< 74. The City Where Legends Entwine, Altberth >
*
Leading troops beyond the seal of Altberth is a grave crime against the most sacred laws of the kingdom. Palliamere, as a Knight of the Round Table governing the kingdom’s laws, ironically recalled the statutes even in such a moment.
-Clang! Clang!
-Groooaaar!!
“Sir Palliamere! The city, the city is on fire!!”
“I have eyes, sir!”
-Clang!
The dense coniferous forest surrounding Altberth was filled with blood and corpses. Palliamere was stationed a day’s journey from Altberth, awaiting the prince’s orders. When the prince’s command came and they began their advance, they were met with hordes of undead.
-Crash!
Driving a massive cavalry spear down, Palliamere pinned a walker—or something dead that moved like one—to the ground and surveyed the battlefield from his horse. It was a rushed advance and a sudden engagement.
He could feel the soldiers’ stamina rapidly depleting. As a seasoned commander, Palliamere intuitively sensed the flow of the battle.
The undead do not tire. They do not fear, nor do they feel discomfort in unfamiliar battlefields. Creatures that wouldn’t die unless beheaded were crawling out from every direction in the forest.
Even from underground!
Soldiers killed by the undead rose again within minutes, stabbing their former comrades. Every direction was a battlefield.
Amidst this, flames began to rise from Altberth in the distance. Under the dark, rainy night sky, the flames stood out even more vividly.
Palliamere urged his horse forward, slaughtering the undead closing in from all sides, and shouted.
“High Magus!! Do you need more time?!”
“That depends on how many people there are.”
“This is no time for jokes! Even ten people will do, clear a path!”
“Will this battlefield hold if you are absent?”
“The elite soldiers of Altkairn won’t collapse at this level!!”
-Crash!
Palliamere drew his cavalry greatsword and swung it fiercely. With each swing, more than five undead were shattered and scattered. A woman riding beside him chuckled softly and waved her hand.
-Whooosh…
With a strange gesture, the wind scattered and swirled around her. Palliamere flinched and gripped his sword hilt tightly. The High Magus was a palace mage with a seat in the Round Table Council, but to a knight who lived by the sword, magic was nothing more than a bizarre trick.
-Whooosh…
The wind gradually subsided. But Palliamere’s sharp senses felt it beginning to solidify. The woman’s white hand floated gently in the air, twisting grotesquely—
-Crackle!!!
“Phew…”
Soon, a massive fissure formed ahead, lined with corpses like a wall. Dead flesh and blood scattered as a path was carved through the undead legion. The woman exhaled softly and laughed.
“Ten people should suffice…”
“Pafnarmere!! Take command with the High Magus!”
“Yes, good luck! Charge!!”
“Knights of Altkairn, follow me! We save our lord!!”
-Thud thud thud!
Before the woman could finish speaking, Palliamere and his cavalry began charging through the gap in the corpses. They dashed forward, cutting down everything in their path.
The slowly filling path twisted open, and Palliamere broke through like a lion.
*
The raindrops falling from the sky grew thicker, as if in desperation. Abel stood before the giant, sword in hand. Around her lay the corpses of fallen soldiers. With even the slightest movement of the giant, people fell so easily.
“We, who should be recorded in history, have met here again.”
-Groooaaar!!!!
The giant let out a massive roar and swung its arm, sending soldiers flying. Prince Vicente and his knights stood beside Abel, swallowing hard.
“Did the King Knight truly defeat that being alone in his prime…?”
“Alone? Dane’s life was the culmination of countless intertwined fates.”
-Whooosh! Craaash!!
The giant swung its arm again, smashing a building. The sturdy two-story stone structure crumbled under the giant’s fist, scattering bricks. Then, a soldier rushed from the rear and prostrated himself.
“Your Highness, undead are swarming over the city walls!”
“…How many?”
“Too many to count!”
Vicente sighed and covered his face. Inside the city, a giant rampaged; outside, an undead legion approached. His soldiers were a day’s journey away, and the king’s guards were either dead or had become death knights who had to be struck down again.
Where did it all go wrong? If he hadn’t committed treason, if he had obediently accepted exile and fled the country without opposing Moria’s schemes? Would this great city not have fallen like this?
