Chapter 128 – The acknowledgement from the knights

The youth’s voice seemed to linger in their minds.

They were silenced by his words, cutting through their excuses and beliefs, forcing them to lower their heads and ponder upon their actions. Even ardent supporters of the crown, Fleetwood and Makarov’s minds were shaken in that moment. Was the origin of Aouine not the brightest era?

But they calmed down and reinforced their beliefs.

“The ancestral king’s ideals are lofty and admirable, but the era now is different from the era of the past.” The elderly scholar sighed: “To the very end, we cannot allow ourselves to abandon our plans because of the possibility of the Lionheart abandoning us.”

“Ideals will not change reality!” Makarov added to Fleetwood’s words with an indignant voice.

“Therefore you would answer the arrogant and ruthless nobles with your own coldblooded hubris. What is the difference between you and them?” Brendel answered with vehement displeasure. “The royal crown, the nobles, any of you, would not bring real change to Aouine, therefore your failure is assured. Even if you claim victory over Duke Arreck, are you capable of winning against Madara?”

“Stop your nonsense!” Makarov’s voice was like the grinding of teeth: “How would a kingdom splintered into political factions be able to fight against the invaders! This matter has nothing to do with you, now please fulfill your promise and give the Golden Apple to us!”

Brendel’s body shook though he was trying to suppress his laughter.

“The royal faction allowed Madara’s invasion to come to pass! How would Aouine ever be able to repel the invaders? Your king betrayed Aouine! This Fairy’s Apple that is capable of changing a person’s destiny, but—” Brendel glanced sadly at Scarlett, before he raised his voice: “It won’t change a kingdom’s destiny. Maybe that sickly king of yours can survive, or that cowardly prince of yours might finally grow a pair of balls, but your actions will only hinder her first step—” (TL: Brendel is referring to the princess.)

“So,” Brendel placed the fruit back into his bag: “You’re not getting it.”

“You bastard!” Makarov bellowed angrily, his chest full of rage after being played by Brendel. Even though he knew that it was a huge possibility that Brendel was toying with him, it was his condescending tone that truly enraged him. The advisor known as the ‘Cunning Fox’ lost his wits and regained that identity of the former Grey Wolves Mercenaries’ commander, drawing out his sword.

The metallic clang rang out as he rushed towards Brendel—

The latter did not retreat or move, staring at him without unflinching eyes. When the blade reached the youth’s nose, a barrier with hexagon-like plates lit up as lights, with magic runes appearing in between the plates, appearing and disappearing quickly.

Fleetwood’s wrinkled face paled as though he saw a ghost.

“Ancient magic!” He squeezed out the words from his throat as he looked at Brendel, not knowing what to do. The only known race that could use magic like this was the dragon race.

Brendel thanked Rauze in his mind and appreciated Makarov’s pallor without any injuries.

“What are you……” Makarov’s throat moved as he retreated in surprise.

“I—” Brendel wanted to mock him further but was cut short.

“Mister Brendel, that oath you just recited seemed to have resonated with something; this power, is really strange…… I can’t suppress it any longer……” Rauze whispered urgently. “I can’t hold it any longer, I’m releasing the barrier…..”

“Hey, wait!” Brendel wanted to ask her to hold the barrier a little longer, before he suddenly felt a tremor from inside his deepest self. That was definitely not Rauze’s prank or the resonance between the Planeswalkers’ cards; it was as if a spark had gone into his mind that was brilliant and gentle, then became a light that lit up the dark. And within this light a door opened—

He seemed to walk through it, and he saw the human knights standing on both sides smiling and nodding at him, their eyes full of encouraging acknowledgement. He recognized two of them who were wielding familiar weapons. Ebdon and Gerard. Finally there was a grand-looking person standing in the center amongst the knights, who nodded to him as well. (TL: You should know who Ebdon is. Gerard is that poor knight whose tomb got looted by Brendel, lol. Didn’t he steal that sword Thorn of Light?)

This illusion seemed to last for the briefest of seconds before it was gone. Brendel woke up from his stupor, found the source of the tremor, and subconsciously pressed down on his bag which contained the Sage Slate. He felt it shake uncontrollably as though it was alive, before a piercing shockwave above him separated the clouds above the entire Chablis region.

That afternoon, everyone from the nearby region, even the citizens from Bruglas, witnessed a miracle. Unending light poured down and seemed to disperse the white clouds, like a stone being thrown into a lake and cast ripples onto the surface.

