The Man Called King Arthur

"..."

Artoria didn't answer, her gaze fixed firmly on Rovey. The Noble Phantasm she had just unleashed had taken a toll on her. It was hard to believe she'd been forced to use her Noble Phantasm by a Magus. Having just suffered such a loss, she dared not underestimate him again, her expression turning serious.

Compared to Artoria, the most frustrated person at this moment was Rovey.

After a fierce battle, even though she used Magecraft to trick her opponent in advance, the final result was still that Artoria, with her superb A-level Magic Resistance, withstood the four angels he summoned and cut them all to pieces, and then finished them off with a Noble Phantasm. She was truly domineering and unreasonable.

"Then, let's assume you've tacitly agreed with my first question."

"Seeing your hopeless state, I'm too lazy to ask the second question that I was prepared with a series of progressive questions. So let's just go straight to the last question..."

Seeing that all four angels had been eliminated by Artoria, Rovey, who had taken some time to adjust his condition, walked towards her with a smile, holding Golden Sword. This made Artoria frown, wondering what trick he was up to this time.

The next moment...

Pfft!

That was the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh, followed by a spray of blood that gushed out like a fountain, staining half of Rovey's clothes red.

Artoria's straight sword pierced through Rovey's shoulder, causing extremely serious damage. However, Rovey still looked at her indifferently, without even a change in his expression. He still had that calm smile, which made Artoria feel a chill down her spine.

Then an even more horrifying scene unfolded before her eyes.

Despite having his shoulder pierced by a sharp blade, Rovey neither dodged nor avoided it. Instead, he faced the blade head-on, allowing it to completely penetrate his shoulder, and took a large step closer to her. Then, he reached out and tightly gripped her wrist.

"We've finally caught you..."

"--What?!"

Artoria stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

"You probably can't dodge this far, right?"

A chilling smile appeared on Rovey's lips as he suddenly moved closer, his other hand gripping Artoria's wrist tightly, his eyes fixed intently on her.

"Now it's your turn to answer my question, Saber. What kind of development would be acceptable to you, or what kind of ending would you be willing to accept?"

"In other words, what do you think is the proper way for a nation to die? What kind of demise would you find acceptable? Now, I reiterate, I reject ambiguous answers, and I urge you to address this question seriously!"

Rovey questioned loudly, his previously slightly smiling eyes now becoming extremely serious. He stared directly into Artoria's eyes, tearing apart her inner pretense and forcing her to confront the question she had been avoiding, compelling her to give a decent answer.

This is the first step in counseling her, helping her confront her inner feelings.

Reasoning with such a simple-minded King of Knights is useless; only fists and swords can make her listen to what he has to say.

Even if she won't listen, you have to beat her until she has no choice but to listen!

"What exactly do you want..."

Seeing that Rovey was completely disregarding his injuries, allowing the Excalibur to pierce through his shoulder and approach her step by step, Artoria's face showed shock. For a moment, she even forgot that she was still in the middle of a battle; all she could see were Rovey's eyes, and her mind kept replaying the question she had just heard.

Even though most of his arm was almost severed, Rovey seemed to have completely forgotten the pain, his expression unchanged. He continued forward, questioning and demanding the answer from Artoria's heart.

"What is reality to you? What is an acceptable ending?"

"What exactly is the expectation of a peaceful demise, like falling asleep? Have you really thought about it carefully?"

His words were like sharp blades, like demonic chants, piercing Artoria's chest and echoing endlessly in her mind.

This caused Saber, who had just made up her mind, to waver once again.

"What exactly is going on?"

"Whoa—!!"

Before she could even be surprised or question it, she heard a whooshing sound and Artoria let out a shrill scream. Her delicate face was struck hard in an instant, and the solid punch knocked her to the ground.

Bang!

His body slammed heavily into the ground—

Gravel, soil, and dust all trembled and rose up!

In that instant, Artoria understood exactly what Rovey meant by "I've got you."

In order to block his strongest weapon, he actually used his own body to block his sword.

"Time is almost up, Saber. If possible, please answer quickly."

With a smile, Rovey didn't stop. He pinched his fingers together and pointed to the ground, using the power of earth element to press a thick and heavy layer of soil onto Artoria's body. With his other hand, he grabbed her arm, and then used his free feet to kick her face and abdomen with a series of powerful kicks.

Bang bang bang—!

The strength, which had been enhanced to the level of A-rank, kept falling on Artoria.

Saber, who was trying to break free from the soil and get up, was stomped back into the ground. Although Artoria was a stunningly beautiful woman like Scáthach, Rovey showed no mercy for her because of her looks.

