“But it’s only nonfatal until the tenth strike. At the eleventh, death will most certainly visit you. It is fatal—and there is no way to defend against it.” Emma’s mouth twisted into a grin. “…It’s a merciful sword, isn’t it? As long as you choose to surrender to me, request my forgiveness, vow allegiance, and submit before the eleventh strike, your life will be spared.” “Hah… That’s stupid… That’s more boring than I expected!” Luna used her sword as a cane as she stood up. “I just…need to defeat you before you hit me eleven times, right?!” “Yes, that’s true, but—” Emma tried to say something…when it happened. Roooar! With that auditory hallucination, a raging fire blazed up in Luna’s pierced chest. “Ugh! Aaaaaaaaah!” It burned! It inflicted a horrific pain. It was distressing—and she couldn’t breathe. At the spot of contact, Luna suddenly felt as though she were being burned alive in hell. Despite herself, Luna dropped the sword in her hand. She almost felt as though she were being burned at the stake as punishment. “Ah! Gaaaar! Uuuugh! Wh-what is this…? Ah! Aaah…?!” It wasn’t a real flame. Her clothes hadn’t caught fire, and she didn’t have a single burn on her. This was all a hallucination. Then why did she feel as though her whole body was being tortured? In the next instant, Luna’s whole body was soaked in a cold sweat, and she screamed in anguish. “Do you understand now? With each strike, hellish torture will increase. And once you’ve received that pain, it will never disappear.” “…What?” Luna’s face twisted in despair. “A person with a weak will would be crippled from pain with just one strike. Luna… Knowing you, I’m sure you’ll fight through it, huh. But will you actually be able to battle properly?” When Emma saw Luna’s despair, she faintly—but clearly—smiled. An Excalibur was a mirror that projected the true face of a King. Luna wanted companionship, Felicia valued pride and glory, Kujou believed righteousness was overpowering others by conquest… An Excalibur would reflect the state of one’s heart through its form and ability. In which case, what did that say about Emma’s torturous ability? What did it mean that her power seemed to be embracing deep compassion but was oddly twisted? …Her mind is seriously effed up…! Luna endured the acute agony assailing her body and ground her teeth as she fixed a stare on Emma. “Now, then. It’s time for your counseling, Luna.” Emma flashed another saintly smile at Luna. “Declare that you do not have the capacity to be a ruler and reject being a King. Acknowledge that I am superior to you. You must beg me for forgiveness. If you do that, I will release you from that pain—and spare your life.” “…You’ve got to be kidding me,” Luna spat when Emma boasted as though she had already triumphed. She got to her feet and readied her sword. “Like anyone would acknowledge a ‘weak’ child like you!” “Ah… Oh, well. I didn’t think you were this stupid,” Emma muttered in pity as though she was looking down on Luna. “Royal Road—” Once again, she tried to release Excalibur’s ability. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” With unimaginable speed, Luna pounced on Emma’s chest. This was the only way out. If her opponent was going to release an unavoidable attack, the sole choice was to defeat Emma before getting hit. Luna’s only option was to move first and defeat Emma. But because that was her only means of opposition… “I see what you’re doing.” Emma easily repelled Luna’s sword, assaulting her with a precise counterattack. “AAAGH?!” Emma’s sword cut into Luna’s side before she calmly took her distance from Luna, who had collapsed on the ground. “The Steel Sword of Compassionate Guidance—Excalibur!” Once again, a flash of red released from the tip of the sword, aimed directly at Luna. When it was released, the strike was already hitting Luna’s left shoulder. That was the truth. It really did always hit its mark. Even a heroine or peerless soldier would never have been able to evade the strike. “Aghhhhh?!” When the infernal torment flared up in her left shoulder, Luna couldn’t help but scream. “Hee-hee. Nine strikes left.” Emma smiled. The way she did it was dark and sinister. “RAAAAAAAR!” Rintarou roared. He burned his mana to its limits and converted it into aura. Triggered by his call, a black aura swelled up from his whole body. The patterns carved into his hands made a prickling noise as his soul was starting to erode. At the same time, Rintarou was surging with a new power. “Wheeze! Haaah! Haaah!” Rintarou struggled to catch his breath. This change progressed further as he called more of his ancestors. A Fomorian soul was trying to devour Rintarou’s soul. The phenomenon wouldn’t normally arise from simply invoking a Fomorian Transformation. He was crossing swords with the strongest knight of the legendary era—Sir Lamorak—and their savage fight was building up quickly. In the interval between life and death, he was forced to awaken his power as Merlin as quickly as possible. Those effects were only happening because he was striving to master its energy. “…This is amazing. Absolutely stellar,” Sir Lamorak muttered as though intoxicated, like a girl perplexed by her first love, as she watched him awaken a power that was leagues beyond his strength before. “You’re positively marvelous… No way… I’ll fall head over heels for you…” “GAAAAAAH!” With an uncontrollable energy expanding from his whole body, Rintarou danced with Sir Lamorak. His