Chapter 142: Chapter 142 - The Fall of Barthus ( Part 1 )
Complete silence filled the shelled throne room.
Broken marble tiles covered the floor.
Dangerously inclined columns.
Mana storm that had surrounded Roxy gradually dissipated, leaving behind the sound of her breath.
Jennie helped Roxy stand.
"You performed well."
Roxy wiped away the rest of her tears.
"I almost lost control over myself."
"But you didn’t."
Snow smiled.
"That’s all that matters."
Just for a brief second there was peace.
But then...
A deep metallic growl came from beneath the castle.
BOOOOM...
Castle started trembling.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
The remaining knights looked around confusedly.
"W-What’s going on?"
The second tremor came.
This time stronger than before.
Emerald runes started glowing under Barthus’s feet.
Lord Barthus slowly stood.
His horrified expression disappeared.
Instead...
He started laughing.
A mocking and triumphant laugh.
"You thought you’ve won?"
Jennie immediately stepped in front of Roxy.
"No."
"You’ve just forced me..."
"...to awaken Greymane’s greatest treasure."
The glowing runes covered the floor of the throne room like rivers of light.
Strong winds blasted out from every hallway.
Windows of the throne room exploded into pieces.
Above the castle dark clouds quickly formed a dense cloud cover.
Flashes of lightning streaked through the sky above Greymane Castle.
Snow ears lowered.
"I don’t like this..."
Excalibur’s voice sounded in Jennie’s mind.
"Be careful."
"I know."
"That power..."
"...is very old."
Far below the throne room...
Below the whole castle...
The long forgotten chamber activated.
The huge suit of emerald armor slowly opened its eyes.
Green glow burst from the crystal that was embedded into its chest.
After centuries of silence ancient machinery started working.
Chains broke one after another.
The chamber shook violently.
And then...
Like some kind of beast awaking from hibernation...
The armor rose.
Barthus raised his hands.
"Witness the power that protected the Greymane family generation after generation!"
Floor of the castle split.
Pillar of emerald wind burst upwards.
In the midst of the storm...
Giant suit of emerald armor appeared.
Its height exceeded four meters.
Shining emerald armor covered it, sparkling with ancient enchantments.
Plate shaped wings unfolded from its back.
Crystal on its chest glowed brightly.
With each pulse of this crystal strong gusts rushed through the throne room.
Banners tore down from the walls.
Broken pieces of furniture got hurled aside.
Even stone floor cracked because of its weight.
The surviving knights looked in shock.
"The Tempest Armor..."
"It really exists..."
Barthus stepped inside the chest of the armor.
Ancient shackles covered his arms and legs.
Crystal on the chest of the armor flared brightly.
Eyes of the armor lit up.
The enormous head slowly turned towards Jennie.
"I am not just a lord anymore."
Its voice resounded like thunder.
"I am a storm itself."
Outside...
Storm winds howling across Greymane Castle.
Villagers who were observing the battle from underneath the castle had problems to keep standing.
Trees were bending down to the ground.
Clouds were spinning above the castle like a whirlpool.
Snow immediately transformed into his Divine Beast form.
His big body was shielding villagers from the flying debris.
"I will protect them!"
Jennie nodded.
"Thank you."
Roxy focused her attention towards the storm.
"I will increase strength of the barrier."
Magic circles appeared around the castle entrance.
Shield covering those who were standing behind it.
Jennie slowly reached her waist.
This time...
She didn’t take wooden practice sword.
With a gentle gesture...
She took out Excalibur.
Throne room was illuminated with golden light.
A heartbeat later...
Leviathan also left its sheath.
Blue light interwove with gold one.
Twin Divine Swords hummed in harmony.
The armor stopped.
Its emerald crystal flickered unusually.
Excalibur spoke.
"...I recognize that feeling."
Jennie frowned.
"What is it?"
"About the crystal."
"It is not just providing energy for the armor."
"...It once belonged to something more powerful."
Jennie narrowed her eyes.
Glowing core was unlike either mana crystal or monster core.
It seemed...
Very old.
Incomplete.
Barthus attacked first.
The Tempest Armor swung its huge arm.
Blade of compressed wind sliced the throne room.
Jennie crossed Excalibur and Leviathan.
The attack was split apart, creating deep gullies in the walls of the castle and disappearing into the sky.
She rushed forward.
The armor retaliated with new storm.
Invisible currents filled the room.
Columns started crumbling.
Stone blocks started floating in the air and getting thrown like arrows.
Jennie smoothly slid between these obstacles.
Each of her move was precise and economical.
She reached the armor.
Clang!
Excalibur slashed its shoulder.
Golden sparks flew.
The ancient armor barely moved.
"So durable..."
Barthus laughed.
