The Amber Sword

Space was promptly saturated with scorching spears of blinding light.

Like a meteor shower seen from up close, the fiery darts of magic narrowly shot past Brendel, Veronica and Mephisto, or crashing onto Ciel magic defence shield.

As more and more fatal radiating beams rained down, Hipamila managed to retreat to the edge, albeit at great effort, yet helplessly watched as her Staff of tribute was struck and splintered into pieces.

Meanwhile, some of the lightning bolts were directed at the crown prince of Kirrlutz, hitting the surrounding icicles first before reaching him. Ice pieces of varying sizes came crashing down from above, smashing right on the heads of the screaming Shido and Haruz.

Before the first wave of lightning bolts was cleared, the second was already charged, loaded and fired! Upon the black canvas that was their surroundings were arrows of white light, scattered like loose cannons, their destinations could be on any of these potential victims in the space!

“Brendel, the hunter siblings!” Veronica snapped out of her thoughts as she yelled.

Brendel had an instant change of expression. Considering the fact that all this while they had their hands full with countering the advances of Dim Korfa, they were completely oblivious of the fact that Peja and Yaruta were still around.

This time around, Korfa unleashed a berserker attack in all directions, and with the hunter siblings only slightly more capable than normal humans, more so now that they were unconscious, a single hit from the lightning bolt would undoubtedly kill them in an instant.

Regardless, it was a belated thought that had crossed their minds moments too late, and now they were all a notable distance away from the hunter siblings.

A blinding lightning bolt flashed before their eyes...

Watching powerlessly as tragedy struck before his eyes, Brendel was riddled with guilt. To think he promised Peya that he would keep them safe at all costs...

The first lightning struck painfully close to where Peya was laying, the platform glared with a sharp flash.

Yet at that moment, a second strike was aimed right at the young hunter lady’s chest!

Just when all hope seemed to be lost, the Shield of Light appeared in the nick of time, engulfing the hunter siblings within its protection, successfully protecting them from what seemed like certain death.

It was none other than Hipamila, the only magic wielder in the arena!

Brendel was caught off guard and still had an ominous feeling within.

He watched as the Lady Bishop, tossing away her splintered staff, selflessly came to the aid of the hunter siblings Peya and Yaruta.

“Watch out for yourself!” Brendel yelled out to Hipamila, knowing full well the consequences of her emphatic action.

At that moment, a blinding flash pierced through her left arm, leaving her shrieking from pain as she stumbled ever so slightly before a second followed immediately, this time penetrating her tiny waist.

“Ugh,” The young Lady Bishop grunted as blood squirted across the platform, its host collapsing on the ground.

“Hipamila!” Brendel screamed in agony before another lightning bolt came right at him.

He niftily did a backflip into the magic transport funnels, watching as dozens of light beams collided into one another before bursting into an array of sparks. “Ciel!”

Brendel navigated to the lower end of the funnel, untangled a bottle and tossed it right to his nearest mage apprentice.

“Pass it on!”

Ciel hurriedly turned the shield to another direction, sloppily blocking a lightning bolt as it rippled on the emerald light shield. He then casually caught the bottle, popped it open and promptly identified it as Health potion No. 13.

Veronica on the other hand was adeptly waving her swords, blocking the darts of light as they came. Lifting her head, reflected on her emerald green pupils was the third wave of electric waves rising from behind Korfa.

At that moment, the entire space was once again saturated with blinding white light.

“Buddy, Mephisto. We need an actual plan, we can’t go on like this forever!” She knew full well that they were heading towards an increasingly strenuous position.

“Milord, we are also facing some issues over here,” Ciel was panicking watching as deathrays of lightning came raining down on them, leaving him maimed to his position.

This was a death trap, and unless they come up with a way to cut Dim Korfa’s endless supply of energy from Milos, this would drain them down.

