The King's Game.
It's a card game originating from Japan; the rules don't particularly matter, only that one must understand:
The one who becomes the 'King' will win everything.
By analogy to this world, it's a game played by seven 'King' contestants, with a referee, actually a 'God,' called the King. The rules are the same as above.
The last King standing will win everything.
At this moment, Galahad stared coldly at the blond youth before him, named Su Ya, or rather, a dragon in human skin.
He was different from before. His hair had changed from black to golden, and his eyes from crimson to clear jade green. His face held more 'humanity,' perhaps even too much, making him seem more human than actual humans.
And his personality was no longer as cruel, arrogant, and endlessly greedy as in the past. Looking at it this way—
He had become more cunning.
Meanwhile, Su Ya was also looking at the black-haired boy called the Holy Son, Galahad.
As far as he knew, Sir Galahad of the Round Table was known as the purest Knight of the Round Table, the ninth descendant of Jesus Christ, and the only knight capable of holding the Holy Grail. He could even be considered one of the strongest knights among the Round Table in terms of combat power.
His father was Lancelot, the Perfect Knight, and his mother was the mermaid princess Elaine. When he first arrived at King Arthur's court, he sat in the most dangerous seat at the Round Table, and thereafter, no one could shake his position.
His loyalty and faith were beyond reproach. When he held the Holy Grail, people described him thus:
He 'held the Body of Christ in his hands.' The moment he lifted the Holy Grail, countless glorious angels descended, welcoming his soul into Heaven, and he died.
But what Su Ya found twisted and amusing was this:
This was a godless world.
Galahad, who believed in Christ, had never heard the holy word of God since the day he was born, yet he was still revered as the 'Holy Son' and had grown to this age.
If the god the Knight-Templars believed in was King Solomon, who had falsely ascended to godhood, then who was the god this Holy Son, who was supposed to believe in Jesus, now believed in?
The two sat facing each other, strikingly similar to the famous painting Rainer on the Chair.
The atmosphere gradually fell into silence.
Galahad, in the 'Rainer' position, looked solemn, his gaze fixed on Su Ya.
Su Ya, seemingly in the 'Allen' position, looked bewildered, as if listening to nonsense, completely unaware of what the other person was asking—
What did he mean by 'I'm back here again'?
What did he mean by 'I'm back for revenge'?
I don't know anything, how am I supposed to answer you?
"Answer me!" Galahad finally couldn't bear the silence.
He had no reason to keep Su Ya. He wasn't like those Knight-Templars who had no bottom line for gaining power, forcing others to join the church just to get the scraps Solomon threw out—even if he was now no different from a dog.
But he knew that if he let Su Ya go without an accurate answer, it would be like putting a ticking time bomb into the capital.
When this bomb exploded, either the capital would be reduced to ashes, and three million or more people would be displaced. Or, the entire Britannia would be ignited by the wrath of such a dragon.
Galahad, without God's guidance, was filled with confusion. At this moment, he could only place himself in the position of the majority, something akin to 'ally of justice,' to barely alleviate this fear and unease.
However—
"I don't know." Su Ya could only blink, answering Galahad truthfully and frankly, "Little friend, I don't know what you're talking about. What dragon? What revenge? I don't know anything."
"I never even intended to come here. I just want to earn a little money, find ways to improve my strength, and live peacefully."
"Are you mistaken?"
Galahad abruptly raised his head to look at Su Ya's face, and soon, he revealed an even more bewildered, clueless expression.
Being naturally able to discern good and evil, he sensed that Su Ya wasn't lying.
But, he couldn't be mistaken; Su Ya was indeed the dragon imprisoned in the Silver Crown Royal Court. It was impossible for it to suddenly lose its memory, nor could it suddenly reverse its inherent nature, rooted in its bloodline, becoming more human than a human.
And soon, he thought of a possibility. A possibility that completely defied biological nature. He widened his eyes, looking at Su Ya, and said incredulously:
"Could it be that you erased fifteen years of memories after coming to this world?"
Su Ya looked at him strangely. "Huh?"
"That's it..." Galahad stared at him in disbelief. "You let go of all hatred and humiliation."
"You designed all of this death and rebirth."
"All for the sake of winning this King's Game!"
He stared, dumbfounded, at Su Ya's bewildered expression, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't understand:
"But why would the winner you envisioned... look like this?"
Su Ya scratched his head, feeling utterly baffled by this youth who had exposed his true identity.
No, what are you even talking about?
The two seemed to be on completely different wavelengths, and Su Ya, receiving a barrage of over-the-top compliments, only felt his toes curl with embarrassment.
This kid sure knows how to flatter, but I don't have money to buy you lollipops.
At that moment, as if to confirm his conjecture, Galahad suddenly took a deep breath, looked deeply at Su Ya, and asked:
"Did you—suddenly arrive in this world from another world?"
"Unlike the gradual, large-scale transfer event fifteen years ago that was only discovered half a month later, did you suddenly come to this world from another world?"
Hearing this, Su Ya's pupils suddenly constricted, and he looked at Galahad with a start.
What did this kid just say? He recognized me as a transmigrator?
"You wait, you wait, how did you know—"
Galahad directly interrupted Su Ya's surprised questioning and continued:
"Think carefully, can you still remember what your world was like before the transfer? I mean, before the transfer happened, your identity in that world, your family, your life's trajectory, and several historical gaps belonging to other seven great nations!"
Hearing this, Su Ya's pupils constricted even further, and he felt an inexplicable unease.
But when he carefully considered the points Galahad brought up, Su Ya strangely found that he seemed to remember all of them.
He clearly remembered his previous life's memories and knew his true identity, how he lived a humble and solitary life in modern society, and furthermore, due to his interests, he knew the history of the seven nations of this world from modern history books. There were no missing memories or forgotten histories of other nations as Galahad claimed.
Therefore, he shook his head at Galahad, confidently stating: "You've got the wrong person."
Galahad looked up, dumbfounded, "How can this be..."
"So, can I go now?"
He asked, but found that the godless Holy Son's face was flushed, as if his CPU was about to burn out. Seeing that the other party seemed too preoccupied to deal with him, Su Ya turned his head to look outside the door.
At this moment, he already saw several familiar figures outside the door, following a tall woman in a white-gold nun's habit, walking towards them.
He pointed to Merlin and Dagonet, who were smiling and waving to him from outside the torture chamber, and Lucan, who stood behind them with a beaming expression.
"My friends seem to have come to pick me up."
"No, impossible!"
"How could an evil dragon like you have friends?!"
Hearing this, Galahad excitedly stood up and turned to look. When he saw that there really was a group of people outside who seemed very familiar with Su Ya and exuded a surging 'villainous' aura above their heads, the expression on his face involuntarily froze.
And at this moment, tap, tap, tap!
The rhythmic sound of heels clicking on the ground echoed.
Elizabeth, the current Holy Maiden of the Church, walked to the doorway. She looked at Su Ya with her clean, clear sky-blue eyes, revealing a rather subtle smile.
"Su Ya, son of Sir Hector."
"The Princess Royal has already learned of your deeds and defended you. The Church has no right to detain or interrogate you."
"You are free."
She completely ignored Galahad, whom she regarded as having lost in the church's power struggle and being utterly useless. She walked into the torture chamber, past Galahad, and opened a wooden box in front of Su Ya.
Inside the box was a ring emblazoned with a red dragon crest.
"In three days, the Princess Royal will host a banquet for you at the Silver Crown Royal Court. At that time, please proceed to the inner ring of the capital. This is the Princess Royal's token for your passage through the Royal Palace and the inner three rings."