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Chapter 3 - The Battle at the Cursed Pond

The moment Yashiro stepped into the hidden room he had just discovered, a deep sense of foreboding washed over him. The room was small and circular, with an altar in the center. Cracks in the floor radiated out from the altar, as if connecting to something beneath. As if on cue, his leg began to ache and pulse, as though it were reacting to a familiar power lingering in the space.

Yashiro thought to himself: What is this place? I've never seen this room before—never even knew it existed! Father never mentioned it either. As I walk in, I feel an intense pressure, like I'm being squeezed and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. My leg is reacting too. I wonder if they're connected. But I have no time for this now—I'll investigate further if and when I return from this battle.

He closed the door and went to retrieve his sword. The blade resembled a long knife, sharp on both sides, with a beautiful blue handle and a large silver eye embedded at the base of the hilt.

Yashiro to himself: Father gifted this sword to me. He said that if I train hard, I can unlock its full potential, but I wonder what that means. And this silver piece at the bottom—it can't just be decorative. It must have some deeper meaning.

Once again, Yashiro set aside his questions and went out to gather his troops and march out.

Saro: "Young master, you took your time!"

Yashiro: "Yeah, sorry to keep you waiting. I got a bit nostalgic and took a look around the house. I might never see it again."

Saro: "It's true you've never been on the battlefield before, but don't underestimate yourself. You're a great warrior, and I'm sure Master Makato would be very proud to see you now."

Yashiro: "Thanks. I'll see how things work out for me from now on."

Saro: "You're sixteen, and you're already an emperor—not just that. I talked with General Zani about some plans for the upcoming battle. His hands are as stained as any could be. When I told him about your proposal to fight at the Cursed Pond, he said that's exactly what he would have done. You can discuss the details with him when we head out. He'll be coming with his assassin squad shortly."

Yashiro: "Assassin squad?"

Saro: "Yes. A squad of one hundred individuals, handpicked by General Zani himself. Legends say they were once the most notorious serial killers from various lands, but he somehow managed to 'tame' them and bring them under his command."

Yashiro: "It seems I'm really uneducated about our country and its people."

Saro: "Young master, I believe Master Makato wanted to shield you from the darker aspects of life. He didn't want you to stain your hands with blood, as he did, to obtain what now belongs to you."

Yashiro: "Shield me? The training he put me through was horrifying at times, as if he wanted to kill me himself!"

Saro: "He prepared you for days like this but spared you the gore. He didn't want you burdened with dark thoughts."

Yashiro: "I went through a lot of training, and he often told me my skills would one day surpass his. But that dumb young brother of mine didn't get anything! While I practiced, he would chase after animals attracted by his bright red hair. I have to find him as soon as possible!"

Saro: "I will devote my life to aiding you in that task."

Yashiro: "Thank you, Saro. I'm glad Father left someone like you to guide me."

Saro: "I'm flattered, young master."

Zani: "Enough with the talk, you two." Zani's deep voice rumbled, cutting through the conversation.

Yashiro: "General Zani! How long have you been there?"

Zani: "Long enough. Let's move."

Yashiro: addressing the troops "Everyone, gather! We are now to begin our march to the Cursed Pond to intercept the enemy crossing our border! Saro's troops will march straight at the enemy to act as a decoy, while General Zani and I will launch a surprise attack on both flanks once the enemy closes in. Everyone's role will be explained upon arrival! We have half a day to prepare! Now, march!"

The troops made their way safely to the Cursed Pond and settled in for the night before the battle. Yashiro, however, couldn't sleep, his nerves frayed by the anticipation of the coming events. He had never been in a real battle before.

Yashiro to himself: I can't sleep again. How many times has this happened lately? I can't even count. So much has happened that I've lost track of everything since that day when everything went to hell.

Saro: "Can't sleep, young master?"

Yashiro: "Saro! You startled me."

Saro: "Sorry, young master, I didn't mean to. I was just checking the camp to make sure everything is in order. Why aren't you sleeping?"

Yashiro: "I've been on edge ever since that day. Things have happened to me that I can't explain—some of them make it hard to differentiate between dreams and reality. And then there's this leg of mine."

Saro: "What's wrong with it?"

Yashiro: "I can't really explain it, but ever since I was younger, I've had vivid dreams that I later forget. It's always the same. And then my leg begins to hurt—sometimes it feels like it's being sawn off."

Saro: "Have you sought help?"

Yashiro: "I tried. But I think the 'help' I need came to me on its own."

Saro: "What is it?"

Yashiro: "I don't really understand it myself. But I was instructed to go to the Devil's Peak volcano."

Saro: "That's a mythical place. So many stories about it. Some even say it's haunted beyond belief. They claim that from the bottom of the mountain to the top, the higher you go, the more corpses you find."

