"Keep her occupied."
The summoned knight lunged.
Alicia was forced back.
And the king walked into the throne chamber.
There—
the emperor waited.
The mont the king entered—
their powers collided.
Steel t steel.
Mana exploded through the throne room.
The walls cracked under the pressure.
The emperor was driven back—
then raised one hand.
Light erupted.
Excalibur appeared.
Its holy radiance flooded the chamber.
For a mont—
it looked like the battle was over.
Then the king laughed.
"Did you think only your empire prepared for this day?"
He drew his own sacred weapon.
Unlike the emperor, who inherited a divine blade—
the kings of Aileen had forged their own.
For two thousand years, each king had strengthened it.
Layer by layer.
Generation after generation.
A weapon built for one purpose—
to conquer the continent.
The two sacred weapons collided.
The throne room exploded in light.
APOLLO'S POV —
The feed suddenly glitched.
The screen distorted violently for a brief second, static crawling across the projection like cracks spreading through glass.
And at that exact mont—
I felt my throat tighten.
My breathing halted.
This...
How can this be?
Our eyes widened as a weapon bearing the sa overwhelming power as Excalibur exploded right before us.
The shockwave alone distorted the image.
Even through the screen, I could feel the pressure behind that attack.
Braiden, who had just returned from serving food alongside Jillian and Casper, stood frozen in place with his jaw hanging open.
"What the hell..." Casper muttered weakly, unable to process what he had just witnessed.
No one else spoke.
Flashing across the screen were two figures standing amidst the chaos.
The Emperor.
And the King of Aileen.
Lorenzo stood directly before Julius with his sword still in hand.
A smile stretched across his face.
Calm.
Confident.
As though everything unfolding before us was happening exactly according to his plans.
And sohow—
That enraged .
Not because of the destruction.
Not because of the attack.
But because of that smile.
That expression felt unbearable to look at.
My fingers curled tightly.
The pressure of my grip caused my nails to dig into my palms.
My thoughts imdiately reached toward the one being capable of obeying my every desire.
"My Knight..."
I called out.
The words left my mouth quietly, yet my voice still trembled slightly.
"Can you hear ?"
However, contrary to my expectations—
No response ca.
My heart sank.
"Knight?"
This ti my voice sounded almost like a plea.
Still—
Nothing answered.
At that mont, a sudden pain spread through my chest.
Sharp.
Uncomfortable.
Like sothing stab .
I held my fist tighter, this unwanted sensation kept pouring doubts into my head.
It felt as though I had just lost sothing incredibly important.
I instinctively pressed a hand over my chest, feeling every heartbeat increase rapidly.
My breathing beca uneven.
"Knight...?"
No answer.
Not even a faint reaction.
Sothing was wrong.
Very wrong.
Without hesitation, I forcefully opened the connection leading directly into its mind.
The mind I personally created in order to completely control its actions before Blair awakened its consciousness.
And there—
I felt the Knight's thoughts.
The mont our minds connected, an overwhelming darkness swallowed my senses.
A deep abyss surrounded it.
The sensation felt heavy.
Thick.
Murky.
Dark.
It pressed down on everything like an unbearable burden crushing the air itself.
Even I instinctively frowned after sensing all the thoughts flowing inside it.
"Are you confused?"
The mont I spoke, the darkness shifted slightly.
Like ripples spreading through still water.
Then finally—
A response ca.
|I can't move my wings.|
The Knight's voice sounded distant.
Weak.
For a mont, I slowly closed my eyes.
My senses went directly connected with my Knights.
All of a sudden everything it has been experiencing surge in .
My Knight—
It could no longer move its wings.
The Authorities bestowed upon it to increase its power no longer obeyed its commands.
I could feel its awareness lowering toward its own body.
Toward its chest.
A crack.
One spreading rapidly.
A web-like fissures stretched across its torso.
It didn't stop it continue.
From another.
Then another.
And another.
The sound of sothing breaking echoed faintly throughout its consciousness.
|Damage level... critical.|
It inford calmly.
Too calmly.
Why?
The thought imdiately crossed my mind.
Its thoughts felt unstable.
Noisy and chaotic.
Like countless things were colliding all at once inside its mind.
Yet despite everything happening around it, the battlefield below still continued burning endlessly.
Soldiers scread.
Magic exploded.
The skies continuously shattered apart beneath the clash of overwhelming power.
But for the Knight—
Its entire world had narrowed into a single mont.
