Chapter 71

CHAPTER 5 The True Excalibur “You’re so annoying…! Just let yourself be swallowed up in the darkness already…!” Morgan summoned a number of shadow hands. A shadow bog. A shadow tsunami. They coiled and corroded the world as if about to absorb everything. “Gah! Lahat Chereb! Go!” Sir Kay’s Lahat Chereb burned away the torrent of darkness. “There! Sink to the Ninth Circle of Grief—Cocytus!” Nayuki’s fairy magic created a barrier of frost—the Ninth Circle of Arctic Hell. Morgan’s surroundings instantly lowered to absolute zero temperatures, forming a frozen hellscape. For a moment, they slowed her movements… “Morgaaaaaaaaaan!” “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Leaping into the air, Sir Galahad crashed into Morgan, attacking fiercely with the Real Lance of Longinus in her right hand and David’s Sword in her left. With hundreds of instant waves emitting from her sword and spear, she attempted to force Morgan out. Sir Galahad parried Morgan’s magic and spear using her Joseph of Arimathea’s Shield. David’s Sword was a holy weapon that granted its wielder immortality and transcendental focus that made the world seem like it had stopped. The Real Lance of Longinus was a Holy Spear with blood at the tip that could heal any wound and a demon spear that would prevent any wound it created from being healed. As long as Joseph of Arimathea’s Shield was equipped, it boasted an invincible defense that could guard against anything. Sir Galahad, the holiest saint, could handle these relics because she was who she was. She had skills that exceeded even the strongest knight, Sir Lancelot. Under normal circumstances, there was no way any person in this world could win against her. “Hmm? Is that all you’ve got, Sir Galahad?” Morgan twirled her two spears at superspeed and smiled as she continued to deal with Sir Galahad’s blows. “Even a chosen saint is just a child of man! I suppose you can’t win against a god!” “Gah?!” And lo, Morgan’s ability at battle had outdone Sir Galahad’s. As it should. Morgan le Fay was Queen Morrigan, the strongest Celtic warrior goddess, who had spent all her time—an eternity relative to a human life—in conflicts and war. Though Sir Galahad rivaled gods with her genius, she’d only lived for seventeen years, making her devastatingly underexperienced in terms of battle. As one of the Three Goddesses of Fate, Morgan had the ability of foresight. Morgan had regained only a portion of her powers as Morrigan, but she weaponized her battle techniques and intuition to overpower Sir Galahad. Had the knight not possessed her relics, she would have been defeated instantly. Had they not had Lahat Chereb and the providence of the Holy Grail, Sir Kay and Nayuki would not have been able to do a single thing. “That’s enough… That’s enough, Sir Galahad…!” Breath ragged, Sir Kay readied Lahat Chereb and stood beside Sir Galahad’s shoulder. “Yeah… If Morgan could roam free, we would all be dead in an instant… Luna would be… By delaying Morgan, your life has meaning—as Luna’s Jack…! There’s meaning to us being here…!” “I know. Even I’m not so conceited to think I could win against a goddess… I’m counting on you, Sir Kay and Nayuki,” said Sir Galahad. “It seems you understand nothing, Sir Galahad!” Morgan flew through the air and crossed her spears overhead. “We’re both…trying to slow each other down!” She swung down her spears charged with Aura. In that instant, the flaming chunk of a star plummeted from a distance in the sky, aimed directly at Sir Galahad’s head. “A Meteor Swarm?! The attack you’ve used to topple many battlefields in your favor…?!” Sir Galahad raised and readied the Real Lance of Longinus, immediately gathering Aura in her spear. “Get a good look at this! The roar of my spear—Longinus Sin!” When she brought it down, red lightning whizzed at the star fragment that approached. A direct hit. The flaming meteor scattered into bits in the air, and its splinters turned into flames that showered the beautiful island. “Ahhh?!” “Gaaaaaaah!” The windstorm from the violent impact tore through the place. “Haaaaaah!” The storm eddied. As the place was pelted with flaming rain, Luna sprinted forward, ever forward. She raced toward King Arthur. “Yaaaaaaaaah!” “Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! You’re a stubborn one!” Her sword crashed into King Arthur’s. Each time she pulled back, she returned to press into his blade, and on they went. Again, and again, and again, Luna continued to battle King Arthur, like this simple movement was all she could do. King Arthur parried her, indifferently, sending her back without much care. “…Do you understand now?” “—Ngh?!” King Arthur deflected her sword. “You can’t win against me,” he proclaimed loudly. “Shut your mouth!” Luna put all her power into her swing, as if in response. He blocked her instantly, kicking her back. Luna launched herself off the ground and twirled through the air with catlike agility, and then she sprinted toward him in a straight line to strike. “We’re so