The Dragon King Vortigern / Let's Cook Something to Calm Down

"Lamorak is the son of Pellinore and one of the three strongest knights under the King of Knights. He is known as one of the Lions of Britain, along with Lancelot and Tristan."

He possessed immense strength and was the most skilled spearman among the Knights of the Round Table. He also served Morgan, King Arthur's sister. After his affair with Morgan was discovered, he was surrounded and attacked by the Knights of the Round Table, and ultimately killed by Mordred.

Mordred donned his red and white armor, leaped down the hill, smashing through the barbarians below, then slashing down the knights blocking his path before charging headlong toward the tall, spear-wielding knight.

Behind her, several arrows, shimmering with enhanced magic, flew in and pierced the head of the guy who was trying to sneak up on Mordred from behind.

"Rebel against my handsome father--(Clarent Blood Arthur)!!!"

Crimson, burning lightning swept away the barbarians blocking its path, and simultaneously blasted towards the spear-wielding knight.

Lamorak leaped off his horse, and upon recognizing the newcomer, sheathed his spear and chuckled, saying, "Isn't this Lord Mordred? So that's why you weren't summoned to this inferno."

"Hmph, Lamorak, if you have any complaints, just use the gun in your hand to talk!" Mordred said.

At this moment, Shirou, who had been covering the girl with his bow and arrow, caught up and said, "Calm down, Little Mo. Since she's Servant can be reasoned with, we can ask her about the situation here."

Lamorak then looked at Shirou, who had followed behind, and continued, "Oh, Lord Mordred, you seem to have a rather good Master. He's doing the work of a knight..."

Chapter 143 King Fafnir

"I will protect Little Mo from behind, and I entrust my life to Little Mo's protection. In the end, I never intended to be the one who is always being protected," Shirou said as he stepped forward.

"That's truly a reliable and ideal relationship," Lamorak sighed. There had been a time when the Knights of the Round Table were so united and trusting of one another...

"Right?! Shirou is definitely my best partner!" Little Mo replied matter-of-factly, a smug smile on her face.

Then he glared at the other person and said, "But this has nothing to do with you and me, and it'll be easier to question you if I knock you down first!"

"Hey, your gentlemanly partner wouldn't want you fighting me here," Lamorak said, shrugging.

"No, if you were the enemy, the current battle would be to our advantage. Lamorak, if you would be willing to explain the situation to us, then that would be a different story." Shirou Projection an arrow onto his bow and said, showing no mercy to this legendary figure who, in the legends, colluded with the witch Morgan, betrayed King Arthur, and was subsequently killed.

"That's it! If you have anything to say, fight me first!" Mordred raised his greatsword, ready to charge into battle.

"I retract my previous statement. As expected, someone who can gain Lord Mordred's trust is no ordinary character. Stop, I have no intention of fighting you. However, if you came here with a human Master, then it seems that lord did not come here after all..." Lamorak said with some disappointment.

"How would I know where that promiscuous woman would be? Are you still hung up on her? Wasn't being seduced once enough? You're really stupid..." Mordred lowered her head, a look of disgust on her face, as if she were talking about Lamorak, but also as if she were talking about herself.

"No, I chose to serve that lord through my own will, and I have never regretted it. What I did did did violate morality, and it is only right that I was punished." Lamorak shook his head, then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he said:

"Is that so? That's a good thing. Coming here would only mean repeating meaningless battles every day."

"What exactly is going on? There's a bunch of random guys fighting up ahead, Lamorak. If you don't want to fight, then explain yourself." Seeing the other side like this, Little Mo lost his will to fight and asked.

Lamorak looked ahead at the fiercely contested battlefield, seemingly counting the corpses, and then said, "There's no time to explain. Today's fighting is about to end. While you still have a chance to escape this world, Lord Mordred, take your Master and leave."

In the center of the battlefield, barbarians wielding bone knives and hammers, led by their Barbarian King with long hair and a beard and wearing a horned hat, launched a charge, hurling stones and hammers that knocked knights off their horses.

