Chapter 241

Chapter 241. Cú Chulainn (1)

The Spirit Realm was in an uproar.

The verbal clash between the Nameless King and Merlin, followed immediately by the bloody battle between Constellations, had already been overwhelming enough.

Then Beowulf dropped another bombshell.

─ Merlin was behind Saionji Keito and Round too?!

─ Didn’t he mention Ha Mina earlier?

─ Merlin was Ha Mina’s Constellation.

─ Don’t tell me Merlin was controlling Ha Mina?

─ No way!

─ If that’s true, this is a massive scandal!

─ Hold on. It’s not like Merlin did it with evil intentions.

─ Right. He did it to raise stronger Contractors.

─ It’s true that many people survived because of the Contractors Merlin helped cultivate.

─ Forget everything else and just think about Kang Yujin. Without Kang Yujin, East Asia would be hell right now.

─ Exactly. If those Contractors Merlin raised didn’t exist, the Material Realm would probably already be in ruins after Pandemonium’s second invasion.

─ Wait. Why are you assuming Merlin raised them? Even Kang Yujin was raised by the Nameless King.

─ Exactly. Constellations like the Nameless King were the ones actually raising them, so why are we crediting Merlin?

─ Still, wasn’t Merlin the one who designed the bigger picture?

─ Merlin created the structure that allowed Kang Yujin to grow step by step.

─ Kang Yujin and even the Nameless King were dancing in Merlin’s palm.

─ Did the Nameless King know about all this?

─ There’s no way he didn’t.

─ Wait, was the Nameless King deceiving us too?

─ Can you really call that deception?

─ Exactly. You’re stretching things just to defend Merlin now.

─ Merlin was already finished when he completely misread the holy relic situation earlier.

─ Wasn’t that the Nameless King’s trap too?

─ Yeah. Merlin might have gotten played.

─ Weren’t you just saying the Nameless King was dancing in Merlin’s palm? Now it’s the opposite?

─ Merlin was in the Nameless King’s palm, which was in Merlin’s palm.

─ This is too complicated. I don’t even know what’s going on anymore.

─ Is this even something we can settle through debate?

─ Just shut up and watch how the fight goes.

In truth, public opinion in the Spirit Realm had already been split in two for some time.

One side supported the Nameless King for leading Constellations into the Material Realm.

The other sympathized with Siegfried’s criticism of that intervention.

Then Merlin revealed himself and led his Constellations into battle against the Nameless King’s faction.

And finally, just before dying, Beowulf exposed Merlin’s secrets.

That made the conflict between the Nameless King and Merlin much more concrete.

At this point...

the side that won would become ‘justice.’

Whether the Nameless King was right or Merlin was right would be decided by the outcome of the battle.

And the victor...

would stand at the summit of the Spirit Realm.

─ What’s the battle situation right now?

─ Arjuna and Karna are still evenly matched.

─ Achilles and Perseus are fighting a bloody battle against Theseus and the other Greek Constellations.

─ Heracles sent his Contractor away and is fighting the Knights of the Round Table.

─ Looks like every front is deadlocked.

─ Merlin’s side has individually powerful Constellations. That’s why they deliberately spread out, stopping the Nameless King’s forces from regrouping and trying to defeat them one by one.

─ Meanwhile, the Nameless King seems to be trying to gather his forces in one place and concentrate everything on Merlin.

─ But neither Merlin nor the Nameless King can be happy with the current situation.

─ Yeah. Both sides probably want to seize a decisive advantage around now.

Under the attention of countless Constellations...

the battle in the Material Realm continued.

“Ghk!”

Mordred took a heavy impact and dropped Clarent.

He had clashed directly with the club Heracles swung.

“Fall back, Sir Mordred!”

Fortunately, Lancelot immediately stepped in with Arondight and covered him, saving his life.

Mordred hurriedly threw himself aside, retrieved Clarent, and bit his lip.

Heracles... he’s really this strong?

Mordred had heard plenty about him.

But Heracles’s actual combat power was beyond imagination.

Right now, Heracles was fighting every Knight of the Round Table at once.

And yet...

he wasn’t being pushed back at all.

Especially that club...

The divine energy coming from it feels different from our holy swords. Did some Greek god make it?

Heracles held a metal club that appeared to be a Constellation Armament.

Its destructive power was enormous.

Even the Knights of the Round Table, each carrying renowned holy swords, couldn’t recklessly rush him.

If Lancelot, Gawain, and Galahad were S-rank instead of A-rank, things might be a little better...

