The Amber Sword

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Requiem(10)

“Our goal is simple. There are three portals in total. If we even leave just one behind, the mission will be a failure.

“The task of finding the Analyzing Portal will be left to Amandina, while the others, including myself, are to cover her as she approaches the portal, and to protect her until she’s done.

“Do you have any more questions?”

Brendel looked at all of them. They would have to face thousands of Devils later and no one expected success except him. Most of those present only saw the action as a noble act. First of all, they had less than forty people and secondly, their opponent was an army of Devils. Short of a miracle, they were unable to see how they could secure victory.

Some of Anthony’s knights looked nervous. Some frowned deeply, while some others joked around as if they did not care. Garlock, the usually silent and quiet Seeker of Wonders, was demonstrating a spell model to Ciel. Nicholas, the Sword Grandmaster of Seifer, was polishing his longsword over and over again, and the Princess was staring at the darkness of Ampere Seale in the rain alone, daydreaming about something. All these actions seemed meaningless, however, it showed a certain extent of uneasiness among them.

Who could face death with equanimity when the final moment was so close?

But even so, everyone nodded silently. They did not know that there was still a trace of hope – that there was a chance – in the young man’s heart. They merely thought that it was a kind of chivalrous persistence and steadfastness, to still wish to initiate a challenge despite knowing that failure would be the outcome. In this day and age, such determination would be considered naive in the eyes of most nobles, and yet at the same time, it was rare and worthy of admiration, because no one could blaspheme the pursuit of ideals and honor itself.

But it was not until the silence of the crowd at the moment before he took action that he felt something. There seemed to be tension in the air and unease that reminded him more than once of that night in Bucce.

Through the gaps in the cascading branches and leaves of the canopy, the portals of the Door of Flame stood like three huge golden rings in the rain. These things alone were enough to cause tremendous stress to people. Fortunately, in order to ensure the surroundings near the portals were clear, not a single flying creature could be seen in the entire northern sky of Ampere Seale.

Whether it was a Barbarian Devil or an Eagle Demon.

That was the only comforting thing to Brendel.

The Devils were rather confident of the troops’ strength near the portals, and there were no patrols set up in the surrounding hilly areas. Of course, the Devils did not have any patrols in the first place, and their fighting style was always straightforward, violent, and direct. That was it.

Instead, Brendel had been expecting to run into Jorgendy Ridge, but it looked like he was having good luck. He carefully led the others through the overgrown area while keeping a sharp eye on the hill where the Hellhounds were perched, but the other party was seemingly unaware that there was a troop to the north of Ampere Seale. They soon made their way into a meadow close to the gentle slope and to the ground that was between sparse woodland areas.

Brendel was the first to roll sideways behind a tree at the outermost edge of the woodland and took a look outside. The nearest portal was just less than a kilometer away from him, and because it was so huge, it almost seemed within reach.

Brendel took a breath and turned back immediately to signal to the others. Everyone lowered their bodies and crept closer to the edge on the forest floor.

To be honest, this action was not anything new. Scouts often approached enemy troops in this manner and even taught their horses to do so, but if there was an airborne scouting unit, doing so in an endless meadow would be like seeking death.

But Brendel just had his eyes on the clear area near the portal.

They slowly crawled out of the edge of the woodland and slowly entered the meadow belt. Brendel would raise his head slightly from time to time to take a look at the reaction of the Hellhounds that was among all the Devils. The Hellhounds were number one when it came to their perception ability. Even those higher-ranked Longhorn Devils were no match for them in this regard.

But Marsha was clearly on their side this time. They managed to advance three to four hundred meters all the way, and although it took a full ten minutes, the Hellhounds showed no reaction
even when they were almost half the distance away.

But their fortune apparently ended here.

Suddenly, Brendel could see the three-headed Hellhound stand up alertly at once. If he had been lucky up to this point, he might as well wait until the creature looked over in this direction, and that was when he immediately realized that his troop had been spotted.

At this distance, it was unlikely for the other party to have discovered them by sight. It would have been by their human scent instead. Brendel was prepared for their incredible sense of smell, but he could not help but still feel frightened. Moreover, they were in the middle of torrential rain. Had it been a sunny day, they probably would not have been able to hide in the forest.

The two major scouting soldiers of the Devils, the Barbarian Devil in the sky and the Hellhound on the ground, had famed reputations that were not exaggerated by the players. Brendel only saw those six pairs of blood-red eyes sweep in this direction when he immediately felt a numbness in his scalp. He subconsciously shouted.

“Amandina!”

The noble lady understood tacitly and immediately approached him, Brendel immediately got up from the ground and in one swoop, he scooped her up by the waist and carried her. He took off running right away, heading straight for the portal directly in front of them. “Quick! Destroy the nearest portal first!”

As soon as he moved, the Hellhounds on the hill all stood up in unison. The Longhorn Devils by the portal were slower to react, these tall Devils immediately kicking away the brawling little Devils. While cursing at them, they ordered the little Devils to prepare for battle.

And then, the Devil Warlocks appeared by the portals. Those monsters that originally seemed to be hidden among the large masses of little Devils stood up and immediately lit up blood-red flames in their hands, then they hurled them at Brendel and the others as though those were mere raindrops.

Brendel had one hand around Amandina while the other drew out the Halran Gaia. He was incredibly familiar with these monsters and naturally knew their usual tricks. He was about to fight them head-on when the Paladin and Nicholas had arrived in front of him, one to his left and one to his right. They stretched out their hands and countless golden-red Lines of Laws stretched forward and devoured all the fireballs.

In front of these two masters who played with fire, the Devil Warlocks’ fireball technique was just not enough.

Brendel was momentarily relieved. This was the reason he asked Nicholas in particular to join him. Devils were experts at playing with fire, but their skills would be considered child’s play if compared to Nicholas, who was of Elemental Enlightenment.