Morgan's Technique

"Whew~"

Artoria let out a breath, sheathed her sword, and calmed the surging magecraft within her. The ahoge atop her head stood upright with her mood. Her expression was solemn, and she didn't dare let her guard down as she kept her eyes fixed on the center of the attack.

Once the afterglow of the beam cannon faded, Merlin's sea of flowers surged back, covering the exposed ground.

Though battered, the dark figure still stood upright where he was.

"Ha ha ha! Red Dragon, is that all your attack can do? Pathetic!"

Vortigern's armor was shattered, his chest scorched black, and his body covered in dust and blood. His once gleaming silver hair was now disheveled and stained, clumped into strands. It had lost all its former shine and softness, hanging in a filthy mess.

The greatsword in his hand had crumbled to dust, and the hand that held it had vanished along with it. The end of his forearm was charred like coal, cracked all over, with the fissures extending into the muscles up to his elbow. It was a gruesome sight.

He didn't care in the slightest. His gaze rested only on Artoria in the distance as he laughed wildly, his face full of contempt and mockery.

"Artoria, your power still isn't enough."

Vortigern instinctively seized upon the magic power surging from his heart. It flowed through the circuits in his body to his wounds, which quickly began to heal. In the blink of an eye, the charred flesh on his forearm had already faded considerably.

Just as he was about to step forward, he sensed a figure attacking from either side. His injuries held him back, and before he could turn to see clearly, he caught a glimpse of two flashes of cold light from the corner of his eye. Charged with surging magic and force, they tore through the air and struck him.

Pfft!

The two blades cut through his flesh almost simultaneously, and a head soared into the sky.

Vortigern's expression froze. He felt the world spinning around him, and when he came to his senses, he looked down through his blurred vision and saw his headless body lying on the ground, severed in two at the chest.

With his head included, that made three pieces.

Vortigern's head floated lightly in midair. A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind: Was I... beheaded again?

"Phew~"

Lancelot lowered his sword and gave Kay a slight nod. Though ambushing an enemy went against a knight's honor, circumstances were dire. To put an end to Morgan's rebellion as quickly as possible and protect Britain for the King, they had no choice.

Besides, Vortigern was a typical fiend who followed no rules. Trying to treat him according to the code of chivalry would only sully the word "knight."

Beside him, Kay remained expressionless. He simply drew his sword and hacked Vortigern's corpse into a heap of severed limbs in a few strokes.

Seeing this, Lancelot followed suit and went to look for Vortigern's head. He wanted to destroy this despicable enemy completely, leaving not a single scrap of flesh in the world.

He had only taken two steps when a faint, sharp whistle cut through the air from beside him. At the same time, Kay and Artoria shouted in alarm.

"Watch out, Lancelot!"

Lancelot had been on edge, not daring to relax for even a moment. The instant he sensed something amiss, he shifted sideways, and a glimmer of cold light skimmed past him.

The first thing he saw was Kay, looking anxious in the distance. Kay's mouth was still open, his words unfinished, as he rushed toward him with his sword in hand.

Then came a short blade flashing with cold light, slashing toward his waist with enough force to cleave him in two.

Clang!

Lancelot hastily raised Arondight to block, but he still felt a cool, numb sensation in his lower abdomen and side. He looked down and saw that the blade had cut through his armor and slashed into his abdomen.

Fortunately, he had reacted quickly and blocked it in time. Otherwise, it would have severed his spine, cutting him in half on the spot. His own death would have been of little concern, but if he had dragged Kay and Artoria down with him and caused their plan to fail, he would never have been able to face the King after all the favor he had shown him.

Lancelot knocked the blade away from his waist with a swing of his sword. His face paled as he finally saw what had attacked him.

It wasn't a person, but a severed arm. A short sword glinting with cold light protruded from its end, its blade stained with blood. A wisp of dark magic trailed from the stump, stretching off into the distance.

"Oh, you actually dodged my ambush. No wonder you're the finest knight under that Lion's command."

Vortigern's familiar voice rang out. His head floated alone in midair not far away, and the magic trailing from the severed arm extended to the spot beneath his head.

Seeing that Lancelot had evaded the ambush, Vortigern's eyes turned vicious. He controlled the severed arm to attack the Knight of the Lake once more, who was badly wounded and unable to react in time.

But Kay had already reached them. He raised his sword and blocked the attack. With a crisp clash, Kay swept his blade aside, knocking the severed arm away.

"Sir Lancelot, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, but I need to treat this immediately."

Lancelot furrowed his brow. His colorless face was slick with sweat. He leaned on his sword with one hand and clutched his injured side with the other, blood pouring uncontrollably between his fingers.

