Watching Alvin's calm and composed expression, Merlin's smile gradually faded. He said with a faint smile, "Alright, I'll make that bet with you."
'A bet that I don't have a heart.'
Seeing this, an amused smile quickly appeared on Alvin's face.
Merlin himself probably hadn't even noticed it. Although he possessed Clairvoyance that could observe the present from afar, that didn't mean he could see through himself.
Just as this thought crossed Alvin's mind, he suddenly saw a few lines of small text quietly appear in his field of vision.
[Born of a Welsh princess mother and a supernatural dream-incubus father from between the moon and the earth, a mixed-blood who never understood what emotions were from birth has agreed to your wager. It is not because he cares about winning or losing the bet, but because he wishes to seek out his own emotions through it.]
[You have achieved the special achievement: Radiance of the Star (Hidden).]
Alvin raised an eyebrow slightly, saying with some surprise, "I didn't expect you to be a hidden route."
"A hidden route?", Merlin looked puzzled.
"It's nothing, just take it as a small joke."
No sooner had Alvin finished speaking than he suddenly saw three figures walking out of the King's Hall. Because of the barrier Merlin had set up in the garden beforehand, they did not notice Alvin's presence and headed straight toward the palace exit.
Alvin hesitated. "Lily and Morgan? Where are they going?"
Judging from the current situation, this pair of sisters shouldn't be getting into conflict again.
But seeing them leave the palace together, inevitably felt a bit strange.
"Tsk! Lily and Morgan le Fay walking together, that's really a scene you might not even see once in a lifetime," erlin clicked his tongue in amazement from the side.
Alvin, however, paid no attention to Merlin and immediately activated the special authority of 'Watchman EX,' following after them.
Although he wasn't sure what had happened, these sisters leaving the palace together was something that felt concerning no matter how you looked at it.
———
In a rainy night—
A flash of sword light cut through the air, leaving a deep gash across Arcueid's body.
However, before blood could even spill out, the woman's powerful regenerative ability had already restored her body to its original state.
"As expected," Tristan gripped his sword tightly, staring warily at the blonde woman before him.
From the very start, Tristan had struck Arcueid several times with his superb swordsmanship, yet each time she counterattacked as if nothing were wrong.
Because her body was rapidly repairing its wounds in a way incomprehensible to ordinary people.
This was only natural. Arcueid, the King of the Moon, the origin of the True Ancestors and Dead Apostles, the first and strongest True Ancestor, possessed regenerative abilities that far surpassed any blood kin.
Unless her flesh was destroyed to the point that it couldn't regenerate in time, she would be able to keep regenerating endlessly.
"You're a blood kin… no, you should be one of the True Ancestors, right?", Tristan spoke gravely, stating the truth.
Arcueid neither confirmed nor denied it. A dangerous smile appeared on her icy face, "The Knights of the Round Table of this era really are strong. If my body weren't special, I might actually find this troublesome."
"But you're not the person I'm looking for. If you were to call the White Dragon over now, you might still have a slim chance to live, you know?"
"Though even if I say that, with your stubborn personality you probably wouldn't accept it anyway, so this is where it ends."
Arcueid slowly raised her right hand. Above the firmament, the blood-red moon cast an eerie light upon the woman.
"After killing you, I'll personally go and see just what kind of magic the White Dragon of Britain possesses, to make you refuse to reveal his whereabouts even at the cost of your life!"
Within the blood-red moonlight, magical power quietly gathered, descending like a mountain and about to crash down upon Tristan!
At that moment, a shadow that seemed to blot out the moonlight raced along the ground, swiftly wrapping itself around the blood-red magical power.
Arcueid's expression suddenly changed as she turned to the side, "Who?"
The enormous, sky-covering shadow seemed to swallow even the blood moon itself, turning the heavens pitch-black.
Immediately after, a cold, arrogant voice rang out from behind.
"You want to see the White Dragon, you think you're worthy?"
Arcueid narrowed her eyes, staring intently at the witch standing beneath the shadows ahead.
"That attire, looks like you're the witch of Britain, Morgan le Fay?"
To think the one she had 'fished out' would actually be her?
As this thought crossed Arcueid's mind, she suddenly noticed another woman slowly walking out from behind Morgan.
Golden hair was tied up, and the golden crown that symbolized authority added several degrees of nobility and majesty.
"King Arthur?", Arcueid blurted out subconsciously.
Meanwhile, Tristan was already dumbfounded.
'The King and Morgan?'
'How could they be together?'
At this moment, Tristan felt an indescribably strange sensation.
For all of Britain, and especially for the Knights of the Round Table, no one understood better than they did how antagonistic the relationship between the King and Morgan was.
Precisely because of that, the scene before him now was so shocking.
'King Arthur and Morgan le Fay… actually appearing together so harmoniously in the same place, and even facing an enemy side by side?'
'Is this a hallucination right before death?', In that instant, Tristan was struck by an absurd sense of unreality.
Not only Tristan, even Arcueid's brow unconsciously furrowed, "I've heard that Britain's King Arthur and the witch are on bad terms, but judging by tonight, could that just be a rumor?"
"It can't really be called a rumor. It's just that our goals are the same right now," Morgan quietly gazed forward. Under the night sky, there was no expression on that flawless, peerless face, yet beneath her feet a dangerous surge of magical power was faintly stirring.
"The same?", Arcueid seemed to realize something. A faint smile flashed across her crimson eyes, "For the White Dragon?"
"I heard that you and King Arthur once fought fiercely over that White Dragon, even going so far as to scheme to kill your own sister."
"To think that even under such circumstances you're still able to cooperate, truly unbelievable."
