Chapter 932: Act 105 – Nature Affinity Emblem IV
The spatial collapse triggered by the magical disintegration of the dimensional hole is a probability that is quite low, not much higher than being struck by lightning on a clear, cloudless day; furthermore, the Earth Sword, as a genuine artifact, certainly cannot be destroyed that way. At most, it may just be lost in some unknown space, perhaps tucked away in an obscure corner of the Vaunte continent, or in an elemental plane, or worse luck, in one of countless shattered demi-planes or bits of space outside the bounds of Tiamat’s laws—should the Earth Sword end up in such places, it may take a mortal a lifetime to recover it, but for a dragon, it might someday be found again.
After all, time is not a barrier for dragons; they possess the gift of immortality.
Do Modest and Gwendolyn dare to gamble? Brendel closely observed the two dragons, discerning from their expressions that they did not dare to take that risk. Even with a one in ten-thousand or a one in a million chance, who could be certain that Lady Martha wouldn’t be joking with them? Brendel keenly sensed their hesitations; although he had previously deduced a similar conclusion from their firm tones, this time it was confirmed—what Gwendolyn and Modest intended to do with the Earth Sword was also a one-time opportunity they could not afford to squander.
Brendel let out a quiet sigh of relief. While this didn’t mean he had evaded danger, it indicated that he could buy himself more time.
Now the two sides were nearly back on equal footing.
Though Modest and Gwendolyn still held the initiative.
“Mortal, your idea is quite dangerous,” the Queen of Dragons replied coldly, her voice carrying a chill that seemed to send a frost sweeping through the entire valley. “Are you implying that you wish to threaten us?”
“Dragon lady, I have no other choice,” Brendel answered calmly, spreading his hands in a gesture of helplessness. It was the first time QiYala saw this street-smart side of the Lord Earl; however, her admiration for his fearless composure made her eyes shine slightly. She thought that this rogue was not as useless as the rumors suggested—previously, Brendel had always held a position of advantage, confident and commanding; now, in a state of severe disadvantage, with lives at stake, he still maintained his poise, which made her look at him anew.
That indifference to life and death, the characteristics of a gambler who was all-in, astonished QiYala, who was used to the cautious nature of the kingdom’s nobility. She had never encountered a noble like this before.
However, QiYala felt more annoyance; this guy was provoking these two dragons and was likely to make matters even worse. There were indeed alternatives to solving this—didn’t he know he could stroke the dragons’ vanity instead? He was really such a fool. What she couldn’t comprehend was why he was fixated on that subordinate of his; wasn’t she just a pawn? Given their current position, he should have learned the wisdom of preserving the queen by sacrificing the pawn. Kindness and naivety were not fated to mix with nobility—he had more than one subordinate; at least in this embassy, there were all of them! She couldn’t help but clench her small canine teeth, puzzled by how this damn fool’s head worked.
She tugged at Brendel’s sleeve several times in secret, but he seemed to know what she was going to say and turned a deaf ear. Ms. QiYala was filled with both fear and frustration; if she had been taller and more noticeable, she might have interrupted the two dragon ladies herself to negotiate her terms.
Romaine was quite well-behaved, always unconditionally trusting Brendel in his presence, but that didn’t mean Merchant Miss was obedient and sensible; it was likely just her mentality stemming from relying on the tall fellow to cover her when the sky fell.
Among the four, only the sprite stood petrified in fear, while Xainne hid in her hood, mumbling to herself.
After hearing Brendel’s response, both dragons’ expressions darkened considerably, yet they hesitated to reply.
Brendel waited silently.
In fact, he found it rather strange, wondering if this issue truly posed that much difficulty for the two dragons? Their enemy was the Crusian, and it was almost the same for him. He wasn’t even asking for help to reclaim Xi; all he wanted was a promise that he could safely leave Anziluwa and reach the imperial capital, to create trouble for the Crusian—clearly, both sides had the same interest, yet the dragons were adamant against it. Was the dignity of a dragon truly that valuable?
The dragons he had encountered in “Amber Sword” were nothing like this; they resembled Alorze and Shi Ta more, shrewd and pragmatic.
Brendel sensed there was something odd; he repeatedly considered the request he had put forth, trying to pinpoint where their interests had diverged, but no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t find a clue—these two dragons truly seemed insane. That was his only conclusion.
Brendel remained in wait; he had laid down his final card and now only awaited their response.
