"It's that exciting box-opening time again."
That day, Artoria Stark mysteriously avoided everyone and entered her secret training area. She took a fierce bath—a milk bath, at that—and then conducted some mysterious incense-burning rituals. It was said that this increased the chances of turning from an 'African' to a 'European,' though it was impossible to verify if such things actually worked. Still, it gave Artoria some comfort. She had obtained three red boxes from Dormammu and had waited until now to open them, specifically to prepare the materials to 'de-Africanize.' Now that she was in a state where no one would disturb her, Artoria could open the boxes with peace of mind.
"I hope I can get some loot this time."
After waiting until she was fully prepared, Artoria entered her sea of consciousness. Looking at the three boxes lined up in a row, Artoria felt slightly excited. It had been a long time since she encountered this stuff, and she was feeling a bit nervous now. The world tree seed she opened last time was completely useless, so she gave it directly to the Ancient One. Now that the Ancient One had gone off to tour the Universe, Artoria didn't plan to ask for it back anyway; it was useless.
"Explode with golden light~!"
She had originally wanted to sacrifice Thor's kidney, but thinking of Frigga, that loving mother, Artoria put aside her malice toward Thor. She quickly clicked to open the three boxes. Amidst Artoria's shouts, the three boxes opened instantly. The light emitted from inside the boxes was too dazzling, and Artoria had to close her eyes. When Artoria opened her eyes, the things in front of her stunned her. There were three items in front of her, but what caught Artoria's attention most was the one in the middle: a cup emitting golden light. The cup appeared to be made of gold and was very luxurious. Artoria could intuitively feel the massive amount of magic power radiating from the cup; it seemed as if the cup in front of her was a magic power generator.
"It can be confirmed that this is the Holy Grail."
The unexpected surprise made Artoria feel her heart beating violently, as if it were about to jump into her throat. Artoria licked her parched lips with her tongue. Such a surprise was simply too unexpected. Artoria hadn't even thought that she, an 'African,' could obtain such a thing. Had she 'de-Africanized'? Calming her excitement slightly, Artoria carefully observed the Holy Grail in front of her. Externally, there wasn't much to it, but now Artoria wanted to know where this Holy Grail was from. If it were that thing from the anime, Artoria reckoned she could throw it into the pool to exchange for a draw. The Holy Grail in the anime was a complete trap, wasn't it! Not to mention whether it could grant wishes.
Just the existence of 'all the worlds evils' was enough to show that if you wanted the Holy Grail, you had to risk the danger of being contaminated. Artoria wasn't that stupid. That Holy Grail in the anime was just something the Three Families used to deceive people. That Holy Grail could only be considered a one-way ticket to the Root, with no return. Basically, it was no different from being dead. The Root wasn't something just anyone could see if they wanted to. With the existence of the two Counter Forces, it was impossible to let an external creature enter it. It would definitely be a situation where the two Counter Forces annihilated the intruder. Therefore, a Magician who wanted to go to the Root was basically looking for Death.
"It would be good if it were one of the seven Holy Grails from the game."
Artoria said with emotion while looking forward to it. The Mage King 'locked the door'... no! Solomon, or rather Goetia, used Demon God Pillars as anchors to burn human history, but left behind the Holy Grails that carried hope. Each Holy Grail had a different function within the Singularities. For example, the one from the Captain could produce fine wine and food, which could satisfy a foodie's ideas to a great extent. But the Holy Grail itself didn't have this ability; it only had it if someone made a wish, and it could manifest based on the wisher's thoughts. The Lion King used the Holy Grail to modify the characteristics of class advantage, which was why Gawain, that glowing boy, was so strong, causing her to waste holy grail stones back then to get through it.
"Make me stronger! Holy Grail."
Facing this Holy Grail, Artoria thought for a long time and finally chose this wish. After all, there were too many gods (cheaters) and immortals (hacks) in this world; she needed to cheat too. As Artoria said these words, the Holy Grail instantly turned into a beam of golden light and entered Artoria's body. Such a miraculous situation made Artoria blink her eyes. The next moment, a powerful pulsation came from Artoria's body. Artoria felt a warm current flowing from the position of her heart to her whole body, which was exceptionally comfortable, like the feeling of sunbathing under the sun.
Although she didn't know if it was caused by the Holy Grail, Artoria felt that she was in no danger at the moment, so she let this feeling be. The next moment, Artoria felt a sense of swelling all over her body. This feeling made Artoria frown. Bringing her consciousness back to her body, Artoria opened her eyes.
"Why has everything around me become smaller?"
The moment she opened her eyes, Artoria's heightened sense of vision kicked in. First, she bumped her head against the ceiling as soon as she looked up. Mind you, she was sitting on the floor, and the distance from the floor to the ceiling was about twenty meters. Seeing her pale body exposed in the air, Artoria's face twitched. Her clothes had been shredded. Fortunately, no one would appear in her current location. The novelty of growing giant had worn off; Artoria now felt that her strength was immense. With a gentle tap of her finger, a large hole appeared in the alloy wall. As her body size changed, the blood flow within Artoria's body accelerated significantly. The movement of her cells alone caused the temperature around Artoria to rise rapidly. Theoretically, Artoria should be suffering from oxygen deprivation, but she didn't feel any discomfort at all.
"I should be able to grow even bigger, but never mind, let me put on my Spirit Attire first."
Silver armor appeared on her body, and Artoria breathed a sigh of relief. In this case, this ability could only be used while wearing the Spirit Attire. Fortunately, the Spirit Attire could change along with her body's size; otherwise, this powerful ability would have to be sealed away. Artoria had no intention of tearing her clothes in front of enemies. If the Spirit Attire didn't work, she would have to use the Symbiote or find materials to make suitable clothing. After putting on the Spirit Attire, Artoria didn't dare to move around, nor did she dare to stand up. Standing up now, Artoria was about forty meters tall; at this height, she would tear right through this place.
"It seems I can shrink, let me try."
This ability is a great one if used well, but a hassle if used poorly, but Artoria seemed to have found the trick. Artoria had guessed this transformation would happen; when she originally made the serum, Artoria had secretly added Pym Particles. It was only now that this ability manifested; it seemed it had been catalyzed by the Holy Grail. Under Artoria's control, her giant form began to slowly shrink. At her previous size, her two large breasts were like two trucks, capable of crushing someone to Death instantly. Fortunately, her strength had also increased, otherwise, Artoria's waist would have suffered. Soon, Artoria returned to her normal size. Looking at the two very round imprints pressed into the ground, Artoria felt a bit embarrassed. "Have I been eating too much lately? Why is my butt so round?"
"Right, there are two other things I haven't looked at!"
Artoria studied her newly acquired ability, having fun growing big and small for a while. But suddenly, Artoria remembered that because the Holy Grail was too dazzling, she had automatically ignored two other items. Thinking of this, Artoria sat on the ground again and entered her sea of consciousness.
"Is this an Archer card? Why is there no character displayed?"
The first thing that caught Artoria's eye was a shimmering golden card. But this card only had a pattern on it and didn't display any specific Heroic Spirit. This made Artoria very curious; how was this supposed to be used? If only it were Gilgamesh's Heroic Spirit card... then Artoria could use Gilgamesh to flirt... ahem!...use Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon. Would she still have to worry about not having enough Noble Phantasms? Thinking of this, Artoria smiled slightly and put the Archer card away.
"What is this? Did I get a double flash?"
Looking at the item in front of her, a happy smile appeared on Artoria's face. This item was too useful for King Arthur. If this thing hadn't been lost, King Arthur wouldn't have died. This was the scabbard of excalibur, Avalon. Artoria reached out and hugged the scabbard with a complex expression on her face. The memories of King Arthur within her Spirit Origin flooded her mind.
"Which do you prefer, the sword or the scabbard?"
Her vision blurred, and Artoria saw a beautiful lake shimmering with golden light. At this moment, a magnificent sword and a plain, unadorned scabbard appeared; this scene was very familiar. Just as Artoria wanted to turn her head to look elsewhere, she discovered that this phenomenon was not under her control. Artoria couldn't control herself at all. Just as Artoria was curious, an old voice suddenly came from the side. He was asking 'herself', and his tone seemed to hold a sense of anticipation. He asked Artoria to choose between the two items in front of her; this scene was too familiar. Artoria knew this was the classic scene involving excalibur and its scabbard.
"The sword, because it is incredibly sharp."
'Artoria' automatically opened her mouth to reply. Facing this situation, Artoria didn't feel any panic. It was as if everything before her had nothing to do with her. In fact, this really had nothing to do with Artoria; these should all be King Arthur's memories. Artoria had simply entered a first-person perspective, personally experiencing this most significant scene for King Arthur. After King Arthur said this, Artoria didn't worry about whether she could return.
"You must know, the value of the scabbard is ten times that of the sword. The bearer of the King of Swords' scabbard will never bleed, so you must protect the scabbard well and carry it with you at all times."
With the exhortation and sigh in Merlin's words, Artoria's consciousness began to blur. When Artoria regained consciousness, she was standing in the secret training room, holding the scabbard. Her consciousness had returned to her own body. This situation didn't cause any emotional fluctuation in Artoria. Artoria was now someone who had seen big things, and she herself was a superhuman existence; it would be inexcusable to be frightened by such a small thing.
"Avalon, now I just need an excalibur."
Artoria placed the scabbard on the ground and looked at the patterns on it, sighing with emotion. She already had excalibur in her hand. This excalibur had no seals and belonged to the category of artifacts that could be fully unleashed directly. If Artoria could get her hands on the Sword of the Lake, she would collect all three of King Arthur's weapons: Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, the Holy Sword excalibur, and she hadn't collected the Sword of the Lake yet. If she borrowed the power of A Knight Does Not Die with Bare Hands, Artoria should be able to wield two weapons with both hands. Whether it was two holy swords or one holy sword and one holy lance, Artoria's strength would become even greater by then.
After sighing for a while, Artoria poured magic power into the scabbard. As the immense magic power was poured in, the golden scabbard began to slowly melt into a ball and gradually merged into Artoria's body. King Arthur had not done this during her lifetime because she didn't value the scabbard enough; she only wore the scabbard on her person, which led to it being stolen. But now it was different; the scabbard, having turned into a Noble Phantasm, could directly merge into Artoria's body. And it wouldn't affect its effects or usage. Artoria had learned this through A Knight Does Not Die with Bare Hands. Moreover, Kiritsugu Emiya had directly placed the scabbard into his wife's body, ensuring her life safety. Artoria's action, at the very least, ensured that the scabbard would not be lost again.
"This feeling is truly wonderful."
When the scabbard's form completely disappeared and merged into Artoria's body, Artoria felt that her body seemed to be protected by some kind of energy. Her whole body was in a warm state, feeling just like soaking in a hot spring; it was extremely comfortable. This made Artoria feel it was quite magical.
"I've got my life-saving item; now I'm no longer afraid of Thanos."
After putting away everything, Artoria commanded the spider robots to begin repairing the ground that had been damaged when she grew giant. After finishing all this, Artoria walked towards the exit. There was nothing else to do now; it was time to leave this place. It wouldn't be good if Gaea and the others discovered she had left. Thinking of Gaea's powerful 'god-killing' cooking, Artoria couldn't help but shiver. This stuff was truly terrifying.
"Artoria, I feel like you've suddenly changed a bit. Is it my imagination?"
When Artoria returned home, she ran straight into Gaea, who was preparing a meal. Looking at Artoria, who was obviously familiar but seemed to have some special changes, Gaea couldn't help but ask. They had only been apart for less than five hours; how had Artoria changed so much? Gaea felt something unusual right now. Although the usual Artoria felt very dignified, a sense of decadence seemed to always be in her bones. But the current Artoria felt even more sacred, with an inviolable, holy aura. This was what made Gaea the most curious.
"That's not true, you're overthinking it."
Facing Gaea's inquiry, Artoria said with a smile. But Artoria's scalp was tingling at this moment. Gaea was indeed worthy of being one of the Old Gods, to be able to sense it right away. The change in herself after obtaining the scabbard was truly terrifying to the extreme. Fortunately, she was on their side; if Gaea were the leader of the enemy, and given a little time, she would have been able to guess some kind of change in Artoria. Unfortunately, Gaea had long had an intuitive understanding of the concept of privacy. She didn't usually delve too deeply into other people's actions, or rather, she had no interest in anyone else at all. Only Artoria could make her so infatuated.
"Rest for a while; I'm preparing soup for everyone."
Since Artoria had said there was nothing wrong, Gaea didn't intend to pursue the matter to the end. She revealed a happy smile, uncovered the casserole on the side, and said to Artoria. But this smile appeared so sinister in Artoria's eyes. When Gaea lifted the lid of the casserole, Artoria clearly saw a mass of black gas rising, corroding a large hole in the ceiling. There seemed to be thousands of painful human faces in the black gas, twisting and roaring. Such a scene made Artoria's eyes widen. Good heavens, the power of this 'god-killing' cooking seems to have upgraded again.
"Mordred, where is she? I want to see her."
The smile on Artoria's face instantly stiffened. She said to Gaea, changing the subject. Artoria felt her legs shaking. If this so-called'soup' were drunk by someone, it would definitely be a one-way ticket to the underworld. If it were even stronger, it might even cause one's soul to scatter. Artoria's smile was very strained. She asked Gaea where Mordred was. She didn't want to stay by Gaea's side at all right now. It would be troublesome if Gaea made Artoria taste it.
Fortunately, Gaea didn't think too much about it and directly told Artoria where Mordred was. Artoria left Gaea's presence immediately; she was terrified right now. Who on earth was managing the kitchen and hadn't stopped Gaea's 'murderous' behavior? Thinking this, Artoria walked to the living room. But the next second, Artoria was stunned.
"My God! What on earth is this? Don't tell me this is the milk for the baby."
Walking to the living room, Artoria saw the'sleeping' Mordred lying quietly in the cradle. This was originally a cute scene that would make one's lips curl up. But coupled with the indescribable liquid inside the 'baby bottle' emitting an eerie aura next to her, it left Artoria speechless. Artoria looked at the'sleeping' Mordred with loving eyes. Encountering such a mother, the most important thing was indeed to be careful not to be poisoned by her.
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