"Should I accept?"
Feeling a captivating magical energy coming from Merlin's magnificent eyes, trying to pull him into an illusion, Souya pondered to himself.
Without a doubt, in a situation where everyone else had chosen to accept the blessing, if he chose to refuse, although it wouldn't directly expose his identity, it would definitely arouse Merlin's suspicion and thus draw his attention.
Seeing Merlin personally take the field and not hesitate to expend a large amount of magical energy to construct the entire battlefield into his workshop, it was clear that this guy had glimpsed a bad future in Avalon, which was why he had risked his life to violate his oath, break through Avalon, and come to Londinium to participate in the battle personally.
Although he had quickly put Rhongomyniad away in his body the moment he sensed Merlin's aura, it was only a matter of time before he turned traitor. When the shackles of the world loosened, and Vortigern gave the order, he would surely tear off his face with Artoria and Merlin. If, at that time, because of this deliberate act, Merlin suspected him and intervened to interrupt the throwing of the Holy Lance, that would be too sad.
But if he accepted this blessing, with Merlin's scummy nightmare nature, would this so-called blessing really not have any hidden agenda?
What's more...
"[Inversion]?"
A blessing whose name and meaning were very problematic. Like the others, such as Gawain's [Sleepless] and Tristan's [Sure Hit], were all strengthening buffs that were clear at a glance and could greatly improve their hard strength. And he, on the other hand, was given a blessing like [Inversion], which had no connection with a strengthening entry at all.
After a little thought, he understood that this was undoubtedly Merlin's scheme, no, a blatant scheme. The so-called [Inversion] was nothing more than distorting one's will, subverting one's thoughts and actions, and so on. Just like turning a compassionate gentleman into a cold, ruthless, and bloodthirsty executioner.
As the Lion of Britain, the Knight of Glory, who had sworn an oath to the witch Morgan, if he really had ulterior motives, then after being inverted, he would naturally become despicable and shameful, and would violate his oath and betray her. If he understood the meaning of [Inversion] and chose to refuse, then it went without saying.
Thinking of this, his heart couldn't help but sink. He had, in the end, underestimated Merlin. Although he had always been telling Artoria that fate would let him join them and so on, and was very confident about it, when he really saw him appear in the ranks of the Round Table as a Round Table Knight, Merlin had become suspicious again and had taken the opportunity of a blessing to put an insurance on him.
Vortigern was right. A creature like a nightmare was really cunning and disgusting.
He thought this, but reality would not give him much time to think about the problem. Sensing Merlin's increasingly strange gaze, he knew he could no longer hesitate. Gritting his teeth, he let go of his mind and actively accepted and chose to fall into the illusion constructed by Merlin.
Damn it all, I don't believe my jet-black will can't beat a mere nightmare's illusion control!
But when his eyes became as hazy as Gawain's and the others', a strange power emerged from the depths of his soul, and then turned into substantial energy and poured into his eyes and mind. The next moment, the illusion that had been gradually appearing before his eyes instantly disappeared. His mind instantly became clear, and his consciousness also returned to his body.
"This is..."
Sensing the sanctity and intimacy of that energy, he immediately understood what it was.
The blessing of the holy lake water, the proof of Morgan's appreciation, the skill [Blessing of the Lake (A)].
[Blessing of the Lake (A): A blessing from the Lady of the Lake, Morgan. This level represents that your bond with her is extremely close. You will be immune to the attacks of curses and illusions, and your combat state in a holy lake and fresh water will be even better.]
Without a doubt, it was the blessing of the lake from Morgan that had blocked the effect of the illusion for him. And from the panel provided by the system, the level of this blessing was still A-rank. What this represented went without saying.
He took a deep breath, his resolve already as tough and unshakable as steel.
Seeing his eyes also showing a hazy and illusory color, Merlin finally withdrew his gaze, and the sense of unease in his heart also lessened a lot.
As expected, fate will not deceive me.
Thinking of this, Merlin took a deep breath and once again raised his arms and shouted, "The blessing is complete. O, knights who have received the blessing, for the sake of Britain, for the sake of King Arthur, draw your swords against the evil white dragon!"
"Yes!"
The next moment, as Merlin's shout echoed, all the Round Table Knights shouted in unison and charged at the magic dragon Vortigern, who was holding a black holy sword high.
"Hmph!"
Seeing this scene, his dark golden dragon eyes did not change at all. He didn't even bother to look at the attacking Gawain, Lancelot, and the others. His gaze was still firmly locked on Merlin's figure.
Boom—
The next moment, the giant sword, with a dark light flowing, fell with a loud bang, ignoring the attacks released by Gawain and the others. The thick, ink-like magical energy turned into a sword light, and like a giant hammer, it smashed on the ground where Merlin was.
