Chapter 209 - Volume 2
Chapter 154:
Brendel had not seen or heard of his Element power before as described in his Character Sheet.
[Causality Reversal, Time Retrace or Space Distortion, these three Element Powers might achieve the same results. I know the description of the Casualty Reversal is ‘Sequence’, that alone proves that it could not be my Element Power. Time Retrace has to be related to the material I’m touching. My attacks need to first hit Kabias for it to work.]
The way of how an Element Power worked at the Gold-ranked tier was entirely autonomous. It had to be an interaction between ‘self’ and ‘target’. Any Time-Element related power was surely incorrect.
[There are many definitions of Space. It could interact greatly with Time Element. Order and Stability can be used to describe Space Distortion, but Vectors, Movement, Physical, Mind and Displacement are also possible attributes. The only thing that’s missing is Frozen, and that has nothing to with Space Distortion. The lower ranked Element Powers: Sure-strike, Refraction, Curved Route, Illusion, all of them are unable to lower the temperature or have anything to do with the description Stability.]
Brendel’s thoughts were interrupted as he felt someone approaching him. A scent of Aouine’s summer mountain entered his nostrils, as though he had crossed a bridge toward verdant greenery. When he turned around, he found Scarlett taking out her personal longsword she hardly used and handing it over to him.
“Here.” She said.
“Thank you.”
Brendel dropped the sword he was holding and received her sword, and saw Kabias’s large body separating from the debris dropping loudly onto the broken rocks. The Skeleton Lord stood up and glared hatefully over to his direction, wary of his Element power.
Its Element power was Soul Energy strengthening its attack and defense. It was able to fend off Brendel’s Power Break even without resorting to Power Break, but the bizarre Element power the youth possessed had nearly suppressed the Skeleton Lord all the time.
The mercenaries had already proceeded to the inner city gates under Medissa’s leadership, but it did not dare to react carelessly and had to wait for an opportunity where it stood.
Its bony fingers went across the dents and cuts on its ancient armor. It was certain of its victory earlier, but the mysterious youth’s attacks made it uncertain whether it was able to truly defend against him now.
The situation was not going to change but it had to at least stall him here.
“Do we defeat it here?” Scarlett readied her halberd and asked.
Brendel shook his head. He had an unknown Element Power that he had never heard or seen before. The grasp on his Element power was fleeting and distant, while Kabias’s true strength far surpassed him. The Skeleton Lord was able to withstand punishment but he could not. Once he made a mistake with his Element power, a counterstrike from Kabias was not something he could withstand.
He had readied himself for his own death, but he was holding on to countless lives in his position.
Death was easy, but that was an utterly unacceptable outcome.
“His earlier attack was to force you out. I thought you were able to discern that.” Brendel said, referring to the initial moment where she intercepted Kabias’s battleaxe.
“Sorry—” Scarlett said subconsciously before she whipped her head to his direction: “You…… You know I was there?”
She was surprised. She had been following him alone from a distant place in the forest. She had experience in tracking and erasing her tracks, and he had never once turned his head back when he led Sifrid. She suddenly closed her mouth and looked suspiciously at Brendel.
Perhaps he was lying to her.
“When you went out of the village I already realized,” Brendel said: “The Control Key for the Blood of Gods.”
“Ah.”
She lowered her head. The young lord in front of her seemed to like controlling every aspect of his plans and preferred to do everything his way. Even Romaine with her quirky charm got yelled at by him. The fact that she took impulsive action on her own even though he specifically warned her not to do so was sure to invite rebuke. But she was ready to accept responsibility, as she had gotten used to not being taken seriously by Makarov.
She suddenly took in a light breath. She had thought of another possibility: What if Brendel wanted to shift the blame to Sanford and the others?
The more the young girl thought, the more that possibility seemed plausible. She looked at him with guarded eyes.
“What is it?” Brendel sensed an apparent distrust from her from the slight pause, as he stared at the motionless Kabias.
“My actions, my responsibility.” She said with furrowed brows.
“Responsibility?” Brendel parroted her.
[Come now. Let’s see if you can afford to wait longer than I do. I’m not in a rush.]
He was cavalier in his attitude with Scarlett’s conversation as he paid full attention to Kabias. However, this made her certain that he would cast his anger onto the Grey Wolves Mercenaries. She began to fret as she did not expect her actions to cause trouble for the others.
“Any punishment is fine!” She suddenly raised her voice.
Even though she was an orphan and a naive girl in the mercenaries, rumors of the nobles had already filled her ears.
