50 [50] Burning in this Eternal Night
[You stand by the golden wheat fields, gazing towards the direction of the town.]
[You have cleared your failed experimental fields, replanting them with normal wheat seeds.]
[So, in this season of harvest, you once again see this vast expanse of golden wheat fields.]
[Just like her silky golden hair.]
[This brilliant wheat field sways incessantly in the wind.]
[But... you still haven't seen her.]
[You wait quietly and patiently.]
[Today, you will wait for her, you believe she will come back.]
[The world is filled with the sound of the wind, desolate and tranquil.]
[You stand in this wheat field, from the radiant noon until the dusk of evening.]
[As the evening sun casts its glow between the clouds, reflecting on the rippling sunset accompanied by the continuous mountain ranges. You gaze at the distant mountains and waters, and your eyes seem to mirror the splendid crimson hues of the entire island.]
[And then...]
[You see a dazzling and intense white light ignite on the horizon, continuously enlarging and approaching in your field of vision...]
Scoff~
Layers of airwaves unfolded, and the brilliant tail flames whinnied.
On the distant horizon, a dazzling spear of intense white light suddenly lit up, like a dazzling lightning bolt piercing through the air, annihilating everything along the way in the extreme daylight.
The fierce spear of light rushed in an instant.
Straight through the almost stagnant pupils of the silver-haired youth...
"To hit..."
"...What?!"
The exhilarating voices of the knights abruptly froze, emitting incredulous gasps.
Just like in that moment, the spear of light was frozen.
"How is this possible?!"
Everyone saw it.
Alvin raised his hand and directly grabbed the tip of this spear of light.
The trembling tip of the spear was less than an inch from his forehead.
The lingering sound continued incessantly.
"Outrageous! He actually caught Sir Percival's strike with his hands!"
"Is he still human?!"
"He was never human! Charge with me!"
"...So, this is your choice."
A hundred meters apart.
That person's voice echoed slowly in the ears.
"Unfortunately..."
"Compared to swordsmanship."
Alvin shook his palm, and five fingers grabbed the shaft of the light spear. Using his whole body, he forcefully threw it towards its origin...
"I am actually more suited for using a spear!"
"Danger! Get out of the way!"
Boom~
Airwaves ten times more violent than before suddenly burst forth.
The light spear, like a thunderbolt, instantly penetrated into the deep forest, erupting in a brilliant white light!
The knights hiding there stumbled out of the woods in embarrassment.
Seeing that they had been exposed, the ambushers hidden on all sides, drawing their swords, slowly closed in on this golden wheat field.
"Alvin, the son of Vortigern!"
"I advise you to surrender, you have been surrounded by over a thousand knights!"
The Knight of the Sun Gawain walked out slowly from the surrounding crowd, wielding the Galatine, radiating dazzling brilliance, as if he had entered the protection of sun.
Alvin looked up at the splendid twilight and instantly understood his current state.
"No sun, I see... Merlin, that trash released an illusion for you, allowing sunlight to still favor you."
"Exactly~ Alvin, are you well-"
The magus of flowers's figure appeared on the golden wheat field, and then...
Pfft~
The wheat field swayed with the wind, a dark sword light burst out, instantly piercing Merlin's throat.
"Only daring to show a decoy, it's cheap to spoil your looks."
"My true self will never appear in front of you again, so you can't kill me."
Smiling like this.
Merlin's figure dissipated among the petals.
"At this moment, at dusk, you can neither devour light nor borrow shadows!"
Gawain swung the Galatine towards him, in this battle, he was the main force against the son of the White Dragon.
"Alvin, you are surrounded, your defeat is inevitable!"
"Defeat? Surrounded?"
Alvin made a disdainful sneer.
His face mask suddenly closed, and he was enveloped in a pitch-black helmet and armor. The shadow at his side silently opened, revealing a finely crafted iron sword.
"Gawain, you trash..."
"Sorry, I'm not targeting you."
"But every one of you is trash."
"Defeat? It's you bunch of insignificant people who are going to be defeated! Surrounded? I, alone, surrounded all of you!"
Alvin raised the sword high.
Suddenly.
As if a momentary night had descended.
The twilight, which was already in decline, instantly became incredibly dark and dim. The vision of the knights fell into a confused darkness.
