The Amber Sword

v5c17

Brendel’s Army

It was indeed different from the game. In the game, the maze in the centre of the vast Deadly Tundra Forest remained silent until the era of the Eternal Darkness, when the Korfa sisters died in the seventh expedition of the players in the Year of Silver, a feat accomplished unexpectedly, when Aouine was the most powerful player association at the time. The Year of the Forest, a year named after the rapid spread of the Black Forest on the borders of Farnezain, in which Madara defeated the Wind Elves towards their heyday, followed five years later by the Battle of the Slanted Forest in the Year of Astrology. But another major event occurred during the year that took the players’ attention away from the destruction of the small kingdom of Aouine, the Year of Astrology at the end of autumn, the Holy War that had lasted intermittently for nearly half a century ended in the White Stone Wilderness. In Ansa Tower, the first war tablet was unearthed, followed by the players’ discovery of the Great Relic of Agast, just three months after, during the Moon of Lyre, Misa, the third daughter of Warg Hati, was killed.

Brendel suddenly remembered that the Moon of Lyre and the Lyre horoscope were symbols of fate, and the source of power for Witches of the Fate lineage, to which Romaine and her aunt once belonged.

He shook his head gently.

The year after that, the Year of the Bright Moon, the gloomy Moa, the cold Atlas was killed, and it was the most powerful player association in Kirrlutz, the Guardians of the Bloodstream, who accomplished both kills in seven months. Five years later, the Mountain King Cielifinger was crowned in the Grey Fortress, the year a wolf awoke from the Twilight. In Sanorso, the aborigines of the Cloud Mountains witnessed the wolves devouring the moon, then five Twilight Wolves descended in Sanorso one after another. In the Autumn, the Night Swallow’s song killed the wise Triesthe in the Wilderness of the Four Realms, the other four daughters of Warg Hati. The whispering Maiden Octavia, the beautiful Tadesha, the arrogant Agatha, and the hypocritical Kasthenia were also slain one by one.

This is the story of the Year of Blood. A year later, that was, the first century, the Year of the Dragon Shadow in the year 434, the Palace of Gold Asgard’s relic quest group was discovered, a quest of what was called the most epic battle ever fought, and within ten months the top one hundred large player associations in Vaunte had sunk their teeth in, because their enemy was the arrogant Jynhai, the most powerful fighting presence among the twelve daughters of Warg Hati.

It was only two years later that the legend ended. In 436, the year of the Long Night, when the arrogant Jynhai was killed and the reticent maiden Odious was slain.

The year 437, which was the year of the Running Wolf, one of the youngest daughters of Warg Hati, and also one of the most popular BOSSes among players, the Heretic Moon, the flawless Triniyss was killed. Subsequently, Warg Hati appeared in the former southern border of Aouine, the White Mountains, the Great Glacier and Eleranta respectively. The final battle started and the Earth Sage Eleranta reappeared. After three years of hard fighting, the players finally killed this Twilight Wolf in the Alkash Mountains.

The following year, the year 4400 of the First Age, Eternal Darkness descended, the Second Age began, and the Slate War came to an end.

But at this moment, history had a turning point at the end of the Year of the Sword in the year 376. Milos disappeared, the maze under the glacier of the Dead Tundra Forest completely vanished into ashes, but the Korfa sisters survived, and more critically, the news coming from the north also made Brendel feel uneasy. The Lion Beastmen’s fortress of Toquenin, the frontier city of Vollez and the Wind Elves’ port of Oskin were struck by devastating magic at the same time, and all three parties were suspecting each other as to who was the real killer. A spark detonated. The information that came out of this made Brendel feel a heavy pressure, so it only represented a possibility that the Holy War that really began in the Year of the White Griffin in history might have to start earlier.

And after that, the future world will return to Chaos, his advantage of foresight for the future would no longer exist as well. History finally returned to square one at this moment, as if all its participants were pulled back to the same starting line. It was for this reason that Brendel had a deep sense of urgency. The advantages that Aouine had accumulated over this period of time were far from enough, and in fact the ancient kingdom had no advantages at all, but had only brought back some of its previous disadvantages.