A mont that would determine whether it continued existing or not.
"Speak," I said quietly.
"Tell everything."
I reached my hand forward instinctively, wanting to comfort sothing I never expected to develop this way.
That realization alone made my chest tighten strangely.
"Are you hurt?"
The mont those words left my mouth, the Knight's thoughts trembled.
Another faint disturbance spread throughout the darkness.
Then finally—
It spoke again.
|What is happening?|
Its ruby-colored eyes dimd faintly inside the abyss surrounding it.
And then—
It rembered.
The battle.
Niccolo's final strike.
The miracle born from faith itself.
At that mont, we had already calculated victory.
The attack should have been neutralized completely.
So why—
Why was its body collapsing now?
"Jeremiah."
The System imdiately searched for answers.
[Analyzing...]
[Analyzing...]
[Error.]
[Error.]
My expression imdiately darkened.
My mind raced.
I began running simulations endlessly.
Tracing variables.
Reconstructing every exchange—
Every clash—
Every movent from the previous battle.
Sweat slowly trickled down the side of my face as countless possibilities flooded my thoughts.
Then—
I saw it.
A single fra.
Only one.
Niccolo's final attack.
It had been blocked.
But not completely negated.
The realization made my pupils shrink slightly.
All of that power had ultimately condensed into a single phenonon.
"A miracle..."
Or perhaps—
Simply the will of a god.
Whatever it truly was, the result remained the sa.
It could not be completely stopped.
A hidden and delayed catastrophic damage had remained buried inside the Knight all this ti.
And now—
It was finally surfacing.
"That's impossible..."
The words escaped my lips almost instinctively.
Yet reality once again proved how wrong I could be.
The Knight slowly tilted its head.
Its movents looked slower than before.
Weaker.
|...Am I... failing?|
This ti, it was the Knight asking the question.
And strangely enough—
That made pause.
Failing?
The concept itself felt unfamiliar to .
Perhaps because of my constant victories, I had unknowingly grown arrogant enough to believe I was unbeatable.
That nothing could truly escape my calculations.
That everything would always remain under my control.
But now—
Seeing the Knight like this made those thoughts crack apart.
So I answered carefully.
"Are you questioning yourself?"
The Knight seed surprised by the response.
Its thoughts beca still montarily.
|...Am I doubting?|
It had never been created to question itself.
It existed solely to obey.
To execute commands.
To destroy threats against its Creator.
That alone should have been enough.
That was its original purpose.
But now—
Its thoughts would not stop moving.
Fragnts of mory slowly surfaced one after another.
And through those mories—
I saw myself.
Giving commands.
Transmitting data.
Assigning purpose.
Its mission had always been absolute.
Until they appeared.
The voices of the others.
Blair.
Agnes.
Keith.
Samael.
Aaron.
One gave it consciousness, allowing thoughts to flow freely.
Its actions were no longer completely bound to its Creator alone.
Then another improved its thought processing and reflexes, allowing it to react instantly.
Strength and defense were added afterward.
Power surged through its fra.
Finally, flexibility and adaptability were strengthened as well.
I quietly watched those mories unfold.
And sohow—
I began realizing sothing I never considered before.
The Knight had changed far more than I initially thought.
From the very first ti it flew across the skies, the Knight already understood how others saw it.
Fear.
Awe.
Terror.
Respect.
But eventually—
It beca the one feeling sothing unfamiliar.
Confusion.
The Knight carefully processed all of those mories.
Then it looked back toward .
From the depths of its consciousness, a figure slowly manifested before .
The Knight itself now stood directly before its Creator.
For the first ti, I noticed how unstable its form had beco.
Cracks spread across its armor like shattered porcelain.
Its wings trembled weakly behind it.
And yet—
Despite everything—
It still stood before .
|...What... am I?|
It asked quietly.
Its voice no longer sounded emotionless.
There was hesitation now.
Confusion.
Fear.
|I... thought I knew.|
For the very first ti—
It could not answer its own question.
And strangely enough—
Neither could I.
Its gaze slowly shifted upward toward the ruined heavens.
The gods still watched from above.
Silent.
Distant.
Unmoving.
The Knight stared at them for several long seconds.
Then finally, in a voice quieter than before—
Almost fragile—
It spoke once more.
|...Am I... really alive?|
The question lingered heavily inside the darkness.
And no matter how long we waited—
No answer ca.
Only silence.
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