Sajyou Manaka stared into Alvin's golden eyes and let out a light sigh, "How boring. You've been holding back this whole time since earlier. Are you worried about affecting the people outside?"
"Aren't you holding back too?"
Alvin asked in confusion, "Why?"
If Sajyou Manaka wanted to obtain the Holy Lance, she should have passed his trial as quickly as possible. Yet Alvin could clearly feel that she was treating this like a game, holding back just the same.
If someone didn't know any better, they might think the exchange between the two of them just now had been nothing more than an act.
Sajyou Manaka lightly placed one hand over her chest, a captivating smile appearing on her face, "From the very beginning, I had no intention of killing you, I just wanted to know your name."
"Even now, you still won't say it?"
Gazing into the boy's eyes, she asked once more.
Alvin looked at the girl before him with suspicion.
At this moment, he truly could not sense even the slightest intent to fight from Sajyou Manaka.
"Alvin."
Though he did not know why, Alvin ultimately still answered her question.
"Alvin?"
Sajyou Manaka tilted her head slightly and softly repeated it. Then, as if she had remembered something, she said quietly, "The Watchman of Camelot… So you are Britain's White Dragon?"
The instant she learned Alvin's name, her omniscience and omnipotence immediately granted her complete information about Alvin in Britain.
'Why does it feel like the way she's looking at me is kind of strange,' Alvin looked at the girl from a short distance away, unable to figure out her intentions.
Just then, Sajyou Manaka lifted her head and smiled sweetly. In that moment, she bloomed with the unique charm a pure young girl her age should have.
That shy, slightly bashful air was fully on display.
Then, her eyes rippled softly as she spoke in a gentle voice, "Alvin, I can give up the Holy Lance, but can you give me something as part of the trade?"
"What do you mean?", Alvin didn't understand.
And while Alvin was still in a dazed, confused state, the girl had already begun walking toward him step by step.
When she reached him, Sajyou Manaka stopped.
With her hands clasped behind her back, she looked up at the boy with a smiling face.
Their faces were incredibly close at this moment, close enough to faintly feel each other's breath on their skin.
Then, the girl looked at him expectantly, her tone carrying a hint of reserve and shy embarrassment.
"I want one of your holy relics. Is that okay?"
———
[Avalon]
Merlin stared blankly, his face full of confusion as he looked at the scene appearing before him.
"..."
"..."
"..."
After a brief moment of stunned silence, he snapped out of it as if waking from a dream, then glanced at Artoria with a slightly guilty look.
'Why does this situation feel kind of off?'
———
[The Radiant Tower]
Sajyou Manaka held a black dragon scale in both hands, as though cradling a priceless treasure, her beautiful eyes sparkling brightly.
"Clearly called a White Dragon, yet your scales are black. How interesting."
Her tone was filled with amazement and curiosity, along with heartfelt delight.
'Who said a White Dragon absolutely has to be white? Even the Four Heavenly Kings have five of them,' Alvin complained inwardly.
Although he was called a White Dragon, in reality, whether it was the White Dragon core or the magic flowing through him, it was all black.
Moreover, anyone who came into contact with this magic would, to some extent, have their mental will affected.
To touch the magic of the White Dragon core, either one's strength had to be powerful enough, or one's mental will had to be strong enough.
Clearly, the girl before him seemed to possess both.
'But still, how exactly did Sajyou Manaka become entangled with a beast?'
'Or did she possess some kind of magecraft that allowed her to "beastify" herself?"
Looking at the girl in front of him, who held the demonic dragon scale as if she had obtained a priceless treasure, Alvin could not help but ask, "What exactly do you want to do with this holy relic?"
Having touched the Root of all things, she should have no interest in anything in this world anymore.
Yet Sajyou Manaka had proactively proposed a trade with him…
"I'm just simply interested in the White Dragon."
Sajyou Manaka carefully put away the demonic dragon scale, then once more looked over the boy with an unusual gleam in her eyes.
"By the way, aren't you worried about that girl from earlier?"
"That Holy Lance houses the will of a god. If you're not careful, that girl could be influenced by the god, you know?"
As soon as she entered the The Radiant Tower, Sajyou Manaka had already seen through the truth of the Holy Lance.
Even though Alvin knew she was deliberately changing the subject, hearing this still made his thoughts stir, "With that mystic code there, it should be fine, right?"
"You mean the creature called 'Add' that's locked inside that girl's cage?"
Sajyou Manaka tilted her head slightly, "That creature seems to have some sort of connection with the Holy Lance. However, the divine will within the Holy Lance won't give it a chance to approach."
Alvin's thoughts shifted, and he instinctively turned his head toward the top of the tower.
