Chapter 52

Meeting this woman today was a stroke of luck, perhaps. Edulis thought so.

The woman wore a dragon's skull on her head. A fierce gleam shone through its hollow eye sockets. Her own eyes were pitch black without any whites, and her pupils were yellow like a cat's. Her skin was pale and blue, like that of a corpse.

"I don't smell the savages. Nor the scent of death. What is this?"

She spoke to the Harvester as if she could not see Edulis standing before her. Tentacles like snail antennae extended from the hooded face of the harvester. One, two, or three, long lines of tentacles groped through the air, and it created a gurgling, strangled sound.

The woman exclaimed. "Thirty people? There are only thirty people in the forest? Where did they all go?"

The gurgling sound continued.

"They can't have known we were coming…shit, I'm going to get in trouble again. It's bad enough that I'm being used for this shitty repetitive labor, now I'm going to get in trouble?"

The woman didn't even care about Edulis. It was as if he were a fly or a mosquito that she could swat away with a wave of her hand.

Edulis spoke up. "Nekveta, you may not pass through here."

Only then did the woman, Nekveta, look at Edulis, frowning.

"What? A child dares to utter such a noble name? Where did you learn it?"

"None of your business."

Nekveta looked Edulis up and down, then laughed. "I don't know anyone who might know me, um...oh, are you the fool who ran away from the Holy City, the reincarnation of Bosha?"

Edulis just glared at her.

"If you're Bosha, aren't you the coward who ran away until Lutea came along?"

He was right. The necromancer Nekveta was the kingdom's nightmare, and dealing with her army of immortals was no easy task. Dead allies were instantly reanimated as enemies. All they could do was wait for the light of Lutea to quell the undead. Bosha did the same.

"Hurry, finish this!" Nekveta beckoned. With that, Edulis lowered his stance. The tip of the black curved sword dangled toward the floor, and his knees bent toward the ground. All his weight was on his lower body and his sword.

As a headless quadruped began to screech and run, Edulis's body lurched forward, like an arrow wrapped in light. The silver arrow tore through the dry air, slicing through the bodies of the headless quadrupeds the Harvester was riding, slicing them in two in an instant. It was only a second.

More gurgling sounds. The Harvester on the ground shuffled to his feet. This is good. Without anything to ride, they are awfully slow.

"Come at me, Nekveta."

Nekveta must be killed. Edulis thought back to Kurzina's report.

- But soon the tables were turned. An army led by Nekveta surprised the kingdom's forces in Sijia.

- Igrainne was lost in the battle.

Granadilla led the Kingdom's army under the guise of Ygraine, and Nekveta slaughtered them. This happened after Bosha's death.

Nekveta is one of the great pillars of the witch's forces, and an enemy of the fallen army of the kingdom.

Nekveta shouted irritably, "Now I have to walk because of you. That bitch Akale gets to sit and relax all day, why couldn't I have that!"

Then she recited an incantation.

"Rivers flow and become seas, life flows and becomes death, so those who sleep beneath you, turn back death for me, Nekveta."

The canyon floor began to erupt and something crawled out of the sand and mud. There were many different kinds of things crawling out. The carcasses of wild dogs with rotting flesh clinging to them, rats made of nothing but bones, and human skeletons swarming with cadaverous worms.

"End this quickly!" Nekveta called out, and the creatures that rose from the ground lunged at Edulis. True, their killing power isn't that great. But what makes them so frightening is that they don't know death.

One can break their bones and tear their flesh, but they'll keep coming back. The only way for a mere mortal to defeat them is to chop them into pieces so small that they can't be held together as a single entity. Of course, one rarely has the luxury of doing that on the battlefield, so the best bet is to run. That is, in an ordinary situation.

But instead of fleeing, Edulis muttered in place.

"The sea becomes a river through clouds, and death becomes life through providence, so wait for life in death, you who have lost your peace."

Then a white light emanated from Edulis, and the things that had crawled out of the ground scattered to pieces and turned to dust. Only then did Nekveta's expression change.

"You... you, what are you?"

Nekveta, who had been looking down on Edulis with a look of annoyance, panicked and her voice trembled. With Lutea dead and the Apostles gone, she thought no one could stop her anymore. However, that hateful white light appeared again!

"I am Edulis. I will slay all enemies of Lutea."

Edulis's sword, coated in white light, sliced through the air with a crackling sound. Suddenly, Nekveta was wielding a scythe made of bone. A scythe more than a foot taller than she was.

"You think I only control corpses?"

Edulis's blade was blocked by the great bone scythe.

***

"Dad, you can't do this."

"What are you talking about, Akun? Where else do you get such a great opportunity?"

Akun, the son of the leader of the Luciris merchant group, Maatka, pleaded with his father to leave. He believed that what Maatka was doing was against the will of Lutea. Maatka and the others were scavenging through the burned-out villages of the Gudea jungle, looking for anything that might be of value.

"That devil has destroyed our goods," said Maatka, "so shouldn't we have something to make up for it?"

"But these are other people's goods."

"It's going to be thrown away anyway."

Akun was puzzled. The sight of a demon covered in blood and guts was terrifying. But why didn't it kill people? A similar thought occurred to him as he followed his father through the villages. The bodies lying in the streets were all wearing priestly robes. The only dead were the missionaries. No bodies were pulled from the charred rubble. There were only tons of shattered daggers.

Despite being covered in blood, the child's silver eyes shone brightly. Was he really a demon? Or perhaps he had other intentions. To the people at the top, however, including his father, Maatka, it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was money. Akun hadn't always liked that fact, but there was no point in telling his father.

