The Eve of the Duel
The night is shining and yet full of terrors in the Watergate City of Priestella. A duel, that could very well change the fate of the entire world, is about to happen. And yet the citizens of Priestella went about their usual routine. There were merchants working on the stalls, children playing in the alleys, the dragon sailors on their water dragons entertaining the tourists sightseeing, the nobles enjoying their luxurious lives in their mansions and the city guards, who were powerless to do anything about the fight that was about to take place. It was just another night for the citizens of Priestella, largely unaware of the destruction that was about to be unleashed.
Reinhard Van Astrea's mind was in a mess. Everything had been going wrong throughout these last two damned years. The royal family was dead. The kingdom had no ruler. Vollachia was threatening to declare war against Lugunica. Ferris had gone missing. Thousands of innocent men, women and children had been slaughtered by the Witch Cult. Yet Reinhard couldn't do anything. Even though he possessed all the power in the world, he could do nothing. He was loved by the world, and yet he could do nothing to save it. And what happened an year ago in Flanders, was something he could never forget.
He remembered as the Sin Archbishop of Lust, Capella Emerada Lugunica flew over the great city of Flanders in the form of a massive black dragon, spreading death and desolation all around with her scorching black flames. He remembered having to take the decision of unleashing the Swordplay of the Astrea Family, endangering the lives of the citizens. He remembered their screams, as if thousands of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. And he remembered that Joshua Juukulius was one of those many voices.
Julius Juukulius was Reinhard's closest friend. They had been friends since the moment Reinhard saw Julius enlist as a Royal Knight. They had gone to Vollachia together with Felix and two of the sage councilmen, Miklotov McMahon and Bordeaux Zellgeff, and had quite the misadventure. They were even drinking buddies. Reinhard had been the one who brought Julius back to the knights after Anastasia had died of mana poisoning. And now, his deepest friendship had been shattered by none other than Reinhard himself. He had seen Julius run around the destroyed portion of the city of Flanders and cry out the name 'Joshua' for a whole day. Julius hadn't even found a single remains of his dear brother to bury. Upon seeing his face, Julius had immediately lashed out, throwing a dozen knights in the air out of his way. Marcos had somehow managed to subdue him, though not before Reinhard heard Julius yell these words to him.
"I'LL KILL YOU! YOU GODDAMNED MONSTER I'LL RIP YOU INTO PIECES! I WON'T STOP UNTIL I BREAK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR BONES, I'LL RIP OUT EVERY SINGLE ORGAN PRESENT IN YOUR DISGUSTING BODY, I'LL TAKE OUT THE LAST REMAINING DROP OF BLOOD PRESENT INSIDE YOU. THIS IS MY PROMISE TO YOU JOSHUA! I'LL SLAY THE MONSTROSITY THEY CALL THE SWORD SAINT REINHARD VAN ASTREA!!"
Hearing these words it wasn't a surprise that everyone present in the aftermath of the battle felt a chill go in their spines. No one would have ever expected the virtuous, honorable, the Greatest Knight Julius Juukulius to make such a hate-filled vow to kill someone, yet alone the Sword Saint. The threat had easily taken aback every single knight as they looked at the Greatest Knight and the Sword Saint. The person who was cursing Reinhard wasn't the Greatest Knight, he was a grieving man who had been robbed of his brother's ashes. Gone were all the knightley pride and honor, what remained behind was hate, unparalleled hate for the monster who took away the closest person in his life.
Julius had to be restrained and sent back to the Juukulius mansion. He had to be repeatedly mana drained while being held by a dozen guards with strength draining metias so that he wouldn't do something rash. One night however, the healer and the guards were overpowered by him, who then quickly ran away from his own home and since then, no one has ever seen or heard of the Greatest Knight. A search team had been sent, but came back empty handed. It was a huge blow to the kingdom as the Greatest Knight, one of the sources of hope for the people of Lugunica, had disappeared.
Reinhard had returned to his home, the Astrea mansion. Though he entered his own home, he couldn't manage to find the courage to look up. The Sword Saint was scared. Scared of the looks people would give him as he would walk in the knight's barracks, the Capital or his own home. People were scared of him, oblivious to the fact that he himself was shivering in his mind. The only one who had managed to comfort him was his lady Felt. He cried in her embrace the whole night, speaking out his thoughts he was forced to swallow so that people would still know that when a threat knocks on their doors, the Sword Saint still stands strong to protect them.
