I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

She frowned slightly: "But we only chatted briefly, we weren't really close." Although not much time had passed, the campfire and conversation that night seemed like a distant memory.

"That's not simple either."

The old man muttered, "'Prophet' Talisin has always been known for his mystery, especially after he took that form; very few people have ever seen him... This is a good thing. Because... it's too dangerous..."

"Danger?"

The holy sword trembled, and another beam of light swept across, bringing with it wisps of ominous black smoke. The Fisherman King seemed even more exhausted, muttering to himself, "A nightmare."

His eyes were still bright, but his consciousness was no longer as clear as before. He raised his head slightly, not knowing whether he was looking at the holy sword in front of him or at a memory in the river of time.

“It was a terrible nightmare. It has been going on for a long time, and many people, including myself, have been caught up in it... but only Talisin, only him, went into the dream willingly.”

“He’s dangerous. So when I learned… when I learned that Talisin was going to make a move, I knew your plan would fail… without a doubt.” The old man’s hunched body shrank further as if he felt a chill. “I hope… you can do me a favor. There’s some possibility about you…”

Guinevere listened to these fragmented words in silence.

“I’m trapped in a nightmare… It’s been like this for years, strange, all sorts of bizarre things… It could drive a person completely insane, but the sea god has protected me, allowing me to still think like a human… Talisin has a plan, he’s made a deal with certain beings to complete… to complete something. They need the Trident of the Sea God, and one step in that is that guy I sealed away, they want it, they want it…”

"Unlock the seal?"

"Yes, break the seal, and spread death and terror across the land..."

Bathed in divine light, the situation seemed to be improving, but the old man's condition worsened. He huddled up just as the girl had first seen him, nodding anxiously: "It's not too late. Do me a favor. Stop them before the seal is broken, stop them..."

As the Fisherman King was still speaking, Guinevere's vision suddenly went dark, only to return to normal a moment later. The space, which had been bathed in light and turned snow-white, visibly shook violently.

A sudden earthquake?

The girl was startled, but then she noticed that the light of the holy sword in front of her seemed to be dimmer than before, whether it was her imagination or not.

what happened?

A bitter laugh came from beside him: "It seems... it's already succeeded."

"Success? You mean, Talisin has obtained the Trident of Poseidon?" Connecting the dots from their conversation just now, Guinevere immediately understood the meaning behind the other person's words, and then she was taken aback.

She didn't ask the old man how he knew this; everyone has secrets, and besides, there were more important things to do right now than investigating the reasons. In the time it took to say those two sentences, before the Fisherman King could answer, the surroundings changed again—the intense light that enveloped the area slowly faded, gradually revealing the original castle scenery, with a faint crimson glow seeping in.

“If this continues, people will die… many people will die. To make the Tower of Radiance manifest, at least three divinely crafted weapons are needed. I don’t know… the origin of this sword, but I can tell that it possesses power no less than the Trident of the Sea God…”

The old man lowered his head, his voice, which escaped through his disheveled hair, was so soft it was almost an illusion: "The Poseidon's Halberd has been taken, but there's still some time before the tower disappears... Its power is waning, but what remains... is enough to purify the curse on you. Then... take the sword and leave this place to protect the seal; that's the best way."

Seeing that Guinevere still didn't move, he gave another bitter laugh: "I know about your agreement with Elaine."

As soon as he said this, the girl looked over. The Fisherman King quietly shook his head: "If Fisher survives... he and Elaine will accept the outcome."

A moment later, with a slight sway of her clothes, Guinevere finally stood up. Her wings were almost transparent, and the horns on her head had disappeared. Wisps of black mist enveloped her, obscuring her expression.

All I heard her ask was, "What should I do?"

The old man breathed a sigh of relief: "It seems... that sword has accepted you. As long as you touch it, you will naturally understand how to control its power..."

"it is good."

The light faded faster and faster, and the scene before her eyes kept changing, like two completely different pictures overlapping each other. Amidst the snow-white expanse, there were occasional glimpses of black walls, heavy doors, stained glass windows, and a red moon hanging high outside the window. Guinevere glanced at the woman on the chair who seemed to be asleep, gently bit her lip, and took one step forward, then another.

They arrived in front of the sword.

The holy sword let out a joyful cry, and the light that had dimmed on it shone brightly again, like a child trying to show off in front of his friends, trying to conceal the ever-appearing castle-like objects.

