The Amber Sword

“What? He’s not dead?!” Brendel was just as shocked.

Mavekart’s Grimoire was an artifact that was placed within the Unifying Guild’s sanctum, and it only made its appearance late in the game. Brendel was very familiar with the Shadow Blasting Waves magic spell. One had to constantly control their Element Power to guard against the pulsing Dark Energy at all times, or it would burn away their Life Energy. The closer one was to the spellcaster, the stronger the Dark Energy; Amman’s flesh had completely aged and his appearance resembled a desiccated corpse. The activated spell was even capable of physical damage, and it was powerful enough to hurl a large figure like Andesha’s dragon form away.

It was nearly impossible to approach Amman or injure him with Energy-based attacks since the Dark Energy from the spell simply flushed everything away. But Brendel revealed the weakness with his longbow by attacking Amman when the spell was in its charging phase.

[Are you fucking kidding me!? Amman is a Priest! This is a bug! Bug! I shot him perfectly through the chest too!]

Brendel was screaming in his mind just as loudly as Amman.

The bishop sounded almost lively as he clutched his chest in terror: “My spell...... No! Mavekart’s Grimoire, ahhh, I will destroy you all for this!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire wave of Dark Energy shook and exploded around the caster. The courtyard was temporarily quiet, leaving behind an inky fog with a whiff of decay.

The spell was interrupted.

Amman’s full figure was revealed against once more as the fog dissipated. The color of his face was completely white, while the corners of his lips were stained with dark splatters of blood. His eyes were staring at Brendel as though he had killed his loved ones and was gloating about it.

[Huh. His glare actually looks like one of my past allies when I owed him a few hundred thousand Tor coins...... Wait, how the hell did I—]

The youth remarked to himself before his eyes widened. Veronica was opening her mouth slightly as she noticed the same thing he did.

Mavekart’s Grimoire had an actual hole in it. Brendel rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. He could not believe that he shot through the book. That was the ultimate book of evil. It was an existence that nearly rivaled a divine artifact, and he punctured a hole in it?

Amman’s lips trembled a few times: “I..... kill you.” The pitch of his voice changed because of his inexpressible rage.

However, Brendel merely clapped in delight: “Hah! I understand now, that Mavekart’s Grimoire in your hands is a fake!”

Amman and Veronica’s expressions changed at the same time. The former was completely stunned, while the latter looked puzzled.

“A fake?” She repeated.

“Ah, no, I should say that’s a projection of the actual grimoire. An object that recorded information from the evil book. A replica!” Brendel immediately explained: “Even though that fake replica has the same power, it doesn’t have that powerful protection that the original—”

“Enough!” Amman hurriedly interrupted Brendel. The priest could not help but feel a chill despite being turned into an undead. There was a monster here who seemed to know the outside and inside of the Unifying Guild, and it was not Veronica or Mephisto, but an unknown youth.

[How...... Mavekart’s Grimoire hasn’t appeared in ten thousand years. How is he able to know so much?!]

“Even though it’s just a projection, its power is enough to wipe you maggots out,” Amman finally said as his expression kept on changing, “as long as I cast another spell......”

“I see.” Veronica’s ears pricked up, and her green eyes looked at the priest were full of dangerous, mocking mirth: “And do you think I will give you the chance to cast another spell, Amman?”

They looked at each other and made their moves at the same time.

Veronica was no match for Andesha even when she was at her peak state, so she was naturally unable to handle the power from Mavekart’s Grimoire. These two were beyond mortal means; Andesha was a monster who had lived for hundreds of years, while Mavekart’s Grimoire was even more ridiculous and was created with the Sea of Chaos.

But Veronica was a genius amongst the mortals. As the Empire’s Goddess of Combat, her sword represented the brilliance of what a human could achieve.

Her sword that was filled with her pride, a brilliant green color that resembled an emerald gem, was unleashed in the shape of a crescent.

Amman’s face was filled with despair.

“Ahhh, no!” His pallid face was twisted with regret and rage, while he gripped on the fake Grimoire as hard as he could, hugging it as though it could save his life: “No, you accursed fools...... I will make you suffer...... Even if I am to perish.....”

