Chapter 428 - A Hydra
His knights' last struggle surprised Arthur as if they had noticed that Veran's attacks were the most effective against his barrier. Then, after Ma made sure that no one was watching, his knights attacked together for the first time.
The waves knight raised her arms and struck the ground, throwing a giant wave toward Arthur. As he split the attack quickly, the big man descended from above, clapping his hands together to raise the ground into attacking him.
The Mad Prince and Kaza each took a side to attack from simultaneously. Arthur threw his barrier to push all of them back. As he was distracted by their final attacks, he spotted something above him.
The winged demi hugged Veran, flying him into the air. It seems that these knights have realized Arthur could only use the barrier or his spiritual energy to block their attacks, so they chose to reveal an opening using that limitation.
The winged demi let go of Veran, who the despair of the knights fed with power. A dark aura surrounded him as his dagger became the tip of the human spear descending from the sky..
Arthur raised his head with a smile as the power of nothingness came into existence, devouring everything in its path. The attacks of the rest of the knights were blocked either using spiritual power or his protection rune, but it left him to face the dagger.
"A good plan," Arthur admired their attentiveness and sharp thinking. They even managed to hatch a plan in such dire circumstances. "However, you chose the wrong weapon."
His golden mana exploded from his arm as Arthur raised it, making the power of creation overtake the world. The light turned everything into white outlines, blinding everyone's eyes.
The power of creation wasn't harmful to things but on the contrary. Arthur could make it destructive by making everything submit to his rule, and he could make it nurturing for other things.
As his mana pushed the dark knight back, it made flowers and grass multiply, and the trees rose a few meters in the air. The world has once again witnessed the power of the man known as Seika of Living Beings.
When the light disappeared, the knights were on the ground, staring with awe at the golden figure in the middle. Arthur's hair was flying upward as a soft golden glow came out of his body before it disappeared.
The knights found that their wounds had healed under the Seika's light. For the first time since they became his knights, they felt the power that made everyone covet their position.
"Your plan wasn't half bad, but you failed to make a single attack. Therefore, as per our agreement, you are all discharged from knighthood."
Arthur's words rang like thunderclaps in their eyes, and they couldn't believe that they lost the power as soon as they tasted it. If this were like before, they would return to the academy with nothing but a short-lived regret.
However, how can they give up power after they taste it? Their cells begged for more, and they could feel their limits cracking. Seika's words destroyed their dreams and brought them back to reality.
"I... don't care about being a knight," the one to say that was the Mad Prince, throwing away her sword before kneeling in front of Arthur. "As long as I can grow stronger, then I will follow you until the end. I don't care if I was a maidservant or your carriage driver."
"And I," Kaza followed suit. The rest said the same as they all knelt in front of Arthur, and he was satisfied by their act of throwing away knighthood. This way, they won't be bounded by titles and fake honor but by true strength.
"Very well," Arthur smiled. "Since you have proved that you are capable of throwing away useless titles, you can keep them. However," he began, "strength is a great goal, but it isn't the most important thing. That's why, my foolish knights, there will be more tests for you to prove yourselves."
***
Ma stole another glance at his lord, who sat beside him in the carriage. The earlier display of power was astounding not because the Seika was powerful but because he could make other things powerful.
His lord was looking through the small device he had, which could also show things of the past. Ma managed to steal a few glances and saw otherworldly things in pictures. Then, his lord tapped some things and made a paper appear.
"My Lord, is that a table with their names?" Ma couldn't help but ask, and the Seika glanced at him and nodded. Then, he added a row with Ma's name before adding a note that said 'annoying.'
Ma decided to shut his mouth from that moment, as another note like those might get him fired. Then, the Seika started typing things under each knight's name.
They were sitting in a carriage that was parked beside a hill. The knights were asked to do another test where they gathered traces of the monsters' outbreak. However, the Seika didn't monitor them and simply chose to sit in the carriage and write on his little device.
Ma was bored, so he started looking through the window. As luck would have it, he saw one of the knights stroll through the woods. It was the giant man, and he found a few chicks that fell from their nest.
The man looked around. Although there was a time limit, he crouched down and lifted the chicks to return them to their nests. After that, the man resumed looking.
Ma was touched, and he turned to tell the Seika, so he managed to see what the Seika was writing. As he still hadn't named them, the giant knight was given the nickname Big Cub. Ma wondered if this was a play on Big Bear.
'Big Cub seems to have a gentle side to animals,' the Seika wrote, and Ma's eyes widened. But, of course, the Seika couldn't have possibly seen the giant man because he was looking at his device all the time.
'My Lord is one of many talents,' Ma vowed again to serve him well. The hours ticked by as he waited, and then, the Seika suddenly put his device away.
"Listen, Ma. I need you to go back now," the Seika's face looked grave, and then Ma nodded. "No, I need you to hide," he suddenly changed his mind before disappearing.
Ma was confused before he looked out of the window. The lake was still a distance away from them, but somehow, he could see the water rising. The water rose until it was on the level of the hills beside the lake.
Then, Ma saw the Seika appear on top of a hill beside it. His figure was tiny in comparison, but the water stopped rising the moment that he teleported there.
There was a feeling in Ma's stomach as if a void was being carved into it. But then, he knew what that feeling was. It was danger. The water split apart to reveal a nine-head hydra that made the Seika look like an ant in comparison.
***
"We meet again, human," the hydra said to him with its countless heads staring at Arthur. "You kept your word and returned, but I don't see my child."
"Greetings, Ruler of Seas," Arthur said with a sigh. "I'm here to assure you that I'm working on retrieving your child. That's why I'm here."
"And how is being here will help?"
"I want to interrogate the people of this place," Arthur answered the voice in his mind. "You are a hydra,"
"What did you expect? That I was a demi-human?" the countless serpents sneered. "Very well. I will trust you. However, make haste. For my daughter's tears are shed once every full moon."
After that, the hydra went back into the water, and Arthur sighed. He had no idea how to handle the mess that would occur due to this, but at least he managed to convince the monster that he wasn't going back on their promise.
However, a full moon was but a week away from now. Arthur would have to find the child of the monster before then, lest Solomon is poisoned and his rune is taken away.
As he spread his detection, he found the baron's son on the lakeshore, trembling on the ground. Arthur teleported to his position and dragged the young master into the woods without his followers spotting them.
"Se... Seika?" the young master was barely breathing after witnessing the hydra emerging from the water. "That monster... it is..."
"Quiet," Arthur's art of submission was already activated. "Tell me, who came here before the monster's attacks began."
Arthur could feel his mana take hold of the man's existence and force it to obey his wishes. So, as Randolph left behind another lake beneath him, he began telling Arthur names and titles.
A name that caught Arthur's attention and which he remembered to be a noble that served the Knight of Nobility. Arthur frowned because if that knight was the culprit, It would be pretty tricky.