A Small Triviality

"Hah!"

With a mighty roar, a flash of white light suddenly streaked across the originally azure sky. The eagle, soaring in the infinite sky, was passed by the white light, and its wings, which had been powerfully flapping up and down, suddenly stopped.

"Hah!"

Another mighty roar! Another streak of white light rapidly cut through the sky, precisely passing through the eagle. The eagle's sturdy body, which had been soaring in the sky, instantly stiffened.

"Haaah!!!! Finishing Blow! Egao Hangen, the first of its kind!"

A third mighty roar! A figure suddenly flashed out from the forest, which was nearly a hundred meters tall. In an instant, he flew to the treetop, nearly a hundred meters high, and then, using the treetop as a springboard, he leaped up! In the blink of an eye, he shot straight into the sky.

His flying form, bathed in sunlight, revealed a robust physique. Long, black hair was casually tied back with a grass rope. His perfect, leopard-like body was suspended in mid-air. His dark eyes were fixed on the eagle in the sky, a hundred meters above.

His slender yet not weak hands tightly gripped a crudely made wooden sword. It was held before him like a judgment against a sinner.

"Finishing Blow! Tensei Meijo...!"

A low voice, intimate as a whisper to a lover.

However, the consequence of his words was not intimacy with a lover, but an invitation from the lord of hell, Lucifer...

The figure, which had been ascending slowly in the air, was instantly engulfed in a golden light! Like a golden meteor, it instantly broke through the spatial barrier and arrived before the still-stiffened eagle in the sky.

Only when viewed up close by the eagle could one realize how massive and terrifying this giant eagle was. Its wings, spread wide, were nearly ten meters long from tip to tip. Its beak, like the scythe of death, glinted with cold light under the sun...

"Pangu!!!"

The dazzling golden light, upon contact with the giant eagle, erupted once more! The speed, already at the limit of human capability, increased by more than half!

Squelch!!!

Red blood splattered across the azure sky... a golden light piercing through its body.

The young man, radiating golden light, had crimson eyes. His black hair, flowing past his waist, danced in the wind, freed from its binding. He stood proudly in the sky! Like a god judging the sins of the heavens!

"Screeeech~~~~!!!" The giant eagle, spewing blood, let out a miserable shriek that echoed through the endless sky... then, spinning, it plummeted straight towards the ground.

As it fell, the young man instantly extended his arm, grabbed one of the giant eagle's feathers, and pulled himself onto the eagle's back.

Clinging tightly to the eagle's back, he let the falling eagle bear the brunt of the wind resistance and pressure.

Just as the eagle, falling rapidly from the sky, was about to hit the ground, the young man on its back suddenly coiled his body, tucked his legs, and with a powerful push, sprang off the eagle's back. Grabbing a thick tree trunk, he hung from it steadily.

Crash~~~!!! The eagle, still falling straight down, was not so lucky. It was smashed into a giant meat patty. Blood flowed like a river... shattered flesh and brains mixed together, flowing onto the grass...

"Heave ho~!" The young man flipped again and leaped onto a thick branch nearby. He looked with satisfaction at his instantly slain prey, then with a surge, he vanished into the tall, dense forest in the blink of an eye...

Weaving through the forest, the young man ran for about ten minutes before arriving at an unusually thick, large tree.

This tree was nearly a hundred meters tall and had a trunk diameter of over thirty meters. Its thick branches, like smaller trees, and its dense canopy that could almost block out the sun, were like the sacred trees of the elves in legends. Like the Life Tree...

Although this young man called it the Life Tree...

For two years, Xia and Artoria had lived in this forest, training their bodies diligently with their own hands and wisdom, supporting each other and relying on one another.

In these two years, Xia had encountered many dangerous and terrifying things in this forest, such as a monster with a lion's head and a tiger's body that could fly and swallow prey twice its size. And a Cerberus with three heads, each resembling a hellhound, whose roar could destroy a small mountain.

Because Xia was overly worried that his intervention would endanger Artoria's safe life, which had been secure until she drew the Sword in the Stone, he strictly forbade Artoria from wandering around, except for necessary training. For this reason, Artoria didn't speak to Xia for several weeks, which made Xia miserable...

Later, Xia occasionally encountered this Life Tree in the forest. After confirming for a month straight that there were no ferocious monsters around, he spent nearly half a year excavating his treehouse. He quickly moved Artoria from his self-built wooden house in the tree to here. And he went out to patrol once every three days, preventing monsters that he couldn't stop even at the cost of his life from accidentally entering and harming Artoria.

In reality, all of this was completely unnecessary. Not to mention that Artoria herself carried the Red Dragon Bloodline. Even Artoria's recently awakened immense potential meant she was no longer vulnerable to ordinary demonic beasts.

Moreover, Artoria herself was chosen by heaven, or rather by Alaya, to be the King of Britannia. Before the gears of fate even began to turn, how could they allow a crisis to threaten her life?

