Magic Cauldron and Holy Lance

The knight, hiding in the corner, trembled with fear.

He had never seen such a huge and terrifying Magic Creature!

The mere vibration of his foot touching the ground was enough to send shivers down the knight's spine! After escaping from Thunder, the knight had been searching for the Holy Lance.

The knight's idea was simple.

Compared to the antlers, he was the weaker one. The Path of Twilight excels at prolonging its life, while the Path of Adaptation excels at hiding. If one had to choose two dead among the three, the knight believed he should be one of them.

So all he could do was find the Holy Lance.

—If the Holy Lance could defeat the giant, it should also be able to defeat Aleister! Although once I obtain the Holy Lance, others will know my location... but if I can fight Aleister, I won't be afraid of his attacks; if the Holy Lance is not enough to defeat him, I will be caught up and killed sooner or later.

Furthermore, if the antlers and the assassin who killed Dark Cloud sensed the Holy Lance and rushed over, I could try to kill one of them, or have Aleister, who was also lured over, kill him!

He was undoubtedly the weakest of these people.

That's why the knight had no room for wishful thinking—being weak to begin with, he had to use the most risky methods to have any chance of winning!

So here's the problem.

—Where will the Holy Lance be placed? The knight's way of thinking could even be described as simple: since this ritual was constructed by the Silver Crowned Dragon and the Serpent Father, and there were no Pillar God like Wei Zhe and the Hourglass who favored intelligent people, then the puzzle of this ritual should not be complicated, and it was something everyone had a chance to solve.

—If the puzzle is so complex that even I can't figure it out, then others probably can't either! The Silver Crowned Dragon and the Serpent Father are unlikely to give preferential treatment to those who follow the Path of Wisdom, so the puzzle must be very simple! Considering this, the knight began to question himself: intuitively, what should the clue be? He quickly determined the solution: mentioning the Dedication Path is light and fire, so it is the candlestick, which is light.

Since his goal is to find the Holy Lance left behind by the Apostle of the Dedication Path, and the surroundings are completely dark... then he only needs to run towards the light, and he'll be right! This must be the clue left by the Pillar God!

As it turned out, the Cavaliers had indeed found the right person.

He walked straight in the light and soon arrived at a brightly lit giant hall.

In the center of the hall was an enormous cauldron.

There was no fire under the pot, but the food inside was constantly boiling.

A large amount of stew was bubbling in the pot, with quite a bit of overcooked food being pushed out of the pot and onto the ground by the boiling water. The knight saw eggplant, carrots, onions, corn, cabbage, potatoes, as well as apples and grapes. The food kept pouring out of the pot, more and more, higher and higher.

The pot was simmering continuously, its immense heat blurring the surrounding air. The rising steam made the entire room damp and hazy.

This must be the Magic Cauldron!

The knight thought to himself.

Just as he was about to get closer to take a look, he suddenly heard a series of loud bangs.

"Why..."

A deep, somewhat aged voice rang out. "What exactly is going on..."

The voice sounded slightly annoyed.

But soon, with a creak, a pair of giant feet covered in red hair stepped onto the ground.

The moment he stood up, it was as if the sky was blotted out—

A massive shadow fell, completely enveloping him. It was as if the sky had collapsed and a colossal object had fallen; for a moment, the knight's legs went weak.

He could barely see the giant's face because the lamplight was too low. When the giant stood up, his face became completely black.

Even so, the knight could clearly smell a foul odor.

He couldn't quite explain why, but he could clearly detect that it was a unique odor emanating from fur-covered wild animals.

He was so terrified that he cowered in a corner, unable to move.

Fortunately, the giant's static vision seemed to be poor. The knight didn't move, so he didn't see anyone creeping towards him.

He simply lit a lantern and left the hall barefoot.

Long after the giant left, the knight could still vaguely feel the ground shaking. He didn't know if it was some kind of hallucination caused by the initial tremors numbing his body, or if the tremors were actually reaching him from a great distance... In any case, it took him a long time to finally recover.

—Can we really kill such a giant?

The knight immediately came to his senses.

His previous ambition to obtain the Holy Lance and slay the giants has now made him look like a clown.

The "part of true history" he heard from the clouds made his feelings complicated—how did the Round Table Knights, who were just ordinary humans back then, manage to defeat such a powerful legion of giants?