"You can’t destroy a relic that was blessed with the winds!"
Leviathan cut upwards.
Blue mana flowed along the blade.
Wave of water burst into existence, hitting the raging winds.
Steam exploded in the center of the battle.
Visibility suddenly dropped.
Barthus smirked.
"You can’t escape from the storm!"
The armor let out many blades of the wind into the fog.
But Jennie was already behind it.
Clang!
Precise strike hit the back of the armor.
This time...
Small but real crack appeared on it.
Excalibur spoke again.
"Jennie!"
"Chest!"
"The crystal keeps this whole construction stable!"
Jennie instantly understood.
Not armor.
Core.
Destroy the core...
And relic will collapse.
Barthus guessed her intentions.
The Tempest Armor unfolded its plate wings.
Cyclone erupted from its body.
Entire throne room started collapsing.
Huge stone blocks fell from the ceiling.
Snow roared outside as the storm spread throughout the castle.
Roxy strengthened her barrier with all her might.
Villagers watched the battle in fear.
Under the collapsing throne room...
Jennie closed her eyes.
She calmed down her breathing.
Sound of the wind ceased to exist.
Falling stones didn’t matter anymore.
There was only...
Heartbeat of the crystal.
There.
She opened her eyes.
With one smooth motion...
Excalibur and Leviathan crossed each other.
Golden and blue lights merged into single ray.
Jennie moved through the storm.
Each blade of the wind was missing her by few centimeters.
Each obstacle was moving out of the way.
Barthus shouted,
"Impossible!"
Jennie reached the armor.
Her swords crossed right in front of the emerald crystal.
"I’m sorry..."
She whispered.
"...Whoever you were."
The twin blades slashed together.
CRACK!
Emerald crystal was shattered.
For one beat of the heart...
Everything went silent.
And then...
The Tempest Armor froze.
Wind stopped spinning.
Glowing runes disappeared.
Tiny pieces of emerald crystal fell like falling leaves.
Huge armor slowly sank to its knees.
And then...
Slowly...
Started to fall apart.
Piece by piece.
Long forgotten relic, untouched for centuries, turned into lifeless metal.
Jennie silently stared at the broken crystal.
Voice of Excalibur carried note of sorrow.
"...This wasn’t meant to be armor."
Jennie carefully picked up one of the remaining fragments of the crystal.
It had ancient signet on its surface.
A spiral surrounded by wings.
Jennie recognized it.
Not from the king’s crest.
From the emblem of one of the Seven Divine Swords.
Tempest.
And deep inside this broken crystal Jennie thought she could hear faint voice...
As if something that was imprisoned for centuries finally began to awaken.
The storm was over.
Greymane Castle basked in the light of the sun after many long years.
The rage of the windstorm which had raged through the mountains was gone.
Only the silence prevailed.
The remnants of the ancient stones covered the throne room.
Pieces of the legendary armor of Tempest scattered over the floor and no longer shone with emerald light. The relic which had outlived for ages turned into mere pieces of the lifeless metal.
Slowly lowering Excalibur and Leviathan, Jennie returned both Divine Swords to their sealed form on her belt with a light flash of magic.
She examined the broken crystal fragment that still shone in her hand with the symbol of the ancients inscribed upon it.
We shall meet again, she thought.
Then she put the crystal fragment carefully into a little pouch.
Then Excalibur spoke.
"The Sword of Storms still lives."
Jennie nodded.
"Yes, I feel it."
"The armor has only borrowed the powers of it."
"So Tempest is waiting somewhere..."
"Yes."
Jennie gave a little smile.
"Then we’ll find it."
Groaning faintly, Lord Barthus slowly pulled himself backward along the cracked marble floor.
His splendid robes were torn.
His hands trembled.
The arrogance he had once embodied vanished completely.
N-No...
This is not possible...
He looked around desperately.
All his knights surrendered.
All his mages fled.
His legendary armor was broken.
Everything he had trusted...
Was gone.
Jennie silently approached him.
Her steps echoed in the silent room.
Barthus raised his trembling hands.
"Stay back!"
"I am a noble!"
"I rule this land!"
No answer came.
Not even from his own soldiers.
Captain Ron went to the lord.
Silently taking off his helmet, the soldier said:
"My Lord...
"Ron!"
"Kill her!"
"That is my order!"
The captain closed his eyes.
Then he knelt in front of Jennie.
"I refuse."
Barthus froze.
"What?"
Looking straight at his former lord, the captain said:
"I have sworn my sword to protect the people."
"Not your tyranny."
One by one...
All the remaining knights followed.
Their swords rang on the floor.
None of them wanted to serve any longer this tyrant.
Barthus became ashen pale.
"No..."
"No!
"I belong to myself!"
