The Amber Sword
chapter-563

v3c337

Glory(1)

“William! This debt after forty years-”

“I shall collect it from you in their place!”

The voice of the young man echoed solely across the battlefield. He stood in the mountains and faced everyone, as if a boundary existed between himself and the others.

In front of the entire army of The Holy Cathedral of Fire.

And that scene was engraved in everyone’s mind for the rest of their lives. Even as time wasted away or whether they had become enemies or alliances with one another after years, everyone would still remember what happened at this very moment.

It opened up the door of memory in the minds of many, and time began to flow once more. It was a quiet force that touched their hearts.

And then they remembered–

That their ancestors had stood together against their common enemy ages ago.

Ever since, they had lost not only their pride, but their valor too. Finally, Brendel came and picked up the sword, just like that great man who did back then.

That man was standing on a pure white rock, with his eyes smiling he looked at this kingdom. But his gaze set somewhere so far away, where the sky and land merged into one upon the horizon.

In the eyes of Princess Gryphine, it was history repeating itself, like caramel-colored frames flashing before her. But even that quickly faded, and all that remained was the silhouette in front.

Everything went silent.

“They really do seek death!” the light in William’s light dimmed a little.

He was raising his sword and was about to commence the attack when a violent swirling airflow hit him. He smashed that gust of wind with his left hand only to realize it was just a Wind Bullet.

They dare attack me?!

His blood began to boil as he realized Brendel was ahead of him and he said “Attack.”

How dare he look down upon the majesty of the Holy Cathedral? Even the craziest cultists don’t dare to act so frivolously. The Holy Cathedral’s authority was tied to the prestige it had over the world. As the deputy head of the Paladin squad’s deputy head, he would not allow these ‘rats’ of Aouine to threaten the Holy Cathedral.

“Kill all these pagans. Do not spare even one!”

He ordered coldly.

The war was on the verge of breaking out.

The army in the sky immediately spread out. Like meteors falling down from the dark grey skies, the soldiers of the Holy Cathedral glided down in their flaming wings. Like molten iron pouring down from the skies too, everything turned crimson red.

Amongst them, eleven Paladins glided down towards the Anker Mountains.

They were in the Elemental Activation realm, making up a force that, even if the whole of Aouine came together, they would still not best these men. It made sense for these knights to think that they would be unstoppable once they decided to take action.

But a flag that seemed to be burning with golden flames suddenly appeared in their sights.

The Golden Battle Flag.

Meanwhile, in the river valley, Andrea’s dress ignited in flames. And when the fires subsided, a smooth, obsidian dark armor was attached to her battledress.

And when their enemies moved, she liquified into a blood-red ooze seeping into the ground. And in the next instant, a drop of blood manifested in the air which quickly expanded to a red ball. Andrea stepped out from the blood ball, in the way of the Paladins.

One of her pupils was green; the other red. With a burning will, she swung her blade of blood, the blood droplets coagulating into a crescent.

The red crescent flew at its first target: the unfortunate one. He was a Flame Elementalist and had an Elemental Power related to the Law of Purification. On instinct, he tried to block the crescent with his hand embedded in white flames.

But at the next moment, he let out a terrible scream. His Law of Purification, a power specifically used to eliminate the undead, completely removed the spiritual attack. But Andrea was a rare dual Elemental Power user. In an instant, her Blood Elemental Power sucked out the flesh from her opponent’s arms.

“This is impossible!” The Paladin pulled his arm back like he was electrocuted and quickly backed away. All that was left of his arm were bones. Initially, they thought Andrea was only an ordinary Elemental Awakener and had slight contempt.

But they soon realized just how wrong they were. The gap between using dual Elemental Power users is way stronger than a single Elemental Power user. It did not just increase their combat power by one fold, but rather way more than that.

As an Elemental Activator, he was at a higher level than Andrea who’s an Elemental Awakener, but it did not mean his combat power was above her. It was the same for Brendel who relied on the Planeswalker system to defeat people levels above him.

And just as they retreated, a silvery silhouette entered their vision.

What the fuck?!

The silver elf princess who appeared in front of them was riding a white One-horned Dragon, in her pure white dazzling robe with a spear that looked more like a sword instead. The chainmail could be seen underneath her robe too.

The Silver Elf Royal Dragon Cavalry.

