The Amber Sword

The youths had their mouths agape as they stared at the spiders without blinking, almost as if they were afraid of missing a detail.

Countless Holy Swords were hovering on top of the Wind Spirit Spiders which had assembled into a gigantic diamond shape.

They resembled a constellation.

The Type IV Hunter Knights naturally saw the same thing as they raised their heads. Each prism crystal lens detected and regarded them as an immense threat, and all the constructs made the same response.

Their guns unfurled together from the lances, and thirty-odd mechanical constructs aimed at Brendel’s body with red lasers at the same time.

“Watch out!” Someone shouted from the direction of the cages.

The revolution of gears and cogs could be heard spinning vigorously with a high-pitched whine.

“Ptyoona!” Medissa shouted in ancient Elven.

Bullets fired at the youth and caused the dust in the air to agitate wildly. Medissa’s reaction against this attack was to raise her lance and command her Element Power to surge out of her, which extended into a gigantic pair of wings made of Soul Fire.

All the enemies’ bullets smashed into hexagonal-shaped crystal-like barriers when they approached the flames. Half the stage was filled with vivid showers of sparks for a brief moment, and the constant high-pitch metallic clinks made many to cover their ears.

The Type IV Hunter Knights changed their target to Medissa, but Brendel made his move and pointed his finger at the very edge of their group.

Buzzing noises could be heard from the sky as the Holy Swords flared up in a blazing heat. Rotating magic formations appeared on the Wind Spirit Spiders before they were drowned out by the light generated by the Holy Swords.

The spectators tried imagining what would happen next when the counter-attack came, but the spectacular display still surprised them. It was a scene where most of them would not forget for the rest of their lives.

The Type IV Hunter Knights’ reacted by halting their attacks and their yellow sigils rotated to their front. They started huddling together in a group. The sandy soil beneath them rumbled and rocks protruded from the ground, encasing them in rocks.

Countless pillars of light soon struck the fortress. Fiery heat seemed to vaporize the moisture in the coliseum, and the youths thought that the coliseum was in danger of becoming destroyed.

Kodan suddenly remembered a Kirrlutz’s famous quote to describe the war in their historical text, the Poem of Grey:

“We saw columns of clouds split open, and the sky turned blood-red as though burning steel was in the air, and golden pillars of light rained down from to the earth and purged the living creatures with a sea of fire.”

The old man had survived the November War and seen wizards display their destructive might against an entire army, and he thought he would never have to see such a sight again. This scene once again brought out the nightmarish events that were buried within his heart.

He did not realize it himself, but his eyes dilated and darted everywhere, and his breathing became ragged as he tried to reach out for his sword.

He failed to do so.

The grandmaster swordsman was startled and a sheen of cold perspiration covered him before he realized where he was. Still, the shock remained in his mind and he looked on in slight confusion. The destructive firepower seemed like it was capable only from an Archmage.

Brendel snapped his fingers.

The pillars of light started converging to a single point with a terrifying buzz and began drilling through the rocks that were covered with layers of magic.

These barriers deflected part of the firepower, but one could see that the rocks were turning into molten liquid.

The youths were rendered speechless. Just when they thought they had seen the limits of a battle, there was a new standard.

A rain of fiery destruction against the layered barriers of magic defense.

Jocah froze at where he was standing while Maher retreated in fright as soon as the beams of destruction moved in their direction. The latter crashed onto the cage’s steel bars, and he jumped up like a startled rabbit. When he realized what he bumped into, he found his forehead full of cold sweat.

Cohen’s skin color was saturated with a golden hue while he continued to observe. Both his hands firmly held on to each other without moving a muscle. Unlike the others who were attracted by the beautiful magic, his eyes were on Brendel.

“This is......” Jana watched the display of magic in awe.

She finally knew how insignificant her mercenaries were to Brendel. It could not be more laughable for them to persist in believing that they were something worth of value.

There was completely no reason for this young man to appear in such an impoverished territory. With his strength, he could have gotten any position he wanted and be awarded plots of lands that were far better than Trentheim.

It was a laughing joke. Why he would choose to get Graudin’s territory with his strength, to the point where he would fight against Count Randner and Aouine’s upper echelons—

Jana found that she could not find any reason that would explain it.

