I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 114: The Light of the Holy King

The light of the Holy King illuminated the world.

The once ashen-colored world regained its vibrant hues.

The starlight of the night sky resonated with the light of the earth.

A light, akin to a sunrise signifying the glory of the morning, extended beyond the ground to illuminate the night sky, and all could see it.

The light that began from a single sword filled the human world.

The Sword of Selection, Excalibur.

The first sword of King Arthur.

A symbol of his rightful reign as the human king, the proof of the Holy King.

The light radiating from Excalibur was the light of the Holy King.

It was the light of Camelot, and also the light of humanity.

The Lion King’s breath grew heavy.

Though he was a figure of immense valor, he could not hide his agitation before the light in front of him.

Though he had never retreated in facing an enemy, he unknowingly took a step back.

His body instinctively reacted to the light of Camelot emanating from Excalibur.

“The King of Humanity.”

The Lion King gritted his teeth.

And he understood.

The walls had fallen, and the conflict between humans and monsters had resumed. Thus, it was only natural that the accursed King of Humanity, the defender of mankind, and the Knights of the Round Table would return.

The Lion King tensed his entire body.

He stopped his legs, which had been retreating without his realization, and looked straight at Yoo Seong.

Yoo Seong, holding the Sword of Selection, faced the Lion King.

The “Era of Humanity,” the ideological realm of King Arthur, was incomplete.

Even Excalibur, the Sword of Selection, was forged from Arthur’s ideals and had no true physical form.

But it was enough.

The ideological domain of the Lion King was subdued by the Era of Humanity.

The light of Camelot, symbolizing the very world of humanity, empowered all who saw it, like sunlight illuminating the earth.

The gravely injured Count Bisten rose to his feet.

The Guardian General stood and looked at Yoo Seong.

Kate and Morgan adjusted their stances and raised their swords.

Rene beamed widely as she raised her staff.

The Lion King saw those humans.

Seeing Kate and Morgan, he realized the Knights of the Round Table had returned as well.

‘But not yet.’

For some unknown reason, they were not yet the monstrous beings that humans once were.

They had not yet reached the level of those monsters who had defeated nearly all non-human races and monopolized the flame of civilization.

The Lion King ignited the crimson aura around him.

He gripped his greatsword tightly and charged at Yoo Seong.

His greatsword still carried an earth-shattering power but this land was already the world of humanity.

Once again, the Sword of Selection blocked the Lion King’s greatsword.

Though the Lion King’s overwhelming physical strength remained, the Era of Humanity empowered Yoo Seong.

And at Yoo Seong’s fingertips, the sword’s magic activated.

The Lion King’s greatsword slid along the Sword of Selection as if compelled, and the Sword of Selection plunged into the Lion King’s chest.

The Lion King gritted his teeth once more.

He tightened his muscles to trap the Sword of Selection and attempted to strike Yoo Seong’s head with the hilt of his greatsword but he could not.

The light radiating from the Sword of Selection bound the Lion King’s entire body.

“Lion King Marcus.”

Yoo Seong raised his head and looked at the Lion King.

The Lion King was still strong.

With Yoo Seong’s own power alone, it was impossible to completely defeat him.

Thus, Yoo Seong declared as the King of Humanity:

“I will banish you.”

The world of humanity rejects you.

The crimson aura emanating from the Lion King’s body dissipated as if it were a lie.

The light from the Sword of Selection enveloped the Lion King, and his entire body began to dissolve into particles of light.

Rejection by the world.

Expulsion from the world of humanity.

The Lion King, struggling as if in a final act of defiance, eventually ceased his movements and looked at Yoo Seong one last time.

“The King of Humanity.”

That was the end.

The immense light emanating from the Sword of Selection consumed the Lion King, and in the place where the light faded, the Lion King was no more.

He was banished beyond the walls but only a very few, including Rene and Kate, understood this.

