Chapter 34 Camelot (4)

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

w

Chapter 34: Camelot (4)

The map not only showed the terrain features within the fortress city but also included information about various treasures, secret passages, and some details about the knights.

[List of Round Table Knights]

- Gawain

- Tristan

- Mordred

...

[Treasure Vault]

- Multicolored gemstones

- Silver sword

- The sword Clarent

Naturally, there was information about Mordred and Clarent as well.

‘This is serious...;’

I squinted my eyes as I observed the sword Mordred was holding.

‘The cursed sword Clarent... no, its official name is the blessed sword Clarent.’

Originally, King Arthur used Clarent as a ceremonial sword when bestowing knighthood.

‘Its rank is A-.’

Since Mordred, a former knight of the Round Table, was wielding it, there was plenty of room for its rank to rise to A+.

‘Even just Clarent alone is already a 5th-rank creature.’

Though various debuffs had weakened Mordred, it didn't mean that her skills had dulled or her experience had vanished.

‘Fighting two of them at once is too much.’

Even when facing Mordred alone, my chances of victory were less than 70%.

And now, I had to face Mordred equipped with Clarent.

‘But I have no choice.’

Turning my back on her would mean the end.

I shouted toward Mino,

"Activate the command authority right now!"

[Command Authority (S)]

- The right to command knights

It was one of the few S-grade items from the box Nice had distributed.

"Yes!"

Mino immediately pulled out a nameplate from his chest.

The nameplate glowed and soon disappeared.

[The Knights of Camelot answer the call.]

Translucent knights emerged from the ground.

It would be a grave mistake to think that I could simply command knights.

[Camelot Knights (6th rank) * 15]

‘Each knight is at least 6th rank, an elite force.’

This should buy us some time.

The translucent knights surrounded Mordred.

Mordred glanced at the knights and then gritted her teeth.

"Hah, playing tricks, are we?"

Mordred's physical specs must have fallen to the 7th rank.

Even though she was wielding Clarent, she wouldn’t be able to easily sweep away a horde of 6th-rank knights.

‘Now’s the time to regroup.’

I turned around to gather the staff.

"This should keep Mordred occupied..."

"Clarent!"

At the ear-splitting shout, I was startled and quickly looked back.

Crack.

Crack, crack, crack.

I stood frozen, dumbstruck by the scene unfolding before me.

"...I have no words for this."

Ice shards rained around Mordred.

The translucent knights surrounding her had already been pierced by frost.

"You can’t even get close!"

Even the other company employees who had been watching for an opportunity couldn’t approach Mordred after Clarent was unleashed.

Frost rained down.

Swoosh.

Crack.

"Aaaargh!"

"Hi-Hieek!"

With a simple swing of the sword, dozens of employees were frozen solid.

Swoosh.

Crack, crack, crack.

"Aaaaagh!"

"S-Spare me!"

No one could escape the absolute cold.

Each time Clarent was swung, the space around it froze.

I glanced at the time.

[20:41...]

This won’t do.

The attacks that lightly froze the surroundings were pure magic.

I pulled out a red potion from my waist.

[Vampire Potion]

- Makes the user immune to magic for 5 minutes

- 99% chance of permanent insanity after consumption

I was the only one here capable of countering that attack.

The duration was just 5 minutes. I had to find a breakthrough within that time.

"Mari, Khan, Beryl, stand back."

"Huh? What do you mean, Administrator?"

"Just as I said. You can't deal with that thing."

I felt sorry for the staff, but ordinary employees could not handle the creature in front of us.

Of course, even I...

I downed the vampire potion in one gulp.

[The power of the ancient vampire envelops your body.]

[Your magic resistance is drastically increased for 5 minutes.]

I threw the empty bottle toward Mordred.

Crack.

The bottle, unable to reach Mordred, froze mid-air.

“Ah? It seems there's someone who wants to die.”

She was baited.

I immediately kicked off the ground and charged at Mordred.

As I got closer, an icy chill enveloped my body.

[You are in Mordred's territory. Physical abilities reduced by 10%.]

[The frost is dominating your body. Physical abilities reduced by 50%.]

The moment I stepped into the area where the frost was pouring down, this was the outcome.

I managed to avoid being completely frozen, but I couldn't escape the chill.

‘No, I can’t back down like this.’

I had to endure as much as I could.

It was hard to take even a single step…

‘If it doesn’t work, I have to make it work!’

[Empathy (LV. 1)]

- You can borrow a skill from a collected creature for 1 minute.

[‘Flame Skin’ is activated for 1 minute.]

[Target: Shin Seongjin]

Whoosh.

I engulfed my entire body in flames.

[You are leaving Mordred's territory.]

[You burned away the frost that had consumed your body.]

