Chapter 49: If He Does Not Die, My Heart Cannot Be at Peace
"..."
The knights silently looked at the sage who had suddenly appeared.
Merlin's proposed tactic was tempting, yet no one dared to agree.
Because everyone had already witnessed how invincible that demonic dragon's son was.
"I see, you're all hesitating..."
Merlin was not surprised at all.
"My dear knights, none of you know—what exactly happened before, do you?"
The magus smiled.
In his violet eyes, a mysterious light flickered.
On his face, there was not the slightest trace of resentment from being disfigured by Su Shu.
On the contrary, the overwhelming sense of pleasure made the magus's body begin to tremble.
Ahh... my brain is trembling!
That's right, the incubus had sensed something very interesting—
"Alvin Pendragon.
"Your luck is really terrible...
"My dear knights~ you all heard him say it, right? He was originally going to kill you all.
"Well, that wasn't a lie, you know~?"
Merlin hummed a cheerful little tune, smiling as he said words that sent a chill down the knights' spines.
"—He was already filled with a surging killing intent. After Gawain made his move, he was going to use that opportunity to kill all of you and snatch Artoria away!
"However... that woman appeared.
"That one ordinary, common woman ran out and pleaded for him.
"And so, his heart softened...
"That made his heart waver.
"That Gawain deflected his attack, and that woman's appearance..."
Merlin laughed brightly, excitedly.
"—That was the hand of fate protecting us!"
"Because we are the righteous side, fortune is not on his side! His very existence is being opposed by the will of this entire world!
"And that's what let you, my dear knights, survive, you see~?
"But do you think it ends here? No! Everyone is already backed into a corner. The rise of the demonic dragon's son will destroy everything you cherish, everything you want to protect!
"Behold... the utterly lightless, despairing future—"
The incubus suddenly spread his arms.
As colorful petals fell from the sky, a dreamlike, brilliant color spread out from the magus, enveloping all the knights in the square.
It was a dream that looked incredibly real—
A crimson moonlight poured down, no more vibrant than the color of the earth.
Flocks of carrion crows circled high above, the deep sky was as thick as blood, and a scarlet, demonic moon seemed to be opening its vertical pupil, gazing at this land of Britain.
Streams, lakes, converged into a sea of blood.
Corrupt soil irrigated with black blood, endless hills of piled-up lives.
Standing on a slope made of layered corpses, the son of the light-devouring demonic dragon raised his head under the blood moon and let out a roar that shook the heavens and the earth...
Everything in Britain was utterly destroyed, all the glory of the knights was completely buried, leaving only a stretch of burnt, gray, desolate land.
—This was the chilling prophecy that Merlin presented to every knight.
The knights dazedly witnessed those incredibly real and desperate scenes.
Their pupils gradually turned scarlet, their breathing became heavy.
Their hands, involuntarily, rested on the hilts of their swords.
The incubus's call, amidst this agitated crowd, once again resounded in the hearts of the knights.
"So I say, my dear knights... this is the one and only, the final chance to kill him!
"Take up your swords, the time has come to risk everything..."
"The hour of destiny is at hand, the bell now tolls! Your fearless and heroic glory will surely be sung throughout this island..."
"—Merlin, you f***ing liar, are you trying to trick people again?!"
A young man's roar suddenly rang out in the square.
Kay bit his own lip hard, using the sharp pain to break free from the incubus's illusion.
Ignoring the blood streaming from his mouth, he rushed forward and angrily grabbed the incubus's collar.
"Isn't it enough that you lied to me and Lily?! You want to lie to everyone here and make them ambush Alvin?!"
"I didn't lie to anyone, Kay-kun."
Merlin smiled gently, like a spring breeze.
He looked up at the declining sunlight.
"Everyone understands, right? My prophecies, has there ever been a time when they didn't come true?
"If you all do nothing...
"That is the future that awaits Britain.
"To think that the son of the demonic dragon is a good person, only you are still clinging to such a stubborn fantasy, Kay..."
Merlin said with a smirk.
"—Because you're very close with Alvin-kun. I can understand, because people are selfish..."
"Go to hell!"
Kay swung his sandbag-sized fist and slammed it into the incubus's right cheek, sending him flying.
Merlin was still smiling.
"How pitiful..."
He was still smiling with a twisted corner of his mouth as he slowly got up, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his face.
"—Look at the eyes of your comrades, Kay."
His voice fell.
The sunlight brought silence.
Kay turned around in disbelief.
The members of the Round Table were all looking at him with blank expressions.
"Percival..."
"Kay, Merlin is right." Percival closed his eyes. "We understand your relationship with him, but personal feelings are personal feelings... he is, after all, the son of the Vile King Vortigern."
"Agravain...?"
