The Amber Sword

“Fuck!” A blast of pain spread across his body and he cursed loudly.

[That direction could only mean that it’s Amman. I slashed him hard enough to reach his bones. He got impaled by Veronica next, and I even struck him with the Arrow of Stone, and he still lives?]

“Damn it, is that bastard an undying cockroach?” The youth muttered as he scrambled to get up. A bishop was a light-armored profession. Getting struck by three fatal attacks should have killed him, even if he was an undead.

He looked back again.

Amman was getting up as well, with dust and rubble from the Andesha’s battle with the others falling off his body. The bishop’s face had a surprised look as well. He probably did not expect Brendel to avoid his attack.

“How?” He mumbled to himself before he spoke aloud: “Even the knights in the Holy Cathedral are not capable of matching your reactions. It seems like you’re not just a simple noble from Aouine.”

Amman even projected his voice over to Brendel by magic, afraid that the latter could not hear him because of the considerable distance.

Brendel rolled his eyes. If he were really a simple noble, would he appear in this place? He quickly brought up the Stats Window and looked at the Life Bar. It did not reach ten percent of his HP bar.

[Hmm. But the Vitality stats is an unhealthy yellow from feeding too much blood to the plants. My limbs feel weak and the fatigue is slowing setting in my body. I really feel like dropping onto the ground to sleep. I need to end this quickly.]

He shook his head vigorously, trying to keep himself awake.

Mephisto was fighting with Andesha in mid-air. The latter wanted to flee the area urgently, while the former was waiting patiently to find a weak spot, making the battle at an impasse.

Veronica had heard Scarlett’s cry and was rushing over to the youth.

[The disruption towards the Mana from the surroundings will increase as the corrupted plants continue to grow. Andesha knows that she’s at a disadvantage as time passes by and will definitely seek an opportunity to break this stalemate. The Tree Shepherds are a bunch of fanatics who will do desperate things if push comes to shove, so the conclusion of Mephisto versus Andesha will be here soon enough. As for Amman.....]

Brendel’s mind was working quickly. The bishop had most like predicted that he could not get away despite using a teleportation spell and therefore feigned death. The youth believed that even Andesha fell for Amman’s trick.

[Still, he chose to ‘revive’ himself at this moment. Did he do so because he saw that Andesha was in trouble, or is it due to another reason? If it’s the latter, that would mean that he has the confidence to take on all of us. At least...... It would be something that I would do. But if it’s this reason, just what exactly is giving him the confidence to do so?]

Brendel’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard Veronica’s boots stepping on the rubble. She was frowning as well, most likely having the same thoughts as Brendel. She disliked Amman even before he was an Undead as she felt that he was always scheming something.

There was the scent of a trap.

Amman was smiling as though he had seen through what the two people in front of him were pondering over.

“You must be wondering why I’m choosing to reveal the fact that I still live.” Amman took out a book that was smoking at its edges. One glance at it and anyone could tell that it was some kind of evil object. “What an incredible surprise. Valhalla truly exists! Regardless of your transgressions against me, I must thank you.”

“Amman, what are you talking about?” Veronica asked with a frown.

“You don’t understand my goals? Valhalla has stabilized the Loop of Trade Winds for thousands of years. If I destroy the Fire Seed in this place completely, not only Aouine will be affected, but even Kirrlutz too! It is my pleasure to destroy the Empire with my own hands. Ah, but there is another myth about Valhalla. A secret about the ancient past; perhaps I will even let you see it before I kill you.”

“You are truly insane!” Even though Veronica thought he was spewing nonsense, hearing that he wanted to destroy a Fire Seed left her stunned with shock.

“Indeed, you keep calling us crazed fools,” Amman shook his head with a sanctimonious expression: “and yet we’re not that different. The Kirrlutz Empire had massacred people in order to conquer them. If we are to compare each other’s deeds, are we not more refined in comparison to your hypocrisy?”

“You’re just resorting to sophistry!” Veronica’s eyebrows were knitted together so much that they pointed upwards, and her last word was dragged in tone as she dashed towards Amman. Her sword seemed like an extension of herself, clad in blurry green light.