But she finally remembered something. That fateful night where Graudin got his retributions, was when Brendel rode to the city with resolute eyes, bringing along a little girl.

Jana suddenly recalled the Poem of Grey describing a heroic knight who led an army against impossible odds. Several centuries ago, this quote was also used on the Ancestral King, Erik—

[The emissary sent by the Gods to gather everyone under a single flag. Fate changed as they rode as one—]

The Type IV Hunter Knights’ defensive magic lasted for a short while, but every pillar of light fired into a single spot and the barriers were finally penetrated through.

It caused the rocks to turn into ashes and vapor quickly. Molten steel poured out from the hole and onto the ground, while loud cracking sounds could be heard as glass was gradually formed on the floor from the extreme heat.

The pillars of light moved faster and faster to destroy the remaining enemies on the battlefield. In less than a minute, they were all destroyed and the pillars of light stopped firing.

Smouldering embers clogged the coliseum with a nasty choking gas. The fortress of rock was completely pierced through and none of the Type IV Hunter Knights survived and was turned into metal scrap under their created grave.

Even Medissa felt surprised at Brendel’s magic despite her experience in the War of the Holy Saints and glanced at the array of Holy Swords above her head.

“Did we just win the challenge, my lord?” Her pleasant voice asked.

“What do you think?” Brendel replied with some exasperation.

The Elven girl seemed like she still wanted to see more.

If he was not a Planeswalker, these thirty-odd metal constructs would really present a problem to him.

He sighed slightly as he lowered his hand. Controlling the battlefield without a problem felt good. It was a slight pity that the Holy Swords did not have enough firepower. Three converging pillars of light nearly failed to pierce through the constructs’ Silver-ranked defenses.

The coliseum became silent as though Brendel’s actions had presented itself as a problem.

[...... Shit. Did I overdo it? It’s possible for the Coliseum of Destiny to set a personal difficulty. In the game, this place is actually a shitty Fantasy-ranked dungeon that allows gamers to challenge themselves.]

But after a moment of silence, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind, and words started spreading across his retinas.

– You may choose to redeem an additional reward for successfully completing three challenges.

Brendel rubbed his forehead in delight as he remembered his experience in the game.

The core reward of this Coliseum of destiny was certainly the Sword of Earth. If he wanted to get the sword, he needed to attempt two more challenges.

There was an additional rule when one decided to challenge.

From the third challenge onwards, every additional challenge would net him a reward, and it would become better and better. There was also no limit to how many times one was allowed challenge, and the gamers who attempted it stated that doing it over thirty times would eventually net them rewards that were even better than the core rewards.

But it was obvious that he did not dare to attempt it.

– If you do, you will not be able to release the prisoners in the cages.

[Of course, I acc— ...... Eh?]

He finally remembered more details about the rewards. If he took the additional reward he would not be able to free Scarlett this round.

[Damn...... it.]

Brendel’s mind worked furiously.

He glanced at the longsword embedded in a boulder. Ever since he lost the Thorn of Light, he wanted to find a weapon that he could use, and did not want to give up on this opportunity in gaining one here. The battles ahead in Firburh were unavoidable and there was no telling how difficult it would be.

If he wanted Halran Gaia, he would need to fight three more battles. He would be able to pick the next two additional rewards and free Scarlett along with the core reward.

But choosing the additional rewards meant that he had to give up on saving the youths.

[If I choose to rescue them here, what’s going to happen in the battles ahead in Firburh and Valhalla? How am I going to protect my mercenaries and soldiers without sufficient preparation?]

He was at a crossroad of no return.

He closed his eyes and clutched his wrists, cursing at his weakness.

In the end, he chose to abandon the youths.

[I wish to redeem the additional rewards.]

– Are you certain you wish to redeem your reward?

[Yes.]

– Please choose your status.

Brendel blinked once. He had never encountered this in the game.

– Normal status

– Planeswalker status.

“Eh?” Brendel was stunned.

He had never seen a game that would change the rewards based on a profession. Sometimes rewards could be chosen but they were predetermined. He hesitated for a while when he saw the choices, but he chose the Planeswalker.

The words changed again.