Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 110! How did you spent the break week? I know how I did. By playing sweet hours and hours of Metaphor! Or so I dream of! Actually aiming to get to play the game by Christmas. Like damn if the music and trailer didn't got stucked in my head for a while.

Also, may everyone have good luck on their rolls for both Halloween events happening right now. Specially for the ones that are planning to get Kazuradrop on the JP server. Almost all of the Sakura 5 in the game!

But with that out of the way, let's start it!

DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author


"The sandworm...is dead?"

Peko stared in silent dread alongside Agravain and the Lion King from the balcony. All gazing at the brutalized long corpse of the mythical Olgoi-Khorkhoi in the distance, impaled up high so that even those from the palace of the Holy City could witness its demise, the sudden death of the creature raising alarms for everyone within the Singularity.

"...How is that possible?" Agravain backed a bit away from the balcony rails. His face being a mix of frustration and incredulity. "Not even a direct hit from the king's Judgement was enough to kill that creature! What kind of 'thing' could have possibly made it?" Trying to remain calm and headstrong despite the shocking news, the knight adjusted himself and went to speak with the Lion King. "My king, what should we-..." But he stopped.

He stopped once he saw Artoria Pendragon simply turn around and leave the balcony without saying a word. Just the face of someone that feared at the idea of all her efforts and time put into the plan now being terminated by whatever threat had arrived. That and an anger in her eyes just from thinking about it. A thought that she repudiated to the very core. In such short time she had already displayed a more variety of emotions than Agravain and Peko would ever think they would witness come out of the stoic face of the Lion King.

But even without saying a word, those expressions gave clear orders to Agravain. Orders that whatever had caused the fall of Olgoi-Khorkhoi, could not in any way disrupt with her plans. And her knight understood that.

"It shall be done so, my king." Agravain simply bowed down as his liege left the balcony, leaving Agravain and Peko alone.

"W-Where is she going?" Peko asked, wondering why Artoria Pendragon had decided to just leave without uttering a word.

Not giving him a heads up, Agravain grabbed Peko by the arm. "None of Young Finsternis concern!" He said, looking agitated to do something, moving his head to stare at the merchant's town on the outskirts of the Holy City region. He wondered if there was still time. "First, you shall come with me to fulfill a certain task."

"Huh? A task?" Peko looked puzzled to the knight, ending up remebering that he was let out of his cell currently as per Agravain's orders. Guess he was about to find out what the knight needed the boy for. "Is that why y-hey!" Peko yelped as he got harshly dragged by Agravain to accompany him.

"Less talking!" Agravain responded while guiding Peko. "You'll see what it is soon enough."


"Good day! What brings you to my store this time?"

"Greetings! I'm here to see if the sir has..."

It was another normal day on the town for its population. The people regularly walking the streets outside, going on their daily random affairs, trading, chatting and much more. Such was town was the perfect place of shelter for those who wanted to escape the brutality and terror that was the danger of the wastelands, but who also didn't aim to become citizens of the Holy City, choosing instead to live under its weekly protection on the outskirts of the Lion King domain. However, to life in such secure conditions, the town would always make sure to supply the Holy City with newly participants for every upcoming weekly Holy Selection as well as the entire area go through a general inspection by the Lion King's forces in order to make sure the town and it's inhabitants weren't hiding any possible enemies or rebels of the kingdom.

By being silently complacent and swearning loyalty to Camelot while beseeching for safety in return, the town could prosper nicely and its people live 'normal lifes' the closest that they could in this pratically end of the world scenario. As long as they remained obedient and law abiding as per the Lion King and her knight's commands, there'd be nothing for them to worry about. Or so they thought.

"Make way! Make way! Pay heed and make way to Sir Agravain and his freshly arriving troop!"

Being proclaimed loud and clear, the entire crowd that was currently at the square stopped doing their mundane routine to gaze at the arrival of Agravain to the town on his horse, accompanied by a good number of his own men that had tagged along, quickly blocking all the paths of access and exit of the square. Such unnanounced occurence made the people whisper and mutter collectively in surprise. What could a knight of the Round Table be doing there with a full troop at that time of the week?"

"W-What's happening?"

"Why are the soldiers of the Lion King here?"

"Encalm yourselves!" Agravain ordered with a robust voice and stable demeanor, requesting for the crowd's incessant whispers to die and to pay attention to him as his soldiers instructed the people to organize themselves in position. "This is nothing more but a mere unforseen event. If the guidelines and protocol are to be followed and maintained as regular, there will be nothing for you to fear nor any reason for consternation."

Placed on top of the horse as well, Peko sat in front of Agravain, still in handcuffs, having been brought to the task the knight was talking about. "We're back to the town? But why for? He pondered, looking at the clueless faces of the civilians. "They also did not seemed to have noticed the death of the sandworm."

"W-What's wrong, Sir Agravain? Why is the sir here? Wasn't the weekly inspection three days ago? What made you and your soldiers to come back?"

Being questioned by one of the puzzled inhabitants, Agravain went on to explain to him and the rest of the population as his soldiers put the entire area into lockdown.

"Well, the weekly inspection of the town is still normally scheduled as always. However, recently it has come to me of a drastic information that forced me to pay a visit to the town sooner than planned. So do treat this as a 'surprise' inspection of sorts." Agravain told, gaining the sudden glimpses og agitation from the crowd.

"A-A surprise inspection?! But why sir? What have we done of wrong?"

"As of right now, nothing. Well, at least the majority of you I hope." Agravain said, looking down at the civillian from his horse with the same authoritive voice as always before making the following revelation to the public. "Let it be known that as of a few days ago, I got the intel that there was sightings of an imposter pretending to be His Majesty himself in this town not too long ago!"

With that information spread, the anxiety spiked up on the crowd, now everyone going back to more confused and addled whispers and chatters, the people getting flustered.

Even Peko was caught by surprise with such reveal, being the first time hearing about it. "An impostor? There's...another King Arthur in this Singularity?"

Agravain once again demanded for order within the agitated crowd. "Simmer down all of you! Do not enter in panic!" He got to get the noise of the people down before proceeding with more explaining. "Your town shall still receive protection from our kingdom and resources. For that, all that I only ask is for any possible witness that spotted the imposter, described to wear a yellow type of coat! If any of you had catched sigh of a person with such description, do please not fret in coming forward and report it to me! As for those, who possibly knew about the existance of an imposter, voluntarily giving him shelter and protection in order to operate under our noses..." Agravain gave the entire crowd of the square a cold and stern glare. "Out yourselves or else everyone suffers the consequences."

A threat and warning that shook every present civillian to their core. In no time, the inhabitants begun to discuss and talk to eaxh other about the imposter and if anyone had seen him over this past week, or rather, was working with him, some conversation circles even escalting to accusations from people who did not wanted to deal with whatever punishment would happen to them if no one willingly stepped forward to confess. It didn't took too long for the masses to grow into a state of some paronia.

"Do not precipitate. You can all have a few minutes to discuss and draw conclusions properly." Agravain advised them, controlling the situation in order to not overblow. Even with all the recent setbacks and upsets he got during the conference, the knight was still able to perform a good job of mediating the people's behavior. He knew how things worked. "Now this is the part where you come in, Young Finsternis."

"Huh? Me?" Peko stared back to Agravain, having been called out by him. "What am I supposed to do here?"

"Before the Holy Selection that happened a week ago, you and your group had a brief passage on this town, did you not?" Agravain replied, both he and Peko descending from the horse as the knight was telling what he wanted the boy to do. "If so, I'm sure there must have been instances were you've either seen or heard of such individual. Possibly even an 'alliance' with him."

"Me and my group seeing the imposter?" Peko looked at Agravain, unsure of that. "So that is why he wanted my presence, He thinks I've already meet up with this person." But he knew that couldn't be further from the truth. "Well, to be honest neither me nor none of my companions ever heard about this 'imposter' of the Lion King during our short visit here. If anything, this is the first time I'm hearing of such thing."

"Humm, and how exactly can I be so sure about that? That Young Finsternis is not lying to me?" Agravain speaked, having his doubts about that statement. "Even if Young Finsternis himself and his group haven't runned into him, you must have heard rumours no? This is a town after all, where topics and conversations aren't a lacking thing." The knight expressed, directing his left arm torwards the crowd in front of them while talking to Peko. "What if one of those random conversations ended up having the detail about a certain 'King Arthur' that flew into Young Finsternis ears?"

