In the darkness as black as ink, Bedivere reached out and used his left hand to release a simple lighting spell, the twinkling glintstone lights were like fireflies, lighting up the way ahead. As a knight from the Age of Gods, although magic was not his specialty, simple lighting spells were easy enough for him.

With his right hand feeling ahead along the dark rock wall, Bedivere cautiously moved forward. The caves along the way were full of scattered human bones, which would make most ordinary people feel a chill down their spine. But Bedivere instead felt anger. Among the piles and piles of human bones, there were a number of small and frail bones. The size of them hints loudly to whom they once belonged to. They were young children, young children who had been devoured alive by this dragon.

As a knight... no, as a human, seeing this cruel scene would stir anger and grief even in the most hardened men. The innocent children's bones, abandoned in this cold and dark cave forever, never to rest in peace. Bedivere rarely felt such intense anger, the last time he had felt so was when he heard that Mordred had betrayed King Arthur.

After maintaining his illumination spell for several tens of minutes, Bedivere noticed a light appear ahead of him other than his illumination spell. Unlike the soft glow of his illumination spell, the light ahead was more like the reflection of something shiny.

Speeding up his pace, Bedivere soon found the source of this light. Coming out of the dark tunnel, he saw a huge and spacious stone chamber. The entire space was tens of floors high and at least several kilometers wide! Dozens of naturally formed huge stone pillars supported the ceiling, and the environment here was indeed comfortable enough for a dragon to live in. The source of the light he spotted earlier was the mountains and fields of gold and silver treasures. The floor of the entire stone room was filled with treasures, like a golden sea.

Bedivere swore that he had never seen so much riches in his life. How long had Falcurex terrorized this world to be able to accumulate such a fortune?

However, this astonishing wealth did not stir the slightest trace of greed in Bedivere's heart. This gold brought him more unease. When he set foot on this sea of gold, he felt a terrible pressure, a feeling of being watched by something dangerous.

The enemy is hidden while he is exposed. As a heroic spirit, Bedivere could feel the mana pressure of the dragon, but it was difficult for him to pinpoint the exact location of a dragon in these few kilometers of open space.

Every time his footsteps made a crisp sound on the golden sea, the feeling that he was being watched by a pair of eyes became even stronger. But no matter where he looked, the dragon just wouldn't appear. The only sound in the entire huge stone chamber was the crisp sound of Bedivere's footsteps upon the gold.

After tens of minutes of intense tension, just as Bedivere began to wonder if the dragon was absent, but a commotion immediately let him know that the owner of the Golden Sea was at home.

With surprising speed, a huge dragon's claw shot out of the gold coins not far from Bedivere and slammed into Bedivere's position, with such momentum that it looked like it was going to grind him into mincemeat!

Fortunately, Bedivere was also quick to react, and with a leap and a forward lunge, narrowly avoided this treacherous sneak attack. Knowing that his enemy had appeared, Bedivere hurriedly got up, looking a little disheveled. Swiftly he drew Balmung from his back scapboard, and prepared to face the dragon.

Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, the owner of the great claws finally stopped hiding and revealed his true form.

A 50-meter-long, jet-black dragon slowly crawled out of the golden sea, like a crocodile emerging from the water.

It had a triangular, serpent-like head, a sturdy body and limbs, and wings with purple wing membranes. The two antelope-like horns on his head make him look like a demon. His appearance undoubtedly conforms to the classic six-limbed dragon depicted in countless fairy tales. But what is creepy is his claws, which have turned dark red from the blood of countless victims.

"Hmph…. Not bad, worm..."

Falcurex's voice was low and hoarse, his tone full of arrogance and menace, his disdain for the human in front of him clear as day.

"A skinny little worm, and missing an arm? Hehehe...you're not even enough meat to fill the gap between my teeth!"

Falcurex slowly circled Bedivere, surveying him like a predator would its meal. However, upon observing Bedivere's appearance, his tone turned disappointed and mockful.

"You're the knight the Golden Dynasty sent to kill me? A half-crippled shrimp like you? You're going to make me laugh my head off!"

He couldn't help but burst out laughing derisively.

Bediverel was not affected by the dragon's ridicule. He stared at Falcurex without fear in his eyes, and asked sternly,

"Falcurex! You're here because you have dealings with the Kingdom of Inrud, right?"

"Oh? You've found out? Hmph!"

The dragon only had disdain for Bedivere's question, not the slightest surprise that it had been discovered.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore. The humans of Inrud have sacrificed everything in this territory to me. Just so they can have a thorn by your queen's side. From now on, this will be my land, I will be the only king here!"

As he spoke, Facurax spread his long wings like a peacock showing off its feathers, flaunting his power.

"Sacrifice?

