The Sword

The first reaction upon entering the city was certainly one of surprise. Just past the main gate, you'd arrive at the main street of the city, from which you could see the castle and were surrounded by merchants in their tents.

The flow of people was insane, seeming as large as those in the cities of my world, a densely populated place. Now I could see why the guard didn't want to direct me to a magical authority himself; he seemed to not want the headache of passing through here.

There was one place where the crowd was larger than the others, a true mass of people was there, standing as if cheering for the most important soccer game of their lives.

Approaching a middle-aged merchant covered in rings, necklaces, turbans, and luxury items, who was selling jewelry in her tent, I asked the following: "Do you happen to know what the hell is going on in the middle of the city street?"

She looked at me with some disdain and promptly replied:

"Are you an outsider? Everyday a bunch of unemployed idiots try to pull the sword from the stone. But now that the king is dead and the council hasn't decided if Prince James deserves the throne, everyone is trying to pull the damn sword like madmen. Why don't you try too?"

Sword in the stone? Like the Excalibur myth? I needed to ask more to try to understand.

"And what happens to whoever pulls it? Do they become king?"

I spoke sarcastically, almost mocking the situation, which made her laugh.

"You've got good intuition, that's exactly what happens."

<<"Why don't you try, sir?">>

Artemis suggested as I thanked her for the information and walked away. But it seemed childish to me; I wasn't even here for that, and I would have to wait in line anyway. But I couldn't deny that being an audience member was entertaining.

From the top of a truly enormous boulder in the middle of the street, several people strained and made every effort they could to try to lift the damn sword.

Some came all pompous, of all ages, old or young, it didn't matter. The result was always the same; they tried everything, pulled the handle, and ended up cutting themselves like idiots in the end.

There were some guys betting; they were good talkers, and knew how to sell their heroes. Some bet not exactly on whether they could lift the sword since that would be an easy win, but rather if the next one could even move it.

Well, if it worked like in the tale, it would need to be the rightful heir to the entire kingdom, something prophesied by Merlin before. Which made me consider the possibility of Merlin actually existing in this world since the guard was calling for his name, yet another demon spawn, huh? I didn't seem to be the only one with the ability to use energies so well.

Getting to the castle now that the king had just been killed seemed impossible, so I would wait to try to kill this James guy during the dead of night when everyone is sleeping and only a few guards remain.

It was at this moment that I started to wonder, what kept Excalibur stuck in the stone? Was it a miracle? A ritual? A spell? It kind of sparked my curiosity to try to find out if I could dispel the enchantment that held it and be the new Arthur.

So I decided to get in line, which left some of the passersby somewhat revolted.

"What do you think you'll achieve there, princess? You should be in Lilith's brothel, that's what!"

To that question, I simply responded with as much rudeness and anger as possible.

"I am a man, you fucking misogynist piece of shit!"

My deep voice left more people somewhat surprised to say the least. And this served to make some of the brutes in line laugh as they themselves didn't believe that with their monumental bodies they could pull the sword, imagine me with my slimmer structure.

One by one failed in the mission, until it was my turn. In the majority of the crowd, I saw many girls rooting for me, saying things like:

"Go! Show these idiots what we're made of."

At that moment, I simply lowered my head and gave up arguing; I needed to change clothes urgently or let my beard grow, if I were to have a beard.

Finally, I grabbed the sword's hilt with just one hand, and Artemis promptly responded.

<<"It's a legendary-level miracle, sir.">>

Well, if I released the legendary restriction on top of it, it would dissipate, right? Let's try using the Miracle Restriction I just received.

A shockwave hit everyone nearby, nothing too strong, just enough to feel that something special had happened. And then, as if it weighed as light as a feather, I pulled the sword out of the stone. I think I screwed up.

An abyssal silence took over the entire city district, as the sword I was lifting above my head began to glow, and everyone in the streets could see someone with Excalibur in hand.

Then, an elderly gentleman pointed at me, gaping, and shouted stuttering severely:

"H-h-he di-di-did it! THE ONE WHO WILL SAVE OUR COUNTRY HAS ARRIVED!"

Everyone in the streets started celebrating as if it were a goal from their soccer team. Apparently, I was the hero of the prophecy.

