Chapter 70: Dragon of a Thousand Faces

"—Hoo!"

A strong wind blew from the distant horizon.

Thick, dark clouds churned, revealing a gap.

A soft, moon-white beam of light pierced through the dark clouds, sweeping across the fragmented world, illuminating the Bern territory below.

Since midnight, the different choices made by different people on this night of rebellion finally met their destined intersection!

Cowardice and bravery, loyalty and betrayal, hypocrisy and truth, evasion and advance…

All of this was reflected in Suya's gradually reddening pupils.

He rode his horse at the very front of the knightly order, head held high.

The wind from behind collided with the wind from his forward momentum, lifting the hair from his forehead, which fluttered with the rise and fall of his warhorse.

His gaze was fixed straight ahead,

Watching the dark earth bathed in moonlight,

Watching the plain's grass turn to red soil,

Watching the monotonous scenery transform into vibrant lines rapidly slipping behind him.

He, who had fled miserably across the hills and through a massive army, now, due to capricious fate, once again stepped onto this battlefield.

Approaching, ever closer—

Until,

At two o'clock in the morning, under the illumination of the high moon,

On this familiar hilly terrain,

The false Knight King saw the Round Table Knight who had sworn allegiance to him.

It was Lucan, being impaled through the brow by Hector, who had leaped up at full gallop with a four-meter long lance, on the verge of being granted a death sentence!

Seeing this scene,

Suya's pupils suddenly constricted!

(Time rewinded ten minutes.)

"You didn't answer."

"You don't dare to answer."

"You also can't answer, even though the answer is already in your heart."

"Thief—"

Hector coldly stared at Lucan, who was disguised as a Companion Knight, and indifferently exposed him:

"Philotas has always known that my father, my sister, and I have completely different aspirations from him. We are knights loyal to the King, and we are only willing to dedicate everything—including our lives—to that great King."

"Philotas would never invite me, knowing that I could not conspire with him, to participate in this rebellion at such a time."

"So—"

Hector barked coldly:

"You are definitely not Philotas's knight. Who exactly are you?!"

On the moonlight-shrouded plain,

Before the army formation, under the gaze of three thousand Companion Knights,

Lucan, whose disguise had been seen through, revealed a helpless expression, as if he had endured for a long time, wandered in confusion for a long time, and finally felt relieved to be free.

"Hehehehe~"

"Seriously, every time I'm caught unprepared, always exposed so easily. Can someone like me even be considered a qualified con artist?"

"Then—" Lucan calmly raised his hand, grasped the skin behind his ear, and narrowed his eyes, giving Hector a polite smile.

"Why don't you guess who I am?"

Hector said flatly:

"No matter who you are, deceiving the Companion Knight Order out of camp is a capital offense!"

"Is that so?"

"Then please, add another layer to my capital offense!"

Lucan smiled, without any hint of fear on his face. He gently peeled off the human skin mask, and looked at Hector with a profound gaze.

And upon seeing the face beneath Lucan's mask, Hector's pupils suddenly contracted.

He had seen this face not long ago;

It was Sir Ector, the peak hero of Britannia!

"It's you!?"

"The swindler who disguised himself as Sir Ector and deceived General Seleucus and us!"

Lucan calmly looked at Hector, his voice gradually becoming majestic, like an old general who had truly experienced 58 years of trials and tribulations:

"Who told you this was a disguise?"

He slowly raised his hand, and a flame-like pattern appeared on the back of his aged, powerful hand. In mid-air, a long spear wreathed in flowing fire slowly descended, falling into Lucan's hand.

"I am Paris, a Companion Knight under Philotas, also Ector, the heroic Knight of Britannia who swore allegiance to King Uther, and furthermore—"

At this point, Lucan slowly turned his head to look at Sir Worvan Hawkins, and spoke coldly:

"The King of Halicarnassus, Mausolus!"

Hearing that name,

Worvan Hawkins trembled, looking at Lucan with a look of shock and disbelief.

Hector, holding his lance, his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he immediately thought of a rather bizarre and terrifying legendary path—

The Dragon of a Thousand Faces!

