Chapter 99

Tiamat knocked on the door and called out softly.

There was no response from inside the room.

No, rather than saying there was no response, it's more accurate to say that the two of them, who had been working late into the night, had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Sajyou Manaka was alright, but Lan Ze had been attacked by Kishinami Hakuno and Tiamat last night, and then by Sajyou Manaka in her dark mode. At her age, her physical strength was already failing, so she was naturally too tired to even open her eyes.

Knock knock knock.

Tiamat knocked on the door again, and after waiting a while and finding no response from inside, she pushed the door open, revealing the room inside.

Sajyou Manaka wrapped her arms around Lan Ze's neck, a glimpse of her fair skin peeking out from under the blanket, her smooth shoulders appearing exceptionally alluring in the dim light.

Even without lifting the covers, it's easy to imagine what the scene inside the bed looks like right now...

Tiamat blinked, paused for a moment, and recalled what Kishinami Hakuno had said before leaving last night.

As it turns out, Kishinami Hakuno was right; the Princess of the Root really couldn't be trusted...

The windows in the room seemed to be trembling faintly, and a sense of crisis was quietly looming over the room.

As if sensing some kind of danger, Lan Ze slowly opened his eyes, just in time to see Tiamat's small mouth slightly open.

"Aaaaa!"

Before Lan Ze could react at all, the singing filled the room completely.

Then, Tide of Chaos surged around Tiamat, silently approaching and pulling Lan Ze out of bed. Before Lan Ze could even scream, he was involuntarily thrown towards Tiamat, his face burying itself in the arms of the Creation Mother Goddess, intimately touching the enormous human heart within her.

"Um..." Lan Ze opened his mouth slightly, wanting to speak, but he couldn't utter a word. Tiamat's hands were pressing tightly against the back of his head, making even speaking extremely difficult for him.

At that moment, Sajyou Manaka, who had just fallen asleep, felt as if the boy she had held in her arms the night before had disappeared. This sense of emptiness made her slowly open her eyes, turn her head slightly, and her gaze immediately froze on Tiamat and the young Sawa who seemed to be about to die in the chest-killing case.

Sajyou Manaka's face suddenly turned cold, and she said in a low voice as if suppressing her inner anger, "Mother, what are you doing to my lover so early in the morning?"

"This is my child." Tiamat stared warily at Sajyou Manaka like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

"You can't just have any close contact with him."

"Since that's your child," Sajyou Manaka gently jumped off the bedside, staring expressionlessly at Tiamat's face, "Then why would you do such a thing to your own child?"

Under Sajyou Manaka's questioning, Tiamat's cheeks flushed slightly, a rare occurrence, and she whispered, "That was to replenish his magic power."

"Then why did he do that when he was full of magic before?!" Sajyou Manaka pressed aggressively.

"That is..." Tiamat tilted her head back and thought for a moment, then looked expectantly at Sajyou Manaka, her bright red eyes shining:

"To improve his physical strength."

"..."

"You probably wouldn't even believe such a thing yourself, Mother!"

She should never have let Tiamat move into the apartment in the first place. At first, she thought Tiamat for Lan Ze were just ordinary familial affection, but after last night, she realized the truth.

Tiamat for Lan Ze are more than just familial affection.

Without a doubt, Tiamat... this woman is the enemy!

Facing Sajyou Manaka's cold, piercing gaze, Tiamat showed no weakness, holding Lan Ze while looking back into Sajyou Manaka's eyes.

The previously pleasant atmosphere in the room suddenly seemed to turn tense.

Sajyou Manaka did not make a move. She knew Tiamat's position in Lan Ze's heart, and if she made a move now, it would only put Lan Ze in a difficult position in the end.

To be honest, she doesn't know what the best course of action is right now.

Tiamat also refrained from making a move. This woman had a good temper, and she wouldn't attack unless the other party made the first move.

The two stood there silently for a long time. Suddenly, Lan Ze's stomach growled. He pressed on Tiamat's shoulder, barely managing to lift his head, and, having finally gotten a moment to catch his breath, tentatively asked:

"Um... how about we go downstairs and get some food first?"

