Strax left the room without saying another word, his expression still heavy with something dark. The new sword weighed in his hand, not because of its physical weight, but because of the overwhelming presence of the souls trapped within it. He didn’t hesitate, walking straight to Scarlet, the one he knew was most capable of dealing with this.
Upon meeting her, he handed her the blade without ceremony.
"Destroy this. Now." His voice was firm, but devoid of emotion, as though he were trying to rid himself of something that disgusted him.
Scarlet raised an eyebrow, carefully taking the sword. As soon as her fingers touched the hilt, her eyes widened slightly. A surge of powerful energy coursed through her body, and she felt each of the presences sealed within it.
She closed her eyes for a moment, concentrating, trying to understand the essence of the blade. But when she opened her eyes again, her expression transformed into something rare—a mixture of disbelief and... a trace of concern.
"Impossible," she said, her voice filled with certainty.
Strax furrowed his brow. "What do you mean by that?"
Scarlet studied the blade again, as if searching for another explanation, but eventually shook her head. "This sword cannot be destroyed by conventional means... or perhaps, by any means I know of, or is even possible to destroy."
She looked directly into Strax’s eyes, her expression laden with an understanding he did not yet have. "What the hell happened to you?"
Strax did not respond immediately. He simply averted his gaze back to the sword, as though seeing something beyond the blade. Something no one else could see.
"I’m hearing voices," Strax revealed. "Every second, every breath, every step, I hear the voices of millions of spirits in my ear."
Scarlet was silent for a moment, watching him with sharp eyes. She no longer saw just a warrior before her, but a man on the brink of something... unspeakable.
"Millions?" she repeated, her voice lower now, almost cautious.
Strax clenched his fists. "They whisper, scream, cry, laugh... Some beg to be freed. Others... just want me to kill more." His jaw tightened. "It’s like having a chorus of madmen in my head, and there’s no way to shut it off."
Scarlet took a deep breath, running her fingers across the blade again. Now that she knew what to look for, she could feel each fragment of soul resonating within it. This was not an ordinary weapon. It was not just a relic of Artorias. This was something deeper... something that perhaps shouldn’t exist.
"This is not just a sword," Scarlet said, her voice heavy with seriousness. "It’s a prison."
Strax let out a dry laugh, void of any humor. "And guess what? I’m the warden."
Scarlet studied him for a moment before lifting her eyes, a shadow of understanding crossing her face. "No... you’re the Sovereign of this prison... the Monarch."
Strax furrowed his brow. "What are you saying?"
Scarlet placed her hands on her face, her fingers pressing her temples as though trying to ward off a sudden pain. "You tried to free Ouroboros and Tiamat, but ended up finding something there... something that shouldn’t have been there, right?" She watched him closely, waiting for an answer.
"How do you—"
"Shit..." Scarlet interrupted, her expression closing with the realization. "How did I not figure this out before?" She took the sword again, her eyes fixed on the blade with relentless focus. The air around her seemed to distort with the energy. With a cry of effort, she used all her strength to destroy the sword, but...
BOOOOMMM!!!
A thunderclap tore through the sky, and a colossal lightning bolt struck directly at Scarlet’s head, obliterating her entire body. But before any trace of pain could mark her expression, she regenerated. Her bones quickly reformed, and the blood that spilled was rapidly absorbed back into her flesh, as though nothing had happened.
"Shit..." Scarlet murmured, now fully restored, her voice almost impassive. "Good thing I’m immortal."
She gave a short laugh, easily taking the sword back. "Artorias had many plans, it seems. But this is more than you can imagine."
With a sharp motion, Scarlet tossed the sword back to Strax. "Now, you’ll have to learn how to deal with this. The sword is not your ally, and it’s not something you can destroy with mere force."
"Wait, how the hell do you know about Artorias?" Strax asked, his tone now filled with confusion and tension.
Scarlet shrugged, her expression almost dismissive. "Who the hell doesn’t know about the strongest man that ever lived? Your ancestor was the damn God of the Sword. His impact on the world, both physical and spiritual, will never be forgotten. And now, here you are, carrying this shit. I think Artorias had much bigger plans for you than you can imagine."
Strax remained silent, his thoughts swirling, trying to absorb everything Scarlet had just revealed. Discover exclusive content at freewebnovel
"You met him?" Strax asked, his voice low, filled with silent curiosity.
Scarlet looked at him with a penetrating gaze, her tone calm and distant. "I’m two thousand years old."
"So you met him?" Strax insisted, his mind trying to connect the dots.
Scarlet let out a bitter laugh, her eyes flashing with the memory. "I was beaten until I couldn’t fight anymore."
Strax raised an eyebrow, visibly surprised. "Bullshit, I can’t believe it." He seemed to have trouble understanding how anyone could be defeated by Artorias.
