At the fringe of the Counter Force, the Throne of Heroes...
When Guinevere returned to this place, her memories of the journey merging fully into her 'original self,' she couldn't resist rolling over on the plush velvet divan, leaping to her feet, and brandishing the Replica Holy Sword.
In the Throne of Heroes, which existed outside the flow of time, how long would it take Guinevere to master the Return to Simplicity she had witnessed?
The answer eluded her, but she knew that day would come.
Swing, swing. With the Lord of the Throne of Heroes' will, the environment transformed into Camelot City's Training Ground.
Half a day later, the Training Ground reverted to her bedroom:
Chandelier, television, large bathtub...
The television replayed Guinevere's journey, from her summoning by Merlin to her encounter with the Chaldea party. In the time it took her to take a bath, she had only watched this much.
"It's so nice. I wish I could go out and play too."
Normally, the Heroic Spirit summoned is a facet of the true self, a so-called avatar or servant. These avatars typically don't retain memories from their time as servants.
Guinevere could bring back such memories only because she had actively returned to her true self.
Though the avatar and true self are the same person, while the avatar goes out to play, the true self remains confined to the Throne of Heroes, essentially "squatting on the toilet." The loneliness of the true self during this time is undiminished.
"Ah, if only Lia were here..."
"Guinevere, I am here, you know."
After her long life spent confined to the Throne of Heroes, it wasn't until the fierce battles in Fuyuki City that she was summoned for the first time. Guinevere had grown accustomed to solitude and learned to talk to herself.
It was during this long, lonely existence that she first heard another's voice within her own Throne of Heroes.
She looked up, but her gaze drifted back down to her chest, realizing the voice was coming from within her.
In the morning sun, atop the East Village, after returning the Holy Grail, everyone's figures gradually faded away. Guinevere was among the first to vanish, and during the process, she felt no indication that the King of Knights' soul, which had shared her body, was departing.
Was this a glitch? Or was it due to their shared body?
In any case, the King of Knights' soul, mixed within Guinevere's Ruler-class body, returned with her to her Throne of Heroes.
A faint glow materialized before Guinevere, forming the figure of the King of Knights. Still in the bathtub, her body lay fully exposed.
There was no shyness, no evasion. They were familiar partners who had long since shared everything.
Besides, the King of Knights also felt lonely, unable to physically touch Guinevere.
"Tell me," the King of Knights demanded, "you licked Mash's nape, pecked Ritsuka, and kissed the Lion King's forehead—are you tired of me already?!"
"Ah????"
A barrage of questions flooded Guinevere's mind, leaving her utterly bewildered. Then she saw the King of Knights chuckle, paddle over, and pull her into a warm embrace.
Mash and Ritsuka were her juniors, and when they were together, the King of Knights knew perfectly well that Guinevere was teasing them out of affection for her elders.
As for the Lion King...
Regardless, she was still Artoria. At that moment, Guinevere had felt a pang of sympathy for her, unable to resist her longing for Artoria's presence after such a long absence of her elements.
Besides, between the King of Knights and Guinevere, it was actually Guinevere who was actively restraining herself.
To the King of Knights, a pure 'ancient soul', even if things were to become...
"Guinevere, I wasn't entirely joking earlier. You're the one who made me this way, the one who made me possessive of you. You're the one who scolded me for not caring when you talked to Lancelot, so... if you were serious, I really would... well, I don't even know what I'd actually do."
The King of Knights' vulnerability and tenderness were reserved solely for Guinevere's eyes. Yet the King of Knights needed no comforting from Guinevere; as a 'vise' who could match Guinevere fifty-fifty, she would only crush any such sentiment before it could rise.
But the moment their lips touched, the ripples in Guinevere's heart smoothed out. She knew no further explanation was needed; their mutual trust remained absolute.
Afterward, the war raged on, the battlefield shifting endlessly. Yet because this was Guinevere's true form, and this place was also her Throne of Heroes, she ultimately secured an 'easy' victory.
On the velvet bed, they lay as always, fingers intertwined, gazing up at the 'sky.' Once time had smoothed over the war's lingering scars, they finally discussed what came next.
Guinevere's greatest gain from this Singularity was undoubtedly the teachings of First Hassan. The King of Knights' greatest acquisition, on the other hand, was the memories of the Lion King.
She needed to transfer these memories, along with those she had observed within Guinevere's mind, to her true self.
"We're not professional Mages, so we can't guarantee a perfect memory transfer. Besides, I don't want you to leave. Lia, just stay here with me..."
"I never said I wouldn't."
Having witnessed Guinevere's fierce determination earlier, the King of Knights knew she wouldn't let her go. After experiencing Guinevere's millennia of solitude, the King of Knights couldn't bear to leave Guinevere's original self alone either.
With this mutual understanding established, they next agreed on a method for transferring the memories.
The plan was for the King of Knights to share her memories with Guinevere. When Guinevere was summoned by her Caster counterpart, she would carry these memories down to her and pass them on to the King of Knights by Caster's side.
On the large bed, it took them some time to sort out the details and figure out how to share the memories. They even encountered a few minor difficulties along the way.
But because the Throne of Heroes existed outside the linear flow of time, they ultimately succeeded.
For example, starting now, the 'TV screen' would no longer show Guinevere's perspective but would instead display the Lion King's memories acquired by the King of Knights.
Meanwhile, in the present world...
Before Ruler-class Guinevere returned, she used the Rainbow Gem to notify her Caster self.
Thus began the Proper Human History timeline where Guinevere rescued the King of Knights.
In London, within the Clock Tower, Guinevere was conversing with Merlin, her gaze fixed on her elder sister Morgan, who stood poised to initiate the summoning ritual.
Meanwhile, in the Pendragon family's Magecraft Workshop, Mordred watched the summoning array with anticipation, her hand clasped tightly in her father's.
Heroic Spirit Summoning, unsupported by the Holy Grail System, was a form of Grand Magecraft. Even maintaining Mordred's existence after her summoning required the Clock Tower to settle their substantial debt to the Pendragon family, allowing them to sustain her existence and commission a top-tier automaton body from a renowned puppeteer on her behalf.
Mordred's successful summoning, however, demonstrated that Heroic Spirit Summoning outside the Holy Grail System posed no challenge to Merlin or Morgan.
This time was different. Regardless of the Class Guinevere was summoned into, she only needed to share her memories and return to the Throne of Heroes with the Caster's newly acquired knowledge.
Soon, the Heroic Spirit Summoning was completed without incident. Shortly afterward, the fusion of the two Guineveres proceeded smoothly. Soon after that, the memories from the King of Knights' perspective were shared with her present self.
"Lia, are you going to get angry this time too?"
"Guinevere, do you think I'm foolish enough to get angry over the same thing twice?"
Despite gaining an extra set of memories, they experienced no confusion regarding their identities.
Fueled by these newly acquired memories, they rushed to the Training Ground, eager to clash their Holy Swords against each other.