Kick her in the face if you can, kick her in the stomach if you can, just aim for the vitals. Strike while the iron is hot and finish her off to prevent this lioness from retaliating.

He came to comfort Artoria, not to be bullied or beaten.

And he had already realized the truth of the saying, "Good advice is useless to a damned devil." For such a guy, you have to beat him until he can't take care of himself, until he's half-dead, only then will he listen to advice.

A complete barbarian, with a blockhead.

Since ancient times, the first step in taming barbarians has been to subdue them!

The relentless, merciless kicks were so brutal that even Merlin, hiding in the Starry Sky, felt it was a bit too extreme, and he felt sorry for Artoria was being rubbed and pressed down by Rovey.

Even when she was alive, Artoria had never been beaten like this.

This made him wonder if the kid's so-called theories—"Spare the rod and spoil the child" and "The best way to wake someone who is pretending to be asleep is to beat them awake"—were really reliable.

"Well..."

Having witnessed the whole process, Merlin sighed softly. Now that things were done, there was no other way but to go all the way down this path.

Although it was Rovey who did the beating, he was also an accomplice. Without his help, how could Rovey have possessed the power to pound the dragon under his weight? Artoria must be hating herself to death right now.

"I hope you can get through this, Artoria..."

While lamenting Saber's plight, Merlin silently turned on his recording device and used Magecraft to capture the scenes he witnessed.

"Okay, keep kicking, don't stop."

"Master, keep it up! Kick her in the eyes!!"

Meanwhile, Scáthach, witnessing this astonishing scene, completely transformed into a spectator, cheering for Rovey without any regard for her image, and even offering him advice on how to fight.

"Don't let your other foot be idle either, attack her lower body!"

However, at this moment, Rovey and Artoria could not hear the noise outside. They looked at each other, and at this moment, there was only each other in their eyes.

One was thinking of pressing his advantage and beating her half to death, while the other was thinking of getting away quickly and then killing him.

For a moment, the two gazed at each other, their hearts truly in sync.

Even Emiya Kiritsugu, as Master, hadn't accomplished what Rovey had done. However, this mutual understanding of wanting to kill each other seemed to be a little different from what was expected.

"Ugh—!!"

Finally, Artoria's strength began to wane under the relentless blows. A kick to the abdomen from Rovey made her roll her eyes back. At that moment, Artoria felt a sweet taste in her throat, and mouthfuls of blood gushed from her mouth and nose. Even the Excalibur she gripped tightly trembled slightly. But even so, her hands remained firmly on the hilt, refusing to let go. In this critical final moment, Artoria's eyes narrowed, and she channeled the last wisp of magic and strength within her, releasing the Star Sword as much as possible.

--puff!!

Golden light began to scatter, the dazzling light resembling a converging galaxy. Terrifying power was compressed into this one sword strike, and the scorching magic power that erupted from the blade instantly severed half of Rovey's shoulder and arm, leaving charred flesh at the wound.

The moment his left arm was severed, the earth Magecraft he had been casting was also broken, giving Saber a moment of relief. He tried to get up and stand up again, but the pressure that followed pushed him back down.

She looked up in astonishment and saw that Rovey's expression had not changed at all after his power of kingship had just been severed. The wound she had just cut off began to emit a dazzling light, and then it began to heal rapidly at an extremely fast speed.

"Avalon!!"

Upon seeing this, Saber was taken aback, but immediately understood what was going on.

"That's right. I roughly anticipated this situation before I came, so when I borrowed the Sword in the Stone, I also buried Avalon inside my body, and I even had that damned Nightmare cast an illusion on me that made me feel neither fatigue nor pain. Otherwise, how do you think I managed to fight you to this extent?"

In this world, there is a kind of pain that looks painful.

To avoid breaking down, Rovey didn't dare look at his empty left arm, nor did he seem willing to look at the charred severed arm. Now, he could only take a deep breath to calm himself down a little.

He looked down at Artoria, who was now bleeding from her head and exhausted from being kicked by him for a full half hour, and whose time had to end there.

"Aaaaaah!!"

Then he stomped hard on her hand, and taking advantage of her momentary lapse in control, he kicked her last resort, the Sword of Promised Victory, right in front of Scáthach, ending the battle completely.

"Looks like I've won, Saber."

He was almost done, so he sat down on Artoria's lap, waved his empty left arm, and gave her a rather pathetic smile.

"The victor is king, the loser is villain. Now, can you listen to me properly and answer my previous questions?"