When all the clouds and light disappeared from the region, the sky was like a pure blue gem with hints of purple in it, clean and pure. The citizens yelled at each other to look at it, while the traveling priests and adventurers rushed to their respective groups to observe this moment of intrigue. Even the seers from the Guild of Stars and Moon were alarmed.

The wizards living in Drora at the Sea of death recorded this sight. Monks came out from the palace in droves, suspecting the Lionheart had appeared. The Recorder in the Black Tower even lost hold of his precious Crystal Ball while he looked at the image in surprise. The priests in the Holy Cathedral knelt down and prayed.

One of the twelve representatives of the Archmage in Drora, William Pestle, held on to his magic scribe which was on a piece of lambskin paper filled with runes, causing a large black blot on it while he stared with an agape mouth into the sky.

Everyone looked at the peculiar circular sky void of clouds, but only the few there understood what exactly happened.

Divine Artifact Resonance —

The forest became brighter than before. Everyone in that area looked up into the azure sky and saw hints of magical rune words that formed layers of circles that were miles long. The Law of Tiamat, created by Marsha to bind the Elements in a border.

Some of the men in front teared up at this intricate and beautiful sky, knowing how small they were in front of the Divine Magic and admired the beauty with all their heart.

Brendel gripped the Sage Slate tightly and looked up into the sky.

The Law of Tiamat was being invoked, and the layers of circles moved across hundred of miles, turning like cogs in a wheel, lining up to fit into sections like a jigsaw puzzle. Each layer kept moving and aligned above the forest.

The forest was completely silent.

The wind had stopped.

If this was in the game, Brendel would have been on his complete guard. This sight was like a legendary wizard that cast the highest class of spells that reached the fourteenth circles, or facing the Lords of Elements. This spells were legendary magic that was completely outside the scope any mortal understanding, and was the highest order of Laws that invoked destruction. The destructive force was akin to a nuclear bomb.

That tremor in his soul had reached its peak.

The center of this particular sky suddenly vibrated from a small point, then spread out everywhere with a pillar of white light descending from the sky, connecting the sky to the earth, and there was something silver in it.

“T-this……. This is….. King Erik’s Lionheart sword……” Fleetwood was completely stunned.

Suddenly another pillar of light shot out from the direction of the capital and shot into the sky’s circular borders, causing it to diffract and meet that pillar of light.

Fleetwood and the others stared blankly at this sight.

But Brendel wanted to knock his head onto a tree. He merely wanted to act cool by reciting that damned oath, and did not expect to receive the acknowledgement of King Erik. If he knew that this was going to happen he would not have done it.

That was simply because it was a Divine Artifact Resonance.

Suddenly Brendel shook his head.

[Hold on— Isn’t the Lionheart a Fantasy-ranked weapon? When did it suddenly rank up to become a Divine-ranked weapon? The history of Aouine wouldn’t make sense! Everyone would have attacked the kingdom to gain possession of it!]

That phenomenon lasted for five seconds before it waned; the Sage Slate that was held down by Brendel’s hand stopped struggling. At the same time, Brendel felt that a mark was left in his mind, as though he could feel where the location of the weapon was now. The Lionheart and him was now connected to each other.

Of course, this meant that there were good and bad points—

The good point was that he was naturally one step closer to that legendary sword.

The bad point was how Fleetwood and Makarov were now staring at him……

TL: Ramblings.

This is some of the stuff I’m pulling out my head, not sure if there are more.

Royal faction

– Duke Rhun sent all his family members and men guarding into a trap to preserve his son’s life.

– The current king probably worked with Madara and allowed them to invade Aouine, weakening the nobles.

– Makarov uses the Grey Wolves Mercenaries as pawns to get the nobles against the royal faction out in the open, and weakening their forces (the Tree Shepherds).

– Tries to get Brendel to sell the Golden Apple and willing to pay any price.

Nobles faction

– Corruption at Fortress Riedon, witnessed firsthand by Freya (imprisons the militia for bringing news of Madara’s attack).

– Throws away Fortress Riedon and the three villages at the borders without sending aid.

– Buried the truth about the militia’s contribution, made Freya a ‘hero’ to make the citizens happy.

– Also refused to allow the refugees into the cities.

Tree Shepherds

– Tirste is a member of the Tree Shepherds and seeks to do their bidding. He wanted Brendel to create chaos, by inciting a rebel of sorts.

– Tirste forced Brendel in an agreement to create chaos in the city, but even without the latter’s interference, the refugees will revolt (I think).

– Turned Scarlett into an Acolyte

– That fake noble guy from Fortress Riedon wanted Brendel’s girls.

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