At this very moment, another group of people had already arrived at Vortigern's castle.

Artoria, along with her seven Knights of the Round Table and two Chaldea members.

According to Sajyou Manaka at the time, Lan Ze was most likely in Vortigern Castle.

Therefore, they chose to act in two groups: one group went to the caves near Camlann, while the other went to Vortigern's castle to scout out the situation.

"Your Majesty, shall we scout the situation again before going in?" Lancelot asked the woman beside him as he stood before the castle gates.

He was injured and shouldn't have participated in the "Queen's Rescue Operation," but—

Mashu also participated in the rescue operation.

Therefore, Lancelot naturally had to go along no matter what.

On the one hand, it can demonstrate the bravery and strength of a father; on the other hand, it is also to make up for the socially damaging scene that his daughter discovered he was dating a widow in the city.

Artoria leaped down from her white horse, gently shook her head, and said, "There's no need to investigate further."

"We were probably noticed as soon as we entered the castle."

Yes... there are several Magic Barrier of varying sizes set up outside this castle. Although the Holy Sword can break through them in one go, their whereabouts have probably been discovered as well.

But this is also a good thing.

The fact that the other party attaches such importance to the castle's defenses means that there is a very high possibility that Lan Ze is in this castle.

"Kishinami Hakuno is a beast, but not a complete beast. With the power of the Holy Sword, she should be able to handle it."

"Even if we can't defeat her, at least taking back Lan Ze shouldn't be a problem..."

After pondering for a moment, Artoria finally raised her head as if she had made up her mind.

"Let's go through the main entrance."

Now that the enemy has discovered us, let's be decisive and defeat them fair and square!

Upon hearing this, Lancelot no longer hesitated. He drew his sword, strode forward, and walked to the front door.

Almost instantly, everyone drew their weapons. Mashu raised her shield and stood in front of Ritsuka, her eyes warily fixed on the closed door.

Artoria had already drawn her holy sword. Ever since she was ambushed by Vortigern in Alderan, she had become extremely serious about everything she did, and would not give the enemy any chance to exploit her weaknesses.

Gawain also drew the Holy Sword of the Sun. It was daytime, and his power was tripled! This boost gave him confidence that he could even put up a fight against Kishinami Hakuno.

Although he didn't know why the beast had stolen the Queen, his sword was only wielded for the king, and he would bring Lan Ze back to Camelot! Gawain was filled with confidence.

As the weapons of the Knights of the Round Table quietly materialized in their hands, Lancelot slowly raised his foot.

When Lancelot kicked open the castle gates, everyone's nerves were on edge, and then the scene in the hall came into view.

"Is this milk...? I can't believe they have milk in this day and age! You have to try some!"

"Aaaaa!" Tiamat hugged young Aizawa's body, rubbing her enormous breasts against his face, which nearly made Sajyou Manaka, who was about to hand milk to Lan Ze, explode with anger.

"Let him go right now, that's my lover!"

"Aaaa! (This is my child!)" Tiamat refused to let go, and instead picked up a piece of chicken that she had just taken out of the kitchen and fed it to Lan Ze.

The scene appeared perfectly harmonious, yet at this moment it seemed incredibly eerie, causing everyone outside the castle to fall silent.

What's going on here...?

Almost everyone had the same thought in their hearts. After blinking, Mashu looked at the boy being held in Tiamat's arms with a bit of a daze, and murmured to herself:

"Is that child... your senior?"

In the castle's main hall, the group, who had drawn their weapons and were preparing to launch their plan to rescue the Queen, stared in astonishment at the three people having breakfast in front of the hall.

And that boy sitting in Tiamat's lap...?

Mashu covered her mouth in disbelief, her purple eyes behind her glasses gleaming with surprise and delight, and whispered, "That person is... Senpai?"

"How could my senior have become like this?"

"Mashu, you seem to be very happy..." Ritsuka subconsciously glanced at the girl beside her, whose eyes seemed to be shining with excitement, and said.

