The powerful wind pressure mixed with green magic wind blew away the silver-white curtain of rain before Souya, revealing the true appearance of the Questing Beast, whose silhouette had previously only been faintly visible.
It had the head of a snake, the belly of a leopard, the haunches of a lion, and feet resembling those of deer and hares.
Currently, the small eyes on its snake head were staring at Souya with incomparable greed, its forked tongue flicking in and out.
It looked exactly like a hunter certain of its prey.
Seeing it like this, Souya couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Although Britomart said the Questing Beast preyed on fairies and could be considered their natural enemy, Souya wasn't an ordinary fairy.
He had a physical body, a weapon, and abundant combat experience.
If this Questing Beast treated him like ordinary food just because of the fairy aura on him...
That precisely proved it was nothing more than a brainless 'defective product' acting solely on instinct.
Against such an enemy, Souya was absolutely certain of victory.
"Hiss..."
The Questing Beast's snake head let out a hiss.
It was growing impatient. The fairy aura it hadn't tasted in so long was making it itch unbearably. Even though it smelled another fairy in the cave, it simply couldn't hold back any longer.
With a hiss, the Questing Beast's massive body suddenly lunged forward, pouncing toward Souya for the kill.
Souya, however, didn't panic at all. He simply raised the emerald-green lance in his hand and forcefully swept it forward.
"Hiss! Hiss!"
The next moment, the Questing Beast let out a pained hiss. Its pouncing figure instantly crashed to the ground, wailing incessantly.
A gruesome wound had suddenly appeared on its belly, as if slashed by a sharp weapon. There was even green, wind-attribute magical energy lingering on it, hindering its regeneration.
"So this is the effect of 'surely striking down the opponent'. It truly lives up to the name of a demonic lance."
Watching this scene unfold, Souya couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder.
If someone had been watching from the sidelines just now, they would have noticed that the blade of Souya's lance never actually hit the Questing Beast.
The reason it was injured was entirely because the moment Souya swung the lance, the magical energy within his body involuntarily flowed into the demonic lance. This caused the wind formed by the magical energy to turn into an invisible blade, instantly expanding Souya's attack range significantly.
As for the strike-down effect, that was entirely a characteristic of the demonic lance itself.
"ROAR!"
Feeling the continuous pain from the wound, the Questing Beast's ferocity was completely triggered.
Roaring, it charged at Souya again, intending to attack him with its claws.
But since Souya knew its attacks carried a curse effect, there was no way he would let it get close.
Thus, he wielded the demonic lance again, but this time not with a simple attack, but with a continuous series of lance techniques.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
In an instant, the wind and clouds over the wasteland shifted. Invisible lance blades turned into an endless barrage of attacks, forming a giant net radiating killing intent that firmly pinned the furious Questing Beast to the ground.
Even though it roared ceaselessly, trying to endure the pain and break through the blockade to attack Souya, it was forced back every time by Souya's tempestuous assault.
Gradually, the wounds on its body increased, and its initially robust roars grew weaker.
Soon, the Questing Beast was on its last breath, and Souya had even severed one of its claws.
But Souya had no intention of stopping.
He felt that ever since the demonic lance drew the magical energy out of his body, he seemed to have entered a profound and mysterious state.
Souya felt as if the demonic lance in his hands had turned into a stream of water connected to his body.
Following his will, the stream transformed into various attack forms. The martial techniques he had previously memorized and seen through using his Fairy Eyes gradually merged into this stream, like an endless, surging river formed by the convergence of countless tributaries.
Souya's eyes grew brighter and brighter. He felt as if he were about to touch upon a certain realm, a certain something.
Even his spearmanship, which had long reached a bottleneck, began to slowly improve as his understanding of this epiphany deepened.
But what Souya failed to notice was that while he was deeply immersed in this epiphany, the Questing Beast—which had been suppressed by his assault all along—saw no hope of escape, and a fierce glint flashed in its eyes.
Just as Souya felt he had touched the threshold, a strange sound suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
The Questing Beast's abdomen bulged, and a sound like forty hounds barking simultaneously erupted abruptly.
The next moment, Souya's hair stood on end. A sense of crisis coming from all directions instantly snapped him out of his epiphany.
At the same time, Britomart, who had been quietly watching the battlefield from the cave, also sensed the danger and hurriedly called out to warn Souya.
"Watch out!"
"ROAR!"
With a roar from the Questing Beast, the rain that had been kept out by the magical wind barrier formed after the demonic lance's True Name release suddenly froze in mid-air.
