The amount of blood spilled was considerable.

 

The floor was soaked enough that an ordinary person would have already fainted.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Reaching his limit, a low curse slipped from Mordred’s mouth at one point.

 

Merlin asked while anxiously looking at the floor.

 

“It’s too much. Do we really have to go this far?”

 

“Then we’d need enough magic power to replace Tyrving. Did you think a few drops would suffice?”

 

Mordred’s already pale face looked even more ashen, perhaps due to his mood. When the groove where the sword was inserted became full of blood…

 

Rumble!

 

The cave began to shake lightly.

 

The massive stone door that had been tightly shut slowly opened with a creak, scraping against the floor.

 

Dust flew up from how long it had been closed, clouding their vision. When the stone door finally opened wide with difficulty, Mordred’s distorted expression returned to normal.

 

“It’s done. Now the Holy Grail will really be in my hands! Merlin, the souls are prepared without any issues, right?”

 

“Yes, of course.”

 

She lowered her eyebrows with a worried expression.

 

Merlin’s gaze turned to Mordred’s arm, which he was clutching tightly with his hand.

 

“Will you be alright? It looks like Morgana and Excalibur are following closely. If even you, Lord Mordred, are gone…”

 

“Shut up. Do you think I’d die from something like this, like some pathetic human?”

 

Mordred’s displeased gaze swept over Merlin. He turned his head sharply and strode into the stone door without hesitation.

 

Blood-stained footprints marked the cave floor like a path guiding the way.

 

Merlin’s cold expression, as if she had never been worried, quietly stared at those bloody footprints.

 

Unable to watch any longer, Mordred turned back and shouted irritably.

 

“What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and come.”

 

“Yes, I’m coming now.”

 

Merlin lifted her head again, returning to her servile demeanor, and hurriedly followed inside.

 

After they entered, creeeak. The stone door closed firmly once more.

 

💫

 

“Hwaaaa…”

 

Early in the morning, Nimue stretched vigorously and looked around in confusion.

 

“What’s going on? I definitely fell asleep inside the tent?”

 

For some reason, she had been left abandoned on the bare ground.

 

Strangely, Mangeum was arrogantly curled up inside the tent, sleeping.

 

Nimue sat up from the dirt floor, rested her chin on her hand, and pondered seriously.

 

“Don’t tell me… that beast threw me out onto the dirt and took the tent for himself?”

 

The moment she stood up, intending to take revenge by stealing the blanket from that beast, Morgana’s firm voice stopped her.

 

“No, Excal.”

 

Just then, Morgana walked out from the adjacent tent, wearing her robe.

 

Nimue’s narrowed eyes, however, were fixed behind her.

 

Kellive was following Morgana out, bending slightly at the waist.

 

Nimue pointed at him in shock.

 

“W-what is that dark human doing coming out from there?!”

 

At his shout, Mangeum must have woken up too, as he crawled out of the tent unsteadily.

 

Nimue cried out pitifully as if wounded.

 

“So this was your goal in separating me from Master?! How dare you try to replace me just because you played with a demonic sword?!”

 

“It’s not like that.”

 

Seeing him rampaging wildly, Morgana pressed her forehead in trouble. She didn’t even know where to begin explaining.

 

Meanwhile, Kellive answered while casually checking the horse’s condition.

 

“We were just together because of an external attack. Morgana only treated me; nothing else happened.”

 

For some reason, his smile seemed even brighter; maybe it was her imagination.

 

Just as he said, after healing him with her power, she had only heard about what happened with Merlin.

 

Then she had fallen asleep in his arms. That was really all.

 

But the sensitive Nimue trembled, clenching her fists.

 

“Master, don’t forget. Your one and only sword is me. Got it? This great and mighty Excalibur!”

 

“I know, I know. Don’t I know how amazing Excal is? Excal, who can sleep on the ground and still be fine, you’re so cool!”

 

When she actively praised him, Nimue’s sharp gaze finally softened a little. He crossed his arms and stood crookedly as he asked back.

 

“Well said, Master. Do you know why I was sleeping on the ground?”

 

“Well, Excal rolled out.”

 

“Me? That’s strange. I have very neat sleeping habits.”

 

“Merlin came. She tried to steal Tyrving.”