But as quickly as my shock lasted, a ball of purple cloth manifested next to me, and from this ball emerged an old man, he seemed to be 400 years old from how wrinkled he was, long white beard almost reaching his feet, he grabbed me by the shoulders and teleported me away from there. Into a royal chamber while I was wielding the sword.

Before leaving, I could hear people pointing and shouting,

"Merlin! Merlin is already here!"

He was holding my shoulders and shaking me vigorously for a man of his age; he was stronger than he seemed, so that was the strength of the one who moved Stonehenge. He was amazed and said.

"Your name, lad! Tell me your name! Tell me your name immediately!"

Without much reaction from being in the presence of a legendary hero, I said equally amazed.

"It's Asclepius, sir! They call me Ascle."

And without stopping shaking me, he started yelling.

"What have you done! What have you done!"

Then he let go of me and went to a shelf full of books and began to telepathically open and flip through them, taking a better look at the room; it was clearly a mage's tower, with a crystal ball and everything. He muttered to himself as I watched the sword shining.

"It should be impossible, it should be impossible! What did he do, why isn't it Arthur?"

He then pointed at me saying with.

"How did you do it?"

"How did I do what exactly, sir?"

"How did you pull the damn sword from the stone? It should only be possible for a very specific man; we had miracles preventing the sword from being removed. Do you realize what you've done? It wasn't the time yet!"

He was anxious, even breathless. I was afraid he would have a heart attack right in front of me, so I decided to respond.

"I dispelled the miracle, Sir Merlin."

He stared at me with his mouth open for about 5 seconds, and then asked me slightly fast.

"You did what?"

"I dispelled the miracle, sir." 

I repeated, trying to maintain my composure under his intense scrutiny.

"You did what?"

He asked again, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"I dispelled the miracle that was holding the sword in place."

 I clarified, hoping he would understand.

Merlin's expression shifted from disbelief to a mixture of shock and concern.

"You mean to tell me that you undid the enchantment? That's not something that should be possible, especially not for someone like you."

I could feel the weight of his suspicion pressing down on me.

 "I... I was given a bracelet that had the power to dissipate energies. I learned the ritual that could dispel miracles, and I applied it to the sword."

Merlin's eyes bore into mine, searching for any hint of deception. 

"You do realize the level of magic involved in the enchantment on that sword, don't you?"

I nodded, feeling a growing sense of unease. 

"It was a legendary-level miracle. I unleashed a corresponding ritual to counter it."

I realized I might have said too much, and Merlin's reaction confirmed my fears. His eyes began to glow blue. My Danger Sensor screamed at me to flee, but with Merlin's ability to teleport, escape seemed futile.

"Who are you?" 

Merlin demanded, his voice tinged with suspicion.

 "An archdemon? Satan himself? A malevolent deity? What do you mean by 'using a legendary ritual'?"

His gaze intensified, and I could sense that he was on the verge of discovering something I desperately wanted to keep hidden. 

"Please, Merlin, I assure you I have no ill intentions." 

I pleaded, my heart pounding in my chest. 

"I swear I'm not a demon, despite being a creature of chaos. I've only been alive for a few days."

Merlin's aura of suspicion eased slightly, but he still looked at me with narrowed eyes. 

"Are you telling me that if I were to analyze you, I wouldn't find anything amiss?"

I should warn him about the demon's soul that I had with me, however, there's also a human soul, the problem is he would see everything at once and it's difficult to explain the man's soul in my possession, especially if he recognizes who it is.

<<"Sir, I need to leave since he will analyze us avoid causing you trouble, however, recommend using the knight's soul in Excalibur for now, it's better than nothing.">>

Huh, leave? Artemis! Artemis, come back here! Why on earth would you need to leave! Oh well, I'll do what Artemis says while I explain to him.

"Well... you'll find the soul of various demons called Legion, I seized his soul in a fight and I don't know what to do with their souls. Other than that, there's nothing special."

As I transferred the soul into the sword, however, with Merlin extremely suspicious of me, the sword started to speak.

"Ah... such a headache, didn't even know spirits could have headaches. So you really saved my life, huh, but I'm kind of not getting whose body you've given me."

And it was at that moment I realized I fucked up, Merlin was incredulous and using his analyzing thing, he confirmed that Legion really inhabited my body, and looking at the sword he said.

"Lancelot?"