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Chapter 148 – Breaking dawn (1)
writer:Fei Yan      update:2022-07-25 14:23
  ============= Alistair’s POV ===========

  “Rage does not feed our stomachs, boy.” An old mercenary almost did not have the heart to lecture him: “You can bring up the laws of the kingdom all you want, but what use does it have if the sword is mightier than the pen? We have gathered in front of the city gates but they act as if we’re invisible. Why? Because they are not afraid of us in the least.”


  “Even if we attacked the city, are we capable of penetrating their defense lines and into the heart of the city? You should stop thinking of the impossible. Don’t forget that bastard has a full army that is no smaller than our numbers.” Another mercenary leader said.

  Alistair gritted his teeth and could not think of a way to refute these words, but he tried appealing to their pride.

  “Are we not capable of having a full-fledged battle against them, even if for just one day? Yes, we are adventurers and mercenaries, but do we not have the dignity and pride to defend our own? If we throw these away, are we nothing more than barbarians?”


  Silence greeted him, as the leaders were still hesitant even after Alistair’s attempt to rouse their anger. No one was willing to bend their knees, but if they chose to fight today, then it was very likely they would have no future standing in this kingdom.

  It was a path all too hard to cross.

  The young man sighed when he observed their faces: “My apologies. It seems that I have demanded too much from you. Very well, I know the positions you are in and I won’t force your hand. But the victims on the crosses demand an answer. If there is someone who needs to die fighting today, let it be my companions and I. The only thing I ask of you is not to forget this day when the baron took away your comrades’ lives and your dignity.”


  He took a few steps away from them before someone called out to him: “Young man! Have you forgotten what that lord told you? He will bring justice to us one day—”


  “And you believe him?” Alistair interrupted him, turning back with an incredulous voice: “Do you believe his perfunctory words? These nobles and lords are all—”


  He stopped talking.

  There was a strange commotion nearby them. The leaders immediately became alert and spurred towards the source while yelling at their men:

  “What are you lot doing! Stop your sniveling and get back into position!”


  “Captain, there seem to be more people coming up to the walls, they are being reinforced!” The mercenaries near the city’s gates yelled in response.

  The leaders frowned when they heard this reply.

  “Damn. They still have more men?” One of them made a face.

  “Aye, I understand why they are unafraid of us.”


  ============ Madara’s POV ===========

  When Rothko brought his men up the walls, he discovered the black patches of something in the darkness interspersed with camp fires were all humans—


  The youth with pale skin and a grey undertone under it, scoffed loudly.

  He turned back to the rows of soldiers covered in black robes behind him. Underneath the robes were skeleton soldiers, the basic unit of Madara’s merciless troops in the frontline. His eyes went back to the plains with irritation, but maintained a restrained tone when he spoke to the noble next to him:

  “Give the order, tell these mercenaries they have half an hour to leave this place, or be prepared to be killed without quarter.”


  His words were sharp like a blade.

  The noble looked carefully at him and affirmed quickly with a bowed head. Even though he was puzzled over where the strange army came from, he understood it was Graudin who sent them. He did not dare to ask the man in front of him if he was Graudin’s retainer.

  He did not suspect the mysterious soldiers beside him were Madara’s undead soldiers.

  Rothko hated the fact he was standing there. He would rather return to his study and analyze the research materials he stole from the human libraries.

  The noble walked to the center of the city walls. He was secretly delighted. The mercenaries who surrounded the city had caused him to be exceedingly displeased.

  [These commoners had the galls to stand up to us.]

  He never thought he would see the day where the mercenaries revolted. It was a loss of dignity, even if they did not attack the city. He raised his hand, and ordered one of the nearby acolyte wizard to come over: “Get your crystal ready.”


  The acolyte wizard did not waste any time and immediately activated the spell, Great Shout, on the crystal.

  The noble officer nodded with satisfaction, acting like a commander of a thousand-strong Aouine cavalry unit. He cleared his throat before he roared at the city below:

  “You wretched commoners, listen well!”


  The mercenaries’ heads rose up and they stopped what they were doing. They cast their gaze up on Firbugh’s walls and waited for the noble’s speech.

  But he did not continue his words—


  Shortly after the commander opened his mouth, he froze what he was doing and the crystal he was holding on to fell onto the ground. He stared blankly into to the distance.

  The mercenaries near the city wall who listened attentively to him, created a commotion filled with insults when he suddenly stopped talking, but they abruptly ceased talking and parted away to the sides; it was as though a giant monster was walking on the road and forced them to move away.

  The strange, invisible monster seemed to move towards the gate quietly.

  [What’s happening?]

  Rothko narrowed his eyes and looked to the distance like a statue.

  =========== Brendel POV ============

  The crowd was being parted by force. The campfire dimmed as the air around it started to cool rapidly. White frost visibly grew on the ground.

  Alistair had detected the commotion made from the back and diverted his attention there. He gasped when he saw the figures there.

