I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 91: Human Barriers (2)

The distance was just over ten meters.

Because it glowed in the darkness, its exact form could not be clearly discerned, but at the very least, it was unmistakably humanoid.

“I sense magic,” Rene said reflexively.

And then she realized.

The figure standing before them was not a real person.

It was something formed by condensed magic.

The figure neither approached Yoo Seong nor Rene.

It simply stood in place, staring intently at the two of them, then spoke in a low voice.

[…Permission granted.]

The voice that echoed in their minds was neither male nor female.

It was neutral, a voice that seemed to exist solely for the purpose of delivering information.

What permission was being granted?

Before they could ask, the light in the shape of a human vanished as if its task was complete.

“It’s gone. Completely disappeared. I can’t sense any magic,” Rene said, closing her eyes and concentrating.

Yoo Seong also spread out his senses, but he detected nothing.

“What…was that?”

Rene asked as she opened her eyes.

The undeniable presence of magic made it harder to dismiss, leading to questions taking root in her mind.

“Permission granted.”

Yoo Seong muttered softly, then took another look around.

They were at the edge of the uncharted territory.

A land that rejected people.

A place abandoned by pioneers.

But it wasn’t uninhabitable.

At least in the uncharted regions near Lothian or Count Artois’ domain, the land was quite capable of supporting life.

And yet, no one attempted to settle it.

Why was that?

Was it simply economic reasons, or was there another, more profound cause?

Permission granted.

Yoo Seong turned his gaze to the distant horizon, staring at the endless expanse of forest.

The next morning, the group resumed their journey early.

Although they couldn’t gallop through the forest as they had on open plains, their progress remained swift thanks to intermittent flights on griffins.

As they pursued the fleeing Ratmen, they encountered groups of them along the way.

Most groups numbered around a hundred to two hundred. Each time Yoo Seong spotted a group, he attacked and eliminated them.

The forces of Camelot he could summon now numbered around two hundred, so they had no trouble defeating groups of up to three hundred Ratmen.

By the third day of their journey, after traversing an unimaginably vast stretch of land, the group came to a sudden halt.

“A wall.”

There was no towering wall rising above the forest.

Nor was there a violet barrier like the one frequently seen around Yoo Seong Castle.

It was just more of the same landscape, continuing seamlessly.

Yet there was a wall.

And what allowed them to perceive this wall was now before their eyes.

A massive fissure.

Like cracks in glass, fractures spread out in every direction ahead.

Some were small, others large, and through the larger ones, an entirely gray world could be glimpsed.

The Ratmen were moving through these enormous fissures.

After the death of the Rat Lord, it seemed the scattered groups of fleeing Ratmen had realized humans were pursuing them and decided to retreat to where they had come from.

The wall and the world beyond it.

From a high vantage point, Yoo Seong observed the Ratmen retreating far below. He then turned his gaze to the wall and the gray world beyond the cracks.

A world devoid of civilization’s flame.

A cold, gray expanse.

[You’ve arrived.]

Startled by the voice that resonated in their minds, the group looked around.

Beside Jillian stood a mass of pure white light in the shape of a young girl.

Appearing to be in her early to mid-teens, the girl glanced briefly at Jillian, who had fallen to the ground in shock. Then she turned her gaze to Yoo Seong and Rene.

At that moment, Yoo Seong and Rene instinctively realized something.

The one who had appeared three nights ago and said, “Permission granted,” was none other than the girl now before them.

[I am Ninian.]

The girl’s face bore no expression.

Though her voice now sounded distinctly like a young girl’s, it carried no emotion.

At the name Ninian, Rene gasped.

Yoo Seong, too, recognized it from the tales of King Arthur he had read in this world.

One of the many names of Nimue, the Lady of the Lake.

But the girl before them was not the Lady of the Lake.

She was not a deity of humanity but something else entirely.

Yoo Seong and Rene waited for the girl to speak, and she finished her words in a calm, neutral tone.

[An artificial sentience created by Merlin and Morgana. Guardian of the Barrier.]

When Yoo Seong blinked, the scenery around them changed.

The forest thick with foliage transformed into a pure white garden.

In the center of the garden, reminiscent of the Lake Goddess’s shrine in Yoo Seong Castle, stood a round table, and the group found themselves seated before it.

