Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

"--What?"

For the first time, the "assassin's" expression wavered; the attack he thought was certain to succeed had been steadily blocked.

Hassan, the third person present, accepted the challenge.

The new Hassan – Swift Markul, wielding a scimitar in each hand, appeared with incredible speed between "The Assassin" and Gozir, executing a beautiful parry.

The assassins had to begin retreating.

During the retreat, he witnessed a scene that could only be described as extraordinary.

This is not the first time the "Assassins" have participated in the Holy Grail War.

In his past "work", he had experienced multiple Far Eastern ceremonies.

But only this time, the "assassin" felt deeply astonished and speechless.

Dozens of Hassans gradually emerged from the darkness, each wielding a Noble Phantasm sword.

Two hundred years ago, a group of assassins existed in this country.

The group's members have neither exceptional physiques nor ancient, renowned swords; they hone their martial arts skills to uphold their beliefs.

The assassin legion before them was the complete opposite of the Shinsengumi.

These Hassans possessed no swordsmanship skills whatsoever, yet they wielded dazzling Noble Phantasms.

The Assassins do not consider those Noble Phantasms to be their property, which is far beyond the scale of a Spirit Origin that an Assassin should have.

The Hassans possess nearly a hundred different skills, along with their respective Noble Phantasms (swords) that match their abilities—

Thus, the strongest assassin group in the history of the Holy Grail War was born.

I can't do anything more, goodbye.

Without much thought, the "assassin" immediately decided to make a run for it.

"Don't even think about escaping!!"

Bai Mao Hassan realized the other party's intentions, shouted and rushed over, swinging his sword and slashing the man's back.

"Time alter—square acceleration!"

"The Assassin" - Kiritsugu Emiya jumped into the turbulent Mien River.

------------------

Volume 1, Chapter 69: The New Morgan Has Emerged!

Shirou once heard Marich say that magicians who participate in the Holy Grail War sometimes dream of their Servants' past lives.

Perhaps it's because the Master and Servant are connected on a deeper spiritual level.

If the master and servant have excellent compatibility, the master will travel to the era of the servant's previous life in a dream. This is a common phenomenon in the first three Holy Grail Wars.

Although it was a dream, it wasn't just a dream; it was reality.

Based on the "past vision" enabled by the power of the Holy Grail, the Master will see the past in dreams.

Shirou didn't think he and Lady Avalon were compatible enough to be a dream come true, but he still prepared himself mentally in advance.

however--

When Shirou finally understood the past of Lady Avalon, he was still so shocked that he was speechless.

"You must be joking... This is..."

Shirou was standing next to Lady Avalon at that moment.

Their stance has changed—

Normally, Avalon would always hide behind Shirou in spirit form, but now she was hiding behind him unnoticed.

It seems that even Lady Avalon cannot see Shirou in the dream.

No, even if she could see him, her gaze wouldn't linger on Shirou for even a second.

If you want to say why...

Standing beside her was a young man with fiery red hair and twilight-colored eyes, and a magnificent golden sword at his waist.

The boy, whom Ms. Avalon was gazing at with gentle eyes, seemed to have the name—

"Arthur!"

More than a dozen knights in armor surrounded the red-haired boy, excitedly shouting his name.

"Great! It's Arthur! And Lord Merlin too!"

"Arthur! You've finally come! Now we're finally saved!"

The knights looked disheveled and exhausted, their equipment tattered, clearly a group of wounded soldiers who had just suffered a defeat.

However, with the appearance of "Arthur", everyone shook off their previous dejection and perked up.

"Sorry I'm late. Is everyone alright?"

The red-haired boy, known to everyone as "Arthur," revealed a hearty smile that Shirou would never have.

His smile seemed to contain some kind of inspiring power, and his red hair shone like the sun in the sunlight.

"..."

Shirou stared at the red-haired knight who looked exactly like him and a phrase came to mind: King of Glory.

His name was Arthur, and he was a disciple of Lady Avalon.

In other words, he is the future King of Knights, Arthur.

Strange, shouldn't Arthur be a cute blonde girl?

You are Arthur, and I am Arthur, so who is Saber?

Arthur began to inspect the knights' injuries.

He walked to the injured, and simply placed his hand on their wounds, and a dazzling light flowed from his palm.

No matter how serious the injury, it heals quickly after being treated by "Arthur".

Shirou's eyes widened slightly.

