Chapter 4: The Weight of Legends

Alex and Celeste stood atop the inverted Taruta Castle as the red moon, thick with pulsing flesh, beat like a living heart as blood slowly dripped from it. The sky above was filled with swirling red and black clouds. Below them, the forest burned, a sea of trees whose leaves were nothing but fire, raining ash like twisted cherry blossoms. Beneath them stretched an army of undead samurai. Some were missing arms, others headless or legless, their missing parts replaced with weapons crudely grafted to their bodies. They shambled about like grotesque puppets, clanking and groaning as they moved.

Alex turned to Celeste and said, “What’s the plan? Can you use magic to bombard them from here, woe should we handle this? Because there’s no way we can fight all of those on our own.”

Celeste spoke softly. “I’m trying to be cautious, Alex. I cannot use my holy magic here. If I do, it’ll act like a beacon that will draw every demon within miles. Anything heavenly appearing in this place will get us killed. So, I’ll refrain until we reach somewhere safer.” She paused, her wings dim beneath the crimson light. “Besides, I’m more of a healer than a damage dealer when it comes to my spells.”

Alex looked down at himself and muttered, “What about me? God said I should be able to use all kinds of magic.”

Celeste chuckled lightly. “Yes, you can use magic, but you still need to learn how. When we get the chance, I’ll teach you. That way, you can actually become useful.” She held out her hands. “For now, give me Excalibur and Masamune. I’ll wield them until you’re ready.”

Alex opened the bag and pulled out Masamune. The blue katana gleamed with an ethereal shine as he handed it to Celeste. Then he drew Excalibur, its golden light radiating warmth against the bloody sky. She held one weapon in each hand and gave them a few swings, adjusting to their weight and balance as the blades hummed softly with power.

Alex then reached into his bag again and pulled out Bunyan’s Logging Axe. He looked at it thoughtfully before asking, “So, Celeste… I know there are a lot of myths and legends behind Bunyan’s Axe, but which ones are actually true? How’s this supposed to help us?”

She smiled and replied, “Over the centuries I’ve studied many things, so I know quite a lot about myth legends and floklore. Bunyan’s Axe is extremely powerful and dangerous. You must use it with care and never fully unleash its power.” Her eyes glowed faintly as she continued. “Think about the myth where Paul Bunyan dragged the axe behind him and carved the Grand Canyon. If you’ve ever seen that place, you know how massive it is. And he wasn’t even trying. That wasn’t a swing, it was just him walking. Now imagine if someone actually gave that axe a full swing, intending to use its full power. The devastation would be beyond imagination.”

Alex asked, “What about Muramasa? What powers does that katana hold?”

Celeste answered. “Like the old folktales say, Muramasa can be catastrophic when its power is activated. If you unleash it, the blade will fire slashes of dark energy that slice through everything in their path, leaving nothing alive. If you swing it, make sure no allies are in the line of fire, or you risk killing one of us.” She glanced at Masamune. “Masamune, meanwhile, behaves as the legends describe. It cuts what needs to be cut. That makes it invaluable against heavily defended foes, its edge finds the core and bypasses armor or shields without a prolonged struggle.”

Alexander then looked at Excalibur in Celeste’s hand and asked, “What about Excalibur? I’ve read a few books, and each of them says something different. So which one is true?”

Celeste lifted the golden blade, which began to glow with a fiery holy aura. “All of them,” she said with quiet pride. “Excalibur carries the power of a holy flame, divine magic that can burn through demonic defenses with ease. It’s as sharp as the legends claim, capable of cutting through almost anything. But the true power of Excalibur came from its scabbard.” Her expression dimmed slightly. “God didn’t grant us that part for some reason.”

Alex frowned. “But if He could give us all these weapons, why not something like Thor’s hammer or Gungnir, something from the Norse myths?”

Celeste looked at him with amusement, clearly enjoying how much he knew about mythology. “Because those weapons are still in the hands of their gods,” she explained. “He can’t just snap His fingers and take Mjölnir from Thor. The other pantheons, Greek, Norse, Japanese, and countless others, all still exist, along with their gods. Most of the stories you’ve heard on Earth are true to some extent. Some are exaggerated, but they’re all rooted in reality. God can only summon relics that were left behind, forgotten, or lost to time. If the scabbard isn’t with Excalibur, then it means another pantheon claimed it, or it was destroyed long ago.”

Alex started to ask another question, but Celeste quickly cut him off. “No. No more questions for now. We need to get out of here and find a safe place to rest for the night. First, we have to break through this horde. We’ll need to descend this twisted building and fight our way through.”

Alex glanced at her wings, then back at her. “We’re outside, right? Can’t you just fly us down?”

She shook her head. “No. Using my wings in Hell would paint a target on my back. The radiance they give off would signal to every demon nearby that a heavenly being is here, just like my magic. I’ll only use them when it’s absolutely necessary.”