Were they too weak? Or were their ancestors too strong?

We can't wait here no matter what.

Although the giants didn't see him when they left, they might find him when they returned.

He walked with slightly numb legs, searching for the Holy Lance in the hall.

—At the very least, find a drawer where you can hide!

Without realizing it, the knight changed his primary objective. Upon seeing the giant, he immediately realized that even Aleister couldn't defeat such a giant. Conversely, if he could hide right under the giant's nose, he might have a chance to survive.

As long as he survives to the end, he has a chance to win! But ironically.

While the knight was searching for a drawer he could crawl into... he unexpectedly found the location of the Holy Lance.

"What is that...?"

The knight raised his head and murmured in despair.

Despite not having made contact, the knight could immediately recognize it as the Holy Lance.

It was a golden spear, easily over ten meters long, shaped like a folded umbrella. The outer ring was densely covered with black runes, ancient script that the knight couldn't understand.

It appears to be solid. Even if such a gun were shortened to one-tenth of its original size, he would probably have a lot of trouble holding it.

No wonder only the Holy Lance could shatter the Magic Cauldron —that Magic Cauldron, which looked taller than a human house, would be impossible to shatter with a human spear! A human spear in front of that Magic Cauldron would probably be like a sewing needle and a soup pot.

Without a doubt, this is the gun used by the giant.

And the giant wielding that gun is probably even taller and larger than the giant who just got out of bed! How could a mortal possibly wield that gun?! "Need help?"

Just then, a deep, hoarse voice rang out.

As a chilling aura wafted over, it actually invigorated the knight, whose skin had been scorched and whose mind was reeling from the terrifying heat emanating from the Magic Cauldron.

He turned around and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

Aleister stood quietly at the entrance to the hall, where he had just arrived and where the giant had left.

A distant noise, capable of attracting giants, had appeared, and now Aleister was standing right in front of him...

The knight suddenly realized—he was probably the last one.

Are you going to kill me?

To Iver's surprise, the knight breathed a sigh of relief and raised his hand to indicate that he did not intend to resist, "Can I say a few words?"

"I don't intend to kill you."

Aleister gazed at him calmly. "You said it yourself—in the end, you will work with me and that Gray Hood."

"Now is the final moment. To prevent interference from others... everyone except the three of us is already dead."

"Or... Knight, were you just lying to me to deceive me?"

At this point, another person silently emerged from the shadows, glanced at the knight, and then vanished without a trace.

"So you didn't die?!"

The knight blurted it out.

He thought the assassin was definitely dead!

At this moment, he felt somewhat dazed—he was clearly a demon, yet he was so trustworthy.

Compared to the deer and the others, he was undoubtedly the weaker one.

But Aleister preferred to cooperate with him... just because he had shown him genuine goodwill?

"Our identities outside the ceremony are irrelevant. We are competitors, rivals, and potential allies... You said that yourself, didn't you?"

Aleister chuckled softly, "I took it seriously. Didn't you advise me not to talk to them?"

"... So you believed me back then."

The Knight felt a warmth in his heart and murmured softly.

All the secrets about the Path of Authority, the founding history of Avalon... it's all lies, a rewritten history.

Now, as a demon who Path of Transcendence... Aleister has shown him what integrity truly is.

The knight was momentarily disoriented by the intertwining of his past and present misconceptions. He didn't know who to believe, who was right, or who was just.

"Mr. Aleister," the knight couldn't help but ask, "Are you a good man?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't."

Aleister smiled but did not offer an answer.

He simply countered, "Do you really care that much about this? Does a good person always have to be good, and a bad person never have to be good? And who defines good and bad? Is it your inner morality? Or the laws of Avalon?"

Upon hearing Aleister's answer, the knight opened his mouth.

He was silent for a while, then suddenly made up his mind.

"My name is Barton. People call me ' Restless Barton '."

The "knight" named Barton said earnestly, "You have never hidden your real name, and I would feel guilty if I continued to communicate with you as 'knight.' I should at least tell you my surname."

"You can just call me Barton, Mr. Aleister."

Barton finally couldn't help but ask, "There's something I want to ask you..."

"—How did you embark on the Path of Transcendence in the first place? Do you think it's possible for me?"

Update complete!