I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 81: Rat Lord (2)

The source of Rat Lord’s power lay in the divine blood.

Although he was the god of the Ratmen, defeated by King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, losing even his name, countless Ratmen still existed to offer their faith to him.

Rat Lords, being divine-blooded, could be considered minor gods.

Because the Ratmen had forgotten their god’s name, the faith they offered was not entirely focused on the Ratmen’s god.

Most of the faith was absorbed by the Rat Lords, allowing them to become even stronger beings than when the Ratmen’s god was intact.

Thus, it was no exaggeration to say that the source of all the power held by the Rat Lords was in their inherent divine blood.

Balakai was among the strongest of the existing Rat Lords.

Not only had he absorbed vast amounts of the Ratmen’s faith, but as a divine-blooded being, he was also adept at wielding divine power.

That was why, on the first day Yoo Seong encountered Balakai, he immediately sensed it.

Victory was impossible.

Even if every ounce of his current strength were mobilized, defeating Balakai in a head-on confrontation was unthinkable.

Then what could be done?

If growing stronger was limited, Balakai had to be weakened by targeting the divine blood, the foundation of his power.

Right after Yoo Seong sent forth a fiery slash, he spun his body and threw Gareth’s golden shield, which he had been wearing on his left arm.

The purple magic emanating from Balakai’s entire body neutralized the slash, and the golden shield struck Balakai’s chest but failed to inflict significant damage.

All it did was momentarily cause Balakai to stagger but that was enough.

Balakai’s attention was drawn to Yoo Seong.

Rene bombarded Balakai with magic to further scatter his focus.

Hector sprang up from his position with a loud roar.

Balakai swung his greatsword, causing a massive shockwave.

Hector fell over, and most of Rene’s spells were obliterated upon colliding with the shockwave.

Yoo Seong blocked the shockwave with Agravain’s cloak.

And at that moment—

A divine arrow tore through the air.

The arrow, fired from outside Balakai’s awareness, targeted his back during the stiff motion following his large attack.

It will hit.

It cannot be avoided.

Vanadain’s premonition was not wrong.

The divine arrow undoubtedly pierced Balakai’s body.

-Kwachik!

Balakai’s left arm.

The moment the arrow entered his domain, Balakai recognized its existence.

Could it be avoided?

No.

Could it be blocked with a sword or magic?

No time.

Thus, he moved instinctively.

The divine arrow embedded itself in the left arm raised like a shield, and Balakai felt an unprecedented sense of dread.

-Chwaak!

Balakai severed his left arm, where the arrow was lodged, with his greatsword.

The action, executed without hesitation, saved Balakai’s life.

The fact that the severed arm necrotized in an instant was proof of this.

The holy power of the Goddess of the Lake attacked the very essence of the Ratmen’s god.

Of course, the severed arm necrotized instantly, but if it had been his main body, it might have resisted more strongly, yet it would not have avoided a fatal result.

“Ha.”

Balakai let out a dry laugh as he looked at the necrotized arm.

A mixture of relief, confusion, anger, and joy swirled within him before he turned back again.

He swung his greatsword at Hector, who was charging once more.

“Khak!”

The greatsword shattered the axe spear and tore through Hector’s chest.

Dark red blood spurted out, and Hector, losing the power of his chivalry, reverted to his original size.

“Hector! Retreat!”

At Yoo Seong’s urgent shout, Hector disappeared in a flash of light.

Balakai, about to deliver the final blow, glared once at the vanishing Hector and then turned his gaze toward Yoo Seong.

The divine arrow itself was effective and Yoo Seong had prepared another arrow.

Vanadain nocked the second arrow on the bowstring.

The Blue Eyes and Ratmen charged toward Rene.

Balakai unleashed his power with a roar, and Yoo Seong sent forth a fiery and gusting slash combined into a single tempest slash.

-Kwagagagaga!

The clash of power and slash caused an explosion.

Diana descended from the sky, smashing through the Ratmen with the shockwave before rushing toward Rene.

Rene was exuding magic.

As she raised a massive pillar of fire to burn the encroaching Ratmen, she flinched for a moment, then immediately prepared a new spell, but narrowly missed her timing.

Blink.

Short-range teleportation.

By the time Rene deployed her magical field, Balakai’s massive figure had already disappeared in the direction of the arrow’s flight.

Balakai, having moved dozens of meters in an instant, chanted a spell while charging across the ground.

A purple energy formed as a substitute for the severed left arm, and each step he took activated magic.

Consecutive Blink.

With each activation, the distance between Balakai and Vanadain closed by dozens of meters.

Moreover, it was Blink.

No matter how skilled a marksman Vanadain was, it was impossible to aim accurately at an enemy repeatedly teleporting closer.

Diana cut down the Ratmen.

Rene, who was preparing to deploy another magical field while pursuing Balakai, suddenly vomited blood atop her horse.

It was the price of facing Balakai’s overwhelming power head-on, which was incomparable even to the Red Eyes.

“Alphonse!”

Yoo Seong also rode his horse at full speed.

Vanadain held her breath as he steadied himself with the bowstring drawn.

Balakai crossed space to appear behind Vanadain.

At that moment, Vanadain leapt off the ground.

Just narrowly dodging the thunderous slash raining down from above, he spun his body and released the bowstring.

-Paat!

