Novel Full Chapter 1297: Chapter 24: Citywide Riot (2)
Chapter 1297: Chapter 24: Citywide Riot (2)
Fog Capital, outside the city, Sir Pukins’ Manor.
Inside the Knight Agency, before the massive round table, people sat around. They were all heads of Knight Agencies from various places — at this moment, everyone had an identical box placed in front of them.
Security here was tight — because, just outside the doors of this round table conference room, apart from the already abducted Lancelot, all current Twelve Round Table members were guarding here, along with nearly thirty Great Knights and over a hundred Elite Knights.
“Begin.”
Sir Pukins softly spoke, first opening the box in front of him — he took out a green gemstone the size of a pebble.
Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, heads of Knight Agencies from various places also took the same item from the boxes in front of them.
Afterwards, Sir Pukins twisted the ornament on his cane, then inserted it into a small recess on the table in front of him… turning.
The sound of gears turning was heard, and the floor at the centre of the round table opened at that moment. A King’s Statue holding a sword slowly rose from beneath the floor.
The stone blade of the sword the statue held was indeed covered with circular recesses, matching the gemstones held by each head.
When each gemstone seemed to be drawn by something and flew out from their hands automatically, embedding into the recesses in the stone sword, everyone held their breath, cautiously watching this scene.
“Although I always knew of its existence, since I took office, I never truly saw it… Didn’t expect, in this lifetime, to really witness its unveiling.”
It was an elder speaking, much older than Sir Pukins. His gaze was mesmerized, eyes unblinking, tightly watching each change on the statue.
Crack—!
Suddenly, a soft sound startled everyone, and the King’s Statue, starting from the head, automatically split open and scattered outward… beneath petals blooming, ultimately revealing a small stone.
And within that stone, remarkably, lay a rustic stone cup.
“Is this… is this the legendary Holy Grail?”
Never anticipating the Holy Grail to appear like this, everyone was instantly filled with unspeakable disappointment — perhaps in their imagination, the Holy Grail should be more precious, maybe it need not be too splendid, but at least should give people a feeling of its extraordinary nature at a glance.
But this silence lasted only a few seconds — After a few seconds, the Holy Grail on the stone platform suddenly trembled, and its body even developed numerous cracks.
Whoosh, whoosh—!
After violent trembling, it shattered entirely, and an intense golden light instantly filled every part of the room, preventing them from opening their eyes.
Once their eyes had adapted, they looked again in renewed uncertainty, unable to hide the excitement in their hearts — the real Holy Grail was before their eyes.
Seeming to possess infinite magic power, even a glance made their souls feel pulled, and in front of them, visions of Heaven unwittingly emerged.
Peaceful, joyful, fulfilled… feelings humanity should have that bring quick solace were instantly filled in their hearts… their faces instinctively revealed a bizarre yet dazedly contented smile.
Tap—tap—!
The sound of tapping suddenly emerged at this moment, and everyone was shocked to their core, abruptly returning to their senses, seeing it was Sir Pukins tapping the table with his cane.
“Everyone, please remain quiet.” Sir Pukins calmly said, as if not seeing the moment of loss among them.
Everyone exhaled collectively.
“The grape goblet from the Last Supper, rumored to have even contained the Saint Heir’s blood… the magic cup that can fulfill any wish.” The elder murmured at this moment.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is not the biblical Holy Grail, but something created by that Land of Sin a hundred years ago. It merely bears the name of the Holy Grail but is by no means a sacred object.” An elderly woman frowned at this moment, “The records are very clear, to activate it requires a sacrifice!”
Speaking of sacrifices, made someone whose willpower was slightly weaker, suddenly alert and sweating, still mesmerized by the cup on the stone platform.
“So, Pukins, the Holy Grail has been taken out, what do you plan for the most crucial part… the sacrificial offering?”
Faced with the gaze looking towards him, Sir Pukins took a deep breath and slowly said, “It needs to devour souls to activate. Souls of the living are certainly impossible, so this time I plan to use something else.”
“Hmm… actually, the best would be to use death row inmates as sacrifices, but unfortunately, the death penalty has already been abolished.” Someone suggested, “Perhaps we can try using those super criminals. Anyway, our relationship with the Magician’s Association is a bit strained, those wanted criminals originally planned to be transferred to them, definitely don’t need to be.”
