Chapter 816: Act 165 – Space-Time
Brendel also used the technique of the Flash Sword to maneuver to Kehua’s side, only to hear a cold snort nearby. Kehua seemed to have already sensed his intentions, gracefully shifting her slender arms within the electric cocoon, turning toward him. Her five fingers spread open, and a searing white line came rushing from all directions, intertwining to form a round shield. Only then did she turn her head back, her silver-white eyes filled with icy contempt as she looked pityingly at Brendel.
Brendel merely smiled slightly.
The Dark Kehua paused, furrowing her brows.
In Brendel’s hand, the blade of the Earth Sword continued to advance. The black edge should have been blocked by the circular shield woven from electric light—but indeed, as the space quaked violently, the sword could not advance even an inch; yet at the same time, everyone witnessed another scene: the black blade continued to press forward, striking heavily against Kehua’s shoulder. She let out a scream, akin to a falling meteor, crashing onto the platform.
It was as if two separate events were happening in parallel worlds, occurring independently before suddenly intertwining.
Within the entire cylindrical canyon, the flashes of lightning vanished completely, the white lines traversing the air seemingly never having existed in this world, and the platform’s length regained its tranquility, silent enough to hear a pin drop.
The Dark Kehua climbed up from the ground, looking at Brendel in shock and anger. Her left hand pressed against her snow-white shoulder, blood seeping continuously between her fingers—upon seeing this, Brendel understood that she was not purely an energy entity. Her state resembled that of Xi, being a semi-energy body. However, Xi’s semi-elementalization came from the power of elements, while this daughter of Echis derived her power from Milos.
So, it was just as he had conjectured.
“What… just happened?” Though the sword was poised at his neck, Phillas seemed entirely unafraid, still whispering to his fiancée.
“It’s… elemental energy,” Laurena said, her throat feeling somewhat dry.
“The Earl of Toniger’s… element is…”
Brendel pursed his lips, maintaining the stance of striking the Dark Kehua as he floated in the air, watching the disheveled Kehua, surrounded by what seemed like swirling mist, while the golden threads of the law flickered away.
“Time…” The Dark Kehua squeezed out the word syllable by syllable: “Most—advanced—element.”
“Miss Kehua, if I’m not mistaken, you have no resistance to elemental power, do you?” Brendel asked with a slight smile, confidently.
The Dark Kehua’s expression darkened, her teeth clenched as she glared at Brendel, speechless.
“Because your own strength has yet to recover, you are relying on Milos’ power, right? However, within the laws of the gods, there exists only one type: absolute disparity. So, you have gained divinity, and also a domain, but these are merely authorities—you can manipulate lightning, even utilize divine barriers, but these are merely Milos’ staff. Before truly becoming a deity, you cannot obtain the laws of divine power.”
“What of it?” The Dark Kehua pressed her voice low to ask, her tone heavy, but Brendel could sense the tension within her.
“If you were Milos, then it would naturally be no problem, for even if Milos is not the Father of Giants, he is, as part of order, representative of a certain law. However, you are a creature of chaos—a creature of dusk lacks any law,” Brendel said, smiling somewhat indifferently but appearing extremely loathsome in the eyes of the Dark Kehua, continuing, “You should know what I am about to say.”
“Only laws… can counter laws… other powers… are but the dust of the mortal realm…”
In the space, the resonating voices of Brendel and Kehua echoed, while Shi Do murmured softly.
“You are somewhat mistaken,” the Dark Kehua said darkly, gritting her teeth. “In this world, there is not only the power of order; even order itself is merely a manifestation of chaos, and chaos is, in fact, the utmost law.”
Brendel nodded, “Indeed, in your prime, you would naturally look down on us, but now, you have just reawakened, merely donning the shell of Milos. And even this shell has a fatal flaw; you must feel regret: if I had discovered it just a moment later, you would have been flawless.”
The Dark Kehua was truly enraged now, her platinum eyes flashing with streaks of lightning—this was the second time Brendel had pierced through her disguise. She didn’t understand why he always seemed to discover her fatal weakness first—yet after several provocations, it finally ignited her rage: “You damned bastard!”
But she knew she could not act; the human in front of her was self-satisfied, presenting her a perfect opportunity. Energy surged continuously into her body. If she had just a quarter of an hour, she could borrow Milos’ corporeal revival to achieve complete rebirth.
At that time, these people before her would be mere insects—
But just then, the Dark Kehua sensed something strange; she stared at Brendel, who looked down at her, feeling as if he had seen through her thoughts. No, it was impossible; otherwise, why wouldn’t he take action? She pressed one hand against her shoulder, her eyes flashing with complex emotions. After a moment’s thought, she was about to speak to probe him, but Brendel smiled and interrupted, “Are you doubting why I am not pressing my advantage?”