To everyone else—soldiers on the fortress and even the Lizardmen—it appeared as though the Lion King had perished by Yoo Seong’s sword but no one among the humans cheered.

It wasn’t that they weren’t thrilled.

It was because emotions greater than that left them speechless.

An overwhelming sense of awe.

A reverence so profound that it felt as though tears might overflow.

Yoo Seong raised the Sword of Selection.

Looking at the Lizardmen gathered before the fortress walls, he gave a command.

“—Assemble.”

A golden radiance gathered around Yoo Seong.

To his left appeared Kate and Diana.

To his right appeared Hector and Roland.

The four knights bore numerous marks of battle.

Kate was still covered in blood, and Hector’s armor was broken.

Diana and Roland fared no better but their expressions were neither pained nor weary.

Kate stood tall, facing the enemies of humanity.

Hector smiled fiercely, while Diana and Roland raised their weapons resolutely.

Behind these knights stood the army of Camelot.

“The King’s Guard, seventy strong, answers the King’s command.”

“The Heavy Infantry, seventy strong, answers the King’s command.”

“The Heavy Cavalry, fifty strong, answers the King’s command.”

“The Griffon Unit, fifty strong, answers the King’s command.”

Altogether, they numbered less than three hundred.

But each one of them was a warrior of Camelot who, alongside the King of Humanity, had built the Era of Humanity.

The Guardian General’s face radiated joy.

Count Bisten shed tears of awe without realizing it.

The soldiers atop the fortress walls beheld the light of the Holy King.

Seeing the army of Camelot bathed in golden light, they all recalled one story.

The tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

The legend of the great king who vanquished all evil gods and monsters to usher in the Era of Humanity.

“Charge!”

Diana and the Griffon Unit took to the skies.

Roland and the Heavy Cavalry charged at the Lizardmen, while the King’s Guard and the Heavy Infantry surged forward with a battle cry.

The soldiers could no longer contain themselves.

Witnessing the return of legend before their eyes, they shouted until their voices gave out.

What began as mere cries soon unified into a single chant.

“For the glory of Camelot!”

“For the glory of Camelot!”

It was the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

The greatest myth of humanity.

“Flee!”

“Run for your lives!”

Despite vastly outnumbering the charging army of Camelot, the Lizardmen could not even think of fighting back.

The sunlight symbolizing the Era of Humanity awakened a primal fear etched into their very beings.

Boom!

Roland’s Heavy Cavalry pierced through the ranks of the Lizardmen, and Diana’s Griffon Unit descended upon them from above.

Kate’s King’s Guard and Hector’s Heavy Infantry struck down the fleeing Lizardmen with their weapons.

Even the soldiers on the fortress walls joined in.

They descended the ladders set up by the Lizardmen and rushed out through the wide-open gates.

The Lizardmen could not even flee properly.

Panicked and trampling over one another, thousands of Lizardmen were crushed to death by their own kind.

The light of Camelot that had illuminated the world began to fade.

The light emanating from the Sword of Selection also vanished, and the ideological domain of King Arthur could no longer be sustained.

But the light had already been sufficient.

Countless stars in the dark night sky sent their light to the earth.

Yoo Seong sheathed the Sword of Selection, Excalibur, and exhaled deeply.

Though Kate and the army of Camelot had returned as light to Yoo Seong Castle, the forces at Galatein Fortress were overwhelmingly driving back the Lizardmen.

“We’ve won.”

Hearing the voice from beside him, Yoo Seong turned his head.

Rene was looking at him with a flushed face.

The King’s Mage.

After gazing at her for a moment, Yoo Seong placed his right fist over his left chest. Seeing this, Rene smiled shyly and mimicked the gesture.

“For the glory of Camelot.”

“For the glory of Camelot.”

The two smiled at each other without knowing who started it first, and they turned back to the battlefield.

The triumphant cries of humans celebrating their victory echoed high into the sky.

The battle was a decisive victory.

The Lizardmen were virtually annihilated, while human casualties were minimal.