"I...don't know." Peko tried to remember, but he truthfully had never heard of another King Arthur that wasn't the Lion King. Plus he barelly recalled of having eavesdropped on any conversation of the town's civillians when he was here for the first time with the rest of the group. Perhaps there was indeed people having a conversation about the imposter Agravain referred to nearby and Peko simply didn't heard it right or wasn't paying attention at the time like the rest of his team. He just couldn't remember of something he had no idea of knowing or having heard about it before Agravain had literally revealed it just now.

But the knight kept with the verbal pressure, wanting to jog the boy's memmory. "Think Young Finsternis! Anything in particular? A word or name that stood out! If yes, from which mouth then? Which face? That one over there? The other over here? Or perhaps this person uppfront?"

"I genuinely do not know, alright?" Peko replied almost shouting, not willing to tolerate the antics of Agravain. "What I'm saying is true! I did not heard nor met with an imposter, 'King Arthur', or whoever that is! And while I don't discard the possibility of my team having encountered that imposter by now, we weren't aware there was supposedly one before and after our stay here! I was just as clueless as this people about this whole topic before you mentioned it!"

Being confronted and receiving Peko's answer, Agravain reanalyzed his approach to the situation. "Hmm, very well then. I do believe you." The knight said calmly before grabbing Peko and throw him into the ground out of nowhere, the crowd letting out sounds of stupefaction as they saw it.

"O-Ow! What was that fo-" As Peko was getting his face up from the ground, his voice stopped once he gazed at Agrvain drawing out his sword.

"The sightings of the imposter were told to have been new, therefore there is indeed a high chance that you chaldeans have really not runned into the imposter here and that Young Finsternis is telling the truth." Agravain said, coming to accept what the boy told him as fact when thinking back to the time of the report. "And the rest of his group did not seemed to be accompanied with the imposter when I fought them back at the fort." With a rigid and soulless stare, the knight gazed at the entire crowd at the square. "However, the report says the imposter was indeed spotted here. Meaning at least one of you saw and is helping him."

The population went back to get indignated and unquiet with Agravain's accusation.

"B-But Sir Agravain! We sware we did not see any imposter in a yellow coat! No one in this town has!"

"And even if we did, it would be stupid to offer aid to an enemy of the Lion King and the people who protect us!"

Hearing it, Agravain was skeptic of the inhabitants still. He had been told that the imposter had appeared and been spotted in this town. And this place was full and crowded enough to simply not have even a single soul notice a person that would stand out from the rest of the population just by clothes alone. Unless, Lancelot was lying to him again and the Knight of the Lake wanted to make Agravain a fool of himself. "No. It wouldn't make sense for someone like Lancelot to risk putting innocents under suspicion and danger just to mock me. There is no basis for that even if we dislike one another." Coming to that conclusion, Agravain proceeded to move with his strategy. "And yet, you do not refute that the imposter was really here, do you? I will repeat myself just this once! If those who saw the imposter and possibly conspired with him, do not come forward..."

Looking at Agravain, Peko didn't even got the chance to get up as his body was pushed back to the ground by the knight's foot. "Agh!"

Putting his sword near the boy's head, Agravain finished his sentence. "Drastic measures will need to be applied and people hurt for it!"

The entire crowd erupted into shock and terror due to it.

"W-What!? Don't tell me that Sir Agravain is-"

"Sir Agravain will kill that child if we tell him nothing?!"

"Such coward act for a knight! That is extortion!"

"This is an absurd! How you dare doing such thing in front of us!?"

"We already told you we haven't seen any imposter around here you asshole!"

"Don't test our limit, bas-"

Before the crowd could revolt and go against Agravain, they were quickly held back by his troops in a warning, holding the in habitants back.

"I also have a limit to not be tested." Agravain replied, not seeming very affected by the insults. "If you will prefer to continue in silence or rebel in place of giving me the answers I want as well as culprits and witnesses, then this square will get drenched pretty soon and it will be from red of your blood! Only stopping once you tell me where the imposter was and to where he headed next!" He demanded, threatening everyone with a bloodshed and even more if he didn't got what he wanted. "I give you three minutes. No more nor less." He said, approaching the blade to Peko's neck while maintaining him pinned to the floor.

Peko stared at the sword with some apprehension and dread. Agravain having made a total tension out of this situation, his gloves coming off with it. "He...He really plans to kill me? Just to get more information? That can't be right! Unless it was orders from the Lion King, Agravain would never do it!" Peko thought, assuming that Agravain could be bluffing about killing him if the people did not complied. After all, he was an important piece to his king's goal. But then Peko remembered of a detail. "Unless..." He remembered on how Artoria Pendragon had recently absorved a part of his powers and magic with the usage of her sacred lance. The pure soul that she much desired finally at her grasp. Which could mean the Lion King had no more plans for Peko. And therefore, Agravain killing him now wouldn't harm her plans at all. A realization that sent shivvers to his spine. Perhaps the knight already knew of that, hence why he was threatening to end Peko's life now.

"Well? Does no one steps up? Not even to take the hit for others?" Agravain gave a good look to the crowd, seeing that no one had come forward to out themselves nor reveal more information of the imposter's whereabouts. "You're forcing my hand then. A shame this matter cannot be resolved in a 'peaceful' manner."

"You don't have to go this extreme! It's unreasonable!" Peko told to Agravain, not only not wanting the knight to kill him, but also to not order his men to commit a ruthless genocide at the square. "They already told you countless times they don't know anything about the imposter! You're going too far!" He said, a part of him fearing that even if Agravain wouldn't end up killing him, the same could not be said to the innocent civillians of the town. "Does the king knows about this? Do you think you are honoring him by doing such thing?"

Looking down at Peko, listening to his pleas, the face of Agravain was of someone that could not care less of what he had to said. Appealing to the trivial emotions for someone like Agravain was of total uselessness and waste of time. "For the king, every act is justified."

"!" Peko could only stare with pure dismay at him, finding unbelivable what Agravain said. "How...How could a king find justification in this?! That is just wrong! Plain wrong!" And then he reminded himself of who was the king Agravain served. The Lion King. One that did not cared about what happened to a single average individual outside of her city. That view people with blemished souls as unworthy of her protection, care and even life itself. And to those deemed 'pure' enough to inhabit her city and future paradise, she would kept them alive till the end of time as mere hollow and mindless spirits, unable to have eternal rest. So when putting all that into account, Agravain's king would much likely not only approve, but also be in her stoic and cold indifference if she were to gaze at the incoming massacre of another group of innocents, being nothing more but useless scraps to throw in the trash. A king with no compassion at all but for her own delusions.

Gritting his teeth in deep frustration, Peko couldn't just let that happen. To witness another whole massacre without doing nothing. And so, he decided to lie in that instant. "I saw the-"

However, an unexpected event was about to take place.

Sounding highly through the skies, the chilling and terryfying sound of an almost demonic rythm of a carnyx instrument echoed throughout the entire town and surroundings, getting everyone's attention in that moment.

"Hm? What's this?" Agravain questioned as he looked up to the sky, trying to see where the sound was coming from.

"Did you also heard that?"

"I-I heard! It sounded so eerie and deep!"

"It was like hearing the sound of the of the end of the world or something!"

"I-Is this a sort of pronouncement of it?"

As even the soldier knights reacted and talked with each other with some sense of trepidation, Peko got finally up from the ground as Agravain's mind was trying to make an explanation from what source could originate such fearful sound, sounding more frightening than any normal carnyx could.

"It was the sound of a trumpet?" Peko questioned as he too looked up to the skies.

"Sir Agravain! Sir Agravain! We must leave and return to the Holy City immediatly!"

A disturbed soldier knight runned into the square, calling out for Agravain.

And by the tone of his voice, Agravain could already tell it wasn't something pleasent. "What is it? Is there something wrong happening at the Holy City?"

"It's The Blight sir! It has finally reached near the walls out of nowhere!"

"What?!"