The Dark Kehua seemed to have been struck at the heart by this sentence; her greatest fear had come to pass.
“It’s actually quite simple; my strength is only enough for me to stab forward with this sword,” Brendel continued, “but fortunately, I’m not the only one here.”
Brendel’s words disordered the Dark Kehua’s mind. Suddenly, she felt a cold chill rise from behind and quickly turned her head, only to see a gray sword’s blade reflected in her vision—its advance was silent and unannounced, carrying with it a gray domain that quietly moved forward, as if it were absorbing the sounds of the surroundings. The Gray Element! She immediately recognized it as the Sword Saint’s attack. Though his element could not compare to Brendel’s ‘Time’ in its malevolence, his personal strength—his Extreme Domain—caused her great dread.
Just as Brendel stated, she had no means to resist the strength of the law. In desperation, she rolled out of the way, avoiding the strike from the Gray Sword Saint.
Yet her evasive action only proved Brendel’s words right. Kehua herself was clearly aware of this fact, as she climbed up from the platform, her face now dark as iron.
Once the opportunity was seized, Mephistopheles immediately pressed the attack; the Dark Kehua had no chance to summon lightning. Without the authority of Milos as her shell, how could she, newly revived, hope to be the opponent of the Gray Sword Saint? In truth, if it wasn’t for her far richer battle experience compared to everyone present, she would have already been pinned to the platform by a sword.
Watching this scene, Veronika turned back, her eyes filled with intense curiosity: “How did you guess?”
In truth, the reason was simple. When this instance opened, players had not yet developed the concept of elements. If the BOSS in this instance had been able to manipulate elements, players of that era would have had no chance of victory. “Only laws can counter laws; other powers are but dust of the mortal realm…” This sentence was the title of the chapter that opened elements and was the core of the Tiamat law, which Brendel remembered vividly. With this preconception, he derived a conclusion and observed the Dark Kehua’s various performances, leading to the answer quite easily.
“The reason why my teacher’s gray domain destroyed her lightning so easily is that the gray domain is not a superior law; at least it does not surpass the law of lightning as an element. Moreover, my teacher’s strength, compared to her current state, is merely comparable, which raised my suspicion,” Brendel replied.
“Is that all?” Veronika appeared somewhat skeptical, not that she doubted him but simply instinctively felt that the little fellow couldn’t possibly divulge her doubts so straightforwardly.
“That’s all,” Brendel affirmed confidently.
Veronika fell silent for a moment before shaking her head with a wry smile: “Little fellow, I really don’t know whether it was good or bad to leave you in the Loop of Trade Winds back then. Although she can’t really be called a true god now, she certainly won’t be wrongfully dubbed a pseudo-god. A being so close to a deity is actually reduced to this state by your mere words. I really don’t know how to compliment you…”
Brendel smiled and shook his head: “The battle isn’t over yet, Lady Veronika. Kehua is the eldest daughter of Echis; she won’t surrender so easily.”
“What else can she do?” Veronika squinted skeptically. “She hasn’t become a god yet; only laws can counter laws.”
“Apart from her divinity, she has another authority from Milos,” Brendel said, staring at Kehua, who was fighting Mephistopheles below, word by word. “The domain.”
As if to verify Brendel’s words, the Dark Kehua suddenly let out an angry scream. In an instant, a pale blue static field expanded, centered around her body, enveloping the entire canyon. It resembled a rippling expansion wave, and as this expansion wave swept across everyone present, all felt as if their connection to the original world had been severed: that feeling was like remaining in the same place while seeing no change in the surroundings, yet feeling as though they had arrived in another world.
Brendel, Mephistopheles, Charles, Veronika, and the still-suspended Himelam felt it most acutely.
“What is this…” Charles’ eyes shimmered.
“A world constructed from the law of lightning,” Veronika closed her eyes, savoring the sensation. “Although it doesn’t belong to Kehua, it certainly is similar…”
“She aims to use Milos’ laws to offset the advantage our elements bring,” Brendel had long seen through Kehua’s trick, or rather, her means were merely within his anticipation. “The third phase has begun, Lady Veronika; I will be relying on you for what comes next.”
“What third phase?” The female commander of the Crusian people looked slightly stunned.
“It’s nothing; in such circumstances, you should be the fastest, so please take care of those pipes,” Brendel shook his head. “I must go assist my teacher.”
“You?” Veronika looked at him suspiciously. “Is that okay?”
Brendel paused for a moment.
Then replied, “It’d be best if there are no problems.”
