The deeper they ventured into the forest of Brocéliande, the thicker the fog became, and with it a strange, oppressive weight of mana that seemed to press down on them.
"Huff, huff… this blasted forest is endless. The air is so heavy it's like I can't breathe."
After hacking through the undergrowth for hours, Clarice tore off his helmet, his face plastered with sweat. Sagremore, though equally fatigued, stood mute at his side, keeping watch over their surroundings.
By contrast, Kay's party trailing behind looked as calm as a family out on a picnic. Fou dashed about catching insects, and Artoria X Alter munched on a fresh dango skewer she'd somehow produced from nowhere.
Just then, the mist parted briefly to reveal a clear spring pool surrounded by smooth stone.
"Oh! Perfect timing—I was about to collapse from thirst. Truly, divine intervention!"
Clarice cried, running to the water's edge. He drew his canteen from his waist, knelt beside a massive boulder, and scooped up the crystalline spring water with both hands.
"King Clarice! Drinking freely from forest waters can be dangerous…!"
Sagremore warned anxiously, but Clarice, blinded by thirst, already had the water at his lips.
As a few droplets slipped between his fingers, they fell onto the blue stone beside the spring.
Plop.
A tiny ripple.
Then, the entire forest of Brocéliande shuddered and seemed to scream in unison.
Rumble!!!!
The bright midday sky turned to pitch-black clouds in an instant. A torrential storm swept in, thunder ripped through the air, and a blood-red lightning bolt struck the center of the spring.
Whoosh!!
"W-what is happening?!"
Clarice recoiled in terror and fell backward.
Out of the dense fog rose a gigantic figure nearly three meters tall. Red hair streamed like blood, and he wore black plate armor that reflected not a single ray of light. In one hand he wielded a greatsword the height of a man; in the other, a shield as thick as a castle wall.
"Foolish trespassers… How dare you wet the sacred stone of Barantong Spring and mock me, Esclados!!"
The roar of Esclados, guardian of the spring—known to some as the Red Knight for his hair, to others as the Black Knight for his armor—shook the forest.
"You set foot in my domain and sullied my holy stone: an open challenge to me! Do not expect to leave here alive!"
The sheer malice pouring off Esclados sent the soldiers scrambling back in fear.
Yet Clarice forced himself to stand, legs trembling.
"Grr…! The water loss was my fault. But as a knight, I bear responsibility for my mistakes! I accept your challenge, knight of the forest!"
"Pathetic!"
Esclados leapt forward, his massive form moving with unbelievable speed. His greatsword sliced through the air, creating a storm that engulfed Clarice.
Clang!!
"Kuh—!"
Clarice brought his sword up to block, but the difference in mass and strength was overwhelming. Not only did his blade snap, but when Esclados's shield followed through, Clarice's ornate Spanish breastplate shattered like glass.
"Aaaargh!"
Spitting blood, Clarice was hurled dozens of meters into a tree, knocked unconscious. All in a single exchange.
"King Clarice!!"
As Esclados advanced to deliver the final blow, a flash of silver light sliced his greatsword aside. Sagremore.
"Monster! I won't let you harm King Clarice!"
Sagremore plunged his sword into the gaps in Esclados's armor with fierce precision. His bladework was sharp and unrelenting, proving that his status as a knight of Camelot was no mere honorific.
Watching from a distance, Kay smirked.
"Hoh. I thought this guy was just a pompous fool drunk on chivalry, but his skill's not bad. Even against Bedivere, his swordsmanship wouldn't be outclassed."
"Indeed."
Artoria X Alter placed a hand on her sword's hilt and appraised the fight coolly. "He ranks among the top warriors in Britain. But… his opponent is too strong this time."
True to her words, Sagremore's slashes barely grazed Esclados's black armor, while each of Esclados's blows—shield or greatsword—bled Sagremore's stamina away.
Thud!!
Eventually, Esclados's massive kick landed squarely on Sagremore's abdomen, sending him sprawling to the ground.
"Ugh…"
Blood streaming, Sagremore collapsed. The remaining ten soldiers stared in horror, about to drop their weapons.
"Pathetic insects. I will turn you all into fertilizer for the spring."
Esclados raised his bloodied greatsword, haughtily poised to finish them—
"Hey."
Snap, crack.
With a lazy stride, Kay stepped forward. Carefully unfastening Mordred's baby carrier from his chest, he handed the child to Artoria X Alter.
"Alter, make sure no dust gets in her ears."
"Understood, brother. Now that I've replenished my energy, shall I step in?"
"No."
Kay rolled up his sleeves and stood before Esclados, empty-handed and relaxed.
"…What trickery is this, brat? If you've come begging for mercy, you're too late. Draw your weapon."
Esclados growled in disgust.
"A weapon? Not needed."
Kay grinned.
"I'm still a bit inexperienced myself. I need some practice—on you."
