I must draw my sword immediately!

Chapter 125 The Paradox of the Red Dragon King
Sua stared at the former Holy Son, Galahad, before her.

It can be seen from the other party's words and actions that

This is undoubtedly a holy knight.

One could even say that he was excessively sanctified.

Even in this world where gods no longer exist, Galahad stubbornly pursues the things left behind by the departed gods, such as the blood of Jesus that stained the tip of the Spear of Longinus.

He still regarded himself as a knight of God, holding reverence for God and adhering to the knightly code.

but,
Such stubbornness, in such an absurd world, also pushed the other party to another extreme—

Galahad saw himself as a partner of justice.

He naturally placed himself in the position of the majority, thereby mitigating the fear and unease he felt at no longer being able to hear divine pronouncements.

So, upon seeing this round table that was practically indistinguishable from a bomb,
He would be angry, he would feel tormented, and he would angrily rebuke the person who caused all this, even though he knew that Suya was not the Red Dragon King.

But this is precisely why he feels even more lost—

He knew perfectly well that Suya hadn't done any of this, that Suya knew nothing, and that Suya was just another pawn in the game of fate, yet he still had to stand on the side of the safety of three million people and hold such an innocent person accountable.

Although he proclaims himself a righteous partner and anchors himself in that image, he is ultimately not a true fanatic like Kiritsugu Emiya.

His chivalry condemned him at all times!

This is similar to the famous philosophical problem 'The Ship of Theseus':
Legend has it that Theseus, the King of Athens, led warriors to Crete and slew the Minotaur.
Therefore, the ship he used became known as the Ship of Theseus.

As time went by and the ship continued to sail, its parts gradually deteriorated. People kept replacing them with new parts until eventually, all the parts had been replaced.

This leads to a paradoxical problem:
Is this still the same Ship of Theseus? If so, why? If not, when did it stop being the same?

This question applies to Suya—

When memory, body, authority, and even everything within are replaced...

So, is Suya still the Red Dragon King?
Suya keenly perceived this, which was undoubtedly a deliberate design, and the person who designed it was her past self.

Now, this question will be answered—

Just as Aristotle, when exploring this problem, used the "four causes" theory to describe objects,
The material is the material cause, while the design and form of matter are the formal causes. The formal causes determine what an object is. Based on the formal causes, he judges that the Ship of Theseus is still the Ship of Theseus, because although the material has changed, the design of the ship, the formal causes, has not changed.

Based on this formal cause—both Suya and the Red Dragon King believe that the eighteen years they spent in that world before their time travel are the root of the personality that constitutes [Suya].

Suya immediately reached a consensus with the Red Dragon King, who had devised this paradox to complete the final forging process of this divinely created weapon.

Right now,

I have achieved perfect unity with myself!

therefore,

When Galahad was tormented by this problem and trembled so much that he could not immediately make up his mind to kill Suya,
Sua has decided to scam the knight.

He began to take steps.
Stepping onto the gray, alkaline trachyte of the underground volcano's edge, my Martin boots creaked under my feet as I made my way toward Galahad.

He stared intently at Galahad and asked:
"Knight Galahad, why do you feel pain?"

Galahad trembled all over, took a step back, and with a wave of his hand, pulled out four black keys from under his Kevlar fiber robe and threw them out!
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
Four sharp blades were pinned to Suya's feet, preventing him from advancing any further.

Suya glanced at the black keys on the ground, ignored them as if they were nothing, and continued speaking:

"You think you are a knight of the gods, but there are no gods left in this world."

"look,"

Suya raised the Holy Sword Meliaduk, pointing it at the pool of bright red blood in the center of the lava table.

"Although I don't quite understand the underlying principles, I can see that—"

"This bomb, which is a mixture of divine blood, thousands of magical artifacts, the round table left by the archmage Merlin, and the remains of the Red Dragon King, will soon explode."

"Blow us up, collapse this cave, and evaporate three million 'people' from the capital, Winchester!"

"Your god is acting as the fuse of a bomb, about to kill the person you want to protect."

"So, what are you resisting?"

Galahad stared at the approaching Suya, gritted his teeth, his face grim, and coldly exposed her:
"You want to use me, to use me to defile the gods, to forge the divine weaponry you've always desired." Suya shook her head, calmly rejecting the offer.

"I am not the Red Dragon King."

"But what you are really afraid of is not the reason you say it is."

He stared at Galahad, his sharp gaze piercing through the sulfurous mist, constantly discerning the most genuine fear reflected in the other's face and pupils.
"You are afraid."

"But you're also looking forward to it."

"What you fear is not defiling the blood of God, but losing this last hope that you know does not exist."

"And you are also looking forward to it, looking forward to what you will do—"

"enough!"

Upon hearing Suya's revelation, Galahad felt as if he had been stabbed in the heart with a needle, and a dark expression appeared on his face.
He threw four more black keys, this time without holding back, aiming straight for Suya's throat, heart, abdomen, and kidneys.

"when!"

Suya swung the Holy Sword Meliaduk, deflecting several black keys that were aimed at him, then calmly continued speaking:

"You look forward to becoming my knight."

"You look forward to the life of an ordinary knight."

"You expect someone to forcefully remove the shackles imposed on you."

"is it?"

"Is that so, Knight Galahad? You are not holy, just like this empty holy sword!"

"What you expect is exactly what the Knight of Baling did when he forcibly pulled out this holy sword that only the Holy Son could pull out."
"You yearn for a king more worthy of your loyalty than the gods!"

"Because you know clearly what kind of world this is. You know better than I do that to achieve your ideals, the weak and incompetent King Uther is no good, and the gods who no longer exist are even less so."

Galahad's face was ashen, and he trembled all over. He suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Suya.

"Enough! Shut up!"

"You cruel and inhuman tyrant!"

"You, who were defeated by King Uther more than a decade ago, how dare you utter such arrogant words now?"

“I told you, I am not the Red Dragon King.”

In response, Suya stepped across the 50-meter-long round table and stood before Galahad.

He raised the holy sword Meliaduk in his hand, stood before Galahad, and solemnly said:
"Standing before you now is Suya."

"You may refuse this sword, but, Knight Galahad, I have three questions for you—"

Suya paused, recalling what she had seen and heard along the way, and asked in a cold voice:
What is the so-called "infertile land"?

"Where have all the people of the capital gone? Why have I not seen a single ordinary citizen of the capital along the way? The only people walking on the streets are nobles, merchants, knights, and soldiers?"

"as well as,"

"Sir Galahad, why have you come here, a man loyal to the Church and to King Perinoa?"

Upon hearing these three questions, Galahad's body stiffened abruptly.

Seeing the other party's reaction, Suya couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile.

He looked down at Galahad, who was a head shorter than him, and sneered:
"Even if I am the tyrant you speak of, even if I am a beast using the lives of three million people in the capital to morally blackmail you,"

"But there are probably many people who are more absurd, more brutal, more inhuman, and worse than beasts than me, aren't there?"

"And you, Knight Galahad—"

Suya stared intently at Galahad with her crimson vertical pupils.

When did you refuse my invitation?

(End of this chapter)