Chapter 258 Enough, wake you up!
Arthur's direct address, that greeting by name, was like a heavy hammer, shattering the dead silence of the Holy City.
Gawain's face, still pale with shock, was now etched with deep confusion.
Who exactly was this man, to dare call the King by name?
And this throbbing sensation from the depths of his soul was...
Mashu also stared blankly at the figure whose back offered her infinite reassurance, the side of his face hidden by his hood, giving her a sense of familiarity that transcended time.
Fujimaru Ritsuka, meanwhile, was nervously communicating with Da Vinci through her wrist communicator.
"Da Vinci, who is this person? Is he our support?"
"Absolutely impossible, you know Chaldea's situation. However—"
Da Vinci put on her monocle again, her voice filled with barely suppressed shock.
"This magical energy reaction... catching a Knight of the Round Table's Noble Phantasm with one hand, he's strong like a monster!"
On the high platform, the golden eyes that surveyed all beings finally showed a faint ripple.
The Lion King, no, Artoria, looked down at Arthur from above.
Divinity had already blurred her past, yet this man before her still gave her an unusual sense of familiarity.
But more than that, it was a primal wariness, stemming from a god's instinct, towards an existence of equal, or even higher, status.
"Who are you, and why do you interfere with the Holy Selection?"
The Purification Knights instantly shifted formation, swords and bows aimed at Arthur and the others, their chilling killing intent forming a net.
"Oh dear... things seem to have gotten worse, Mashu, Da Vinci, prepare to break through!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka whispered into her wristband, carefully searching for a weak point in the encirclement.
Arthur, however, ignored the surrounding killing intent. He simply looked up, meeting Artoria's gaze, his tone calm and unruffled.
"Eliminating the Singularity, that's all."
Artoria raised her hand, and a peculiar, spiraling spear appeared in her grasp.
The spear's shaft glowed with a golden aura, light particles overflowing from its golden crevices, as if it contained stars within.
The divine pressure descended like an overturned sky, the aura of authority almost suffocating everyone present.
"Then, will you become my enemy?"
"Become your enemy?"
Arthur seemed to have heard a joke, raising a hand and pointing to the persistent light band in the sky.
"Artoria, since you have become a god, you should know better than anyone where you are now, and what kind of landscape lies beneath your feet."
As he spoke, he surveyed the surrounding devastation, the amusement in his voice already gone.
"What is the meaning of everything you are doing now?"
Artoria's expression remained unwavering, her tone still cold.
"It is precisely because I know of the incineration of humanity, and the might of the Demon God King, that I must select the purest souls, to preserve the last embers of humanity."
"This is my answer."
Her logic was clear and firm; in her view, this was the only way to save humanity before the advent of the apocalypse.
Upon hearing this, Arthur shook his head in disappointment.
Even though he had largely guessed it, hearing her conclusion firsthand still filled him with a sense of powerlessness and anger.
"Even after becoming a god, you are still making the same mistakes as in the past."
Arthur's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
"Escaping will not solve any problems."
The moment his words fell, he slowly raised his right hand.
Buzz!
A ringing sound echoed through the sky, brilliant golden light tracing stellar trajectories out of thin air, and an incredibly magnificent Holy Sword appeared in his hand.
"Words alone cannot awaken those who pretend to be asleep. As in the past, your obstinacy, I will personally shatter it!"
"Insolent fool!"
Gawain roared, the flames around his sword erupting into a scorching wave of fire, sweeping towards Arthur!
But as soon as he took a step, a divine power far more terrifying, more primal than the Lion King's, shot up from Arthur!
Gawain, who bore the full brunt of this divine king's pressure, was struck as if by lightning, instantly flying back dozens of meters, his eyes filled only with boundless horror.
This feeling... was it equal to the King's, no, it surpassed the King's divinity!?
The Purification Knights, who knew no fear, drew their bows and notched arrows, each arrow containing enough magical power to pierce steel plates.
Arthur didn't even look; he simply waved his hand casually.
