Heart's Valor; that was the name of the greatsword wielded by the holy hero, Valentine, to defeat the archdemon Helleborus, a wicked creature that, after murdering the saint's wife, prepared himself, like all great demons, to destroy humanity.
Everyone in the throne room fell silent and clenched their fists upon learning that the rebels had found such a weapon of legend.
The greatsword was a piece a meter and a half long and half a meter wide, forged of white steel, with a curved pommel hilt adorned with the gems from the necklace of Valentine's late wife. It looked like a decorative weapon, far too heavy and cumbersome to be carried by a single person. But Valentine handled it with the nimbleness of a rapier, capable of cutting ten men lined up in a row right down the middle. Legend hath it that the love the hero and his wife professed for one another was so powerful that it pierced the veil of death and allowed him to lift the blade, as he possessed the strength of two people.
"Heart's Valor is a mighty weapon, yet their possession of it meaneth not those two traitors can wield it," Lynel explains, his brow furrowed and trembling, though his gaze soon widens in horror. "Unless...!"
Saint Valentine passed away of old age at 93, without remarrying or leaving behind any descendants, and Heart's Valor was driven into his tomb. Ten years after the hero's death, a dark cult attempted to resurrect the archdemon Helleborus, and it fell to the lover heroes, Colonna and Brian, to stop the evil. To do so, they claimed the greatsword from the tomb. Unlike Valentine, they wielded Heart's Valor together, which entailed an extreme need for coordination, but they gracefully defeated the cultists before they could resurrect the archdemon.
"The question I ask myself is how they managed to find a legendary weapon that hath been lost for centuries," Axiel remarks, resting a hand beneath his chin.
Colonna and Brian did have a long lineage, which ended when their ten great-great-grandsons began a war to hoard the family's inheritance and treasures. Each descendant gathered a small army, sparking a conflict baptized as The War of the Lovers' Tears. Each descendant, alongside their respective partner, visited the saint's tomb and tried to claim Heart's Valor, but the greatsword responded to none; it remained as heavy and immovable as a mountain.
Colonna the Red, named so to distinguish her from her heroic great-great-grandmother, emerged victorious from the War of Tears. But soon the gods showed their displeasure, and upon discovering her infertility, she took her own life by smashing her head against the flat of Heart's Valor. An elderly mage, who had been saved by Colonna and Brian when he was a boy, decided to hide the tomb and burn all records referencing it.
The greatsword remained lost until, by the hand of fate, it was found by the dark hero, Hiroshi, companion to the Mage King.
Hiroshi was labeled a dark hero because, during the pacification, his wife and daughter were violated and murdered by King Perseverer, giving way to a cruel crusade where Hiroshi spared no women, elders, or children. The legend recounts that as Hiroshi dismembered Perseverer in front of his descendants, Heart's Valor recognized that what drove Hiroshi was no longer the pain of lost love, but the madness of sadism, and it ceased to answer to him in that very instant.
Regardless, Hiroshi did not need the greatsword to finish off Perseverer and enslave his family. Hiroshi took Perseverer's daughter as his wife, though no bond of affection ever existed between them, and Perseverer's daughter eventually committed suicide alongside the firstborn child she had been forced to bear.
Hiroshi returned to the fiefdom that the Mage King granted him for his great deeds during the pacification, a territory the dark hero ruled as a tyrant. Kazuto, the Mage King, never judged his old friend's actions. Some historians argued that the Mage King lacked the strength to punish Hiroshi's sins; others argued that for the Mage King, only the future mattered, and his greatest concern was always the unification of humanity, regardless of the cost.
The history of the greatsword continued with a great irony: the archdemoness Bloferan, daughter of Helleborus, recovered Heart's Valor from the ruins of Perseverer's castle and used it to kill Hiroshi. She then made her famous—and infamous—declaration at the feet of the fallen hero:
The era of man is over. The era of demons beginneth!
A week later, Bloferan was destroyed by the Mage King.
