of this relies on my own judgment. If I’m wrong in my judgment, we may not have time to remedy this mistake.” Brendel took a breath.
“Is that all you’re worried about?” Veronika looked at him incredulously.
What do you mean, just that? Isn’t it worth worrying about? Brendel looked at the others in confusion since almost everyone regarded him with expressions as if they had heard an amusing joke.
“Lord Earl Toniger, throughout the journey, I haven’t seen you make any wrong judgments. I don’t understand why at this moment, you’re questioning yourself. However, I would rather believe in my own eyes and trust what I have consistently seen. I believe your judgment must have its reasons, Lord Earl.” Shi Do couldn’t help but reply out loud, her serious gaze fixed on him.
Brendel was speechless; his previous correct judgments had been based on memories from his last life. Yet the deeper they went into the Temple of Tired Ones, the less information from the forums there was. After that, he would have to rely on his judgment.
Yet he was acutely aware of the limits of his capabilities. The 130-level warrior player from the past game, Amber Sword, hadn’t even qualified as a top-tier player, let alone the best.
His personal combat strength was considerable but limited to the upper tier. Certain qualities inherent in top-tier professional players—excellent judgment, decision-making capabilities for leading a team or even a guild, and that spark of inspiration—he did not possess.
And where was this? This was the Temple of Tired Ones, a team instance that had represented the pinnacle of an era in the past. Such instances were places even top-tier players dared not tread; those who conquered them were truly the elite of the elite.
Only those names engraved on the Glimmering Wall of the Amber Sword; even now he could still recall many of them vividly.
If he thought he could one day have his name listed alongside them, that would undoubtedly be too arrogant.
He had the determination and stubbornness, but some things required talent.
If Shi Ta had told him that Anlek was headed to the Frost Square or even the Core Hall of Sykes, he would lead the team without hesitation—because these two places were also widely recognized as the most likely hiding spots for the God of Awakening.
Or he could settle for the Serpent’s Hall or the Control Room, but it had to be the Spiral Hall, a place long traversed by thousands, with nothing noteworthy apart from the Breath of Cold Ice.
But the current problem was: Should he choose to trust his first instinct or make a more rational judgment?
For the first time since coming to this world, Brendel felt a headache coming on. He couldn’t help but glance at the others, but everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to make a decision.
Including the Crusian people; unknowingly, almost everyone had become accustomed to being commanded by this young lord. As long as someone could lead to victory, did it matter if they were Crusian or Elun?
Only one voice echoed in the ice cave. “With all due respect, Lord Toniger, while I don’t understand what you are hesitating about, I want to ask, do you have a second judgment for us to choose from?” The one who spoke was the Crown Prince of the Crusian, casting a cold glance at Brendel as he asked.
Brendel was slightly startled.
“Rainwright is right, Brendel. If there aren’t better options, we can only choose the relatively less bad judgment,” Veronika agreed. “Besides, I don’t understand why you’d suddenly be confused; you’ve never judged wrongly before, and I believe this time will be no exception.”
After finishing, she added, “You’re not setting me up, are you, young child?”
Brendel couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly. Whether he’s setting someone up or not was still uncertain; if Anlek truly detonated that thing in his hands, whether it was the God of Awakening or the Twilight Kind, they would all likely turn to dust.
At that time, they would naturally also be reduced to ashes; however, the Crusian would probably not let go so easily after losing their top heir that they had cultivated with such effort.
Moreover, if Haruze died here, Princess Grifian would surely hate him to death. And little Romain… Brendel thought of that little merchant girl and couldn’t help but smile.
“Let’s hope for the best,” he finally nodded, “I can only guarantee to do my best.”
He looked up and ordered Medisa, who was not far away: “Medisa, check on the condition of that brother and sister pair. We will prepare to set out with them.”
The silver elf princess smiled slightly and nodded, replying, “Yes, Lord.”
Brendel turned back, somewhat lost in thought. Even though the Spiral Hall was a side hall, it was still considered part of the Temple of Tired Ones. Even taking a shortcut, he couldn’t avoid battles, which deviated somewhat from his original plan. He initially thought Anlek would be blocked in the Hall of Tired Ones.
This time, the only boss he intended to challenge was Shi Ta, who was already standing with them. But the current situation clearly exceeded expectations by a large margin.
Was he really going to lead such a group to challenge the center instance of the Dead Frost Forest?
Brendel couldn’t help but look at the others. In the distance, those Crusian nobles were whispering among themselves, evidently not preparing to execute his orders effectively. Seeing this scene, he couldn’t help but sigh, feeling even more uncertain.
……
PS: Alright, finally found the feeling; I thought I was going to die.
By the way, let me recommend a book; the writer is a fool, but the book is quite good, mainly because the updates are fast. The author is trying to get on the rankings tomorrow, and I’m also helping to ask for some votes and opinions (Speaking of which, seeing others’ update speed suddenly made me feel ashamed, like I was being spurred):
The title is Calamity Descendant, the book number is 2959961.
Here’s the link below:
I wonder if it can be used.
