CHAPTER 121.

Amber cursed under her breath seeing the parties there were surrounding her, Remmel didn’t look too great either, biting his lip quietly. The people from the Saints of Truth looked collected, whereas the two members of the Arcane Council looked excitable. Especially the warrior, who was mainly oogling her.

And all this time Amber was using God’s Dynamo to the max, recovering her Essence gradually, which would take a total of five minutes and would strain her core. Her mana too was being converted at a poor rate. And her mind was in disarray, she had thought that now she could, as Remmel put it: lay low and simply not cause any trouble until everything died down.

But it seemed that that wasn’t the case. Of course, she was slightly skeptical of the lengths Remmel went through to protect her identity, but she chose to not think about it given the situation they were in.

Right now, we have to stall…

“Remmel, what is everyone’s level?” she asked.

“God your Identify truly is useless, huh?” he scoffed. “230 and 310 for the guys from the Saints of Truth, and almost 290 for both members of the Arcane Council.”

“Level 187, you sure are weak,” the warrior said, looking at her before taking a step forward and making her step back.

Right now they were on the forest side of the plateau, most houses were far away from her. So getting help from Asil’s family was going to be hard. Plus potential casualties would be terrible. Amber looked over to Aveline, who was still on the ground. There’s that too.

“Remmel, do you think you can inform the Dazdril family of what is happening?” Amber asked, weighing her chances. “Make sure to fill them in on the fact that a divine artifact was stolen.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“So they can choose to get involved or not, dumbass,” she scoffed. “You said it yourself right? They’ll be safe from this whole ordeal if they don’t get involved. Unless you lied?” She frowned. “Because if you did then⁠—”

He frowned. “I didn’t lie, but fine. I’ll try to get them involved. I’ll take Aveline too.”

At that, a grunt came. “You think I’m going to let you get away, pretty-boy?”

And Remmel side-stepped as the Arcane Council’s warrior swung down with his hammer, the ground exploding. Remmel clicked his tongue and the warrior let out a small gasp of surprise.

“Oho, you’re quite agile.”

“Shut up⁠— repulse,” Remmel grunted and the warrior was sent flying as a ring on his hand exploded into pieces.

Then he swooped in and grabbed Aveline, before disappearing with a teleport. And just like that, Amber was left alone with the members of the Arcane Council and the Saints of Truth, and the warrior immediately pounced on her as she summoned Cursewelder to block.

The hammer collided with the sword and the ground split open, her legs sinking into the dirt as the warrior grinned.

“You’re much stronger than I expected, are all your attribute points in Strength?”

Amber clicked her tongue, and then she sensed danger as the mage from the council raised her staff and pointed.

“Blast.”

She immediately used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash, landing away as the warrior was engulfed in an explosion, and Amber immediately got on guard expecting the next follow up, but it didn’t happen, instead the mage grunted.

“Derken, stop messing around and help me deal with the Archbishop, lest he’ll kill us. We were here for him in the first place.”

The Archbishop raised his brow at that. “Now why would I attack the esteemed Arcane Council without question?”

“We know what you’re here for, I’m not letting you do it. After we’re done with you, I’ll kill Amber,” she gestured. “Avenging Zodos is a necessity.”

Amber frowned, looking warily at the cloud of smoke where the warrior was and the other people.

“Since our goals line up, why don’t we team up?” the Archbishop asked, straightening himself. “We can deal with Ishtar’s descendant and then sort our issues, how about that?”

Amber tensed at that, as the mage seemed to frown as if considering her options. It was clear she was the sitting duck here, and at the same time she couldn’t really run. All she could do was restore her Essence, and get back to top condition. She stabbed herself with Cursewelder, regenerating Curse Battery.

She got some glances from that, before the Archbishop returned to looking at the woman.

“How about it?”

The cloud of smoke burst and the warrior appeared behind the member of the Saints of Truth, his hammer high in the air.

“We don’t work with other zealots.”

And he slammed it as the barrier surrounding the mage cracked. The Archbishop craned his head.

“I see, I understand.” And he flicked his staff, sending the warrior flying.

The man broke through multiple trees and the mage raised her staff, exploding the spot where the mage stood. However, he spoke from the smoke.

“Ezra, deal with the Cursebearer. I’ll assist you from afar.”

“Yessir.”

Amber frowned at that, and a moment later the mage appeared near her, pointing his staff and Amber instinctively dodged feeling danger, but it wasn’t enough. Her body become enveloped in a white light and⁠— the curses within her body were forcefully suppressed.

That’s possible? Amber stumbled from a sudden loss of strength, Inexorable Body immediately ceased working, and before she could react the mage blasted her with a white light. Amber immediately hit the trees in the distance, her body burning as her regeneration became non-existent.

Gritting her teeth, she pushed God’s Physique to heal her instead, careful to not burn too much Essence. Immediately mending her wounds as the mage jumped on top of her and stabbed down his staff as if it were a stake.

Amber barely blocked it with Cursewelder as the staff made a loud bang.

“You are much more resilient than any Cursebearer I’ve fought, normally getting hit by that makes them pretty useless. Is your Legacy Branch that good?”

