The Sun Also Rises (Continued)

——

In a daze, I found myself in a spacious hall with Round Table.

Everyone was celebrating Camelot's unification and final victory with great enthusiasm.

Lancelot did not defect, Gareth and Gaheris did not die, and more importantly...

The blond figure on the throne was still there, and even the cold and Agravaine had granted all the Knights of the Round Table a day off to celebrate this most important moment together.

Everyone is together.

One of his arms was empty, and there were no traces of time on his body. Everything before seemed like a dream swirling in his mind.

The Lion King doesn't exist, Britannia hasn't perished, and everyone is celebrating victory together.

Mordred, Lamorak, Galahad, everyone's here...

"That's great... everyone."

Bedivere watched them play and frolic with a gentle smile, tears streaming down her face.

This is the scene he dreamed of during his more than a thousand years of displacement...

This was the pain of his life, the nightmare he could never shake off, and also the place he longed to return to.

"What are you doing standing here? Lord Bedivere, aren't you going to join the celebration?"

Just as he remembered, the dashing King of Knights, clad in a pale silver armor and a thick cloak, saw his knight hiding in a corner weeping instead of celebrating, and took the initiative to come forward and inquire.

Agravaine on helplessly as he watched Gawain and Lancelot, drunk and arguing about who was the greatest knight.

"A bunch of idiots..."

Then Mordred joined in, shouting that he was the first knight.

Everyone, everyone's here...

Seeing this, Bedivere's fingers began to tremble uncontrollably, and his whole body shook.

"Bedivere, you be the judge, who is the true first knight of Camelot?"

"Bedivere, it must be me, right? After all, my mashed potatoes are the best in Britannia."

"Pah! Potato Knight Gawain! Father's number one knight is definitely me!"

"Stop arguing, it's me! After all, I am King Arthur's sworn brother!"

"Huh? You want to fight, Kai!"

The lively scene made Bedivere even more unable to contain his emotions.

And the figure he had longed for day and night, standing before him, reached out her hand.

"Come, Lord Bedivere, let's go to the banquet together. The Knights of the Round Table can't do without any of them."

"Yes, we can't do without anyone..."

He took Artoria's hand and together they walked among their departed friends, and just like a thousand years ago, they began to bicker and make noise.

Gradually, everyone got so tired that they fell asleep.

To compete for the title of the greatest knight, the Knights of the Round Table, who had been vying for the title of the greatest drinker, were now scattered on the grass outside the palace. Bedivere covered everyone with blankets and was about to get up to leave when Lancelot and Gawain's hands grabbed his sleeves as if they were holding onto someone who would never return, so they held on very tightly.

Bedivere used a lot of effort to carefully pull their hands down and place them flat on the table.

"Bedivere ...it must be me, right? I'm the first knight, right...?" Lancelot murmured.

"It's... it's me, it's me..." Gawain was also talking in his sleep.

"Sorry...!"

Bedivere looked at the two sleeping in such a terrible position, gritted his teeth and said his last words, then fled towards the exit of Camelot.

He walked toward the gate.

Someone gently asked from behind him, "Are you leaving?"

Bedivere began to tremble. He turned around and saw Artoria.

At this moment, she was wearing her usual pale silver armor, looking at him gently.

Bedivere was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Why do you want to leave? Don't you like it here, Lord Bedivere?" Artoria asked.

Bedivere turned his back and remained silent for a long time before continuing, "This is my Avalon... the world I dream of day and night, but... it is also a place where someone like me absolutely cannot linger."

"Excuse me, Your Majesty, it's getting late, I should head back."

Bedivere said.

Upon hearing this, Artoria nodded, clear tears also streaming from the corners of her eyes, and spoke to the silver knight in front of her.

"Have a safe journey, my finest knight, Sir Bedivere."

"Ah..."

Bedivere nodded and walked towards the door.

It's so heavy.

With each step, my body grew heavier than the last.

"Bedivere," Agravaine's voice.

"Hey, where are you going, Bedivere!" Mordred called out.

"My friend, are you really leaving?" Tristan pleaded with her to stay.

My body felt increasingly heavy, and each step became more and more difficult.

But Bedivere stopped and, still leaning on the sword he had picked up, walked out step by step.

The houses vanished like phantoms, and those who lingered there also dispersed like smoke.

Bedivere struggled as he walked toward Camelot's gate.

Bedivere.

"Bedivere ..."

"Bookworm!"

"My knight..."

"My friend, turn back now."

I met many people and experienced many beautiful memories that I had longed for but have now passed away.

However, Bedivere did not stop.

