Author Romeru
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Chapter 59: The Grave Veiled by Flowers
🕑 Added 2024-11-15 17:17:02 +0000 UTC<Kirisuk4: Bros. Transfer to Sword Junkie’s stream! He’s live!>
<Jackdaw: fr???>
<Aureus: its true. Sword Junkie’s alive!!!>
<iLuvUnicorn: bruh. hes in some creepy shit!>
“This… the Sword Junkie’s alive.”
A deep sigh of relief escaped Cyrus’s lips, enough to cause the air in his lungs to completely wither away. After all, he was already planning to rush to a nearby tavern and return to his real body to gather news about Julian. Fortunately for him, even the usually quiet users have started flooding the Chat, sharing updates about Julian and what was happening to him.
“How… would you know that?” And the first to respond was Juliet, who had woken up after being incapacitated by Cyrus himself, “Are you… sure?”
“Yes,” Cyrus replied firmly, nodding as he turned toward Talia and the others, who were still trying to find a way through the dungeon, “Guys! Julian’s alive! We should probably get out of here before anyone else shows up.”
“Wait.” Juliet grabbed Cyrus’s arm before he could step away, “I’m not going to abandon Julian.”
“No one’s abandoning him.” Cyrus once again sighed, “We’re gonna return after more people come—it won’t be good to be the first person here since they would ask us questions about what happened. And the Chat’s going to update us with everything that’s happening, no one’s abandoning anyone.”
“The Chat…” Juliet’s voice softened, her eyes narrowing as she looked Cyrus in the eyes, “They’re watching the boss right now?”
“Yes. I’ve explained this to you before, right?”
“Then… what’s Julian doing right now?”
“They’re saying… he’s been staring down a shadow monster for an entire minute now?”
Talia, Dyrroth, and Titus heard Cyrus’s words just in time as they approached.
“A minute?” Talia muttered, her face carrying a mixture of confusion and worry, “What the hell’s going on in there?”
***
Back deep into the veins of Artemia, it is as the Chat said—no one moved at all. Julian didn’t move, and the shadow crawler didn’t move from its spot.
It had been staring at Julian for an entire minute now, its head tilted slightly to one side, as if curious about him.
Julian assumed it to be copying an Eldazen, after all, it was almost the same size as the Eldazen mage he had fought just moments ago. But it was hard to tell as its silhouette almost seemed like smoke, struggling to maintain its shape.
Aside from its form, it had no features at all aside from its eyes… and its mouth.
Its smile stretched impossibly wide, cutting through the darkness of its face. There were no teeth, just an endless void of blackness that deepened the longer Julian looked at it. The smile didn’t seem friendly. It wasn’t hostile, either. It was just… there.
“Hm…” Julian hummed, his thumb lightly brushing Searadyn’s veil as he waited for the creature to move.
But the only thing moving around them was the silence, only broken by Julian’s breaths. Julian was ready for the creature, but it wasn’t doing anything and showed no signs of doing anything.
And so, Julian did what he thought most people would do in a situation like this.
“Hello…?”
He greeted the shadow.
But the only thing that greeted Julian back was once again silence. The creature had already tried to attack him once, but it was only when he touched the coffin—maybe it was waiting for Julian to do it again?
And so, rather than waiting for something unpredictable to happen, Julian cautiously walked to the coffin. His eyes, however, never left the creature at all, anticipating its sudden attack.
Still, the shadow didn’t move. It simply turned its head to follow him, its black silhouette tilting in sync with his movements.
“Hm.” Julian really only hummed as he stood beside the coffin, and now that he was close to it, the feeling he felt earlier was confirmed—it wasn’t just old; it was perfect. The patterns that were carved on it, the way it glowed and reflected the glimmering flowers—this coffin was crafted to be in this exact same spot, it was made to rest here, exactly here.
Julian reached out, running his fingers along the cool metal. The carvings depicted scenes and figures that felt like they were telling a story, but very much like the carvings on the door, it was incomplete. No, it was complete—but someone defiled it, scratched parts of it away to obscure whatever story it might have once held.
