**Chapter 117**
—
Yenika Hazel opened her eyes.
“……”
For a moment, she silently gazed at the ceiling swallowed in darkness before slowly rising.
At that instant, the sticky blood clinging to her body dripped away.
Catching her breath in the midst of it, Yenika murmured.
“They’ve finally arrived.”
The long-awaited sacrifices.
Those worthy of being offerings to the Grail had at last gathered in the city.
Exposing her location on purpose to the Dormund side, to the black magician—it seemed that had been a brilliant move.
*‘Sacrifices for the Grail… for that, they had to be within the city.’*
Yenika’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Just the thought of taking revenge on the thieves who had stolen her clan’s sacred relic filled her with immense delight.
But the joy didn’t last long.
Her lips soon fell again, her fleeting expression quickly vanishing.
It was one of the side effects of the ritual—her ability to feel emotions was gradually fading away.
*‘It feels like my very existence… is becoming fainter and fainter.’*
That thought brought fear, even trembling.
Gathering her thoughts, Yenika rose to her feet.
The remaining blood that clung to her bare body dripped away.
Naked, she stepped out of the lake and made her way toward the dais.
“……”
The Grail of Blood.
The treasure of the vampire clan shimmered faintly as it caught the light.
She carefully took hold of the Grail and bit her lip.
Her sharp fangs instantly cut into the flesh.
Drip…
Blood streamed down, drop by drop, filling the Grail.
At that moment, Yenika’s hand trembled slightly.
It was the Grail’s tremor, feeding on her blood.
Watching it, Yenika closed her eyes again.
“Father who made the sky. Mother who made the earth. The sustenance you have bestowed….”
With the beginning of the prayer, something pure white seeped out from her lips.
Her spirit, her soul.
Or rather, the essence that symbolized Yenika Hazel as a human.
That very essence slowly flowed into the Grail.
The moment the prayer ceased, foul blood spilled from her lips.
“Haa…”
Exhaling a heavy sigh, she muttered in a daze.
“It’s almost done… just once more. If I offer my soul just once more….”
Then she would finally be freed from this wretched cycle.
When the thought ended, Yenika turned back toward the lake of blood.
Splash!
Her body collapsed helplessly into the water.
The sticky darkness pulled her down into the abyss.
Yet Yenika could still smile willingly.
*‘When I awaken again…’*
Everything would be over.
The cycle, the curse, the chains.
Everything.
With a faint smile, Yenika sank into a deep slumber.
—
—
Arthur raised the Beast and the Demonic Sword.
*Click.*
With the sound of the Beast loading, five knights stepped forward to shield the monkey.
The most seasoned of them glared at Arthur and warned.
“Don’t let your guard down. Weel’s death wasn’t a coincidence.”
He was speaking of the knight who had just perished by Arthur’s blade, and immediately unleashed his sword aura.
*Whirr!*
Following his lead, the remaining four knights also revealed their sword aura.
Arthur, watching, curved his lips upward.
“Oh… using sword aura right from the start? That’s smart.”
Before a nameless swordsman, they might have been tempted to grow careless—but instead they revealed their full strength from the beginning.
It was proof enough that they were no ordinary Dormund knights.
Yet Arthur felt no concern.
Even with the knights brandishing their sword aura before him, not once did the thought of losing cross his mind.
*‘The problem is how efficiently I can kill them—how much strength I can conserve.’*
Considering the inevitable clash with Ian later, swiftly subduing these men was crucial.
With that thought, Arthur too released his sword aura.
*Fwoosh—!*
The knights faltered at the surge of crimson sword energy.
So did the monkey.
*‘What? A swordsman who’s surpassed the 5th Circle?’*
The shock that swept through the monkey rivaled that of seeing his fellow knight slain moments ago.
For the man before them looked younger than Haerbin, the so-called genius knight of Dormund.
*‘What the hell is he? The madman of Bayern? That title fits, but… don’t tell me he’s really from that Bayern clan?’*
Before Dormund rose to become the Empire’s greatest house, Bayern had been its most ancient and prestigious.
Could it be that the man before him belonged to Bayern?
The monkey pondered, then shook his head.
To his knowledge, Bayern had no knight like this.
*‘And even if they did, Bayern would never send such a man here.’*
Then who exactly was this lunatic who called himself Bayern’s madman?
As the question lingered, a gunshot rang out.
*Bang!*
The Beast in Arthur’s hand roared.
That marked the beginning of the many-versus-one battle.
*Clang!*
Six blades clashed, sword aura crossing in the air.
Under the crushing pressure, Arthur invoked Tacen’s bloodline power.
In that instant, five blades were pushed back.
“……!”
While the knights widened their eyes, Arthur vanished in a spatial leap.
“What? Teleportation?”
The most seasoned knight gasped.
Arthur reappeared behind him and swung without warning.
*Clang!*
The other four knights barely intercepted the blow.
Arthur clicked his tongue.
“Tch… I wanted to start by killing the captain, but it won’t be that easy.”
His words twisted the knights’ faces with rage.
“You think we’re nothing!?”
Their swords came at him with full force from all directions.
Arthur parried them all with his Demonic Sword.
The collision of six sword auras scattered countless sparkling motes of light around them.
Watching, Leon bit his lip.
*‘Damn… I want to jump in too, but I have to keep that black magician in check.’*
The monkey had yet to move, but he was the most dangerous presence here.
*‘Dormund’s black magician—he’s the one who’s always handled their filthiest work.’*
And despite his reputation, his skill was immense.
