Chapter One Hundred: Guinevere and the Goddess's Confession / Chapter One Hundred and One: The Holy Grail Appears!

Roy sighed as well.

At that moment, the uninvited Princess Alice could only regretfully stare at the food on the table. Having come here as a spirit, she was unable to eat. She straightened her posture, leaned forward slightly, and addressed Lady Aisha with elegant poise: "...Do you still remember me, Lady Aisha? We've met once before."

The White Princess of Europe was always such a refined lady in public. When there were no outsiders around, however, she was practically a wild girl. Of course, she was also completely uninhibited and passionate in bed, even rather enthusiastic about exercising there with Roy. She claimed it was so she could give birth to an even more powerful witch for him.

"I remember your name is Alice, right? The last time I saw you, you were still a child. I never expected you to grow so much in the blink of an eye. It seems I've traveled through ancient times for quite a while."

Lady Aisha had an excellent memory. After thinking for only a moment, she spoke with sudden realization.

"That wasn't 'traveling through ancient times for a long time' at all. You simply got so old that you lost track of time, didn't you, Lady Aisha?"

Roy teased her.

"What? I'm a seventeen-year-old beauty! I've always been seventeen!"

In response to Roy's teasing, Lady Aisha raised her little fists in protest.

Athena sat to one side without saying a word, quietly eating. Other than Roy, the proud Goddess had no interest in speaking with humans, much less with a Campione.

Erica and Liliana joined the conversation as well. With Erica and Alice, two women skilled at socializing, present, the atmosphere at the table grew extremely lively and harmonious.

Anne Charlton was the only one with a worried expression. She was not infected by the joyful atmosphere at the table, but was instead considering what to do next.

Lady Aisha was kind by nature, but her kindness differed from Anne Charlton's. Lady Aisha simply could not bear to see anyone injured, and would actively treat any wounded person before her. Her kindness had nothing to do with a sense of responsibility. Anne Charlton, the North American Campione, on the other hand, was a typical person with an exceptionally strong sense of responsibility.

The meal proceeded amid laughter and conversation.

On a street in Manhattan near the canal, Roy and Athena walked side by side.

"Ancestor Anshiela should be ready by now, right?"

········ give me flowers·········

Roy's gaze swept from the canal toward the distant coast. He knew that Anshiela was carrying out her final preparations there, while Anne Charlton had gone into hiding, waiting to appear and stop Anshiela the instant she completed her Dragon-Serpent transformation.

"I can sense the essence of earth and water rapidly gathering. Anshiela is about to transform into the 'Serpent God Leviathan.'"

As Earth Mother Goddess in her original form, Athena understood the abilities of the Earth Goddess better. Her explanation was also more detailed.

"The Heretical Serpent Leviathan, also known as the 'Fly King.' No wonder Anshiela named the secret society she founded the 'Fly King.'"

Roy nodded slightly, indicating that he now understood the true form Ancestor Anshiela would assume when she fell into a Dragon-Serpent.

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"Although Anshiela can transform into a Disobedient Serpent and thereby obtain power equal to a Campione, she is already a Divine Ancestor and lost her divine power long ago. Doing so will cause her to completely lose the immortality of the earth and the serpent. It was her hatred of the Campiones and this world that drove Anshiela to make such a choice. This is also the final fate of many ancient Goddesses who fell and became Divine Ancestors."

There was a trace of sorrow in Athena's voice. It was the lament of an ancient Earth Mother Goddess mourning the fate of her kind.

The age of the Earth Mother Goddesses had passed. The era of female supremacy had long since ended. Now, the patriarchal system of Father Gods ruled, and the Earth Mother Goddesses could only accept this outcome.

"Mm. Let Anshiela and Anne Charlton fight. Whoever wins or loses, whoever lives or dies, has nothing to do with me. Compared to the Disobedient Leviathan and the North American Campione, I'm actually more interested in you, Guinevere, the woman named after King Arthur's wife!"

As Roy walked with Athena along the canal-side street, he suddenly turned around. At some point, there were no longer any pedestrians around them. Not far behind him stood a beautiful white girl of thirteen or fourteen, poised and graceful. An elegant smile touched her lips. She was neither humble nor afraid, merely gazing at Roy and Athena with an ordinary look.

The girl had golden curly hair that fell over her shoulders, outlining an elegant curve and complementing her proper, beautiful features.

Hearing Roy's voice, the girl lifted the hem of her skirt and performed a perfect lady's courtesy. Neither humble nor overbearing, she said, "...Good afternoon, Lord Roy and Lady Athena!"