An invisible wall of wind appeared out of thin air, and all arrows, upon approaching within three meters of him, seemed to sink into a quagmire. The next instant, they reflected back along their original path at an even faster speed!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Arrows pierced the knights' armor, and rows of Purification Knights fell to the ground, dissipating into magical energy particles.
The swiftness of the situation's reversal left Mashu and the other two, who were standing ready, dumbfounded.
Artoria scrutinized Arthur, who was gradually approaching, and also saw the authority of salvation represented by the Holy Sword.
"I am the King of Storms, the Lord of the End, the Lion King, a god who has descended here for the future."
Artoria declared in a transcendent voice.
"Then let us verify our respective paths to salvation."
She raised her Holy Spear, pointing it from afar, and endless magical power converged, forming a destructive storm of divine authority that tore through the atmosphere and slammed down with tremendous force!
Arthur neither dodged nor avoided, holding his sword with one hand and lightly swinging it upwards.
A furious azure thunderbolt shot up from the ground, like the angry roar of an ancient thunder dragon, colliding fiercely with the storm of light!
There was no earth-shattering explosion; the two extreme elements clashed and annihilated each other violently in the air, and the overflowing energy storm tore all the buildings on the outer side of the Holy City into shreds!
Splintered rubble and debris rained down like a storm, but Mashu and the others were steadily protected by the barrier behind Arthur, preventing them from being blown away.
Just the initial clash of authorities was a natural disaster!
"Your authority comes from that Holy Spear."
Arthur walked through the air, bathed in the annihilating storm, his indigo cloak flapping, his voice clearly reaching Artoria's ears.
"Verify our respective paths to salvation? You can't even escape the control of the Holy Spear, what big words are you speaking?"
Before his words finished, his figure suddenly blurred!
The next instant, he had flashed before Artoria, the Holy Sword in his hand wreathed in destructive wind and thunder, and he thrust it explosively!
Artoria's pupils constricted sharply, and she raised her Holy Spear to block.
Clang!!!
The clash of metal turned into a visible shockwave, and an irresistible force surged from the spear's shaft!
Artoria was uncontrollably propelled upwards, completely scattering the clouds in the sky!
Gawain, witnessing this scene, murmured in a daze.
"Impossible... the King, she..."
High above, Artoria, wreathed in wind and thunder, desperately tried to stop her decline, and faint cracks had already appeared in the silver armor on her arms.
For the first time, a solemn expression appeared on her normally unruffled, cold face.
In a pure test of strength, she had been utterly defeated.
"Holy Spear, unanchor."
Artoria murmured, raising her Holy Spear, the light flickering from its blade growing brighter and brighter, as if to swallow the entire world.
Facing this world-destroying spectacle, Arthur, who had rapidly ascended, remained calm.
"The tower that maintains the world's surface, the Storm Anchor that binds the stars. Very well, let me show you the difference between us."
He poured all the azure brilliance into the Holy Sword, and the wind and thunder in the sky boiled violently, forcefully tearing open a gap in the destructive aurora!
"I will make you understand how fragile the 'light' grasped by those who flee truly is."
His voice could not penetrate the stormy sky, but the light representing their respective wills was fully perceived by Artoria.
The converging, endless radiance flickered, transforming into a spear of light capable of shaking the world, and with Artoria's thrust, it surged forth with a roar!
"Rhongomyniad!"
"Excalibur Soteria Soteria!"
The world, at this moment, lost its sound and color.
After an unknown amount of time, the light dissipated.
Nearly a third of the Holy City's outer wall had vanished, turning into scorched earth.
Above the zenith, Arthur still floated quietly, unharmed.
Opposite him, Artoria knelt on the ground, her armor severely shattered, a trace of golden divine blood spilling from the corner of her mouth, and the hand holding the Holy Spear trembled uncontrollably.
The victor had been decided.
Arthur stepped on the void, walking towards her step by step, ready to completely end this farce.
But just as he was about to approach Artoria, a pitch-black rift, like an abyss, opened between them without warning!
"What astonishing power, Arthur pendragon."
A refined man in a green coat, wearing a top hat and holding a cane, emerged from it with a smile.
"However, this is as far as you go. Although this place is not a critical node in our plan, we cannot allow you to destroy it so wantonly."