The Amber Sword

TL: I have no ETA for the next chapter, so expect to wait for days before the next chapter (kind of need to do stuff).

Chapter 78 – Outside one’s control

The two people started to sprint to their own camps, shouting at the top of their lungs. The Nightsong Tiger immediately pursued them. His body seemed to meld together with the trees’ shadows; he was not fast, but his movements were silent and practiced to the point of awe, as if he was a creature of the night.

The chains dragged across the floor and created a ringing sound.

[The disciples have discovered the commotion over in this area, my plans must change.]

He frowned as the girls behind him withdrew their crossbows. The other mercenaries took out their weapons in silence and stared anxiously into the forest, readying themselves for combat.

“My lord?” Amandina asked.

Brendel shook his head. The plans he had decided earlier had developments that were outside his prediction, and he needed to solve the situation quickly. He reached inside his pouches and took out a gleaming crystal.

This did not mean that the matter had came to a close. There were movements within the forest that he noticed, regardless of whether it came from the Grey Wolves Mercenaries’ camps, or the opposite direction.

“Damn it.” He ordered his summoned men in his heart: “Prepare to retreat, and bring along that two bastards.”

He turned his head to look at the red demon. It was still holding on to life and did not die yet. The demons were known for their resilience, and were ranked amongst the top three hated monsters in the game, along with the undead and plant-type monsters.

Suddenly Brendel realized that the creatures he had encountered were undead creatures, the Golden Demonic Tree and its creatures, and now demons. Before he had the chance to mock himself for his bad luck, green words filled his vision.

“The creature’s contract has ended.”

“The creature is a weakened state—”

“Conditions have been met.”

“Would you like to establish a contract?”

“Yes/No.”

Brendel looked at the sentences for a moment before he shivered in fright and shook his head quickly.

[Never!]

Brendel refused the contract and quickly escaped the area along with his mercenaries.

After a short time, the Nightsong Tiger threw Redi and his companion onto the ground. The white-haired youth raised his head in defiance and glared at the people around him. But when he saw it was Brendel and his mercenaries, his irides shrank a little and tried to stand up.

However, the Nightsong Tiger suppressed him by pressing down on his shoulder and neck, causing him to kneel down. His silver eyes glared at Brendel like an untameable wolf.

He roared: “You fuckers, I knew that you’re colluding with the enem— Khhk, cough!”

Brendel did not waste time talking to him, and simply punched him in the face. He used enough strength to force Redi to cough out blood and saliva.

Amandina took a silent breath, while Romaine thought Brendel’s anger was somewhat similar to Freya at the Golden Tree Valley. The latter was also concerned with Brendel’s hand. He was bleeding from the injury when he fought the demon but he refused her aid.

The weapon from the Lord of Thorns was poisoned, but Brendel had no trouble resisting it with his high phsyique and he did not want her to have any accidents.

Redi turned his head back at Brendel as if to challenge him to strike again. He glared at him with hatred as he licked the blood from his lips. Brendel took a quick glance into the distance. The battle earlier had caused both parties to be alert, and there was chaos from the nearby forest. If he did not act swiftly, he would have been stuck between them.

Brendel’s eyes went back to Redi. Even now, they were not out of danger. It was why he felt incredibly annoyed.

“Unless you’re a fool, you should already know that we are not your enemies. If you don’t want to die, please stop struggling.” Brendel’s voice was cold.

Redi gritted his teeth. He came to the conclusion that Brendel and his men were not on the same side with the Demon he just saw. But he was furious over the fact that Brendel punched him, and thought he was taking personal revenge on him and to teach him a lesson.

Even so, he subconsciously thought that Brendel was trying to scare him.

[The ‘Grey Wolves Mercenaries’ is not a simple mercenary group and I’m not worried if we’re going to fight the ‘Paper Cards’. But this bastard actually dared to hold me here.]

Redi cursed in his heart and thought Brendel was nothing more than a naive idiot who knew nothing. He looked at Brendel with scorn, only to find him looking elsewhere.

Brendel was looking at a girl who approached them. Her eyes were closed and the long black hair seemed to accentuate her pale face in the moonlight. Brendel found it surprising that the girl did not appear to be in any panic despite the chaos in the forest.

[Who is this?] Brendel wondered how he should act, but the Nightsong Tiger came beside him and asked.

“My lord, it’s the Disciples of the Black Flames again. What should we do next?”

“Disciples of the Black Flames?” Redi’s heart jumped slightly.

Brendel looked to the northern hills before he answered: “We head to the east.”

The white-haired youth snickered. He came from a noble’s family that was involved in the military and had a certain level of insight. The ‘Paper Cards’ had already established a foothold in the northern area, while the southern valley allowed forces to regroup much more safely.

[An amateur pretending to know what he was doing. This is so laughable that I feel sorry for these veterans working under him.]

Redi started to think that Brendel was a useless leader, but he was deeply impressed when the Nightsong Tiger captured him without giving him time to react. Even though he secretly mocked Brendel, he was genuinely concerned with the phrase ‘Disciples of the Black Flames. He secretly spied on the mercenary beside him and thought he had no reason to lie.

He thought it was impossible to gather any information from the mercenary himself, so he decided to try and fish information from the idiot instead.

But the Nightsong Tiger was quite interested with Brendel’s opinion, contrary to Redi’s views.

“My lord, have you fought against the Disciples of the Black Flames before?”

“You can think of it that way.” Brendel answered without much thought. “I fought against their high ranking priests.”

[In the game.] Brendel added that detail in his mind.

“Oh?” The Nightsong Tiger’s eyes brightened up: “The high ranking priests?”

“Ha…… Cough…… Haha, why don’t you say you met with the Tree Sheperd leaders,” Redi laughed in derision: “The priests in the Disciples of the Black Flames are all silver-ranked and above. Even the army in Aouine’s capital would not claim they could score a victory against them. May I know Messere Brendel, which army were you in when you encountered them?”

He laughed again and looked at him in condescension: “You might want to get a better script if you wish to brag. Also, if you’re heading to the east, release me. I don’t want to die along with you.”

Brendel was highly amused and annoyed at the same time.

[Not only did I see more than one of them, I even killed one. At the peak of my level, I became a Crusader Knight where only one or two people within their organization that could fight against me.]

But Brendel did not want to waste time explaining with him. He merely showed a beaming smile with exposed teeth, although his dark expression made him appear intimidating.

“It seems like you don’t understand the situation you are in.”

Redi’s voice got stuck in his throat. He finally recalled that he was in no position to even speak, so he simply ignored the annoying youth in front of him and scoffed loudly.

Brendel did not mind that he acted as a mute, and he gave the order to his mercenaries to bring the girl to him.

“Who are you?” He asked when she was near him.

Redi took a quick glance at her before he turned away.

“My name is Yula, Ser knight.”

“You know that I’m not a merchant?” Brendel was surprised.

“I know even more than that. Our mercenary group is in grave danger, and I know that Ser knight is capable of helping us, right?” The girl nodded to admit that and continued to ask.

“Hey, Yula?” This time Redi looked completely stunned: “…… But these people are—”

“May I know who exactly are the enemies?” Yula asked a strange question.

Brendel looked at her curiously, but he decided to focus on the first question she asked.

“How do you know I can help you?”