He pressed down, light magic covering his weapon as Amber pushed back. Or tried to, for some reason the man’s strength could rival hers. She gritted her teeth, and he smirked.

“You have extraordinary strength for a warrior, unfortunately for you we specialize in dealing with Cursebearers.” The staff began to shine as Amber felt danger. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to remember your last moments—”

And Amber flared her Essence and used Wind Cleave and Fulminating Slash immediately hitting the mage. The first hit cracked his barrier and the second one sent him flying into a tree. She had to be careful and hold back, the previous battle had strained her core a lot, and not only that but she still had battles ahead of her.

She immediately dashed after him, intending to end the fight soon. Given the presence of the Arcane Council, not taking the staff out again was definitely wise. She heard blasts in the background and then with the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash arrived behind the man.

She swung and he blocked with his staff, not bulging. His physical strength rivaled hers, and so she used God’s Physique yet again, her body shining in a blue light as the man gritted his teeth from suddenly losing the contest.

“That⁠— you shouldn't be able to do that!” He tried to push her back, and Amber simply raised her foot.

“Why’s that?”

“Because⁠—”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

And she used Cursed Stomp, stunning the man for a brief moment before headbutting him and breaking his nose.

“Nevermind, I don’t care.”

The man reeled back and Amber swung with her sword, intending to behead him once and for all. All things considered, he wasn’t particularly strong so⁠—

And a ray of light hit her from the side, her vision blinded for a moment before she hit a hard object, all the bones on her body cracking as her head spun. She groaned and coughed up blood, pushing her Essence to heal her. She quickly regained vision as another blast of white came towards her.

Amber used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash, barely dodging.

Consciously healing is such a pain in the ass. Her collarbone cracked into place. Still, I seriously underestimated him. Last time, Asil had been there to help her, but right now, he was missing. Remmel had gone to seek him, but he still wasn’t back. Still, she had to push herself more, otherwise she was going to be fucked.

Amber stumbled as the mage appeared and swung his staff upon her as if it were a cane, she blocked and a blast of light hit her. Making her stumble back as wounds reopened. She had never considered how much curses aided her in battle generally, and why would she? She had never encountered this situation before.

And at the same time, she was holding back out of concern for her core given how much she had pushed it in the previous battles.

“Do you know the difference between you and I?” the mage asked.

He hit her and Amber used Fulminating Slash but the man charged right through. She stomped but he completely brushed it off as he hit again.

“I’ve gone through the special level 200 advancement, so there is no way for you to rival me!”

And at that moment, she just had enough. She had enough of this guy thinking he was better than her. She was done holding herself back. All this time she had been measuring herself to be able to fight after this, but she realized that if this continued, she’d be completely helpless. And at that point, there was no after.

The man’s staff and whole body shone with a golden light as the danger coming from him increased substantially, and Amber used her Essence, in all of her Legacy Branch her skills were overpowered, God’s Physique reached its apex and Amber raised her sword as her body burst into blue flames.

The man swung and golden light exploded from the hit. Amber blocked it as her entire body was burned by the light, and she flared her Essence in response. Her wounds healed and her core strained with pain.

At this point, it was only happening from how she had used it, and not because she was forcing it to go beyond its limits. However, she wasn’t totally helpless.

My core should recover from this slightly after I kill him.

It was nothing but a hunch, however, when it came to Essence instincts and feelings seemed to be the way it worked. And so, Amber committed as she kicked him this time causing his leg to bend as he squealed.

Then she pushed him, making him lose balance and hefted her sword before winging over his arm. The sword cleaved down and went deep into his body, causing the mage to scream. And Amber raised her hand, intending to put an end to this now. Her breaths were shallow, her heart was racing, but her mind was clear.

She was going to kill this person and then focus on finding Frei to end this situation. With the kill, she should have a lot more liberty with her core usage.

“Goodbye⁠—”

A mage appeared next to him. “Repulse.”

Amber was flung away by kinetic energy as she immediately frowned with great displeasure, a new mage had appeared and it seemed to be from the Saints of Truth.

She landed away as the other mage fell onto his companion’s clutches. This person had a blood stained coat and their level was…

[Lightblessed Mage. Lvl. ???]

Where did he even come from? Amber frowned, wary of dragging this battle before she actually permanently damaged something within her.

“Your companion was quite a lot of trouble to fight,” he said, tending to his friend. “Don’t worry though, he’s merely unconscious now. I don’t take pleasure in killing those that are merely affiliated with Cursebearers, after all.”

So, Remmel is out… Amber felt incredibly displeased at the news. The only reason he had lost was probably due to the earlier fights, so Amber didn't exactly completely hold it against him, after all who would’ve thought there was another member of the Saints of Truth lurking around.

An explosion from the battle between the other saint and the Arcane Council went off in the background, but Amber didn’t let it distract her. Instead, she focused on what was happening, she had to finish the other mage. If she wanted a chance to deal with this mage and any other battles that could come, she had to alleviate some of the pain she was feeling.

