Chapter 423
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Chapter 423: The Purpose of the Crystal
After returning to Nethergarde, Jesse learned that most Gryphon Riders were injured to varying degrees. Faced with over a dozen Doomguard, the Gryphon Knight Order, numbering nearly a hundred, lost more than twenty people, many of whom only returned with their gryphons, the riders on top missing.
Jesse sat in the corner of the healing hall, listening to nearby dwarves discussing the battle. In the pitch-black night, he had no idea of the enormity of the losses suffered.
He remembered that, when the Gryphon Knight Commander ordered a retreat, there were at least twenty or thirty shimmering shadows in the sky. He wondered how many more Gryphon Riders would be needed to defeat such a group of Doomguard.
If they couldn’t defeat them, how could the army advancing towards Dreadmaul Keep from the land engage the demon army without sky support?
He rubbed his face forcefully, only hoping for more Gryphon Riders to be sent to the battlefield, or perhaps the Dragonhawk riders of the elves… or for the Dark Portal to explode sooner, to quickly end this battle.
But… Azgath had already arrived.
Who is Azgath?
Jesse only heard the roar but didn’t see the being. The roar was so powerful that it almost revealed to him that it was some kind of demon.
Only the Pit Lord has such power to shake.
Greed got some shadow burns, but nothing serious, similar to Jesse.
However, Jesse tore open his shoulder wound in the battle, and got infected by fel magic again. Though the injury was controlled again, the priest sternly warned him not to leave Nethergarde to fight demons for at least two weeks.
Who knows what will happen after two weeks.
At this point, pain wasn’t a big bother to Jesse anymore.
Greed sat silently for a long time without saying a word; Jesse didn’t know why he felt down.
"Doomguards are very powerful, Greed," he tried to say. "If not for seeing so many demons before… I might not have dared to fight. And the Gryphon Riders defeated a whole team of Doomguards, didn’t they?"
"I’m not sad for their deaths, Jesse," Greed said calmly. "Dying in battle… that’s the ultimate goal of every Wildhammer knight, especially when facing such strong enemies."
"I am waiting for the next battle, I am waiting for the chance to fight those darn demons, and this time… there’s no way I’m escaping, Jesse. I will defeat every demon in sight, I will…"
He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, then let out a big sigh, as if trying hard to calm his emotions.
"I will avenge my fallen brothers, watch out, demons, watch out, demon army. From now on, I await them to come to Nethergarde, this time I won’t need to run anymore, because there’s nowhere to run, I will fight to the end, against the most powerful enemies, till the very last minute."
Jesse knew what he was hinting at.
"Azgath." Greed chuckled coldly, "I’ve heard that name, come on, Azgath, I will make you remember my name, I will make you announce my name in your own world…"
Two days later, there was some light in the sky, but it started snowing ash, covering the whole of Nethergarde in a layer of grey dust.
Every now and then, soldiers and wounded soldiers retreated from Dreadmaul Keep and surrounding outposts would come in through the gates, every Gryphon Rider flying back looked exhausted, occasionally a cry of pain would suddenly echo through the castle, like a howl of pain from treating wounds, or like an emotional breakdown from losing a comrade.
Jesse was constantly helping transport supplies, moving wounded, Greed once again rode off on a gryphon from Nethergarde, reportedly joining in intercepting the demons.
From morning to night, Jesse’s heart was always hanging, images of the gryphon with no rider on its back, crazily biting those Vile Bats, kept replaying in his mind, unable to shake them off. He should have gone with them, at least he could help in the fight, instead of waiting here for uncertain news to come back.
But the mage was not allowed to ride the gryphon with the dwarves, even though this collaboration had quite a good effect in dealing with the Vile Bat legion led by Doomguard. However, after these days of fighting, the alliance had lost many mages.
Most importantly, no matter how many Doomguard or Vile Bats were killed at this time, the overall situation could not be reversed.
There were rumors that the leader of Dreadmaul Keep was being controlled by the Eredar Wizard mentally, which led to a rapid defeat, or the generals of Dreadmaul Keep underestimated the demon attack and did not report to Nethergarde in time…
Some said that the demons had Orcs helping them, who knew the weakness of Dreadmaul Keep, so once they gathered their forces, they could quickly bring it down.
In these days, rumors were flying around, Jesse, who didn’t even know who was commanding Dreadmaul Keep, couldn’t distinguish what was true or false, and could only try to not be affected by these rumors and focus on his own tasks as much as possible.
In the evening, Jesse, entrusted by the church, came to the Mage Tower to transport the healing potions. He had a list in his hand as he arrived at the Alchemy Room, where many people had gathered to receive the potions.
He squeezed through the crowd and saw Amy there.
"Amy, you’re here too!"
"Jesse." Amy nodded.
Jesse sensed that Amy seemed troubled, so he asked, "What’s wrong?"
"An archmage from the Kirin Tor told me that I’ve been chosen to maintain the Magic Shield at Nethergarde," Amy said. "Many official mages in the Mage Tower have received the same command."
"The Magic Shield at Nethergarde?" Jesse looked back at the crystal atop the Mage Tower, which always emitted a faint glow of Arcane light. So, that was the weapon Nethergarde relied on to fend off the Hellfire.
Amy asked, "You don’t know about the Magic Shield?"
"I have no idea," Jesse said. "It seems they already see you as an official mage, Amy. Keep up the good work."
Amy smiled briefly, then said softly, "But does this also mean the demons will soon attack Nethergarde, right?"
"It seems so," Jesse said.
"Are you scared?" Amy asked.
Jesse said, "A bit, if they head further north, they’ll be at the border of the kingdom."
"What I mean is, facing the upcoming battle," said Amy.
Jesse hesitated for a moment, then said, "Maybe feeling a bit scared, honestly, I don’t know what emotions I am feeling right now."
The female mage said, "Maybe there isn’t always enough time to prepare when facing difficulties."
"There are always unexpected things that happen," Jesse said.
Amy said, "Perhaps the real difference between me and those heroes is that even when the unexpected happens, they can still prepare themselves to face it with full readiness."
"The main difference between you and heroes is that your unexpected hasn’t arrived yet, Amy," Jesse said. "Trust me, I’m good at reading people, there are still many days ahead."
"I hope so too," Amy said seriously.
Jesse chuckled and said, "In any case, let’s not overthink it. Once the demons reach the city walls, I’ll definitely be at the front to defend. By then… since you are a mage supporting the Magic Shield, make sure to guide the magic properly, or else I’ll be in trouble."
"I will be fully focused, Jesse," Amy said.
