Chapter 941
The Spirit of the Sun Knight
“A sentient demonic sword… the remains of the Beast Path.”
Eivass murmured, “Is this the secret behind why it drives people mad and makes them lose control?”
“Yes,” Merlin nodded, looking down at the enormous key in Eivass’s hand. He sighed, “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have shattered and sealed it… This is somewhat of a relic from Galahad, and a treasure once held by Lancelot. It’s best to keep it, it holds memories.
“…It’s precisely because I was too heartbroken that I didn’t destroy it completely back then. Otherwise, according to my habits, such an unstable power is best discarded.”
Merlin sighed again, “I was also thinking… what if, in the future, there’s a way to solve its problem?”
Merlin clearly didn’t approve of Eivass using the power of the Red-Hilted Sword. To Merlin, the risks of the Red-Hilted Sword far outweighed its benefits. Merely enabling a Knight of the Round Table to display power far beyond the ordinary seemed of little use in battles of the scale required to fight heavenly envoys. Instead, the power of the Beast Path risked deviating one’s own path.
“Mr. Merlin,” Eivass suddenly asked, “do you know about the Paladin’s remnant soul within the Red-Hilted Sword?”
“I believe it might be a conceptual knight formed from the soul of Knight of Barin.” Merlin clearly knew of its existence and immediately replied, “Do you know how this sword came to be, Eivass?”
“I heard that it was on a block of marble. It said, ‘Only the greatest knight can move me.’ And everyone tried to pull the sword out, but even Arthur failed. The only one who succeeded was Barin.” Eivass said with interest, “What, is that not correct?”
“It’s both right and wrong.” Merlin shook his head, “Because, specifically, this happened after the Round Table was established. Initially, the sword was brought by a Lake Fairy…”
Merlin patiently narrated the story. His words were filled with nostalgia.
—This was a story that took place before the Knights of the Round Table were formed.
Before Lancelot, Mordred, Tristan, and Guinevere had joined the Round Table, a fairy suddenly appeared and presented them with a challenge. Her body was incredibly beautiful and alluring, and she wore no clothes, only a thin black robe draped over her. The sword was at her waist. People crowded around, three layers deep, just to catch another glimpse of her.
She feigned weakness, saying she had been entangled by this cursed sword for too long. Only the most pure could draw the sword from her waist. But the moment she opened her cloak, people couldn’t help but notice her exceptionally beautiful body. It was the same for Gawain, Bedivere, Kai, Merlin… and even Arthur. As a Lake Fairy, she possessed the most captivating body. The scabbard was fixed in place, so to draw the sword, one had to reach from below her chest. And the moment any lust arose, the wielder’s limbs would go weak, rendering them unable to exert any force.
When facing knights with strong wills, she would even actively tease them. Even if they tried not to look, it was difficult to remain unaffected by the Lake Fairy’s charm. Any distracting thought would prevent them from drawing the sword, and they would even stumble if she pushed them away.
Despite being a seemingly delicate woman, she challenged nearly all the knights—it was clear to everyone then that this was a provocation. She claimed to be Morgan’s friend, or perhaps even her bitter enemy. Because Arthur had a brief affair with Morgan, she had come to test whether her charm was greater than her sister’s and to prove that Arthur, whom Morgan favored, was nothing special.
In broad daylight, the Lake Fairy continuously humiliated “Arthur and his retinue,” who were famous for their valor, tarnishing their reputations. In a fit of rage, Barin charged forward, drew the sword, and slew the Lake Fairy on the spot! Having started his training late, he harbored no thoughts of love or lust. His sole focus was to become the strongest in the world!
“His personality gradually became more erratic and arrogant. He became increasingly disobedient, habitually acted alone, and even attacked his comrades. He provoked Arthur several times, attempting to usurp his position as leader… Perhaps due to the Lake Fairy’s dying curse, he eventually fell into a trap due to his own irritability and arrogance.”
Merlin sighed, “Although everyone knew this sword contained a curse, and it was even named ‘Evil Curse.’ However, it was an incredibly powerful, fate-altering force. I worried someone might be tempted, so I stole it and placed a seal on it—embedding it in a marble rock as massive as a mountain. In addition to the requirement of ‘the purest,’ I added the constraints of ‘kindness’ and ‘steadfastness’ to prevent anyone from pulling it out and causing chaos.
