Chapter 148: Let the World Feel Pain (Part 3)
“What is that…?”
Someone murmured on the plaza of the inner city.
Then, the boisterous cheers of the crowd, who were waiting for the Founding Ceremony, gradually faded.
And then, disappeared.
Everyone silently looked up, gazing towards the distant sky where a figure in a black robe, exuding red clouds, was ascending.
In Escarnia, no one was unaware of what that robe represented.
It was a totem, a symbol that had been deified.
“Lord Cain?”
Someone mumbled.
But soon, the speaker was loudly refuted by a soldier in silver armor beside him, “Nonsense, Lord Cain died in the Battle of Termination Valley long ago!”
“Her Majesty and several Legendary Knights of the Round Table personally confirmed it, how could there be a mistake?”
“This is merely a thief who has barged in, imitating Lord Cain’s attire.”
“However—”
That soldier also looked up, his gaze falling upon the figure mid-air.
As a soldier who had followed the King of Knights on campaigns and personally fought Abyss Monsters on the battlefield, his rank was not high, but his Second Ring strength meant his mental power far surpassed that of ordinary civilians.
And within his spiritual perception.
The figure in the distant sky was emitting a vast and soul-stirring aura.
This presence was something even the Titled Legion Commander of his legion could not compare to.
The only beings that could be compared to it were the few Legendary Knights of the Round Table he had glimpsed before.
“Is this person impersonating Lord Cain also a Legendary?”
“Remnants of the defeated King Vortigern? Or a powerful individual sent by other kingdoms on the continent to covet Escarnia’s land?”
“Arriving just before the Founding Ceremony, what exactly does this thief intend to do?”
Such thoughts caused the soldier’s heart to panic.
But soon, he calmed his mind.
The current Empire was no longer the nascent force composed of scattered soldiers, barely able to muster a Legendary fighter, that merely survived by hiding amongst the Dawn Holy See and Vortigern’s army.
As the saying goes, great times forge great heroes.
Years of bloody battles had already forged a true, battle-hardened army.
The current Empire was the true master of this land, no longer fearing any powerful enemy or challenge.
As if to respond to the expectations of the citizens and soldiers.
In an instant, several equally powerful spiritual forces diffused from the center of the inner city.
Subsequently, several streaks of light shot up from the imperial palace in the inner city.
“It’s the Knights of the Round Table.”
“If I’m not mistaken, it should be Lord Gareth, Lord Tristan, and Lord Agravain, all of whom have reached the Legendary rank.”
“As expected, I knew it!”
“For such an important matter, the Knights of the Round Table would definitely appear to drive away the thief!”
…
In the distant sky.
Three streaks of light halted, revealing figures clad in knightly armor.
Some rode majestic and ferocious griffins.
Others summoned elemental fairy familiars, using wind-attribute skills to carry themselves through the air.
The three Knights of the Round Table, who had made their names known across the entire continent, formed a triangular formation, surrounding the black-robed figure with red clouds in the center.
As Legendaries, they possessed the ability to float or fly to varying degrees, no longer confined to the battlefield on the ground.
“Your Excellency, welcome to the Empire’s Founding Ceremony.”
“However, we do not know why you are doing this…”
Tristan, leading the group, materialized his armament.
He subtly nudged the reins in his hand, and the dragon beneath him, with its enormous membranous wings and clear dragon bloodline, flapped its wings, whipping up a chaotic storm and closing in slightly on the center.
Tristan was unsure of the other party’s intentions, but from the figure resembling Cain, he could sense a threat no less than his own.
Furthermore, since the other party had not yet revealed their stance, Tristan was not prepared to engage in direct combat and intended to offer courtesy before resorting to force.
What if the other party was an envoy from another kingdom who simply lacked manners?
However, before Tristan could speak.
The next moment, he saw the figure in the Robe of Dawn turn slightly.
Surrounded by three fully armed Legendary Knights of the Round Table, who had fought side-by-side for a long time and possessed excellent coordination, in a triangular formation, any Legendary not yet ascended to the Throne would face immense risk, and a single mistake could lead to their demise.
And when surrounded and attacked in a triangular formation, the person within the formation would not have even a trace of opportunity to escape.
Yet, the mysterious person dressed as Cain had not shown the slightest sign of panic from beginning to end.
