Chapter 206 - The Sword Beneath the Earth

It was silent now.

No thunder could be heard. No floating swords. No ancient spirits.

There were only the winds whistling between the pieces of broken armor and weapons, as if trying to whisper something across the centuries.

Jennie stood near the center of the battlefield.

Something felt off.

The girl slowly turned to the side. Her silver-white hair gently waved under the cold wind, while her eyes, ancient and wise, inspected the surroundings with the same vigilance as a warrior who faced a thousand battles before.

Her hand moved toward the Divine Swords.

Excalibur was silent. Leviathan was silent. Tempest was silent.

But not Eclipse...

Eclipse was trembling.

Jennie frowned. Her voice was quiet.

"Eclipse?"

The sword was still lying beneath the girl's cloak. Its voice was quietly troubled.

There.

Jennie turned toward the center of the battlefield. Her eyes narrowed.

"Where?"

Below us.

Jennie's face became even more serious. The girl closed her eyes and extended her senses.

At first, she felt nothing, just the cold soil and the lingering remnants of ancient magic.

But...

Pulse.

Dark. Powerful. Ancient. It came from deep inside the earth and rose into it like a heartbeat. It was not the peaceful pulse of a sleeping sword. It was the beating of something awake, aware, angry.

Jennie's eyes opened.

"Another Divine Sword."

Roxy immediately turned toward her. Her ears flattened.

"Another one?"

Jennie nodded. "Yes, I can feel it."

Lucas took a step forward, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Where?"

Jennie pointed toward the ruins in the distance.

"There."

Lucas looked at the ground. "Are you sure?"

Jennie nodded. "Yes."

Snow's ears lowered. Nine tails of the dragon flickered nervously.

"I don't like that feeling."

Roxy looked at him. "You can feel it too?"

Snow's nine tails slowly fidgeted. He stared at the distant center of the battlefield.

"Yes."

Snow's gaze turned toward the center of the battlefield. His voice became a growl.

"And whatever is down there..."

His eyes narrowed.

"...does not want any visitors."

Jennie started walking. Lucas immediately followed.

"Wait."

Jennie turned back. "What?"

Lucas pointed toward the battlefield.

"We don't know what we are walking into."

Jennie smiled. This was a sad smile – a smile of a person who walked into the unknown for countless times before.

"We never do."

Lucas sighed.

"That isn't reassuring."

Roxy hurried after them. "She's right."

Lucas looked at her.

"You are supposed to make this better."

Roxy shrugged.

"I know Jennie long enough to know that stopping her only makes it worse."

Snow walked beside them. "Correct."

Jennie smiled.

"Thank you."

"I wasn't complimenting you."

"I will take it anyway."

They were walking toward the center of the battlefield.

With every step... the air grew colder. Grass disappeared, turning into the black earth. The ruins of the forgotten ancient fortress gradually appeared from under it.

And then Jennie noticed something engraved in the earth.

Runes. Thousands of them. Ancient demonic runes covered the ground, forming giant circles around the center of the battlefield. They were glowing with a faint, sickly light, as if being alive.

Roxy crouched near one of the runes. Her face changed.

"These aren't usual runes."

Jennie looked down. "What are they?"

Roxy traced one of the runes without touching it. Her fingers gently hovered over the symbol.

"Binding."

Lucas frowned. "Binding what?"

Roxy swallowed.

"I don't know."

Snow growled.

"I do."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Snow stared ahead toward the center of the battlefield. His nine tails were wide spread and his eyes shone with a soft glow.

"Something dangerous."

Jennie continued walking forward.

The closer she was, the more the presence became. Her heartbeat slowly became slower. She could feel another sword. Not calling. Not crying. Not waiting.

It was angry.

Jennie stopped.

Eclipse suddenly spoke. Its voice was cold – much colder than Jennie ever heard it before.

Do not touch what sleeps below.

Jennie looked down at the sword beneath her cloak. "Why?"

Silence.

Then Eclipse answered.

Because some swords remember their wielders.

Jennie frowned. "That isn't unusual."

Eclipse's voice became even colder.

Not like this one.

Jennie waited.

Eclipse continued.

A Divine Sword can remember its wielder's strength.

The ground below them started shaking.

It can remember his voice.

Another tremor.

His dreams.

A crack formed on the ground.

And his death.

Jennie's face became even more serious.

Eclipse continued. Its voice was filled with the ancient grief.

But when a sword spends centuries surrounded by hatred...

The runes began glowing.

...it can forget why it was created.

Jennie stared at the ground.

"And what does it become?"

Eclipse answered quietly.

Something that only knows how to hate.

Jennie understood.

"That's what is below us."

Eclipse was silent. It did not need to say anything else.

The ground suddenly shook violently.

BOOM!

Roxy stumbled. "What's happening?!"

Lucas grabbed her arm.

"Everyone back!"

The ancient runes ignited. The black-red light started spreading through the ground like the blood through veins. The whole battlefield started trembling.

Jennie planted her feet on the ground. Her face was calm, but her eyes were sharp.

The earth split.

CRACK!

Massive fissure formed on the battlefield. Rocks tumbled into the darkness. The ground crumbled. The huge underground chamber was revealed.

