The crystallized blood, glowing with a faint blue light, flashed on the snowy ground not far away.
The young fairy girl in Maynild's hands hung her head like she was dead, her slender shoulders trembling slightly.
In reality, the mission to get the crystallized blood could be finished now. But there was still a problem. Brando wasn't sure if the crystallized blood of the demonized creature counted. The strangeness of this forest also piqued his curiosity. He knew that there were some hidden missions in the Amber Sword game in the past.
It was hard to say if this one counted, but there was no harm in trying.
He looked at the demonized Crystal Stag struggling on the ground, a little confused. What exactly had happened to make it like this? As a creature born of magic, the Crystal Stag would rarely fall into depravity because of its obsession with dark magic.
What was strange was that it seemed to be resisting the corrosion of dark magic, which meant that it wasn't falling of its own accord. But how could a sensitive magical creature be corrupted by dark magic?
And that strange young fairy girl.
Brando took a step forward. "Anger and uneasiness will magnify the dark side thousands of times. If you continue like this, you'll only sink deeper and deeper. I can feel your resistance. Can you hear me?"
White steam came out of the stag's nostrils and it glared at Brando with blood-red eyes.
Brando paused slightly. He wasn't a Druid and didn't know how to comfort an animal. He didn't even have any relevant experience in his previous life. This gave him a headache. This Crystal Stag seemed to be a little rational, but it was also restless.
He didn't understand why it was so restless. It didn't make sense. Even if a demonized creature was demonized, it would only become like the black wolves in the Black Forest, filled with hatred and murderous intent toward civilization. This hatred was cold and definitely not restless. But what he felt from Malourcha was restlessness and anxiety. It seemed to be eager to chase them away.
He hesitated and tried to put his hand on Malourcha's neck.
But at this moment, a murderous intent flashed through the demonized Crystal Stag's eyes. It seemed to have been waiting for this moment. Its head, which had been so weak it couldn't move, suddenly swiped.
Three layers of translucent ripples appeared in front of Brando's eyes in an instant.
His pupils contracted slightly — the Crystal Stag's fatal weakness at the back of its neck under its horns was actually ineffective against the Demonized Wood Deer! He had clearly calculated the opponent's HP earlier, so he didn't have any doubts when he saw Malourcha fall. However, he didn't expect that the other party was also plotting against him.
Brando's heart was pounding. The threat of death made his brain work thousands of times faster. At that moment, he suddenly realized that this demonized Crystal Stag might very well understand the difference between its power and its peers!
"Damn it!" Brando cursed in his mind and slashed at Malourcha. At the same time, he activated Nine Luminaries Sword Art and Blink in the opposite direction. The demonized Crystal Stag howled as it was sent flying, crashing into three crystallized Trees of Fog. But Brando wasn't any better. His figure faded layer by layer in the ripples of the Sickle Horn, but when he reappeared, there was a bloody wound on his cheek.
The previous attack had been too close.
"You bastard, don't think that my patience is limitless …" Brando muttered in his mind, a little angry. After all, a hidden mission wasn't as important as his life. The previous attack had already made him feel deeply threatened.
But he was only halfway through his sentence when he broke off.
He saw Malourcha stand up shakily. The wound on the stag's neck hadn't healed yet, and one of its legs was broken. It looked like all of its elemental power had been used to suppress the erosion of the darkness. In other words, it would be very difficult for it to use its healing power.
But even so —
The Crystal Stag was still shakily walking towards Brando and Maynild. Magic still lingered on its long horn, accumulating power for the next attack.
It lowered its head, its red eyes flashing with the flames of anger. Its long horn was already pointed at Brando.
Brando was a little dazed. In The Amber Sword, after transmigrating, he had experienced many battles, but not once had he faced a scene like this. The only time it was even close was around the outskirts of Riburg.
In front of him was only a wild beast, but he vaguely felt like he was looking at the White Knight Ebdon, half-kneeling on the ground with a sword in his hand, but still with a proud heart. It was just an illusion coming from a wild beast.
Those demonized creatures had no thoughts and only knew how to kill. Pain, death, and fear couldn't stop them from continuing to attack, just like the undead of Madara.
But Brando knew that wasn't the case for the one in front of him. It was struggling, not because of the desire to kill, but because something he couldn't understand was supporting its battle.
But what was it —
"You want to protect this forest?"
The magic flames on Malourcha's long horn flickered.
"But we're not your enemy —"
The demonized Crystal Stag lowered its head, as if it hadn't heard him. Magic gathered on its long horn, and that point was already flickering. In the next moment, it would be able to release its sickle horn.
But that didn't mean anything to Brando.
