To become a king and a magician

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, Father, Mother. I shouldn't have left without a word for several years and not even made a single phone call back."

A few minutes later.

After receiving an incredibly heavy lesson in love from Natsukawa Toramaru and Artoria, Mordred, stripped of all her armor and covered in bruises, readily bowed and admitted her mistake.

She couldn't refuse to admit her mistake, or she would really be sent back to the Throne of Heroes. Although Mordred had considered resisting, she was immediately silenced by a glare from Natsukawa Torato.

"If you dare to fight back, keep going strong"—that look seemed to say exactly that.

So Mordred chickened out.

It wasn't that she was afraid; she'd never been afraid of anything in her life. It was just that... her body's instinctive reaction left her completely unable to resist.

Looking at Mordred bowing his head and admitting his mistake, Gawain and Lancelot, who were watching this scene of fatherly love and filial piety from not far away, were both dumbfounded.

(That Mordred actually got a lecture like that from Lord Natsukawa...)

(Father and daughter? Those two are father and daughter, and then there's King Arthur over here... Are the three of them husband, wife, and children?!)

Mordred, on Gawain's side, was also an excellent knight, but his relationship with King Arthur was far from harmonious. Perhaps it was because of his illegitimate birth; even though Arthur tried his best to act as a father to him, the two often parted on bad terms.

It's quite surprising that King Arthur and Mordred can get along so well now.

If Mordred knew what those two were thinking, she'd definitely grab her sword and start fighting them—you call this kind of parental beating of their daughter a harmonious relationship?!

On Xia Chuanhu's side, seeing Mordred bow his head and admit his mistake, he also stopped what he was doing.

"Admit your mistake? Do you know what you did wrong?"

"Uh... I shouldn't have followed Mother around everywhere, and I shouldn't have gone so many years without even calling home, making you all worry..."

"Good to know! You unfilial daughter!" Xia Chuanhu vigorously rubbed Mordred's head. "Remember to apologize to everyone in the family later. Liya and I will be fine with this. By the way, I won't plead for you with Lingyi. You'll have to figure it out yourself."

(Isn't that a death sentence?!)

Mordred could guess what those two would do to her with just a thought. They were always thinking of becoming her stepmother. She had been away from home for so long; who knew how much filth they had been harboring in their hearts!

"Don't scare her, Master." Artoria sighed softly. "I don't think Zero and Aika will make things too difficult for Mordred. If we push all the trouble onto Morgan, it should ease things a bit."

"Whoo~~~~~~"

Mordred breathed a sigh of relief.

That's good, at least I don't have to suffer a fate worse than death.

But before Mordred could relax for long, Natsukawa Torama's dragon claw gripped her head again: "Well, we'll talk about that later... Mordred, give us a proper explanation of what you've been doing outside with Morgan these past few years. And what are you doing here? Don't tell me you're here for a spring outing."

"Ugh... Ouch, ouch, ouch~~~ Father, it hurts so much! My head feels like it's going to split open! I'll tell you!"

.......

Mordred's explanation of her years with Morgan was simple, because there was really nothing worth elaborating on. From her perspective, Morgan simply took her traveling around the world. Although they encountered some things, they were not particularly important.

The important thing is what happened after the burning of the human body began.

"My mother and I arrived at this singularity through spiritual transfer half a year ago, after that so-called human incineration incident."

"Spiritual particle transfer? Morgan knows that kind of technology?"

"Well, Mother said she got her from Meryl, and the two seem to meet in dreams all the time."

Mordred revealed everything without even thinking.

(Okay, let's keep adding this to Merry's list of things, and settle the score with her later.)

While slacking off in the Seventh Singularity, Merry was completely unaware that she had incurred yet another debt.

"However, although it is said that the spirit particles were transferred here, my mother and I did not actually come to this singularity together. When I came here, I happened to run into the collective manifestation of the Knights of the Round Table over there, and I even blocked my position on their side."

Card, card dropped?

Can Servant summoning be blocked by Spirit Particle Transfer?

“It must be a conflict with the concept of [Mordred],” Natsukawa Torato thought for a moment. “Before Mordred appeared on Gawain’s side, Mordred arrived here a little faster, so the result was that [Mordred had already been summoned], which naturally squeezed out Mordred from Gawain’s side.”

Gao Wen: "This is something I never expected."

"Well, that's not the point. Also, judging from Xiao Mo's situation, Morgan should have arrived at this singularity earlier than Xiao Mo. So what happened after that? What did you do, Xiao Mo?"

"I didn't do much. I just joined in the fight against Vortigern, and when we got caught up in this bounded field, my mother ordered me to be a guard between the thrones. Oh, right, my mother also sent me to the Fourth Singularity once—I really made a big splash there, saving your two juniors several times!"

It refers to Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu, right?

Seeing Mordred's ahoge swaying and her eyes shining brightly, Natsukawa Torama knew that the child was asking for praise.

"Yes, you did a great job in that regard. I was away at the time because of some things, so it would be great if you could help me."

