Knight of the Lake

Location: English Channel

Before midnight, a wind suddenly rose over the sea. As the gale arrived, dark clouds swallowed the moonlight, plunging everything into darkness. Nearby things could not be seen, let alone any sense of direction. Even the light cast by the lighthouse ahead, which had stood there to guide ships, was devoured by the darkness. The world upon the sea seemed to have returned to the most primordial chaos of the universe—a state of utter darkness.

A loud cry rang out from the ship. The sudden sound shattered the stillness of the dark surroundings and gave countless people courage.

The red dragon banner of the Kingdom of Camelot and the Arthurian dynasty fluttered in the wind. Even amid the pitch-black darkness, the red dragon still bared its fangs and claws, displaying its might. Beneath it, another banner stood quietly alongside it, shining with a deep blue radiance.

In this age, limited production capabilities made every voyage fraught with danger. There were not only natural disasters at sea—gales, torrential rain, reefs—but also countless Viking pirate warships lying in wait. Their vessels often crossed their own borders and entered the English Channel to raid passing merchant ships. Even when King Arthur sent a state letter asking King Lot, who controlled half of Denmark in Northern Europe, to keep them in check, he received only the answer that nothing could be done.

Northern Europe was filled with tribes great and small, as numerous as hairs on an ox. Every tribe was an independent regime, and each tribal chief was a king. Even King Lot, who ruled half of Denmark, was merely one of the more powerful among those kings. He could only restrain his own people from targeting Camelot ships; that did not mean he could influence the other kings.

Besides capable sailors, the ship laden with grain also carried a large number of soldiers. Their leader was Sir Lancelot, the foremost Knight of the Round Table in Camelot.

"Sir Lancelot, hail!"

"Let's hope it's hail, not a hailstorm!"

The captain stood by the cabin, greeting the handsome man in blue armor before him. His handsome, resolute face was filled with a heroism befitting a man. He was dignified in appearance and extraordinary in speech. He rested his sword against the deck to support himself, making one think of the statue of David once sculpted by the Romans.

"It's hail!" the captain said with a laugh. Seeing Lancelot make a joke, he instantly relaxed.

In English, "hail" and "hailstorm" sounded quite similar. As a Frenchman, he had struggled greatly to learn English. At the Round Table Council, Welsh dialects, Irish dialects, and Scottish dialects often filled the hall in a babble no one could understand. As someone who spoke French, he could understand even less at the Round Table Council. In the end, they had barely solved the problem by standardizing English and using translators.

Lancelot was the military commander of the Arthurian dynasty, the foremost knight among the Knights of the Round Table, and also the steward and captain of the guard for Guinevere, Queen of Camelot. His valor was known throughout Europe, and he was the dream lover of every noblewoman.

Sir Lancelot was deeply trusted by King Arthur and wielded immense power in the Kingdom of Camelot. Aside from Sir Kay, who could barely outrank him in title, his actual standing was equal to Sir Kay's.

In Eastern nations, the empress and emperor were regarded as equal counterparts, with husband and wife holding equal status. Yet the court belonged only to the emperor. The emperor was addressed as "Your Majesty," while the empress was addressed as "Your Highness," and the emperor possessed the power to depose the empress.

In Europe, however, under Christianity's monogamous system, the king and queen were nominally more equal.

Camelot's court was merely a broad term. More precisely, it was the court of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. As the king's spouse, Queen Guinevere had her own court, corresponding institutions, and assigned staff.

The word "queen" could also mean a female monarch. In the Roman Empire, there had been many cases of emperors elevating their empresses to become co-ruling emperors.

Thus, it was not strange for there to be two stewards at once: Sir Kay, steward of the king's court, and Sir Lancelot, steward of the queen's court.

"We'll be back in Camelot soon. I truly miss Camelot's fine wine, and I miss His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen as well."

After watching the captain direct the sailors to light torches and continue rowing, Lancelot chatted with him to pass the tedious hours of the journey as the ship creaked and groaned.