Brendel was startled and looked at her, perplexed. Her face was red, and even the tips of her ears, as though she was squeezing every bit of her strength to speak up: “Any punishment to me is fine…… My lord, but please don’t cast your anger on them.”
“Hah?”
“Is it insufficient?” She said through gritted teeth.
“What?” Brendel was confused: “Them? Who are you talking about?”
“Sanford, and the others.”
“Cast my anger on them? Why?”
Her eyes went blank as she stared into Brendel’s eyes as if to check whether they hid any lies in them.
“Because—” She suddenly realized she made a blunder and shut her mouth.
Brendel’s expression turned inscrutable as he realized what she was thinking about, and he broke into an awkward smile: “I would find it strange if you didn’t follow me.”
“Is that so?” Her voice was so soft that Brendel nearly failed to hear it. She turned her head away: “You say it like I’m some reckless fool……”
“Of course not,” Brendel shook his head solemnly: “I’m merely respecting your decision.”
“What about the others?”
“Everyone has their obligations and responsibilities. Anyone can have their willful moments, but that doesn’t mean they would do it all the time. I respect their decisions, but once they made their choice they would have to bear the consequences. A moment of impulse can govern someone’s fate, but there is a clear difference between ideals and naivety. One who is the former will understand what price he is paying for, as well as whether he’s willing to pay that kind of price.”
He paused for a moment: “You are here because you did not choose to run away, right?”
She nodded and looked at the outline of the Firbugh’s manor which was lit up slightly in the darkness: “The truth is I would rather die than retreat before that scum—”
“Then our position is one and the same, and we stand on the same line. Why would I blame you?”
“Because I’m an outsider at the very end.”
He obviously wanted her to join him. A Gold-ranked fighter would be viewed importantly anywhere. It was good that she was starting to integrate into his group and become more loyal. He had never intended on giving up on her, but the idea of having the Grey Wolves Mercenaries as the reason why she had to follow him was not particularly a pleasant one.
The only reaction he could give was a smile at her reply, before his eyes went back to Kabias.
Kabias’s supposedly short spear was in contrast with its huge body. An average human wielding it would find it to be a suitable length. The Soul Flames continued to burn the Skeleton Lord’s eye sockets, even though it did not move even a little. He knew that it was going to make sure he stayed here at all costs.
He cast a glance at the surroundings. “Scarlett.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Would you kindly lend your aid to Medissa? You can leave this place to me.”
She quickly nodded and walked away with her halberd raised over her shoulders. She looked at Kabias, who was somewhat in the fog, before she took another two steps and stopped.
“You can just give the order to me.” She said.
He raised his eyebrow and looked at her, but she had already run off into the streets and disappeared amidst the wafting smoke from the flames. He pleasantly smiled as he thrust his longsword onto the ground and folded his arms.
Kabias and Brendel glared at each other without moving.
=========== Medissa’s POV =========
Medissa had encountered a problem. The mercenaries had continued to push Graudin’s army into the inner gates with high morale and overall combat ability, but the last line of defense to the path leading to Graudin’s manor consisted of Graudin’s elite soldiers and an entire army of skeletons.
These undead skeletons had imposing figures to them, their white bones almost marble-like as they gleamed brightly under the moonlight. They were different from the usual skeletons, wearing flexible leather armor, wielding spears with a buckler, and a backup sword at their waist. They even had three to four Bone Javelins on their back.
They were now standing quietly at the backlines, but they had previously met the mercenaries in battle just a moment ago, causing extensive damage to them. They were Madara’s Elite Skeletons known as ‘Bonethorns’. They were Tarkus’s main infantry, a ‘higher existence’ amongst the low-tier shock troops.
It was also a fact that their existence meant a high-level general could also be somewhere nearby.
And standing before the Elven Princess was an undead Knight. One of the Four Horsemen of Revelations, the Black Knight and the Scales of Justice, the most dreaded and mysterious out of the four.
She could see the golden mask clearly; half of it was a crying expression while the other half was a smiling expression. It was a creepy symbol.
The golden eyes behind the mask were now staring at Medissa.
“Who are you?” Medissa’s eyebrows were slightly contorted. The earlier exchange between them made her realize her opponent’s power.
“Silver Elf” The Black Knight was surprised. His voice was full of appeal: “Are you also with that man? How intriguing. He is surely not Viscount Gaston, nor Bucce’s Brendel with a claim of Highland Knight. Even the Black Tower’s wizards would not be so knowledgeable about Madara. In my judgment, he’s more of an Ancestral Citizen—”
“Ancestral Citizen?” Medissa looked blankly at him.
He raised his head suddenly. In his eyes were the reflection of a bright fire in the south; a magic signal was raised into the sky.