  A youth was carrying a little girl and cantered towards the city walls. The aura around him was an invisible barrier of frost that forbade anyone from approaching him. Those who were slow to retreat from the cold air found it difficult to breathe.

  No one blocked his path, and a empty passage was extended between him and the southern Firbugh’s gate.

  The mercenaries who were trying to catch a glimpse of him, rallied behind Brendel from a fixed distance, almost appearing as if they had the relationship of a king and his knights.

  The youth dismounted and carried the little girl down. They walked before the city gates and stopped there.

  Everyone watched them silently.

  Sifrid looked up to him; her eyes were full of trust. He had led her across the dark passageway and wilderness during the night, his embrace chasing away the cold, and she felt nothing but warmth and peace.

  Brendel raised his head up and glared at the pale noble officer.

  “What did you want me to listen to,” The youth’s voice was not loud, but the silence in the area allowed them to hear what he said clearly: “Pawn?”


  The noble’s eyes saw near darkness. The youth had merely cast a lazy eye at him but he felt like he was stabbed in the chest and could not breathe. He turned his head around to Rothko’s direction, trying to beg for help, but he could not find his presence.

  Because of Brendel’s staggering pressure, he had no choice but to stutter: “I…… I want to t-t-tell you, that…… you are t-t-to leave, or…… you will be s-s-shown…… no mercy.”


  The mercenaries immediately caused a commotion. They knew the cold-blooded baron will not joke with them. With this threat, many of them wavered in their conviction.

  Brendel merely nodded.

  “Is that all?” He said.

  “T-t-that’s all……” The noble’s palms were sweaty. Even though the youth before him was far away, he felt that he was going to be cut down any moment.

  Brendel nodded again.

  “Now, it’s my turn to speak—”


  He took a step forward, his left hand raising his sword’s sheath, while his right hand drew out the blade; a vertical silver line seemed to be drawn in thin air—


  Except it was not a line but was a sword’s path, and it sliced the air apart in a silver shockwave that expanded from the silver line. Before the air rushed in the fill the void, the city gate was already dented inwards and shattered into dust in an instant. The rippling shockwave continued to travel upwards from the path, tearing apart the stone walls and grinding the rocks into dust—


  Brendel’s sword traveled over his head before he took a step back and returned the sword to the sheath, but once he did so, the sword broke into four pieces. The strength of a Gold-tier swordsman had caused the ordinary blade to break!

  volume 3 - c243

  Planewalker?

  The silhouette disappeared. Brendel hesitated before he raised Halran Gaia and chased after it. The endless passage was illuminated by the soft glow of the Stone in his hands. The walls were plastered with a type of cement that was commonly seen in most dungeons to waterproof them.

  The youth’s footsteps resonated louder, proving that there was a large cavity ahead. Brendel slowed down just to see the silhouette flashed in front of his face and fired two spikes of crystal at him.

  "Fuck!" He slashed in the air and shattered the crystal projectiles. He gritted his teeth and brushed his arms. He cursed in Marsha’s name that the monster’s strength was too ridiculous. Seeing that his attack had failed, the monster retreated. Albeit slow, it hid in the shadows and quickly disappeared.

  Brendel swore furiously and chased the monster. But after a few steps, he halted and looked back that the corridor he came from with the Stone in his hands. Apparently, he had made it past the corridor and is not in the chamber he saw earlier.

  The area was an open hall filled with tall pillars. The light from the Stone did not even cover one percent of the entire area. The floor alternated between black and white slabs of rocks. Besides the smears and cracks on the ground, it was evident that the place was once a majestic place.

  “.……”


  He could not help but hold his breath. The place did not resemble that of a catacomb, unlike one befitting a king. “Eh?” The ground and the lower half of the pillars were filled with strange patterns. At first, he thought it was some kind of artistic murals, but upon a closer look, he discovered that they were grooves with mithril cast into them.

  Brendel’s hand trembled. He nearly used Halran Gaia to dig out the mithril for himself. But he held back. After all, he knew that there was only one thing that it could be used with for- a Magic Formation.

  Stopping to study the room, he found the silent and vast darkness seemed to contain some sort of mystical energy, and he was at a loss of words for a moment: this entire corridor is actually a giant Magical Formation! He recalled his experience in the Everwinter Hall, a sanctuary blessed by the Goddess of the Northern Winds, Jubius. That divine territory was protected by four statues of that Goddess, with several kilometers of golden runes to cast a neverending cold wind. And surprisingly, those runes were similar to the ones he was seeing in the tomb.

  With nothing could be heard, nor seen for miles, the place resembled a graveyard. And the runes that were carved on the ground felt that they had lost their purpose.

  "Just what kind of place is this?" Brendel subvocalized. He traced the runes into the deeper parts of the hall, his footsteps echoing darkness, appearing to be a small light moving across a dark world.

  Legends had it that the Everwinter Sanctuary was very far away, secluded from the rest of the world in the Evermist Mountains. And how would that make this place? Who could build such majestic structures?

  "Orthlyss, you have any idea about it?"