Amman seemed to have expected this outcome and flipped open the book in his hand. A beam of dark energy shot up in the sky, while a boundary of energy nearly a hundred feet wide formed around him. Veronica smashed into it, but there was no effect at all. Instead, a strong beam of light shot at her. The female Sword Saint guarded against it with her sword and felt a massive blast of force nearly prying the sword away. She had to take several steps back before she managed to steady herself. However, the immense feedback was so strong that she fell to her knees and grunted in pain a few seconds later.

“Sophistry or not, it isn’t important right now, Lady Veronica. Rather, if you have any last words, you can go ahead and tell me freely. I will listen to it very carefully.” Amman’s head was raised high as he looked down on her.

No, he spoke so arrogantly that it was if he controlled everyone’s lives.

Although Andesha was still engaged in a bitter battle against Mephisto, she witnessed every action that Amman took. Even though she knew their ‘working relationship’ was worth less than a coin, she could not help but bellowed: “Hamir, you clearly have the ability to defeat your opponents, why did you need to play dead? Stop wasting time and kill these bastards!”

Amman glanced at the sky, completely disregarded that woman’s demands, then lowered his head and continued to speak to Veronica: “My lady, have you thought about what you wish to say?”

Veronica’s fingers were completely numb. She stared at Amman within the Dark Energy that manifested around him, utterly surprised that he was hiding such power. Judging from that single blast of energy he fired at her, his current abilities were not below Andesha’s dragon form. This discrepancy of strength chilled her heart.

Two Sword Saints and one unexpected youth who had the ability to seal Andesha’s magic barely managed to contain her.

Veronica could not think of any way to win if there was another foe who joined in the battle.

But Brendel suddenly roared out just as she gritted her teeth:

“Fucking bullshit! That’s just the power from that grimoire. The Wall of Chaos is only capable of activating three times. Hell, I even bet that once that barrier is down, he won’t be able to cast it a second time!”

Veronica looked back at the youth in slight disbelief, but when she turned her eyes on Amman, she discovered that the bishop’s eyes were so wide that they were in danger of popping out. It was as if a meteor had struck his head and there was only ringing left in his ears.

Brendel’s words were completely right.

Veronica was ultimately the Goddess of Combat. One glance at Amman’s expression and she knew that Brendel was stating the truth or at least a great portion of it. She made a quick plan and rushed straight over to Amman with a raised sword.

“Damn you!” When Amman finally composed himself, it was already too late. He cursed as he retreated with the book, releasing two spells of dark energy from his hand to stop Veronica. But there was a strong difference in their physical capabilities; she avoided the beams and swung the sword at Amman.

He had no choice but to activate the Wall of Chaos again. The sword cut across the Wall with full impact.

[Damn this boy! Damn this woman! The Wall of Chaos only has one charge left—]

Amman was frantically coming up with a way to stall for time, but he suddenly caught sight of Brendel taking out his longbow from the corners of his eyes.

“You wretched boy!” Amman roared.

Brendel’s actions always had perfect timing. Amman could not help but suspect that Veronica and the youth were secret fighting partners working together for years. He could never have expected that Brendel’s experience to exceed Veronica or Mephisto. It was more than enough to work with anyone.

The twang of a longbow could be heard, and the black boundary of Dark Energy was broken.

“Stop, do not engage him just yet! Mavekart’s Grimoire isn’t so simple!” Brendel hurriedly called out after Veronica who wanted to seize the opportunity to advance.

The Goddess of Combat completely believed in Brendel’s words at this moment and forced herself to stop. A few seconds later, the Dark Energy around Amman exploded in a radius, smashing the surrounding boulders into fine powder. If she had taken another five feet forward, she would have been crushed to bits as well.

After a frightening tremor, the courtyard was once again filled with dust.

Veronica could not help but take a light breath to look at Brendel again.

“No, it’s not yet over, so don’t become relaxed! Amman still has the ability to fight back because he holds the infamous grimoire.” Brendel’s blurry image could be seen through the dust and smoke. He was raising his sword and his tone was not relaxed.