Guinevere felt as if something inside her body was being pulled outward by an invisible hand—this feeling had actually been there since earlier, but it had never been as intense as it was now.

She lowered her head again.

Just then, I saw the last black scale on my left elbow turn into wisps of black smoke, which disappeared without a trace when illuminated by the light.

Not even close.

"Hurry up..." the old man behind him urged again.

Just a little closer.

"Buzz—" The sharp blade trembled slightly before my eyes, producing a clear and melodious sword hum.

"Do you know what you're saying?" The woman with long, azure hair held a shimmering pearl in her hands, looking surprised.

"A possibility that offers the best of both worlds—"

boom!

Something exploded in my ears, a thunderous roar, followed by an incredibly real heat.

It was as if a raging fire was licking her cheeks and hair.

……

Guinevere smiled slightly, her mind made up. Without hesitation, she reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword. A brilliant light, incomparable to anything before, suddenly flashed across the gleaming blade, but it vanished in an instant, disappearing without a trace when she regained her senses.

He then raised his sword.

The power that did not belong to her was completely expelled from her body with this action, and the dragon wings that had sprouted on her back finally disappeared—this was also the last inhuman mark on her body—the next instant, all the light around her flowed into the longsword in the girl's hand, and with a burst of white light, the surrounding scenery transformed back into that ancient castle.

A scarlet full moon hangs high in the sky.

Countless dragon birds circled in the air, but none dared to approach this place. They only let out a few strange cries from afar, and the cold wind echoed, making it seem even more eerie and terrifying.

Guinevere exhaled, and before her eyes, the power she had banished from her body was gradually revealing its original form—skinny, jet-black wings, a pair of sharp claws gleaming with cold light, and several horns pointing skyward on a massive head.

The black dragon spread its wings, towering high above, its massive body taking up almost half the room. Despite lowering its head, its horns still touched the ceiling. It opened its left eye, its eye the same color as the moonlight outside the window, and stared at the girl.

It was the fifth son, Fafnir.

But unlike the previous time in the gray fog, the black dragon that appeared before us now had a somewhat transparent body, like an unreal phantom, and its left eye was lifeless, devoid of any emotion.

This is also a matter of course.

Because what appeared this time was not the real Fafnir, but the embodiment of the dragon's power. Boundless light converged on the sword's blade, and Guinevere knew that as long as she swung the holy sword, the curse that had plagued her for so long would vanish without a trace.

But is this really the result she wanted?

Guinevere's gaze passed through the black dragon's translucent body and landed on the old man who was still hunched over and huddled in the corner. On him, another illusory shadow appeared.

It was a writhing mass of flesh covered with dozens of tentacles of varying lengths and thicknesses, each tipped with a dark red eyeball—the same eyeball as the dragon's!

"really."

she whispered.

The scene I had once witnessed—a pink-haired woman in a white cloak kneeling and making a wish before a giant cauldron, people transformed into monsters—all those things that had happened in the distant past now overlapped with the reality before my eyes.

……

Tell me your wish.

"Revenge. I will take revenge on that king, and make that bastard who refused to obey me taste the humiliation I am feeling now!"

“State the price you are willing to pay.”

……

"I'm even willing to sacrifice my seven sons so far, if it means I can get my revenge..."

The pink-haired woman kneeling before the cauldron placed her hands on her forehead, answering the old druid draped in a bearskin beside her as if in prayer.

"...and all other costs that I am able to or unable to pay."

……

"Rejoice, for your wish will surely be fulfilled, for before you lies the secret treasure of Murias, the divine object originally possessed by the 'benevolent god' Dagda—the Cauldron of Wishes!"

……

Guinevere, sword in hand, took a step forward. The dragon's shadow seemed to instinctively sense the threat and involuntarily retreated. The Fisherman King, leaning against the wall, shakily stood up.

He gazed at that petite figure, and for a moment, it seemed to confuse her with something from the past.

In some scenes, he seems to still be a young man full of vigor, with a burning flame in his heart.

"...Another fisherman has died! Father, knights of the land, what are you all doing? Are you just going to let that sea monster run rampant like this forever?!"

“What else can we do? Even our brother Perinoa, who was as strong as a giant, almost died at sea. The best thing to do now is to do as Father said and evacuate the residents who might be affected as soon as possible.”