An older knight silently replied:
"We never belonged to you."
The villagers slowly entered the throne room.
Harold.
The miners.
The blacksmiths.
Mothers.
Children.
All the faces whom Lord Barthus had ignored for so many years appeared before him now.
No one yelled.
No one ran forward.
The silence scared him much more than the outrage ever could.
He looked at Roxy.
Hatred was shining in his eyes.
"You are responsible for that."
"If your parents had just obeyed..."
"Enough."
Jennie’s calm voice interrupted him.
One word was spoken with so much quiet authority that even Barthus stopped.
Standing between him and the villagers, Jennie looked around.
She saw the scared children.
She saw the tired miners.
She saw Roxy.
Then she saw Barthus.
Jennie spoke quietly.
"Your rule ends today."
Barthus gave a weak laugh.
"You will execute me."
"Do whatever you want."
"Heroes become executioners at last."
Jennie simply looked at him.
Then she shook her head.
"No."
Barthus blinked.
"...What?"
"I won’t execute you."
He stopped laughing.
"You...
"You won’t?"
Jennie calmly answered:
"No."
"I’ll arrest you."
There was complete silence in the room.
Even Roxy seemed to be surprised.
Looking at Jennie in disbelief, the lord said:
"After all I have done?"
"Yes."
"You want to show me mercy?"
Jennie silently shook her head.
"No."
"You’ll be arrested."
Barthus blinked.
"You...
"You won’t?"
"No."
"We won’t execute you."
"Why?"
"Because you deserve to answer to the court of the King and not to our revenge."
Walking to Jennie, Roxy looked at the man who had broken her childhood.
For a second...
Old hatred awoke again.
Then she remembered her mother’s last words.
Live.
Not...
Take revenge.
Taking a deep breath, she said:
"I agree."
Barthus looked at Roxy.
"You...
"You hate me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Roxy’s voice was calm.
"Because I won’t become anyone that my parents wouldn’t recognize."
Tears glistened in the eyes of several villagers.
Harold gave a sad smile.
"They raised you well."
Roxy smiled, crying at the same time.
"They really did."
Turning to the assembled villagers, Jennie said:
"This land belongs to you."
"The decision should be made by you."
The villagers exchanged uncertain looks.
For years...
They have never been asked about anything.
Finally...
An elderly miner went forward.
"My son died because of him."
A mother said:
"My daughter worked in those mines."
Another man said:
"My brother died because of his taxes."
One by one...
The victims began speaking about their sufferings.
Barthus lowered his head.
Now he couldn’t look into their eyes.
Finally...
Harold walked to the front.
Leaning against his cane, he spoke.
"We could kill him."
Nobody interrupted him.
"It would be easy."
He looked at the terrified noble.
"But tomorrow..."
"Our children will remember only another killing."
Harold slowly turned to Jennie.
"You have reminded us what hope means."
He smiled.
"So let justice make an end of what hope started."
The villagers nodded one by one.
Until the whole hall sounded with the same word:
"Justice."
"Justice."
"Justice."
No desire for revenge.
No thirst of blood.
Only justice.
Approaching the lord once again, Captain Ron took the Greymane crest from his armor.
Then he drew a pair of iron shackles.
Approaching Barthus, the captain said:
"My Lord...
"Seems that..."
"I have lost."
Then Ron gently attached the shackles to his wrists.
"Lord Barthus Greymane..."
He spoke politely.
"You are under arrest."
"You’ll answer to your crimes in the court of the Kingdom of Seraiya."
For the first time in years...
Barthus had nothing else to command.
No power left.
No ability to terrorize anyone anymore.
Only consequences.
While the former lord was being taken from the throne room, the sunlight entered the broken windows.
There weren’t any clouds anymore.
Down there...
The people of Ashvale gathered in front of the castle.
Seeing Barthus being led away in shackles...
Nobody cheered.
Nobody was jeering at him.
Instead...
Complete relief covered the crowd.
It was over.
Now children won’t go to work in the mines in the morning.
Now families won’t worry about the one who disappeared.
Now fear was gone from the mountains.
Standing next to Jennie on the castle balcony, Roxy looked down at her childhood village.
The smoke which was rising from the chimneys didn’t remind her of the fire anymore.
It was reminding about life.
"Do you think that..."
She said quietly.
"My parents would be proud?"
Jennie gave a soft smile.
"I don’t think they wanted revenge."
She looked at the sky.
"I think they wanted exactly that."
The bells of Ashvale begun ringing down there.
Not as a warning.
Not with fear.
But in celebration of the new beginning.
While the tyranny of Lord Barthus Greymane ended in shackles instead of death, the people would remember that day not as the day when a tyrant fell...
But as the day when justice triumphed over revenge.
