Endless Debt-Chapter 843: Bloodstained Night – Prologue 3
Right, and those enemies far in the north, watching like tigers. The Rhine Alliance would never pass up on this opportunity; once they get the news, even if there’s backlash, they will choose to break their vows and press their army to the border.
"Nothing but the blaze."
Fire ravaged the Pillar of Royal Authority, thick smoke oozing from within, flames rampaging through the spiral corridors, towering like a mighty beacon in the night, resembling an evil ceremony of sacrifice. Everyone behind the gates was a sacrificial offering of this cruel ritual.
The Second Seat saw this and laughed instead, remembering the boy was also inside the Pillar of Royal Authority. Thinking of this, his smile turned forlorn.
For an instance, the heart of steel softened, but only for that moment. The Second Seat kneeled loyally towards the Pillar of Royal Authority, his blade embedded into the soft grass ahead, hands resting on the sword guard, whispering reverently.
"Your Majesty, your wish is about to be fulfilled, no matter the outcome..."
The Second Seat no longer thought about the aftermath; it was not for him to ponder. His only duty was to follow orders.
Loyalty, blind and foolish obedience to the commands.
...
The boy rushed through the dim corridors, bodies were everywhere, blood smeared the walls. He saw more and more familiar faces, but his young heart was already scarred, numbed. Facing the mountain of corpses, the boy’s heart felt no ripple.
The continuous wailing had stopped at some point, leaving only the terrifying silence broken by the sound of flames burning within the Pillar of Royal Authority.
The boy hefted the Secret Sword in his hand, wielding such a blade at his age was quite a strain, but his teacher had taught him the art of killing. Even if he couldn’t slay the monster, the real sensation from the sword hilt steadied the boy a lot.
"I want to escape this place."
The boy knew clearly what he must do; he wasn’t going to look for that monster, let alone seek revenge. With his current strength, that was just courting death.
He needed to escape, he needed to survive.
The boy thought of the Second Seat, though there was no blood relation between them, the Second Seat was like a brother to him.
In a family like his, affection was rare and precious, often divided by complex ceremonies and interests. The boy loved his siblings, but he also understood their differences and the fleeting nature of good moments.
However, the boy’s childhood did not turn grey because of this; he met his teacher and the Second Seat, who enriched his childhood. The teacher taught him swordsmanship, and the Second Seat spoke of that extraordinary world.
Yes, he would survive, using his identity, using his power, with the help of the Second Seat and the King’s Secret Sword. He would become a Condenser, then ascended to higher tiers; he would possess the power to move mountains and fill seas. Once he sharpened his blade, the boy vowed he would kill that monster, by any means necessary.
Indeed, he would have his revenge in the future... in the future...
Suddenly, the boy tripped over a corpse, fell heavily, and rolled down the stairs, injuring his head badly.
He lay in a pool of blood, his body wracked by relentless pain, but the boy didn’t let go of the sword. He stood up stubbornly, and then a familiar face appeared before his eyes.
The numbed heart twitched again, the boy opened his mouth wanting to scream, but all that emerged from his throat was the sound of air rushing by.
The boy staggered forward, grabbing at the spear lodged in the wall, its head piercing through the body, wedged deeply into the wall.
Even using all his strength, the boy couldn’t pull out the spear. He could only awkwardly swing the sword, breaking the shaft, letting the spearhead completely penetrate the abdomen of the corpse, and then pulling the body down from the wall.
He tried to plug the wound in the abdomen, but the spearhead had crushed all the flesh upon impact, leaving an ugly hole that couldn’t be filled.
"No...No...Sister..."
The boy sorrowfully gazed at the body in his arms; shortly after he was born, his mother died, and his father never heeded him. The boy didn’t know what he had done wrong to warrant such neglect from his father.
As the youngest child among siblings, he was cared for by other kin, of whom she cared for the boy the most. She didn’t partake in the power struggles of the elder siblings nor cared for the intrigue of interests, only she cared for the boy, filling the gap of motherly love as much as she could.
Now she was dead, heedlessly pinned to the wall.
The boy reluctantly set her body down, tidied her clothes, and wiped the blood off her face. A surge of boundless anger welled up inside him, almost compelling him to swing his sword for revenge immediately, yet he soberly reminded himself he had to escape like a stray dog; only by surviving could he have the power to exact revenge.
The small figure swayed, the young mind already fractured, about to collapse completely, when suddenly the sound of flowing water arose, like a giant whale swimming by, gently swaying, generating ripples. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
The boy turned to look at the wall, a massive shadow walked across it, turning into a deeper corridor. The boy was momentarily stunned; there was no entity around him, yet the shadow projected down so eerily.