blade tore through the very foundation of the atmosphere. But the Rothschild stopped his heroic attack. Rintarou’s two swords had been firmly stopped by the shields. “Ha-ha. I’m not going anywhere. You don’t need to be so greedy…” She looked lovingly at him, protected by her defensive powers. He ground his teeth, and she swung up her claymore—and fiercely hit back. “AAAARGH?!” His body made an arc as he was blown back. “Don’t stop! I bet you can still come!” Pursuing him, Sir Lamorak carved up the ground as she raced toward him. “More! Come on! Collect your power! Make me euphoric! Let’s go together!” She whizzed toward Rintarou, who had crashed, jumped up, and steadied his weapon again. Sir Lamorak hit him with her claymore—and Rintarou stopped it. Honestly…this is close. What’s going to happen to me after this fight…? Sir Lamorak cut at Rintarou with a stormy attack as he was thinking. His soul was grating, creaking under the pressure. He had wielded too much power in too short of a time. He had progressed too quickly. Whether he won or lost, he probably wouldn’t come out unscathed. He might lose his power as Merlin. Rintarou faced this premonition. “Like I can…lose…!” “—Huh?!” It was all or nothing. Rintarou used his swords to push back at Sir Lamorak. “She’s…depending on me…! She’s believing in me, after all!” The Jack briefly backed off to get back in a standing position, and Rintarou flew at her. “This isn’t bad…! Yeah, this…doesn’t feel too bad!” Rintarou yelled. “AAAAAAH!” Luna’s scream echoed through the battlefield. The hallucinatory flames flared up on Luna’s left knee and her right shoulder. “The Royal Road of this Excalibur,” Emma started, twirling her sword as she sauntered out of range after Luna had been on the receiving end of yet another attack. From over the fluttering flag, Emma had some choice words for her. “We’re already at a total of nine strikes… What’s wrong, Luna? You’ll die after two more. Are you a little closer to yielding to me? How are you feeling?” “Ah… Gah… AAAAAAH?!” The agonizing flames lapped up Luna’s body. She barely balanced on her feet by propping her sword as a cane. In that moment, she was in excruciating pain. She thought she would go mad. She couldn’t even breathe properly. Maintaining consciousness without going insane was getting increasingly difficult. “Guh…! Uuuurgh! Errgh… Ack…” But even then, Luna gritted her teeth and stood. “How…am I doing…? Ha-ha… Ah-ha-ha… Not…bad…” “…What? Not bad? Have you finally lost your mind?” “…Not really? Unlike a certain girl with a one-track mind…who selfishly…does things only for herself…and pushes her responsibility on other people… You could never understand…!” Luna spat and took on her fighting stance. “You still want to keep going? I guess you really won’t understand until I give you the tenth strike. You’ll understand the true difference between us…and our capacities as Kings.” That was when Emma saw a fireball tracing a curving path, flying straight for her like a dodgeball. Using magic, Luna had released a generic Fireball. Emma immediately leaped away. It smashed onto the ground—just where she had been standing—and raised a fiery storm before exploding. “Gah?! You’re doing this all in vain…!” Emma was distracted by the Fireball. In the moment, she turned away from Luna… “Ahhh!” Luna brought up her sword at Emma’s back, then sliced down. Gonnng! But her desperate hand was deflected by the Rothschild. “Ugh?! A-again… Seriously, what’s he doing…? Hurry up and do something about this already…” Luna scrunched her face in frustration and slight glee as her sword was repelled during direct combat. “Like I said, it’s all in vain.” Emma kicked Luna hard with the back of her foot and sent Luna flying. “The Steel Sword of Compassionate Guidance—Excalibur!” Another flash aimed at Luna in midair, raining down on her. “Gah! Ah?! AAAH!” The tenth strike mercilessly caught Luna on her right arm. She felt shooting pain go through her brain as though she were being burned to ashes. The pain had accelerated. But Luna gritted her teeth, endured it, and twisted her body to land. She immediately kicked hard at the ground and jumped at Emma’s chest. “Haaaaaaaaah!” She used her left leg to pivot and roundhouse kicked Emma from up high with her right foot, using every ounce of her strength. She no longer had any clever ploys to use. Her attack was desperate and clumsy. In fact, the move was pitiful enough for Emma to let the Rothschild defend her and decided any counterattack would be idiotic. She just shrugged. Rintarou versus Sir Lamorak. Luna versus Emma. Each fight had a clear victor at the moment. Even if Rintarou heightened his powers by letting the Fomorian Transformation erode him, Sir Lamorak would destroy him, knock him down, and hold him down. Nimble sword in hand, Emma continued to toy with Luna. On top of it all, they were dealing with the Rothschild, which protected both Sir Lamorak and Emma. Anyone watching from the sidelines would pity Rintarou and Luna during those one-sided developments. The battle had already been decided. If there had been real spectators, they would have collectively made this observation. The only problem was that they were just figments of illusions, which made them incapable to formulate thoughts. Emma’s side was victorious. Defeat loomed over Luna’s team. The outcome had already been set. Luna and Rintarou were barely hanging on, but the fight was already over. And