Typemoon: Starting Out as the Lion King [140]
Credits: Pherae
Who is the strongest of the Round Table knights?
Agravain: Hmm? Lancelot.
Tristan: That depends on the circumstances, but I would say Sir Gawain during the day. Just my personal opinion.
Mordred: Hah? It's that muscle-bound gorilla Gawain!
Gawain: It should be someone other than Lancelot and me, I suppose.
...
The newly reborn Round Table knight, the Wandering Knight, crowned by King Arthur as the Last Dragon and the strongest human of the modern age—
Alaric officially battles the Sun Knight, Gawain!
Boom!
The mere clash of their blades generates a resounding roar that drowns out the entire battlefield, shaking the heavens themselves!
No probing, no wasted movements—both knights, having fought each other in the Holy Selection, already understand the other's strength. They go all out!
A storm-like barrage of ferocious attacks sends shockwaves ripping through the surrounding landscape, devastating the Enforcement knights, the mountain people, and even Lancelot's knights.
Yet neither Alaric nor Gawain cares. Their entire being is devoted to this battle.
Words have been abandoned—this fight will be decided by their swords alone. One must fall; one must admit defeat!
Every second stretches into eternity as their movements become so fast that ordinary eyes can no longer follow them. Both push themselves beyond their limits, unleashing power far beyond their usual strength.
Even Gawain, a Heroic Spirit, taps into untapped potential from his mortal life, driven by an unquenchable rage.
Meanwhile, Alaric, deprived of the Holy Grail, forces his draconic blood into overdrive, burning through his life force to convert it into mana, recklessly spending his fleeting lifespan!
Even without unleashing their Noble Phantasms, the residual energy from their attacks alone causes mountains to crumble and the earth to melt.
From the beginning of their clash until now, only a few short minutes have passed, but the area before Camelot's gates has been utterly destroyed. Even the knights who had been fighting nearby have withdrawn, fearful of being caught in this battle that should never have taken place.
Boom!
A dazzling radiance erupts from the Holy City, forming a brilliant wall of light that encircles the royal palace while the outer city crumbles into ruin.
The moment the wall of light appears, Alaric understands everything—
The Lion King has initiated the final step. The Holy Spear will soon be drawn, and the Tower at the End will be established.
And in an unseen corner of the world, the End of the World itself draws closer to the Holy City!
This is something that stirs a deep yearning within Alaric. The draconic blood in his veins craves the sight of the End of the World—
But this is not Alaric's wish!
A mere stirring in his heart cannot sway Alaric!
The anomaly in the Holy City ignites the final powder keg. Whether it's the Round Table knights, the Chaldean party, or even—
The Sun King, Ozymandias!
As though recreating the scene from six months ago, the magnificent Grand Temple, formed of countless shrines, descends upon the Holy Land once more!
Yet Alaric pays no mind to the pyramid looming in the sky.
With the Sun King's arrival comes another blazing sun.
As always, Gawain hurls his Excalibur Galatine high into the air.
The holy sword, rising into the heavens, is instantly engulfed in rolling solar flames, transforming into a miniature sun suspended in the sky.
Gawain, his expression emotionless, gazes at Alaric. He catches the Excalibur with one hand.
Even as the unbearable heat burns his hand black, charring it to ash, Gawain's face remains stoic.
Only Alaric can make Gawain lose his composure at this moment.
"Is it coming? A Noble Phantasm!"
Alaric halts for a moment, stomping his foot hard into the ground!
He raises the cracked, Sword of End high above his head, its overwhelming mana condensing and concentrating in an instant.
Amid the pitch-black aurora, crimson lightning crackles and bursts.
Gawain utters the true name of his Noble Phantasm, word by word, as his mana surges skyward:
"This sword is a replica of the sun. Its flame shall cleanse all the impurity of this world!"
This is a Noble Phantasm release far beyond any previous one, even surpassing the peak strike used in the Lionheart King subjugation!
The sheer overflow of mana causes the ground within a hundred meters of Gawain to melt into magma!
Alaric is caught within its range!
Deprived of the Holy Grail, Alaric faces Gawain's world-burning Noble Phantasm head-on. In just a moment, it feels as though he's standing atop the sun itself. The unbearable heat causes his body to begin carbonizing.
Yet Alaric shows neither fear nor retreat. His expression is one of utmost seriousness as he shouts:
"With this sword bestowed by the King, let us witness Camelot's glory and the end of us knights!"
Crack!
On the cracked Sword of End, a faint blue glow begins to flow—a light of ancient mystery from a time when gods had not yet abandoned the world.
It is a miracle of human ingenuity, the manifestation of true mystery—
[True Ether - Pseudo]
At the same time, both knights roar the names of their Noble Phantasms—
"Excalibur Galatine!!!"
"Ex Rhongomyniad!!!"
The pitch-black aurora collides with the torrent of solar fire, creating a momentary vacuum in their clash!
Crack!!
Under Alaric's gaze, the Sword of End shatters into pieces, its Lion King-given blessing dissipating completely in the face of Gawain's Noble Phantasm.
The holy sword, blessed and cursed by the Lion King, is destroyed.
But the battle is not over. The solar torrent, still approaching, threatens to evaporate Alaric entirely!
Though diminished by time, its destructive force remains lethal. If it hits Alaric directly, he will be annihilated.
The unbearable heat vaporizes the atmosphere, and the molten earth surges like waves.
Instinctively, Alaric's eyes gleam with a gemstone-like brilliance.
With no escape, only one choice remains—
To annihilate everything in this moment!
Temperature, light, mana—everything that could harm Alaric must be destroyed now!
Crack!
The faint blue mana glow flickers once more, but this time, Alaric consumes the [True Ether - Pseudo] himself!
Ding!
With his sword compressed to its utmost limit and his Mystic Eyes pushed to their peak—
Ding!
A sharp, clear sound rings out, but it is quickly drowned out. When the torrent dissipates, Alaric's figure is nowhere to be seen, leaving only a sea of magma in his place.
When Gawain loses sight of Alaric, his pupils contract sharply. He stands motionless, quickly scanning for Alaric's presence.
But Alaric seems to have vanished into thin air. No matter how hard Gawain searches, he finds no trace of him—until—
A crisp sound of footsteps, accompanied by familiar mana, echoes from behind Gawain.
"Behind me?!"
Gawain doesn't know how Alaric bypassed his perception to appear behind him, but he realizes he wasn't cautious enough!
Sensing Alaric's presence, Gawain immediately turns, ready to swing his sword in a horizontal arc.
Almost simultaneously, the sound of an explosion and a streak of crimson lightning flash past Gawain's side.
[Thunder Flash]!
In an instant of extreme speed, even Gawain fails to respond in time!
Appearing behind Gawain once more, Alaric moves just as Gawain begins turning.
By the time Gawain realizes what has happened, he's only halfway through his turn. As he tries to face Alaric again, he sees something shocking—
A gemstone-like brilliance gleams before the sun.