Haymand’s Blood - Chapter 4

“It wouldn’t matter even if he never woke…”

Serenity’s long, silver hair shimmered like threads of moonlight as her indifferent voice slipped between her full, rose-petal lips. Sitting by the window, she leaned against the frame, gazing distantly at the sky.

How many times had it been now…?

It could have been the fifth time, or perhaps the sixth. She tried to count silently, but soon gave up, letting her head tilt back slightly. She knew it was a meaningless exercise. Each time she awoke, many memories from the past faded away. She could only estimate the number of awakenings from the fragments that remained, though even those memories were often confusing and blurred.

If only she could remember the generations of Haymand descendants she had embraced, she might have been able to keep track. Yet strangely, she couldn’t recall a single one. It was as if someone had entered her mind and wiped them away.

How long would it be until she slipped into slumber again…

Her languid gaze drifted aimlessly into the empty air. Whether she was waking or drifting back to sleep wasn’t up to her will; it depended solely on the flow of time and the actions of Haymand’s bloodline. Slowly, Serenity’s eyes closed. Surrendering herself to the gentle breeze, she murmured softly.

“Come to me and quench my thirst, child of Haymand. Only then can I drift back into sleep…”

Today, the nobles cast wary glances at the emperor, who appeared notably ill-tempered. He rarely smiled during council meetings, but today his cold aura was especially intense.

“Next,” said Kairos.

In response, Marquis Chelto rose to speak.

“The next agenda item is… the conquest of the vassal state, the Kingdom of Alito, as commanded by Your Majesty. Due to the unexpectedly large number of troops and funds deployed in the conquest of the Kingdom of Kazar, however, the planned timeline will likely be delayed by around… two months.”

Marquis Chelto swallowed hard, carefully gauging the emperor’s mood before continuing. Why had he been the one to deliver this news? He felt like crying, fully aware that the emperor detested delays. And, as expected, a chilling voice cut through the air.

“Did you say two months?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Otherwise, we would only be able to mobilize around two-thirds of the forces deployed in the last conquest.”

Marquis Chelto answered honestly, feeling resigned. Better to get it over with than to be whittled down under the emperor’s icy reprimands. Surprisingly, though, the anticipated scathing responses like, Are you trying to toy with me, or have you lost your mind, Marquis? didn’t come.

“Two months, you say…”

Kairos crossed his long legs and sank deeply into his throne, lost in thought. Normally, he might have retorted, but a passage he read yesterday from the Imperial Chronicles resurfaced in his mind. As Serenity had mentioned, there was a brief mention of her in less than half a page of the chronicles. Remembering how he had combed through the entire tome until dawn to find that reference, a frown crossed Kairos’s elegant face.

At least it hadn’t been a wasted effort. Through his reading, he had finally understood why the empire launched a conquest every three hundred years.

Serenity, once known as the Goddess of War and the Goddess of Death, was indeed the empire’s ultimate weapon for conquest.

“If the Imperial Chronicles are accurate, there’s no need for two months’ delay. With her alone, even with only two-thirds of our usual forces, we could easily crush the Kingdom of Alito—assuming the stories are true.”

Frankly, the records in the Imperial Chronicles were hard to believe for the average person. If Kairos hadn’t encountered Serenity himself and witnessed her strength firsthand, he would have dismissed them as nonsense.

Resting his chin on one hand and tapping the throne’s armrest with his fingers, Kairos frowned as a sharp headache throbbed behind his temples. The strain of dealing with Serenity’s arrival, coupled with staying up all night reading the records, seemed to have brought on this headache. He thought he should rest, but then noticed Marquis Chelto, still standing there, tense and expectant, as if bracing for scathing words.

Annoyed, Kairos waved a dismissive hand and rose from the throne.

“Prepare with two-thirds of the forces for now, Marquis Chelto. You said that much could be managed, so it better be done.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty,” stammered the marquis, taken aback by the straightforward command instead of the expected rebuke. Though his face was hidden, he was surely thinking, What’s gotten into him?

Kairos looked around at the other nobles, who, like Chelto, wore expressions of stunned disbelief. A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

“We’ll end today’s meeting here. We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning. And come prepared; I won’t be as lenient then.”

As Marquis Chelto and the other nobles sighed in relief, the council chamber doors swung open, and the chamberlain quickly approached Kairos.

“Your Majesty, you’re needed at the Imperial Knights’ training ground immediately…”

Kairos’s eyes narrowed in curiosity at the chamberlain’s urgent tone.

At the training ground, Serenity looked down with disdain at the fallen Imperial Knights scattered around her. In her hand was a wooden training sword.

“You’re the weakest Imperial Knights I’ve ever seen. I wonder if you’re even capable of performing your duties…”

She clicked her tongue softly, and the knights on the ground flushed with shame. Several still hadn’t regained their senses after being struck by her wooden sword.

In truth, Serenity hadn’t planned to visit the training ground. She had simply been sitting idly by her window when the sound of clashing swords caught her attention, drawing her to the scene out of curiosity.