Sir Pukins shook his head, “Those criminals were already notified simultaneously to the Magician’s Association upon capture, not being able to produce them now might arouse suspicion… despite the national issues, we were allies a hundred years ago, there’s no need to really take relations to freezing point.”
“What are you planning then? What other offering do you have? Do you intend to use the Heroic Spirits from the Hall of Valor?!”
Sir Pukins waved, urging calm, “Perhaps it’s Heavenly Will. Just before the ‘Doomsday Myth’ crisis, the Knight Agency in Fog Capital managed to bust a smuggling Beastman crime group… currently, this batch of Beastmen is here.”
“Beastman… a Beastman?” Someone pondered.
“Since they are captured and sold Beastman slaves, one imagines those slave traders wouldn’t dare go after tribes protected by tough Beastmen… it’s feasible.” Someone was tempted.
“Alright then, I don’t mind.” This one was even more straightforward.
“Okay, Pukins, even if the offering has been chosen, it can’t be done openly…” The elder pondered, “Especially not in front of the Twelve Knights, it would shake their knightly belief.”
“Rest assured, I’ve already handled it.” Sir Pukins expressionless, once again tapped the table with his cane.
On one side of the round table conference room, the wall slowly moved aside, revealing a knight with a cold expression, stained in blood, holding a dripping longsword slowly entering.
The rich smell of blood instantly wrinkled everyone’s brows, and, facing this knight with frigid eyes, they couldn’t help but feel a chill.
“This is Grand Knight Simpton.” Sir Pukins said calmly, “I already had him handle it in advance… the demonic sword he holds, those Beastman souls are already stored within.”
“Simpton? Is it him, that child…”
The heads began to reassess this gloomy-featured man before them, with recollections about Simpton beginning to emerge in their minds.
Years ago, there appeared a rioting Beastman… the ferocity of this Beastman once greatly troubled the Knight Agency, even the entire Magician’s Association.
Ultimately, this Beastman was besieged and killed. But, when the army found this rioting Beastman’s base, they rescued many innocent humans… most of whom were women.
Even more shocking to the army back then was that these women had borne children due to the violent acts of this rampaging Beastman… and those children used for various experiments.
Although rescued later, most of these children were already ruined… among them, seemingly only one child was clear-minded.
Later, this child was raised by the Knight Agency and eventually became a Great Knight…
…
Seemingly unaffected by the gazes of these heads, Grand Knight Simpton, at this moment, slightly bowed his head.
Pukins also appeared indifferent to the shocked gazes of the crowd, slowly saying, “Alright, Grand Knight Simpton, I’m entrusting the honor of activating the Holy Grail to you, are you ready?”
“Yes, my-lord.”
Grand Knight Simpton saluted with his sword, then step by step approached the platform holding the Holy Grail, placing the tip of the demonic sword in hand over the cup’s opening… only to see blood begin to seep from the blade, then drip into the Holy Grail.
“The power activated by the [Holy Grail] will increase according to the number of sacrifices,” Sir Pukins said seriously. “There are forty-three Beastmen souls here. I think it is impossible for the [Holy Grail] to directly resolve this crisis.”
“What do you intend to do, Pukins?”
“The root cause of this turmoil is the organization called ‘Doomsday Myth,'” Pukins said straightforwardly. “We need all the intelligence of this organization, including personnel lists and locations… Only by eradicating it fundamentally can we prevent such events from occurring again.”
As drops of fresh blood dripped from the Demonic Sword, when the cup was almost half full… the [Holy Grail] exploded with dazzling brilliance once again.
At the same time, an ancient sheepskin scroll slowly appeared in front of Sir Pukins…
…
——Payment/Received, 5 million yuan.
Of course, such a notification sound was impossible; what appeared was a kind of prompt similar to this format.
The general content was:
You have received a normal soul entry, quantity+: 43.
In Boss Luo’s mind, he once again heard the loli voice of the altar he had imagined.
“Why do I suddenly have the feeling of finding a hundred yuan in the pocket of a piece of clothing I haven’t worn for a long time while tidying up the room…”
“Master?” The maid, slightly tilting her head and letting her hair hang down, didn’t quite understand why her master suddenly said such a thing.
“Ah… Don’t move, this pose is nice.”
Boss Luo, who had written proverbs for himself, decided to do many things, while also restraining himself from getting lost in the endless transactions, so he was quite restrained and did not continuously engage in the activity of [observing], which wastes time.
In the room, the maid was beginning an activity called photography with her master.
After all, it was a long, long night.