Bedivere exclaimed in horror. If what Falcurex said was true, it meant that all human life in this fiefdom had been abandoned by the Inrudian court! The people, their property, their wives and children, their homes, had all become the dragon's price for hire!

"Ah...by the way, how did a skinny brat like you get tricked into coming here? Did they promise you some great glory or a beautiful woman? Hehe… those are the only two things that would interest knights like you."

Falcurex was clearly intrigued as he began mouthing off with little regard for the knight. In his eyes, this weak knight posed no threat at all. Apart from his somewhat passable mana reserves, there was nothing to see. Falcurex was only talking to him to pass the time. When he loses interest, there is only one ending for this knight...death! Although Bedivere cannot tell what expression is on his scaly face. But if he could, it would certainly be a mocking grin!

"Unforgivable..."

Said Bedivere to himself, lowering his head. Was he feeling embarrassed for the dragon's mockery?

No!

He was feeling ridiculous for being so naive! Why would he expect anything meaningful from the dragon in front of him? In the eyes of this monster, humans were just playthings that are at the mercy of its will! And for humans, Falcurex is nothing but a vile fiend that killed their loved ones and took everything from them! In the end, there is nothing but the purest conflict of species between Bedivere and the dragon in front of him! Faced with an alien creature that shared no morals with him, why try to reason with it?

So now, there is only one answer...

War!

"I will never forgive you!"

With his sword resting on his right shoulder, Bedivere let out a roar and charged at the dragon!

"Oh? What's wrong? Did I hit a nerve?"

Seeing Bedivere charging at him, Falcurex remained indifferent, but raised his right hand with the sharp talons ready to strike.

But Bedivere's charge was not without purpose! His target and his line of attack were clear: the belly of the dragon, the common weak point of all four-legged creatures!

Whoosh!

Frakurax's dragon claw slammed downwards with extreme speed, but Bedivere had anticipated his attack! He swerved to the right and avoided the attack! And then—

Slash-!

It was the sound of sharp metal cutting through flesh! Bedivere's sword slashed diagonally downward to the right, leaving a deep gash in Falcurex's chest!

"Gwaah! That hurts!"

Falcurex screamed in pain, and with a powerful leap of his hind legs, combined with the flapping of his wings, he quickly soared into the air!

"Damn brat! It's a sacred sword! This brat is using a sacred sword!"

Falcurex thought as he covered his wounds with his hands in the air.

"Damn it! Those bastards from the Angelic Order clearly said that the worms from the Erdtree only had a golden sacred sword! When did another one appear!

Falcurex was not shocked without a good reason. In this world, the only weapons or spells that can harm a dragon of his level and age are those of the Holy Sword class! The older a dragon gets, the stronger it becomes! And Holy Swords or spells of equivalent power are only possessed by the Church of Angels from the Kingdom Inrud or the Elementalist Order of the Empire. So...

"Why! Why do you have a sacred sword?! How did a stinking insect like you get a sacred sword!"

Fakirax roared, and at the same time he flew towards one of the huge stone pillars, using it as a foothold, and with a push of his strong limbs, he launched himself towards Bedivere.

Bedivere did not answer him, but stared intently at the dragon's trajectory. When the dragon charged at him with its claws bared, Bedywill rolled to the left, avoiding the impact.

But Facurax was no slouch either. Seeing that his attack had missed, he wasted no time and immediately assumed a fighting stance, facing Bedivere head-on and swinging his dragon claws from side to side!

Bedivere's eyes remained fixed on his enemy, and he avoided both attacks with a dodge and a backstep.

Then Falcurex lunged forward with a headbutt, which Bedivere avoided with a roll to the right. He then swung upwards with a vertical slash, before immediately jumping backwards to create distance.

"You little brat! I'll kill you!"

Bedivere's attack left a deep scar on Falucrex's lips, making his already ferocious appearance even more menacing!

Falcurex's ferocity increased, and he swung his claws forward at Bedivere. However, Bedivere avoided these attacks by a hair's breadth!

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! You're going to die!"

If an observer had witnessed the battle, Bedivere would have appeared to be responding easily and dominating the situation. But the two combatants knew how dangerous Bedivere's situation really was. As a dragon over a hundred years old, Falcurex's attack speed and timing were skilled and sophisticated, and not comparable to that of an ordinary dragon. His claw strikes in particular were so deftly angled that Bedivere had the illusion of fighting a sly and experienced swordsman.

Before they knew it, the fight between the dragon and the man had reached a hill in the middle of the sea of gold coins. Realizing that he was backed against the hill, Bedivere immediately judged that if he turned around and climbed up the hill, he would definitely reveal a weakness and allow Falcurex to take advantage of it!

With nowhere to hide and nowhere to retreat, with Falcurex's giant claws reflected in Bedivere's pupils, he had no choice but to fight back!