"Rationally speaking, this is indeed an excellent opportunity," the grim-faced knight said. "If we don't surround and kill him now, we will rarely encounter him alone in the future."
"Gareth?! Tristan?!"
"Brother Kay... don't look at me..." Gareth looked away. "I, I'll go with what everyone else says..."
"We can understand your sadness... Kay, that sorrowful expression of yours, ahh, it's truly heartbreaking. I have nothing to say, so I can only play a tune for you..."
A mournful tune from a lute began to play.
Finally, almost trembling, Kay looked at the most dazzling person in the group, who had been silent until now.
"Gawain, you confronted Alvin. You understand best, don't you..."
The crestfallen Sun Knight slowly raised his eyes.
The words he spoke sent Kay plunging into an ice cave, completely frozen.
"Merlin... he's right."
"Gawain, you—"
"Kay, I'm sorry."
The Sun Knight gently gripped the hilt of his sword.
The brilliance of the holy sword, which had been dim, began to grow brighter.
"It must be at this time...
"And it must be today.
"Alvin, he was right... I have too much conscience, too much of a bottom line. Facing this kind of opponent, I cannot allow myself to have even the slightest hesitation.
"He makes me feel even more fear than the demonic dragon Vortigern.
"I'm sorry, Kay. I know this violates the code of chivalry...
"But I can allow my morals to be flexible."
Gawain laughed.
"Once a man accepts his own weakness,"
He laughed coldly, frighteningly.
"Then I am invincible.
"A bottom line is something I can just pick up later. Only by killing him—killing Alvin Pendragon! Can I sweep away this shadow that has haunted my life...
"If I don't kill him today, I even doubt if I will have the courage to raise my sword in front of him in the future."
Gawain gripped his holy sword tightly, looked up at the dim sunlight, and said, word by word, resonantly.
"—If he does not die, my heart cannot be at peace."
Dazed.
Stunned.
Kay stumbled backward, his gaze on his comrades now completely foreign, as if he were seeing them for the first time.
"You all..."
Thump.
Kay fell limply to the ground.
The knights gathered.
Completely ignoring him, they gathered.
His once-familiar comrades were now discussing how to kill that person.
"His magical attribute is shadow."
"He seems to have inherited Vortigern's ability to devour light."
"Under the sun, he also receives a boost, which is the same type of protection as mine."
"What's the fastest way to kill him? He has the blood of a demonic dragon, so he must have terrifying regenerative abilities. We should use more skills with corrosive effects."
"We also have to consider Vortigern's arrival. The whole process absolutely cannot exceed ten minutes."
"I've got it—"
As the think tank of the knightly order, Agravain instantly gave a crucial piece of advice.
"He can use both light and shadow, and has almost no weaknesses. So, the most convenient environment to kill him is... at the changing of day and night!"
"The morning has already passed, we... still have dusk!"
"That makes sense, but... at dusk, we also lose Gawain as our strongest combatant."
"Then let Merlin cast an illusion on him, to deceive the sun at dusk, so that he still has the Saint's protection. Even if it only lasts for a short time, it will be enough!"
"First, try a sneak attack, then everyone charge together. Unleash your strongest, most unreserved techniques!"
"Agravain, you're a devil!"
"..."
Kay was stunned.
The plan was being made.
The knights were rubbing their palms together.
They were excitedly discussing how to kill Alvin—
Kay suddenly scrambled up and ran like a madman toward the outskirts of town.
"Stop him! Stop Sir Kay! He's going to warn him!"
Layers of impenetrable armored walls instantly surrounded Kay.
The knights' eyes were red.
Their lips were smiling.
Everyone seemed to have the same face.
The figure of the incubus appeared before Kay's eyes.
"I'm sorry... Kay. I can't let you leave for now."
"F*** your bloody mother! Merlin!"
As if using all his strength, he screamed, he roared.
Captured and bound, Kay let out a final, heart-wrenching cry toward the distance.
"LI—LY—!!!"
In a dreamlike, flower-filled fairy forest, as if hearing someone call her name, the golden-haired girl dazedly looked back toward the distant shore that separated the two worlds.
"I'm over here, you know~? Lily."
A gentle voice came from in front of her.
The figure of the incubus stood by the quiet lake.
The horrifying wound on his face had already scabbed over, a rough, terrifying scar covering half his face. His right eye was gloomy and lifeless, leaving only a grayish-white, wriggling pupil.
Beside him stood a graceful, beautiful, and noble silver-haired elf. She resembled Morgan in appearance, but had not a trace of darkness, only an aura of holiness and inviolability.
Merlin raised his hand.
With a terrifying smile, he called out softly.
"Come, come here, my Lily...
"I will tell you all the truth."
Before Kay's eyes, everything was obscured by a shower of brilliant petals.
Artoria gripped her sword and, just like that, walked slowly forward.
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