then— “…Hmm?” In that battle where she had an obvious advantage, Sir Lamorak suddenly realized something. While they had passionately battled, she had chased Rintarou, been pursued, and been hot on Rintarou’s heels. In the span of that time, their battlefield had, at some point, shifted away from the tournament grounds of Surluse. A dense forest was on either side of a single road. They were far from the tumult of the grounds—instead, on a lonely high road dominated by silence. “This place is…?” That scene brought forth old and bitter memories. She couldn’t forget it. This place was her path home that day after Sir Lamorak had won dozens of matches as the undefeated victor. The next day, she would have had her decisive battle to determine who was strongest with Sir Lancelot, who had also won every round. It was supposed to have been the peak of Sir Lamorak’s glory, but that honor had never reached her hands—because everything had gone down on that fateful day. As she had been heading home by horseback on that road, Sir Lamorak had suddenly been attacked. The four of them—Sir Gawain, Sir Agravain, Sir Gaheris, and Sir Mordred—had assaulted her. She had certainly been careless. That was the only explanation for it. She knew the brothers had felt enmity toward her for being the daughter of Pellinore, the enemy of their father—Lot—and held a grudge against her for being the lover of Morgause, their own mother, but…she never would have guessed they would bare their teeth at her. All four of their weapons skewered Sir Lamorak. Even though she had been called the strongest and fought with glory, she had come to an abrupt end. “Aaah… I’ve recalled something very unpleasant.” The netherworld couldn’t have been made in any worse taste. She couldn’t have imagined that he would go through with reproducing this place. As she clucked her tongue, Sir Lamorak looked down the high road in annoyance. Farther down, Rintarou was battered and covered in blood, barely standing as he used his swords in place of canes. “Wheeze… Hah…” Rintarou was already as good as dead. He was slumped over, facing down. If she hadn’t heard his rough breathing that mixed with bloody vomit, she wouldn’t have thought he was still alive. Sir Lamorak faced Rintarou, walking toward him. It no longer mattered that her glory had been taken from her in the past. She would start anew here. She would get the better of Merlin in this holy duel and seize her glory once more. The curtain would rise on her new adventure, another trial for God’s love. The best thing about this battle was that Rintarou’s powers from his past life were coming back. …She would soon be able to devour him. “Now, Merlin… Have you had enough of a break?” She would carry on the battle—the passionate affair. She was intoxicated and enraptured from the fight. When Sir Lamorak leaped at Rintarou, she readied her claymore at her hip and gathered her strength in her legs— “Sorry this is so sudden, but—” Rintarou suddenly grinned… The corner of his mouth lifted up horribly. “—you know how I said I’d duel with you? …Sorry—that was a lie.” “…What?” “Heh! Like anyone would face a monster alone! Duuuuummy!” Sir Lamorak was caught off guard for a moment…which was when something happened. “I’ve had enough physical therapy! Now! Do it!” Suddenly, three fissures cracked open to the right, left, and rear of the Jack. “Sir Lamoraaaaak!” “Haaaaaah!” “Prepare yourself!” Sir Gawain, Felicia, and Sir Kay jumped out from the cracks. Just like that other time, they struck at Sir Lamorak in an unanticipated surprise attack. “Whaaat?!” Even Sir Lamorak was shocked and swiveled around the claymore in a fluster. She drove away Sir Gawain’s sword, but Felicia thrust from the side. Sir Kay slashed from the back. They hit their marks, piercing her from the side and cutting into her back. “Gaaaah! AAAAH?!” Because she had wrenched herself around, she had avoided a fatal wound, but it by no means was a trivial injury. “No…?! Why…?! Wh-why are you here…?!” Her face twisted in surprise, looking at the people who shouldn’t have been able to enter the inside of the netherworld. Bwoosh! Sir Lamorak swung her weapon in a wide range and chased the three of them away. However, blood was seeping out of the corner of her sweet mouth, and as she weakened, she slumped to her knees despite herself. It seemed the blade had caught her in a vital spot. “Huh? I actually hit Sir Lamorak with my sword…?” muttered Felicia. “…W-we actually got her…? She didn’t invoke the Rothschild…?” From the distance, the three were shocked by this development. “Heh-heh-heh. It looks like we’ve actually got a second chance at this… Well, good work! You guys did great!” In the midst of all their surprise, Rintarou grinned smugly like a know-it-all. “You’re one hell of an idiot. I can’t believe you’d actually trust an enemy.” “MERLIIIIIIN!” Sir Lamorak howled. Her eyes were practically red as she roared in wrath and rage. Her howl made the skin of those around her crawl. “I won’t forgive you… I’ll never forgive you! Merlin…you intend to sully this sacred duel?! How…atrocious…!” “Heh! How long are you gonna pretend you’re on the high road, you crazy psycho-sadist? Checkmate. Now we’ve got you.” With a dauntless expression, Rintarou turned his sword at Sir Lamorak, who was fuming with rage. “Your prided Rothschild is invalid now! Yeah, this is what happens when you end up in a one-versus-four situation!”
Chapter 29
14 min read