"Ugh! Dad, you knew about the Holy Lance, yet you still serve the Lion King? You know this is wrong!"
"Dad? Even if Galahad is inside you, you can't just call me 'Dad'! And you're too preachy! If it weren't for that Ruler woman, even Mordred would have stayed with the Lion King until the very end.
"As for the Holy Lance, that was the first thing the Lion King explained to us when she summoned us Round Table Knights. Those who couldn't accept it left long ago!"
Sword and shield clashed relentlessly. Lancelot's Noble Phantasm Release had no effect on Mash's shield.
After Guinevere's special training, Mash showed no signs of losing—at least not yet. She could even occasionally counterattack with her shield.
By now, Mash possessed not only Galahad's gift but also the strength she had gained through several Singularities.
"Woman... cough... You, the Servant favored by Galahad, we have already decided to oppose this era. Even if it means slaughtering the Cross that succeeded us, even if we sense something inhuman in our King's actions."
Due to the [Inversion] blessing, Lancelot lacked familial affection, making him more composed when Mash called him "Dad."
During the battle, he noticed Sir Gawain's withdrawal and Sir Agravain's smiling retreat, leaving him alone, surrounded by Mash and Guinevere.
Lancelot knew his situation was hopeless. His only chance would be if the Lion King unleashed a Divine Punishment on this location or personally sallied forth from the city to attack—but both were impossible.
So, he became unusually talkative, growing increasingly tempted to tear his own hair out.
Galahad and Guinevere—the two people he could never handle in life—were both here.
"Aaaargh! Senpai, I'm furious! This man is infuriating! He knows the King is wrong, and he knows that persisting means his own death... yet he still refuses to repent!
"Senpai, Galahad, who once lent me his power, is no longer within me, but let me speak for him!
"Lancelot, you've gone too far! Is it because you betrayed her once that you're now trying to compensate with blind loyalty?!"
A fierce shield bash followed. The brief moment of nostalgia and daze Lancelot felt upon hearing himself being scolded left him vulnerable. He was sent flying, only to be kicked back by Guinevere, who worried he might declare, "This is my escape route!"
After realizing she was no match for the First Hassan and that he showed her no deference, Guinevere managed to rationalize the situation, but her mood was far from its usual good.
"Exactly, Lancelot! I don't remember the King of Knights' most virtuous knight acting like this! The Knight of the Lake should speak up when the King has doubts and fight against her when she is wrong!
"Is blind loyalty to the King truly the way of the Knight of the Lake?!"
Without the [Inversion], Lancelot might have truly awakened after being repeatedly berated by Mash and Guinevere, perhaps even betraying his King for a woman once more.
But the [Inversion] had locked his loyalty in place. The dual torment of body and soul no longer offered him release; it only fueled his inner frenzy, intensifying the corruption festering in his heart.
"Dad! Stop this!"
Another shield bash struck him—a pain that pierced his flesh and echoed through his bones.
"Dad, if you don't stop, I'll use all of Camelot City to crush you next!"
Mash's Noble Phantasm Release was typically used for defense, but it could indeed be used to smash enemies. However, how Mash might wield her Noble Phantasm was irrelevant for now.
As Lancelot climbed out of the cratered earth and cleansed himself of filth with mana, his silver-white armor faded to a sinister purple-black. Arondight, the Unfading Light of the Lake, had fully fallen from sacred to demonic.
And with each heart-wrenching cry of "Dad," Lancelot completely sealed off his heart. He fell from Saber to Berserker, his very Spirit Origin twisting and changing.
"Mash, give Sir Lancelot his release," Guinevere said, her voice heavy. "It seems he couldn't—and didn't want to—overcome the [Inversion] blessing."
Guinevere had learned about Lancelot's condition from Agravain, but even without that knowledge, she could have figured out most of it herself. Still, she had clung to the last shred of hope that she could persuade him to switch sides, only abandoning it when he finally cast aside his reason and was driven mad by her own provocations.
At that moment, Mash's fury intensified. A voice in her heart told her there was no need for more words. Anything left to say could wait until after she had beaten Lancelot half to death.
And so...
"Senpai!"
"By my Command Spell, I order you, Mash Kyrielight: beat Lancelot senseless!"
"By my Command Spell..."
"By my..."
That was the great thing about Chaldea's Master: she recovered three Command Spells every day. If she was certain there would be no more major battles today, she could use them without restraint.
As she watched Mash—empowered by three intensified Command Spells and a fury-fueled clarity—gradually overwhelm the Class-swapped Lancelot, Guinevere's mind drifted elsewhere.
Since Command Spells regenerate, could I have Ritsuka use them on me for a few days to max out the Mana capacity of my Replica Holy Sword?
The thought struck her, and Guinevere slapped her forehead. She knew it would work, but she'd realized it too late.
Today, they had sent Gawain and Lancelot into retreat. Tomorrow, or the day after at the latest, they would launch the final assault on New Camelot City.
"Mash, need a hand?" Guinevere called out. "The sooner we kill your dad, the sooner we can go back to sleep!"
The words had barely left her lips when she realized their ambiguity. To Lancelot, at least, they must have sounded dripping with mockery and double meaning.
Even though he had abandoned rational thought, he still remembered that the one using the King of Knights' body was Guinevere.
In his timeline, he had been seduced by Guinevere's beauty. But if Guinevere hadn't seen the King of Knights and Morgan sharing a bed, she wouldn't have had a mental breakdown and sought comfort from him in the first place.
Of course, he and Guinevere had remained close friends in spirit until the very end. Even after the King of Knights' death and Guinevere's retreat to a convent to live out her days, they had never so much as held hands.
But that didn't stop him from believing Guinevere wanted to sleep with Mash.
And for Guinevere—inhabiting the King of Knights' body—to sleep with Mash would be a grave desecration of the King of Knights herself. It would completely violate the absolute loyalty bestowed upon him by his [Inversion].
"ArRRRR..."
He could no longer form human words, yet he still shoved Mash aside and charged at the 'King' with absolute loyalty.
It seemed that, to him, killing the King was the only way to prevent her from being desecrated.
But... Lancelot's choice gave Guinevere the justification she needed to act. Now she could stand tall before Mash and claim she hadn't intentionally stolen her prey.
"This sword is... the Sword of Destined Judgment!"
Having abandoned all thought, his Holy Sword sealed by his Berserker Class, Lancelot took the full force of the Noble Phantasm directly to the face.
A moment later, Mash crouched beside Lancelot's smoking, completely immobile body and poked his cheek with a finger.
"Hey, you idiot dad. You're not dead yet, are you?"