Chapter 215: Sword Blade?

Curse?

Chen Xiaolian’s face turned taut.

He quickly checked what happened through the system.

[System prompt: You have successfully killed Lancelot, the Knight of the Round Table.

[Due to your enticement, Lancelot became a ‘Fallen one’ and you have become the kill target of Lancelot, the Dark Avenger

[1 . After this instance dungeon is over, the Dark Avenger will randomly appear in the following instance dungeons.

[2 . Number of times: 5 instance dungeons.

[3 . Kill the Dark Avenger or escape the pursuit of the Dark Avenger in 5 instance dungeons to end the curse.]

Chen Xiaolian: “… … …”

Bloody goddamned WQNMLGB argh [1]!!!

How could this son of a bitch thing happen?

Son of a bitch! You rotten bastard! If you’re dead, then stay DEAD! Your wicked heart caused you to fall from grace, what the fart does that have to do with this senior?!!

You died, why won’t you just stay dead? Instead, you transformed into this Fallen one, this Dark Avenger to kill this senior?

System! Do you have no sense of justice?

At that moment, almost every expletive that Chen Xiaolian could think of burst out violently within his mind.

Seeing that Chen Xiaolian’s expression looked off, Lun Tai and Bei Tai stopped moving and looked at him carefully.

“Guild Leader? What happened to you?” asked a frowning Bei Tai.

“Did something happen?” Lun Tai whispered.

Chen Xiaolian observed the various scars upon Lun Tai’s body before looking at the pale faced Bei Tai. A thought suddenly came to him.

He struggled to take a deep breath before exhaling.

"Nothing!"

Chen Xiaolian shook his head and said, “It’s just that, this really feels damned hard.”

“… … ha ha ha! It really is damned hard!” Being the reckless one, Bei Tai did not think too much about it and simply laughed.

Lun Tai was more careful in nature. However, no matter how he looked at Chen Xiaolian, he was unable to figure anything out. Chen Xiaolian patted him on his shoulder and led them both out. They moved toward the outer area of the Tower of London.

Chen Xiaolian’s line of thought was simple. He should not reveal this matter for now. Since they were still within this instance dungeon, saying that out would only cause everyone to feel disturbed.

As for that so-called Dark Avenger, it was something that would only appear in the next instance dungeon.

Even if he was to discuss this matter with Lun Tai and Bei Tai, he should wait until after this London instance dungeon had ended.

“That… what about Conan?”

After reaching the front doors of the Tower of London, Chen Xiaolian suddenly turned his head around to look at the castle buildings of the Tower of London that were shrouded in the darkness.

“Don’t know… … he couldn’t have been killed by the dragon, could he?”

"I think that fellow is pretty good, he won’t die just like that, would he?" said Bei Tai who clutched his head.

Chen Xiaolian shook his head and said, “Get out of here first! As long as we bring the Sword in the Stone out, once the quest is complete… … then we’ll be able to discuss about it.”

After saying that, the three of them ran across the lawn and fence. Then, they made their way across a stone road.

The moment they ran past the great doors of the Tower of London, the system’s prompt appeared.

[System prompt: Meteor Rock Guild has completed this random quest. Acquired reward: 200 marks.

[System prompt: Please wait for the release of the following random quest.]

“Phew!”

Lun Tai fell down on his buttocks and exhaled. “Son of a bitch, we finally got some time to rest. If we have to go to the next random quest right now that would really be too much”

Then, Bei Tai suddenly pointed at a distant spot on the ground. He said, “Look, there are words there!”

Chen Xiaolian walked over. He produced a tactical flashlight and shone it on the ground for a bit.

There were indeed words written on the ground. They were written using chalk.

“It’s been a pleasurable cooperation, may we meet again next time.”

Looking at those crooked characters, Chen Xiaolian’s eyebrows were raised, because…

Those were… Chinese characters!

"It’s Conan! He… … he actually wrote using Chinese!"

…

“Dīng dāng dāng dōng dōng dāng dāng, hú lu wá ~ ~ ~ dīng dāng dāng dōng dōng dāng dāng, běn lǐng dà ~ ~ ~ [2]”

Tian Lie had his hands inside his pockets as he walked through one of the streets far from the Tower of London. As he walked beneath the dark sky, the sounds of the out of tune song rang out.

Upon Tian Lie’s shoulder was something seemingly small. From a distance, it appeared like a lizard… with a pair of wings.

…

Westminster Cathedral.

Several figures stood in the darkness within the open space outside the main hall of the church.

Phoenix raised her chin a little while casting a cold gaze at a figure lying on the ground.

Dagger was lying down on the spot, akin to a dead mutt.

Both of his hands have been broken!

Beside him, several daggers could be seen scattered around. All of them were also broken.

Additionally, one of them was stabbed into Dagger’s chest.

Blood flowed all over the floor.

“I have said it before… once this instance dungeon ends, I will give you a chance to challenge me. Why are you so impatient?”

Phoenix crouched down and looked at Dagger who was lying in a pool of blood with a pair of cold eyes. His breathing was getting weaker. She said, “Did you really think I was afraid of you challenging me? I tolerated your actions for the sake of the stability of the team. But since you are so impatient, then…

“Now, you should have understood! To me, killing you off is not hard.

“You should have understood this just now. Since I gave you the opportunity to duel with me fairly, now… now you should be able to die peacefully!”

Gurgling sounds were emitted out from Dagger’s mouth as his eyes bulged widely in a stare. However, the light within his eyes had gradually turned dim.

His breathing came to a stop.

“Now then, I believe that the problem has been resolved,” said Phoenix as she stood up. Despite standing next to a pool of blood, this girl with a tender face gave out a smiling expression that could move people’s heart

Her gaze swept toward Monster, then toward the Titan brothers. She asked, “Are there anyone else who do not accept me as the Guild Leader?”

