Chapter 122 – Veronica

“Faena, what’s going on?”

Before Brendel could respond to the girl’s words, another man wearing a black formal attire for nobles walked out from the crowd of centaurs and spoke to her. He looked at the bound girl before his eyes moved to the coughing Rono, then at the sprawling knights on the ground, his facial expressions gradually turning to shock.

Finally, when he raised his head up, he discovered Brendel with his hand still raised. Scarlett and Amandina were a short distance behind him. Without a second word, he drew out his sword and charged towards the youth with a scowl.

Brendel felt a burning sensation from that man’s sword.

[A passive Element? He’s also a Gold-ranker!]

Brendel and Scarlett’s eyebrows twitched. Their Element Powers reacted at the same time, and the air between the three people stagnated— The temperature of the air suddenly dropped, while Scarlett’s halberd had lightning dancing all over it, with the people around feeling their hair raised.

The middle-aged man’s sword did not meet any blades, but a wall of flames that appeared in front of Brendel. He frowned and retreated instead, cautiously assessing the two youths in front of him.

“Who are you?” His heart was secretly racing.

[Two Gold-rankers at such a young age? Why have I not heard anything about them?]

He easily understood that Brendel and Scarlett could not be Senians or Tree Elves. In fact, Scarlett’s vibrant red hair allowed him to identify her as a Highlander.

Faena would have patted her chest in relief if she could when she saw the middle-aged man appear. “Count Cullens, these people are from Aouine! They were the ones who hurt Rono and the others, and that…… that….. young man, he said……. the Empire isn’t worth much.”

“The Empire isn’t worth much? Hmph!” Cullens repeated her words with a heavy scoff.

The Empire’s glory was the pride of any citizen of the Eagles. Aouine was made up of nothing more than a bunch of rebels in his mind, and if it was not for the Wind Elves interfering behind the scenes in that fateful year, the Empire would have vanquished them.

Even though Aouine gained the recognition of the Holy Cathedral of Fire, the proud Kirrlutz Empire did not wish to admit this fact. In his mind, these Aouine citizens were nothing more than a bunch of uneducated people, and their nobles could not be considered as nobles.

Though it was true that their Ancestral King Erik’s lineage could be traced back to a family with a long history in Kirrlutz.

He stared at Brendel darkly: “Boy, did you say these words?”

Brendel was studying Cullens intently, trying to figure out what sort of background the latter had. However, there were simply far too many nobles in the Kirrlutz Empire, and the number of people who managed to become a Gold-ranker was as numerous as the stars. He simply could not figure out the identity of the middle-aged man.

“I’m simply stating the truth.” He answered flippantly.

Count Cullens gnashed his teeth, but he had a smile on his pale face: “What an astute observation. I too have observed something. It seems that your kingdom is going through many difficulties recently. Oberg the Seventh being defeated by a single Madara army, and he had to send his messengers to our emperor and beg for reinforcements with tears and snot. Ah, that old fool must be on his deathbed by now.”

He pretended to think for a moment and sighed: “And there’s a civil war that’s about to happen. It seems like your kingdom is in great trouble, young man. I’m not sure if your princess is interested in our Emperor’s ninth son, perhaps His Highness could lend a helping hand if she agrees to marry him. Even though our Empire that isn’t worth anything much, solving the insignificant troubles of Aouine is really as easy as lifting a hand.”

Cullens’s words were full of ridicule and any Aouine citizen would be offended by it. Amandina gritted her teeth and forced her anger down in order not to fight back with ugly words.

Scarlett frowned as well. No matter how despicable and deplorable Aouine was, she was still a citizen of this kingdom. Having an outsider ridicule the kingdom made her feel uncomfortable.

It was Brendel who let rage take him. A mocking grin spread across his face, but it was clear that only darkness remained in his expression.

His hand reached Halran Gaia’s hilt for the first time.

He did not easily take out his sword because he did not wish to kill. But since the person in front of him wanted to die, he did not mind granting his wish.

[You’re not even close to Kodan’s skill, and I have already bested him. I haven’t even brought out my Planeswalker abilities. Ten strikes, and I’ll be able to shut you up even without Scarlett’s interference.]

Sifrid was still holding on to Amandina’s hands. She did not feel much for Aouine, but she had never seen the youth so furious before. But most of all, there was an unnerving feeling that something would happen to him. She felt she needed to stop the situation from becoming worse.

“This place doesn’t welcome you! You should leave!” She spoke in a crisp voice as she looked up at the Count.