He walked forward step by step with his head down, each step heavier and slower than the last, until he finally arrived at the empty gates of Camelot.

It was almost dawn.

The night is almost over, and it's time to wake up from the dream.

He timed it perfectly.

It took much longer than I expected.

But he still came here, reaching out his trembling hand to approach the door that was so close at hand.

The city gates of Camelot were deserted, devoid of any human presence. Everyone was asleep in joy and merriment, leaving only him, the one who wanted to leave, and a figure dressed in a long white robe whose face was obscured, standing there.

Bedivere sighed, glanced at the pristine white city behind him, and then extended his palm.

The gate was shaking.

Bedivere tried to exert force, but his body was swaying slightly along with the door.

"Stop! Why do you want to leave?"

The person in the white robe, whose face was obscured, walked up to him and asked.

Bedivere did not answer, but simply exerted his strength silently.

The shaking of the gate became more and more obvious.

The pale-faced person shouted, "Why did you leave your Gensokyo? Isn't everything here what you've always longed for?!"

Bedivere looked up and saw the man's face clearly.

He looked exactly like me, except that there were no obvious signs of aging on his face; that was me back in Camelot.

He wasn't surprised, or rather, he had already guessed everything.

"Why did you leave?" the figure asked angrily.

Behind him stood many figures.

Those were the companions I thought about day and night, and my important family members.

"Why?" the man continued to shout.

But Bedivere remained silent, his hand continuing to exert force, trying to push open the door.

"This guy... doesn't he understand yet?" The figure's tone grew increasingly angry and urgent. He looked at Bedivere, who was determined to leave, and said with exasperation, "This is your sanctuary, your Avalon... Here, your mistakes and responsibilities will vanish. Your homeland, your family, your companions, your king are all here. They will never leave you. Isn't this the peace you crave?"

"Bedivere... why? Why did you leave your Camelot? Your Avalon? Haven't you endured enough of this thousand-year-long torment? You're afraid to face the Lion King, so why not stay here? Now even the Holy Sword has been taken by the Magic King, what use is there for you to go back? You've always been the most useless knight, and the world would be saved even without you. You're already tired, give yourself an end to your journey, isn't this place... good enough? Even if this is a world of illusion, what's wrong with it?"

"No, this is not a place for a sinner like me to stay..."

Bedivere shook his head, his voice gradually becoming hoarse.

"My destination is hell, is atonement..."

Only then did the figure notice the tear tracks on Bedivere's face.

"I... I must atone for my sins... My mistakes have caused the King to be stained with innocent blood; my foolishness has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of lives... Now that things have come to this, I choose to escape, to let others bear the burden for me... To enjoy Avalon is undoubtedly... wrong. My true home is..."

"Hell."

Bedivere, with his eyes closed, snapped the slender neck of the person in front of him.

No, or rather...

He killed his past self, the self that tried to escape.

"Crack!" With the sound of bones breaking, the light, airy feeling in my palm disappeared.

Bedivere's eyes widened as she began to back away, because at that moment... the version of herself with the broken neck in front of her actually stood up again, and her face had changed, becoming Merlin's appearance.

"Is it another hallucination?"

Bedivere was about to snap the other man's neck again when Merlin, who had just connected, loudly stopped him.

"Stop! Bedivere, it's me!"

Merlin raised his staff and then shouted.

"... Merlin?"

Bedivere was slightly taken aback when he saw the Magus of Flowers in front of him, but he still did not let his guard down, after all, this could very well be a fake Merlin.

"Don't be so alarmed. I know you don't believe me, but I really am real."

Merlin straightened his neck, which had been twisted earlier, grinned, and then spoke.

"The best proof is that I'm here to tell you how to leave."

"Really?!"

"Of course it's true. Without the Holy Lance and the Holy Sword, it's very difficult to escape from the prison of the Holy Lance with just willpower."

Merlin glanced at Bedivere, whose face was covered in tears, sighed helplessly, and then spoke.

"But thanks to you not succumbing, I had the opportunity to infiltrate. So, enough with the nonsense."

"Crowley is still fighting Lion King in the All the World's Evil right now, and the outcome will be decided soon. We agreed to do a raid, but you and Lily disconnected at the start, and Crowley is fighting alone."

Merlin spoke quickly, and it was clear that the matter was indeed very urgent; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to get here.

"Right now, we don't need to worry about Lily. It's fine for her to enjoy herself; consider it a rehearsal for married life. But you can't, Bedivere. If you really want to apologize in person for what happened back then, this is your only chance."

"What... is this...?"