"..."
Arthur said nothing. His eyes proved everything: What right does a scumbag like you have to say that to me?
"Ah, ah, I got mocked." Even so, Merlin, petting Merlin Beast, did not seem disappointed in the slightest.
On the contrary, Merlin was looking forward to it.
He was looking forward to Arthur's next performance.
That night, Mordred tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. After suffering through the entire night with insomnia, she performed just as poorly in the assault on Vile King Vortigern's castle the following day. Arthur, on the other hand, distinguished himself once more. Together with Gareth and Galahad, the trio easily broke into the White Dragon King's army and carved a gap through their lines.
The White Dragon King's army consisted either of Saxons who had already been scared witless, or Britannian Celts who had become disillusioned by Vortigern's actions.
At the slightest setback in battle, they collapsed and fled like startled rabbits. The path to the White Dragon Throne had been cleared.
"My king, we can continue the attack."
At that moment, the one following King Arthur was Arthur's cousin, Gawain.
Holding the Sword of the Sun, he looked extremely excited.
Yes, that was only natural. As long as they defeated the Vile King, the war between Britannia and the Saxons would achieve a temporary victory.
Just as King Arthur had always proclaimed: "As long as we win the war, everything will get better."
"Britannia's terrible climate is all the Vile King's doing."
"Crush him, and a happy life will arrive."
Though that was not how things worked at all.
After that, a group of elite soldiers entered Vortigern Pendragon's castle alongside Artoria and Gawain.
"..."
"Hey."
Beside Arthur, Gareth saw the Prince beginning to move forward and reached out to grab him.
The valiant Wolf Girl looked somewhat surprised. "Your Highness...?"
"I'm a little curious."
Arthur told her, "What kind of person is that Vile King, really?"
"He is a despicable king who brought in evil barbarians as his helpers and wants to rule all of Britannia."
Gareth naturally recited Camelot's official propaganda.
"Perhaps."
Arthur continued, "But more than that, I want to see for myself."
"But..."
While Gareth hesitated, Arthur walked straight into the castle. Galahad calmly followed behind him.
"Eh? Ehh?!"
"If you want to follow, hurry up."
Arthur spoke without looking back.
After struggling with herself for several seconds, Gareth followed as well.
Author's Note:
Updated, la la la!
Saving Vortigern by Taking a Roundabout Route
Walking through the cold, empty, deserted corridor, Arthur pondered inwardly.
In truth, he had wanted to meet his great-uncle for a long time.
It was only because they were enemies. The White Dragon had always been the embodiment of the brutal side of the British Isles. Meeting him was far too dangerous, so Arthur had been forced to suppress that desire.
As for why he wanted to meet him, naturally, it was for "cooperation."
Compared to his mother, whose mind was full of justice and whose feelings for Britannia and the Celts ran deep, Arthur was more realistic and more indifferent.
He knew how history would unfold.
King Arthur would be defeated. Then the Angles and Saxons would invade on a massive scale, eventually occupying vast regions of England.
After that would come the Viking invasion.
And after that, William, Normandy's bastard—the Frenchified Vikings—would invade.
Vikings, Normans, Angles, and Saxons fought, slaughtered, and merged with one another across the islands. In the end, they formed an entirely new people.
The Anglo-Saxons. This terrifying people would become the first to complete the Industrial Revolution, dominate the Seven Seas, and maintain world hegemony for centuries. In the future, they would even establish Britannia's upgraded and enhanced version: the United States of America.
Britannia's history had not ended. Its most glorious act would not arrive for another thousand years.
What truly perished, what truly came to an end, were merely Britannia's Celts.
That was because the mystery of the Outer World was destined to vanish.
The world's Ether was destined to disappear.
Those Phantasmal Beasts capable of hiding fled to the Inner Sea of Stars, to the world's inner side. Those unable to hide would naturally be exterminated.
And thus, the "Old Humans," the Celts, who coexisted with mystery and received Ether's blessings, were also on Gaia's list of those fated for extinction.
It was inevitable.
What was more, because of the existence of that massive criminal organization, "Chaldea," even if Artoria successfully saved Britannia, this world would become something akin to a Singularity or Lostbelt. It would ultimately be judged and disappear.
This was Gaia's will. The will of the planet's Counter Force. An almost unsolvable despair.
—At least, that was how it would be until his mother arrived in a Star Destroyer, turning something within the Earth-Moon system into something spanning the galaxy. But regrettably, there were probably too many evil gods in the Servant Universe, so his mother had no time to care about Earth.
And therefore...
"Simply merging with the Saxons may not be a bad solution."
Arthur, who knew the "future," had always thought that way.