A large, ferocious monster, a lion-like creature, roared as a black demonic boar charged forward.

The knights led their legions, charging on their warhorses, slashing left and right with their greatswords, while the infantry behind them thrust out with their spears. They fought against barbarians, monsters, and other armies.

At the very center of the battlefield, barbarians, monsters, and cavalry units were all tangled up in a chaotic melee, their eyes bloodshot with rage. They no longer cared whether those around them were their own kind or their enemies, but simply kept killing those in front of them until they themselves were killed by other enemies.

The Barbarian King grabbed the legs of the horse charging at him and tore it in two.

Several more giant knights, each over two meters tall and clad in red, yellow, green, and cyan armor, charged up from inside. They wielded Greatsword, axes, and hammers, engaging in a fierce battle with each other, their every strike sending blood and flesh flying across the battlefield.

"Awooo!!" Then came the loud roar of a beast from the other side. A huge Demon Boar King charged out from afar. It was more than ten meters tall and was as big as a mammoth. Its long tusks pierced through all the enemies in front of it and knocked them away.

A two-meter-tall green-armored knight was pierced through the body by the Demon Boar King. The other knights swung their weapons and rushed forward, slicing off most of the flesh from the Demon Boar King's back, exposing the bone.

The center of the battlefield became a hellish inferno, where monsters, barbarians, and knights with red glowing eyes endlessly repeated the cycle of killing and being killed.

The Servant wielding the silver spear had already mounted his horse and begun to retreat.

Da Vinci, in Chaldea, analyzed the figures on the battlefield and exclaimed in surprise, "Those guys are all enemies from the twelve battles fought by King Arthur over ten years. Some of them were initially comrades-in-arms of King Arthur, but later parted ways with King Arthur and became lords of the enemy... Besides the soldiers, there are more than a dozen magical reactions on the field with the strength of Servant! There are also Demonic Beast of the Phantasmal Beast level."

"What is it all for? Why are they fighting so frantically?" Shirou asked, bewildered.

"For no reason, those are just puppets controlled by the Black Mud, simply repeating the same things every day," Lamorak said.

The words had barely left his mouth.

The earth suddenly trembled, and a small hill suddenly rose up on the other side of the battlefield, revealing a black, lizard-like spine.

A deafening roar erupted, making everyone's ears ring and their heads ache. Compared to that, the howl of the Demon Boar King sounded as gentle as a kitten. Even Shirou and Mordred, standing at the rear of the battlefield, could feel the terrifying pressure emanating from it.

A gigantic dragon, a hundred meters long, ripped open the earth, its long neck emerging from the ground, its head flashing with blood-red light, and the breath it exhaled from its nostrils turned into two gusts of hot wind. When it spread its wings, it directly swatted away two mountain peaks it encountered.

It was a pitch-black demonic dragon. Although the world around it was bright, its entire body was like a dark night without moonlight or stars, a deathly black curtain that seemed to absorb all light.

The giant knights of various colors unleashed their Noble Phantasm, their weapons releasing lightning and beams of light in the same color as their armor. But when the Noble Phantasm collided with the dragon, everything was absorbed, like a shadow that light cannot reach, unable to illuminate a dark alley. The Noble Phantasm were also swallowed up by the black dragon.

With a sweep of its long tail, the dragon sliced the various giant knights in half at the waist, sending them flying.

Demonic lions, demonic boars, and all sorts of Demonic Beast charged forward, tearing and attacking the demonic dragon, but they couldn't break through the dragon's scales.

When the dragon's claws slammed down, they smashed the already injured, ten-meter-tall Demon Boar King on the ground into a bloody pulp. Blood rained down from the sky, accompanied by a white, viscous substance, splattering across the entire arena.

"Whoa! That Demon Boar King got completely flattened! How disgusting!" Little Mo quickly controlled the armor, folding the helmet together and hiding himself inside.

"Little Mo, come here." Shirou Mordred to his side and Projection a transparent umbrella more than three meters high in front of him, leaving only the upper half open, abandoning the handle, and laying it flat on the ground to cover all three of them.

