Sophia's face instantly went pale. She couldn't believe a mere mortal would actually demand that she kneel! It was a total disgrace!
Alfred, who was next to her, was much more experienced. He quickly tugged on Sophia's sleeve, signaling her to just do what he said. Privately, he was sweating bullets. Before choosing Arthur as a target, Alfred had, of course, done some checking. While he wasn't fully clued in on Arthur's social circle, he had a pretty good idea.
He knew Kay was a serious player.
But he had no idea Arthur was this terrified of the legendary First Knight, Kay. Alfred had initially thought that no matter how close Sir Kay was to the royal family, he couldn't possibly stop a real Prince.
Now, though, it looked like he had seriously underestimated the influence Sir Kay had over both Arthur and King Uther.
"Kay! What are you doing?!!"
At Alfred's urging, Sophia knelt down, consumed by extreme anger and humiliation. But she wasn't about to give up. The moment she knelt, she locked eyes with Arthur. Under the spell she had cast, Arthur became agitated again, even questioning Kay.
Kay shot an unexpected look at Arthur, then glanced thoughtfully at Sophia. Naturally, with the guards holding him down, Arthur couldn't cause any real trouble.
"My little brother has really grown up. Arthur has never spoken to me like that, ever. This is the first time, and it's all thanks to you, Madam." Kay ignored the shouting Arthur, walked over to Sophia, and, while pulling off his glove, gently lifted her chin with his index finger. He spoke with a hint of arrogance.
"Hmm, at least Arthur's taste is fine. Definitely a looker."
Kay's action was flirtatious and inappropriate by any standard, and Sophia knew he was deliberately insulting her.
"Ha, a real thorny rose, too. Great eyes." Looking at the glare that seemed ready to tear him to shreds, Kay just became even more playful. "Tell me, Madam, how did you get my goofy little brother to fall for you so fast? You know, when I heard the news, I didn't believe it for a second. Everyone here knows my brother is a completely clueless, romance-averse blockhead. Yet, in just a few days, you've got him wrapped around your little finger. That's practically a miracle."
After asking his question, Kay roughly let go of the woman's face and turned to King Uther. "Your Majesty, in all your years of experience, have you ever seen something like this? Especially with Arthur?"
King Uther hadn't been paying much attention, figuring it was just Arthur reaching 'that age.' But now that Kay brought it up, he suddenly felt like something was definitely off. Uther knew what kind of person Arthur was. Would Arthur date? Sure. But 'love at first sight' leading to a secret engagement? That kind of extreme romance was not Arthur's style at all.
King Uther could be careless sometimes, but in other areas, he was overly paranoid—especially when it came to anything that might be related to magic.
"Are you suggesting..."
Kay didn't directly answer King Uther. Instead, he subtly gave a tactical signal to Leon, who was standing nearby. Leon blinked, thinking he might have seen it wrong. But when Kay flashed the signal again, he knew Kay wasn't kidding.
Though he doubted Kay's assessment, Leon trusted him completely. He quietly nodded and gave a quick instruction to the knight behind him. That knight then turned and slipped away.
"That's a beautiful staff you have. Mind if I take a look?" Kay walked over to Alfred and addressed the quietly fuming old man.
Alfred hesitated, but seeing Kay's unwavering gaze, he gritted his teeth and handed over the staff.
Kay casually spun the staff twice, then held it horizontally in front of him.
"Hmm, a very nice white oak heart. Rare material. Is that Camorra crystal on top? That crystal is super hard to find; they say it only forms where the Elves roam." Kay casually appraised the staff, which was as tall as he was.
Alfred, however, was pouring sweat because everything Kay said was spot-on! But before Alfred could figure out an explanation, Kay spoke again.
"And hey, there are words carved here. Let me think... what language is this? Oh, right, Ogham."
>"To hold life and death in one's hand"
Camelot's library had all kinds of books, many dating back to when the Celts first founded the kingdom here. Because of that, there was a ton of material on the occult. Kay was really into that stuff as a kid and spent a lot of time in the library, making him something of an egghead.
Just as Kay finished reading the inscription on the staff, Alfred shot to his feet with lightning speed and chanted a spell toward Kay. A bright flash erupted, and Kay was immediately knocked backward!
This sudden attack instantly threw the hall into chaos. Now, there was no doubt in anyone's mind: these two—father and daughter—were evil sorcerers!
"GUARDS!!!" King Uther roared.
Alfred now stood next to Sophia and chanted another spell.
"abasocbithe!" (A made-up ancient language used in the show Merlin, which we'll treat as a spell here.)
As Alfred finished the chant, the soldiers who had just rushed them were all blasted away.
"Sophia! Now! Take Arthur and go!"
Sophia was quick to react; she had already been preparing before Alfred even spoke!
"Arthur!" A sound like a banshee's shriek exploded in the great hall. Arthur, who was being restrained, suddenly seemed to get a shot of adrenaline and flung the two soldiers holding him off.
"Sophia, I'm coming!" Arthur's eyes were glowing red, and he looked vacant and dull, completely unlike his usual self. But his movements were fast, and he was seconds away from reaching Sophia.
Just then, Kay, who had been knocked backward earlier, appeared next to Arthur and grabbed his shoulder.
"They say a kid's first love is always messy, but I didn't think your dumb crush would cause this much drama. I'll comfort your broken teenage heart later. For now, you need to chill." With that, Kay grabbed a metal water pitcher nearby and smashed it against Arthur's head.
CLANG!
The pitcher was completely dented, and Arthur was no better off—he instantly collapsed, out cold.
Kay casually tossed the pitcher aside and looked at the stunned father and daughter. He shrugged helplessly.
"Sorry, I didn't want to hit your boyfriend, but love is blind, and someone has to keep him grounded, right?"
With that, Kay dropped the joking attitude, his voice turning ice-cold. "Well, now it's your turn... you pieces of trash!"
The moment he finished speaking, Kay's two swords flashed like lightning, slashing toward the two sorcerers!
Sophia and her father planned to use magic to repel Kay again, but Kay wasn't holding back this time! Their spell-casting speed couldn't keep up with Kay's attack speed!
They could only use simple spells to defend themselves, but these spells couldn't even budge Kay!
The best way for a Knight to deal with a Sorcerer is to overwhelm them with speed. The more powerful the spell, the more time it needs to prepare. Sophia and her father could only use weaker spells like fireballs or telekinesis to fight Kay.
But those spells had little effect, not just on Kay, but even on a standard knight. This was one of the sorcerers' weaknesses. If magic users didn't have these disadvantages, King Uther never would have won the war against magic back in the day.
"Go!"
Alfred knew the situation was now clear: their plan had completely failed. Their priority now was to save their lives!
"Go? You're not going anywhere!"
Kay wasn't about to let these rare catches escape!
Yes, catches. This was the first time Kay had encountered targets with such potent spiritual energy in the Celtic lands, surpassing many who considered themselves gods. Kay had killed his share of "gods," though most were just small, local deities with a few special powers, honestly not much stronger than the average person.
When he first got back to the Celtic kingdoms, Kay thought he'd be stuck fighting common bandits or thugs just to get 'experience.' (His special ability's energy bar requires a constant total amount of energy, but the difficulty of acquiring that energy increases as his personal strength grows—basically, he needs to "level up" slowly.)
He hadn't expected the Celtic kingdoms to still have some good finds!