Brand’s eyes lit up. That monster seemed quite familiar with the terrain here, making it a bit troublesome if it was determined to play hide-and-seek with him. However, according to Otarais’ method, perhaps they could trick the opponent into getting killed in one stroke.

He agreed in his mind, indeed not looking back as he moved forward. The Elf Sister had shared hardships with him many times, so he could absolutely trust that Otarais wouldn’t harm him.

The two of them continued forward slowly down the corridor, their footsteps rhythmic, sounding like the pendulum of a rusty clock, ticking away. Brand kept one hand on the hilt of the Earth Sword, outwardly inspecting the surroundings, but in truth, his focus was on the rear, ready to strike the monster the instant it appeared.

After a brief moment, Otarais suddenly whispered urgently, "Left rear, behind the third pillar!"

Without a moment’s thought, Brand instinctively flicked the Earth Sword backward, sending a beam of white light shooting toward the pillar. With a thunderous boom and a shrill scream, Brand keenly saw a figure swiftly retreating amidst the smoke and dust. However, it was clearly injured, moving much slower than before.

"Trying to run!" Brand thought if this thing escaped again, he’d surely curse. As the monster retreated, he immediately activated his Charge Skill, transforming into a black line that circled to block the monster’s escape route, surprisingly cutting it off.

Sure enough, amid the dust was the Crystal Statue from earlier. It had taken a heavy hit from Brand’s unexpected attack, losing a leg. Brand thought, no wonder its speed was reduced, but that wasn’t a reason to go easy. As he stopped, the Earth Sword in his hand thrust toward the opponent.

Although the Crystal Statue’s attack power was unexpectedly high, its agility and defense were surprisingly low. Theoretically, a boss-level monster of this rank shouldn’t have been crippled by a single slash from a sneak attack. But Brand wished all monsters had zero defense, his strike was fully powered, a faint white light indicating the use of Puncture Strike. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The Crystal Statue couldn’t evade, a card suddenly appeared before its chest, waves radiating out from the card, just enough to counter the Earth Sword’s tip. "Destiny Card!" Brand was startled, a force surged from the Earth Sword, and he couldn’t hold it, causing it to fly out of his hand.

Nevertheless, without a pause, he rolled back, his left hand already showing a White Sun Blade card. A platinum light shot from the White Sun Blade, forming a Blazing Flame Sword in mid-air, piercing into the chest of the Crystal Statue.

The entire space suddenly quietened.

Then a crack appeared on the Crystal Statue’s chest, quickly expanding with a crisp sound to envelop half its body. It seemed to desperately try to lunge at Brand but broke apart completely after merely stepping forward, crashing down as a cascade of crystal fragments scattered all over.

Brand and Otarais were both stunned.

Brand couldn’t help but glance at the White Sun Blade card in his hand—the card had lost its color and dimmed, a consequence of being shuffled back into the deck, rendering it unusable until the player retrieves it again—but now he was concerned with whether he had mistakenly used a super weapon.

The White Sun Blade was never meant to be a high-damage offensive card, only showing special advantages when dealing with undead. Previously, seeing the Crystal Statue use a Destiny Card exploded his mind into thinking it was a Travel Mage like him. Coupled with Char’s previous words, he was convinced, but didn’t expect the opponent was just a useless decorative gun.

The contrast was too great.

Brand stood stunned for a while, then noticed his retinal display: Defeated boss-level monster ’Half-crystallized Leder’, gained 72310 experience. "Sure enough, it was a boss-level monster, Half-crystallized Leder. Was this thing an NPC type monster?" Only then did he realize and quickly looked into the pile of crystal fragments, finding precisely what he’d expected.

A silver card lay quietly among the fragments, shimmering with the glow of the Fluorite in his hand.

"This is a Destiny Card." Brand was puzzled. How could this thing use a Destiny Card? According to Tu Men, Destiny Cards are the kindled Law Fire, something only Travel Mages can access, while ordinary people couldn’t even see this law.

He rubbed his numb right arm, got up, and picked up the Destiny Card—a silver card is far rarer than ordinary cards, and at the same cost, stronger than typical cards. Silver Elf Princess Melisha was just that, at the same cost of 15, she was basically Brand’s strongest trump card.

The card depicted a silver ring with cloud patterns. The card was named ’Anrud’s Holy Ring,’ seemingly a treasure but actually a spell.

Anrud’s Holy Ring (Adversity Heaven XX), 10 Light; [Spell—Instant]; Effect: Next attack invalid. ’—Sanctuary—’

"Adversity Heaven again..." Upon seeing this card, Brand understood why his sword didn’t work earlier, but he repeatedly examined the card, unable to discern any special trait allowing a monster to use it. If the Crystal Statue was a Travel Mage, it didn’t seem right; Travel Mages shouldn’t have just one card, should they at least have a Land Card?

But as he was bewildered, a steady footstep suddenly came from the darkness.

Brand and Otarais were startled, the footsteps sounded very close, yet until then, they hadn’t realized someone approached. Although Brand thought it understandable he hadn’t noticed, Otarais was different; she was a Heroic Spirit from over a thousand years ago, her entity no longer exists in this world, but her perception hadn’t declined much.

The Female Knight immediately realized the arrival from the darkness was likely a formidable enemy. "Be careful." She warned solemnly.

...(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation.)