81. Chapter 81: Act 17 – Cleaning Up the Battlefield
”Knight challenge?” The silver-haired maiden put down her teacup and couldn’t help but chuckle. It was quite ingenious of that Black Knight to devise such a delaying tactic, but she soon sighed lightly. The princess couldn’t help but look away, gazing absently outside the clean, bright arched window.
Her gaze pierced through the dust particles floating up and down in the slanted sunlight streaming in from the tall window, her pale silver-gray eyes flashing with a hint of worry — willing to abandon one’s own honor for the sake of the war’s outcome, even forsaking the dignity of being a knight. Was it for the black roses blooming in Brahman? But what could unite people on a land plagued by ceaseless wars for centuries? Or was something unknown happening in the dark kingdom across from us?
The girl hadn’t anticipated that one of her random speculations would become reality; she looked back, momentarily speechless with Overwell.
”The common ancestor of the Erluin people, the wise king Eke leading the people to independence from Cruz, was to resist the empire’s endless exploitation of the southern lands. The foundation of our country was to stop the arrogance and greed of the imperial nobles.”
The princess softly said, “But today, the nobles among us have also become greedy and arrogant. Have we lost the ambition and sense of honor for justice that unites the hearts of the people?”
”Your old servant dares not speak out of turn, but although the nobles are corrupt, at least the common people still trust the royal family,” Overwell replied.
The girl nodded, her mood improving somewhat.
Overwell, looking at this girl, understood her thoughts and continued, “Even under the most decayed soil, new sprouts can grow. Princess, since the late King Anson the Tenth, the kingdom trained militias, formed police units, all to lay the groundwork. I encountered that young man who could also abandon his personal honor, showing that the younger generation of Erluin is no worse than Madara.”
But both the old and young didn’t mention that Brendel was actually a member of the Highland Knights faction and had no real relation to the royal family.
However, the princess couldn’t help but wonder what supported Brendel to abandon his honor. Wasn’t he a knight? How could a knight reject an opponent’s challenge?
*
The heir to the throne princess didn’t expect that Brendel was not a knight at all. Neither did the Black Knight Sasaal expect it, so he could only die humiliated amid the chaos — Brendel didn’t even pay him any attention. As he passed by, he simply struck Sasaal from his horse with a single slash before turning around — at the moment they crossed paths, this rising star of Erluin and an outstanding young member of Madara looked into each other’s eyes.
Brendel saw the burning soul fire in the Black Knight’s eyes, and in it, the pursuit of true honor and faith. He knew well that no single person could ever be strong, but the unity of countless hearts could create an incredible force. For centuries, ‘Brahman’s blooming black roses’ were a mere geographical concept, but Madara was now undergoing such a process of ascent.
It was a process that even cold undead creatures could find honor and recognition in their hearts, but unfortunately, he could neither participate nor care to be part of such a history.
Conversely, all that Sasaal on the ground could see were the cold and calculating eyes of the young human knight. For the young people who had lived through this history, all fantasies were no longer suitable — regarding the nobles, the royal family, Brendel trusted his own strength more.
Even to save Erluin, to save the Valkyrie and everyone, he could only rely on himself.
Brendel knew the future, but also knew that no one would believe in this future. Therefore, he needed to become stronger, gradually making his wings full, in order to make the world take his opinions seriously. Compared to that, all other honors were merely fleeting clouds.
Could that Black Knight actually think that a small trick could force him to change his mind?
How naive.
Brendel turned around, aware that even on a battlefield, knightly duels required witnesses, seconds from both sides, a venue, and a series of etiquettes and rituals. As long as he was still rational, he would absolutely refuse this absurd suggestion. Of course, in the eyes of the people of this era, a “knight” should respect each other, and it was still a society following the spirit of classicism. Unfortunately, Brendel was not just Brendel — half of his soul represented another world.
Fair competition?
No, modern warfare advocates unrestricted warfare and asymmetric battles.
Thus, Black Knight Sasaal faced his greatest doubt before his death: when he saw the mercenaries rushing in and plunging their gleaming blades into his chest, he still couldn’t understand why. How could he refuse? Was he even a knight?
The army of the undead had been utterly defeated.
Brendel pulled back the reins, slowing his horse to a trot before stopping, then turning his horse to see everyone looking at him with a strange expression. This was understandable; after all, in this world, it was quite unusual for a knight to refuse a challenge, and these mercenaries, though seasoned in battle, were inevitably influenced by worldly views.
But he raised his sword and said to everyone, “You might wonder why I didn’t accept his challenge, but the principle is simple. The challenges between knights come from the mutual respect of the nobility, not from starting a sacred challenge with a deceitful heart — this is a profanation of the code of knights.”