As the horse was galloping with all the speed, Agravain headed to the Holy City in a hurry with Peko and all of his men, having completly left the town, deciding to postpone the whole deal of the imposter for later. Now, there was a more important urgency needing to be attended.

It didn't took them too long for Agravain's fears to be confirmed. "Crap! It can't be possible!" He cursed when he spotted the large dark sea that was The Blight now right next to the city's walls, being only about a hundread meters from making contact. "This wasn't foreseen! The Blight should have only reached the city tomorrow!" He said, visibly upset. "It doesn't make sense! It wasn't even this close minutes before we left to the town! How could it have taken such quick advancement out of nowhere?"

"It really doesn't coincide with what was observed of it so far!" Peko commented, also staring to the sea of dark substance. "We never saw The Blight have such quick pace, have we?" Noticing the brightness of the day slowly fading out, he stared up to the sky. "Huh? The sky is...darkening?" He said, countless dark clouds materializing into the sky, proceeding to cover its blue tones of day with total pitch black, changing the entire atmosphere of the region.

"This doesn't look good at all." Agravain speaked, already with the sentiment that a rough time was about to ensue. "I need to make sure all of the preparations and positions are ready with the little time left. And Young Finsternis shall be kept in his room during all of this, so better not think about disobeying orders this time." The knight warned him, having heard of Peko's little doing that happened earlier today.

Peko also did not gave a very friendly stare to Agravain in return. "Not unless you say sorry for having pushed me to the ground back there..." He whispered to himself.

Luckily for them, The Blight was advancing from the east, meaning that they still had clear path torwards the Holy City's main gates when approaching it.

"Open the gates!" Agravain shouted his order, announcing his arrival and of his men to the soldier knights at top of the gates in surveillance, wasting no time in opening up the gates for the knight of the Round Table, Peko and the rest to all enter, going back to close as quickly with fear of The Blight taking chance of the short time opening to invade the city.

Inside, Peko and Agravain saw how agitated and busy all of the units were, walking from one side to another in order to get to their positions while others would check on the arsenal of their defense weapons or discussing the entry points of the Holy City that musted to be protected at all costs. The tension of the upcoming confrontation was palpable.

"They all look very distressed." Peko said as he and Agravain walked through the entrance area of the Holy City.

"We've all been caught off guard by this." Agravain replied. "The only positive side of this is that major part of the weaponry and strategic positioning was being already tested and put into training a few days ago. Still, even doing a formation by one half-minute late can be fatal and determinent during the beggining of a battle depending on how a leader reacts to a unexpected misfortunes." He told, his eyes feeling with an high sense of duty. "And I'm not willing to let this thing destroy our king's goals! Not when we are this close!" Approaching to a small group of preparing soldier knights, Agravain called one of them. "You there!"

"Oh! Sir Agravain! I see that the Sir and everyone else is back! Glad to see Sir Agravain is fine!"

The soldier knight saluted his superior when turning around.

"Where is Gawain?" Agravain asked to the soldier, knowing that the Knight of the Sun was the one responsible of guarding the gates, not being too far from the current location.

"Sir Gawain is over there about to take the wall's elevator. Sir Agravain might still catch him before the elevator goes up."

"Thank you for the information." Agravain said briefly, the knight and Peko now heading near the wall's elevator where they found Gawain about to enter. "Gawain!"

Hearing is name being called, Gawain turned around to see both Agravain and Peko walking torwards him. "Agravain! Young Prince! You're back! How was the visit to the town?" He asked to Agravain in particular.

"Had to be suspended due to all of this!" Agravain responded to his companion as both he and Peko entered the elevator alongside the Knight of the Sun. "Where's Tristan and Mordred?"

"Evacuating the citizens to a safer room within the palace!" Gawain answered. "They must join us short after! We weren't expecting this situation at all! By the time that loud sound of a garnyx had finished playing, we found The Blight being now nearer than ever to our doorstep!"

As the elevator reached the top of the walls, they walked torwards the east section where The Blight was coming from, continue their talking.

"What about the king? Is His Majesty alright? Has the king decreed anything?" Agravain asked to Gawain the situation of the Lion King, wanting to know if she was okay now that the Holy City was on the brink of being possibly attacked by a substance they weren't very familiarized with.

"For what I know, the king is well and within his throne room despite His Majesty not having made any declaration about this recent sudden turn of events!" Gawain said, believing that Artoria Pendragon was secured and fine within the walls of the city's giant castle. "But if I had to guess what our liége would command us to do, it would be protecting and defending this city from any menace until our dying breaths!"

"And as knights, we shall attend to that fulfillment of our king's wish!" Agravain added, always ready and prepared to protect the Lion King's interests.

"She's within the palace then..." Peko thought back to that small moment where he noticed Artoria Pendragon's hand slightly shake when they witnessed the corpse of Olgoi-Khorkhoi from afar. "Is she really that afraid to that point?"

"We've arrived! Be careful!" Gawain told them, having reached to the east section of the city's walls, already occupied with a batallion of soldier knights, sharpening and doing the final adjustements to their weapons. Once there, they looked over from the top of the wall into the apocalyptic scenario in front of them. A huge sea painted in black, all the way from the mountains from afar to the walls up close. Every single inch of land drenched in dark, not a single thing left uncovered. Not even the smallest of peebles.

"The Blight is this large?" Peko asked in a dreading bewilderment, now being in a good location to grasp on how really vast The Blight was.

"It's as if we were staring to the void itself." Gawain picked up a small stone and threw it off the wall and into The Blight, everyone watching it drown in the liquid once it landed. "I can't even imagine what could happen if we fell into it. Be caref-huh?"

Getting his attention, the Knight of the Sun as well as everyone that was in that sector gazed at something that was now emerging from The Blight. And it wasn't just a single thing, but countless ones, scattered across the dark sea. Figures taking mold and shape as they surfaced from the dark depths. Beings with horns and a devilish appearence.

Peko immediatly recognized the form of the enemy. "Those are..."

"The enemy as revealed itself! Get ready to defend the glorious city of your king!" Agravain exclaimed, railing the present troops in the local to get into position and fire at the enemies that were now appearing from down below.

"On my signal you shall attack!" Gawain exclaim, getting to the edge of the walls alongside the soldier knights who pointed their bows, about to fire at any moment.

"I-I can help too!" Peko speaked, wanting to lend them some aid.

"Hush! Do not think we cannot see the obvious here!" Agravain reprimanded the boy. "The Young Finsternis place in this will be in his own cell until the battle is over!" The knight proceeded to hand Peko to a soldier knight nearby. "Take him and lead the prisoner to his room! Make sure from there he won't get out!"

However, Peko seemed to persist. "But I'm not trying to fool you! I truly wanna help! You know I'm capable to fight!" He was being half-honest here. By one side, Peko could use this as a good opportunity to finally flee from the Holy City with the usage of Árma Hermes. All of the conditions seemed to be reuniting for that. But the other side also wanted to help the knights of the Round Table against The Blight since his survival was also at stake here. "If you just take these handcuffs out I-"

"Silence!" Agravain shouted, not giving ears to any of Peko's begging. "I've had enough with you! I won't be hearing to your lies and mischiefs any longer!"

"..." Gawain just stared at them silently. Having trained in secret with Peko, his mind pondered if their honorable prisoner's help wouldn't be actually beneficial for them. And as he did that, the Knight of the Sun did not saw The Blight finishing its final advances, finally making contact with the city's walls. Consequently, shadow branches begun to go up the wall at a great speed.

"But I'm not-" As Peko was still insisting of the knights letting him help them, the soldier knight that had been tasked to take him away from there abruptly pushed Peko by the arm.

"Do not rebel against Sir Agravain's orders you brat! You shall do as ordered and get back to your-argh?!"

Unfortunately, the soldier didn't had the chance to finish it as one of the shadow branches, having climbed the wall and now on the ground, appeared without warning and taking off from the floor, impaled the soldier right in the head, leaving his corpse hanged as everyone around reacted with pure shock.

"!" As both Peko and Agravain stared with their mouths open, Gawain noticed more of the dark brenches reaching to the top of the wall and attacking their forces as the soldier knights tried to retalliate by firing their arrows, not seeming to do much effect. "Damn it!" Greeting his teeth, Gawain swinged Galatine torwards the dark branches, its fiery light able to disperse them for a moment only to come back again, beggining to taking over the entire ground and wall as the branches were now covering it in the same darkness as The Blight. Seeing that they were losing ground, Gawain was quick to act, rushing torwards Peko and Agravain, picking up the boy. "Everyone, jump!"