"Careful! It's the light-devouring!"
"I can't see-"
Pfft~
Blood blossomed incessantly.
Countless shadows began to flow quietly.
Above the wheat field, in the swaying shadows, each flicker claimed the life of a knight.
"Thief, don't be arrogant!"
"Galatine!"
A brilliant light suddenly burst forth. Gawain unleashed the radiance of his sword.
With a sweep of his arm, he instantly swept away the thick shadows, making them much thinner.
"His magical energy is already insufficient, and at this moment, it's difficult to sustain, definitely not enough to support killing so many people!"
"Everyone, finish it quickly! Vortigern will surely be rushing here!"
The half-incubus lurking on the battlefield, his shadowy figure, blew a flurry of petals, falling onto the bodies of countless knights.
They fell into a daze, their senses trapped, murderous intent surged, and they charged towards the dark and lightless knight.
"Alvin, during the changing of day and night, it's your weakest moment."
"Even if you are the son of the White Dragon, how can one resist the ceaseless attacks of these knights? I admit you are outstanding, but, farewell..."
Clang~
The collision of sword bodies echoed each other.
Losing the shelter of shadows, the advantage of the home field vision was instantly lost.
Alvin swept his sword horizontally, and the dim sword light extinguished explosively, beheading dozens of knights.
However... this was far from enough. These knights with red glows in their eyes charged fearlessly.
Illusion...
Alvin frowned slightly.
Under the hypnosis of the illusion, even death and injury seemed no longer terrifying. Merlin's illusions no longer affected his dark will, but it didn't prevent the half-incubus from strengthening the team from the side.
Fighting and killing were not Merlin's strong suits, he was always a support rather than a main damage per second.
Dangerous.
It seemed that there had never been a more dangerous situation in his entire life.
His father Vortigern had sensed the threat. Transforming into a dragon, he descended like a falling meteor, but it would take at least ten minutes to reach the battlefield.
As for Morgan...
—She had already been waiting by Alvin's side!
"Idiot Merlin, did you really think I wouldn't bring bodyguards?" Alvin grinned and shouted loudly, "My dear!"
"Alvin!"
With a slightly flushed face, the witch's figure appeared by the side of the dark knight, holding onto his shoulder.
A weakening curse spread from her as the center, causing the knights hit by it to become confused and weak, their limbs powerless.
Unexpectedly...
Behind Morgan, a burst of radiant light suddenly cracked open. A beautiful silver-haired fairy, radiating brilliance, reached out and grabbed the witch's arm.
"Vivian..."
The witch's expression was filled with extreme surprise.
"Sorry, Morgan, the birth of the White Dragon's son is not allowed by the world, so I had to intervene."
"You get lost..."
The woman's angry curse instantly disappeared, the radiant light closed in an instant, pulling the witch into the land of fairies.
"Merlin, I can hold her for at most ten minutes..."
Lady of the Lake's enchanting voice echoed in the half-incubus's ears, slowly dissipating.
"That's enough, Vivian."
The person manipulated by the other side was resolved.
Alvin looked at the scene with vacant eyes, and the half-incubus appeared to be looking at him with a smile that wasn't a smile.
The world line was on the verge of collapse, and the situation was urgent. Even Vivian was persuaded by Merlin, which was almost impossible in the past.
Even Artoria was temporarily held in the land of fairies.
Alvin, this is world wanting to destroy you.
The situation suddenly took a turn for the worse.
Raising his sword, he cut down the body of a knight rushing towards him.
Alvin breathed slightly.
Good method, now it's really troublesome.
Dusk.
Dusk was the most dangerous time.
If it were daytime, Alvin could instantly absorb and assimilate the light, what fear did he have when there were so many of them?
If it were night, it would be his home ground!
Merlin was right...
Only during the changing of day and night, when the light was not bright enough and the shadows were not dense enough, was the weakest moment of his power.
The knights with bloodshot pupils roared and launched an attack, the Galatine's radiance purifying the deep shadows. Alvin was weaving through this encirclement, like a small boat rocking between giant waves, with the risk of capsizing at any moment.
Even so.
His gaze, his state of mind.
Remained as deep and calm as a deep oceans, without any signs of wavering.
Clang!
