CH 171

The Holy Sword of Water

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by SoundDestiny

A boy was having a dream.

It was a dream that happened not a long time ago.

A month ago, a massive earthquake hit the country. It had caused a lot of damage in the kingdom of Aterna, the boy’s homeland.

The quake destroyed many buildings and left people homeless.

The tsunami took away the ships and the greatest wealth of the maritime nation.

People were attacked by demons and a lot of blood was spilled.

While the neighbouring Kingdoms of Zain and Surdin were also affected, Athena was struck by a further calamity.

“Katakatakatakatakatakatakatakat”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

It began in the east of the kingdom of Athena.

A group of undead suddenly appeared from a temple in a corner of the small frontier town.

It was as if the gates of hell had been opened and the horde of skeletons swallowed the town in the blink of an eye.

It was impossible for the people, who were confused by the earthquake, to resist. They were devoured by the hordes of the dead without putting up much of a fight.

Children and adults. Old men and babies. There was no difference before the crowd of the dead.

All living things were equally subject to death, and were to join the ranks of the undead.

The stampede of the undead in the eastern region spread westwards.

Crushing villages, tearing down towns and destroying cities, the march of the dead continues unabated.

Eventually, it reached the capital of the Kingdom of Athena and destroyed the country.

○　　　　　　　　　　○　　　　　　　　　　○

“Your Majesty, the king! The undead are closing in on Royal Capital!”

“What?!……too soon…….!!”

After receiving the report from his soldiers, King Athena – Ramdis Athena covered his face with his right hand.

It has only been two weeks since the army of the undead appeared in the eastern part of the kingdom.

In that short space of time, countless villages and towns have been destroyed, and now it’s deadly blade is closing in on the capital, the heart of the kingdom.

It’s not that the king was sitting around waiting for the inevitable. He sent troops to meet the undead and resisted the calamity with his whole body. 

But……their resistance was swept away like the axe of a mantis, and they could not stop the march of the undeads.

From the get go, the situation was dire.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, people were exhausted and there was great confusion.

There were even riots in some areas, and the capital was not well prepared to face an enemy from outside.

“At least if there hadn’t been an earthquake……no, is it caused by ‘witches’ ……?”

The identity of the source of the disaster was predictable.

One of the Six Witches of Doom – Osman, the Witch of Earth.

The manifester of the earth. This monster, also known as the Queen of the Land of the Dead, led a horde of undead to bare their fangs against humanity in the Great Calamity three hundred years ago, and drove several countries to destruction.

The horror and unreasonable power of the monster has been passed down in the kingdom of Athena as an abominable tradition.

“Do you bear such hatred, Witch Osman? …..so much that you crawl back to this earth? And to exterminate us ……?”

“Father….”

The boy, the crown prince Neferte Athena, looked sadly at King Ramdis, full of bitterness and hatred.

He was only twelve years old, but he was well educated as a crown prince.

As he’s an educated prince, he understands. The kingdom of Athena is on the verge of destruction, and there is nothing that Ramdis or anyone else can do to stop it.

“Father, let me go to war too!　If I’m going to die, I want to resist to the last and die with the pride of royalty!”

“No!! You can’t do that, Neferte!”

Ramdis raises his face as if he was flipped by his son’s brave words.

“You are our country’s hope. You are the only prince of the Athena bloodline! If I were to lose you, my late wife, your mother would be disgraced!”

“But……if we wait like this, the undead will eventually invade the capital. Rather than sit around and wait for death, isn’t it the last thing the royal family should do to buy time for the people to evacuate?”

The inhabitants who were already living in the capital have been evacuated.

The destination was the Kingdom of Surdin in the west. It is a country with which they at least have a good relationship as allies.

The reason the word “at least” was added, is because the Kingdom of Surdin is not someone they can trust with their hands, and Athena only trusts them to the extent that they are better than the barbarians to the south.

“I know……but I cannot let the blood of the royal family die out. Neferte, I give you my royal command.”

The king stands up and walks behind the throne. He pushed the stone wall behind him with his palm, and a hidden door opened to reveal a compartment. In the storage room was a large sword, as big as Neferte’s height.

“You must take this sword and flee east to the kingdom of Zain. In that land, separated from the rest of the world by mountains, the unholy hands of the dead will not reach you.”

“This sword, isn’t this…”

Neferte  touched the sword with his fingertips to take it from the king’s hand, and then withdrew his hand in haste.

The weight of the sword would be too much for him to lift. He calls for a soldier from his guard to take it for him.

“The sword is the holy sword of water, Mistilteinn. It is the treasure bestowed from God and given to the hero king of Athena that was  used to destroy Osman 200 years ago.”

“Mistilteinn……is a legendary sword ……!”

“I will not give this sword to that abominable witch. Take the sword and run. Don’t let anyone catch you.”

“………..!”

The words were clear: it was a royal decree.

No longer would he be allowed to die for his country. He had no choice but to flee with the holy sword, as his father had ordered him to do.

Neferte bit his lip, turned his head and squeezed out a shaky voice.

“I’ve been ordered to go……. I will make it happen.”

“I beg you, …… my dear child. Please survive.”

“…………”

“Go on, then. I want all of you to look after Neferte!”

“Ha! We understand!”

His men nodded and took Neferte away from the palace.

Just before they left the room – Neferte looked back at his father, and their eyes met.

“Father……!”

“…………”

As he said goodbye with tears in his eyes, he saw the face of Ramdis smiling at him, not as king, but as father.

The boy then escaped from the capital with his men and made his way east to the kingdom of Zain on a ship that had escaped the tsunami.

However, on the way there, the ship encountered a storm and was also attacked by the sea demon Kraken, and the ship sank.

In the end, Neferte was thrown into the raging sea in a small boat with his holy sword.