[The King of Humanity.]

[The King’s Wizard.]

[The King’s Saint.]

Ninian addressed each of them in turn.

Yoo Seong swallowed dryly to maintain his composure, Rene took a deep breath, and Jillian clenched her fists tightly, her usual anxious expression on her face.

[You have the qualifications. That is why you were granted access to the Barrier.]

Three nights ago, Ninian had appeared suddenly, said those very words, and disappeared.

“Was it impossible for us to come here otherwise?”

At Yoo Seong’s question, Ninian nodded.

[Correct. Access to the Barrier is forbidden.]

The true reason the uncharted territories remained undeveloped.

Humans who entered the uncharted lands stopped going further and turned back.

Even while looking at the uncharted land, they never thought of developing it.

This was a rule created by the gods of humanity through consensus.

The reason why humans living within the Barrier were unaware of its existence.

Listening to Ninian, Rene realized something chilling: she had never thought it strange that the uncharted territories weren’t developed.

Because the gods had not permitted it, she hadn’t even felt the curiosity to question it.

She hadn’t been allowed to think about it at all.

It was a terrifying realization.

Shuddering slightly, Rene asked, “Why?”

Why are humans forbidden from approaching the Barrier?

[Because it could hasten the Barrier’s collapse.]

Without understanding the Barrier’s purpose or the reasons for its creation, humans might recklessly seek to move beyond it.

And in doing so, they would undoubtedly accelerate its collapse.

It was a difficult concept to accept.

After all, humanity had never been told the true nature of the Barrier.

Unlike Yoo Seong, Rene was born inside the Barrier.

Her reaction was naturally more intense than his.

But before Rene could raise her voice, Jillian spoke, her voice calm despite her role as a priestess devoted to the gods.

“Ninian, what is the Barrier? Does it truly encircle the entire human world?”

[The Barrier. It was created to protect humanity. Constructed by Merlin, Morgana, Omphalos, and Nimue, as well as all the gods of humanity. Its purpose is singular: to safeguard, preserve, and ensure the growth of humanity. It exists solely for humans.]

As Ninian finished speaking, the garden expanded.

Beyond the white garden, a colossal wall became visible.

From this wall, the group sensed familiar energies.

The divine powers of the Lake Goddess and Omphalos, the Guardian of the Barrier.

And not just those two.

The Barrier indeed contained the combined powers of all human gods.

[The gods pour all their strength into maintaining the Barrier. That is why they cannot act directly.]

As Yoo Seong listened, a sudden realization struck him.

The reason Omphalos did not directly issue oracles to the Church.

It wasn’t that he chose not to, but that he couldn’t.

If even speaking to Saint Jillian was a struggle…

[The Barrier encircles the entire human world. That is why the human world is small, its size limited.]

At first, it was a puzzling statement.

The world, with its empire and five kingdoms, seemed vast.

But that was only because Rene and Jillian were born inside the Barrier.

Compared to the vastness beyond the Barrier, the world within it was indeed small and confined.

“What is the reason the Barrier is necessary?”

Now calmer, Rene asked in a subdued voice.

Once again, Ninian answered without hesitation.

[To hide the flame of civilization. To conceal the very existence of humanity.]

“From what? The monsters beyond the Barrier?”

[I cannot say.]

“What?”

[I cannot say. I cannot even explain why I cannot say.]

Though Ninian’s voice remained devoid of emotion, the group sensed her firm resolve.

“Is it a matter of qualifications?”

At Yoo Seong’s question, Ninian shook her head.

[No, it is not. The key issue is timing. The time is not yet right. I cannot reveal anything about the timing either.]

It was a frustrating story.

But Yoo Seong felt something in Ninian’s words.
Thus, to follow that intuition, he posed a new question.

“What is the flame of civilization? And where is it located?”

[The flame of a race. The culmination of a race’s potential. That which is necessary to move forward. The flame of civilization is located at the center of the human world, the land at its heart.]

At Ninian’s words, Jillian looked slightly surprised, a knowing expression on her face.
Seeing this, Yoo Seong chose not to dig further into the location of the flame of civilization and instead asked something else.

“Are the monsters invading for the flame of civilization…the flame of humanity? To make it their own?”