Brendel grunted ever so slightly before he rushed towards his mentor, “Teacher, any ideas of getting close to Dim Korfa, at least diverting her attention from constantly attacking all of us?” Among the five, only Mephisto had the residual ability to retaliate.

Mephisto rushed directly towards Korfa, and in response near-infinite amounts of white light shot right towards him! Yet every blinding light shot towards the Ash Sword Saint was diverted, the more rapid and blinding the lightning bolts were, equal numbers of light beams were reflected away towards the spaces around Mephisto, akin to that of a walking prism.

The Ash Sword Saint seemingly tore his way through the overbearing waves of lightning and explosions, catching Korfa off guard in the process.

“Goddamn, Goddamnit!” Korfa howled from anger, before turning much of her attack towards Mephisto, which in turn cleared the path drastically for the others.

However, that left Mephisto with no choice but to retreat for the time being, preserving his strength for the seemingly increasingly tedious fight.

Ciel was finally able to come to Hipamila’s defense, grabbing the shield as he rushed empathetically towards her.

The air, blindingly white from the impervious streaks of lightning as they came towards him only to bounce off his magic shield.

Back on the platform, Hipamila, who was hit by the stray lightning bolts struggled as she lifted herself upright. Nevertheless, impaired by the wound on her shoulder as blood gushed out from it, with a dull grunt she collapsed into a pool of her own blood. Ciel was anxious to reach her, despite being in plain sight, the distance between them was so close yet so far. At that moment, Korfa seemed to have seen through their fair scheme as she once again reorganised her attack back towards the direction where Ciel was positioned.

Ciel’s magic shield began to flicker as the attacks were actively taking a toll on his magic power. Beads of sweat began dripping down his forehead, If this goes on I’ll have to retreat into the tunnel again.

Brendel naturally noticed the precarious situation he was in as his nerves rattled. Out of options, he shouted, “Ciel, turn the shield towards me!”

Ciel was baffled.

“Now!”

“But Milord...you cannot take this risk...” Hipamila’s voice was heard from within their souls, seemingly holding back from the immense pain she was experiencing, “I...haven’t been following you for too long, let me go.”

“What are you talking about, this isn’t a business deal!” Brendel then glared at Ciel,

“Now, it’s an order!”

Ciel chuckled awkwardly, yet did not turn his shield towards Brendel, but instead extended its radius to cover the position that Brendel was in.

“That’s better,” Brendel let out a sigh of brief relief as he praised. Ciel then replied, “But you have to consider my life too, Milord...”

“Nonsense, are you just going to let her die?”

Ciel shrugged, “I’ll cover you.”

“Milord...Mr Ciel...” Hipamila lying in her pool of blood as she mumbled feebly.

Brendel did not waste any more time as he pulled out his Flash Strike Sword and pointed it towards Ciel. Woosh!

Ciel’s magic shield trembled more than ever from the sudden ally attack as Ciel terrifyingly replied, “Master, are you trying to kill me?”

“Shut it!” Brendel knew he was saying it half-jokingly, but he was not in the mood for jokes.

Pulling out his sword from Ciel’s magic shield, in a flash he reappeared right next to Hipamila as the young bishop painfully watched.

Drenched in blood was his bishop apprentice, barely breathing. Lifting her soft, feeble body off the ground, Brendel was furious.

Right at that moment, he saw an array of blinding lights heading right at him, right then all he could do was to somersault with Hipamila in his arms, as they landed on the edge of the platform. Taking a quick look, to his surprise were several passageways that could comfortably shield a few people.

Without hesitation, Brendel took the leap, gently placing Hipamila on the tunnel in a sitting position. He was shocked by what he saw.

Hipamila’s cheeks were patched with bloodstains, her eyes tightly shut but beads of tears were continuously rolling down, her chapped lips mumbling inaudibly. Brendel was heartbroken to witness his selfless apprentice, this battered and terrified.

