The Infinite Dragon God Cannot Find Silence

"I see, I think I understand now."

The Conqueror King's gaze swept over the two girls in front of him, both of whom appeared to be no more than fifteen years old.

"Did one person never have any desires from the beginning, while the other completely suppressed their desires?"

"Oh? You, who pursue the Holy Grail merely for the sake of desire, can you understand my path to kingship?"

"A man without desires is not even as good as a vase!"

Hearing Artoria's dismissive question, Iskandar downed the wine in his glass.

"Saber, you must have been a very noble saint in your previous life, right? You must have been unapproachable because of your nobility, right? Walking on such a thorny path, who would yearn for it, and how many would dream of it?"

The Conqueror King slammed the wine glass down on the ground and said this in a serious tone.

"The so-called king must live more greedily, more unrestrainedly, and more easily angered than anyone else, with both purity and impurity coexisting. Only in that way will the people yearn for the king, submit to him, and ignite the flame of 'I also want to be king' in the heart of every person!"

At this point, Iskandar stared directly at Artoria with sharp eyes.

"Saber, king who takes pride in chivalry, your ideals may temporarily save your country and your people, but as Archer said, without guidance, the fate of those who only know how to be saved is something you just said yourself, didn't you?"

"Perhaps that's not wrong."

Artoria closed her eyes and accepted the Conqueror King's words with equanimity.

"However, I will not regret what I did. If I were given another chance, I would still save them. This is the vow I made when I pulled the sword from the stone."

"is it?"

Iskandar did not argue further with such a response, but instead smiled slightly.

"It seems that we two, being at opposite ends of the spectrum, are destined to be incompatible. Thinking about it this way, this two-on-one situation is strategically disadvantageous for me. What do you think, little girl who also has no desires?"

Orpheus, who had kept his eyes closed and remained silent, gently opened them slightly and looked at the Conqueror King.

"Iskandar, you're wrong."

"Oh?"

Despite being rejected once again, the Conqueror King showed no dissatisfaction; instead, he looked back at Orpheus with considerable interest.

"Does the young girl think I did something wrong?"

"Hmm...Iskandar is an excellent leader, but too excellent."

Orpheus nodded slightly, turning his gaze back to the ripples on the wine in his hand.

"Such talent has drawn people to Iskandar's banner, to follow him in pursuit of his desires, and even to the point that they themselves have developed the desire to become 'king'... However, this also means that once Iskandar is no longer able to guide the people, everything he has built will inevitably fall apart at an extremely fast pace."

At this point, Orpheus looked back at the Conqueror.

"Like the fall of Britain, the disintegration of Iskandar's empire was destined from the beginning. Iskandar's tyranny led your country to its destruction. Did Iskandar not foresee this at all?"

Orpheus's tone was quite flat, merely the most ordinary narrative style, but its content was like a sharp sword, pointing directly at the heart of Iskandar, the conqueror king.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Even so, Iskandar remained unperturbed and instead burst into hearty laughter.

"That's quite a sharp remark, Archer. Indeed, my kingly way has destined my empire to be short-lived. After all, my subjects are also a group of people who pursue hegemony. It's impossible for them to settle down after my death, but..."

After laughing, the Conqueror King calmed down and spoke slowly in a peaceful tone.

"My empire is shattered. I may grieve and even shed tears, but I will never regret it... It is the result of my choices and actions as well as those of my subjects. Whether it is joy or sorrow, it is the glory that we have etched into history, and it cannot be denied in any way!"

"You bastard!"

A hint of anger flashed across Artoria's face.

While both are steadfast in their own path to kingship, Artoria is the complete opposite of Iskandar.

One is driven by ideals, the other by desires; they are completely incompatible.

"Hahaha, Saber, put aside your opinions about me for now. As for you, Archer's little girl, in my opinion, among the three of us, you are the least qualified to be called a king."

The topic circled back to Orpheus.

"While I don't agree with Saber's idealism, I have to admit it's a kind of 'royal path.' But you... in my opinion, you don't see yourself as a king at all, do you?"

Hearing the Conqueror King's words, Artoria was slightly surprised and turned her gaze to Orpheus.

"The little girl kept emphasizing her duties and position in her words. Even when asked why she became the queen, she only said it was because she was supposed to be the queen... The little girl is just an organization that 'carries out the queen's responsibilities,' isn't she?"

Despite being the center of attention, Orpheus's expression remained unchanged, still bearing a faint smile as he gently set down his wine glass.

