Chapter 62: Old Comrades
Keeping watch over his surroundings to the best of his ability, Leonard made his way across the gas-infused chamber.
His eyes darted across the floor in search of shards. Although the effects of corruption were negligible at best, he knew that when it reached 100%, it would spell his death regardless of the rank of his Bloodline.
One orb quickly rolled over to his foot, moments away from making contact.
Yet he raised his foot before the sphere could touch him, Martin’s death still playing in his mind.
To be on the safer side, he crouched near it and peered deeply within its contents.
"Its color is gold, but it doesn’t let out a shine of its own." He murmured, realizing that was the way to tell them apart.
The fakes merely copied the color, but the true Shards of Salvation gave off a subtle light of their own!
Steering clear of the condensed corruption, he continued to follow the guidance of his pendant, finding another orb not too far away.
The area around this one was illuminated slightly, with the sphere providing a light source of its own.
Leonard reached out and touched it.
[You have come into direct contact with a Shard of Salvation! Your corruption has decreased by 5%!]
[Corruption: 83%]
He nodded in satisfaction.
With every step he took, the party’s yells grew more distant.
"Winston and Harley should be fine on their own. There isn’t anyone out there specifically to get them, and they are smart enough to tell the difference between the fakes and the real spheres. Even if they make an error, they have lower corruption than me, so they have the leeway to make mistakes and learn from them until they can distinguish them." He figured.
After Leonard summoned Valor to deal with the Hollow left behind by Martin, he recalled the knight, not wanting to unnecessarily drain his precious mana.
He found more Shards of Salvation along the way, greatly lowering his corruption until it was no longer at dangerous levels.
[Corruption: 55%]
Finally, after spending an unbearably long time in the Void exposed to corruption, Leonard was able to let out a sigh of relief, the leash around his neck loosening.
"Still... How long am I supposed to walk for?" He mused and glanced at the pendant around his neck. It still blinked like a pulsing heart, guiding him amidst the corrupt gas.
Crack!
A noise startled him. Looking downward, he saw that he had stepped on a human bone, its marrow burned.
"Remains of other awakeners who have been trapped here in the past?... No, it’s not possible. They would have turned into Hollows, and when killed, their bodies evaporated... Then is this caused by fire?"
The discovery greatly puzzled him. Not once ever since entering the temple, and the Silver Palace, had he encountered the fire element. He had felt the cold snow outside, but not fire.
"Strange... What am I missing?" He continued forward.
Gradually, more bones started to pop up, scattered across the ground. Then skulls, until full-fledged skeletons, were lined along the ground.
"It’s like I am in a morgue..."
Finally, Leonard reached the end of the chamber, where human skeletons were piled on top of one another, creating a makeshift hill.
"Do I really have to climb all the way to the top?" He glanced up, slightly unsettled by the sight.
The pendant simply continued to pulse, making his blood run hot.
"...Alright."
Reluctantly, he climbed, moving lightly to avoid breaking the bones beneath to the best of his ability.
Once he reached the peak, his eyes landed on a skeleton that looked different from the rest. Its bones were white, not burned like the others, and the skeleton itself was whole, without a single missing bone.
Most eye-catching, however, was the sword it carried, its hand keeping a tight hold on it even after death.
"Now that I think about it, the first time the pendant guided me was toward Titanic Oath... Could it be that it responds to soul weapons? In that case, there should be a spirit residing inside..."
Eager to test his theory, Leonard extended a hand and touched the blade.
The sword shuddered inside the skeleton’s grip.
[You have called forth the spirit of the warrior Apollo!]
To Leonard’s complete surprise, he wasn’t transported to be judged by the soul weapon like last time. Instead, the spirit inside it manifested before him like a ghost!
Apollo hovered above the remains of his body. His silhouette was blurred, with most of his features hidden, yet it was still possible to discern his muscular physique.
"Leave. Our country fell long ago. It has nothing to offer a young adventurer like you." Apollo declared, his voice stern enough to send chills down Leonard’s spine.
Understandably, Leonard was awestruck, not expecting to actually converse with a ghost. Though, by the looks of it, Apollo’s patience was running thin.
Leonard got the feeling that if he didn’t comply with the spirit’s order, a grim fate awaited him.
"Is that a way to greet an old friend?"
Before he was able to respond, he heard a voice echo beside him. He turned, his eyes landing on Ragnar, the spirit residing within Titanic Oath, who had also taken the form of a ghost.
"You could have done that all this time?!" Leonard blurted out, unable to hold back his astonishment.
"Only under certain conditions, Boy." Ragnar replied calmly, his gaze settling on Apollo.
"Ragnar?" Apollo’s voice carried shock, not expecting to meet an old comrade. "You reside inside a weapon now? What happened? What became of your daughter?"
"I lost, my friend... We all did. That’s all there is to it." Ragnar sighed dejectedly, his voice heavy with regret.
"Even in this form, my powers are severely restricted, so I fear we won’t get to chat about the past. I came out because you were about to disintegrate my successor into smithereens, and I would very much like you to not do that, for old times’ sake."
Ragnar vanished in a blink, just as fast as he had appeared, leaving Leonard alone with the ghost.
Apollo remained stunned for a while, his attention fixed on Titanic Oath reminiscing. Then he slowly shifted his gaze to its wielder.
"You are Ragnar’s successor?" Apollo asked, his hostility disappearing all at once.
Leonard blinked slowly, admiring how fast Apollo was able to shift moods.
"Kind of?" He said, scratching the back of his head. "We formed a contract under the pretext that I would help Ragnar find his daughter while I get to use the weapon he resides in. He also mentioned that he is going to teach me lessons."
"Is that so..." Apollo crossed his arms and nodded thoughtfully. "Make sure to properly thank your mentor when you speak with him again. I was about to make you spontaneously combust for touching the haunted blade."
"Well, thank you for reconsidering..." Leonard’s eyelid twitched slightly.
He couldn’t have known that simply touching a weapon could spell his doom.
’The pendant my mother left has guided me to two spirits by now, and both of them seem to have known each other and were once powerful warriors in their own right. This can’t just be a coincidence.’ Leonard deduced.
"Now that I look around, this place has changed quite a bit. There isn’t a place for me in this world..." Apollo surveyed the corrupt gas encircling them.
Then he looked at Leonard.
"Knowing Ragnar, there is a reason he has chosen you as his successor. I shall follow his example and pass on what I have left to you."