The ancient stone walls surrounded it. Demonic symbols covered everything – thousands of runes, each one was pulsing with the dark energy. The air was thick with the smell of decay and old hatred.

In the middle of the chamber stood the massive sword.

Jennie stopped breathing.

The sword was massive. Its blade was plunged deep into the stone altar, as if it was stabbed into the heart of the earth itself. At first, its surface was silver, beautiful and pure, a weapon worthy of the gods.

But almost nothing of it remained.

Black corruption covered its blade. Crimson veins crawled over the sword, pulsing with the sickly light. Dark energy was leaking from it like smoke, rising in the air and dissolving into the night.

Ancient magic chains encircled the altar. They were covered in runes: sealing runes, binding runes, runes that were created to contain some entity that should never be set free.

Roxy looked at them and paled.

"That's..."

Jennie slowly approached the edge of the chamber. Her voice was soft.

"I know."

It was impossible not to recognize this shape, aura, ancient presence, this sword that used to stand by the side of the mightiest warriors of the old era.

Jennie called its name.

"Gram."

Divine Blade of Wrath.

Lucas looked at her. "You know that sword?"

Jennie nodded. "Yes, it's one of the Divine Swords."

Roxy stared at the sword. "But..."

She didn't even try to complete the sentence.

Jennie looked at her. "What?"

Roxy pointed at the sword. "There's something wrong with it."

Jennie didn't answer. She already knew.

Unlike Eclipse, which was cold, lonely and suspicious, Gram was full of rage. The hatred was spreading through the whole chamber. And it wasn't just darkness. It was rage.

Rage of a thousand years.

Roxy backed away. "It's corrupted."

Lucas immediately raised his sword. "Is it possible to purify it?"

Roxy shook her head. "I don't know."

Snow's fur rose. "Don't get close."

Jennie looked at him. "You feel something?"

Snow nodded. "The corruption isn't surrounding the sword."

His eyes narrowed. "It's inside it."

Jennie looked at Gram again. Red-black energy flowed along the blade. Once. Twice. Like heartbeats.

Jennie slowly went down into the chamber.

Lucas immediately followed her. "Jennie."

She stopped.

Lucas looked at her with serious eyes. "Don't go any closer."

Jennie glanced at him. "I have to."

"Why?"

"Because it's calling me."

Lucas looked at Gram. "I don't hear anything."

Jennie smiled faintly. "That's because it's not calling you."

She continued moving. Every step resonated in the chamber.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Gram remained motionless.

Jennie stopped several meters away from it.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then...

Strange sound emanated from the sword.

Krrrk.

The crimson veins moved. They moved like living beings, twisting under the surface of the blade.

Roxy's eyes widened. "Did the sword just..."

Shape formed on the blade. It was an eye. Huge magical eye opened in the middle of Gram. Crimson light flooded the chamber, painting everything in blood and shadows.

Everyone froze.

Eye looked at Jennie.

Not at Roxy. Not at Lucas. Not at Snow.

At Jennie.

Voice of the sword sounded in the chamber. It was deep, ancient and filled with hatred that festered during a thousand years.

"You..."

Jennie clenched her hands around Excalibur.

Eye of Gram narrowed.

"I know you."

Jennie didn't answer.

Crimson energy around the sword exploded. Chains of ancient magic trembled. The runes covering the walls glowed with dark light.

Roxy raised a barrier. Lucas unsheathed his sword. Tails of Snow spread behind him.

Voice of Gram became louder. It was chorus of screams. A thousand voices crying in rage and pain.

"That sword..."

Its eye turned towards Excalibur. And then returned back to Jennie.

"You carry his blade."

Jennie didn't move.

Hatred of Gram intensified. Chamber started trembling.

"You carry his memories."

Jennie's eyes narrowed.

Voice of Gram became roar.

"You carry his soul."

Red light flooded the chamber.

And then Divine Blade of Wrath pronounced the name it remembered for a thousand years. Name that burned in its consciousness during centuries of darkness and solitude.

"Leonis."

Jennie's heart stopped for a moment.

Nobody moved. Name echoed in the chamber, bouncing off the walls.

Eye of Gram looked at her. It was filled with crimson fire.

"Leonis."

Jennie slowly lowered her gaze. She heard this name before. From Azrakiel. From ancient memories. From Eclipse. From the whole world.

But this time... it felt different.

Because Gram didn't pronounce this name with respect. It was pronounced with hatred.

Jennie looked up. Her voice was calm and steady.

"I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

Eye of Gram widened.

Its voice shook the chamber.

"LIAR!"

Ground exploded under their feet. Dark energy rushed out of the altar, filling the chamber with shock waves. Barrier of Roxy cracked. Lucas stumbled. Snow was thrown back.

Jennie didn't move.

Voice of Gram became roar.

"YOU LEFT US!"

Sword pulled itself from the chains, ancient bindings cracking.

"YOU PROMISED TO PROTECT US!"

Another shock wave.

"YOU PROMISED TO RETURN!"

Jennie raised Excalibur. Golden light collided with red darkness.

"I never promised anything."

Eye of Gram blazed.

"LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!"

Chains shattered.

Gram rose from the altar.

Divine Blade of Wrath was free.

And it was coming for Jennie.