The Amber Sword

Golden flames exploded in the sky and spread out in all directions across the gloomy sky, like a ring, the gale rolled with snow. In such bad weather, it was like the end of the world was happening as predicted by the Miirnas, but the blinding flash still lightened up the sky for dozens of miles across, it was white all over under the layers of clouds.

“Lord?” Medissa looked back from that direction, the light reflected on her cheeks, making her face look white.

“Let’s split the troops, this is the high level divine magic of the Holy Cathedral of Fire, it looks like Freya has run into trouble.” Brendel replied to her with his head held high.

Veronica nodded her head and agreed.

“Let Brund take everyone else over, we, Lord Commander, stay here, as well as Teacher. I have my three attendants, Scarlet, Aloz and Shitah, these top battle power should be enough to deal with that sly fox Arreck.”

“As for Prince Lenarette......”

“He’s with us.” Veronica gave him a look.

Brendel understood that no matter how determine they were, the Kirrlutzians would never let their future inheritor take unnecessary risks. However, obviously, Freya must have ran into trouble, but the Valkyrie would eventually have to go her own way; he could not always pamper her, because that would be harming her. The world was not as peaceful as the young girl expected, she had to pay for whatever she wanted, or otherwise, it would be unfair to others.

Brendel gently lowered his eyelids. Nemesis was also with her, there should not be any problem. He could only think so.

“Then it is decided, Haruz, you are also with us,” Brendel regained his grip on the reins, and the young prince, who was beside Prince Lenarette, nodded to him in a hurry, and he turned back, “Miss Shido ......”

“I’ll join you.” The scholar lady looked at Veronica and then at the Lord Count and replied to them.

“Well, then, Mr. Brende, do you have any questions?”

Brendel understood that no matter how determine they were, the Kirrlutzians would never let their future inheritor take unnecessary risks. However, obviously, Freya must have ran into trouble, but the Valkyrie would eventually have to go her own way; he could not always pamper her, because that would be harming her. The world was not as peaceful as the young girl expected, she had to pay for whatever she wanted, or otherwise, it would be unfair to others.

Brendel gently lowered his eyelids. Nemesis was also with her, there should not be any problem. He could only think so.

“Then it is decided, Haruz, you are also with us,” Brendel regained his grip on the reins, and the young prince, who was beside Prince Lenarette, nodded to him in a hurry, and he turned back, “Miss Shido ......”

“I’ll join you.” The scholar lady looked at Veronica and then at the Lord Count and replied to them.

“Well, then, Mr. Brende, do you have any questions?”

“As long as there is a horse-” the young blond knight rode on his sky horse and replied proudly. He checked his paired sword and strapped a dagger to his shoulder armor like all Folded Sword Knights (a tradition said to come from the legend that Gretel once fought the King of Ghosts in the Black Tomb, using his dagger to fight to death after his longsword was broken), with the cold wind tugging at his cloak.

“These summoned celestial horses will last until the early hours of tomorrow morning, so you must be careful.” Metisha replied.

“That’s enough!”

Brund bowed to Veronica and nodded to Brendel, then he turned his horse around and blew a whistle. The whistle travelled far out in the wind and snow, like a finch that chirped crisply through the canopy, bringing the whole forest to life. The troop turned in the heavy snow, the Kirrlutzian Knights departed the avenue swiftly, and many started to move towards the direction of the forest a few miles away.

As far as the eye could see, there were dense black dots in the snowy white, but after a while they joined into a small patch with only a thin line faraway. Brund turned back one last time, gesturing to them with his shining sword.

He raised his sword to indicate a good sign of certain success.

“Don’t worry, they’re all good kids.” Veronica said, “Nothing much will happen to Miss Freya.”

“I hope so, I trust her.”

“Now it’s our turn, that Dragon told us there was a shortcut, are we already on it?”

“That path is not smooth, it passes through the ice gap below this glacier, and only that Dragon has walked that path. The path the Dragon has taken may not be able to be traveled by man, as there are dangers lurking beneath the ice with many creatures from the mythic age. It’s just that Duke Arreck is headed for the Holy Cathedral of the Hibernator, and we must catch up with him before that happens.”

“...... Brendel, what do you think Arreck wants exactly? He already has the Heart of the Dragon, so why doesn’t he choose to leave here but continue on to the depths of the glacier?” Veronica narrowed her eyes.

Brendel did not immediately answer. He would rather believe that Arreck may be trying to kill two birds with one stone, using the power of the Demons to open the ancient seal in the Holy Cathedral of the Hibernator, releasing those Descendants of Twilight who are sealed underground.

But he always felt that things were not so simple. Arreck would not be unaware that he would do so to anger the guardian of this place – Shitah, intuition told him Arreck may have already arranged a series of plans for this trip, but to unravel the other party’s tricks, Brendel thought that they first had to find what was really hidden in the heart of the maze of this frosty forest.

In response to Veronica’s question, he simply shook his head, “Soon we’ll know.”

“Brendel, Shido is very familiar with such a glacier, she has great geographical knowledge, she may be able to help you.”

