Chapter 88: Act 24 – The Lionheart Sword
“This sentence was not originally meant for you, but I believe you can handle it,” Aibodun said after a moment of silence, raising his head to look at the young man.
Brendel sat on his horse, hesitatingly gripping the reins for a while without answering.
Aibodun knew that he would not fully trust himself, but he did not mind. The Undead Knight straightened his chest—raising his sword against his left knee, with his right knee on the ground, resting both hands on the pure silver bracers of Pale Tooth, he recited, “When the Twin Moons Shine Together, the King sleeps in the valley, the shadow of the holly tree points to the northwest, the stars fade, and the dawn descends with authority—”
Brendel’s expression remained unchanged as he passed Aibodun on horseback, then turned his horse around to return. There were many puzzles like this in the game, but he had never been particularly good at them—“When the Twin Moons Shine Together” surely referred to the time when both moons of Vaunte appeared in the sky together. The phrase “the King sleeps in the valley” first made him think of the Sacred Bones site, but he quickly recalled it could also refer to the tomb of some former king of Erluin.
The shadow of the holly tree pointing to the northwest made Brendel furrow his brow slightly; it seemed that Erluin should not have holly trees. Was it merely a metaphor, or did it reference some noble’s emblem? However, holly trees represented the sacred in Vaunte, and there were numerous noble families with holly leaves in their coats of arms in Erluin.
As for “the stars fade, and the dawn descends with authority,” Brendel could not decipher what it referred to at all.
Aibodun intentionally gave him a moment of time. When he saw Brendel raise his head again, he continued, “The double-faced statue is silent. Has the oath of the wise been forgotten? The Emerald Lake, the Saintly White Mountain, the stone among stones, the sword among swords—”
“Wait!” Brendel suddenly raised his hand to stop him; he felt a surge of inexplicable excitement. The “sword among swords”? Could it be that Aibodun was talking about the real Lionheart Sword?
The Lionheart Sword was a sword passed down through the generations of Erluin’s first king, ‘Merciful Eke.’ But the Lionheart Sword was not only a symbol of the Lionheart dynasty; it was also one of the four holy relics of Cruz back in the day—however, since Eke took it out of the Empire, it had become a symbol of the Erluin royal family.
What was little known was that the Lionheart Sword had actually been lost during Erluin’s civil war. Each succeeding king had only carried a replica, but very few knew this secret, and if it were to be leaked, it would likely cause a tremendous uproar.
Brendel himself only learned about this after Erluin’s fall.
If Aibodun was indeed speaking of the Lionheart Sword, then the latter half of the riddle made sense. The “oath of the wise” should refer to Eke’s holy knight’s oath made with the Lionheart Sword, to lead the people of the southern empire out of the haughty and greedy nobles—he rose up in rebellion, and the meaning of mercy in his title came from this.
But what did the Emerald Lake, the Saintly White Mountain, and the stone among stones mean? Brendel found himself at a loss.
It seemed that the real Lionheart Sword possessed the power to determine the rise and fall of a kingdom; it appeared true, as ever since Erluin lost the real Lionheart Sword, it gradually declined and ultimately met its demise. However, Brendel did not believe this reasoning; a kingdom’s fate had little to do with a sword. Regardless of how legendary this sword was, it was merely a way to shirk responsibility.
He could not help but be curious about what made this sword legendary and why it was so widely circulated in bardic tales. According to discussions on the forum, it was at least a golden-tier fantasy weapon.
So he could not resist asking, “What is the Emerald Lake?”
Unexpectedly, Aibodun shook his head: “I do not know. I just often think of these two phrases and even recall a holy oath that constrains me. But I do not know where these memories come from or why they are so pervasive.”
“Not every Undead enjoys reminiscing,” Brendel replied, suddenly sensing that Aibodun might not have been such a simple person in life; at least in his memories, Aibodun had no ties to royalty.
“I am a bit special; I understand that,” Aibodun replied, adjusting his helmet and continued, “Most Undead living in darkness possess wisdom, but I am different from them, so I do not trust them. However, when I see you, young man, I feel that perhaps you can help me unravel this riddle.”
Brendel did not respond; he observed Aibodun speaking with sincerity, yet he would not easily trust. He pondered what the Emerald Lake, the Saintly White Mountain, and the stone among stones might be.
Suddenly, he noted the phrase “the double-faced statue is silent,” and shivered involuntarily.
The double-faced statue being silent—could it refer to the stone sage in the southern basin of Rendener? The more Brendel thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. If the clues were to be found on that stone sage, then it would be troublesome; getting the stone sage to speak would at least require the Sage’s Tablet.
But where would he go to get the Sage’s Tablet? The nearest one was supposed to arrive in Bruglas in half a month, selling for five hundred thousand Tor. That was no small sum!
The only consolation was that the basin where the stone sage resided was in the same direction as what he needed to do next, which could save him a significant amount of time. Brendel did not have much time to spare.
Having thought through these points, he settled back in his saddle and asked, “Is that all you have to say?”
Aibodun nodded. “I have one more request.”
“Go ahead.”
Brendel glanced back; under Retao and Mano’s command, the battle in the valley was nearing its end.
