Chapter 62: Sigismund

“Finally!” moaned Hiyori, stepping out of the car, stretching every muscle she could in her sore body. It was not just the long and arduous flight but the similarly long car drive, taking up another 6 hours to finally arrive at their final stop. 

 

It was a small, little valley, surrounded by nothing but a dense forest. The past two hours there were not even any roads leading here so they were off-roading, going over bumps after bumps with the jeep they rented. 

 

“Even my butt hurts!” groaned, rubbing it, looking around. 

 

“Well… at least now I can say I am lucky, in a sense! It was a breeze~” smiled Aoi watching her grumbling.

 

“Don’t worry, she is going to complain more in the coming hours!” laughed Everlong as he also got out, picking up bags, throwing them over his back. 

 

“Really?” furrowed her brows Hiyori, breathing out into the cold air, watching the snow-filled scenery. She saw some small houses near the edge of the forest when they arrived. It was like a little village, straight from 4-500 years ago, the kind she saw in old, foreign movies about knights and lords. “I thought we had arrived!” 

 

“We did.” came over Everlong, lighting up a cigarette, watching the sun going towards the west, already dipping downwards slowly. “We only have a few hours before darkness falls so it is prime time to start walking! It would be best to reach the castle before our orange bulb goes out! Here the night could be way colder than you think! Plus I’m not in the mood to run into the wildlife in the dark!”

 

“At least I’m already dead!” sighed with relief Aoi. “They would be unable to munch too much off of me!”

 

“Wait, what castle?” asked Hiyori, looking again but seeing nothing.

 

“That!” grabbed onto her head Everlong, turning it towards the mountain and as she looked up she finally noticed in the distance, the gray castle, built into the side of it, barely noticeable thanks to the thick treeline. 

 

“Ugh…” gulped, her face twitching. “Where are we even…?” 

 

“Heh, at an unnamed part of the Carpathian Mountains. You won’t find this on any map or GPS as it is a base for them! The town you see at the edge of the forest is the home of their slaves.” explained Everlong as he started to walk in the thick snow, reaching up to their ankles. Aoi quickly followed him, floating forward effortlessly while Hiyori was struggling with keeping up as for her it was even harder to travel.

 

“They keep slaves?” asked Aoi as they found themselves on a somewhat flattened out trail that was clearly in frequent use, easing their steps a little. It was snaking upwards, leading them across the thick trees and sharp rocks.

 

“Yes. They frequently capture those who steal, smuggle and illegally deal with artifacts. Besides that, there are demons who broke their restrictions, violating their terms for Asylum. They can also end up here! They became serfs for the Rákóczi family or if they were very, very naughty demons, they can even end up as their new artifacts~”

 

“Serves… them… right!” gasped Hiyori, feeling her head throb as she was struggling with the climb, completely battered, now crying back that comfortable 14 hour flight or the car’s warmth with all the bumping included. 

 

“Come!” chuckled Everlong, turning back to her and with her surprised yelp in his ears, he just picked her up and princess-carried her.

 

“Awawa! I… I can do it!” blushed, ‘struggling’ for a very short amount of time, trying to show she can really do it, but also feeling great to be carried like this.

 

“You don’t need to try and show how tough you are!” looked at her Everlong with a smile “You are not fit for something like this, I was just curious how long you would go~”

 

“Aren’t you happy?” chuckled Aoi too, watching her with a playful smile.

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“A little…” murmured with rising embarrassment.

 

Hiyori had almost zero weight to carry. With the bags on his back and Hiyori in his arms, it reminded Everlong of days when he was just a footsoldier, thrown out into the battlefield, having to carry around everything for survival. Reaching higher up, with the setting sun behind their backs, rock stairs started to become visible, protruding out from the snow. It only took another few minutes to ascend to a smaller sized clearing and they could lay their eyes upon the huge, medieval stone castle, built into the side of the mountain. 

 

“Stay here.” put her down Everlong and also looked at Aoi to make sure she also remained put.

 

Walking forward, the gates to the castle, atop of another flight of stairs rumbled, the thick, iron slates opening up. Soon a huge, armored silhouette walked out, wearing full plate armor, reminiscent of those in most medieval movies and images. It was shining in a brilliant, bright light as its polished surface reflected the setting sun’s rays. It was as if he was made out of pure gold. Behind him a thick, red cape was fluttering in the wind with a coat of arms etched onto it. It depicted three, green hills at the bottom, with a golden wheel atop of them and a black eagle perched on it, holding a golden sword.

 

“That’s… huge!” exclaimed Aoi and Hiyori also could do nothing but gulp.

 

Everlong was watching calmly as the figure started to come down on the steps, shaking the earth beneath itself. When he was finally at the same level as they were, he towered over Everlong with a body that was twice his size. Now they could also see that there was a golden writing in latin, gently glowing, emanating a strange power that was not from this world. 

 

“Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos…” read it Everlong, shaking his head “I did not know you were here… Sigismund.” shook his head with a soft breath.

 

“That’s Zsigmond to you, Fallen.” replied the deep, rock-crushing voice, coming from under the helmet.

 

“Sorry, your native names are too hard to pronounce. Let me use something easier!”

 

“Hmf! That is why you should speak my name correctly! You came here and you can’t even say MY name? Hah!” mocked him and even as they couldn’t peer into the helmet, they were sure he was smirking “Father may owe you his life but don’t get too cocky, demon!”

 

“Says the one who is stuck in that armor! How long have you been in there? 400 years? Doesn’t that make you a demon too?”

 

“624.” replied immediately “And it was bestowed upon me by Uriel himself! Don’t you dare disrespect it!” raised his hand, grabbing onto the hilt of the sword that was hidden between his armor and giant cape. Drawing it, the girls saw for the first time how a giant of a man could handle a Zweihänder with only one arm. He swung it only once and it already left a deep gash on the ground, separating the snow cleanly.

 

“Demons are demons.” shook his head Everlong “I am not here to cause trouble, in fact, I came to seek counsel with your father.” reached into his inner pocket, picking out a seal that had crow on it, holding a golden ring in its beak.

 

“Tsk.” echoed a frustrated click of a tongue, before he sheathed his sword back to its place. “Father has guests right now, a few of the Templars have come, so watch yourself, I wouldn’t be happy if they would kill you before I could!” replied Sigismund.

 

“They came to borrow you, I assume?” asked Everlong, with a suddenly much more serious tone.

 

“Maybe.” answered blandly as he was walking past them and every step of his made the snow fall from the trees’ branches as he disappeared in the forest. 

 

“Who was that?” whispered Hiyori, looking after him still, even though he was long gone. 

 

“He is a good guy, don’t worry about him! He may have a stick up his butt, but he has a good heart!” replied Everlong, taking a look behind him too, scratching his chin. “But the Templars… here? I don’t like this…Not at all!” sighed, shaking his head. “Whatever! Come girls! We won’t learn anything, just standing here!” shrugged, starting to walk forward as they entered the ancient castle that very few had knowledge of.

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