"W-Wha? Gawain?!" Peko exclaimed, dumbfounded as Gawain jumped out of the wall with him in his hands, Agravain also doing the same. That way, they avoided being stenched by The Blight's subtances that enveloped the entire east section of the wall in shadows before bursting into large spikes, causing some damage into the construction.

Falling into the ground, inside the Holy City, Gawain made sure to land with his back, that way protecting Peko from taking any harm to the fall. "Are you alright, Young Prince?" The knight asked as they stood in the middle of some debris of the wall.

"Y-Yeah. Thank you for that one, Gawain!" Peko responded, gaining a smile from the Knight of the Sun.

Next to them, Agravain got up from the ground, shoving away a huge piece of wreckage that was on top of him. "Tsk! We let our guard down for just a second and that happened!" He said in furstration, looking up to the huge dark spikes that formed on top of the wall in front of them. "I fear that the east section has already been lost!"

"But it ain't over yet!" Gawain speaked. "We have to make sure the other wall sectors are still standing and give them support!" He exclaimed before noticing something moving a few feet away from them. "Hm?"

As the dust of the wreckage settled down, the trio could see what was exactly moving.

"It's a soldier knight! He seems to be wounded!" Peko said, having been revealed that the thing moving was an injured soldier knight, having trouble to get up from the ground.

"H-Help...me..!"

Wanting to aid, Gawain was about to step up, only to be stopped by Agravain. "A-Agravain? What's wrong?"

"Look at his legs." Agravain simply remarked, making both the other knight and Peko take a look at the soldier's legs, seeing them all covered in darkness. The same one as of The Blight.

"His legs are..." Peko didn't even knew how to describe it, only that the soldier knight seemed to be in a great suffering because of that.

"If what Lancelot's reports say its true, then there is nothing we can do for that soldier." Agravain continued to stare at the soldier knight, narrowing his glare.

"But why are you saying that?" Peko questioned.

"You'll see soon why." Agravain replied back, the soldier knight slowly crawling torwards them while still asking for help. "The Blight, according to what that fool told me, is a very dangerous thing. A power to corrupt."

"H-Help me...!"

"Like a parasite that takes over you."

"H...elp...me!"

"It disfigurates your body."

"Hel..p..me.."

"Darkens your skin."

"..Elp...m...e..!"

"And corrodes your soul. Transforming into something unholy."

"H...H..el...elp...m...m..meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!"

Witnessing to the grotesque transformation and vandalization of the soldier knight into something demonic as Agravain told them the effects of the Blight, the now devilish looking and corrupted soldier knight let out an animalistic screech before mindlessly charge torwards them.

"It turned into a monster!" Peko shouted with a dazed expression.

Immediatly going up front, Gawain went to combat the sole enemy with Agravin standing behind and near Peko, making sure the boy wouldn't try to run away.

"Grr! This raw power!" In a tight clash with the enemy, Gawain noticed how the corrupted soldier knight seemed physcially stronger than an average one. "Is this the influence of The Blight in it?" Despite the harsh time, Gawain was able to win the clash and slice the enemy despite the attack not having dealt that much damage, resulting on the demon soldier to just take a few steps back.

While Gawain was fighting, Peko and Agravain saw the situation around them aggravating as more hostile identities came out from the shadows to surround them.

"We have company!" Peko said in alarm as he saw the returning shadow imps appearing once again but also a new type of enemy, that resembled hound like canine creatures, having no eyes and only sharp theeth.

"Just what we needed!" Agravain tsked before summoning his red chains and taking out his sword to fight as well. "Stay put and behind me! The Young Finsternis makes sure to watch his own back!"

"I have a better idea!" Peko replied. "How about I-"

"No! And not another word about it!" Agravain shut him off before beggining to fight the surging enemies, resulting to Peko just sighing in discontent. A person like Agravain would never accept doing that.

And yet, the outcome of the battle was looking dire. The corrupted soldier knight was taking more effort for Gawain to take him down than he had anticipated, being a tough opponent to take down even when sliced by Galatine's. As for Agravain, his chains were still holding off the enemy pretty well altough the more they appeared, the more difficult was for Agravain's chains to defeat them and keep them at bay. If things continued like that, it would only be a question of time until the enemy overpowered them by numerical advantage.

"Numeral of the Saint!"

Lightening up his sword in flames one more time, Gawain slashed the corrupted knight right into the core, finally killing it off. Unfortunately for him, it did not made the situation get better since as soon as he had killed the enemy, two more corrupted soldier knights appeared from the wreckage, heading to confront Gawain. "Of course there would be more." He said displeased before blocking the incoming attacks. "How are you doing back there, Agravain?"

"They don't stop proliferating like insects!" Agravai responded, commanding his chains to attack, having killed three enemies with it but only to see more popping out and multiplying. "If we have to go all out to defeat these creatures so be it!"

Standing in the middle, Peko could only watch the two knights having their own difficulties each. And even if he wanted too, the boy kept remorsefully in silence, knowing that suggesting his own help would only annoy Agravain more and possibly put him up for punishment. That's when Peko moved his face to stare at Gawain. The Knight of the Sun could be more open minded to that idea as well as that he wasn't as stern as Agravain, having been very kind to Peko so far to the point of even trainning with him when not supposed to.

"..." Peko knew however that he would be essentially abusing of that Gawain's kindness by appealing to it in order to get his hands free and finally fight. Nevertheless, Peko concluded that it was either that or they much likely would perish here.

"Kgh!" Slashing down an opponent and blocking the attack of the other one, Gawain was still with his mind deeply focused on the fight. Which then came to be temporarily disturbed as he felt heard a metallic noise from behind, turning around and seeing Peko right next to him, a simple movement showing his restrained hands to the knight, being enough to tell what he wanted to say to Gawain with that. "..." Yet, the Knight of the Sun was reluctant about that. He knew Peko was at heart a good person. But could he really trust him to help them at this moment?

"Ah!" Doing a gesture with his arm, Agravain continued to kill the enemies off and holding them back, seeing almost no end to the number of enemies that would replace the fallen ones. "These imps and hounds do not stop coming out from the shadows! Where the hell is Tristan and Mordred? Why are those two-" Hearing the sound of some piece of metal being broken to shredds, he turned around to see what was it. "Eh?"

"Done! Do not make me regret this, understood?" Gawain told to Peko as he had finished destroying the boy's handcuffs with Galatine.

"Understood! I'll be sure to help you!" Peko replied, rubbing and moving the wrists of his hands, having spent quite the long time trapped.

Agravain was baffled in what he was seeing. "Gawain! What the hell are you-"

"We have no much choice left, Agravain!" Gawain justified his action. "If the Young Prince says he will help us, then I say we give him the benefit of the doubt! You might punish me however you see it fit later!"

With the other knight's act explained, Agravain begrudgingly accepted it, aware that all the manpower they could get to fight off the enemy at this moment was crucial. "Uff, fine! Due to the hardships that we currently find ourselves in, I let this one slide! Make sure to be a competent fighter during the battle, Young Finsternis!"

"Didn't even needed to ask..." Peko replied, now with his hands finally free and liberated from any special handcuffs. With his mana energy also back, he wasted no time in giving assistance to Gawain, the knight still being the one doing the direct confrontation and up-close combat while Peko was serving as mostly support, taking chances to flank the enemies.

With the help of Peko, Gawain managed to defeat the cordupted soldier knights with more ease since now he wasn't the enemy's sole focus, with the combination of his attacks and Peko's working extremely effeciently against the opponents, the light ending up to destroy the corroded bodies of the soldier knights, finally giving them true eternal rest as The Blight's influence was eradicated from within. And being done with that, the duo then went out to help Agravain fight the other type of demonic enemies, the trio eventually coming out of the battle victorious.

"Luminary Route!"

Firing a light bullet, Peko ended up finishing off the last of the enemy, the three of them getting to have some small time to rest after such intense battle that had took them minutes. "Guess this was every of them for now."

