Episode 41.
The opponents were dozens of Awakeners.
Of course, their most powerful means of attack, projectiles, didn't work on me, but the zombies the Elder commanded were different.
Even if they couldn't feel pain and didn't take much damage from projectiles, cutting off their arms, legs, or heads could immediately lead to a loss of combat effectiveness.
But they couldn't execute that obvious strategy.
They couldn't?
More precisely, they were unable to.
Because when the Twin Dragon Swords and the General's Roar combined, they could strengthen weak zombies to the level of ordinary Awakeners.
The zombies, with increased attack, defense, and even movement speed, quickly began dispatching them.
And now.
"S-stop. Please…."
One last survivor stepped back and begged.
He wanted mercy, but.
"Gra-"
The zombie merely carried out its given command.
Crunch!
His head shattered like a ripe watermelon from the merciless kick, and he met his death just like that.
That was the end.
Of the thirty Black Moon organization members, all but one had died.
"Grrrk!"
And the ten zombies that had played that decisive role gathered around.
Under their protection, I looked to the side.
Boom!
An explosion rang out with a collision.
There, Gallos and the orange-haired man were wielding a bronze sword and a massive axe.
"You bastard! I'll definitely kill you!"
The enraged shout of the orange-haired man.
But his gaze wasn't directed at Gallos in front of him. It was directed at me.
Why wouldn't it be?
After all, I had suddenly intervened and ruined everything.
He had even lost all thirty of his subordinates, so he couldn't help but be enraged.
"Then you should have helped earlier."
Words meant to get on his nerves.
The reason he couldn't move was obvious.
Because he couldn't take his eyes off Gallos for a moment.
The being that had appeared with the Stage 1 Protection System prioritizes the enemy before its eyes.
He must have used that to tie Gallos to himself and aim for the core with long-range attacks, but.
'Everything fell through because of my appearance.'
Failing to account for a variable like me was the cause of his defeat.
Well, who would have expected another intruder to enter this place where a barrier had been deployed?
No matter how much power of foresight one had, they couldn't possibly figure out all those variables.
Thanks to that, this situation had occurred.
Well, it wasn't entirely a coincidence.
Because I had grasped the entire situation, I could turn it to my advantage.
"Huaaaah!"
The man let out a bizarre cry and pushed Gallos back with force.
Screech-
His body was pushed back by monstrous strength.
"Wow!"
The Power of Noon.
As expected of a monster.
At present, that trait was probably the only one that allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Gallos like that.
But.
'Soon….'
I looked up.
The sun at the center of the sky had shifted slightly westward.
That meant the Power of Noon, his monstrous strength, was slowly fading.
"Uraaaah!"
The orange-haired man, who had briefly pushed Gallos back, charged.
But Gallos immediately took his stance and swung his bronze sword.
Swish!
It grazed his back by a hair's breadth.
He probably thought.
That he would avoid the attack by a hair's breadth and take me out first.
But that was clearly a miscalculation.
Squelch!
"Krrk!"
It had merely grazed him.
Yet an enormous amount of blood gushed out like a fountain.
"Tsk tsk."
I clicked my tongue in pity.
Gallos's sword—that unimpressive-looking bronze sword—was a Regalia.
A fraudulent Regalia that inflicted bleeding with a 100% probability.
So even a slight cut caused an enormous amount of blood to pour out.
Without special treatment or medicine, stopping the bleeding was nearly impossible.
"Kgh!"
But he charged forward, gritting his teeth as if determined.
He seemed intent on dragging me and the Elder down with him somehow.
"Ugh-"
Zombies blocked his path.
Not just one, but all ten were deployed forward to buy time so he couldn't approach easily.
Bash!
But how easy was it to stop the orange-haired man who possessed the Power of Noon?
With exactly one blow.
A zombie split cleanly in half from crown to groin by that single axe strike stopped moving.
Even a zombie that had grown somewhat through the Twin Dragon Swords and the General's Roar was no match.
Thud, bash!
Just like that, five zombies were taken down in the blink of an eye.
It truly happened in an instant.
But there was no need to worry.
Clang!
Gallos had already closed in and was attacking the orange-haired man.
"Krrgh!"
He barely blocked it but was pushed back.
'It's time.'
Noon had passed.
The trait that had displayed peak monstrous strength had weakened considerably after an hour.
Confirming that the man was caught by Gallos, I stepped back.
There's no way a guy whose strength had faded would approach us.
However.
'The aftermath is the problem.'
Gallos's next target after dealing with the orange-haired man was us.
So we had to prepare to face him.
"Let's begin."
"Let's."
In a place littered with the corpses of Awakeners who had been moving just moments ago.
There, the work began.
Flash!
I strengthened the corpses.
Then, the energy of death seeped into the strengthened corpses, completing the Death Soldiers.
The same for the zombies.
I extracted the energy of death from zombies that hadn't been hit by the orange-haired man's axe, turned them back into corpses, and made them into Death Soldiers again.
"Master…."
"…Stomach…."
Though not 100%, fifteen Death Soldiers capable of manifesting the traits from when they were alive were completed.
It would have been best if all thirty could have been completed, but at the Elder's current level, that was impossible.