It was purely Xia's guilt or his strong possessiveness at play, not wanting to give her to anyone, not wanting anyone to touch her, not wanting anyone to see her smile. He wanted to bear and enjoy all of her sunshine, her smiles, her joy, her pain, her tears, her sadness, whether good or bad, all by himself.

With this mindset, coupled with the strong sense of crisis brought about by the forest, which Xia found strange and terrifying, this scene often unfolded in a certain part of the forest...

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The sunny girl and the handsome boy would always argue under a large tree. The girl hated that the boy always kept her by his side, protecting her, preventing her from suffering any hardship or danger, which prevented her strength from being tempered by life and death.

Although she really liked it when the boy found strange fruits and berries from the forest, and before handing them to her, he would personally taste them, and after an hour, when he confirmed they were not poisonous, he would smile and give them to her.

Whenever they encountered fog or darkness on the road ahead, the boy would always have her stay behind him and would single-handedly jump into the dangerous area ahead to scout for danger.

Only after confirming there was no danger would the boy smile and come out, take the girl's hand, and lead her in.

The boy deeply loved the girl before him, so he worried about her getting hurt, afraid of her getting hurt. Even if he couldn't continue to bear it for her in the future, but for now... for this moment! Please let him bear a little more pain, in the hope that the girl's smile could be extended even for a moment longer...

The boy's actions and behavior captivated the girl. She liked being protected and valued like this, and she also enjoyed the boy's admiration and protection.

However... it was precisely because of this that she increasingly wished to reciprocate and repay him. If the perfect goddess the boy envisioned was the Knight King he spoke of with such happiness every day, then she would become that Knight King!

But... admiration is for enjoyment, and protection is for acceptance. However, nothing should be taken to extremes.

Finally, unable to bear being constantly protected in a safe place and her strength being unable to make any further progress, the anxious girl, with the thought that if her strength didn't grow quickly, she couldn't become the perfect Knight King in his heart, secretly ran into the forest without the boy's knowledge, wanting to undergo special training.

The girl who ran out at noon that day was carried back to the wooden house by the boy, who was covered in blood, step by painful step, at dusk.

The moment before he lost consciousness, the boy confirmed that the golden-haired girl lying on the wooden bed had only suffered some fright and scratches. He could no longer hold on and collapsed.

That was the time the boy was closest to death... When the girl woke up, the boy's breathing had already stopped. Terrified, the girl scrambled to the ground, picked up the boy, and held him in her arms, desperately wishing for him to wake up again. Tears streamed down her face. Words of self-blame poured from her mouth...

Her throat was hoarse from crying, and her tears had dried up.

When bloody tears dripped from her eyes, the girl had completely despaired... Holding the stiff corpse in her arms, she knelt helplessly on the ground, her eyes blankly staring at the boy's face.

At that moment, the young man suddenly opened his eyes and woke up. He raised his stiff hands and gently placed them on the girl's face, making her vacant, large eyes meet his.

"Sorry... for making you wait... I'm back, Artoria." The corners of his mouth, barely able to move, squeezed his facial muscles, forcing out a strange expression that was neither a smile nor a cry...

After this incident, the girl would listen to whatever the young man said, which caused the young man a lot of headaches.

Later, during the time when the girl's emotions gradually stabilized, the young man managed to comfort the girl, who would tug at his clothes every day with teary, large eyes, looking at him worriedly. Only after he promised not to do anything that would worry her, scare her, or even make her despair did the girl gradually return to her usual self.

The Knight King's stubbornness is a huge selling point, you damn idiot!

And now, a year and a half has passed since the last incident...

The young man, having just finished today's hunting mission, was excitedly rushing into a treehouse dug inside the Life Tree, dragging two prey he had caught along the way, one in each hand, and shouting.

"Artoria~! Artoria~! Come out quickly~! The provisions for the journey are ready~!"

Hearing the young man's shout from inside the house, Artoria smiled, put down the clothes she was mending, and walked out. As she felt the warm sunlight on her body, she felt as if all her fatigue had been chased away, leaving her feeling relaxed.

"Mmmph~~~~!" Artoria stretched lazily in the sun with a comfortable sigh.

Although he had seen this scene many times, whenever the blonde girl stood in the sunlight... the young man would always look at her with an unusually infatuated expression. Perhaps in the young man's heart... the blonde girl was his only light.

"It seems that deciding to stop the high-intensity training three days before departure was the right choice, as it will ensure that the journey won't be plagued by illness. Also... don't let other men see you in that state next time." The young man quickly recovered from his infatuation and said with a smile. However, when he said the last sentence, his obviously awkward voice made it impossible not to want to burst out laughing.

Artoria smiled and turned her head to look at the young man.

Her cherry lips moved slightly...

"Understood, Xia~."

--- FATE ZERO Acceleration Activated ---

Entering FATE ZERO in at most two more chapters.

Seeking votes...

Seeking votes for the compilation novel "Hot Fire" as well...

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