Chapter One Hundred: Guinevere and the Goddess's Confession

"The Godslayer John Pluto Smith! Why are you here?!"

Above the sea outside Manhattan Island, a girl who looked only thirteen or fourteen stared in surprise and fury at the armored monster who had appeared before her.

The girl was petite, but her face, which should have been cute, was filled with a vicious air. Her body could practically be described as naked, with only a few simple bandages wrapped around her small frame. Since she was too young, her body had no alluring curves, but it exuded the freshness of an immature fruit, tempting people to pluck it.

Anshiela possessed a beautiful body capable of exciting any perverted man. Unfortunately, the Campione standing before her, although publicly claiming to be a man, was actually a woman beneath that armor.

"Ancestor Anshiela, why I'm here is beside the point. You only need to know that I came to stop you, to prevent you from harming innocent American civilians."

Anne Charlton, dressed in armor, spoke politely. She possessed both the characteristic casualness of an American and the individualistic heroism unique to that country.

An ordinary woman would easily have been attracted by her cheerful, heroic bearing. Anshiela, however, was no ordinary woman.

"Haha... ha—hahahaha! Although things are somewhat different from the plan, it doesn't matter! Since you're here too, I'll destroy both you and this island! Can you feel it? Can you feel the surging divine power within me? Come, John Smith! This is where you'll be buried!"

Ancestor Anshiela shouted with a twisted expression. Her once-beautiful eyes were filled with savagery and hatred.

"I am the heavens! Tremble before me! I am the earth! Curse me!"

"My head is Enlil, my face the light of high noon. Gods who protect me, drive away the demonic curse upon my body!"

Borrowing the essence she had plundered from the earth and sea, Anshiela recited the Word Spirit that restored her identity as the Heretical Serpent. Amid the hissing of the Dragon-Serpent, her petite body began to change. Scales grew across her skin, her legs became a serpent's tail, and her head transformed into a snake's head. In the blink of an eye, the beautiful girl had become a monstrous serpent more than twenty stories long, covered in silver-white scales and as beautiful as a god.

This was the Disobedient Heretical Serpent Leviathan. Although she was inferior to the Gorgon Serpent into which Athena transformed, she was still a monster no ordinary human could resist.

"Boom—"

The enormous serpent tail slammed violently into the surface of the sea, raising a huge wave. Leviathan plunged into the ocean and charged toward Manhattan Island.

The expression beneath Anne Charlton's helmet was solemn. Magic Power burned throughout her body as she fearlessly crashed into the monster serpent with her own body. On closer inspection, one could see that Anne Charlton's body had also changed. She was no longer human. This was the power of the Aztec Demon God, a power she had seized.

The battle between Anshiela and Anne Charlton threw Manhattan Island into a panic. American rescue helicopters flew through the sky amid thunderous noise, broadcasting announcements. The sea turned into rain and poured down over the canal, but in this noisy, chaotic city, the place where Roy and Athena stood was eerily quiet.

"Guinevere, the witch named after King Arthur's wife, it was you who incited Anshiela, making her absorb the essence of the earth and sea so rapidly and violently, while also causing her to travel from the west coast of America to the east coast, wasn't it?"

Roy stared at the girl of around fourteen before him. No one could connect this elegant and youthful girl with Guinevere from the Legend of King Arthur.

"Wasn't this something Lord Roy already knew? Beneath those eyes of yours, surely no secret can escape."

Guinevere gathered the hem of her skirt and spoke in a sweet, unhurried voice.

"Don't think I don't know that you wanted to use Anshiela to suddenly alter her plan, leaving John Smith flustered and forcing him to ask me for help. That way, you could verify whether my 'eyes' truly possessed the power to see all the secrets of the past, as the Council of Sages claimed."

A smile curved Roy's lips. He chatted familiarly with Guinevere as though he had encountered an old friend in a foreign land.

"You're right. I wanted to test whether your Petrification Magic Eye possessed the power of legend. Now, it seems truly incredible. You conducted no investigation into Anshiela, yet learned her entire plan from only a few pieces of information. Even a Divine Ancestor like me can only feel ashamed before such Spiritual Vision."

Guinevere praised him. Her soft, shining eyes held a maiden's yearning, making it easy for a man to become intoxicated upon seeing it.

"Then, Guinevere, do you know why I knew this was your scheme, yet still acted according to your wishes?"

Roy kept his right hand in his pocket, slightly raising his head as he asked.