'So that means only after 'Add' touches the Holy Lance would it have a way to control that Anchor of the Stars?'
———
Silence spread across the summit of the The Radiant Tower.
This space was filled with an oppressive concentration of magical energy, dense enough to suffocate, and coupled with the thin air at such high altitude, it could be said the debuffs were fully stacked.
Gray cautiously surveyed her surroundings, her deerskin ankle boots stepping against the ground, the only sound echoing through the space being her footsteps.
Looking out from the edges of the tower's summit, all she could see were swirling clouds and mist.
It truly lived up to being a The Radiant Tower stitched together from elves and humans. At this moment, the "mystery" shown by the Holy Lance genuinely lived up to that description.
In the original story, even while wielding the Holy Sword, Artoria was still no match for Vortigern. Even the light of the Holy Sword dimmed under the erosion of Vortigern's magic.
It was not until the Holy Lance later appeared that the darkness meant to shroud the land of Britain was finally driven away.
The Anchor of the Stars, and like the Holy Sword, something that required a Round Table assembly to fully unseal. That was the Holy Lance.
With a mortal body, it was absolutely impossible to touch the Holy Lance.
If it were not for Add's existence at this moment, Gray would not even be able to step into the core area of the Holy Lance.
Yet even with Add's help, the girl still felt her breathing gradually becoming difficult.
"Kid, hang in there a bit longer. Just move a little farther forward and you'll be able to enter the core area of this tower."
A voice came from the heavy shield in Gray's hands.
The creature locked inside the "cage" in Gray's hands could transform into various weapon forms at any time.
Normally, Gray would keep Add stored in the "birdcage," but once battle began, Add would transform into a weapon form that suited Gray.
At this moment, a milky white barrier of light enveloped Gray.
It was Add, resisting this suffocatingly dense magical energy for her.
However, starting just now, this barrier had become unstable.
The closer one got to the core of the Holy Lance, the denser the "true ether" became. Even modern magi would find it difficult to survive in such a harsh environment.
As she went deeper, a vague yet incomparably beautiful figure gradually appeared ahead.
Behind that figure, a Holy Lance shining like a blazing sun could be seen.
Centered on the Holy Lance, faint golden particles slowly overflowed from its body. The golden silhouette of the lance seemed to connect the planet's two planes, as if transcending the boundary between reality and illusion.
So sacred and majestic, radiating brilliant light, it made one dare not look at it directly.
Its sacred brilliance was called Rhongomyniad. Later records described it as King Arthur's third weapon, guarding Britain's Anchor of the Stars with ultimate glory and splendor.
The Lance That Shines to the End of the World(Rhongomyniad)!
"The Holy Lance?", Joy flashed in Gray's eyes as she was about to step forward.
"Wait, don't go any farther!", At this moment, Add's low voice came from the large shield in her hand, filled with gravity.
Before Gray could react, she heard Add urgently warn her, "Be careful of the woman ahead. This one is extremely dangerous!"
Gray's gaze sharpened slightly, falling upon the goddess-like woman standing before the Holy Lance.
"Who is she?"
'Why does she look exactly like King Arthur?'
This question quickly surfaced in Gray's mind.
"Strictly speaking, she's not human, but a god nurtured by the divinity of the Holy Lance, Rhongomyniad."
"This one has no self-will, and anyone who approaches the Holy Lance will be repelled by her—"
As Add was saying this, it saw the goddess's phantom ahead slowly raise her right hand.
Within the Holy Lance behind her, golden particles of light seemed to silently gather.
In an instant, the goddess called Rhongomyniad condensed incomparably dazzling and scorching magical energy in her hand.
That magic formed into the phantom of a Holy Lance and aimed at the frail body of the gray-haired girl.
"Is this woman insane?"
Add almost blurted it out. If it were human, its back would probably already be drenched in cold sweat.
'Who starts by directly using a Noble Phantasm?'
"Kid, retreat, now!"
As Add said this, the magical light cannon of the Holy Lance slammed down toward Gray.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion rang out.
The light shield formed by Add barely managed to block that strike.
Even without releasing its seal, the might of the Holy Lance still sent a shiver through Gray's heart.
Although she had long vaguely known Add's true identity, when she witnessed the terrifying power unleashed by the Holy Lance before her, her heart was still deeply shaken.
"Fall back first!"
Add shouted urgently, filled with regret.
It had been too careless. Or rather, it had not expected that the divinity within the Holy Lance could give rise to a goddess's phantom, dragging Gray into danger as well.
Watching the gray-haired girl retreat, the goddess did not pursue, only slowly raising her hand once more.
The magic of the Holy Lance began to gather again.
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