To become a king and a magician

The next moment, the Philosopher's Stone, like a waterfall, completely engulfed Natsukawa Torato at point-blank range!

"Ugh—!"

There wasn't even a moment to dodge, or even a moment to think. Long before that, the red desert had already enveloped Xia Chuanhu's entire body, penetrating his mental realm through his nerves and completely reading all the memories in his mind.

"Bang----!"

As if bounced off, Natsukawa Torama quickly detached himself from the Philosopher's Stone. A sensation akin to choking on water caused him to cough uncontrollably: "Cough cough cough! LogosReact, you—"

Xia Chuanhu couldn't continue speaking, and even Belsak, who was standing not far away and wanted to come over to help him up, couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

Because in front of the two of them, the red Philosopher's Stone had reformed into a human form and reached out to support Natsukawa Tora, who was falling to the ground.

I never imagined we'd meet again like this, Master.

Long time no see, how have you been?

"Arthur Pendragon, the Knight King from another world," he said with a smile to Natsukawa Torato.

25. A miracle that happens only once

Arthur Pendragon.

A year ago, Natsukawa Torama summoned a Servant during the Holy Grail War. At the end of that war, in order to save Natsukawa Torama, who had lost his physical body and was lost in the Root, he voluntarily sacrificed his Spirit Origin and then returned to the Throne of Heroes.

This is what Natsukawa Torato learned from Meryl.

But this tone—

"You are......"

After a brief murmur, Natsukawa Tora's eyes instantly regained their clarity.

"No! You're not the real him, you're just a copy of LogosReact—"

Ah, um... it really is me, Master.

Arthur interrupted Natsukawa Tiger.

[It's more like a possession situation, because this reenactment device reproduces my spirit almost perfectly, to the point that my spirit in the Throne of Heroes reacted and resonated with this place, which is why I can say goodbye to you in this way.]

This explanation stunned Natsukawa Tora.

It's not fake?

Is it the real Arthur?

"You...you really are..."

It was truly unbelievable, and even a sliver of uncertainty and doubt lingered in his heart. But even so, looking at the man standing before him, Natsukawa Tora's inner thoughts were—

【It's been such a long time, Master】

"Yes."

Natsukawa Tora pursed his lips and smiled slightly.

"It really has been a long time—long time no see, Arthur, welcome back."

[Yes, I'm back, Master.]

Arthur laughed.

That being said, I can only possess it for a short time, so the connection will probably be lost in a few minutes.

“Is that so… Even so, to be able to truly see you again, I’m really happy right now.” With his hand on his chest, Natsukawa Torama took a step or two back and bowed deeply to Arthur. “I formally thank you, Arthur. Thank you for saving me and giving me a second life.”

[Should I thank you? I'm the one who should be thanking you.]

With a smile, Arthur helped Natsukawa Tora up, then looked around.

[Speaking of which, where is this area? It looks like the interior of some ruins. Master, aren't you a student? What are you doing in a place like this?]

"Ah, about this..."

After organizing his thoughts, Natsukawa Tiger briefly explained to Arthur the events of the past year and the most recent events, including his coming to the Clock Tower to study, his acquaintance with Meryl, his purpose in coming to the Blackmore Cemetery—and the village near the Blackmore Cemetery.

Considering that Arthur's lifespan wouldn't be very long, Natsukawa Tora skipped many less important parts and only told him the most important point.

That is [King Arthur's Resurrection].

[—Will I resurrect myself in this world?]

After listening to Natsukawa Tora's account, Arthur's brows furrowed visibly.

[Sister Wang here has really plotted something of great significance, causing this village to be headed towards an inevitable tragedy for hundreds of years... It's truly a sad thing.]

Is it pathetic?

“I think for this village, resurrecting King Arthur has become a kind of faith. King Arthur has long been deified in their hearts. People will do anything for their god,” Natsukawa Tora said. “I feel the same way about it.”

【Master, do you also have a god you worship? This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing】

"There are many things you don't know. You've only known me for a little over a month, so don't think you know me very well."

That's true—ah.

Tiny specks of light, like scattered powder, began to fall off Arthur's body.

Natsukawa Tora frowned: "Is it time?"

[It seems so. I thought it could last a little longer, but the link was unexpectedly fragile. Even for one of the Seven Great Weapons, maintaining a resonance that transcends time and space is still somewhat of an overload.]

With a wry smile that seemed to betray his frustration, Arthur looked earnestly at Natsukawa Tora.

Master, before I depart, please allow me to say a few more words to you.

Your future life will likely be filled with hardship. Although I've entrusted you to Meryl's care, I believe she will see you as a second version of myself. Please bear with her in this regard. And I can assure you that if you can overcome the many hardships ahead, you will eventually reach, or even surpass, my place.

If you encounter a problem you cannot solve right now, then please use my power. Whenever and wherever you call upon it, my power will be at your disposal—the power that sustains your life, and also your powerful weapon.