"Hehehe~~~~ I didn't do anything big, just killed a few enemy Servants."

Mordred smiled and wiped his nose.

Seeing her overjoyed expression, everyone couldn't help but smile wryly.

(Just like that, it's really hard to imagine that she was that rebellious knight.)

(He's just a little kid.)

“Remember to be humble, Mordred,” Artoria reminded him with a smile. “So, what brings you here now—”

"Ah, I'm just here to fulfill the task of guarding the throne room, since it's an order left by my mother. But now that she's gone, I don't want to keep getting beaten by my father and mother, so it doesn't matter."

Morgan has left?

Noticing this, both Natsukawa Torama and Artoria raised an eyebrow. Then Natsukawa Torama said, "Is that so? That means... now all that's left is to go to the Throne Room and wake that idiot up, right?"

27. The best way to wake someone up is to give them a big shovel.

Between the thrones.

Apart from Arthur sitting on the throne, the place was deserted, and a deathly silence filled the empty hall.

Arthur can feel this too. Even though his consciousness is almost completely broken and he may lose himself at any moment, he still retains a very weak bit of will.

It's coming soon.

The person I've been waiting for is on their way here.

"Click..."

With a soft sound like the scraping of armor, at the edge of Arthur's vision, in the only passage connecting the throne room to the outside world, Natsukawa Tora's figure appeared before him.

It wasn't just him.

Artoria, Mordred, Gawain, Lancelot, Jeanne Alter—only Tristan, who intends to remain outside the city for safety reasons, is not here.

Looking at Arthur, who sat on the throne with lifeless eyes like a puppet, Gawain and Lancelot were the first to show obvious signs of wavering.

"Your Majesty... has it really come to this?"

"That witch said the king is perfectly fine... but he doesn't look fine at all."

Lancelot felt like killing Merlin on the spot. The way Arthur looked sitting on the throne now made it impossible for anyone to recognize him as the shining King of Knights!

Mordred put his hands behind his head: "Mother has left, and there were no magical traps inside. Father, you..."

"You all stay outside. Leave the rest to me. Bringing him back is my job."

Xia Chuanhu took a step forward, and behind him, a huge spatial wall instantly rose up, completely enveloping the entire throne room and isolating the inside from the outside!

(Looks like she doesn't want to be disturbed.)

Artoria stared at Natsukawa Torama inside the wall, but thinking about it, it made sense. If the opponent was Arthur, it would be inappropriate for anyone else to make a move. From a standpoint of perspective, only Natsukawa Torama was in the right position.

Inside the barrier.

Standing a short distance from Arthur, Natsukawa Torama looked at Arthur, who was still sitting on the throne: "Aren't you going to stand up, Arthur?"

"..."

"Could it be that you've already given up on even standing up? You're not completely asleep, are you? You've held on for over half a year, how about you hold on a little longer?"

"Have they arrived?"

Arthur slowly rose from his throne, his entire being as cold as ice, and said in a cold voice, "So, it's finally here."

Arthur didn't know why he thought of saying that. His heart was beating at an increasingly rapid pace, just like when Natsukawa Tiger had invaded him yesterday. The intense pounding made him feel a little irritable, and he was also experiencing a sudden, involuntary headache.

Why does my body react like this whenever this person appears?

Who is he?

These questions filled Arthur's heart and mind, but unfortunately, he couldn't ask a single one. He was no longer capable of asking questions, and moreover, upon seeing the man before him again, his body had taken it upon itself to utter those words.

Has it finally arrived?

Even though his consciousness was on the verge of collapse and his sense of self was almost completely gone, Arthur's body still reacted in this way at that moment.

Of course, this was a one-time event. For Arthur, Natsukawa Tora was undoubtedly an "enemy" who disturbed his frozen state of mind and affected his sealed state; he was an eternal "intruder" who invaded his life.

So--

"Buzz~~~~"

Golden light gathered in Arthur's hand, and the Star Sword instantly appeared.

Although ownership has been transferred to Natsukawa Torato, Arthur is not unable to use the Star Sword. After all, it is a Noble Phantasm that has become one with his legend. Even if he no longer possesses it, he can still use it based on the legend.

"Buzz—!"

The moment the holy sword appeared, Xia Chuanhu felt his body sink.

(Is it the immense pressure caused by the released high-density magic? While sealing Vortigern, it also allows it to use a portion of Vortigern's magic as feedback... Is it the fusion of the white dragon and the red dragon?)

"Speaking of which, I don't think I've ever actually dealt with a single true dragon?"

As he drew his own holy sword, Xia Chuanhu's magical power instantly surged to another level. The excess magical power that escaped emitted a dazzling light gate, and golden flames flickered and burned all over his body.

The magic circuits are fully unleashed.

The magic output cap has been removed.

— Reaching the realm of the gods.

(This is the third time that he and Arthur have faced off with swords.)

"I hope this is the last time between us, Arthur."