I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 127: Night in the Royal Capital (2)

Andreas B Silatein’s evaluation as the king of the Kingdom of Silatein was average.

He was a king who neither did particularly well nor badly.

There were quite a few voices criticizing him for being fixated on personal romantic relationships despite his royal status, leading to the kingdom’s first situation of succession by the eldest daughter, but conversely, there were also many voices supporting or showing favor towards him.

Moreover, as the appointed crown princess Elizabeth showed excellence in both literary and martial aspects, his evaluation improved as he reached his later years.

However, contrary to public opinion, his current situation was not good.

“Your Majesty the King.”

Although the crown princess was usually one who distinguished between public and private matters and always controlled her emotions well, at this moment, she could not do so.

Fluctuating sadness and regret that she could not help but feel were evident in the crown princess’s pale face and blue eyes.

The king lay motionless in bed.

He did not move at all, and his complexion was so white it was pale, making one doubt whether he was alive.

Although they already knew that the king was in a coma, Rene and Jillian couldn’t easily speak up because his condition was worse than they had imagined.

The king had collapsed about 3 months ago.

This somewhat coincided with the time when the invasion from beyond the barrier began.

If so, could it be that the monsters had done something?

However, the king’s current condition was not due to magic or a curse.

Not only the court mage but also high-ranking clergy from various orders, led by Cardinal Nathan of the Omphalos Order, had examined the king and attempted treatment, but no one had achieved significant results, leading to a consensus that it was a natural phenomenon like old age.

Yoo Seong, who had been quietly observing the king, activated the King’s Insight immediately instead of awkwardly examining the king’s condition.

The King’s Insight, which had grown through repeated battles, now did more than just show talents.

Although limited to humans, it could discern not only the condition of the body but also fairly detailed stats and even the skills accumulated over time.

As a faint golden light emanated from Yoo Seong’s eyes, Jillian, who was about to examine the king, flinched and stopped, and Rene swallowed dryly while looking at Yoo Seong with anticipatory eyes.

The crown princess also clenched her fist with a tense face, her mouth firmly closed.

The doctors, mages, and clergy who had examined the king so far were not quacks because there was indeed no curse or magic cast on the king.

But if there was one peculiarity, it was this.

There was something parasitic in the king’s body.

An alien presence nestled between the internal organs.

As Yoo Seong narrowed his brow, Rene and Jillian, who were focused on Yoo Seong, unknowingly narrowed their brows as well.

A moment later, instead of explaining what he had seen, Yoo Seong called forth those who could explain more accurately.

“Vanadain, Hector, Morgan. Assemble.”

At the soft call, a brilliant light flashed, and Vanadain and Hector appeared.

Although the two appeared frequently during battles, they were rarely called during non-combat situations, so they seemed somewhat taken aback.

“What’s the matter?”

“Ho ho, what a curious combination.”

Vanadain nodded immediately at Hector’s words.

Even they thought it was a strange combination, Yoo Seong had a reason.

It was because, thanks to awakening the name of the Round Table through the Round Table Ceremony, these two had more and more accurate unlocked memories compared to other knights.

“Then what about me?”

“Morgan knows a lot of miscellaneous things.”

“Hmm, I guess I do.”

Morgan indeed seemed to know all sorts of unnecessary things when talking, so while she lacked depth in everything except swordsmanship, her breadth of knowledge was tremendous, making her likely to be helpful in this kind of topic.

“So what’s this about?”

As Morgan asked, everyone’s gaze returned to Yoo Seong.

Looking back at the crown princess, who showed slight impatience, Yoo Seong quickly explained what he had seen.

Then, surprisingly, Vanadain was the first to speak.

“Karazak, an artificially created magical life form. When it parasitizes, it causes a comatose state, and since it’s neither magic nor a curse, and its parasitic location varies widely, it’s difficult to identify through ordinary methods. It’s a magical beast that vampires and necromancers typically favored using.”

It was a short and concise explanation, typical of Vanadain.

“Do you know how to remove it?”

To Yoo Seong’s question, Vanadain tried to answer, but before he could, Morgan raised her hand excitedly and said,

“Me, me! I know. You need to concentrate holy power on the parasitized area. If you expose it to magic power, it’ll only get stronger, so you must use holy power to deal with it.”

