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When Brendel and Scarlett rushed over to Medissa’s direction, they saw she was pressing down on her left shoulder with her right hand. Blood drenched her white inner robes and leaked onto the silver armor. Her brows were bunched up together as she faced the monster in front of her.

Conrad was nowhere to be seen.

The Acolyte of Earth looked different from a while ago. The dull yellow colored carapace were cracked open, revealing a dark red light that pulsed slowly from the crevices, like magma flowing across the ground. The monster that had appeared like it was a carved statue was somehow turned into a molten boulder-like creature.

Brendel was shocked when he saw Ekman in that appearance. It was clearly in a Berserk mode, and going into such a state was usually a final desperate attempt. The aftermath of the Berserk mode was devolving back into an even weaker state than its already incomplete self, if it survived.

[What’s going on? It’s not like there’s any threat to its life. The Acolytes will never willingly activate this mode to go on a rampage. Similar bosses would only go in a Berserk mode when they have 30% hp or less.... It’s not moving?]

Brendel’s eyes went over the monster’s state and realized there was an injury on Ekman’s ribcage; the gash was deep enough for him to see the bones. He immediately understood it was from Medissa’s Seismic Blast, but that was not the right explanation. Given how high Ekman’s defense was, even if her attack was directly on its face, it would deal no more than 1/10 of its life. But the strangest thing was why it did not move at all.

[The last possibility is a command to make him go into a rampaging mode....]

Medissa saw Brendel from the corner of her eyes, and spoke through clenched teeth: “I apologize, my lord. I allowed Conrad to escape.”

Brendel secretly felt ashamed as it was his mistake and did not expect Ekman’s attack to be a diversion to get to Medissa. He had completely underestimated his opponent because he thought it was some sort of Wurm creature that got corrupted by the Blood of Gods, and did not possess that intelligence to outwit him. He failed to consider the fact that Conrad was holding on to the Control Orb to control the monster.

“This isn’t your fault.” Brendel and Scarlett regrouped with Medissa and form a line to face the rampaging monster. “What exactly happened?”

“That man tried to lure me into a trap but I managed to see through it. He then managed to summon this monster somehow and tried to escape by using it as cover....” Medissa covered her mouth as she coughed, and blood leaked through her fingers: “.... I tried to use Seismic Blast to stop them, but the monster suddenly turned stronger and shrugged off the gravity binding from the Seismic Blast....”

“Your injury was caused by the monster?”

She nodded.

“Are you alright?” Brendel frowned. Ekman’s strength was increased by 20% when it was in a berserk mode. If Medissa was directly struck by it, her injuries could be quite serious.

“It’s not too much of a problem to continue fighting. It’s a little scratch....” She coughed repeatedly: “But I feel like there’s some Element damage done to my lungs.”

[That’s not a problem?] Brendel looked at her in utter disbelief, then suddenly recalled her status as a Heroic Spirit. Even though she appeared like she was coughing out blood like a real person, it was her Soul Fire that would affect her ability to fight. A normal person would have their fighting abilities greatly lowered if they received the same injury Medissa did.

“What should we do now?” Scarlett asked.

“I want to change our plans a little.” Brendel stared at the monster that blocked their path. He really did not understand why Conrad was so eager to escape from them, to the point that he would waste a creature with the Blood of Gods and allow the three of them to fight it. Ekman would not stand a chance after the Berserk mode was over. Yet there was no time for them to wait for it to do so.

“Both of you need to go after that man right away. We have to stop him from messing up the tactical positions where the Silver Elves and the mercenaries are fighting the Lizardmen. Leave this monster to me.”

“You?” Scarlett looked back at him, forgetting her manners as she heard his incredulous words.

“My lord?” Medissa was also stunned. As someone who fought against him earlier, she knew clearly that he was a fighter who had just reached the Silver-rank tier. No matter much fighting experience he had, there was no chance to fight against a monster who had unsealed its Element power. Even delaying it seemed like a problem.

“Have you forgotten my true abilities, Medissa?” Brendel answered in his mind.

“Do you mean to say your abilities as a Planeswalker, my lord?” She also replied in her mind.

Brendel nodded.

“I’ll fight along with you.” Scarlett answered. She raised her halberd against the monster. It looked like it was dead because it did not move at all, but once they moved to chase Conrad, it would certainly attack them.

“If you die, my lord, Medissa and I have will also have no guarantee that we can face it. In order to protect everyone left from the Grey Wolves Mercenaries, your life is my life—”

Brendel raised his eyebrow at her.

“Scarlett is right, my lord.” Medissa also persuaded him: “As long as this monster is not guarding Conrad, he is not my match. I have fought many Miirna Mage Slayers in my life time.”

