Chapter 618
Killing From The Past To The Future
Whether it was the potent effect of the Giant’s Heart or Arthur’s own immense strength, Arthur’s injuries were completely healed before the “Copper Pot Roasted Giant Assortment” was finished.
He had been shattered like cracked porcelain, but his body had already recovered to its original state.
Even so, Arthur’s expression remained calm and indifferent.
He was silent when fighting desperately, silent when charging, silent in victory, silent in pain, and even after recovering, he remained silent, as tranquil as winter.
After offering his assessment and advice to Eivass, he became utterly wordless.
It seemed as if he had nothing to say in his daily life apart from imparting teachings.
After finishing his meal, he wiped his oil-stained mouth with his right arm. Arthur stood up and walked to the window.
Arthur gazed out the window with his ice-cold, silver-gray pupils, watching the torrential blood rain, like a reversed river, dyeing Avalon’s waters a bloody red.
“In the future, I will guard this land.”
Suddenly, Arthur spoke, “But sometimes, I wonder if that will be a mistake.”
He did not turn back to look at Eivass.
Yet Eivass knew that this was not a soliloquy. Arthur—or rather, the avatar of the “Silver Crown Dragon”—was speaking to him.
Eivass did not respond immediately, so Arthur continued, “Promises made must be kept, and deeds done must be upheld. Power is built on trust; power without trust is like strength that is not feared.
“But if the initial direction is wrong, a king should still change course. Someone must bear the responsibility for the change, just as someone will always pay the price for deciding the direction.”
Eivass remained silent.
Arthur finally turned back and looked at him.
He was not looking at Sir Helchin, but rather, as if seeing something within him.
“You are not bad,”
Arthur said, “You can be the King of Avalon.”
“…There’s no need for that,”
Eivass finally spoke, “Perhaps my child will ascend to the throne one day… but I will not. I will always be the knight she loves.
“Know this: Knights do not usurp thrones.”
This was one of the pronouncements left by Lancelot I, the first monarch of Avalon.
“—Nor are they bound by the throne.”
Arthur recited the latter half of the pronouncement.
He cast a deep glance at Eivass.
His silver-gray pupils evoked images of snowy winters, frozen lake surfaces, or the glint of a sword’s edge.
“You still have a chance,”
Arthur said, “But not after the wedding. Once you make your vows, your words will become chains.”
The meaning of the Silver Crown Dragon was clear.
Eivass could still usurp Isabel’s throne now—and this was even acknowledged by him. However, after Eivass vowed not to betray Isabel at the wedding, such an act would be considered a breach of oath.
A wedding was one of the rites of the Candlemaster, and the wedding ring and vows belonged to the domain of the Silver Crown Dragon. Under the witness of at least two Pillar Gods, those words could not be retracted once spoken.
Eivass, however, merely shook his head, “If you truly love her, you don’t need to wait for the Candlemaster’s witness at the wedding; every word is a promise.”
“…Is that so?”
Arthur was silent for a long time, then shook his head slightly, “I do not understand love.”
Eivass looked up at Arthur in surprise, while Arthur merely returned his gaze with a calm, indifferent look.
“Everyone is a Hengwo, everyone is a Father of Serpents. But I am not—I only have the Father of Serpents’ aspect, and lack the Hengwo.”
“…Is your Hengwo aspect with someone else?”
Eivass subconsciously asked.
As soon as he finished, he felt he had spoken too carelessly—
Fortunately, the Silver Crown Dragon’s nature was indeed indifferent and not easily angered.
Arthur paid no attention to Eivass’s disrespect and answered with unexpected seriousness, “That’s right, there is no gain without sacrifice.
“I can offer these things for my Great Deed; what are you willing to give up?”
Eivass paused, not answering immediately.
Arthur sighed, “Think it over carefully.
“—I’ll wait for you to come back.”
The next moment, the scene before Eivass suddenly dissipated entirely—
He was not inside the Pankor Sanctuary in Kastenning Pankor, but outside!
Eivass was still circling in the air on his Pegasus, yet to charge towards the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was still intact and not emitting those strange ripples.
…What was going on?
Eivass was startled.
“Is it an illusion?”
He looked at the Night Demon beside him.
The Night Demon shook its head, “No, Master. I also have that memory… the memory of Arthur.”
Eivass pondered for a moment, then understood, “I see…”
He recalled that at the beginning of the Ascension Ritual, the Lord of Scales and Feathers had said that Helchin was a natural prophet who could gain fragments of the future from dreams.
The “Arthur” he had just seen was precisely “the future in Helchin’s eyes!”
Perhaps Kastenning had not yet died at this moment, or perhaps the Pankor Family was already living here. But Arthur had clearly not been captured and brought here yet.
He didn’t know when it started, but he had fallen into a precognitive illusion.
Or rather…
This Ascension Ritual was not the Lord of Scales and Feathers “crudely stitching two eras together,” but rather Helchin’s ability to travel between the present and future through illusions!
He would eventually die.
Just like the future he foresaw… he would die in Avalon and be beheaded, creating the history of “Beheading Valley.”
But his death would destroy the Giant Kingdom Arctos.
In other words…
While Eivass needed to experience his own death in reality and complete his Ascension mission…
He also needed to defeat Supreme Heaven in the “future!”