“No need, I am also very familiar with this place. What I need is a guide with extensive survival skills, not a scholar.”

Peya was the excellent guide he was looking for, but the hunter maiden had become somewhat depressed since she witnessed her companions being killed by Arreck. She did not know how to ride a horse and could only share a ride with Scarlet. She put her stiff hands around the waist of the mountain maiden and did not say a word.

It soon became dark, which was probably darker than before; the night in the snowy plains was pitch black, without a ray of light, without an object in sight, and no party could continue to travel in such conditions. So everyone had to stop and camp in the leeward, the forest was quiet. No news came, and so the night passed.

In the early morning, Brendel finally found the ‘shortcut’ to the ice gap from Shitah’s words. He finally knew why this road was called the shortcut; it crossed the entire glacier that was blocking the north side, and Brendel remembered that there was also such a passage in the game, which was called ‘blade mouth’ by the players.

Because crossing it was as dangerous as crossing a sharp blade, if one was not in a hurry, no one would choose this path.

The next few hours were spent in darkness and cold. The team sometimes moved along a narrow glacier, and then appeared over the abyss, and the intricate terrain under the glacier was an eye-opener for everyone, but who found it most rewarding was obviously Miss Scholar. Whenever there was time to stop, Brendel would see her jotting down on a small notebook she took out from her backpack.

The whole morning was peaceful’ there were two ice demons who did not know any better lurking in the ice gaps and wanted to attack the team, but Mephisto discovered them in advance and killed them with a sword. They should be the BOSS in the vicinity. Brendel found that he himself benefited from the Ash Sword Saint’s killing of the monsters, but unfortunately there were no good drops.

There was no concept of time in the dark underground, and almost two or three hours after Mephisto killed the ice demons, the team came to a natural open space. At this time, Shido and Haruz who were physically weaker were exhausted. Brendel put the torch between the two ice prisms, and then let everyone stop to rest and replenish their strength.

Aloz approached him at that moment.

The little female Dragon dragged Brendel out of the crowd and pulled him aside, her golden eyes shining with danger, she reached her claws out to Brendel and whispered a reminder, “Brendel, someone is following us, have you noticed?”

Brendel was slightly stunned, his face then showed a serious look, “I vaguely feel something, I thought it was an illusion. What, can you feel it?” Brendel did not lie, because of certain experiences in the game, he trusted his intuition very much, which was also the reason why he asked the team to stop.

These glaciers and the cracks below were all created during that war thousands of years ago, who knew what could be under the ice? According to the intensity in the game, it was not impossible for the BOSS of highest level 60 or more to appear, according to the combat power, that was equivalent to the Law Peak.

Although in the team his teacher had one foot in the Ultimate Realm, but fighting in such an environment, strength sometimes did not mean anything. Brendel did not forget how Andersha capsized in the gutter.

“Huh? You can even detect it? I asked that Ash Sword Saint teacher of yours, he didn’t seem to feel anything at all, how did you feel it?” Aloz was a little curious.

“This is just my intuition, it has nothing to do with strength.” But Brendel frowned, his heart faintly felt that it might be related to Darkness Perception, and it was a pity that he could not wear the Twin Ring yet, otherwise he must be able to sense the lurker more clearly.

“Hm, your intuition is quite odd, to be honest, I also just have some intuition to sense that something is following us. Haven’t you noticed that there are so few monsters down here in the glacier? It’s far less than the number of times we’ve encountered monsters in Shitah’s lair.”

“You’re judging from that?” Brendel took a closer look at the little female Dragon, somewhat surprised at the other party’s attentiveness.

“Pretty much.”

“What about Star? He’s the local here, who have supposedly crossed this ice gap several times, what did he say? What exactly is down here?”

“He said he doesn’t know.”

“You think he wouldn’t know?”

“Are you saying he’s lying to me?” Aloz was a little annoyed, “He wouldn’t dare lie to me.”

“But have you ever wondered who made him guard here? He had never mention that someone’s name. Aloz, Shitah just looks like a fool on the surface.”

The little female Dragon stopped talking for a moment, and she showed a look of surprise, which then turned into anger. “Damn it, how dare he lie to me, I’ll go find him.” “Wait, don’t go!” Brendel grabbed her arm to drag the little female Dragon back, but he did not expect Aloz to be so strong that it almost made him fly out. Brendel managed to stabilize himself and shouted, “Aloz, wait a minute, I think Shitah did not lie to you– ”

“What exactly do you mean, Brendel, how come I can’t understand more and more of what you’re saying?” Aloz turned back to him and replied with frustration.

“I mean, Shitah probably doesn’t know the other guy’s name herself.”

“Impossible,” Aloz immediately retorted, “you also said that Shitah is not really a fool, I know him very well, he is sometimes a little stupid, but is quite a bright guy.”

“I mean, do you know those exist?” Brendel lowered his voice and replied, “The Guardians.”

“Ah......”

Aloz suddenly could not speak, and she stared at Brendel with dumbfounded eyes. “How do you know this......”

“No, wait.”