The Journey Begins, King Uther and the Saxons

"Have you thought of your last words?" Anno strode up to Merlin, looking down at him from above, his clenched fists popping and cracking.

"Well, um." A bead of cold sweat trickled down Merlin's temple; at this moment, Anno was a fraction taller than him (Merlin was 178cm, while Anno was now 181cm).

"Look, Anno, why don't you calm down first?" Merlin gripped his staff and took small steps backward.

"Calm down?" Anno sneered. "You threw me into this hellhole for so long without telling me the way out, and you want me to calm down? Stand still, I'll go easy on you."

Merlin looked at Anno's ferocious grin, blood-stained armor, and brawny muscles, swallowed hard, and hurriedly changed the subject: "Wait, wait! I didn't come here just to let you beat me up; I have a favor to ask of you!"

"A favor?" Anno slammed a palm against the tree trunk beside Merlin, causing the entire tree to shudder violently. "Speak quickly, so I can get back to beating you."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he was willing to listen, it was fine: "King Uther is planning to move against the Saxons in the north, and he asked me, the court mage, to see if I could find some help. You were the first person I thought of for such a great opportunity. Look, if you join the battlefield, wouldn't your position as a knight be secure?"

"So you do remember promising to make me a knight." Anno gave a "kind" smile, his hand clenching and tearing a chunk of bark right off the tree.

Merlin continued to explain: "Look at how high your combat power is now; you're bound to achieve great things on the battlefield. Besides, the Age of Gods is about to fade, and the future belongs to humanity. Isn't it fitting for these non-human races to provide some residual heat before they vanish?"

Anno's gaze became strange: "Aren't you a non-human race yourself? Why are you siding with humanity?"

"Well, I just happen to like humans more," Merlin said with a strained smile.

He was a half-human, half-incubus hybrid, so he could indeed be considered a non-human race.

Anno shook his body and walked straight off into the distance.

Seeing that he had finally escaped danger, Merlin let out a sigh of relief.

Anno pulled his sword from the ground, flicked the dirt off the blade, and glanced back at Merlin: "Let me clean up, then we'll go." He decided to wash his armor in the nearby stream; he probably couldn't get it perfectly clean, but since he was about to enter human society, he needed to look somewhat presentable.

"Alrighty then." Merlin resumed his usual half-smiling expression, stood up, and brushed off non-existent dust before accompanying Anno toward the water.

Reaching the water's edge, Anno took off his armor, revealing the lean, powerful muscles beneath. If these muscles were shown to women, they would surely scream, but Anno would never be happy about it; every single fiber of this physique had been earned through life-or-death combat.

Borrowing a thin cord from Merlin, Anno tied back the long hair he had grown over the past year. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to cut it off.

Anno had nothing he needed to pack, so he simply followed Merlin and left.

Before returning to human society, Anno asked Merlin to take him back to the Holy Lake one last time, where he offered a brief word of thanks to the water.

From then on, it was the story of the White Knight of Britain.