Chapter 21: Golden Sword

Aries should not have hoped that things would get better for them. Bad things kept on happening to him ever since he arrived in that world.

When they reached the eastern border, the lion statue was being hammered into pieces by the possessed people. That was the reason no enemy had intercepted them on the way there.

The four of them rushed to the statue and tried to save it from further damage, but a stronger enemy had stopped them.

It was Merrick. The man who wanted to take possession of Sunrei's body. He was wielding a golden sword named Demise.

In the memories that Master Kiel had shown Aries, Sunrei was wielding that golden sword. But at the present, Sunrei was using an ordinary silver sword and Merrick was the one holding the golden blade.

Is Merrick the real Sunrei? Then who is in the body of Sunrei?

Aries shook his head and focused on their goal. They had to save the lion statue.

"Take care of Merrick," Aries jumped on the head of the statue. "I will stop the corrupted souls."

Pieffer, Sunrei, and Leon listened to his instruction.

Vermillion became a bow once again and Aries converted his energy into arrows. He noticed from their last battle that when the ram's horn erupted from the side of his head, his arrows were becoming more effective against the enemies and his energy was not being drained so easily.

He fired arrows at the hovering corrupted souls before targeting the possessed people. He was careful in aiming his arrows. He should save those people, not kill them.

Aries never thought that he was good at shooting arrows. He rarely used a gun. A knife was the best weapon for an assassin like him. That was the reason he was amazed at his archery skill.

Aries dropped to his knees after he consumed the last corrupted soul in the area. The memories flashing in his mind were making him dizzy every time and he had to wait for a few minutes for everything inside him to calm down.

As soon as he felt a little better, he joined Pieffer, Sunrei, and Leon in fighting Merrick.

"Pieffer, Leon, you should conserve your strength. Go and check the statue," Aries instructed as he landed in front of Sunrei and deflected the golden sword. "Leave Merrick to us."

For a second, Pieffer was hesitant then she nodded and pulled Leon towards the statue.

"What do you think you are doing?" Aries asked Sunrei who looked like he had seen a ghost. "Are you that scared of Merrick? If you can't fight him then go and join Pieffer and Leon in checking the statue," he hurled the golden sword away and kicked Merrick in the face, sending him rolling on the ground a few meters away.

"I'm sorry…" Sunrei turned to approach the statue.

"But you can't keep on running away," Aries made Sunrei froze in place. "If you want to stay in that body, you have to fight for it. You have to win over Merrick. If you can't, then it is better for you to just surrender."

"But I…"

"Don't you want to stay with your sister and keep on protecting her? Will you let that man take over your body and hurt Pieffer?"

"I don't want that to happen!" Sunrei tightened the grip on his sword and faced Aries. "I am Sunrei! I will protect my sister!"

"Then fight," Aries deflected another attack from Merrick and Sunrei went on the offensive. He slashed his sword, but Merrick had quickly jumped away from the blade.

Aries stepped aside to give Sunrei a chance to fight for what he truly desires.

Merrick was fast. His footsteps were as light as a feather. It was like watching the Sunrei he knew from his world.

Prince Sunrei could also move as swiftly as his opponent. He could parry and counter every blow.

Watching them felt like observing two similar yet different people. And the longer Aries gazed at them, the more he felt odd.

Prince Sunrei was thoroughly careful in approaching Merrick. He was swift to attack and quicker to move away from his opponent. It was as if he was scared to be touched by the golden sword wielder.

They exchanged slashes but none was cutting anything. Aries could tell that Merrick was doing it on purpose. He was cautiously waving his golden blade to prevent damaging the body he thought was his true vessel.

Though Prince Sunrei was no longer trembling, Aries could see that he was still hesitating. It must be because Merrick was still someone he knew. Aries remembered that he was a relative of a house leader.

Aries opened his mouth to tell the prince that if he kept hesitating, Merrick would win. But before he could say those words out loud, a flash of memory had taken him back in time.

"If you keep on hesitating, you can never win against us," Sunrei in a golden armor had told Aries. He was standing a few feet away from Aries and he was holding a golden sword in his right hand.

Aries was kneeling on the ground. He was holding Vermillion that was in a form of a broad sword. He was using it as a support to keep himself from collapsing face down on the ground. He was exhausted from a fight that he could not win. But he wanted to continue fighting.

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For once, he wanted to win.

"Stand up!" Sunrei charged.

With an exhausted body, Aries could only roll on the ground to dodge that attack.

"Stand up!" Sunrei repeated with a slash of his blade and Aries managed to lift his broad sword in time to parry that blow.

He pushed the golden sword away from him with all his might and shakily got up on his feet. His red armor had dents all over the place and he had minor cuts on his cheeks.

"That's it, Aries," Sunrei smiled. "You should never give up."

He attacked again. Aries raised his broad sword and caught the blade. Though his weapon was bigger, it trembled with the intensity of the blow.

"Do you want to kill me?" Aries took a few steps backward as he deflected another attack. He managed to push the sword away and countered.

Sunrei gracefully spun to dodge the counterattack. He moved only a few inches away from Aries but he managed to successfully avoid the enormous sword aimed at his chest and waved his golden blade in vengeance.

Aries jumped away from his opponent and avoided the attack. He was still in midair when Sunrei recovered from a missed opportunity. He raised his sword and dashed towards his opponent.

Aries prepared his weapon and caught the blade of his enemy but lost his balance when his feet got entangled with each other the moment he landed on the ground.

His clumsiness was a curse. It would never leave him alone.

He tumbled on the ground and his back hit hard on a tree. It would not have been that painful if Sunrei did not pin him on the tree. His golden sword was only a few inches from his neck. The only thing that was keeping him safe was his broad sword.

"Do you want to kill me?" Aries asked as his hand trembled on the hilt of his weapon.

"What if I do want to kill you?" Sunrei seriously asked back. "Will you just cower and wait for your death? When will you gain the courage to fight for what you want?"

"What I want…"

"You want to lead the Zodiac Knights."

Aries shook his head and said, "I only want recognition from Grandmaster Serestra."

"Do you think he will recognize someone that only wants to run errands from the rest of the Zodiac Knights? Do you think doing that will make you stronger? You are a knight, Aries. Not an errand boy."

"It's okay…"

"It's not okay," Sunrei pushed the golden blade closer to the neck of Aries. "You are a knight. You had been chosen because you can fight. Clumsiness is only an excuse. You can be better. Fight and lead the Zodiac Knights," his eyes flicker with desperation when he said, "If you lead them then maybe we can have a better fate."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Fight, Aries," Sunrei put more force on the blade until it cut Aries on the neck. "Fight!"

Aries blacked out and he felt that the tree from behind him had vanished but the force that was pushing on him was still there.

He hit another hard ground and something heavy had dropped on top of him.

"Aries, what are you doing?! Wake up!!!"

He jerked awake and found himself back at the eastern border of Leon's house. He was lying on the ground and Prince Sunrei was crouching on top of him, protecting him from the sword of Merrick. Pieffer had also provided them a shield. Leon was fast approaching Merrick but before he could close in, the barrier had shattered and the golden sword was about to pierce Aries on the face.

Prince Sunrei rolled on the side of Aries to catch the blade with his bare hands.

Aries shakily caught the same blade with one of his dual blades.

And someone from behind Merrick had stabbed a dagger on his left shoulder.

Aries thought that it was Leon but the lion house leader had stopped on his track and was staring behind Merrick with a little surprise.

"I thought you will not need any help," the man from behind Merrick had said. "I was wrong."

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