BOOM!
That name exploded like a thunderclap in Agravain's mind. His heart involuntarily quickened as he looked up.
"You mean, she's back?"
———
"Morgan le Fay?"
Deep in the alley, when Kayneth deduced the woman's name, Reines beside him almost instinctively glanced at the witchlike, bewitching woman at the mouth of the alley.
"That person is Morgan?"
Soon, the noble girl's skin broke out in goosebumps, and the blank expression on her face gradually dissolved.
In its place came astonishment, shock, and even disbelief.
Morgan le Fay, actually, in the Arthurian legends there is very little written about her.
But any modern magus would not be unfamiliar with the name.
From what Reines knew, her friend Gray seemed to have some kind of connection to Arthur and even to Morgan le Fay.
She never expected to see the person herself now, and in this way.
For a moment, the alley fell into an eerie silence. Even arrogant Kayneth had gone speechless.
His throat rolled unconsciously. The mercury beneath his feet writhed and reformed, yet this time he did not launch an attack.
There was no chance of victory. If this woman truly was Morgan, victory was impossible.
"Reines…", After a brief silence, Kayneth lowered his voice, "When you get a chance, run. Escape from here."
"I—"
Reines looked up to say something, but a glare from Kayneth shut her up. She dropped her head, eyes full of resentment.
Although she felt nothing for Kayneth as a brother, a girl's pride would not permit her to abandon him and flee.
Yet staring at this witchlike presence in the alley, Reines felt helpless.
"Looks like you don't intend to cooperate quietly?"
Morgan sighed softly. "And after learning my name you still harbor fantasies. Should I say I am underestimated, or… that you know nothing of the power of a mage from the Age of Gods?"
A staff silently condensed in Morgan le Fay's hand.
The mana in the air seemed to awaken at once, and the sheer pressure alone made it hard to breathe.
Cold sweat beaded on Kayneth's brow; his face drained pale.
Only now did he realize something, Morgan had not shown her true power at all up to this moment.
The witch before them stood like an unattainable deity. She merely held a staff, but that pressure made Kayneth's fear explode.
His fingers trembled uncontrollably.
Then, in the next moment he fought his fear and abruptly looked up.
The moon spirit liquid fully activated. Overwhelming mana poured into the mercury.
Then, the tide of mercury surged toward Morgan like an ocean, and as it neared her, it detonated like fireworks.
"Reines, aren't you going to run?"
Reines was still in shock when Kayneth's low shout reached her.
If he faced only a mage from the Age of Gods, Kayneth felt he might still have a chance.
But his opponent was more than just an Age of Gods magus.
Her name sealed the outcome of this battle.
Sure enough, when Reines turned and sprinted for the alley exit, a shadow darker than the dark spread silently outward from Morgan le Fay as its center.
The shadow swallowed the mercury completely. In the end, the moon spirit liquid, that magical ornament of mercury, was stained black.
Reines tried to step forward but found, with horror, that she could not move.
'Is this Morgan?'
'What does she want? Why is she targeting me?'
All manner of thoughts flashed through Reines's mind. At that moment, a supremely graceful silhouette glided out of the darkness.
"Rest assured, I'm not interested in you. I only want to ask you a few questions, but to avoid the possibility of lying, I need you to come with me," As Morgan spoke, she reached out her hand toward Reines.
"Reines!"
Kayneth spun around, but he could only watch helplessly as that hand reached for his sister.
Then, abruptly, the situation changed.
BOOM!
Just as Morgan's hand was about to touch Reines, a golden light flared in the darkness. A burning radiance severed the space between Reines and Morgan.
Accompanying it came a man's voice full of sunlight.
"Agravain, take them back!"
Reines looked up instinctively and, seeing the man, nearly blurted, "Gawain?"
Yes. The ones who arrived first on the scene were Gawain and Agravain, who had been patrolling the capital not long before.
Reines felt a flicker of hope. She had heard stories of Gawain; in history he was an extremely righteous knight.
Although they were transmigrators and not aligned with Gawain's faction, falling into Morgan's hands would be much worse.
But Reines quickly froze.