The conversation he had with his lady Felt two days ago returned to his mind.
"Reinhard, take care of yourself. If you don't return in one piece I'll make you gulp down the stupid drink which makes Ezzo look more pathetic than he already is." Felt said with a pout, raising her fist in the air and lightly punching Reinhard's chest. 'Cute'. He thought.
"Hey!" Reinhard definitely heard someone yell out in frustration.
"Felt-sama, I apologize for the inconveni-" Reinhard was cut off.
"Oh shut up Rein. Stop with the ass kissing and just go and slay that greedy pig." No matter how many times she had told him to not apologize for stupid things like this, the red haired buffoon would continue to say sorry for literally everything to everyone. She was quite sure she had heard an apology from him when he had accidentally stepped over an ant. Felt was tired of it at this point.
"I'm really sor- Ummm, I'll…just leave alright." Reinhard shivered at the sight of his lady seething with rage, which turned to laughter almost immediately.
"Bwhwahwahhaha!! Gosh you're so stupid. Now leeeaave. Anddd, take care. If you die out there then I won't leave you alive." She said, kissing his cheek, causing the redhead's face to turn in the same color as his hair. After kissing him, Felt immediately dashed back in the mansion, under the amused gazes of Carol, Grimm and Ezzo, and the apathetic faces of the twin maids, Flam and Grassis.
His lady Felt, he would do anything to see and protect the bright, innocent smile on her face that she did when he was leaving for Picouttate after it was reported that the Sin Archbishop of Greed, Regulus Corneas was heading there, destroying anything that was coming in his way. Only Reinhard could see that behind that smile of his lady, was a poor girl crying in her mind, praying to the world that had been pretty rough on her, for the well-being of the stupid, innocent and adorable baby that was Reinhard. It was her and only her who knew of Reinhard, not the image of the Sword Saint that everyone else knows, but just Reinhard.
Dealing with Regulus Corneas was something he had never faced in his life, as the Sword Saint quickly found out that the Sin Archbishop of Greed was immune to any physical damage. The Sword Saint tried everything, from punching his face multiple times or throwing him from the sky or trying to tear him up with his bare hands, yet nothing had managed to even scratch the white haired individual.
"This fight doesn't need to happen. It's all useless. We can't kill each other. So why don't we all just retreat back to our abodes and forget that this ever happened." Reinhard tried to reason with the Archbishop of Greed, since he had understood that there was no way the Sword Saint could slay Regulus without the Dragon Sword Reid. His words however, had fallen upon deaf ears, and had only managed to infuriate the Sin Archbishop of Greed even further, causing him to go on another one of his rants.
"What ? How dare you ? Who do you think you are ? Did you just call me useless ? Are you telling me to run away ? Are you trying to talk back to me ? ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY I'M A FOOL ? ARE YOU TELLING ME TO FORGET ? Who do you think you are to order me around ? This is an infringement of my right of speech, right to movement, right to think. This is unbelievable. I've never had all my rights denied to me all at once. Unbelievable. I'm tired of my rights getting violated. Why can't anyone in this world understand the importance of my rights ? Well I do understand that it's extremely difficult for commoners to understand the greatness I possess. Yet I still would like it if people would have an understanding of basic fundamental rights. How can someone possibly dare to deny the most satisfying experience in the world ? It's honestly pathetic. I just want to live a peaceful life yet people like you continue to deny me of my rights and wear those disgusting expressions on your disgusting faces. You can't just stop me from moving to my desired location. I was just passing by the way, and yet you had to blatantly come in my path, stop me from killing you, not let yourself be killed, then try to kill this peaceful wanderer, AND THEN HAVE THE GALL TO DENY ME OF MY RIGHTS. COMPLETELY OUTRAGEOUS!! YOU WILL DIE. DIE AND BLEED WHILE BEGGING FOR MERCY FROM ME. THE SIN ARCHBISHOP OF THE WITCH'S CULT, REPRESENTING GREED, REGULUS CORNEAS."