Yoo Seong headed toward the fortress wall with Renée.

Though he wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep, he knew it was not yet time for such indulgence.

The soldiers gathered below the fortress wall formed a line on either side as Yoo Seong and Rene approached the gate, as if welcoming them.

Without being ordered, every one of them placed their right fist over their left chest.

Through myth, legend, and history, it was a gesture known to all who lived in the world of humans—the etiquette of Camelot.

Yoo Seong and Rene passed between them.

Feeling the gaze of thousands of soldiers, Rene’s lips twitched uncontrollably, unable to hide her excitement. Yoo Seong, however, maintained a small, composed smile.

Standing before the fortress gate was a woman with fiery red hair.

The Bride of the Century, Elizabeth D. Silatein, the supreme commander of the Galatein fortress and the de facto regent of the Kingdom of Silatein.

Her hastily reattached left arm, healed through divine power, hung limply at her side. Blood-soaked armor and the wounds visible through her torn garments bore witness to the battle’s toll, yet her poise and elegance remained unbroken.

Yoo Seong and Rene came to a halt.

Elizabeth took a deep breath as she faced them.

As sharp-witted as anyone could be, the regent knew exactly who the man before her was and how she must receive him.

Elizabeth knelt on one knee and lightly pressed her right fist to her left chest in salute.

“I, Elizabeth D. Silatein, greet the returned King of Humanity.”

The King of Humanity.

The rightful heir of Camelot.

Rene smiled, while Yoo Seong gave a nod, accepting the regent’s respect as the King of Humanity.

“For the glory of Camelot.”

At the sound of Yoo Seong’s voice, Elizabeth caught her breath.

It wasn’t just her—the soldiers standing in formation also felt a surge of emotion welling up.

In this era of monsters slaughtering humans with impunity, the Lady of the Lake had not abandoned them.

The rightful heir to the great king stood before them.

“For the glory of Camelot.”

Elizabeth answered, her heart overflowing with emotion.

Yoo Seong nodded, stepped forward, and personally helped her to her feet.

The sight was too much for the soldiers to contain.

Thunderous cheers erupted from their ranks once again.

It was a destiny set in stone.

When the light of Camelot shone upon the world, people in faraway places raised their heads to the night sky at the same moment.

One of them was a man named Kalstein.

Though rarely called by that name, the beings beyond the Barrier referred to him in fear as the Vampire King.

Having followed the flow of blood back to the “First Blood,” he was both one of the seven kings beyond the Barrier and the ruler of all vampires.

Kalstein was within the Barrier now, in the Kingdom of Bertoria, located north of Silatein.

As he quenched his thirst with the blood of the crown prince, he gazed at the night sky, no longer tinged gray, and smiled faintly.

The second figure was a woman whose name was unknown.

Unlike the other kings, she did not lead her people.

Yet no one beyond the Barrier dared to look down upon her.

Her moniker was the Necromancer Queen.

One of the seven kings beyond the Barrier, she was the one who once stood against King Arthur and survived.

Standing outside the Barrier, she gazed endlessly at its crumbling walls.

And there were two others.

The Immortal King and the Divine King.

Each occupying the northern and eastern realms of the Empire, they looked to the pre-dawn sky, lost in their thoughts.

Ninian lowered her gaze.

As the Keeper of the Barrier, she could sense the presence of the kings beyond it, for she managed the entirety of the structure encircling the human world.

The kings were coming.

They would come to seize the flame of humanity but they weren’t the only problem.

“The Barrier will fall.”

It could no longer hold.

Eventually, the Barrier would vanish altogether.

And with it, the age of humanity crafted by Arthur would come to an end.

What would the new King of Humanity do then?

What should he do?

Was he to slaughter every last enemy beyond the Barrier?

“…Arthur…”

Ninian once more turned her eyes to the night sky.

From the distant horizon, winter crept forward, heralding the relentless march of time.