"Damn it! This village is a bust too!"

Having traveled through almost all of the villages, the wagon on top of Luciris moved very slowly. By the time they reached the entrance to the jungle, the sun was slowly setting, and someone shouted.

"What the hell is that smell?"

Everyone held their noses. The smell of decomposing flesh was overpowering.

"Hey, look!" Maatka shouted, pointing into the gorge. Writhing tentacles, a large scythe, and a boy covered in blood...

"Monsters! Shit, they've been waiting for us here!"

Akun thought. "Monsters?" He didn't think so. Instead of monsters lying in ambush, he saw a boy covered in blood confronting the monsters.

Then, in an instant, the boy leaped into the air, collapsing the cliff surrounding the path, and kicked the fallen rocks towards the merchants.

"He's going to kill us!"

"Run! Pull the cart back!"

Two thoughts raced through Akun's mind. The first was the question of whether the boy was truly evil, and the second was his annoyance with the merchant clinging to the carts even in this situation.

The boy stamped the ground with his heel. The ground cracked with a hissing sound.

"Aaaah!" A couple of people at the top nearly fell into the crack, then abandoned their carts and started running.

"You guys, where are you running to, are you going to go home a beggar?"

"My wife would rather have me return alive!"

Maatka shouted, but to no avail.

"Where are you going? I will grind your body into powder and offer it as a sacrifice to the dead." The boy muttered something under his breath, his voice menacing. Then, a great flame engulfed the tree.

"Aah! It burns!" A nearby man's head was scorched black. At the sight, dozens of people abandoned their carts and fled.

Akun thought to himself. "Sacrifice... really? None of us died, and that child is wounded...'

Indeed, as the boy ran, a woman with writhing tentacles and a scythe tangled with him from behind. The boy's back was covered in scythe cuts and tentacle impalements. A fight had broken out among the monsters.

"Father, let's go, they've all fled, we're the only ones left."

But Maatka still held onto the handle of the cart.

"Father!"

"Akun, come on, what are you doing without holding on to the handle? You have to protect our property!"

"Are you crazy, give it up, please!"

As Maatka and Akun argued, a bone spear flew from the distance. It aimed for Maatka's forehead. The next moment, the cart caught fire and the bone spear burned along with it.

"No! My property!" Maatka cried and fell to the ground. The boy stood in front of the cart.

"Did you save my father?" Akun asked, and then

"Get lost." And with that, the boy kicked Maatka in the chest. Maatka grunted and was thrown far away.

"Hey... wait..."

Before Akun could say anything, the boy grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him away as well.

*** 

"Fool, you're just as stupid as Ygraine, aren't you?"

Nekveta said.

"Shut up, her name is not for the likes of you to utter."

Edulis thought to himself, he was nothing like Ygraine. Ygraine's heart is as clear as glass. But Edulis's heart is as turbid as mercury.

"Why bother with such fools? Let them die if they will. Such an idiot."

Edulis couldn't do that. Even if the merchants were foolish, they were still Lutea's people.

"Ha... Do you have any idea how much of my time you've wasted? If I take your corpse, maybe I'll be in less trouble?"

The cumbersome burdens had all left. Nekveta as a pillar of the witch's forces isn't weak, but hand-to-hand combat wasn't her forte. Edulis can win. He could avenge the kingdom's army that perished because of her. With that thought, Edulis opened fire. He could see the movement of the scythe. The Harvesters' attacks were simple and easy to dodge.

Nekveta was pushed further and further back by Edulis' blade. The sound of Edulis's sword cutting through the air filled the canyon. Nekveta's scythe barely moved, too busy parrying Edulis' blows.

"Ugh..."

Edulis was about to plunge his blade into Nekveta's chest when Nekveta chuckled.

"Look at that."

Edulis didn't turn her head.

"I don't see why you, or Ygraine, or anyone else would protect such a stupid, lowly creatures?"

A bone spear formed in Nekveta's hand and flew toward Edulis' back. Edulis glanced behind him. There, on the ground, was the leader of the merchants. It was an extraordinary display of greed.

"This watch is still intact! This necklace too! I have to take at least one more!"

Edulis bit the inside of his cheek, then ran towards the back to block the flying bone spear.

At that moment, something sharp flew and struck Edulis in the back.

***

"Father!"

He was known as the 'Father of Money', but Akun never expected this extent. He ran to his father, trying to drag him away, but Maartka shook off his hand with terrifying determination.

"No!"

Even if he was the 'Father of Money', he was still his only father. Akun wanted to return to his mother with him...

Akun squeezed his eyes shut at the sight of the flying spear. But seconds passed and no screams were heard. His father was still looking at the ground, choosing his goods.

Akun's mouth dropped open at the sight before him. The boy's back bore a deep scythe wound, and his sword was plunged into the side of the scythe-wielding woman.

The woman collapsed and fell to the ground. The boy staggered across the ravine.

"Hey... are you okay?" Akun ran to the boy. It was obvious that the boy had saved his father. But then he realized he had nothing to offer. The Velox had fled, and their carts had burned.

"I'm sorry... I don't know how to repay you."

As Akun approached, a slicing sound cut through the air. A black arc appeared in the air, and a single drop of blood fell from Akun's neck. A tiny, dust-like wound.

The boy glared at Akun. "You... why...get the hell out of here in three counts, or I'll kill you."

Akun looked into the boy's eyes and realized that the boy didn't want to create any debt of gratitude.

"I am Akun of Capre. I am a jeweler by trade. If you need a magical catalyst, come find me."

With that, Akun pulled his father by the scruff of the neck.