Free Web NovelChapter 23: Chapter 23 - Sword From The Past ( Part 3 )
The gust of wind swept over Jennie’s face.
There were clouds below her feet.
Forests turned into seas of greenery far beneath her.
There were mountains stretching across the horizon.
The kingdom seemed small and fragile from up here.
Peaceful.
Temporary.
One thousand years ago, Leonis KingHeart used to fly across the skies using techniques of swordsmanship and mana which have been lost since those days.
Those times he ruled an entire kingdom.
There were cities under his protection.
There were armies marching under his banners.
There were enemies who trembled at the sight of his sword.
Now...
Now he was a ten-year-old maid with crimson eyes.
How funny life can be sometimes.
Jennie sighed.
Wind sprites surrounding her mimicked her action.
Dozens of sighs reverberated in the skies.
She didn’t pay them any attention.
---
The nearer she approached the mountains, the more intense it became.
It was no longer just a distant summons.
It was a heartbeats.
Slow.
Ancient.
Patient.
Waiting.
With each beat she felt memories resurfacing from under centuries of oblivion.
The battlefield littered with bodies of dead dragons.
A black blade flashing with red flames.
A young king fighting the impossible.
A promise.
A vow.
A kingdom.
And then everything faded away leaving silence behind.
---
Jennie’s crimson eyes narrowed.
"There."
The mountain rose above the horizon in front of her.
Stones rose high into the night sky.
There were ancient forests surrounding the place.
There was the mining settlement near the foot of the mountain.
Though...
What remained of it.
---
There was smoke rising from the ruins of buildings.
There were fires burning in the valley.
There was blood on the ground.
There were broken wagons lying upside down.
There were mining tools scattered everywhere.
The smell of death filled the air.
The attack had been fast and merciless.
People had been expecting to live just another ordinary day when their lives had been brutally taken away.
---
Among the corpses there were monsters.
Giant Ants.
Mana Beasts.
There were hundreds of them.
Some were as big as horses.
Some were like moving fortresses.
Their dark shells shone with the moonlight.
Their huge mandibles were dripping with blood.
There were their red eyes glowing in the darkness.
One of the monsters picked up a guard lying near the ground.
The man cried until his scream was cut short.
There was blood splashing from his body.
The monster tossed the man’s body aside.
Like trash.
---
But something was off.
Jennie immediately noticed it.
The ants were avoiding some part of the valley.
Not intentionally.
Not consciously.
Instinctively.
Like animals avoid the fire.
Like prey avoid the predator.
Like mortals avoid gods.
They were afraid of something.
Something hidden beneath the earth.
Something asleep.
---
Jennie descended.
The gentle flow of wind dropped her near the rocks overlooking the field of slaughter.
Screams.
Roars.
Crashes.
The dying men.
The scene right out of nightmare.
Though she wasn’t looking at the monsters.
Not even once.
Ants could destroy the whole mountain and she wouldn’t mind.
Because she already knew.
The monsters weren’t the point.
The sword was.
---
Suddenly an ant emerged from the darkness.
One of the largest ones.
Its shell was covered in scars.
Mana was flowing through it.
The beast emitted a menacing screech.
Its instincts screamed to run.
But its hunger wanted something else.
The fatal mistake.
---
Jennie didn’t even glance at it.
The ant lunged at her.
Its huge mandibles snapped in her direction.
But before reaching her—
It exploded.
The wave of power came from Jennie’s body.
Invisible.
Silent.
Absolutely destructive.
The monster disintegrated into fragments.
The ants around it recoiled.
Fear swept the swarm.
The instincts screamed at them.
Run.
Hide.
Survive.
Something much worse than them has come.
---
Jennie walked on.
Step by step.
Ignoring the slaughter below her.
Ignoring the monsters.
Ignoring the dead.
The nearer she approached the excavation site the more unstable mana became around her.
The very air was thick with energy.
Reality was shaking.
The mountain seemed to hold its breath.
Waiting.
---
Finally she arrived at the deepest tunnel.
There was darkness greeting her.
Ancient darkness.
Untouched by the sun for ages.
Perhaps for millennia.
She went inside.
And the wind spirits followed her.
For once...
For once they were silent.
No laughter.
No games.
Nothing but the silence.
Because even they realized how important that place was.
---
The tunnel led deeply under the mountain.
There were stone walls around her.
There were ancient signs of the picks on them.
But then...
It opened.
There was a massive underground chamber waiting for her.
Jennie stopped.
For the first time tonight.
She stopped breathing.
---
There was a sword in the middle of the room.
Black.
Beautiful.
Perfect.
It hadn’t changed even a little bit.
Not a single scratch on it.
Not a single mark.
The blade was exactly the same.
There was a dragon carved into it.
Its eyes gleaming with red light.
Watching.
Waiting.
Recognizing.
It was stuck into the stone.
As if some king slept on his throne.
Waiting for the old friend.
---
Jennie’s hand was trembling.
A little movement.
Very small.
But it shocked her.
Leonis KingHeart didn’t tremble before gods.
Before dragons.
Before death.
But now...
Looking at this sword...
He felt emotions.
---
A thousand years of silence.
A thousand years of waiting.
And it still remained.
Faithful.
Unbroken.
Waiting for its master.
---
Jennie approached slowly.
The chamber started shaking.
Mana started pouring from the walls.
The sword started glowing.
The dragon carved in it was glowing with red light.
The whole mountain was shaking.
Waking up after a long slumber.
--- freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
A smile appeared on Jennie’s face.
Not a smile of Jennie Queens.
Not a smile of maid.
Not a smile of a noble girl.
A smile of Leonis KingHeart.
Of the legendary Sword King.
At last...
He found it.
His companion.
His pride.
His most powerful weapon.
---
Her fingers closed around the hilt.
The moment they touched the metal—
Everything exploded.
The ancient mana burst into the skies.
The mountains cracked.
The forests flattened.
The clouds disappeared.
The night sky tore open with a pillar of golden light.
The whole region was shaking violently.
All living beings within miles were collapsing.
The monsters died instantly.
The mana beasts were turned to ashes.
The ants vanished as if erased by the divine judgment.
Even the mountain itself crumbled.
---
Very far away in the capital...
Countless people woke up.
Kings.
Nobles.
Knights.
Mages.
Everyone gazed at the distant horizon.
Towards the pillar of golden light breaking the sky.
Fear filled the kingdom.
Because they all understood.
Something impossible just awakened.
---
Inside the collapsing mountain Jennie was standing alone.
The waves of golden energy were dancing around her.
Her white hair was fluttering.
The crimson eyes were shining like stars.
And the black sword was comfortable in her hand.
As if it hadn’t left.
As if a thousand years was just a separation.
Then she called its name.
A name forgotten by history.
A name which scared the kings.
A name written in the legends.
A name which once decided fates of nations.
"Excalibur."
