Book 9: Chapter 37: Lancelot

“But I cannot give up so easily!” A cold glint flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes. Uka’s appearance made him feel pure killing intent towards these elite Reincarnators for the first time.

There was no room for compromise between Reincarnators and Apostles, especially for outstanding Apostles like Qin Lun. Leaving this world aside, he would still be sent by Star Void for Death Hunts in the future. Elite Reincarnators like Uka and Alice, it was good to have one less of them, reducing potential threats.

“Lace, are you all still fighting?” Qin Lun asked softly in the Team Channel.

“What’s up, BOSS, do you need our support?” The female Elf’s playful teasing laughter quickly came through the channel.

“You seem to be in a good mood. Made a lot of gains?” Qin Lun chuckled. “Sending you a gift. I just injured a fairly strong opponent, but I don’t have time to chase him. I’ll leave him for you to handle!”

“Oh, roughly where is he?” Lace asked happily. A Reincarnator described by Qin Lun as fairly strong would naturally have richer possessions, and since he was seriously injured, she was certainly happy to accept this generous gift.

Qin Lun marked the location on the city center map displayed in the Team Channel and then completely put the matter aside. Although Lace had a heavy dose of mischievous taste at times, this girl was very smart and knew when to hold back or advance. Even if Alice got reinforcements, she shouldn’t be in danger.

…

“Sir, it’s in that direction. Over there is the command…” Standing on top of a ruined building, Anpu looked around to get his bearings, then pointed to the right side of the combat zone’s edge. But the young man only got halfway through his sentence when his gaze froze, his mouth hanging open, unable to speak.

“Hey, the relic you mentioned isn’t this thing, is it!” Qin Lun’s face was very ugly as he looked at the massive object in the sky and darkened his expression. Only Madame Monica remained unmoved, watching the spectacle before her with great interest.

Hovering in the air about a hundred meters above the ground was a strangely shaped flying warship.

This warship was a hundred meters long and over fifty meters wide, shaped like a shelled insect, looking somewhat cute with its fierce yet simple appearance. On both sides of the ship’s body, there were not only three pairs of insect-like black, shiny segmented limbs, covered with thick armor shell, but the forked ram at the top of its head was exactly like a rhinoceros beetle’s horn.

The key was the ship’s appearance, combined with Anpu’s previous description, unavoidably reminded people of a certain Christian relic—the Sacred Scarab!

“No, that’s not it!” Anpu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his eyes darting around. After observing for a moment, he suddenly cried out in pleasant surprise, “S-sir, this must be a man-made creation! Look… there are several pairs of turbine engines under its body, and there’s a bridge with a glass shield at the head. It definitely isn’t the Sacred Scarab, ahaha, hahaha…”

Qin Lun looked up, still expressionless. After a brief observation, he also confirmed that this flying warship probably wasn’t the real Sacred Scarab, just somewhat similar. He didn’t know what fuel those turbine engines used, but the flames from the nozzles were purple and black; at first glance, they could be mistaken for the natural textures on an insect’s abdomen.

As for the warship’s top part that resembled a rhinoceros beetle’s horn, it seemed to be some kind of large-caliber cannon. Unless the designer of this warship had the worst possible taste, it was probably modeled after the image of the Sacred Scarab.

“What are you so happy about! If we cannot confirm the existence of the relic, then we’ll have to kill you!” Qin Lun twitched his face as he looked at the warship in the sky. He’d be out of his mind to attack this thing.

“Wait, Gerthard, he didn’t lie to you. There really is a Christian relic on that warship. I sense the presence of an old acquaintance!” The Queen of Sandstorm suddenly frowned delicately, her expression slowly turning serious as she stared intently at the insectoid warship.

“An old acquaintance? A church monk who chased you before?” Qin Lun immediately grasped the meaning in Madame Monica’s words.

“Yes, he noticed us. We’d better leave here first!” Madame Monica withdrew her gaze, bit her lower lip, and said with unease.

“Oh?!” Qin Lun narrowed his eyes slightly. Someone who could make the Queen of Sandstorm wary piqued his strong interest.

Qin Lun raised his head, the Yin-Yang Fish Pattern in his left eye flickering with a mysterious, faint light. His Perception in the void instantly condensed into a beam, shooting towards the warship’s bridge.

The warship was hovering over a hundred meters high. The straight-line distance from their position to the bridge was over two hundred meters. Qin Lun’s Perception alone couldn’t reach that far, but thanks to the bridge’s glass shield structure, and the night sky being lit up red by the fires of war, his vision, enhanced by Perception, could barely make out the scenes inside the bridge.

Aside from the vaguely running busy figures and equipment in the bridge, only five or six people standing at the forefront of the shield could be clearly seen. Among them, a young man with a ponytail, wearing bishop’s robes, seemed to be their leader, excitedly pointing at the burning city of London.

Standing beside him was a white-haired youth holding a Bible, his expression calm. The white-haired youth wore a white monk’s robe with a hood, tied at the waist with a rope belt, and he was looking in the direction of Qin Lun and the others from afar.