Resting his sword, Gawain thought om how arduous the fight was. Looking up, he stared to the dark sky, completly blocking the sun and its light. And without that, the knight couldn't get to his strongest when fighting.

Meanwhile, Agravain picked up the broken handcuffs from the ground, analyzing its broken state. "I hope you do are aware of what you ended up doing with this, Gawain."

"I did it out of my own free will. The Young Prince didn't persuaded me or anything the like." Gawain responded, defending Peko from possible accusations from Agravain. "As long as he aid us and doesn't try escaping, I see nor problem with that."

"I have my worries about that." Agravain replied, moving his vision torwards Peko.

"Well, I'm still here, aren't I?" Peko told to the knight. "If this battle also determines my survival, it's obvious I'd wanna fight just to make sure I don't end up dead in case we fail to protect the Holy City."

"Valid concerns I suppose." Agravain commented, finding the boy's explanation a bit reasonable. "However, that does not mean I'll lower my guard with you now that you're helping us, Young Finsternis." Warning him of that, Agravain turned around to look at Gawain. "What sector do you think we should move onto next?"

As that was happening, Peko put a hand in one of his pockets, searching for something, feeling its contact. "Yep! It's still here!"

"I'd say we go to the main gates." Gawain proposed the idea to Agravain. "If The Blight is able to invade from there, then I fear huge part of the Holy City will be lost."

Agravain agreed with Gawain. "We shall head there then." He then looked at Peko behind him. "You heard it too. Do follow us, Young Finsternis!"

Being called, Peko didn' wasted time in coming along. "Not going anywhere!"

And so the three made their way torwards the main gate section of the Holy City, going through its streets to reach there, having to defeat some more enemies here and there along the way. Eventually, they reached to their destination.

"Sir Agravain! Sir Gawain! Glad that you two are here!"

A soldier knight near the main gates talked to them as he saw the three in the area's vacinity.

"What's the concern? Is the enemy trying to breach through the main gates?" Gawain asked.

"I do not know! But by the sound coming through the other side of the gates it seems like it!"

And truly, huge loud noises could be heard from the other side of the main gates.

"It sounds quite turbulent! The enemy must really be trying to force their entire way in!" Peko commented.

"We will take care of that problem! The east section of the walls have been damaged! Reunite some troops and go there to prevent an infestation of The Blight from spreading further!" Agravain ordered to the soldier knight who proceeded to do as instructed.

"The elevator up there is broken! We will have to use the stairs!" Gawain informed Peko and Agravain, seeing that the elevator to transport them up wasn't working.

Going up the stairs while hearing all the chaotic noise of battle and commotion, the trio reached to the top of the wall and approached to the margin, expecting to see waves of enemies, they were surprised in seeing something else.

"Please! Let us inside!"

"We don't want to be killed by The Blight!"

"Open the gates! I beg you!"

"Those wretched demons will kill us! Open up!"

"It's...the townsfolk." Peko murmured in shock upon seeing the thousands of people at the gates outside, yelling, shouting and begging in dispair to have shelter inside the city, wanting to be save from the calamity.

"They went all the way from town to here? The Blight must have ravaged the place then." Gawain assumed the reason for why the entire town population was here.

"The fools..." Agravain murmured, not looking satisfied at all by their presence, knowing that they were only putting themselves in danger by seeking refuge.

"Please let us inside! Please!"

"Don't let us die out here!"

Looking to the huge crowd, Peko spotted The Blight slowly approaching it from behind. "The Blight is about to reach them! We have to let them in!"

Staring at Peko as he heard that, Gawain gazed at the crank nearby, being the dispositive used to open and close the main gates of the Holy City. Walking torwards it, the Knight of the Sun was about to open it, only to be stopped by Agravain once again. "Agravain..."

"I know that look. Don't even think about doing it!" Agravain said, totally against the decision.

Peko protested. "But if we don't open, all the people down there will-"

"That's their problem!" Agravain replied back to Peko. "They have no one to blame but themselves for getting in the middle of a danger that will kill them! It's not our obligation to save them!"

Gawain tried to argue. "That is being way cruel! Can't we-"

"You want to talk about 'cruel', Gawain?" Agravain rised his voice to the other knight. "You, who slashes hundreds of this people at the entrance if they try to rebel or force their way in? Have you decided to have a change of hurt about that all of a sudden?"

"..." Gawain didn't had a response for that. What Agravain was telling about him was right, making the knight reevaluate what he was about to do.

"I'm preventing you from getting punished again, Gawain! Do you think the king will tolerate having all these people inside the Holy City with no Holy Selection? His Majesty would have you killed for that!" Agravain continued, trying to convince Gawain to not open the gates. "You are a loyal knight to the king, are you not? One of his very best! Are you honestly going to betray His Majesty's trust due to a moment of fragile kindness? This situations require to be acted upon rationalism! Not to mere emotions! Who knows how many rebels and enemies that wish for our downfall are amongst that crowd? Will you take that risk of letting them in?"

"Stop it! Gawain should be able to think for himself! Not through you!" Peko said angrily to Agravain, not wanting him to dictate what the Knight of the Sun should do. "Gawain. Please..." Peko stared to Gawain, wishing that he would do the right choice here.

Letting out a repressed breath, Gawain lowered his head before sadly staring back to Peko. "I'm sorry, Young Prince." He said, ending up breaking the cronk into pieces, the gates no longer able to be opened. This was his decision. One that distraught Peko and contented Agravain.

With that, the fate of the poor innocent was sealed as they continued to desperatly imploring to enter as The Blight approached and surrounhded the crowd of hundred of thousands of people.

"Please! Open the doors! Open-Huh? W-What's this? N-No! No!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME! AAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"MOVE ASIDE DAMMIT! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

"PLEASE! SOMEONE AT LEAST TAKE IN MY BABY! MY BABY!"

"WE DID EVERYTHING TO STAY IN LINE AND PLEASE YOUR BASTARD OF A KING'S INTERESTS! WHY DON'T YOU LET US IN?!"

"WHY?! WHY ARE WE BEING PUNISHED LIKE THIS?! WE MADE SURE TO FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS! SO WHY?! WHAT SIN DID WE COMMITED TO DESERVE THIS!?"

"..." Peko's heart ached at every agonizing scream of terror heard by the crowd that would slowly be diminuished and devoured by the darkness of The Blight. The boy could only wonder how it was possible for some people to be okay with letting others die in such way.

"The Young Finsternis does not have to see it if he doesn't want to." Agravain told him, his eyes not even blinking while staring at the tragedy happening. "But it is moments like these, that shapes true resilient kings. If only you were older, you'd undertsand it." Telling him that, Agravain then looked to the bleak face of Gawain, the Knight of the Sun also staring down at the townsfolk dying.

How they feverously wanted to live. So much so that they would trample over each other while running torwards the closed main gates, banging their meagers fists into it while weeping and crying for they realized no matter what, that would be the end of them with nowhere to run. Gawain should already be desensitized to it by now. This was barely any different from the killings he would do as Agravain stated. Yet, no matter how much he surpressed his feelings, the Knight of the Sun felt a faint lose of hope when seeing this.

"You did the right choice, Gawain." Agravain told him. "Do not let other thoughts and cries say otherwise.

"I...I did." Gawain replied despite not being so sure of himself. What would Gareth and Gaheris think of this if they were alive? Alas, the duty he had to the king speaked louder.

As the last cries from the poor innocents were drowned by the black sea, their bodies were then defiled and transformed into more demonic entities. When starting the day, none of these unfortunate souls thought this would be the last one of their lives.

Agravain, not being a sentimentalist, begun to give orders to the soldier knights in the zone. "Quick! Proceed to create big torches and drop on those demons down there!"

But as he had given that order, the ground where they stood begun to shake, shortly before the dark branches appeared at the top of the wall, havins escalated the main gates sector as well.

"Already here?!" Peko exclaimed to how fast the branches went back to appear.

"Fire at it!" Agravain ordered, pointing at the branches before the soldier knight attacked it, some ending up being impaled and dying in response.

"We can't lose this sector of the walls!" Gawain swinged his sword at the incoming branches, preventing it from gaining ground. "If the walls crumble, the entirety of demons will get inside!"