This was not merely Helchin’s personal history, but the overlapping histories of Helchin and the Knights of the Round Table!
“…In that case, I need to finish my part of the mission quickly.”
Eivass felt a sense of urgency.
Because he didn’t know when… perhaps when Supreme Heaven took the bait, he wouldn’t be able to complete the remaining tasks.
But at this moment, Eivass’s ears twitched slightly, and he heard angry shouts from afar.
—Someone was fighting!
Eivass’s heart stirred, and he urged his Pegasus to fly towards the sound.
As a Dragon Knight, Helchin should be an Extraordinary of peak Fifth Tier. His age was clearly over five hundred years, so he was likely a successor.
Perhaps it was the effect of his succession that strengthened his senses. In the torrential rain, even another Fifth Tier Extraordinary would have difficulty hearing a distant battle at this range—yet Helchin possessed this “ability to hear cries of anguish.”
It was with this power that he saved others!
The Pegasus turned and flew rapidly, quickly covering three kilometers. At this point, Eivass, seeing the sky-piercing flames in the distance, finally realized the source of the sound.
It was the battle between a Lizardmen warrior burdened with heavy equipment and a giant engulfed in flames.
Rather than a battle, it was a one-sided massacre.
The Lizardmen warrior possessed immense strength—his speed was faster than the Grand Guardian; his swift and agile power was born for slaughter. He was undoubtedly a Fifth Tier Extraordinary.
There was just one difference.
The Grand Guardian held a weapon of Golden Tier, while the Lizardmen warrior’s weapon could only be called “remnants.”
It could not survive the Giant’s raging flames and had been burned into residue, not even worthy of being called a dagger.
The Giant’s long-handled metal battle-axe, however, burned with flames, and his body was also wreathed in scorching fire.
He looked like a giant scarecrow burning fiercely—his long-handled axe seemed as light as a sickle.
As they fought, uncontrolled flames spread everywhere. In the blood rain, blood mist with a pungent odor evaporated.
“【That is Origen, my most trusted subordinate】”
A sad whisper, with a hollow echo, sounded from the depths of Eivass’s heart.
At the same time Eivass arrived, the assault of the brown-red skinned Lizardmen warrior was easily blocked by the Giant.
Not with martial skills—but flames that materialized out of thin air condensed into a lava shield, blocking the attacking Lizardmen warrior.
Following that, a horizontal pillar of lava erupted!
It arced in a parabola, blasting the Lizardmen warrior far away to a distant mountain.
—Lava Reflective Shield!
Eivass was too familiar with this mechanic. When attempting to attack the opponent at the wrong time, if the attack critically hit, it would send the attacker flying out of bounds by the Lava Reflective Shield!
This mechanic, this appearance—this was “Wildfire Giant” Utgarðar-Loki!
And it was Cardinal Loki’s original form!
“Be careful, Master,”
The Night Demon grew serious, blocking Eivass, “He is Sixth Tier.”
…He’s actually Sixth Tier?
Eivass’s heart tightened, but he then understood—this was reasonable. Given Supreme Heaven’s protectiveness, anything the Pope had, his Patriarch should also have.
“I’ll go rescue him first,”
Eivass said quickly.
The narration in his mind earlier had sounded as sad as if Origen had just died… but Eivass could clearly see that Origen had not died yet at this moment.
He was a Fifth Tier warrior! A warrior with tough skin!
In an era where the “Warrior” profession existed, this was undoubtedly the premier main tank!
Being directly hit by lava and flying two kilometers to crash onto a mountain… as long as the rescue was timely, he could definitely be saved!
Even if this was not a mission of Transcendent Path—Eivass simply couldn’t stand the tone of someone resigned to another’s death, feeling powerless to do anything.
Yulia, too, had been given her death notice this way back then.
Eivass believed… that in another timeline, in the timeline where Eivass chose to become an Archbishop, he must have embarked on the path of devotion for similar reasons.
Unlike Arthur in the indoor setting before, Origen had been flung onto a mountain!
In the mountains, that meant there were trees!
And the Night Demon, without doing anything, had already drawn the aggro—though the Giant’s expression was furious and his gaze frenzied, he seemed to possess clear reason. His gaze only lingered on Eivass for a brief moment before concentrating directly on the Night Demon.
The Night Demon flew out, clasping its hands together. Countless shadowy hands emerged from the void around it.
Utgarðar-Loki, however, did not attack directly.
He merely raised his hands and shouted in ancient Giant tongue, “Great Supreme Heaven!
“Descend divine punishment upon the enemy who killed your people—”
No ritual, no prayer, no sacred artifact. Not even any mana was consumed.
With just a single shout, the sky, stained red by the blood rain, suddenly split open—
As if the dark clouds that summoned the blood rain were forcibly torn apart by some even greater power.
A massive golden-red rift, like an “eye,” suddenly appeared in the sky.
It resembled a lingering sunset, or a wound cut by a blade, revealing bone-deep.
From the very center of the “eye,” an angry gaze was cast upon the Night Demon.
The next moment, a rumbling, immense sound came from the sky—
From the center of that eye, countless burning meteorites were projected down, descending with overwhelming force to cover the entire battlefield!
(End of this chapter)