According to the legends, Medissa’s mount was a descendant of the Silver Dragon King, Luo Di’an. It was the closest blood relative to the pure-blooded dragons. A Silver bloodline by themselves, they had extremely high intelligence. They coexisted with the silver elves and could be said to be one of their closest allies.

Her spear was even more significant. Known as the ‘Ir’, or ‘Everlasting’ in the ancient elven tongue, legends have it it that this spear was an imitation of the spears that the Azure Knight pierced the dome with. And there were 130 of them produced. No more, no less.

Therefore, the Silver Elf Royal Dragon Cavalry only had 130 units since the beginning.

And they one of the fourteen strongest divisions. [T/L: of where though? Vaunte? Aouine? Kirrlutz?]

In that instance, the eleven Paladins almost wanted to turn and make a run for it. The Silver Elf Royal Dragon Cavalry had always been just a legend. In ancient times they participated in the last war with the Twilight Dragon, even though they were just cannon fodder. But that was a legendary era in itself. Later, this legendary division had disappeared, even during the war against the Darkness Dragon. But today a unit from that division appeared in front of the Paladins again, arousing suspicion that the Twilight Dragon was reborn once more.

But fortunately, someone finally came to their senses and shouted, “Don’t worry, she’s just an Elite Elf!”

“She just an Elemental Awakener!”

But how did all these Elemental Awakeners come from?

Experts like these were renowned people, but in the minds of the Paladins, they never remembered such people.

In the next blink-

Ciel and Ropar had appeared on the battlefield. With the silver tabard on him, he looked more like a Crafting Mage from Buga than a highland wizard, and he had a mature look on him. With the thick book he had with him, everyone could figure out his occupation.

Buga’s Scroll Mage.

But to Brendel’s surprise, Ciel had the time Elemental Power, one of the highest classes of Elemental Powers. And he was disgusted that the ugly fellow had such a powerful Elemental Power that could be compared to his own Space Elemental Power.

Ropar had the slightest changes among all. This Lord of the Lizardmen just had some extra war marks and his Elemental Power was obviously related to fire.

Brendel gave his orders once the four of them appeared, “Hold these Paladins back. I need some time to prepare.”

And at the same time, the eleven Paladins knew that they could not break through their enemies’ defense line right away. Although Andrea, Medissa, Ciel, and the Lord of the Fireclaw Lizardmen Ropar were only Elemental Awakeners and should be far weaker than themselves. But they were really quirky.

It was needless to talk about the dual Elemental Power Andrea was needless to be said, they even had a Silver Elf Royal Dragon Cavalry. Although the Elite Elves’ combat prowess was declining in recent years, their battle tactics were not to be underestimated.

The Scroll Mages on the other side was also a tough opponent, these Scroll Mages were experienced, scholarly administrators. Except they were not scholars hired by the nobles, they managed the magic items in the Buga, and they knew all sorts of knowledge and even rare, unseen magics.

However these Scroll Mages only indulged in the world of literature. They were rarely seen anywhere else other than the galleries. Only God knows why they would come and participate in this battle.

The Lord of the Fireclaw Lizardmen seemed to be the hardest to deal with. Beings from the Elemental realm were hard to deal with, no matter if he was an Elemental Being or Half Elemental Being.

Upon seeing these few people, even William who was observing the battle frowned. Ciel’s appearance made him uneasy, as things could be troublesome if someone from the Silver Citizens came.

But the Buga should not be that reckless.

He could only hope that Ciel’s joined the fray as a personal matter.

William pressed hard on his sword and managed to calm down. Although there were still uncertainties in this match, he was confident in his victory. Since the princess is so confident, why not let me teach her a lesson!

Exactly.

Brendel’s summoned beings could only hold the strongest forces of the Holy Cathedral of Fire temporarily, but it would not change the outcome of the battle.

In cooperation with the Holy Cathedral of Fire’s attack, the Northern Coalition Army sounded the horn, and the whole army began to gather and move forward. But the soldiers’ morale was low, their hearts guilty of the fact that they were facing their own kin.

The nobles cursed while forcing their men to forwards, and a spectacle conjured on the battlefield. The nobles and the knights had to form rows of overwatching teams and push their men forward– It was an exact scene of the Kirrlutz driving their slave army.

But even so, the pressure made the atmosphere suffocating. The noble private soldiers of Audine watched golden meteors shoot across the sky, down towards the Anker Mountain; while the army moving forwards on land made it look like it was the end of the world.

The confidence to fight against the Northern Coalition Army back then was gone.

