The clash between the Knight of the Sun and the scarlet mercenary was fierce.
A confrontation between a long sword and a pair of blades – no one dared to interfere in this dance of death.
"During the day, I was blessed with incredible strength," Gawain proudly explained the essence of his gift, taking the onslaught of Deadpool's attacks directly on his armor, not even trying to dodge. "And now the great Lion King has granted me the Gift – 'Night Without Sunset.' From now on, the sun always shines for me. Fighting me is pure suicide."
Thanks to the blessing, even attacks that should have left deep wounds barely scratched his skin.
"Didn't ask," Deadpool cut him off.
"What?"
Gawain, who was rapturously describing the greatness of his Gift, raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, encountering complete indifference.
"I said: I don't care!" Deadpool barked.
He looked with undisguised disgust at the knight, who spoke so pompously about divine gifts after coldly slaughtering a crowd of refugees.
"A knight, you say? And yet you butcher civilians? Are you fucking Nazis or something?!"
"Na…zis?"
"Deaf too? Well, what can you expect from a guy with an IQ like a gorilla. It's amazing you even understand human speech…"
Gawain was thoroughly tired of this comparison to a monkey. For a noble knight, being equated to a speechless creature was an unforgivable insult. Especially for him, the guardian of the Holy City gates.
"You ride a horse, don't you? I bet your nag is sobbing uncontrollably, carrying the carcass of a primate! I even feel sorry for your horse!"
Despite the stream of insults, Gawain forced himself to smile. He couldn't give in to emotions. Losing his temper over cheap provocation was a disgrace for a knight. A true warrior must endure any insult stoically, without revealing his feelings.
"Funny. But remember: if the rider talks too much, even a docile steed will bolt."
"Funny? My ears are bleeding from your 'equine' puns! You definitely have the sense of humor of a gorilla."
Gawain, however, was genuinely amused. While Deadpool attacked with all his passion, the knight's blows seemed lazy, devoid of true fervor. He was as if playing with his opponent, just as the Archer Knight had done before.
"Decided to play nice?" Deadpool momentarily broke the distance. "Look at you, so self-assured."
Gawain responded with an unpleasant, condescending smile.
"How else? I have to hold back to make the fight even remotely fair. A one-sided beating isn't my style."
"Oh, really? Well then, let me make you get serious."
Deadpool ceased his attacks. Intrigued by the sudden change in tactics, Gawain also lowered his sword. What was this madman in red planning?
"Here, eat this!"
Suddenly, Deadpool pulled a potato from somewhere and launched it straight at Gawain's face. A second, a third followed.
"Take that! And this! And catch this one!"
Stunned by the "potato bombardment," Gawain missed a couple of blows to his helmet before instinctively starting to parry the vegetables with his sword. His face contorted in bewilderment.
"What are you doing?! How dare you be so careless with fresh potatoes! You have no respect for food, you scarlet knight!"
"I'm a mercenary, you potato gorilla! Seeing how you abuse produce, turning it into tasteless mash, these potatoes themselves dream of returning to the earth!"
Deadpool, whose vegetables seemed endless, eventually threw an entire basket at Gawain. A veritable stockpile of root vegetables formed around the knight.
"I don't know what kind of trickery this is," Gawain picked up a potato and smiled triumphantly. "But thank you. These valuable supplies will serve the good of the Holy City's residents and our Lion King."
He was about to politely bow out when he noticed a sinister grin on Deadpool's face.
"Dream on, you idiot! Eat up, don't get messy!"
Deadpool pressed the detonator.
The potato in Gawain's hand exploded into pieces. But that was just the beginning – all the vegetables scattered around detonated simultaneously.
"Special order! Potato bombs! They look appetizing on the outside, but on the inside, they're as rotten as all of you! Don't worry about healing – the damage is minimal, but the stench... mmm, peculiar."
Indeed, there wasn't much explosive power, but the stench of rotten pulp that splattered everywhere was indescribable.
"Sniff... Do you smell it?" Deadpool demonstratively inhaled. "Aha! It's the smell of rot emanating from a 'noble' knight who turns people into mince. The smell of a mountain gorilla's spoiled brains, turned into potato mash!"
Gawain, covered head to toe in the foul-smelling goo, froze. He silently glared at Deadpool. A vein on the knight's temple bulged, ready to burst with rage.
"You... how dare you... defile my knightly honor..."
In truth, the insult to his honor was the least of his concerns. The real reason for his anger ran much deeper.
"Forget my honor! It won't replace everything else... But the way you so carelessly wasted such precious produce... I will never forgive you for this extravagance-!"
"So you're furious because of that?!" Deadpool gasped.
The second chef of the Round Table. A knight who adored potatoes. A man capable of turning anything into mash. He had many nicknames, all related to his passion for this vegetable. Even with the Lion King's Gift, his attachment to potatoes bordered on madness.
"Thank you. I am sincerely grateful. Now I can finish you off with a clear conscience. I haven't felt this much rage since Sir Mordred decided to 'assert his rights'."
From rage, even the impeccable knight uttered coarse words.
"Since you crave death so much, I shall grant your wish!"
Gawain assumed a stance. A blinding mana began to pulse in the sword pressed against his body. Then he tossed the blade high into the sky, directly at the scorching sun.
"My sword is an offering to the sun. The heat haze's flame, cleansing all sin from corruption!"
Catching the blade, now infused with solar heat, Gawain sharply turned his entire body.
The wheel of crushing victory!
"Excalibur – Galatine!" he shouted.
From a powerful horizontal swing, Galatine's flame surged forward in a dazzling fan.
"If you are the sun, then I am the sun! Su-u-un...!"