Even if she ended up with less Essence than what she began with, it was a good idea. God’s Dynamo was the reason she was struggling to use her Essence now. It was not a skill without drawbacks after all. Not one she could continuously use at the rate she had been using it anyway.

And so, Amber resolved herself, and also decided to only convert her mana into Essence at least for this time rather than try to generate the Essence via cycling it.

“Cursebearer, I do not understand why you walked this path of life, but I will make sure that you are vindicated with your death,” he said, raising his staff. “As someone whose class is meant to deal with the likes of you, it is my duty⁠—”

And a bright flash of light occurred from the other battle along with a loud explosion. This explosion was unlike any of the other two before, and it was caused by the Archbishop himself from what she could sense⁠— and more importantly it distracted the mage.

“Does the Archbishop need help…?”

And Amber took that opportunity, using the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash as she arrived behind both mages. This time, she wasn’t going to let the companion save the mage.

The mage turned and raised his staff, pointing at her as light accumulated on his staff as he slammed it down, creating a barrier of white.

“It’s useless, Cursebearer!”

She used all of her accumulated rage, and summoned Arkara’s Staff, urging her Essence to act. The crystal began to shine with an ominous light and the mage grunted, increasing the barrier’s defenses. She only had about half of her Essence at this point, but it was enough if she burned all of it.

And she did.

Storm of Destruction⁠—

And the spot where they both were standing ruptured with blasts of lightning that tore apart the environment as her Essence hit rock bottom, but Amber smiled because⁠—

[You have defeated a [Lightblessed Mage. Lvl. 228].]

For defeating an enemy 40 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

The mage was dead. And now, she was once again closer to her Class Advancement.

Amber smiled as she landed the blasts still going as she heard screaming, the Essence from the kill coming back to her and the relief was immediate. The pulsating pain was gone, replaced by a lukewarm and pleasant embrace around her core. And her Essence went from empty to around a third.

She smiled and ran.

Right now, she didn’t care to fight this mage, she cared more about finding Remmel and then going to find Frei, so that’s what she did. That said, she also didn’t let her guard down as explosions resounded in the distance. She stowed away the staff.

Amber focused on slowly restoring her Essence with the mana conversion offered by God’s Dynamo rather than generating it from cycling her Essence around her core, which had the possibility of straining it.

It would take a grand total of 10 minutes for her to get half of her Essence from her entire mana pool, but that was enough for her for now. Besides, right now her main focus wasn’t fighting, but rather to find safety. While she didn’t like running in this situation; given her life wasn’t in immediate danger; she still decided it was the best course of action.

Amber ran on the forest side of things as explosions went off in the distance, she used Quick Dash repeatedly as she pushed her senses to the limit in order to find Remmel. She traveled hundreds of meters in mere seconds as she passed various estates, and soon enough, she saw the one belonging to Asil’s family in the distance.

And when she did, she sensed someone not too far away from her, deeper into the forest.

Amber teleported to the spot only to find a bloodied Remmel, one she immediately fed a health potion to and awoke in a coughing fit.

“Amber? You’re alive?”

Amber nodded. “Yeah, but I need your help to find Frei, the council and the saints are still fighting.”

Remmel turned serious at that and sat up, wiping his face from blood as he got up in a wobble. Which concerned Amber but he just waved his hand dismissively and reached for her.

“It’s just poison, let’s go⁠—”

“You’re not going anywhere,” a voice interrupted from the side.

Amber turned as the mage from earlier teleported. Part of his body was charred, his white cloak was torn and he was missing his entire left shoulder. And yet, there was a hint of madness in his gaze as he raised his staff.

“I will make you pay for bringing an innocent soul into your demonic ways,” he said before turning to Remmel. “Even after I warned you to stay away from her you did not listen, and now you need to be saved. You need salvation.”

Amber immediately frowned and slashed onto the mage as a golden barrier blocked her hit, and she raised her hand to use Cursed Battery but to her surprise, the skill didn’t trigger. It refused to do so as a golden aura enveloped the land.

“Which is why you will be killing the Cursebearer.” He pointed his staff at Remmel as he began to glow.

Remmel screamed in pain as light began to envelop his body.

“You’ve already been defeated by me once, and so you’ve become my knight. Now bloom⁠—”

And at that moment a myriad of barriers covered the mage, before more generated within them with iridescent light, and Amber recognized them, her eyes widening.

Shit⁠—

The barriers exploded and she along with Remmel got blasted back as she got a notification

[You have defeated a [Mage. Lvl. 235].]

For defeating an enemy 45 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

Less experience for defeating an enemy as a group.

[You have reached level 191. 10 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

Her Class Advancement was fast approaching, but right now that didn’t matter.

Amber rolled on the ground as the mage from the Saints of Truth died, before hitting a tree and stopping. Next to her was a barely conscious Remmel that was taking a healing potion.

And then, there was the front.

Amber raised her gaze as a familiar mage along with an entourage of mages appeared. And she couldn’t help but grit her teeth as the familiar mage stepped forward.

“We meet again, Ignoble Berserker.”

[??? Lvl. ???]

It was the head guard, and the Archmage.