As he stood still for a moment, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. It was Abel. Her blue eyes shone as she looked at him with a steady gaze.
“Do not give up, nor regret. A person’s life is too short to burn away.”
“Abelesas…”
“Go. Leave the legendary giant to the legendary dragon.”
Abel stroked the sword hilt and spoke. Could she do it? Even in the form of a dragon, she couldn’t guarantee victory over the giant. Though the creature had returned from death and wasn’t in perfect condition, neither was she.
It was as if a worn and rusted part of history had been forcibly spat into reality. Abel laughed self-deprecatingly, gripped her sword, and leaped into the giant’s massive descending hand.
*
Fernandez forcibly shook his throbbing head awake. Synchronizing with King Dane’s soul had dulled his sense of reality too much. His soul was leaning more toward the realm of the dead.
-Groooan…
Was it because of that? Fernandez’s eyes were observing the world of death. This city was a tangle of reality and death. As he walked toward the entrance of the king’s tomb on the city’s outskirts, he felt Mumto’s gaze watching them from above.
Originally, when Mumto looked upon a battlefield, he scattered grand blessings upon the dead. Those who died in this city would now fall into Mumto’s grasp and be consumed as soldiers.
-Rumble…
Fernandez pushed open the old stone gate. On its surface, ancient continental dialect was roughly inscribed. He paused, placing his hand on the gate.
In his ear, the old king’s voice echoed.
-Through thousands of winters.
-Even as you tremble beneath the seasons.
-My son, be bold. You shall not lose your way.
These were the last words King Dane spoke to his son, who stood by his side at the moment of his death. In the memories of King Dane mingled within his soul, Fernandez even felt a tinge of jealousy.
He too wished to hold his son’s hand, offer kind words, and peacefully end his days. He bit his lip slightly.
-Get a grip, Fernandez.
“I’m sane.”
-Too mixed up. You’re not the same person as before.
‘Do you remember Malen’s bronze city walls?’
-…
Malen’s bronze city walls. Once wooden, the citizens of Malen covered them in bronze during repairs. After a hundred years, the walls were no longer wooden.
A philosopher from Malen once said, looking at these walls: Once, these walls were wood, and for a long time, they remained as they were. But now, no trace of the past can be found. Can we still call them the same walls?
Since then, Malen’s bronze walls have been considered a paradox of existential identity by many scholars. The spirit, essence, soul, and form of existence change with life’s experiences and deeds. Is an existence with a lower status different from one with a higher status?
For a while, Faijashi said nothing. Fernandez, opening the tomb’s entrance, thought:
‘Don’t worry, Faijashi. Under the same goal, we are one.’
-Yeah.
Fernandez looked at Mumto’s blinking eyes beyond the clouds. The rain was getting heavier. Dead beings were rising and writhing all around. Even the grasshoppers belonged to death.
But this was just a desperate struggle. Mumto was projecting his power onto this battlefield, consuming his status. Since the Conclave vanished and the Church of the Underground Burial failed, his spells had gone awry.
-Groooar!!!
In the distance, a giant roared. That was the source of Mumto’s power projection into this world. Destroying the giant would deal a massive blow to Mumto’s status. Fernandez felt Mumto’s gaze on him.
Watch. There, helplessly.
He gripped the sword hilt and started running.
*
“Ugh!!”
Abel groaned, pressing the blade against the giant’s massive grip crushing her head. Her knees hit the ground, her body sinking under the immense pressure.
“This…!!”
-Crash!
She violently shook off the sword, flicking the arm away, and jumped back. The giant’s other hand slammed the ground. The spot where Abel stood was completely crushed, bricks flying everywhere.
“Phew…”
She caught her breath and looked around. She had started the fight, pushing the soldiers back, but dead soldiers were rising and attacking the citizens. It was just like the old days.
Altberth was being destroyed, just as it was during the Church of the Underground Burial’s peak. The groans of the dead and the screams of the dying echoed from all sides.
-Swoosh.
Black rain poured down. In the heavy rain, the giant’s body stood out even more. Its pale, dead skin cracked and reattached repeatedly. The magic sustaining its body was circulating.