He simply waited in silence for the three to close in and the formation to take shape.
Then, with his indifferent eyes within the vortex mask, he slowly scanned the three in front of him.
“Gareth, Tristan, and Agravain.”
Indifferent words emerged from beneath the vortex mask.
“Such a major incident occurring at the Founding Ceremony, the most important ceremony of the entire Empire…”
“If that ape-like knight were still here, he would probably have eagerly rushed out at the first moment.”
“And now, only you three Legendary knights are present in the Round Table…”
“This means… Gawain and the others are indeed no longer here.”
“And you are traitors within the Round Table.”
“You have betrayed the vows you took when you became knights, and also betrayed your beliefs.”
“You chose to embrace the embrace of the Crimson Moon.”
“And you personally slaughtered your comrades.”
The voice was calm.
But to the ears of the three Knights of the Round Table in the distant sky, it was like a thunderclap from clear skies.
Tristan’s tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open, and he looked at Shaya in shock.
The betrayal within the Round Table had only happened a short time ago, and the bodies of Merlin and Gawain had not yet been buried.
Yet, this person had deduced everything accurately from mere details.
After a long while, he spoke with a hint of uncertainty, “Cain?”
Unlike the commoners who had never seen Cain and could only imagine his image through statues, paintings, and the stories of bards.
Tristan and the others were knights who had truly risen from humble beginnings with the King of Knights, and had even served with Cain.
Because of this, their familiarity with Cain was far beyond that of ordinary people…
Whether it was the subtle details of his physique or that unique temperament, it all led these Knights of the Round Table to make some special associations.
And at this very moment, as their words were spoken, their suspicions increased.
“You didn’t die in that battle? Then why have you never appeared for all these years?”
“Do you know what the King has done for you all these years?”
Tristan’s words were somewhat agitated.
“If you are truly Cain, then prove it to us!”
However, facing Tristan’s impatient urging.
The person suspected to be Cain merely shook his head gently.
“Cain is just a title, why do I need to prove it?”
“What if I am, and what if I am not?”
“Don’t be a riddle-giver!”
Tristan roared.
“Since you seem indifferent, then why are you returning now during the Founding Ceremony and appearing here?”
“Naturally, it is to correct the mistakes I made in the past.”
Cain’s voice gradually sounded.
The voice sounded very calm, yet it seemed to possess immense penetration.
Not just in the distant sky.
But echoing throughout the entire inner city, throughout the Holy City of Camelot.
“I once thought that by sacrificing myself alone, I could bring dawn and a new era to this world of calamities.”
“But now, it seems I was wrong.”
Cain spread his arms, his wide sleeves billowing in the wind.
Although the figure in the distant sky was so small, so slender.
Yet, in everyone’s eyes, it was so magnificent, as if possessing the power to contend with the entire world with one person’s strength.
“This is not the ideal kingdom I envisioned, the one I longed for.”
“But merely an illusion of the past, its future erased, devoid of any possibility of development, trapped in an endless cycle.”
“Therefore—”
His gaze overlooked the magnificent holy city on the ground.
“Lord Tristan, didn’t you just ask me who I am?”
“The current me is neither Cain nor that undefeated Black Knight—”
“But a god who corrects order.”
“A kingdom immersed in such false peace, such hypocritical illusions, is meaningless.”
“Since you have embarked on the wrong path through violence, then it must be corrected with even greater, overwhelming power.”
“So…”
Within the vortex mask.
Shaya gently closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, all personal emotions within his pitch-black irises had vanished along with the light and shadow.
“There is only one thing I must do.”
“This Ivory City, this ideal kingdom, which I created with her, pouring countless expectations into it… but has embarked on the wrong path.”
“I will personally, bury it.”
Like the grand sound of celestial trumpets, it echoed vibrantly throughout the heavens and earth.
“Accept the pain.”
“Know the pain.”
“Consider the pain.”
“Understand the pain.”
“And then—”
“From this moment on, let this erroneous world of fantasy.”
“Feel the pain.”
…
“Cain! Are you betraying the King?”
In the distant sky, Tristan, riding his dragon, roared.
At this instant.
A strange sense of dread suddenly arose in his heart.
At first, it was merely a faint, nascent seed.
But within a few breaths, this seed of fear rapidly grew, occupying his entire mind.
