After finishing our stroll and having a meal, we began discussing the plan ahead.
The talk centered on the holy city, the soldiers heading to war, and the knights of the Round Table.
"I'll share some of the information I've gathered this time."
I said that and looked around at the party before speaking.
"First, Gawain's gift is 'Nightless.' It makes it always daytime around him, allowing him to maximize the power of the saint's number. The saint's number effect triples his strength only from 9 AM to noon and from 3 PM to sunset. And under the sun, Gawain is impervious to any attack, making him a fearsome monster...."
"So that means... to defeat him, we have to make sure he's not under the sun?"
At Baekmo's question, I nodded and said.
"Any method is fine—whether it's a sandstorm, a building roof, or clouds. We need to block the sun from him by any means necessary... Only then can we not only take him down but also reach the entrance to the holy city..."
"...Hmm... I understand for now. Please continue sharing other information..."
At Juwon's words, I nodded and said.
"Next, Lancelot's gift is 'Fierce.' It literally makes him incredibly tenacious, so even if he falls, he keeps getting up. In short, he's so persistent that he can reach a limited state of immortality..."
"Immortality...?"
"That's a big problem..."
"I thought Gawain was quite a tough opponent, but Lancelot will be tough too..."
Upon hearing the effect of Lancelot's gift, the party all made unpleasant expressions.
"Lastly, Tristan's gift is 'Reversal.' His personality and weakness are reversed, making him cruel, and at the same time, poison, which was his weakness, no longer works... In life, Tristan was poisoned to death, so as a Servant, poison was his weakness, but this is reversed, making him immune to poison."
Upon hearing my story, Baekmo, Jeongmil, and Juwon were momentarily surprised, then slightly relieved.
"That could have been disastrous..."
"I was planning to prepare poison since Tristan was poisoned in life..."
"If we had faced him without knowing this information... we would have surely lost..."
After I revealed the effects of the three Round Table knights' gifts, we continued with the strategy meeting.
"For now, I'll have my clones handle Tristan, Gawain, and Lancelot as much as possible... Gawain just needs the sun dealt with, Tristan just needs no poison, and Lancelot..."
[The fable 'One Who Castrated the Berserker' giggles and makes its presence known]
"Hmm... Maybe I can handle it somehow?"
If I keep castrating him until he gives up the will to fight, he'll probably retreat on his own...
"!... Something... gives me chills..."
Lancelot suddenly felt chills and, for some reason, clutched the clone in his lower half that was starting to hurt.
After that, we continued the strategy meeting, and during that, Jeongmil muttered to himself.
"If our strength alone is insufficient, we have no choice but to borrow his power..."
At those words, Baekmo and Juwon suddenly fell silent.
"Huh? What? The atmosphere among the skull-masked ones suddenly darkened..."
"Him?"
As everyone was bewildered by the suddenly darkening atmosphere, Bedivere murmured.
"...The temple of Azrael. The first Old Man of the Mountain who sleeps in the temple where the Assassin Order began, is that right?"
"What...!? How do you, a knight of the Round Table, know that?!"
"Before coming here, I heard a story from a certain magus. 'If you intend to oppose King Arthur, try seeking out the Old Man of the Mountain.' 'Not the ones who descended in history, but the first and last Old Man.' ... so he said."
"...I see. You knew, Sir Bedivere. ...That makes sense. If it's him, he wouldn't fear someone like Gawain. But awakening him..."
Upon hearing Juwon's words, Baekmo told Jeongmil that Juwon was an assassin who lived in this era, and at that, Jeongmil realized what kind of statement he had made and panicked.
"Enough. It's not something for you to worry about. I was too bound by rules as well. Lady Ritsuka, Mr. Yuseong, and Lady Roman. As long as we have a means to overthrow Sir Gawain, right? Then let's return to our village. I'll reveal our secret there."
After that, we parted ways with Baekmo and moved to the eastern village via the aurora curtain.
Come, to this mountain, to this temple, to the place where the angel who declares death resides....