Only then did he realise how much courage it must have required for her to say what she said earlier, which aches his heart. Patting her gently on the back as a means to reassurance, he took out a bottle of No. 13 health potion and caringly fed her some.

Moments after, Hipamila’s eyelashes twitched, gradually opening her eyes. Her sky blue pupils were overwhelmed with regret as she then said, “My apologies, Milord, I...”

“Hush, you did more than enough,” Brendel replied. For a Gold level with little battle experience, her performance could be deemed perfect.

Most importantly, it was the bravery she displayed, which Brendel knew full well came from her loyalty to himself, yet have no clear comprehension of.

To him, her loyalty and dedication seemed to be far more sincere than just about anyone else, almost to the level of a religious follower to their God. I guess it must be the in-game card and personality settings...

Nonetheless, he was moved.

“Get some rest, we’ll handle the rest.”

Hipamila was not satisfied with the arrangement, noticeably biting on her lip.

Brendel was beating himself up for the reassurance that he gave to her, one that even he himself wouldn’t believe. At this point, Dim Korfa had clearly overpowered them, on the brink of even breaking Mephisto, and he ranked only second to Sage level!

Brendel then gently tugged Hipamila to a more comfortable position for her to recuperate, lifted his head, his eyes now fixated back onto the lightning bolts and explosion in the air above. Korfa was unsurprisingly still in the center of the platform, effortlessly controlling the countless lightning strikes, unleashing them on each and every one of her adversaries present.

“Argh!!” Brendel then heard a scream of pain from above, it was Haruz’s voice. He knew he could no longer delay anymore.

His only shot was to hit where it mattered. Right at Dim Korfa.

He knew he had to take the risk, patting his Staff of Earth as a rallying call.

In the criss-cross of blinding lights, Dim Korfa could feel her energy rapidly growing from within. Her eyes closed tight, with the imbued confidence that she could make all of this disappear with a stroke of her hand.

This level of control was incredible, not even something she experienced in her prehistoric era, when she was at her peak. So this incredible feeling is what it means to be a God in the world of Order! Licking her lips, she was ecstatic.

Even if those before her were nothing but puny insects, it was a gratuitous feeling to manipulate them at her will. Knowing the energy she obtained from nature could break the world into pieces, that was an immensely satisfying feeling.

On the other side of the aisle, the group of people were at their lowest.

The image once again reappeared right around her, Oginsk burned to the ground, and the city up next being Ten Arm city, with an imaginary hourglass hovering over it. Once the time is up, the city would be blown to ashes.

Destruction was a pleasure to Dim Korfa, as it had always been. Yet this time around she couldn’t help but burst into maniacal laughter.

Like a demon, her piercing laugh echoed through the entire space.

Mephisto, Veronica and the lot were beginning to show signs of exhaustion from the constant assault, and were unaware that at that moment, Brendel had vanished.

Haruz was leaning weakly on the ice walls, pale as a sheet as he mumbled inaudibly.

The young scholar was tactless- panicking, she grabbed the remaining clothes she had in her backpack as he tried to cover his wounds, hoping they would keep him from bleeding out. But there he laid in a pool of blood, his body temperature rapidly dropping as blood did not stop gushing from the wounds on his chest.

“Am...I dying?”

“No no no, you won’t. Right, Haruz, don’t you think you look just like your sister?” Shido, under the advice of Lenarette tried her best to divert the young prince’s attention, hoping to keep him conscious for as long as they could.

Haruz feebly nodded.

“Is it though?” Shido replied with a tone of suspicion. “I don’t think she’s prettier than you.”

Haruz wanted to cry, but couldn’t, yet wanted to defend his manly pride as he weakly scoffed, “Miss Shido, I don’t...find it comforting to hear that.”

“Who the hell are you people?!” Right then, a tone of hostility from Mr & Mrs. Laurenna that had been standing guard by the entrance of the cave thus far was heard. But naturally it was mostly Filas’ taunts.

