In the duplicated space, the only object stood out inevitably.
As the sparks that had been continuously rising around the book stopped with a crackle, Morgana picked up a fallen book nearby and poked the red book with a light tap.
She waited, but there was no violent reaction like before.
“Hey, move.”
She poked it a few more times, but it remained silent.
Just in case, she looked around, but the illusion magic was still active.
“It seems like it’s not a spell that can be undone just by finding the medium.”
As she reached out to pick up the red book again, black sparks flew with a crackle.
A slight graze on the back of her hand brought a burning sensation. Even that quickly disappeared thanks to her healing power.
Morgana slightly wrinkled her nose and concluded.
‘It’s reacting to my power.’
Morgana channeled her Authority throughout her body.
As she touched the book while wrapped in a bright light, the black sparks generated an even stronger wave. The intense black light filled the room with crackling sounds, intermittently growing in size.
As if there was no time left.
The book looked desperate.
It seemed as though it was rebelling fiercely, pushing back against her Authority as if burning its last moments, refusing to disappear here and now.
The cloth-bound cover of the book sizzled and scratched, the edges splitting apart.
At that moment, Excalibur’s weak voice rang out.
— Master, I’m dizzy. Did I get shocked by the Master’s confession attack?
It seemed he had reached his limit.
Considering the previous experience at the temple where Excalibur had disappeared from the sword, this was clearly a precursor symptom before merging with Nimue.
Morgana greatly increased her Authority and poured it into the book, but because she also had to heal her body from the sparks, the process felt slow.
‘This isn’t enough.’
The Authority was also a divine power granted by the goddess Coventina.
‘Excalibur is a holy sword too, right?’
Morgana threw the book onto the floor.
Unlike before, the black sparks continued to burst aggressively around the book.
A small spark grazed her cheek, leaving a minor scratch, but she had no leisure to care about such a small wound.
Morgana gripped Excalibur’s hilt tightly with both hands and raised it vertically.
“Excal, keep your mind straight. You can’t go.”
— I feel like I’m being sucked somewhere. I’ll try my best.
Along with his reply, the Authority that had wrapped around her entire body also enveloped Excalibur. With a resonant hum, the holy sword rang out as if responding to her Authority.
Morgana immediately struck down at the book with the sword.
Excalibur pierced through in one go and trembled violently as if it would be repelled at any moment.
From the pierced hole, black sparks exploded out in a massive burst. Her long silver hair fluttered wildly as if a gale was blowing out from the book.
The black sparks poured out like rushing water from a hole made in the middle of a flowing stream.
Even though she covered her entire body with her Authority, the amount of black power flowing out was considerable.
The exposed skin on her hands, face, and neck repeatedly developed small wounds from the sparks that quickly healed and reappeared.
— Master, are you okay?
“I’m fine.”
Gritting her teeth, Morgana put more strength into the hand pressing down on Excalibur.
With a crunching sound, something shattered. At the same time, a small circular light appeared at the spot where the sword was embedded in the book, rapidly expanding in size.
The warm and gentle light felt comforting and stable, oddly out of place in the situation.
The light quickly filled the room, then, with a low hum, it exploded with a loud bang! It pierced through the ceiling and shot upward.
Her entire field of vision turned white.
It was so bright that no objects could be distinguished, stinging her eyes.
Morgana tightly shut her eyes and covered them with one arm.
Just as the brilliant light seemed to fade, Morgana carefully called out to him.
“Excal?”
The usually noisy voice did not respond.
“Excalibur?”
Morgana hurriedly opened her eyes and lightly shook the sword in her hand.
In that instant, with a crumbling sound, the sword turned to powder in her hand and disappeared.
As the remains of Excalibur flowed down from her grasp like sand, Morgana panicked and quickly clenched her fist.
But there was no trace left of what could be called the holy sword. Her eyes were still blurry for a moment from the intense light she had just seen.
Instead of a reply, a small chuckle came from ahead.
Only then did Morgana realize that this was not the guest room, but a dark room she had never seen before.
The room, which seemed to have been decorated with luxurious furniture, was now completely destroyed.
There wasn’t a single intact piece of furniture.
“What is this? Where am I?”
As her vision finally returned, she quickly scanned her surroundings.
Only then did she see a small figure in front of her.
Mordred, who had once smiled innocently with a clear expression, was now using his small hands to desperately cover the blood dripping from his mouth.
He looked at her with an eerie smile.
“I didn’t expect you to break through this quickly. It seems Excalibur wasn’t drawn for nothing.”
Coughing up blood, he casually wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly straightened his back with effort.
Only then did Morgana see Nimue sitting on the floor behind him, looking dazed and out of her mind.
“Nimue? Nimue! Can you hear me?”
“Master…”
From the faint way he addressed her, Morgana could tell it was Excalibur.
‘Excalibur has entered Nimue’s body?’
She hurriedly ran to him, but Mordred did not bother to stop her.
Grabbing Nimue’s shoulders, Morgana shook him desperately.
“No. Wake up!”
“It’s already too late. You should have merged much earlier.”
Spitting out blood, Mordred lightly stretched his neck.
His movements showed composure. His white skin looked pale in the darkness, creating a sense of alienation.
Though he had the same appearance as the one she had seen during tea time with Guinevere, it was hard to believe they were the same person.
No, was he even human to begin with?
“So you were a demon.”
Morgana asked with conviction.
He chuckled and walked over leisurely as he continued.
“You’re only realizing that now? It was disgusting enough having to deal with that repulsive divine power scent on you. It’s still nauseating even now.”
He wrinkled his face and sniffed.
“You’re too late. I had some expectations since Merlin said he was half-human, half-demon and thus had some resistance to divine power. But that idiot was so damn slow and sluggish.”
Step by step. He slowly circled around Nimue as he spoke.
“Merlin and I never saw eye to eye. He kept spouting nonsense like if we merged, Nimue would run away, or that he would keep his mouth shut instead.”
He stopped circling, slowly bent down toward Nimue, and whispered sweetly into his ear like he was soothing him.
“Now, be honest. Where is the Holy Grail?”
“The Holy Grail is sleeping in Mount Badon in Avalon.”
Nimue answered obediently, as if under a spell.
This was in complete contrast to his previous consistent claims that he did not know the Holy Grail’s location.
It seemed the claim that merging with Excalibur would reveal the Holy Grail’s location was not false.
“The location.”
At Mordred’s question, Nimue frowned.
Grunting, he clutched his head and breathed roughly in pain.
“The location. Hurry up and tell me!”
Mordred shouted threateningly. With the goal right in front of him, the interruption made him extremely irritated.
Nimue shook his head.
“The Holy Grail’s location is… ugh… dizzy.”
The way he spoke faintly resembled the Excalibur that Morgana had grown familiar with.
Since his soul had returned, it was only natural.
‘Excalibur…?’
With his soul returned, it was safe to consider Nimue as him now.
Morgana quickly scanned Nimue and Mordred.
‘Even if it’s only half, I’m still his master, right?’
Excalibur had personally called her Master, not through recognition given by others.
They shared the same soul.
Even though he had entered Nimue’s body instead of remaining a sword, only the outward appearance had changed; the essence should remain the same.
She could not let the Holy Grail be handed over like this.
Biting her lip hard, Morgana suddenly shouted.
“Excal!”
Nimue’s shoulders, which had been trembling in pain from Mordred’s whisper, shook slightly.
There was a reaction!
Noticing the anomaly, Mordred lost his composure and immediately roared.
“The Holy Grail’s location! Spit it out first, you damn bastard!”
Morgana shouted again.
“Excal, come back!”
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