Mordred, who had been watching the scene, gritted his teeth fiercely.
A shadow fell over his face as he hung his head low.
“You damn vermin…”
A voice thick with suppressed rage flowed out coldly.
As if those words were a signal, the ground began to tremble faintly with a low rumble.
At first, it shook lightly, but the intensity gradually grew stronger.
By the time small stone fragments began falling from the ceiling with a pat, Morgana and Merlin, who had been rolling on the ground, quickly got to their feet.
Merlin’s body stumbled into her feet as she struggled to keep her balance.
Caught off guard by the unexpected situation, Merlin’s eyes also showed clear bewilderment as she looked at Mordred.
Cracks began to form on the massive cave walls with a cracking sound.
Excalibur, which had been stuck in the floor, sprang up with a sharp whoosh, slashing out with a white flash…
But boom! A huge boulder that fell right in front of it was sliced in half instead.
The boulders that had been holding up the ceiling began to plummet downward like falling meteors.
With the floor shattering beneath them, there was barely any space left to stand properly.
A massive stone fragment fell right in front of Mangeum, who had been desperately carrying the Holy Grail in his mouth.
“Mangeum!”
Morgana moved to rescue him, but a boulder crashing down right in front of her blocked the way.
A huge shadow loomed over her. When she looked up, she saw a rock hurtling toward her at terrifying speed.
Before she could even register it, a powerful force wrapped around her shoulders. Her vision spun chaotically for a moment.
The expected deafening crash never came.
Instead, she felt a warm body heat.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Even in the chaos, his low voice rang out clearly.
Kellive was shielding her in his arms while moving to avoid the falling rocks.
Morgana held onto him tightly so she wouldn’t fall and asked back.
“Kellive, what about Mangeum?”
In the distance, she could see Mangeum barely dodging the boulders while running.
Every time rock fragments shattered the floor, the Holy Grail bounced and collided wildly in the air.
Merlin, who had been stumbling and half-crawling in panic, reached out her hand—only for a boulder to slam into her shoulder right beside her with a bang.
Thud!
Merlin was violently shoved as if someone had pushed her hard and slid across the floor, collapsing face-first.
“Ugh… Th-the Holy Grail…”
Blood streamed down her forehead, yet the eyes of the staggering Merlin, who forced herself up, gleamed with clear madness.
Mordred also charged toward the Holy Grail.
He advanced skillfully, turning the boulders into black smoke and powder.
Watching this, Kellive whispered softly.
“At this rate, Mordred is going to get the Holy Grail.”
His unusually serious gaze sharply scanned the surroundings.
At the same time, his golden eyes swiftly examined the area, and the falling trajectories of the boulders his gaze touched were redirected toward Mordred’s position.
As they curved to block Mordred’s path, the Holy Grail bounced up again with a thud.
A faint vein bulged on Mordred’s forehead. His anger had reached its peak—his eyes were bloodshot.
“Humans just need to offer their souls!”
With his roar, a powerful vibration exploded outward from him.
Kellive and Morgana were also thrown backward by the intense force.
Crash!
Morgana, tangled among the rocks, couldn’t see properly ahead. She struggled to her feet and looked around, but boulders surrounded her on all sides.
“Kellive, Excal?”
For some reason, Excalibur was nowhere to be seen. She couldn’t hear Kellive’s voice either.
For a moment, her heart sank.
“K-Kellive. You’re alive, right? You’re okay, right?”
She pushed against the huge boulder with her bare hands as if trying to lift it, but of course it didn’t budge.
Knowing it was futile, Morgana frantically clawed at the cracks in the shattered floor.
“Excal, if you’re there, answer me! Please…”
Hadn’t he promised to stay with her for a long time?
Excalibur had confidently declared he would remain by her side. He couldn’t possibly leave so meaninglessly, but a chill of anxiety still gripped her chest.
At that moment.
‘Master, get me out of here.’
A light voice, completely out of place in the situation, echoed in her mind.
Morgana shouted urgently.
“Excal, where are you? Where? Can you see me?”
‘I can see Master’s feet. I’m stuck under a rock.’
Morgana grunted as she shoved aside one of the long stone fragments. Only then did Excalibur appear, half its blade buried under the boulder.
Only then did Morgana let out a sigh of relief.
“You scared me!”
‘Did you think I would die or something? Master, aren’t you underestimating me too much?’
“Then you should have said you were stuck!”
Morgana wiped away the tears that had welled up and scolded him loudly on purpose.
He replied shamelessly.
‘It’s embarrassing.’
“…What?”
‘Hah, the great and mighty Excalibur, buried under a mere rock? It’s so embarrassing I can’t even tell anyone!’
Just for that reason, right now…
Relief washed over her, and at the same time, she wanted to punch him just once.
As she clenched her fist and trembled, Excalibur answered calmly.
‘Anyway, instead of me, dig around a bit over there. That dark human looks like he’s about to die.’
Only then did Morgana snap back to her senses and hurriedly clear away the other small boulders.
Her arm muscles convulsed as if they might cramp from the strain, but there was no time to feel such pain.
When she removed the stones, Kellive was revealed, his lower body trapped in the gap and bleeding, smiling awkwardly.
“Ah, Morgana. It’s a little embarrassing to show you like this.”
How could he smile even in this situation?
His usual relaxed expression twisted slightly from the pain.
Morgana pulled on his arm, but he didn’t come out as easily as expected.
“Kellive, wait. First, treatment, I need to heal…”
“No. Don’t do it, Morgana.”
When she urgently reached out to grant her power, he pulled his arm away.
“This could turn into a real disaster. Just get treated. I won’t count this as an absolute deal either.”
“Morgana, you’ve already used too much of your power. You need to save some.”
“This is exactly when I should use that power…”
Before Morgana could finish speaking.
Mordred’s shout rang out.
“Merlin, grab the Holy Grail!”
Only then did Morgana straighten her back and look over the boulders at the scene.
Mordred, who had been searching for the Holy Grail among the rocks, shouted toward the staggering Merlin.
Merlin grabbed the Holy Grail that had fallen right in front of her with trembling hands.
“Finally… the Holy Grail is in my hands…!”
Bleeding, she lifted the Holy Grail high into the air.
A bizarre laugh escaped her lips.
“Hahaha, hahahaha! I finally have the Holy Grail in my hands!”
Mordred smiled confidently and reached out his hand.
“Here, Merlin. Now hand it over to me.”
But Merlin ignored him and only stared up at the Holy Grail.
Frustrated, Mordred frowned and shouted.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you giving it to me?”
Merlin didn’t answer.
Instead, she grinned eerily and shouted.
“I… I can finally summon the Great Demon!”
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