Alex nodded in understanding. “All right, but can you at least get us to the ground, or do we have to climb down this whole castle?” He stared at the warped, corrupted walls of the inverted structure.

Celeste thought for a moment before answering, “Yes. If I hold you, we can glide down. As long as I don’t actually fly, we should be fine.”

Celeste then stepped behind Alex and wrapped her arms around him, careful to keep Excalibur and Masamune’s blades from cutting him. With a deep breath, she jumped, and they plummeted toward the ground. Halfway down, she spread her wings, catching the rushing air. Their fall slowed to a controlled glide until their feet touched the corrupted earth below. Celeste released him, steadied her stance, and said firmly, “All right. Let’s push through this. Don’t stop until we break through the horde.”

Alex gripped Bunyan’s Axe in his hand, feeling its immense power thrumming beneath his skin. “Well, if Bunyan’s Axe is that strong,” he muttered, “couldn’t I just use it to wipe out most of the horde?”

Celeste didn’t answer at first. She suddenly swung Excalibur to the right as an undead samurai charged at them. The holy blade sliced clean through it, and both halves of the creature fell lifeless to the ground. She stepped forward, crushed its skull beneath her heel, and then crouched, removing the tattered leather belt and scabbard from its waist, hoping to find something to store Masamune and Excalibur in.

She looked back at Alex. “This might be a good lesson for you, to see how powerful that axe really is. The stories barely scratch the surface of what it can do. Bunyan never even used its true strength, he just dragged it behind him and did other small feats with it. Go ahead. Channel just one or two percent of its total power and swing it at the ground toward that oncoming horde.”

Alex looked at the axe in his hand, tightened his grip, and took a deep breath. Then, with a sharp exhale, he swung it down with all his strength, striking the ground in front of him.

The moment the axe hit, the ground erupted. A massive fissure tore outward before him, racing far into the distance beyond what his eyes could see. The earth groaned and split apart as the sides of the chasm collapsed inward, forming a canyon two or three times larger than the Grand Canyon itself. Alex stood at the edge, staring into the abyss, dumbfounded by the destruction he had just caused. stepping back in disbelief.

He looked down at Bunyan’s Axe and muttered, “I don’t think I’m ready for this one yet.” Carefully, he slid it back into his bag and instead drew Muramasa, feeling its dark energy surge in his hand. It was powerful, but nothing compared to the raw force he had just unleashed.

Alex then looked over at Celeste, who was in the middle of decapitating another zombie. “After swinging that thing,” he said, panting, “I feel so tired.”

Celeste glanced back at him. “That’s because to activate the power of any magical weapon or artifact, you have to feed it a bit of your own magial energy. If you could swing that thing without consequence, it would be disastrous for the world.”

Alex nodded, still catching his breath. Then he turned and saw the next wave of undead samurai surging toward them. He tightened his grip on Muramasa, feeding it only a small amount of energy before swinging. Blades of dark energy burst from the katana, slicing through the incoming of the horde. Their bodies collapsing into chunks that oozed black blood.

Celeste seized the moment and charged forward, moving with blinding speed. She ducked, spun, and cleaved through the undead with graceful movements, her movements a deadly dance. Together, they pressed through the horde, cutting down anything undead samurai that came within reach.

They continued to slice and cleave their way through the undead samurai, pushing forward through the endless swarm. Every strike sent showers of black blood across the cracked, corrupted earth. Every movement was survival. Amid the chaos, Alex noticed Celeste’s gaze flicker toward him from time to time, but he brushed it off, thinking, I’ll ask her about it later, once we’re out of here.

They fought their way out until they were safely outside of the castle grounds, eventually reaching a ruined asphalt road fractured by deep cracks. A faint red glow pulsed beneath the cracks, like molten veins running through the ground. Both of them paused there, catching their breath for a few moments after that relentless battle.

After resting for a few moments, Alex finally spoke. “We should keep moving. On my way here, I saw a large warehouse across that bridge over there.”

Celeste nodded. “All right. Let's go.”

They followed the cracked road, crossing the bridge until they reached the big building with a red roof right across the street. Forcing open the rusted doors, they stepped inside. The interior was vast, lined with toppled shelves and forgotten machinery. Celeste scanned the area before saying, “This place will do. Hand me Onimaru.”

Alex opened his bag, pulled out Onimaru, and passed it to her. She spun the katana in her hand, then drove the blade straight into the floor. A pulse of magical energy rippled outward, making Alex flinch.

“What was that?” he asked.

“It repels demons,” Celeste explained. “That’s the power of Onimaru. We should be safe here for the night.”

Alex glanced out a cracked window, seeing the sky darken into a deeper shade of crimson as red mist surrounded the area. “Yeah,” he muttered. “I don’t want to see what comes out around here after dark.”

Finding a dry corner among the debris, they both settled down to rest, exhausted from the day’s endless battle.