Chapter 59: The Knight She wanted to Become

There is a graveyard a few walk away from the gates of the town of Garclasse. It is filled with tombstones and a dark misty aura that makes the place feels like the undead would rise up. Indeed, the undead does sometimes rise up and try to prey on the townspeople. But the God of Light and his servants are always up to the task to defend the town from such evil.

In the graveyard, a group of robe wearing individuals wearing armor, wielding swords and maces, and chimes gathered around the circle of light. A man carried a staff while the other carried a mace that then got plunged into a rotting corpse.

They are surrounded and Sena could see that they need some assistance. There are only three clerics and four priests in the circle of light. She could see the dead lying on the ground with their entrails spread like a brush to a canvas. The nun in the chapel and orphanage told her the location. Since it was her personal affair she went alone with her steed and arrived in this place just in time to see the people in the circle of light struggle against the undead.

They saw Sena arriving in her steed. She had gilded golden armor and golden hair that it was hard not to miss her. They looked at Sena at first, thought what a lady knight is doing to this kind of place. Sena saw their odd glances and she made her intentions known by walloping her horse, drawing her sword and lopping the heads of the rotting corpses.

Her sword Astra left a trail of golden light as she does. The priests and clerics could only watch in awe as her sword cut through the foes they have been fighting. Her steed neighed, and she then dismounted while sheathing her sword.

The priests then saw her stride towards them with her hair blowing in the cold wind. As if the danger was nothing to her, Sena spoke and told them that she has come to help them destroy the ‘monster’ that they are trying to kill. Hearing her, the priests and clerics got delighted. They would welcome the help of an ascended knight gracefully and told her about the graveyard.

According to them, the graveyard has been infested with a corpse raiser. Abominations that have bodies that are made of corpses and bones. These ‘Corpse Raiser’ that invaded the graveyard turned the place into an undead infested place filled with miasma. The dark misty aura around the graveyard is due to the corpse raiser invoking its ability to spew miasma. Miasmas are like poison, but instead of killing, they turned those who had no protection against them into ghouls, creatures that hunger for any flesh.

The group faced the undead, but they are mostly ‘ghouls’ who have died. The ghouls are still ‘alive’ but when they became walking corpses they became less but still dangerous. So when they got themselves into a fight with this legion of corpses. The group got put into a tight spot and they believe that in one of the major tombs in the graveyard that the corpse raiser they are hunting for is located.

“How come a corpse raiser appeared in this town?”

Sena asked. The ‘leader’ of the group then made a grim expression as he says.

“A heretic probably, we have purged them here but they kept coming back.”

“I see.”

Sena said while scouring the graveyard with her mana enchanted eyes. The graveyard had mist forming on each side but with her mana enchanted eyes could see the ‘miasma’ is coming out. She saw the trail and in the large tomb, the trail of Miasma is.

“I see the trail, are you all planning to go there?”

“If lady helps, then we will but with how injuries are we might not.”

“Then let’s go.”

Sena said as she then casts a barrier around her steed to protect it. The priest and clerics then nod their head as they come closer to the large tomb where the Miasma is leaking. As they come closer, undead rises. But with Sena around were easily decimated just by her sword alone.

The priest and clerics could not even chant their spells or raised their maces when the lady cuts the undead down with a simple swoop of her blade. Each of her strikes was reinforced with light, and each strike purified the undead. Ascended knights are after all also trained to kill the dead in case they would try to become a Paladin.

They arrive at the door and Sena ordered the group to open the tomb as she prepares to strike anything that comes out. They did what she wanted and slowly two from the group opened the tomb door only to feed the miasma clouds bursting out like a gust of wind.

The group got a bit blinded but luckily Sena had coated herself with her shield and avoided the mana. There inside the tomb, she saw bloated corpse spewing the Miasma. Not wasting time, she gathered light on her sword and strike her sword forward like a lightning bolt.

The bolt-like strike carved a hole on the bloated corpse. The corpse exploded and its remains painted the walls of the tomb. Sena waited for the group to recover before leading the way again. There she saw more of the corpses and killed until she saw the giant abomination that made entirely of corpses carrying a cleaver that is made of bones and sharpened iron.

The corpse raiser is about six foot tall. It was pungent and smelled fouler than vomit and feces mixed together. The smell was so strong that it made Sena, who has killed on the road feel a bit sick in the stomach. The corpse raiser didn’t notice them until the glint of light in Sena’s sword alarmed the corpse raiser.

It knew its place and tried to kill Sena with one blow. But Sena merely raised her sword Astra and cut off the arm of the Corpse Raiser, scarring the walls behind the abomination. The monster could not feel pain, but it screeched as it tried cursing Sena.

Sena merely scoffs at the beast as she then skewed the abomination with pure power. Doing so made her mana deplete a lot but it took care of the abomination like it was nothing. The priests and clerics around her could not believe how it easy it was that they only moved when Sena told them to.

They then started purifying the tomb and the abomination. Sena felt like they can handle themselves now so she returned up the ground and mounted her steed, galloping away from the graveyard.

...

Sena returned to the orphanage to bring the news to the Nun. The nun immediately got happy at the news and felt her heart lightened. Although there were casualties, she felt like having some of them was a blessing enough. She thanked Sena for her help. Sena said it was nothing and asked if she can watch the children before she leaves. The nun allowed her so and accompanied her to where the kids are.

The kids saw Sena. Their eyes lit up and instantly they gathered around her as if she was a lamp to moths. Sena would have shooed the kids away if she was her old self but this time she merely kneeled on one knee and told them who she is and her stories are so far.

She told them the outside world, she told them scenery and the wonderful things outside. She also told them the cruelties and how despite that they should be strong in order to have the power to venture such world. The kids liked Sena and nodded their heads in agreement to her.

Sena was happy at the way the kids look at her. And honestly, she liked being looked up to and being praised. After all, she dreamt of being like the female knight that saved her once.