Amber Sword

The twelve witches each stood beneath a hazel tree and began to chant an ancient song. Suddenly, seven stone pillars silently emerged from the grassland in the forest. From the soil in the middle of the stone pillars rose a giant sacred white rock, upon which there was a crack, dark and gaping like an entrance to Hell.

It was easy to see that the stone gate and pillars were carved from natural rock, with some twisted and corroded writing that Brand could barely make out as an ancient dwarf language.

"Lord, this gate will only remain open for half a quarter of an hour; please quickly decide whom you wish to bring," said Barbara in a hoarse voice as the white rock appeared.

Brand had already decided on his choices. "Barbara, select five trustworthy subordinates to go with me first. Count Oting, you lead the knights in afterward. The rest of you, protect Her Highness, the Princess. I want you to swear to the Goddess of the Pillar of Purgatory."

"Rest assured, Mr. Brand," Count Oting responded with a knight’s salute. His relationship with Brand seemed to naturally become one of superior and subordinate, yet the Count was not narrow-minded. He understood that here, Brand was far more qualified to give orders, so he did not feel anything was amiss.

The witches obediently followed the command, drawing another sigh from Count Oting. The witches would occasionally engage in some transactions with secular power, but they never showed such respect. He did not truly believe the old witch’s claim that Brand had once helped them. Instead, he suspected another facet of Brand’s past: he had already known Brand was a descendant of Sword Saint Darius and had heard that Brand had studied wizardry under a powerful hermit wizard. Oting Count suspected that the wizard was Turaman, thus he intuitively attributed the relationship between the witches and Brand to possible benefits they might have received from the lord of Secret Silver Castle.

"Mr. Brand—" the half-elf girl had just begun when Brand interrupted her, "Your Highness, please stay here to ease my mind, alright? For whether it’s you or me, Erune needs someone to know where its future should head. I may sound arrogant saying this, but I do not want my efforts to be in vain."

Princess Griffine looked at him carefully. "Then I order you to come back. Can you do that?"

Brand did not answer. How could he reply? He had no idea himself. Perhaps Jogen Digan’s gang would be a bunch of brainless cave dwellers who hadn’t considered that a secret passage might lead to the northern hills of Ambeser. So they would emerge en masse, or perhaps only leave behind a reserve team, allowing him to easily dismantle the Flame Gate.

Of course, he hoped so. But deep down, he knew the opposite scenario was more likely—the demons heavily guarding the teleportation gate, leaving them with a slim chance of success. He didn’t know what lay ahead, and even during Buqi’s breakthrough, he hadn’t felt so uncertain.

History had completely changed; it was the first time he could not see the inevitable outcome behind the fog. Yet, surprisingly, he felt no fear, and his mind was astoundingly clear. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

"Then it’s settled," Brand smiled slightly, "If I’m unlucky and die, I’ll have Count Oting bring my body back."

The joke was not particularly clever, and Her Highness the Princess frowned and simply said two words: "Stay alive."

"...I’ll do my best; no one wants to die, Your Highness."

Princess Griffine just gave him a silent look, which puzzled Brand greatly. He thought that such a vague answer would certainly incur reprimand, but regardless, he had made up his mind.

Barbara had already chosen her candidates. She led five witches to meet him. Among them, one was said to be Barbara’s niece, a scrawny middle-aged woman in her sixties. The other three were also closely connected to Barbara. The last one, however, surprised Brand slightly. It was a little girl clutching a honey jar, not even half of his height, with light freckles on the tip of her nose and a pair of amber eyes looking at him curiously. Barbara introduced her as her adopted daughter, only fourteen years old but already possessing Silver Rank strength.