Volume 1, Chapter 1: Undead Knight ①
For over 400 years the western part of Worimia continent had been at war. A war that later came to be known as the Eight Countries Unification War.
During that war, the Kingdom of Regios turned the tide of war around after annexing two other countries, and in fact it had pressured the other surviving Kingdoms more severely than it had managed before.
And thus, it pushed the war toward its conclusion even faster than it was projected.
Before long, right before the war ended, out of the eight small countries that originally existed in the western part of Worimia continent, only two remained. The Kingdom of Regios being one of those two.
During that time, Lambert, the general of Regios Kingdom at that time, left the campsite by himself, looking at the night sky wistfully.
「Yo Lambert. What are you doing here, strolling by yourself in the middle of the night? 」
Lambert turned around and saw Glyph, another general of the Kingdom of Regios. He was also his dear friend. From the very beginning, when he was being ostracized by the nobles due to his origin, he had always been the one who protected Lambert. After all, despite being a great braveman who was loved by the citizens of Regios Kingdom, Lambert originally was a peasant. [ED: My senses are already tingling at this part. I’m off!]
Glyph raised his hand lightly in exchange for a greeting. Eight of his subordinates were following him.
「I was just recounting the time when I was but a rowdy kid, before His Majesty Aurelia took me in. 」
It was the wish of the former king, the very one who failed to defeat the neighbouring countries, to unite the western part of Worimia continent. Now, this wish was passed down to his son, Aurelia. To his credit, Aurelia did manage to bring the Kingdom of Regios all the way to the point where uniting the eight countries was but a step away.
However, the fact that Aurelia was the former ruler’s daughter and not son was a secret only her close aides were privy to. Although Glyph and Lambert were one of those in the knowhow, they made sure to never breathe a word about this particular secret.
The secret that started after the death of the previous king, the Archduke- the little brother of the deceased king attempted to usurp the king. The young king, Aurelia’s older brother was assassinated by his own uncle. Thus, in order to thwart the ambitious Archduke, a just born Aurelia had to live under the guise of a man. Even after the Archduke was executed, Aurelia continued with the pretence.
「By the way, what are you doing here, Glyph? Your post should be a little away from here.」
「I just wanted to reaffirm the changes in topography with my own eyes.」
Having said so, Glyph went to the edge of the cliff.
「Lambert…what do you think about the flow of this war?」
「While I would say we should not let our guard down…honestly speaking, we have leeway in this war. Really, I have to say that the end of this war felt a little anticlimactic after the hardship that we have suffered until now. Especially, considering we can win this war even when we send just half our forces. As long as we overcome this war and invade with our full might, that idiotic king will, without a doubt, surrender .」
「I see now, to be honest I have the same opinion as you. That’s why now I feel relieved hearing your confirmation.」
「Gly………? 」
Glyph suddenly slashed his sword towards Lambert despite the fact that his gaze was firmly fixed on the cliff. Startled, Lambert hurriedly defended himself with his own sword. Their clash resulted in a high pitched sound of colliding metals.
「Oi, What are you do-………」
Lambert started to question Glyph, however, his eight subordinate that was following along had already lunged toward Lambert from behind him.
「YOU BASTARD! 」
Lambert cursed as he quickly rolled his body to the side to dodge their attacks. Then, before they could react, he rose up and raised a bestial roar as he swung his sword upward.
「UWOOOOOOOOOOO! 」
With a shove from the hilt, one of the attackers was flung before smashing onto the ground. Another was hit by Lambert’s sword and was sent flying backwards.
Even then, Lambert didn’t stop, he continued his sword’s momentum as it bisected through the torso of another three people which were protected by armor, and crushed their upper body as he sent it flying away.
He only needed to do a little jump and he managed to kill three people who wore thick armor with just one slash.
However, Glyph, using the time Lambert was dealing with his subordinates, entered Lambert’s blindspot. And, from the very beginning, it was a fight of one against nine. Thus, Lambert didn’t really have any leeway in fighting while keeping track of all of his enemies. If one were to be even more precise about the situation, it was the fact that his visor was restricting his peripheral vision…
BANG!
With such a loud sound coming from the joint that had connected the metal armor, Lambert finally understood Glyph’s intention.
「Don’t think too badly of me, Lambert! 」
As he spoke, Glyph emerged from Lambert’s blindspot. Despite the heavy Organ armor he was wearing, he leaped high,as if gravity had no hold on him, and swung his sword. [Note : Organ = Mystic Metal]
It was Glyph’s signature move, 『Lunar Wings』.
Although he was familiar with this particular skill, Lambert had never thought that such skills would be aimed at him by his own dear friend to take his life. The pressure he felt coming from the move was worlds apart compared to when he saw Glyph use it from the sideline, or when used in training.
This move Glyph made was filled with killing intent directed at him.
Despite the fact that Lambert had immediately bent over toward the ground to parry the move, the sheer force of the skill still managed to penetrate his armor, attacking his shoulder bone. And, while the upper part of the armor was often in full plate form, heavy and blunt swords, which specialized in sending shock through armor, countered that protection.
And, to make matters worse, the sword that was swung down was helped along by gravity combined with the weight of the Organ armor itself.
While Lambert managed to parry the blow, it still managed to land a glancing blow at his shoulder. Then, the blade of Glyph’s sword slammed to the ground, creating a huge fissure along with raising a cloud of dust that was accompanied with a loud resounding sound.
「Nice job in parrying it! But, now you can’t use your dominant arm anymore! 」
Glyph leaped up again as he prepared for the second strike.
The second 『Lunar Wings』.
「Don’t you dare look down on ME! UWOOOOOOOOOOO! 」
Lambert forcefully raised his injured arm, swinging down his sword using all of his power with both hands.
