Amber Sword

Just as the Demons and the Northern Alliance of Erune, along with the massive force of the Flame Temple, were locked in a fierce battle, at the quiet port of Ambeser, the army of Jogen Digan quickly took control of the entire port. The Harbor Guard had already been beaten to a pulp by Brand, which made it easy for these creatures from underground. Under the guidance of the All Things Return to One, they easily opened the city gates and dispersed the remaining Harbor Guard. By nightfall, there was only sparse resistance left in the entire port.

Amidst the pouring rain, a graceful figure slowly ascended the spiral stairs of the city tower.

Medusa Laismekka was dressed in a pure white linen robe, revealing her bronze, scaly skin underneath. Her legs were much longer than those of a human female. However, she enjoyed wrapping her snake-like tail, adorned with copper coin-like patterns, around her shoulders as if it were a shawl.

She reached the top platform of the city tower, parted the chattering Harpies, and saw the barely breathing Viscount Begning. She picked up his wrist, uttered a word, and a circle of black patterns faintly appeared on the third knuckle of the viscount’s left index finger. She carefully brought it to her beautiful, faceted eyes to examine it, then looked up and asked, "Where did you find him?"

The Harpies answered shrilly in their unique underground language, "Nearby, my lady."

"Why hasn’t the messenger woken up?"

"The messenger was knocked unconscious, my lady."

"Humans are really fragile," Laismekka thought contemptuously. But she dared not express this feeling, as this person was an important figure in the All Things Return to One, followers of the Dragon of Dusk, closely cooperating with demons, and not to be judged by low-class beings like them. She lowered her head and flicked her forked tongue to make a black mark on Viscount Begning’s forehead, then gently stroked it with her hand, creating a rain shield for him.

"Wait for Lord Bruka to arrive before doing anything. Take good care of him. Our enemies this time are the terrifying Flame Temple. The lords still need the All Things Return to One to uncover that artifact for them. Once we’ve secured ourselves, ’we’ can have a broader territory." Laismekka seemed quite hopeful, her beautiful serpent-like hair lifted, flicking out her tongue.

She gazed at the distant Anlek Mountains, their shadowy range cloaked in dark clouds. Her beautiful eyes reflected the color of lightning, like some kind of spark ignited.

Not far from her, in a sheltered spot, two ladies were earnestly discussing. "White Mist, leaving Viscount Begning there was the right choice. We’ve caught a Big Fish. As expected, they have some kind of conspiracy."

Almost certainly a conspiracy, otherwise the All Things Return to One wouldn’t be here. "So what, are you going to follow her?" White Mist looked at her askance. "Of course." Romantic nodded as if it were obvious.

"Given your bumbling tracking skills, we would be discovered in less than a minute, and then you’d be captured and killed, which would also mean my end." White Mist coldly criticized her. Romantic couldn’t hide her displeasure, her tiny eyebrows urgently raising: "Am I that bad?"

"Worse than that."

"Then we’ll have to scrap that plan, White Mist, White Mist. What should we do next?" The Merchant Lady cheerfully dismissed her carefully thought-out plan as if it wasn’t her own idea.

"Think for yourself." White Mist replied lazily.

"I know, the obvious enemy Brand isn’t scary, but conspiracies are hard to guard against, just like in the knight novels. Besides, Brand looks a bit dumb, easy to trick. We need to dig up that thing they intend to excavate before they do." Romantic immediately came to a new conclusion.

"How do you plan to do that?" White Mist thought using knight novels as an action guide was exemplary of wrong methods, but the reasoning was still correct, so she couldn’t be bothered to argue. Truth be told, if she could, she wouldn’t even bother speaking. "We’ll find those sneaky guys first," Romantic answered confidently.

"Sneaky guys?"

"I just saw Duke Anliek. Didn’t the viscount say they are also members of that group?"

"Next time, please say such things earlier..." White Mist finally rolled her eyes weakly, which was probably her first somewhat expressive act today.