Cullens was momentarily taken aback. He did not expect a Senian child to have the audacity to order him. He failed to speak for a few seconds, but he quickly came up with an insult: “As expected from savages, you can’t even educate a chil—”

He ceased speaking. It was not just him, the nosy centaurs who were watching the scene suddenly became silent. The dueling grounds they were familiar were starting to be covered with a layer of frost that was visible to the eyes. The temperature dropped to the point where they started shivering a little.

Creaking sounds could be heard as the white frost forced the wooden planks on the floor to change its shape. It seemed like they were wailing before they shattered.

This snaking frost extended swiftly towards Cullens, and he showed a startled appearance.

[An Element Power of this magnitude? This Ice Element is exceedingly potent—]

He wanted to lift his own sword and fight back with his own Element Power, but someone bellowed:

“Halt!”

Cullens was distracted by the voice, but Brendel acted as though he did not hear it. Halran Gaia was already out of its sheath, and his Element Power was pushed to the limits as it mixed in with his fury. The scene where the heads of Graudin’s knights was lopped off was about to reappear again.

The terrifying power charged towards Cullens, but an even greater force severed it.

It was as though a wall had been erected all around Brendel and caused him to lose his connection to his Element Power.

The youth was naturally shocked, and he turned to the source of power. The centaurs who had gathered together were starting to part. A woman with long flowing green hair like a waterfall; along with a red cape covering one side of her shiny armor that covered her entire body.

The woman was very beautiful and appeared to be approximately forty years old. The only sign that gave her age away was the slight wrinkles around her eyes. She glared at Brendel’s direction, but it was meant to be meaningful because she was restraining the youth’s movements with her Element Power.

[You have got to be kidding me. Commander of the Azure Skies, Veronica? What kind of gaming script is this!]

Brendel suddenly felt his life was in danger as soon as he saw the unique pair of green eagle earrings.

She was one of the rare female commanders in the Kirrlutz Empire and a participant in the November War. She was also the highest commanding officer of the Alliance in the Eastern Battle Lines during the Second Holy War of this era.

She unsealed her Element Power fully a hundred years ago. She already had the titles of Great Sword Saint, Dragon Knight, The War Sage, and the Azure General for the past thirty years. No one knew how powerful she was right now. If one were to gather the strongest fighters in Kirrlutz, she would definitely be one of them.

She even had a relationship with Freya in the game, and one could say she was the latter’s teacher.

[Even if Freya was at her peak strength in the game, she won’t be a match for Veronica. Shit, I don’t want to meet this person here. The fact that I tried to kill Cullens— Although Kirrlutz is the cause of this incident, she’s definitely going to side with the Empire.]

“You look down on the Empire?” Veronica’s tone was completely void of warmth and she went right to the point.

And with her words, her aura changed and reached the youth like a blade pointing towards him. The latter flinched a little, but his eyes glared right back.

“It seems like the Kirrlutz’s citizens have gotten used to using suppression and conquest to solve problems, and thus they have forgotten the word ‘chivalry’? It also seems like you’re not just violent in your own kingdom, you do the same thing even when you’re in foreign lands.”

His heart was beating loudly but he did not show his anxiety in the slightest. This was the Druids’ territory, and at least in this place, they would not dare to act rashly.

His words also struck directly at their sore point. Kirrlutz’s cruelty and indifference were why they were harshly criticized amongst the other alliances in the Holy Cathedral of Fire. However, the Kirrlutz Empire held at least half of the Holy Cathedral of Fire’s seven Cardinals’ position throughout the ages and thus held on tightly to their power.

Veronica scoffed coldly once before speaking again: “Having a sharp mouth wouldn’t bring you any advantages. Cullens, teach this person from Aouine a lesson!”

Cullens sensed that Brendel was affected by Veronica’s aura, and he gave a sinister smile. While he could not kill the youth in the Druids’ territory, it would be fine to leave behind hidden injuries to make him permanently wounded. In fact, he was very willing to destroy not just one, but two talented youths from Aouine.

He bowed respectfully to Veronica and pulled out his sword to cut off the tendons in Brendel’s wrists. Scarlett raised his halberd in response to block off the attacking point, but Veronica swept a glance at her, and the red-haired girl felt as though she was bitten by a venomous snake, and the halberd in her hands fell onto the ground with a clatter.

“You shouldn’t have incurred our wrath!” Cullens smiled coldly, his blade nearing Brendel’s hands.

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