The enormous Withered Beast raised a claw nearly half a person's height and brought it crashing down. Brando ducked beneath it. The gale stirred up by the withered branches swept over his head like a blade and struck a piece of shale, blasting it twenty or thirty meters away with a boom.
Brando watched as the rock collided with something in midair and changed direction three times before finally crashing into a pile of jagged stones, sending up a cloud of dust. He couldn't help but feel horrified. That strength is terrifying. If someone took a blow like that, every bone in their body would shatter from the impact they couldn't absorb. The broken bones would pierce their organs, while the organs themselves would rupture from being crushed and deformed, causing massive internal bleeding throughout the body. Put simply, it would be an instant kill.
The Elite Withered Beast's strength of 8.9 Energy Levels had already reached the peak of monsters below Level 20. In Brando's memory, aside from Berserkers and Dwarf Iron Whistle Guards, there truly weren't many classes at this level that could match it in strength.
However, he had never intended to fight it head-on. He had Freya cover him from the side, then relied on his advantage in Agility to roll in and slash at the left leg of the mass of branches with Gleaming Thorn. The enormous shrub monster was nearly five meters tall, and its claws were over three meters long, giving it an extremely wide attack range. Yet when it lowered its head, it found it difficult to attack Brando beneath its body.
Brando slashed through it with his sword. The bright Purifying Fire merely left a scorched mark on its lower leg. The defense left him drenched in cold sweat. The Elite Withered Beast's constitution was high, and its toughness and resistance naturally wouldn't be low, but they absolutely shouldn't have been this high. This meant that there was still a strength suppression between him and the monster. That was one of the settings in The Amber Sword, and he hadn't expected it to exist here as well.
Even so, the slash still hurt the enormous Withered Beast enough to make it raise its head and let out a long howl. It was a buzzing sound, and the tremendous waves of noise made the nearby weeds shiver.
Brando felt his chest tighten. Freya, not far away, fared even worse and coughed up blood. Deterrent Roar—its effect in the game had never been this obvious. Could it be because their levels were too low? Brando felt as if all his internal organs had been knocked out of place. The data on his retina showed that several of his organs had suffered varying degrees of damage.
"Brando!" the Merchant's Daughter called from nearby.
Brando turned around and saw that she had already tied the rope and secured the grappling hook. He couldn't help feeling relieved. Roman could still be relied upon at crucial moments. She remained calm in the face of major events; she truly had the makings of a merchant.
He glanced in the other direction. The Withered Beast younglings were already very close. It was time to retreat. They had only a few seconds.
"Freya," he shouted immediately.
"I'm fine. Cough, cough." The Ponytail Girl stubbornly wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, picked up her sword, and once again assumed a defensive stance.
"One last attack. Cover me while I get out of its attack range—"
Freya nodded, gripped her sword with both hands, and charged in from the flank with a low shout, just as the training manual instructed. The enormous shrub monster had been about to raise its foot and stomp Brando, but now it had no choice but to pay attention to the other side. Given its level of Intelligence, it was difficult for it to understand which side posed the greater threat, but by animal instinct, Freya seemed more imposing.
It immediately spread out the branches on its body. With a sharp swish, countless spikes shot toward Freya.
The future Valkyrie had been on guard against this move thanks to Brando's warning. She immediately used both hands to protect her head, chest, and other vital areas. Although the spikes still sent her flying into a rock, leaving blood oozing from her entire body, she gritted her teeth and felt somewhat relieved. At least she had bought Brando some time.
Brando had no time to worry about Freya's injuries. As soon as he left the shrub giant's attack range, he half-crouched and raised his right hand, aiming the silver-glittering ring at its injured left leg.
"Oss!"
The air froze. An explosive burst of wind pressure slammed into the Elite Withered Beast's left leg with a bang. Wood splinters immediately flew everywhere, and nearly half of its body exploded along with it. Broken branches and leaves scattered into the distance like flowers raining from the heavens. No matter how high this monster's defense was, it couldn't withstand a charged attack with the power of 20 Oz. After losing its entire left half, its body lost its balance and toppled backward—
Brando immediately activated Charge Skill. Before the giant could hit the ground, he dove beneath it. He knew the thing wasn't completely dead yet. The Elite Withered Beast had 42 Life. Although that was less than the Gargoyle's, it wasn't far behind. He raised Gleaming Thorn overhead, and with a series of light cracks, the sword in his hand plunged into the creature's neck.
The Elite Withered Beast let out a mournful howl and tried to resist, but Brando twisted the sword. A bright silver flame burst from the blade in all directions. The shrub giant finally lowered its head helplessly as its life approached exhaustion. With the suppression of its vitality and toughness gone, the Purifying Fire surged in an instant, turning it into a blazing ball of flame.
Then countless golden lights rose from the enormous fireball and merged into Brando's body—
17 experience points.
He suddenly felt a chill in his palm. Opening his hand instinctively, he saw black smoke rising from the shrub giant and gathering in his palm. The smoke gradually solidified into a cold black crystal.
A Soul Crystal!
He hadn't expected this thing to drop here. Brando's heart jolted, followed by a surge of pleasant surprise. Soul power was the purest energy in this world. It was not only used by Madara's necromancers; wizards from other schools were also researching ways to develop it. In the game, a Soul Crystal could be converted into experience for a character through a ritual. It could also activate certain items and charge some magical equipment.