Vortigern's attack had only been a slash. At worst, it should have left a gash across Lancelot's side. But when Lancelot knocked the blade away, it had scraped away a piece of flesh the size of his palm as it left his body.

If he weren't holding it in place, his intestines would spill out.

The fact that Lancelot could remain conscious at all spoke to his extraordinary willpower.

Artoria had arrived as well. She and Kay stood on either side in front of Lancelot, shielding him behind them.

She kept her eyes on the head in the distance, wary of everything around them, and spoke to Lancelot behind her. "Sir Lancelot, treat your wound first. My brother and I will hold Vortigern off."

Under normal circumstances, treating Lancelot's injury would take time and effort. But here and now, Merlin's blessing greatly aided the healing process. Besides, the battle was so urgent that Lancelot had no time to treat himself slowly.

"You two think you can stop me?"

Vortigern roared. Dark magic sprouted from beneath his head, connecting it to the heap of body parts on the ground.

Artoria and Kay immediately attacked with their swords, but Vortigern used the severed arm and a broken blade to block them. Without a body, the arm and blade lacked strength, but they made up for it with their unpredictable movements, keeping the two of them occupied for the time being.

Meanwhile, Vortigern lowered his head onto the heap of flesh. Dark magic surged out, shimmering as it enveloped all his limbs.

In the blink of an eye, Vortigern's head slowly rose as the body beneath it took shape. He had fully regained his human form.

"Morgan does have her talents."

With a mocking laugh, Vortigern recalled the severed arm. Dark magic covered his mangled limbs, and bone and flesh began to grow at a frantic pace.

That was another advantage of his new body: the highest level of immortality!

With the dragon's flesh inside him and the boundless magic connected to it, even if his body were chopped to pieces, it would recover in an instant. Regrowing a severed limb was even easier.

He had to admit, Morgan might have been rough in her work, but she knew what she was doing. She'd used solid materials, too.

Vortigern rolled his neck from side to side, then stretched his body for good measure. He felt completely at ease. This was the first time he had directly experienced the superiority of his new body through resurrection. He now had a general understanding of his immortality, and he was overjoyed, thoroughly satisfied.

He could fight even more recklessly from here on out.

He flicked out his hand. Magic surged, and a brand-new sword coalesced in his grasp. He looked toward Artoria and saw that Lancelot's wounds had almost healed.

It seemed Merlin had a few tricks up his sleeve, too.

Lancelot walked over to Artoria and Kay. His complexion had improved considerably, and beneath his armor, fresh flesh showed along his side and abdomen. His wound had healed.

Merlin's even weaker voice rang out in all three of their minds.

"Sir Lancelot... you've recovered your ability to fight. From here on... you'll have to fight with all your strength to have a chance of winning."

Artoria's eyes flickered with worry. Merlin's voice was even weaker than before, barely audible, as if he were about to lose his voice.

She couldn't even hear her teacher's breathing. Maintaining the blessing over the battlefield and urgently healing Lancelot had clearly drained him far more than usual.

Merlin continued, "Vortigern now has extraordinary immortality. He's nearly impossible to kill... The four of us don't have enough strength to kill him for good. We can only suppress his immortality."

Suppress his immortality...

Of the four of them, only one person in all of Britain could do that.

"We need a summoning array to bring the royal palace back into the present world... Artoria, I'll guide you, and you draw the array. Now's the time to show your Magecraft skills."

Merlin's tone abruptly plummeted, turning grave.

"Hold Vortigern off and don't let him disturb Artoria... You also need to keep him in one place and stop him from damaging the summoning array once it's drawn. Kay and Sir Lancelot, I'll leave that to you..."

Kay and Lancelot nodded solemnly. They understood what Merlin meant.

The two of them were already at a disadvantage against Vortigern. Now that he had gained immortality, and they had only Merlin's blessing, they were in an even worse position. Merlin meant that even if they had to die, they must keep Vortigern occupied and stop him from doing as he pleased!

They had already made their resolve. All that remained was to give their lives!

"May fortune favor you all in battle."

With those words, which sounded like both a blessing and a prayer, Merlin ended the communication.

"Have you finished talking? Figured out how you're going to defeat me?"

Vortigern had fully recovered by now. His body was whole, his internal organs back in place, and his severed limbs regrown. He had even perfectly recreated the greatsword in his hand.

Seeing the three of them nod and exchange looks, he understood they had been communicating with Merlin in the distance. He immediately swung his sword and launched a full-force attack on them.

This time, Vortigern's attacks were utterly ferocious.