The training ground was no longer where she remembered it to be, so Serenity hadn’t expected the sounds she heard to be coming from it. When she arrived, she found that three hundred years had utterly transformed the place. As one of the few memories she held clearly—perhaps because it was tied to combat—she could easily compare the training ground as it was now to how it had been. Not only had the location changed, but the size and facilities were far beyond what they had been. Perhaps that was why she decided to stay and look around rather than leaving immediately, as she usually would.

She felt the harsh stares of knights around her, who seemed displeased after witnessing how she had ruthlessly cut down her opponents the day before. But she was unfazed; such looks were as familiar to her as the air she breathed.

As she glanced around the training ground, her eyes fell upon a large container filled with crude wooden training swords in a far corner.

“…”

Serenity stopped in her tracks, staring silently at the wooden swords. A faint memory surfaced from the depths of her mind, a memory long buried.

“This is for your practice. We prepared it just for you.”

“Is it too heavy? Then I’ll get you a lighter one.”

A gentle, sweet male voice echoed in her ears. Almost entranced, she walked toward the container and picked up one of the wooden swords. Although the design and size differed, the feeling in her hand was exactly as she remembered.

But the faint nostalgia quickly gave way to hatred. She didn’t know why, but a nearly uncontrollable fury surged through her, consuming her entire body. She needed an outlet.

Just then, her eyes landed on the Imperial Knights glaring disapprovingly at her. Unluckily for them, they became the targets of her pent-up rage simply because of those looks.

“Still not enough…”

Even after knocking down every knight in her vicinity, Serenity felt unsatisfied. Twirling the wooden sword in her hand, she noted that while her thirst hadn’t returned, her anger still hadn’t subsided. She wanted to move her body a bit more, when suddenly, a stranger’s voice interrupted.

“Then perhaps you’d care to face me?”

The voice was low and emotionless, but not cold. Turning, she saw a handsome man, neatly dressed in uniform, approaching her. He was tall, nearly as tall as Haymand’s bloodline heir she had seen at the banquet.

Serenity’s red eyes slowly scanned the man from head to toe, finally meeting his intense violet gaze. A faint smile of intrigue crossed her lips.

“You’re not too bad,” she said. “Very well—come and show me what you can do…”

The dark-haired man, Asild Ormand, felt a tense chill ripple through his body as he looked at Serenity. Despite the fact that she only held a wooden sword, a fearsome aura emanated from her, enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

So Roy wasn’t exaggerating, he thought, recalling Lloyd’s frightened expression as he trembled, calling her a monster. Asild, known as the “Black General” due to his dark hair and renowned as the Empire’s strongest swordsman, wasn’t under any illusions about defeating her. He could sense her overwhelming strength.

Yet his request to spar with her wasn’t driven by a desire to avenge the fallen Imperial Knights. Rather, it stemmed from pure curiosity—a longing to see her swordsmanship firsthand. Therefore, the wooden sword in her hand didn’t satisfy him.

“I would prefer if you faced me with a real sword,” he said.

“A real sword, you say? Hmm…”

Serenity raised a delicate eyebrow at his request. It was easy enough to oblige him, but…

After a moment’s thought, she tossed the wooden sword behind her without even looking. It sailed precisely into the container she’d taken it from, landing upright among the other training swords.

“Then let’s use this,” she said, picking up a sword lying on the ground nearby—a weapon dropped by one of the Imperial Knights she’d defeated earlier. Her choice puzzled Asild.

“I had heard you wield a greatsword.”

“Ah, yes, that’s true…”

Serenity casually swung the sword to shake off the dirt clinging to its blade, then let her arm drop, her gaze fixed on him with a beautiful yet chilling smile.

“My sword only returns to its sheath once it’s tasted blood. And since I can sense the unmistakable scent of Haymand’s bloodline on you, you must be someone precious to him. If I kill you, he would surely hold it against me. So, be content with this. I’ll entertain you as long as you wish.”

“In that case, I won’t hold back,” Asild replied, unsheathing his sword. His heartbeat quickened. The only time he felt this surge of adrenaline was when he faced a truly formidable opponent.

Asild struck first, his blade slicing through the air to meet hers. Their swords collided lightly, as if testing each other’s strength, but the result was immediate—Asild was forced back two or three steps by the sheer force of her strike.

“…”

As his sword met hers, Asild felt a sharp, numbing vibration through the blade and looked down at his hand. It had only taken a single clash to sense her overwhelming strength. His heartbeat quickened, and he charged at her once more.

Their swords danced through the air at blinding speed, so swift and complex that it was difficult to follow their movements. Remarkably, Serenity stood almost rooted to the spot, deflecting every one of his strikes with ease. No matter how relentlessly he attacked, he couldn’t find a single opening in her defense.

Was she always this strong?

Forced back once again, Asild clenched his teeth in frustration, his gaze fixed on her. She stood there calmly, sword hanging loosely by her side, as if she were an immovable ancient tree, impossible to cut down.