The Amber Sword
chapter-169

TL: Next regular update will be on Saturday.

I’m also requesting for a little more donation money this month if possible, because Nier:Automata and ME:Andromeda, Torment: Tides of Numenera are games that I want to pick up.

Chapter 114 – The Final Battle (2)

“Medissa!” Brendel pointed to the path where most of the Lizardmen could come in from.

The Silver Elf princess adjusted her helmet and lowered its flap to cover the upper half of her face, tapped the sides of her unicorn and answered clearly.

“Understood!” Her white chainmail gloves clinked against her long spear as she hoisted it up from the ground and pointed it to the sky. She pursed her faint pink lips, and there was an aura of determination that could be felt in an instant.

The unicorn took a large step forward, allowing the intricate heavy armor on it to clatter. The designs on it were complicated and elegant, but the defensive capability was unbelievably strong against slashing and piercing strikes. Beneath the armor was a set of white robe that prevented chafing, and it was carefully emblazoned with the Elven kingdom’s insignia which were designed with lilies.

“Charge!” The girl shouted and the unicorn sped forth.

The solitary figure ran out from the sides of the ruined walls and dashed down an unrestricted road littered with the Lizardmen that the mercenaries killed earlier.

The armor reflected the sunlight as she charged out, causing the mercenaries to perceive her as a legendary knight that flew out from a painting, and completed the image of a fable transforming into reality.

The road was once used by the Silver Elves to complete rituals, allowing the high priests to bring along the holy artifacts of their Elven Goddess across it. Centuries had passed and grass had covered the white Cloud Rocks that were used to pave this road.

History had not taken kindly to these solemn rituals as records were either lost or destroyed, but the unicorn blazed across the road once again with the Goddess’s will and etched forever in the eyes around her.

[A Silver Elf!]

Conrad’s pupils dilated as he spotted her in the back lines. He whirled around and grabbed Hewjil’s padded armor, yelling in his ears: “You fucking piece of shit, what the fuck did you do! That’s a Silver Elf with the Royal Insignia! How did you provoke the Silver Elves to come out here!”

Hewjil was also shocked out of its senses. It had the idea to rob the Elven Kings’ graves since a long time ago. It was initially careful in his actions, afraid that the legendary Elves sung in bards’ songs and fables who fought against the Dark Armies of a hundred-thousand strong to appear in front of them, but nothing happened as they inched closer every day.

It seemed like the Silver Elves that hid from the world intended to keep their promise and never reappear in this continent again, and Hewjil even thought that the Silver Elves were wiped out for unknown reasons, and it was a lie that there was even an exodus in the past.

Yet the Silver Elves were reappearing before its very eyes. Even though its perception was not as good as Conrad who was a Gold-ranked fighter, it recognized that soldiers were charging to them dressed in exquisite silver armor. Their impressive designs and attractive crafted pieces were certainly the very craft of the Silver Elves.

It took a chilling breath and shouted as Conrad shook him back and forth: “Conrad, y-young man…… over there, look at him!”

Conrad turned his head—

To see Brendel and Scarlett running together behind the Unicorn Knight. They were like a silver and red streak of flames that parted and shot straight into the battlefield, their speed so fast that the Lizardmen could not track them. When Conrad finally locked on their figures properly, he saw two weapons brandished out; a silver longsword and red spear that swiftly hacked off the Lizardmen’s heads.

“Damn it……” Conrad immediately understood that Medissa and Scarlett were stronger than him a tier within the Gold-ranks, while the youth who looked like he was in the Silver-ranked had skill proficiency beyond his class.

Even though he did not know where these strong enemies came from, he certainly recognized that girl with red eyes and hair. She was definitely the girl he killed and later revived by the Dark Bishop.

[Isn’t this girl supposed to be turned into an Acolyte with the Blood of Gods?]

Conrad exhaled once and calmed down. He could at least confirm that the Dark Bishop was most likely doomed. Only things that had no confirmation were frightening.

“I’ll handle the three in front of us. You had better take back your nest before I solve this problem.” He spat out the words as he looked coldly at Hewjil, then took out a heavy steel gauntlet and put it over his hands. The leader of the Lizardmen sat there without any response. It knew Conrad was at the edge of unleashing his fury at it. While it went against him in the past, there was no need to provoke him any further and risk his life.

But when Conrad turned around, it finally stuttered and asked: “…… T-the Silver Elves?”

“Handle them yourself.”

Conrad scoffed loudly. If the Silver Elves were really driven out of by the stupid Lizardmen, there was no need for him to deal with this mess. Even though the Tree Shepherds might not be necessarily afraid of the Silver Elves because of their numbers, it was not wise to go head to head with these legendary warriors.

