Chapter 815: Act 164 – The Black Knight
The Black Knight walked on the ice with a creaking sound, entering in a file. Laurena, Phillas, Rainwright, and Shi Do each raised their hands, a long black sword like black crystal against their necks, wielded by the Black Knights who dragged long black velvet cloaks, their expressions blank, as if they were golems crafted by a wizard.
The ice cavern was a mess, with crisscrossing sword marks on the icy surface proving that a fierce battle had occurred earlier. The Black Knights dragged two bodies of their own out, leaving a streak of crimson on the ice.
One particularly tall Black Knight approached Kehua, who looked back fearlessly with her light silver eyes, but could only see the shadow under the other’s hood enveloping a pair of especially bright eyes and a long, thin lower face. The Black Knight stared at Kehua’s snow-white neck for a while, as if considering whether to place the sword there. “Please step aside,” Kehua said with a crisp voice.
“Miss Kehua.” The knight placed his hand on his chest, bowing slightly to Kehua, the heavy armor and chain shirt clattering together as they rubbed against each other.
“Are you planning to treat me the same as them?” Kehua calmly asked, glancing at Shi Do, who was biting her lip in fear.
“Not daring to,” the knight replied, lowering his head.
Kehua smiled slightly; she knew these people were followers of Dusk. Their respect for her was likely due to her ‘sister.’ They might consider her the eldest daughter of Echis, the leader of Dusk’s demon faction. If mortals worshipped deities and Martha, then among the idols these people fervently believed in, Dark Kehua held a place.
Although she had a simple mind, she couldn’t help but sigh internally, realizing they merely wanted to believe in the ‘facts’ they wished to believe.
“Then I request that you let them go, alright?” she asked softly.
“Unfortunately, we cannot.”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll get angry? I’ll tell my sister.” Kehua pouted.
“Lady Kehua won’t blame us for this; these people—” He glanced back, “are your enemies, right?”
“I won’t fight anyone; they aren’t my enemies.”
“At least they are your sister’s, right? Our little princess.” The knight’s lips curled up.
Kehua closed her mouth and looked at the trembling Shi Do: “Then at least let her go; she’s just a child and poses no threat to you.”
The knight turned back, nodded, and the Black Knight beside Shi Do retracted his sword, causing the scholar to appear limp as she slowly collapsed to the ground and burst into tears. The knight frowned, glancing outside, but the battle outside was intense, and no one noticed the commotion here. He sighed in relief and turned back to Kehua, saying, “Please stay here, Miss Kehua.”
Kehua looked at him but did not answer; she merely retreated to sit down. She looked at Shi Do, who was crying messily, and offered a comforting look. The latter gazed back at her gratefully, her sobs gradually quieting.
The knight nodded in satisfaction, raising his right hand to signal his colleagues, a small team of Black Knights wielding longbows approached cautiously from behind, careful as they neared the cave entrance. Haruz, dazed, watched the scene unfold, and when he saw the Black Knights approaching the entrance, he suddenly realized what they were about to do, becoming terrified; he opened his mouth, ready to shout. But before he could, two feet suddenly appeared in front of him, and he looked up to see the knight looking down at him: “If I were you, Prince Younger, I would obediently keep my mouth shut.”
…
“What is he doing?”
The Young Female Dragon and Medisa lay side by side under a crack in the ice, not far from them, Anlek was limping toward an exit ahead. He seemed heavily injured; every few steps he took, he had to stop to rest. He didn’t look like a duke at that moment but rather like a beggar, his messy silver-gray hair tousled, deep wrinkles furrowed on his forehead, face pale and sweaty, and his chest heaving like a broken bellows. After resting for a while, he forced himself up, continuing toward the exit.
But not long after, he fell on the slippery, cold ground. Struggling to crawl a short distance, he stopped again. This time, Alorze and Medisa watched him stop for a long while—it was at least a quarter of an hour—before he despondently sat up, stood wobbling for a moment, and continued toward the exit.
“He seems to be going somewhere.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“He seems to know the way here.”
Alorze and Medisa exchanged glances, nodded, and then quietly crawled out from under the crack, stealthily following him. Anlek was completely unaware of anyone tailing him. After he exited, he continued along the winding paths and corridors in a certain direction, seemingly familiar with the place. Whenever he reached a fork in the road, he hesitated briefly, then decisively chose a direction.
Having once served as the commander of the Silver Elves, Medisa had a strong sense of direction. After a few turns, she judged that Anlek was heading north. Soon, the traces of artificial structures disappeared, and in front of Anlek appeared a naturally formed glacier crevice. Alorze and Medisa saw him rest for a moment at the glacier entrance, pull something from under his clothing, bite it twice, and chew it painfully—Alorze’s keen eyes recognized it as a piece of dried meat.
