Chapter 1122: The Knight's Dignity
"Don't even think about escaping."
A weak voice came from behind it.
Turning its head, what came into view was a red-haired archer.
His hands were already drenched in blood.
"Knight Barghest, though we haven't spoken many times, I, Tristan, recognize you as a true knight who embodies chivalry and upholds the knight's code! Precisely because of this, I cannot allow you to escape here and harm more lives!"
To burn everything to ashes.
This was absolutely not the will of Knight Barghest!
As a knight himself, Tristan could never permit this demonic hound to run rampant!
This was the knight's dignity!
"Roar—!"
The demonic hound let out an anxious roar.
Lowering its head, it realized that its limbs had been bound by clusters of silver threads at some point!
Dozens of these threads gathered together, possessing astonishing toughness that made it impossible to break them immediately!
The other ends of these threads were tied to one black hound after another.
These black hounds struggled incessantly, scattering in all directions like a disorganized mob without anyone commanding them, yet unconsciously trapping their leader here!
"Now, Lord Eiji!"
Tristan's eyes widened in fury as he shouted sharply.
"Come forth, Twelfth Familiar, Alrescha Glacies!"
Like a fusion of a demonic bird and a mermaid.
A massive, bizarre creature materialized in mid-air, a strange smile curling at the corners of its mouth.
The moment this familiar appeared, the temperature in the area plummeted!
In an instant, astonishing cold energy abruptly filled the space.
Eiji, with incredible willpower, restrained the familiar's restlessness, compressing the frigid air that threatened to spread in all directions into a small area, enveloping only the demonic hound.
In the blink of an eye, before the demonic hound could counterattack, ultra-low temperatures reaching absolute zero instantly covered its entire body!
Before it could even react, an ice mountain stood where it had been.
The panicked, fleeing demonic hound.
This lifelike ice sculpture vividly appeared before the group.
The flames ceased.
Magic absorption stopped instantly.
Even the surrounding demonic hounds dissipated into black ash one by one.
Frozen at absolute zero, it was as if time had stopped—everything became completely isolated from the outside world.
"Is it over?"
Mash sighed in relief, gazing sadly at the enormous demonic hound.
"At this temperature, it's no different from being dead."
Tristan approached her, his expression also tinged with sorrow.
Unlike other fairies.
They had deeply interacted with Barghest and knew she was an exceptional knight, fundamentally different from other selfish fairies.
Yet, even such a Barghest ultimately transformed into a calamity, forcing them to execute her with their own hands.
"You've truly mastered the bowstring in creative ways."
Eiji came before the two, recalling his familiars, and looked at Tristan with admiration.
He raised his hand, a blue light flashing briefly, and Tristan's bloodied hands quickly returned to their pristine state.
"This is also thanks to the harp you made for me, my lord."
Tristan thanked Eiji, then smiled contentedly.
Before the battle began, Eiji had used his dream authority to replicate a harp for him. Finding it bothersome and the replication process too simple, he had made over a dozen in one go.
"You and Gudako should head back first."
With a thought, Eiji summoned the golden light sword down from the sky.
"What about you?"
Tristan glanced at him.
"With such a huge thing here, I need to deal with it to prevent any accidents."
Eiji pointed at the massive ice statue of the demonic hound and shrugged.
"I understand."
Tristan agreed it made sense.
After boarding the light sword, Eiji created a dream clone to escort the three toward the direction of the great cave.
Soon, only he and the demonic hound ice statue remained on the spot.
Snap!
With a snap of his fingers, a gray-black mist enveloped the surroundings.
A dream domain materialized out of nowhere, covering both him and the hound.
Sizzle—!
Inside the dream domain, Eiji drew the light sword.
With a single strike, he beheaded the demonic hound!
Trapped in absolute zero, the hound died without even realizing it.
However.
Shortly after, as if time had reversed, the hound's severed head on the ground reattached itself to its neck.
"Come forth, the Eleventh Familiar, Sadalmelik Albus (The White Steel of the Water Spirit)!"
The Gorgon appeared within the dream domain.
The water pouring from her urn gradually washed away the figure of the demonic hound.
Sadalmelik Albus.
This familiar possessed destructive healing power, capable of reverting everything to its original state as if time were flowing backward!
For example, a human.
If this familiar were used on them, they would be transformed back into a fertilized egg!
Undoubtedly, among the Twelve Familiars of the Fourth True Ancestor, this one was extremely overpowered!
For Eiji to undo something using his dream authority, he first needed to draw the target into his dream domain.
But Sadalmelik Albus required no such condition. She alone could forcibly revert a living being to its initial state, and the process was irreversible!
"Hmm... What happened to me?"
Soon, the demonic hound vanished, and in its place, a female knight opened her eyes.
A robust physique, silver-white armor.
That imposing figure was none other than the Fairy Knight Gawain—also known as Bagstock!
"You turned into a demonic hound for a time, but I killed you."
"Your Highness?"
Bagstock rose from the ground.
She looked at herself in disbelief.
"Indeed, I remember going on a rampage earlier, slaughtering all the fairies in Manchester, and then... But why am I still alive?"
She was grateful that Eiji had kept his promise and killed her after she transformed into the demonic hound.
Yet, why she had been revived after death left her utterly perplexed.
Could this be the underworld?
"I simply brought you back to life."
Eiji waved his hand casually, leaving Bagstock stunned.
"The curse of the black hound has been erased along with your death. From now on, you are merely the high fairy Bagstock, free from the torment of the curse."
The moment he killed the demonic hound, Eiji also eradicated the black hound's curse.
But when he reversed the process, he only restored the hound's life, allowing the curse to vanish completely.
Using the power of the Water Spirit's White Steel to restore the demonic hound to Barghest's original form was now a simple matter.
With proper manipulation, the power of the Water Spirit's White Steel could restore her not to her most primitive state but to an intermediate form. Fortunately, Barghest had lived for over four hundred years, providing a long span of intermediate forms to choose from, making the restoration process straightforward.
"The curse... is gone?"
Barghest suddenly froze.
Indeed, she could feel it—the insatiable hunger that had plagued her for so long had completely vanished!
In an instant, her eyes reddened, and overwhelmed with joy, she wept openly in front of Eiji, tears streaming down her face.
"This is wonderful... truly, wonderful!"