“Indeed. One point for Morgan.”

At Yoo Seong’s words, Morgan giggled, and Vanadain made a subtle expression again.

But instead of saying “one point for Vanadain” as well, Yoo Seong turned to Jillian.

Jillian, recognizing it was her turn, nodded once before approaching the bed where the king lay.

“Crown Princess, Your Highness.”

“Yes, please proceed.”

Elizabeth, the crown princess, whose eyes had changed since the word “magical beast” came from Vanadain’s mouth, spoke with a resolute face.

Given the circumstances, it was more likely that the magical beast parasitizing the king was the work of humans who had been persuaded by the monsters beyond the barrier rather than the monsters themselves.

With the crown princess’s permission, Yoo Seong told Jillian the location he had found with King’s Insight, and as Jillian infused holy power into the king’s lower abdomen, changes began to occur gradually.

“Since it’s been parasitizing for a long time, it’ll take quite a while to remove it.”

As Vanadain had said, after infusing holy power for almost 10 minutes, the Karazak that had been parasitizing the king’s body shattered into pieces and dispersed.

“Just because the Karazak has been removed doesn’t mean he’ll wake up right away. Given how long he’s been lying down, it’ll take considerable time to regain consciousness.”

Having said that, Vanadain stared at Yoo Seong, and Yoo Seong again, instead of saying “one point for Vanadain,” smiled at Jillian, who was wiping sweat from her forehead and heaving a sigh of relief.

“Well done.”

“I’m glad I could be of help. Thank you.”

As Jillian, who smiled despite her fatigue, stepped back, the crown princess carefully approached and examined the king’s complexion.

There was no dramatic improvement in his condition immediately, but it was clear that his breathing had become more stable than before, and his complexion had improved slightly.

Time would be needed, but he could wake up.

‘Your Majesty, my father, can regain consciousness.’

Elizabeth, the crown princess’s eyes reddened.

Although she didn’t shed tears, it was only because she was restraining herself in front of Yoo Seong; inwardly, she was already bursting into childlike tears.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, she couldn’t form any more words but the crown princess’ choked voice was enough.

Rene’s eyes reddened as if it were her own affair, and she showed tears, and Jillian also sniffled with a half-crying face, as if caught up in the atmosphere.

“The height of the grace I have received from Your Majesty is like the sky. I will repay this grace with utmost dedication.”

At the crown princess’ words, which conveyed a sense of gravity, Yoo Seong couldn’t bring himself to decline and instead comforted her with kind words before speaking to her again.

“Crown Princess, Your Highness, although you may have already thought of this, I would like to keep the fact that His Majesty the King has recovered a secret.”

At Yoo Seong’s words, the crown princess flinched for a moment but then gritted her teeth and nodded.

Though she wanted to turn the royal capital upside down immediately, she knew well that this wasn’t the best course of action.

Now was the time to be patient.

Clumsily trying to catch them would only signal them to flee.

But then, what should be done?

“Given the circumstances, it’s likely that some of the nobles in the royal capital have either been replaced by monsters or are cooperating with them. So if we proceed with the planned banquet in the royal capital, it’s highly likely that they will also appear at the banquet hall.”

Of course, they wouldn’t reveal themselves as monsters or minions of monsters while in disguise.

After all, if they had, they would have been caught long ago but this time was different.

Rene, who had been with Yoo Seong from the beginning and shared all experiences, smirked, and Jillian, recalling the events in Lushen, also smiled.

Identifying monsters?

It was simple.

Just look with the King’s Insight.

If they were minions of monsters, there would be signs in their descriptive text when viewed with the King’s Insight, and if they were monsters, nothing would be visible with the King’s Insight, which would be evidence that they were monsters.

“That’s easy.”

“Heh heh heh, sometimes things need to be easy.”

At Morgan and Hector’s words, Rene nodded in agreement with a smile.

How could one survive if every battle was as difficult as the final confrontation with the Lion King?

Of course, there was no reason for the monsters to be considerate of their situation.

“If it’s really the vampire faction, the number of traitors could be more than expected. It’s their specialty to seduce humans with immortality and beauty as bait. Moreover, humans are always susceptible to immortality.”