“He’s replenishing his energy,” she said excitedly. “That means we must be getting close to the destination; he didn’t do that before.”
“Replenishing energy for what?” Medisa asked, a bit confused.
“Who knows,” Alorze shrugged casually. “Let’s follow and see.”
“Should we subdue him first?” Medisa hesitated, feeling a bit uneasy.
“No need—” Alorze shook her head. “What if he hasn’t arrived yet? This guy is stubborn; he certainly won’t lead us.”
The Silver Elf Princess thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Just as the two were whispering to each other, Lord Anlek had devoured the food in his hand. He pulled out a handful of white powder from his pocket and held it in his hand for a moment before frowning and swallowing it with difficulty. Alorze and Medisa saw that it was snow, presumably saved by Anlek earlier in the crevice, and thankfully, the temperature beneath the ice hadn’t melted it. This action further confirmed Alorze’s guess.
After drinking the snow water, Anlek coughed twice hoarsely, clearly feeling overwhelmed. But he slowly stood up without much hesitation, swaying as he walked directly into the glacier. Seeing this, Alorze became excited again and quickly waved to Medisa; the two girls followed closely behind.
The glacier was very long, with a dim blue light. After walking a short way, Alorze suddenly turned around and patted Medisa’s shoulder. “Medisa, do you hear any sounds?”
In the dark environment, her golden eyes appeared particularly bright, sparkling within. Medisa glanced at her and nodded, as she had heard sounds from the other end of the glacier, enhanced by her long pointed ears.
“It’s thunder.”
“That means we’re in the right place,” Alorze replied, somewhat excited. “He must have some scheme, but Lady Martha is clearly on our side; he’s doomed.”
Medisa’s expression turned strange as she looked at Alorze, revealing a hint of anxiety. “Either way, let’s hurry, Alorze; I’m worried we’ll be late.”
“What? Why are you in such a rush?”
“I… I think I heard Lord’s voice.”
“What!?”
The exit at the other end of the glacier was on a cliff, outside the exit lay a deep gorge about twenty to thirty meters long. At this moment, outside the gorge, lightning seemed to weave into a terrifying storm, ravaging the entire valley. Because of the gorge’s existence, it was hard for those on the platform where Dark Kehua was located to see the glacier exit, while Anlek stood at the exit, surveying the battle below.
His claw-like, pale hands gripped the ice surface tightly, his face cold as he looked down at Veronika, Mephistopheles, Charles, Brendel, and others engaged in a fierce battle with Kehua. A hint of cold laughter appeared on his gray face, as if the earlier despair had been swept away in that moment. But suddenly, he felt his heart begin to pound violently again, and he hurriedly pressed his hand to his chest, a cold sweat forming on his face, as if receiving instruction from someone, nodding carefully, then shaking his head, and finally frowning before nodding once more.
“I understand, Lady Kehua.”
“Yes.”
In the end, he seemed to mutter those two phrases to himself. Alorze and Medisa, hiding behind the interwoven gaps of the glacier, saw him pull a dagger from his boot and start carving on the ice layer. Just a moment later, they saw he was drawing a circular magic circle.
“It should be Kehua summoning him here; no wonder he can discern the maze-like paths below,” Medisa realized. “Alorze, can you recognize what kind of magic circle he is drawing?”
“It looks like a guiding magic circle.”
“A guiding magic circle?” Medisa, aware that the battle situation below was critical, felt anxious, wishing she could immediately summon a unicorn to fly down and fight alongside Brendel. But she still understood the order of importance; Lord had not yet discovered Anlek’s presence here, as while a direct attack could be blocked, stealthy assaults were difficult to guard against. She had to subdue Anlek first.
“You’ve seen those large magic circles, right? Like the Silver Elves’ war teleportation circle. Large magic circles cannot be activated solely by an individual’s magical power, and this guiding magic circle is a ritual magic circle that automatically gathers magic power to activate large magic circles,” Alorze said, her golden flames flashing in her eyes, licking her sharp fangs with her tongue. “I understand. The Cruzian Flame Gate, the materials must have been stolen and are with him; Kehua wants him to open the teleportation gate here to summon demons to fight for her.”
“We absolutely cannot let him succeed,” Medisa couldn’t help but blurt out.
“Naturally.”
The Young Female Dragon sneered, nodding proudly—if she had a tail, it would surely be pointing straight up.
Anlek, breathlessly finishing the first magic circle, realized that for a large teleportation circle like the Flame Gate, one guiding magic circle would definitely not be enough. He wiped the sweat from his brow and tremblingly moved to the side, preparing to start drawing the second magic circle. But just then, he noticed a pair of shoes—specifically, a pair of light brown calfskin boots, with iron caps on the toes and silver plating. He was very familiar with these boots because it was their owner who had snatched the “Heart of the Dragon” from him; he certainly wouldn’t mistake them.