“Very well.” Brendel did not wish to waste any time to convince Scarlett, and it was true with the latter’s aid he would have a better chance against it. He took out the second Card of Fate that he had drawn for the day: “Let’s move out.”

Brendel flipped over his card—

– The Silver Horse

– The Legendary Light V, White

– Requirements: 10 MP

– Artifact Creature/Treasure, Level 7 Construct

– The Silver Horse has Flying.

– ‘Made with Mithril’

(TL: This card is given by Tulman and not taken from the Dark Bishop.)

The Card of Fate floated up into the air and a Magic Formation was immediately drawn on the forest ground. A long neigh from a warhorse could be heard in the center of the Magic Formation

Brendel’s actions immediately caused Ekman to launch an attack. Conrad had given a set of instructions to Ekman to wait at its spot in case Brendel and the others were somehow able to lure it away from guarding him. If it detected an enemy crossing a certain point to go after him or did something else, then the permission to attack would be given. Magic was amongst one of the conditions.

Scarlett and Medissa went up to intercept its attack and were able to guard successfully against its attack, although both of them struggled to breath as the air were knocked out of them from the impact.

[Interesting.... Even though Medissa and Scarlett’s levels are below 50, they are able to reach use their Element powers which are typically learned at level 50 to 51. If they did not utilize their powers they wouldn’t have been able to stop the rampaging monster.]

The light in front of Brendel faded and a metallic warhorse with wings made from mithril trotted forward proudly. The creature’s chiseled ruby eyes glanced at Brendel before it lowered its head.

The two girls looked looked at the horse in slight surprise, but they quickly understood his intention.

“Scarlett, get on the horse! Medissa, cover us!”

Ekman wanted to attack Brendel again but the Elven princess used Vortex Strike to force it back. Her abilities had a long cooldown, but the attacking strength was high enough to force Ekman to engage her carefully.

With the slight opening, Scarlett got onto the horse and immediately extended her hand out to Brendel. He got up onto the horse quickly but she felt a little embarrassed when they rode together. That thought quickly disappeared and she calmed down quickly.

“Ride behind its back. That creature is obeying Conrad’s order to guard this place with its life. Attract its attention and make it chase us. Medissa, stay here and make your move only after we leave this place!”

“Understood.” She nodded.

Scarlett urged the horse upwards, and the warhorse jumped into the sky, and flew over the angry creature’s head. That was not the only action she took. She reached for a compact crossbow that was behind her belt and shot at it.

The attack immediately caused it to fight back.

The creature roared and slammed its palm onto the ground, and a twenty meter rock spike shot up into the sky, reaching towards the two of them. Scarlett urged the horse to fly higher, but spikes continued to chase after them, each time higher than the last. The last spike nearly reached fifty meters high, and when they looked down onto the ground, they discovered that the ground below had turned into a forest filled with rock pillars.

When the Acolyte of Earth’s hand left the ground, the rock pillars immediately turned to soil and crumbled. It stared at the warhorse that flew further and futher away, bellowed loudly, then slammed both of its hand into the ground and merged with the soil in an instant.

That was the last time Medissa saw the monster. She had seen how it attacked Brendel the first time, so she knew that it was performing the same feat again. She remained on guard and looked around for a while before she rode towards where Conrad escaped, urging her unicorn to move as quickly as possible.

Brendel also saw the same thing and asked Scarlett to lower their flying height. Even though the monster’s intelligence was not high, it would not keep on chasing a prey that it could not reach. Luring a monster in the game was considered to be a precise skill, and it was the same in this world.

Brendel continued to remain on his guard as the speed and height of the mithril warhorse were quickly lowered.

“What are we going to do next?” Scarlett asked.

“Bring this monster around,” Brendel said: “It’s best to move back to where we fought yesterday, since our plan is to regroup back there when the mercenaries and Silver Elves defeat the Lizardmen. We will be able to receive support from them.”

“Can we last that long?”

“That depends on our skill. Well, perhaps a little luck is needed as well.”

Scarlett suddenly stopped talking and swung her halberd at a certain direction. A streak of lightning shot out dozens of meters away and struck in between a few pine trees.

An explosion rang out and the Boss reappeared.

“Have the horse run on the ground in a zigzag manner.” Brendel put out his hand. “Give me your crossbow—”

She nodded and handed it over.

The warhorse’s direction changed once as a sharp spike reached for their backs. Brendel secretly nodded at Scarlett’s reactions. He might not have done as well as if he was the one leading the horse.

[This is the start of a dangerous game....]