Morne Castle Rebellion, Suppressed

Lion's Claw was a skill used by the Redmane Army, who had fought alongside General Radahn.

It leaped forward, spinning as it slashed with the weapon.

It was exceptionally suppressive against humanoid enemies.

Of course, the most important thing was that it looked cool.

And Lion's Claw had been modeled after Wolf's Leap, the move used by Guts, the protagonist of Berserk.

One of the greatest works of seinen manga—no, sometimes even "one of" could be omitted.

A world of swords and magic, a legendary work that had never been surpassed. Even Hidetaka Miyazaki was a devoted fan, and traces of Berserk could often be seen throughout the Souls series.

Lucian was also a loyal Berserk fan. He absolutely could not pass up the chance to use this move himself.

What was more, this greatsword had already been upgraded four times. Its damage and durability had both greatly improved, saving Lucian a great deal of time.

Lucian was very satisfied with it and prepared to head out to find a few Misbegotten to test his blade on.

"Lord Lucian, there are other weapons here as well. You can take a look at them together. If you find anything you like, you can take it as a spare. Besides, you haven't changed your armor yet."

Julius called out to Lucian, who had turned and was about to leave.

Lucian felt a little embarrassed.

"I can look at the armor, but forget the weapons. This one is enough."

"The weapons stored here must all be quite valuable, and I can't use that many anyway."

But Julius insisted that Lucian inspect the equipment in every stone chest first.

"A weapon only has value when it is used. In your hands, they certainly won't gather dust."

"Besides, Castle Morne no longer has any warriors strong enough to deserve them. The lord has his own equipment as well. Please take whatever you wish. There's no need to worry about such trivial matters."

Unable to withstand his little fanboy's persuasion, Lucian ultimately gave in. Julius did have a point.

He hadn't known until he looked, but Castle Morne's collection of equipment was genuinely impressive.

There were several complete Exile Soldier Sets and one Godrick Knight Set, all preserved in excellent condition.

But those were not the important part. What truly surprised Lucian was another set of equipment.

A Banished Knight Light Armor set, along with a Banished Knight's Greatsword and a Banished Knight's Shield.

This complete set of light Banished Knight armor had been neatly arranged inside the largest stone chest.

Lucian swallowed. He was tempted.

The Banished Knight set's only drawback was its weight. Other than that, it was all advantages.

After all, the Banished Knight set was genuine heavy armor. Its defense was far greater than Standard armor's, and it looked incredibly cool too.

Though the enormous protruding codpiece was a little conspicuous...

But this wasn't a game anymore. He could just find a cloak or something to cover it up.

He had farmed for it for ages in the game, yet now he had casually found it in Castle Morne.

Lucian took the Banished Knight chestplate from the chest.

The exquisite engraved patterns remained clear even after the passage of time. The left pauldron was astonishingly huge, protecting even half of the chestplate.

The right pauldron was a size smaller, but the spiraling dragon-horn ornament atop it pointed toward the sky, displaying a savage majesty.

Though Lucian wanted it badly, he still put the chestplate back first. Edgar was a Banished Knight, after all. It would be awkward if this had belonged to one of his companions or ancestors.

He would ask Edgar when he found him. If Edgar said he could take it, Lucian definitely would not stand on ceremony.

He had personally learned storm combat skills from the Ancient King. Wouldn't he need the full Banished Knight set to complete the cosplay?

After opening more chests, there was nothing else that particularly caught Lucian's attention.

He also took a halberd and a single-edged dagger from a wooden crate.

One was the halberd that the Vagabond started with, and the other was the dagger that the Bandit started with.

There was more than one of each in the crate, so they seemed to be standard-issue weapons. Lucian took them without any psychological burden.

Having obtained new weapons, he naturally had to test them out.

Lucian followed Julius and began searching Castle Morne for the remaining Misbegotten.

The Misbegotten that still did not know the main force had been wiped out and were continuing to whip corpses were cleaved to death with a halberd.

The Misbegotten that knew the main force had been wiped out and hid away trembling had their throats slit directly with the dagger.

Whenever he came across Grace, he activated it along the way.

After clearing the way forward, they finally encountered a sizable group of Misbegotten.

They had gathered near the prison behind Castle Morne, scattered all around the bridge.

This place was not directly connected to Castle Morne. In the game, one had to jump down from behind the castle to reach it.

But as control was gradually reclaimed, Lucian simply took the small elevator down.

Looking at the Misbegotten before him, who were still shouting arrogantly by relying on their numbers, Lucian drew his greatsword and licked his lips.

These Misbegotten did not yet know they had provoked someone they should never have provoked.

The greatsword swept through, cutting one Misbegotten cleanly in half at the waist. Lucian had used this move many times before, but this time, the feel was especially different.

The greatsword was far sharper than Lucian had imagined. In the past, there had always been a sense of resistance when cutting through a Misbegotten's body. After cutting through two or three, it became difficult to sever the next one.

But now, the blade moved with incomparable smoothness. If these Misbegotten lined up and let Lucian cut them in half at the waist, he felt he could cut through an entire row with one swing.

The sounds of slaughtering Misbegotten quickly attracted the attention of their leaders.

Two Scaly Misbegotten and three Winged Misbegotten.

Before, they might have caused Lucian some trouble.

But after achieving a hundred-man Misbegotten slaughter, Lucian fully deserved the title of Misbegotten Slayer.

Lucian charged forward on his own initiative, raising one hand before him to deflect the Winged Misbegotten's arrows. Even when some lodged in his body, he paid them no heed.

Seeing Lucian throwing his life away like this, a Scaly Misbegotten roared and gripped its long-handled cleaver with both hands, ready to teach him a lesson.

Once Lucian saw that he was close enough, he infused the greatsword with magic power and unleashed Lion's Claw.

His body moved with the practiced familiarity of having performed it countless times. As he charged, the sword tip pressed against the ground, and he flipped once through the air.

As his body somersaulted, the greatsword left the ground and crashed down from above with the force of splitting a mountain.

The Scaly Misbegotten's long-handled cleaver held for only an instant before being cut apart, along with the terrified Scaly Misbegotten behind it.

The Scaly Misbegotten's body split open down the middle, strands of blood stretching between the halves as they fell separately to either side, perfectly divided in two.

But it was not over yet.

The sword that had cleaved apart the Scaly Misbegotten supported Lucian's body once more. He kicked off with both feet and unleashed Lion's Claw again without pause.

Repeating the same move, he split the second Scaly Misbegotten in half as well.

The Winged Misbegotten in the sky had already been scared out of their wits.

Scaly Misbegotten were renowned among their kind for their physical strength, yet they had been effortlessly and brutally split in two. The sight had exceeded their understanding.

They darted about in the air in terror, then finally remembered to flee.

But Lucian had already raised Crepus's Black-Key and aimed at them one by one before firing.

With the fall of those Winged Misbegotten, the Misbegotten of Castle Morne were completely exterminated.

Only dead Misbegotten were good Misbegotten, and Castle Morne now happened to have only dead Misbegotten left.

On the first day after coming home, his family discovered that he was writing a novel. They didn't object, but still... yeah, it was awkward ('')