…
The entire space in the canyon felt imprisoned, completely cloaked within the static field, with pale blue light flakes drifting in the air, while on the platform, another scene unfolded. Mephistopheles’ gray domain no longer enjoyed absolute dominance but was instead suppressed by the pale blue light, which had shrunk his range considerably. As he thrust his sword toward Kehua, the latter seemed to regain her ability to counterattack. She raised her bloody left hand, and her outstretched fingertips created ripples, causing the Gray Sword Saint’s sword to halt mid-air, as if it had struck against a divine barrier.
Mephistopheles frowned slightly; Kehua’s counterattack didn’t feel like a protective shield had been summoned but rather that his sword had stopped on its own accord, though it remained firmly in his grasp. This sensation felt exceedingly strange.
At this moment, Brendel landed beside him, standing shoulder to shoulder.
“What happened?” Mephistopheles asked.
Brendel shook his head; he only knew they should be within Milos’ domain, but he had never truly come into contact with a divine domain. The closest experience he had was with the law domain produced when the elements evolved to the Extreme Plain. In the Extreme Plain, the element power on one’s side would amplify hundreds of times while the power of the enemy would diminish correspondingly; if possible, everyone would try to avoid battling in their opponent’s domain.
The domain Kehua had unfolded was somewhat similar; at least, to him, it seemed that Mephistopheles’ gray domain was severely suppressed.
What puzzled him, however, was that Kehua was unfolding Milos’ domain while her own power should represent chaos. That is to say, within this domain, her own power would also be suppressed. But now, it appeared she felt no suppression whatsoever; she even floated back to hover above the platform, casting a malignant gaze toward him. “What is going on?” Brendel wondered, as it felt like the Dark Kehua had seamlessly fused into this domain.
But the Dark Kehua clearly no longer intended to give him the opportunity to think. Her earlier performance had already made her quite wary. She raised her hand and lightly pointed at the air before her.
“When Alga’s dragon soars through the sky, Jupiter shackles its wings after the north wind, and from that moment forth, the sky became insulated from these lowly creatures.”
“The Azure Poem?” Brendel was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding why Kehua suddenly recited this segment. He instinctively turned his head back only to see Charles, Veronika, and Mephistopheles standing stiffly, as if their time had been frozen, unmoving. Brendel’s expression changed dramatically as he suddenly realized what the Dark Kehua was up to—an incantation. But what incantation could compel an entity of the Extreme Realm, a Sword Saint at the pinnacle of laws, to submit? The truth was that incantations themselves merely represented a form of law, and theoretically, once one stepped into elemental evolution, such spells should lose their effect.
However, what Kehua was doing clearly contradicted Brendel’s understanding.
“An incantation?”
“How can you still move?” The two spoke together, questioning each other.
Yet a glimmer flashed in Kehua’s eyes as she reacted. “So it’s true; you are indeed a child of the gods. I know who you are now,” she paused for a while and replied darkly, “Odin, am I wrong?”
“You’ve mistaken me,” Brendel replied with a stern face, jokingly; there were so many people present, how could he possibly admit it?
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it,” Kehua scoffed. “But you can’t deceive anyone; only a child of the gods possesses such authority, even able to ignore the domain of the divine. But it’s a pity that the bloodline of those bastards Odin has, as the last generation, could bully mere mortals, is of no significance in battles at our level. You’ll soon understand that in my world, only my rules exist—”
Brendel paused slightly as she pointed a finger at him, exclaiming, “Alphons once witnessed everything in the ultimate battle. When countless armies surged toward him on the battlefield of Babel, he understood that an era had ended.”
Yet again, the Azure Poem.
But this time Brendel was already on guard; he quickly stepped back and tightened his grip on the Earth Sword. But just at that moment, a miracle occurred. He found himself still standing on the platform but felt the distance between himself and the Dark Kehua stretching; it appeared as though a vast plain had suddenly formed between them. In the distance, towering cliffs loomed over the horizon, and Kehua stood atop that cliff, looking down upon him. Behind her, below the cliff, a plain was becoming densely populated with flags.
Brendel recognized the emblems on those flags at a glance—Winter Wolf, Frost Leaf, Ice Blade; these were the clans of the frost giants from legend. He seemed to suddenly realize what was happening. On the horizon, the frost giant army was making its entrance.
He could hardly find words to describe what was unfolding before him. Though the two remained on the platform and felt that they were indeed there, what he saw was thousands of meters away from the Dark Kehua, a mighty army rapidly approaching. While this scene looked exceedingly bizarre, Brendel understood that what he witnessed was likely not an illusion, but something truly happening in this world of lightning.
This was Milos’ realm, the Storm Plain, the homeland of the frost giants.
But why could Kehua utilize Milos’ domain when her own laws should represent chaos?
Ps: The second chapter is sent; please vote for me!