The Titan brothers exchanged glances with each other; then, they took a step backward.

The monkey on Monster’s shoulder called out twice before climbing onto his shoulder. Then, it turned around and shrank its figure into the shape of a ball.

“You are the Guild Leader, we will absolutely obey your commands,” Monster said in a deep voice. Then, he slowly lowered his head. “Of that, there can be no doubt!”

Phoenix smiled softly and turned away to look at the towering Westminster Cathedral. Next, she shifted her gaze up toward the stars.

A trace of solitude flickered within Phoenix’s eyes.

Perhaps, it is time to end it.

…

Outside the British Museum, Culkin walked down the stairs with a knife in his hand. Blood was trickling down the blade of the knife.

Culkin gently pulled out a handkerchief and flicked it a bit before slowly wiping the blood off the blade.

“Jean is dead!”

Lei Hu was walking beside Culkin. His face appeared hostile.

“I know, I saw the system prompt,” answered Culkin. His face was calm; he returned the knife back into the system and took a deep breath. “Tell Sasha to hide properly. Later on, we might still need him to be our eyes and ears.”

“… … but, about Jean… … are we not going to avenge him?”

“We still do not know who the enemy is.” Culkin shook his head and said with a cold voice, “This is an instance dungeon… we do not have to time to sniff out an enemy that is hiding in the darkness… all we can do is use the available time and spend our efforts to complete the quest! As for Jean…”

The corners of Culkin’s lips twitched and he said, “I will find the bastard who killed him. There is a price to be paid for killing a member of Winter Rock Guild.”

…

After leaving the Tower of London, Chen Xiaolian, Lun Tai and Bei Tai drove their way into another district. They found a remote area and stopped there.

Sitting inside the car, the three of them took out the reserved food and water.

After having fought throughout the night, they needed to refill their strength.

After munching down on a sausage sandwich, Chen Xiaolian gulped down a bottle of mineral water.

The one sitting beside him was Bei Tai. Holding the Sword in the Stone’s hilt, Bei Tai turned it around and inspected it before returning it to Chen Xiaolian. Then, he asked, “Guild Leader. No matter how I look at it, I can’t find anything special about it. Isn’t it just a rusty piece of broken iron? It feels just like stone.”

Chen Xiaolian did not say anything. Lun Tai then took hold of the sword hilt and weighed it in his hand. He then laughed out and said, “Who knows? It could be a really good item. It might be a possible for us to repair it… could there be some type of magic that, after casting would cause the blade to regrow out?”

“Ah! Then, it must be very powerful! This is the Sword in the Stone ah! If it becomes a weapon…. It must at least be [A] class or above!” Bei Tai laughed out.

Chen Xiaolian swallowed the last piece of bread he held and looked at the Sword in the Stone’s hilt that Lun Tai was holding.

“Guild Leader, tell us more about the specifics of this Sword in the Stone. Back in the Tower of London, we simply did not have the time for it and the things you told us were too little.” Bei Tai had his hand on Chen Xiaolian’s left shoulder, his eyes glittering with curiosity.

Chen Xiaolian considered the question and said slowly, “This… there are many legends.

“Hmm, let’s put it this way. King Arthur was originally a hero. The reason he could pull out the Sword in the Stone was because he was the King chosen by Heaven.

“However, this sword was later broken because King Arthur started a fight that broke the code of chivalry.

“Thus, Heaven punished him. Because he had violated the heart of a King and the knight’s code of chivalry.”

“Just like how you enticed Lancelot?”

“Something like that.” Chen Xiaolian smiled and said, “According to legend, the Sword in the Stone has a miraculous ability of eternal youth.

“However, it later broke. Thus, King Arthur… … you fellows understand.

“The weapon that King Arthur used in his later years is not the Sword in the Stone. Sword in the Stone is just the Sword that chooses the King…

“The truly powerful sword is the Sword of the Lake.”

“The Sword of the Lake?”

“Mmm, it is also known as the ‘Sword of Promised Victory’. That sword possesses a sharpness that is unparalleled in this world and is extremely durable.” Chen Xiaolian continued, “King Arthur’s war chronicles and fame, more than half of it were obtained by relying on that sword.”

“Then, this Sword in the Stone… … is worthless?” Bei Tai appeared disappointed.

“No… … from what I can tell… … it may be something like a symbol of authority. A symbol, understand? Just like a King’s crown or token of authority. It symbolizes legitimacy of power and rule. Possessing it was the equivalent of having received the mandate of Heaven. For any King of England, this was something of great significance. “

“A God given authority over all military forces?” Lun Tai who had read up on some books asked.

“Hmm, it’s something close to that.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

“Eh, wait! There is a problem here!” Bei Tai suddenly spoke up. “Guild Leader, just now, you said that this Sword in the Stone was broken when used by King Arthur in his fight against someone.”

“Yes, because King Arthur’s opponent was not an evil villain. Additionally, that fight occurred because King Arthur had lost a competition and refused to admit defeat. It was an act that contradicts the heart of a King.”

“But… … if it was cut off… … then, the hilt is here with us… but… where is the blade?”

Chen Xiaolian’s eyes suddenly lit up!

Where is the blade?!

1 This has been mentioned before but WQNMLGB stands for ‘我去年买了个表’, pinyin: ‘wǒ qù nián mǎi le gè biǎo’ which translates to ‘I bought a watch last year’. It’s a wordplay for the chinese words for: Screw your mother.↩

2 He’s singing the song called ‘葫芦娃’, pinyin: ‘hú lu wá’, translated into: ‘Gourd Doll’. It’s a kid song. I believe there’s a fairly recent rendition of it in Youtube.↩