The Sword of The Past: 11

Chapter 11

Treasured trap

Just as we climbed down the staircase, I leaned against the wall. I didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Elisa, but now that we were alone, I needed a rest. My legs were sluggish, my arms were dead.

“You alright over there?” Markus asked.

“Give me twenty minutes.”

“Very well. But do you really have to show your strength to Elisa and her party?”

I didn’t answer him and just closed my eyes. I don’t need to mind what others think about me, and I definitely don’t need to hide my strength. Afterward, we stood in silence until I could move easily again.

After resting, I stepped forward without a word, and Markus followed me. We walked deeper into the floor. It was dark in there again, but just as we entered, some kind of hall, candles, and torches on the walls and ceiling lit up.

We were surprised for a moment and drew our weapons, prepared to face some kind of adversary. Nothing happened in front of us. Were just rows upon rows of chests. All of them looked the same.

“It is a trap,” Markus commented.

“Is that so? But what if it is not? What if there is a treasure in them?” I asked.

“You can’t seriously believe that? It’s the most obvious trap I have ever seen.”

“Maybe too obvious that it isn’t a trap.”

“Are you really going to risk your life, for what? A pile of gold and silver that might be inside of these chests?”

“Yes, that pile of gold or silver is something that would change my life. If one of those chests are full of them, I wouldn’t need to worry about money for a long time.”

To me, it was simple, money ruled the world. If I had the money, I could live a better life. I could do more than I can now. This was the reason I came to this ruin, for money. It is the reason I become a hunter.

“There are dozens of chests in there. Most, if not all, will harbor some kind of trap,” Markus informed me. “Some might have toxic gas, some might explode, and so on. I have seen people setting all kinds of traps in this kind of chest. And we are talking about a powerful magician who set these ones. Only gods know what is inside them.”

“Even so, that still not a reason to not see for ourselves,” I replied to him.

“I am not risking, and neither are you. We are going.”

“I do not follow your orders, Markus. We are opening the chests.”

We looked at each other eyes. Both of us didn’t want to back off. To me, this room was what I was looking at in these ruins. There was no way I was going to leave it.

“You will go with me if you want it or not.”

With those words, Markus drew his swords. I, too, took off the stone sword from my back. I was pointing it at Markus and waiting. Seeing my actions, Markus let out a sigh and rushed at me.

He stabbed both of his swords at me. I blocked the attack with the stone sword and kicked his stomach. Guts tried to bite at his ankle, but Markus jumped back. This time I rushed at him and swung at him.

Once again, he dodged, but I didn’t stop and swung again and again. Every time Markus got some footing on the ground, Guts would bite him. He had no chance to counterattack me. The stone sword felt like a feather to me at this moment, and he knew that he couldn’t block my attacks.

“Levi, don’t let greed control you,” Markus told me.

“Why not? Who are you to tell me that?”

‘Levi, son, there nothing in those chests that could be of use to you.’

‘No, are going to listen to those bastards, Levi. The Saint doesn’t know the meaning of money, and that bastard has more than he needs. They don’t understand, but you do, don’t you? Money is what rules this world. It always was and always will.’

I agreed with Heavenly Demon on this one. To live a better life, I needed money, and there was a great chance that one of those chests had some treasure. I could not and will not let it go.

“You wouldn’t understand, Markus. I don’t care about power, glory, or fame. All I care about is how I will live and what I will eat. I don’t want to starve ever again. I don’t want to live on the streets.”

“Hah, so this is where we will part, huh?” Markus sighed after seeing that I wouldn’t change my mind.

“Yes, go chase your revenge.”

“Well, I guess you did defeat that boar, so we are even.”

I nodded at him and lovered the stone sword. I watched as Markus smiled and lowered his swords too. I didn’t say anything and turned to the chests awaiting me. But before I could move to them, I felt a chill on my back. Quickly turning around, I saw Markus jumping at me.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to lift the stone sword in time to block him, nor would I be able to dodge his attack. The only thing I could do was watch as the swords fell on me. That until Guts jumped in front of me, being cut into three pieces.

As blood splattered on my face, I felt a rage I had never felt before. I swung the stone sword at Markus with strength I didn’t know I had. Still, he was Silver Rank for a reason and managed to dodge it and jumped back.

“Damn that mutt. Oh, don’t look at me like that. Do you think I would be able to let go of your sword? An artifact that might have hidden power in it. Even if I couldn’t use it fully, I could trade it for another artifact.”