For example, the Wind Queen Ring.
Judging by its size, this Soul Crystal had a capacity of at least 30 experience points. That was enough to charge the Wind Queen Ring once with some left over. How could Brando not be delighted? He had originally thought that, because of the unexpected situation, he had used the Wind Queen Ring ahead of time and would have to find a safe place to hide for three hours before continuing onward. Without the Wind Queen Ring, he wouldn't dare run around this valley.
No matter what, though, three hours had still been wasted.
But he hadn't expected there to be a turning point in the end.
However, he sheathed his sword and glanced back, only to find that the nearest Withered Beast youngling had already climbed onto the platform. His heart jolted. Both he and Freya were exhausted and couldn't endure another fierce battle. One would be manageable, but being surrounded would be troublesome.
On the other side, Freya, covered in wounds, had just relaxed after seeing Brando kill the enormous shrub monster. But when she saw those spiky monsters appear at the opposite end of the rocky platform, her heart rose into her throat again. The girl frowned and struggled to stand, only to see Brando run over. Without giving her a chance to object, he scooped her up and carried her horizontally in his arms before running toward Roman.
"Ah."
"P-Put me down—"
The future Valkyrie was currently nothing more than a village girl from Buchi. Her face burned as she struggled, but Brando ignored her. She could only turn her face aside, red all the way to her ears, and quietly let him carry her.
By the time they reached the foot of the cliff, Roman had already climbed up. This future Merchant's Daughter wasn't a timid girl who feared trouble. She acted decisively, but Brando had no doubt that if he and Freya couldn't get up, she would climb down alone to fetch them.
More and more Withered Beasts had climbed up. He had at most a few seconds left.
He looped the rope around Freya, then wrapped it around his own waist. He felt the girl in his arms suddenly tense up, but there was no time to worry about that. Fortunately, he had enough experience to level up, raising Mercenary to Level 3. His strength reached 2.5 Energy Levels, enough to pull both of them up with one hand.
It was almost a moment of absolute peril. One Withered Beast youngling even leaped up and grabbed his foot, but Brando reacted faster. He thrust his sword straight down, knocking it back into the mass of monsters.
The three of them climbed to the top of the cliff and let out a collective sigh of relief. Brando looked down and saw the shrub monsters imitating them, grabbing the rope and trying to climb up. He showed them no mercy and cut the rope with one slash, sending them tumbling back down. There was plenty of rope left. As long as the grappling hook was preserved, that was enough.
Brando knew that this cliff stretched for several thousand meters. If the Golden Demon Tree's demon servants wanted to keep causing him trouble, they would have to go around to another valley. He still had some time. At last, he couldn't help dropping onto the ground and exhaling deeply.
"Good job!" He couldn't help giving Roman a thumbs-up. The Merchant's Daughter had performed exceptionally well. That Brando had truly struck gold.
"Really? Auntie says that all the time too. Little Roman, you're the most capable!"
The Merchant's Daughter puffed out her small chest, looking a little smug, but her concerned gaze soon fell on Freya. Brando knew she was worried about her close friend's injuries and replied, "Don't worry. They're only superficial wounds. Once we find a safe place to clean and bandage them, she'll be fine."
Freya's face was still flushed, and she didn't dare answer.
But by now Brando had finally caught his breath. He looked at the future Valkyrie and couldn't help feeling somewhat annoyed. He had originally wondered how this future Valkyrie had survived such a brutal war. Was it because of precious qualities such as strength and composure?
The Freya of the past had indeed given him that impression. Although she was somewhat naive, she possessed a calmness beyond that of ordinary people. Perhaps she had another reason for coming here, but the way she had clung desperately to that backpack earlier still left Brando dissatisfied. Freya was too stubborn. Perhaps that very stubbornness had forged her strong personality, but it wasn't a good trait on the battlefield.
"Why did you come?" They were companions, after all, and Brando didn't want to hurt her feelings. After thinking it over, he asked in a gentle tone.
Freya was silent for a moment, then removed a ring from her hand. "It's the Captain of the Guard's Seal Ring. You went to Ridenburg to deliver the message, and Uncle told me to bring this to you."
Brando slapped his forehead. It wasn't that he had forgotten about this. In truth, he had known perfectly well that the chances of Ridenburg taking his visit seriously were slim. Freya and the other Militia members didn't know that, but how could an old soldier like Maden not understand? If the nobles of Ridenburg had cared about Buchi's defenses, today's situation would never have happened.
A large part of his reason for going to Ridenburg had been Roman's aunt, but he hadn't expected Maden to be moved by his actions and actually send the Seal Ring over. He had overlooked that as well. If he had anticipated it, he should have directly told Maden to refuse.
After all, this ring was also quite useful to the refugees.
"You asked to come yourself, didn't you?" But after thinking about it, Brando decided that, given the old soldier's character, he wouldn't have sent Freya to her death—even though the Seal Ring was important.
The girl adjusted her ponytail and nodded.
"Why bother?"
"Brando, you're not one of the Buchi people. What excuse could I have to run away? I'm the captain of the Third Squad, so naturally I have to lead by example." Freya raised her head and answered.
"What's inside that backpack?"
The future Valkyrie lowered her head and hugged her backpack, hesitating for a moment.
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