"Didn't you just say so? You're interested in me, and certainly interested in the 'Last King' as well. That's why I appeared before you. Since we're both interested in the 'Last King,' why not ask you, with those wise eyes of yours, to point out where the 'King' sleeps?"

Guinevere lowered her head slightly and spoke as though pleading.

"Divine Ancestor Guinevere, I never expected you to fall so deeply. You traitor to the Earth Mother Goddesses, rebel who serves the Last Steel—do you know how many of our kind have died because of you? How dare you appear before me? I wish I could grind you to dust this instant."

Athena suddenly spoke. Her imposing voice contained a barely restrained fury. Her amber pupils became vertical snake eyes as she stared coldly at Guinevere, as though she might release Medusa's Petrification Magic Eye at any moment.

"Lady Athena, all that is in the past. Besides, even without me, the fate of the Earth Mother Goddesses was already sealed. In fact, when I saw you, I was already wondering whether to turn you into nourishment for the 'King's' revival."

After a moment of silence, Guinevere continued smiling. Yet her words were vicious. She did not fear Athena because—

"Even if you kill me here, I will still revive, thanks to the serpent's immortality. It will merely take some time."

"You..."

Athena grew even angrier. Her fists clenched as her delicate body trembled slightly. But Guinevere was right. The witches who had fallen from Earth Mother Goddesses into Divine Ancestors would continue entering the cycle of reincarnation like snakes shedding their skin unless they willingly abandoned their immortality. It was difficult to truly kill them.

Roy gently placed a hand on Athena's fragrant shoulder, helping her relax. Then he raised his brows at Guinevere. "...Guinevere, I'm a Campione, and the Last King is my enemy. Why should I help you awaken my enemy?"

"Please forgive my disrespect first. After learning about your Magic Eye, I secretly followed you for a long time. Yet you never went to the place where the 'King' sleeps. If you truly feared the 'King,' and had witnessed his past record of killing numerous Campiones, you should have tried to let him remain asleep, or even placed a seal on him..."

"...But you didn't. Therefore, I dare to guess that your goal is the same as mine: you want him to awaken from his slumber. The Child of the Fool is the same kind of person. Even knowing that a powerful enemy might kill him, he would still charge forward foolishly and bravely to meet his death."

Guinevere spoke at length, each word logical and well-founded. She had indeed guessed part of Roy's thoughts.

Roy would not seal the Last King's sleeping place out of fear. He was only considering how to defeat him and settle the matter once and for all.

"I promised Athena that I would sever the Last Steel together with her. Whether we truly cut down the Last Steel in the end or are killed by it, I will not break this promise!"

Roy's voice was clear and forceful, filled with a domineering aura that could move anyone's heart.

Athena glanced at him with beautiful eyes and praised him. "...Roy, with those words alone, I have decided that even if you truly fall into the underworld in the end, I will accompany you there as the Queen of the Underworld, so that you will not be lonely! Feel honored, Campione who defeated me. Even the great heroes of Greece were merely toys and insects I used to amuse the gods, but you alone have earned my regard."

Like a proud phoenix, the Goddess forcefully spoke these words that sounded almost like a confession. Her cherry-colored lips opened into a restrained yet haughty smile, while her amber eyes glittered like stars in the night, shining with an enchanting light.

"I'm a little envious of you, Lord Roy! To be so intimate with Goddess Athena is an honor no hero throughout history has ever received."

Guinevere sighed emotionally.

"Since our goals are the same, please tell me where the 'King' sleeps, Lord Roy."

She asked once again with utmost sincerity.

"Heh. You should understand the principle of Equivalent Exchange, Guinevere. You want to know where the 'Last King' sleeps, so what can you give me in exchange?"

Roy spoke leisurely.

"That depends on what you need, Lord Roy."

"Then why not exchange yourself?"

Roy suddenly raised a hand and pointed at Guinevere.

"Me?"

Guinevere was stunned for a moment. She pointed at herself, a dazed look flashing across her face, before breaking into a coquettish laugh. "...I never expected you to be interested in a withered willow like me. As expected of a domineering Demon King. You command women as you please and take whatever you want. But if you tell me that location, Guinevere is willing to offer this body for your enjoyment."

The ancient Goddess who had fallen and become a Divine Ancestor spoke gently, her eyes seductive and alluring, radiating a temptation no man could refuse.

Athena cast Roy a sidelong glance, faint displeasure showing on her face. She had just boldly declared that she would share life and death with him, yet the man had immediately confessed to another woman. As a Goddess, she found it nothing short of insulting.

