Chapter 116: Chapter 116 - From Past ( Part 3 )
The icy sea stretched as far as the eye could see.
The moonlight gradually penetrated the black clouds, sparkling on thousands of pieces of ice.
Nothing moved.
Jennie stood next to Excalibur and Leviathan lowered by her sides.
Snow kept watch.
Roxy listened in silence, holding her breath.
On the other side of the sea...
Azrael stared into the distant horizon.
Silent for quite a while,
finally he started to speak.
His words sounded like echoes of millennia long ago.
"You wanted to know why I’m here."
Jennie nodded.
"You mentioned that you made a promise."
Azrael closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"To the only person who ever fought me on equal terms."
The icy coastline disappeared.
Not literally...
But in Azrael’s mind.
His soft voice brought Jennie into ancient times.
"A thousand years ago..."
"The Great Demon War had engulfed the continent."
"The skies were burning."
"The oceans were boiling."
"Cities vanished."
"There was no land unaffected by the war."
Jennie listened in silence.
Excalibur didn’t make a single sound.
Azrael continued.
"I was different in those times."
"I believed that only strength defines justice."
"I conquered the kingdoms."
"I destroyed the armies."
"And I thought that mercy..."
"...was a weakness."
Snow hung his head.
"I remember."
"You were feared by every race."
Azrael nodded.
"I deserved it."
Then, everything changed.
"I met him."
The air around him shivered with frost.
"Leonis."
Azrael’s lips curled up in a gentle smile.
"It was supposed to be just another battle."
"Another hero."
"Another corpse."
"But..."
"He refused to die."
The world slipped away into the memory.
The mountains were torn apart by the sword blows.
Entire forests disappeared.
The sky was split open by the collision of the holy mana and demonical power.
Golden rays of light.
Black shadows of death.
Over and over again.
Their fight was shaking the whole continent.
For seven days...
Nobody stopped.
For seven nights...
Nobody submitted.
Kings watched the duel from distant castles.
Dragons fled from the mountains.
Other Demon Generals weren’t interfering as well.
It was no longer ordinary war.
It was confrontation of beliefs.
Azrael’s spear was full of destructive power.
Leonis responded with unbreakable determination.
Azrael destroyed a mountain...
...Leonis cut down the whole land.
Leonis sealed an army...
...and Azrael broke the seal.
Neither won.
Neither lost.
On the seventh night...
The two warriors faced each other.
Worn out.
Injured.
Hurt.
Their armor was broken.
Their bodies were covered with countless wounds.
Their swords were worn down after constant fights.
Around them there was nothing left to destroy.
Azrael smiled sadly.
"I had my final blow."
"As he had."
"We both knew..."
"Only one could survive."
Jennie tightened her grip around Excalibur.
"What happened then?"
Azrael looked directly into her eyes.
"He lowered his sword."
Silence.
Roxy blinked.
"...What?"
"He lowered Excalibur."
Snow shut his eyes.
"I remember..."
Azrael nodded.
"I asked him if he had acknowledged his defeat."
"He laughed."
The distant echo of Leonis’ voice resounded in Azrael’s words.
"If I kill you..."
"...then some other demon will simply take your place."
"If you kill me..."
"...some other hero will raise."
"Anger only gives another reason to be angry."
Azrael could hear Leonis’ calm voice.
"This war won’t end with one of our deaths."
"It will only stop if somebody decides to put down his sword."
Azrael stared at him in shock.
"He had the chance to kill me."
"I was about to fall."
"My mana was nearly depleted."
"But..."
"He turned around."
Jennie’s heart tightened.
"Why?"
Azrael answered quickly.
"Because he believed..."
"...that even a demon can take a different path."
The memory came to his mind.
Azrael watched Leonis walking away from the devastated battlefield.
With no fear.
With no regrets.
But...
Leonis stopped.
He smiled, looking over his shoulder.
The same soft smile which Jennie had so often without noticing it.
"If we will meet again..."
He paused.
"In a more peaceful world."
These words...
Stuck in Azrael’s heart for one thousand years.
The icy coastline returned.
The memory faded away.
Azrael opened his crimson eyes.
"I didn’t understand him."
"Not back then."
"I believed that kindness would bring me to betrayal."
"But..."
He looked at Jennie.
"I never forgot his words."
"I watched kingdoms rising."
"I saw civilizations disappearing."
"I watched hatred repeating itself."
"And gradually..."
"I understood that Leonis was right."
Snow gave a small smile.
"He always believed that people can change."
Azrael nodded.
"So I changed."
Silence fell.
Then...
Surprisingly for all...
Azrael stepped forward.
He put one hand on his chest.
Slowly...
He bowed.
Not as a defeated warrior.
Not as a servant.
As an equal.
Roxy gasped.
"A Demon General..."
"...bows?"
Snow stayed silent.
He knew the meaning.
Azrael raised his head and looked at Jennie.
"I don’t bow to Leonis."
"I have paid my debt long ago."
His crimson eyes softened.
"I bow to Jennie."
"The woman who carried his memories..."
"...but found a more kind way than he ever found."
Jennie couldn’t find anything to say.
She was ready for hatred.
She was ready for a fight.
She wasn’t ready to earn the respect of the strongest being.
"I..."
She hesitated.
"I don’t know what to say."
Azrael smiled.
"You don’t have to."
His face became serious again.
"The peace we’re enjoying now..."
"...will not last."
Jennie’s smile faded.
Azrael looked towards the eastern horizon.
His voice became cold.
"The Third Demon General has already started hunting you."
The dark clouds appeared on the horizon as a response to his words.
"He learned that Excalibur has awoken."
"He knows that Leviathan has chosen his bearer."
"He won’t let you collect another Divine Sword."
Snow stood beside Jennie.
