* * *
He may have shouted nonchalantly, but his men felt miserable. How can they be relieved to know that their lord is trapped in an unknown boundary in the land of the Ancient Souls?
“Don’t be anxious. Have I ever let you down? Or have I ever told a lie?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Then trust and wait. I’ll be right back.”
Only then did the two-tower master and their men calm down. Raymond grinned at them and turned away. He began to step toward the Forgotten Tomb.
* * *
‘Long live the Emperor!’
‘We are the vanguard of the righteous path! We must not back down!’
‘The two empires and five kingdoms are all behind us!’
There was stairway down to the basement. As he gets closer to the tomb, he can hear the cries of the Ancient Souls. These are the valiant knights who fought tribal wars in the name of the Empire.
Only to be remembered later, standing in the face of a great temple to leave its name in history.
-Future generations will never forget you!
The future generation has forgotten it all. They didn’t remember and poured everything into the river of oblivion and didn’t even bother to take it back.
The present glory was so radiant that the blood and darkness shed in the past were buried, and only the silent cries of the Ancient Souls remained to hover in the Black Mountain range, which was back than the front line.
“What a pity.”
He continues to take his steps, listening to shouting and screaming.
‘Sir, is there anywhere we can go back to?’
– Yesterday, my 30 colleagues who were laughing and talking with me before lost their lives. More will die tomorrow.
– Was this war worth so much?
Raymond thought about how much time had already passed. The initial curiosities had disappeared and the atmosphere was bleak.
– Future generations will never forget you.
Someone’s voice it out again, but Raymond didn’t know where it came from.
“That’s it?”
The voices stopped. And there was a small altar in front of him.
This should be where the soul sword resides. Raymond knows what to do.
Raymond also knows how the Soul Sword appeared on the altar, a secret that Shuhain, a reclusive warrior, told only to Richard, his grandson, and the main character, “The Fallen Empire.”
“As a noble blood of two empires and five kingdoms, I remember your sacrifice.”
Those who try to pull out the soul sword must remember its weight.
“You will be with me on my path.”
Remember the grudge, he who broaches a vow that has been forgotten for thousands of years.
“I will present the fall of blood in place of the glorious glory before those who drink the sin of oblivion.”
The wind is blowing in, and it didn’t blow from the passageway.
The wind came from the closed wall.
The wind that blends with the dryness unique to the underground has become a human figure.
-Pilius’ bloodline.
– Do you remember our sacrifice?
– How can you be the only one here?
Souls in armor rushed in and said.
– Why did future generations forget us?
– Have all the five kingdoms of the Empire forgotten about us?
– Where is the noble lineage of other empires?
Questions were pouring in over and over again.
– Enough, isn’t the noble lineage of the Empire, the most honorable of all, came to remember us?
The knight, who appeared to be the leader of the pack, said in a brusque voice.
“The other empires were torn into three branches, and the five kingdoms were eaten when Heifel in the north moved south. For now, I’m the only one who remembers the sacrifices of the gods.”
It’s sad, but it’s true. These poor creatures should be aware of what happened after them.
– Did the Age of Glory Ended Like This?….
One of the Soul knights in front of Raymond muttered lamentably. Raymond opened his mouth, casting a casual look at him.
“A new era is here.”
-You, who remembers our sacrifices, why are you here?
One of the soul knights asked him bluntly.
“I have come to give you the glory they promised you but got forgotten over time as a gift.”
-The past will repeat itself. I don’t believe it any more.
“If you don’t believe me, who remembers your sacrifice? Who do you believe in?”
The sharp point shut the soul knights up.
“I’m the only one who will carry the glory, and I’m sure you all know.”
As expected, they became speechless. Raymond’s words hit the nail on their head, so they know that it was too far from the past to regain the tribal war honor.
-What do you want, you with the noble blood?
The soul knight holding the spear asked.
-All we have left is a soul and a grudge.
The way he answered according to the writer’s setting of the novel was like an NPC’s. Even though it was a severe situation, Raymond had to endure himself from smirking.
“That’s exactly what I want. Your soul and your grudge.”
A sword tempered with thousands of years of grudges with the soul of a mighty knight, Raymond wanted it.
-That’s an interesting answer.
-You look like your predecessor.
-I’m telling you, I don’t know any of the descendants of the Pilius.….
The soul knights sighed and did not look unpleasant.
“True history has begun, and if we are together now, new glory, as well as the past, will shine on you.”
The prologue of this novel is long overdue. Now that the story is about to begin in earnest, it won’t be difficult to engrave his name on the epilogue if they were to join him.
“You will be with my soul, so I cannot betray you, can I?”
Holding a soul sword means holding a thousand knights.
-That’s not a bad suggestion.
-You’re right.
-I’m curious about the Black Mountains and beyond.
The spirits were whispering. This is the pure side of the knights. In fact, they weren’t being misled by Raymond’s words.
They were eager to get out of here and curious about outside the Black Mountains.
And most of all, the fact that the Imperial people came here to the Black Mountains and remembered their sacrifices in the tribal war gave some credibility.
– I will follow you, noble blood of the Pilias.
After much consideration and a short discussion, the seven spirit knights representing 1,000 made a final decision.
Is this the equivalent of Aura Blade’s Soul Sword?
– One, I don’t trust you completely yet.
-it’s been thousands of years, but I still can’t forget the pain of being betrayed.
Although Raymond remembered the sacrifice, he hasn’t cleared the doubts from the knights yet.
“What does that mean?”
This is a slightly different development from the novel. It’s not even written in the settings.
Raymond calmly asked the question, hiding his awkwardness.
