286 Dagone (1/2)

It seemed that the Royal Musician Division had clashed with the dark musicians already. They had fought but it was hard for both sides to win in this strange place. It was a different world once the door closed. They could not even chase each other.

Compared to their bloody struggles, Ye Qingxuan’s path was much easier. His good luck was frightening. He passed without any danger and finished half the journey as if it was a hike.

And then it seemed as if he had used up all his luck. When he opened another door, dust fell from the dome in clumps. As he pushed the iron door, the rusted bronze cups on the ground rolled and clinked against each other. Then they broke under his feet. And then he stopped breathing.

Ye Qingxuan saw another door in the large and open room—it was a big menacing copper door. The faint carving on the surface depicted a battlefield with countless fighters. The image was unclear from years of weathering.

No, what made him hold his breath was the giant nailed to the door. A burly man covered in menacing armor was nailed to the middle of the door, amidst the wild carvings of the battlefield, by a sword stuck through his chest. His armor still reflected with cold metallic light after all these years. However, it was covered with a layer of dried blood. He had long run out of spewing blood. All that remained were the murky stains.

Different from regular knights who wore armor for protection, this three meter tall knight seemed to be a captive of his armor. Every joint and section was nailed with a giant nail. The openings made for wearing had been fused together. It imprisoned him like a cage.

Ye Qingxuan pushed the door to leave the moment he saw the man. However, he froze because the door would not open anymore. Even more terrifying was…the small noise awakened the knight from his sleep. He raised his head slowly under the grating of metal. Lava-like light lit up under his helmet. He looked at the youth.

The emotionless gaze chilled Ye Qingxuan. He uttered the forbidden name, ”Dagonet.”

Dagonet was the least known knight from the Round Table. He had no war accomplishments, no impressive legend, and had not even held any official titles. He was not glorious like Lancelot; he was not noble like Gawain. He had never even stepped foot on the battlefield. It could be said he was mocked by his colleagues.

Historians even thought that Dagonet had become a Round Table Knight by using his wife’s nepotism. He did not have any accomplishments to leave in history books even until his death.

Hundreds of years ago, King Arthur called the best alchemists in the world to create his weapon, the Sword in the Stone. They also made the masterpieces of armor for the knights. However, Dagonet was not gifted anything. He lost his temper due to this and questioned the king. Angered, Arthur ordered his alchemist to give this ‘clown’ the armor he ‘deserved.’ The gaps of the armor were filled with melted copper; he would never be able to take it off.

Then King Arthur personally poured the boiling iron paste into the helmet, burning Dagonet to death in the glory he had dreamed of. One could say that Dagonet was like a clown his entire life. Even his death was laughable.

However, Ye Qingxuan could not look down on him. Even the weakest Round Table Knight was still a Round Table Knight! The hair on his neck stood up straight the next moment.

”Arthur!” Dagonet finally woke up under the armor and roared furiously. The sound waves rushed forward like a steel plank. The voice resounded in the sealed room, making Ye Qingxuan dizzy.

Dagonet yanked out the sword from his chest and he dropped to the ground. The sole red eye under the helmet looked at Ye Qingxuan.

”…Every debt has a debtor. Bro, how do I look like Arthur?” Ye Qingxuan could not even cry. ”Tell me where I look like him and I’ll fix it!”

Thunderous footsteps sounded in reply. The steel boots crashed against the floor. Sparks flew and dozens of pits appeared in the ground. He charged directly at Ye Qingxuan.

The youth threw himself to the ground and rolled. The sword brushed past him and slammed into the ground.

Rolling on the ground was a lifesaving trick. Otherwise, he would have died long ago, right? Ye Qingxuan was still able to have nonsensical thoughts while dodging.

After the ‘steel skeleton’ was upgraded to the ‘governor,’ its speed was so fast Ye Qingxuan could barely handle it. He crossed dozens of meters in an instant and nimbly dodged outside the sword’s range.

”Arthur!” Dagonet roared again under the armor. He charged at Ye Qingxuan. His posture was not pretty. In fact, it could be described as scrambling like a dog, but his craze was terrifying.

He swung the sword wildly, leaving messy gashes on the ground. The flying pebbles shot toward Ye Qingxuan like a thunderstorm and were deflected. He dodged in panic and raised his hand to bite his finger. Jiu Xiao Huan Pei let out a clear melody. The aether changed. Strands of blood flowed from the wound on his finger. They floated in the air like mist. It was Bolero.

Moonlight brewed in the faint blood. It transformed into hundreds upon thousands of strands. Extending in all directions, they wrapped around Dagonet, causing Ye Qingxuan to wrinkle his nose.

”What’s going on…” Deciphering the aether waves he received, his expression changed. The aether reaction in Dagonet’s body came from nineteen different sources within an instant? Within a second of his hesitation, the count of aether waves shot up to more than thirty!

Dagonet sped up instantly again and charged like a rabid dog. Ye Qingxuan dodged to the right but Dagonet’s waist spun one-hundred eighty degrees against all laws of science and threw his sword.

Ye Qingxuan’s expression changed. Something roared. The protective rings that he had stolen extinguished one after another. His various layers of shields cracked under the aggressive strikes. Ye Qingxuan flew into the sky from the shocks and slammed into the wall. He was smashed flat like a pie!

Ye Qingxuan barely managed to stay conscious from the shock. He grew more and more confused. This guy’s speed and strength was still increasing but…why was it only speed and strength?

There was none of the legendary sword aura that could split mountains or the glorious and dazzling light that could burn all enemies…not even the Round Table Knights’ trademark phantom beast emblem had appeared.

Back then, King Arthur had used his symphony of predestination ”The Chapter of the Golden Victory” to call forth twelve phantom beasts for his knights. The beasts had become one with the armor, giving them incredible power close to the level of gods.