Chapter 157: An Insane Skeleton?! And Some Mysteries Unravel!

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"Welcome, my apprentices! That youngling left me here for an eternity! But finally! I get to do something! HAHAHA!"

Before everyone's sight, an insane skeleton wearing mage robes and wielding a long golden cane laughs and stands up from his throne!

His laugh resonates through the entire hall, he is filled with insanity!

"A monster!" said Adamantine.

"Let's kill him," said Jon.

"W-WAIT! I am no monster! I am Merlin!" said the skeleton, stopping the vampires before they were to decimate him.

"This… how odd, it is a monster that is not aggressive towards us?" wondered Iris, glaring at the creature with intrigue.

Noah glanced at the skeleton from toe to head, as he grabbed the jaw from the floor.

"That's my jaw! Please, can I have it back?" asked the skeleton walking near Noah.

"After you explain what exactly you are…" said Noah, holding the jaw high.

"Eh? OH! Of course, introductions are necessary, young lad!" laughed the Skeleton, jumping over the throne and raising his cane into the air!

"I am Merlin, the legendary mage! The guider of King Arthur! Magician extraordinaire! The seeker of truth! Who else could I be than the most amazing and outstanding magician in all of the face of Earth?" asked the skeleton, laughing proudly over his own greatness.

"This is getting weirder and weirder…" said Iris.

"I knew that my grandfather had someone he always went to talk to… it was you?! I knew he had the power to speak with spirits and souls… but… he can even raise the dead?!" asked Arthur in shock.

"Oh?! You must be Arthur, his little boy! And you even have the same name as your ancestor! If we throw away the crimson eyes, you are the living image of my King," said Merlin while rubbing his upper jaw because he had no chin now.

"Answer his question or you're not getting your jaw back," said Noah.

"Oof! Who is this guy anyway? He is so gloomy! And he looks like a Vampire… Wait, are all of you Vampires?! EH?! The Bloodline of King Arthur has been corrupted by VAMPIRES?!" asked the skeleton, falling off the chair.

"What is he talking about?" wondered Timassa.

"Bloodline of King Arthur? What? Who is King Arthur? I don't think it is related to me solely by my name…" said Arthur.

"In fact, it does! Well, the surname Pendragon probably is already long gone after many generations… but you are from that bloodline, little Arthur!" said the skeleton, quickly standing up again and rushing towards Arthur, who stepped back a bit.

"This is a bit… overwhelming… How did you even come here? Did grandfather bring you? And why are you speaking if you are clearly a skeleton? How are you even moving? What kind of power does my grandpa have?" asked Arthur.

"Hmmm… Well, that is a lot of questions there, boy… It could be said that I have always been within the relics of your family, more or less," said Merlin.

"W-What?" asked Arthur.

"You see… I died pretty long ago, but Arthur's descendants promised me that one day, they would bring me back from death… Fast forward to many generations later, the father of your grandfather finally mastered necromancy, and then here I am! Since he died, I have been taking care of your grandpa… who died a few years ago, sadly. He left me here waiting for you. When you were to reach a certain level of mana capacity and possibly learn magic, the door would open… The conditions were pretty harsh, to be honest…" said Merlin nonchalantly.

"EH?! Really? That's it?!" asked Arthur.

"Hm? What did you expect? Something more grandiose? You asked me for a short answer. The long one would be a giant explanation from the very origins of your bloodline… Do you even want to hear about your ancestor, Excalibur, and all of that crap? I don't think so," said Merlin.

"W-Well, whatever you are, Merlin, let's settle things down for now, and let's talk things out… Arthur-sama, please relax," said Timassa.

"O-Okay then…" said Arthur.

Noah spectated all of this while rubbing his chin, this entire thing seemed directly out of a tale.

And to an extent, it was.

From what he knew about King Arthur's tale, it was some kind of ancient tale that originated from the old and destroyed country of the United Kingdom, he did not really read the entire thing, but he had found some books around the library that had old books within, it seemed that in the past, such tale influenced a lot of the modern media that originated before the Apocalypse fell.

But seeing how this skeleton called itself Merlin, how it said that Arthur was the descendant of King Arthur, and even mentioned the Excalibur and spoke about the entire tale as if it were an old and boring event he went to, it all began to feel even more overwhelmingly ridiculous.

"Speak the truth, are you really the magician Merlin? Don't fool around with us," said Noah.

"Hmph… I hate prideful brats! Give me back my lower jaw and I might do something!" said Merlin.

Noah glanced at Merlin while squinting his eyes.

Without saying a word, he threw the lower jaw back to the skeleton, who barely managed to catch it.

"Do you have to be so disrespectful with this old man? I am literally in the bones here!" said Merlin, sticking the lower jack back to his skull.

"Now, do something," said Noah.

"W-Well, can you prove that what you are saying is the truth?" asked Arthur.

"Yeah, honestly, I have not seen a skeleton before, but I have heard that there are dungeons with them… Maybe you are just a tamed monster from all we know," said Iris.

"…I don't know what to say," said Clementina.

"Hmph. Do you really think I am some kind of skeleton monster?! …Well, I am a skeleton, and I might be a monster, but I am not a liar! …Well, I am. But I am not lying about this!" said the skeleton, as he quickly walked towards the back of the throne.

The entire Vampire Family glanced at Merlin with suspiciousness, as he began to look for something specific.

"Argh… Where is this thing? Hmm… Oh? AHA!"

The skeleton quickly found something, but he did not bring it.

"Come here!" he asked, as everyone slowly walked near him.

Suddenly, behind the throne, everyone found a large, golden sword stuck to the floor.

"A sword…?" asked Iris.

"No… this power. It is a Soul Weapon. Oh? The power has its sealed, but… it seems to be an S-Rank Soul Weapon. Interesting…" said Noah.

"That's right, you ignorant. This is Excalibur, the sword that only those descendants of Arthur can wield! Now, Arthur, take it with your hands, and become the new King of Light that shall save this world filled with chaos! Just like your grandfather once wielded it," said Merlin.

"Grandpa once used this? But I never saw him use it…" said Arthur.

"Heh, that's because he was older than you think! And he put it here after getting pretty old, he said that the weight hurt his back…" said Merlin.

Arthur slowly walked towards the golden blade, as he felt like the light within it was calling to him.

He extended his hand towards it and grabbed its handle.

FLASH!

The sword shined brightly in iridescent radiation as if it were the sun itself!

The light was so bright that it even damaged the skin of everyone present.

Even when Arthur was a descendant of King Arthur, he was a Dhampir, and the radiant holy light of this blade began to slightly burn his skin!

Yet, he grasped it tightly, slowly but steadily pulling it out with all the might he could muster!

"Nnngh…! Aaaagh! Come on…!" roared Arthur, gnashing his teeth as he put all of his strength into his muscles, using his superhuman strength to pull the blade while ignoring its burning light!

FLASH!

The blade flashed brightly more and more as if it was slowly waking up from its slumber!

"You can do it, boy!" cheered Merlin.

Arthur slowly pulled it out of the floor, raising it!

FLASH!

As if it were the sun itself, the blade flashed the brightest ever, celebrating that a new wielder had emerged.

"YOU DID IT! HAHAHA!" laughed Merlin.

"Phew… I don't like swords though…" said Arthur, giving the blade to Noah.

"I will put it to good use," said Noah, glancing at the radiant sword greedily.

"WAIT, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" roared Merlin in complete disbelief.

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