The Amber Sword

v3c375

Requiem(25)

“Brendel!”

In his daze, Brendel heard a scream, yanking him back from the world of endless darkness. If there was one voice that he would never forget, then perhaps it would be the voice he heard that night he escaped from Bucce. It was a simple promise to each other.

“Will you protect me, Brendel?”

“Yes, I will.”

Brendel opened his eyes incredulously and saw that familiar figure. The merchant lady was hanging from a rope around the neck of the emerging Titan Statue. Although she was scratched everywhere from swinging around and rubbing against the granite, she still looked happy to see Brendel.

What are you doing?!

The only thing Brendel wanted to do right now was glare at the merchant lady, just as he would every time she had gotten into trouble in the past. But unfortunately, he did not even have the strength to blink, so he could only lie still and watch, waiting for the unyielding gift to go away.

Roman……

The portals behind the two Titans were a blindingly bright red, as if all chances have been lost. Amandina’s whereabouts and whether she had found the node on the portal remain unknown.

There might be another chance.

Brendel stared at the merchant lady, Roman was now climbing onto the giant statue’s shoulder. Earhole, he said to himself. He knew that it was the only way into the Titan Statue’s manipulation core.

As if she had heard his voice, the merchant lady started to crawl in that direction.

But at that moment, a spark of electricity suddenly appeared on the Titan Statue’s shoulder, immediately wrapping around the merchant lady. Brendel’s eyes widened, as he saw Roman twitching in the electricity and then collapsing in a cloud of smoke.

Brendel’s heart went cold.

He was breathing heavily. Remorse injected itself into his heart like poison. He thought that perhaps if none of this happened, the merchant lady, Amandina, and the others would have had their own destinies.

But because of his one wish.

Everyone came here.

Though in the end, nothing could be changed.

Did I really make the wrong choice when I was at Coldwood Castle? He could not help but close his eyes. Francia’s clear eyes surfaced to his mind. If I could choose again, what choice would I make?

Brendel did not know.

He opened his eyes one last time as if saying a final goodbye to the world that had brought him this brief yet unforgettable experience. He wanted to look at Roman for one last time, to look at that merchant lady, whom he had promised to become the greatest merchant with together..

But he had broken his word.

But what he saw made his heart constrict; he saw the merchant lady crawling towards the Titan’s earhole. She was merely inches away.

Roman is not dead!

The manipulator of the Titan Statue seemed to have realized the threat, and the giant statue actually raised its left hand to slap its shoulder. At that moment, Brendel’s heart lifted, fearing to see the scene he had imagined, but instead, the giant statue slapped its own face.

“Ha!”

Brendel was ecstatic. The person manipulating the Titan was a rookie! He felt like a death row criminal who had just been told that his execution was suspended. The drastic change of emotions made him feel suffocated.

By this time, Roman was whimpering as she crawled to the earhole. Marquis Yoakam tried several times to reach her, while the Titan on the other side was still slowly recovering from the fatal wound in its chest. He had to come out from the earhole with his sword, preparing to kill the merchant lady himself.

He figured, what could an electrocuted, half-dead witch do to me? If she still had the strength to cast spells, she would have rushed in by now.

He came out with his sword just in time to see Roman crawl into the earhole. The Titan’s earhole was like a small cave, and the merchant lady was currently at the mouth of the cave. Marquis Yoakam shook his head in disdain.

Victory was within reach, and he was not attached to the status he possessed in Aouine. Only All for One could bring him true glory.

The divine work had been going on in Aouine for quite some time now, and today was the day to reap the benefits.

He walked over to Roman with these messy thoughts and tried to stab her.

But at this moment, the merchant lady suddenly looked up.

Marquis Yoakam could not believe his eyes. He saw a pair of pure black eyes with no white parts or pupils; they were like two black holes that seemed to devour his heart and soul.

He was so startled that he subconsciously tried to back away, but it was too late. The merchant lady reached out and grabbed his neck with frightening strength. Then she said in a different voice, “Who are you?”

Marquis Yoakam would swear with his life and his honor– if he had any left– that he had never heard such a terrible sound. It was like the wind that blew through the strange rocky valley, and made him freeze.

He shuddered subconsciously.

“You’re not her, who…are you?”

He heard a snicker.

And then… There was no ‘and then’. The brother of Aouine’s last king, Marquis Yoakam’s head tilted and lost his soul completely.

The cave seemed to be quiet for a moment, then Roman got up from the ground.

“It hurts……”

“Are you there, White Mist?”

“What just happened?” She was a little baffled as she looked at the lifeless body of Marquis Yoakam lying on the ground.

White Mist was silent for a moment.

