Chapter 615: Grave of the Fallen [3]

Sophia did not utter a single word, only staring silently while Heinz continued to dig through the mud as the rain poured. It was unknown whether Heinz was crying or if it was just the raindrops.

The Calamity Warlord’s hands moved faster and faster, as if he was taking out his anger on the shovel and the ground. Eventually, the shovel broke…

And Heinz let out a bitter laugh… as if amused by the situation, how things turned out almost the same way as he had experienced in the trial.

He had already sensed the Valkyrie standing behind, but he did not look at her. Heinz continued what he was doing…

The warlord placed a gravestone a bit ahead of the dug-up ground, and on that stone, he carved the name of his fallen friend… with the very runic spear that his friend made for him, he wrote the name of his dead friend.

And then with some lingering hesitation, he tossed the spear upon the dug-up section…

Heinz, after that, stood there silently, staring down. After an unknown amount of time, he took a deep breath and spoke in a hollow voice, “You know…”

“I once lost a friend before, my closest friend… my best friend… my brother. Not in this world though, but within the trial.”

“To accomplish my trial with flying colours, I had to kill him, with my own two hands… I had to betray his trust.”

“On that day I promised myself… that I would never let a friend of mine die, never betray their trust, ever again…”

“But in the end, I… failed to save Axel.”

He continued with a bitter smile, “Actually, it’s strange… I only met with this bastard not too long ago.”

“It was not too long ago that we became friends…”

“So, why do I feel so unpleasant, so fucking sad…”

Sophia tilted her head right, looking towards the face of the Calamity Warlord drenched by rain as he spoke those words, but she did not answer Heinz.

The veiled valkyrie drew her own rune sword, which Axel had given her amid the ongoing war with the Ghost race, the blade named Seraphina.

With immense hesitation, she also threw the sword into the dug grave, just like Heinz.

Two distinct footsteps could be heard coming closer from behind. Lumina Suncrest came to stand beside Sophia, looking at the grave with obvious tears in her eyes.

Sophia looked towards the innocent princess, who seemed almost broken by the news, and her eyes widened for a moment as she realised that she was not merely crying because Axel Nomrad had been the one to save her.

Rather, there were more emotions to it, and that was a fact that Sophia had been oblivious to… all this while…

Only then did Sophia come to decipher that Lumina had been in love with Axel Nomrad.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words seemed to get stuck in her throat.

Lucien Suncrest came to stand beside Heinz, looking at the grave with a complicated train of thought.

Though he and Axel Nomrad had a clash of interests initially, in the end he was grateful to the man for saving his sister, which, in his heart, wrote off all the negative points about Axel.

And he really did try his best, but alas, his ruthless father let the Nomrad heir die in the hands of the demon, in fear of the emergence of a second Damien Nomrad.

Lumina placed the rune staff created for her upon the grave, and Lucien also placed his Silverthorn sword there.

As four individuals mourned the death of the Absolute Runecaster, all wearing black clothes, another person was standing not too far behind, just a few meters back, and it was none other than Vyra Vanelis.

But as she gazed at the Nomrad heir’s tombstone, her face did not contain an ounce of sadness. It was filled with a mix of anger and fear because she knew very well, from the thread of the bloodline link, that the demon was very much alive.

Rather, because of everything that happened, specifically the demonic calamity that swept through all of humanity, her rage and disgust for the demon had reached a revolting degree.

Even though the demonic disease had spread among all of humanity momentarily and only a few thousand people died, due to the rampage of the death worms.

The very thought of it chilled her blood that Axel Nomrad might actually possess the ability to kill all of humanity if he wanted to, even as a mere third-phase existence.

One could only imagine what sort of inhumane monster was required to toy with an entire race, billions of innocent people, to absorb their negative emotions and use that to advance his phase.

And that harrowing monster was being painted as a dead hero, now being mourned by Heinz, Sophia, Lumina and even the prince.

The thought of it disgusted her to the core. If only she could speak of the truth and open their eyes to the wretch that Axel Nomrad truly was.

The worst part was that Vyra had actually advanced to become a true demon, after everything that happened. That sinful power was now flowing through her veins, and she was no longer a human. She was afraid… afraid of becoming the same heartless, senseless monster that Axel was.

She clenched her fists, gritted her teeth in frustration, and reigned in her expression and went closer.

Standing beside the four of them.

To keep up her facade, she threw the rune bow that Axel Nomrad had made for her. She had an urge to spit on that grave and destroy that tombstone. She wanted to do that so badly, but could not…

Heinz put the dug-up soil back into the gap with a heavy heart, burying the items Axel had once made for them by hand.

They did this as an act of burying something that contained the memory of Axel Nomrad.

As there was no body of the runecaster left to bury, even his father was missing; only the Nomrad mansion stood like an empty, haunted house, with the owners and the important servants all gone.

***

Seeker’s Note – {Sophia concept art in the comment section and in Discord….}