Of course, you were still the strongest fighter. At every tournament, you beat Lancelot up once. Lancelot had no idea why, but he believed you had grown old and that Gawain's valor was clearly inferior to yours, so you wanted him to become as strong as you.
To avoid getting brutally beaten by you and to live up to your expectations, Lancelot trained hard in martial arts. Already the foremost of the Knights of the Round Table, the gap between his strength and that of the other knights grew increasingly obvious.
Lancelot's adoptive mother, the Lady of the Lake, found you through Morgan and gave you a holy sword called Crocea Mors. It was both a holy sword and a cursed sword, capable of killing anyone it struck.
The Lady of the Lake asked you not to beat up her son anymore, and you agreed.
You went to Gawain's fief, and your imposing presence scared off the women who had gathered there because they adored the handsome white prince's beauty.
Rumors spread throughout Camelot that Duke Joslyn, the father of Marquis Gawain, had no gentlemanly spirit whatsoever. However, the women spreading those rumors were horrified to receive two slaps from their respective noble families, and the rumors quickly vanished.
You began personally training your eldest son, Gawain, telling him to beat up that show-off Lancelot at the tournament. During this time, you took away Gawain's holy sword, saying that he relied too heavily on the sun's blessing and the Sword of Assured Victory.
You submitted a memorial to Grandmaster, informing him that you intended to teach your eldest son Gawain the Golden Light Charm. Grandmaster approved.
You told Gawain that he could never pass this technique on to anyone, even in death. Gawain swore to it on a knight's honor.
Every morning, Gawain began cultivating the Golden Light Charm before the sun, after which you put him through training.
You beat Gawain terribly, greatly improving both his evasive ability and his offensive prowess.
As time passed, Artoria held another tournament. This time, you did not participate.
At the tournament, Lancelot faced Gawain. The two fought for an entire day, until the sun set in the evening. Artoria thought Gawain was about to lose, but Gawain suddenly used the Golden Light Charm, with remarkable results.
The sudden golden light blinded Lancelot for two seconds, and Gawain got back on his feet.
Taking advantage of those two seconds, Gawain beat Lancelot out of the arena.
Lancelot left Camelot to wander and train, while Gawain was dragged back home from his fief by you to continue honing his martial arts.
Sir Ector's son, Kay, Camelot's Secretary of State, resigned from his position and set out to train abroad.
During this period, many wandering knights appeared. Eager to make a name for themselves in a single battle, they began arriving at your territory one after another to challenge you.
You sensed something was wrong. After thinking it over, only Tristan's sinister uncle, King Mark, would do something like this. So you sent Gawain to Tristan's home to check on him.
Sure enough, Tristan had also been harassed by those wandering knights.
You were furious and immediately rode out of the city, knocking all those wandering knights down within a few moves.
The wandering knights greatly revered your power and surrendered one after another. You took them directly to the royal court and handed them over to Artoria, while you rode alone toward Cornwall.
This was already your third visit to Cornwall. You learned that King Mark was hiding in Tintagel Castle, a place you knew very well. Four knights guarded the castle, and you charged straight at them.
Cornwall, Your King Has Returned!
You had previously spared King Mark out of consideration for Tristan of Lyonesse, but this time, no one was going to put in a good word for the man who had sent people to disturb your retirement.
The four castle guards stabbed your horse to death, but you smashed their heads apart with the brick you had obtained from Yuanshi Tianzun, leaving their bodies mangled beyond recognition.
This was your first time using this brick, and it felt incomparably handy. While thanking Grandmaster in your heart, you named this brick-shaped artifact the Jade Purity Supreme Brick.
"This thing is way more useful than the Pojun Divine Lightning Halberd!"
Bai Ming's wild side erupted as he burst into laughter. "Hehehehe! King Mark, eat a brick from your Grandpa Bai!"
You swung the Jade Purity Supreme Brick all the way into Tintagel Castle. You showed mercy to those dutiful knights, merely knocking them unconscious, and soon reached King Mark.
King Mark's knights glared at you in outrage over your insolence, but the moment they heard the name Joslin, every one of them turned pale with terror.
King Mark furiously ordered the knights to swarm you.
"Kill him! Kill him! He's only one man! Swarm him and stab him to death! Before all of you die, you'll definitely be able to wear him down!"
Having lost his mind, King Mark uttered venomous words—venomous, of course, to the knights under his command.
The knights of Cornwall all knew that Duke Tintagel from over twenty years ago had been killed by the Duke Joslyn standing before them. He had charged alone into a cavalry formation and taken the duke's head in a single strike. They also knew that even after becoming Regent, Duke Joslyn had still yielded the throne to King Uther's grown heir.