“But considering it was an extremely powerful demonic sword… what if, in the future, we encountered a formidable enemy and needed to retrieve it? So I added a phrase like ‘Only the greatest knight can move me.’ This way, it wouldn’t sound like a demonic sword, but rather a holy sword that requires a test to wield. Thus, its unstable curse was whitewashed—wasn’t it?”
Merlin sighed, “Years later… when the Round Table was established and we went to Avalon to fight a giant, a slab of marble suddenly floated down the river, with a sword stuck in it—and as you know, Galahad then drew this sword and used it until the end.”
“You’re a true genius, Merlin.” Eivass exclaimed in admiration.
So this was the true history… However, the archaeological findings in Avalon weren’t too far off. At least Professor Bard had guessed correctly in broad strokes, with only minor differences in the details… After all, no matter how powerful an archaeology professor might be, they couldn’t possibly guess the inner thoughts of the people involved.
“After Barin died because of this sword, its demonic nature grew. Originally, it would only cause weakness, like when one is sick or just waking up. But from then on, merely touching it could alter one’s mind, even cause hallucinations and auditory illusions. It was the remnant soul of a paranoid knight—or perhaps a newly formed spirit. It seemed to have learned the code of knighthood from our words and actions, even awarding itself a knighthood. It was definitely not Barin… because it harbored an intense, obsessive reverence for the sun. We all called it the ‘Sun Knight.’ The Sun Knight and the Red-Hilted Sword formed a peculiar balance—Galahad was able to wield its power partly because he formed a contract with that Sun Knight.”
“The Sun Knight…” Eivass’s expression grew serious upon hearing this. This was very important information. Merlin clearly didn’t know the specific origin of the Red-Hilted Sword, only that it was related to the Beast Lord. But Eivass thought of more. He had witnessed the fall of the Second Sun. When the Second Sun, “Taiyi,” was about to be replaced by the Great Philosopher, the sun was shattered by the Supreme Heaven, breaking into pieces. Those fragments fell into the sea, emitting steam like quenched metal. The creative power of the First Origin River dispersed, and from this, the Beast Lord was born. Before the Beast Lord created all things, races like the Winged Ones and Those with Scales originated from the creation of the Sun God Taiyi. Another part of its remains gave birth to a giant tree, and the children of the giant tree became Elves, specifically the first Those with Breasts. All life created by the Beast Lord possessed a characteristic of fearing fire and being drawn to light. This seemed to stem from the inherent fear of fire and familiarity with light in living beings. The reason Hengwo, as the Moon God, could give birth to the sun was likely because both she and the Beast Lord retained fragments of Taiyi’s Path within them. —Just as the Supreme Heaven contained the Sky-Devouring Giant Beast and needed to gestate the Giant race to expel impurities; and the “Authority” Path of the Silver Crown Dragon was influenced by “Power.”
And Eivass had used the Red-Hilted Sword. That holy sword contained the powers of wind, light, and fire. Light and fire—weren’t these the attributes of the sun! As for wind… perhaps it was also related to the sun? Or perhaps, that was the difference between the Second Sun “Taiyi” and the gentler Third Sun “Xi Tian Si”—because Xi Tian Si lacked the power of “wind,” its heat and brightness were significantly diminished compared to ancient times.
“What if I wanted to awaken the Sun Knight inside?” Eivass pressed.
“Is that your goal?” Merlin suddenly realized, “No wonder… I remember you have the ability to seal Phantom Demons! That makes sense… However, unsealing it isn’t difficult; I can do it right now if you wish. But repairing this sword would be very difficult… I’m not a blacksmith after all. I can smash it, but I can’t put it back together—we’d likely have to find Dwarves to repair it, and even then, we’d need another holy sword to mend its blade. Of course, even if you repair it completely… you probably wouldn’t be able to awaken it.”
“Why not?” Eivass countered.
“Because I separated and stored the remnant soul inside.” Merlin replied directly, “I shattered the entire blade and sealed the hilt, so how could I possibly leave the remnant soul inside? However, it’s fate—I placed the remnant soul in another holy sword. Coincidentally, it was Mordred’s former sword, the Sword of Clarent. If I recall correctly, your Moriarty Family should be descendants of Mordred, right? Look through your family treasury; you might find it there. —If you only want the Paladin’s soul inside, I don’t think you need to repair the Red-Hilted Sword.”
“No,” Eivass’s eyes twinkled, and he smiled like a fox, “You just break the seal first. We’ll discuss everything else later.”
The Sword of Clarent. Eivass actually knew where this sword was. —Thanks to information from the adult Hong Xiang.
(End of this chapter)
