Destruction Is Also Salvation

Artoria blocked the slashing blade. Her magic surged, and with a swing, black-red sword light swept out with savage force.

Screams rang out in an instant.

Artoria frowned tightly. She knew this situation well. Someone lurking in the shadows was trying to use this form of attack to affect her mind.

A king who slaughtered the subjects and soldiers who followed her would suffer immense inner turmoil.

But…

Accompanied by a clear sword chime, the confusion vanished from Artoria’s nearly platinum-colored eyes. The face of that cruel host appeared in her mind.

If it were him, he would never have doubted his own judgment.

No matter how real it seemed, the true Artoria was undoubtedly herself. The one before her was merely a false king disguised as her.

The foolish masses who followed this false king, real or not, could all be… slain!

Like a torch soaring into the sky, black, cruel magic blazed fiercely.

"Ex… Calibur!"

The black holy sword, accompanied by the terrifying magic produced by the Black Mud, slashed down from above. In an instant, it annihilated the false king in the blue dress with silver hair, along with the false Gawain and the other Knights of the Round Table behind her.

Amid flying flesh and blood, Artoria became even more certain that these things were false. The next moment, sword light swept out as Excalibur fired repeatedly.

Another vast spray of bloody mist erupted.

This naked slaughter turned Seraphina pale. Her body swayed as she covered her forehead, a faint glow radiating from her entire body.

She suddenly felt overwhelmingly nauseated. The stench of blood seemed to stimulate some point in both her sense of smell and taste.

Seraphina opened her mouth, about to vomit.

Her vision began to blur. Dazed, she walked forward several dozen meters before finally seeing the true faces of the people slain by the knight.

Ash Hunters draped in gray robes, paladins wearing tattered white robes, and those pitiable people who, even after being healed by her, still habitually wrapped themselves in black robes…

Disbelief remained in these people’s eyes. They seemed not to have expected that they, who had come to provide support under her lead, would be directly slaughtered by the knight at Miss Seraphina’s side.

"You…"

Pain stabbed through Seraphina’s mind. She raised her head to look at Artoria, shaking her head as she struggled to control herself.

Artoria calmly swept her gaze around. Holding her sword in both hands, she searched through the black mist as she said in a cold voice,

"Calm down, Seraphina."

"This is only an illusion. Something is coveting your power."

This was probably the longest speech Artoria had made since the Black Mud had reshaped her body. She did not deny that even the cruel King of Dictatorship still admired those defenders of justice willing to sacrifice themselves.

"I know, I know… Miss Knight, I’m fine…"

Seraphina did not resent Artoria. She had never resented anyone else.

But as she looked at those faces that had died with their eyes open, she still felt enormous pain. She possessed a special ability. Not only could she purify others’ corruption and heal their wounds by sharing her blood with them—

She could also sense the blood that had left her body, even actively investing more of her vitality into a particular drop of blood.

That was the choice she had made when His Excellency Mercenary Tao had been swallowed by His Excellency Lawrence’s Flesh Furnace.

She had strengthened the concentration and vitality of her Crimson Blood within His Excellency Mercenary Tao’s body.

But at this very moment, as Seraphina looked at those false faces that had died with their eyes open, she could not sense any Crimson Blood apart from the drop within His Excellency Mercenary Tao.

She herself could not tell how many people she had helped in this world.

There were paladins within the church, hunters in the wilderness, innocent civilians, and Mixed-bloods injured in battle…

Seraphina did not care about these people’s identities. She merely extended equal aid to every person who had suffered harm.

If asked why, she felt that this was the meaning of her existence.

But now, they were all gone… Those people, along with the Crimson Blood within them, had all vanished.

Thinking of the battle between His Excellency Mercenary Tao and His Excellency Lawrence earlier, as well as the Dragon King that had descended upon the world…

"Just how many people… died…"

Seraphina murmured. The glow on her body grew increasingly distinct, and her temperature rose higher and higher.

Faint footsteps sounded. Artoria immediately turned around and saw a familiar blond man emerge from the black mist, hunched over.

He held a Claymore reduced to only half its length, his body covered in wounds.

"Etoris…"

Seeing that lion-like golden hair, Seraphina spoke instinctively. At that moment, the other man slowly raised his head. It was Etoris, who had gone ahead to Holy City Latina earlier.

The Mixed-blood paladin emerged from the black mist, his eyes filled with boundless exhaustion.

He dropped to one knee, as though a knight paying respects to the one he served.

"Lady Seraphina, I beg you… please destroy this world…"

His face twisted in pain.

Artoria’s black holy sword pointed diagonally at him as she said coldly,

"Seraphina, he is fake too."

Seraphina knew that very well, because there was no Crimson Blood within the Etoris before her either.

"He is indeed fake, but what he said is true!"

A deep, powerful voice rang out from the black mist. The next moment, Lawrence, clad in the Pope’s robes, walked out of it.

He sized up Artoria, who held the holy sword, as though he had not expected her martial strength to be so formidable.

In the aftermath of the battle between the Dragon King and that monster, even ordinary pure-blooded Second Generation dragons likely could not have survived.

Yet this female knight had not only survived, but could even display such terrifying suppressive power that she gave him an intense sense of pressure.

Golden Ripples spread outward in circles behind Lawrence. He looked at the blond man made from piles of false flesh, while new eyes had opened beneath his eyes and around his mouth.

The next moment, a tumor appeared on his shoulder. As flesh constantly shifted, Etoris’s face actually emerged from it.

He spoke as he explained.

"Etoris was your devout knight. No matter what, he refused to join my Life Furnace plan. So I showed him all the knowledge of the ancient gods, allowing him to realize the truth of the world as well…"

"His final moments were spent kneeling on the ground like this, praying to you, who he did not know the whereabouts of."

Several pairs of Lawrence’s eyes looked at Seraphina at once.

"Praying that you… would choose to destroy this world."

"Seraphina, do you still not understand? The existence of this world itself is a tragedy. It is merely one part of several higher-dimensional beings’ entertainment."

"Everything you have healed is meaningless. Even your very existence is nothing more than something they created in order to make this entertainment last a little longer…"

Lawrence continued advancing, his voice growing louder and louder.

It was precisely because this world was so tragic that everything was meaningless.

All he had done was turn everyone into firewood, carrying that small measure of unwillingness within himself to question those creators.

The earth shook violently, as though some colossal entity had crashed down from the sky.

The next moment, an immense pressure descended, followed by a cruel voice.

"Heh, Etoris, you stopped your heart over such a boring question…"

"You really are… weak."