Unless, in the future, he gained planet-level strength, or even power beyond a planet's level—such as truly inheriting his mother's Star Destroyer—he could only save as many people and things as possible while conforming to the Counter Force.
"There are two ways to merge. One is proactive, and the other is passive."
"The passive kind is like the Mongols, the Jurchens, and the chaos of the Five Barbarians. The proactive kind is like Qi's destruction of Donglai, Qin driving out the Western Rong, and Chu dominating the southern frontier."
"The key lies in who holds the initiative."
"Both involve merging with the Saxons. One would be after the Battle of Camlann, when Britannia's Celts had been weakened to the point of near irrelevance, allowing the Saxons to completely swallow them.
"Or it could be like Vile King Vortigern: manipulating and controlling them, becoming the Saxons' commander, and proactively controlling the merger.
"The circumstances and outcomes of the two would inevitably differ."
"If I remembered correctly."
Yes, if Arthur remembered correctly, according to the "historical records" of the Type-Moon World he had read before transmigrating, when Merlin told Artoria that "Britannia's Celts were destined to perish," his mother had also wavered to some extent and proactively proposed merging.
But in the end, Artoria hesitated. She wavered. It could even be said that she ran away.
"So the key now lies in my great-aunt's heart."
Arthur thought, Did she guide the Saxons into invading the islands out of desire and ambition, or was she planning to 'save the country by taking a roundabout route'?
If it was the former, then forget it.
But if it was the latter, then...
Well, even if it was the latter, she still had to die.
After all, for propaganda purposes, his great-aunt's reputation among Britannia's Celts had already reached Tohsaka Tokiomi levels.
For everyone's peace of mind, she had to die. Even if what she had done was right, even if it had been to save Britannia.
Thinking that, Arthur stopped walking.
"Arthur?!"
The person who noticed Arthur's arrival was his cousin, Gawain.
In the war between dragons, there was no possibility for a mere human like him to intervene.
So, Gawain, were you just standing there watching?
Arthur rolled his eyes at him, then ignored his words: "Why are you here? It's dangerous!"
He raised his head.
In midair, a beautiful girl was fighting an enormous White Dragon. The moment Arthur gripped Clarent's hilt, the battle was decided. The light released by Holy Lance Rhongomyniad instantly pierced the White Dragon.
The war between the Red Dragon and the White Dragon came to an end just like that.
The enormous White Dragon, standing at the pinnacle of Phantasmal Beasts, let out a mournful cry and fell from the sky. His body gradually shrank as he descended. By the time he struck the ground, he had returned to his original form: an old man with a dispirited expression and a face full of sorrow, as though he had endured endless torment.
"How foolish."
Even with such a massive lance embedded in his chest, the old man did not die immediately.
"Son of my younger brother Uther."
Like everyone else in Britannia, the old man was blind and mistook Artoria for Artorius:
"You cannot save this country. You cannot make humanity win."
Like a curse uttered before death, a flush suddenly rose on the old man's face. It was likely a final burst of life before death.
"Because the Age of Gods has ended, and Ether is about to vanish. Is that what you were going to say?"
Behind King Arthur, a childish voice emerged from bishonen's mouth, making the old man choke on his words.
"..."
Artoria turned her head somewhat strangely and watched her son calmly approach, accompanied by two next-generation Knights of the Round Table his own age.
Arthur ignored her, passed her position, approached the old man, lowered his voice, and whispered this into his ear:
"Intermarry and merge with the Saxons. Cooperate with the Romans, turn the Kingdom of Britannia into the Roman Province of Britannia. Then march onto the continent, contend for the imperial throne, and rebuild the Western Roman Empire. What do you think, Great-Uncle?"
After saying that, Arthur straightened up, took a step back, and looked at Vortigern.
This plan went even further than Vortigern Pendragon's. It was grander and crazier, so much so that the old man looked at him in disbelief.
"Your name..."
"Artorius Pendragon. King Arthur's son," Arthur said softly.
"What do you want?"
"Just as I told you," Arthur said. "As for why I'm telling you, I figured that since you're about to die anyway, you might as well give me everything you can offer. How about it?"
Hearing Arthur say that, Artoria behind him opened her mouth, as if wanting to say something. So did the old man before him.
Vortigern, who was meeting Arthur for the first time, froze for two seconds before saying to him:
"You're so despicable and shameless. Why aren't you my son?"
Author's Note:
New author, new book. Please support me!
The Heir
Sisters getting it on.jpg
Hearing Vortigern say that, King Arthur nearly gave him another shot from the Holy Spear. Of course, she ultimately did not.
After losing to King Arthur, no matter how ambitious Vortigern was, he no longer had the strength to act.
Before you continue