The Song of Sword and Magic - Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Usgart

[Translator — Asuka]

[Proofreader — Karane]

Basorem put down the snow lotus flowers in front of Horus’ tomb, but they couldn’t make a tombstone for him, and his corpse wasn’t even buried here. “Rest in peace, my friend. Sara will be proud of you forever. I hope Sheen and you will never separate again in heaven” he prayed in a small voice.

All of them mourned for the deceased warrior for a moment and started packing up their stuff. Basorem suggested that they should keep heading Northeast to Usgart so that they could get some supplies. After that, they could go in the same direction until they reached Talheim. Furthermore, there was only a short distance between the two cities. Stan and Rae agreed to it as they went on with their journey and never came into any danger again. Three days later, which was also the fourth day since they parted with Fern and Niss, a magnificent yet lifeless city came into their sight.

“We’re finally back.” Enderman looked dejectedly at the capital city.

The battle that took place two months ago had traumatized Clamence. At that moment, he drew out his sword and readied himself.

Tyrin walked up to Clamence and clapped his shoulder. “Relax, young man. Save some energy for the right moment.”

Usgart was the capital city of Sara as well as the spiritual support for all the Saras. Currently, it is just an abandoned city with destroyed buildings and snow-covered corpses. They were mostly the corpses of soldiers and civilians as well as those from the Dark Tide.

Rae tried to keep calm, but her eyes still welled up with tears when she saw the tragic sight before her eyes. Stan remained silent, but he was fuming within himself. He swore secretly that he had to find out the truth behind the king of Doyle’s plot.

***

It was the first time the other four Sara soldiers returned to the capital city after its demise. They walked along the familiar streets, but all they could see were ruins.

Clamence was still very young after all, so he couldn’t stop his tears from slipping down his face. He tried to control his emotions, but his shoulders were shuddering uncontrollably.

“Alright. We should look for some food and supplies then leave this place.” Basorem clapped Clamence’s shoulder. “Follow me to the tavern.” Upon finishing his words, he reached for the abandoned tavern, after which Clamence followed him.

Enderman and Tyrin went for the other houses, leaving Stan and Rae behind on the empty street.

“Rae, are you alright?” Stan tried to console her.

Rae already brushed away her tears, for any liquid on her face would cause frostbites very quickly in the North. “I’m fine. Let’s look for some supplies as well. Maybe we’ll find some clothes. I can’t even stand the weather now.”

“Yeah. We also have to go up Mount Dagger.” Seeing that she had calmed down, Stan was relieved.

They tried to search around a nearby house, but they couldn’t find any suitable clothes. “I guess most people were wearing all the clothes they had. After all, people in Sara wouldn’t have more than two sets of clothes.” Rae gazed at the snow-covered and curled up corpse on the ground.

“Maybe we should get into the castle. There should be some extra clothes and food.” Stan stared at the castle in the distance. Although most parts of the castle were damaged, there were still two towers that were intact.

Rae nodded and told Basorem about it before reaching for the castle with Stan. The road to the castle was covered with the corpses of Sara soldiers and those from the Dark Tide. Among the soldiers, there were those who were as young as Clamence, and there were also those who were old enough to be Stan’s father. All of them were lying on the ground without any sign of life. The wind blew away the snow on the armors, which were beginning to turn rusty. As they neared the castle, they could see that there were corpses who were wearing silver armors with red cloaks—they were the knights in the city. Just like the other soldiers, they weren’t spared from death. They still held onto their steel spears and swords in their hands. In the face of death, none of them backed down as their corpses lay at the entrance of the castle. Some of them were still kneeling as their spears were jabbed into the ground. In front of these valiant knights were the corpses of zombies, fiends and their horses that were covered in snow.

Stan was emotionally disturbed by the tragic sight before his eyes. “These are all the knights who were supposed to protect the king, right? The knight group Enderman came from.”

“Yes. They’re just like the royal guards in Doyle. They were the last layer of protection for the king of Sara, Uller. After they were dead, it also signaled the demise of Usgart.” Rae circled around the corpses as she didn’t have the heart to take one more look at them.

