Asuka had been thinking about jumping down to get a share of the damage so she could at least get a card. But before she could, she saw Cyan pierce Arlon's eye with one strike, draw the blade, and chop off his head in one clean motion.
That was way too fast…
Seeing that Arlon was already dead, Asuka decided not to jump. There was nothing left for her to do down there anyway, so it was better to keep killing the surrounding enemies.
"I'm not a knight. My goal is to kill Archduke Garibaldi and his subordinates."
Cyan noticed Arthur and Percival looking at her. Recalling what Lancelot had said earlier, she knew they placed great importance on things like knightly honor — concepts she completely failed to understand.
Hearing Cyan's words, Arthur and Percival felt like they had something stuck in their throats. The words they wanted to say were choked back by her single statement, leaving them extremely uncomfortable.
Wow! This guy has quite a lot of good stuff on him!
Nishi's hazel eyes sparkled as she looked at the spiked knuckle duster on Arlon's right hand and the silver crown on his head. Taking advantage of everyone's distraction, she quietly approached Arlon's head, removed the crown, and quickly stored it in her inventory. After making sure no one noticed, she stealthily walked over to Arlon's standing corpse and reached for the spiked knuckle duster.
No matter how hard she pulled, the tightly clenched fist wouldn't budge. Frustrated, she used her short blade to cut off Arlon's fingers one by one and finally obtained the spiked knuckle duster.
Nishi's actions also drew the attention of Arthur and the others. They frowned deeply. As knights, they respected their enemies and would never do something like desecrate a corpse. Just watching it made them feel disgusted.
Considering that she was an outsider and that these outsiders had contributed greatly to the battle, even though they disapproved, they couldn't say anything. They simply pretended not to see it.
Cyan keenly sensed the emotional shift in Arthur and the others caused by Nishi's near-desecration of the corpse. She didn't stop Nishi.
Survival Quest One was to eliminate Archduke Garibaldi and obtain the Golden Holy Grail. As long as they shared this common enemy, even if they disapproved, they couldn't say anything.
Besides, the enemy was killed by her. Arlon's corpse was her spoils of war. She could do whatever she wanted with it. It wasn't their place to tell her what to do.
Nishi realized that looting equipment so openly might be inappropriate. She walked over to Cyan and whispered, "Master… is what I'm doing a bit bad…?"
"It's fine."
Cyan held Nishi's hand and strode forward. As she passed Arthur and the others, she stopped and said, "His corpse is yours."
Watching Cyan and Nishi's backs, Percival wanted to say something, but Lancelot stopped him.
"Percival, don't judge others using our values."
"But—!"
What Percival wanted to say eventually turned into a frustrated sigh.
With Arlon's death, the resistance inside the castle instantly collapsed. Some surrendered, others fled.
The territories that had been notified by Arlon were also liberated.
Inside one of the castle rooms, Cyan sat quietly on the bed, holding the demon blade with both hands.
[Demon Blade · Crimson Steel Grudge Maru]
[Type: Story Character Weapon]
[Attributes: Attack Power 68~87, Strength +2, Constitution +2.]
[Special ①: Infinite One-Blade Style (Special) skill level increased by LV1.]
[Special ②: Crimson Steel Grudge Maru has drunk the blood of the innocent and become a demon blade. Its obsession with slaughter will disturb your mind. At the same time, it has growth potential. Continuously hunting strong opponents and absorbing their blood will make it stronger.]
[Special ③: Attacks restore 1% of the damage dealt as HP. If the amount is less than 1 HP, it will not restore.]
[Equipment Requirement: Strength 15, Agility 15, Constitution 10. Note: Once equipped, this weapon is soul-bound to the wielder and cannot be traded. If the wielder dies, the weapon disappears!]
[Remark: Zankuro Minazuki used the blood of countless people to turn Crimson Steel Grudge Maru into a demon blade!]
"Master, I got these from that big guy~!"
Nishi walked over to Cyan and took out the silver-white crown and the spiked knuckle duster.
[Arlon's Crown]
[Type: Head]
[Attributes: Defense +15, reduces melee damage by 20%.]
[Skill: Offense-Defense Conversion — Consumes 10 Mental Power to convert defense into equal attack power for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes.]
[Equipment Requirement: Strength 15, Constitution 15.]
[Remark: The silver-white crown represents Arlon's status!]
[Blood Tear]
[Type: Special Weapon]
[Attributes: Attack Power 21~33, Strength +2, Agility +1.]
[Special: Attacks have a 40% chance to inflict Bleeding on the enemy for 10 seconds, dealing 10 damage per second.]
[Equipment Requirement: Strength 25.]
[Remark: Torn corpses and splattering blood! Arlon used this weapon to carry out many bloody massacres!]
Since these two pieces of equipment were obtained by Nishi using her Thief skill, they had no usage restrictions.