The Knights of the Round Table had voluntarily lowered their own ranks to A because they refused to stand at the same rank as King Arthur.

A Constellation’s combat power depended not only on their skill in life, but also on their Constellation rank and Origin Power.

That was why even this many knights together still couldn’t overpower Heracles.

Fortunately...

Heracles also lacked a way to crush all of them at once.

That was why he couldn’t break through the formation the Knights of the Round Table had established.

“Sir Mordred! What do we do?!”

Tristan shouted from the rear while keeping Heracles occupied with his bow, Fail-Not.

“Are we really going to keep wearing each other down like this?! At this rate, both sides will only keep taking damage!”

"..."

Tristan was right.

Holding Heracles here was important.

But staying tied down here indefinitely was no good either.

“Mordred!”

A woman’s voice came from behind.

It was the A-rank Constellation ‘Lady of the Ideal Land,’ Morgan le Fay.

She wasn’t one of the Knights of the Round Table, but like Merlin, she had been close to King Arthur in life.

As a sorceress who had supported Round under Arthur’s orders, she had specially joined this battle at the Committee’s request to bring as much strength as possible.

“The wounded have been treated!”

Morgan was a master of healing magic.

She had been treating Lee Jukheon and the others injured in their fight against Dantalion.

“Damn it... what the hell is going on...?”

Lee Jukheon was getting back to his feet with a scowl.

Seeing him, an idea suddenly came to Mordred.

“Lee Jukheon! Go into the city right now and join Kang Yujin!”

“Wh-What?”

Still unable to understand the situation, Lee Jukheon blinked.

“This is an emergency! Just move!”

After shouting that, Mordred turned toward Joo Minha, who had been supporting the Knights of the Round Table.

“Joo Minha! Go with him and explain the situation!”

“You want me to leave too?”

“Yes!”

Joo Minha was certainly capable, but her departure wouldn’t cripple this front.

“Morgan le Fay! You too!”

“Are you certain? You’ll probably need someone to handle healing.”

“There may be more wounded on that side! We’ll hold out somehow!”

“Understood. Then I wish you good fortune.”

Morgan nodded and turned away from the knights.

After sending Lee Jukheon, Joo Minha, and Morgan off...

Mordred faced Heracles again.

"..."

Heracles only glanced at the departing group.

He made no attempt to chase them.

Curious, Mordred asked,

“Are you really fine with letting them go?”

“Contractors are not my opponents today.”

“And neither is that witch.”

Heracles answered seriously.

“I am satisfied fighting warriors as excellent as all of you.”

“I will leave lesser matters to the other Constellations.”

“To hear that from a hero like you... I’m honored!”

Being acknowledged as an ‘excellent warrior’ by Heracles felt unexpectedly good.

Satisfied, Mordred charged alongside the other knights.

We decided to run from Cú Chulainn.

Our true objective was Merlin.

Kang Yujin and I had already spent a great deal of stamina fighting Beowulf.

Fighting Cú Chulainn here too would put us in a difficult position.

Fortunately, Cú Chulainn had also exhausted himself against Finn Mac Cool.

For now, our priority was to shake him off and regroup with the rest of our forces.

I hated leaving the unconscious Astolfo, Bradamante, and Finn Mac Cool behind.

But Cú Chulainn probably wouldn’t bother going around finishing off every unconscious opponent.

“Seok Taejun! Gáe Bolg could hit us at any moment! I’ll watch the rear too, but move as unpredictably as possible!”

“Y-Yes!”

At the moment, Kang Yujin and I were riding on the chimera Seok Taejun was controlling.

It wasn’t as fast as Astolfo’s Hippogriff, but it was still much quicker than running.

“I’m disrupting his vision with water, but you still need to be careful.”

Princess Longji was flying right beside us.

She controlled water and shaped it into something like a Nimbus Cloud, riding atop it.

There was enough room for Lee Hyeonje and Cheon Sangwoon to ride with her.

“Damn it! Why am I the only one who doesn’t get a ride?!”

Jason was shouting from the ground while being carried on Atalanta’s back.

Jason had tried to get onto either the chimera or the pseudo-Nimbus Cloud, but there wasn’t enough space.

So just like before, he had ended up on Atalanta’s back.

“Stop complaining. I’m more annoyed than you are.”

Atalanta grumbled while continuing to run.

During the old Argonaut expedition, she had been discriminated against for being a woman.

Because of that, she still held a grudge against Jason.

“Why do I have to carry this guy anyway? I’d rather carry Kang Yujin.”