But it was still small and weak, although there were links with the Dragons and the Bugas, plus the situation in the country was much better than that of Aouine in the game, but it was still far from enough.

“There are many things happening in the Dead Tundra Forest, indeed not quite the same as we remembered in history, but Warg Hati was still far from us, I am more worried about the present moment. Korfa manipulated the will of Milos to attack Vollez, Toquenin and Okin with Divine Judgment, and now there is unrest on the borders of Toquenin, Kirrlutz and Sanorso. I did not let Korfa, especially the dark Korfa, leave because I was afraid that she would leak the events of that day.” Brendel replied.

“I’m afraid it’s more than that, do you think they are the key to a turning point in the future? According to what we talked about, in that ‘game’, I still remember some details from the dream, like Cielacters such as Korfa, which are called NPC based on the dream. In such a large plot, they must be the key to the game’s plot. Brendel, do you think you can take advantage of this?” Maynild asked in a low voice. After conversing in the Dead Tundra Forest, she gradually stopped rejecting the memories of the past dreams.

Brendel was suddenly startled, he suddenly realized that he may have such an intention because of the subconscious habits of the past and not necessarily for benefits. He just wanted to control the variables within his capability. He vaguely felt some insecurity and this feeling had become more and more obvious since he came to this world. He sometimes wondered, what was the reason for his return to the end of the year of 375, the Year of Blossoms and Leaves? Was it just to save Aouine? And what about the prophecy about the Darkness Dragon?

He subconsciously glanced at the corner of the hall, where the Witches were sitting and whispering. They seemed to have recently learned Romaine’s identity, thus becoming more and more respectful to him.

“You are very disturbed.” Maynild replied, “Actually there is no need, just remain as how it was before, do your best and I believe you can do well.”

Brendel looked back at her, a little surprised. Her words did not sound like something that would come from the female knight that he almost thought was Senior Bai Jia preaching to him. He looked at the other party in a daze for a moment, but was given a glare. Maynild turned back, pretending not to care, and asked, “So, what you care about is the situation of the Holy War in the coming period?”

Brendel nodded and asked, “Who do you think will make the first move?” He pretended to be listening to the others arguing about how to attack Radner’s plan, but in fact his mind was not on it at all, and had long since drifted to the border between Kirrlutz and the great plains. Maynild looked down at the map on the table, which did not show the boundaries of the Kirrlutz Empire, but merely a partial topographical map of the Cielmann region. However, she likewise seemed to see the rolling hills in the southwestern part of Kirrlutz and she whispered, “The symbolic significance of the Toquenin Fortress to the Goldenmane is very important, and I guess they will be the first to press in making the first move. They will attack the Alstom area, just like in history.”

Brendel’s mind was full of Veronica’s words, he had been considering how reliable the words of the imperial military were, but Maynild’ words made him realize that she knew about the plans of the Kirrlutz military, after all she also had to stay in Valhalla to meet Prince Lenarette and the others. On the other hand, she was the person in Cielge of the Princess that was left with him, and since he had communicated with the princess, then there was no need to hide it from this female knight. The point was that Maynild had a very special place in his heart at the moment, although she did not want to admit it, but Brendel still saw her as a senior, or at least half of his soul took it this way. Moreover, why would Maynild come to the same conclusion as stated in history, when she knew exactly how crazy that Queen of the Kirrlutzians was now?

“Do you know something, senior?” He asked in a low voice. Brendel knew that in the game, Maynild and her team had established a relationship with the Aouine nobility early on. So in this era, it was likely that she knew some insider information long before him. These insiders were precisely what he lacked in this part of history, just like a lot of his judgments about Aouine actually came from analysis on the forums rather than from his own personal experience.

“Don’t call me that,” Maynild gave him a stern look. “I’m not so sure. I’m waiting for a message, if that message comes as expected, then it would mean that the Holy War is about to start and will unfold as I said. If not, then it is not yet certain. But in any case, you have to be ready for a full-scale war.”