Artoria didn't answer, but silently turned her head away so that this annoying guy wouldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes.

However...

"Our King Arthur has actually dropped a little pearl!"

Chapter Seventy-Three: The Man Named King Arthur (6,000 words)

"Hey, Saber, the outcome should be decided by now, right?"

Amidst the chaotic ruins, Yang Guo, a one-armed swordsman, sat on something soft, covered in blood and looking utterly disheveled, leaning on his golden sword. As he sat there, he even questioned the object beneath him.

"..."

However, the other party did not respond.

If you look closely, you'll see that the figure he's sitting on as a soft cushion isn't a cushion or chair at all, but a petite figure clad in pale silver armor, with long golden hair and a signature ahoge (cowlick). That is undoubtedly the once sharp and unyielding King of Knights, who had never listened to a word he was told.

However, she had long lost her previous sharpness and edge. She was completely pinned down and rubbed against by Rovey. After a series of merciless kicks, her head was bleeding profusely, and many bones in her body were broken by Luo Wei's A-rank strength. In addition, she had used up too much of her magic power by releasing her Noble Phantasm earlier, so she could hardly fight back at this moment.

In other words, the outcome is already decided at this moment.

"Oh, so this is the Sword of Promised Victory? It feels no different from ordinary holy swords. Is it because of the seal placed on it?"

Not far away, Scáthach picked up the Excalibur Rovey had kicked at her, then played with it in her hand for a while. She swung the blade in the air, then performed a beautiful sword flourish.

It did feel good, but she couldn't sense the immense power contained within it—power enough to defeat an enemy of a planet, the one worthy of being called the Star Saint.

After examining it for a moment, Scáthach quickly understood what was going on after seeing the dozen or so Round Table seals applied to it.

She also realized that because of the seal, only King Arthur could unleash the sword's true power. Even if others obtained it, they could only use it as a sword that could cut through iron like mud, and would not be able to unleash its true potential.

It's a bit of a pity...

Scáthach was somewhat disappointed to realize that she couldn't use the sword.

She wasn't trying to pry into the power within; she simply felt regretful that she couldn't experience it herself.

While the quality of a weapon can greatly enhance a hero's abilities, it is not essential for them personally.

Her martial arts were unparalleled, having already reached the pinnacle of human skill. Even the two crimson demonic spears in her hands weren't some renowned divine creation or planetary artifact; they were simply forged from the bones of slain Sea Demon. Any disciple who passed her trials and came to learn from her could obtain them. Nevertheless, many demigod heroes, wielding these divine weapons, had come to wreak havoc in the Land of Shadows, and thus met their deaths at her hands. She casually tossed those war-torn artifacts into her palace, showing them no real concern.

Even using only the most basic dual pistols, she could still slay gods on her own. Compared to the enhancements brought by weapons and blessings, Scáthach trusted more the martial arts she had acquired through countless trials. Only what she had honed herself would never betray her.

And doesn't the scene before us just illustrate this point?

Seeing the pitiful King Arthur, who was caught off guard by carelessness—no, it should be psychological interference and mental attack, which led to his momentary lapse in attention and allowed Rovey to seize the opportunity to counterattack and utterly crush him— Scáthach's face showed a rare hint of sympathy.

Logically speaking, with Artoria's martial arts skills and combat prowess, plus the Sword of Promised Victory still in her possession, defeating Rovey shouldn't be difficult for her.

Even though Rovey's Phase Angel is indeed a miraculous Magecraft that transcends this era, even though he holds a golden sword in his hand, has Avalon hidden in his body, and has received double enhancement from her and Merlin, it can be said that he has stacked up all the buffs.

But so what?

No matter how many buffs he stacks or how much he strengthens himself, he's still just a human.

Since we are human, we will be killed, and if we are killed, we will die.

And who is his opponent Artoria? She is the Red Dragon of Britannia, the legendary King Arthur, and the famous King of Knights.

Even though Avalon's pain shield and double enhancement could make Rovey's stats on paper equal to hers, as she said, those were just stats on paper.

Paper data is not equivalent to actual combat ability. At least with his intelligence, simply imitating Merlin's swordsmanship stored in the golden sword is no match for King Arthur. It was only because Artoria was distracted by his psychological tactics and Merlin's illusions that she was given an opportunity. If it were her, she wouldn't care about Rovey's empty talk; she'd just end the battle first.

Even if she was genuinely curious or had other emotions, she would only ask Rovey slowly after beating him half to death.

So how did things turn out this way?

Scáthach saw it very clearly.

Saber's mind was in turmoil.