Camelot

The battle was over.

After Li Ye watched Gawain personally send Gareth on his way, this silent duel to the death finally came to an end.

This death match that had left Li Ye terrified had been unexpectedly simple. There had been no flashy Noble Phantasm releases, only the most primitive clash of weapons.

"Very good, my knights. I shall grant you my blessings!" Having witnessed this death match called loyalty and righteousness, the Lion King revealed a faint smile.

Then, radiance bloomed.

The Lion King's magical energy pierced through the bodies of Gawain and the other knights in an instant.

"Unceasing Day—Gawain. Fierce Tragedy—Lancelot. Reversal—Tristan. Rampage—Mordred—"

Li Ye could tell that, unlike his Dragon Blood modification, the Lion King's blessings were special effects imposed upon the knights' Spirit Origins.

Every one of them was a powerful blessing.

"Your Majesty, how should Camelot be established next?"

As King Arthur's adjutant, Agravain stepped forward respectfully while the other Knights of the Round Table remained silent.

"Very simple." The Lion King raised her hand and made a grasping motion. Rhongomyniad floated before her.

Under the gazes of the knights—

"Holy Lance, unfold."

The Lion King's calm words rose with magical energy soaring into the sky. Unlike the sight of the Holy Lance being unleashed, a tide of light spread out from the Lion King at astonishing speed, surging in every direction like raging waves!

The earth split apart, magnificent structures rose from the ground, and fresh banners fluttered in the wind.

Endless white walls became an impassable barrier, guarding the Tower of End!

"City of Chalk—Camelot!"

Witnessing such a miracle, Li Ye could not help drawing in a sharp breath. His heart pounded wildly, as though it were about to leap from his chest.

What was there that the Lion King could not do?

In the year 1272, a city rose in a single day.

"Camelot has now been completed. Lord Agravain, you will be responsible for creating Purification Knights. Lord Gawain, Lord Lancelot, bring the people of this land outside the city gates. I shall conduct the first Holy Selection and select the pure souls fit to enter the world to come."

"Therefore, I shall grant you all the ability to make that selection—"

After leaving her orders, the Lion King turned and ascended the Tower of End, vanishing from sight.

"The King's orders have been given. Mordred, Tristan... what is your name?" Agravain realized that he did not even know Li Ye's name.

"Just call me Li Ye. I look forward to working with you."

Seeing the Lion King leave, Li Ye knew his opportunity had come. Agravain would not keep him in the Holy City; he would surely send him out on a mission. That would be his chance to show what he could do.

Li Ye did not care what would happen during the Holy Selection. He only wanted to get far from the Lion King's sight and get close to the Knights of the Round Table to learn martial arts from them.

In terms of strength, even after the Dragon Blood modification, he was merely comparable to a Servant—and a third-rate Servant at that. Every aspect of him was at the lowest level. Aside from constantly digging into his own potential to gain strength, martial skill was the greatest improvement he could obtain right now.

Lancelot was the best choice. His martial skill had reached its peak, and among the Knights of the Round Table, he was hailed as the strongest knight. Only Lancelot could make up for Li Ye's current shortcomings in swordsmanship.

"What a strange name. You're not from around here?" Upon hearing Li Ye introduce himself, Mordred immediately looked curious.

"Li Ye, leave the Holy City with Mordred and Tristan. Go and annihilate all the Crusaders scattered across this land." Agravain shattered Li Ye's beautiful plan in just a few words.

"Hah? We have to act together? I alone can wipe out those mere Crusaders!" Mordred pounded her breastplate, brimming with confidence.

"This is deeply saddening, but I will do my best."

"Yes."

Once the assignments were made, the knights did not linger to chat. They soon left the Holy City.

Ten minutes later, Li Ye rode alone across the wilderness on a black horse.

Mordred and Tristan had not traveled with him, instead choosing to act separately.

Heading west, Li Ye slaughtered many Crusaders, further improving his command over his own strength.

"The ancient Egyptian desert brought forth by chained summoning..." With Li Ye's current eyesight, he could easily see the endless yellow sands on the horizon, where terrifying sandstorms ravaged the land.

It was clearly where the Sun King had gone after leaving the Holy City. Through chained summoning, he had replaced part of the Singularity with the land of Egypt from the Age of Gods. It truly gave him every advantage of time and place.

Li Ye did not rashly enter the desert. If his prediction was correct, the Sun King had also chained-summoned Nitocris, the Pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty, along with vast numbers of Sphinxes roaming the sands.

Entering the desert at this time would undoubtedly be courting death.

However, Li Ye paid no mind to the dangers within the desert. Instead, he began searching along its edge for Refugees wandering this land.

As the sky fully darkened, Li Ye finally found several Refugees who had wandered into a rocky forest filled with massive boulders: one man and two women. Judging by the situation, they were a family.