He swung his sword with all his might, and the dragon's claw was deflected!

"What? !"

Falcurex couldn't believe that his attack had been parried, so he swung his claws twice more in a row to prove his eyes had not been decieved.

Clang!

Clang!

Two crisp sounds of iron clashing rang out!

"Impossible! When did you get so strong?"

Falcurex's attack was blocked by a human. Is this possible?

Of course it is! Absolutely!

Bedivere is still a heroic spirit at the end of the day! And now his strength has been enhanced by Marika, his strength is already comparable to that of his friends from the Round Table!

While Falcurex was in shock, Bedivere again made his move, slashing his blade at the great beast. But Falcurex quickly reacted in turn, the dragon and the man exchanged dozens of blows. With each blow, Bedivere would either block it with Balmung or dodge it and strike back with a mana charged sword wave. Although he was still on the defensive, the odds were beginning to shift in his favor!

The battered Falcurex has already realized that he has no chance of winning purely through strength and skill. If this continues, he will be the one at a disadvantage!

Since he could not win a head-on battle, he would have to resort to underhanded tactics! Falcurex made a snap decision and, while Bedivere was busy avoiding his clawing attacks, he leapt forward, diving headfirst into the gold like a fish into water.

"Oh no!"

Realizing what Falcurex intended to do, Bedivere tried to stop him, but with the great weight difference between them, he was unable to stop Falcurex. The dragon's figure disappeared completely into the gold, as if the battle that had just taken place had never happened.

The battle was now back to the eerie silence of the beginning. Bedivere knew full well that the battle was not over. At this moment, Falcurex must be in some dark place that he could not sense, ready to launch a surprise attack at any time.

"Over there!"

Perceiving a tremor in a place among the sea of gold, Bedivere immediately turned to face it. As expected, Falcurex attacked Bedivere like a huge crocodile leaping out of the water! His blood-filled mouth was covered with sharp, snake-like teeth, and the stench of blood and rot hit Bedivere in the face.

With great difficulty, Bedivere swung his sword back, gathering his strength, ready to unleash his sword energy in a counterattack. However, this action fell right into the trap set by Falcurex!

Before he could strike back, Bedivere felt a tremendous force hit his left side. The terrifying force of the attack immediately sent him flying, until he crashed through two huge stone pillars, and finally landed at the base of a third pillar, the force of which left a deep crack in the stone.

"Heh, keep your eyes open, boy!"

It turned out that what had attacked Bedivere was the tail of Falcurex. Like a whip, his tail struck from the side while Bedivere was distracted by the frontal attack, catching him off guard! And the tip of the tail was charged with mana, which made the attack of this tail whip even more powerful!

Bedivere's situation was not optimistic! The power of the attack cracked his ribs, causing him to spit out fresh blood. The secondary damage from hitting the stone pillar caused Bedivere to be bleeding from head to toe!

"Bedivere, you're hurt! What's going on over there?!"

Just as Bedivere was reeling from the attack, a telepathic message from Marika rang in his head.

"Shit! You're hurt badly!"

From Stormveil, Marika could telepathically sense Bedivere's physical condition through the Servant Contract. Although in the past few days Marika had forced herself to attend to the affairs of the country instead of just sitting around every day sighing, her heart was always with Bedivere. So when she sensed that her lover had been seriously injured, she immediately used the Servant Contract to check on Bedivere's condition. The command seal on the back of her hand was ready to go; if needed, she could recall or heal Bedivere at any time.

"This is not good, I have to use the command spell quickly..."

"No, please don't!"

Marika, who was on the verge of using the command spell, was suddenly stopped by Bedivere's telepathic message.

[Author's recommended BGM: Monster Hunter OST-Proof of a Hero Rise Ver.]

"There's no need... If I can't even bear this little injury, I'd be ashamed to call myself a Knight of the Round Table."

Bedivere muttered to himself, forcing his severely injured body to stand up with all his willpower. At the moment, the blood on his forehead blurred his vision, but he could still distinguish the position of Falcurex in front of him. He could see him standing not far away, his mouth filled with fire and smoke!

"Damn, I never thought I'd waste my dragon breath on this cripple!"

Falcurex thought angrily. A dragon's fire breath was their killer move against powerful enemies and large armies, but now Falcurex had to use it against a mere human?

"If it weren't for that sacred sword of his, I wouldn't have to waste my energy like this."

Looking back at Bedivere, he was using Balmung as a crutch to hold himself up.

"No, Bedivere, you can't fight in this state!"

Marika's anxious voice still rang in Bedivere's head. But Bedivere was surprisingly calm, as if nothing had happened to him at all.

"Master, I told you, didn't I? I won't lose so easily,"

Bedivere's thoughts were full of confidence and determination when it was transmitted to Marika, without the slightest trace of cowardice.

