"Spirit Tomb Albion?"
Hearing this familiar name, Albion, Souya's thoughts immediately spun, and he quickly recalled the information associated with this term.
Spirit Tomb Albion. Albion was the name of the place, and Spirit Tomb was its designation.
Souya had learned about this place long ago, back when he was an Executor.
In the modern era, Spirit Tomb Albion had long been discovered and claimed by the Clock Tower, one of the three major organizations of the Mage's Association.
Its specific location existed beneath the British Museum. It was an enormous labyrinth referred to by magi as a 'Non-Human Makyo' (Demonic Realm), and a spirit tomb where the corpses and materials of countless Phantasmal Species were buried.
And this location clearly matched the massive karst cave Souya was looking at now.
What Souya didn't expect was that this place—which, in the modern era, would be impossible for him to enter even if he became a powerful figure in the Holy Church—was easily accessed by the Vile King in Britain several hundred years ago.
Since he now knew this was Spirit Tomb Albion, combined with Vortigern's words and the information he possessed...
In an instant, Souya understood what Vortigern wanted to show him and what his ultimate plan was.
Sure enough, after continuing to follow Vortigern through various passages, they finally arrived at the deepest part of the Spirit Tomb Albion.
And here lay a behemoth that occupied the entire passage. To be precise, it was the corpse of a behemoth.
Even though it was now dead, and half of its body had rotted and withered, Souya still recognized its identity at a glance.
A dragon. A giant dragon. Just as described in mythology, it was massive and beautiful. Its neatly arranged scales and body looked like the creation of an angel, yet its ferocious dragon head and jagged wings seemed to be the handiwork of a devil.
Although it had died and decayed, and its posture remained as it was before death—like a large dog digging in the dirt—this still didn't stop Souya from marveling at its wonder and the greatness poured into it by the Creator.
Of course, compared to the Dragon of Albion from Pan-Human History that Souya was seeing now, more people were actually familiar with its other form.
In the British Lostbelt, Fairy Britain, she was one of the three Fairy Knights, given the name of Knight Lancelot by the Fairy Savior Morgan: the Fairy Knight Lancelot, also known as the Grand-Class Dragon, Melusine, who loved eating 'children' (Gudao/Gudako).
However, compared to the cute and adorable Fairy Knight Lancelot, Souya truly couldn't associate the dragon corpse before him with her.
Looking at Souya, who was staring blankly at the giant dragon's corpse, Vortigern smiled slightly and spoke.
"How is it? Shocking, isn't it? The first time I saw it, I was just like you."
"It is indeed very shocking."
Hearing this, Souya snapped out of his chaotic thoughts and instinctively nodded.
He then asked Vortigern:
"So, your ultimate goal is to rely on this Dragon of Albion to consolidate the Age of Gods?"
Souya still remembered that in his second deduction, Vortigern's method of preserving the Age of Gods was to use Magecraft to turn Albion's corpse into a medium, sinking it into the Inner Sea of the Planet to obtain an endless supply of True Ether to preserve Britain's Age of Gods.
Looking at the leylines spread all around, Souya mostly knew how the Vortigern in the deduction transported True Ether to all of Britain.
So, was Vortigern's choice this time still the same as the deduction?
Just as Souya was secretly speculating, Vortigern shook his head, denying Souya's words.
"No, that method is unfeasible."
His tone was very certain, as if he had seen the failure of that plan with his own eyes.
"A Magecraft formation is ultimately just a Magecraft formation. A slight amount of damage could render all our efforts vain. It simply cannot last as long as envisioned. Furthermore..."
At this point, Vortigern paused, and his gaze toward Albion gained an extra layer of sentiment.
"The dragon has already paid enough. While alive, because of its attachment to Britain, it missed the opportunity to return to the Reverse Side of the World, ultimately dying of exhaustion in the earth's crust. After its death, more than half of its corpse turned into nourishment, barely sustaining the Britain of today."
"As a being of the Age of Gods like itself, even if I am forced to use it, I want to do so in the most decent and dignified manner possible."
"...I understand."
Listening to Vortigern's narrative in silence, Souya nodded gently.
"Then, Your Excellency Vortigern, you should also tell me exactly what your plan for preserving the Age of Gods is, what your purpose in bringing me here is, what you want me to do, and what role I am to play in your plan."
With that, Souya stood in place, quietly gazing at Vortigern's back, waiting for his answer.
And the latter naturally had no intention of hiding it from him anymore.
"Of course, Lamorak. Having seen all this, I believe you will not disappoint my expectations."
Vortigern smiled and nodded. Then, right in front of Souya, he waved his right hand in the air.
The next moment, the space in front of Vortigern distorted instantly. Following that, a silver-white lance with a peculiar design slowly appeared in his hand.
"Since preserving the Age of Gods goes against the general trend of the world, to achieve this goal, we naturally need something that can oppose the Will of the World, something that is itself a pin anchoring the rules of the world."
"This is..."
Feeling the familiar aura emanating from the lance, Souya's gaze instantly sharpened.
It was the same aura of the World's End as the pseudo-Holy Lance Morgan had given him, but without a doubt, the one in Vortigern's hand was definitely the genuine article.
"It seems my niece truly cares about you, to have even told you about the Anchor of the Planet."
Detecting the emotion in Souya's eyes, Vortigern couldn't help but smile and tease him.
"Looking at it this way, I can safely entrust her to you, my niece-in-law."
However, Souya currently had no energy to pay attention to Vortigern's teasing. Because the moment the latter brought out the Holy Lance, the long-absent system notification sound rang in his mind.
[Ding! The status 'Gaze of the Goddess' has been activated, evolving into → Skill 'Rhongomyniad's Recognition'.]
Before Souya could react, an emotionless female voice echoed in his mind again.
"Finally, I have waited for you."
In the next instant, under Vortigern's astonished gaze, the Rhongomyniad he had been tightly gripping in his hand instantly turned into a beam of light, slipping out of his grasp. Then, in front of everyone's eyes, it fell into Souya's hand. Its form also changed from the previous lance into a platinum-colored long spear.
"If I said I didn't know anything and didn't do anything, would you believe me?"
Looking at the platinum spear transmitting benevolent fluctuations in his hand, Souya's mouth twitched again, feeling a bit of a toothache.
Vortigern's gaze remained fixed on him, saying nothing.
After a long while, just as Souya was about to ignore Rhongomyniad's will and return it to Vortigern, the latter seemed to suddenly let go of it, revealing a helpless smile.
"Never mind. It seems I truly underestimated you, Lamorak."
"Your Excellency Vortigern..."
The old man waved his hand at Souya, signaling him not to mind, then smiled and said:
"Actually, whether the Anchor of the Planet is in your hands or mine makes no difference. As long as you can hurl it when the time comes to open the passage left by Albion, that will be enough."
Hearing this, Souya was instantly stunned.
But before Souya could ask a question, Vortigern's next sentence instantly made the young knight stand at attention.
"But this works out perfectly. According to my plan, you were supposed to go undercover in Arthur's Knights of the Round Table anyway. Now that you have obtained Rhongomyniad's recognition and even changed its shape, I imagine you won't look out of place among the Holy Sword Wielders gathered in the Knights of the Round Table."