As I pushed through the frost, Mordred smiled at me.

“Oh? Seems like there’s quite a persistent one here?”

I tried to resist the frost with a vampire potion, but I only managed to avoid freezing completely.

The duration of Flame Skin would only last for a minute at most.

‘What a monstrous opponent.’

The time I could endure in her territory was only a minute.

[Focus LV. 2]

[Sixth Sense LV. 2]

[Beginner Swordsmanship LV. 4]

I entrusted my body to my senses and swung my sword with all my might.

A split-second decision, the quickest strike without any thought.

Clang.

That strike was effortlessly deflected.

“...Hmm. This swordsmanship isn't yours, is it?”

Mordred continued as if appraising me.

“This isn’t a skill earned through rightful effort, is it?”

Certainly, as she said, this wasn’t a skill I had honed.

It was merely a skill I had stolen.

But.

‘So what if it is!’

To win, to survive, I couldn’t afford to be picky about means and methods.

Following the shimmering line before my eyes, I thrust my sword.

Clang.

Blocked again.

Right now, I was relying entirely on Focus and Sixth Sense.

In a time where one second felt like a minute, Mordred easily deflected all my attacks to the point of sighing.

‘Think, think.’

[Grade 7 employee ‘Shin Seongjin’ can be promoted by meeting certain conditions.]

As I continued to exchange blows, my body accumulated numerous superficial wounds.

It was one-sided violence.

Nothing more, nothing less.

‘Think!’

My body kept launching attacks, but my mind was racing with thoughts.

‘I knew there was no chance of winning. So think!’

I had known from the beginning.

Being a Round Table Knight, I couldn't match her in swordsmanship.

She possessed the finesse that could easily devour overwhelming physical abilities.

On top of that, she had weapons to compensate for her lacking physical abilities.

[Resonance duration: 30 seconds remaining.]

‘…Damn, time.’

The only reason I could barely trade blows with Mordred was because of Flame Skin.

Once the flames covering my body diminished, all the debuffs would once again overwhelm me.

‘Then I would never win.’

Time was running out.

‘…Time?’

Struggling to fend off Mordred’s sword, I glanced into the air.

There was still a timer hovering there.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

w

[20:40……. ]

This was a phenomenon-type stage.

The basic rules wouldn't change much, no matter how irregular the entity.

‘….’

I retraced my memories to when I first faced Mordred, recalling the message that had appeared.

[(Survive) - Mordred has revolted. Suppress the rebellion or survive until the main forces of □□ return.]

Suppress or survive.

In other words, it wasn’t necessary to defeat Mordred in combat.

All I had to do was endure for time.

‘The problem is…’

That there was still a long time left.

Of course, it wasn’t that I had no way out.

‘…Please let there be something valuable.’

I distanced myself appropriately and pulled out a square piece of paper from my pocket.

It was a secret shop ticket that Luci had given me.

Seeing the ticket I took out, Mordred grinned.

“Yeah. I’ve been annoyed by this since a while ago. This definitely smells of Morroel. So, you’re acquainted with Morroel?”

Mordred lowered her stance.

It was a posture for leaping.

“Well, you don’t have to tell me. Honestly, I didn’t care much. Now, let’s end this.”

Clarent emitted a deadly blue light.

She was seriously thinking of finishing it.

Whoosh.

A sound like air being torn apart echoed.

A familiar sword descended before my eyes, like in slow motion.

‘…The paper from the secret shop must be torn to activate it.’

No matter how fast a person is, they can’t outrun the speed of sound.

‘…Is this the end?’

If only I had realized this sooner—no, if I hadn’t thought of targeting Mordred in the first place...

Countless regrets flashed through my mind.

And at the same time—

Boom!

"Argh!"

The one who flew wasn’t me.

Mordred was struck by a sudden green flash and was sent flying.

I turned my head in the direction the flash had come from.

[Grade 7 Employee ‘Mari’ has fulfilled certain conditions and can now be promoted.]

“Administrator, are you alright?!”

Mari stood holding a glowing green bow.

It was the Bow of Verdure.

Only then did I understand the nature of the green flash from earlier.

‘Soul Shot!’

*Soul Shot:

- Once per day, you can fire a single shot imbued with your soul. The deeper the soul's history, the more powerful the strike.

Thud.

Having been hit by the flash, Mordred smashed into a rock and screamed.

“Damn it!”

Pulling out the arrow lodged in her shoulder, she shouted again, now directing her rage toward Mari.

"Tristan!!!"

At the terrifying cry, Mari flinched and shouted something into the air.

"Eek, sir, my identity's been exposed. What do we do?"

Tristan.

The soul that had possessed Mari was none other than the grieving Tristan of the Round Table's 11th seat.

Mordred's gaze fixed on Mari.