Glyph managed to parry that attack. However, it was done through fixing his stance in a hurry. Thus, he ended up losing in a contest of power between them. As a result, he bounced on the ground. And, though he managed to land safely on the ground, parrying Lambert’s full-powered blow was no joke.
Even Glyph, the Brave who had experienced many battlefields, couldn’t block the shock that was transmitted through his sword, causing his limbs to be numbed. And, it wasn’t merely numbed limbs, it came along with a searing pain that attacked the joints of Glyph’s entire body.
In the end, Glyph slumped over in an unsightly manner in front of Lambert, who was prepared to take his life.
「T-This is I………… Impossible………」
Glyph’s face finally changed from impatient to disbelief. Fortunately for him, two of his subordinates came to assist him from the side.
「General Glyph! 」
However, Lambert didn’t give them any chance whatsoever. He swung his sword like a club then pulverized the helmet that Glyph’s two subordinates were wearing along with their head. And, while there were three other subordinates left, they had dropped their sword to the ground as they trembled in fear.
「T-To think that……… General Lambert, i-………… Is this strong………」
Glyph’s surviving subordinates had already lost their fighting spirit. Even the one who were supposed to distract Lambert, the one who was supposed to be Glyph’s support said the same thing.
So, even though they were supposed to distract Lambert, even though they were supposed to be prepared to lose their life in the process of doing that, in the end they didn’t have that kind of resolution. They were not prepared to die with mangled corpses.
Naturally, that didn’t mean that Glyph’s subordinates were frail hearted people. However, at the very least, they wanted to put their life on the life for an appropriate cause and meaning. And fighting Lambert, who was an opponent that was world aparts from one they could handle, was not meaningful at all.
「L-Lambert………」
At that moment, Glyph was glaring at Lambert with pale face. Yet, faster than Glyph could fathom, Lambert’s sword was already right beside Glyph’s neck.
「I…… Won’t die till our majesty Aurelia united the western part of Worimia continent.」
「Fu-FUfufu……… And yet, the order to execute you came from his majesty Aurelia.」
「W-what! ? 」
Lambert, who was usually dauntless, was shaken to the core by that revelation. When Glyph saw his appearance, a twisted smile formed on Glyph’s cramped face.
「Your power and charisma were simply too overwhelming. Without you…… This war might continue on till our grandkids age, you know. You’re just a mere peasant, and yet not even the noble can ignore your current self. You’re the best Brave of Regios kingdom. One that originate from peasants yourself, naturally, you’re widely popular amongst the peasants.」
「W-What in the hell are you talking about! 」
「As long as the possibility that you’ll leak out his majesty Aurelia’s secret right after the end of the war exists…his majesty Aurelia will not be at ease with your presence. The throne will definitely fall to your hand if that happened. After all, there are many stubborn geezers inside the castle, and thanks to that idiotic archduke’s action and subsequent execution, his majesty has no close relatives left. That’s why we have no choice but to do this to prevent any undesirable future.」
At that moment, Lambert couldn’t hear anything anymore over the roar of his thoughts. He couldn’t understand what Glyph was talking about. However, that didn’t last for long because he soon understood.
In short, Aurelia saw Lambert popularity as a threat to her position after the conclusion of the war of unification. But, even then, he still couldn’t accept such fact despite understanding its meaning.
「T-That’s impossible! Does his majesty Aurelia really suspect me of planning a rebellion?!」
Yet, even without any words, he knew that such rumours had already been spread around. It was fanned by the nobles who were jealous of Lambert climbing up to his current position. However, before now, Aurelia didn’t seem to care about such rumour.
Because Aurelia was Lambert’s most important friend.
They had encouraged each other. They had told each other their respective dreams. And, He had ended up harboring love for Aurelia. But, bearing his own status in mind, he had decided to shove and bury those feelings away to the corner of his memories and heart.
For him, Aurelia was his benefactor, his best friend, his lord, and the one he loved.
「I-Impossible……… T-That’s Impossible………」
But, looking at the current situation, with Glyph who was aiming for his life, it was hard to think of any other explanation. For he doubted that Glyph would move without Aurelia’s, his lord, order.
And, as part of royalty, it was her duty to pluck out the seed of rebellion at the early stage. And, even though she might feel that it was a blatant lie, she couldn’t just ignore the tiny possibility that it wasn’t a lie either. Because the thing that was at stake was the Kingdom’s future.
Even so. Lambert still couldn’t accept that fact.
「Your majesty……… Why…… For what reason I…………」
As his heart was hit critically by Glyph’s words, Lambert fell on his knees. His grip lost its strength, letting his sword to fall from his hand.
The moment the sword made a clunking sound, Glyph stood up at once and stabbed his sword at the torso part of Lambert’s armor. Lambert, who was still deeply shocked, didn’t even resist the attack as he staggered to his back.
However, Glyph’s attack had yet to end. He tackled Lambert, from a point-blank range fired a sword skill. The force of his attack propelled Lambert to the edge of the cliff, allowing himself an escape while remaining at sword’s length from his friend.
For a moment, Lambert’s body was floating in the air.
「……… AH」
Glyph’s attack had driven him off from the cliff. In a panic, his hand moved as he tried to grip onto something, which in the end turned out to be Glyph’s own sword.
「This sword is my gift to you. Brave Lambert.」
Glyph said that, then let go of his sword, watching dispassionately as Lambert’s body fell from the high cliff.
Two months later, the Kingdom of Regios finally fulfilled its long lasting wish. It finally united all countries in the western part of Worimia continent, putting an end to the long four hundred years warring era.
The name of the Brave Glyph became well known as the loyal retainer of King Aurelia, the king who united the western continent. [ED: DIE SCUM!]
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