The Amber Sword volume 2 - Chapter 95

TL: Next TAS update will be on Wednesday. Any Engrish errors will be fixed some time later. I need to do some stuff.

Chapter 95 – The holy alliance

The scouts returned to report that they did not discover any more enemies, and Brendel led everyone into the temple.

Once inside the temple of the Elven G.o.ddess Sayel, the sealed Altar opened again after nearly two centuries —

Each tall elf walked down with a cold expression, their silver long braided behind their ears, their heads fixed with pointed silver helmets with wings adorned at the sides, their hands carried a doubled-bladed sword, their bodies covered with full silver-chain armor. They descended down the Altar made of obsidian rocks with large steps, and Brendel was unable to suppress his feelings, and only one thought was left in his mind.

[Heavy infantry! The strongest infantry rumored in the continent, the Royal Elven Guards!]

Twenty of them nodded towards Brendel and then stood at each side of the altar. At the end, a faint shadow appeared in the center of the altar, like a spirit that was slowly forming. Sounds of weapons being drawn could be heard behind Brendel, as the mercenaries pulled out their weapons, but Brendel was not anxious as he somehow guessed what was going to happen and faintly nodded.

Under everyone’s anxious eyes, the figure gradually became clearer and his appearance could be seen. An adult elf with silver eyes, hair wore a silver robe appeared before them. Even his skin was a pale silver. He was taller than everyone in the room, and appeared brawny even amongst the Elves.

He swept across everyone with his stern gaze as though to discern them. Most of the mercenaries lowered their heads, including the Nightsong Tiger. Even though it was just a projection, everyone held their breaths as they could feel the strength of the figure in front of them. Their first thought was that he was one of the ancestral kings of the Silver Elves.

The Silver Elf thought for a while before he spoke: “Are you humans?”

Everyone nodded.

“Who is he?” Amandina whispered behind Brendel.

“I believe he is the First King, Elandorr. I have seen the likeness of him in engravings.” Brendel spouted lies. The eleven portraits of the Silver Elf Kings were posted in the forums and Brendel could naturally recognized them.

But once he spoke, the gigantic Elf looked at him: “You recognize me?”

Brendel nodded without any choice. What else could he have done? The ancestral kings of the Silver Elves experienced the War of the Holy Saints, which happened during the terrifying Era of Chaos. There were people with the Golden Bloodline, and all the races were descendants of the Silver Bloodline. The strong appeared everywhere, and even Medissa who was underage had the strength of a Gold-ranked fighter. It might appear to be unbelievable in this era, but they were everywhere back then.

[The gamers who had nothing to do estimated the levels of the strongest fighters. Their conclusions ended up with the Four Holy Saints with at least level hundred eighty and above, while the leaders of the humans, Dwarves, Elves, had no less than a hundred and fifty. A warrior had to have at least their Elements unsealed, while everything under the Gold-rank was cannon fodder. In other words, that was the Era of Legends.]

Brendel thought that some of the data might have errors in them, but he felt they were not too far off the mark. In front of him was a projection, whose aura made him feel it was hard to breathe.

Elandorr pondered for a while before he spoke again: “That matter about the Child Medissa, I thank you for it. But what is your purpose for coming here?”

Brendel nodded again.

[Didn’t you say that your agreement is given an ‘okay pa.s.s’? Why is there another Elandorr? Did that little girl lie……. But I can’t ask her about it now since I can’t summon her.]

But Elandorr continued after pausing for a while: “Speak, what aid do you wish, our old allies.”

The Elven King’s voice was very low, as though he was not used to Kirrlutz’s language, thus he spoke slowly. However, his meaning was clear. Everyone except Brendel thought the Elven King was easy to talk to.

[I’m afraid things are not so simple with this king—]

Brendel decided to be honest in his reply: “I am here to deal with the Lizardmen bandits in the forest. This is also Medissa’s wish, and I wish to receive your help.”

“This is a fight between the living, how can the dead interfere with it?” Elandorr said.

[s.h.i.t! This sly b.a.s.t.a.r.d!] Brendel complained in his mind, but he answered:

“No, this concerns you.”

