The threat from Morpheus proved effective.
As the magic circle glowed, a new Heroic Spirit appeared.
Her figure and appearance were no less striking than the purple-haired hag—perhaps even surpassing her.
Her chest, in particular, was impressively prominent, drawing the eye and holding it for a long moment.
Morpheus couldn't help it—he preferred them grand.
While smaller sizes had their charm, bigger was better, bigger was beautiful—at least in Morpheus's opinion.
Most men, he figured, would agree.
After a while, Morpheus finally tore his gaze from her striking figure, moving upward to her breathtakingly gorgeous face, and he froze in surprise.
Wait a second, isn't this the Lancer Mommy?
To be precise, it was Lancer Artoria—the grown-up King Arthur, wielding the holy lance Rhongomyniad.
So, was he doomed to be stuck with Lancers?
The purple-haired hag was a Lancer, and now this Lancer Artoria was, too.
"You are my Master," Lancer Artoria said, her gaze assessing Morpheus, noting he wasn't quite what she'd expected.
Morpheus nodded. "That's right, I'm your Master. Let's work together in the upcoming Holy Grail War."
Artoria nodded, her eyes shifting to the purple-haired hag, Scáthach. "And this is…?"
Morpheus replied, "My temporary Servant, the Queen of the Land of Shadows, Scáthach."
Artoria looked surprised. "Master, you can summon two Servants at once?"
Morpheus waved it off. "She's just a placeholder, don't worry about it."
Scáthach chuckled lightly. "I don't like the sound of that, Master. How am I just a placeholder? I was summoned fair and square."
Morpheus countered, "But you're not a Heroic Spirit. Once the Holy Grail War is over, you'll just go back, won't you?"
Scáthach replied, "If you can defeat me, Master, I might stay."
Morpheus shot her a sidelong glance. "Are you sure you just want me to defeat you, not kill you?"
Scáthach said, "Killing me would be even better."
Lancer Artoria blinked in confusion. "Master, what's going on here?"
"Just a fool who's lived for millennia and now wants to die. Pay her no mind," Morpheus said, waving dismissively.
Scáthach smiled faintly, unbothered by Morpheus's jab. "So that's how you see me, Master."
"Isn't it true?" Morpheus retorted. "Look at the gods and demons out there—plenty of them have lived longer than you. Even some True Ancestors have outlasted you, and they're still thriving. Yet here you are, seeking death."
"If you'd experienced the world's splendor and still felt that way, I might understand."
"But have you? Have you been to the moon? Seen the galaxy's wonders? Tasted exquisite cuisine? Embraced the joys of life?"
"You haven't even left Earth, and yet you're chasing death. I can't fathom your logic."
"You have immense power, the ability to live a vibrant life, yet you cling to your Land of Shadows, obsessed with training someone to kill you."
"Honestly, I don't even know where to begin with you."
"..."
Morpheus continued, "I'm not you. I haven't lived your life or faced your struggles. I don't understand why you want to die—maybe you have your reasons. But I can't indulge you."
"You're my Servant, for now. I'm not going to kill you."
"Once this Holy Grail War is done, go wherever you please."
Scáthach, unfazed by the scolding, remained calm. As Morpheus said, he wasn't her, hadn't lived her experiences, and couldn't grasp her motivations.
She didn't need him to understand, nor would she change her mind.
"As you wish, Master. When this Holy Grail War ends, I'll leave."
"But before then, will you fight me?"
Morpheus turned to her. "You really want to fight me?"
"It's why I'm here," Scáthach replied.
At that moment, Lancer Artoria stepped forward, facing Scáthach. "If you want to fight my Master, how about facing me first?"
Scáthach didn't refuse. "I can tell you're strong. You're no ordinary figure."
Morpheus said, "Of course she's no ordinary figure. This is the legendary King of Knight who ruled Britannia, Artoria Pendragon. The Lion King who set aside the Excalibur and now wields the Rhongomyniad."
Scáthach's eyes lit up with realization. "I see, the legendary King Arthur? A formidable opponent indeed. Shall we have a duel?"
Lancer Artoria, having issued the challenge, showed no signs of backing down.
"It's an honor to face the Queen of the Land of Shadows."
Seeing their battle-ready enthusiasm, Morpheus didn't intervene.
"Domain Expansion: Radiant Arena!"
After observing Gojo Satoru and Abe no Seimei's Domain Expansions, Morpheus quickly grasped the structure of domains and created his own.
Unlike Onmyoji, who could only deploy a single domain, Morpheus could create multiple.
Or rather, he could freely reshape his domains. The Radiant Arena was one he'd crafted on a whim.
The arena was staggeringly vast, spanning the size of a hundred football fields.
It was also terrifyingly sturdy—capable of withstanding even world-shattering magic without a single brick crumbling.
"This arena is something I whipped up for the occasion. You two can fight to your heart's content here."
Lancer Artoria nodded, summoning the Rhongomyniad. She faced Scáthach and said, "Let's begin."
Scáthach drew two crimson magic spears, casually hurling one of them.
Then, with astonishing speed, she charged at Lancer Artoria.
Artoria deftly deflected the thrown spear with her holy lance. But by then, Scáthach was already upon her, the tip of her remaining spear thrusting forward.
Artoria's expression remained calm. She stepped back, her lance flicking to parry Scáthach's strike.
Scáthach spun, her spear tracing an elegant arc as she attacked again.
The deflected spear, now falling from the sky, was caught by Scáthach in her other hand.
With both spears, she unleashed a relentless storm of attacks on Lancer Artoria.
Faced with this barrage, Artoria countered with composure, dodging Scáthach's lethal strikes at the last possible moment.
Watching this, Morpheus realized Artoria's Instinct was at work.
Artoria's "Instinct" allowed her to instantly determine the "most suitable action" in combat.
It even bordered on "predicting the future," an extraordinary ability.
***
Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing well. I just wanted to let you know that right now I'm working on a really good and promising fate fanfic. If you're interested in reading it, feel free to give it a try:
[Fate/Max Level Returner]
Synopsis:
What if you took your max-level account and replayed the entire story from the beginning?
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