He continued, “As for why I say this, let you think about it.”
Only then did the crowd seem to understand, but many still felt a little puzzled, including Retao and Fulongta. Brendel looked at their expressions and continued, “Of course, all this is just talk. To put it bluntly, I’m not interested in participating in a gamble without stakes —”
This statement clearly hit the mercenaries’ tastes, and many of them couldn’t help but cheer. Mano was especially appreciative, nodding continuously, almost considering Brendel a kindred spirit. However, when Brendel looked at Renno who still had doubts, he understood he had to stop there — further explanations would only be an excuse.
Actually, he didn’t need any excuses; this night was so pressing that he didn’t have time to sort out everything. Right now, he merely signaled a quick gesture for everyone to gather the spoils of war and clean up the battlefield. Then he dismounted and walked to where Sasaal and the several Black Warriors’ bodies lay.
It was time to collect rewards.
The three Black Warriors, aside from their armor and some personal items, had been burnt to a crisp, reduced to white ash inside and out. These things were disgusting, but in the eyes of someone like Brendel, they were equivalent to spoils of war.
He kicked away the empty chest armor – Black Warriors were tall, so their armor would need to be melted down and remade to fit humans, and therefore in his eyes, it was worthless. But that wasn’t his goal; he was looking for magic items that Black Warriors might carry with them.
Unfortunately, the harvest was slim; he only found a secondary snake-ring of “Black Iron” rarity among one of the corpses — what the locals called alchemical items, +0.1 dexterity, barely worth anything.
But Brendel wasn’t discouraged; his main goal wasn’t these three Black Warriors; they were just the appetizers. His major target was that Black Knight, an elite creature of over twenty levels.
Brendel approached Sasaal; the Black Knight’s half armor would have been suitable for him to use, but unfortunately, those mercenaries had cut several slashes into the chest armor. This made Brendel couldn’t help but curse them for not considering their commander’s needs — compared to Freya, the commander of the militia, he, as a knight’s commander, didn’t even have armor left.
But cursing aside, Brendel still squatted down and opened Sasaal’s waist pouch. The first thing he checked was the waist pouch because generally most spare magic items and talismans would be placed there.
Brendel’s experience proved valid, as he indeed found a snake statue and three magic talismans inside. Magic talismans were a marvelous item; it was said that they were originally made by the wizards of the Northern Ice Forest in Vaunte. As long as you carried them, you naturally gained good fortune –
But the craftsmanship of making these magic items gradually spread out after the Age of Three Hills, becoming an important magical item-making skill. In the game, each piece of magic talisman was at least “Bronze” grade rarity or higher due to an important characteristic — they were not subject to the total limit of magic item carrying capacity — just like the three talismans in Brendel’s possession.
The attributes of these three magic talismans were +1 health, +2 health, +0.1 natural protection. They were the most affordable junk among such items, but they were better than nothing, right?
Brendel tucked the talismans away and then took a closer look at the snake statue. He immediately identified it as a toxic quenching amulet. Most of these magical items were made by the druid sect in the forests, but some also came from necromancers. Activating them would cast a poison spell on the blade (12 Oz, losing health gradually to weakness every minute).
This wasn’t anything great, but it made Brendel curse mentally: “What a sneaky bastard, pretending to be a knight. Do knights use poison?” He couldn’t help but think how fortunate he was not to be someone who played fair, otherwise, he would have lost big time.
He tucked these items away as well; after all, with his current identity as a Highland Knight, it would be a big problem if someone recognized these items. The knightly codes in this world were complicated; violators would be stripped of their titles at best and burned at the stake at worst — it was no joke.
Then Brendel flipped the body and inspected the neck and hands — also the most likely places to find magical items. But he didn’t see any rings or necklaces, instead, a glass bracelet of an icy hue.
This was definitely not a glass bracelet.
”Elemental Bracelet!” Brendel was surprised and quickly pulled the object off the corpse. Although elemental bracelets were only “Bronze”-grade equipment, they couldn’t be underestimated due to their high energy levels. The elemental bracelet with the lowest level that Brendel knew was at least 25 Oz or more, and these items had very useful attributes.
It could add a certain amount of elemental damage to either melee or range physical attacks, depending on the energy level of the elemental bracelet itself. For instance, a 25 Oz elemental bracelet could at least add 4-4 elemental damage.
Considering that in the previous reincarnation, the damage of the Brightlight Thorn without doubling was only 9-9,
Brendel tried to suppress his excitement; these items were once expensive as “Silver”-rare class legendary magic items in the past; in the most popular times, they were out of his reach.
Attack, for physical classes in the early stages, was life.
Unfortunately, this bracelet was only usable at level twenty and beyond; Brendel could only admire it for now. Carefully placing it in his backpack, the importance of this item was comparable to the Brightlight Thorn.
