22 Echoes Of Despond

"The Phantom Blade… the name sounds so fancy for a weapon that only deals invisible strikes at the target."

"What? What does that matter? It's a blade mightier than any sword! What does its name have to do with any of this?" Edward responded in irritation.

His bloodshot eyes seemed to widen even more out of proportion, and saliva escaped his mouth as he uttered his words of defense.

"Or maybe it is the wielder that is incompetent. That is difficult to tell at the moment…"

"Y-you… you imbecile! You dare mock me? Mock an Imperial Knight? Mock a Grade Three Relic? Who do you think you are?!"

Upon hearing those words, Elish couldn't contain himself any longer and burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Fufufufufu... Fuahahahahahahaha," It began with a chuckle, and then it graduated into full-blown laughter.

"W-what… what are you?!" Edward was confused, and his face showed that much as he stared at the cackling Elish.

"What's so funny?!"

Elish slowly stopped, calming himself down. "Oh, it's nothing. Your ignorance is just too amusing," he said, still chuckling a bit.

"You!" Edward bellowed in anger.

"Maybe it's time I showed you just what a true blade is like," Elish smiled, his eyes showing neither malice nor interest.

… It was just plain pity.

"Come to think of it, I do have a weapon called that… Phantom Blade."

Edward seemed to be lost for words, teetering at the edge of disbelief and despair. It would only take one final push to steer him towards the edge of insanity.

"[Pandora]," Elish uttered, activating his ring.

The jewel shone purple, and he stretched forth his right hand, where he wore the magnificent piece.

"[Sacred Grade Treasure: Number 8,907]," Elish called.

The jewel glowed even brighter, its radiance nearly consuming the room.

And then, it suddenly ceased.

The moment the light vanished, a sword materialized above Elish, and he held it in midair, clasping it with his outstretched hand.

"W-what... is that?" Edward said in shock at the sight before him.

Not only was the Imperial Knight sensing an absurd amount of energy, but the pressure that currently filled the room made him nearly buck his knees and collapse on the ground.

It took all of his willpower to resist, though sweat now decorated his face and his body constantly trembled.

"Allow me to show you one of my Treasures. Item 8,907 of my Sacred Grade items: [The Phantom Blade]," Elish said with a smile as he wielded a longsword sword, rather than the katana that Edward had in his grasp.

The blade was adorned with dark blue designs, intricately woven around the hilt, and the gleaming edge itself.

It was colored obsidian black, and was surrounded by an ethereal blue aura.

"T-That is... not possible," Edward said in surprise.

With so many weapons existing, it was no surprise that both Elish and Edward had similarly named blades. However, for the Imperial Knight, this was inconceivable.

His weapon was perfect—glorious.

"Now then, come at me," Elish beckoned to him.

However, Edward remained transfixed, his body refusing to move.

"Oh, have you finally realized just how worthless your relic is?" Elish added, a gleam of amusement coursing through his eyes.

"S-shut up…" Edward murmured in a low voice.

"What was that?"

"I said SHUT UP!!!" Edward yelled as he rushed at Elish.

~WHOOOSH!~

Elish smiled as he watched Edward wield his blade and dash toward him, ready to strike.

"Phantom Blade," Elish said.

The dark blue sword hummed in response as he raised it slowly.

"Strike."

~WHUUUUUUSSSSSHHHH!!!~

Immediately, the knight before him was engulfed in blue energy, which consumed his body. His entire being was torn apart in the densely concentrated slash of Elish's sword.

"The final reason why I believed your blade could ignore distance and evasion is because that is one of my own sword's abilities. How disappointing," Elish spoke in a bored tone.

Unfortunately, the man he spoke to could not hear any of the words uttered.

Before he fully vaporized, however, Elish touched his head and extracted the information he wanted.

Ignorant and weak individuals like him still had their uses after all.

"Farewell. This exchange was somewhat tolerable."

Edward's entire self faded away, clothes and all. His blade fell to the ground, surviving the hit.

"It must be pretty durable," Elish said, picking it up.

"Pandora," Elish called. "Store item inside Treasure Space."

"[Confirmed]" The Ring responded in its automated tone, bringing forth a bright light to absorb the blade.

"[Failure! Item is too weak to be kept as a Special Grade]."

"[Reconfiguring…]"

"[Item will be kept as miscellaneous under 'Junk],'" Pandora finally announced.

"That's harsh. Guess it's not as valuable as I thought." Elish winced at The Root's bluntness.

If only Edward could hear how useless his prized Relic was…

'It would have been an hilarious sight.'

"Eeek," Elish suddenly heard a squeal from the corner of the room.

It came from the downcast noble, who was now shivering violently as he remained in a transfixed position.

He had witnessed his noble knight die in a single, half-hearted strike. His only chance of survival had vanished, just like that.

"Oh yeah, the Noble," Elish murmured, as if just remembering he was still in the room.

If he wanted, he could add him to the list of the several corpses he had made. However, Elish felt pretty tired at this point.

"Consider yourself fortunate. I've pretty much has my fill of fun for tonight."

"O-ohh... You, You'll spare me? Thank you! Thank you!" the noble screamed, even bowing to Elish.

Desperation and the instinct to survive could drive even the proudest of men to stoop as low as possible at the slightest glimmer of hope.

Tears and sweat were mixed together as he expressed genuine gratitude.

"Well, I'm not entirely unreasonable," Elish murmured to himself as he exited the room.

The Noble wheezed as Elish walked past him, finally breathing a sigh of relief as soon as he was out. He was truly happy to be alive.

Then…

"Oh wait," Elish popped his head back into the room, his eyes fixated on the already grinning man.

"Eeeep," the Noble leaked out, startled.

"I almost forgot," He walked back into the room, not letting his gaze escape the powerless man for even a second.

"W-What is it?" the Noble asked with stutters.

He was still plenty scared of Elish's presence but he was composed enough to form coherent words due to the knowledge that his life had been spared.

"Anything I can do for you?" he even managed to smile, albeit nervously.

"Your memories. I want all of them!" Suddenly, the tone of the room grew dreary and grim.

The Nobleman's eyes immediately switched from hope to despair as his entire face contorted in fright.

Elish stretched forth his hand to collect what he wanted, and the Noble's scream filled the manor.

"ARRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!!!"

*

*

*

[A/N]

You can join the Discord for character arts and interaction with me and other readers.

Link: https://discord.gg/yMPNRURZJh