“There seems to be something inside of you.” She replied icily, “Though now is not the time for that. If you don’t hurry up, I’m afraid that little boyfriend of yours is going to die soon.”

“Ah!” Roman jumped and hurriedly got up and limped to the maneuvering room.

……

Barely anything could be heard from the battlefield anymore.

It was hard for Brendel to look up and see what was happening on the princess’ side; all he could see were countless Devils crossing the battlefield, rushing past the two Titans like a crimson ocean, and finally approaching the portal below. Amandina stood, petrified, beside the door as if waiting for the final moment to arrive.

The presence of sound had grown weak in his perception. He stared silently at the Titan Statue which had already stopped working for some time. Beside it, another TItan was getting up to its feet, covered in wounds that Brendel inflicted. If one had not seen it with their own eyes, they would hardly believe that a constructed creature broken to this degree could continue to work.

This was the supreme work of the Bucce Witch.

But Brendel was still waiting for a final answer.

The answer came quickly.

Suddenly, the Titan Statue that was previously stagnant by the portal suddenly moved. Under everyone’s attention, it made its first move. It raised its fist high up and directed a bolt of lightning at its companion.

The crumbling Titan had already lost almost all of its power, and this strike was undoubtedly the last straw. After a blazing white glow, lightning passed through its skull, and the terrifying creation’s enormous head exploded like a watermelon.

Of course, the unfortunate manipulator inside was instantly crushed.

“Yay!”

The merchant lady who was holding the crystal ball with both hands let out a cheer almost immediately.

She grimaced as her movement agitated the wounds on her body, and tears streamed down her face. But with a smug look, she proclaimed loudly, “White Mist, White Mist, look, I told you that Brendel would make me the greatest merchant!”

“You’ll have to settle things here first.” White Mist replied, irritated.

Roman pressed her hands against the crystal ball excitedly as she observed the situation outside. The other Titan Statue’s core was damaged, the maneuvering room had been crushed, and was rendered completely unusable. But there were still many Devils on the battlefield. She frowned as she considered how to finish off these monsters.

It was at this time that she heard a small voice shouting at her from below.

“Miss Roman, attack the portal! All three nodes are directly above you!”

Roman looked down curiously and immediately saw the tiny, ant-like Amandina below. “Ah, it’s Amandina!” She immediately stuck her tongue out and licked her lips, “Okay, I got it, watch me!”

She held up the crystal ball, which instantly radiated bright light.

“A super-powerful strike from Lord Roman!”

With a loud rumble, everyone saw the two arms of the remaining Titan Statue suddenly fall off and land on top of the Devil Army that was approaching the portal below.

“Oh fck!” Brendel could not help but scream in his head upon seeing this scene. In this crucial moment, this merchant lady had screwed up again!

And to top it off, this girl was actually able to take off the arm of her own Titan! He had wondered if the Titan he took down would have had the most pathetic death in history, but now someone had reached new lows.

And unfortunately, this person was his fiancée.

“Ah……” Actually, not only was Brendel shocked, but Roman herself was shocked too. She looked left and right before frowning. “This thing is so fragile, it even broke down on its own.”

Even someone with the temperament of the Contract Spirit could not help but roll his eyes at her.

“But it’s okay, I can still attack!” The merchant lady waved her hands dismissively, and the crystal ball in her hands lit up again. The Titan she was maneuvering leaned back and charged headfirst at the portal; the entire movement was so smooth it was as if this was rehearsed.

Headbutt!

It was right on target.

Because the range of the Titan’s attack was so broad, the three nodes of the portal crumbled almost simultaneously.

In the next moment, a bright and radiant light emitted from the golden-red halo, and the entire thing disintegrated after a violent tremor. And then there was a terrifying explosion accompanied with blinding light, exploding like a firework.

Of course, the one who bore the brunt of it was the merchant lady’s Titan, which had its head against the portal. Under the impact of the terrifying explosion, the giant was blasted away as if it was a piece of paper, and landed heavily in the middle of the Devil Army.

The inertia caused it to keep rolling, and it grinded through the Devils like a siege chariot. The Devils on the ground were doomed. They were originally heading for the portal, but now it was clear that there was no need to teleport anymore, as Lord Roman’s Titan would return them to the Sulfur River, whether they wanted it or not.

Wherever the Titan passed through, blood and flesh splattered.

Ever since it had been created, no one had ever used it to kill an enemy in such a way. But he had got to admit, this method was very efficient.

Brendel could not help but smile bitterly.

His body felt more relaxed than ever as he looked at the last portal dissipate like a firework in the rainy night. He gently closed his eyelids and waited for the final moment to arrive.

At least it had not been a complete failure, had it?

It was at this moment.

A gold light pierced down from the clouds.

The last image Brendel remembered seeing was a pair of golden eyes……