Chapter 444: Echoes of the Cataclysm (1)
The world had undergone countless changes, and even the smallest of events cast the darkest shadows, stretching far across the horizon to shape a grim future.
Danzo was dead.
No .. he was killed, brutally, his body left to freeze amidst the snow.
In one corner of this bleak scene, you could see Frey Starlight, dragged away by his friend Ghost... broken, unable to hold himself together after killing Danzo with his own hands. Now, he was forced to live on, bearing the consequences of his actions.
What a wretched soul .. Frey, a man who didn’t even have the freedom to die, yet was forced to kill those dearest to him with his own hands.
The weight of that reality crushed him.
But Frey’s tears were not the only ones shed that day.
Elsewhere, an hour later, the Silver Dragon Guild finally reached the same place.
There, before the eyes of all his guild members, Adam Smasher embraced the lifeless body of his only son.
Adam wept and wailed, feeling the coldness of the life that had escaped his son’s body.
Danzo was disfigured, a monstrous, demonic hand having burst from within his body, destroying half of his face. With a gaping hole in his chest, he was unmistakably dead.
Like a wounded beast, Adam Smasher let out a heartbreaking cry that made even the strongest among those present turn their faces away in pain.
That towering man had just lost everything.
His wife was gone. His closest friend, Isaac Cloud, was gone.
And now, his only son, the one he loved above all else, was gone too.
Torn between deep sorrow and raging fury, Adam could do nothing but scream until his voice gave out. His eyes burned red with hatred, vowing to hunt down whoever was responsible for his son’s death.
An eye for an eye. Blood for blood.
In the end, someone would have to pay the price.
And so, the curtain fell on that bloody night, giving way to a new day in the empire, one shaken by these devastating events.
News of Danzo’s death spread quickly, and a grand funeral was held in his honor.
Many high-ranking officials attended, along with Danzo’s friends, including Snow Lionheart—the hero of the church—who had been secluded in solitary training ever since surviving the ordeal in the Ultras Continent.
Who could have imagined that the first thing awaiting him upon his return would be the news of Danzo’s death?
It was a painful blow.
Most of the surviving elite students gathered at the funeral.
No one was allowed to see Danzo one last time. Adam didn’t want anyone to witness the monstrous state his son had been left in.
Everything was done in silence .. amidst hearts grieving, and others burning with hatred toward whoever was behind this tragedy.
But among them all, Danzo’s closest friend was missing.
Frey Starlight was nowhere to be seen.
Everyone came to pay their respects, whether close or distant. Even Ada Starlight herself was present.
But the one closest to Danzo was absent, nowhere to be found.
Ghost, too, was missing, raising even more questions.
Yet since they were Danzo’s closest friends, many assumed they simply couldn’t bear the pain, retreating from sight to grieve in silence.
But the truth was far removed from that simple explanation.
In the end, Danzo was buried. And with him, the final mission that had broken Frey’s heart and left his suffering to linger on.
...
...
...
Time moved on.
And the turmoil within the empire continued to grow.
In the western reaches of the empire, specifically in the territory under House Moonlight’s command, the emperor’s delegation gathered .. led personally by Sir Alon ... waiting at Winterfell’s Grand Port.
The port was vast and heavily fortified, functioning as a military base in its own right.
It was from this very place that Maekar Valerion had launched his ill-fated raid, the one that ended in disaster, leaving the empire’s main forces missing in action.
The consequences of the defeat at Shizkclar Bay were massive. Losing the empire’s primary military strength was only one of the many crises shaking the nation.
Now, Sir Alon was forced to face the anger of the people, who had finally broken their silence.
Previously, when the Ultras invaded and slaughtered countless citizens and their children, the emperor made no move.
But now .. only because his own sons and the children of the great noble houses had been kidnapped—Maekar immediately rallied all forces for a raid many described as suicidal and reckless.
How many fathers left their families to answer the emperor’s call?
How many parents said their tearful goodbyes to their children, praying for their survival in the coming battle?
And how many ambitious men had their dreams crushed, now listed among the missing?
All of this weighed heavily on the hearts of the people, especially after the latest widespread assault by the Ultras.
This is why the mission entrusted to the Sword Saint, Vendrick, carried such critical importance. There was no room for mistake.
Standing there, accompanied by many veteran warriors who once again raised their swords for his sake, Sir Alon Valerion watched from afar as a broken ship slowly drifted toward the harbor, carried by the waves.
In mere moments, the vessel docked .. and one by one, the survivors disembarked.
And first among them was the Sword Saint himself, alongside the Grand Assassin, Mist Umbra, and the Church’s Bishop, Joseph Blatier.
All of them looked exhausted and wounded.
As if they had just survived a long, grueling battle.
"Vendrick..."
Sir Alon spoke softly as he approached his old friend.
For a moment, Sir Alon feared the mission had failed, given that the Sword Saint’s ship was the only one to return.
But Vendrick surprised him, pulling a black cube from his torn robe.
"Here. This is what you were looking for."
Tossing it toward Sir Alon, Vendrick walked past him without another word.
Holding the cube in his hands, Sir Alon was momentarily confused .. until he realized what it was. His son, along with the others, was sealed within it.
The Sword Saint had succeeded.
Sir Alon turned to call out to Vendrick, wanting to finally speak the words that had weighed on his heart.
But the Sword Saint simply raised his hand.
"I know... she’s dead, isn’t she?"
Stunned, Sir Alon froze, staring at Vendrick, wondering how he knew of Millicent’s death.
But there was nothing left for him to do but apologize.
"I’m sorry."
It was his mistake, after all .. he was the one who had sent them back into battle in the first place.
Yet Vendrick did not blame him. He said nothing at all, his face void of expression, as he walked away slowly, gazing up at the sky.
"We cannot escape the chains of fate."
He had known this would happen. It was inevitable.
But even knowing that, he could do nothing but bury his sorrow and continue living.
Ever since the blue-eyed one had shown him the future long ago, the Sword Saint had prepared himself for such tragedies.