He suddenly froze there.
“Keep drawing,” the Young Female Dragon said with a playful smile. “Why have you stopped? I think you’re drawing the magic circle quite well.”
Anlek suddenly shivered as if under a spell, with a manic roar, he lunged at Alorze. But she stood still, merely looking at him with a smile. Before he could reach her, he tripped over something, landing heavily on the ice. Anlek let out a cry of misery, and then felt something cold pressed against his neck.
He didn’t need to look back to understand what it was—he had already seen the silvery long arrow pressed against his cheek.
“Human, are you feeling very regretful right now?” the Young Female Dragon said conceitedly, casually placing the star-shaped stone on the ground, then sitting on it, looking down at the disheveled Anlek and saying, “But don’t worry; you won’t be in danger for now. I’ll use you as a bargaining chip. Ha ha! Let’s see what Brendel does now!”
The Young Female Dragon was brimming with pride, while Medisa wasn’t as optimistic.
In fact, the Silver Elf Princess worryingly called out, “Alorze, sister—”
“What’s wrong?”
“Look over there.”
“What?”
“Isn’t that the Black Knight…?”
…
After settling Himelam, Brendel did not return directly to the platform but instead maneuvered through the entwined passages below the platform to approach Dark Kehua from behind. He knew that Kehua had automatically removed her divine barrier by this time; although her attack power had increased a hundredfold, her defense had significantly weakened. After all, she wasn’t a true god and couldn’t achieve an absolute difference in strength.
At this moment, Dark Kehua finally noticed that someone was missing from the battlefield in front of her. Subconsciously, she turned her head but only saw Brendel’s silhouette disappearing in that direction in an instant.
In that moment, she instinctively felt danger.
As if driven by instinct, dense electric light quickly converged from the front half of the platform to the back half. Although even Kehua herself couldn’t articulate why she felt that Brendel, who was merely at the elemental awakening level, was more dangerous than the Sword Saint above her, she had once been a demigod; now, compounded by Milos’s domain and divine office, her sensitivity was heightened a hundredfold, and her premonition was equally precise. Deities often believe in their premonitions, just as Martha could foresee the decline of the gods and the world at the beginning of creation.
The dense white beams of light converged like an electrical wall, crackling against the platform, forming dozens of dazzling golden lines in the back half of the platform, as though even the platform were on the verge of melting.
But these intertwining lightning bolts couldn’t stop Brendel.
Everyone saw Brendel’s figure flickering like a specter, continuously disappearing and reappearing. The lightning passed through his form as if breaking through a fading illusion, and in an instant, he had rushed through the storm of lightning to stand in front of Kehua. When Brendel had previously struck at Charles, no one had noticed that subtle detail on the battlefield, but at this moment, it could not be more apparent.
“Flash Sword—” Veronika almost exclaimed.
Meanwhile, in the ice cavern, Rainwright and Shi Do also couldn’t help but look stunned.
Brendel had already swung his sword down toward Kehua.
But at this moment, Dark Kehua let out a sigh of relief. She coldly stared at the sword tip approaching her, her tone icy enough to be frightening: “The Dragon race’s mastery of space manipulation is also derived from the Dusk lineage; how dare you show off in front of me!” As her words fell, countless bolts of lightning intertwined before her, as though even space trembled, forcefully blocking Brendel’s strike.
In that moment, Veronika, Rainwright, and Shi Do were all left in shock.
The Flash Sword was blocked.
This was almost inconceivable; the Flash Sword technique of the Flame King Gilt was revered as a divine swordsmanship in Cruz. Once this swordsmanship, inherited from the Dragon race, locked onto a target, the outcome for that target was either being hit or narrowly dodging within that one-thousandth of a second after the blade emerged from the rifts of space—there were almost no third options.
Yet now, before them, the Flash Sword had been forcefully interrupted mid-way.
In the trembling space amid the thunder, everyone felt their hearts tremble in resonance—what kind of power is this?
However, among everyone, only Brendel maintained his composure. Although he was slightly surprised, he understood that the Flash Sword was merely a secret technique of the Dragon race. In fact, the gap in power between the Dragon race and a being of the level of Echis’s daughter was substantial. Thus, it did not surprise him that Kehua possessed skills to counter the Flash Sword; after all, the Dragon race and the Dusk lineage were old rivals.
But just when everyone thought he would return empty-handed, Brendel suddenly retracted the Earth Sword and swung once more at Kehua.
“Coming again?”
Seeing this guy’s audacity, Dark Kehua couldn’t help but smirk in anger.
…
PS: This is the first chapter of the weekend. There will be another around 8 PM. Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.