She saw that the man praised as the Knight of the Sun had a grave expression and a tense body. Sweat beaded at his brow as he faced Morgan.
Even after all these years, even while Morgan had been absent from the palace, she remained Gawain's unshakable nightmare.
Over the years, only two people had not feared Morgan le Fay.
One was Morgan's own sister, King Arthur of Camelot, and the other had died at the king's hand years ago.
"Leave with me first," Agravain said softly.
But as he moved to take them away, someone blocked the alley exit.
A young woman stood before Agravain with a greatsword and smiled, "Did you forget about me, brother?"
Agravain's eyes narrowed, "Gareth, so you're here too."
"You've grown up so much."
Agravain remembered the last time he had seen Gareth. It had been years ago, when Morgan had not yet left the palace and Gareth had been a little girl.
Now she had reached the bloom of youth.
"You don't seem to have changed much," Gareth offered a smile.
Agravain slowly drew his sword, "It's been a long time, but I have no time for reunion pleasantries now. Step aside."
"That won't do. If you take them away, Mother will be angry."
Gareth smiled as usual, "You know what happens when Mother is angry, don't you?"
In that instant, old fear of Morgan surged up.
A shadow crossed Agravain's face, and then a coldness appeared in his eyes.
"If you refuse to make way, don't blame me, Gareth!"
To Agravain, rules were everything. Even facing the witch he once feared, he still had the courage to draw his sword.
By rights, Agravain was not the strongest among the Round Table, but certainly not someone a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl should be able to handle.
Yet when Agravain charged forward, he saw Gareth draw a dagger.
She chanted softly. In the next moment, the dagger transformed into a jet-black scythe.
That deep, soul-harvesting blade made Agravain's pupils constrict violently.
"Penetrating Blade of Gold?"
Having once followed Morgan, Agravain knew exactly what the weapon in Gareth's hand was.
It was one of the magic artifacts Morgan le Fay had modified, and even Agravain and Gawain present now had to be wary of it.
Those struck by the Penetrating Blade of Gold suffered not only physical wounds but injuries to spirit and even soul.
Seeing the artifact Gareth drew, Agravain sensed disaster and tried to dodge.
But he was too late.
When Agravain rushed forward, Gareth swung the scythe that seemed to reap souls.
Reines's heart skipped a beat. She manipulated her mercury puppet to try to block the scythe for Agravain.
But like slicing tofu, the scythe easily cut through the mercury puppet and then fell toward Agravain.
Clang!
The dark-gold scythe flashed.
Sparks flew from Agravain's body, and the tremendous impact forced him to step back.
Gareth stared in shock, "Impossible!"
The Penetrating Blade of Gold was already razor sharp, and Morgan had improved it further.
Yet the scythe did not wound Agravain.
After a brief moment of astonishment, Gareth raised her head slowly and said, "So you had a backup, Agravain—"
Before she finished, the expression on her face froze.
"Magic artifact?"
From who knew when, a thin white membrane had appeared over Agravain's body, emitting a gentle glow.
Just as the scythe's edge was about to cut his skin, this special magic artifact stopped the blow.
If that were all, Gareth would not be so shocked.
But if she was not mistaken, this magic artifact was clearly…
"Where did you get that?", Gareth blurted.
As one who had been on Morgan's side for years, Gareth knew why Morgan had come.
Because of that she also clearly understood what Agravain's magic artifact meant.
Thinking that, Gareth suddenly sensed the sounds of the alley fight had fallen silent.
She looked up and saw Morgan staring in their direction, dazed, whispering absentmindedly, "Dragon scale?"
The alley fell into stillness.
Gareth looked at Morgan le Fay with a peculiar expression, then silently glanced at Agravain with concern and pity, as if to say, 'You're done for.'
If Gareth had held back when she first drew the Penetrating Blade of Gold, then she understood all too well what it meant now that the dragon scale had reappeared.
Over the years, Morgan le Fay's workshop had preserved many relics and paraphernalia of a certain someone.
If the Holy Grail War were to begin, any one of the items in Morgan's workshop could become a relic, summoning that keeper who had quietly guarded Camelot, the knight in the dark.
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