Chapter 461: Concern for Mordred

A battlefield stained with blood.

The false miracle's voice resounded across the Hill of Regret.

"... If you wish to deny this fate..."

"... Offer your death as the price, and grant yourself one final opportunity..."

The King accepted this proposal.

Only so that the destined destruction might become a peaceful destruction.

………………

………………

………………

This is the cause of everything.

To tell the truth, Artoria actually knew what kind of price she would pay.

—The purpose of the Counter Force's Contract with her was to devour her Soul and her freedom after death.

But...

Artoria did not have many choices.

Fate is like the biting cold wind in winter; even if one foresees its piercing chill and unbearable weight long in advance, it does not mean one can dodge it.

Moreover, when a person wanders on the edge of the abyss, facing that boundless Darkness and Despair, they will instinctively reach out their hands, yearning to grasp that single thread of Vitality.

At that time, only a vicious Miracle would pick up her wish; what else could she do.

Her path had long been paved with thorns and sacrifice; every step trod upon shattered visions and unfulfilled dreams.

"..."

"..."

Long silence and wordlessness, as if even the air had frozen solid.

The ahoge seemed to bear endless weight, drooping down listlessly, no longer lively as before.

Artoria gazed at this hill ravaged by war; every patch of blood color deeply stabbed her heart, yet she remained silent for a long time.

However, all the blood and wounds on her body had already naturally disappeared.

As if smoothed over by a mysterious power.

Because this return naturally brought back all the various "Reinforcements" she possessed—

From the moment the girl stood up...

All kinds of permanent effects, temporary buffs, refreshed with corresponding entries in her status window...

Dragon Furnace Core...

Nano Repair...

Fairy Protection...

Divine Favor...

If this really were a game where all attribute data and ability values were visualizable—

Then the status display under her name ID would probably not fit even three full rows of icons.

Mainly because the emergency evasion mechanism was triggered.

After all, the Regent Princess normally has a whole series of insurances and protections on her person.

Under normal circumstances, to Threaten her personal safety, one would need to Penetrate who knows how many layers of protective mechanisms.

But now—

Once again traversing the torrent of Spacetime, returning to this World, returning to this node on the timeline.

She naturally reverted to her "Original proper form"—that is, the moment the Contract was formed, where all Power and Fragility coexisted.

What kind of state is that?

—"The last Knights of Britain cross blades."

—"The Holy Lance burns through the rebel's viscera, blowing them away. The rebel's Magic Sword Technique shatters the King's helmet, slicing open the skull, taking the single eye and the remaining life."

Basically, it is just like that.

At the end of this sad, fratricidal war, Artoria personally ended Mordred's rebellion, yet also paid a heavy price, suffering a severe fatal wound.

So an extremely Extreme situation appeared.

The various protections bestowed upon her, the various Powers shared with her, were not Penetrated layer by layer.

But without any warning...

In a single instant, it was detected that the owner had fallen into a near-death state.

Sensing that the flame of the master's life was on the verge of extinguishing, the lifeline precariously touching the Warning Line of death.

Naturally, in that same instant, almost every possible insurance measure that could be Activated was awakened almost Simultaneously.

It was just as well that Xia Zhi was right there, casually neutralizing some offensive countermeasures.

Otherwise...

Just the released Divine Power Shockwave would be enough to level Camlan Hill, shattering everything in the Surroundings into fundamental particles.

This is one of the emergency Contingency Plans used to Offset external forces from the Outside World Environment, attempting to drive back any potential Enemies.

But at this time, it is very obviously not too suitable to appear here...

Otherwise, in later Legends, the ending of the King Arthur story would probably not be that tragic sunset.

It would very easily put the cart before the horse, evolving into a discussion and pursuit of some "Sword Barrier Great Explosion"—

And together with "Apocalypse Great Explosion", "Tunguska Explosion", and so on...

Be listed among the World's unsolved mysteries...

Still, that kind of parallel world divergence seems quite interesting too.

"How does it feel..."

Xia Zhi examined the girl's body and felt he didn't need to act himself.

Artoria hadn't died in the first place; because of the Holy Sword's divine protection, even after losing its radiance, it still sheltered its master's life.

Even at death's door...

Or even if her last breath hadn't been severed...

In short, she indeed had not died.

Therefore, upon returning, bringing back all kinds of reinforcements and power together, the result was that the dying Knight King was healed back to life on the spot.

Resurrection magecraft wasn't needed at all, nor using divine power to reverse life and death.

"Terrible..."

Artoria didn't put on a brave front, but sighed and said.

She turned back, looking at her Master: "Master, let's begin — what do we do now?"

"That depends on you."

"Depends on... me?"

"Exactly. If you simply want to change this ending, then the current you can easily do it."

Xia Zhi said with a smile, meaningfully: "As long as you stand here, Camelot will exist eternally."

"Nothing can knock it down..."

"Not the Counter Force, not the trend of the era, not even the planet's changing rules..."

King Arthur will continue to exist.

Ancient Britain will also continue to exist.