Besides blood and fat, what fell onto the transparent umbrella surface were ruptured intestines, a broken liver, and grayish-brown and green bile, which dripped down in long, liquid streams.

The demonic dragon ahead continued to ravage the battlefield, like a meat grinder, engulfing all living things and tearing them to shreds. Soldiers and Demonic Beast were like ants before the dragon, crushed at will, utterly incomparable.

The battlefield, which was in chaos and fighting just a moment ago, was now filled with stench and silence. Only the dragon raised its head high and spewed out a black, demonic breath, a darkness that absorbed all the light. The armor of the corpses touched by the breath melted away, turning into writhing Black Mud, which was eventually absorbed by the earth.

Thump, thump.

Shirou once again felt the earth's veins pulsating like a heartbeat. The land beneath his feet felt as if it were alive. After absorbing the Black Mud, the magical power contained within this land became even more abundant. The nutrients within began to flow to the surrounding area, and the land suddenly seemed to have become more expansive.

"Roar!!!"

The dragon continuously emitted black breath, burning the underground debris bit by bit until it turned into Black Mud and was absorbed by the earth. Like a ferocious beast focused on its meal, it no longer paid any attention to the barbarians and knights fleeing on the ground.

"Retreat! Retreat!" The remaining knights and barbarians all ran back.

"Damn it, why would such a huge monster dragon appear here?" Mordred cursed.

"That is the monster of Vile King Fafnir, who dimmed the brilliance of the King of Knights's holy sword by half. He is the true master of this land. In this world he created, knights and barbarians are summoned from the gates on both sides every day and fight endlessly. The blood flowing on the ground, filled with hatred and resentment, will become nourishment for the earth, and this battlefield will continue to expand."

"Retreat! Retreat!" Faced with such a monster, the Servant fighting on the battlefield and the powerful Barbarian King among the barbarians all stopped fighting and turned to flee.

Knights on horseback and their accompanying infantry followed at a gallop.

At this moment, the middle-aged Servant wielding the silver spear rode towards them on horseback, leading another horse by the hand.

King Pellinore shouted, "Lamorak! Retreat! What are you still saying to your enemies? If you get killed here, you'll become like that Demon Boar King, a puppet of the Black Mud, being killed every day!"

"I understand, Father. But Lord Mordred is my companion at the Round Table, not my enemy." Lamorak took a brown horse from Pellinore, handed it to Mordred, and said, "If you want to know more, follow me; otherwise, ride away."

"Hmph, my valiant son, since you don't see them as enemies but as comrades, then I'll allow you to bring them along. Of course, if you're too afraid to come, then forget it."

"That's all in the past!" Mordred took the reins, patted the horse's head, and called out loudly. Then he jumped on and held out his hand to the boy. "Come on up, Shirou."

"Little Mo, I can't ride a horse, you know," Shirou said, reaching out to hold her hand.

"You're really useless. You can't even be a knight's attendant like this. I can't do anything with you. Next time, I'll teach you how to ride. Shirou, you can just sit behind me and hold on!" Mordred said, pulling the boy onto the horse's back.

Lamorak rode with his father Pellinore, on one horse, leading the way. Pellinore, Riding a white horse, neither objected nor welcomed them, whipping his mount and galloping quickly towards the rear camp.

"Shirou, we're going to chase after them! Hold on tight, or don't blame me if you fall!" Mordred shouted.

"Oh," Shirou replied, and had no choice but to hug the girl's waist.

A brown horse carried the two of them, galloping swiftly forward across the meadow.

King Pellinore led the two to a meadow with a stream nearby. In front of it was a camp enclosed by a wooden fence, with stables and huts inside. Soldiers and farmers could be seen carrying things or doing other work.

A campfire was lit on one side, smoke was rising, and water was being boiled there, suggesting that hundreds of people had settled there.

In the center of the camp stood a large white tent, which was Pellinore's residence and the place where he held meetings and discussions with his knights.