Finally, it should be called meddling—if possible, Master, please resolve the village's affairs within your capabilities. This request may be a bit unreasonable...

"I can do it without you telling me."

Xia Chuanhu interrupted Arthur, scratched his head, and laughed.

"I plan to live by helping others within the reach of my hands. If that's the case, then I'm bound to meddle in other people's business, right?"

"So, your last words were superfluous. Just go back to the Throne of Heroes in peace. I'm fine now, Arthur."

It's okay now.

Yes, it's okay now.

A look of relief appeared on Arthur's face.

【Master, you are no longer the person I need to protect—that goes without saying. I wish you all the best in the future, my Master, Natsukawa Torata】

The moment the words fell, Arthur's body completely transformed into countless particles of light that scattered, and the red Philosopher's Stone returned to its original form as the Queen of Bones.

What just happened...that was—

Although it was possessed by Arthur's spirit, the Queen of Bones, or LogosReact, did not stop operating. Instead, it absorbed everything that had just happened, and now, countless data from outside the world had poured into its body through that fragile connection.

"Now you should understand what kind of being the person you're trying to simulate is."

"That's not the king from this world who doesn't understand human nature, but a hero full of humanity, like the white knight that every child dreams of. No matter how you try to simulate it, you can never perfectly recreate his spirit."

"That is the one and only Knight King, who exists in every parallel world."

【...】

[Unable to understand...Unable to interpret...Irrational...Unable to understand...Incomplete judgment...Theoretical contradiction...Calculation invalid...]

Like a broken record, LogosReact seemed to have crashed, its voice gradually fading before it froze completely in place.

Taking a deep breath, Natsukawa Toramaru pulled out the Mystic Eye and put it back on, then turned to look at Belsak: "It seems we can consider it over, Gravedigger."

"To me, this whole series of events is no different from playing around."

"Isn't it because there's too much information, making it difficult for you to process it all at once?"

26. Oh no, I stole Webber's scene!

The day after that, in the windmills near Brakmoya.

"Well done! The solution was completely beyond my expectations! Natsukawa Torato!"

Like an actor on a stage, Tsbia spoke to Natsukawa Tora sitting in front of him with an incredibly exaggerated tone and expression.

"Based on the calculations, you clearly couldn't solve the LogosReact problem no matter what, but unexpectedly, this anomaly ended in such an unbelievable way! One of our institute's proudest seven weapons actually crashed due to excessive data loading! It's truly a disgrace to our institute! Hahahaha!"

Because of its spiritual connection with Arthur, and even its resonance with Arthur's physical body located in the Throne of Heroes, LogosReact received information from outside the world for a very short time—simply put, it connected with the Root.

Of course, it wasn't a complete connection; at most, it only connected to the outermost part of the root. But even so, the sheer volume of information contained within still caused LogosReact to crash. Considering that the Philosopher's Stone is the ultimate memory medium capable of recording almost infinite information, digesting it all isn't impossible.

However, that should be something in the very distant future.

“I think I shouldn’t have to worry about LogosReact restarting for at least ten years,” Tsbia said. “So, I don’t have to be anxious for at least the next ten years.”

"That's what you say, but you weren't actually worried at all, were you?"

Natsukawa Tora took a sip of the drink placed in front of him.

"I don't believe that the Atlas Institute didn't develop corresponding countermeasures after creating LogosReact and realizing its dangers. Even if the situation really develops into the worst-case scenario you mentioned, leading to the destruction of the world, I think you would have a way to solve it."

"Perhaps."

Tsbia did not completely deny Xia Chuanhu's statement.

"Because of the Atlas Copole contract, I am actually unable to interfere with LogosReact's malfunctioning behavior, as that would violate the contract, unless we determine that the contract is no longer possible. And to make that determination... I think it would require about half of Wales to be involved in this calamity."

"For this society, it would indeed be no different from the end of the world. After all, this is an era where an earthquake can plunge a town into panic, and if half of Wales is affected..."

"Fortunately, it didn't develop to that point. In fact, the probability of it developing to that point is only about three in ten thousand. It's just that I personally prefer to think about problems with the worst possible outcome in order to stay vigilant at all times."

At this point, Tsbia poured himself a glass of wine, took a small sip, and continued, "So let's talk about something else. We can put the issues that have been resolved aside for now. What do you think will happen to this village in the future?"

Natsukawa Tora rested his chin on his hand: "LogosReact has temporarily stopped working, and it's unclear when it will be able to restart—this sudden situation should surprise and panic everyone in the village. But that's about it."

"Human beings are actually incredibly adaptable to all sorts of unexpected situations. Even if we just experienced a world-destroying event yesterday, we'll soon be fully adapted to life after the apocalypse. I think this village will probably be the same. There might be some trouble at first, but time will smooth everything over."

"So, perhaps nothing will change. The village will remain the same. Maybe after temporarily losing their long-held goal, the villagers will awaken and start a new life?"