Chapter 64

“Ah-ha-ha. What do you expect?” Nayuki asked. Sir Kay and Nayuki softly landed next to Luna… “’Sup, Luna? I fended off that thing, but I didn’t defeat it. Don’t let your guard down. It’ll get back on its feet in no time.” Zwoosh! The girl in white who had managed that—Sir Galahad—leaped down by Luna’s side. “Good going, vassals!” Luna stuck up her chest and broke out into a smug grin once she was surrounded by such reliable company. Seeing her, Sir Gawain, Sir Dinadan, Sir Palamedes, and Felicia, who had been healed by the rain, and even Sir Percival blinked in surprise. Misha barked at Luna. “I can’t believe you’re back alive…! Luna Artur, do you mean to tell me that you succeeded in the impossible search for the Holy Grail?!” “Ha! I did the impossible!” “You’re joking… There’s no way we could do something even King Arthur himself hasn’t been able to accomplish…” “Your loser mentality—that you can’t do something he couldn’t do—shows how I’m qualified to be king, and you’re not!” Luna said brusquely, disregarding Misha’s comment. “Anyway! For…reasons, I tossed the Holy Grail after I got my hands on it! But I’ve got Sir Kay, who was selected by the sword of the most excellent knight! And Nayuki, who apparently absorbed part of the Holy Grail’s powers after being revived by it! And most importantly…” Bwish! Luna pointed at Sir Galahad. “…This one became my new Jack, swearing loyalty to me. The thirteenth seat of the Round Table, Sir Galahad! Undeniable proof that I’ve been successful on the quest! How’s that?!” “Ah-ha-ha… Hello, Percival and all my senior knights… It’s been a while.” Sir Galahad scratched her cheek, bashful. “No way…! Galahad the immaculate paladin…!” “Is it really you, the seat of peril…?!” “But I thought you weren’t at Camlann Hill, off in the town of Sarras delivering the Holy Grail to heaven…” The Jacks started to stir. “Anyway, that’s the story!” Luna concluded. “I’ve outstripped all the Kings to become the most powerful one of you. Capisce? Bwah-ha-ha!” “Um…but, Luna, it wasn’t you who did any of the changing… How can you look so smug…?” “A vassal’s power is her king’s power.” “Right. Riiiight.” Sir Kay’s eyes glazed over. She was giving up. “All right! All of you! Get up! Now that the strongest and rightful king has returned, it’ll all be right! We’ll strike back! We’re saving the world! Now come with me!” Luna stood in front of them, hauling her sword majestically as she encouraged them. Even when she was up against this almighty monster, she showed no fear. It might seem unreasonable and strange, but she looked like a king who would stand at the peak of humanity, lead people, and face any hardship. When the group saw her, they felt like they were on an emotional roller coaster—from despair to hope. Misha snipped spitefully at Luna. “I—I don’t accept that! I won’t put up with someone like you!” “Siiigh. You love to bark, huh, Russia? We already know I’m a better king than you, so zip it and follow my lead.” “Grr! You can only say that because you haven’t gone against it!” “All right, all right. You’re such a sore loser, dude.” Luna shrugged and broke into a smile, but Misha refused to back down. “I… No, we wouldn’t kneel for a beast or give up, even if you’re more powerful than us!” “But you already have. What are you—the punchline to some joke?” “No! You’ve got it wrong! You don’t get it since you’ve only just arrived! There’s someone behind that beast!” “?!” Now that Misha made that point, their hope dissolved back into misery again, faces instantly clouding. “…Hmm? No…I guess that’s what’s happening, huh?” Luna had inferred it, more or less. And then she noticed something: The monster hadn’t tried to attack them again. She looked at the beast…that had fallen back, kneeling as if in awe of something. It had turned toward…three human silhouettes who had appeared out of nowhere. A young boy knight flanked by two older knights. The armor and mantle of the boy knight was jet-black—deep, dark, the color of shadows, like peering into the abyss itself. Something about his form and features shared a striking resemblance to Luna’s. He was blond, blue-eyed, and about the same age as she was. They had the same hair and eye color. He was a slender, handsome boy who might be mistaken for Luna’s sibling or distant relative. If Luna could be described as gold that was as brilliant as the sun, he was the color gold, too, but the kind that absorbed light. He was no ordinary person. Even if she didn’t know anything about the situation, her very soul understood his overwhelmingness, his imposing presence. Her eyes wouldn’t leave his sword—one that he held in both hands and thrust into the ground. “…That sword is…?!” It was neither silver nor gold, forged from a curious metal. Free of any tarnish, the blade shone brighter than thirty torches. The treasured sword was peak artistry, and it hadn’t lost any of the functionality as a simple blade. Luna’s and the other kings’ swords couldn’t even compare. It was the strongest sword, divine and devilish. Celebrated across the world, this blade had the inscription of the Slashing Sword—the greatest king’s sword, known to slash through anything that existed. “…Looks like the general himself has come to greet us, Luna,” Sir Galahad noted solemnly to Luna, who had frozen in place, chilled to the core. “Yeah. He’s…the master of that Dark Castle Camelot… He’s the king.” Castle Camelot. The master. The king. According to Sir Galahad. In all of history and in all the lands, there had only been one master of Castle Camelot. Why hadn’t she realized this until now? The Wild Hunt. The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, a