The Lizardmen were pawns that could be thrown away anyways. He was more worried on explaining the Dark Bishop’s ‘sacrifice’ to the Tree Shepherds. He had a sufficiently high position within the Tree Shepherds and worked under the Lord of Worms, Mayard, one of the twelve leaders.

And Mayard was considered to have more authority amongst the twelve leaders because he had a bigger force.

The deaths of the higher ranked disciples could be excused because the mission involved a duke, but losing a Bishop was something that had not happened within the organization for at least a decade. Conrad felt his head hurt when he thought about it.

The most important thing right now was to find the duke’s son and take one step at a time.

============== Brendel’s POV ===========

“Drive these Lizardmen away from the center!” Brendel cut down a Lizardman warrior who rushed at him as he shouted loudly to Scarlett.

She nodded and twirled her body, her spear swinging wildly in arc with a trail of electricity following it. They immediately retreated backwards, and those of were slow were knocked backwards so hard that flesh and bones broke off when they hit the ground. Smoke could also be seen from their blackened wounds from the electricity.

“Well done!” Brendel praised her without any reservations.

Even though the Lizardmen were only level 20, they outnumbered him and his men nearly thirty times. Their five hundred odd Lizardmen were also aided by Conrad’s mercenaries, and it would be a disaster if they managed to swarm his men.

He had no choice but to limit the numbers of the enemies attacking at any given time. If he was able to stop them here, then his men would have an advantage.

[The goal is simple. Medissa, Scarlett and I will hold down this path with all we’ve got. But I’m surprised at how good she is working with me.]

What Brendel did not expect was the coordination that Scarlett had with him. It was as if she found the best spot every time he made a move.

“Why are you praising me? Are you trying to win me over?” Scarlett asked.

“….. Is there any other reason than the fact you did great?”

Brendel grabbed one of the Lizardman’s spear with his off-hand and jerked it towards him, while running through the Lizardman with his blade. He then exhaled and answered her.

“As you wish.” Scarlett glanced at him before she looked away. She fought for the Grey Wolves Mercenaries and treated them like her family. Now that it was disbanded, the only thing left was revenge. She did not talk much and preferred action act over talking. She always thought that it was something she ought to do, and praise was never given to her actions.

Everyone’s eyes were always on Eke or the commander, and she also did the same.

But Brendel had a different idea. He did not like to overthink complicated issues. Now that Scarlett had the abilities of a Gold-ranked fighter and her former home was gone, it would be really silly not to use this chance and recruit her. There were lines he did not cross, but he wasnot some righteous knight fixated with the word ‘honor’.

The battle continued with the Lizardmen retreating backwards.

The three of them had ranged attacks with their weapons even before they unsealed their Elements, and their combined prowess in the battlefield was overwhelming. Scarlett was the weakest amongst them. Due to her Element Resonance with the Spear of Lightning, she was able to use Lightning Cleave repeatedly, but that was the only technique she had.

Medissa retained her abilities from a Spectral Knight, and was able to use Charge, Vortex Strike and Seismic Blast, making her look like a portable cannon each time she used her abilities.

Brendel was even more terrifying. Even though he just reached the Silver-ranked status, he had Charge, Power Break, White Raven Sword Arte and Frontal Assault, and his levels in these techniques were high. He even had two Magic rings and Planeswalker cards that affect the battlefield. Even pay-to-win warriors in the game could not outdo him at his level.

[We’re doing quite well. With the three of us holding this section down, our battle capabilities go up by a hundred fold. It’s good that the girls are gullible enough to listen to me completely. If I asked a handful of experienced soldiers to hold back these Lizardmen, they will certainly think that I’m crazy.]

Brendel was a charismatic person in his past life, and he also had years of experience in the game inviting famous gamers to his party, so it was easy for him to deceive the girls and board his pirate ship—

[That’s wrong! I mean, it’s an easy task for me to recruit them to my group…… Putting that aside, our strategy should be obvious to the enemies. Why isn’t Conrad appearing yet? The Lizardmen are already pushed to the sides, and Medissa alone can hold down this narrow path. We can even switch up to conserve our stamina.]

The enemies should be able to understand this point. But what were they doing?

He surveyed his surroundings and even looked up. He wondered if the opponents were giving up because he was not Eke, or they had counter measures.

He received his answer when Scarlett and himself fought off the fifth wave of Lizardmen. Medissa suddenly warned both of them loudly as she guarded the left flank.

“Be careful behind you!”

The ground behind them suddenly opened up violently.

[Shit, there’s an enemy below us!] Brendel realized there was an enemy unaccounted for.