Chapter 10: Lancelot

[3rd POV]

[You have gained command of Vortigern's army. Although you don't consider yourself loyal to him, you decide to follow his orders because of your common goals.]

[You've stopped expanding your army and started focusing on defense, making sure Vortigern's Holy Tree is protected.]

[You have gained "God's Blessing."]

["God's Blessing": The White Dragon Vortigern symbolizes the Age of God's resurrection and represents its will. This shows his trust in you. Your strength doubles when you're under the Holy Tree.]

[You sense someone has infiltrated the area near the Holy Tree who is very strong.]

"Come out."

Kyouya looked at the shadow nearby. 

Even though this person had managed to sneak past the soldiers, they couldn't fool him, who had been guarding this area and knew everything happening around him.

"Vortigern's blade, Lloyd."

It was a knight with short purple hair, his expression firm and respectable.

The holy sword in his hand subtly resonated with the one Kyouya held clearly it was not an ordinary weapon.

"Knight of the Lake? Lancelot."

He already gathered information about Lancelot because no one could keep a secret under the threat of the pliers.

"You're helping evil. You're dishonoring the Holy Sword in your hand."

Lancelot spoke with righteous anger. 

If Kyouya hadn't known that this guy had betrayed his friend, Artorius, he might have been tricked by him.

"Whether the sword is dishonored or not isn't something you can judge with your eyes. You should feel it with your body."

He had nothing to say to his enemy. He drew his long sword and struck at him who responded with an equally proper sword strike.

Lancelot had grown up under the care of fairies, not only mastering exceptional swordsmanship but also wielding the Arondight. 

He had never been defeated since his debut, and he was naturally not afraid of Kyouya. 

However, the moment they clashed, he sensed something was wrong.

It's so heavy. 

The sword was so narrow and thin, but how could he swing it when it felt so heavy?

Unlike Gawain, whose triple strength only activates at specific times, Kyouya's double strength was a constant twenty-hour buff. 

As long as he remains under the Holy Tree, no one can beat him in a direct fight except maybe a triple-strength Gawain.

Lancelot was no exception.

After knowing he had the upper hand, Kyouya decided to go all out. 

The Ryūka began to gather power from the first strike, launching a relentless barrage of sword attacks at Lancelot, catching him off guard.

Originally, "Ryūka's" weakness was that this attack could not be interrupted and needed continuous movement to reach full power.

This is bad.

Lancelot quickly realized that the opponent's sword attacks were growing stronger. He no longer had an absolute advantage whether it was power or technique. 

How could he interrupt this unstoppable flow?

Originally, Lancelot had always relied on a combination of skill, strength, and the "unbreakable" nature of his Holy Sword to defeat his enemies.

It seems there's no choice but to stop holding back.

Lancelot poured all his magical power into the Unbreakable Lake Light, Arondight. 

If it were any ordinary weapon, it would have been melted by his overwhelming magic, but the "Unbreakable" barely withstood the immense magic and released it in a blinding burst of light.

"Breaking All Restraints - Overloaded Light of the Lake."

If Kyouya's sword was like an endless flowing river, then Lancelot's sword was like a massive waterfall crashing down from above.

The "Unbreakable" sword, combined with such powerful magic, possessed the force capable of cutting everything in front of him. 

Normally, Kyouya would have no choice but to endure unless he chose to let his sword techniques collapse entirely.

However, this was different. 

The sword's power that had been building up for so long was ready to release its full power, and beneath this Holy Tree, Kyouya was invincible.

"Flowing water doesn't rot, and a door hinge doesn't rust."

The endless stream of water erupted with tremendous force in an instant.

Kyouya's sword clashed, stalemated, and overpowered the Overloaded Light of the Lake, taking only three seconds.

Lancelot could feel it. 

He would definitely lose if he kept fighting here. 

The sudden sound of something cutting through the air interrupted the battlefield. 

An arrow shot toward Kyouya, forcing him to stop his attack and dodge, giving Lancelot the opportunity to escape.

"Sir Tristan, if you had come any later, I might not have made it out alive."

Lancelot said with a sigh of relief.

"Don't celebrate too soon."

Tristan replied, "I've watched Lloyd fight before. He shouldn't be this strong. It's probably because of that tree."

He gazed at the towering tree that had suddenly appeared, and an inexplicable sense of danger surged through him. 

The source of this danger was the droplets of water floating in the air.

"Watch out!"

In the blink of an eye, the water droplets exploded, releasing a powerful burst of magic with tiny, razor-sharp water splinters flying everywhere, slicing their skin.

Those water shards might have killed them instantly if they hadn't been on guard.

"He's releasing magic into the air to control the water around him? However, it seems the range of this effect is limited to the area around the tree."

The two of them finally left the range of the Holy Tree, and not only did Kyouya not pursue them, but the water droplets didn't appear again either.

From this, they figured out that Kyouya's movements were limited.

"He can't leave that tree so easily. We're safe for now, but we can't leave that tree alone." 

That tree absolutely couldn't be left standing.

"It's not something we can handle alone. With Lloyd guarding it, we don't stand a chance. The key is King Arthur."

Tristan looked at Lancelot, a knight raised by the fairies should have some information about Avalon.

"The fairies' trials won't stop him. I'm sure of that."

Lancelot replied, "The problem is how long it will take him to return."

He understood the Holy Sword had been created by the fairies long ago, but it wouldn't be easy for Avalon to hand it over so easily.

To be continued...

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