A brave and loyal man had ridden here alone, so King Mark must have done something unreasonable.
When King Mark had been questioned by this man earlier, he had already lacked any moral ground to stand on. Not to mention how harshly King Mark had treated his nephew Tristan.
When Tristan had stepped forward to prevent Cornwall from suffering Ireland's oppression and won a duel against Mahans, the Irish king's chief knight, he had returned to Cornwall gravely wounded and barely alive. King Mark had simply placed Tristan on a small boat and let him drift downstream, leaving his fate to heaven.
And when Tristan returned to Cornwall again, King Mark had gotten there first, sworn an oath, and stolen his beloved.
Not to mention that after Tristan joined the Knights of the Round Table, King Mark had constantly wanted to send people to assassinate him, killing many knights on the spot for opposing him.
And now... someone had come to kill him, yet King Mark still wanted to preserve his own life by sending his knights up one by one to die.
Thinking of this, King Mark's knights mutinied on the spot, their sharp weapons pointed directly at King Mark.
"It seems you have not treated your people very well."
Bai Ming said, "Knights, lower your weapons. Pointing your weapons at your own lord violates a knight's loyalty and righteousness. King Mark, duel me as a knight. I will use only this brick to fight you."
"You said it!"
Seeing you underestimate him so greatly, King Mark immediately agreed. He donned thick armor, took the finest sword from his treasury, and dueled you.
He advanced, retreated, and tested you repeatedly.
You watched expressionlessly as King Mark waddled about in his iron shell with ridiculous steps.
King Mark let out a strange cry, pretending to be shocked and terrified. "Ah! What is that?! Is it a miracle revealed by God?"
You remained unmoved and smashed King Mark to death with one brick. You did not care whether God had revealed himself, because you believed in the Three Pure Ones, as well as the many gods, immortals, ghosts, and spirits incorporated into the Daoist system.
The surrounding knights applauded and cheered for you, hoping that you would inherit Cornwall's throne and bring change to this land.
With nothing better to do, you simply followed the wishes of the many knights and declared yourself king of Cornwall. Then, you distributed King Mark's lovers and concubines among the other knights.
News of your kingship in Cornwall quickly reached Camelot. Morgan was filled with question marks and set out for Cornwall, that place of heartache, to investigate.
Meanwhile, Artoria faced demands for accountability from the many nobles of Camelot. They demanded that Joslin be punished and stripped of his title and fief.
Artoria felt helpless. She began wondering how you had kept these nobles obedient when you were in power. Unable to find an answer, Artoria summoned your friend Eufis. Eufis gave her six words: kill their whole families, burn their ancestral graves. Artoria thought that was too extreme, so she summoned Merlin instead.
Sitting upon the throne, Artoria asked, "How did Joslin deal with these nobles and make them behave back then?"
"My king..." Merlin said earnestly, "I do not think this is something you truly wish to know."
"No. I want to know."
Artoria's tone was so resolute that Merlin could only look helpless. "Oh, my. If you want to know that badly, then I'll tell you."
Merlin then calmly told Artoria something she found difficult to believe:
"What Sir Eufis said was only the superficial part. In truth, when Joslin ruled, the entire kingdom had strong soldiers and the people still had a surplus in their lives. The fundamental reason was that every year, these nobles had to hand over part of their income and assets to Joslin to fill the treasury, thereby ensuring their titles and the safety of their entire families. Those who refused to cooperate were directly seized by Joslin as Christmas presents, their properties confiscated and returned to the state. Not a single person in their households survived, you know? Even the burial grounds where their ancestors rested would be burned clean by Joslin in one fire, you know?"
"Was he not afraid of rebellion?"
"I suppose he was not? After all, the knights and subjects under rebellious nobles preferred Joslin over those moody nobles who cared only for their own pleasure."
After hearing Merlin's brief account of your rule, Artoria raised the Holy Lance and executed the nobles who had demanded you be dealt with. She confiscated all their fiefs and assets for Camelot, even erecting a stone monument engraved with their names so they would stink for ten thousand years.
Perhaps to clear your name, Artoria addressed you as King Joslin and retained all your status and privileges in Camelot.
You asked Artoria why she did not simply crown you king, making everything legitimate. After all, Cornwall had been conquered by you back in King Uther's time. You had merely neglected the place because of Morgan, while King Mark had only usurped the throne and declared himself king over the past twenty years. At most, you were putting down a rebellion.
Upon receiving your letter, Artoria immediately did as you wished and crowned you King Joslin of Cornwall.
