The Amber Sword

Several ice sculptures were either sitting or lying in the snow, men and women, their faces were stiff and hollow, their almost frozen gaze looked straight into the sky, showing no signs of life from within. Freya passed by these ice sculptures with some sadness, silently stroking their cold eyelids with her hand.

As the scout had said before, Emerald and Anika had no visible wounds, their skin was gray and white, lost moisture and was tightened. The bodies of the war horses kneeling beneath them were covered with ice and snow as well. Just by looking at it, it seemed like they were frozen to death normally, but it was impossible for five or six people to be coincidentally frozen to death together. Not to mention that Anika and Emerald were both Gold-ranked warriors, this low temperature should have no effect on them at all.

Freya noticed the empty-looking eyes of Emerald and Anika. In her memory, there was one type of death that the dead would have such looking eyes, that is, getting one’s temperature taken away by the ghost; thinking of this, she suddenly remembered the night escaping from Riedon, when B used the white stag to lead the way for them.

That humid night, when the majestic creature emitting a fluorescent white light opened the way through the woodlands. But what she remembered most vividly were those who died at the hands of the ghosts, pale and sweated profusely, who were also with such an empty look, as if they had lost their souls.

Freya looked up, somewhat alertly. She and the team were already in the middle of a silver-gray forest, with the whistling snowy wind blowing through the bare branches, making eerie sounds, like monsters whistling between the woodlands.

“It’s the ghosts, the spirits in the forests consume people’s souls. This forest must be their territory, we have to get out of here as soon as possible.” One of Kirrlutzian knights, a dark-skinned young man said somewhat nervously, “I used to hear the legends of them from the old man when I was a kid, that no one can kill them, and once we get caught up in them, we’re dead.”

“Enough, Rollo, you are a Gold-ranked warrior, not many of those ghosts are your opponent. If they come, we can avenge for Emerald and Anika!” The knight called Alea replied with some impatience, he turned back to Freya and asked, “Miss Freya, do you think there could really be ghosts in this forest?” ‘Lord Commander’ was changed to ‘Miss Freya’, as Freya had won the trust of every Kirrlutzian present, and trust was the basis of cooperation.

“Anika and you are similar, they died without any signs, so what can you do?” Rollo asked, unrelentingly, staring at him.

“So we should just tuck our tails and run away? That’s enough, don’t mention Anika to me, it only makes me angry. Rollo, don’t make me look down on you!” Alea replied extremely angrily.

“Alea, shut up, is this how you speak to your companion?” Little Pero finally could not help himself, he pulled the soft gray rat skin hood, reprimanded, and turned back to Rollo and said, “Rollo, the knight folds his sword and makes a vow to never leave his companion behind, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you said before, but don’t let me hear it a second time.”

The dark-skinned young man seemed a little afraid of him, was warned, but did not dare to return the word, can only silently stare at this side. Alea also grunted coldly and looked back, he grabbed his sword and looked in the direction of the forest, it looked like he didn’t believe Rollo’s words, but at least he was on guard.

Little Pero looked back at Freya and asked, “Miss Freya, what do you think? Lolo is right in at least one statement, Anika and the girls died without any signs, even if it was a sneak attack, it was a little too peaceful. Anika is a veteran scout, she’s no less weaker than I am.”

Freya frowned. The corpses of Anika and Emerald did not look like they had experienced a fight before they died. Rather, they looked like they died after falling down from just walking. But they were four Gold-ranked warriors. She looked in that direction and suddenly noticed an insignificant detail.

“Senior, have you noticed their gaze?”

“Hmm?” Maynild raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Anika and the girls should have been looking ahead when they were alive, it is that forest, there might be something in the forest that attracted their attention.” Freya replied.

“What exactly did they find in the forest?” Alea asked.

“It surely can’t be the attacker, if the attacker came from the direction of the forest, there’s no way Anika and the girls would not have reacted at all.” Little Pero replied.

The others looked at each other and could not think of anything in the forest that would make Anika and the others let their guard down. They were the best Night Swallows, the best of the best, who would never let down their guard down so easily.

The wind and snow seemed to have subsided a bit. The crowd felt an eerie silence rise and could not help but look towards the silvery gray forest. They all felt a chill down their spines.

“Did you hear something?” Someone suddenly asked. The man was wearing a leather armor with a dark brown robe underneath, and he was the only Bishop among the Kirrlutzian Knights.

“What is it?” Alea asked inexplicably.

“Hush-, listen, there is a sound in the wind.” Little Pero looked a little serious and put a finger to his lips and gave a wink to the others.

Everyone closed their mouths, and a low but high-pitched sound came with the wind, sounding like a whistle. The sound seemed to be far away and then close, and suddenly a clattering sound came from above the forest. Everyone subconsciously pressed hard against the hilt of their swords and looked up, and then they saw an extremely spectacular scene:

Gray, crystal-carved birds flew up from the canopy, densely packed into the sky. The crystal-clear bodies of these birds reflected the blue of the Demonic Wave in mid-air, shimmering. They flew high with their wings amidst the wind and snow, emitting a twittering and crisp chirping sound, and in a blink of an eye, they flew across the heads of the crowd.