Then, the droplets vibrated, gathered, merged, and finally turned into countless crescent-shaped blades of water. With astonishing speed, they pierced through the magic wind barrier, slashing toward Souya from all directions.
Simultaneously, a loud boom erupted from the direction of the cave. It was Britomart, having donned the 'Queen's Fortress: Wave Armor Shell', charging toward him.
But it seemed too late.
The speed of the water blades was beyond imagination, and there were so many of them that Souya had absolutely no room to escape or dodge.
The Questing Beast's mung-bean-sized snake eyes glinted with bloodlust.
This was an attack it launched at the cost of consuming its own origin.
Even if it meant suffering severe injuries, the Questing Beast was determined to kill this fairy. It thought victory was assured, but never expected to be counter-killed by its prey to the point of near death.
This anger and resentment were far beyond what its meager brain could endure.
However, the panicked and despairing look it expected Souya to show never appeared. On the contrary, he closed his eyes.
What is he doing?
A giant question mark popped up in the Questing Beast's tiny brain.
Is there really no hope?
Feeling the bone-chilling coldness coming from all directions, this thought briefly crossed Souya's mind.
Perhaps because he was just in a state of epiphany, Souya remained incredibly calm even in the face of this almost certain-death crisis.
He quickly ran through all the skills he currently possessed in his mind and soon concluded that none of them were useful.
This was undoubtedly a dead end.
But as the saying goes, in a desperate situation, one must find a way to survive.
How could those who vainly attempt to challenge fate not attract the attention of fate?
Souya felt his body growing hot. Under the lingering influence of his previous epiphany, he remembered that before becoming human, before becoming a knight, he was a Water Fairy.
How could I forget my original self?
He thought with a hint of remorse.
At the same time, a nascent power was born from Souya's bloodline and life force, turning into a pure trickle that merged into his limbs, bones, and magical energy.
[Ding! You have acquired the skill 'Mana Burst (Water) A+'.]
The System's notification rang out right on cue, and Souya opened his eyes. Within his sapphire-blue pupils flowed a blue light like water.
The next moment, the water blades in the air collapsed and disintegrated once again, then reformed into countless sharp, long spears.
Only this time, their target wasn't Souya, but the Questing Beast staring blankly at this unfolding scene.
"Huu..."
Slowly exhaling, Souya didn't hesitate. He made a grabbing motion with his left hand, then squeezed tightly.
Squish.
The sky full of water spears pierced the Questing Beast's body instantly. Then, with a flash of green light, that massive snake head fell against the wind.
Even in death, the Questing Beast never understood how the prey had counter-killed the hunter.
[You successfully killed the monster destined to appear in your fate, the Questing Beast, and comprehended the powerful skill 'Mana Burst (Water)'.]
[With this, you can finally call yourself one of the strongest people in Britain.]
[But unfortunately, the Questing Beast's final outburst interrupted your epiphany. This makes you feel extremely uncomfortable, because no matter how you try afterward, you can no longer return to that state. Even the bottleneck that was originally one poke away from breaking has somehow become as hard as shackles.]
[Helpless, you can only put this matter aside for now.]
[Thus, after dismantling the Questing Beast's corpse and taking its head, pelt, fangs, and claws, you returned to the town with Britomart.]
[Because you killed the Questing Beast, which represented an ill omen in Britain, your fame surged once again. The name 'Lion of Britain' resounded across Britain once more.]
[The people gave you a knightly moniker: the Knight of Radiance.]
[You, along with your contemporaries—the Knight of the Sun Gawain, the Knight of the Lake Lancelot, and the Knight of Sorrow Tristan—are collectively known as the 'Four Great Knights of Britain'.]
[It is worth mentioning that during this period, the future prophesied King of Britain, Arthur Artoris Pendragon, has crowned herself King with the support of the court magus Merlin and the unrestrained Knight Kay.]
[She is currently recruiting troops, claiming to save Britain from the calamitous White Dragon.]
[Bolstered by her reputation and the prophecy, she has recruited many capable and ambitious individuals. Even Gawain and Tristan have joined her ranks.]
[The common folk have begun calling her King Arthur.]
[You have no particular thoughts regarding this matter. You simply feel that your current reputation is widespread enough, and it is time to swear allegiance to the Queen of Camelot, Morgan, before the people of Britain.]
[However, realizing all this requires an opportunity—an opportunity substantial enough to draw the people's attention away from the prophesied King and back to you.]
[Soon, this opportunity arrived by your side.]
[In a certain town, you and Britomart, who was disguised as your squire, encountered a knight resembling Prince Charming.]
[The new King of Orkney, King Arthur's great general, the Knight of the Sun Gawain, has found you.]