Westminster Bank

Chapter 22: Chapter 19: The Lion and the Dragon

As Baron climbed out of Freyja’s bedroom window, he happened to run into the Chief Steward from before. The Chain of the Imitator activated silently.

The Chief Steward’s face paled when he saw Baron climbing out of the window. He stepped forward and asked in a low voice,

"Number 3, what the hell happened? Wasn’t the target Freyja Lancelot? Why did you kill the second son of the Frank Family?"

"I didn’t kill Bill Frank."

Baron said grimly, "Freyja wasn’t even in her bedroom. The intel was fake. I suspect Number 2 is a mole."

He decided to muddy the waters.

But the Chief Steward replied without a second thought, "Number 2 can’t be a mole."

"Why not?"

The Chief Steward said ominously, "Because I *am* Number 2."

The hair on Baron’s neck stood on end. A moment later, there was the sound of shattering glass, and the Chief Steward collapsed... Jack stood there with a beer bottle in hand, looking at Baron with one hand on his hip. He said resentfully,

"Bro, would you believe me if I said I didn’t hear a thing?"

...

Knights astride their lions galloped through the palace’s flowerbeds. Amidst a crowd of hurried attendants, two figures whispered furtively.

"So you’re saying you don’t actually know who that guy was? Bro, I get the rules of the game. I didn’t hear anything, and I didn’t see anything."

"As for why I could see through your disguise... that’s a secret of Westminster Cathedral... Hey! Bro, don’t leave me behind! I wasn’t running away earlier, I was scouting the enemy."

"They’re saying Bill Frank was burned alive. It was a gruesome death—some parts of him were instantly carbonized by the intense heat... An Elder from the Hestia Family said it wasn’t Witchcraft, but the flame of some kind of Magical Beast.

"But it’s impossible for any Magical Beast other than a Silver Lion to get into Buckingham Palace, which means it could only be the [Promise] of a Contract Knight... And then..."

As he spoke, Jack’s eyes were fixed on Baron. If he hadn’t been with Baron the whole time, which served as an alibi of sorts.

Otherwise, even he would have thought that Baron—a fugitive who could control some kind of Dragon Flame and who had appeared in Buckingham Palace with unknown motives—was the most likely suspect.

"And then I, a guy who can control Dragon Flame, just so happened to be discovered in Freyja’s collection room of Taboo Items," Baron finished Jack’s sentence grimly.

Perhaps because he was already used to being the scapegoat, his tone was completely flat, as if he were just making small talk.

He had truly reached the state Lawrence talked about, where one more accusation couldn’t weigh him down.

"Now that you’ve been discovered by those Knights, the Frank Clan is convinced you’re the murderer. The Demon Hunter Association will be issuing its highest S Level kill order for you shortly..."

"The Patriarch of the Lancelot Clan has ordered Buckingham Palace to be sealed. The whole palace is on lockdown, tight as a drum. Not even a fly could get out..."

"Just a little while ago, an Elder from the Hestia Family announced to the reporters outside the palace that they would be requesting Faith Knights from the Holy Cross Association, as well as Saints and Battle Nuns from the Inquisition, to join the search..."

Baron couldn’t help but cut Jack off. "I get the first two, but what’s the deal with the Hestia Family? What did I ever do to them to deserve this?"

Jack sighed. "The Young Master of the Hestia Family is the deputy commander-in-training for the Griffin Knight Order. Your ex-wife is his current fiancée."

"Fuck!"

Baron couldn’t stop himself from swearing. He pulled back Da Vinci’s *Portrait of a Young Man* from the museum wall and slipped into a secret passage.

Jack let out a "Fuck!" of his own in astonishment, apparently surprised that someone had actually built a secret passage into Buckingham Palace. He dove in after Baron.

...

If Baron and Jack had the chance to do it all over again, they definitely would not have chosen to enter that secret passage.

When they pushed open the manhole cover, they saw the moonlight draping the street like a misty veil, accompanied by a cool evening breeze. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

The two of them let out a breath, thinking they had successfully escaped. Jack was just about to throw an arm around his shoulder and call him "bro"...

when he suddenly saw bright lights through the misty veil.

Baron threw the manhole cover completely open, only to realize the light was the metallic glint of light reflecting off a solid wall of Armor.

They had walked right into an encirclement of Lion Knights on the street.

Leading the Knights was the same silver-haired knight from before. The crowds on the street had already been evacuated. He sat silently atop a massive Silver Lion, raised his sword, and his pupils flowed with amber flames.

"Dragon Knight Baron Constantin, draw your sword!"

Baron drew his gun.

Jack heard several deafening gunshots ring out by his ear and saw the silver-haired knight fall from the lion’s back. The surrounding Knights, on high alert, let out a unified Lion’s Roar.

The roar made Jack’s ears ring.

"Run!"

Baron vaulted out of the sewer, his Golden Eyes gleaming.