"Keep the crown. I have the Super Crown."
Cyan checked the attributes of both items. She wasn't sure if equipping Blood Tear would activate the demon blade's attributes. If it didn't, the weapon would be useless to her.
After equipping Blood Tear, Cyan held the demon blade and saw that its attributes were no longer grayed out as inactive. Satisfied, she swung Blood Tear a few times.
"This is a pretty good weapon."
"Nishi, you open this card."
Cyan took out the Golden Card (Pseudo). The reason it had "Pseudo" in the name was because only the center had an oval golden color — the rest was silver.
"Okay~!"
Nishi put away Arlon's Crown, rubbed her hands together, and took the Golden Card (Pseudo) from Cyan.
[Used Golden Card (Pseudo). Obtained 1700 Survival Points, Battle Aura Cloak, and Red Shock Orb.]
[Battle Aura Cloak]
[Type: Back]
[Attributes: Defense +10, increases movement speed by 5%.]
[Skill: Battle Aura Impact — Consumes 15 Mental Power to stomp the ground and release a shockwave dealing 80 energy damage to surrounding enemies. Cooldown: 20 minutes.]
[Equipment Requirement: Strength 10, Agility 10.]
[Remark: This cloak accompanied Arlon through countless wars.]
[Note: This type of equipment can be disguised as any cloak after equipping. You can choose to hide the equipment.]
[Red Shock Orb]
[Type: Consumable Item]
[Function: Deals 150 damage to all enemies within 100 meters. Enemies killed by this item have a 10% increased chance to drop cards.]
[Remark: Earthquake! Run for your lives!!!]
Nishi handed the Battle Aura Cloak and Red Shock Orb to Cyan.
The thick Battle Aura Cloak had golden thread patterns embroidered on it. They had no function and were purely decorative.
"Your luck is still better."
The Red Shock Orb could deal damage to all enemies within 100 meters, though it didn't specify how many…
This orb would likely damage every enemy within 100 meters. The effect was terrifying, especially combined with the 10% increased card drop rate for enemies killed by it.
If used well, it could yield extremely high returns — provided the card drop rate actually increased by 10% and wasn't like some mobile games that claimed to increase rates while actually lowering them.
"The cloak is yours. I'll keep the Red Shock Orb."
Cyan put the Red Shock Orb into her inventory. The next second, she was tackled onto the bed by the excited Nishi.
"Master, you're so good to me~!"
Nishi stared at Cyan's perfect face, drool almost dripping from her mouth.
"Get off! Get off!"
The black widow spider came out of her little nest and glared at Nishi in disgust, trying to drive her away.
"I'm not food."
Cyan stuffed a piece of bread into Nishi's mouth and pushed her aside.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
Nishi protested while glaring at the black widow spider. She wasn't hungry! Even if someone had to be fed first, it wasn't this spider girl's turn!
"Something wrong?"
Cyan looked toward the left side of the room. She had sensed an uninvited guest approaching.
"Quite sharp perception."
The smoke dispersed, revealing an old man holding a staff.
"Need something?"
Cyan stared at the old man with her silver-white eyes, showing no surprise at his strange method of entry.
"I am Merlin. May I ask how to address you?" The old man wore a kind smile.
"Cyan."
Merlin… Isn't he the one guiding Arthur and the others? Why is he looking for me?
Cyan was slightly surprised to learn that the old man in front of her was Merlin.
"There's no need to guess my intentions. I'm simply curious about you outsiders."
"Why didn't you knock?"
Cyan looked at Merlin calmly. She didn't understand why he hadn't entered through the front door and instead used a method only thieves and ambushers would employ.
"Uh…"
Merlin was momentarily caught off guard. He had originally intended to use this method to display an air of profound mystery, but he hadn't expected Cyan's reaction to be so deadpan, completely deviating from what he had envisioned.
"I wonder what business Lord Merlin has with me? Arthur and I share a common goal, which is to eliminate Archduke Garibaldi. Beyond that, I have no relation to them."
"Then what about you and the other outsiders…?"
"Aside from one who is my friend, I am not familiar with the rest."
…
After exchanging a few casual remarks without gaining any useful information from Cyan, Merlin offered a friendly smile and departed the room — exiting through the door this time.
Nishi stared at Merlin's retreating figure until he had completely left the room. She hurried over, closed the door with a sharp click, and turned to Cyan, saying, "Master, that old man is a bit eccentric."
"He harbors no malice toward us. Leave him be."
Cyan looked out the window composedly, watching the busy soldiers and knights moving back and forth. If Merlin had held any ill intent, she wouldn't have spoken so much with him anyway.
Merlin had been worried that the future he foresaw might be altered due to the appearance of these outsiders.
Consequently, he had found a quiet place to employ astrology to divine the future. Upon confirming that the future would not undergo any shifts because of these outsiders, he let out a sigh of relief.