“Brother Peres! Everyone respects you, and Perinoa and I have always believed that there is no problem in this world that you cannot solve, but now you… ahhhhh, you have disappointed me so much!” The boy stomped his foot, overturned a table, and turned to leave.

“Alan…”

He tried to call out to the other person, but his call only resulted in a loud slam of the door. After a long silence, he slumped back into his chair.

"Is there no problem I can't solve...? But this matter can't be solved by strategy or numbers. What can I do... what can I do..."

As I turned the yellowed pages of the book in my memory, it was a cloudy evening when a polite knock came at the door.

"Hello."

Beneath the hood, a few strands of silver hair stubbornly stood up. A tall female magician, carrying a shepherd's staff, walked in with a smile and waved the envelope in her hand at him: "You must be the owner of this letter, His Highness Peres, right? And, if I understand correctly, the purpose of your letter inviting me here is to inquire about how to deal with that sea monster?"

"That's right. Although it's a very tricky problem, I believe the renowned Merlin should be able to offer some useful advice."

"Yes, of course, but..."

"but?"

"I'd like to confirm first, what price is Your Highness willing to pay for this? In other words, in order to defeat that sea monster, it might require the sacrifice of ten people, a hundred people, a thousand people, or... one person."

"at all costs."

“I see, then it’s simple. Your Highness just needs to follow this map, go to this place, and make a wish to the thing placed there… Although that thing was almost completely broken when I went last time, I think using it once or twice more shouldn’t… cause any major problems, right?”

"That thing?"

"Well... it's probably a big cauldron like this," Merlin said with a grin, gesturing as he spoke.

……

"I overestimated myself. That's why this happened. If I had known, I would never have made that wish. Even if someone had died, at least... at least, things wouldn't have ended up like this, beyond repair..."

"My child..."

For countless days and nights, in a daze, he constantly wallowed in self-pity, repeating such lamentations.

But all of this is finally coming to an end.

Even though he was powerless to deal with Talisin, powerless to fight against the being that existed deep in the nightmare and was plotting something, at least at the last moment, he still managed to find a possibility that could save his people.

"That's enough..."

His brief moment of lucidity was perhaps the world's final act of mercy. The faces of his parents, brothers, friends, and children appeared and disappeared before his eyes, and finally, the blonde, blue-eyed girl appeared again.

The old man was suddenly taken aback. A flash of sword light appeared, and Guinevere took another step, merging with and separating from the semi-transparent black dragon's shadow, eventually arriving before him step by step.

"you……"

"I've wanted to say something since the beginning..."

He had just started speaking when the girl raised her hand and pressed it down: "You old man, chattering away here, it's really... so noisy."

Completely different from her previous polite demeanor, Guinevere frowned deeply, gripped her sword with both hands, and with a single, unhesitating strike, slashed fiercely at the fleshy monster!

The tumor contracted, its tentacles flailing wildly, as if it were emitting countless screams in an instant. A tangible mental shock struck the girl, but was deflected by the light of the holy sword a moment before it hit. In the blink of an eye, the blade cut into the ball of flesh, and the light that had been condensed to its extreme suddenly erupted!

boom--

"Entrusted by others, loyal to others."

The horrifying mass of flesh struggled violently in the bright light, but the light only shone for a moment before receding again. Freed from its restraints, the black dragon suddenly spread its wings, its body instantly turning into a lump of black mud, and pounced towards Guinevere!

"If I die because of this..."

The forces that had been driven out retaliated again. Even though she was prepared, the girl's face paled, and her body seemed to split into pieces for a fleeting moment before instantly returning to its original state.

In this space was a pure soul, and the impact just now had torn her soul to shreds. Unimaginable, immense pain surged up, but her hand holding the sword remained steady, and her gaze towards the mass of flesh and the astonished old man remained calm.

"It was fate..."

With a flick of the sword, a burst of sword light erupted, and the fleshy tentacles instantly shattered into a sky full of red mist!

"Nothing to say!"

P.S.: After finishing this chapter, Qingbai felt the inadequacy of his writing skills, so starting tomorrow he will pack his bags and embark on a long journey of cultivation...

That's it, gulp!

Chapter 129 The Evil Dragon Spreads Its Wings (Part 2)

“If ‘Father’…she can wield Nuada’s sword and prove that she is worthy to continue…I might change my mind.”