"How dare you insult me… Die!"
Furious, Esclados brought his greatsword crashing down like a boulder splitting a mountain.
But Kay didn't dodge.
Just before the blade struck his head, Kay's forearm slid along the sword's surface like a gentle wave, flicking Esclados's wrist aside.
Whoosh—Crash!!
As if a massive rock had tumbled off a slope, Esclados's unstoppable force veered off course and buried him in the earth.
This was not a mere parry but a redirection of the strike's trajectory, using the opponent's momentum against him.
Kay then absorbed Esclados's staggered force into his own spin. Like a spinning top, he launched a devastating roundhouse kick that smashed the giant squarely on the jaw.
Wham!!!
Esclados's massive frame lifted off the ground, staggering in shock. His eyes showed confusion—he couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
This was no tactic known in Britain's age of knights. It was an ultimate martial art, a remnant of the distant East where such combat traditions were still evolving—the principle of flowing water.
"Hey, wake up. We haven't even finished the first set."
The ensuing duel—or rather, Kay's one-sided massacre—continued. Every sword swing, every shield bash from Esclados was funneled through Kay's fingertips, redirected along strange arcs.
When Esclados tried to thrust, Kay slid down the blade as if it were a spear shaft, wrenching Esclados's arm at the joint.
When the giant charged in, Kay used his momentum against him, tripping him into a tree pillar.
"Hah… what sorcery is this!"
The soldiers and Sagremore watched, mouths agape: a human, bare-handed, utterly dominating a three-meter monster armed with weapons.
"…Indeed."
Kay shook his wrist and muttered, "Redirecting force is easy to understand in theory, but making it natural in your body is another matter. Still, I've got this down bare-handed. Imagine what'd happen with a sword or axe."
He lowered his stance. "Alright, practice's over. My lunch's digested—time to wrap this up."
Kaboom!!
Kay rocketed forward like a cannonball. Esclados reflexively raised his shield, but Kay's high-speed front kick shattered it at the center.
Screech! Crack!!
The ironclad shield cracked and splintered to pieces.
"T-this is impossible…!"
Amid the shattered fragments, Kay spun in midair, gathering centrifugal force and weight into a single, crushing left fist aimed at Esclados's black breastplate.
KRAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!
"Aaargh!!"
The earth-shaking blow dented the armor like paper, and Esclados's body flew dozens of meters to crash in a marsh. He spewed blood like a fountain and lay unconscious, never to rise again.
"…Phew."
Kay wiped the heat from his fist and exhaled. He'd spared the monster's life, in case it knew anything of Maduan in this forest.
Just then—
Crawwwb-blast!!!
A blood-red bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking Esclados's prone body mercilessly.
Sizzle…
Before he could cry out, the knight's frame was reduced to charcoal in an instant.
"…What the—?"
Kay frowned and looked back.
The spot where droplets had fallen—the blue stone of Barantong Spring—pulsed with a malevolent magic.
Kay realized at once: this spring wasn't a mere pool but a nature spirit imbued with the forest's will. A sub-species of fae, part spirit, part fairy.
The spring had executed its guardian for failing its duty and losing its value as a protector.
Then the spring's power surged upward, water leaping into the air to wrap around Kay tenderly. It was as if the forest was marking him as its new, strongest protector—bestowing both blessing and curse.
"Hey. Don't go drenching me without permission."
Kay scowled in disgust and finally drew the red magic sword Crudin from his waist.
"Protector? Domain? Don't be ridiculous. I'm not some fool who'll guard a puddle their whole life."
At his refusal, the spring raged, boiling into a giant water spout and storm—
"Uh? You think a mere pool can block my brother's path?"
From behind Kay, Artoria X Alter emerged, hands in the pockets of her jersey, dango long gone.
Behind her eyes glowed a crimson beam as she drew her sword.
"If anyone's going to mess with my brother, it'll be us, his sisters. Presumptuous little pool."
Artoria X Alter strode forward, shining both holy blade and magic sword.
"Interference."
As the two exceptional Pendragon sisters swung their blades in unison, a blinding clash of light and darkness rained down upon Barantong Spring, as if tearing the forest apart.
KRAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!
No scream remained.
The sacred spring of the fae—the legendary Barantong Spring—vanished in a single second, its waters boiling to steam and leaving not a scrap of mud behind.
"…Truly, what outrageous siblings."
Kay rolled his eyes, sheathed Crudin, and shook the dazed Clarice and Sagremore awake by their collars.
"Hey, wake up. All obstacles are cleared."
Rubbing their eyes, Clarice and the knights stared at the charred remnants of Esclados and the vanished spring with a mixture of fear and awe.
The party moved on. In the distance they saw a great magical fortress—Landcuccra Castle.
But it was not Maduan's stronghold. It was the castle linked to the Barantong Spring, the domain of the spring's true owner and lord—the fairy Laodin, wife of Esclados.