But still, Julian knew. He knew.
“Whoever made this…” He whispered, “...is almost as good as me.”
And as soon as he said those words, a sound came.
A sharp, clicking noise filled the room, quiet at first but growing louder. Julian retracted his hand from the coffin and turned slowly, his eyes locking onto the shadow crawler.
The clicking noise was coming from it. But it wasn’t laughing, no. It was something else, almost as if it was trying to tell him something. But whatever it was trying to say, Julian couldn’t understand at all.
“Hello?” Julian repeated his greeting as he stepped closer to the shadow, making sure his grip on Searadyn’s Veil was as tight as it could be, “Are you trying to tell me something?”
The shadow continued to click several more times. But soon, it tilted its head again to the side, its hollow eyes staring once more at Julian as if checking him. And then, very slowly, the smile on its face faded… replaced by a frown.
A frown even wider than the smile it showed just moments ago. It stretched downward unnaturally, twisting into something unsettling.
“Hm?” Julian raised his shield and rapier as the creature raised one of its small hands, bracing for an attack.
But instead, the shadow didn’t attack at all. It placed its hand on its chest. No, it placed its hand through its chest. And with the clicking noise once again whispering in the air, it pulled something out from its own body—a blade, or at least it seemed like it.
Like the rest of its body, it was a shadow. The weapon seemed to drip darkness, not reflecting anything at all.
The shadow stretched its weapon to the side, its form shifting as it adopted an almost elegant stance. And then, for the first time, it moved.
One small step forward.
Julian let out a small breath as he shifted into a defensive position, but it didn’t take long for him to notice that something was wrong. The shadow was walking toward him, and yet… the distance between them wasn’t shrinking. If anything, it seemed to stretch farther… and farther.
And then, in a blink, the shadow was gone.
No, not gone.
Julian’s instincts screamed at him, and he ducked just as the shadow blade whistled through the air where his neck had just been moments ago.
And he didn’t even have time to counter before the crawler’s small foot snapped toward his chin. He raised his shield to block, but then, the foot suddenly disappeared—striking him in the ribs instead.
“Kh!?” The impact was enough to send him flying, the pain exploding through his chest as he violently rolled across the ground.
And he could feel it. As he groveled on the ground, he could feel several of his ribs scratching each other, completely shattered.
“Ha…” He struggled to push himself up, coughing large amounts of blood and spit on the ground. His breathing was completely ragged, and he quickly grabbed for a health potion that was inside his waist bag—he gritted through the pain, his breaths almost a wheeze.
But alas, he barely managed to open the vial when the shadow suddenly appeared next to him.
And even through the excruciating pain, Julian shifted Searadyn’s Veil into a large shield and covered himself from the attack that was coming. Unfortunately, even with his calmness, the potion slipped from his hand, completely shattering on the ground and spilling everywhere.
Fortunately for him, the shadow didn’t attack at all.
Instead, its already small frame crouched beside him, tilting its head curiously at him. And once again, it just stared at him. And then, with another series of clicks coming from it, it plunged its free hand into its chest once again.
Julian was going to attack while it was busy, but he paused when he saw what the shadow pulled out—it was a health potion.
And it wasn’t like the one Julian had dropped at all. This potion shimmered faintly, a liquid more radiant and pristine than anything Julian had ever seen. The crawler held it out for a moment, even shaking it as if mocking him. And after it seemed satisfied, it took a step back while pointing at the potion with its blade.
It was inviting him to take it.
Julian did not really hesitate at all to grab it. After all, why would it need to trick him?
Just after that single exchange, Julian knew—he knew that he was no match against this shadow at all. That kick alone was much stronger than the daemon he fought, much stronger than the shadow crawlers back at the Mana Chamber—this shadow didn’t see him as a threat at all.
It was toying with him.
“I get it…” Julian wiped the blood from his mouth before downing the potion in one gulp.
Warmth spread through his body, knitting his broken ribs and soothing the pain in his chest. His strength returned as if he’d just woken from a deep, restful sleep. Julian rose to his feet, the potion’s magic working wonders.