"Oh... really? Was my facial expression that obvious?"

"Hmm, it's obvious..." Lancelot said with a complicated expression, feeling conflicted about his daughter's strange fetish.

Although he seems to have no right to criticize his own daughter because he's such a henpecked husband.

In fact, not only Mashu, but even the Knights of the Round Table were looking at the boy with some surprise... Ever since Lan Ze pulled out the Holy Lance, the Knights of the Round Table had already heard Agravain say that the Queen was actually a man.

But what surprised them even more was that this person also seemed capable of using the Holy Lance, and even Round Table Decision.

How can someone who isn't King Arthur wield the power of the Holy Lance?

This is simply unheard of.

"Mother... could you loosen your grip a little?"

In the hall, noticing everyone's gaze, Lan Ze whispered something, trying to get Tiamat to loosen her grip on him.

It didn't matter when no one was around, but now with so many people staring at me, it's really embarrassing.

"Aaa." Tiamat shook her head firmly, refusing to let go.

She turned her head and looked at the group of people beside her. Although her eyes were incredibly innocent, the place where her gaze fell made everyone feel unprecedented pressure.

"I can understand being a senior... but why is my mother here too?" Ritsuka covered her mouth, utterly astonished.

"And Aika is here too..."

While everyone was still in a state of speechless shock, Lan Ze finally pulled away from Tiamat's embrace, turned to the group, and said, "If you don't mind, please sit down and have some breakfast... I'll give you a brief explanation."

The group exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement with Lan Ze's suggestion.

As a result, the huge dining table was immediately filled with people.

Lan Ze gave a general explanation of what had happened during that time, and by the end, Artoria finally understood just how much had transpired.

"The power of the Holy Lance is too great. There may be several people who can wield it, but no matter who they are, they will eventually be devoured by its power," Artoria said.

"You are the master of the Holy Lance, aren't you? Is there no way, King Arthur?" Sajyou Manaka maintained the elegant smile befitting Imperial Princess, but when she saw Artoria's voluptuous breasts, which were no less impressive than Tiamat's, her eyes lost a little of their brilliance.

Artoria gently shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to break free from the Holy Lance's corrosive power."

At this point, she glanced at the boy beside her, her eyes softening slightly. "However, his spirit hasn't been corrupted by the Holy Lance; if only his body has been corrupted, it should recover slowly over time."

"And..." Artoria paused, "No matter what he becomes, I will protect him."

After all, the other party was her Queen, and she had become like this in order to save her.

Sajyou Manaka smiled and said, "Protecting Lan Ze isn't really necessary; I can protect him myself."

"Speaking of which, senpai, weren't you captured by Kishinami Hakuno? Where is she now?" Mashu quickly changed the subject when she noticed the atmosphere seemed to have suddenly become a bit awkward.

"She... should still be in the castle--"

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Lan Ze's mind, and he realized that something was wrong.

"Speaking of which, I don't think I saw her this morning..." He turned to Tiamat beside him, "Mother, did you see her last night?"

"Aaa." Tiamat nodded.

"Then where did she go?" Lan Ze asked.

"Aaaaa," Tiamat said.

"You let her get away?!" Lan Ze exclaimed, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Aaa (She wanted to leave on her own)," Tiamat explained.

For Tiamat, the beasts were not enemies, and Kishinami Hakuno had not done anything to threaten the safety of her child, so she was naturally not an enemy.

In addition, once Kishinami left, no one would be competing with her for the child... With this in mind, she did not stop Kishinami Hakuno from leaving yesterday.

"What do you want from her?" Sajyou Manaka suddenly asked.

"The Holy Grail should be in Kishinami Hakuno's hands. We need to retrieve Holy Grail," Mashu explained.

Then, a thought suddenly struck her, and she subconsciously looked at Lan Ze, saying, "I wonder if the power of the Holy Grail can restore you to your original state."

"Under normal circumstances, not every Holy Grail can grant a wish." As Sajyou Manaka said this, she began to ponder something in her mind.