It was an unnamable entity that could devour and replace the memories, identities, crests, and all proof of existence of all deceased individuals it had encountered, covered by countless faces, walking among humans.

A terrifying being that could step into the legendary realm once it found its true self.

In other words,

The Ector crest and Noble Phantasm that Lucan now possessed were real. He even had a part of Ector's combat memories.

Such an 'Ector,' although only a master-level assassin, already had strength no less than a peak master.

Moreover, as this person continuously peeled off other faces, he would inherit more and more abilities, equipment, and Noble Phantasms, until his strength was pushed to an unknown level, a superposition of all identities. Due to the unique nature of the abilities inherited, even some legendary figures whose traits were countered might not be his match.

However, the Dragon of a Thousand Faces only had one chance to peel off a mask.

If it peeled off all its masks and still couldn't find itself, it would immediately fall into madness, raging into a nation-destroying disaster-level Star Beast under the tide of magical power.

At this moment,

Hector, seeing this scene, felt his scalp tingle, as if he had stirred up a hornet's nest!

He had to eliminate Lucan before Lucan peeled off his second face and began the irreversible ascension ritual!

Otherwise,

Whether Lucan found his true self and ascended to a legend,

Or failed to find himself and became an unconscious disaster-level Star Beast.

Everyone who had seen him here would die, becoming one of his countless faces!

With this thought,

Hector did not hesitate. He immediately raised his lance and roared deeply at the knights beside him:

"Everyone—"

"Widen the distance, prepare for a charge!"

"Our opponent is a Star Beast about to transform into a nation-destroying disaster, and we are the last bulwark before our King's chariot!"

The moment his words fell, Hector immediately stomped his stirrup, threw his lance into the air, and gripped the shaft in a reverse grip, thrusting it fiercely towards Lucan's face!

However—

"Clang!"

Lucan immediately grasped and swung his Noble Phantasm lance, using a precise parry to deflect Hector's thrust. He then immediately used the force to support himself with one hand on the ground, backflipping and moving backward with an eerie, ethereal grace.

The flame crest on the back of his hand glowed brightly, forming patterns that ran through his arm, causing his entire right arm holding the lance to ignite with bright yellow flames.

Lucan's face showed a relieved, ferocious smile. He plunged the flaming lance into the ground and recited in a deep voice:

"Turn to the pages of the Mabinogion,

Unceasingly glazed, ignite the bonfire!

Dispel the suffering of the cold night, illuminate the path for me and my knightly brethren!"

"Noble Phantasm—"

He stared coldly at Hector and the Companion Knights who were immediately acting on Hector's command, proclaiming with a majestic, ancient voice:

"Bonfire Domain Ignition!"

Swoosh!

A brilliant yellow light instantly expanded from the flaming lance!

Forming a light domain around Lucan, about twenty meters in radius.

Standing within the light domain, Lucan glanced north one last time, letting out a slight sigh.

He had successfully lured Hector's Companion Knights out, which, theoretically, meant he had completed his plan for Suya.

Now that all plans had fallen apart,

The only thing he could do was to firmly hold Hector's knightly order here.

Then, as long as Suya on the other side didn't directly collide with that Halicarnassus cavalry unit, he could seize this opportunity, bypass this area as they had originally planned, and lead the Royal Guard Knights to break through the flank of the Macedonian phalanx on the Cornwall coast, leading everyone to escape towards the Golden Iron Curtain.

He didn't know why, and he couldn't understand where this feeling came from,

Nor did he understand why he had to go to such lengths.

But,

From the moment he saw Suya, and the potential he possessed,

Lucan had instinctively decided—

That kid,

He would definitely be able to save this kingdom destined for destruction, save this world destined to fall!

"Well then,"

"The story of Lucan, the King's cook knight, is coming to an end. It's a pity, even until the very end, I still didn't know what I truly was…"

Lucan couldn't help but let out a cynical chuckle,

"How ridiculous."

He shook his head, took a deep breath, and without hesitation, raised his hand, expressionlessly gripping the human skin mask named 'Ector' on his face.

Rip—

Rip—

Skin ripped, blood splattered!

Through the torn opening, countless overlapping human faces could vaguely be seen.

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