"Got it!" Peko replied, immediatly beggining to fight as well. However, the branches wouldn't be their only worry as enemies begun to sprout from the ground already infected by The Blight. "Great! More of them!"

"Resist! Don't let them advance even one more centimeter!" Agravain proclaimed to the troops as he moved his chains around to fend off against the opponents.

But despite of the effort of the trio and the soldier knights that were still alive to expell the enemy from the walls, it wasn't being enough, the branches and demons slowly surrounding them. Thankfully, more help had jus arrived.

"Knight of Crimson Thunder!"

Coming in a flash, they all saw Mordred arriving and delivering a strong kick to one of the dark branches, knocking it out from the walls.

"Mordred!" Peko exclaimed happily.

"In Sonorous Praise of Love!"

From above, arrows fell into the enemies, killing a huge quantity after the sound of a note was played.

"You're here too, Tristan!" Gawain said, seeing the Knight of Lamentation arriving to the place as well.

"It was about time!" Agravain told to the two knights who had finally showed up.

"Gonna ask why we took so long?" Mordred replied. "As if we could be at two places at the same time!"

"We can explain that later." Tristan speaked. "For now, let's try to not worry our king about losing this precious city, shall we?"

Now, with the addition of Mordred and Tristan to the group, the battle begun to turn into their favour, progressingly taking out and eliminating all of the demonic enemies from the top of the walls before reaching to the remaining dark branch that was still standing. Taking some good minutes, the party was able to cut it down, having stopped the current enemy wave from invading through the main gate section, the gates continuing to be as closed as ever. But they knew it didn't meant this small scale war was over yet, having descenced to the ground floor to take some rest and discuss while things seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"So? What made you both take such time in arriving to our location?" Agravain questioned Mordred and Tristan. "I doubt the small number of citizens were being too hard for you to handle."

"Pff, as if!" Mordred replied. "We were just checking all of the other sectors of the wall before arriving to this one!" She revealed to the rest.

"Indeed. We went over to all of the other sectors to see if The Blight was doing any movements there as well." Tristan continued the explanation.

"Well, the east sector and the main gates were already attacked. What about the rest?" Gawain asked.

"Hmm." Tristan frowned a bit. "Our situation is more dire than you might think."

"Seriously? Did all of the other sectors been attacked or are under attack?" Peko asked a bit alarmed.

"Shut it! No one is talking to you!" Mordred told him rudely. "By the way, who's idea was of taking off your handcuffs? Did you become our buddy or something?"

"Young Finsternis is only free for now to help us fight The Blight." Agravain explained to the Knight of Treachery. "Once this is over, I make sure he goes back to his cell. A decision I myself 'approved'." He then stared at Tristan. "What have you witnessed then to deem our situation way dire than expected?"

"Simply putting, The Blight has surrounded the entire Holy City." Tristan revealed. "No matter at which point of the walls you're staring from, the entire landscape around us as turned into a black sea. Thus, this entire city is now but a small island in the middle of that sea, with us trapped in it."

"You're saying we are stranded here? With no possibility of getting out?" Peko asked, thinking now how exactly he would be able to escape if the entire land arround the Holy City had been reclaimed by The Blight.

"But as a positive, our other enemies will also be unable to get in!" Mordred smirked.

"Which doesn't apply to the current ones we're fighting." Gawain told her. "If this attacks were only the first wave, it will only be a matter of time until the second one happens. And the one after that."

"Continuing non-stop until the Holy City gets entirely consumed." Peko concluded.

"I believe we must go see His Majesty." Agravain said to the rest of the group. "We must hear what orders the king has for us that can help us overcome this problem."

"Keh! Right. Because he is the answer to everything." Mordred sneered.

"It is either that or wait for our deaths unless a miracle happens." Tristan replied before smirking to Peko. "Maybe if we sacrifice the Young Finsternis, this looming Blight will be satiated and go away?"

"Very funny." Peko replied with a bothered face.

"I think we shouldn't waste time anymore." Agravain told them as he begun to walk. "We must head to the throne room and s-"

"Knights of the Round Table! We have an emergency!"

A soldier knight appeared torwards them, having came from a few areas more deep into the city.

"Figures." Mordred rolled her eyes, not even looking to the soldier.

"What's the problem now?" Gawain asked him.

"It's a-...!"

Before he could say what it was, they all heard loud footsteps coming from behind the soldier knight, who frighteningly moved away to show a monstrosity of an enemy: An amalgamation of corrupted soldier knights, all of their bodies grafted to one another, creating a disjointed being with several limbs that carried many weapons, being taller and wider than an average soldier knight.

"It's that thing!"

The soldier knight exclaimed in panic as he runned away, passing through the knights of the Round Table before being shot down nonchalantly by Tristan.

The Knight of Lamentation sighed. "We really should have more competent soldiers."

"The corpses of many corrupted soldiers put together?! The Blight is capable of doing even that?" Peko said with some horrified awe by the presence of such creature.

"I can already tell its sending stronger opponent to defeat us!" Gawain drawn out Galatine. "Stay prepared!"

"We will also aid y-"

"No! You stay in your positions!" Agravain told the soldier knights to back off. "We will take care of this one! Go and guard the main gates and the other sectors!"

"Eh! Now you said it well!" Mordred smiled rebelliously as she stepped forward, eyeing the great enemy up front. "Oi, shortie! Have you ever seen an ass kicking session before?" She asked to Peko.

The boy was taken a bit off guard by the question, not knowing how to respond. "H-Hum.."

Final Fantasy XV OST- Veiled in Black

"Because you're about to partake in one!" Mordred exclaimed, already charging torwards the agglomeration of corrupted soldier knights, her Clarent parrying the blows as she advanced quickly.

"Always so obstinated, that imbecile." Tristan commented as he pointed his bow to one of the enemy's arms and fired an arrow at it, destroying the arm that was about to attack his companion, allowing Mordred to slash the demon on its center.

Gawain also went forward to join Mordred, clashing with the axes and swords of the enemy on its left while Mordred attacked it on the right, both knights working together, dodging and hitting the enemy back. As the demonic creature jumped out of the way to avoid the attacks from the duo, it found itself now being shot at by Tristan, relentlessly playing the strings of his bow, sending arrow after arrow torwards the enemy who despite the countless bodies attached, sprinted the best way it could to dodge the arrows, destroying some buildings in the process as it runned through them. Agravain decided to give an hand, sending his chains after the monster, able to catch its main legs and bring it down, Tristan's arrows hitting the enemy at the same time.

Peko was amazed by the collective work the knights of the Round Table were putting to defeat the enemy, showing how skilled they were together. "This is what's like when they fight alongside each other?"

"Young Finsternis! Don't just stand there watching! Do something as well!" Agravain shouted, taking Peko out from his train of thoughts.

"R-Right!" Peko replied immediatly, going to the front to also help. Reaching there however, the boy saw the creature violently resist Agravain's chains, breaking them apart, getting up and releasing a guttural scream as its arms grew into something more feral and mouths with sharp teeth begun to form on its grafted body. "It looks we pissed it off!"

"Great! It will be more gratifying to kill him that way!" Mordred replied, enjoying the battle and heading torwards the creature again.

Giving her back up, Peko fired a light bullet torwards one of the arms that moved to attack, altough an arrow from Tristan blew it up first, surprising the boy. "Huh?"

"Can you do it faster than that?" Tristan commented behind Peko with some mockery, resulting in Peko to pout annoyed to the knight as the two entered in a sort of competition, Peko's light bullets and Tristan's sound arrows competing to see which one could take down and block more attacks of the enemy withPeko using all of his light bullet skills at his disposal.

As the enemy was being bombarded by the long range attacks of Peko and Tristan, swinging the countless weapons it had to deflect them, its sharp mouths clashed with Mordred, the Knight of Treachery holding one with her sword and kicking the incoming second one. "Take this shithead!" She exclaimed, grabbing back her sword from the first mouth and slashing out the second one from the body. As the enemy rettaliated by swinging a spear torwards her, Mordred avoided it by jumping right above it, parrying another weapon of the creature before landing on top of it and piercing her sword deep within its skin.