“Someone once said something similar to me.”

As he said this, Orpheus quickly glanced at Artoria.

The teacher the other person was referring to was the same person who had made similar remarks to her before.

"In that case, how did the little girl respond?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Doesn't matter?"

Even the Conqueror King's eyes widened slightly at this answer, as if he hadn't expected it.

"At that time, whether I considered myself a king or not wouldn't have any impact on things, so it didn't matter... But now, I can give you a different answer."

"Oh? That's really rare. I'd like to hear more about it."

"As I said before, my purpose in being is to guide humanity and bring peace to the world. As an observer and judge of humanity, my status as a king, which was arranged by the gods at the beginning, was predetermined, but in essence, it was just a means to fulfill my mission. For me, there is naturally no need to devote my whole body and mind to this identity."

"Oh, so that means the little girl doesn't see herself as a queen?"

"That's not the case."

At this moment, the smile on Orpheus's face, which had been fixed on a pre-set expression, suddenly softened.

“I am the king, regardless of whether I think so or whether others think so. As long as that one person still regards me as the king, I will always exist as the king.”

"..."

Everyone fell silent again.

Orpheus's statement... can only be described as extremely 'strange'.

As a king, he acted not for his subjects, nor for himself, but solely for one person.

"Hahahahahaha."

Just then, the Conqueror King suddenly burst into laughter.

"I see. A god who fell to earth and became the king of mankind because of one person? Combining your legend, I roughly know that person's identity. However, I really can't accept you, nor can I accept that little girl, the Knight King. I suppose she thinks so too?"

Artoria gave a cold snort, indicating her acquiescence.

Orpheus, from a divine perspective, fulfilled his duties as a king connected by only one person, and then coldly observed the development of mankind.

Artoria wanted to suppress her own humanity and carry out God's righteousness, but she couldn't abandon her own emotions.

Iskandar fully displayed human desires, using them to guide his subjects in their pursuit of tyranny.

The three have completely different approaches to governance. They may be able to understand each other, but they can never agree with each other, let alone tolerate each other.

Ultimately, they could only confront each other with swords on the battlefield to determine who was superior.

Chapter 143 The Royal Banquet Ends

"In the end, does the outcome still have to be decided on the battlefield?"

The Conqueror sighed and poured himself another glass of wine.

"However, this is still a banquet, so we should at least finish the drinks before talking about anything else."

Needless to say, Orpheus did not object, and Artoria did not object either. The group then drank as if it were a normal party.

"On another note..."

During the banquet, Artoria suddenly looked at Orpheus as if she had thought of something.

"I've been wondering from the very beginning, Archer, how do you know that name?"

Orpheus has always called Artoria "Lily," which was Artoria's nickname before she became queen. Even if Orpheus has the ability to see through a person's true name, he wouldn't call someone he doesn't know by that name, would he?

As for knowing each other, not to mention that their eras were thousands of years apart, Artoria had absolutely no recollection of Orpheus.

"It's nothing, just some fate that might have occurred in the past or future, and has nothing to do with the current Artoria."

Orpheus responded with a slight smile.

Putting aside the fact that the Holy Grail War system has no way of summoning a Servant with the complete memories of the Throne of Heroes, the current Artoria seems to not have fully transformed into a Servant yet, so naturally she wouldn't remember anything about herself.

"Originally, because of those connections, I didn't intend to make a move against Artoria... However, Artoria wouldn't agree to that, would she? So from now on... I will use my full strength against Artoria."

The change in address signifies that Orpheus has distinguished between 'Artoria' and 'Lily'.

From now on, there will be no more holding back.

"is it?"

Artoria responded to Orpheus's words with a spirited smile.

"I can't ask for it."

The Conqueror King scratched his head and looked around, feeling like he had missed an opportunity to show off.

In the distant Tohsaka residence, Tokiomi sighed helplessly.

This was originally a great opportunity to probe the cards of all parties, but due to the uncontrollability of the Servant Orpheus, both the Assassin's combat power and Command Seals had to be preserved as much as possible, leaving them with no cards to play. They could only watch helplessly as such a great opportunity presented itself.

"Master, the Assassin responsible for surveillance was wiped out in an instant."

"what?!"

Upon hearing Kirei Kotomine's words, Tokiomi was startled.

"Those three kings didn't seem to make any moves or give any warning...it doesn't seem like it was them who did it."

Tokiomi sighed again.

The Holy Grail War is seeing an increasing number of bizarre enemies.

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