 

Excalibur’s eyes widened instantly. He pointed at himself and asked again.

 

“You mean Excalibur?”

 

“No. Tyrving.”

 

“No way. You’re saying they tried to steal a mere demonic sword and not the great and mighty Excalibur?”

 

He shook his head in disbelief. He seemed quite shocked.

 

Though both were swords, Tyrving, which lacked ego, and Excalibur were clearly different beings.

 

‘Come to think of it, why did Merlin target Tyrving?’

 

If she had wanted it from the beginning, there had been plenty of opportunities to steal it.

 

The fact that she came all the way to Mount Badon to steal it meant one thing.

 

Morgana answered calmly.

 

“It looks like Mordred and Merlin have found where the Holy Grail is. They seem to need Tyrving to get in.”

 

Kellive, who had finished organizing the tent and storing it in his magic tool, naturally joined the conversation.

 

“We need to hurry, too. They might have entered the place with the Holy Grail through another method.”

 

Mangeum, now fully awake, was already sniffing around the ground. He found the trail and bravely called out to them from one spot.

 

Nimue muttered grumpily.

 

“Yeah, Master. They only needed Tyrving to open a door. It’s not that this great Excalibur is less important or anything. Got it?”

 

“Yes, I know. I know very well. So let’s get going, okay?”

 

Morgana, who had been waiting beside Kellive to mount the horse, comforted him half-heartedly.

 

Even as Nimue rampaged wildly, Kellive acted with perfect composure, almost as if showing off.

 

As he was about to help her onto the horse, he paused and touched the ribbon string on the front of her dress.

 

It seemed to have come undone during the night without her noticing. 

 

It wouldn’t have mattered if left as is, but he carefully retied the ribbon. His long eyelashes lowered as he looked at the ribbon, then he glanced at her.

 

When their eyes met, Morgana cleared her throat awkwardly and turned her head after seeing his gentle smile.

 

Even though he knew everything, he whispered affectionately.

 

“Morgana, you need to get on the horse.”

 

“I know.”

 

Morgana confidently reached out her arms. He lightly stepped into her embrace. When she looked up in surprise, he grinned and chuckled before lifting her up effortlessly.

 

Sitting on the horse, she clutched her pounding heart.

 

‘Ah, I thought he was going to hug me. That surprised me…’

 

After last night, contact with him had become frighteningly familiar.

 

Even being held felt completely natural.

 

‘No, Morgana. Get a hold of yourself.’

 

She lightly patted her own cheeks and focused her eyes on Mangeum.

 

It seemed the final destination was near.

 

Together with the grumbling Nimue, they slowly followed Mangeum.

 

As if familiar with the path, Mangeum advanced without hesitation. With magical beasts clearing the way, it felt like walking on a predetermined road without any difficulty.

 

After following for several hours, corpses of magical beasts began to appear on the path.

 

They were not in perfect condition.

 

They were torn to shreds, making them hard to recognize.

 

Only pools of blood remained.

 

“…This must be the path Merlin and Mordred took.”

 

It meant they were getting closer.

 

Not long after, Mangeum looked ahead and dashed forward.

 

“Mangeum!”

 

Morgana called out in panic, but Mangeum, who had run far ahead, barked vigorously at the cave entrance that looked as if someone had frantically torn up the grass.

 

“Woof! Woof woof!”

 

Nimue, who had been following indifferently, translated.

 

“He says the Holy Grail is here. It looks like someone went in first.”

 

Morgana, who had dismounted from the horse while held by Kellive, answered quietly.

 

“It’s Mordred and Merlin.”

 

“Woof!”

 

As if understanding her words, Mangeum barked powerfully.

 

Nimue picked at his ear annoyingly as he relayed the message.

 

“He says he doesn’t sense any presence nearby.”

 

Kellive raised one hand to stop her. He first peeked into the cave ahead and then nodded belatedly.

 

“It seems they’ve already gone in.”

 

Suddenly, as if someone had turned on a light, the inside of the cave lit up with a click.

 

It seemed to be Kellive’s magic.

 

Thanks to that, the interior was clearly visible.

 

The moment the blood-soaked floor came into view, Kellive added an explanation.

 

“Since the blood hasn’t coagulated yet, they must not have entered long ago.”