"How did you find this place?" After father and daughter shared a brief embrace, Malcolm asked excitedly.
Naturally, Thea couldn't say that in order to find him, she had led more than three hundred people on a bloody rampage from the United States to Switzerland, then from Switzerland to Norway—leaving corpses everywhere and consuming so much ammunition that international black-market arms prices had risen by five percent year-on-year.
She glossed over her story, simply taking out the pointer and indicating that she had relied on it to locate him.
"But why did you come to such a desolate place? The information I got was that you originally came looking for this pointer, right?"
Could there be a divine artifact here?
Thea examined the dilapidated cave. The mountain was nothing but bare rock. No matter how she looked at it, it didn't resemble a place where a legendary sword might be embedded in stone.
"My story's a long one. But someone was injured while saving me. Come take a look."
Malcolm spoke as he pulled Thea inside.
The cave wasn't deep, and the smell was unpleasant—most likely a former beast's den that Malcolm had forcibly occupied.
The two passed a bend, revealing a narrow inner chamber. Jagged rock walls rose on all sides. On a slightly flatter area to the left lay a pile of weeds, and against the wall sat a middle-aged man covered in blood. He was extremely weak, yet still forced one eye open.
The instant he saw Thea, his pupils contracted violently. His limp arm suddenly found strength as he pointed at her and asked uncertainly,
"You carry… Merlin's bloodline?"
Thea sensed a familiar aura around his body and looked at Malcolm in confusion.
Malcolm's expression soured.
"Jason Blood, this is my daughter. I've told you twice already—I also carry Merlin's bloodline. Couldn't you tell?"
The man on the ground forced his eyes wider, comparing father and daughter carefully before shaking his head with complete honesty.
"Sorry, my friend. Your daughter's bloodline is obvious at a glance. But yours… I genuinely couldn't see it."
Malcolm nearly passed out from frustration. Is my bloodline really that weak?
He slumped to the ground in silence.
Thea felt a pang of sadness. Malcolm had never injected divine blood; he was still an ordinary human. Years of constant travel had even turned his temples gray.
Craving power wasn't a bad thing—as long as it could be controlled. When it came to strengthening those close to her, Thea had always been unwavering in her efforts.
Malcolm didn't ask questions in front of outsiders, nor did he introduce the injured man. But Thea was no longer the fragile girl she'd been five years ago—she had her own methods.
A careful glance told her the man's injuries were severe. Stranger still, an explosive life force churned inside him. If he could mobilize even a fraction of it, his wounds would heal instantly.
Who exactly is this man?
Her scrutiny triggered a sudden upheaval within his body. The man grimaced in agony.
"Descendant of Merlin—step back! I can't… control it anymore—!"
Seeing the situation worsen, Thea calmly traced several profound runes in the air. With light taps of her palm, she struck his limbs and heart in turn. The trembling man immediately calmed, collapsing onto the ground and gasping for breath.
After this brief exchange—and recalling what she knew of the lore—Thea finally recognized him.
"You're one of King Arthur's knights—Jason Blood. And the demon sealed within you is Etrigan, bound by Merlin back then, correct?"
Malcolm, still sulking on the ground but now mentally immersed in British legend, immediately perked up.
"You're a Knight of the Round Table? Is that just an alias?"
Seeing her father's expression, Thea felt a twinge of guilt. Had dragging him out of Star City been the right call? He was starting to verge on obsession.
She explained,
"It's not an alias. Jason Blood is his real name. But he wasn't a Round Table knight—just one of Arthur's knights. Because of the demon inside him, he's lived for about fifteen hundred years."
Malcolm's disappointment was obvious. A trace of disdain crept into his voice.
"So just an ordinary knight. And an ordinary knight can live that long…"
He shook his head repeatedly, incredulous.
Now it was Jason Blood's turn to feel aggrieved. What's wrong with being an ordinary knight? Do I deserve contempt just because I wasn't at the Round Table?
Already badly injured and further shaken by the demon's turmoil, he finally lost consciousness.
"Is there a way to save him?" Malcolm asked. "He saved my life. If it's too difficult, forget it."
Malcolm didn't understand Thea's current level of power; in his mind, she was still the same as years ago. He didn't want her to pay too great a price for his sake.
Thea examined the injuries carefully—one hole through the abdomen, another through the shoulder. Both were penetrating wounds, yet clearly not caused by bullets or conventional weapons.
Her father's request couldn't be ignored. And since this man was tied to Merlin in some way, she had no choice but to act.
A medical pod was impossible in this isolated cave—there wasn't even electricity. Setting up a power source would be even worse. After weighing her options, magic was the only solution.
If the patient were normal, a couple of healing spells would suffice. But this man had a powerful demon sealed inside him. Healing magic was typically Light or Water aligned, while the demon was almost certainly Dark and Fire aligned—the energies were completely opposed.
The demon had to be suppressed first.
Thea removed her cloak, revealing her true attire. She unleashed her full magical power, causing the entire cave to resonate. When her mana peaked, blazing energy halos formed around her hands as she pressed them onto the wounds.
She initially attempted to communicate with the demon. Instead, the moment her magic entered—sensing her unique bloodline—the entity went berserk, abandoning all concern for its host and launching a violent counterattack.
"Can't deal with you? We may not be able to beat Trigon, but a demon that originated from a human is another matter entirely!"
To suppress it, Thea donned the Lantern Ring she hadn't used in a long time. Fear energy erupted at a hundredfold intensity. Carefully avoiding Malcolm, she flooded the cave with yellow light.
Magic and emotion fused once more, crushing Etrigan's resistance. Overwhelming fear restored a measure of clarity to the demon, forcing it to withdraw part of its power and allowing treatment to proceed.
Even so, Thea didn't trust it. What if it lashed out mid-healing?
Without hesitation, she used sheer energy to seal Etrigan completely. With the demon locked down and unable to emerge, she finally began treating Jason Blood's wounds.