"But—!"

"Please trust me, trust in our promise... I will bring you victory."

After saying this, Bedivere cut off their communication. At this moment, he needed absolute concentration to achieve perfect timing.

Holding his sword in front of him, Bedivere began to channel the mana within him. Despite his injuries, Bedivere still had plenty of mana to spare! Falcurex obviously had to use the safest method of dragon breath to kill him. Then Bedivere had to seize this rare opportunity to use Balmung's noble phantasm to break through his dragon breath!

"Die!"

With his dragon breath reaching its maximum output, and feeling the scolding heat in his mouth, Falcurex released his dragon breath!

A torrent of powerfully concentrated magical fire spewed from Falcurex's mouth, with the gold along its trajectory melted due to the high temperature!

Watching the flames come closer and closer, Bedivere knew the opportunity he had been seeking had come. In his mind, Bedivere recalled many emotions...the warmth and happiness he had felt with Marika, the grief at the destruction of the Knights of the Round Table, and the anger he felt when he held the arm of the dead child! For their sake, he must raise Balmung high and speak the incantation to release the noble phantasm!

"The evil dragon will fall. The world has reached its dusk. Here, I strike you down—Balmung!"

The sword of dusk's roaring mana pounced on the flames with a pillar of blue-green light, ripping them apart. The blast was unstoppable, tearing through the flames, the earth, and the air! Within a few seconds, the powerful mana blast had torn through all the flames and struck Falcurex with unrelenting momentum!

"What—!"

Falcurex was completely unable to react, unable to even realize what was happening. The energy from the noble phantasm easily pierced his dragon scales, cutting off almost half of his body vertically! The huge dragon arms and wings fell into the sea of gold coins, staining these precious treasures with deep red, hot dragon blood.

"Damn you!"

The dragon's blood splattered everywhere, and after a final dreadful shriek, Falcurex fell with a plop. The huge dragon's body fell among the gold that he loved so much.

"Haah-hah-haah-hah..."

Breathing heavily, Bedivere's exhausted body knelt on one knee, and his sword fell to the ground. Using a noble phantasm under these circumstances had placed a huge burden on his body. If Marika had not strengthened his spiritual core, his spiritual core would have long since shattered. Remembering the red vial of holy dew Marika had given him, he quickly took it out and gulped down a mouthful, as if drinking the wine of victory.

After the potion had healed his wounds, Bedivere picked up Balmung again. Holding the sword in his left hand, he got up and walked towards Falcurex. Bedivere had to cut off this dragon's head, otherwise he could not leave peacefully. Having seen Farkrax's cunningness, Bedivere did not rule out the possibility that he was playing dead.

He walked over to the dragon's head and raised his long sword high. By now, his strength had returned, he can easily cut off the dragon's head.

"I've got you, worm! You're coming to hell with me!"

Falcurex, while nearly cut in half, still retained his vitality! He opened his mouth wide one last time, determined to bite Bedivere to pieces and take him down with him!

And his timing and angle were perfect! He deliberately attacked from Bedivere's right side, and the timing was also when Bedivere raised his sword and was not on guard. The distance was such that he could not swing his sword to defend himself. Did Bedivere really have to perish along with this fiend?

No! Bedivere still had one weapon that he hadn't used yet! His silver arm!

Dropping the Balmung, Bedivere fell backwards, narrowly avoiding the attack! Then he activated his very own noble phantasm,

"Dead End Agateram!"

The silver arm extended a ten-meter light blade! In the past, the silver arm would not have had such power, but Marika's enhancement once again saved Bedivere and increased the power of his noble phantasm! Bedivere swung his right arm upward with great effort. The light blade formed from Excalibur easily cut off the evil dragon's head, ending his life.

Like a giant piece of trash, the head of the fiend fell and rolled to the side. Large amount of blood spurted from his severed neck, bathing Bedivere in it. However, Bedivere did not dodge, too exhausted from the battle. So he closed his eyes and lay quietly in the bath of dragon blood, enjoying the true peace after victory.

It was not until after an unknown period of time that Bedivere opened his eyes again. Lying on the gold coins for so long had caused him some back pain, and he dragged his tired body away from the battlefield covered in gold. On the way back, the oppressive atmosphere in the cave was swept away. Looking at the skeletons, Bedivere no longer felt sad. The bones that lie here have been avenged!

Finally, he walked out of the cave. At this time, the sky had been dyed yellow and orange-red. It was now dusk. He took out the signal gun Nobunaga had given him, loaded it according to the steps Nobunaga had taught him, and then shot the signal flare into the sky. With a loud bang, the signal flare pierced through the branches of the trees and flew into the sky, and finally burst into a greenish-blue spark, signifying the hero's victory...