-Crash!
Its hand crushed buildings and tore through the streets. Abel gripped her sword and leaped up. Her golden hair, like a wheat field, swam through the rain as she quickly climbed the giant’s arm.
-Slice!
She deeply cut into the giant’s shoulder. If it were a normal creature, that deep, sharp strike would have at least disabled one arm. But the giant regenerated instantly and swung its arm wildly.
-Wham!
“Ugh!!”
Abel, twisting in mid-air, was hit by the giant’s arm and slammed into a building beyond. Crushing through the stone wall, she was deeply embedded and couldn’t get up for a while. Biting her lip, she felt a sense of powerlessness she hadn’t felt since her revival.
Simple strength, a massive body with no strategy or reason. It was the exact opposite of Abel’s combat skills. Enduring the pain, she walked out from the collapsing stone wall.
-Groooar!!
The giant roared. All the living humans had evacuated. Abel had achieved her goal. Keeping the giant’s attention here was enough for now.
-Thud.
Someone approached. In her heightened state, Abel sensed a man walking through the rain. Heavy footsteps, precisely measured strides. She hurriedly looked towards the source. Could it be?
“You’ve had a tough time.”
“…Never, never again…”
“I can’t promise that.”
“You bastard…”
Fernandez slowly walked over, removing his cloak and draping it over Abel’s shoulders. Abel stiffened momentarily, seeing the emblem and patterns on the cloak.
“…This is?”
“Correct.”
-Swish.
From behind Fernandez, a dark greatsword was drawn with a rough sound. A simple, unadorned two-handed sword. But Abel had seen a sword of the same shape and size before.
It wasn’t something one could forget. The letters crookedly inscribed on the blade, just above the crossguard. She had engraved those letters herself.
To Dane, her son.
-Groooar!!!
The giant’s roar tore through the sky. It glared at Fernandez with burning eyes. It stopped randomly destroying its surroundings and focused on Fernandez and the sword he held.
“Hoo…”
The soul of King Dane, mixed within him, slowly seeped into him. He couldn’t fully digest the status, deeds, and spirituality. Only fragments remained. But the sensation from that time was still in his hands.
-Groooar!!!
The giant charged, crushing buildings and alleys, reaching out for Fernandez. The pressure felt like the whole world was closing in. Fernandez stood still, holding the sword high.
Can he do it? No, he believes he can. Fernandez felt the weight in the hilt, as if King Dane himself was supporting him.
The blade rose, cutting through the rain, and soon.
In the grip of the sword, and the solid muscles and tendons below. A whisper seemed to echo. The voice of King Dane seemed to flow through his veins!
Now.
-Crash!!!
Space split at the blade’s edge. Like tearing paper. No, like a cavalry spear crushing iron plates! Cutting through space and everything within it—
The greatsword cut through the giant’s arm, its eyes glaring at him, and beyond, Mumto’s gaze…
-Crash!!!
The cloud-covered sky split in two, the rain scattering. Silence fell within. The clouds parted, and moonlight poured through. Fernandez, amidst the crumbling giant, with moonlight on his back, turned and sheathed the sword.
-Swish.
-I’ll remember you…
“Yeah. Remember. I’ll come for you soon.”
Mumto’s angry groan echoed from somewhere within the giant. The giant rapidly decayed, turning to mud. Its skull fell onto the wet ground.
-Thud, thud, thud.
The clouds began to clear. The corpses fell one by one, ceasing to move. The world of death was receding.
Watching Mumto’s domain scatter, Fernandez smiled, bowing his head.
‘He’ll be powerless for a while now.’
-Yeah. Now, the next target…
Hearing Faijashi’s voice, Fernandez looked at his trembling arm. Forced to manifest King Dane’s technique, his muscles and bones were twisted and destroyed. He’d need to rest for a while.
He smiled, watching Abel and Kirhas running towards him.
‘Necropolis. The mastermind behind the 50-year war. Defeat them and prepare for the northern invasion.’
The puzzle was coming together. The world was moving in a completely different situation from his previous life. Fernandez envisioned a complex chessboard.
Soon, his vision would be complete. A world free from the schemes of the five Great Demons.
*
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