‘We've bought some time.’

I immediately grabbed the paper with both hands.

Seeing my strange behavior, Mordred hesitated for a moment, then, making up her mind, picked up the spear that had been lying on the ground.

“First, I’ll get rid of the annoying archer!”

And then, she hurled the spear at Mari.

Wham!

Just like when she slaughtered the employees, the spear shot toward Mari in an instant, straight as a meteor.

Mordred smiled in satisfaction.

And so did I.

‘I was a bit arrogant, thinking I could handle this on my own.’

Swoosh.

“Ahhhh! I am Beryl, the Oak Shield!”

Something massive rushed in front of Mari, holding a large shield.

It was Beryl.

“Hmph!”

[Intermediate Shield Mastery LV. 1]

A transparent barrier formed in front of Beryl.

Clink!

The sound of shattering glass echoed.

And then—

Crash!

The spear pierced through Beryl.

[Grade 7 Employee ‘Beryl’ has fulfilled certain conditions and can now be promoted.]

“Cough.”

However, it wasn’t a fatal wound.

Though the barrier and shield had been shattered, they diverted the spear’s trajectory, and it ended up embedded in Beryl’s shoulder.

Mordred's brow furrowed at the sight.

“Tch.”

Beryl's durability had reached superhuman levels.

He would recover from that wound in just a day.

Without the employees, I wouldn’t have been able to buy any time against Mordred.

I lifted the corner of my mouth in a grin.

“Our shield bearer is pretty sturdy, you know. But are you sure you should just stand there?”

Immediately, I tore the paper.

Time stopped.

The world turned gray.

“...Wow. You closed the distance in that fleeting moment?”

When I came to my senses, Mordred was right in front of me, frozen, holding his sword Clarent.

“So it’s come to this. Poor Mordred…”

Luci, who had approached at some point, muttered this as she stroked Mordred’s frozen head.

“And this is what you want, right?”

Luci handed me a golden stopwatch, as if it was the most natural thing.

It was an item sold by the game’s developers for players who had no time.

[Golden Stopwatch]

- Skips ahead 24 hours.

The description was simple, but it was an absurdly overpowered item in a survival stage like this.

Of course, the price was whatever Luci felt like charging.

There was no set price.

It was whatever she decided.

I steadied my breath and asked for the price.

“…How much?”

“Free.”

When I tilted my head in confusion, Luci glanced at me with a mischievous grin.

“I’m giving it to you as a special service. You weren’t planning to kill Mordred anyway, were you? That’s why I’m giving it to you. Besides, if I explain more, it’ll just be a waste of words. Just take it.”

She casually tossed me the golden stopwatch.

“Well then, finish this up nicely like you’ve been doing, Administrator. And if you could give that damned Arthur a good punch while you’re at it, that’d be even better.”

As Luci left, the stopped time slowly began to flow again.

‘What a ridiculous thing to throw at me...’

Despite Luci’s absurd remark, I quickly regained my composure.

And without any further hesitation, I pressed the stopwatch.

[00:00]

When time resumed, the torrential rain that had been pouring down stopped abruptly, as if it had never happened.

“Ugh.”

Mordred, who had been charging at me as if to kill me, took slow steps backward, staring at the golden spear embedded in her chest.

“...My King.”

[The company with the most outstanding performance in this stage is the Administrator Zone (Silver). Let’s all give a round of applause!]

[Stage cleared. (+5,000 points)]

Thud.

Mordred collapsed backward, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

[Clarent is recorded in the company’s archives.]

[The Foundation’s Star absorbs knowledge of the creature. You have acquired ‘Frostblade’.]

[Grade 7 employee ‘Shin Seongjin’ overcomes the trial and grows stronger!]

[All stats increased by 5.]

Ignoring the messages that popped up, I walked toward the fallen Mordred.

In her chest was a golden holy spear I hadn’t seen before.

[Longinus (EX+)]

- Access denied.

At that moment—

“Congratulations. You have survived the rebel’s assault.”

A man stepped out, tearing through the space.

It was the host and executor of this tournament—Knight King, Nice.

“Camelot will not forget your contributions.”

“Wait.”

I stopped Nice, who was about to declare the closing ceremony, and took out the summoning pill from my pocket.

[Summoning Pill (Awakened)]

- Upon consumption, instantly heals all wounds and fatigue, and increases all stats by 3.

- This effect is permanent. Cannot be used more than once.

This was a method I couldn’t even attempt when it was a game.

A method possible only because it had become reality.

‘I hope this works…’

There was no risk in failure.

‘The tournament has already ended, and Nice is here on the field.’

Without hesitation, I gave the summoning pill to the unconscious Mordred.

‘I’ve kept my promise.’

This was my way of isolation.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

w