Reinhard was a patient man. He let the white haired sassy lost kid cry his heart out. But this was slowly irritating even the calm and composed Sword Saint. Even his Divine Protection of Mind Calming was not working here. The peasants who were evacuating were also weirded out by the speech of the Sin Archbishop of Greed, so they decided to get the hell out of there.
The Sword Saint looked at his sword. The Dragon Sword Reid. A holy sword of power. The Strongest Sword in existence, forged by the Sword God himself. It had been used by his great ancestor Reid Astrea roughly four hundred years ago, to seal the rampaging Witch of Envy with the help of the Divine Dragon Volcanica and the Great Sage Shaula. A sword one could only dream to attain. Many of the world's toughest warriors would look as the Sword Saint walked with the godly weapon, with jealousy, hoping to keep it for themselves. For it was truly a divine weapon.
But only Reinhard knew the truth. He knew about the reality of this…this cursed sword. It was prideful. It was arrogant. Its ego was greater than any monarch that had ever existed. It had unsheathed itself when the Sword Saint was dueling the Blue Lightning, Cecilus Segmunt. That duel had no major consequences to the world. So it didn't matter if Reinhard won or lost. But this, this was different. People were dying all around. Their screams were scratching, piercing, stabbing Reinhard's heart. And yet the sword wouldn't budge. Reinhard hated it. He loathed the sword and its pride. He couldn't remember any instance where the sword had helped him save people.
With no other option left, the Sword Saint realised there was only one way to get rid of the Archbishop of Greed. He would have to throw Regulus Corneas off the Great Waterfall. Reinhard already knew that this would result in alot of destruction, but the Sword Saint would have to go to any lengths to prove his worth to the kingdom.
After two days of constant fighting, hours of listening to the Archbishop Of Greed making speech after speech after speech and violently infringing upon the white haired man's rights, where Reinhard realized that Regulus Corneas didn't feel tired, the Sword Saint had finally managed to throw the Sin Archbishop of Greed in the Great Waterfall. Just seeing the vast depths of the cascade would send goosebumps to any man, but the Sword Saint was just built differently. Reinhard remembered the face Regulus Corneas made when he was thrown in the waterfall. It was honestly pretty funny, Reinhard would have laughed if not for the collateral damage that had been left behind in the fight. Still, not many people were dead or injured since they were already warned to evacuate. Also, the rantings of the Archbishop of Greed had bought the peasants enough time to fall back from the warzone.
Reinhard let out a heavy sigh as he rested on a seat while the lesser spirits healed him. The Sword Saint didn't possess any real spirit affinity, but lesser spirits were always attracted to him and would heal him if he ever got injured. Another one of those things that made people envious of him. Honestly, if he was the given chance, Reinhard would gladly swap his powers with someone else willing to take the burden of saving the kingdom. He would love to live a peaceful life. Preferably in the peaceful Kararagi City-states.
But it was impossible, since the Sword Saint knew that he would never be allowed to move to a different country unless the ruler himself invited him. The Sword Saint was easily the strongest asset of the kingdom. He could easily wipe out a country if he wanted. He had cried in his sleep the entire night the day the Reinhard law was initiated. Reinhard was barely able to hold back his tears when he heard his colleagues…and those he would assume to be his friends gossip about this as if…as if Reinhard is a monster who can only bring unparalleled destruction to this world and wouldn't hesitate to slay civilians for the sake of his objective.
It was only an hour after the defeat of Regulus Corneas when he saw the mage of the Felt camp, Ezzo Cadner, arrive on a dragon carriage. He was even shorter than his lady Felt. Ezzo had the alias of Grey, which he despised as it made him feel inferior. He was quite jealous of the Court Magician Roswaal L. Mathers, and his titles of the yellow, the green and the red. Ezzo had joined the Felt camp after the mess that had happened in Flanders in the previous year.
As Ezzo ran towards him, Reinhard noticed his distressed red eyes that looked like he had been crying before. His clothes and hair was a mess, yet he didn't seem to care. As soon as Ezzo came face to chest with Reinhard, he immediately shouted.
"REINHARD-SAN! FELT-SAMA HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED!"