However, the enemy wasn't dead yet, now struggling and moving abruptly in order to make Mordred fall off from its body. Gawain decided to take advantage and attacked it from behind with Galatine, also piercing his sword on the enemy's body, causing more damage. Yet, the Knight of the Sun wasn't done with it. Deciding to take things a step further, Gawain put all of the strenght into his arms and begun to lift the enemy's body, that was bigger than him, from the ground. "Ggghgrrraaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"O-Oi! Slow it there!" Mordred replied as she was dumbfounded on how much strenght Gawain was putting on Galatine in order to rise the creature from the ground while it desperatly tried to attack Gawain on his back by stretching its arms.

"G-Gawain?!" Peko was also astonished by the sheer power of the Knight of the Sun. It seemed he truly was the physical strongest of the Round Table.

Using his chains, Agravain quickly restrained all of the creatures limbs and some more, putting it almost immobilized. "It's exposed! Attack its core now!" He exclaimed, Mordred having got out from the top of the enemy.

Aiming at it, Tristan fired an arrow, tearing off the enemy's dark skin, revealing a dark polluted sphere inside the body. "The glory is yours, Young Prince." The Knight of Lamentation said to Peko, as a way to tell him to deliver the finishing blow.

Assured, Peko tightened the grip on his sword as he sprinted torwards the enemy and jumped torwards its dark core. "Aaah!" Swinging down his sword, Peko pierced the demonic entity's core, feeling his own heartbeats accelerate as he was killing the creature who shaked uncontrollably, his sword becoming brighter by the second until the entire grafted body of the creature exploded into pieces of dark sand, fading away. The battle was over and they had won.

Having fell to the ground, Peko took some time to process all of the rush this fight was, proceeding to clean his own face from the small bits of dark sand that had hit it. "Pheww! It's done..." Peko said in a deep breath, taking some rest before seeing Gawain appearing in front of him, a smile on his face.

"Well done, Young Prince." He congratulated Peko, offering him a hand to get up. "You did well."

Peko smiled happily to Gawain. "I think you did better than me." He took Gawain's hand and got up from the ground, having the idea of doing an high five. "Hey. D you wanna..."

"Hm?" Looking at Peko's hand, Gawain chuckled a bit with amusement. "Of course." He said, doing an high five with Peko who laughed a bit.

Turning around, the boy asked the same thing to Mordred. "And what about you?"

Mordred didn't seemed that much interested. "...Psst! Oh why the heck not?" She let out a smile escape from her lips as she also high fived Peko. "You weren't half-bad, shortie." She said, scratching a bit the scars on her face.

"Eheh. Thanks." Peko replied. For a moment, it was as if the Mordred he had met back in London had returned for a short time. "Oh! And one more thing..."

"Leigheas!"

Peko used his curitive spell on the knights. "This should help your fatigue go away a bit faster."

"Don't celebrate yet. This war is yet to pass." Agravain told them to slow down their spirits. "Most surely The Blight has more in store to attack us with."

"Precisely. This is a conflict that won't stop until either side is finished for good." Tristan agreed.

"How about you two don't be a little optimistic instead?" Mordred replied to them. "Like, good lord, can't you let a person celebrate the small wins?" And as soon as she had finished saying that, a violent quaking occured, the entire ground and city trembling immensly around them, almost making the party lose its balance as a deep and harsh-sounding noise growl. Mordred was annoyed by it. "Tsk! What the fuck is it n-!?" And as she turned around, she and all of the group stared in unsettling awe as they stared at what made the huge noise.

Towering way up in the skies, the size and height easily surpassing that of the walls and maybe even the tallest tower of the Holy City's castle. A true behemoth of gigantic proportions, quadruped, with a face that looked an hybrid between a rhino with a bull, having three huge horns that could be as tall as skyscrapers. To this ginormous beast, everyone in the city below it looked like mere ants as it gazed at them with its red glowing eyes.

"That's...an enemy too?" Gawain questioned, terror-strucked by the vreature to the size of entire mountains.

"Something that large, a single footstep of it would be enough to squeeze majority of the Holy City." Tristan commented, a single drop of sweat falling from his face.

"The walls are completly useless to a creature that big." Agravain noted.

"Then...what are we supposed to do?" Peko asked them, not having expected the things to quickly go even to a worse turn. "That creature looks as big as the Leviathan!"

"Well, a target that big is impossible to miss, right?" Mordred said, trying to see the positive aspect of it. "This is-"

"Aaaaaaah! It's bruning! Burning everywhere!"

Looking forwards, the group saw the area in front of them entirely envoloped in dark flames, burning the unlucky soldier knights that were there.

"Seems another attack again! Get ready!" Agravain told to his companions as they all got prepared to confront what was about to come out of that fire.

However, something wasn't sitting right for Peko as he stared to those flames. He had a feeling. A feeling he had seen those flames before in burning halls.

"!" Peko's eyes widened as his mind begun to go unstable, being overriden by a wave of barely percetible memories.

.

"NohiuhdbodMatterbisbabboWhatuhdbobHappens"
"uyvu
NovvdyubuMatteriubibdoWhatnodiwjhe9ioHappens"
"
NobwuiuqheMatterbnfiosnfWhatdpofobdiHappens"
"bi7yvuNoubduqvjdoMatterbuibfidWhatioboiiieybHappens..."

"Remember.
Better Days Will Come."

.

"Ghg! Ghghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Feeling as if his head was about to split apart in an agonizing and unbearable pain, Peko let out a scream of distress as he fell to his knees, dropped the sword and brought both hands to his head, alarming all of the knight near him.

"Y-Young Prince!" Gawain shouted as he immediatly grabbed Peko's body. "What's wrong?"

"Hold it there shortie! Pull yourself together!" Mordred also went to check on Peko.

As the flames grew hotter and larger, a figure begun to walk out of the fire, wearing nothing but a ragged cloth.

"An enemy incoming! Stay alert!" Agravain told to the rest.

"What is the deal of this scumbag here?" Mordred grabbed Clarent, already prepared to go against the figure.

Barely with his eyes open and functioning vision, Peko saw the glimpses of the mysterious dark figure that walked out of the fire, his brain somehow feeling he already had experienced something simillar. "Y-You..."

But before the knights could attack the figure and vice-versa, a golden light shinned brightly and powerfuly from the top of the Holy City's castle, gaining everyone's attention.

"That must be..." Tristan, like everyone else, figured out who could only be.


"How brash of you to have disrupted my kingdom in such way."

From top of her tower, the Lion king was with Rhongomyniad in her hand. At first, she thought her knights alone would be enough to handle the problem of The Blight, but once she saw the giant creature appearing, Artoria Pendragon knew she had to step in. "Honestly, it's comprehensible. You decided to take down the major threat as first thing to do when arriving to this Singularity. Namely, me."

"Howbeit..." Putting her lance even higher, the Lion King was about to activate its Noble Phantasm. Having recently acquired a portion of Peko's light, she was certain the power of Rhongomyniad had increased. "We wouldn't let such pandemonium to invade and stain this city that costed me greatly to build and harbors my aspirations!" Gathering all light she could muster, Artoria Pendragon gave to the monster a galled stare before looking down on the city area near the main gates.

"You have defiled my garden for long enough! It does not accept heinous like you!" Exclaiming, the Lion King liberated the power of Rhongomyniad. "Go back to the void from whence you came, Man of Sin!"

"The Lance That Shines to the End of the World: Rhongomyniad!"


"It's the king's Noble Phantasm! Everyone, get down!" Agravain yelled to the entire group as they shielded themselves from the giant beam of light coming all the way down from the castle's summit, aiming torwards the figure in front of them.

Not only that but Rhongomyniad also aimed to the giant rhino-bull demon, hitting the entire wall sector of the Main Gates, eradicating and purging everything with its vicious yellow light to the point a huge explosion erupted, raising huge clouds of smoke and dust all the way to the surrounding areas of The Blight.

.

.

.

As the sheer blind brightness of Rhongomyniad dissapeared, the group of knights opened up their eyes to see the entire scenery in front of them completly obliterated, a portion of the wall and the main gates having been reduced to ashes, leaving behind a huge heating line of smoldering earth. The dark sky was no longer there, going back to the normal with the colours of a sunset's beggining. There was also no remaining traces of The Blight left behind nor the giant demon.