The youth had a handsome face, his slightly thin cheeks as if carved by knife and axe. Perhaps due to the reflection of the firelight, his broad forehead seemed to shine with a layer of holy white light.

Just one look at him across the distance inexplicably calmed Qin Lun’s agitated mood. His previously high fighting desire quickly subsided, and he even felt a wave of war-weariness.

Qin Lun was slightly startled and involuntarily averted his gaze. But the moment he looked away, he felt a strong anger surge from the depths of his heart. He abruptly looked up and met the youth’s gaze again.

Seeing the enemy’s reaction, the white-haired youth on the bridge furrowed his brow slightly, made a solemn sign of the cross over his chest, then turned and left, paying no further attention to Qin Lun and the others.

“Hmph!” Qin Lun snorted coldly. Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze, he suddenly raised his eyebrows in surprise. Among the crowd behind the two leaders, a somewhat familiar figure flashed past and disappeared.

“Interesting!” Qin Lun’s eyes glinted, and a strange curve slowly lifted the corner of his mouth.

“Gerthard, we should go. That person has noticed us and is coming this way.” The Queen of Sandstorm looked warily towards the warship’s direction and said with some tension.

“Mmm!” Qin Lun soon also noticed a small, light helicopter flying out from the warship, heading towards them. Besides the pilot, there seemed to be several others on the helicopter. One of the auras felt peaceful and calm, so special in this hellish battlefield that it was hard to ignore.

“Although I haven’t seen the relic with my own eyes, your previous information was probably correct. Our contract ends here. You may go!” Qin Lun turned and said indifferently, immediately making Anpu sigh in relief. He picked up his wife, who had fallen unconscious again, and quickly left.

“Gerthard, you go first. I’ll hold them off. Otherwise, with the speed of the sandstorm whirlwind, we can’t shake off the helicopter!” Monica looked back worriedly, then smiled and pushed Qin Lun away.

“Haha, I’m not so helpless that…” A slight smile appeared on Qin Lun’s face, but suddenly his whole body shook, and he reached out to pull Monica back. At the same time, the Queen of Sandstorm seemed to sense something too, turning with a serious expression to look north.

“Boom!” From due north of their location, a blood-red pillar of light shot up from the ground into the sky, cleaving through the night like an axe, stirring the fire-reflecting clouds into a terrifying vortex.

The blood-light pillar lasted only briefly, dissipating after a few seconds. An invisible shockwave spread outwards from the center of the blood pillar. This shockwave was formless and intangible, but many ordinary humans hiding nearby clutched their hearts, their faces pale as they collapsed to the ground.

Some British who were already injured or had heart problems even lost consciousness directly. Even the Superhumans in the city felt their hearts constrict violently, their blood rushing backwards. For a moment, they almost lost control of their bodies.

“This is…” Qin Lun gazed in the direction of the blood pillar, his eyes flickering slightly. “Major Montana, you succeeded! That woman Integra has released Alucard after all…”

“Gerthard, that person has headed north!” The Queen of Sandstorm looked at the helicopter turning away and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Monica, is that Ascetic Monk really that powerful? Can’t the two of us handle him together?” Qin Lun frowned slightly. Although that white-haired youth made him feel very special, that serene and peaceful aura really didn’t seem intimidating, and he couldn’t gauge the man’s actual strength.

“That person…” The Queen of Sandstorm’s expression was somewhat strange. She glanced warily at the gradually shrinking helicopter and said quietly, “Gerthard, have you heard the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?”

“King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?” Qin Lun looked at the woman beside him in surprise, asking incredulously, “Of course I’ve heard of it, but… are they still alive?”

Qin Lun’s surprise was not without reason. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were just a legend; it wasn’t even certain if they were real historical figures. Historians speculate that their era was around the 6th century AD, over fifteen hundred years ago.

Although these people might have been Superhumans in some sense back then, it was hard to imagine they could still be alive now.

“That person’s origins are very mysterious, and his strength is formidable. When the Church was hunting me before, he appeared twice as a heresy inquisitor. At that time, I was still nobility and had many guards around me, so I survived both times thanks to their Sacrifice.”

Monica’s expression held fear mixed with undeniable hatred. “After that, for a period, I collected information about this person. But strangely, no one at the monastery he belonged to knew his background.”

“What does that have to do with the Arthurian legend?” Qin Lun asked, somewhat puzzled.

“Because I investigated the monastery he belonged to. It is said to be the retreat of the first Knight of the Round Table, Lancelot du Lac. Moreover, in an ancient text at the monastery, I found that every previous Pope had visited him and called him Monk Lancelot.”

Madame Monica said with a bitter smile, “I personally witnessed two of his funerals. But after each funeral, a boy who looked eighty or ninety percent like him would appear at the monastery again. The weird thing is, this person has always been alone and unfortunate; not only has he never married, but no descendants have ever visited him. It’s truly very eerie!”