[That is the monsters’ intent. Something I cannot fully know. But most monsters would likely do so. They did so in the past as well.]

Five hundred years ago, during the time when King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table still lived.

“What happens if humanity’s flame is stolen?”

At Yoo Seong’s question, Ninian fell silent for a moment, then looked up at the sky.

The sun disappeared.

The sky lost its blue, and everything on the ground turned a single shade.

A world entirely gray.

After surveying the desolate earth, Ninian glanced at Rene and Jillian before finally turning her gaze to Yoo Seong and speaking.

“The era of humanity will come to an end.”

The age of humanity ushered in by King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

It was not a sudden apocalypse she spoke of.

In this gray world, most of humanity would not survive, and those who did would lose the potential for progress along with their flame.

All that would remain was eventual ruin.

At Ninian’s words, Rene and Jillian swallowed dryly.

Yoo Seong met Ninian’s gaze, and Ninian, for a brief moment, showed a sorrowful smile.

But only briefly.

Soon, she erased her expression once more, returning the world to its original state.

Faced again with the blinding sunlight, Rene asked one final question.

“…What happened to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table?”

[I cannot say. I cannot even explain why I cannot say.]

It was a frustrating answer, but Yoo Seong realized something about Ninian’s refusals.

‘Ninian’s denials have a consistent pattern.’

In his mind, Yoo Seong began piecing together the reasons behind Ninian’s refusals one by one.

Ninian drew a breath.

She stood, surveying each member of the group before speaking.

[This concludes my answers to your questions. From now on, you will listen to my story.]

The garden vanished, and the wall drew closer.

The towering wall, soaring into the skies, was riddled with cracks.

Gazing at the fractures, Ninian began to speak again.

[The wall will collapse. It is an inevitability that cannot be avoided. Even now, the wall is gradually breaking down.]

This time, the wall shrank.

The reduced, now tiny circular wall rested on Ninian’s palm.

[Cracks are forming across all sides of the wall. And through these breaches, the monsters from outside the wall are entering the interior. In the north and south, some of the seven kings of the monsters—those who dwell beyond the wall—have already crossed over.]

“By kings of the monsters, do you mean…entities like the Rat Lord?”

At Rene’s question, Ninian shook her head.

[The children of gods defeated and namelessly cast down by King Arthur. They may claim to be kings of the ratmen race, but they cannot dare claim the title of kings among monsters. Their power is far too lacking for that.]

The seven kings beyond the wall.

Existences who had transcended their races, just as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table had.

[The wall will collapse. All the gods of humanity have combined their power, but the wall’s destruction cannot be prevented. The five hundred years of reprieve created by King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table—by Merlin and Morgana—will ultimately come to an end.]

The wall, which had been on Ninian’s palm, crumbled into dust.

Involuntarily swallowing dryly, Rene asked in a subdued voice.

“What happens when the wall completely collapses?”

[The light will be exposed. And what follows, I cannot say.]

Ninian’s consistency.

If one connected all that Ninian had been concealing, it all pointed toward a single conclusion.

Something beyond the wall.

Not the monsters outside, but something different from the monsters.

Yet it was impossible to deduce exactly what it was.

The information given was far too scarce.

Ninian looked at Yoo Seong.

The white garden disappeared.

The group found themselves back at their original location.

[King of humanity. You have come here. Therefore, I shall use the power I have preserved in this place.]

Ninian stretched her hand toward the wall.

Amazingly, the massive fractures began to close little by little.

[The wall will eventually collapse. However, this part of the wall will be the very last to fall.]

Yoo Seong understood what Ninian meant.

The western wall of the Kingdom of Silatein would be the last to collapse.

In other words, until the wall fell, the monsters’ invasions through the west would be blocked.

Ninian lowered the hand she had raised toward the wall.

Her figure began to grow faint.

[I have used all the power I had to seal the fractures in this region. I shall now slumber. And unless a miracle occurs, I will not awaken.]

Ninian looked at Yoo Seong.

After showing a brief, sorrowful smile, she slowly closed her eyes and spoke.

[The wall will eventually collapse. Never forget this truth, King of humanity.]

Ninian’s eyes closed completely.

As when she had first appeared, she dissolved into bubbles, vanishing along with a breeze carrying the scent of water.