Chapter 72: Chapter 72 - Battle of Legends ( Part 3)
Smiling stopped.
The smile left Azrakiel’s face for the first time since the beginning of the battle.
His red eyes were full of interest when the smile appeared, now only filled with the fierce determination of a warrior facing his equal.
"So..."
His voice echoed in the destroyed valley.
"The end of the game."
Black mana that was spread in the area started collapsing on itself.
Endless black stream that was filling all space condensed so tightly into the second layer of Azrakiel’s armor that it became hard to breathe.
Unbearably hard to breathe.
Mountains started trembling.
Earth groaned.
Dozens of hunters involuntarily dropped to one knee far below.
"W-What is happening...?"
"I... I can’t breathe..."
Even the most experienced knights were struggling to stand.
Headmaster Roland thrust his damaged sword into the ground trying to keep balance.
His eyes were wide open.
"...This is his true battle aura."
"So everything before..."
"...was only a test."
Lucas clenched his fists.
Drops of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
Demon General hadn’t been fighting seriously till now.
Jennie silently exhaled.
The pressure crashed onto her like a storm.
The maid’s silver hair flared out as the holy sword Excalibur lit up with a warm golden light.
In her mind, the divine weapon said.
"Master."
"He gave up being careful."
Jennie nodded.
"I know."
Her grip on the hilt got even stronger.
Then she disappeared.
BOOM!
The second collision of gold and black.
This time...
There was no pause.
Azrakiel’s greatsword crashed into the ground with frightening accuracy.
Jennie met it with the flat side of Excalibur and twisted the wrist just slightly, letting the immense power change the direction just a little bit so that the slash passed harmlessly over her shoulder.
The diverted slash hit the distant cliff.
With a thunderous roar, the mountain broke into pieces.
Before the stones had enough time to fall down—
Jennie already started attacking.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten strikes smoothly flowing in each other followed in succession.
Azrakiel responded to every single attack.
Steel screaming.
Sparkling golden and crimson sword lights flew through the sky.
Neither warrior said anything.
No more words were needed.
Their swords did the talking.
Then...
An extra shockwave escaped.
Black sword energy in the form of crescent shape headed straight to the battleground.
Towards the injured.
"L-look out!"
The healer froze.
There wasn’t enough time.
Jennie’s eyes quickly glanced downward.
Still in the middle of her duel, she slightly turned the hilt.
A thin golden line appeared from Excalibur.
And with that, the black crescent got separated into two harmless halves, flying past the healers and creating a huge ravine far away from them.
The duel didn’t stop.
Not even for a second.
Headmaster Orion was looking in shock.
"...She..."
"...protected people without interrupting her battle."
Lucas laughed bitterly.
"How are we supposed to achieve this level?"
A little way from there...
Lilia slowly opened her eyes.
Her shoulder hurt badly.
The world was blurry.
Smoke was drifting in the ruined streets.
The healers were rushing between the wounded.
But then she glanced upward.
The golden light.
Familiar figure.
"...Jennie...?"
She blinked several times.
Of course, she was dreaming.
The maid smiling while pouring tea...
The girl politely bowing before Martha every morning...
Was battling a monster that defeated all the strongest warriors of the kingdom.
A new wave of black sword energy headed towards the evacuation point.
Jennie noticed first.
She smoothly twirled in the air.
Excalibur made a beautiful arc.
The attack disintegrated into numerous golden fragments before hitting civilians.
Immediately after that, she went back to her battle with Azrakiel.
Lilia covered her mouth.
"...She’s protecting everyone..."
While fighting.
While risking her own life.
Jennie let even a single stray strike touch those behind her.
Azrakiel saw everything.
Every small move.
Every glance at the battlefield.
Every impossible intercept.
His strikes got faster.
Sharper.
Ruthless.
He deliberately changed angles, putting Jennie into situation where she should choose between attacking him...
Or protecting the others.
Every single time...
She did both.
Her sword never slowed down.
Her legs never stopped moving.
Her eyes never lost their target.
But every stray attack vanished before it reached innocents.
Azrakiel’s face started changing.
Confusion.
Interest.
Then...
Recognition.
The next clash rang out in the valley.
Their swords locked.
Golden light clashed against endless darkness.
Several long seconds neither of them moved.
Azrakiel looked into crimson eyes of Jennie.
And his eyes suddenly widened.
The fragments of forgotten memories came back.
The battlefield covered in dead demons.
The king with silver hair dancing under the rays of the morning sun.
Divine sword glowing among impossible odds.
The same calm eyes.
The same perfect moves.
The same will to protect others before attacking the enemy.
Suddenly...
Azrakiel stepped backward.
He put his sword down.
Battlefield froze.
"...Why did he stop?"
Nobody understood.
Jennie frowned but didn’t try to pursue.
The wind suddenly stopped.
Even Excalibur waited.
Then...
Azrakiel laughed.
Not arrogantly, the laughter of conqueror.
Not coldly, the laughter of a demon.
That was the laughter of a warrior who solved the mystery that haunted him for five hundred years.
"I knew it."