"Yes. You missed the King's New Year banquet, Sir Lancelot. Every year, you sit beside the King and Queen. That is a position of great honor and glory."

The captain spoke with a chuckle. Though King Arthur was a member of the Knights of the Round Table, he did not participate in their ranking. Thus, the bravest knight, Sir Lancelot, became the first among the Knights of the Round Table—the foremost knight. As the queen's steward, his status was equal to Sir Kay's.

However, King Arthur's court was the actual government of the Kingdom of Camelot. Therefore, Sir Kay's position as steward was effectively that of chief minister, while Sir Lancelot's post as steward was merely honorary. Yet honor brought ceremonial rank, and that was also why Lancelot could suppress Sir Kay in terms of power.

Sir Lancelot was romantic by nature. He enjoyed adventure, poetry, and beautiful women, and disliked mundane affairs. If King Arthur exchanged his position with Sir Kay's, he would actually be reluctant.

"This year, with me absent from Camelot, the person sitting beside the King will either be Sir Kay, the King's sister, or perhaps Mordred!"

Lancelot did not care who had taken his seat. Having risen as far as he had as a knight, he had already enjoyed the greatest honor and power.

Still, thinking of the countless people who wished to sit where he had once sat gave him a small, secret thrill.

"I heard it was Gawain," said the captain. He had left Camelot a month ago, while Sir Lancelot had departed two months before him. Now, they were returning together.

"Who? I've never heard that name!" Lancelot wore a puzzled expression. As far as he knew, none of the Knights of the Round Table, Britain's notable nobles, or even Europe's knights was named Gawain.

"The late King Uther had one son and three daughters. Gawain is the son of the princess whom the King married off to Northern Europe and King Lot. King Arthur has two nephews," the captain explained.

"Gawain. Have you heard of his deeds? I know absolutely nothing about him. If he could take the seat beside the King and Queen before Mordred, perhaps that is a sign that Arthur intends Gawain to be heir to the throne."

"Just after you left Camelot for Europe, Prince Gawain and his mother arrived in Camelot. That was a month ago. I have heard of his deeds, but explaining them would be too dull. I'll sing them for you instead."

"Sing?"

"Yes, Sir Lancelot. Gawain turned his deeds into a song called 'Dala Bengba's Song.' Dala Bengba is Prince Gawain's alias."

"Interesting. Sing it!" Lancelot found it especially amusing. Someone had actually turned his own deeds into a song.

Poetry and songs were not the same thing.

"I may not sing well, so please do not mind it." The captain cleared his throat with a cough. Seeing the sailors around them gathering with shining eyes, he immediately said, "You little brats, you are not allowed to laugh!"

"If we won't laugh, Captain, then sing!" the sailors said with smiles.

Long, long ago A giant dragon suddenly appeared Bringing disaster and carrying away A princess who then disappeared

The captain sang "Dala Bengba's Song." The song was simple and easy to understand. The only troublesome part was the full names of Dala Bengba and the dragon, as well as the foully long place names, which were simply too hard to remember. But it did not matter if one could not remember them; one could just make something up when the time came.

As Lancelot listened to the song, he suddenly sensed an enormous surge of magic approaching across the sea. A strange atmosphere spread over the entire coast. In the darkness, an indescribable black beast revealed a trace of its scales and claws.

It was a dragon. A giant dragon.

A white dragon flew above the sea. Its claw pressed down upon the ship, causing the entire vessel to sway and rock. Seeing such a terrifying scene, Lancelot instantly drew his sword.

He was not afraid of dragons, nor did he fear them. But the dragon's claw was pressed against the cabin. If it exerted even a little force and sank the ship, all the grain purchased with the treasury's gold would be lost, Camelot would fall into famine, and the people aboard would never return to Camelot.

Sir Lancelot believed that even if his ship capsized at sea, he could swim back to Camelot. After all, he was the Knight of the Lake, blessed by the Lady of the Lake. These people were not.

The dragon hidden in the darkness was unimaginably immense. The captain raised a torch and illuminated part of its body, then instantly collapsed to the ground.