Could this battle still be fought?

On the other side was the Holy Cathedral of Fire and the Northern Coalition Army. It seemed impossible to fight either one of them, but now that they joined hands, that was even more of a pipe dream now.

Count Audine tried to reinvigorate his soldiers’ morale. But there was nothing much he could do.

He sighed, looking at the Northern Coalition Army as they crossed the stream that had started to overflow after the storm. Those men were getting ready to enter the forest.

Everyone could not help but feel a little hopeless.

“Mr. Brendel.” Princess Gryphine said gently, “Should we step back a little?”

Brendel moved his sight away from the sky and looked at the main battlefield–

The enemies were in such large numbers that they could fill an ocean, but he shook his head, “Give me a little more time.”

He was waiting for an opportunity.

Then the bellowing of a horn reverberated inside everyone’s eardrums.

But it had a deeper pitch compared to the Northern Coalition Army.

Are there new enemies? Or are they reinforcements?

Everyone was startled slightly when they lifted their heads and looked up. The south unit of the Northern Coalition Army began to stir in the rain, and almost immediately their ranks broke!

It is reinforcement!

Everyone felt their hearts jump.

Where did all these reinforcements come from? Could it be that the Princess’ private army has arrived? Impossible. Even the Imperial Navy has not made it yet, how could the princess’ army arrive first?

“It’s Anthony’s army!”

Count Audine said with a slightly trembling voice while putting his telescope down.

“It’s the Royal Faction!” The students of the Royal Cavalry Academy started a commotion. “This is impossible! Didn’t they leave?”

It was the Royal Faction’s forces.

Duke Anthony’s emblem, as well as Makarov’s and Count Violet’s flags, were glinting on the battlefield like sharp blades cutting into the Northern Coalition army.

Princess Gryphine bit her lower lip and held her fist tightly.

Why did they return? How could it be?

No one knew those people as clearly as she did.

Cavalries in black and red appeared on the battlefield. They swooped into the battlefield from the Anker Mountains, barging through the battlefront of the advancing Northern Coalition Infantry. They then stopped before the main formation of the princess, shielding them against the northern nobles’ armies.

A knight rushed out of the formation, pausing in the rain before turning his horse back to face his men.

He lifted his mask,

and revealed a young face.

It was Eikkel.

The young man pointed his sword at Brendel and shouted loudly, “Noble knight! I am here as promised!”

Back in the Long Song Forest, your valiant words about the knight’s code convinced me. I’m here to help you pursue the wishes of our ancestors!”

“For Aouine!”

The soldiers’ voices filled the entire battlefield.

Brendel did not expect Eikkel to appear right now under such circumstances. This guy–

But he could not help himself smiling. I can totally see Makarov’s pissed face right now.

But he turned back to look at the princess. At this moment, he attained calmness. It turned out that he was not fighting alone.

And the princess was not alone too.

There were many more other people fighting side by side with them.

Just like it did back in the game, he shut his eyes, feeling his comrades fighting alongside him. Except for this time, they had grasped their destiny.

And how can he feel bad about it?

He smiled slightly and at the same time, he drew out the card from the deck that he had prepared for a long time.

……

William finally frowned. The sudden appearance of Anthony’s army was beyond his expectation. In fact, their Aouine allies had guaranteed him that there was no one else opposing them beside the princess’ tiny army.

“These damn pest.” He could not help himself from scowling. But fortunately, these were just meager forces of the nobles. They would not affect the final outcome.

But allowing the Northern Coalition Army to be broken up was also a problem. He raised the sword in his hand and issued an order to the Kirrlutz Air Force, requesting them to hold back Anthony’s ground troops.

The Kirrlutz’s flagships immediately began to reorient the direction of their hull. Their cannons were aimed at the wing of the Northern Coalition, right at Duke Anthony’s soldiers.

But just before the mages of the three warships could even test out their weapons, the space in front of the fleet rippled just like fish scales out of a sudden.

Spacial distortions!

The chief mage of the warship, ‘Taylor’ screamed, “There is a reaction in the portal. It’s an enemy! Fire! Fire quickly!”

The three Kirrlutz warships opened fire, as bright sparks rained down along with rain droplets.

However, they were a little too late, as four cyan circles suddenly ripped the space apart and the shadows of the towers behind the portals cast down.

“It’s the Floating Towers!”

“The Tower Wizards!”

“Why would they possibly come?”