"Guess this was it. We've won the battle." Agravain let out a breath of relief, seeing that the Holy City managed to stand despite the huge material and militar loses.

"And yet, a chunk of the city was destroyed while saving it. How sad." Tristan commented, seeing the huge gaping space left in the wall. "If our other enemies get news of this, we won't have as much of a solid defenses as before this attack."

"I know. Which is why we will begin its reconstruction in a few hours from now." Agravain stated, already planning on what came next.

"Sheesh! Not even a minute to rest?" Mordred told him. "Are you that much of an workaholic?"

"We are near to complete our king's goal. We cannot allow to fumble this during its final stages." Agravain replied, proceeding to turn around. "But first, Young Finsternis, you shall be-hm? Where is he?" The knight asked as he wasn't seeing Peko anywhere.

"What? I swore he was just by my side a few seconds ago." Gawain said in surprise as he noticed Peko was no longer near him.

But before any of the knights could start searching for the boy and wonder where he was, they all heard the sound of a sharp engine coming from behind a pile of rubble. Finding it suspicious, Gawain approached it with Galatine in hand, the possibility of being an enemy that was hidding from them. But as the Knight of the Sun was about to reach for the pile, an advanced silver motorcycle of the latest technology appeared suddenly from above the rubble, bewildering all of them who watched the vehicle in midair as if all was in slow motion.

And the motorcycle's conductor was none other than Peko himself.

"This is now! My chance: Árma Hermes!" As soon as the motorcycle's wheels landed on the ground, Peko hit the gas and made the vehicle sprint at a sound breaking speed, reaching to the wall's frontier in a matter of a second.

"Dammit! He's escaping! Don't let him!" Agravain shouted in anger, seeing the prisoner they had so much care to keep here was now about to escape through their fingers.

Preparing his bow, Tristan was about to take a shot at Peko and his vehicle. But once he saw the distance the motorcycle already was from them, the Knight of Lamentation gave up. "It's no use. He's already far enough from my arrows reach."

With the blood boiling, Agravain tried his best to not start throwing insults at his companions. "You...Hmmmm, Gawain." Grumbling, he stared to the Knight of the Sun. "It was worth it, wasn't it?"

"I..." Knowing that Agravain was more than justified to be angered at him, Gawain did not tried to defend himself. "My apologies..."

"Apologies won't bring our prisoner back!" Agravain shouted. "All of this care, this planning, this performance of a task! All of this to be thrown to waste in just a space of seconds! I should strip you of your armour and give you a beating right here and now!" He said. "And after that, you should go after Young Finsternis on foot! Perhaps that's what you should do right now! To go-"

"That is enough, Agravain." Speaking from behind, the Lion King appeared to her knights unexpectedly, her presence alone seemingly calming down Agravain.

"Y-Your Majesty! You're here." Immediatly, Agravain bowed down to her alongside the other knights. "Despite the harsh battle, we were able to fend off against The Blight's army. Unfortunately, not only a part of the city was left utterly damaged, but thy esteemed guest fled away. I will make sure to already organize a hunting squad for You-"

"Do not worry with that matter anymore, Agravain. Let Young Finsternis fly away." The Lion King interrupted, slightly puzzling Agravain and the others.

"But my king...why?"

"I already got what I wanted from our prisoner." Artoria Pendragon explained, the power of Peko's light, his soul, now on her hands. "Instead, heed me and rebuilt the destroyed buildings and the wall. The final part of the plan shall enter in motion."


In the middle of the wastelands, being now some good miles away from the Holy City, Peko had escaped with success after days of spending time as the Lion King's prisoner. Finally, he was free. Free to reunite with his group and friends. All thanks to Da Vinci's creation: Special Program: Árma Hermes.

Since Peko saw and heard what it could do ever since he watched the recordings of Da Vinci explaining how the magic vehicle worked, he knew his escape opportunity would be through its usage, eagerly anticipating and waiting for the moment to use it. So when all of the knights were briefly distracted and gazing at the huge space left on the walls, Peko took the opportunity to sneak behind and activate Árma Hermes, hitting the turbo option to immediatly bolt away from there, not giving his captors any chance.

And he was surely loving it. "Eheh! This is pretty awsome! Can't wait to show it to the others!" Looking up to the twilight sky while feeling the winds of freedom hitting his face, Peko's objective now was to find where exactly where they in this Singularity. He deduced the mountains more to the west, altough they might had moved from there due to the recent attacks. It had been almost two weeks since he last saw them. They all were definetly worried about him. Specially Nala. "I wonder what they're up to now. It will be a matter of time until Doctor Romani catches my signal in the monitor and delivers the news to them."

"So? Liking the first experience so far?" The hologram of Da Vinci appeared on top of Hermes panel, being another recording. "I specifically molded it so that it could be of easy utilization for you. Say goodbye to all those long travels on foot I'd always hear you complain in North America. Árma Hermes needs almost no weight to keep it stable, doing it on itself, meaning you don't have to manage that while driving. I know if I applied the actual physiscs of a normal motorcycle you'd probably ended up falling off in a pathetic attempt to drive it."

"That's a bit harsh." Peko gave a sheepish smile to that comment.

"Árma Hermes was also sure to be equipped with containers of magic battery that fluxs and adapts speed magecraft and some additional enchantements to the rest of the vehicle, designed by yours truly!" Da Vinci explained more. "If you wanna know more about the motorcycle's other features, hit the button to the left of you. Altough I advice that while driving one must always keep his eyes on the road."

"Ain't that true." Peko smiled a little. He couldn't wait to reunite with Da Vinci and tell her how awsome and helpful this invention of hers was for him. She was truly a genius with no bounds. His mind then went back to the battle that had just happened. The figure he had saw amidst the flames. How it made Peko's mind go into a storm of a frenzy. The boy reflected. "What even was that figure? Why did it made my mind go into a frenzy? It's like I knew who truly was behind those clo-?!"

Spotting someone in front of him, Peko immediatly got a scare as he quickly changed the motorcycle's direction to the side, sliding it on the ground and avoiding hitting the person that had appeared out of nowhere. "T-That was close!" Peko said as he put Árma Hermes to a full stop before confronting the mysterious person. "Don't get youself in front of vehicles! That's dan-huh?"

Taking a good look at the person, Peko saw that all it was wearing was a simple yellow rain coat. A yellow rain coat. One he had heard it before when used to describe the appearence of someone earlier this day. Connecting the dots, his eyes widened as he couldn't believe on who he had just happened to stumble upon in the middle of the wastelands.

"Are you...the imposter?"

To be continued...


And that was it for chapter 110!

How it's good to be back writting this story. And yep, after a time period of THREE MONTHS and TWELVE CHAPTERS, Peko has finally escaped the Holy City! (Man I think he spent more time in the Holy City than anything else in this Singularity. Camelot is easily going to be the longest Singularity of this fic up until Babylonia comes right after)

But ladies and gentleman, our boy finally did it and with a motorcycle no less! So now he and Salter can become friends and do motorcycle racing.

This chapter was basically OPERATION Camelot: Defend the city from the enemy! And also to show what exactly The Blight can be able to do and its properties and that despite being the bad guys, the knights of the Round Table are still renowned warriors that know how to fight!

But you already know the drill here in Camelot. If one chapter is focused Peko and the knights, the next one will be on the rest of the Chaldea team.

So that's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 111! Peace!

P.S:

Peko (Working as delivery food man and stopping at a gas station): I hate my life! I hate my life! I hate my life! When will things finally get better

Thugs (Appear out of nowhere): Hands in the air kiddo! Give us all that you have!

Peko: Please don't! I barely have anything left with me! I sware!

Thugs: Hehe, then you won't mind if we stole you the motorcy-

Cú Alter (Appears menacingly from behind): Oi, hop off from this boy. He's a friend of mine.

Thugs: C-Crap! He's here!? We better skedaddle!

Peko: C-Cú Alter?! You're here?

Cú Alter: Went to buy some stuff. It's good to see you again. Hope they didn't hurt you bad pipsqueak.

Peko: N-Not at all! I'm glad you came to protect me. By the way, can I ask you something?

Cú Alter: Sure thing buddy.

Peko: Can I stay the night in your house.

Cú Alter: No. Medb is currently there and you don't deserve it after that accidental pun.