Brendel looked at her with a bitter smile, “A full-scale war seems to have little to do with me as a local lord.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Maynild replied indifferently, “The thoughts of all of us are now converging on you alone, no need to beat around the bush with me.”

Brendel then gathered his thoughts again and the sound of argument in the hall seemed to return to his ears. In fact, the main argument now was still between the White Lion Battalion and the Folded Sword Squad. Rather than discussing ways to attack, it was more like a personal matter between the Kirrlutzians and the Aouines, which made him a little disappointed. Fortunately, Ciel, Medissa and the others did not participate in this child’s bickering, even the first few mercenary leaders that followed him, Leto who came all the way from Mintai also seemed much calmer. Kodan did not say a word either, the old swordsman was tasting Valhalla’s special kind of tree wine. Old men were indeed old men, although perhaps they were not as sharp as the youths, but Brendel had more or less been able to sense his temperament.

In fact, he already had a plan, but he just wanted to test these young people of Trentheim. But unfortunately, he was a little disappointed that the young Lions of the White Lion Battalion, like most Aouines in this era, thought that the focus of the war was Count Radner rather than Madara. And in this regard, even the young sergeants of the former White Lions were more radical than the young men of the White Lions under him. The young men from the north were a little more radical and paid a little more attention to Madara, while the natives of Trentheim did not seem to take the Black Rose of Bromanonu seriously. But Brendel knew that it was not their fault, after all, the only impression they have of those skeletons was the confrontation that happened six months ago.

This actually had nothing to do with excellence in ability, it was purely a difference in insight.

But Brendel was still slightly disappointed, because compared to that, the young people of Kirrlutz were indeed much better, especially the second son of Lord Ralston, young Pero, and Brund, the knight beside him. They were not inferior to Rouka. If only all those excellent students of the Royal Cavalry Academy were here, then it would be great. Unfortunately, they had to go to the north to complete the takeover of the White Lion Legion. So the idea was completely unrealistic.

“The direction from which to attack and how depends on the purpose of the war,” the voice of young Pero was low. He looked particularly thin after he took off the bearskin coat, as if a gust of wind could blow him off his feet, “is not the purpose of this war is to remove civil unrest and restore stability to the southern border of Aouine? ” Someone interrupted him very rudely, “So isn’t your argument in favor of the idea that we should let Radner go behind our back and attack Magitan first to cut off that old guy’s retreat route?” Little Pero did not seem to mind this rude interruption and calmly replied, “For us to attack Magitan is indeed to cut off Radner’s back up plan, but it might not be the case for that Count. Radner will either fail and retreat after the ambush or win and merge with the Bloodstaff, and in the end, Magitan would be insignificant for his purpose. What they want to open is the road to Viero, so if they fail, they will simply retreat to Madara.”

“I think it’s unlikely that Radner would retreat back to Magitan after a failure and get himself killed, so the idea of cutting off his retreat route is pure nonsense.” Little Pero finished, looked at everyone, and stopped talking.

“How did you know that Radner would attack Viero?”

Brendel could not help but shake his head when he heard this question, these young people under him still failed to pay attention to Madara. In fact it was not Radner who was going to attack Viero, but the skeleton of Madara, which was the inevitable choice of the Bloodstaff. He listened for a while and could not help but sigh. The young sergeants of the White Lion Legion still did not realize who their real enemy was. He did not bother to repeat the story to them as reality would tell them everything. After this battle, they would understand who their real opponent was.

Little Pero had actually almost guessed his thoughts. Trentheim’s army would go through Chablis, bypassing the Cielmann region to directly cut off the Bloodstaff’s retreat route. The Bloodstaff knew that there was a resistance army there that was extremely hostile to the Aouine nobility, and it certainly would not have gone into the barren hills to trouble those mountain people just for nothing. But it also must not have imagined that the King of Cielmann was, in fact, none other than Brendel’s old acquaintance.