Scarlet watched him with a mixture of irony and seriousness. "I may be one of the strongest in the world today, but a thousand years ago, I was just a little girl in the prime of my youth."
Strax smiled, skeptical. "Sure, with a thousand years." He replied, somewhat jokingly, trying to lighten the gravity of the conversation.
Scarlet wasn’t fazed. She looked at him with a penetrating gaze. "I’m a vampire," she said, without hesitation, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
Strax went silent for a moment, trying to process everything he had just heard. It explained a lot, but it also raised many more questions.
Strax felt the weight of the voices intensifying, each one more persistent, more clear. It was as if they were joining together in a hellish chorus inside his mind. They were no longer distant whispers; now, they had become a massive storm of murmurs, screams, and muffled laughter. He felt the pressure building in his ears, as if something was trying to escape his own body.
The walls began to shake. It wasn’t a simple tremor, but a deep vibration, almost as if the world itself were reacting to the force of those voices, to the sword he now carried. The ground trembled beneath his feet, and the energy emanating from the object seemed to expand, forcing the surrounding environment to give way.
He abruptly turned, his gaze fixed on Evelyn’s laboratory below the greenhouse. The building seemed to fold under the pressure emanating from him, the windows cracking and shattering, glass scattering throughout the room. The force was so great that the sound of the breakage reverberated in his bones like thunder.
"Shit..." Strax hissed, a tense expression crossing his face. He could no longer ignore what was happening. Something was being forced out of the sword, something unnatural, something that threatened to consume him, or worse, everyone around him.
Scarlet, observing the scene with an unshakable calm, didn’t move. She simply looked at Strax with an expression that mixed wisdom and concern. "You’d better go quickly, the souls have been completely ripped from the sword," she said, her voice unhurried, as if she knew exactly what he needed to do. "It seems it’s time to bring those two dragons back to life."
Strax stood frozen for a moment, trying to process Scarlet’s words. The gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in, overwhelming. "Alright," he murmured, his eyes fixed on the laboratory door. Without wasting time, he strapped the sword to his back and headed toward the source of the chaos.
When Strax entered the laboratory, it was as if a storm had formed before him. A hurricane of energy spun furiously, centered around the bodies of the two homunculi, with Evelyn and Lyana caught in the midst of that absolute chaos. The energy currents pulsed uncontrollably, as if trying to tear reality itself apart. The air was thick, laden with palpable tension, and everything around seemed on the brink of breaking.
The two women were holding hands, but the price for that was high. Their faces were pale, and their eyes were bleeding incessantly, as if the invoked energies were consuming them from within. They were fighting against something they were trying to control, something beyond their strength, something they didn’t seem to fully understand.
"Shit..." Strax cursed, his eyes narrowing at the sight. He ran towards them without thinking twice. The heat of the energy nearly disintegrated him as he got closer, but he didn’t hesitate. He draped his arm over both of their shoulders, unbothered by the intensity of the energy around them.
"You should’ve learned not to do things alone!" Strax shouted, frustration evident in his voice. He knew this wasn’t something that should be happening. They were all at their limits, each dealing with forces far beyond their understanding, and now Evelyn and Lyana were paying the price.
With a determined expression, he quickly infused energy into their bodies. The flow of power that emanated from him intertwined with their bodies, helping channel the uncontrolled energy that surrounded them. The pressure was almost immediate. Strax felt his own energy being drained, but he didn’t care. He had to act, and act fast, or all of this would end in disaster.
The energy around them stirred, but now there was harmony. As if Strax were the key to the balance they needed. His strength transferred, stabilizing, trying to restore control to the two women.
Evelyn struggled to keep her eyes open, the pain evident on her face, but she didn’t falter. Lyana, on the other hand, seemed weaker, her expression more intense with pain. She looked at Strax, her lips trembling, but a look of gratitude passed through her eyes.
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"Strax..." Evelyn managed to whisper, her voice hoarse and exhausted. "We have to... merge... the souls... into the homunculi..."
"I know!" Strax shouted, his energy intensifying further as he tried to help them. He didn’t fully understand what was happening, but he knew that without his intervention, they wouldn’t have a chance. He was stretching his own limits, forcing his own energy out to stabilize the energy threatening to destroy everything around them.
The maze of energy seemed to fold in on itself, as if responding to his force. He pushed even more energy into his hands, focusing it on Evelyn and Lyana, until he felt the power flow finally begin to stabilize.
"Now," Strax murmured to himself, gritting his teeth as he forced the energy into a single point of convergence. "Now, you two need to hold on!"
Evelyn and Lyana, with their eyes closed and all the strength remaining in their bodies, tried to direct the power through their own bodies, channeling out what was left of the energy storm that had been consuming them. The process was torturous, but necessary.
Then... everything was directed into the bodies...
BOOOOM!!!!