If anything, it was even more important.
Because the Brightlight Thorn was after all just a transitional longsword; its sharpness and hardness weren’t sufficient to hold up against swordsmen of Black Iron Middle Class or above. Brendel already had ideas for replacing the Elven Sword, just not implemented yet.
The Elemental Bracelet, however, was different. There were only two bracelet slots in total, and Brendel knew until he reached level forty, it would be hard to find a better replacement. And level forty, that was at least the force level of the Silver Upper Class.
After collecting these key spoils, and confirming there was nothing left on Sasaal’s body, Brendel let out a long breath. The gains from this battle were incredibly rich: apart from a total of 770 experience points, the equipment obtained almost doubled his total equipment energy levels.
Especially acquiring the Elemental Bracelet, which was absolutely fantastic news, beyond expectations.
If he could also acquire Elemental Rings and another bracelet, and gather a complete set of pure offensive equipment, Brendel was confident he could find trouble with the young black dragon residing in the Dropping Needle Hills near Duke Vieiro’s fief before reaching level thirty — after all, the Dragon Country map was a huge attraction for any former gamers, and Brendel was no exception.
Thinking of the good parts, he couldn’t resist blowing at the edge of the Brightlight Thorn, as if he’d already claimed the dragon’s treasure.
Of course, the gap between reality and fantasy was impossible to bridge, and he certainly wouldn’t let his guard down. Soon, mercenaries came to collect the corpse near him, and he turned around to see that most present had made gains — Retao and Mano understood value well; their target was those necromancers. Even acquiring an item or two could significantly enhance personal power.
No one would dislike improving their personal strength.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Brendel glanced at the time; from the start of the battle, it had been forty-five minutes. The self-defense team’s progress was nearly complete. He couldn’t help but look around the hills; Gargoyles could only scout one direction at a time, and Madara’s skeleton cavalry might appear nearby at any time point. They must hurry.
The refugee convoy had continued forward under the lead of several core members after the start of the battle. With the Gargoyles as scouts, Brendel wasn’t worried about the refugees encountering any trouble. Now, he just needed to find Freya and bring the others to catch up.
At least so far, his plan was working out fairly well; the rest was to play hide and seek with Madara.
Of course, there was also waiting for the Knighthood King’s constellation to appear in the sky.
Thinking of this, the young man couldn’t help but take out the White Deer statue and look up at the dark sky above.
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【Note】:
Explanation about some equipment energy levels:
An individual’s total magic item carrying capacity is determined by their own total Magic Coordination ability, calculated using the formula:
Base (20) + Willpower x 10 + Total Level x 5 (all units are Oz).
For instance: Brendel has a total level of 17 and a Willpower of 2.9 energy classes, so he can carry equipment with a magic coordination ability equivalent to 134 Oz (the formula being: 20 + 2.9 x 10 + 17 x 5).
Among the equipment he carries and activates, the Brightlight Thorn and Queen Wind Ring each occupy 20 Oz, Protective Gloves 5 Oz, maintaining the Gargoyle Amulet and Soul Statue (White Deer) each requires 7 Oz, combined with a total of 3 Oz for the Ghoul Necklace and the Junior Snake Ring, totaling 62 Oz.
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(PS: 2011 is just not going well, right from the very first day. On New Year’s Day, I went home happily for dinner, and then had stomach pain all night from eating chips. On January 3rd, there was a power outage, and on January 4th, I lost thousands of yuan in the morning, and after lunch, I started feeling bloated and uncomfortable in my stomach.
Then until today in the morning, the power was out until one in the afternoon, and my stomach didn’t get better but got worse, paining all day. My friend came to visit and invited me to eat hot pot outside, but I stayed home crying TAT. Today, I can barely write so much; please forgive me. I’ll do my best to catch up if I feel better. Thank you everyone for your support.
Also, thank you Brother Dao for the ten-thousand reward; it’s the first time I’ve received such a reward, and it’s quite a surprise.
Also, to all who have rewarded me and voted for me, thank you all. Your support is what keeps me going.
Also, Amber Sword Group 1 is about full, so I’m announcing the number for Group 2, thanks to Knight for providing the QQ group.
Amber Sword Group 2: 130957343.
Lastly, let me end this aside with the usual plea for votes. I’m enduring the stomachache, braving the cold, and looking at all of you with tears in my eyes for the votes. Though these updates aren’t many, I will try my best once I’m feeling better.)
(Brendel’s latest attributes have been updated in the Author’s Corner; interested readers can go check them out.) (To be continued… For further developments, please visit the website, where more chapters are available, supporting the author, and promoting legitimate reading!)