Considering the timing of the king’s collapse, it was before the monsters’ invasion had become apparent, so it would have been difficult to persuade the nobles of the royal capital with just fear of monsters but vampires, as Vanadain said, could offer an irresistible reward.

Immortality was something that couldn’t be obtained even for a thousand gold pieces.

“Perhaps this isn’t just a problem of the royal capital.”

It was no exaggeration to say that every human covets immortality.

If the enemy they had to fight this time was the vampire legion, the battle would likely be much more tricky and difficult than dealing with the monsters that had been pushing in from the front so far.

But that didn’t mean they could avoid the fight.

That’s why Yoo Seong consciously took a step back to survey the current situation.

Monsters, presumed to be vampires, had put the king into a coma.

Then what was their aim?

Was the goal to weaken the Kingdom of Silatein’s cohesion and response capability by creating a power vacuum?

But if so, why didn’t they target the crown princess?

Was it because it was not easy to approach the crown princess after the king had collapsed?

Or because there was no need to eliminate the crown princess?

Because their real aim was something other than a power vacuum.

Either way, it was not possible to give a definitive answer yet.

Only by capturing the enemy’s minions through the banquet would they be able to know their true purpose.

‘The Seven Kings from beyond the barrier.’

Would the king of vampires be among them?

Yoo Seong, cutting off his thoughts by taking a deep breath, took necessary measures with the crown princess before leaving the king’s bedroom.

This was partly to avoid drawing unnecessary attention by staying too long, but there was one more important reason, Camelot’s legacy left by the king’s wizard Merlin in five kingdoms and one empire.

It was to confirm the existence of the holy relic.

The moment she left the king’s bedroom, Princess Elizabeth composed her expression as if nothing had happened. Her eyes were red and sadness lingered on part of her face, but this was not unusual for someone who had just visited her father who had been in a coma for months.

Rene and Jillian wore gloomy expressions, which also appeared perfectly natural as there was nothing strange about their demeanor.

In fact, Yoo Seong and the princess had somewhat anticipated a situation like this.

The timing of the king’s collapse was too coincidental so there must be some connection between the king’s illness and the monsters.

Although they couldn’t be certain without evidence, their suspicions had already been overflowing. Because of this, not only Yoo Seong and the princess, but also Rene and Jillian could accept the current situation rather calmly.

‘The banquet will be held in three days.’

It was an occasion where nobles from the capital and surrounding areas would all attend, so if there were any among the nobles who had been persuaded by the monsters, they would certainly participate.

‘The king is not the objective.’

If eliminating the king had been the goal, they wouldn’t have bothered creating the current situation and would have simply killed him.

It was also noteworthy that they hadn’t touched the princess, who had essentially been acting as the king’s proxy since his collapse.

Of course, it might not be that they hadn’t touched her but that they couldn’t, though Yoo Seong thought the former possibility was higher.

If so, what was their true aim? What could the monsters gain from the king falling into a coma?

‘The monsters’ desire is the fire of civilization.’

Moreover, the monsters were competing among themselves. If that was the case, it was likely that their desire was something that would help them reach the Empire faster than others.

‘And perhaps the king is an obstacle to fulfilling that desire.’

As Yoo Seong was continuing this elusive line of reasoning, he stopped walking.

The princess, who had been leading the way through the complex secret passages in the castle, had come to a halt.

The knight escorts who had accompanied them when they first left the king’s bedroom had disappeared at some point, and only the princess, Yoo Seong, Rene, and Jillian stood in front of the dead end of the secret passage.

“The sacred object is inside here. But until now, we couldn’t enter.”

Above the tightly closed black door, the emblem of Camelot was engraved like a seal. Within the emblem was the divinity of the Lady of the Lake.

Yoo Seong exchanged glances with Rene, then passed by the princess who had stepped aside and approached the door while Rene and Jillian watched with tense expressions.

There were six sacred objects left behind by the king’s magician Merlin and the Kingdom of Silatein had inherited one of them.

Yoo Seong took another step forward. Then, as if it had been waiting, the emblem of Camelot began to glow, and the door that had been tightly shut for over 500 years began to open by itself.

[I have been waiting.]

A soft voice came from somewhere. The moment Yoo Seong recalled the woman’s voice he had heard during his first expedition, the door opened wide, revealing the room inside.