To his disappointment, Gwendolyn ultimately shook her head.
“Mortal, your request will not change?” The Queen of Dragons asked with indifference.
Brendel nodded.
“Perhaps you still harbor hope,” Gwendolyn seemed very unhappy to be saying such soft words, but she furrowed her brows and continued, “I must let you understand one thing—having the Earth Sword in your dimensional hole is indeed a troublesome matter. However, it is not insurmountable for the dragon race; we simply do not wish to waste time unnecessarily. If you believe that a dimensional hole alone can intimidate us, you are gravely mistaken.”
The Queen’s voice resonated throughout the valley, and Brendel frowned slightly after hearing her words. He certainly knew she was right; his trump card was indeed not insurmountable for them—firstly, as he had previously anticipated, even if the Earth Sword was lost, they could still retrieve it, albeit it would require a considerable investment of time and immense human and material resources.
Additionally, there was a second possibility: they could subdue him before killing him. If he lost consciousness, then opening the dimensional hole would not be that hard for the dragons.
Two adult dragons could easily restrain him.
Provided he didn’t have the Time Slip.
And now, the other party could easily turn the tables if they weren’t careful.
Brendel understood perfectly well what Modest and Gwendolyn truly feared.
After finishing her warning, Gwendolyn paused for a moment and continued, “I don’t understand why you are so obstinate; she is merely a human woman, without notable lineage or background, the only thing she can rely on is the Azure Spear. Yet since you clearly have no regard for the Azure Spear, why persist in this matter? Don’t you realize that she is currently at the vortex’s center, a potential threat to you? What you should be doing is to distance yourself from her rather than rush blindly in.”
The Queen’s words turned chilling at the end: “Don’t be foolish, you are smart enough not to miss the pros and cons here, little one; I am warning you for your grandfather’s sake.”
In some ways, Gwendolyn’s words held merit—
There would inevitably be many things in this world that could not be done as one wished.
There is a stark difference between hoping and achieving.
The ideal in one’s heart but ultimately standing still—that is the norm in most cases; humanity tends to seek benefits and avoid harm, which springs from the animal instinct of self-preservation.
Before Brendel stood two dragons and a powerful empire, while behind him, the Erluin people, even among themselves, were not united—the kingdom must protect its every citizen—but even he knew that this statement within the kingdom would elicit admiration from any noble as a resounding quote. Yet in reality, everyone understood this to simply be a subconscious slogan that sounds good but is hardly put into practice.
After all, they were Crusian.
Let alone the two dragons standing before him, to an outsider, Brendel’s choice to retreat at this moment would face no moral issues—indeed, he has done well enough; how many lords would dare to deliberately create chaos in the empire for a subordinate? Simply on that point, in the entire Erluin, no one could claim that he was a vain and hypocritical villain using a noble cause as a pretext.
The reason is simple: if you are unconvinced, why not challenge the empire?
Yet human strength is finite.
Gwendolyn’s statement was already the most considerable concession; QiYala couldn’t contain her anxiety, realizing that even the dragons had offered a way out. If he persisted now, it would indeed spell certain doom. Sacrificing the pawn to save the queen is a simple enough principle; she couldn’t fathom why this thick-headed fool remained silent.
Brendel indeed did not give an immediate answer.
While he didn’t understand why Gwendolyn and Modest insisted on making his life difficult, the facts were laid bare; if he wished to reach Rustra, he must first overcome this obstacle.
About what choice he should make—
Brendel didn’t think much, for he already had an answer.
At that moment, he felt like a patient suffering from late-stage chūnibyō, detached from reason and logic. He told himself—if I abandon Xi, then what do I have left? Reflecting on his entire series of experiences since arriving in this world, he concluded that every single action he took, however unclear, always adhered to that same belief. He did not seek logic, but rather peace of heart—if he forsook this belief, then why did he come to this world?
Brendel believed he could not convince himself otherwise.
In that case.
He decided to go for it.
One can pause, but cannot leave behind regrets.
“Well,” Brendel replied, “the negotiations have broken down.”
He stated, “Actually, I regret it too.”
“But I still don’t understand,” Brendel shook his head, genuinely puzzled, “what is so offensive about my requests to the esteemed ladies?”
QiYala nearly jumped up.
She was utterly stunned. She had once thought that Brendel would definitely back down, but unless he was truly insane would he go down with the ship over such matters. Though she had come to know over their time spent together that he had a fundamentally decent character, there were many upright individuals in Erluin who would never risk a conflict with two dragons over such a matter.