He instinctively wanted to get closer and sense the magical essence of that light, but in the dream he couldn't touch anything.

Even so, he intuitively judged that this was not magical healing, but some kind of ability that was closer to a miracle.

"...It's the power of the 'sheath'," Shirou thought.

After quickly healing everyone's injuries, the young knights gathered around "Arthur" to discuss their next move.

"Please explain the current situation to me."

A young knight explained, “The situation is very bad.”

King Mark, under pressure from Vortigern, ultimately chose to surrender, and Cornwall had completely fallen.

We advised the king to maintain his stance against the Anglo-Saxons, but he refused and was subsequently driven out of the city.

After listening to the young knight's report, Arthur looked troubled.

"How could this be... even the valiant King Mark has yielded to Vortigern?"

King Mark, who submitted to King Vortigern, was the lord of Cornwall.

Even among the kings of Britain, he was known for his martial prowess and iron fist.

Therefore, Mark was highly valued by the late King Uther Pendragon and appointed Lord of Cornwall.

Before Uther was defeated by Vortigern, it was the site of Tintagir, the cliff dwelling of Pendragon.

Although Arthur himself had no recollection of it, that was where he was born.

Now, Cornwall has completely fallen, and along with Tintager, it has become a vassal state of Vortigern.

I don't know the exact principle, but perhaps it's similar to how the Holy Grail grants Servants modern knowledge. Shirou's mind automatically updated with background information about Britain.

"What should we do, Arthur?"

The knights all looked at the red-haired boy.

"Arthur" thought for a moment, then spoke.

“We must reclaim Cornwall. If we are to contend with Vortigern, King Mark’s power is indispensable.”

"Oh! Since Arthur says so, let's do it that way!"

They were arguing about whether to pledge allegiance to another lord or remain in Cornwall, but when "Arthur" said he wanted to reclaim Cornwall, they immediately agreed with the boy.

A young knight asked, "Arthur, which lord do you intend to ask for help from?"

"……Do not."

Arthur shook his head.

He glanced around at the dozen or so knights surrounding him, and then explained.

"There's no need to rely on the forces of other kings, and there's no need to escalate the war—"

Let us take back Cornwall with our own strength.

Everyone could not hide their surprise.

"Really? We can take back Cornwall with just the strength of a few people?"

"Isn't that unlikely?"

"Even with you and Lord Merlin... it would be far too difficult for these dozen or so men to breach that impregnable fortress city."

Not only the knights, but Shirou in the dream also felt that "Arthur's" ideas were too absurd.

However, he seemed to be able to understand Arthur's motivation for doing so.

The Lords of Cornwall are only temporarily subjugated under pressure from the Lowly King.

If we were to seek aid from other lords or attack Cornwall at this time, it would turn into a war between lords.

Even if the Cornish rebellion were subsequently quelled by force, the wounds of war would remain irreparable.

This is exactly the result the enemy wanted to see.

Arthur probably felt that with a common enemy, the King of the Low, at hand, it was inappropriate to start a war among his own people first.

At this moment, the sage and flower magician who had been silent all along spoke up.

"I understand how you feel, but Arthur... what are you planning to do? Do you already have a strategy?"

Arthur replied with a proud tone, "Of course not."

Ms. Avalon: "…………"

She paused for a moment and then asked, "You don't really intend to launch an attack on the Cornish fortress with just this few men, do you?"

Arthur nodded: "Of course we should do it that way."

As a knight, one should never back down no matter what difficulties one faces, and should always believe in the sword in one's hand.

I will show the King of Cornwall my resolve, my conviction, my honor, and my chivalry.

King Mark was once a renowned knight in Britain in his youth, and he would certainly not refuse if I challenged him to a duel.

I think we can understand each other if we fight each other with swords.

At that time, King Mark will surely recall his noble original aspirations and regain his determination to fight Vortigern.

"This is exactly the knightly battle I've been hoping for."

Arthur spoke with a confident smile, and the young knights around him looked on with admiration.

Shirou couldn't help but frown slightly.

The Cornish strategy mentioned by "Arthur" is the so-called "using one's own chivalry to influence the enemy".

But... can it really succeed?

At the call of the red-haired youth, a group of a dozen or so people rode their horses toward the residence of the Lord of Cornwall.

Lady Avalon came to Arthur's side and, when the others weren't looking, asked him what she was thinking, which was also what Shirou was thinking.