Apollo's Chronicle by Seraph Wedd (book club reads TXT) 📖

to wipe his tears using her limp left hand. The eyes of her mother too slowly started to show signs of tears.

“… Sorry… We’re really sorry…”

“WHY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING!!!”

The boy shouted at her mother’s apology. He shouted because he himself understood the meaning behind it is. However, he doesn’t want to admit it.

“*Sob*”

“… You must stay strong…… You must grow up… to be a fine man….”

“THEN WATCH ME GROW DAY BY DAY!!! JUST STAY BESIDE ME AND CONTINUE WATCHING MY ACTIONS!!!”

“… Haha…… I would like to if I can…”

Tears overflowed from his mother’s eyes. Her smile still hasn’t vanished from her lips. The smile that the boy tried imitating every day.

“DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”

The boy shouted as he grasped her mother’s left hand. Her hand was as cold as ice and is wet with his own tears. He wrapped her hand between his palms, trying to share his body heat.

“… You may become alone for a long time…… but one day…. You will surely meet great comrades…”

“––––!!!!”

“… Right…. You must take back…. My gifts to you…… I’m sure it will help you… in the future……”

“PLEASE!!! DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE!!!”

The boy shouted as loud as he can. However, all his mother did was smile.

“… Don’t worry…. I’ll always be watching you………… From the other side………..”

Then, she slowly closed her eyes.

The motion seems like she was just sleeping. Her smile is still on her face… However…

“…Mama...........? MAMA?!!”

She was no longer breathing.

And thus, the prodigy was left all alone in this dangerous world.

Having lost all people close to him in just a single night, he cried and cried until he was dried of tears. His tears started having signs of red, signaling the near rupture of his tear glands.

He felt despair. He was left alone with nothing but a sword and a bow. After crying for days, he decided to bury his mother outside the cave. After that, he stayed inside the cave without eating or drinking for days.

After pondering deeply, he decided on his course of action. And thus, a legend is born.

Chapter 2: The Forest of Dreams Part 1

Sound of an intense battle could be heard. Shouts and groans, the metallic rings of every strike, the rumbling sound of several dozens of soldiers running around.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

A sharp spear-like claw once again pierced a guard’s chest. With their formations in a mess, they cannot match the intensity of the attacking monsters.

The caravan that should reach the town in three days is now on the brink of annihilation. To think that they would get attacked when they are already this near to their destination, what a blunder.

Caught off guard, the mountain of corpses piled up high. This sight in itself, the scene of their friends getting killed in front of them, drove most of them to the brink of insanity from fear.

“DON’T FALTER!!! REFORM THE RANKS!!! DON’T LET THE MONSTERS REACH THE CARAVAN!!!”

A loud and overbearing voice rang. He may be the leader of the guards as they started to regain composure after hearing his voice. Their fear and anxiety were quickly turned to anger towards their enemy. As expected from professional guards, they can change gears quickly.

The monsters looked similar to that of a mongoose. That is except that this one is ten-times larger. By standing on two legs, they can use their barbed spear-like front limbs to attack. Their color of a mixture of black and red bring instinctive fear to those who see them.

Despite the difference in numbers, the guards are managing quite well. Some of the monsters are running away in droves. They believed that they can win in this battle. That is until they heard the report of the scouts.

“Captain! The monsters are chasing the deserters!”

Some of the merchants decided to run away. Their shouts, audible even with their distance.

“We’ll be dead if we stay here!!!”

“Out of the way!!!”

The confusion that the merchant caused was fatal to the caravan guards, and so to themselves.

“Arrrrgh!!!”

“Sa-Save me!”

“No, no no no! I don’t wanna DIE!!!”

Their shouts of grief followed soon after.

Amongst the escaping carriages, a single expensive looking carriage was running extremely fast away from the scene.

Behind them, a great amount of monsters are chasing. The horses neighed hard and stomped their legs frantically, literally running for their lives.

Dozens of minutes passed and the game of tag finally ended. With a loud crash.

With a single swing of their claws, the metal-plated wooden wheel of the carriage easily broke. High class clothes, large sacks of herbs and many other articles scattered around the forest’s floor. Of course, the passengers included.

Due to their speed, they were quite violently thrown off the carriage, flying off about a few meters and gaining bruises and scratches as they rolled around. The coachman was unfortunately smashed by the carriage into a pulp. Two men wearing silver-white uniforms were thrown off quite far. A girl wearing a red one-piece dress was also rolling on the ground until she smashed on a tree trunk.

One of the two men immediately jumped up and stood in front of the girl, wielding his lance in a downward, defensive stance. He quickly surveyed the movements of the enemies.

The monsters split into two groups, one ravaged the caravan and the other was forming an encirclement with them at the middle. Cold sweat started appearing on the brow of the spear wielding man.

“Gerald, take her to a safe place! Protect her with your life!”

“… I know.”

The middle aged man whispered while picking himself up. He then carried the unconscious girl and carried her away. Her blonde hair swaying along with the air currents as they moved away.