Morgan's expression remained calm as she said lightly, "You should be one of the beings that descended from beyond the sky not long ago, right? Logically speaking, you shouldn't know that much about Britain's affairs."
"Who exactly did you hear all this from? You really do know quite a lot."
As Morgan said this, she casually glanced toward the lavish, brilliantly lit manor in the distance and spoke softly, "King Marco?"
Arcueid merely smiled and did not refute it.
She had no blood ties to King Marco, so there was no reason for her to cover for him.
The shadows beneath Morgan's feet writhed like a dance of demons, as if they were about to overflow from her body at any moment. She toyed with a wisp of black smoke coiling around her fingertips and asked as if casually, "Let me ask you one thing. Why are you looking for the White Dragon?"
"To kill him," Arcueid replied concisely.
"If you want to become the strongest, you have to step over countless corpses along the way. Morgan, King Arthur, you are indeed strong, but also quite disappointing."
Arcueid's vivid, alluring red lips curved into a mocking smile. Her eyes were filled with contempt as she spoke softly, "Emotions only ever become obstacles on the path to becoming strong. For beings like you, born standing at the very top, to not even understand this principle, should I call it stupidity, or blindness?"
"Or could it be, that White Dragon secretly used some kind of special charm technique on the two of you sisters?"
'This woman…'
A barely perceptible trace of anger flashed through Artoria's eyes.
For this King Arthur, you could attack her however you liked and she would remain calm, even laugh it off, but Alvin was the sole exception.
This woman who had just descended upon Britain understood nothing at all. Because she had never experienced what Artoria had, because she had never encountered someone who amazed her in her youth, she could spout such lofty, self-righteous principles.
"Charm techniques?"
Raindrops falling from the sky made Morgan's platinum-blonde hair cling to her forehead. She lifted her clear, beautiful eyes silently, and a bewitching smile quickly appeared on her face, "If you insist on calling it that, his magical power does seem to have a charming effect… sometimes even I become intoxicated by it."
Alvin already possessed the special authority of 'Innate Charm.' When the two sides exchanged magical power, the sweetness of that magic could be clearly felt by the other party.
This was especially true for spirits like Morgan, who were innately extremely sensitive to magical power.
"Oh?"
Arcueid's eyes seemed to gain a bit more interest as she smiled pleasantly, "His magic really does have a charming effect? Hearing you say that, I find myself even more interested in him."
"Perhaps… his blood might be worthy of a taste—"
As Arcueid spoke, she seemed completely unaware of the approaching danger, seriously pondering what Morgan had just said.
'Magical power with a charming effect… what would it taste like, exactly?'
At this moment, in Morgan's hand, a staff radiating a dangerous aura quietly took shape.
Boundless shadows swept in from all directions, and even the blood moon beneath the heavens seemed to be silently swallowed by the darkness.
Arcueid casually lifted her gaze.
In the next instant, the blood moon in the sky erupted with an incomparably eerie crimson glow, breaking through layers of darkness as it suddenly descended from the heavens.
Its magical power was so immense that it nearly distorted the air itself. As the blood moon descended, violent winds surged forth in that very moment.
Moonfall, one of Arcueid's abilities. What she used now wasn't a large-scale Moonfall, merely a small-area spell.
Even so, its power was absolutely not to be underestimated. The crimson light almost instantly engulfed Artoria and Morgan le Fay, shrouding the ground beneath their feet in blood-red moonlight.
Artoria immediately drew her sword and swung the holy sword forward. Golden magical power burst forth.
A flash of golden light, and a beam of light shot out from the holy sword, nearly illuminating the sky over the area.
BOOM!
The light beam scattered the blood moon. Countless golden particles drifted through the air. As the blood moon dispersed, Arcueid suddenly realized that Tristan had vanished from her field of vision.
The next moment, from behind, there came a faint yet resounding dragon-like roar.
Arcueid snapped her head around, only to see that after rescuing Tristan, King Arthur had once again raised the holy sword high. Golden magical power began to pour in wildly from all directions.
"There's something I still can't understand."
Artoria gazed at the woman before her, blonde hair loose and an aura of enchantment about her.
"What is it?", Arcueid asked.
"You found Alvin… was it really just to kill him?", Artoria asked.
Arcueid tilted her head slightly, as if it were only natural, "Do you think there's a second possibility?"
The White Dragon was the most powerful being in Britain, and not long ago he had entered into some kind of special contract with Gaia. If one wanted to become this planet's UO, the White Dragon was an enemy that had to be dealt with.
A self-mocking smile quickly appeared on Arcueid's exquisitely beautiful face, "King Arthur, you're different from me. You were born as Britain's king, and in the future, your name will surely be recorded in the Throne of Heroes."
"But I-I belong neither to Alaya's side nor to Gaia's side."
Yes, although she was the strongest True Ancestor 'created' by Gaia, Arcueid's existence was far too special. She had known from a very early time that she was an 'outlier.'
Becoming 'the strongest' was not only to fulfill the promise she had once made in the Millennium Castle with him, but also for her own survival.
Because in this world, Arcueid was an outlier destined to be 'corrected' by the Counter Force sooner or later.
To survive, either she would replace the Counter Force and become the ruler of this planet, or she would obediently wait for the final outcome of 'erasure.'
Even Morgan le Fay would certainly have her own place in the Throne of Heroes in the future.
But only she was different… from the moment she was born, she had never had a choice.
"I see…"
Artoria took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "In that case, there's nothing more to say."
In an instant, the holy sword erupted with unprecedented magical power, killing intent filling the air.
Even for Alvin's sake, she would absolutely not allow the other party to take even a single step closer to the royal palace.
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