The second divine arrow struck his right leg but once again, Balakai severed the leg.

Purple energy formed as a replacement for the severed leg, and he charged at Vanadain while cursing him.

“Khak!”

Balakai’s invisible, intangible curse struck Vanadain’s entire body.

The fist-shaped force of Balakai’s power pummeled the staggering Vanadain, sending him flying and rolling across the ground with a loud crash.

But it wasn’t over.

Even as he sent Vanadain flying, Balakai once again charged toward him.

“Vanadain! Retreat!”

Yoo Seong screamed desperately as he dashed toward Balakai but Vanadain did not disappear.

Balakai had deployed a magical field, blocking Yoo Seong’s command, remembering Hector’s earlier retreat.

A battered Vanadain, lying on the ground, gazed at the sky.

Balakai swung his greatsword down at him.

It was a descending slash like a thunderbolt and Vanadain could not dodge.

He simply stared blankly at Balakai’s sword.

The woman asked.

‘Do you remember our first meeting?’

The man replied.

‘Of course I remember.’

How could I forget that day?

‘Don’t you remember it too?’

At the man’s words, the woman flinched and suddenly avoided his gaze.

The man, momentarily flustered, uncharacteristically started rambling.

‘Wait, no, hold on, seriously, no, you’re joking, right? Don’t tell me you really don’t remember?’

At the man’s flustered question, the woman hesitated for a moment before bursting into laughter.

‘It’s a joke. How could I forget?

I remember everything, from the clothes you wore that day to the shape of your hair.’

At the woman’s mischievous joke, the man squinted at her, and the woman awkwardly acted coy, saying she was sorry.

Both the joke and the coyness were uncharacteristic behaviors.

The man knew why she was acting that way.

Perhaps because today could be the last.

The man looked at the woman.

The woman looked at the man.

The two looked at each other and smiled, lightly brushing their lips together.

As they always had.

Hoping they always would.

René’s magic did not reach its target.

There wasn’t enough time to summon Roland.

However, a single person had arrived.

Even when Yoo Seong and René panicked and screamed at Vanadain’s peril, this person simply moved forward, leaping off the ground—a feat only possible because of such a decision.

It wasn’t out of coldness.

Nor was it because they were unaffected by Vanadain’s crisis.

It was for a far simpler and more instinctive reason.

To protect Vanadain.

That single thought completely consumed their mind.

Boom!

The oncoming strike and its shockwave clashed.

For a moment, Balakai’s blade was deflected, and one person stood between Vanadain and Balakai.

Balakai swung his sword again.

Standing at nearly five meters tall, his blade was like a giant’s strike—nearly impossible to block with a human body.

Yet, they did not retreat.

Diana, having sent Enika away, raised her spear and blocked the descending sword.

Boom!

The overwhelming force was immense.

Even by merely deflecting the sword, Diana felt as if her entire body was shattering from the impact and pain.

But she did not yield.

Even as her legs were driven into the ground, she held her position and caught Balakai’s massive sword.

Vanadain looked at Diana’s back.

He tried to form words, but no sound came out.

And then Diana turned her head toward Vanadain.

Balakai retracted his sword for another swing.

The next blow came crashing down on Diana, who was already at her limit.

She could no longer block it.

So instead, she simply looked at Vanadain with a faint smile under Balakai’s looming sword.

“Vanadain.”

Her voice called to him.

Her sorrowful smile.

Vanadain looked at Diana.

Balakai’s massive blade descended upon her.

On the day the last stronghold fell, the man lay collapsed.

His arrows were long spent, and he no longer had the strength to draw the bowstring.

Yet, countless enemies still stood before him.

As the creatures charged, demanding humanity’s fire, he closed his eyes and prepared to meet his end.

He tried to picture the woman’s face in his mind as he died but he couldn’t, because she had appeared.

She had stood before him, fighting off the rushing enemies.

The man forced himself to rise, calling her name.

Swinging a broken spear to momentarily push back the attackers, the woman turned toward him with a sorrowful smile and called his name in return.

That was his last memory.

The final moment etched onto his soul.

Vanadain recalled it.

The man’s memory.

The woman’s name.

And the true name she had whispered to him in her last moments.

Five hundred years had passed.

From Vanadain’s entire being, a fierce light erupted.

The brilliance was so intense that Balakai’s strike wavered.

His blade struck the ground, and Diana staggered and fell to her knees.

Balakai, now in confusion, looked at Vanadain.

Vanadain, radiating with fierce light, glared back at him.

And in that moment.

At that very instant.

Riding at full gallop, Yoo Seong reined in his horse, stunned by the radiant spear of light that appeared before him.

The power of the holy king, which could not be activated even after rescuing Lushen due to unmet conditions, now surged forth in resonance with a new knight command.

[Knightly Command: Round Table Oath]

The light blazed forth.

The sealed power awakened, releasing an overwhelming presence from Vanadain.

Vanadain turned to Balakai.

Watching as the latter unconsciously took a step back, Vanadain drew the bow of Tristan—Failnaught.

“Twelfth Seat of the Round Table.”

Among the thirteen knights of the Round Table, the one assigned to the twelfth position.

“In the name of the Round Table, I am Tristan.”

Vanadain, son of Isilia.

Called and known as the Divine Archer Knight.

He drew the bowstring.

Fixing his aim on Balakai, he invoked his chivalry.