The undead bishop started to gurgle and mutter incomprehensible words, acting like almost like a wild beast. His fingers started to flip the pages of the Grimoire quickly. Dark Energy suddenly surged from the book and illuminated the area. The book was suddenly thrown up into the air, and the Dark Energy suddenly condensed into a small black hole.

[The area is becoming dimmer? ....... And I feel a powerful pull, damn it, this crazy bastard. He cast the Rift of Destruction!]

No sooner did Brendel figure out what spell Amman cast, the hole began sucking in everything around it. A shimmering light appeared around the youth and he glanced at his feet in surprise, trying to find the source, only to discover floating patterns around Halran Gaia. The lines were translucent, differing between straight and curves to form complicated patterns. The spell from Mavekart’s Grimoire was so powerful that it was wrenching the magic out of his sword.

Brendel could not help but cry out in dismay. The book was actually ripping off the Laws that were carved into the sword. If the Magic Formations in Halran Gaia were ripped off, then it would be no different from a heavy broadsword.

Amman was the first to experience the Rift of Destruction. He was apparently unable to control the spell’s power and was torn apart into particles. Screams filled the valley as he was devoured by the black hole, and everyone shuddered subconsciously.

Veronica’s sword, the Azure Sky, was the next object that was affected. It glowed twice and dimmed in just a few seconds. Her weapon was a Fantasy-ranked weapon just like Halran Gaia, and yet it was ruined in the blink of an eye.

Both Veronica and Brendel’s faces paled.

“Mavekart’s Grimoire is able to devour everything! We need to destroy the replica!” Brendel shouted.

Veronica did not need his explanation as she had the same idea. She shot out several green waves of Sword Energy, infusing the Wind Element Power into her strikes, but they were promptly scattered when it reached the edge of the hole. The black hole instead expanded after absorbing the Sword Energy. The immense pulling force was making Brendel unsteady on his feet.

“Get lost, you useless fools!” Someone called out with a cold grating voice that came in the direction of the forest.

It was Andesha’s voice. She was no longer in her dragon form and she walked out with much difficulty. Her body was covered with injuries, dirtied with blood and grime. The bark-like vines covering her chest was torn off in various locations and her ample breasts were exposed proudly in the air. But Andesha was not a human and did not care of her nudity.

She promptly shot a beam of energy into that black hole, which disappeared quickly.

“No! Stop!” Brendel’s face tightened but he was too late.

“How is this possible! It’s devouring the power of the Laws! What is this infernal thing!” She immediately screeched with fright.

Brendel wanted to tear his hair out when he discovered that black hole expanded in size. He wanted to smack Andesha’s face a few times and inform her that the Rift of Destruction was a Law that outclassed her Element Power beyond her imagination. There was only pure Chaos Element Power within that hole and it devoured everything. Her Element Power could not even dent it at all. Veronica fell over and she plunged her sword into the ground to get a stable grip.

[It’s no good. We can’t escape because that idiot poured in too much power.]

The youth lowered his body and tightened his muscles. He leaped into the air with Halran Gaia readied at his side. With the combined push of his legs and the pull of the black hole, he sped into the air even faster than his arrow that he fire earlier.

“Ah!”

“Brendel!”

“My lord!”

“Brother Brendel!”

Mixed cries called out when they saw the result.

“Fuck! You stupid woman!” He roared.

He reached into himself and drew out his Element Power as much as he could and covered his entire body with a dense layer, then activated Power Break and thrust his sword into the Rift of Destruction.

There was a tremendous sound and a brilliant flash of light as Halran Gaia pierced through the black hole. Brendel gasped and all the air rushed out of his lungs as he felt like he had crashed into a wall. His hands were wet as his skin was torn and shredded from the impact, but he managed to hold onto his sword, which was shuddering and vibrating as though a grinder was trying to crack it into fine fragments. Metallic screams caused everyone to flinch but the sword somehow held on.

– Halran Gaia has been given the trait of ‘Indestructible’.

Green words flashed across Brendel’s retina, but his world was becoming dark. There was so much pressure that he could not take in any air. His sword was sinking deeper into the black hole, an inch at a time.

But each time the sword went deeper into the Rift of Destruction, the more cracks appeared on the black hole. A few more seconds passed and a soft plinking sound somehow managed to reach everyone’s ears.

The black hole was broken into countless fragments.