"Fucking hell!"
At that moment, the orange-haired man's end approached.
Crack!
The axe, unable to withstand the impact, shattered.
Until now he had somehow endured with his monstrous strength, but the moment his power faded after noon, its lifespan had expired.
With no means left to withstand the bronze sword.
Shhlck!
The orange-haired man's body collapsed, bisected in half.
"…Thou shalt not wake the sleeping king…."
The gaze of the Guardian protecting the treasure of Tintagel Castle turned to me.
"Sorry. I don't think I can keep that promise."
The king fallen into eternal rest.
Because I had to wake him from his rest to complete my plan.
Flash!
A blinding light illuminated the interior.
Including the Death Soldier manifesting Lightning.
Swoosh-
Manifesting Shadow Movement and various traits, they surrounded Gallos in an instant.
Bash!
No matter how much they were Death Soldiers capable of manifesting traits, how could they possibly stand against Gallos?
They fell helplessly to the bronze sword drawing its arc.
But it was fine.
That was their role.
Just as they had blocked the orange-haired man who had been manifesting the Power of Noon moments ago, their role was simply to buy time.
Click.
I pulled out a sniper air gun from my backpack.
[Transcendence Effect (★): Low probability of manifesting a Piercing Strike
Transcendence Effect (★★): Consumes all durability to manifest a Sure Hit effect]
Consuming all durability to manifest the Sure Hit effect.
I had consumed hundreds of air guns to obtain this rarely seen Transcendence effect.
I hadn't obtained only the Transcendence effect.
The basic enhancement effects had to include power, critical hit, devastating strike, and the like.
The air gun born by overcoming those low probabilities.
Clack!
I loaded it and surveyed the target through the lens.
The target was Gallos—or more precisely, the shining orb called the core, nestled within his hollow body.
"You've worked hard. Now rest in peace."
Along with a final farewell to the Guardian, that loyal knight who must have kept his post for a long time to protect the king fallen into eternal rest, I fired the loaded lead pellet.
Crunch!
Of course, the air gun shattered as the price.
Amidst the shattering, the single lead pellet flew, drawing a curve and piercing through the Death Soldiers surrounding Gallos.
Sure Hit.
It was an absolute law.
If anything obstructed that purpose, it transcended all physical laws.
Thus, the curved lead pellet avoided the bronze sword drawing its arc.
Thud!
And struck the core directly.
At a glance, it looked as fragile as glass, but in reality, the core was surrounded by an incredibly hard shell.
An ordinary air gun wouldn't have been able to pierce it.
However, the air gun with all enhancement effects focused on power succeeded in piercing the core's hard shell.
Crack!
Along with a sound like shattering glass.
Fwoooosh!
Light spilled out.
A brilliant golden light, similar to when I succeeded in strengthening something, dominated the interior.
"Proof of qualification…"
Even though the core was destroyed, Gallos was still moving.
But.
Creak, creak.
His movements snapped intermittently, as if rusted.
After a brief moment, Gallos had assumed a kneeling posture, extending both hands respectfully.
"…To the Immortal Kingdom, the Holy Land of Knights…"
With those words, Gallos's movements ceased.
I approached.
At the end of his outstretched hands was a golden key.
'The key to the Immortal Kingdom, the Holy Land of Knights.'
Before the regression, how many people had sacrificed themselves to obtain this key?
An incredible treasure that I couldn't even approach back then was now before my eyes.
But I couldn't afford to be deeply sentimental.
'Because I don't know when they'll move.'
Although I had won for now, I couldn't be certain what moves the Black Moon bastards would make next.
So I had to hurry.
"Elder."
"…"
He stared at me silently without answering.
He was a man of few words, after all.
Still, I had grown somewhat used to it by now.
"I think it would be best if you stayed here for a moment and kept watch."
"…And you?"
"I need to go somewhere for a moment."
"Wouldn't it be better to go together?"
He had seen with his own eyes that this place was no cakewalk.
He probably thought moving separately was inefficient.
"Unfortunately…"
I trailed off and thrust the key in my hand into the air.
Click!
The sound of metal fitting together.
"…?"
The Elder's pupils dilated in surprise.
"…This is a restricted space that only the chosen can enter."
Space distorted.
And.
Tzzzzt!
A new landscape was drawn over the ruined Tintagel Castle, as if paint was spreading.
It was not a ruin with only its foundation remaining, but a majestic, massive, and incomparably splendid castle.
"Camelot."
The Immortal Kingdom.
The Holy Land of Knights.
The place where the King of Victory slumbers.
And.
'The place where treasures and powerful Regalia sleep.'
By defeating Gallos, I had proven the qualifications of a knight to enter Camelot.
What remained was to obtain the reward through proof of qualification.
Of course, since it was neither the end nor the main event but merely a precursor, the "quantity" was extremely limited.
But if it was me who obtained that opportunity, the story changed.
Only I, and only I who had experienced regression, could destroy the absolute rules of the game.
'I should get the most out of it since I earned it with such difficulty.'
With a light heart and heavy hands.
I intended to clean out every treasure sleeping in the Immortal Kingdom today.