Blocking the ambush launched by Agravain from the corner, Alvin's finely crafted iron sword finally couldn't withstand the pressure released by the magical energy and shattered.
"His sword broke! This is the time..."
The knights roared and launched an even more intense charge.
Boom~
A vast and boundless shadow suddenly spread out from the pitch-black knight, flowing like thick mercury, instantly dyeing the entire battlefield in the dim sunlight. It was as if thick ink was flooding the earth.
"Since you came to kill me, be prepared to die!"
No need to hold back anymore, no need to reserve strength. To break free, he must intimidate the entire field with a single blow!
Alvin unleashed the full power of the ultimate life form.
So what if one sword broke?
Hundreds and thousands of finely crafted iron swords, collected within the shadows, slowly rose from the roaming ink-like darkness...
"Danger, retreat!"
Seeing this scene.
The Knights of Round Table were shocked. Without hesitation, they raised their swords in front of them.
The dark knight raised his right hand.
Aimed at the crowd, he suddenly clenched his palm.
Sss~
Suddenly...
This entire battlefield of slaughter seemed to freeze for a moment.
Pfft~
Blood splattered.
Countless vanishing dark sword lights intertwined into a net, disappearing in the dim sunlight of the evening.
Gawain hadn't seen any movements clearly.
The Galatine in his hand suddenly radiated a dazzling light, followed by a sharp sound of golden iron collision.
Then...
As if there was an endlessly sharp wire mesh swiftly passing over the entire battlefield, countless knights on the wheat field were cut into irregular shapes.
Human bodies.
Like building blocks, collapsing and falling, blossoming into countless brilliant blood flowers.
What...
What is this?
The Knights of the Round Table stared in shock at this sticky mountain of corpses and blood, their bodies also sprayed with countless blood.
One strike.
It slaughtered hundreds of knights.
Only a few of the Knights of the Round Table remained, standing bewildered in the midst of this bloody spectacle.
The golden wheat field.
In an instant, it turned into a sea of blood.
Stagnation.
Pause.
Seeing this hell-like scene, the overwhelming bloodshed.
It seemed to make the blood color in the eyes of the knights gradually fade away.
"M-Monster... monster!"
A knight dropped his sword and, like mad, began to flee.
Even though there were still over a thousand living knights, even though most of the knights were unharmed at this moment.
But, faced with this monster that could not be defeated by human power alone, they still felt fear.
One knight turned and fled, followed by two, three...
Hundreds of knights seemed to have shattered and disintegrated minds. In that way, they abandoned their swords, turned around, and fled in a panic.
At this moment...
The half-incubus's gentle and ethereal voice echoed faintly across the entire battlefield.
"Don't be deceived, noble knights~"
"That son of the dragon, that was his powerful strike just now. He's already exhausted..."
...Merlin, you damn bastard.
As if following the words of the half-incubus.
There was no need to maintain the false appearance with all his might.
The thousands of finely crafted iron swords emerging from the shadows trembled, hummed, and then shattered completely.
The footsteps of the fleeing knights suddenly paused.
Gawain wiped the blood from his face, endured the pain from countless bloodstains on his body, and looked towards the dark knight who was half-kneeling on the ground.
His helmet was already shattered.
Revealing the silver hair fluttering in the wind and the blood-stained gray eyes.
The pitch-black armor covering his body was full of mottled cracks, continuously oscillating, collapsing piece by piece.
He half-knelt in a pool of blood.
Using the last broken sword in his hand, he struggled to support his trembling body, refusing to fall.
"One person, facing over two thousand knights, and killing over a thousand..."
"Alvin, I admit that I fear you. You're too terrifying. If it weren't for dusk, you would have slaughtered us all."
The Knights of the Round Table, covered in injuries, slowly approached.
The knights who had run away from the periphery also began to gather slowly.
"Unfortunately, you've lost. You've not only lost in timing but also in your sword. The timing and advantages are all on our side."
Yes.
Besides timing, Gawain immediately grasped another key point of this battle.
Ordinary swords... were still too fragile.
They couldn't withstand the berserk slashes unleashed by the ultimate life form.
Once, Alvin defeated Artoria countless times by exploiting the advantage of the sword.
Now, it was his turn to taste the bitterness of the weapon's shortcomings.