Yashiro: "I've heard that much myself. I took some time to explore Father's library in the basement of my house and found a very old book about it. It says only a select few can reach the top, that there are invisible walls of protection. Someone has to be incredibly powerful to make it to the summit. And once there, you have to fight against yourself—or rather, the darkest side of yourself. That's why it's called the Devil's Peak. The book says the devils themselves originated there because people were consumed by their darkest sides."

Saro: "You just taught me something. I didn't know any of that! Let's do this: we deal with the Morfiem, and then we'll go to the Devil's Peak."

Yashiro: "Yeah, we've got a deal."

General Zani happened to be passing by Yashiro's tent and decided to join him.

Zani: "Hey, kid. You plan to go to the Devil's Peak, huh?"

Yashiro: "Yes, I have to search for a cure."

Zani: "That's no cure."

Yashiro: "What do you mean?"

Zani: "It's not going to cure you. It's going to teach you to control it. If it doesn't kill you, that is."

Yashiro: "Control what? The pain in my leg?"

Zani: "Not the pain in your leg, but what's hidden in it."

Yashiro: "What could be hidden inside it?"

Zani: "Your father really never told you anything, did he?"

Yashiro: "We can talk about this when the battle is over. I need to hear from you since you seem to know a lot about me."

Zani: "There's nothing to talk about. You have the same problems he did. And I'm not just talking about your leg. Go to sleep now. We've got some dead men to slaughter tomorrow."

Yashiro: "What does that mean?"

Zani: "What?"

Yashiro: "'Dead men.'"

Zani: "Ah, yes. Morfiem is the empire of dead people pretending to live in heaven. Enough with the questions—you're making me annoyed, kid."

Yashiro: "That's no way to talk to an emperor."

Zani: sighs "I'll be leaving you now."

Yashiro slept the rest of the night, and when he woke up, the preparations for the battle began in earnest. He gathered all the troops.

Yashiro: "Is everyone ready to stop these Morfiem scum?"

All of the soldiers: "YES, SIR!"

Yashiro: "As I told you earlier, Saro will lead his squad towards them, making them think he's the only enemy they'll face. When the swords start clashing, I'll attack the right flank with my men, while General Zani will take the left flank, using the forest to our advantage. Let's not waste any more time—get moving!"

As they got into position, they soon heard the Morfiem soldiers marching towards them as one body. Their synchronization was so perfect that it was almost hard to believe the discipline they possessed.

Saro: "They're close enough. ATTACK!"

When the swords clashed, Yashiro and Zani charged from both sides with their soldiers.

Zani: quietly to his hundred men "Give them the hell they deserve."

As the battle raged, Yashiro caught a glimpse of Saro. Saro swung his polearm from horseback, splitting open around twenty heads in one stroke. Some of the soldiers didn't even touch the blade but died in the most brutal way possible—the blood was everywhere! On Zani's side, he blitzkrieged the entire left flank in the blink of an eye, leaving piles of dismembered corpses in his wake. Yashiro thought to himself:

This is no human work. These guys are something else entirely.

The battle was nearing its end, with Yashiro's side dominating the field. But mid-fight, Yashiro started feeling the pain in his leg again, and almost telepathically, both Zani and Saro lifted their heads to look towards him as if they sensed his pain. Yashiro fell to his knees, dropping his sword. Out of frustration, he tried to kick the man he was fighting in the stomach to punish his leg before being cut in half. Then, as if time itself almost stopped, he could see everything nearly frozen. He saw General Zani and Commander Saro looking directly at him to see what would happen. Yashiro stood up and kicked the man, but to his shock, the kick split the man in half as if he had been hit by a catapult boulder. He was so stunned that the pain disappeared, and when he looked up again, Zani and Saro were back at their business, destroying their enemies. That's when he noticed a small group of Morfiem soldiers heading toward the church, not too far from the battlefield.

Zani: "This battle was a decoy!"

Yashiro: "What?"

Saro: "This entire army we've killed here now—it was only a decoy for those fifty men heading for the church! Let's go!"

They were a little late, but when they arrived at the church door, blood was seeping out beneath it. When they opened the door, all they found were pools of blood and the decimated corpses of those who had entered the church.

Yashiro: "What is this, for God's sake?"

Zani: "They were brutalized."

Saro: "The priest didn't do this."

Yashiro: "What in the hell happened here? We were only two minutes behind them!"

Zani: "Something, or someone, with incredible power was here. The Morfiem knew that—that's why they came. They were after it. That's why they sacrificed more than a thousand men out there—so the rest could sneak in here and retrieve whatever was inside. They also knew this would happen to them."

Yashiro: "Then why would they come in here to die intentionally?"

Zani: "This was merely a test of the extent of power this person possesses. That was the whole purpose of this battle."

Some sinister entity or person managed to murder fifty men in less than a minute and disappear without a trace, leaving only chaos behind. Was the enemy aware of this?