On the colossal clock tower standing within the second ring of the capital, a steady ticking echoed, a mechanical rhythm. On the clock face, the hour, minute, and second hands all pointed to the 12 o'clock position. Accompanied by the increasingly oppressive night, Wincheston, the British capital that buried countless secrets, finally arrived at the moment of its truth's revelation.
Midnight, 12:00 AM.
It was Suya's second day in the city, and according to Griflet, the so-called "Day of Authority" in the New Testament had quietly arrived.
"Eh~ young man, why are you looking at me like that? Want to buy me a drink? Just say the word, no need to be shy."
"Come on, you're not telling me you're too stingy for that, are you?"
"Should I just leave?"
On the bustling tavern street, alive with an endless revelry, Suya frowned deeply, looking at the scruffy, unkempt knight with a look of apprehension. The man was remarkably tall, yet when he stood up, he exuded an overwhelming aura of utter uselessness. The knight wore a sword wrapped in rags at his hip, had a mess of long black hair, and was clad in a black and grey armor that looked utterly out of place on him. Rather than a knight, he seemed more like a slovenly middle-aged man who had just lost all his game coins at some arcade, now standing on the curb, sighing and puffing on a cigarette butt.
Suya instinctively felt something was off. I just thought about having money with nowhere to spend it, and immediately this character, with an unusually peculiar style, clearly an important NPC, pops out and seriously tells me he's going to teach me how to spend money! Is this guy not even trying to hide it anymore?
Suya stared at the decadent knight with the wary gaze one might give a strange adult trying to steal candy from a child, and cautiously asked, "Who are you?"
"Ah—how troublesome. You've forgotten even me. Is this part of your plan too? I wondered why you didn't come looking for me after I lay by the entrance of the Hero's Brew for a whole day."
Hearing Suya's question, the disheveled knight scratched his head, exhaling helplessly. Then, he looked straight at Suya, revealing an incredibly innocent and pathetic expression: "Then I'll be direct—"
"Red Dragon King, isn't it time for us to get paid? You're not trying to make me work for free, are you?"
"Red Dragon King!?"
Upon hearing this, Suya's pupils abruptly constricted. He immediately feigned ignorance and moved to bypass the man. "Wh-what Red Dragon? Where's a Red Dragon? You're talking nonsense! I'm clearly a human!"
Slap!
Just as Suya tried to make a quick escape and distance himself from that title, a large hand firmly clamped onto his shoulder. He turned his head to see the decadent knight in front of him reveal a row of white teeth in the night, chuckling eerily: "I'll only stop you once. If you truly accept your fate, desire nothing from power, and just want to live as a human in this messed-up world, then..."
"I'll sell your God-Constructed Armament."
Suya was about to loudly refute, swearing to the heavens that the guy had mistaken him for someone else, but upon hearing the last sentence, he abruptly halted, his eyes widening slightly: "What did you just say? Say it again?"
"I'll only stop you once."
"No, the sentence before that."
"Isn't it time for us to get paid?"
Suya nodded, asking seriously, "How much do you want?"
The disheveled knight chuckled, "As much as you have, that's how much I want."
Hearing such an immodest claim, Suya's expression subtly hardened. Then, he took a deep breath, looking at the knight before him with a serious face, and asked, "Then, I'll ask again: Who are you?"
"The Red Dragon King's familiar, Knight Balin."
Upon hearing this name, Suya's expression instantly turned solemn, and his doubt about the other party's words immediately lessened.
Knight Balin, not a Knight of the Round Table. In the legends of King Arthur, he was one of the earliest knights to follow King Arthur, even predating Arthur's marriage to Guinevere and receiving the 150-seat Round Table from his father-in-law, King Leodegrance. Before the fame of Gawain and Lancelot spread, he was already one of the foremost knights in the world. The sword in his hand later became Galahad's personal sword. And his accomplishments were even more exaggerated: this man not only snatched Galahad's sword, 'Melliahduke,' from the Lady of the Lake but also casually slew the Lady of the Lake who came to demand retribution, and could even draw and use the Lance of Longinus, the very spear that pierced Jesus.
And such an extraordinary knight, in this world, was actually a familiar of the Red Dragon King?
Suya wasn't entirely sure who the Red Dragon King was, but he wasn't stupid. After Galahad's relentless questioning, Merlin's subtle probing, and now Knight Balin's direct confrontation, he vaguely guessed that his past self might indeed be the Red Dragon that had revived fifteen years ago beneath the capital of Wincheston! After all, humans transmigrating as humans, and Red Dragons transmigrating as Red Dragons, was quite logical.
However, if he was that Red Dragon, he was far too weak. After all, according to Merlin, that Red Dragon was capable of thrashing the legendary King Uther and burning half the capital. And Suya was quite certain that he was nowhere near that powerful; his growth along this journey had been achieved step by step, through solid training.
Just then, he took a deep breath, looking solemnly at the decadent knight Balin, who claimed to be his ally, and asked earnestly, "Then what are you here for?"
Hearing Suya's deliberate posturing, his attempt to sound as majestic as a mature Red Dragon, Balin couldn't help but chuckle. He immediately grabbed Suya's shoulder and slung an arm around him, leading him towards a nearby tavern: "Come on, boss, can't we be less serious? Don't worry, I'm not interested in slaying dragons."
"I've been lying on this street all day, I'm practically starving. Please, let's go have a drink first."
Suya cautiously asked, "So, you mentioned the God-Constructed Armament?"
Hearing this, and realizing once again that Suya truly had forgotten even this most crucial item, Balin couldn't help but frown slightly. However, he quickly smiled nonchalantly and reassured him, "Don't worry, such a huge thing can't run away."
"Compared to that, shouldn't you be asking about something else?"
Suya looked at him strangely. "What something?"
Balin looked deeply at Suya and smiled, "For example, what you entrusted to me—"
"The Fifth Path."
Upon hearing this, Suya abruptly tilted his head back, his pupils instantly turning scarlet and trembling slightly. Though it was a sweltering summer day, his back was entirely drenched in cold sweat at that moment.
Paths. This was undoubtedly Suya's deepest secret, one he had never shared with anyone. Until now, he had passively triggered four: Fake Fate (Ex), Master of the Dark Medical World (C++), The End of Deathmatch (A), and King (Ex). It was thanks to these four Paths that Suya had repeatedly created miracles in such desperate circumstances, deceiving everyone through one performance after another, and gathering all those now around him.
His status panel had once indicated that he would gain more Paths upon leveling up, but ever since Suya upgraded from Retainer to Advanced Swordsman, no new Paths had been triggered. He had thought this was because the triggering conditions hadn't been met, which was why neither the subtitles nor the panel had displayed anything. But now, he had unexpectedly received information about the Fifth Path from this Red Dragon's knight, information that no one else should have known?