The Amber Sword

Chapter 189 – The final moment (5)

The forest was peaceful. Brendel tried hard to maintain that silence, gently pushing away obstacles and vines. Even the birds were content to stay and watch his group as they made their way closer to the World Tree.

The lush greenery was very different from the Dark Forest’s atmosphere. Looking past the layers of greenery was a view of a broad basin, its center looked almost as though a finger had pushed down the earth to form it. The mountain range had surrounded this area and prevented violent winds from reaching it.

The World Tree was also in the middle of the area. Its roots expanded in all directions and caused the ground to be uneven, with a few extending all the way to the cavern.

[Andesha and her ally must have traveled on one of the roots. If I follow some of the roots’ paths, they actually lead to interesting positions that’s difficult to access if one travels on the ground. Hmm, but we can’t follow too closely since she’s a half-Druid. We will get detected all too easily if she tracks us.]

Brendel studied the area for a while, before he suddenly caught sight of a few artificial marks on broken stone fragments that were half-buried in the ground. He then led the girls to a small path overgrown with vegetation. Even though time had hidden the secrets in this place, the youth was certain that he needed to investigate the place.

There were four massive ancient trees with overgrown vines and bushes around the area. Two white boulders were hidden behind dull green flora, and through the gaps, he discovered carved marks there were like letters, though most of them were corroded and unreadable.

[These letters look like they are from the Silver Lineage. Not the Elves or Wizards, naturally, but another race closely related to the forest. So someone ruled over this place, at least during the time when the Dragon of Darkness was still around.]

Brendel tried asking Medissa through his mind whether she knew anything about Valhalla, but the Silver Elf princess stated she did not.

“Valhalla existed long before we did, my Lord, outdating the Silver Elves, the Mist Elves, and the Moon Elves. These three Elven bloodlines are the main Elven bloodlines of the Silver Lineage, dating all the way back to our Ancestral Elven King Ljosalfheim, even before the Dragon of Darkness appeared.” She said.

It was just as Brendel had assumed. The Twilight Dragon in the continent was a fuzzy symbol in the Twilight Battle. Though the ordinary citizens in this era knew of the monstrous being’s name, it was just a dead god amongst the stories of the gods in the past.

Even in the game, there was really no quests or lore about this primeval dragon, and the gamers only had to deal with the evil cults who would put the name of Twilight or Chaos in their deeds.

“Am I wrong, or are those letters?” Faena asked in a tiny voice.

Since she did not dare to return on her own, she decided to openly follow the youth. He was not a sycophant like the other nobles around her and even bullied her all the time, but at least he did not physically threaten her.

“Urgh, stop bothering me and think on your own.” Brendel snapped.

“I recall that the last time someone from Aouine who attempted to claim the Wilderness was approximately two centuries ago, Lord Roman from the Vieiro family, also known as the last Pioneer Knight. The historical reports stated that the Dark Forest used to be bigger, and the entire south of the Randner region was corrupted and lordless. No civilization had touched it before……”

Faena spoke as though she was reciting a textbook, then she pointed at the carvings.

“But if these carvings are actually letters of a civilization, then it proves that the Loop of Trade Winds is a land that was lost to the Wilderness. The Dark Forest was not always part of the Wilderness formed by Chaos, therefore the books are wrong….. W-what? Why are you looking at me like that, my grades in history are excellent! I even received an award from Grandmaster Mahaein!”

“The famous dwarf who can decipher the contents that belong to the Poem of Skies?” Brendel asked.

“A portion of it. Also, even though Grandmaster Mahaein is a Dwarf, he’s a citizen of the Kirrlutz Empire.” Faena was proud enough to raise up her chin and started bringing out her status.

“No, don’t tell me, he’s the one who wrote what you just recited. What kind of historical nonsense is that dwarf writing…… Doesn’t he know that the Druids were living here before the Aouine kingdom was founded? What did he mean by the south of the Randner region was corrupted and lordless?” Brendel smirked and said sarcastically.

“You are the one who’s spouting n-nonsense! The Druids don’t have any interest in being the lord of a land!”