– We will be with you, but we will limit the output of the soul sword.
He didn’t expect it, but this was not the worst-case scenario. Raymond nodded silently, and the soul knight opened his mouth again to continue his explanation.
– Don’t worry too much. You can expect output as much as Manasword.
Manasword can meet the minimum eligibility to receive the Sword and Magic Blessings. It was a relief.
This seems like a cliche from a common novel that needs to be recognized by souls to produce Aura-blade-level output, but he was willing to endure that much.
Raymond didn’t want to be in the extreme of Aura Blade.
The Soul Sword was just an interim process to receive the “Sword and Magic Blessings” that made Richard the main character overpowered.
– Are you ready to be together?
Slowly nodding, the soul knights receded to both sides. The road to the central altar opened.
Raymond slowly stepped toward the altar. The spirit knights bowed their heads as Raymond passed by and disappeared into the darkness.
When he finally arrived at the altar, he was left alone in a large community.
As he read in the novel when he reached the altar, the white energy united and became a sword.
“Soul Sword.”
Soul sword, which has been tempered by thousands of years of resentment from the “soul” of 1,000 knights at the forefront of the tribal war, has a sharp blade that can cut anything.
“Is this the Soul Sword?”
He took a swing as a test. The output seems sufficient, but the problem was his skills. He had never learned about the sword, so even if he got an output of Manasword, he wouldn’t be able to use it right now.
However, swordsmanship is not a problem. He can learn from Gesteine. Did he need to find someone else when he has an excellent high-ranking knight hover around him?
Raymond calmly graced his soul sword and left the forgotten tomb.
“The Knight’s Grudge, I will remember them all.”
After that, he walked along the dark aisle again. How long did he walk? As he came out of the tomb, the opaque boundaries slowly receded as if the fog had lifted.
“Prince!”
Gesteine, the captain of the Shadow Squad, was the first to run towards him. The two-tower master and Desia also came closer to Raymond.
“Are you all right?”
The red tower master, Berenus Kyle, asked the question. Lisefielf had many questions for him, but he tried to keep his mouth shut.
“Tell the soldiers that the fog will clear up soon, so hurry up and get ready to move away.” Raymond looked at Cron a little further away and said.
At first, the young nobleman had a look of disbelief, but the fog began to clear in time, and his doubt turned into joy.
“The Fifth Prince has opened the way!”
The commander of the Imperial Army shouted. The soldiers all cheered.
* * *
A month has passed since the news that Raymond, the Fifth Prince, entered the Black Mountains has spread to Imperial City.
In the meantime, the Emperor and the imperial family did not stay still. It was impossible to send a large search military force, but it was not impossible to send a small number of imperial knights.
Shortly after hearing the news, the Emperor sent talented imperial knights toward the land of Crayer and ordered the border forces to support the three special troops coming. The dispatched Imperial knights were divided into three groups and entered the Black Mountains with the special forces to search for the Fifth Prince.
“Sir Felton, we’re on our way to our destination.”
The Imperial Knight informed his fellow knight, Felton, who shook off his sleepiness and raised his head.
Despite the cold wind in the north, it was hard to resist falling asleep due to the fatigue accumulated while patrolling the black mountain range and reducing sleep.
“Are you sure the messenger was talking about a temporary base?”
“I’m sure, sir Felton.”
To Felton’s question, the fellow knight answered with a firm conviction. But his mind was hardly at rest.
It was two weeks ago that Cron, the eldest son of Marquis Crayer, sent a message.
Two weeks in the Black Mountains was enough time for a man to lose his life.
So Felton was even more afraid. An ominous thought lingered in his head that the body of the Fifth Prince might be waiting once they arrived.
“We better speed up a little.”
Fellow knights also nodded and sympathized with Felton.
Special forces speeded up their march, and soon they could reach the vicinity of the makeshift base where Cron’s infantry was stationed.
The flag of the Fifth Prince was placed in the central tower of the temporary base. Felton was relieved to see it. If the Fifth Prince had been killed, they would not have kept his flag hanging from the tower.
“Are you, sir Felton? Can you send me order through the messenger?”
At the request of an infantry officer, Felton sent an order through a messenger.
The confirmation process did not take long. It was not long before the door opened, and Felton entered the stronghold with his soldiers.
“Where is the Fifth Prince?”
Felton found the Fifth Prince first as soon as he entered the stronghold. He came to this barren and dangerous black mountain range because of the Fifth prince, so it was a natural response.
“He’s in the training camp.”
An officer belonging to the Imperial Army rushed to report.
Felton ordered the soldiers to rest and then asked for guidance.
The two moved first, followed by some imperial knights sent by the Emperor.
“Argh!”
As soon as he entered a vacant lot, which is being used as a temporary training camp, he saw a burly man rolling on the hard frozen floor with a sharp scream.
“The Fifth Prince!”
The dust subsided and his face was exposed. Felton cried out in surprise. Dressed in a light leather armor covered in dirt, he was none other than the Fifth Prince, Raymond.
Felton had seen the face of the Fifth Prince, who ran before anyone else because he was guarding the Emperor at the banquet hall, the center of the misery.
The man who fell before his eyes now lost more weight but became stronger than what his memory remembered. Still, the Fifth Prince’s face was clear.
“Ugh………… if it were a dark sword, my arm would have blown away.”
With a brief complaint arose the Fifth Prince, Raymond. He skimmed the dirt off the leather armor and turned toward Felton.
“I’ve never seen you before.”
Raymond took the soul sword and he was not been told that imperial knights were leading troops as he was engaged in sword training with Gesteine to deal with it effectively.
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
