The garrison inside the small fortress wasn't actually very large. Aside from a few Enforcement Knights, there were only about thirty ordinary soldiers.
After easily knocking them down and leaving the Enforcement Knights for Mash and Ritsuka to handle, Guinevere slowly walked toward the scattered and demoralized ordinary soldiers, who had lost all courage to attack again.
"Agravain... he isn't here?"
The soldiers in this fortress had already heard rumors of the other Lion King. Now, defeated so effortlessly and seeing her face—identical to the Lion King's—in the fading twilight, they finally realized who they were facing.
Yet, they remained silent. It was Agravain who had chosen them, trained them, and given them a chance to survive.
"Tell me," Guinevere said, her gaze sweeping over them. "Judging by your complexions, you're all locals, aren't you? Have you never thought of ending this disaster and returning to the life you had before the Lion King arrived?
"Speaking of which, since you're stationed here, have you passed the Lion King's Holy Selection? If you can't, you'll just end up being killed by her anyway."
Guinevere was deliberately painting a grim picture, but the threat she described was very real.
The soldiers exchanged uncertain glances. Their resolve wavered completely when they witnessed Mash defeat several Enforcement Knights, who then vanished into thin air. They recalled Guinevere's widely rumored bold declarations.
"You... Are you truly going to correct the Lion King in the Holy City?" one soldier finally asked.
"Call me Ruler, or King of Knights," Guinevere declared. "I promise you, I will correct her and set this world back on its proper course."
The soldiers looked at each other, still feeling they would be betraying Agravain. Some even considered repaying his kindness with their lives.
"Your Majesty, King of Knights, please kill us," one said, his voice firm. "Though we have never entered the Holy City and are not knights, we received three months of training from Lord Agravain. We understand what loyalty means."
All thirty-odd soldiers bowed to Guinevere. If they had been Spirits like the Enforcement Knights, killing them would have carried little psychological burden for her. But they were still living humans who had committed no great crime.
Guinevere glanced aside as Mash, Ritsuka, and even Hundred Faces gathered beside her. If Guinevere hadn't raised a hand to stop them, Hundred Faces would have gladly granted their request.
Guinevere was known for her 'cruelty', but she rarely killed the innocent and weak.
"Do you know of the Hassans?" she asked. "They are gathering warriors from across the land. Soon, they will join us in an assault on New Camelot City."
She let out a small, cynical laugh. "Heh, when they proposed this a couple of days ago, I told them we didn't need them. To us, ordinary soldiers are meaningless."
"But those gathered warriors insisted. They said they wanted to reclaim the Holy Land with their own hands and restore their homeland."
"Gentlemen, what do you think?"
In the small, cramped plaza within the fortress, the thirty-odd soldiers wavered. They exchanged glances, each waiting for the first among them to surrender.
Agravain had granted them the gift of survival, and they had pledged allegiance to New Camelot City to stay alive. But their faith remained rooted in their homeland. The mere mention of rekindling that faith made their own lives seem less important.
"If you could reclaim Jerusalem with your own hands," Guinevere added, "your scriptures might one day record your names."
It was true—ordinary soldiers were meaningless to Guinevere and her companions. She was simply offering these innocent people a chance to live.
Seeing the soldiers' fervent passion and longing, Guinevere knew she had succeeded. She now understood the profound significance of having one's name recorded in the scriptures of their faith.
Led by their captain, the thirty-odd soldiers switched their allegiance, ready to fight once more for a cause they could believe in.
Hundred Faces removed her mask and offered them a sincere smile. Sharing the same faith, she accepted them without hesitation.
"Alright," Guinevere said, "you'll be in charge of their assignments from now on. As for food..."
"Your Majesty, the King of Knights," the captain interrupted, "if you can persuade the one in the dungeon, we won't lack for food. Ever since the Enforcement Knights captured him, he's been improving our meals every day."
With the captain leading the way and the other soldiers sent to find a safe place to wait, Guinevere and her group descended into the dungeon.
The floor was stained with blood, and torture instruments hung from the walls. After encountering a Servant named Tawara Touta and successfully forming an alliance with him, the group finally pushed open the door to the deepest cell.
"You..." a voice trailed off from within.
"Your Majesty, the King of Knights," the soldier captain said, his expression fearful. "The Enforcement Knights forbade us from coming here. Even when we served the Lion King, we could never have been so cruel to the Hassan who saved our comrades—especially since she's just a young girl."
After the captain swore an oath to the one he now trusted, Guinevere decided to believe him.
Inside the final cell, the floor was stained black with blood. Chained to the far wall hung a girl even smaller than Mash.
Unlike the other Hassans, this one appeared much younger. Her white skull mask was missing its entire lower jaw, revealing small, slightly chapped cherry-red lips.
Suspended as she was, her clothing was in disarray. The black strips of fabric, resembling a tattered evening gown, barely covered her body.
Guinevere kicked the female captain out of the cell, ordering her to take Tawara Touta, who was waiting outside, back to the surface.
In the torchlight, Guinevere summoned golden flames and shot them at the steel chains suspending the girl in mid-air.
The heat of the flames, or perhaps the presence of new arrivals, stirred the petite Hassan. Still barely conscious, she spoke:
"Who... is it...? Haven't... you given up yet? No matter what you do, I won't talk. So, just take my head already!"
The petite Hassan's voice was extremely weak. As the golden flames continued to burn through the iron chains, they also spread across her body.
However, the flames were under Guinevere's control. They only incinerated the parasites festering in her wounds, providing initial treatment.
Just as this preliminary care was complete, Guinevere's flames severed the arm-thick chains, and the petite Hassan fell from the wall.
Hundred Faces made no move to catch her. They knew the petite Hassan's entire body was poisonous and dared not touch her—just as her Enforcement Knight torturers likely hadn't.
Meanwhile, Guinevere secretly curled her lips into a smile. Mash, encumbered by her shield, couldn't step forward. Instead, the kind-hearted Ritsuka dashed forward and caught the girl perfectly.
Only in that instant did Hundred Faces remember he hadn't explained this Hassan of Serenity's ability.
Zabaniya: Delusional Poison Body. This was Hassan of Serenity's Noble Phantasm, her very essence.
Her entire body was poison. Her skin, her mucous membranes, even a single drop of her bodily fluids was lethal.
As Ritsuka held the dazed Hassan of Serenity, the assassin instinctively embraced her back, sealing Ritsuka's lips with her own and transferring her poisonous fluids...
"Heh, it's a little different from how I remember it, but the iconic scene still happened. Damn, I wish I had a phone to take a picture!" Guinevere thought to herself.
After the long kiss, Serenity finally regained her senses. She looked down at the girl in her arms—Ritsuka, who seemed dead but was merely overloaded—and then at the three others standing nearby, one of whom she recognized.
In an instant, Serenity realized her instinctive counterattack had been a terrible mistake.