The Amber Sword

Chapter 123 – Sorry, I’m not a knight.

Brendel thought he was an average human being in his past and present life. The difference between the two was that he knew the events that were to come in the future. With that basis, he had a larger ambition and desire to change Aouine’s fate, and change that ending that he bitterly regretted.

That thought did not really have anything to do with the word ‘selfless’. His wish was born out of his desires and feelings, and did not think he had become a noble person even if he saved many people in that path.

He would mete punishment equivalent to the evil deeds done, while answering with rewards to good deeds shown, and firmly believed in that principle. He had never bound himself with the responsibilities of a messiah or the likes, but at the same time he could not ignore Eke’s situation.

[Mother Marsha, did I offend you or something—]

He looked up to the sky with a helpless expression as he canceled the Silence spell.

“Stop running and come back to where you were!” He shouted to Eke.

Eke stopped running after a short while, but the Acolyte of Earth was already in the middle of the two. It first stared at Eke, before looking back at Brendel, and recognized him as the one he had been chasing all along.

“Is it really a gentleman’s behavior to steal the monster I’m hunting?” Brendel said as he looked at the monster’s many eyes, feeling like his emotions were being tied into complicated knots. He really wanted to smack the youth on the head a few times, but the latter’s actions invoked a sense of favorable impression towards him.

In the end he made a sarcastic remark.

“...... Thanks.” Eke looked back at him with a grateful smile and shouted. He knew if Brendel did not help in confronting the enemy, he would only last for a few seconds before getting shredded into pieces. The monster seemed to exceed the strength of a Gold-ranked fighter, and handling it himself was an impossible task.

It was clear that this was his fault. When he saw Brendel removing a spell, he immediately knew that it was a Silence spell; a spell frequently used by mercenaries to either ambush or infiltrate, and he was familiar with it. This was the equivalent of pulling Brendel right into danger, especially when he was clearly hurt all over from the start.

He sighed lightly and became convinced that the man on the tree was a righteous knight. Ever since he was young, he was engrossed in reading novels about knights and even dreamed of becoming one. Becoming a mercenary meant that his dream was still a little far away, but his conviction had never changed. It was also the reason why the Grey Wolves Mercenaries liked him so much.

“Ser Knight, let us work together to defeat this monster!”

Eke shouted somewhat excitedly. He knew that even if the both of them fought together they were not be able to defeat it, but if they were going to die, then they should at least have heroic deaths. He even thought it was Mother Marsha granting him a chance to fight a monster together with a real knight in his last moments, instead of seeing viewing this encounter as bad luck. (TL: This dude is absolutely bananas.)

“Huh?” Brendel obviously did not understand what he was talking about.

There was a flash of red that appeared in the monster’s eyes, and Brendel tensed up. It was a sign that it was about to attack, and he was on the verge of activating his Charge ability when he realized the monster did not move to attack him. He soon found out that it was because Eke had gone up and tried to attack it.

“Holy shit! Are you crazy?”

Brendel really wanted to cover his eyes at that moment. A level 30 idiot trying to hit a level 65 (+15) boss in a Berserk state. Indeed, the Boss had an increase in levels ever since it went berserk. Not only was it stronger, it even had the abilities of its added levels. Layers and layers of rock walls sprouted from the ground to form elaborate patterns that prevented him from advancing.

– Passive ability ‘Rock Bulwark’ activated.

Green words appeared in Brendel’s eyes. Each layer of rock was six centimeters long and was formed with quartz, capable of resisting hardened steel swords. If anyone got close to it, the shield would automatically activate to defend it from harm. A normal physical attack was useless against it.

Eke did not know that and he struck at the walls, and the sword only penetrated a few centimeters before it was stopped. He immediately realized that it was a bad move but it was too late to retreat.

The monster swung its arm backwards, its hardened forelimb bringing about a sharp blade made of wind, cutting and breaking its own layers of rocks to reach Eke. At that moment, he thought he had taken his last breath, but someone knocked deeply unto him with a great impact, sending the air out of him and forcing him to roll on the ground uncontrollably. When he finally managed to open his eyes from the pain, he realized that the monster’s attack had missed him.

When he turned his head to the side, he saw Brendel groaning as he got up and immediately understood what happened. After having a moment to allow his mind to function properly, he hurriedly spoke with gratitude: “Thanks ag—“

“Fuck!” Brendel punched the ground. The idiot had wasted his ability again. Even though Eke was better with his personality compared to the bastards Makarov and Buga, this was truly an idiot who did not think about consequences. No matter how he looked at Eke, it was clear that Makarov failed to teach him how to think ahead.

The so-called idiot youth jumped a little when he saw Brendel looking angry, but the latter did not say anything else and the monster was not going to wait for them, so he put his worries aside and bravely said: “Ser Knight, let me distract him and you can attack him—“

“Shut your god damned mouth! Stop your bullshit!” Brendel cut him off again with a roar.

“I’m sorry......”

“Forget it. Just stop your nonsense.” Brendel’s patience had ran out and his replies were curt. The monster began to charge towards them like a heavy tank and he immediately stood up. There was no time to waste when he had to face a boss with limited options. Since the monster had trouble turning around easily, he kicked himself off the trees and launched himself to the sides and ran towards the monster’s rear.

[I’ll test out Frontal Assault first—]

What surprised him was how easy he managed to get behind him. Even if the monster turned slowly, it would not give up on defending itself. He was even prepared to suffer an attack if things went awry. But he suddenly thought of another possibility and stiffly turned his head to Eke, then broke out into a cold sweat.

Eke had placed his sword horizontally across his chest and faced the Acolyte of Earth directly where he was.

“What the fucking hell—-!”

Brendel stopped his motion to use Frontal assault and instead raised his hand to use the Flame Ring. The explosive fireball struck the monster’s shoulder, disrupting its aim slightly. Instead of hitting Eke’s chest the attack landed on his left shoulder instead. The latter cried out loudly and was knocked straight into the bushes. There was a loud crash as he slammed into a tree and there was no further sound.

Brendel quickly retreated, but when he looked at the monster that was turning towards him, he could only scream repeatedly by cursing Eke in his mind.

He was completely out of options now. He could only hope for Nalaethar to reach here as soon as possible, but it seemed like the wish was truly unlikely. Was Mother Marsha listening to his prayers?

Suddenly, he heard a light giggle that sounded like it came from a child. It sounded truly out of place in this forest —

=============== Amandina’s POV ============

After Romaine joined the battle the situation was quickly reversed. She did not want to tell her how many Exploding Crystals she had, and simply handed two over to the mercenaries who quickly used them against the Lizardmen, forcing them back from the roof. However, their commander ordered them to attack in a loose formation and once again pushed towards the roof.

Romaine took out another two Exploding crystals and indicated that she did not have anymore left, but no one believed her. The horn from the battlefield suddenly sounded out for a long time. This was a signal to indicate the battle at the frontlines was over, and they were free to pull out of battle.

However, Amandina did not want this to end and she quickly issued an order.

“Deyna, get me Romaine’s bag—“

The Elven girl obeyed the order and resulted in Romaine staring at Amandina with teary eyes. The latter took her bag and poured it out onto the ground. She discovered there was another two Exploding Crystals in it, and she yelled angrily: “I told you these things are dangerous! How could you hide six Exploding Crystals from me!

“I did make sure that I kept them carefully.” Romaine said in a pitiful voice.

“That isn’t the problem...... Forget it. I’ll talk to you later.” Amandina sighed. “Deyna, distribute the remaining crystals. I want a counter attack.”

She nodded and left.

The conclusion of the battle was nearly over.