Chapter 194. King of Knights (5)
After persuading Ha Mina to cooperate, I managed to obtain information about the Vessels scattered around the world.
Ha Mina didn’t know the current situation of every Vessel perfectly, but she was still able to give me a basic profile for each of them.
One of those profiles belonged to Thomas Price of Britain.
Apparently, he had been modified into a Vessel by a local collaborator in Britain, only to disappear without a trace at some point afterward.
When Codename ‘Arthur’ attacked the hospital, I checked his real name through the Observer and realized that he was Thomas Price.
Despite being one of Ha Mina’s Vessels, he had been chosen by King Arthur and was being raised into a righteous knight.
“Isn’t it ironic?”
“That... that’s impossible...!”
“You regarded the Vessels as seeds of the Demon King and tried to eradicate them.”
“But the very Contractor you painstakingly raised was one of those seeds.”
“That’s impossible! It cannot be!”
“Ha Mina confessed it to me herself.”
“She said a boy named Thomas Price was modified into a Vessel three years ago.”
“That cannot be...!”
“You tried to temper Thomas Price through merciless battles.”
I spoke coldly to the shaken King Arthur.
“Just as Ha Mina tried to strengthen her Vessels by forcing them to fight one another.”
“So in other words...”
“Shut your mouth...!”
“You were effectively helping Ha Mina’s plan.”
“In reality, you were her collaborator, helping the Vessels kill one another so that the finest candidate for Demon King could emerge.”
“I told you to shut your mouth...!”
The screen shook for a moment.
Perhaps King Arthur had struck his Observer.
“You said Round defeated four Vessels, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know whether Thomas Price killed them personally.”
“But if he did, then you would be Ha Mina’s greatest collaborator.”
“Kang Yujin has only defeated two Vessels so far.”
“Thomas Price would be the true honor student... the existence currently closest to becoming the Demon King.”
“Grrrrgh!”
If King Arthur had been a more flexible thinker, this revelation wouldn’t have shocked him so badly.
So what if Thomas Price was a Vessel?
As long as he was currently fighting for justice, what was the problem?
King Arthur could simply think, I’ll watch over him and make sure he never becomes the Demon King.
That would have been the end of it.
That’s basically how I think about Kang Yujin.
But King Arthur can’t think that way.
Our conversation had already made that clear.
King Arthur saw the world in strict black and white.
Vessels were seeds of the Demon King, therefore they had to die.
Even if Kang Yujin was praised as a hero, it was only because he had deceived the masses.
Protecting Kang Yujin was itself evil.
King Arthur had said all of those things himself.
Every accusation he threw at me has now come back to him.
By King Arthur’s own values, Thomas Price was an existence that could never be tolerated.
And the same applied to King Arthur himself, who had tried to raise Thomas into a hero.
And King Arthur can’t even make excuses.
He was a man who valued honor and pride.
He could never justify himself by suddenly changing his standards whenever they became inconvenient.
He would never allow himself to become shameless enough to contradict everything he had just said.
In other words...
there was no escape.
“Truly fascinating, Nameless.”
The Count, who had silently watched the exchange, finally spoke.
“You carved Arthur Pendragon apart without drawing a single blade.”
“With Arthur Pendragon’s own sword, no less.”
The Count rose from his seat.
“What do you think, King of Knights?”
“K-King of Avengers...”
“It seems the wisest course is to withdraw quietly.”
“W-Withdraw?”
“Yes.”
The Count nodded.
“Accept Round’s defeat and order every Knight of the Round Table to surrender.”
“There’s no need to create unnecessary casualties.”
“That...”
“If you accept defeat gracefully, the Nameless King here will preserve your honor.”
The Count glanced at me.
“But if you refuse to acknowledge defeat and continue struggling... this man will crush you completely.”
“He’ll spread the recording of this conversation publicly and turn you into the laughingstock of the entire Spirit Realm.”
"...!"
“You were acquainted with the ‘Priest King,’ weren’t you?”
“You’ll end up in an even worse position than he did.”
Mentioning the S-rank Constellation ‘Priest King,’ Prester John, the Count spoke almost as though he were offering friendly advice.
“You should withdraw peacefully and reflect on yourself... Arthur Pendragon.”
"..."
King Arthur bit his lip and fell into thought.
But at that moment...
─ King Arthur!
On the Observer screen, Thomas Price...
having just taken Kang Yujin’s decisive blow, coughed up blood and shouted.
─ Please grant me your Blessing! Grant me the power to defeat this wicked man!
─ I have not lost yet! I can still fight!
─ I will never give up until the very end! I will fight to bring true justice to this land!
It was a desperate cry.
Thomas Price was undoubtedly a powerful Contractor.
Even as a Vessel, he possessed strength beyond Saionji Keito’s.
And he handled Excalibur skillfully.
But his opponent was simply too strong.
Kang Yujin had grown much stronger through everything that happened in China.
By the time he defeated Asmodeus, he had already gained enough power to overwhelm an ordinary Vessel.
That was why Thomas Price could never avoid defeat against him.
─ So, great King Arthur... please give me strength...!
Hearing Thomas Price’s desperate plea, King Arthur visibly wavered.
But from King Arthur’s perspective...