This dread was something he had never experienced, even when he, at his pre-Legendary Sixth Ring rank, faced the hostile King Vortigern on the battlefield.
Although he did not know Cain’s objective, nor the origin of that immense fear.
As a Legendary, Tristan had absolute faith in his spiritual premonition, which intersected with the Spirit World and the Astral Realm.
Moreover, the intentions of this mysterious person suspected to be Cain were already very clear.
He intended to destroy Camelot!
To destroy the kingdom that His Majesty had painstakingly built with his life’s work.
“No, you are not Cain.”
“The Cain I knew always placed the King first in his heart, no matter what.”
“A loyal Black Knight who would never betray, even in the face of death, not you standing here!”
“You have merely desecrated Cain’s body, used the wicked sorcery of necromancers and bone demons to read Cain’s memories, a detestable impostor!”
Tristan’s eyes gradually turned icy.
Unlike his colleague Gawain, who revered the eight virtues of knighthood as his supreme creed and swore allegiance to the King merely to practice his knightly ways.
He was a knight who placed loyalty to the King at the highest position.
If not for this, Tristan would not have chosen to betray his beliefs and draw his blade against his former comrade when loyalty and the knightly way were in conflict.
Therefore.
In Tristan’s eyes at this moment, regardless of who the person before him was… whether Cain or not.
The moment he began his rebellion against His Majesty, Cain became his enemy, just as he had previously drawn his blade against Gawain.
Clang—
A seven-stringed zither sounded, its sonic waves transforming into invisible blades that severed space, sealing all space around Cain.
Behind him, two powerful magical fluctuations also began to build up.
Gareth and Agravain, knights who had made the same choice as Tristan in the recent internal conflict of the Round Table, also chose the same path.
However—
After one breath.
The attacks of the three Legendaries all struck empty air.
Cain’s figure in black with red clouds simply flickered like ripples on water, and then reformed.
They looked up in astonishment, only to see within Cain’s vortex mask.
The three slowly rotating silver moons.
“So, when did you get the illusion that I hadn’t activated Moon Reader?”
As if he had lost all interest in them, Shaya didn’t even glance at the three Knights of the Round Table.
Three Legendaries, under normal circumstances, were indeed formidable enemies to him; only in his “Black Knight” Mech form could he barely contend with them.
Even if he unleashed all his trump cards and defeated them, it would only be a narrow victory.
However.
After Tristan and the other two were corrupted by the divinity of the Crimson Moon, although this divinity would become an additional buff when facing others, becoming stronger than before.
For Shaya, who had shared the authority of the Crimson Moon through Augustina’s equal contract, this divinity was purely a debuff.
For Shaya, a follower of the Crimson Moon, their spiritual power was like an open defense, free to be tampered with; with a slight activation of Tsukuyomi, they could be trapped in eternal illusions.
And Shaya truly had no interest in these phantoms of the past.
His movements paused slightly.
The next moment, the shadow of Moon Reader in his dark eyes melted away, transforming into Yui’s operator runes.
The information lock was released.
Myriad streams of complex information poured into his Spiritual Ocean through Yui and Shaya’s soul pact.
…
In the Astral Realm.
The cruising magical armament named “Sheath of the Heavenly Punishment Sword” slowly adjusted its angle.
Then, it aimed at the magnificent city below.
Countless data transformed into characters, encrypted and computed by Yui, forming intricate trajectories.
The vast majority were rejected.
Then, only the single correct trajectory remained.
It was still the Heavenly Punishment descending from the sky.
However, this time, the carrier Shaya chose to launch was not the Holy Spear.
The Holy Spear had lost a considerable amount of power after its last full liberation, and even without the power loss, the Holy Spear in its complete form was somewhat insufficient for Shaya’s requirements.
Unlike the Holy Sword wielded by Isadorella, who was already a Throne.
The Holy Spear was bound by Little Ai’s soul pact and had not yet fully recovered to its complete form of “Storm Anchor, Tower of the World’s End.”
Therefore, even if Shaya were to unleash the Holy Spear’s judgment again, it would be impossible to overcome the Crimson Moon, which had recovered a significant portion of its divine kingdom with the birth of the fantasy.
So, this time.
Shaya chose another path.
Not relying on the Holy Spear lent by Little Ai, not relying on mystery, not relying on the extraordinary.
