"Hahaha, 'I am who I am,' huh? That truly is a decent answer. However, when you truly face a choice, these questions will all take on meaning."
Lia looked very happy, sitting on the high throne, maintaining that elegant posture unique to a queen, looking down at Jean just like that.
Being stared at by such a gaze, that inexplicable feeling of displeasure in Jean's heart appeared once again.
Arrogance? Contempt? Possessiveness? Her mind kept pondering why she felt displeased by this scene.
"You want this Holy Grail, don't you?" Lia raised the Holy Grail in her hand.
"Then I'll give you a chance."
The twelve temples surrounding them lit up one after another, and then twelve girls of various forms appeared in front of the temples.
"Welcome to my Holy City, and welcome to my back garden."
Although their genders were inconsistent with her memories, it was still possible to tell that these people were indeed those famous Round Table Knights of Favonius.
"Before you are my family, my lovers, my treasures—the lovable princesses abducted by this dragon of mine."
Hearing Lia's words, some knights' faces flushed with shy blushes, some proudly puffed out their chests, and only Mordred curled her lip, though she still looked quite happy.
Damn, I'm jealous.
What kind of dream-filled harem Knights of Favonius is this? This is too much, damn it.
"Defeat them, and you can obtain this Holy Grail. Of course, if you are defeated by them, don't blame me for making you my eternal captive after your defeat."
As she said this, Lia even licked her lips.
Hearing this, Jean tightened her grip on her scabbard, readying herself for battle.
As soon as Lia's voice fell, Mordred had already jumped down impatiently, carrying a greatsword, looking like a street thug, sizing Jean up from top to bottom.
"Hey, newbie, don't resist so much. You'll end up yielding after you suffer a little defeat, anyway."
"Who the hell is a newbie? And why are you talking like you're so experienced? Did you yield back then?"
Jean retorted with a taunt; when it came to trash-talking, anyone who had surfed the internet in the 21st century generally wouldn't have a low rank.
"Shut up, and then go die!"
Mordred brandished her greatsword and slashed towards Jean.
Jean drew White Wind, calmly blocking Mordred's jump slash.
Although the surrounding ground sank a bit from the impact of Mordred's strike, Jean was not affected in the slightest.
In the process of constantly adapting to the Stardust Dragon energy, Jean's physical strength was also constantly increasing; at this moment, in terms of pure physical strength alone, she was no weaker than an adult dragon.
With force from her lower body, she pushed Mordred directly back, while simultaneously quickly closing in on the gap inside her body, concentrating her power, and using the martial art she had just learned from Medea—the Iron Mountain Lean.
The huge impact directly dented Mordred's armor.
At the same time, Jean did not let her off just like that, but instead swung her sword to slash at her before she could regain her footing.
However, Mordred voluntarily threw herself toward the ground, changing her body position, while simultaneously using the momentum to lift her greatsword and attack Jean again.
But Jean was well-prepared, using a reverse-jet wind orb to briefly hover for a second, then aiming carefully and changing the nozzle direction to accelerate into a falling attack.
Seeing she couldn't dodge, Mordred thought quickly, throwing her gauntlet at Jean, then taking the opportunity to run away.
Although Jean cut the gauntlet in two with one slash, she missed her chance, allowing Mordred to put some distance between them.
"Oh ho, to think he could do that. Although these are projections within this Barrier, they possess the same strength as our original bodies. It looks like your title of the strongest in the Round Table Knights of Favonius might not be safe anymore," Kay said with a smile to the purple-haired Lancelot in the neighboring temple.
"I have a premonition that he will not join us. I fear that even death cannot bind him," Lancelot said with a grave expression.
"That is not important. That is what my Lord wants. If she refuses to join, making her into a decorative vase for viewing is also fine." Agravain combed through her pitch-black long hair, saying terrifying words without changing her expression.
The few knights around them all revealed bitter smiles.
They were already somewhat accustomed to the vicious thoughts Agravain usually revealed.
After all, the only one who could make decisions was that King in the middle; they only needed to obey orders.
Only behind Lancelot's palace, a young warrior dressed entirely in purple who looked roughly like an eggplant was shivering as she listened, her mind constantly recalling that orange-haired figure: "Senpai, this place is too scary. Come quickly and save me."
Just as a few people were whispering, Mordred on the battlefield was already retreating steadily.
Whether it was speed, strength, technique, or experience, she had a gap compared to Jean.
If anything, the fact that she had held on for so long was already worth praising.
But because this opponent had a particularly foul mouth and kept spewing all sorts of profanities during the fight, Jean was not prepared to show mercy.
Seeing an opportunity, she delivered a powerful flying kick directly to her abdomen.
Mordred flew backward like a meteor, smashing straight into the temple behind Lia, punching a large hole in the white jade-like wall, with her whole body embedded inside, the kind that you couldn't even pry out.
"The first one!"
Jean pointed her sword at Artoria and declared loudly: "Next, I will defeat them all, and then I will drag you down from that stupid seat. Just wait until I break your pride and make you beg for mercy."
Jean was extremely worked up right now.
She could hear the whispering of those Round Table Knights of Favonius clearly, and coupled with Lia's expression on the stage as if she were watching a monkey show the whole time, the deep displeasure originally in her heart erupted into anger.
Before Lia could speak, Lancelot had already jumped out: "Those who humiliate my King shall die!"
And only then did Lia open her mouth to give the order: "Go together and capture her alive. It seems this little kitten is in need of some heavy subduing."
The order was conveyed, and all the Round Table Knights of Favonius entered the field together.
For them, the spirit of knighthood was not worth mentioning compared to the King's command.
Facing the menacing Round Table Knights of Favonius, Jean felt not a shred of fear in her heart.
She pushed all the power she could muster in her entire body to the limit, while simultaneously activating all the reinforcement magic she had learned from Medea.
All the cells in her entire body were accepting comprehensive reinforcement from various intersecting techniques, while at the same time, all those cells were also enduring the destruction from those same techniques.
Therefore, the massive amount of vitality contained within her body was being endlessly tapped into, all used to enhance and repair cells in order to cope with the damage from the reinforcement.
But this was still not enough—not just the power she possessed, but everything she could draw from this environment.
At this moment, the surface of Jean's body was emitting a blue fluorescent glow.
Absorbing every bit of energy she could draw, and then blooming with all her beauty in an extremely short time—this was the way of existence of the azure spider lily.
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