Artoria knew you were indulging her, because Cornwall was not really part of Camelot at this point. In truth, Old Bai merely found it amusing.
Agravain believed Artoria's actions violated proper procedure, so he hoped she would think things through more carefully next time. Artoria told Agravain that this had been the rule during your administration, and if he had any objections, he could go to Cornwall and tell you that it was improper.
Agravain did not want to be pinned down and whipped by you after becoming an adult. Gawain and Gaheris would laugh at him, so he never mentioned the matter again.
Mordred's fondness for Artoria increased.
Morgan arrived in Cornwall and entered Tintagel Castle with practiced ease.
Morgan had never imagined that she would revisit her old home under such circumstances. When she found you, the angry Morgan immediately pounced on you and bit you hard.
Leave Request
Something came up today, so I'm taking the day off. Updates will resume tomorrow.
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Mordred, Why Are You Rebelling?
You were not surprised to see Morgan here. On the contrary, you directly embraced Morgan, turned, and entered your bedchamber.
You and Morgan spent a debauched day in the bedchamber.
Under your governance, Cornwall's economy, livelihoods, and public security improved greatly.
With nothing to do, you began traveling back and forth between Cornwall and Camelot.
In Artoria's room, you had an in-depth exchange with Guinevere and Artoria. You could not help admiring Guinevere's charm.
But compared with the mature and gentle Guinevere, you preferred teasing Artoria, the girl whose appearance was exactly the same as Morgan's before she began studying magecraft.
Their personalities were vastly different—Morgan had initially worn a disgusted expression and only slept with you because of King Uther's orders, while Artoria simply wanted to sleep with you.
Time passed.
On a bright and beautiful morning,
you ran into your son Agravain outside Artoria's bedchamber.
For a moment, the atmosphere froze. At that very moment, Artoria, using an illusion to disguise herself as Arthur, also emerged from the bedchamber.
The atmosphere froze even harder.
"My king, Father... I never thought you had this kind of fetish."
Clearly, Agravain had misunderstood something, and both you and Artoria fell silent.
"Um... Agravain."
Bai Ming tried to explain, but Agravain interrupted him. "Father, there is no need to say anything more. Starting today, I resign from all my positions at court. You do not need to sacrifice yourself for us like this."
"Ah... Lord Agravain."
Artoria wanted to explain, but then realized that explaining would only make things worse. She could only say weakly, "I was the one underneath... No, that's not what I mean. Anyway, it's just... ah, forget it. Lord Agravain can think whatever he wants!"
Bai Ming: Lily, what the hell did you just explain?
Agravain: "...?"
"Agravain, come with me. I'll explain."
You dragged away Agravain, whose brain was nearly shutting down, and only after setting up numerous soundproofing spells did you explain that King Arthur was actually a girl.
Agravain completely stopped thinking.
By the time Agravain came back to his senses, he had figured out many things. For example, why Queen Guinevere always looked at you during banquets, and why King Arthur had favored you after you took Cornwall and declared yourself king.
All that favoritism suddenly made sense.
"So... Father, you were actually taking care of the king's physical needs?"
"Yes."
Bai Ming's concise reply left Agravain silent for a moment. Then he added, "And the queen as well?"
"Yes."
"Although I have long grown used to nobles having lovers... Father, does Mother know about this?"
Bai Ming answered immediately, "Morgan personally brought about this outcome."
"I... cannot understand it, but I will not tell anyone."
Agravain's voice trembled slightly. He was clearly trying to process the fact that King Arthur was a woman, the queen was a woman, and after marrying, both had taken his father as a lover—and that his own mother had personally arranged it all.
What the hell are the older generation doing—
Agravain suddenly had a flash of insight. Right, Father had first been King Uther's knight, then became Regent under King Uther's last words. His mother was King Arthur's maternal half-sister, and his mother had exactly the same face as King Arthur. Since Mother and Father could have five children, that meant Father's face held a fatal attraction for the king as well—everything made sense.
That was why Gawain, Gaheris, himself, Mordred, and Gareth had all been able to join the knighthood!
The world-weary expression on Agravain's face suddenly relaxed, only to turn savage again in an instant. Mordred seemed to have said that one day she would force herself on Father!
"You... didn't just imagine something you shouldn't have, did you?"
"Absolutely not, Father. You know me." Agravain's tone became grave. "Father, there is something I must inform you about. It concerns Mordred."
Seeing Agravain's solemn expression, you silently listened as he described, with considerable embellishment, the 'Mordred Screws Father Plan,' then calmly told Agravain one thing.
Before you continue