Pellinore dismounted, handed the reins to the waiting soldiers, and walked toward the central tent, saying, "Come in, the great King Pellinore grants you permission to enter the royal tent."

"That's hilarious. Not only do you not have a city, but you don't even have a decent house. Pellinore, you're getting worse and worse," Mordred mocked.

"Shut up, brat," King Pellinore complained. "There's nothing we can do about it. This place is likely to be destroyed by that dragon every day. Where would we find the time to build a castle?"

King Pellinore sullenly walked to the throne at the top and sat down. Below him was a large rectangular table with more than ten seats on both sides.

Lamorak gestured to the seats and said, "Please sit, Lord Mordred, and the young Master."

"Now can you tell us what's going on in this world?" Shirou asked the tall man as he sat down next to Little Mo.

"I know. In that case, I will explain, and then you can decide for yourselves whether to stay or leave..." Lamorak nodded, only saying half of his sentence.

At this moment, King Pellinore, who was sitting above, interrupted, "Wait, this is my territory. If you want to ask questions, first tell us why you came here."

Chapter 144 Let's cook a meal and calm down

Shirou stood up first, stopping Little Mo, who was angrily trying to stand up, and said to King Pellinore above, "To show respect to the host of this place, it is indeed our turn to explain our purpose first. I King Pellinore for your help."

"Hmm, compared to that brat, you're much more sensible," King Pellinore nodded approvingly.

"First, let me introduce myself. I'm a resident from the outer world that connects to this place. You can call me Shirou. Mordred and I came here to resolve the anomalies caused by this world. The overflowing magical energy of this world has begun to affect my world."

Shirou explained his side of the situation, but omitted the existence of Chaldea.

After learning about the situation outside, King Pellinore laughed gleefully, saying, "Hahaha, who would have thought he'd be a hero saving the world! Truly commendable courage! It's a pity he encountered an invincible opponent like that dragon... But for us, this is good news. Hey! Lamorak, did you hear that? In a while, we might be able to see what the outside world is like."

"Hey! Lamorak! What's going on? Where did that dragon come from? Don't spout nonsense like he's Vortigern. I've never seen Vortigern, but the rumors aren't that exaggerated!" Mordred asked, frowning.

"Indeed, that dragon wasn't the Vortigern I knew, but a mutated monster. It could be the embodiment of this world, constantly killing lives, turning flesh and blood, pain and resentment into soil, and then expanding the land. Since we were summoned to this world, the land here has more than doubled in size, and of course, the number of creatures killed is countless."

King Pellinore, seated above, spoke up. Like Vortigern, he was a local warlord during King Uther's reign Britain all of Britain, and therefore had the most authority to speak.

"You mean the land is expanding itself through the remnants of battle?" Shirou asked in surprise.

Lamorak said, "It's hard to believe, but that's how it is. This world is an endless purgatory, with endless fighting, but we can't stop fighting either. If we don't have enough sacrifices, that demonic dragon will go berserk and destroy everything in its path with its breath. At that point, we can only hide in a corner and pray we don't get found. Once we're discovered, we'll be killed instantly."

"With so many powerful individuals, didn't they ever consider joining forces to defeat the demonic dragon?" Shirou asked, frowning.

Lamorak shook his head and said, "We can't win. Even if we injure the dragon, it will recover instantly. It is the embodiment of this land. Only by standing here can we survive. We have no chance of defeating it."

Therefore, the only way for their inhabitants to survive is to kill those of different races and species, feeding the dragon. This world is cursed by the dragon; once killed, they are absorbed by the evil Black Mud and turned into puppets on the battlefield. If they don't want to end up like that Demon Boar King, they should run away.

"The embodiment of the earth, its power isn't just limited to the Black Mud and the Holy Grail; its own attributes are also quite troublesome," Shirou remarked.

"Yes, that's why I advise you to leave. The Vortigern is invincible in this world. At least that dragon won't go outside. It has no mind; it does everything based on instinct."