The battle’s outcome was actually predetermined from the very beginning, it was just that the details of how to rewrite it still needed his careful deliberation. What he was concerned about was just how strong Madara’s army was in this era. There was good news on the magical letter from Carglise. They had rescued a guard who had participated in the battle that night, and it was said that there were already skeleton cavalry and fearful spirits in Madara’s army, indicating that the terrible dark mercenaries of the Sea of the Dying Moon had joined the war. The number of Skeleton Archers proved his concern about the number of Necromancers, but there was something else that had not yet shown. That guard could not see the proportion of average skeletons and Skeleton Knights in the entire Madara army. In fact, this was what Brendel was most concerned about. In Madara’s Skeleton Army, those skeletons and zombies temporarily evoked by the Necromancers were completely different from those properly hardened by magic and could use equipment skillfully. In history, after Tharma joined, Madara had directly invented a Psychic Array that could be evoked from corpses. Moreover, Madara had advanced the Skeleton Swordsmen in the early stages of the War of the Black Rose. Brendel wanted to know how much he had changed history.

If history was still as unchanged as expected, then Viero’s army might also be in trouble.

Because the dark nobles of the Sea of the Dying Moon joined the battle earlier than stated in history.

On the contrary, what about Valhalla? Brendel thought of the strength he possessed and felt slightly relieved. The few times he went to Ampere Seale to crack the perilous situation of Aouine, he only had a few high-end combatants left at hand in addition to a hundred or so White Lion Guards. The army available in Trentheim was almost But the time it was different, when he was in Ampere Seale battling with the Demons and Kirrlutzians, Valhalla’s army finally showed the first signs of success after that great battle under Monica’s single-handed arrangement.

The first is the Wind Archer. When he went to Ampere Seale, the Wind Archer could only put a hundred or so Tree Elves into battle, in addition to about three hundred new recruits. But now, the Wind Archer had become an army. They had exactly two brigades of six hundred people. One should know that after the completion of the advanced Wind Archer camp, this army had been completely transformed. They now used longbows at long range and the rank of soldiers were higher than the White Lion Guards led by Freya. Trentheim’s reformed White Lion Guard could now be considered a third-rank army, while the Wind Archers, according to Medissa’s estimate, was at least fourth-rank long-range soldiers. What was more terrifying was that their capability have exceeded a normal Black Iron- ranked army with a pair of scimitars just recently. This army was now the real elite in the frontal battlefield of Aouine.

On the other hand, the White Lion Guard was also greatly strengthened; not in quality, but quantity. Brendel, although in name, could not take over the old White Lion Legion, Her Highness had either secretly or officially drawn a large number of people from the old White Lion Legion, the Royal Cavalry Academy, and even local security to enrich her own guard. In just six months, the White Lion Guard had been filled from an original empty shelf to the current size of nearly 1,500 people, and this was all done under Brendel’s restrictions. Because Brendel was very clear that the future of the Holy War’s cannon fodder was not worth mentioning, he wanted to build a legion as elite as the White Lion Infantry led by the ancient sage Erik, rather than the old White Lion in the north of Aouine.

Not to mention the fact that he now had the Knights of the Folded Sword in his hands, Brendel’s intention was to let these young Kirrlutzian heroes pull up a real army for him. That was the long-term plan. At least for now, he only intended to let these Kirrluztians fight independently. This was also a golden army of hundreds of people, after all, it was not surprising to say that these knights were unable to maximize their potential in this place. The entire kingdom of Aouine had to gather the strength of the country to come up with a compatible army.

With these three armies, Trentheim for the first time ever, had the strength for foreign expeditions.

And Brendel was very clear that Valhalla’s next-generation army plan had already unfolded. Not needing to wait until after this war, Monica would be able to give him an answer. Upon this thought, Brendel suddenly looked up with a sense of purpose, just in time to see a little light spirit wobbling and flying in. She did not care about the other people in the hall, flew to his side, and said with haste and surprise, “Lord, it worked!”