Chapter 20 Holy Sword’s Secrets

I sourced the Realm of Afterlife for information pertaining to my undying constitution. I asked the headless women if they had any ideas but they told me that the holy sword of Azaizel was beyond their realm of comprehension. All I found out was what I’ve already guessed so far. The holy sword was a partial cause of my undying corpse, the other factor was due to Tagon possessing me with his spiritual nature before the holy blade could completely drain my essence.

“What happened to, Tagon? Ever since he took over my body that time I haven’t seen him.” I took some time to process what sort of ghostly atrocities have befallen my steed. While I was sieving through my thoughts, I noticed an obtrusive flicker in my Eye of Ghost which prompted me awake from the Realm of Afterlife.

[Whoosh!] The bloodthirsty puddle had vanished along with the vengeful spirits. What I now laid eye on was King Shuzzon experimenting with my corpse in his beloved art gallery. He cut off one of my fingers, tucked it inside the thick cloth which was wrapped around the holy blade then call for one of his servants who was stationed outside.

“Godfried! Get in here!”

“Right away, my lord.” The servant entered the room that was rife with bloody corpses. I noticed him covering his nose with his apparel to avoid the vile scent. “What can I do to assist you, my lord?”

“Come, Godfried. Take this sword outside for me. As soon as you sense that something is amiss come back here immediately.”

“Understood, my lord.” The servant picked up the holy sword by the clothed portion then quickly exited the art gallery. He did exactly what his master ordered him to. Strangely enough, I was able to sense exactly where the holy sword was from where I was position. I don’t know how else to explain it but my sight could see a small range from all angles surrounding the holy blade.

I saw the servant staring nervously downward while having cold sweat from his face dripping onto the holy sword. The further he went with the blade, my perception of its sharpness started fading.

Losing all sight of the holy sword, it was several minutes after the servant had left the art gallery when I noticed another group of servants rushing into the room while carrying a dried-up corpse. It belonged to the same servant who had carried the holy blade outside. King Shuzzon was startled by this discovery.

“What happened to him?”

“My lord, I saw him stepping into the courtyard carrying something then suddenly he just collapsed! When I went over to check on him I found him like this, dried as a dusty corpse. Moreover, this sword here was giving off strange heat so I asked the others to douse some water on it then brought it along with the corpse here. What should we do with the body, my lord?”

“Rest it in the corner over there.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“By chance, did you happen to find a finger nearby where the corpse was?”

“We did, my lord. It was so strange. When we went to check on the servant’s body, he wasn’t missing a finger. However, there was an extra thumb adhering to the hilt of the sword. We didn’t touch it all, the finger is very still attached.”

“I see. You may all leave now. Stand guard outside just in case I need your assistance.”

“As you wish, my lord.”

The servants vacated their presence from the room. Afterwards, King Shuzzon used a tool to capture my finger from the hilt of the holy sword then commence his observation. “Strange indeed. I was hoping that this finger would prevent the holy sword from acting out negatively when it wasn’t in the undying man’s presence. Was a finger too insufficient? Would the reaction change if I utilise a larger portion? Let me see here.” King Shuzzon tinkered all night with my body part along with the holy sword. Because of this, my eye didn’t get any rest from his brutal experiments.

Day 49 …….

At daybreak, King Shuzzon left his workbench; he stepped out of the room apace. When he came back several minutes later, he was garbed in only his undergarment. Following closely behind him were 2 bearded old men who specialized in the art of body reattachment. Both of them looked similar in appearance, they even wore the same type of clothing. By my understanding of things, they were known as Brilmah’s best twin surgeons who were deeply indebted to the king.

On the 49th day, King Shuzzon came up with a workaround to wield the holy blade's power without suffering its devious repercussion. I meticulously observed what he did after he had entered the room with the surgeons.

[Gulp! Gulp!] King Shuzzon drank a vial of strange liquid then set himself on a pristine operation table. The contents of the vial must have had some knock out chemical compound because he fell asleep shortly after lying on the table.

After King Shuzzon had passed out, the surgeons sterilized their surgery equipment then positioned themselves close by the table and commence the operation. The surgeons applied some sort of white powder on King Shuzzon’s left arm. After letting it seeped in for an hour they cut off his arm up to his shoulders with swift precision. They moved the severed arm over to a separate counter where my corpse was lying. They had already severed my left arm up to the shoulder as well. With that, the surgeons took my severed arm and began attaching it to King Shuzzon’s left flank.