  “Never heard nor known about it.” Orthlyss’s voice was riled with curiosity, "but the origins of this place seems to be pretty important. The runes look like they are even older than me. You lucky brat, to have found such a place randomly without even trying to.”


  Brendel smiled dryly.

  "Be on alert. That thing is approaching." Orthlyss’s voice tautened.

  "That ’thing’?" Brendel quickly understood her meaning. It was the Crystal Wight. He cursed and was about to look back, but was stopped by Orthylss, "Don’t turn around and keep walking forward. Wait for my signal."

  Brendel’s eyes lit up. The monster was really familiar with the place. It would be troublesome to deal with it if it wanted to play a game of hide and seek with them. However, if he followed Orthylss’s judgment, he might actually manage to finish the guy off.

  He agreed to Orthlyss’s suggestion, leaving his safety completely in her arms. The two of them had overcome many troubles before, there was no way she would harm him. He walked slowly, his footsteps were rhythmic, like a metronome. He placed his hand on his sword sheath. While he looked as if he was observing the surroundings, he placed his focus behind him, at the monster.

  Not long after, Orthylss’s voice rang in his ears, "Turn to your left. It’s right behind the third pillar!"

  Brendel’s reaction speed was superb. Halran Gaia was sent throwing with all his strength. A spear of white light split the pillar with a loud explosion and an inhuman scream followed soon after. A figure moved out of the rubble, but it was evident to be injured as he was moving slower.

  "No, you’re not doing it again!" Brendel was about to curse at the thought of the monster fleeing.

  He Dashed to cut off its escape, picking up his sword in the meantime. The monster was limping on three limbs when he came close. No wonder. It must have been caused by the attack just now. Brendel thought. However, he was not the sort of person to pity it and thus stabbed at the monster.

  Although it had a ridiculous amount of strength, its defense and agility were unexpectedly low. Usually, Brendel would have more trouble dealing with BOSSes, but he should have easily bypassed the Wight’s defense. His sword began to glow, an indicator that the Stabbing skill was active.

  There was no way for the Crystal Wight to avoid his attack. But a card suddenly appeared on its chest and a wave of energy burst out and clashed with Halran Gaia’s sharp tip.

  "A Card of Fate?!" Brendel startled and created an opening for the Wight to knock the word off his hands.

  Brendel rolled backward, ignoring the numbness on his right hand. He used his left to activate his own Card of Fate, the Sun Blade, manifesting a physical flaming sword that shot through the air to pierce the Crystal Wight’s chest.

  The entire room fell silent.

  Then cracks appeared from the center of the wound and spread outwards. It struggled towards Brendel as if he was out for revenge, but after a few steps, its entire constitution shattered into fragments.

  Both Brendel and Orthlyss were stunned, disbelieving the fact that the battle was over so fast.

  Brendel sighed with relief and checked out the Sun Blade card. It had dulled in color, but he was not concerned about it, or the fact that he could not reactivate the card until the crisis was over, but rather the fact that it held so much destructive power.

  The Sun Blade was never a powerful card, but it’s effective in dealing with the undead. And besides that, he was surprised to see the Wight using a Card, thinking that he was fighting against a powerful Planewalker. After all, there was Ciel’s warning from before as well. But it seemed to be a false alarm.

  Why is the contrast between reality and expectation so big?

  Brendel took several more moments to compose himself before noticing a notification in the corner of his eyes-

  Elite Boss "Half-crystallized Leder" killed. Player Brendel receives 72310 XP. [T/L: Leder is a name. And yes, I thought I misread as well.]

  "Half-crystallized Leder? It was actually a Boss NPC?"

  He rushed over to the remains and scavaged for something, stopping only when he found it.

  A silver-colored Card was lying among the crystals, glittering as he picked it up.

  Brendel was troubled. How did the monster know how to use a Card? As Tuman said, only a Planeswalker can perceive the relation of the Laws with the Cards. So a normal human or monster should not be able to use it.

  Brendel absentmindedly rubbed his numb arm. He picked up the silver-colored Card that signified its rarity - as well as its cost-efficiency. Silver Elf Medissa was such a case. With only 15 points, it was his strongest card.

  The Card that Brendel picked up was called "Arnold’s Divine Ring". It seemed like an artifact, only to discover that it was a magic spell-

  Arnold’s Divine Ring (Paradise of Adversity XX)-

  Consumes10 Light EP-

  Instantaneous-

  Effect: Nullifies the next attack you receive-

  "Shelter."

  "Another one from that deck……" Brendel immediately understood why his attack failed. After looking at the card several times, he still could not discover anything unique on the card that would allow the Crystal Wight to use the card.

  It could be a Planeswalker…… But that’s impossible? A Planeswalker with only one card? He should have more, right?

  Footsteps echoed from behind, shocking both Brendel and Orthlyss: they did not perceive its presence. It was normal for Brendel to not notice it, but Orthylss? The thousand-year being? Although she did not have a physical body, her powers did not regress much.

  The enemy was probably abnormally powerful.

  "Be careful." She reminded the youth in a strict tone.

  volume 2 - 152