Unease... unease... utter unease!
Because she knew the true nature of the Holy Grail War, Guinevere had never intended to win from the start. She only planned to play along until the Grail descended and the Black Mud overflowed. Then, she would try bathing in it to see if she could gain a true physical body.
If successful, she had even hoped to live another lifetime with the King of Knights in the modern era.
But now, as their eyes met, sparks seemed to fly between them.
"Lia, tell me! What are you planning?!"
Guinevere wanted to scream, Are you kidding me?! Do you have any idea what everyone sacrificed to deceive Human Order and grant us a future where we could grow old together?!
But in reality, Guinevere didn't need to ask. The King of Knights could read her thoughts in her eyes, in her expression.
"Guinevere, I simply cannot accept the price everyone paid for our sake! And with your accomplishments, you should have been revered as a Saint Queen!
"Do you have any idea how much it hurts me to learn of your infamy, to see those doujinshi of you and Lancelot?!
"My feelings... you were the one who drew them out, bit by bit! You'd better understand that!"
If this were the King of Knights from before she met Guinevere, she wouldn't have been bothered by doujinshi. Even if she had witnessed 'Guinevere' and 'Lancelot' together with her own eyes, she would have simply closed the door and walked away.
But the reality was that the King of Knights loved Guinevere and could not accept the tragic consequences of deceiving Human Order.
Watching her agitated state, feeling the turbulent mana radiating from her, Guinevere was momentarily speechless.
A sweet warmth spread through her heart, knowing the King's anger was because of her. But to agree with the King's ideal and help her rewrite history... that was something she could never do.
"Lia, you understand, don't you? The history dictated by Human Order cannot be changed..."
"Then we'll take the Lostbelt route! Throw that bullshit Human Order into the gutter! I will give you a reputation praised by future generations!"
Guinevere fell silent again. She hadn't chosen that path during her lifetime because she knew the chances of success were less than one percent.
That was why she had opted for the safer route.
Listening and pondering, Guinevere's anger flared. The King's words were trampling on the very resolve she and the knights had once held.
"Guinevere, if we hadn't known how cruel future records would be, that would be one thing... but now that we know, can you truly accept the knights bearing sins they never should have? Just Mordred alone, branded as a patricide and traitor..."
The King of Knights stood firm, but beneath the water, her toes dug tightly into the sand. Without her ahoge, she had become more frenzied, more self-centered, almost detached from reality. It was hard to tell if she was a Saber or a Berserker.
Silence stretched on... and on...
In the blink of an eye, they had stood at the boundary between sea and shore until nightfall. As the city lights reflected on the ocean's horizon, it was as if an invisible boundary line to another world had opened.
"Lia, you know I'm a selfish person," Guinevere finally said. "All I ever wanted was for you to live. Even if you yourself regret it, I must tell you...
"Even if I had to do it all over again, I would still choose to deceive Human Order and spend the rest of my life with you. A choice once made should not be regretted!
"Lia, if you persist in your own selfishness and deny my resolve, then I will send you back to the Throne of Heroes with my own hands!
"I will not let you fulfill your current wish."
The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife, yet both knew this conflict stemmed from their deep care for one another.
So, even as their battle lust filled the air and sparks flew between their locked gazes, neither drew their sword. Each hoped the other would be the one to back down.
But from his perch atop Fuyuki Bridge, the King of Conquerors was growing tired of this family drama. Just as he was about to intervene, he sensed a frenzied presence hurtling toward them from the edge of the sky.
Seconds later, a roar of pure hatred accompanied the frenzied aura.
"GRRRRRRR!!! GUI! NE! VERE!!!! GUI...NE...VERE!!"
It was a maelstrom of murderous intent, hatred, and resentment...
If summoned normally, Lancelot wouldn't have been this insane. But his body had been twisted, his gender reversed, transforming him into a Faerie girl.
To make matters worse, the Matou House, desperate to make the recently returned Kariya Matou useful, had not only subjected him to cruel worm-based modifications but also forced him to use a Madness Enhancement incantation during the summoning ritual.
As a result, Lancelot emerged even more deranged. The moment he opened his eyes, he obliterated the disgusting worm pit and tore the even more repulsive Old Worm to shreds with his bare hands.
His meteor-like speed left the Old Worm no time to react, and Kariya Matou couldn't even use a Command Spell.
Afterward, Kariya took him and a small child with vacant eyes to the outskirts of Fuyuki City.
Originally, believing the Old Worm was dead, Kariya had no intention of participating in the Holy Grail War. But Lancelot, sensing the Mana here, ignored him and shot into the sky.
BOOM!
The Faerie Knight crashed down like a missile, blasting a crater over ten meters in diameter right where the King of Knights and Guinevere had just been standing.
Then, as the two women stared in shock, Fairy Knight Lancelot rose from the crater, his body surging with frenzied Mana, and lunged straight for Guinevere!
He was still himself, but his body had been twisted by later legends. This was because the image associated with him had a real, original owner—a Faerie girl with whom he had truly formed a bond in the Type-Moon history where "past, present, and future" coexist.
As a result, the summoned Lancelot had, against his will, borrowed that Faerie girl's body.
"GRRRRR!!!"
Another frenzied roar, another flawless display of swordsmanship. Not only that, but by gaining the Faerie girl's body and being summoned as a Berserker, Lancelot's base stats surpassed even those of his prime in life.
After drawing the Holy Sword and trading more than ten blows with him, Guinevere found herself gradually being overpowered.
As a Caster, even with most of her base stats at A-rank, Guinevere was still weaker than she had been in her prime.
I'm going to lose?
The thought flashed through Guinevere's mind after thirty clashes.
Instantly, rage surged within her, leaving no room to ponder why Lancelot was here, trying to kill her.
Nor could she consider whether seeing Lancelot like this would make Lia even more determined to pursue her earlier wish.
Centering herself, she gripped her sword with both hands and unleashed the Mana provided by Kenneth. The storm of blades surrounding her and Lancelot became impenetrable.
Even Iskandar, hovering in the sky with his Bull of Heaven and Gordius Wheel summoned, couldn't find an opening to intervene and break up the fight.
"My little Master, that golden-haired girl is Saber, right?"
The two-meter-tall King of Conquerors, with his red hair, red beard, and muscles that looked like they'd been pumped full of drugs, stroked his chin. He decided to wait for the two combatants, who were tearing the beach apart, to settle their duel.
He recalled the white-haired young girl's shout as she flew in, then the kiss between the golden-haired girl and the silver-haired one.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands in realization.
"Of course! All three protagonists of the Camelot love triangle are here!"
"Rider! I told you to read more books! Camelot was a love square! The King of Knights also had a thing with her older sister, Morgan!"
Hearing this, the King of Conquerors stroked his chin again, a question inevitably surfacing in his mind...
"Four women?"