Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 89

Chapter 89: The King Sword – Caelum
Leier’s voice seemed so ethereal and distant that Henry could hear it but couldn’t pinpoint the real source of her voice- “My liege! Wake up!”- Henry only woke up when the shout was followed by a strong shake, which brought him back to his senses.

Henry opened his eyes and impulsively rose to his feet. The sudden movement caused the world around him to spin chaotically, leaving him dizzy and off balance. He was about to fall when a small figure came to his aid, grabbing him by the side and helping him regain his balance.

“Ouch!” – Henry unconsciously screamed but soon shut his mouth, gritting his teeth against the pain. A sharp sensation radiated from his stomach, helping the world around Henry rapidly come into focus.

“Don’t move, my liege!” – Leier’s worried voice sounded beside him- “You’ve been injured. I tried to patch it up, but the cut wasn’t superficial.”

At those words, Henry’s hands traveled to the source of the pain, feeling his hands getting wet and hot. He raised them to his eyes. His palms were painted in red, and the smell of iron wafted to his nostrils, like small ants going to their nest. He looked down and saw a ragged cloth smeared with blood covering the wound near his kidneys.

Henry turned his gaze toward Leier, noticing that the hood that always covered her face and her icy blue eyes were gone. Those blue eyes seemed different from the ones he had seen when he first saw her training in the army. Previously, there was only hate and a deep sentiment of revenge in her eyes, but this time, Henry could only see worry. She was looking at him as if he were the last straw, the light at the end of the tunnel that she could never let it go.

“I am fine…” Henry said, gritting his teeth as he mustered his strength to support his body. He felt the wound stretching, but he didn’t scream like last time.

He silently took off the rags covering the wound, revealing a deep and long cut that allowed him to see the organs inside. The flesh was mending at an incredible speed, thanks to Mana and his strengthened body. However, it was too slow, and Henry could easily pass out from blood loss if it continued. He had to stanch the bleeding.

Without a second thought, Henry took off the cloth and rapidly activated the Sun God Technique, covering his palms with a fiery and hot aura. Soon, the smell of iron was replaced with the smell of burning flesh as Henry gritted his teeth, enduring the pain spreading across his body.

*Tchh* – The sound of burning echoed.

Leier wanted to hurry toward him, to support her king, but Henry rapidly raised his hand and motioned for her to stay put, commanding – “Stay there!”.

Soon, under the woman’s worried eyes, within a few moments, the burning noise was gone, and the wound was cauterized, leaving a long scar in its place.

“Are you fine, my liege?” – Leier concerningly asked, as she watched Henry lean against the wall, exhausted.

“I am fine…”- He responded, gesturing with his hands to indicate that everything was all right, trying to hide the fact that even lifting his hand was tiresome. He had almost used all his Mana reservoir during the fall, and even this slight strain of Mana had overworked his Mana Circuits.

“But, more importantly, where are we?” – Henry asked, trying to divert Leier’s attention from his state. He was a king and should never be seen in such a weak state by his subjects, not even the most loyal ones. He had to maintain the image of an undefeatable being.

Leier’s eyes seemed reluctant to leave the injured king, but she had no other choice but to look around as the king was also looking around. They were in some sort of tunnel that seemed to have been carved through the mountain. It didn’t seem to be made with the intention of extracting the Cold Iron, since the walls seemed to be too well-made, not rugged, even though it was so deep in the mountains, and there were no signs of pickaxes used by miners to search for new veins.

“I don’t know, my liege. I have studied the maps of the mines, but there was no vein around here”- Leier sincerely responded. The worry briefly faded from her voice as her eyes traveled to a huge block of snow that blocked the way.

“We fell there, submerged by the snow. I woke up a few minutes before you and dragged you here.” – She said, pointing to the place where the tunnel was filled with snow and where they had fallen. Luckily, somehow, there was enough light passing through the snow to allow them to barely see their surroundings.

Henry nodded, his eyes scanning the surroundings. On the other side, opposite the wall of snow that blocked the way, was all darkness, and they couldn’t see through it – “I will just catch my breath and recuperate my Mana before we continue. We must find a way back to the troops. They might be in danger.” – Henry said – “You should also try resting a bit; the fall must have had some impact on you. I need you at full strength in case we need to fight.”

Leier’s eyes returned to the king, showing worry again as she nodded her head and responded- “I oblige, my liege!” – She then proceeded to sit next to the king but maintained a respectful distance.

Seeing his obedient subject, Henry nodded his head and closed his eyes, beginning to circulate the Sun God Technique, taking a deep breath of raw Mana and pulling it into his heart before circulating it through his body, transforming it into Fire Mana – “The Mana here is way more concentrated than anywhere else I have seen” – Henry couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart – “It will take less time than I thought.”

-x-

Henry and Leier walked through the corridors for hours without stopping to catch their breath. There was no more pain in Henry’s abdomen, it seemed as if he was completely cured, if not for the long scar on his skin.

“It’s getting denser” – Henry thought.

He could feel that the Mana around was getting stronger and stronger the further they walked into the tunnel. It was already three times more concentrated than in Stahl’s capital, Eisenburg, which was supposed to have the most concentrated Mana in the kingdom.

Furthermore, for the first time, Henry could feel that there wasn’t only raw Mana in the surroundings, but also an energy that he was too familiar with, something he had been using to fuel his techniques: Fire Mana. It was the first time he felt it in the surroundings and not transformed by someone and stored into their bodies. It was as if the air had become a furnace.

“There is light ahead, my liege!” Leier, who was leading the way, exclaimed as she pointed to the end of the tunnel, where a bright light was radiating, sweat was covering her face – “Maybe it’s a way out.”

Without a second thought, the duo hurried their steps. When they finally passed through the light, they reached a wide frozen chamber. There was a huge statue in the middle of the room depicting a man slaying a dragon with thousands of heads, slashing at the beast’s heads with his long sword.

Furthermore, although barely visible due to the ice that covered the walls, Henry and Leier could see the drawings depicting a huge war of humans against frozen demons and beasts that seemed to have emerged from the forests, the oceans, or even the earth. It was a chaotic scene.

“Here lies Garret Von Stahl”- Henry muttered, reading the huge letters carved on the walls – “The bearer of Solarius’s bloodline and the owner of Caelum, the King Sword.”

“Books” – Leier murmured beside Henry.