According to wise men, an inviolable rule regarding demons is that they are incapable of feeling, and though sweet words or useful inventions may spring from their mouths, their ultimate goal is to lead humanity to its destruction. Bloferan's lies must have been so precise that they deceived the mighty weapon.
Aoi, a powerful warrior who arrived alongside Kazuto and his group of extraordinary individuals, was the last user of the greatsword, and in her old age, she decided to hide the weapon before dying. Her motives remain unknown.
"Queen Aori, being a descendant of the great Aoi, must have found a clue after reviewing the family archives," Hilda comments, opening her single eye. "And King George is a known scholar, well-versed in history and legends. By joining both their minds, finding Heart's Valor was bound to be an inevitable feat."
"But King George already hath a sweet wife!" Lynel exclaims, shaking his head, turning red with indignation. Being a man advanced in years, he held very strong convictions regarding marital loyalty.
"'Tis impossible to govern the choices of the heart," Axiel remarks.
Hilda glances sideways at the red-armored captain, but soon her attention returns to Lynel. The third captain kneels before the king and bows his head.
"Choose me, Your Majesty! I shall join the vanguard of the kingdoms and help quell this rebellion, which in turn is an offense to all our traditions! I know that after the invasion our forces be not at optimal numbers, but I shall need only a hundred good men and women to help right this treason."
King Marc closes his eyes and meditates inwardly. Axiel decides to speak, bowing to the king with his hand near his heart.
"A hundred swords might make the other kingdoms think we are not committed to unity. At least double that amount should be sent. I myself shall assist Captain Lynel in the selection of the soldiers."
"Thy trust and support please me, Captain Axiel!" Lynel exclaims, nodding in satisfaction and then directing his gaze to the king, awaiting his decision.
The messenger departed carrying in his leather satchel Marc's decision: 150 soldiers from the kingdom of Stoicus would be sent to the army destined to quell the rebellion. The three captains headed to the war room to discuss preparations, using the information brought by the messenger as a baseline.
Come nightfall, the words war and rebellion became a constant among the chatter of soldiers and civilians.
In the inn of The Illustrious Scullery Maid, a modest and comfortable tavern located within the limits of the third wall, beside the West exit, Marcus and Pit share a round of frothy beer near the wide stone fireplace, upon which rests a pair of giant sea serpent horns as a trophy, easily recognizable by their emerald color and spiral design.
"And with this blade, I shall cleave the hands of the traitorous lovers in a single stroke!" Marcus exclaims, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at the ceiling, only to show a nervous smile, carefully sheathe it, and scratch his cheek near the line of his scar. "That is, of course, if I manage to reach them to present my challenge."
"If Queen Aori doth not reach thee first," Pit says with his usual broad, good-natured expression. "Going by her moniker, 'tis safe to assume she knows how to fight."
"The-Widow-Maker, is it not?" Marcus closes his eyes, sighs, and lets all his weight drop onto the stool. "What a sinister moniker for a woman..."
"'Tis a sinister moniker for anyone, Marcus. If we are chosen to march to battle, we should serve where we are placed, not chase the sharp end of Heart's Valor," Pit says, taking a long gulp of beer.
Baldo appears, but to his friends' surprise, he does not arrive alone, but with a woman on his arm. The female wears heavy makeup that highlights her features and conceals her flaws; she is dressed in red, with a plunging neckline and a tight skirt that reaches her knees.
"Greetings, lads! Allow me to introduce the new mistress of my sighs! My wife!" the hook-nosed soldier exclaims with a wolfish grin.
The woman extends her hand and waves her fingers, upon which rests a copper ring with a tiny diamond in the center.
The announcement comes so unexpectedly that Marcus's jaw drops, and he almost drops his mug of beer to the floor if Pit hadn't caught it. Pit remains serene throughout, nodding in the redhead's direction.
"Greetings, Red."
"Greetings, Pit," Baldo's wife replies.