"No, even the strongest opponent has weaknesses, right? Like destroying the Holy Grail within him, weakening his power, there must be a way," Shirou said unwillingly.

Lamorak said, "Give up. That's the corrupted Vortigern, now possessing the Black Mud and the Holy Grail, even more terrifying than before. Vortigern is connected to this land; though unable to leave, he is invincible here."

"Is his inability to leave this place what drives his desire to continuously expand his territory?" Shirou asked.

According to Li Shuwen, the black mud Heroic Spirit came to this world to kill him. Although their purposes and processes differed, the result was the same: they would inevitably clash with him.

The dragon Vortigern, driven by instinct, will continuously expand its territory and will eventually reach the Kingdom of He, at which point it will naturally be killed. Is that why the Black Mud chose this dragon and summoned it to this world?

Currently, thanks to the protection of the alternate dimension, the rate of erosion has been reduced to a minimum. At a rate that it would only overflow and affect one mountain every few months, it would take at least a hundred years to spread throughout the entirety of England. However, if the world's protection is breached, causing the two worlds to overlap, then everything would be unimaginable.

Shirou knew that this time his opponent was no longer someone referred to as black mud Heroic Spirit, nor could the Servant Vortigern be described as such!

Lamorak continued, "The Vortigern I know is a despicable king who led the barbarians to invade Britain. Because he drank Dragon Blood, he eventually became the embodiment of the Isle of Britain, transforming into a demonic dragon capable of devouring the brilliance of the Holy Vortigern. The brighter the sword's light, the denser his darkness became, constantly absorbing the resentment of this land, and thus becoming stronger. Back then, he exhausted all his forces, even completely absorbing the sun's radiance from Sir Gawain's Holy Sword."

Finally, it was only through the power of the king at his peak, fueled by the faint glow of Excalibur like a campfire, that he fought Vortigern for several hours. Only Sir Gawain regained his strength did they join forces to pin Vortigern down with the Holy Sword, and ultimately kill him with the Holy Lance."

"If this is an enemy that even my Father King finds troublesome, then we should attack it even more! I'd rather slay a dragon myself!" Mordred said, his competitive spirit, eager to keep up with King Arthur, stirring within him.

"No! That's an opponent we can't fight. It's far too risky. You don't need to go to that extent for the sake of this world," Lamorak advised.

At this moment, the middle-aged knight King Pellinore stepped forward and said with a smile, "You are talking about something very interesting. Well then, let me tell you some information. At midnight, the Black Mud in the land will be completely cleared and transformed into nutrients for expansion."

When that time comes, the dragon will be at its weakest. Its hundred-meter body will shrink to a mere ten meters. It will dig a hole and bury itself underground, then wait for the next day's battle to absorb hatred and resentment.

"Father, are you going to deceive them into going to scout ahead? That's not what a knight should do," Lamorak said.

King Pellinore laughed and said, "Hmph, Lamorak, my foolish son. Of course, I have no intention of hiding anything. Boy, you all saw those huge knights in various colored armors fighting earlier, didn't you? They were the ones who went to surround and kill the demon Vortigern at dawn."

"What? You don't have the guts to go and try it yourselves? I'd love to see you weaken the dragon's power," King Pellinore said, stroking his beard with a smile.

"Hmph! Aren't you coming over? The dragon Vortigern is King Arthur's mortal enemy, so naturally he's the target of the Knights of the Round Table," Mordred asked, looking at the tall knight beside him.

Lamorak shook his head and refused, "No, having already betrayed the Round Table, I have no right to fight the dragon. But I don't want you to go to your deaths, Shirou, Lord Mordred, I advise you one last time: leave this place."

If you are killed on this land, even if you are Servant, it's not as simple as just disappearing. As for humans, needless to say, you will be turned into puppets on the battlefield by the Black Mud, unable even to die. It's an endless purgatory. Every day is a meaningless repetition of fighting, a constant state of being worse than death."

"You fool! If it's the king's order, then carry it out. If it's the king's enemy, then attack them. Isn't that enough?" Mordred cursed.