When Kay and Lancelot blocked his blade, he punched them instead. When his arm was cut off, he kept attacking with the severed limb, controlling it through their magical connection. When his head was cut off, he flew it into them like a battering ram. When his body was split in two, each half fought one of them.

This near-suicidal fighting style left Kay and Lancelot struggling to keep up. After only a short time, both were covered in wounds and drenched in blood, with barely a patch of uninjured skin between them.

Fortunately, Merlin's support continued, and their injuries healed quickly enough for them to keep going.

They cursed Vortigern in their hearts.

"Damn monster!"

"Despicable scoundrel!"

Unlike Kay and Lancelot, Vortigern was thoroughly enjoying his immortal body, developing all manner of strange attacks. His heart held nothing but unbridled pleasure and delight.

"Ha ha ha! This is fun! So much fun!"

Boundless magic combined with an immortal body gave Vortigern an exhilaration he had never experienced before. It was a clash that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. He had never known a fight could be so wild and unrestrained.

This was real slaughter!

The only drawback was that when a limb was severed, the flow of magic was interrupted. The magic left in the severed limb alone wasn't enough to fire a beam cannon.

But compared to the advantages of his immortal body, that minor inconvenience was nothing.

Vortigern's severed hand gripped his greatsword and swung with all its might. Unfortunately, it only shaved the side of Lancelot's head before Lancelot noticed and dodged in time.

The greatsword was about to hit him. Vortigern's expression remained unchanged, and the force in the severed hand didn't let up. The blade swept down smoothly, striking Vortigern's own shoulder in front of it and cleaving his body diagonally in two.

His body split into two halves, without a drop of blood in sight. Dark magic erupted at once, binding the halves tightly together. Then the magic contracted, drawing his body back into place. The seam vanished in the blink of an eye.

Vortigern came up with another brilliant idea and was about to launch a fresh attack when he noticed Artoria in the distance. She held a sword in one hand, apparently watching him, and a staff in the other, using it to draw some kind of pattern on the ground.

Hadn't she stayed out of the fight just now?

The question surfaced in Vortigern's mind.

He recalled the battle so far. He had been so excited that he hadn't noticed that only Kay and Lancelot had been fighting him. Artoria had stayed behind them the entire time and hadn't joined the fray.

Looking from afar, he could make out a circle drawn at the outer edge of the royal palace, with strange and mysterious symbols inside it.

What was she trying to do?

A Magecraft array, or a curse?

Vortigern couldn't tell what Artoria was up to, but there was no harm in stopping her.

He immediately took hold of his sword and dashed toward Artoria. If he killed her, then whatever scheme she had in mind would be useless.

"Not a chance!"

Seeing Vortigern go after Artoria, Kay moved to intercept him, blocking his attack in haste.

Clang-clang-clang!

The clash of blades rang out without pause. They had exchanged only a few blows when Vortigern spotted an opening that appeared for an instant in Kay's defense. He countered with a slash, bringing his hand down like a blade against Kay's arm.

"Gah!"

Half of Kay's arm was severed, spraying blood as it spun high into the air.

The pain was so intense that Kay couldn't even feel it. A surge of terror welled up in his heart, but he forced it down and gritted his teeth as he continued to hold Vortigern back.

Vortigern hadn't yet had time to gloat when the Purple Knight arrived, enduring his injuries. One sword stroke split Vortigern in two once again.

"Damn it!"

Vortigern cursed inwardly and tried to hurl his sword. But in his haste, he made mistake after mistake. Kay, who had been waiting for his chance, struck again, cutting off Vortigern's wrist. The greatsword fell with it.

Yet Vortigern still controlled his right hand as it gripped the sword and swung at the Magecraft array Artoria was drawing.

If he destroyed the array, their plan would still fail.

Lancelot rushed forward to stop him again.

Just then, Artoria's clear voice rang across the empty palace grounds.

"Return, royal palace of Britain!"

As her words fell, magic surged. The Magecraft array on the ground glowed pale blue, growing brighter with every passing moment.

Lancelot knocked the severed hand and greatsword out of the air. Seeing the scene before him, he smiled with relief.

Artoria let out a long breath and relaxed.

The summoning array had already been activated. Even if Vortigern killed her, he couldn't stop it now.

Within the pale blue glow of the summoning array, the pointed roof of a white marble building appeared first. Before Artoria could make out which palace it belonged to, a beam of crimson light shot forth from the summoning array.

Pfft!

The beam carried an unusual crimson magic, and the spear's shaft held back a pure, concentrated killing intent. Its aura of certain death pierced through space, striking Vortigern in the heart with irresistible force!

Vortigern spat blood. Looking at the crimson spear piercing his chest, a name came to mind.

"A weapon... of causality..."