The Amber Sword

Chapter 135 – Wolves’ movements

============ Faena’s POV ============

Faena watched the Lionmane Beastmen’s interrogation by the Druids with a pair of glazed eyes. Both of her hands were clamped over her lips. Her throat moved several times, wanting to grumble about how these Beastmen were useless for not being able to defeat a group of men from Aouine with superior numbers, but there was no sound.

Brendel truly terrified her.

It was only at this moment that she realized the country bumpkin had held back that afternoon. There was no way she could have waited for Veronica or the others to come in time if he wanted to kill her.

The three nobles from Kirrlutz had to stay where they were in order to avoid encountering the Druids who were searching for any remaining Beastmen. Instead, they continued to watch Brendel and his group of men from afar, but that youth from Aouine was slowly walking over to them.

Even though it seemed like he was just taking a stroll, Faena felt her heart beat heavily like a stick hitting a drum. The icy expression around his eyes made her afraid of even leaking out the tiniest of breath.

“Elman, Elman…… H-he hasn’t discovered we’re here, right?” She whispered in desperation.

When Brendel raised his sword, the ambassadors were still confused over what the youth was doing. When the damage to the vicinity was over, they jumped up in fright. Three sets of Kirrlutz’s uniforms bearing the symbols of important Houses. Three bodies lying on the ground.

The ambassadors were initially astonished at Brendel’s overwhelming might, but now fear consumed them and they could feel no warmth in their bodies.

It was all over.

Austin only had one thought. A war was going to break out between Kirrlutz and Aouine. The Empire would unleash its fury to their kingdom. It happened all too easily. Brendel’s subordinates thought the same as they watched him move slowly towards the corpses.

“You won’t be so lucky the next time. If I see you again, I’m afraid your heads won’t be attached to your necks again.” Brendel said.

The three bodies flinched when he spoke to them. Indeed, they were spared. Faena got up slowly, but her legs acted more like a newborn deer’s attempt to get up, and she fell onto the ground in a heap. The moment where the Sword Energy brushed past her head kept looping in her mind. She did not even have the energy to cry any longer.

Elman’s initial reaction to Brendel’s attack was much better than the other two. He instantly pushed Rono in front of him when he saw the attack and turned around to run. Unfortunately, he only took a single step before he crashed into a pine tree.

Rono stumbled from Elman’s push and fell face-down in the mud.

The Sword Energy seemed like it had a mind of its own and merely danced around their skin. Elman’s sword belt was cut off, Rono’s robe was shredded into pieces, while Faena’s pauldrons were split into half. They were then tossed up into the air by the shockwave of energy before they crashed onto the ground with a thud.

The trees around them were gone and not even grass was left intact. The Sword Energy snaked to a different path at a strange angle before it tore everything up in a straight line.

Brendel watched the Rono and Elman get up silently. They pulled up the shaking Faena and started to leave for their camps. However, they did not get far because they saw a colossal black wolf was in their path, motionless.

The boys sobered up and pulled out their swords but there was no reaction from the monster. They then noticed that it was in a strange pose. It looked as though it was charging towards something; its front paw was still lifted up. The two inched closer to the creature, their feet sweeping across fallen leaves and creating a rustling sound.

The wolf did not move but wobbled as though the minute vibrations had affected it.

Suddenly, its body split into half from head to tail, and a gush of blood and entrails poured all over the ground, causing a foul stench to permeate the air.

Brendel observed the golden lights emerge from the wolf’s body and flew towards him. Angry and annoyed as he was, he had no intention of getting Aouine in a war with Kirrlutz. As long as there were no deaths, these ‘insults’ to the people from Kirrlutz were unlikely to cause a war between them. Aouine had its troubles with Madara and the civil war, but the Kirrlutz Empire was not exactly in a healthy state right now.

The era of wars was still many years away.

It was not his personality to let these spoilt nobles get away with things. He chose the next best option. Threatening their lives in a show of power. It was the only way to make them feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.

But the true intention of his sword’s swing was to rescue the three aristocrats. Frightening them was his secondary goal.

– Black Wolf (Lord) slain.
– 2300 XP gained.

[They can’t die here even if it isn’t my fault. But the wolf’s appearance means that the event is starting.]

He sheathed his sword quickly and glanced at the other end of the forest where it led up to the black mountains.

A wolf’s howl pierced through the silent night—

And more wolves far and near answered it. Moving shadows started appearing in the forest. Brendel observed that area for a moment as though he was confirming something, before he turned back to the youths with a raised hand:

‘They’re here—‘