What came after was a dull thud, the sounds of combat, leaving the Crown prince to stare towards the direction of where the ominous noises were from. A frown on his forehead, it did not take long before they saw Laurenna supporting the injured Filas as they retreated back.

Shido lifted her head, and her expression changed.

All she saw presented before her, were a suffocating parade of the Black Knights!

“All life will become one.”

......

Struggling to focus her vision, Scarlet recalled a distant experience of her encounter with a pack of wolves back in the forest.

To her, her current circumstance reminded her of the exact event in her life, in the dark of night, lighted faintly by the reflection of the full moon as wolves howled through the night. The wolves resembled ghouls of the forest, haunting her presence.

Seemingly everywhere, the wolves are social animals, cunning and brutal. From her perspective, carbon copies of the Kirrlutzian Nobles as they hinted at one another, growling and snarling like soulless carnivores.

Revealing their terrifying fangs, Scarlet reactively shook her head, and only then in the seconds of clarity identified that it was instead the spears of the militant Kirrlutz nobles.

She was fully surrounded.

Scarlet gathered all her energy to make sure her eyelids were kept open, even for the slightest of moments. She caught glimpses of a young man wielding a crossbow not far from her, his words just seemed like white noise. Under her lackluster conscience, his laugher, exposing his neat rows of sparkly teeth, felt ever more sinister to her.

That went on for moments.

She then felt the presence of a certain someone coming towards her. Clenching her teeth she ruggedly retreated, and it was then she came to the grim realisation that she was in no condition to resist. “Milord...” Scarlet was mortified, fearing for her life, horrified by the idea that she would never see her lord ever again.

Her expression went dull as tears began streaming down her cheeks. Right then, a spine chilling touch from an inanimate weapon resting on her shoulder, before quickly followed by an immense pain on her scalp. Someone was dragging her by the hair and forcing her head up!

By then, her vision was already blurry from the pain she had endured. Weaving in and out of consciousness, she could picture a man with an extensive scar across his face, a sinister look in his eyes.

“The queen monkey of the forest...oh, what’s that look on your face?” Through her minimal consciousness, she could hear her captor enjoying his dominant position as he teased.

Scarlet felt a stab as she struggled. Her captor howled before he grabbed her by her luscious hair and tossed her across to the icy periphery.

The teenage Highlander felt her vision blacking out as she choked.

A series of hostile arguments was heard, albeit periodically audible to her. What sounded like a young man blaming his companions, all sounded hostile to Scarlet. At that moment, all she wanted was to curl up like a child, protecting herself from the terrors of the world. But reality snapped back at her fast as someone violently grabbed her by her hair as she jerked towards him, her face adjusted to face him as he aggressively patted her on the face, seemingly saying something she was too dazed to understand.

Something about Veronica, the Pahiru family, some plot, some treason, the Empress and the like, even the lord was mentioned briefly, but Scarlet was zoned out from focus. Attempting her best to piece together what her captor just said, yet his voice appeared increasingly muddled from distance now, her eyelids closing on themselves, her head began to blank out.

That man finished his interrogation, before stopping to take a good look at her.

But she seemed in a trance.

The captor reactively gave her a brutal smack across her face, her head tilted to a side, swollen and dull at that point, her eyes so swollen it was barely open. Yet there she was, staring to a distance with a smirk on her face.

She clenched on her teeth as she watched on her adversaries, yet it was then she seemed to have come into realisation, that the real target was not her, the ones they were looking to undermine was the lord, and Miss Veronica.

The revelation was like a remedy to sobriety.

Through her ever-narrowing vision, she witnessed the young Babam man pushing her interrogator aside, before the two parties got involved in a heated argument.

“No...I need to report to...the lord...”

The young Highlander had a thought in her head, and it was clear.

Just then, a voice seemed to have crept into the deepest, darkest alleys of her soul.

“Scarlet, right...I remember that’s what you were called once upon a time, isn’t it right?”