"Who is he?"
Azrael’s eyes became cold.
"A monster."
"Even among Demon Generals."
"He enjoys burning cities."
"He laughs when children cry."
"He confuses fear with strength."
His crimson gaze went back to Jennie.
"Unlike me..."
A heavy silence fell over the icy sea.
"...he knows only slaughter."
The gentle traveler who offered the tea was gone.
In front of them there was the Second Demon General.
Not as an enemy, taking vengeance...
But as an old warrior giving one more warning before the storm will come.
Night had fallen silent.
Apart from the sound of water waves against the frozen shore nothing could be heard.
Jennie kept quiet.
Words of Azrael haunted her.
"The Third Demon General has already started hunting you."
She squeezed the grip of her sword.
"So..."
"I am already running out of time."
Azrael nodded.
"Yes."
"There are seven Divine Swords that sleep in this world."
He gazed at Leviathan.
"You now own two of them."
"The rest has started awakening."
Leviathan whispered inside the mind of Jennie.
"They are calling."
"I can hear them."
"So can I," said Excalibur.
"The further we go..."
"...the louder their voices become."
Jennie gazed at her feet.
"If I won’t get there before..."
Azrael completed her sentence.
"The Third General will."
Silence came again.
Roxy anxiously adjusted her giant hat.
"Why?"
"Why does he want the Divine Swords?"
Azrael looked at the starry sky.
"Because they are the only weapons capable of changing the fate of this era."
He lifted his hand up.
Mana of darkness formed a silhouette of a mighty tree with branches reaching for the sky.
"The War God’s Tree."
"Alas Ramus."
Snow silently nodded.
"The birthplace of every Divine Sword."
Azrael continued.
"After the fall of the War God the sacred tree broke."
"Its branches became seven Divine Swords."
"Every sword got a part of the tree’s willpower."
Excalibur laughed slightly.
"We are a family."
Leviathan answered calmly.
"A very argumentative family."
Jennie smiled in spite of the situation.
Azrael stared at her.
"When all seven reunite..."
"Their real form will appear."
Jennie frowned.
"You mean..."
"They will become one sword again?"
"They will."
"But no one living knows what kind of sword that will be."
Even Azrael’s ancient eyes showed uncertainty.
"I have lived for over three thousand years."
"I have seen many kingdoms rise."
"I have seen many gods disappear."
"Yet even I never saw a full sword."
Leviathan whispered.
"Maybe..."
"It was waiting for the right person."
Jennie looked at the two swords lying in her hands.
"I don’t know if this person am I."
Excalibur immediately contradicted.
"If not you..."
"Who else?"
Snow smiled.
"I agree."
Roxy nodded.
"So do I."
Jennie sighed.
"I suppose I am outnumbered."
Azrael turned back.
Black cloak flung by the icy wind.
"Our talk ends here."
Jennie stared at him.
"You are leaving?"
"I have fulfilled my promise."
He started walking on the frozen sea.
With every step black feathers were scattering around.
Snow suddenly said.
"Are we going to meet again?"
Azrael stopped.
Without turning back he answered,
"Almost surely."
"I only hope..."
"...that this meeting will take place anywhere except for the battlefield."
Jennie called out.
"Azrael."
He paused.
"...Thank you."
The Second Demon General smiled.
Genuinely.
Without saying anything else...
His body split into countless black feathers.
Feathers dispersed in the night sky.
In a few seconds...
He disappeared.
Only an empty teacup was left near the extinguished fire.
For a long time...
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Roxy sighed.
"I thought..."
"...that we were going to die."
Snow slowly relaxed.
"So did I."
Jennie picked up a small teacup Azrael had left.
It was still warm.
"He really came..."
"...just to fulfill his promise."
Snow gazed at the moon.
"Leonis once believed that even enemies could change."
"He was right."
Jennie smiled.
"No."
"He believed."
"I was the one to see it happen."
Inside her mind...
Cheerful voice of Excalibur became unexpectedly serious.
"The age of watching is over."
Leviathan continued,
"From now on..."
"...every awakened Divine Sword will awaken the world."
Jennie nodded.
"I know."
She looked at the faraway horizon where the day was starting to break.
"Then we will keep moving."
"Whatever happens in our way."
Snow was standing next to her.
"So will I."
Roxy smiled and raised her staff.
"And me!"
The sun rays of the morning touched the frozen sea.
Ice started melting.
Sea was flowing again.
As if the world had been holding its breath all the time.
Far away...
Beyond the unreachable mountains...
There was a black-stone fortress under the crimson sky.
Myriads of corrupted monsters crowded near its gates.
Wyverns were flying around.
Giants were marching along the valley.
Dark banners stretched to the horizon.
At the balcony of the fortress...
A huge figure was standing in silence.
Contrary to the dignity of Azrael...
This being radiated only violence.
His crimson eyes were glowing with hatred.
A kneel demon messenger brought his head low.
"My lord."
"The Second General has confirmed it."
"The owner of Excalibur has also awakened Leviathan."
Slowly smiled the Third Demon General.
It wasn’t a smile of joy.
It was a predator’s smile that found its prey.
"So..."
"The hunt begins."
He grabbed the giant black spear lying beside him.
Dark lighting burst across the sky.
"Prepare the legions."
"No cities."
"No prisoners."
"No mercy."
His smile became even wider.
"I will kill her..."
"...before she acquires another Divine Sword."
Fortress’ gates opened.
Endless legion started marching.
Earth was shaking with countless footsteps.
War...
Had started moving again.
Far away, without noticing the storm approaching them, Jennie, Snow, and Roxy were walking in the morning light.
Behind them there was the peace.
Ahead of them destiny waited.
And somewhere far away...
Another Divine Sword had already started awakening.