Even if some people could disregard their own lives, the question was, what about Brendel as a lord? What about his other subordinates? Did he not care about them? Would they allow their lord to act so recklessly?
This was simply a joke.
She instinctively glanced at Romaine, but the Merchant Miss had an expression as if it was only natural for Brendel to make such a choice; it would have been bizarre otherwise. QiYala couldn’t help but feel anger bubbling up—didn’t these people realize that they were about to become succulent barbecues? What kind of people were the Merchant Lady and that thick-headed lord over there?
At that moment, Brendel took a step back.
QiYala was startled by this move, and with her intelligence, she could certainly discern that this Lord Earl was going to fight with all his might—by this point, she had no time to think about irrelevant matters. In the internal circle of the Siphai family, she was known as a small genius, but her much more exceptional brother had perpetually overshadowed her, keeping her notoriety hidden. QiYala had always been confident in her intellect, and even in this perilous moment, she was no exception.
Though originally annoyed at Brendel holding her back, the moment he moved, she immediately made a clear judgment of the current situation and recognized what she ought to do.
“Hey, since you’ve decided to act this way—damn it, you’re such a foolish idiot—whatever, what’s done is done. I have something to tell you,” she initially hoped Brendel would relent but quickly shouted decisively: “They cannot help you; you must not hope that these two dragons will change their minds because they are on the side of the Silver Queen. The only traitor within the empire is Her Majesty the Queen!”
Upon hearing this, Brendel halted in his tracks; the action he had prepared to take froze. He could not help but stare at QiYala in amazement, wondering what kind of madness this girl was suddenly caught up in, or if she had been scared silly enough to start talking nonsense.
QiYala’s voice echoed in the valley, surprising Gwendolyn and Modest, who were prepared to subdue Brendel. They halted, gazing curiously at the little girl beside him—previously, they had never paid attention to her, but now, QiYala’s words had pulled their thoughts back to reality. The expressions on their faces clearly showed that she was not lying; on the contrary, she had guessed everything perfectly.
“There’s no time to explain,” QiYala replied sharply, grabbing Brendel’s arm and quickly summarizing the intelligence gained from Poli Fireanvil and Sargoss before loudly shouting, “Quick, take us away from here! Despite your foolishness, you’re not truly insane—I know you must have a way!”
She understood perfectly that once she revealed these secrets, there would be no turning back for either side.
And that was exactly her intention.
Since she had noticed Brendel intending to fight to the death, she had to ensure that this thick-headed fool didn’t waver and endanger them all, putting his doubts about the two dragons to rest; she certainly did not want to have a dumbass carelessly cause their deaths. Brendel, of course, had no idea that in QiYala’s mind, he already equated to a muscle-bound fool, but her sudden shift in attitude still startled him. He immediately pulled QiYala towards him while grabbing the sprite and having Romaine clutch his arm.
At least QiYala had said one thing right.
He certainly was not completely without means to fight back.
At that very moment, Brendel activated the Time Slip, but this time, he did not just activate it fleetingly and then shut it off. For the first time, he sustained the use of this wonderful artifact, the scene around them rapidly slowed down by ten times—the drifting leaves, the flickering flames, and the dancing dust created a strangely surreal landscape.
In that moment, this world slowed down to a tenth of its speed for Brendel and his companions—or conversely, it hastened for the two dragons, Gwendolyn and Modest.
Brendel calculated how much time he would need and then bitterly realized he would at least need to maintain the Time Slip for ten minutes to have a safe chance to escape into that underground passage without being pursued by the two dragons.
Ten minutes.
This was a rhythm that felt like returning to the past.
Simultaneously, there was yet another issue: Gwendolyn and Modest would have to be unable to break through his Time Slip.
Gwendolyn and Modest looked at Brendel’s form as it flashed away, and from their elevated position, there was not much surprise on their faces; after all, they had already been aware of the Time Slip’s existence. The Dragon Queen exchanged a glance with Modest, who nodded slightly in response.
The two dragons simultaneously spread their wings and soared from the valley.
……
(Note: As for why there was an III yesterday, it was to confuse the mechanism; the power of the mechanism is so great that I had to act in a low-key manner. So if in the future you see any errors in titles or such… it’s definitely the scheme of the mechanisms, no need to be alarmed.)