His voice echoed in the valley.
"I knew..."
"...nobody else could wield that sword."
He slowly raised his greatsword.
Its black edge pointed directly at Jennie.
Crimson eyes of Azrakiel were burning with confidence.
"Sword King..."
World seemed to freeze.
"...Leonis."
Silence.
Complete silence.
The name echoed in the devastated battleground.
Hunters stared dumbfounded.
Knights forgot how to breathe.
Lucas felt that his heart skipped a beat.
Headmaster Orion’s sword fell from his hand with a dull sound.
"L-Leonis...?"
"The hero of the Great Demon War...?"
"This is impossible..."
Lilia’s sapphire eyes started trembling.
She looked from Azrakiel...
To Jennie.
To Excalibur.
"...Jennie...?"
For the first time since her reincarnation...
Jennie’s calmness shattered.
Her crimson eyes opened slightly wider.
Not because of fear.
Not because of anger.
But because, after five centuries of silence...
Someone called the name she buried with her past.
Leonis.
That name didn’t escape Azrakiel’s lips.
It echoed over the field of battle like the sound of distant thunder, reverberating off fractured rocks, demolished towers, and shattered city streets, fading away into the red heavens.
"...Sword King Leonis."
In a heartbeat...
The world froze.
No clash of blades sounded out.
No roar of mana disturbed the air.
Even the wind itself hesitated to interrupt the silence.
Every gaze focused on the silver-haired maiden soaring above the field of battle.
Headmaster Orion could feel his own heart cease beating.
His ancient hands shook violently as he recalled long-forgotten tales of the past.
Tales of ancient documents.
Half-burnt scrolls.
Fables told as mere embellishment.
They told of a single hero.
Of the Sword King.
Of the greatest hero of the Great Demon War.
The warrior who faced the Seven Demon Generals in the face of the extinction of all mankind.
The wielder of the sword that shone brighter than the morning sun.
That name belonged to the annals of history.
The annals of myths.
Belonged to someone long dead and gone for five hundred years.
Not...
Not to the quietly brewing tea, smiling politely, and serving her tea to the royal family everyday silver-haired maiden.
Orion’s mouth started trembling.
"...impossible..."
Not far away, Lucas tightened his hold on the broken remnants of his sword until his knuckles went pale.
Every training session flashed before his eyes.
Jennie’s graceful steps.
Her impeccable timing.
How she constantly corrected his stance with a warm smile.
He thought that she was just skilled.
But now...
Everything seemed clear.
His bitter laugh echoed through the battlefield.
"So that was the reason..."
"I never had a chance."
The academy students exchanged puzzled glances.
Some of them failed to understand the meaning of that name.
But some saw the fear in the eyes of all knights, professors, and hunters surrounding them.
If the kingdom’s greatest warriors were frightened...
Then that single name must mean something unimaginably important.
Lilia struggled to rise up to her feet, despite the pain shooting from her damaged shoulder.
Her sapphire eyes stayed glued to Jennie.
Questions rushed into her mind.
Who was Jennie?
Who was Leonis?
Is it possible that they were the same person?
Nothing made any sense anymore.
But through the haze of confusion...
One simple fact remained unchanged.
The maiden standing in front of the Demon General remained the same person who smiled while she served her breakfast.
The same maiden who patiently listened to her complaints.
And the same maiden who risked her life again and again to protect those in need, without asking for gratitude.
Whether she was a maiden...
Or a legendary hero...
Jennie never stopped protecting people.
Softly whispering, Lilia said,
"...Jennie..."
Above the battlefield, Jennie remained silent.
Excalibur was the only one to notice slight change in the grip of its mistress.
Not fear.
Not hesitation.
But memories.
Memory of a name forgotten by the world five centuries ago, which was finally spoken out loud.
The name of a hero that she had abandoned.
The name that she believed forgotten.
Sword King...
Leonis.
For the first time in her new life, gap between her previous and current lives vanished.
The battlefield before her transformed into the battlefield of five hundred years ago.
Destruction.
The smell of blood.
Weight of responsibility.
Standing opposite to her...
Not as the enemy.
But as the witness of those times...
Was Azrakiel.
The Demon General slowly lowered the point of his greatsword.
His crimson eyes locked onto Jennie.
There wasn’t any mockery in them.
No hate.
Only respect.
Respect of one warrior towards another, acknowledging their equality.
A smile appeared on his face.
"I searched for your successor..."
"I searched for your disciples..."
"I searched for anyone who could wield that divine sword."
He slowly shook his head.
"But no matter how much I searched..."
"I never found anyone."
His smile broadened.
"Because there was no successor."
"There was only..."
"...you."q
Golden aura radiated from Excalibur.
Dark aura gently circulated around Azrakiel’s blade.
Neither side was ready to advance.
Nor retreat.
As if even light and darkness were aware of the importance of this moment.
The battle hadn’t stopped because either of warriors didn’t have enough strength to continue.
It stopped because history itself caught up with the present.
Words said in the next moment...
Would determine if Jennie will continue living as a humble maiden...
Or if the world will remember the name of the Sword King.