The monsters tried to give chase. However, they are blocked with the sudden thrust of a spear. The man’s black hair tied in a ponytail was swing left and right as he wildly, but efficiently, thrusted his spear.

“IF YOU WANT TO CHASE THEM, YOU MUST FIRST WALK OVER MY DEAD BODY!”

With a shout full of vigor, he impaled one monster in an instant. Another attack came from behind but by quickly and skillfully using the butt of the spear, he didn’t even need to look back. He fought intensely, alone against dozens monsters. Still, his defenses are not almighty. Not long after, some of the monsters managed to escape from the blockade.

“…! Damn!!!”

The middle aged man ran to the best of his capabilities while checking the state of the battle with a glance. Despite all his effort, the monsters caught up to them in less than a minute.

“I shouldn’t have stopped training even after I retired from the front lines…”

He murmured in regret as he was easily surrounded by the enemies.

He quietly laid the girl in a nearby tree and quickly drew his two-handed double edged greatsword from his back. Unlike the spear wielding man, he focuses on mana techniques rather than sword skills.

He quickly loaded his sword with his mana, giving it a boost in speed and sharpness. His sword glowed faintly with a bluish-white light.

He sighed in relief when he confirmed the situation. There are only four monsters. It would be a simple thing to kill them if he was alone, however, he is now guarding the girl. He cannot move carelessly.

A monster jumped at him with lightning speed. He quickly turned his head and swung his sword.

“SEYAAAA!!!”

The airborne monster couldn’t avoid the attack, it was easily beheaded. And while splashing its blood all over the place, it landed with a thud.

The other three became wary of the middle aged man. A staring contest was started. Neither side dared to make a move. Tension was straining the air.

“……………!!”

As if choosing this moment, the girl suddenly regained her consciousness. The middle aged man noticed it but didn’t break his eye contact with the enemy.

“… Uncle Gerald…?”

The girl murmured. Her right hand is pressing against her temple. Her eyebrows were crunched in pain. While still slightly dizzy, she slowly noticed her surroundings, which made her face turn pale.

“… Lil’ miss. Better not move from there. It’s dangerous.”

The middle aged man said in a grave voice. The moment he did, the enemies made a move. Three enemies jumped from different directions at the same time, just as the middle aged man had predicted.

He quickly stepped in and swung his sword horizontally. His short brown hair, with a hint of white, was shuffled wildly by the air current produced by his sword swing.

“TAKE THIS!!!”

Despite not having enough length to produce a fatal damage, the sword managed to wound the monsters. Their wounds, with varied locations, were dripping with red blood at a crazy pace. The monsters counterattacked by swiftly swinging their claws. One circled to his back, aiming for the girl.

“Playing smart huh?!”

He nimbly dodged the attacks by jumping backwards, then he immediately swung his sword to the vulnerable back of the monster. The monster immediately died after its top and bottom parts bid farewell to each other. Blood splashed around and the girl was instantly covered in sticky red blood.

Fear was clearly seen in her eyes, yet shock prevented her from taking any actions, even her voice was paralyzed. The battle continued nevertheless. The two remaining monsters relentlessly attacked the man. However, he easily dodged the attacks and sometimes counterattacking giving the monsters a hard time.

“Hahahaha! Weak! Too weak!!!”

The monsters however didn’t want to die that easily. The two of them jumped back and then started running around, circling the middle aged man. Being a veteran, he quickly noticed their aim, a feint.

Instead of fighting him head on, they will attack the one he should be protecting. With this, the chance of the monsters winning will be extremely high.

“DANGER––!!!”

Rooted on the spot, the girl didn’t even as much as twitch to his loud voice. The two monsters immediately pounced on her. A heavy impact sent her flying.

In front of her, the middle aged man with his left hand extended was staring with an ashen face, he was immediately skewered by two speeding claws.

“D-DAAAMMMNNNN!!!”

In a desperate attack, he swung his sword. The head of one monster went flying upwards in an instant. The other one managed to evade in the last moment but still had a small cut on its neck.

Having expended his last drop of strength, he dropped on the ground like a puppet with cut strings, bathing in a pool of blood. The girl, lying on the ground crawling in pain, stared wide eyed at his corpse.

Her shaking lips that used to be of a deep red color is now turning purple. Despair is clearly spelled on her face.

The remaining monster, slowly walked to where the girl is. The red eyes on its elongated head was staring at her intently. I’m going to die too…? She wondered.

The monster moved closer and closer, each time, her heartbeat turns even faster. After only a few seconds, the monster was standing right next to her head. Not having the strength to look up, all she could see is the wide and long legs of the monster. She then closed her eyes tight, preparing herself for what is to come.

“…….”

However, silence persisted for a moment.

A few seconds later, her body was suddenly pierced with a claw. Her face contorted in pain as she felt the taste of iron inside her mouth.

“Gahhaah––!!!”

Her red dress was instantly dyed into a deeper