“They are attaching my arm to the king? Is this to prevent rejection from the holy sword? My corporeal realm is linked with the holy sword so that must be it.”

With my severed head high up on the shelf overseeing this strange procedure, I never blinked once. The operation lasted for approximately half a day due to the surgeons’ adept skills. Finished attaching my arm to the filthy king, I witnessed the surgeons poking some pointy needles into it, probably to test the blood circulation. I wasn’t a skilled healer so most of what they did eluded my comprehension. However, I understood the gist of things.

When King Shuzzon started regaining consciousness, the surgeons stayed by his side and helped him sit up. “My lord, how are you feeling? Is the newly attached arm causing any adverse reaction?”

“Hmm?” King Shuzzon directed his awareness to his left flank and began moving my arm around, testing its durability. [Flick! Flick!] “Not bad, you two. This arm has been attached perfectly. I can feel empowering energy coursing throughout my entire body. The lacerated tissues are already fully mended. How thrilling!”

The surgeons fondled King Shuzzon’s limbs all over. “This is quite intriguing, my lord. The undying man’s arm seems to be enhancing your physical constitution. In my medical field of expertise, I’ve never come across something this enigmatic. Should we also try attaching a leg, my lord?”

“No, Saflou. This arm alone will serve its purpose. If I attached another one of the undying man’s limbs to my body I may not be able to contain the strain and it might cost me my life.”

“We understand, my lord. Now that we’ve completed our task what else should you have us do?”

“For now you can just stick around and observed my body’s functionality just in case something bad happens later. By the way, about my severed arm, where did you guys put it?”

“Ah. We stored it into an airtight barrel of liquid saline and dry snow. It’s over by the corner there, my lord.”

“Good work again you two.”

After King Shuzzon offered his gratitude to his minions, he hopped off the operation table then motioned his legs over by the counter which hosted the holy sword. For someone who just underwent a dangerous surgery, he was rather jubilant. Reaching the counter, King Shuzzon slowly unwrapped the cloth from the holy sword using only my left arm.

The moment my arm caressed the hilt of the sword, the art gallery shown with a resplendent brilliance. I had to squint my eye to continue observing what was taking place. King Shuzzon lifted the naked sword from the counter with a nervous expression. I heard him chuckling right after.

“Wo-ho-ho-ho! Splendid! I can actually grasp the sharpness of the holy blade without having my soul drain! My theory was right after all. Possessing the undying man’s limb would nullify the negative effect.”

“Well done, my lord. Now you will be able to conquer all the lands of Bethlia. With this celestial sword, no one can ever hope to oppose you. Your almighty legend shall stain this land with blood, my lord.”

“Yes! Yes! Soon my legend shall rein all over Bethlia! I will become the one and only soul ruler for eternity! Wo-ho-ho-ho!”

“Yes, my lord. Relish for victory is already within your grasp.” The twin servants offered more praises to their sovereign.

“Those fools. They have no idea what the holy sword’s true intentions are. These ambitious nobles were going to awaken an irremissible disaster upon the land of man if I don't put a stop to them.” While I was thinking of ways to deal with King Shuzzon’s insanity, a raging sensation of heat took over my body all of a sudden. My head felt like it was on fire, lots of steam were permeating from my corpse. Also, the holy sword in King Shuzzon grasp started heating up to the point where he had to toss it back on the counter. [Ka-chunk!]

“What’s going on with the undying man’s corpse and the celestial blade? This steam is abnormal.”

“Get back, my lord! We twins shall douse it with water to cool it down.” [Splash! Spss!]

The hot temperature in the room started cooling down along with the permeating steam which was dissipating. What had caused my body to undergo that dreadful heat was the burning soul effect. The holy sword experienced a conflict while trying to drain King Shuzzon’s essence. Due to my arm being a part of his body, the holy sword underwent an anomaly where it had to drain its own souls to function.

Inadvertently, this was a good thing. It meant that the brave souls accumulated inside the holy sword would deplete constantly every time my body lost its moistures and overheats. The pain I’d suffer would be excruciating but I had to bear with it to prevent the world from coming to chaos.