I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

At night, London's old city is nothing but deathly stillness and endless darkness.

Inside Vortigern Castle, players scattered and began recklessly looting items and supplies.

Just as they expected, there were no living creatures in the castle, and Wotigan on the throne had long since turned into a skeleton encased in heavy armor.

Even the banquet Merlin mentioned, specially prepared to welcome the warriors—

On a long table that could seat a dozen people, pure gold cutlery held rotten food, and the skeleton of a rat lay in a wine glass. Only the unopened wine was preserved.

The walls are covered with portraits of Pendragon family members, as well as skull specimens of various fantasy creatures.

"Haha! It's a blue-quality item, what a steal!"

A player rushed forward, forcefully broke off the skeletal head from the throne, put the heavy armor helmet on his head, and excitedly waved to his teammates:

"Hurry, hurry, we can't complete this dog-like mission anyway, so it's not unreasonable for us to find some items ourselves, right?"

—Even though important plot characters have died, it's okay, players will find the rewards themselves!

The skeletal head rolled down the red carpet and landed directly at Chen Xi's feet.

She stood on a rug that appeared to be made of the skin of a fantastical creature, staring at the head and falling into deep thought:

"Merlin said King Arthur was dead, and that we defeated Wojtigan—if Wojtigan killed King Arthur, then who killed Wojtigan?"

"This dungeon is different from any we've encountered before."

Weng Yang walked over and stopped, glancing at the white bones on the ground:

"In previous instances, the system would simply set rules in a cold, impersonal way, but this time, the system has been guiding us to find Merlin, as if the supreme god is alive and observing us."

"King Arthur is dead; we should receive a notification that the mission has failed."

Chen Xi tried to find something strange with Weng Yang: "Do you remember the mission background that the system initially prompted? 'Sixth century AD, Britannia, King Euthythe is dead, the sword in the stone has sunk to the bottom of the lake.'"

But the Sword in the Stone that we see now is safely placed in the Sword in the Stone Plaza.

"Furthermore, Merlin said, 'King Arthur is dead,' not 'Arthur is dead.'"

Weng Yang suddenly realized something: "At the beginning of the mission, we were asked to find 'King Arthur' before he became king. At that time, we all thought that the main god wanted us to help Arthur escape the pursuit of the Vortigerns and become King Arthur."

But what if we interpret it differently? In a timeline where Arthur hasn't yet become king, King Arthur already exists.

The two looked at each other, and both saw a sudden realization in each other's eyes.

Although it's a bit tongue-twisting, it's easy to understand.

This is a world with magic.

Although the timeline is set in history before Arthur became king and founded Camelot, both the system and Merlin acknowledge the existence of "King Arthur".

There's only one explanation:

Time travel.

This explains why, even though Vortigern is dead, the Death Legion still exists on this continent.

In the timeline, Arthur is still the prophesied son raised by the Lady of the Lake, who will appear tomorrow to pull the sword from the stone.

But King Arthur, who founded Camelot and led the Knights of the Round Table, died in this timeline.

……

……

"Wait, let me sort this out. So you believe that King Arthur traveled from the future to a time before he became king and killed Vortigern, who was hunting down his younger self?"

Zheng Wenxuan squatted on the animal skin carpet, his face filled with a clarity and confusion brought about by the curse of knowledge:

"So Merlin keeps repeating like a broken record that King Arthur is dead, but that's not right either. Who can guarantee that this Merlin is the current Merlin and not the future Merlin?"

Chen Xi and Weng Yang fell silent, then suddenly looked up and walked out of the castle without saying a word.

"They're supposed to go to the Sword in the Stone, are you going?"

Tan Moli glanced at Zheng Wenxuan and asked, but the latter shook his head, skillfully rolled up the animal hide on the ground, and stuffed it into his backpack:

"No, Lei Zi and I will stay behind to support Jiang Chen, and also see if there are any useful tools."

Tan Moli nodded and quickly followed the two.

……

……

……

In the Stone Sword Plaza, twelve stone pillars still stand silently, surrounding the holy sword.

Around the plum grove, there were more than a dozen stone sculptures.

Some had contorted expressions of pain and terror, their eyes wide with fear, and they reached out as if asking their teammates for help.

Some lives were frozen in time before the greed and anger in their eyes had even faded.

Chen Xi and the others also encountered Mu Xiao and the witch Vivian, who had traveled with them before.

They parted ways with Chen Xi and the others after their teammates were cursed and turned into stone statues, and went to the Avalon Swamp to find a way to lift the curse.

Chen Xi saw that the two of them were holding a large leaf with a small piece of green paste on it.

"These are herbs made by the Lady of the Lake. We should really thank the Holy Sword for only turning people into stone statues."

Weng Yang noticed the three approaching, greeted them, and then offered an explanation:

"We met the Lady of the Lake in the Avalon Swamp. After we helped her kill the poisonous toad that was polluting the lake, she gave us herbs that could lift the petrification curse."

These herbs are said to have been brought here from the underworld by the Lake Fairy—they worked for Chris, and hopefully for Oliver too.

Only then did Weng Yang notice that the stone statue the two were surrounding was their teammate Oliver.

He turned to stone from head to toe.

"My foolish brother, who clearly believed he had the potential to become King Arthur, carelessly touched the holy sword."

Vivian looked somewhat sad: "These herbs don't seem to be able to counteract the curse of the Holy Sword."

Mu Xiao patted her shoulder: "It's okay, there's still some time before the dungeon shatters, we still have a chance to find the magic to lift the curse of the Sword in the Stone."

Vivian forced a nod.

At this point, Mu Xiao glanced at Chen Xi and Weng Yang: "Are you here to find Merlin? That strange old man with the white beard is over there—friendly reminder, don't touch the Sword in the Stone out of curiosity."

……

……

Merlin remained standing beside the holy sword, seemingly repeating his previous words without ever tiring:

"The messenger of the Outer Gods..."

"We want to know why the world has become like this, and what King Arthur did to prevent the world from collapsing?"

Weng Yang abruptly interrupted Merlin, staring intently at him, trying to detect a change in his expression:

"The future King Arthur came to the present, and then he died, so the young Arthur, who hadn't yet become the Lord of Camelot, is still alive, right?"

"Who exactly is the enemy of this world?"

"...There are no enemies."

Merlin finally made a move.

He stopped, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the group, then suddenly regained their focus for a moment:

"Wise and brave knight, you have finally arrived."

The mechanical "Merlin" disappeared, replaced by a kind and benevolent old man.

His eyes were filled with pain and sorrow, and a lament for his fate.

"The world is collapsing."

This was the first thing Merlin said to them after regaining his senses.

"The world is the dust of God."

This was Merlin's second sentence.

"I will show you the truth of the world."

This is the third sentence Merlin said.

Then, the old man raised his hands, which had been hidden beneath his robe. The surrounding stone pillars hummed, the sky changed, and the earth trembled—

In an instant, Chen Xi and the others found themselves standing 10,000 meters in the air, with a thriving and extremely prosperous Great Britain below.