This is indeed something that should not have appeared, something not permitted by Human Order, but so what.

The Counter Force can only erase those accidental factors with a value just slightly higher than the target object, but no matter how you look at it —

The current Artoria is no longer a value the Counter Force can solve.

Whether Gaia or Alaya, the Counter Force vortices existing on this planet, none can contain the reinforced King Arthur.

"This..."

Artoria froze for a moment.

She gently bit her lower lip, as if that could make her more clear-headed, more closely feel that power surging into her four limbs and hundred bones.

Her body, every inch of skin, every cell, could feel the swollen magical energy supply continuously delivering True Ether to every part;

Nanomodules activated on their own, turning into healing agents and reinforcing agents effective on both Servants and organic bodies.

Preset techniques also activated directly, farming High-level Restoration Technique on her again and again.

From both physical and magecraft aspects, simultaneously eliminating any fatigue or Mors Exhaustion effects, removing nearly all forms of negative debuffs.

Including states like madness, confusion, fear, invalidating multiple types of mental interference.

And the Avalon Defense System ready to deploy at any time, set to "Second Deployment Mode".

— Meaning when receiving an unbearable and undodgeable attack, it can in that instant rewind time to one second before the attack was received and activate on its own.

These are all the insurance measures currently awakened.

There are also some that should have activated, but were pressed down by Master in passing.

So...

The current Artoria is too bugged; her power is so strong she's indeed not too suitable to stay on this track of Heroic Spirit Servant anymore.

She just hasn't caught up with the latest batch of reinforcement benefits yet, and probably would find it hard to reach the level of those two female masters of Heaven and Earth...

But that doesn't mean the current her isn't a terrifying individual.

The Dragon Furnace Core beats eternally, and her body receives Great Holy Grail-level magical energy supply every moment, even True Ether mana quality.

— Just this alone can make one despair.

— Even a Crown Mage would be pressed to the ground and rubbed by her.

Not to mention, there's also a series of extra reinforcements, amplifications, and added effects.

Plus her Noble Phantasm powerful to the extreme, able to ignore almost any restriction and fire continuously at will, such extravagant conditions are simply unbelievable.

One can completely say, as long as Artoria is willing, she can end any Holy Grail War in less than a minute.

— High-speed HP regen.

— Zero HP sustain.

— Full-screen instant kill.

On this planet, whatever enemy runs into her will probably be mad enough to curse.

"Looks like you've realized it; probably because of the long peace in the Fairy Kingdom, you haven't acted much, and haven't fought Vivian much either..."

Xia Zhi showed a teasing smile: "So you haven't discovered yourself just what level you've unknowingly grown to."

"Does this count as growth too?"

Artoria twitched her eyebrows, expression showing not much agreement.

She felt it was just being carried to victory.

Ah, how did that saying go... one person attains the Dao, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven?

The current situation is exactly this, purely because Master directly ascended, bringing her along to cross tiers.

"Why wouldn't it count? Allocating points can be your own talent and effort; improvement is improvement."

The Nascent Soul Cultivator expressed neither agreement nor disagreement on this.

"..."

"……"

"I need to think this through properly……"

The Knight King did not dwell on that point either, instead shaking her head with a heavy tone; she needed some time to properly consider it.

"Of course no problem, anyway time here is stagnant……"

Xia Zhi's voice came through.

"Hmm…… wait, Master what are you doing?"

Artoria nodded slightly, but immediately afterward, she saw the youth crouching before the Holy Lance studying Mordred's corpse, and her expression instantly stiffened.

"Let me take a look at this little girl……"

Xia Zhi answered as a matter of course, and simultaneously reached out with interest, using his fingertips to gently brush aside the golden hair that had been matted together by wet blood.

Beneath the hair was revealed a beautiful face.

A countenance very similar to Artoria's.

Only her beautiful pupils had already frozen, losing all Mors Vitality.

"This face really is…… uncontrolled proliferation of Artoria elements, definitely a big problem for the future."

Although the youth had anticipated it long ago, he still could not help but make the evaluation with a deeply solemn face.

"What do you mean by 'uncontrolled proliferation of Artoria elements'——"

The person herself instantly choked up, striving to voice her protest: "And what are you doing!"

"Showing some concern for Xiao Mo, after all she is a junior……"

Xia Zhi answered as a matter of course.

——Concern for what?

——Concern for a corpse? This kind of behavior really looks perverted.

The corners of Artoria's eyes twitched slightly, just as she was preparing to righteously condemn her Master's behavior, she heard the other party calmly ask:

"Want to just resurrect her?"

That kind of matter-of-fact tone, simply like the God of Creation speaking.

"……"

"……"

Artoria instantly fell silent.

She took a deep breath, and complex emotions surged in her heart.

——Hao Le.

——Forgot about this point.

In this person's eyes, life and death seemingly have no difference anymore.

Just like flowers before a lens, they can go from bloom to wither, or from wither to bloom, the sequence can be reversed and modified at will.

Under this kind of impermanent view of life and death, the perspective of looking at all things surely must differ from ordinary people.

(Chapter End)