But completely, through his own wisdom—
A creation that had never existed in this world, nor had it ever been imagined by predecessors.
If, a thousand years later, the “Gustav Cannon” built by the Alliance of Lieges on the Golden Plains was hailed as the pinnacle of Fourth Era magic technology.
Its power to harm Legendary Experts made the Gustav Cannon a true forbidden weapon, as well as the highest secret of the Alliance of Lieges, a trump card capable of suppressing a nation’s destiny.
Then—
At the end of the Third Era, and the beginning of the Fourth Era.
A magical mechanical creation far more powerful and magnificent than the Gustav Cannon had already been realized.
“Launch trajectory—calculation complete.”
“Secondary verification, passed.”
“Safety lock, first level—released.”
“Second level—released.”
Then.
“Ignite.”
…
At the highest point of Camelot, in the Hall of Thrones.
Although the remaining Knights of the Round Table had departed.
That solitary figure still stood in the Hall of Thrones.
In the King of Knights’ hand, the golden radiance of the Holy Sword shone, blazing brilliantly.
Illuminating the deep silence of the pitch-black shadows around, and the thin, eternal night curtain.
“Augustina.”
“Do you really think you alone are my match?”
A chilling voice echoed in the Hall of Thrones.
“You shouldn’t be, compared to little Isadorella.”
A bell-like laughter came from the eternal night curtain in the gloom.
“Wielding both the fully liberated Holy Sword and the blessing of the Crimson Moon, you can no longer be measured by a simple Throne.”
“However, I at least promised him that I would stall you, to give him and the Crimson Moon a one-on-one opportunity.”
“Although I don’t know what confidence he has now to deal with the Crimson Moon… but since I promised him, I will surely fulfill this agreement.”
“He values oaths and agreements the most; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so fond of that little girl who contracted the Holy Spear.”
“I don’t want to be disliked by him for breaking my promise.”
Hearing the words of “Black Princess” from the night curtain, Isadorella couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Golden sword light erupted, slashing into the dark eternal night curtain, but was slowly swallowed, causing no ripple.
Isadorella couldn’t help but furrow her delicate brows.
She could confirm that her previous few attacks, even if received by the Black Princess, would not have been easy.
However, if she was determined to hold her back at the cost of her life, using her authority over eternal night and secrecy, even she wouldn’t be able to break through in a short time.
Nor would she be able to investigate the truth of the figure in the plaza that made her heart tremble.
However, immediately after, Isadorella heard Augustina’s bell-like laughter sound again.
“Already finished so quickly?”
“Then, with great success, I’ll make a run for it and avoid your wrath… little Isadorella.”
The light laughter slowly faded.
Almost simultaneously, the dark night and shadows receded like a tide, as if they had never appeared.
Isadorella frowned, looking at Augustina’s retreating direction with confusion, not understanding the purpose of her entanglement.
The dissipation of the eternal night curtain also allowed external information to re-enter the Hall of Thrones.
Boom—
Isadorella’s pupils contracted.
From the plaza, cheers from the populace, louder than before, could be heard.
She looked up—
Only to see in the distant sky.
A silver-white meteor, tearing through the heavens.
Descending from the Astral Realm towards the Crimson Moon hanging high in the sky above Camelot, visible within the Star Realm’s view.
A few breaths later.
The silver-white streamlined projectile met the blood-red Crimson Moon.
Collision.
Then, explosion.
“Since the unfully liberated Holy Spear cannot do anything to a true primordial ‘Moon’.”
“Then—”
“What about in the radiance of the ‘Sun’?”
Shaya’s whispered words drifted in the high sky, unheard by anyone.
This was the ultimate trump card he had created with all his fortune.
Unlike the “Gustav Cannon,” which took Legendary and Legendary-class familiars as hypothetical enemies.
At the design stage, Shaya’s hypothetical enemy was not a Legendary—
But a true “Mythical Creature.”
This was the first “anti-mythical weapon” created since the birth of the Western Continent’s magic technology and Mechanist system.
Shaya had conceived many names for it.
Such as “Marrow Burst,” or “Void Zeroth Blessing,” or “Fantasy Collapse,” “Spirit Particle Fusion.”
However.
If only one word could be used to most accurately describe this most destructive forbidden magical weapon in history.
Then, there was only one word—
“Nuclear Blast.”
