At Kay’s command, Tamamo immediately produced several glass bottles filled with a bluish antidote from her extra-dimensional space.
"But, Master, their killing intent is no joke! If we try to force their mouths open…."
"Who said you had to feed them nicely? Just throw it!"
A sly, mischievous smile spread across Tamamo’s lips at Kay’s unconventional instruction.
She unscrewed the cap of a bottle and drew the liquid up into the air. In an instant, the bluish antidote coalesced into a massive sphere the size of a watermelon.
It happened just as Artoria Alter unleashed an explosive aura, raised her sword, and prepared to charge.
Clatter!!
Medusa’s chains shot in like lightning from the shadows, instantly binding the sisters' limbs.
"Wh-what is the meaning of this?!"
"Grr, let me go this instant!!"
Bound by the powerful chains of the Age of Gods, their movements froze for a mere fraction of a second.
"Alright~ Time for a refreshing blast! Mikong!!"
Tamamo hurled the massive sphere of antidote directly onto their heads.
Splash!!
"Pah!! Cough! Cough!!"
"What is this... this disgusting smell... ugh!"
The potent antidote exploded against the ceiling of the dining hall, drenching the chained sisters in a torrential downpour. As the elixir seeped through their mouths, noses, and skin, it began to clash violently with the revulsion curse raging within their bodies.
"Grk... ugh... my head...!"
Coated in the potion, the sisters thrashed in discomfort and staggered. Then, as if by magic, their eyes rolled back, and one by one, they collapsed unconscious to the floor.
"Phew. That was actually pretty brutal."
Kay looked down at the fallen sisters and let out a sigh of relief.
"Are they... going to be alright?"
Artoria asked with concern, but Kay simply waved his hand.
"Yeah. That medicine forcibly resets toxins, curses, and corrupted magical energy, but it overloads the brain in the process. To fully detox and regain their senses, they'll need to sleep soundly for at least three or four hours."
Kay took the remaining bottles from Tamamo and distributed them among Bagest, Medusa, and Artoria Caster.
"Alright, you three. Dump these into the castle's wells and drinking troughs. If you see anyone who's already eaten or drunk the contaminated stuff and gone berserk, shove this down their throats by force. If that doesn't work, just spray it in their faces like Tamamo did."
"Jeanne, you stay with Artoria and help her. We don't know what else might happen. Got it?"
"Father, what about me?"
"Mordred, you stay in the room with me. We don't know who else in the castle has taken the poison, so walking around in this body would be suicide."
Kay took Mordred’s hand and hurried toward the deep corridors of the inner keep.
As they quickened their pace toward their quarters, a maid carrying a tall basket of laundry approached them, her head bowed low.
She wore a standard Camelot maid's uniform, and to the casual observer, she emitted neither magical aura nor killing intent.
Kay and Mordred pressed themselves against the wall to let her pass, and the maid seemed content to simply glide by.
However, at the exact moment the maid’s shoulder brushed against Kay’s...
Thud.
The laundry basket slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
Simultaneously, a sword cleverly hidden within the basket flashed toward Kay’s neck like a bolt of lightning.
"Father!!"
Before Mordred’s scream could even echo, the sharp tip of the blade was a hair's breadth away from piercing Kay’s youthful neck.
Kaaang!!
"...?!"
The maid—no, the disguised Umiin—gasped, her eyes widening in shock.
The sword had stopped exactly one millimeter from Kay's skin, deflected by an invisible barrier of tremendous power.
It was the automatic defense of the Ring of Immortality, which he had received from Laodin in the Brocéliande Forest.
A fairy's blessing that activated simply by being in his possession, regardless of whether it was worn.
"Gah...!"
Umiin recoiled, stumbling back from a shockwave that felt as though it might snap her wrist.
Kay reflexively pulled Mordred behind him, glaring at the assassin with eyes that had turned ice-cold.
"...Who the hell are you?"
Though the words came from a boy's mouth, they carried the thick, metallic scent of blood—the aura of a warrior from the Abyssal Realm.
"Tch... a defensive Mystic Code, huh? For a brat, you're carrying some pretty annoying gear."
Umiin didn't bother removing her disguise, clicking her tongue in irritation. Not only had her plan to isolate and slowly wither Kay with the revulsion potion failed, but even her assassination attempt had been repelled.
"Don't you dare hurt my dad!!"
Suddenly, Mordred leaped from behind Kay, brandishing the toy sword at her waist.
Despite her small stature, her rage manifested as violent bolts of crimson mana erupting from her body.
"Mordred, stop!"
Before Kay could intervene, Mordred swung the toy sword at Umiin with all her might.
The strike, imbued with raw magical energy, carried the devastating force of a master-crafted blade.
Umiin made no effort to dodge or block. She stood there like a scarecrow, taking the full impact of the blow.
A deep diagonal gash ripped from her shoulder to her waist. With a gruesome tearing sound, blood sprayed forth like a fountain.
"...I-I won!"
Mordred panted heavily, whispering to herself, but...
The droplets of blood that had splattered over Mordred's shoulder suddenly shifted in midair, transforming into razor-sharp crimson blades that rained down upon them.
With beast-like reflexes, Kay lunged forward and pulled Mordred tightly into his embrace.
Kaaang! Ching! Kagakang!!
The countless blood-blades sought to shred them, but the Ring of Immortality in Kay's pocket emitted a blinding light, perfectly deflecting every single attack.
In that fleeting moment of protection...
Despite the lack of physical strength in his child's body, Kay desperately reached his right hand toward the air.
"Come...!"
Flash!!
Blue light condensed in his palm, and the heavy, imposing form of the demonic sword, Crudin, materialized.
"You little monster...!!"
Using the opening provided by the Ring's defense, Kay gritted his teeth, hefted the heavy Crudin with both hands, and unleashed a desperate, full-power slash at Umiin.
Kraaaang!!
The scarlet arc of the demonic sword swept through the corridor, cleaving Umiin clean in half.
Yet again, Umiin did not dodge. Instead, she wore a grotesque smile, as if evasion were entirely unnecessary.
"...Tch."
The moment her body was severed, Umiin's entire form glowed a fiery red like a ticking time bomb. The blood and flesh within her erupted in a terrifying explosion.
Kugugugung!!!!
"Guh...!"
Kay quickly used the demonic sword as a shield, curling his body around Mordred to protect her.
Once more, the Ring of Immortality deployed an absolute barrier, shielding them perfectly from the flames and shrapnel.
As the acrid smoke and dust settled...
The corridor wall had been completely demolished, leaving them exposed to the cliffside outside the castle. Umiin had vanished without a trace.
Only a few grotesque droplets of blood drifting in the air remained to prove she had ever existed.
"Haah, haah..."
Kay patted Mordred’s head and clicked his tongue.
"She counterattacked even while being sliced in half... then exploded and vanished."
Kay’s instincts, honed from slaying countless horrors in the Abyssal Realm, were screaming a warning.
"A spirit? A vampire? What kind of lunatic unleashed a phantasmal creature like that as an assassin in Britain...?"
The revulsion potion that contaminated Camelot's water.
And an undying assassin who could manipulate blood.
Kay looked up at the ashen skies of Britain through the shattered wall, shuddering at the profound malice and the unknown dread lurking behind this conspiracy.
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