Northeast of the Continent.
Instead of the frigid cold, the area was filled with a somewhat cool chill flowing through the ins, home to Kalpa, one of the Eastern Alliance ns.
…No, it was more urate to say that it was now merely one of the former territories.
Just a day ago, Kalpa had warm campfires lit in every home, but now, it no longer existed.
Instead of the warm campfires, countless ck pirs rose from the ruins that had once been Kalpa.
From these ck pirs, beings from another realm emerged without exception.
■■■■■■■■■■■-!!!
The appearances of the otherworldly beings were simply endless ck.
Some had elongated arms, others had long legs, while some had abnormallyrge bodies or heads.
Yet, themonality among these various forms was that they were all pitch ck.
If they had faces, one wouldn’t be able to tell where their eyes, nose, and mouth were located.
They felt alien, as if they were entities that had never existed in this world, feeding on the corpses of the dead to manifest themselves on the continent.
The ck Knight, Lancelot, gazed at the scene before him, then turned his attention forward.
There, he saw the body of the Ice Giant, split in half and preserved in a state of death, soaked in ckness.
And behind the Ice Gianty a mountain of corpses.
Piled high, it rose to the point where it even blocked the moonlight.
[…This is exhausting.]
Lancelot muttered as he gazed at the massive mound of corpses.
Considering he had plundered five different domains to gather this many corpses, it was enough to make him feel exhausted.
That mound of corpses was indeed that tall.
But from Lancelot’s perspective, that choice was unavoidable.
For the ritual, such a number of corpses was absolutely necessary.
Thud-!
Lancelot drew his sword and threw it just like before.
However, this time, the sword plunged into the body of the Ice Giant rather than the cold ground.
Thud—
The sword sank naturally into the heart as if water were seeping in, quickly burying itself more than halfway.
Gulp-!
As the de lodged beneath the sword sank deeper, a viscous, tar-like ck substance flowed from the Ice Giant’s eyes, nose, and mouth, moving toward the pile of corpses behind it.
And then.
Crunch-!
The devouring began.
The ck substance that emerged from the Ice Giant began to devour the stacked corpses with a chilling sound.
The ck substance bore no visible teeth.
Yet, the eerie sounds continued to echo.
Gradually, as time passed, the mound of corpses began to diminish.
As the face of the ck Knight was exposed to the moonlight, and his body finally emerged from the shadows of the corpses-
Crunch-!
The ck substance devouring the corpses beneath the ground quickly expanded, swallowing the bodies it had pulled into its mouth and starting to chew.
Crunch-! Squelch! Munch!
With gluttonous sounds, the writhing ck mass quickly burrowed into the ground and began to seep into the Ice Giant’s body.
Swoosh-!
The Ice Giant’s body burst apart.
Like a bomb, it exploded, sttering ck blood onto Lancelot’s body.
Yet, he focused on the events unfolding before him, seemingly unfazed.
Soon, where the Ice Giant had stood moments before, something began to wriggle and take form, revealing itself.
“……”
It was a woman with gray skin, resembling that of a corpse.
The armor she wore was excessively peculiar.
The lower body was intact.
The upper body was the same.
However, it was notplete.
There was no shoulder armor, and simrly, the lower armor that covered her thighs was absent.
It looked as if it were a game character missing a few pieces of equipment.
There were many other oddities as well.
The sword she held in her hand appeared iplete to anyone who looked at it.
Though it looked like a two-handed sword, the ornate designs along the de had suddenly ceased, and the sword itself was missing about half its length.
It was not broken.
It was clearly a two-handed sword, yet half of the de she held was simply absent.
As if it had been designed that way from the start.
Lastly, a small circr hole on her right shoulder trembled slightly.
[……]
She opened her deep grayish-white eyes.
[You have arrived, My King, Arthur.]
Lancelot smiled as he spoke.
And then.
[Lancelot.]
[Yes, My King.]
[What is it that I must do?]
[Your task is to erase the Outsider and restore the great Knights of the Round Table to this Continent.]
[…The Knights of the Round Table.]
[That is correct. You must restore the Knights of the Round Table who follow you.]
The being from another realm began to move toward Lartania.
“…I think you might know the reason I’m here.”
At Charyll’s words, Kim Hyunwoo nodded but then hesitated.
He momentarily wondered if it was appropriate to nod here.
Regardless, she stepped forward toward Kim Hyunwoo.
Approaching with a ttering sound, Charyll revealed her face illuminated by the moonlight to Kim Hyunwoo.
“How do I look, um…?”
Seeing her blushing as she spoke, Kim Hyunwoo replied.
“You look beautiful.”
Charyll was beautiful enough that Kim Hyunwoo feltpelled to say it sincerely.
Even Kim Hyunwoo, who had never felt his heart race in such a calm situation, could feel it thumping a little now.
Feeling this, Kim Hyunwoo chuckled inwardly at his ownck of self-restraint, but it was only for a moment.
“I was really worried. What if it didn’t suit me? But at least I thought this was the best option.”
“……”
Silence.
But Charyll continued to speak.
“I think you might have guessed this, but I love you, My Lord.”
Kim Hyunwoo was clearly aware of this fact.
Although he knew that the affection disyed in the stats didn’t necessarily express love, he could tell how the heroes felt about him just by observing their actions.
No matter how inexperienced Kim Hyunwoo was—no, even if he was newly experienced—he had enough insight to recognize that.
“I know.”
“I figured you would.”
Charyll chuckled softly at Kim Hyunwoo’s words and cautiously looked into his eyes.
She gently nestled into his chest.
She leaned her body against Kim Hyunwoo’s chest.
“Honestly, I had a lot of thoughts on my way here. It was scary to express my feelings this way.”
Even without Charyll saying it, Kim Hyunwoo understood how much effort she had put into this.
Even now, as she leaned against him, Charyll was trembling slightly.
“But I couldn’t bear to keep my feelings to myself. So I came here, even at the risk of being rejected.”
“……”
Kim Hyunwoo said nothing, but Charyll continued to share her thoughts.
“I knew you were worried about something. While I don’t know the specifics, I could tell you were contemting our rtionship.”
Charyll lifted her gaze and gently pressed her lips against Kim Hyunwoo’s.
It wasn’t an adult kiss where tongues intertwined like with the other heroes.
It was merely a light peck, something even a child could do.
However, that alone brought small tears to Charyll’s eyes.
Kim Hyunwoo couldn’t tell whether the tears were from joy or a resolve of some sort.
“But I hope you can set aside your worries for this moment.”
“I…”
“I’m not asking for anything from you, My Lord. I just want to be a ‘possibility’.”
“…Possibility?”
“Spending this night with you won’t change who I am. But if I do, at least I’ll exist as a ‘possibility’…the possibility of receiving your ring.”
“…That’s already true.”
“No, it’s not true now. Even if it were—”
Charyll looked up at Kim Hyunwoo.
“—To be honest, it’s a bit unfair right now. And to be frank, the possibility might just be an excuse.”
“…?”
“Now that I’m here, I realize the possibility is just an excuse; I just want to receive your love, My Lord. I don’t want to fall behind the other heroes.”
She smiled softly.
And then.
“I guess people don’t change. But I’ll do my best, so…at least this time, will you indulge my childishness a bit?”
Once again, Charyll pressed her lips against his.
“…?”
The second kiss was deeper than any kiss from the other heroes.