“Unbelievable. Does the Empire dare to use this excuse and drive away all the Druids from their borders? I should congratulate you now since your borders are going to expand yet again!”

“Y-you……”

The real reason why Brendel was annoyed, was how the Kirrlutz Empire included Aouine’s history in their reports. Kirrlutz’s citizens had never regarded Aouine as a kingdom, instead, they treated it like an overseas province, and it was especially so amongst the nobles who supported the Imperial politics.

Naturally, this arrogance annoyed the gamers in the Aouine Kingdom.

Brendel was not keen on bullying a spoiled girl, but he wanted to kick her down before her conceited nose touched the sky. After saying his fill, he turned back to the path.

[The four trees and the two boulders with carvings on them. These things make up a marker to denote a certain area of a ‘city’, though I can’t tell what this place is for.]

He parted the vegetation and the group continued down the path, reaching to another section in the area. They discovered the strange shape of the foliage were actually overgrown greenery over boulders that were cut into buildings. Verdant plant life surrounded them, rustling gently from time to time against the wind.

Brendel was about to step into a clearing, but Sifrid suddenly pulled his hand, causing him to go on his guard.

“What is it?” He whispered.

“The bad woman is here.” Sifrid did not speak and mouthed the words.

Brendel felt a chill and mouthed back a word:

“Where?”

Sifrid pointed at the highest building. Brendel immediately stared at the spot and discovered that there was a peculiar plant growing on top of the roof. His mouth fell open and gasped lightly.

That was not a plant at all, but Andesha. That half-druidic talent of hers made it difficult to discover her presence, and she also hid in a clever spot, allowing her to hide and observe as well.

It was unfortunate that she was competing with the Lady of the Forest who was blessed by the Goddess Nia.

Still, Brendel could not help but burst out a layer of cold sweat. He now realized that it was a wise decision not to send back Sifrid; having her to help him in this forest had many advantages.

“Stay quiet!” Brendel turned around to Faena and mouthed these words.

[This place should be a market. The boulders are placed in a way to form a something like a circle, and this particular building is probably a temple for the God of Commerce, since it’s popular to have one in the ancient times.]

Andesha was standing on top of this temple. As a member of an evil cult, she did not respect any gods from the Order.

Faena finally spotted Andesha and was startled. She turned to Brendel in a hurry and mouthed: “Why is she here?”

“If you have the slightest bit of intelligence, you would know that she’s obviously looking for us,” came the reply.

The girl was at a loss, but she put on a sulking look: “It’s all your fault! I told you that we should leave this place!”

Brendel rolled his eyes. Did he not ask her to leave earlier? But he did not want to deal with a spoiled girl’s temper, so he responded:

“What? Huh? I totally can’t hear you. Your lips are flapping but it seems like I can’t read these complicated words! Why do you always pretend to act tough and then cause trouble for me? Man, you’re such a cliche and a pain in the b—”

Faena tried hard to read Brendel’s lips, but he was moving them so quickly that she did not understand what he was trying to say, and she became at a loss for words when he added exaggerated movements with his entire body.

When the youth finally had his fill of venting his complaints to the frozen girl, he turned back to ponder on the problem before him.

[Honestly, if Andesha just rushes straight to the heart of Valhalla, I don’t think I can reach there before her. But now that she stopped here…… It’s my chance to overtake her. Hmmm. I did check the area, but I couldn’t find her companion. The exit to this market is…..]

Brendel suddenly realized why she stopped at the top of the building.

[There’s a man-made wall forming around the market, and its roots are covering over the wall and the mountains. Almost like a natural barrier of protection…… But if I’m not wrong, exiting this market will lead me to another enclosed area with a similar wall. If I am to use an analogy, it’s a fan-shaped city leading towards the World Tree. Since the exit of the market will definitely be under Andesha’s supervision……]

It was probably difficult to understand the shape of the city if one did not look above it, but Andesha was able to discern instinctively that one would have to approach and exit this market to reach the World Tree.

If Brendel were to control the city, he would have been dancing with joy on how defensive this area was, but now he could only taste the bitterness in his mouth. He was almost certain there was no other way to the World Tree, since it was a fortification designed to fight the Twilight Dragon.

He felt a slight headache.