I didn’t listen to Markus. I looked at Guts, who was cut into three pieces. The rage consumed me but didn’t cloud my mind. I knew that I couldn’t defeat Markus, no matter how I fought.

“Heavenly Demon, give me your power.”

‘Why would I do something like this.’

“Heavenly Demon? What are you talking about, Levi?” Markus looked at me with a puzzled face.

“I give you my body to you, but I want to rip that bastard apart myself.”

‘Levi, no.’ Saint tried to stop me, but I didn’t listen to him.

‘Hahahaha, fine, accept my power.’

I let the foreign power into me, I felt my senses strengthening. I could see dark energy seeping out of me. Markus could see and feel it too. He looked concerned at me and, not waiting for me, rushed at me again.

I could see his movements. The stone sword felt like a feather in my hands. Just as Markus closed to me, I swung the stone sword. It was too fast for Markus. All he could do was to try and block me. He did block my attack but was sent flying.

“Shit, so I was right after all. That sword has immense power. I will have it.”

I looked at Markus and imagined how I would rip him to pieces. Maybe feeling my desire, the dark energy filled me more with power. I let the energy back in the sword instinctively. The stone from the sword broke, revealing a black greatsword with white ripples running along the blade.

Not waiting for him, I moved. Bringing the black sword down on him. He again tried to block my attack. Holding both swords in front of himself in a cross. The first sword broke under the weight of the black sword, but the second one held. Still, my attack brought him to his knee.

When I was about to strike again, I saw him take a deep breath. Knowing that he was preparing some skill, I jumped to the side. I was right. Markus let out a gust of the air, where I was standing previously.

Again I attacked him, but now with one sword left, he couldn’t block me and had to dodge. The black sword fell next to Markus, but I extended my left hand before he could counterattack. Just as he taught me, I created airflow and ignited it. Black flames shot out of my hand and followed the airflow straight towards Markus.

Markus screamed in pain as his chest was burned, but he managed to rip his armor and jacket from himself in time to save himself from the flames engulfing him. Markus was breathing heavily, and I felt darkness was starting to cloud my mind. I had to finish it quicker.

“This power, I will have it,” only now did I realize that Markus was acting strange, but I didn’t really care.”It is mine.”

Not caring about his creaming, I rushed at him again. Thinking that I would swing my sword at him once more, he prepared himself to dodge it, but instead, I again extended my palm with a concentrated ball of air. Not knowing what I was trying to do, he lifted his sword to block. The explosion knocked him in the air, hitting the ground hard afterward.

The dark energy protected my hand, but Markus lay on the ground coughing blood. I could smell burned meat coming from him. Markus couldn’t even lift his hand as I walked to him. He knew as I did it was over.

“That darkness, it is mine to have.”

I stood above him and only now realized Markus didn’t care about his situation. He looked crazed, obsessed about the Heavenly Demon’s power to the point he didn’t care that he was going to die.

My vision was already getting worse. Darkness was engulfing me. I had no time to waste. With one swift move, I cut one of Markus' arms off. I cut another arm with another swing, then burned his wounds so he wouldn’t bleed out too fast.

“This power. It is mine, mine.”

Even though he screamed in pain, he still somehow managed to mumble this nonsense. Feeling disappointed with this site, I just burned him alive. He screamed until the point he died. Darkness was already surrounding my vision, but I still had something to do.

I walked next to Guts. I knew I couldn’t bury him. So with the last bit of my willpower, I created red flames in my hands, not the black ones. It didn’t feel right to not use my own power to say goodbye to the good boy that Guts was.

Once Guts turned to ashes, I let myself be consumed by darkness. I could hear the Saint calling me, telling me to fight it. But honestly, I didn’t care what happened to me. So what if the Heavenly Demon consumed my body? I made a mistake in helping Markus. Now I had to pay for my kindness.

‘I said it before, that kindness can and will kill you,’ I still could hear Heavenly Demon’s laughter. ‘Well, I was lucky too. If this room hadn’t had the illusion power to amplify your greed to the point of insanity, that guy wouldn’t have attacked you so halfheartedly. Hahaha, you were a fool, too, thinking you could deal with ruins created by a powerful magician.’

So it was a trap all along, huh. Yes, there is a reason why so many people die in ruins. If the monster inside doesn’t kill you, it will be something else. It could be traps, greed, or other’s people greed. I have fallen to all three of them.