Chapter 464: The Abyss Unleashed (1)
– Frey Starlight’s Pov –
"Glory to the Empire."
Those were the words Snow Lionheart made everyone repeat ..Until they became a chant.
A battle cry that the Imperial Army kept echoing throughout the first day of our voyage across the sea.
Our fleet consisted of just over a hundred ships, Carrying the full strength of ten thousand soldiers.
Even in a place as terrifying as the Demonic Sea, A fleet like this was a force to be reckoned with.
Thanks to the overwhelming power we carried, Not a single nightmare creature dared approach us.
Despite their mindless, beastlike nature ..
They possessed a survival instinct strong enough to keep them away.
And so, the fleet advanced smoothly,
Slicing through the waves one after another.
For the past few hours, As I sat atop the mast of our flagship, I could hear the laughter of soldiers below, As veterans shared war stories with younger recruits.
Swordsmen sharpened their blades,
Spearmen inspected their weapons,
And mages went over their incantations...
Everyone was eager ..
Ready to fight for their continent,
And for humanity itself.
Just a few hours remained until we reached the Bay of Shezclar.
The place that, in all likelihood, would host the first clash.
Everyone knew it.
Even though our vanguard squad was expected to handle the major battles,
The tension still weighed heavily on the hearts of the soldiers.
That’s why they were doing everything they could to keep themselves busy ..
Trying to avoid being crushed by the pressure.
Followers of the Church quietly recited their prayers, Asking their god to light the path ahead.
Others spent time with friends ..
I even caught glimpses of couples sharing intimate moments aboard the ships as they sailed toward war.
Scenes like that weren’t uncommon.
Many couples forged love—and even marriage—on the battlefield.
They say that life-and-death moments have a way of pulling hearts closer together.
And among the ten thousand troops in the fleet, The number of female warriors was far from small.
"How romantic... to fight beside the one you love."
When Sansa commented on the scene before me, I realized I had completely forgotten she was even there.
Up here, at the top of the mast where the wind howled the loudest, Sansa had been asleep until now, Her head resting on my lap, Leaving herself completely vulnerable in my hands.
She only opened her eyes the moment mine landed on the couples embracing their passion for love before battle.
Sometimes I wondered if she did these things on purpose.
"Do you really think fighting beside the one you love is romantic?"
"Of course."
She answered, clasping her hands over her chest, Those devilish eyes of hers gazing up at me from below.
"When you find yourself in the middle of a battlefield with the one you love ..
Willing to throw your life away for them if necessary...
Isn’t that the purest form of romance?"
True enough...
To sacrifice yourself for someone you love ..
It was the ultimate proof of the bond you shared.
But I didn’t see it that way.
"It feels more tragic than romantic to me.
If one of them dies, the other lives on, burdened with the guilt of a life lost on their behalf .. Haunted by it every single day."
"That’s not true."
Sansa immediately refuted me, sitting upright beside me.
"If you ever died for me, I’d kill myself right after. So I wouldn’t have to carry that guilt you’re talking about."
I stared at her, Not understanding how she could say something like that so easily... and so bluntly.
"Romantic, sure.
But wouldn’t that make my sacrifice meaningless?"
"Exactly.
That’s why you must never sacrifice yourself for me .. no matter what."
There it was again.
Sansa trying to make me promise something.
But I didn’t.
I wasn’t sure what the future would hold,
So I decided to be honest instead.
"Tell me...
If one day you saw me about to die,
Would you throw your life away for me?"
"Absolutely."
She answered without a moment’s hesitation ..
A smile on her face.
"Isn’t that unfair?
You ask me not to do something you’re perfectly willing to do for me?"
"You’re right...
But my life is worth far less than yours, Frey.
That’s why it’s okay if I die .. But you’re not allowed to."
"Isn’t that just hypocrisy?"
What even defines the value of a person’s life?
On what basis had she decided mine was worth more than hers?
That kind of thinking wasn’t universal.
In fact, to me... it reeked of self-loathing.
As if she hated herself ..
And everything she represented.
"It’s just my own selfishness."
That was her excuse.
And it didn’t convince me at all.
"Sorry... but I’m going to have to reject that kind of selfishness."
Lately, I felt like I had begun to understand Sansa—just a little.
Behind that devilish smile she wore most of the time, There was something deeper.
Something darker, tangled in the depths of her heart.
She looked like a carefree demon on the outside ... But that wasn’t true.
She once told me she was living only for me.
That I was the only reason she kept going.
Her feelings for me were real, and I never denied them .. Doing so would have been an insult to her.
But I didn’t want her to keep living like this.
I wanted her to find a different reason ..
A reason to live for herself, not just for me.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t help her much with that.
How could I, when only a few hours separated me from the enemy?
Placing my palm gently atop her head,
Feeling those ivory horns, I rose to my feet, ready to leap down from the mast.
"Until the day we commit that double suicide you spoke of and die together...
You’re not allowed to die before me ..
And not after me either.
So cling to life with everything you have,
Because I won’t allow you to die."
As I lifted my hand away,
Sansa pressed both of hers to her head,
Fingering the roots of her snow-white hair.
Unlike her usual hostile stance,
She was remarkably calm now.
That always happened whenever I took the lead in this strange bond between us.
And it made me certain ..
That devilish persona she always tried to wear was never her true self.
"Let’s go."
I smiled at her one last time ..
And jumped down.
Sansa didn’t follow immediately.
She remained sitting there for a while,
A storm of thoughts no doubt raging inside her mind...
Then, without warning,
She vanished into her own shadow ..
Joining me.
We were close now.
Close to them.
To enemy territory.