novel-books Chapter 27 The Holy Sword in the Lake
Chapter 27 The Holy Sword in the Lake
Arthur looked up and thought of the "him" in the "future" he had "seen".
"I accepted the fate that 'the sword in the stone will surely break,' so he waited until it broke before searching for the holy sword in the lake."
That was his choice, and I respect it, but my choice is different.
I will not let my sword break; I will use my hands to hold it tightly, just like a new sword.
It wasn't for power, nor for glory, but simply to tell it—'You chose me, and I choose you; I will not let you leave me.'
The Lady of the Lake looked at Arthur, and suddenly the starlight in the lake began to flow.
All the light converged towards the center of the lake, towards her location, and towards the longsword in her hand that was enveloped in a curtain of water.
The water curtain bloomed, and countless tiny water droplets scattered in all directions, each drop reflecting a star.
Hundreds of stars rose simultaneously on the lake, illuminating Avalon's eternal twilight into daylight.
The Holy Sword in the Lake.
The Holy Sword of Stars, a weapon of salvation.
The blade is wider and straighter than the sword in the stone, and the guard is made of gold and shaped like a pair of outstretched wings.
The hilt is wrapped in dark blue leather, and a gemstone is set at the pommel.
It wasn't a sapphire like the one in the stone, but a star stone that seemed to contain the entire night sky, shimmering with the light of a galaxy.
"This sword does not belong to you alone." The voice of the Lake Fairy rang in his mind, not from his ears, but from the depths of his consciousness.
"It belongs to 'all those who protect humanity'."
Arthur reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword that the Lady of the Lake had offered him.
In an instant, the Milky Way unfolded before his eyes.
Unlike the fragments he had seen through the Star Trails before, this time it was a complete, vast, and boundless galaxy.
He saw the history of this sword.
In the instant the planet was forged, its core served as the furnace, and gravity as the hammer, forging an entire geological era.
Countless heroes have wielded it; they came from different timelines, different eras, and different civilizations, but they all did the same thing:
To wield a sword to protect something.
And its every act of unleashing its power against "the enemy beyond the stars."
That light has sliced through wandering stars, severed evil gods, and become the last line of defense at every final moment in human history.
The voice of the Lake Fairy rang out again:
"You passed the test. There is no right answer to this question. You passed simply because you answered without any hesitation."
The path you choose, you bear the consequences; the sword you choose, you protect; the people you choose, you stand shoulder to shoulder—this is the essence of 'King'.
As the galaxy receded, the golden light of the holy sword in the lake slowly subsided, transforming into a quiet and dazzling holy sword.
Arthur returned to the lake, his right hand gripping the sword in the lake, his left hand still resting on the hilt of the sword in the stone.
The light of the two holy swords shone brightly on either side of him.
The blue and white starlight of the sword in the stone was as cold as the moon, while the golden radiance of the holy sword in the lake was as warm as the sun.
The two rays of light neither invaded nor obscured each other; they simply coexisted quietly, like the sun and moon in the same sky.
He looked down at the sword in the stone at his waist. The sapphire still shimmered with a faint light, not dimmed in the slightest by the addition of a sword in his right hand.
"I did say it," Arthur said softly, not to the Lake Nymph, not to Merry, but to the sword that had once chosen him.
"I won't let you break."
The light from the sword in the stone flickered slightly, as if in response.
Merry emerged from the shadows of the trees; she had disappeared after Arthur stepped into Avalon.
But she did not leave; she simply merged into the forest, becoming a wisp of silver light on the edge of a leaf.
At this moment, she reformed into human form, her long, silvery-white hair taking on a warm glow in the golden light of the holy sword in the lake.
She watched Arthur holding a sword in each hand, the light of the two holy swords reflected in his amethyst-like eyes.
"The 'future you' you saw only had one holy sword," she said softly.
"Now you have two options, and your 'choices' are different. He accepted what was destined to happen, but you didn't."
He waited until he lost it to seek new power, while you reached out before you lost it and grasped both swords in your hands.
She walked over and poked Arthur's chest with her finger.
Your future has changed.
Arthur looked down at her, and Mary's eyes shone brightly in the golden light of the holy sword in the lake.
"Merry."
"Um?"
"Thank you for bringing me here."
Mary turned her face away.
"No need to thank me, I already said it, how could I possibly miss such a lively event?"
Her voice still had that light and cheerful tone.
But her fingertips lingered on his chest for the duration of a single breath.
Just one breath.
Then she withdrew her hand and turned to walk towards the forest.
"Come on, now that you have two swords, it's time to learn how to use them at the same time. Don't expect me to teach you step by step."
Arthur followed behind her, the sword in the stone in his left hand and the holy sword in the lake in his right. The light of the two swords shone brightly in the silence of Avalon, one blue and one gold, representing the first day of the month.
As he stepped out of the forest crevice, he glanced back.
The fairy in the lake still sits on the white stone in the center of the lake, her long robe, interwoven with water mist and moonlight, swaying gently in the starlight.
She had closed her eyes again, and her face began to change constantly, as if waiting for the next visitor to arrive.
Arthur turned around and stepped into the sunlight.
A frog croaked by the pond.
No one knew what it was saying, but the light of the sword in the stone seemed to brighten slightly for a moment.