Chapter 43

“This is my one saving grace…” Sir Gawain stepped forward, indicating that he was ready to continue. “Don’t leave my side, my king. I’ll use everything in my body and soul to protect you.” He signaled to Felicia with his eyes as he protected her. “Hmph. You’re a changed man,” Reika spat, sounding surprised. “You used to pretend to be a good person…but you were just concerned about your rivalry with Sir Lancelot and Sir Lamorak. You used to suck, acting selfish and weaponizing your loyalty to King Arthur to do whatever you wanted.” “…That’s true. In the past, I was an irredeemable fool.” “Hmm? And how about now? I’m surprised to find you’re not just a knight by title. You’re acting like a real fighter… What could have caused this change of heart?” “A lot of things…involving Camlann Hill.” Sir Gawain closed his eyes for a moment. He could remember it like it was yesterday. The hill under twilight. The sunset burned on the horizon. Swords and arrows jutted out of the ground like grave markings. Every knight had died in that scene of destruction. It was the place where the legend had ended. Sir Gawain had already been dead by then. He hadn’t witnessed the scene…until he found himself in the afterlife in a netherworld preserved to mark the end of the Round Table. He had looked at it for all of eternity. How could that have happened to the kingdom of Logres? To all its splendor and glory? To its Round Table knights? Why had it come to this? Where and when had they gone wrong? “…I will never make that mistake again. I’ll never destroy anything like that again. This time, I will be a true knight and serve my King.” “Hmm. I can hardly recognize you.” Reika looked down at him with mixed emotions. “It seems…you haven’t changed since then. My younger sister… Mordred.” Reika didn’t even flinch. But her silence spoke volumes. Among the knights from the legend of King Arthur, she was up there with Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawain. She had occupied the second seat. Sir Mordred. Traitor of the great knight King Arthur. Child of King Arthur and Morgause, who was his half sister. Sir Mordred had a complex relationship with Sir Gawain as his half sister. By some miracle, she had lived when Arthur tried to kill her as a child and eventually served his Round Table. At some point, Sir Mordred had secretly started to operate behind the scenes to usurp the throne. First, she’d manipulated Sir Gawain’s jealousy to kill Sir Lamorak, the strongest knight in King Arthur’s court. Next, she had lent a hand to Sir Agravain, who had falsified the adultery between Sir Lancelot and Guinevere. That had unwittingly fueled the flames that broke up the Round Table. And then, she had assassinated Sir Dinadan on the quest for the Holy Grail. He had been known as the balancer. And he was the only person to notice the treason, the only knight capable of bringing together the Round Table again. Sir Mordred had continued to make her preparations… At long last, she had gone through with her plans when King Arthur and Sir Lancelot started their war. When King Arthur had been in Sir Lancelot’s section of Brittany for an expedition, Sir Mordred had taken up an army in their home country, starting her own rebellion to crown herself. The kingdom had been split in half. When King Arthur had returned, a war had broken out between father and daughter. Any discussions about peace were well through. Camlann Hill had been the final battleground. It was a battle with all their might—blood for blood. The conflict had continued from morning to night until both sides had met annihilation. One hundred thousand had perished. At the end of that morass, King Arthur’s spear had ripped through Sir Mordred, and Sir Mordred’s sword had cracked King Arthur’s skull. It had ended in a draw. And the curtain had closed on the legend of King Arthur. “You’re not going to say anything, huh…? That just proves it. Rintarou was right. You’re Sir Mordred,” Felicia said. “I don’t understand why you’re fighting in this battle as a King—not a Jack. And I don’t know why you look different now… But there’s no mistake…,” Sir Gawain added. Reika snorted. “Bingo. I’m Mordred. I stole the body of a sinner named Reika Tsukuyomi. That’s how I stand here now—” She drew her sword—the one with the white blade. “Well, I knew you’d figure it out. This sword is famous, after all…” The king’s sword. Clarent. The second one forged by the Dame du Lac. The successor of Excalibur, the sword of the chosen king. “As a child of adultery, I have no right to become king. But by collecting the blood of kings with this sword…the blood from King Arthur’s descendants…I will receive the right to become a new king. As a candidate for the next King, I was entrusted with this sample by the former Dame du Lac.” “!” “I assume you understand. I joined this battle to become king in King Arthur’s place. That is my reason behind this massacre. I will make sure you become one with Clarent, Felicia Ferald!” Reika oozed hostility and murder. Felicia instinctively took a step back. “You fool…! How long will you keep this up?!” Sir Gawain scolded. “I understand why you have a grudge against King Arthur! But didn’t you feel something…when you saw Camlann Hill? When you witnessed the kingdom in ruin? When you beheld destruction?! Do you want to become king at that cost?!” “…What grudge?” Sir Mordred’s expression tensed as if she found him senseless. “You really think I wanted to become king because of a grudge?” “—?!” Sir Gawain was silent. Sir Mordred twirled her dagger, thrusting it out to show it to Sir Gawain and Felicia. “The Sword of