"If you had obtained a holy sword, even if it was a collective siege at dusk, we would all have to drink bitterness on the spot."
Gawain sighed softly.
"Unfortunately, those intelligent holy swords recognize their masters. How could they acknowledge the son of the vile king Vortigern? A villain like you is not worthy of the name of a holy sword..."
"Holy sword...?"
Alvin, laboring and gasping for breath, lifted his eyes and looked at the dim light of the Galatine in front of him.
The protection of the sun had already ended for the injured Gawain, making this his weakest state.
But, even so.
At this moment, Alvin was like a spent arrow at the end of its flight. He couldn't even lift one hand.
How could he... continue to battle the remaining over a thousand knights and the almost intact Knights of the Round Table?
"Yes, you've lost to my Galatine."
"Heh... cough... cough, holy sword..."
The dark knight coughed up blood and chuckled weakly.
"This thing is not worthy of me."
"You say it's not worthy, then it's not worthy."
The Knight of the Sun Gawain, never one for sentimental nonsense, stood up, raised his sword, and swung it down directly.
"Farewell, Al-"
"Stop! Gawain!"
In the void.
As if a heart-wrenching cry echoed.
Gawain's holy sword froze in mid-air for a moment.
Because the voice of the shout was not someone else.
But... his king.
"I'm sorry, my king. This is the only thing I can't follow your orders on."
Gawain exerted force with both hands, bringing the sword down...
However, it was this momentary hesitation.
That gave the dark knight the only lifeline.
Swish~
Galatine passed through the body of the White Dragon's Son, like passing through a pitch-black shadow, shattering illusions.
"What..."
The pupils of the Knight of the Round Table slightly contracted.
It seemed like the last glimmer of strength was returning.
Alvin dodged this sword strike.
With great difficulty, limping and staggering, he walked towards the setting sun.
This was the villain at the end of a life, a once-in-a-lifetime flash.
The shadowy figure projected onto the blood-soaked ground seemed to be melting into it.
Even though it was still dusk.
The sky, however, suddenly dimmed.
A murky cloud happened to cover the rosy glow of the sunset, bringing... a majestic shadow.
"I don't need wild joy."
"Conversely, there is no deep despair."
"I don't like being fixated on victory or defeat."
"Similarly, I don't want to be entangled in troubles."
The voice of the silver-haired youth echoed faintly in this bloody dusk.
"I just want a peaceful life..."
"I'm about to die, I don't have the strength to find you anymore."
"But..."
"If you agree with my ideals, if you're willing to follow my righteousness."
"Then come..."
"...Come into my hands and become my sword."
"I, Alvin Pendragon, swear in the name of Alvin Pendragon."
"I will not disgrace your name..."
Fear.
Cowardice.
As if emanating from the depths of his heart, shrouded in fear.
Gawain's Galatie in his hand trembled incessantly, emitting a resounding mournful cry.
He lifted his head with a dazed expression, looking towards the dark knight.
"Everyone, quickly!"
The Knight of the Sun had never screamed in terror like this before.
"Stop him... quickly!"
The knights trampled through the pools of their comrades' blood, rushing forward.
Hundreds, thousands. Charging towards the solitary figure in the middle of the battlefield.
"Cough... cough!"
The strained, bloodied cough echoed.
The dark knight raised his hand unsteadily, as if reaching out to touch the brilliant afterglow of the sunset.
Exhausting his last bit of strength.
He closed his fingers, gripping the...
Sword Ruler.
In an instant...
All the swords held by the knights dropped from their hands, flying towards the center of the battlefield.
Gawain's held Galatine fell to the ground, its dim light fading away.
The colors of the sky gathered.
Countless swords descended like rain.
A coiled black longsword fell directly from the sky, piercing through the dying knight in front of it, ringing out with a clear sound.
Alvin shivered as he raised his hand, firmly grasping the hilt of the sword.
The name of the sword appeared in his mind.
[You have obtained the Firelink Greatsword.]
Like darkness.
Yet, like flickering flames.
The profound aura, akin to a prison, slowly emanated from the dark knight.
Facing the world, it declared the death of that fate.
[Noble Phantasm Unlocked!]
[Burning in this Eternal Night - The Dark Soul Over The Heaven!]