different in strength, unfortunately.” “Shut up!” “Just so you know, I’m not even exerting myself.” “Shut up!” “I would prefer not to hurt one of my descendants… I wish you’d put yourself in my shoes…” “Shut up!” “Oh, that’s too bad… I didn’t think you’d make it this far in this impossible situation…” “…Shut up…!” “If you had just one more person—just one person with you—things might have been different…” “Shut uuuuuuuuuuuup!” VWOOM! Luna’s sword sped in from the side. King Arthur leaped back to create distance from her. “You’re a smart one. Haven’t you pieced it together? You must know you won’t be able to win. You must know the world will end.” “…?!” “Tell me, how many minutes is it until midnight? I imagine it must be soon.” “I…won’t give up…!” Luna glared at King Arthur. “Siiigh… Someone’s persistent… Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” King Arthur readied his sword—the true Excalibur—with a shling. “I could do nothing until time runs out…but that won’t be the same as defeating you, I guess.” “What are you trying to say…?” “Isn’t it obvious? Starting now, I’ll show you just how different we are as kings. I’ll show you…my Royal Road.” “What?!” Luna unintentionally let her expression harden, steadying herself. “…Hmph! That’s useless! Everyone already knows about your Royal Road!” she barked. “Your Royal Road is the Slashing Sword… A single blow can slash through any object… It’s amazing, but that’s basically all it does!” “…” “That means all I have to do is dodge you! Even if our swordsmanship is as different as night and day, you’ll never get me with your trick if I know it’s coming…” Luna thought this worked in her favor. King Arthur’s Slashing Sword and Luna’s Sword of Camaraderie were similar—both were blades that manifested power… Their Royal Road would unleash a knockout blow and leave them vulnerable when it was cast. I have to wait for my chance and counter him to reverse the outcome of this fight…! Luna carried her sword low and measured the distance between them… “…I knew you didn’t really understand my Excalibur,” King Arthur started to say. “…In what way?” “Didn’t you think it was strange that my sword is called the Slashing Sword…?” “What? You’re being cryptic.” “Think about it, young one. What’s the difference between my sword’s name…and all of yours?” “…?” Luna’s mind raced, recalling all the inscriptions she’d seen until now. She thought of the meanings of the inscriptions of the swords that described their Excaliburs. Luna’s Excalibur, the Steel Sword of Camaraderie. Felicia’s Excalibur, the Radiant Steel Sword of Glory. Emma’s Excalibur, the Steel Sword of Compassionate Guidance. Kujou’s Excalibur, the Military Conquest Steel Sword. Mordred’s Excalibur, the Sword of Destruction. Then, King Arthur’s sword, the Slashing Sword. Something was different about his sword. Something strange. Something odd. But what in the world could it be…? “…?! Don’t tell me—?!” Luna felt goose bumps all over when she realized the truth. “Seems like you pieced it together. My sword’s inscription is incomplete, left without a noun.” That was the subtle difference between them. Something was missing from the name of his sword. And this difference was a fatal one… “In life, I didn’t think it was appropriate to wield this sword. In that way, you and I were cut from the same cloth. I thought we all needed to clear our own paths ourselves. That’s why I never spoke this inscription out loud…so it would never have been passed down to you.” “…?!” “I’ll show you the sheer violence unleashed by a royal sword that can sever fate, by a blade gifted to a divinely selected King.” King Arthur held his sword up…slowly. “Sir Kay! Nayuki! Sir Galahaaad!” Luna yelled. “Ruuuun!” “Huh?!” They couldn’t do anything as they continued to battle with Morgan. He was simply ruthless. “Royal Road—Slashing Fate Sword!” Just then, his sword discharged a blinding light, making them cover their eyes. Their vision was flooded with bright white. In the next moment… FWOOM! BWOOSH! Luna, Sir Kay, Nayuki, and Sir Galahad’s bodies were lacerated, spraying blood that spread like blooming flowers. The impact flung the four in different directions. “Wha…?!” “Huh…?” Their eyes widened in disbelief as they soared through the air. King Arthur kept his sword in the air above his head. He hadn’t swung, far from Sir Kay’s fight against Morgan. They had been out of his reach. He couldn’t have sliced through them…and yet he managed to do that. “You’re joking…! H-how…? I can’t be hurt…! I shouldn’t be wounded…!” Sir Galahad looked at David’s Sword and then at Joseph of Arimathea’s Shield. She should have been immortal, invincible…but the holy relics had been smashed. Sir Galahad collapsed facedown like a broken marionette, sustaining untreatable wounds. King Arthur spoke to her. “…It matters not if you’re immortal or invincible. It matters not if you’re at a great distance. My Excalibur can tear through fate and all matters of things: distance, karma, destiny, any obstacle that obstructs my path.”