“Huh? Why Kang Yujin?”

“N-Nothing.”

“Ohhh, right. You were a Kang Yujin fan, weren’t you? You wanted to carry him and feel those chest muscles against your back? Hehe. Atalanta, you’re pretty perverted.”

“Do you want to die?!”

“Ow, ow! Stop pinching my ass!”

I glanced at their ridiculous conversation.

Then...

I caught sight of a black shadow at the edge of my vision.

“Cú Chulainn...!”

He had already caught up.

Cú Chulainn was leaping across rooftops as he chased us.

“He’s too damn fast! Atalanta, run faster! He’s catching us!”

“I’d probably run faster if I cut off your mouth and made you lighter. Want me to try?!”

Cú Chulainn’s pursuit speed was much faster than expected.

He might have been using some method to boost his running speed.

“Gáe Bolg is coming...!”

The moment I saw Cú Chulainn take a throwing stance, I shouted.

Seok Taejun urgently accelerated the chimera.

At the same time, Princess Longji used the Mist-Dew Universe Net to distort Cú Chulainn’s vision.

BOOOOM!

Gáe Bolg flew through the air with a sound like a missile.

But perhaps because Princess Longji had bent the light with water like a lens...

it missed all of us.

“W-We dodged it, right?!”

“Yeah! Nice work!”

But it was too early to relax.

Gáe Bolg, which had flown off elsewhere...

returned to Cú Chulainn’s hand on its own.

“It has an automatic retrieval function too?!”

“K-Kang Yujin! Can’t you throw the Durandal Replica and counter it?!”

“Don’t say stupid things! It wouldn’t stand a chance!”

Listening to Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun argue...

I sank into thought.

Cú Chulainn was faster than expected.

And Gáe Bolg was far too dangerous.

But having everyone turn around and fight him would be a huge burden considering what was still ahead.

"..."

I turned my head to the side.

Lee Hyeonje seemed to have recovered considerably thanks to the medicine.

But Cheon Sangwoon still looked exhausted.

To begin with, Cheon Sangwoon’s body had never fully recovered from the injuries he suffered during an old Scenario.

He wasn’t capable of fighting for long stretches.

“Princess Longji.”

I called to her.

“Can I ask you to take care of Kang Yujin and the others?”

“What?”

Kang Yujin looked confused.

I ignored him and continued speaking to Princess Longji.

“Please prioritize finding Merlin.”

“Have Kang Yujin take the lead and fight Merlin.”

“If that is what you wish, I will follow your instruction.”

Princess Longji nodded.

Then I looked downward.

“Jason! I’m counting on you too!”

“Hey! What are you planning?!”

“I’ve got an idea!”

“Ah, damn it... fine!”

After giving Jason his instructions, I turned again.

“Cheon Sangwoon.”

"..."

Cheon Sangwoon looked at me.

Then silently nodded.

“Hey, what are you doing?!”

“Kang Yujin, I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“What...?!”

I shook off Kang Yujin’s hand as he tried to grab me.

Then I jumped from the chimera and landed on the roof of a nearby building.

Cheon Sangwoon landed beside me a moment later.

“Hey, Kim Nameless! You’re doing whatever you want again...!”

“Kang Yujin! If you move around like that, you’ll fall!”

Seok Taejun restrained him and accelerated the chimera.

I watched the group disappear into the distance.

Then I turned around.

“You bastards...”

Cú Chulainn landed on the roof and glared at us.

“You seriously think you can stop me?”

“Just the two of you?”

"..."

“Nameless King, you’re an S-rank Constellation who can’t even reveal his own identity.”

“A coward.”

“And Cheon Sangwoon... you’re a loser who should’ve died a long time ago.”

Cú Chulainn raised Gáe Bolg.

“A coward and a loser think they can face me together?”

“Ridiculous!”

Hearing that, Cheon Sangwoon looked at me.

“Hey...”

He started to speak...

then hesitated.

“Nameless King.”

"..."

He had probably been about to say my real name.

But in the end, he used my Constellation title.

“Will you... give me the chance to fight beside you?”

The only Contractor here who knew my past...

asked me that question.

“Don’t ask pointless questions, Cheon Sangwoon.”

Then I lowered my voice.

“That’s supposed to be my line.”

Fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Cheon Sangwoon.

That was something the powerless, bottom-tier Contractor I had once been had dreamed of long ago.

“Let’s go.”

“Yeah.”

The paths that had once diverged and carried us far apart...

finally came together for the first time.