It was a clear sky, no clouds, and the sun was shining. Artoria was standing in an empty field. She had traveled to a very remote and isolated place in what was Clayman's former territory. It was rocky, gloomy, and had a weird atmosphere. Not from the environment, but from feeling that something was going to happen and you needed to leave now.
Artoria stood there with a parasol, waiting for someone to arrive. If anything was going to happen, and it mostly would, she was ready. She had Avalon back with her, temporarily taken back from Shuna, Rhongomyniad in parasol form, also prepared to break as many seals as possible beyond the six required, and Excalibur was in another hand, faintly glowing with an intense yellow light, basically partially activated.
If she needed to, she would launch an all-out assault from the start, no questions asked. She wasn't going to go for a flashy fight or a prolonged fight. She would go for the kill, or reality erasure, as fast as she could. Having a weapon that could play around with the fabric of reality and get rid of certain parts had its perks.
Was it a bit too aggressive when her initial goal was to try to talk first?
Maybe.
But was Guy Crimson also someone who would give Rhongomynaid and Excalibur a massive power increase when fighting against him because he fit the conditions of an evil of the world? At least, to the humans of this world, Guy is someone beyond evil. And humanity and their will were a part of the power of Excalibur. If humanity saw Guy as someone who could end the world, even if he wasn't able to, that's enough. And well, Excalibur is not only an embodiment of humanity's deepest wishes, but it was also an embodiment of world-saving hope.
Enough people believed it, and if enough people believed it, then it would affect the outcome, or manifest something to be true, or shape the universe, or even shape reality. At least, that's how it works according to hermeticism. But that was only one of many philosophies, spiritual theories, religions, or a mix of those three or other things. There's no way of knowing which one was "right" if there even is a "right" one.
There were too many ideas, and too many people saying their idea is the one that's right. It was all so dumb to Artoria. To her, whatever your idea of the afterlife was, that's what it is. As for the dumb fear of some kind of eternal torment, hell, or whatever, it's simple: your god, whichever one you believe in, would save you from whatever version of eternal torment you would head to because you didn't believe in that one. The same applies to whatever spiritual theory people believe in.
To her, reincarnation was one of the better options. And not because she knows that's how it is, at least in her case, but there were also many problems with an eternal paradise or heaven. It would be nice at first, but an eternity? No end to it? Yeah, she would prefer to die or stop existing at some point if she were in that scenario. It would eventually become a different kind of eternal torment.
But with that aside, all that mattered was that Excalibur would get stronger when fighting against Guy. If she had it right, it would basically scale with him. Or any enemy, really, depending on how much of a world threat they are.
For Artoria, it was simple: if Excalibur could be used to defeat the White Titan, Sefar, Velber 02, or whatever other names she had, then it would be simple against Guy. Last time she checked, Guy wasn't a person who could endanger all of existence as humans comprehend it, nor was he someone who could easily defeat personifications of nature and world concepts and absorb them to grow stronger and bigger. She also doubted the Guy could take on all of the Twelve Machine Gods of Olympus fused into one omnipotent composite being, and then take the fight to a draw. As far as she knew, Sefar was basically a super hard counter, putting it very nicely, to anyone who uses magic, because she would absorb it in the form of spiritrons, which also existed in this world. At least by the same name, but might as well count it.
In other words, Excalibur has taken down bigger threats in literally one swing. And to make sure afterwards, she will use Rhongomyniad to do a bit of reality erasure, to fully seal the deal.
"Well, it sucks to be Guy, but it's his fault for building the reputation he has and how he's seen. Makes it easier for me. And it's not like the world needs seven primordial demons," Artoria muttered to herself as she looked up and easily felt Guy's presence approaching. Guy was considered a loose end for her, and loose ends needed to be tied up in one way or another to make sure her family could be raised without any threats that would target them to get to her.
The reason she thought of Guy like this was simple: at least the other demons didn't have the possibility of threatening or hurting her family. Diablo, Ultima, and Testaross were under the control of Rimuru, and they wouldn't do anything to get out of his good graces, especially Diablo. Carrera was under her control, and she also wouldn't do anything so rash. A fire-eater? Maybe, but she wasn't stupid. Misery and Rain were under Guy's control, and they would do something if Guy ordered them, but after what happens here, they'd need to go look for a new master, or go back to doing whatever primordial demons do.
Was she worried that Guy would order Misery or Rain to do something while she was here, very far from home? No, she wasn't. She ordered Carrera to be on alert and on guard against them. With so many people being busy and in a good mood after their victory in war, and with quick back-to-back festivals, she didn't want to cause a panic by ordering too many people to guard Shuna. Carrera would be enough for Misery and Rain.
The people had a lot to look forward to. A big jump in the economy from the labor that would be required for the cargo trains, and a bigger jump when it was up and running, and an even greater amount of labor would be required to build all the infrastructure for her planned sports leagues, not to mention the entertainment it would provide as well. There would be no shortage of jobs in the next few years. In other words, there were too many things to look forward to to start causing a panic by implying that Shuna was in danger.
While she was thinking of all this, Guy finally arrived, landing far from her. Something about how he looked just irked something inside of her. His long, red hair was cool, but nothing else to it. A shirt would make him look a lot better, but without it, he just looked arrogant, very arrogant. But at least he had good reason to be. She put down her parasol, not transforming it yet, but it was ready in an instant whenever she needed it.
"So, what can I help you with? Are you here because you're bored? Because I was an unplanned interruption in your game with Rudra? For what happened to Feldway and Michael? Well, not like you would care about death, so it might be about the method of what happened to them? Is there room here for conversation?"
Artoria was quick to get to it. Was she instigating? Maybe a bit, but they were all valid questions, knowing him and how long he's been alive. Preferably, she wanted to kill him and attack him on the spot, but words came first.
Guy simply smiled.
"You didn't show up at the Walpurgis. Something needs to be done about you."
"Let me guess. It's Feldway and Michael? Though I assume mostly Feldway."
"There's a balance that has to be maintained, and you broke it."
"Okay, so you're fulfilling you're role as Veldanava's little watchdog. Well, last I checked, this world still seems fine without Feldway or Michael. I assume emotionally, if they're even genuine, you have some thoughts about Michael, since he was Veldanava's skill and Manas until he gave it to Rudra, but if you're here as his watchdog, then it's about Feldway."
Guy let out a little laugh.
"Are your words supposed to get me mad?"
"No, they're not. Why would they? It's the truth, isn't it? Veldanava gave you the role of making sure the world is in balance or whatever. Something like that, but he's not here anymore. Well…his full-powered version isn't here anymore, but don't dwell on that. So, are you going to seal me? Go down the 'Veldanava sealing' Ivarage route?"
"No, not sealing you. You're already a threat to this world. A different approach will be needed for you. Something permanent."
Artoria simply scoffed at what he said.
"Me, a threat to this world? Well, now that's ironic, isn't it? You see, humanity doesn't see you that way…Rouge."
"And why would I be concerned about what humans think?"
"Because the power of their collective thoughts will be what gets rid of you."
"Oh, really? And? I'll just return again."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Rouge. The wishes and will of humanity have defeated stronger opponents than you. And me? I'm more than happy to act on that will and those wishes to get rid of you. There'd be one less primordial to worry about."
Artoria transformed the parasol back into Rhongomyniad, already starting the process of getting rid of the seals. Excalibur started glowing even brighter.
Guy narrowed his eyes as he saw what was happening.
"I've been here since this world was created. Do you know what would happen if didn't exist?"
"Let's find out."
A massive burst of mana exploded around Artoria as she dashed to Guy.