Aibodun removed the badge from his chest and said, “I hope to die like a true knight, at least allowing my sword and armor to accompany me forever. This badge is called the Lion Badge, possessing powerful magical properties. It has no meaning to me now, so I will pass it on to you—also, this is my pouch; it contains some items that might be useful to you.”
Brendel knew that if he wanted, he could obtain not only these items but also Pale Tooth; he originally intended to give that sword to Freya. However, he looked at this ‘White Knight’ and finally nodded.
Both of them understood that oaths meant little between a dead man and a living one; it was better to believe each other’s promises. Aibodun shared all this with him, probably because he trusted him. Just that alone compelled Brendel to keep his word.
Of course.
Aibodun must die; the refugees would not tolerate a high-ranking Undead general among them.
Brendel took the badge, glancing at the brass surface engraved with a lion’s head: “Lion Badge, Conflict Aura +1.” A skill badge! Brendel nearly dropped the badge from his hand in shock; Conflict Aura was the core skill of the Sanctuary Knight, with a maximum level of twenty-nine. Non-specialists could only cultivate it to level ten, initially adding 1 point of protection, with an additional 0.5 points of protection for each level below level ten. After level ten, each level increased by 1 point of protection, with the increase after level twenty forming an arithmetic series.
In other words, at level 21, Conflict Aura added 2 points of protection, at level 22 added 3 points, and so forth. Originally, this skill could add 10 points of protection at level 29, but this badge added an extra level, giving a free additional 11 points of protection!
What did 11 points of protection mean? It was roughly equivalent to 14mm of frontal armor, almost equivalent to the defensive power of three full sets of plate armor.
The moment Brendel held this badge, he defined his advancement path: Sanctuary Knight! Because he also knew of a full steel armor that added +1 Conflict Aura skill, along with a fierce lion shield that also added +1 Conflict Aura. This combination could grant him nearly 40 points of protection upon advancement to Sanctuary Knight.
That would be like a moving fortress, not just for him but for all soldiers within a sixty-foot range; they would all equate to moving tanks. What would it mean to charge into battle like that?
Brendel suddenly remembered that Aibodun had worn full steel armor back in the day. No wonder he was renowned for his terrifying defense during the later stages of Madara’s apocalypse among the Four Horsemen. Conqueror Aibodun was indeed the conqueror charging into battle.
However, despite the turmoil in his heart, he remained composed on the surface. After days of life-and-death experiences, Brendel felt he had grown increasingly mature compared to before. If this were a game, he would have boasted about obtaining such a badge.
He stored the badge away and opened Aibodun’s pouch, examining its contents. However, he quickly discovered that the White Knight’s collection was not abundant; it contained only some low-level materials, the most valuable being a few pieces of fine gold—materials for crafting full steel armor. It seemed this future Four Horseman of the Apocalypse was already making plans at this time; he was aware of the power of this badge.
Brendel could not help but glance up at Aibodun.
“Any other requests?” he asked.
Aibodun shook his head. “Please proceed.”
Brendel knew it would be quite dishonorable to let him die alone here; a knight deserved to die by an enemy’s hand on the battlefield, returning to the embrace of the earth. He did not have time to allow Aibodun to rest in peace, but he could at least fulfill his prior wish.
Charles drew his sword and stepped forward, but Brendel stopped him.
He himself, sweating profusely, drew the elven sword and exchanged a glance with Aibodun. Then he rode up, laboriously bent down, and plunged his sword into Aibodun’s chest.
Aibodun cracked a smile, the flames in his eye sockets flickering.
“I shared so much with you from my memories in life, young man.”
“It is because until this very moment, I am still Aibodun of Madara.”
“I should perhaps thank you for granting me release—”
The Undead Knight sighed, “But likewise, I died bearing the identity of a noble of darkness. Ever lost Madara, symbolizing the immortal flame; I simply did not expect to lose…”
The soul fire in his eye sockets ultimately dimmed.
The ‘White Knight’ Aibodun had finally died, and Brendel understood that from this moment on, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of Madara would no longer exist. He quietly looked at the remains of Aibodun, then watched the silver light rise from his remnants, merging into his body. It felt like a warm power evenly permeating through him—he had never felt such during experience absorption before, but at this moment, Brendel understood it was power, pure soul power.
He gained a whopping 1,300 experience points from this level thirty commander, and combined with the total from the several battles before and after, he had received nearly two thousand experience points within these few hours since killing Sasal.
It seemed like he had more than enough to level up, but Brendel did not act on that impulse; he suppressed it, realizing he needed to reserve experience for what lay ahead. After all, he had much to do after the war ended. He looked up at the sky; the dark clouds dispersed at this moment, revealing a cross-shaped constellation shining against the dark sky.
The Throne of the Knight King.
Then he raised the white deer statue in his hand, watching the graceful creature reveal itself from the mountain peak on one side and then turn to disappear in the northeast.
Brendel turned around to see Retao riding up.
“We’ve found many zombies on the hills to the left and right…” Retao spoke in a low voice.
“I understand; there’s not much time left,” Brendel replied calmly. “Therefore, let the refugees hurry on, as we have little time to waste.”
……
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