In its current state, he only needed one strike to end the battle. Then he and Maynild would finish the mission and leave. The only pity was that they wouldn't be able to get the hidden mission.
But Brando had one hand on his sword, and he found that he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Was completing the mission just for the reward?
It seemed so, but it also didn't seem so.
"Say something, you bastard!"
"No …" He heard the pitiful cry of the fairy girl. That race that had always been optimistic was crying helplessly at him. "Please let Master Malourcha go …"
Brando hesitated. The magic gathering on Malourcha's long horn was becoming more and more obvious. If it attacked, he had to fight back. The arrow was already nocked. If he didn't fight back, how could he take away the crystalized blood?
"But damn it, I'm not the one who wants to kill this damn thing."
This Crystal Stag had gone completely crazy.
But would it be able to withstand the next attack?
"Answer me!"
"Damn it, what the hell is going on!" Brando couldn't help but roar. "Alright, since you chose this —"
He took a deep breath and raised his sword.
That happened in an instant. Malourcha's eyes were blood red, as if it couldn't feel anything around it anymore. But it raised its head and tilted its neck.
This was the precursor to an attack.
"Master Malourcha!"
"Brando!" The fairy girl and Maynild shouted at the same time. But unlike the former, the female Knight's gaze remained calm. She looked at the Crystal Stag and reminded in a loud voice, "The magic of the forest is all gathered at one point —"
"What?"
"Listen to me. The magic that disappeared from the forest is all gathered on that stag!"
"What!" Brando's mouth almost fell open in that moment. He saw the demonized Crystal Stag attack. The three ripples were like ripples on the surface of a calm lake, sweeping across half of the forest.
But he didn't even have time to react. Three blobs of blood exploded on his body. The light green data bar on his character panel indicating health dropped by half, turning into a bright yellow indicating a warning.
But Brando didn't care at all about the crisscrossing wounds on his chest. He gritted his teeth and endured the pain. The fog in his head finally showed signs of dispersing.
The answer to the riddle was here —
So this was the key to the mission!
His figure suddenly disappeared, and in the next moment, he appeared beside Malourcha. The demonized Crystal Stag was completely powerless to attack or defend. Brando raised the Halran Gaia.
"Ah —" The fairy girl began to struggle violently. Her behavior at this moment was completely out of character for her kind.
But unfortunately, no matter how hard she struggled, she was no match for Maynild. The female Knight only coldly and calmly used two fingers to pin her to the ground.
Brando turned his sword.
He swung it down, smashing the back of the Crystal Stag's head with the flat of the sword. He didn't hold back at all this time. This damned beast had caused too much trouble for him.
With a muffled sound, Malourcha fell to the ground.
But the demonized creature was as tenacious as Brando had expected. Even though it had fallen to the ground, it still glared at Brando with blood-red eyes. But a trace of cold murderous intent seeped out of the blood-red eyes. This murderous intent was quickly replaced by confusion — this meant that the corrosion of the dark magic had reached its final stage.
"Let me ask you, did you absorb all the magic in this forest —" Brando put his sword to Malourcha's neck and asked.
To be honest, this scene was a bit comical. It was rare to see a swordsman forcing a stag to answer a question with a sword.
But Brando's expression was very serious.
"Get out, human!"
The angry reply in the spiritual world was as he had expected.
At this time, Malourcha's body was almost completely enveloped by the black smoke. It was obvious that the previous battle had used up too much of its energy. It no longer had any energy left to suppress the corrosion of the darkness. The penetration of the dark magic was accelerating. Brando saw that its eyes were constantly changing.
But he actually didn't need an answer anymore.
"Since you won't answer, then I'll have to find the answer myself." Brando suddenly bent down and pressed down on Malourcha's neck. Then he pointed his sword at the center of the back of its neck under its horns.
Below that was the magic core of the Crystal Stag.
He used a bit of force and the blade of Halran Gaia cut through the skin. Blue blood flowed out. At this time, Malourcha indeed made an angry sound and began to struggle wildly.
But Brando was certain that it wasn't because of pain.
…
(PS: As mentioned before, my nephew will be 100 days old tomorrow. I have to go to my sister's place, so I'll only update 6000 today. I'll update 6000 tomorrow. I'll update 10,000 the day after tomorrow.
Also, the last chapter was about Tiamat, the Dragon of War. I was thinking about the setting and wrote it down. I'll change it the day after tomorrow. I'll also fix the mistake with the wind elemental pool.
Third, I heard that there's double this month. Everyone who has a monthly ticket can keep it. It's also good to see how I do next month.) (To be continued. If you like this work, you're welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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