hunting party consisting of apparitions and sprites from all eras and places, along with the spirits of the dead. According to European legends, the one to stand at the helm and lead that hunting party was… “Hey! I guess there was one more heir I hadn’t met face-to-face yet… You seem different from the other kids…so I thought I’d come to give you a proper greeting.” Luna didn’t understand why, but she was certain of something when she looked at the boy knight. Her soul knew it was the truth, which allowed her to accept reality. “Nice to meet you. My name is…” “King Arthur…! Our forefather…!” Luna yelled before he could name himself. The boy—King Arthur—looked at Luna and smiled. “N-no way…Arthur… My foster brother … Why…?” Sir Kay quivered, at a loss for words. “…Ha-ha. It’s been ages, Sis… I wanted to see you.” “Aaah…but…but…” Sir Kay turned pale, sinking to her knees when he flashed her a smile. It was obvious that the others had met him before. Despair was creeping on their faces. “Why?! Why are you here…?!” Luna shouted, trying to conceal her surprise and failing. “You’re supposed to be in the innermost part of Tir na Nog in the legendary island of Avalon—in a state of perpetual sleep to heal from the wound dealt to you by Sir Mordred… I thought that was why we’re having the King Arthur Succession Battle to choose your heir…!” The entire premise of the game had been overturned. “So why?! If you can come back to this world, what’s the point?!” “Ha-ha. This is the Grand Guignol, generated by the head of the Fomorians—evil gods as told in Ireland’s Lebor Gabála Érenn and passed down in Britain… This is the doing of Lord Balor.” “Did you just say Balor…?!” Lately, it seemed she heard that name everywhere. Luna turned to Sir Galahad. The knight didn’t lower her guard, readying herself as she nodded at Luna. “Ha-ha. Sir Galahad will give you the details later…,” Arthur said. “In fact, I bet she knows more than I do.” “…” “I’ll just clear up one thing. I’m going to lead these apparitions on fake Avalon Island and tear through the world. That’s right. I’m going to cause the Wild Hunt.” “…?!” “Right now, this island is the only place where there is a boundary between the real world and the illusory world. In other words…the Curtain of Consciousness has only started to collapse here. That’s why so many apparitions have been cropping up on this side. If I was the one to start the Wild Hunt across the world’s skies, what do you think would happen? What would humans think when they witnessed invincible apparitions?” “…Well…they would reconsider their prior beliefs,” Luna said. “People think that ghosts aren’t real and that they can’t exist… The Curtain of Consciousness is made of common knowledge, the collective consciousness of humankind. If humanity starts believing ghosts exist, then the seemingly absurd would become real.” “That’s right… The Curtain of Consciousness containing those ghosts is crumbling… In other words, the Catastrophe is here.” King Arthur admitted his terrible goal. “B-but if you do that…!” Luna howled. “We would regress back to the age of myths! Gods and fiends would overrun the place like they owned everything. The world would go into chaos. Humans would be oppressed by these beings…and you’re fine with that?!” “What are you so angry about? We’ll return the world to the state that it was meant to be in…where gods, fiends, apparitions, and humans exist… That’s all.” Luna shivered. Something was wrong. There was something amiss about King Arthur. He was unmistakably the king in the flesh, but there was something off about the whole thing. “Why…?” Luna questioned bravely, trying to contain her horror. “You used to wield your sword for the world and its people. You used to go on quests and fight your way through battlefields. I was sure you were a real hero… You’re supposed to be a king among kings… How could you do anything that would lead to the end of the world…?!” “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not.” King Arthur chuckled. “I’m Arthur. That’s a fact. I’m Arthur in the flesh. Maybe…I’m just another version of myself.” “Another version…?” “Uh-huh. The difference between a hero and a demon lord is whether you stand with humans or demons… Right?” King Arthur asked. Luna tilted her head. “In me, there exists no good or evil. I only became king—champion for humankind—because Merlin and the Dame du Lac led me there… But what if that had never happened?” That was right. Arthur’s ways as king were not inherent to him but things learned. As proof, Arthur had dark tendencies—many of them, in fact. Over time, this common belief had transformed into the idea that King Arthur himself would lead the Wild Hunt, apparently. “Don’t you get it? I’m King Arthur, but my course of fate has been changed by a foul demon lord. As I am now, I’m the world’s enemy—an existence that wants to destroy the planet using my natural-born powers as king…” King Arthur laughed as if enjoying himself. Luna couldn’t believe it. “Don’t you think this is the best kind of joke?” he asked. “I mean, the world is going to end at the hands of the man who cleared the way for humanity.” “You’ve got bad taste, Brit.” Luna was starting to lose her cool, and she readied her sword—her Excalibur. “I’ll give you something to laugh about—with my sword! And then we can have a happy ending and a good laugh!” “Siiigh… This charade again?” He looked at her sword, disappointed. “You’re all so proud of your brittle replicas… You only make fools of yourselves because you don’t know the power of the true king’s sword… Oh well…” King Arthur attempted to ready his own blade at his hip, but…