Destruction… Why do you think this evil weapon exists? If Arthur was actually a good king…why would an amateur commit treason to divide the country? Why would half the kingdom follow me if I’m a wicked traitor?” “I don’t understand! What are you trying to say?!” Felicia sounded panicked. “Ha… I know you know…” Sir Mordred flashed a coldhearted grin before redirecting her attention to Sir Gawain. “Right? Isn’t that true, brother…?” “…………” Sir Gawain was speechless. “Okay. So you don’t want to talk. It’s all the same with you knights. You always want to wax lyrical about fidelity, loyalty, allegiance. But you’ll turn the other way when something doesn’t fit your narrative… Whatever. We don’t have to talk about that now. Even if you were talking, it wouldn’t change my response.” Sir Mordred thrust the point of the white sword at Felicia. “I will kill all the Kings! And then I will become the one to take Arthur’s place! I can’t leave this world to his descendants! I will open the way for a new era!” “Nonsense! You traitor!” Felicia couldn’t hold back anymore. “Even if you have a vision, it isn’t kingly to deceive and murder! A usurper will never have the throne! Not on my watch!” “Show me, then. With your sword.” “You don’t have to tell me twice!” Felicia raised her sword. “Royal Road—Radiant Steel Sword of Glory!” FWST! When she declared her inscription, her sword rushed with light as blinding as the sun, washing over the area with white heat. “Ngh?!” Sir Mordred felt heavy, showered by the light. Her arms slumped, and her movements started to grind to a halt. She couldn’t stop herself from kneeling and hanging her head, like she was bowing down to Felicia. “I see… You’re strong,” commended Sir Mordred, sounding impressed with her Excalibur. To stand, she let her Aura strengthen her body. “So this is the brilliance of one accepted by the people as a king! The eleven heroes… The rival chiefs of Britain kneeled before this very light…!” At her level, Sir Mordred could use Mana Acceleration to move around… But it would strain her body. “Now, Sir Gawain!” “As you wish!” The shower of light activated the Sun’s Blessing, tripling his power. Energy pumped into his body as he raced toward the water tank. “Hmph. I guess you have the potential to take the throne, even if you’re a little brat… Fine.” Sir Mordred cast her eyes down on them. “In that case, get a load of my true power!” She returned her Excalibur to its sheath and raised the white sword—Clarent. “Royal Road—Clarent, Silver Successor of King’s Blood!” “RAAAAAAAH!” Sir Gawain had sprinted up the tank, then clutched her skull barely a moment later. He brought down his sword, booming like thunder, to behead her. Fresh blood exploded from her body. And then…they heard an impact. “Wh…at?!” Sir Mordred’s sword had stopped his. “Hmph.” And then she flipped their positions, swinging his away to the side. Sir Gawain was knocked down at an angle from the roof, falling to the ground. “GAAAAAAH?!” He ricocheted off the earth and rolled away. Felicia was appalled. “Wh-what is that power…? Royal Road…? But…” “Didn’t I tell you this is meant to succeed Excalibur?” Felicia didn’t even have time to worry about the damage her vassal had sustained. Her eyes were glued above her head. There was Sir Mordred. Her Aura was densely crimson, volatile as it broke off in waves as if she were a destructive dam. Strength. Pure and simple. Crushing. Devastating. Strength on another dimension. She looked like a giant reaching the heavens, even though they knew it was an illusion. It was on the same level as Rintarou’s Fomorian Transformation… Maybe stronger. What did she have to do to attain that range? Felicia couldn’t even imagine it. She was floored but remained composed. “My Clarent can boost the abilities of the user, based on the stolen blood… If Excalibur is the sword of the people’s leader, then Clarent is the sword of the one who wins through might.” “…Hh?!” “It has already taken the blood of Reika Tsukuyomi. And Ainz, Emma, and Luna, even though I didn’t drain all of their blood. I imagine I’ll keep getting stronger…by drinking the blood of kings.” Felicia felt dizzy. Was Sir Mordred going to become even more overpowered? Was she implying that this was just the beginning? “Felicia Ferald, support my sword! Pave my path of bloodshed—my foundation to becoming King!” “You can’t allow it to absorb you!” Sir Gawain stood up, protecting her as the blood drained from her face. “If we cannot retreat…then we must fight! If you seek to become King, you must find an escape…even from the hands of death! Don’t be scared! My soul is always with you!” “……?!” Felicia’s eyes flashed with militancy. Sir Mordred glared at the two. “What a nice duo… Hmph, seems you really have changed.” “Mordred…” “But this makes the situation more unfortunate… You’ll die as close to a real knight as you’ve ever been… I imagine you don’t intend to withdraw or surrender?” “…You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth.” “Very well.” His eyes burned with purpose. Sir Mordred broke into a little smile. Her volatile Aura seemed to become denser, whipping around her body. “I’ll end this battle!” Brandishing her sword, she turned to Sir Gawain and Felicia and plunged toward them. She was like a meteor threatening to crash into them, rippling through the air with impact. To intercept her, Sir Gawain and Felicia turned skyward, finding their footing. — “…How will this end?” As he watched the battle of astronomical proportions from the distance, Sir Dinadan smoked his cigarette. The Aura seemed to explode with light that threatened to leave the world in pieces.