But Athena would not brood like an ordinary woman, nor would she become hysterical. Her wisdom told her that Roy must have a deeper purpose in doing this.

This was why intelligent women made men wary—though sometimes they also made things go twice as smoothly.

Chapter One Hundred and One: The Holy Grail Appears!

"I never expected you to be so generous, Guinevere. It truly is somewhat beyond my expectations. Your feelings for the Last King are surprisingly deep."

Roy sighed. For the sake of the Last King, a former Goddess was actually willing to offer herself to a Campione, her sworn enemy. Regardless of Guinevere's personality or character, that feeling alone was enough to become a fascinating tale.

"If I didn't know that your feelings for the Last King were not romantic but based on friendship, I would call this true love."

As someone capable of tracing the past, Roy naturally knew what had happened between Guinevere, who had once been a Goddess, and the Last King.

Roy's "clairvoyance" could trace the past, but that did not mean he knew everything that had happened. The past was simply too vast. Roy lacked the ability to examine every record of bygone ages in minute detail. He only traced specific moments when necessary, searching for hidden secrets.

"The 'King' has suffered terribly. He repeatedly cycles between executing Demon Kings and falling asleep. Every time he awakens, he loses his power. He must wander across the earth, taking the essence of the Earth Goddesses, to gradually recover his strength and fight the Lord of Rakshasa. That wandering lasts far too long and is unbearably lonely. Before the 'King' regains his power, he is also defeated by Campiones time and again, suffering painful injuries."

"...I couldn't bear to let him continue suffering like that. Therefore, I sacrificed myself to store the essence of the Earth Mother Goddess for him, so that he could recover all his strength the moment he awakened and kill the Demon King as quickly as possible, sparing himself a lonely existence of wandering... Besides, when the 'King' awakens, his heat will trigger volcanic activity. If he remains active for too long, the living beings of this world will be destroyed. The 'King' is merciful and does not wish for living creatures to suffer, so he did not oppose my proposal."

Guinevere spoke gently, a trace of pity for the Last King flashing through her eyes.

"So you pity him, yet use your own kind as sacrifices?"

Athena spoke sarcastically. Her anger toward Guinevere grew increasingly intense. If she had not known that Roy had a plan, she would have already attacked and killed the Divine Ancestor.

Even if she could not truly kill Guinevere, she could still prevent her from acting for several decades, forcing her to wait for resurrection.

"Lady Athena, even without me, the Earth Mother Goddesses would perish. The 'King' will take the essence of the earth for his own use—that is his mission. I merely accelerated the process."

Guinevere spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly. As one of the oppressed Earth Mother Goddesses, she somehow did not understand empathy. Instead, she had joined in the slaughter of the Earth Mother Goddesses. In a certain sense, she was indeed a decisive traitor.

"But Guinevere, you truly are impressive. The Last King once killed a Campione in England. That anecdote originally circulated only among the common people, yet during the Middle Ages, you adapted it into The Legend of King Arthur, turning yourself into Queen Guinevere. You wanted the story to be passed down and create a myth, then use the summoning of King Arthur to awaken the Last King. Even I have to admire that ability."

Roy lightly clapped his hands for Guinevere. This Divine Ancestor had truly exploited the rules of this world to their fullest. Since myths were woven by humans, she used her long life to weave one herself, even weaving her own existence into it.

After fermenting for centuries, the false king known as "King Arthur" became real.

"But I failed. Four years ago, I used the ritual for summoning a Disobedient God to summon King Arthur, yet nothing appeared. To find the Last King's final resting place, I can indeed rely only on more orthodox means."

Guinevere sighed. Her delicate body and melancholy expression made her seem pitiful, easily stirring a man's desire to protect her.

"Lord Roy, why don't we proceed according to our agreement? You tell me where the 'King' sleeps, and I offer this body for your enjoyment. As a fallen Goddess and the wife of 'King Arthur,' I believe I would satisfy you, Demon King."

Guinevere spoke flirtatiously. Her smile was sweet and noble as she deliberately displayed her petite body. For the sake of the Last King, she was willing to go to truly extreme lengths.

"Shameless fallen Goddess! No—the other Earth Mother Goddesses fell because they had no choice, but you chose to fall yourself. I'm even ashamed to share the identity of Earth Mother Goddess with you!"

Athena shouted in fury, her adorable face flushed bright red.

"Heh. Then I suppose it would be a case of dying beneath the peonies and remaining a lecherous ghost."

Roy laughed freely.