…
…
Without a mobile phone or even a clock, within the dim stone chamber, the only way to judge time was probably left to the human body’s perception… The Queen felt some drowsiness.
It was likely already past her usual bedtime.
Lancelot was already no longer lying down. When the Queen’s hand moved away from her eyes, she had already recovered a bit of her spirit and quickly finished the food Caesar sent—replenishing her strength.
She seemed like a different person but appeared to be the same as before; Her Majesty the Queen smiled as she watched Lancelot’s action at this time.
“Will this be useful?” Her Majesty the Queen couldn’t help but ask curiously.
Lancelot, at this moment, was grinding a chain on the stone floor of the chamber and had already worn out a lot of stone powder.
Lancelot said seriously at this moment, “These shackles are developed by the Magician’s Association, specifically for restraining superordinary power. They are made from a special alchemical mineral called Halmstone… but now they are basically obsolete. In fact, the Knight Agency still has many of these tools left… Although it is convenient for restraining superordinary power, it is not actually sturdy. A prisoner once broke the chain using this method.”
“I see…” Her Majesty the Queen nodded with relief, “Then, in your view, how long will it take to break it?”
Lancelot shook her head, “Hard to say. That prisoner seemed to have taken over half a month to grind it off. But having a plan is better than having none. We can’t keep waiting for rescue. Your Majesty, could you keep an eye on the outside? If anyone comes in, I’d like to stop this action.”
“Okay, child, I will keep watch for you, trust that I can do it,” the Queen still smiled with relief.
But.
Over half a month… Her Majesty the Queen couldn’t help but smile bitterly in her heart. She didn’t tell Lancelot about Caesar’s plan to execute her before sunrise.
Her Majesty the Queen also did not intend to negate Lancelot’s efforts at this moment, but she slowly walked to the door, pretending to closely listen to sounds from outside.
“Oh… It really seems like someone is coming.” Her Majesty the Queen hurriedly turned back at this moment.
Lancelot quickly lay on the ground, covering up the stone powder that had been ground out, while also pulling together the chain and turning her body.
When the door opened, Her Majesty the Queen took a few steps back, blocking in front of Lancelot.
“What are you doing?”
The ones who came in were Judas and Catherine… Catherine looked suspiciously at Her Majesty the Queen at the moment.
Her Majesty the Queen at this moment said blandly, with the anger and sarcasm of a captive, “Gentlemen, ladies. Don’t you know that this cold and freezing place can easily make me ill? If I do not stand up and move around, I might just get too cold… I demand you improve my treatment.”
Judas frowned, clearly very much disliking this so-called aristocratic manner, “I hope you have enough activities, otherwise it will be even colder as the night deepens.”
“You impudent people!” Her Majesty the Queen immediately rebuked.
Catherine just sneered without a response, instead glancing at Lancelot on the ground, “This guy is still not awake?”
“What have you done to her!” Her Majesty the Queen continued to rebuke.
“Let me see if she’s dead,” Catherine sneered, about to step past the Queen.
Unexpectedly, Her Majesty the Queen blocked her with a frown and continued to reprimand, “You have already left her in this state, and still intend to keep harming her? I demand in my capacity as the Queen of Great Britain that you immediately stop this brutality!”
“Old hag.” Catherine snorted coldly.
“Forget it,” Judas said indifferently, “Caesar just asked us to take a look, there’s no need to argue with her… Let’s do this, Your Majesty, if you feel cold, I’ll send you a blanket later.”
“I also require a pot of hot tea, preferably with an extra serving of fresh milk. I need fresh milk to sleep peacefully!”
“Do you think this is a hotel? You old hag!! Perhaps you still don’t know your situation?”
Do women indeed make it difficult for women? Judas shook his head and casually pulled Catherine, leading her outside, “Alright, there’s no fresh milk, but maybe I can get some hot water for you instead… If there’s nothing else, stay quietly.”
Only after the door closed did Her Majesty the Queen let out a long breath.
She listened by the door for a while, then said, “Alright, they should have gone far away now… Child, am I right? I was able to do it.”
Lancelot then sat up, gratefully glancing at Her Majesty the Queen… who had stood in front of her.
“Can you hear any sounds?” Her Majesty the Queen suddenly frowned.
Lancelot was taken aback, focusing on listening again, only to hear a ringing sound from outside… The air seemed to tremble slightly.
…
A giant aircraft was slowly descending from the night sky.