"D-Don't come any closer!!"

The weathered middle-aged man looked terrified. He stood before his wife and daughter, refusing to let Li Ye take another step forward.

Rather than waste time convincing the family, Li Ye raised his hand and brought down his blade, severing the Lines of Death on a boulder nearby. With a thunderous crash, a rock weighing several tons collapsed to the ground!

"Calm down. Even crying takes time."

Before Li Ye's violent intimidation, the middle-aged man was so frightened that he collapsed onto the ground, while his wife and daughter hurriedly shielded him.

"T-This lord, what do you want?"

The young-looking girl gathered her courage and asked. Her mother beside her immediately turned pale, hurriedly covering her daughter's mouth and trying to explain on her behalf. Yet Li Ye merely smiled.

"Good question. May I know your names?"

"Ansari—"

"!"

An indescribable sense of danger instantly surged into Li Ye's heart. He decisively drew back and pulled his sword, then swung the blade down before the terrified eyes of the Ansari Family!

Clang!

Li Ye cut down a poisoned dart with a single stroke. Following its trajectory, he saw a figure wearing a bone mask flash past behind the family.

"An Old Man of the Mountain?" Li Ye was slightly startled when he recognized the meaning of the bone mask.

The assassination order that originated in the Middle East had been founded by the Old Man of the Mountain, who was also the origin of the Assassin class!

Unable to detect where that figure had gone, Li Ye, knowing the threat assassins posed, decisively placed his sword against the middle-aged man before the next attack could come, forcing the concealed figure to show herself again!

If Li Ye was correct, that figure was most likely a manifested Assassin Heroic Spirit. As an Old Man of the Mountain from the local order, she had most likely attacked him to protect the people.

"If you keep attacking, I cannot guarantee their safety!"

Li Ye spoke rapidly, but his heart remained exceptionally calm. He opened his senses fully, feeling everything around him as he tried to locate the assassin.

After the Lion King's Dragon Blood modification, Li Ye's five senses had been greatly enhanced. There was even an inexplicable intuition flowing through his heart.

That strange intuition was precisely why he had been able to react to the poisoned dart earlier.

"!"

Here she comes!

Detecting an abnormality in the flow of air, Li Ye spun and slashed. His blade cut through the sky, but ultimately struck nothing.

She's fast. I was still just short.

Li Ye's gaze was sharp as lightning. This time, although he had clearly seen the assassin's figure, he did not rashly give chase. Instead, he kept his sword pointed at the middle-aged man and shouted, "I am not a Crusader. I mean no harm. We can talk."

"M-My lord—"

The girl's trembling voice came from behind him. Li Ye did not even need to look to know that his actions had ruined the atmosphere he had created earlier. He immediately said, "I'm only scaring someone. It'll be fine."

Several minutes passed, yet the assassin had not appeared.

Li Ye was not in a hurry. He knew that an assassin willing to act for this refugee family would not simply leave. She was most likely lurking somewhere, waiting for an opportunity.

"Do not hurt them."

The assassin appeared. She was a tall, slender woman with dark skin and purple hair. Though she stood right there, she seemed as if she did not exist.

"Which Hassan are you?" Li Ye observed her for a while and confirmed through her Spirit Origin reaction that she was a Servant. Yet, unable to recognize this dark-skinned Assassin before him, he simply asked honestly.

"Serenity Hassan. Aren't you a Crusader?" Serenity Hassan kept a certain distance from Li Ye and politely refused his approach, saying bluntly, "There is poison in my body. Even getting close to me will result in poisoning."

Li Ye would be fine, but the Ansari Family could not withstand such poison. Serenity Hassan therefore had to maintain a certain distance to prevent an accident.

"Miss Serenity, how about we sit down and talk?"

Li Ye sheathed his sword. By now, he had locked onto Serenity Hassan's presence. The distance between them was only a dozen meters; from moving to reaching her would take exactly one second. If Serenity Hassan made another suspicious move, he could immediately attack and sever the Lines of Death on her body!

Seeing that Li Ye bore no hostility and that the Ansari Family was safe, Serenity Hassan nodded and asked directly, "May I ask who you are, if you are not a Crusader?"

As she spoke, Serenity Hassan's gaze passed over the sword in Li Ye's hand.

Li Ye naturally said, "I was once a Crusader. Now, I am an insignificant knight under the Lion King. The Crusaders have already been destroyed, and the pure white Lion King will bring a different future to this world."

"The Lion King?"

Serenity Hassan looked puzzled. It was clear that this was the first time she had heard the Lion King's title.

Li Ye did not explain further and went straight to the point. "Miss Serenity, I would like you to take me to meet that person—the Assassin known as the First Generation Old Man of the Mountain!"