Such a gigantic beast was scarcely any smaller than Leviathan, the monster of the deep sea. What a fearsome sight. With a single glance, even grown men and brave soldiers felt their courage melt away beneath the dragon's gaze.

"Dragon, this ship belongs to King Arthur, and I am King Arthur's foremost knight, Lancelot. If you have heard my name, remove your claw."

Lancelot drew his sword. Compared with the dragon's body, its deep blue radiance was so tiny, yet he showed no fear.

He had slain dragons before, but that had been on land and under conditions of full preparation. This was the first time he had encountered such a terrible situation, where a dragon held an entire ship hostage.

He could not risk the sailors' lives for his own glory and achievements. Therefore, when dealing with an intelligent life-form such as a dragon, it was better to negotiate if possible.

The world was not just about fighting and killing; it was also about social connections and worldly affairs. Even if the dragon extorted him, so be it. Once they reached land, he could settle the score with it.

"Tell me, where is Dala Bengba? Where is Dala Bengba?" the dragon roared. "You humans, I heard it! I heard you singing Dala Bengba's song! You must know where he is. Tell me! Tell me now, or I'll send every last one of you to the bottom of the sea!"

"Captain, where is Dala Bengba? Tell him quickly, or we'll all die!" The sailors lay limp beneath the dragon's might, pleading with the captain.

"I'm not Dala Bengba. How would I know where Dala Bengba is?"

Sweat covered the captain's forehead. Faced with the dragon's demand, he no longer had any strength left. Seeing impatience in the dragon's eyes, he hurriedly said, "I know! He is in Camelot. He has changed his name to Gawain now. No—Dala Bengba is only his alias. Gawain is his real name. May I ask who you are...?"

"I am Kontukuka Tikautesuwasira Song, the dragon he defeated in 'Dala Bengba's Song'!" said the dragon, fury rising in its eyes. "So that's it. Your name is Gawain. I won't let you off!"

Filled with endless rage, the dragon released the ship. It spread its wings and was about to fly toward Camelot when Lancelot gripped his holy sword and leaped onto its body. The holy sword blazed with immense blue light as it struck the dragon.

Yet the energy passed straight through the dragon's body, exploding into enormous waves upon the sea. As the dragon's body turned into a shadow, Lancelot, the Knight of the Lake, fell into the seawater. The dragon seemed not to notice Lancelot's attack at all and flew away into the distance like a phantom.

The darkness that had surrounded them was instantly driven away. The captain came to his senses, saw Sir Lancelot in the water, and roared at his sailors, "You lazy worms, are you blind? Can't you see Sir Lancelot has fallen overboard? Throw down a plank and pull the knight up!"

The sailors, who had been terrified by the dragon's might, instantly reacted. They threw down a plank tied to a rope and pulled Sir Lancelot aboard.

"Sir, thank you. If you had not driven away the dragon, we might all have been finished. When we return to Camelot, we will sing the tale of what you did today in every tavern..."

The captain thanked Sir Lancelot, inwardly praising the legendary Knight of the Lake. Even in such heavy armor, he could float on the surface like someone clutching a plank.

"I did not drive the dragon away."

Lancelot shook his head and denied the credit. He looked at the holy sword in his hand, which shone like lake water. This was a holy sword that could sever even steel, a holy sword that could split ocean waves in two, yet it had not left even the slightest wound upon that dragon.

It was a phantom.

No, it was not a phantom.

A creature that combined substance and illusion. A dragon like a shadow. This was the dragon Gawain had once defeated—Kontukuka Tikautesuwasira Song. Now, it had come to seek revenge on him.

Young people truly did not know to root out evil completely and leave no survivors. He had actually spared it.

The lighthouses along Camelot's coastline began to shine again. For some reason, a bad premonition arose in Lancelot's heart.

The lighthouses had been built during Vortigern's era. They could guide every ship, illuminate the darkness, and possessed magic.

Now, the appearance of the evil dragon had even extinguished their light. Did that not mean Camelot's barrier could not stop the dragon either?