Crash!
The tail of the Royal Wyvern lashed out like a whip, and with a thunderous roar, the trees in the forest fell like dominoes.
"Ugh...!"
Kay was thrown, tumbling into the muddy ground.
Every part of his body screamed in pain. His left shoulder had already been dislocated and hung uselessly, and blood spurted relentlessly from his side.
The opponent was a Royal Wyvern. It was on another level compared to ordinary wyverns.
Its scales were harder than steel, and its fiery breath could melt even rock.
Ten years old... is this the limit of my genius?
Kay gritted his teeth as his vision blurred.
His teeth were already worn down to stumps like saw blades. No mana, no physical enhancements—just an ordinary human body.
But he refused to back down.
Kyaaaa!
The Royal Wyvern roared, certain of its victory. Its jaws opened wide, aiming straight for Kay's head.
"Don't make me laugh... Mara."
Kay summoned the last of his strength and drove his foot into the ground. Not retreat—full charge.
"I'll sever your neck... and fill my sisters' bellies with it!"
He dodged the wyvern's fiery breath by a hair's breadth and plunged into the creature's embrace.
If you can't dodge, go straight to the deepest point. It was the survival method Kay had honed over five years battling beasts.
Thrust!
The broken tip of his blade pierced the wyvern's nape right through.
A precise strike aimed at the heart.
Kuooh!
The wyvern writhed in agony and flung Kay to the ground. But it was already too late. The beast's ruptured heart beat its last, its massive wings fluttered, and with a final thud, it collapsed.
"...Hah, hah."
Kay lay sprawled on the earth.
He had won, slain the beast.
But the cost was brutal. His entire body was battered and bleeding out. He couldn't even move a finger.
I've got to get back... I need to feed the kids breakfast...
His consciousness was fading.
Then it happened.
From the darkness, countless red glints of light flashed.
It wasn't just one.
The pack of wyverns had smelled the blood of their fallen kin and surrounded him.
Krieeee! Grrooo!*
Half a dozen wyverns drooled as they circled Kay.
To them, he was no longer a hunter—just a neatly portioned chunk of meat.
Damn... is this the end?
Kay closed his eyes.
More terrifying than the fear of death was the guilt he felt for the children he'd left behind.
I wanted to cook them more good meals...
I wanted to play with them more, hold them more...
A wyvern lunged, its sharp teeth inches from Kay's neck.
Suddenly—
Flash!
A golden light cut through the pitch-black gloom.
It wasn't mere light but a storm of compressed mana.
Kraaaang!
The charging wyvern's head vanished without a trace.
Without even a spray of blood, the beast turned to ash in an instant.
"...Who—"
Kay opened his eyes with difficulty. In the moonlit clearing stood a girl.
Her blonde hair whipped in the wind, and a ragged, oversized cloak billowed around the small child.
She was only five years old, yet she radiated a nobility surpassing any knight.
Artoria Pendragon.
In her hand was the wooden sword that Ector had carved for practice.
Yet blue mana shimmered along the blade, making it glow like a holy sword.
"...Step back."
Artoria's voice was cold, but the anger beneath it burned hot.
"Stay away from my brother, you lowly beasts."
As she took a step forward, the ground trembled.
A presence from a five-year-old's body that felt like Conqueror's Battle Stance incarnate.
The heart of the Red Dragon coursing through Pendragon made the wyverns tremble in pure terror.
The wyverns backed away in fear.
"Artoria… how did you—"
Kay croaked.
Without looking back, Artoria leveled her wooden sword at the wyverns.
"I woke from a dream... where you were in danger, brother. And when I woke, you were gone."
Her emerald eyes fell upon Kay's bloodied body.
In that moment, her gaze wavered.
"...You foolish man."
She murmured softly, her words filled with emotions that defied description.
They were born with talent—some with the heart of a dragon, others as fairies like Morgan, or carrying the energy of the cosmos.
But this man? He had nothing. No mana, no Divine Blessing, no noble bloodline.
Yet every night he risked his life in this deadly forest to feed them.
Simply because he was their brother.
"Brother... you truly are a fool."
Artoria bit her lip, her chest pounding.
It was more than familial love. Respect? Gratitude? Awe?
No—something more primal and intense.
I want to protect him.
More than becoming king or saving Britain, her desire was to protect this wounded man right now.
Her heart flared hot.
Kraaaa!
A golden aura exploded from Artoria's body.
The wyverns screamed and charged.
But she was too fast—faster than the eye could see.
With a single swing, her wooden sword sliced through the air, sending a golden slash flying.
In the next instant, two of the lunging wyverns were cleaved in half.
Clack, plop.
Chunks of flesh rained down like rain.
The remaining wyverns fled without even screaming, their animal instincts warning them.
This little human is a dragon.
With the threat ended, Artoria lowered her sword and ran to Kay.
The fearsome aura was gone, replaced by the tearful face of a five-year-old girl.
"Brother! Stay with me!"
She cradled his bloodstained cheek in her tiny hand.
It was warm—and made him want to cry.
"...Sorry. I was supposed to cook breakfast... I'll be a bit late."
Kay croaked a joke. Tears like little pearls slid from Artoria's eyes.
She buried her face in his chest.
"You don't need breakfast or meat... please... just don't get hurt."
She gripped the hem of his clothes tightly.
Kay weakly lifted a hand and stroked Artoria's blonde hair.
His hand was filthy with dirt and blood, but she didn't pull away.
Instead, feeling that touch, she made a vow.
I will protect him.
Becoming king? Saving Britain? That could wait.
Now, what mattered most was the back of this man.
"Let's go home, brother. I'll... carry you."
The five-year-old Artoria strained to lift ten-year-old Kay.
Of course, the size difference made carrying impossible, but she supported him with mana strength.
Along the moonlit path through the forest,
a bloody boy and the little girl of light braced each other.
Their shadows stretched long.
That night, before the legend of the Once and Future King,
a girl's first love quietly began.