“Why?”

“The bunch of Lizardmen are probably under the Tree Shepherds.” He boldly looked at them.

“The Tree Shepherds?” He answered in a low voice.

“After the War of Holy Saints, the Twilight Dragon had been sealed permanently. The Miirna were driven by our ancestor, the King of Fire Gatel, to the icy regions in the north. Although the world had not recorded their presence ever since, the fact is they still exist. They separated and integrated themselves into the world, calling themselves the Tree Shepherds, the Platinum Sky Snakes, and worked from the shadows to overthrow civilization and unseal the Twilight Dragon.”

Amandina uttered a sudden gasp. She looked at Brendel in shock as she listened to him. She did not expect that the Tree Shepherds were the fabled Citizens of Darkness.

[My lord seems to know about this the very beginning, but he knows, then the higher echelons must have known about this. Why have they not taken any actions to drive this group out? If the Citizens of Darkness exists, then what about the Twilight Dragon, is it really going to come back to this world again?]

She did not think that Brendel would lie in this situation, especially in front of the Elven King. The War of the Holy Saints lasted for nearly seven hundred years, and it was a chaotic world that resembled h.e.l.l. She could not imagine the world to return to that chaotic era, and the fact the Golden Lineage had completely died out, while the people with Silver Bloodline waning, how would the mere commoners of this world save it again?

She paled a little.

Elandorr raised his eyebrows when he finished listening to Brendel.

“Gatel was too soft. I had warned him of this when I was still alive, but it seems that young man did not listen to me in the end. But perhaps he was crowned king precisely because of that……”

Brendel kept his silence, but the others were appalled to the point they nearly could not speak. In the end it was the younger Elementalist sister who asked: “King E-Elandorr, you said that the King of Fire Gatel, was soft hearted?”

Brendel understood why they were surprised. History depicted Gatel as a cruel and cold man. He was the last of the Holy Saints, and the rumors about him were how he cut a bloodbath to set up his own empire and chased the Mirrna to the harsh north.

The real history was something entirely different.

In order to avoid the topic being changed, he interrupted and said: “The Lizardmen are here partly because of the interest in stealing the treasure from the tomb. Medissa said they had approached the Altar more than once and stolen an artifact that belongs to her. Your majesty, even though you had slumbered throughout the ages, I believe that you were able to notice their actions.”

Elandorr nodded. He looked at the two Wild Elves. Although he recognized them as Elves, he was not able to discern which bloodline they were from.

“That is to say—” Brendel said with a confident look.

Elandorr revealed a warm smile for the first time, but it was quickly gone and his face became cold again: “Even though the creatures of the dark have almost no chance to break through Mother Marsha’s barrier, our oaths of the paths are still binding. We will stand together to fight against the Darkness, our human friends.”

“We are most grateful.” Brendel placed his hand on his chest and bowed.

“What should we do now?” Amandina gathered her courage and asked Brendel. There was encouragement in his eyes.

“I will lend my guards to you.” Elandorr replied: “They are the bravest warriors amongst the Silver Elves, and swore to fight against the Darkness for all eternity after their deaths. They will follow you and help you clear the enemies of darkness. However, the Altar has grown weaker since. They are unable to leave this region and cannot be projected for too long. The last thing…..”

He paused.

“Treat Medissa well. She’s a pitiful child.” The Elven King said in a quiet voice.

Brendel nodded. Amandina whispered to Brendel: “Why does he trust us so much?”

“Simply because,” Brendel’s expression was solemn as he whispered back: “You don’t understand the era they were living in. The humans have sworn oaths with the other races under unthinkable circ.u.mstances. The oath is treated as sacred and did not involve any conditions. It was an alliance that they made in order to simply survive. During that era, the races who fought against the Twilight Dragon were as close as brothers and sisters, otherwise there was no need for the war to continue……”

“The War of the Holy Saints?”

Brendel nodded.

Then he suddenly frowned and turned to a specific direction. He saw that the Nightsong Tiger was looking in the same direction. The latter was silent, but he talked to Brendel through his mind:

“Card Resonance.”