Baldo sighs and crosses his arms.
"Tell me not that ye know each other," the lancer remarks.
Pit nods again. Red lets out a giggle.
"I helped him ease his burdens after the dark elf invasion. He was most kind to me." Red's long eyelashes shift toward Marcus. "Thou art handsome; I could help thee rest better as well."
Marcus's eyes widen like saucers; he rises from the stool and instinctively backs away until he is out of reach of Baldo's lance.
Seeing the boy's reaction, Baldo raises an eyebrow before laughing, stepping closer, pulling him by the arm, and bringing him back to the table.
"All is settled, Marcus," the lancer says.
"Settled...?" Marcus looks at him, uncomprehending.
"A war approacheth, and with Saint Valentine's festivities so near, a colleague from the castle warned me that Captain Lynel plans to take only the unwed to war," with that said, Baldo releases Marcus to go and wrap his arm around Red's waist. "Fortunately for us, mundane infantry soldiers, Red hath friends willing to settle down... At least for a week or two, and for the price of a pretty ring."
Baldo and Red laugh. Pit lets out an Oooooh, impressed by his comrade's ingenuity. Marcus sighs and returns to his mug of beer; marrying just to avoid fighting seemed like an exaggeration to him.
Neither Marcus nor his comrades needed to worry about the war. The next day they discovered that their names were not written on the roster of those requested to go fight.
Lynel led the march on foot, taking with him two rows of 75 soldiers, four wagons loaded with reserve supplies, and a medical cart.
Those who remained in the kingdom wished the brave chosen ones luck, many rejoicing at being able to spend the holidays with their loved ones. Ignorant of the storm that was brewing.
Meanwhile, in the castle's dungeon...
«I still don't have enough ether to create it without it hurting... But it's worth getting a head start on the design.» Jimbo murmurs inside the crystal.
In his ethereal personal space floats Jimbo's attempt to create a legendary sword. Aided by his imagination and what Hilda told him about Heart's Valor (Jimbo told her it was mere curiosity), the greatsword slowly takes shape.
«It was a good idea to tell Dowmy to leave me a chicken bone from her lunch; if it were up to her, she'd eat the plate too.»
A blade of curved bone that widens toward the tip like a scimitar, almost two meters long and over half a meter wide, with a hilt of feathers and hide. It was a savagery; no normal human could wield something like Savage Fang. Nor did Jimbo expect to find a user; it was a prototype, a proof of concept. He discovered that by spending ether he could add special abilities to it, for example, that upon meeting certain conditions it could be used regardless of its weight.
«Just like Heart's Valor.»
The idea came to him after listening to the debate about the war.
«A war that, I repeat, is none of my business. Even if I'm a super strategist with over 2000 hours in Kard10k, it doesn't mean I have to go around giving advice for every fight.»
A part of him, his ego, would love for Hilda and the king to ask for his advice. He could make use of everything he learned during his past life. But Jimbo also understands that revealing too much of his own nature could endanger the delicate balance he managed to forge.
«I have to stay focused on myself, on growing, on improving.»
Aside from creating the miner cavemen, Jimbo spent time researching his origins. For that, he brought Marnie to the core room, using Dowmy as an interpreter.
Aria, Celtia, and Eularia are the three great continents of Fantasia. The fourth major continent lacks an official name more due to its infamy than to indifference; some call it the end of the world. Arrax traveled to the fourth continent to obtain a dead dungeon crystal, where through experiments in which he used human slaves, goblins, imps, and reanimated corpses, he ended up creating the entity that would later be known as Jimbo.
«Men, goblins, imps, and undead... It's as simple as putting two and two together.»
Those are the four types of summons he possesses.
Following that hunch, he asked Dowmy for a sample of another creature, and as soon as the bone touched the crystal, a beep sounded and the following system notice appeared:
Available tribes:
-Human
-Goblin
-Imp
-Undead
-Dinosaurs unlocked!
Jimbo widened his ethereal smile.