The shadow once again smiled, and this time, it gestured to Julian to attack… even lowering its blade while doing so.
“Hm…” Julian could really only sigh as he shifted Searadyn’s Veil back into a shield and rapier, but he didn’t lunge forward. Instead, he held his ground, waiting for the shadow to make the first move again.
The shadow tilted its head, almost as if surprised with Julian’s response. Its smile widened, and then, for some reason… it plunged its sword into the ground.
“Hm!?” Julian’s instincts screamed, and he leaped to the side just as the blade suddenly erupted from the ground where he had been standing.
It… used Julian’s own shadow to attack? How was he going to—!?
Julian didn’t have time to finish his thought as the crawler stabbed the ground again. This time, the blade burst upward from where Julian was landing, forcing him to swing his rapier toward it while still in the air.
“Oh?” Julian quickly noticed the shadow blade withering as he parried it, but he also saw the shadow crawler already pulling another weapon from its chest.
But of course, Julian wasn’t going to let it. He rushed forward, intent on closing the gap before it could even pull whatever weapon it was pulling.
“Wh—!?” But as he charged, his foot caught on something, sending him sprawling to the ground. He quickly gleaned back, but there was nothing there. Nothing to have caused him to trip.
But as he narrowed his eyes, he noticed a leaf floating—no. It wasn’t exactly floating, but it was being held… by the shadow of a flower’s petal?
The shadow… tripped him?
Julian didn’t have time to think at all, however, as he quickly rolled to the side, barely dodging the small hammer that was on the way to completely crush his head.
Julian kicked himself up, leaping into the air to avoid any more attacks. But even as he ascended, the shadow was… suddenly above him, its small hammer raised high.
Julian shifted Searadyn’s Veil into a large shield, bracing for impact.
The hammer collided with the shield, and Julian felt the shockwave rattle through his entire body. And the force was enough to… completely separate the shield into two.
Julian managed to grab Searadyn’s Veil, quickly shifting it into twin rapiers and gritting through the pain of an obviously shattered arm. He quickly stabbed through the shadow even as he fell, but the tip of his rapier was inches short of reaching its neck.
“Kh…!!!” Julian’s back brutally slammed into the earth, his body bouncing from the impact. And Before he could even hit the ground again, the shadow’s small hand grabbed his ankle, its fingers digging through his flesh as it dragged him away.
And then, with terrifying strength, it hurled him across the room.
And once again, Julian found himself rolling violently across the floor before crashing into the wall with a deafening thud. The force, enough to cause the entire cavern to tremble, the wall caving slightly under the force.
“Ha…” Dust and debris fell along Julian as he slumped down the dented and cracked wall—his vision, fading as he felt his bones clawing out from his flesh.
“Oh?” He looked at his arm, which now hung and swung at his side, clearly shattered and dislocated. But Julian gritted his teeth through the pain, forcing himself to move. He couldn’t stop now—if he lost consciousness here and returned to Earth, he knew he would never come back.
And so, even with his arm completely shattered, Julian picked up the twin rapiers from the ground—using whatever strength he had left to turn it into a longsword so he could try to use it with one hand.
And the shadow just casually watched him do all of this, the smile on its face widening as it did so. That smile, however, did not last long at all…
…as Julian let out a smile of his own.
“I… I know what you are now…” And soon, Julian’s smile turned into a chuckle as he looked at the shape of the hammer the shadow was holding, it was a cross-peen hammer, "Or at least what you were...
…a Shadow Blacksmith.”
[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]
AUTHOR NOTES
ALMOST TITLE DROP!!!!
This chapter... took quite a while to write believe it or not. Well, because... well, you know the reason. We're getting a glimpse of Julian's future lol.
So many questions, though. Is the Eldazen shadow crawler really a Shadow Blacksmith? What abilities does it have?
Julian got wrecked and humbled in this chapter, though. lol. Do tell me if you notice any mistakes.
Also, wow. We're reaching the end of Volume 1, brothers and sisters T_T Crazy.
Hard to think I've been writing this story for almost 2 months now or something.
Comments
Manpapper
Thanks for the chapter
