Typemoon: Starting Out as the Lion King [148]

That strand of blooming, pitch-black aurora was like a mystery beyond human understanding, hanging high above like a divine enigma. Reject. Deny. Abandon. ■■. ■■.

Only one person. A mystery embodied, existing for the sake of one individual alone.

This was the path that belonged solely to Alaric—a road forward even if its true meaning remained unclear to him. Yet, he displayed astonishing strength all the same.

Within that kaleidoscopic darkness, something stirred—

When that pitch-black aurora came into view, even Merlin's eye twitched wildly.

Unlike the red lightning caused by the magical surge of a dragon's heart, this fleeting aurora unleashed by Alaric had never before been witnessed.

Even with an ordinary acceleration spell, Alaric's speed rivaled a lightning strike, and even seemed poised to surpass it!

Boom!

In an instant, the atmosphere was torn apart, producing an ear-piercing explosion!

Even Merlin, caught off guard by the intense shockwave, had his white robe blown about. He hurriedly raised his hand to hold down his hood, staring in astonishment at Alaric's back. "Oh, my, my, this knight is truly something else."

The battle had already ended.

With his back to Merlin, Alaric spun his sword in a flourish, flinging all the blood from its blade.

Before him lay Ugallu, the ferocious magical beast, now silent. Its massive body had collapsed to the ground, and crimson blood flowed freely, pooling into what resembled a small lake.

Born in the Age of Gods, the magical beast Ugallu hadn't even withstood a single strike from Alaric's sword—it was cleanly severed in two!

At this moment, Alaric finally gained a more direct understanding of his strength. Compared to his fight with Gawain, he was now much stronger! If he were to face Gawain again, the injuries he sustained would be far fewer!

This power was truly overwhelming!

After taking one last look at Ugallu's corpse, Alaric turned and walked toward Merlin, who was hiding behind a tree nearby. Waving his sacred sword, he called out, "Merlin—"

"Here, here, Big Brother Merlin is right here!"

Seeing Alaric about to swing his sword again, Merlin scurried out from behind the tree with a cheerful smile, quickly taking the sacred sword from Alaric's hand. "As expected of a knight trained by Sir Lancelot—you wield your blade with a touch of his youthful flair!"

"Oh, by the way, You are quite the acclaimed master of swordsmanship and sorcery, isn't it? You even trained the likes of the great King Arthur—a super mentor of that caliber!"

Alaric slung an arm around Merlin's shoulders and grinned. "Then could you teach me? I feel like I still have a lot of room to improve!"

"Ahaha, leave it to me! Although we might not have much time right now—the timing of your arrival couldn't be better. King Gilgamesh is currently preparing to relocate the capital—"

Merlin, in turn, threw an arm around Alaric, and the two walked out of the forest, laughing and joking.

The corpse of Ugallu was left behind in the woods, forgotten, until it eventually turned to dust.

"Relocate the capital?"

Hearing Merlin's words, Alaric glanced at the desolate wilderness ahead with a puzzled expression, unable to understand the meaning behind Gilgamesh's decision. He immediately asked, "Why is King Gilgamesh relocating the capital?"

"It's to prepare for the goddess. With his ability to foresee the future, King Gilgamesh has foreseen the arrival of a goddess in Mesopotamia due to the Holy Grail, as well as the disasters that will follow. He's building a defensive battlefront to counter them."

A goddess?

Alaric froze, his eyes gleaming like gems. However, what reflected in his gaze this time was no longer the omnipresent death of all things.

Instead, it was a vision Alaric had never seen before—

Beneath wings that blotted out the sky was a goddess with the body of a human and the tail of a serpent. Beside her, countless magical beasts charged forward, an overwhelming force surging toward a grand, unbroken wall.

Just as Alaric was about to continue looking, the vision shifted abruptly.

It was a figure like the sun, yet as free as the wind. Adorned in wild and extravagant decorations, the figure exuded raw power and freedom, acting entirely according to its will.

The inexplicable vision faded, but two names surfaced in Alaric's mind—

Beast Goddess: Gorgon.

Feathered Serpent God: Quetzalcoatl.

The sight of two goddesses he had never encountered, coupled with what seemed to be a future event, left Alaric in silence. Was that truly the future?

Alaric thought it might be—but why was he able to see such things?

No, this wasn't simply seeing; it felt more like remembering—

Alaric, ever sharp, knew he didn't possess superpowers like clairvoyance, which only the highest-tier Caster could achieve. Even his instincts, honed to their peak, only gave him a fleeting sense of future events, and even that was extremely brief.

So this vision wasn't something that had just appeared in his mind—it had existed all along, only awakened when Merlin mentioned the word "goddess."

When could it have been?

 Alaric already had the answer—

From wandering the Middle East since the 13th century to now, the accumulated history of humanity, spanning thousands of years, had been laid bare before him.

Everything had opened its arms to him.

 All mysteries embraced him.

 Yet all of it simultaneously rejected Alaric.

 All blessings of spirits. All gazes of humanity. All denied him.

It was a journey both brief and seemingly endless.

Though Alaric himself had no clear memory of the specifics, he could confidently say this—

He had seen the entire history of humanity spanning thousands of years.

Because of this, his soul carried an unfathomable amount of information. What should have been a shattered soul was instead stabilized and intact under the protection of the Holy Lance.

If he could reunite with the Lion King, perhaps he might even receive the King's approval.

"Ah, does Brother Alaric have something on his mind? Big brother Merlin can help you work through your troubles!"

Seeing Alaric suddenly fall silent, even activating his Mystic Eyes, Merlin resisted his instinct to distance himself and instead cheerfully offered, "Don't underestimate me! My skills are quite well-known across Britain, you know!"

"Really? Isn't Merlin more famous as a useless magus?"

"Hey, that's mean—I'll cry, you know!"

As their idle chatter continued, the sky gradually darkened.

Dusk approached, and Alaric and Merlin finally caught sight of the city of the era—

The New Capital: Uruk.

To establish a defensive line against magical beasts, King Gilgamesh abandoned the original capital, Babylon, and built this new city.

'?'

When Alaric heard this news from the gate guards, he immediately turned to look at Merlin, who, for some reason, had drifted farther and farther away.

Merlin, of course, noticed Alaric's gaze. Tucking his staff under his arm, he spread his hands and said, "Ah, Brother Alaric, you know information has a time delay, right? Look, occasional delays are perfectly normal!"

How long has this delay been?!

Alaric couldn't help but complain internally. He then used the language magecraft learned from Da Vinci to continue conversing with the gate guards.

When Alaric expressed his desire to enter the city, the guards immediately asked, "Who are you? Do you have any proof of identity?"

Hearing this, Alaric once again turned to look at Merlin, who was now ridiculously far away, and shouted, "Merlin—don't you have any identification documents?"

"Brother Alaric—nope, I have nothing like that!"