Jack snapped to his senses and scrambled up after him. Stumbling and staggering, he followed the Dragon Knight, running for all he was worth, faster than he’d ever run in his life!

"Fuck! That guy is the damn Silver Lion Knight, Wilder! We’re finished," Jack lamented, grabbing at his face in despair.

Baron asked as they ran, "Who is this guy? He cut down all my Alchemy Bullets with one swing of his sword!"

Jack said, "You know how the Templar Order has six Knight Commanders, right?"

Baron replied, "I know. One of them died and I got framed for it."

Jack said, "Well, this guy is the fiercest of the Six Great Knight Orders’ commanders. The rumor on the street is that if the head of the Templar Knights were to die, he’s the one who would inherit a third of the Knight Law."

Baron said, "Give me a better comparison. I still don’t really get how big the gap is between Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Black Iron."

"You know the Japanese tokusatsu show *Ultraman Jack*?"

"I do." Baron couldn’t follow Jack’s train of thought.

"The gap between him and us is the gap between Ultraman Jack and a normal person."

Baron was silent for a moment, then asked, "So what do we do now? It looks like all of Inner London is going to be locked down tonight because of us..."

"You’re the murderer, not me," Jack corrected, then added, "I heard through the grapevine that Freyja took the Dragon Subway to the Outer Side... The only way to shake them is to split up. You see if you can catch the Dragon Subway and get out of here. It’s better than waiting around to die."

"What about you?"

"I have my own channels..."

The familiar parting words were spoken between two people who were hardly familiar with each other. They agreed instantly and went their separate ways in the alley.

...

「10:12 PM, November 18, 1987.」

At Inner London King’s Cross Station, the Dragon Subway pulled to a stop amid a billow of steam. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Passengers got on and off. The doors closed, and the Bone Dragon roared its whistle, ready to break free from its cage at any moment.

But just then, though it was time for departure, the subway didn’t shoot forward with the Bone Dragon’s low growl.

Passengers, not knowing what was happening, stuck their heads out the windows and saw a great silver lion standing at the end of the tunnel, its mane flowing, standing proud and aloof.

The silver-haired knight on the lion’s back pulled the reins, paying no mind to the Bone Dragon’s provocative roars. His amber eyes held an indifference as cold as a blizzard.

He simply announced, as if stating some trivial matter:

He was the Knight Commander of the Dragon Heart Knight Order, and in order to capture a renegade fugitive, he was commandeering the Dragon Subway to search its passengers.

A passenger shouted a protest, but the Knight said nothing. He simply drew his longsword from its sheath, the sound ringing out clear and sharp.

The Knights surrounded the Bone Dragon.

The passengers shivered and did not utter another word of complaint.

Wilder raised his sword toward the Bone Dragon—or rather, toward a certain person in the car behind its hollow eye sockets.

"Come out and face your punishment. Do not let your sins consume your conscience."

Fire appeared from nowhere.

It erupted from the platform, bathing the area in a golden light.

Wilder’s brow furrowed. The one thing a Bone Dragon feared most was fire—not because the flames could burn its Dragon Scales, but because fire would drive it into an indescribable frenzy.

Roaring because of the flames, the Bone Dragon thrashed like the chain of a colossal anchor plunging into the sea. The connection between its head and the cars groaned and creaked, its heart pounding like a pump.

The Knight raised his sword, and the lion beneath him let out a cataclysmic roar that momentarily drowned out the dragon’s.

The passengers on the train cried out "Amen," "Allah," and "Hallelujah." They piously made the sign of the cross on their chests, closed their eyes, and prayed to God to spare them.

Then the Bone Dragon shot forward, and the Silver Lion and its Knight met it with sharp claws and a sharp sword.

The Dragon and the Silver Lion brushed past one another.

Wilder guided his Silver Lion onto the platform and watched the train disappear into the distance through the raging fire. The wind blew his silver hair back from his forehead, making him look like a sculpture from Ancient Greece.

"Knight Commander, why..."

The deputy commander started to step forward and ask, but Wilder stopped him with a shake of his head. "Because in that moment, I was afraid."

"’Afraid...’"

The deputy commander was stunned. The legendary Silver Lion Knight was actually admitting to fear.

Wilder said nothing more, because there were some things that only he could understand.

In the instant the rumbling train car flew past him, in the instant his longsword was about to pierce the fugitive’s heart, he had heard a whisper.

The renegade Dragon Knight, Constantine, had stared at him, his Golden Eyes brighter than ever before, like a fire that, once lit, would never be extinguished.

He had aimed the muzzle of his gun at Wilder’s forehead and said, "I have no sins, and I have no conscience. I just want to live."

A gunshot.

The bullet altered the sword’s trajectory, causing it to carve a shattered scar nearly the length of the car into its Dragon Scale exterior.

...

*Manchester Guardian*: On the night of November 18, 1987, a major fire broke out at London’s King’s Cross Station. Police initially suspect a pedestrian’s cigarette ignited an escalator...

[Image from the related news report.]