***

After a sigh, Stan got into the castle with her. The intricate roads inside the castle were also covered with the corpses of the knights. It was apparent that after the castle was broken into, the royal guards were still fighting with their enemies till the end, even though their resistance was futile.

As they moved along the dark passageway, they saw more corpses of these knights for every turn they took. Most of the doors were open. Some of the knights were lying in the doorway while some were inside the rooms. A small number of spears scattered around the passageway. Eventually, they reached a steel door that was half-open. With the dim light, they couldn’t see what was inside, so they drew out their weapons and entered the room carefully.

They leaned against the wall and moved forward slowly. All of a sudden, Stan tripped over something, but he managed to stabilize himself.

“What is this?” Stan tried to look back, but he couldn’t see what it was in the darkness. Left with no choice, he lowered his body and tried to touch it, after which he realized he was touching a helmet and some dry hair. “It should be a corpse. I guess this is where the king of Sara gave the order.”

Rae grunted in agreement. “We should open the window on the wall so that we can see this place clearly.”

As they moved along the wall, Stan set his mind at ease as nothing happened. After they opened the window, which allowed the light to filter in, they could finally see what was inside the room.

***

In the middle of the room was a big but low-profiled throne. Around the throne lay the corpses of the royal guards and the zombies. In front of the throne was a knight sitting on the ground, and in front of him were two fiends. One of the fiends was decapitated as its head was lying near the door while the other had half of its head severed from his body, but its head was nowhere in sight.

Stan walked up to the special knight and examined the corpse. Even though he was wearing silver armor as well, there were some red delicate ornaments around his shoulders and chest. The mirror on his armor had a bear carved on it.

Rae stood behind him and sized up the corpse as well. “I believe he’s the leader of the royal guards, Ferro Botarus. He’s the equivalent of Boyd in Doyle. Unfortunately, he wasn’t spared from death as well.”

When Stan was performing a salute to the leader of the royal guards, he caught a glimpse of the glint of his sword. Seeing that, Stan took the sword that was still in the corpse’s hands. Having been left behind in this room for two months, this gray sword still shone brightly. “Is this sword made from obsidian?” He gazed at the gray sword in shock.

After examining the sword, Rae remarked, “I think this sword was made from a combination of obsidian and steel. If it’s pure obsidian, the entire blade should be black. Furthermore, obsidian isn’t tough enough, so nobody will make a sword with the stone alone.”

Stan whisked across the blade with his fingers and felt a sense of coldness. “I heard that evil beings are afraid of obsidian, so it should be useful when it comes to fighting against the Dark Tide.”

“Yes, obsidian is able to purify any evil stuff, but it’s rare, so it’s very precious.” Rae looked around and realized that this was the only obsidian sword. “Stan, you should bring it with you as it will be useful for our following journey.”

Hearing that, Stan had some conflicted feelings. He wanted to bring this sword with him, but at the same time, he thought he should let the deceased warrior keep it.

Rae had seen through him. “Don’t worry. I believe Ferro will be happy if you can use this sword to kill more fiends.”

No longer conflicted, Stan performed a military salute to Ferro and kept the obsidian sword.

***

Just when Stan was ready to get up, Ferro collapsed to the side, after which an inconspicuous switch at the bottom of the throne came into their sight.

Seeing that, Rae rushed over excitedly and touched the pattern on the switch. Below the pattern were some strange letters. “I think this is a spell. I’ll have a try.” Upon finishing her words, she started chanting the spell, but she kept making mistakes. On her third try, she was finally able to chant the spell accurately.

As soon as she finished reciting the spell, a gap was opened on the place where Ferro used to be, and a staircase came into their sight. At the entrance, there were two torches and some dry flints.

Stan and Rae traded glances in disbelief. “Seems that Ferro wanted to tell us something,” Rae said as a glint of excitement flashed across her gaze. “I have a feeling that we’ll find the answer to our question down there.”

“Let’s go down.” Stan tied the obsidian sword to his waist and rubbed the flints.

After the torches were lit up, Stan passed one of them to Rae and drew out his sword. He walked down the stairs first while Rae followed him as they reached for the unknown.

***