"I've said it before. As long as there are flowers, you can never truly kill me."
Even if the dark sword light had destroyed the nightmare's body along with that sea of flowers, with just a gentle breeze, Merlin's figure once again appeared in another patch of swaying flowers. But before his white robe could solidify again, a black sword light attacked again and tore him apart and devoured him.
Vortigern was silent, just waving his sword. The huge vile king's sword, with each swing, brought a piercing whistle, like the dying era letting out an unyielding wail.
"Vortigern! Your enemy is us!"
Seeing that they had already reached his front but the other party was still attacking Merlin as if he hadn't heard, Gawain, who had never been so looked down upon, was instantly furious. He held the Sword of Revolving Victory, his whole silver armor blooming with rounds of dazzling light like the sun. Under the influence of the illusion [Sleepless], even though it was not the time for the Saint's Blessing, he had still entered the three-times-stronger-under-the-sun form.
As long as there was a sun in his heart, then no matter when, it was the time of the Saint's number.
Without any stagnation, Gawain, who had fallen into a cognitive impairment, roared out. The holy sword in his hand burned with a raging fire, and with a high temperature and heat, it turned into a pillar of light of the same size as the black sword in Vortigern's hand and swung down at him.
"Excalibur Galatine!"
This time, the white dragon's attention was finally attracted by him. Sensing a scorching, sun-like magical energy coming at him, Vortigern stopped his pursuit of Merlin, and his huge dragon head turned to look at Gawain.
Faced with the aggressive light of the sun, Vortigern did not raise his sword to block, but in front of Gawain, he slowly extended his left hand and forcefully grabbed the seemingly peerless light cannon.
"How is this possible!"
Seeing his released Noble Phantasm being so easily caught by Vortigern, Gawain's pupils earthquake, and he was stunned on the spot.
"Why are you rushing to your death? Isn't it good to just be a spectator?"
Sighing softly, Vortigern's gaze slowly fell on Gawain's body. "You still want to attack me with 'light'? You seem to have forgotten that I am a light-devouring white dragon."
As his voice fell, a shadow flowed in the white dragon's left hand that had caught the light cannon. In just a blink of an eye, it had devoured and inverted Gawain's previous attack, and finally condensed into a red and black ball of light, which was thrown towards the Round Table Knights.
"Arondight Overload!"
This time, the one who stood out was Lancelot. This famous foreign knight held his holy sword, shouted the name of his Noble Phantasm, and compressed all the power of Arondight onto the blade, then cut the ball of light in two with one stroke.
"Phew!"
In an instant, a strong wind raged, making the capes of the Round Table Knights flap loudly. As their hair fluttered, their resolute and solemn eyes were revealed.
"Everyone, the dragonized Vortigern is too strong. It's completely impossible for us to fight him alone. Now we can only work together and fight to the death," Lancelot said in a heavy tone.
"Understood."
There was no need for much explanation. The long-term cooperation made the Round Table Knights have an unparalleled tacit understanding. The next moment, with Lancelot and Gawain as the main force, the knights charged at Vortigern together.
With the blessing of the illusion, the knights' offensive was like a storm, pouring down on the white dragon. But even so, in the face of the joint attack of this group of Britain's highest combat power, Vortigern's huge body still stood firm like a towering tree in a storm, as if he were an ancient demon god.
Fortunately, although the process was extremely difficult, the Round Table Knights still managed to hold him back.
And just as Artoria was planning to fight the white dragon with her knights, taking this opportunity, Merlin's figure once again appeared by her side.
"Lily, the time Gawain and the others can hold him back is limited. Whether we can defeat Vortigern depends on you and the holy sword in your hand."
Hearing this, Artoria was stunned for a moment. She subconsciously looked at the latter and asked, "What should I do, Merlin?"
As if because of the repeated 'deaths' and 'rebirths', Merlin's voice sounded a little tired. But even so, he still maintained a smile and looked at her with expectant eyes. "It's simple. Go and reminisce, resonate, and move the holy sword with your will to obtain its true power."
"Move the holy sword? True power?"
Hearing his meaningless words, she subconsciously looked down at the holy sword in her hand. She could feel the connection between herself and the sword. It was longing, it was urging. It hoped that she could quickly defeat Vortigern and destroy that inverted vile king's sword.
"But Merlin, haven't I already obtained its recognition?"
"It's not about obtaining its recognition, but about obtaining the recognition of the world's will through it. And only by obtaining the recognition of the world can you use its true power."