"Oh, well tell Felt-sama that she should just wear whatever Carol-san is telling her to wear. She should underst- WAIT WHAT ?!" Reinhard yelled out.
"Yes Reinhard-san, there was an attack on the Astrea mansion, multiple knights and guards are dead. I was trapped after an explosion happened in a room next to mine's. I evacuated Carol-san, Grimm-san and Flam and Grassis. Heinkel-sama was not present. There were no other casualties in the attack but they escaped with Felt-sama." Ezzo started crying out and fell on the ground.
As if the world was laughing at him and his misery, he found out that while he was battling the Sin Archbishop of Greed, another Archbishop had made his move. Reinhard's leg shook as he realized that the attack by Regulus Corneas was nothing more than a distraction. It would've been impossible to attack the Astrea manor and kidnap anyone with him staying around. But for the last two days, while he was busy battling the Archbishop of Greed, the real attack was planned at his own home. There were some casualties in the guards, but most of the Manor's staff was safe. But Felt-sama, Felt-sama, his dear Felt-sama. People said that the world loved him. They are wrong. The world hated him.
"Reinhard-san! I-I f-found this envelope from the r-room F-Felt-sama was k-kidnapped from." Ezzo weakly managed to move his arms into his robe and pull out an envelope, yellowish in color with black and orange stripes. Reinhard's heart was beating at an insane speed after noticing the colors.
'It can't be him. No please no. Not him.'
With shaking hands, Reinhard opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. His eyes widened to unimaginable lengths as his gaze spread upon the neatly written words on the yellowish paper.
Dear Sword Saint
If you're reading this then you must've realized that your precious Lady Felt has been kidnapped by my lackeys. Now now, don't be angry hero boy. You will get chance to save her. You will get a chance to once again show the world what you are. A hero. A hero is all you can ever be.
Let's have a chit chat at the top of the main control tower in Priestella. It's really beautiful there, I must say. If you do exactly what I say you could go happily back to your home and sleep peacefully with your Lady. But bring even a single one of your allies and the head of your lady will dangle from the time tower the very next day.
Good Luck
Love
Pride
The moment Reinhard saw the word 'Pride' he fell to his knees. Pride. The Sin Archbishop of Pride, Natsuki Subaru. The deadliest, most cunning and ruthless of the Archbishops. He was undefeated. Anyone who came in his way was wiped off the world. His mind was the strongest among all of the Witch Cult. While Regulus Corneas or Capella may have possessed incredible strength, even a nobody from the slums possessed more of a sane mind than them. But Pride was different. No one has ever managed to make Natsuki Subaru lose. Even though Reinhard had never seen him personally, just from hearing his fellow knights talk about him and his rumors was enough to send a shiver down his spine.
His Lady had been kidnapped by him. He was a failure of a knight. He couldn't save the one person he swore fealty to. He had failed so many people in his life. The Royal Family, Anastasia, Julius, Joshua, countless civilians….and now, his Lady Felt.
NO!
"Ezzo-san! Get to the knight barracks immediately and notify Captain Marcos of everything that has happened. I am giving you the responsibility of protecting Carol-san and Grimm-san and Flam and Grassis. Take…take care of father." Reinhard said with rising determination, getting back on his feet.
"Understood. Reinhard-san, what are you going to do ?" Ezzo asked him, feeling a surge of hope as the Sword Saint stood tall.
"I'm…I'm going to have a chat with someone." Reinhard muttered.
This was not the moment to give up. This was not the moment to pity himself, to loathe himself! This was not the moment to accept defeat. He had to do something. He had to save his Felt-sama. He had to be.…
The Hero
Author Notes : Soooo, ummm, this fic was something I was inspired to write after I read a pretty short One-Shot on AO3 by NewWriter04. It felt reeeaaallllyyyy epic. But the epicness ended in 753 words. Duh. So I decided to use its concept and expand on a full fledged story.
This is the first chapter of The Sword Saint v The Greatest Knight. This story will have a total of five chapters. Though maybe it can change to six. I don't know.
Also Pupil make sure to upload the Chapter 2 of Lone Star you've been working hard on for so long. :)
I'll see you guys in the next one.
Peace.
