"Before that, I want to ask you two a question: do you want to join my army and hand the Holy Grail over to me? That way I can treat you as friends, and then you can share with me the joy of conquering the world." Worthy of the King of Conquerors—he delivered an incomparably domineering declaration to Artoria and Diarmuid, who stood on either side of him.
But as heroic spirits themselves, though they were shocked by the King of Conquerors' bold proclamation, there was absolutely no way they would submit to conquest.
One was the foremost warrior of Ireland's Fianna knights, and the other was the King of England.
Diarmuid only shook his head lightly. "Forgive me, but I cannot accept your proposal. I will only hand the Holy Grail to the lord to whom I have sworn loyalty."
Then his gaze sharpened dramatically. "And that person will absolutely not be you, RIDER."
"Are you interrupting my duel with LANCER just for this nonsense? As a knight, this is an insult I cannot accept." Artoria frowned.
For her, what she could never let go of was this: when she was young, her sword in the stone was broken because she violated chivalry during a duel. That matter had always haunted her.
For a knight, a duel between knights is sacred beyond anything else. The King of Conquerors' behavior was nothing less than an insult to knighthood.
The King of Conquerors scratched his head, not understanding, and asked tentatively, "Is it because the待遇 isn't good enough?"
"Enough!" x2
"No matter what king you are, as the King of Britannia, I will never submit to you." As expected, Artoria ultimately couldn't hold back and revealed her identity.
Since you announced yourself openly, I also disdain taking advantage. That is a knight's pride.
"Wow, the King of Britannia—amazing. I didn't expect the famous King of Knights to be a little girl like this."
That line clearly hit Artoria's anger.
"Then, King of Conquerors, do you want to try the sword in this little girl's hand?" As she spoke, Artoria raised the holy sword wrapped in the wind barrier toward the King of Conquerors.
"Ah, what a shame. Negotiations broke down." The King of Conquerors rubbed his head with a look of regret.
At this moment, Waver sitting beside him was internally broken.
So here comes the question: calculate the area of the shadow in Waver's heart at this moment.
Sigh... is this idiot really someone who conquered the world? Crouched on a rooftop, Kiritsugu had even lost the desire to snipe him.
Even if I leave him alone, the Holy Grail probably won't be taken by a guy like this... probably.
"I was wondering who it was—who stole my Holy Relic... so it was you, Waver." Kayneth's voice boomed across the entire area, amplified by magecraft.
Originally he planned to stay hidden and observe, but Waver's appearance made it impossible for him to hold back.
As a homeroom teacher, Kayneth was Waver's shadow from his student days no matter what. Or rather, every homeroom teacher is the shadow of students' school days.
Just as student Waver was trembling under the threat of his homeroom teacher, the King of Conquerors spoke up in rebuttal. The King of Conquerors declared: only I get to bully my wife.
Wife-protecting maniac online.
Yeah—Alexander Iskandar is the type who's into both men and women, no restrictions.
"Hey, listen! There are other people here too, peeping at everything from the shadows. Heroic spirits summoned for the Holy Grail—gather here! Any coward still afraid to show his face at this point will inevitably be humiliated by me, Iskandar, King of Conquerors."
Who says the Conqueror King has no brain? Who says his IQ isn't enough? This move was an openly upright stratagem.
Aside from Assassin, any heroic spirit class with pride wouldn't ignore this. They aren't like magi—indeed, for some heroic spirits, honor is even more important than life.
"Sorry... to interrupt, everyone. I've actually been here this whole time, since earlier." Meruem's figure suddenly appeared beside the group. Before he spoke, not a single person there had noticed him.
"What? Since when?" Everyone present was shocked by Meruem's sudden appearance.
"Maiya... did you notice him just now?" Holding a sniper rifle, Kiritsugu felt a flicker of unease when he saw Meruem. What terrified him even more was that when he looked at Meruem through the scope, Meruem actually smiled at him.
He noticed me.
"Not at all." Not only Kiritsugu—Maiya Hisau also felt a bad premonition the moment she saw Meruem.
This display by Meruem was the highest-level application of "Zetsu" and hiding one's aura—more sophisticated even than Assassin's Presence Concealment.
That's why many abilities can't be shown with stats.
"Fancy seeing you again, Madam~" Meruem gave Irisviel a very gentlemanly bow.
Irisviel stared at Meruem in shock. "It's you... I didn't expect you to be a Servant too. Then that girl—"
"Shh." Meruem put a finger to his lips, signaling Irisviel not to continue that topic.
Meanwhile, Artoria looked at Meruem with an "as I thought" expression. So my intuition wasn't wrong—this man really is not simple.
But although Meruem's entrance was startling, someone else entered in an even flashier way, drawing everyone's gaze.
A burst of golden light flashed, and Goldie Gilgamesh—wearing treasure-armor like "golden saint cloth"—made a dazzling entrance.
"Wretches who dare call yourselves kings behind my back—two have come out in a single night. The only one who can truly be king, above heaven and below, is me alone. The rest are mongrels pretending to be something they're not."
Yeah—only those standing on a streetlamp can be called kings.
"Such a big mouth. Then state your name first." If the Conqueror King's words made people think he was an idiot, then Goldie's words only made people angry. Even the usually bold King of Conquerors spoke with clear irritation.
"A mere mongrel dares question me?" Countless Noble Phantasms appeared out of thin air, and the space behind Goldie rippled like a disturbed surface of water.
Gate of Babylon!
Conqueror King: I just wanted to ask who you are—why are you already getting ready to fight?
"It's nothing more than a mere king of Sumer... heh. 'Above heaven and below, I alone am supreme'? You?" At that extremely tense moment, Meruem's voice—dripping with sarcasm—rang out.
"You're just someone with two-thirds divine blood, not even a god, and yet you're this arrogant... aren't you afraid the wind will be so strong it'll throw out your back?"
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