Chapter 190. King of Knights (1)
─ Cheon Sangwoon!
─ His skill really hasn’t gone anywhere.
─ Isn’t he even stronger than before he lost his arm?
─ Kang Yujin lending him Durandal was a great choice.
The Constellation Tube chat filled with comments praising Cheon Sangwoon.
Cheon Sangwoon had always been a popular Contractor among the Constellations.
Even when he played the villain during the previous Scenario, he hadn’t received much hatred.
Now that he had returned and performed such an impressive feat, it was only natural that the response was positive.
“Cheon Sangwoon was incredible just now!”
“A big reason was that Galahad let his guard down too much. He was already at a numerical disadvantage, but he trusted his own ability far too much.”
“Ah, is that so?”
“Yes. And Lord Cheon Sangwoon looks quite exhausted after putting everything into that attack.”
“His stamina must have fallen considerably after spending so long in the hospital.”
“You’re a little harsh on Cheon Sangwoon, aren’t you?”
“I’m a fox who never forgets a grudge, hehe.”
Meanwhile, Number 49 and Daji were working surprisingly well together as host and commentator.
Unlike Number 49, Daji had a great deal of real combat experience.
Because of that, she could explain battles in greater detail, making the broadcast even more entertaining.
Daji really is versatile.
Number 49’s hosting skills were improving too.
At this point, I could probably just leave Constellation Tube entirely in their hands.
“Things seem to be going well, Nameless King.”
At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly reached my ears.
“Count?”
“It has been a while.”
The S-rank Constellation ‘King of Avengers’...
the Count of Monte Cristo.
He had somehow appeared at my throne.
However, he couldn’t approach me.
The security system I had installed in preparation for attacks was blocking his advance.
“What brings you here...?”
“Hmm. First, I’d appreciate it if you opened the door.”
“It looks rather strange to have a conversation like this.”
The Count and I had not interacted since I rejected the Committee’s invitation.
But we hadn’t become enemies.
“Come in.”
I allowed him inside.
“It is going well.”
The Count sat in a chair, elegantly crossed his legs, and looked up at the Observer screen.
“You’re holding out against Round quite well.”
“You seem to know a lot about Round.”
“You probably heard from the ‘Pure-White Hero’ that they are a capable organization.”
“I did hear that.”
“But I still don’t know why they’re doing this.”
“They already told you themselves, didn’t they?”
“They want to eliminate the Vessels and gain real combat experience.”
“I can’t blindly trust what they say.”
“And even if it is true, I still don’t know why they would go this far.”
They had mentioned some kind of final battle.
But I still had no idea what that meant.
“Hmm...”
“If you know something, I’d appreciate it if you told me.”
I looked at the silent Count and spoke jokingly.
“You haven’t exactly helped me much lately.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be my sponsor?”
“My beneficiary has grown into quite an important figure.”
“It has become a little burdensome to sponsor you.”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Your Origin Power is probably dozens of times mine.”
According to Wen Zhong’s estimate, the Count of Monte Cristo possessed more than one trillion Origin Power.
“Hmm... Do you know that the ‘King of Knights’ is hostile toward the ‘Prophetic Magician’?”
“I heard about that.”
According to Hector, King Arthur and Merlin were currently enemies.
“Merlin was King Arthur’s teacher and adviser.”
“Then why would they be enemies?”
“If you look at the old stories, Merlin did not remain by Arthur’s side until the very end.”
“That’s... true.”
The legends of King Arthur contained a mixture of Celtic elements native to Britain and Christian elements.
The stories were originally legends of Britain’s native peoples, then were later organized and rewritten by Christians, which gradually strengthened the Christian tone.
Merlin, who was sometimes interpreted as a druid, had strong ties to Britain’s older native traditions.
As the legends became increasingly Christianized in later generations, his presence gradually weakened.
In fact, if you followed the general plot of Arthurian legend, Merlin disappeared from the story partway through.
“Are you saying they were already at odds while they were alive?”
“I don’t know if I would call it a conflict.”
“But it is true that the two eventually walked different paths.”
"..."
Apparently, I had been trapped by my own assumptions.
I had always thought Merlin remained Arthur’s ally.
“Nameless, do you believe Merlin was involved in the Vessel issue?”
“In the past, I never considered it.”
“Now, I suspect him.”
“Then let us think under that assumption.”
The Count folded his arms.
“If Merlin used Ha Mina to spread Vessels throughout the world, then King Arthur attempting to eliminate those Vessels would be perfectly natural.”
“Would it?”
“They can become seeds of the Demon King.”
"..."
I had never told the Count about Ha Mina’s plan.
Apparently, he had already figured out most of it himself.
“Nameless.”
“Round is an organization that pursues a self-righteous form of justice.”
"..."
“There was even an incident in Europe where they attempted to eliminate a Vessel and massacred the entire organization that Vessel belonged to.”
Hearing that reminded me of the S-rank Constellation ‘Priest King,’ Prester John.
That Christian hero from the Fantasy Realm had also manipulated Orthodox organizations such as the White Banner Order and acted with the same kind of self-righteousness.
“So there is no need to force yourself to understand Round’s ideology, Nameless.”
"..."
“You don’t need to understand fanatics.”
“Still...”
“Hmm?”
“We do need to understand the intentions of whoever stands behind them.”
At my words, the Count smiled.
“Yes.”
“That is exactly right.”
“If someone is guiding Arthur’s actions in order to accomplish some objective... then the one I truly need to deal with is the existence behind him.”
Then who was it?
The S-rank Constellation ‘King of Knights’ contracted to Arthur?
“What Round does is inefficient and irrational behavior born from fanaticism.”
“There is no need to understand that itself.”
“But someone is trying to gain something through their actions.”
“Yes.”
“That is the proper way to think about it.”
The Count nodded in satisfaction.
“Then I suppose it is time to introduce you to someone.”
“Introduce me?”