Not far away, with an impassioned dragon's roar, a huge explosion suddenly occurred on the city wall of Londinium. Clearly, the battle situation on that side was very unfavorable.
"There's not much time left, Lily. I believe you can do it."
As if he had realized that Gawain and the others were having too much trouble because they were being suppressed by Vortigern's light-devouring and vile king's sword, Merlin hesitated for a moment but still chose to personally go forward and fight him. But before leaving, he placed a flower petal in her hair and said softly, "This flower petal will help you remember everything. Good luck. Everyone's lives, the future of Britain, and even the fate of the entire world are in your hands."
With that said, Merlin's figure turned into scattered flower petals and flew towards the battlefield, launching an attack on him with magic and magic bullets.
Looking at the already very pathetic figures of her comrades fighting the white dragon with difficulty, she felt an unprecedented pressure. Recalling his words, she forced herself to calm down and closed her eyes to experience the feeling he had mentioned.
But the more she thought about calming down and feeling, the more her heart could not be calm. With the concealment of her vision, what was replaced was the enhancement of her hearing and the wild thoughts in her mind. Every time she forced herself to recall the oath she had once made and her state of mind, the shouts of her comrades in battle and the roar of the magic dragon would interrupt her thoughts.
She subconsciously began to worry about their safety. After all, the dragonized Vortigern was too strong. Having devoured the remains of the last dragon, and bearing the counterattack and blessing of the Age of Gods, plus that inverted Sword of Promised Victory and the light-devouring characteristic, at this time, he had become a natural disaster for the whole of Britain. If she didn't stimulate the power of the holy sword and defeat him as Merlin had said, then all of them would die.
Thinking of her comrades and relatives who had been with her day and night, and that youth who had chatted with her about life under the moon, all turning to ashes with the white dragon's anger, her heart couldn't help but become restless. And the more she wanted to get into a state like this, the more she would be unable to take a step forward because of it.
"Roar!!"
With the white dragon's roar again, she heard her comrades' panicked voices. "Not good! Agravain was hit by the black sword and has fainted! Get him out of here quickly!"
The girl bit her lip, using her willpower to restrain her consciousness and sink into the holy sword.
"Damn it, his sword has a curse on it. Gaheris, you go and find Merlin to help you remove it. I'll hold him off here."
"But... Merlin was killed by Vortigern again."
...
The girl was silent, her brow furrowed.
"Lancelot! Are you insane?! Your chest has been pierced, and you're still not going down? Do you want to die!"
"Shut up! It's just a fatal wound. What does it matter for the sake of victory!"
No, no, it can't be like this...
The girl's hand unconsciously tightened, her nails digging deep into her palm.
"Gareth! Go and save Gareth! She's the youngest, she can't die here!"
The girl's body trembled slightly. She prayed in her heart, and even begged the holy sword to give her a response, but it was still useless.
"Lamorak! You bastard, what are you doing in front of me? I don't fucking need you to save me!"
...This was Kay's voice. His voice was angry and anxious, as if the person he was talking about was in great danger.
"I can't do it!!!"
Finally, Artoria snapped her eyes open. In this situation, she couldn't abandon her comrades, let them fight to cover for her, and even let them fall into a life-and-death crisis for her so-called holy sword's power.
The girl suddenly stood up from the ground, holding the Star Holy Sword, and rushed towards the white dragon. She didn't need the world's recognition, she didn't need the holy sword's power. Even without these things, she didn't want to just watch her comrades fight for her and do nothing.
She was a king, she was hope, she was the one destined to bear the hopes of all the people of Britain, and she was Artoria. No matter what, she could not accept her own inaction. Even if the effect was not great, even if it was meaningless, she had to try, to save, to prove to that person that what she had said that night was by no means empty words!
Thump-thump—
The dragon's heart beat like thunder. Pure magical energy flowed into the holy sword like a surging river. The next moment, the girl had not yet arrived, but the holy sword had.
"The gathered breath of the stars, the shining torrent of life, take this, Vortigern!"
"Excalibur!"
The shining particles of light quickly gathered and shone. But this time, it was not in the form of a light cannon, but under her deliberate control, it condensed into a golden longsword that was magnified countless times and slashed at the white dragon.
Even if he had already sensed the arrival of the attack, under the harassment of the remaining Round Table Knights, he ultimately could not dodge this blow. All he could do was to turn his body, so that the giant sword that was originally aimed at his head just barely cut into his left shoulder. The next moment, under everyone's shocked gaze, the huge light sword cut off his left arm as if it were a hot knife through butter, and even the broken and狰狞 dragon wing behind it was cut off together.
"Roar!!!"
The white dragon's painful howl and mournful cry echoed through the sky.
-------
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