Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 474: Chapter 474: I Shall Die With Honor

Chapter 474 – I Shall Die With Honor

Sunday night was a busy one.

Besides Jeanne finding herself in a warm home, eating food and talking with people who were worried about her despite having known her for only minutes, there was William Castria, sitting in his room.

He was not alone, though.

His mother, Haloita, was with him.

A tall, beautiful, pale-skinned woman, her body compact with muscle. Her hair was ash-grey and cut short, her eyes ink-black.

She wore a tight black training suit, and a scar, like a tear, ran from just under her right eye down to her chin.

She sat on the ground facing her son, holding his right hand.

"How is your training going, Will?" Haloita asked. She was not looking at him, massaging his arm in a way only the Castria family could.

It was agonizing, as Haloita was continuously breaking and healing the bones in his arm in order to accustom them to pain and make them stronger.

The sound of cracking bones echoed throughout the barren room.

William’s face didn’t change at all. He was used to it by now.

"I can rank up," he said, his eyes flat and indifferent. "But I will wait until after the Wastelands to do it."

"I have heard it’s dangerous. Will you be alright?"

"I don’t know," Will replied. "It doesn’t really matter. I will do what I need to do."

Haloita paused for a heartbeat, raising her eyes to stare at her son. She let out a thin smile. "Are you telling me that you are not afraid of death, my son?"

"I am, Mother," he said, his lips twitching in pain as his mother exerted even more strength, threatening to break his bones. He swallowed the pain, breathed heavily, and continued, "Like any human, I am afraid of Vorn’s Gate, Mother. But I am far more afraid of dying a cowardly death. If death ever comes for me, it will find me facing it with my sword in hand. That is my duty as Castria’s Heir."

"To die with Honor?"

"It’s better than dying like a coward."

"But the one who survives gets to try another time," Haloita pressed further, as though testing her son. "And you can learn many things from such an encounter. Don’t you know that failure is a great teacher?"

"If I flee out of fear for my life once, then I will most likely do it again the next time. And then the next, over and over, until one day I find myself fleeing from an opponent I absolutely must face, and lose something far more important than my own life."

"And what would that be, my son?"

"My Honor. My Belief, I say," Will replied with conviction, his eyes crystal clear. "I am William Castria, Son of Stanley, Son of Haloita, and Heir to the Castria Family. I was born with the Honor of my parents, raised in that same Honor, and I shall die with that Honor in my heart. And to flee from an opponent out of fear, to go back on my word, or to betray those who place their trust in me — none of those things are honorable. So, just like my ancestors, just like my grandfather, I will die with a sword in my hand, facing whatever I must face, even if that happens to be Death itself. That, Mother, is my Belief. That... is my Honor, and the Honor of Castria."

Haloita smiled widely at her son’s words. She finally stopped breaking and healing his bones.

Looking at him, she saw nothing but the stern and powerful image of her own husband, and knew he had done his job in raising their son to be as honorable and loyal as himself.

Haloita was proud.

So she reached out her thick arms and pulled William into a tender hug. "Indeed, you are my son. My only son. And I am the proudest of all mothers. However, no mother likes to see her child die."

She paused, as if hesitating, but eventually dared to say it, for a mother’s love was stronger than duty. "So if it ever comes down to running away and saving your life, or staying and dying... think of your mother, and live for me. Okay?"

William winced, but slowly nodded. "One day, I will become the greatest swordsman, mother. And you will no longer have to break your Principle for me."

Haloita chuckled. "In my eyes, you already are."

For the first time in a long time, William let out a rare smile. It was a small one, but a smile nonetheless.

After that, Haloita broke the hug. She looked at her son and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Then she stood up, about to leave the room. "You will go back tomorrow, so I will let you get some rest. I will prepare your favorite food for you to take along."

"Thanks," he said. "Is Father still not back? I hoped to see him before returning."

Haloita smiled wryly. "Your father will be a while. The Plague King has sent him as a Messenger to the Free City of Kaol over a little issue."

"An issue requiring his sword?"

"An issue requiring his patience," Haloita replied, stepping out of the room. "Don’t worry. You know your father, don’t you? You might need to bring down a god to kill him."

William was left alone, thinking about his mother’s words. He lowered his head, looking at his hands and clenching them tightly.

"Stronger," he muttered, his mind suddenly going to Cassius. "I must get stronger, sharper and faster. But how? How can I achieve that?"

"I might have a way for you," a voice echoed. William immediately stood up and snapped his head to the side, his hand grasping the air to form his formless sword.

In front of him, as if appearing out of nowhere, was a woman wearing a strange yet chilling mask of mercury.

Wearing a grey robe with the sigil of fallen wings etched on the chest, she hovered above the ground, legs crossed, a damnable pressure spilling out of her.

William looked around. He wondered how anyone had managed to bypass all the barriers in his house to enter his room. Not only that, the world suddenly felt deathly silent, as if he had been transported into another realm where sound didn’t exist.

No sound, except this woman’s voice.

"You have no reason to worry, William Castria," she spoke again.

"Who are you?" William said in a calm tone, his eyes cold, his sword aura surging.

"You can call me Miss Mercury," she replied, laughter in her tone. "I am a member of the Fallen Sect, and I am here to recruit you. Before you say no, however, I advise you to take the time to think about it."

Miss Mercury – Isolde Amaris herself – pulled out the Swordbook obtained through the Origin Store and showed it to William.

Instantly, the man froze, his eyes widening.

His heart literally skipped a beat.

To anyone else, the book might look normal, or maybe a bit special, considering its aura.

But for someone born and raised in the art of the sword, someone whose goal was to become the Sword itself, he could see at a glance how special and profound the book in front of him was.

Instinctively, his pupils shifted, taking the shape of swords, as they noticed that the book itself was not physical.

It was made of Sword Essence condensed so impossibly well that it had taken physical shape.

William Castria was flabbergasted. "This... what is this?"

"This is what we will give you in good faith if you agree to join our Sect," Isolde said. "You just need to accept, and be ready to swear an Oath of Secrecy and Loyalty. Don’t worry. We are not going to ask you to go against your own principles, William. In fact, we want you among us precisely because of those principles. So..."

Isolde’s grin widened behind her mask.

"...What do you think about becoming a Fallen, William Castria, Son of Stanley, Son of Haloita?"

—End of Chapter 474—