*‘I’ve heard his power doesn’t fall short even compared to a mage of eighty years’ training…’*
Such a mage would rival the Imperial court magicians.
That was why Leon couldn’t leave him unchecked.
But then lightning suddenly crashed down.
“……!”
Startled, Leon turned his head.
The five knights reeled in shock from the bolt that had struck out of a clear sky.
“W-what the hell? Why would lightning strike here out of nowhere?”
Arthur raised the Beast again.
*Bang!*
A knight’s left arm exploded into blood.
“Uwaaaagh!”
Screams came a beat later as Arthur leapt high, spinning gracefully.
The sight made one knight bellow.
“Kill that bastard!!”
As four blades targeted Arthur at once, the ground burst open.
“……!”
An advanced earth spirit.
The power of a gnome had manifested.
But the knights, unprepared amidst the chaos, were stunned.
“What the hell is this!?”
“Teleportation, lightning… don’t tell me he’s a magic swordsman!?”
To them, Arthur appeared as exactly that: a swordsman wielding both sword and magic.
Lightning, earthen walls—such powers left them shaken.
While they reeled, Arthur closed in on the one-armed knight.
“…Guh!”
Arthur drove his Demonic Sword into his chest and smirked.
“One down.”
The impaled knight trembled.
“…Bastard! Then take me with you!!”
With his last strength, he shoved Arthur’s blade deeper into his own chest—then swung.
*Slash.*
Arthur’s left arm, holding the Beast, was severed.
The four remaining knights lit up with renewed hope.
The monkey clenched his fists.
“…Bastard! It’s over!”
He barked harshly.
“Don’t cut him up any further—capture him alive!”
At his order, the knights grinned cruelly and advanced.
Arthur merely scratched his head, staring at his severed arm.
“Hm… knights are knights indeed. To think he’d drive himself onto my blade just to sever my arm at the end.”
He chuckled, kicking the corpse off his sword.
Then he picked up his arm and muttered.
“I’d better reattach this properly, or there’ll be side effects later….”
He began fitting the severed arm back to the stump.
The knights froze mid-step.
“……?”
The monkey, too, was dumbfounded.
“…What the hell is he doing?”
That wound wouldn’t heal just by pressing the limb against it.
But then Arthur flexed the arm he’d just reattached—swinging it around.
“……!”
The monkey recoiled in shock.
“I-it stuck? The arm… actually stuck!?”
Arthur examined the arm and nodded.
“Hm… still creaks a little, but not bad.”
He looked up at the four knights, tilting his head.
“Huh? Why the faces? You all look like you’ve just seen something unspeakable. Is something wrong?”
The knights said nothing.
No—couldn’t say anything.
Even veterans who’d seen everything could not easily comprehend this sight.
The monkey shouted.
“Y-you!! What the hell are you!?”
Arthur turned, smiling.
“I told you. I’m Bayern’s madman.”
With that, he reloaded the Beast—black bullets prepared in advance.
“Well then… shall we begin in earnest, gentlemen?”
The knights snapped out of their daze, grinding their teeth, and charged.
Arthur raised the Beast.
*Bang!*
Two knights fell dead on the spot.
—
—
Leon swallowed dryly.
“He… he really killed them all?”
One knight still remained, but he too was cornered.
“…Graaagh!!”
Arthur Bayern had truly overwhelmed five Dormund knights all by himself.
Even seeing it with his own eyes, Leon struggled to believe.
The monkey too was shaken.
*‘Wh-what the hell is he!?’*
That nameless swordsman had wiped out Dormund’s six knights.
For a Dormund black magician, this was unthinkable.
Dormund knights were hand-picked from the rare 5th Circle swordsmen—geniuses among geniuses.
Yet they’d been slaughtered without resistance by a backwater swordsman.
As his face twisted, the monkey’s gaze met Arthur’s.
“……!”
He recoiled in fright.
*‘That bastard… he’s smiling at me?’*
And it was a mad smile.
Like a child eyeing a gift box.
Biting his lip, the monkey muttered to himself.
*‘Damn… this isn’t the place to use it, but I’ve no choice.’*
He quickly began chanting.
Leon’s eyes widened.
“……!”
Turning, he saw the monkey murmuring with staff in hand.
Leon immediately invoked his bloodline power.
“…Gahhh!”
The monkey’s body shriveled, folding in half.
But even crushed, he kept chanting.
Just as Leon moved to stop him, the monkey’s lips twisted upward.
He slammed his staff down and shouted.
“*Abramana Kamandara!*”
From the staff burst an unknown black beam.
Arthur, still dueling the last knight, raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, magic?”
He leapt, dodging the beam.
Leon gasped in relief—only for the monkey to cough blood and laugh.
“Keuhaha! Dodging won’t save you, fool!”
The beam curved midair, redirecting toward Arthur.
Leon shouted in panic.
“Arthur, dodge! That spell is—!”
But before his warning reached him, the beam struck Arthur.
*Boom!*
Arthur staggered from the blast.
The monkey, voice raspy with phlegm, cackled.
“Keuhaha! No matter how strong, no swordsman can survive the magic that even slays monsters!”
He threw back his hood.
His grotesque face was revealed—neither wholly human nor beast, but a grotesque monkey-like form.
Smirking with wrinkled lips, he declared:
“It’s over, mad swordsman.”
Arthur slowly lowered his gaze to his chest.
*Thump!*
His heart pounded violently.
And within it, something warm stirred.
After a moment’s hesitation, Arthur pulled it out.
“…Oh?”
A black card, given to him by someone, gleamed faintly in his hand.
—