Everyone present was stunned, as they did not expect such beautiful creatures to lurk in this seemingly lifeless place. “They’re Crystal Swans, oh my god, these are elemental creatures that are rare to see even in the Mountain of Quelled Storms, there are so many of them! Shidou will go crazy if she sees them!” A knight suddenly shouted.

It was indeed spectacle, but little Pero and Maynild reacted much more directly. The two directly drew their longswords and shouted to the others, “Watch out, there’s something in the forest!”

More than ten Kirrlutzian knights instantly froze.

After the crystal swans passed, the sound of falling trees came from the forest. Obviously, those crystal swans were startled by the things behind. Everyone looked at the forest with wide eyes, trying to see what attacked Anika and her group.

But very quickly, they held their breath.

A huge black shadow gradually appeared behind the snow, and it quickly moved forward and became clear.

Then they saw a wolf. A huge wolf as tall as a mountain, its silver mane fluttering in the wind and snow, its ears pointed and long. It was different from the common winter wolf in some form, but its eyes were a golden glance, shining with a hint of wisdom and coldness.

It looked at everyone from above, the forest was like a meadow under its feet, and the Cruzian knights present were like the ants in the meadow.

“This…… this is……” Little Pero tilted his head and looked at this scene dumbfoundedly.

“It’s Chief Warg Hati……” Maynild’ complexion changed as well, “Impossible, shouldn’t it be sealed in……”

She suddenly realized something and subconsciously shut her mouth. “What should we do?” Everyone subconsciously turned their attention to their only commander – Freya. But that was when everyone noticed something odd.

Freya had disappeared.

It was as if she had disappeared into thin air.

Maynild’ heart suddenly sank.

But at this moment when everyone did not understand, Freya was standing in the same place, and she was more surprised than everyone present.

Because what she saw was very different from the others.

The moment the wind picked up, Freya first heard the wolf howl in the forest, but there was no crystal swan, nor the Chief Warg Hati. She only saw a lot of pale eyes amidst the darkness that suddenly appeared. Those eyes gradually came out of the gray woodland shadows, and then formed a huge wolf with snow-white fur.

Freya did not recognize these strange wolf-type creatures, but B may be able to call them by name:

Pale Sons.

The Chief Warg Hati was one of the most favored Dusk breed, and legend has it that they ran on the snowy plains, bringing storms wherever they pass. But their leader, Lepeser, died in the hands of the Sky Dragon Blaze, and they perished in a battle with Milos, the King of the Frost Giants.

Freya’s gaze froze and she immediately drew her longsword. But it was at this time that she noticed something odd. She discovered that the future Valkyrie found herself surrounded by the Knights of Kirrlutz – little Pero, Alea, Lolo and even Maynild were on their horses with a dull look on their faces, as if they had not noticed the scene around them.

Freya was instantly startled, her mind instantly recalled the appearance of the death of Anika and Emerald. She could not help but break out in a cold sweat.

“Maynild senior!?” She hurriedly used her hand to push Maynild beside her, who was lost in thought and slightly swayed, as if waking up from a confusing dream.

She first saw Freya, slightly stunned, then frowned a little. She confusingly asked, “Freya, where have you been? Run, little Pero and the others are dead, I’ll help you block Warg Hati……”

“Wait, what are you talking about! Everyone is still alive and well!” Freya hurriedly interrupted her, “We have fallen into the siege, quickly prepare to fight, Maynild senior!”

“Fight?” Maynild was stunned before she noticed the scene around her, and she blurted out, “The Pale Sons? How can it be them? Where’s Warg Hati?”

As soon as she said that, a scream suddenly came from the forest.

“The War Goddess! This can’t be! Why does the bloodline of the War Goddess still exist in this era!” The voice was so sharp that it did no’t sound like any kind of intelligent creature on the continent of Vaunte. It was as if it was a metallic noise like two files intersecting together.

Freya and Maynild were horrified and subconsciously looked in that direction, and they then saw a silvery figure over there.

That thing looked somewhat like a human, because it had four limbs, with two feet standing on the ground and fairly long hands, which reached all the way down to below the knees. It was covered with silvery white skin, but the most horrifying thing was that this thing did not have eyes, nose, and ears, but only a smooth face with a black hole like a mouth.

And at the side of the human-like monster, stood an old acquaintance of Freya and Maynild.

“Marquis Yoakam?!” Freya looked at the man with some disbelief and asked, “Aren’t you dead?”

Marquis Yoakam smiled faintly, “Before dedicating my life to the True God, how could I die so easily? Freya, you and your Lord should have both arrived already. In fact, we have been waiting for him here for a long time.”

Freya’s heart thumped.

……