"Back! Scarlet mercenary, get away from there!" someone's warning cry rang out.
As Deadpool was about to strike another absurd pose, a figure in a flowing cloak suddenly appeared behind him and blocked the enemy's path.
"Unsheathe, sword! Reveal your might, silver hand!"
"Switch activated – Agarthram!"
In that instant, a furious solar storm descended upon Deadpool, engulfing everything around.
"Wade!"
"Oops, what in the world is going on here?" Deadpool croaked. "Excalibur Galatine? That can't be! Where did such a powerful Noble Phantasm come from?!"
Meanwhile, Ritsuka, carrying the unconscious Mash with Rushid, met Da Vinci, who had arrived at the commotion. After quickly explaining the situation, he turned and saw a pillar of flame erupting from the main gate.
"What an idiot!" Da Vinci exclaimed in exasperation. "What was he thinking, deciding to face the Sun Knight alone?!"
She was beside herself with annoyance. Da Vinci knew this guy was reckless and had no common sense, but to fight Gawain alone, blessed with "Unflaming Sun," when he should have retreated immediately... It was beyond the pale.
"Even with his immortality, Galatine's flame is too much!"
She wanted to personally smack Deadpool and drag him away by the scruff of his neck, but she had to hurry: the knights of the Holy City were pursuing them, and the lives of the refugees depended on whether they could be led to safety.
"It's been a while since I fought at full strength," Gawain said. "And I managed to get rid of those unworthy refugees, so it's even for the best..."
He faltered, staring wide-eyed at Deadpool. Or rather, at the knight with the silver hand who stood in his path.
"You... Why are you here?!"
The possessor of the shining silver hand, which had managed to extinguish the flame of his Noble Phantasm "Excalibur Galatine," breathed heavily and slowly lowered his limb.
"Know your place!" Gawain spat, his face contorted with rage. "How dare you show your shameless face here after betraying the Lion King!"
The knight with the silver hand was not just familiar to him – he knew him too well.
"Bedivere, Knight of the Silver Hand!"
"Teddy bear?"
Bedivere, hearing Deadpool's "introduction," merely glanced at him and raised his sword again.
"Leave this to me and leave immediately," he said over his shoulder. "You can't handle him."
"Hold on a minute," Deadpool interrupted. "A three-star Saber is going to butt heads with a four-star, and under a buff? That breaks the whole balance!"
Bedivere merely tilted his head in confusion, not understanding a word of this nonsense.
"However, I won't have to get my hands dirty," Gawain suddenly lowered his sword.
He and the knights of the Holy City who followed him knelt towards the gates, showing deep respect.
"Could it be..." Bedivere turned anxiously towards the gates.
"Oh, great Lion King!"
At Gawain's exclamation, the "Snow White Lion King" appeared above the gates of the Holy City. Clad in elegant silver armor with lion motifs, in flowing blue robes, she held a spear in her hand.
"King... Lion?" Bedivere froze, unable to tear his astonished gaze away.
It was her. The one he regretted endlessly, the one whose loyalty tormented him and from whom he had once turned away. But at the same time, it wasn't her – and Bedivere felt it acutely.
"Why has the holy punishment not yet been carried out?"
The icy voice, seeping through the slits of the lion helmet, made even the great Gawain tense.
"I apologize for the delay, Your Majesty! Resistance arose during the punishment. The knights are finishing the sweep in the west, and only these two condemned remain here."
After Gawain's words, the Lion King's gaze fell upon Deadpool and Bedivere.
"My King..." Bedivere whispered almost inaudibly.
However, the Lion King's gaze was fixed not on her former subordinate, but on the red mercenary.
"So that's how it is. So the seed was sown... King of Mages."
She examined Deadpool with interest, and a chilling chuckle came from under the helmet.
"Wait a minute... Is this Iron Man the Lion King Voltron?" Deadpool interjected. "How dare you impersonate my beloved Voltron! In the name of the Red Lion Paladin, I will not forgive you!"
"Hey, wait!" Bedivere shouted.
But Deadpool, deciding to end it all in one go, drew his anti-tank sniper rifle. Before the knight could stop him, the mercenary aimed and pulled the trigger.
With a roar like a cannon blast, the large-caliber bullet flew true.
"Got it! Direct hit!" Deadpool froze. "...Although, I'll bet my life, there's not a scratch on her."
And so it was: the Lion King stood motionless, without the slightest sign of damage.
"We need to run, faster!" Bedivere shouted.
"No, it's too late," Deadpool cut him off.
The Lion King raised her spear high, gathering magical energy.
"Radiance at the edge of the world. It will split the heavens. And bind the earth... This is the anchor of the storm..."
Under the queen's quiet whisper, her holy spear "Rhongomyniad," overflowing with power, directed its tip straight at Deadpool.
"Disappear, red seed."
The spear, shining at the edge of the world!
"RHON-GO-MY-NI-AD!"
The stream of light that surged forward was indescribable. The immense power was so great that it seemed the very gates and walls of the city would crumble into dust, unable to withstand the fury of this current.
"Hey, Bear!"
Seeing the stream of death rushing towards him, Deadpool grabbed Bedivere by the shoulder and dived aside.
"Into the refrigerator!"
"Where did a refrigerator come from... Ah, really?!"
Deadpool and Bedivere jumped into a refrigerator that had appeared out of nowhere and slammed the door shut. A second later, the light of Rhongomyniad enveloped them, and an explosion of monstrous power erupted.
It seemed impossible for anyone to survive the strike of the holy spear.
Only a lone refrigerator, caught by the blast wave, rapidly flew somewhere far to the west.
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan