Artoria's fists clenched so tightly that her joints audibly cracked.
Her delicate and flawless face, beautiful like a doll sculpted by the gods themselves, trembled slightly with rage, while the absurd pressure released from her body made even the surrounding air vibrate. The King of Knights' irritation had already surpassed its limit a long time ago.
"Mordred...!"
Her voice came out low, heavy, and dangerous.
"Believe it or not, I'm going to rip this hair limiter off my head right now, transform into Artoria Alter, and fire Excalibur into your face several times in a row!"
If Avalon hadn't disappeared God knows where, she would have stopped worrying about mana consumption a long time ago.
After all...
If it was only a succession of Anti-Army Noble Phantasm blasts...
Then she could do that too!
Artoria was sincerely beginning to miss that invincible sheath.
Avalon.
Her precious Avalon.
In that cold and cruel world, only Avalon could give her a true sense of security.
Unfortunately...
What didn't exist still didn't exist.
And on the other side of the battlefield, Mordred had already completely entered a state of ecstasy.
"Keep taking my Clarent, father! No... Artoria Pendragon!"
Red lightning once again wrapped around the brilliant Clarent countless times. Crimson bolts surged into the sky like furious serpents, making every spectator feel their scalps go numb.
At that moment, many people seriously began suspecting that someone was undergoing a heavenly tribulation.
More specifically...
A cultivator named Artoria, continuously being struck by the Thunder Tribulation called Mordred.
How much longer could Artoria continue resisting?
No one knew.
But the spectators were already starting to feel emotionally numb just from watching.
Although everyone was shocked that the King of Knights was still standing, they also realized something else.
Artoria was waiting.
Silently waiting for an opening.
Waiting for the exact moment to kill Mordred in a single strike.
"Guh... endure... wait... not yet..."
Artoria's green eyes gleamed dangerously.
"Keep advancing, Mordred. Keep getting arrogant... reveal a flaw... just one!"
In her eyes, Mordred was like an overinflated pufferfish.
All it would take was a single precise strike.
One single puncture.
And all that arrogant momentum would instantly explode.
Unfortunately...
Artoria's idea looked beautiful on paper.
But there was one enormous problem.
Before she could even find Mordred's weakness...
Her blood pressure was about to explode first.
"CLARENT!!"
"..."
"Clarent! Clarent! Clarent! Clarent!"
"Don't get angry... don't get angry..."
"You can't even zip up your own pants—!"
Artoria finally exploded.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T ZIP UP MY PANTS?!"
Boom!
The aura around her erupted violently.
"I'VE BEEN PUTTING UP WITH YOU FOR A LONG TIME, YOU TRAITOR!"
Her royal composure had finally vanished.
And honestly?
It wasn't hard to understand why.
The rebellious child in front of her had the exact same face as her own, wielded a sword specifically created for her... and was even using a Noble Phantasm with a name that felt tailor-made to attack her emotionally.
It was simply psychological warfare.
Artoria almost wanted to scream:
"I WEAR FULLY SEALED COMBAT CLOTHING! THERE IS NO ZIPPER TO OPEN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU TROUBLESOME CHILD?!"
At that moment, even the spectators fell silent.
Including Leon.
Everyone thought exactly the same thing.
What a hellish rebellious daughter.
The title of Knight of Rebellion truly wasn't just for decoration.
Thank God she's not my daughter.
From that moment onward, the nature of the duel completely changed.
This was no longer a solemn battle to decide the future ruler of Britain.
It had transformed into a gigantic family argument accompanied by military-scale domestic violence.
"That's enough! I can't take this anymore!"
Artoria roared.
"Then take my Excalibur!"
Golden light erupted once more.
This time, even brighter than before.
The colossal golden torrent surged forward like a divine tsunami and brutally collided against Mordred's Noble Phantasm, crushing the red lightning head-on.
The difference between an Anti-City Noble Phantasm and an Anti-Army one was clearly visible.
The destructive power simply wasn't on the same level.
Mordred was instantly blasted away.
However...
Even after flying hundreds of meters while being directly struck by the golden explosion...
She was still alive.
The armor created by Leon and Anis was simply absurd.
Mordred rolled across the ground before finally standing back up.
"Weak power... no impact!"
Grrrrrrr...
Her stomach growled immediately afterward.
Artoria remained silent for a few seconds before responding:
"...That's true. I still haven't eaten."
To the spectators, that blast looked like the final strike of the King of Knights' dignity.
But Leon didn't think so.
Artoria's eyes still remained firm.
The rage inside her continued burning violently.
She wasn't finished yet.
Quite the opposite.
Now she genuinely wanted to teach that rebellious child a lesson.
Excalibur had only been used to push Mordred back and create distance.
The real attack was still coming.
"Hah!"
Artoria made a gigantic leap.
Her body shot dozens of meters into the air like a Valkyrie ascending to the heavens.
At the same time, she raised Rhongomyniad in her right hand.
Leon immediately raised his eyebrows.
"Oh?"
He calmly lifted the refined little telescope he was holding.
"This could be troublesome."
As the person who had personally created Mordred's armor alongside Agnes, he knew perfectly well what it was capable of.
But he also knew its limits.
The Orihalcum metal used in that armor possessed durability close to the concept of "indestructible."
Close.
But not absolute.
And Rhongomyniad...
Was precisely one of the few weapons capable of piercing through that defense.
Golden light completely converged into the Holy Lance.
Artoria looked like a goddess descending from the heavens.
"The light emerging from the edge of the tower is the anchor that connects heaven and earth!"
Her voice echoed throughout the battlefield.
"This strike pierces the stars— Rhongomyniad!"
BOOOOOOM!
A gigantic pillar of light descended from the heavens like a divine column heralding the end of the world.
The entire space itself seemed to tremble.
The ground cracked apart even before the impact occurred.
Leon merely calculated the attack's power mentally.
After that strike...
A gigantic abyss would probably appear in that place.
Unlike Excalibur, which devastated everything in a straight line, Rhongomyniad concentrated overwhelming power into a single point.
Its piercing power was monstrous.
Even Orihalcum could be penetrated.
"Retreat, Mordred!"
"Yes, sir!"
Mordred felt her scalp tingle violently.
It was pure survival instinct.
She knew that if that attack hit her head directly...
Even she would die.
However...
In the very next instant...
Mordred smiled.
An absurdly confident smile appeared on her face.
"Heh... finally."
She raised her hand.
"This was exactly the moment I was waiting for!"
"Activate the counter trap card... Avalon!"
Artoria froze.
"Hah...?"
Her green eyes widened completely.
Because at that moment...
The golden sheath of the Holy Sword appeared before Mordred's chest.
The familiar golden aura of Avalon wrapped around her body.
Artoria became completely stunned.
A-Avalon?!
She nearly lost her royal composure on the spot.
Why the hell does she have my Avalon?!
(End of Chapter)