Three days later, when Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash returned with Arash, they keenly noticed that the atmosphere between Daniel, Da Vinci, and Sanzang had become very strange.
But the two of them couldn't very well ask the parties involved directly, so they took a roundabout approach, trying to get information from Hassan-i-Sabbah and Serenity.
As for Bedivere... he was a knight and didn't gossip behind people's backs.
As it turned out, Hassan-i-Sabbah knew a bit of the inside story but chose to be a man of mystery.
Serenity knew nothing at all, her ignorant look being even more bewildered than Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others.
"Why did you take so long to get back?" Daniel, whose foot injury was mostly healed, came up to Fujimaru Ritsuka and asked in confusion. "Looking at you, it doesn't seem like the talks with the Sun King fell through."
"Uh, of course they succeeded," Fujimaru Ritsuka replied in confusion. "But it's a long journey. A round trip in three days is already us rushing back as fast as possible."
"Wait, a round trip!" Daniel looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka in shock. "Don't tell me you forgot that I mentioned Nitocris has a method for spatial movement?"
"Couldn't you just ask her to send you back?"
"...We really did forget." Fujimaru Ritsuka froze for a moment, then clutched his head with a face full of regret. "We actually wasted a day and a half for nothing."
"In that day and a half, the Holy City had another day and a half to arrange its layout."
"It's alright." Da Vinci came to Fujimaru Ritsuka's side and patted his shoulder. "Because according to Daniel, as long as the First Old Man of the Mountain doesn't make a move to kill that Lion King, we have no chance of winning against her."
"The goal is only one: support Bedivere to reach the Lion King and let him fulfill his mission of returning the Holy Sword to the Lio—no, King Arthur."
"The purpose of uniting the Sun King and the Mountain Village is also just to keep the Knights of the Round Table and the Purification Knights too busy to block us."
"So, it doesn't matter how complex or difficult the opponent's layout is, because we have many allies behind us."
"That's right, just as Da Vinci said, Senpai, please cheer up," Mash added from the side.
"That being said, the Sun King and Nitocris definitely won't act directly," Daniel said, stroking his chin. "Besides sending troops to assist us, the most they'll do is use the energy of the Great Temple to help us open a large gate in the walls of the Holy City so we can charge in."
"Tristan has already been taken out by me, Lancelot has joined us, and now only Gawain, Mordred, and Agravain remain within the Knights of the Round Table."
"Gawain is an opponent none of us can face head-on, so he must be left to Lancelot."
"Mordred... Sanzang, you and Arash will team up to face her." Daniel looked at Sanzang with some unease. "If the two of you team up, although defeating Mordred still won't be easy, you shouldn't have to risk your lives anymore. So, I hope to see everyone gathered together again at the end."
A team-up of two self-destruct heroes should be able to take on Mordred, right?
"As for Agravain, his combat power isn't very strong, but the most terrifying thing about him is his willpower." Daniel frowned. "That guy will fight like his life doesn't matter to fulfill the Lion King's orders; he might even have the ability to kill Lancelot at the cost of his own life. So... Hassan-i-Sabbah, Serenity, you who are skilled in assassination and harassment and won't fight them head-on should be fine."
"As for the final Lion King... I will face her Holy Spear head-on. Da Vinci, provide long-range support and try not to let me die within two or three moves—I can't tank the attacks that Mash's shield will have to counter... Bedivere, you have only one thing to do: find the right moment, wake King Arthur, and return the Holy Sword to her."
"For our operation, we must be prepared for the possibility that the First Old Man of the Mountain will not intervene."
"Yes!" No one had any objections to the combat distribution Daniel provided.
Compared to the movie, the Knights of the Round Table were missing Tristan, while their side had an incomplete Gareth and an Arash who hadn't sacrificed himself early.
But even so, their combat power was still spread thin.
"Please, don't die." While everyone else went to make pre-battle preparations, Daniel looked up at the ceiling and murmured to himself.
These words were meant for everyone, but also for himself.
He was currently incredibly terrified of the near-hellish difficulty of the combat power comparison they were about to face.
If he made one mistake, he really would die.
Did he really have the courage to die for a world that had nothing to do with him?
Daniel didn't know, but knowing himself, if it really came to that... he might actually use the Wanderer to run away at the critical moment.
So... "Please don't die, everyone."
The war was about to begin!
The Mountain People, the Sun King's army, and an allied force of several Sphinxes now faced the Holy City in the middle of the nearby desert with solemn expressions.
Outside the Holy City, Gawain stood alone at the main gate, holding his Holy Sword, waiting in full readiness.
"He doesn't intend to keep us all here by himself, does he?" The leader of the Sun King's army didn't have a direct impression of Gawain's combat power, so he was somewhat puzzled.
"Without a doubt, if he wanted to, he would have that ability," Daniel replied with a heavy expression.
Unless the two self-destruct heroes took him down with them, no one present could really defeat him.
However, there was still a way; Lancelot was on his way.
He would be the best candidate to stop Gawain.
But before that...
Daniel took a deep breath and then walked toward Gawain.
Sanzang and Da Vinci shared a silent look and stopped Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash, who wanted to follow.
This had been agreed upon from the start.
Before the battle began, Daniel would step forward to talk.
This was to stall for time and give Lancelot a chance to arrive as quickly as possible.
"It's been a few days. Seeing you still in fine form puts my mind at ease," Daniel stopped about a dozen meters away from Gawain and opened with meaningless small talk.
A hint of sorrow appeared in Gawain's eyes.
"Likewise."
It was so concise it could have ended the conversation right there.
This guy really doesn't know how to talk!
"A few days ago, when the three Knights of the Round Table—Agravain, Mordred, and Tristan—launched a surprise attack on the Mountain Village..."
Gawain's expression suddenly tightened.
"It must have been you, who remained in the Holy City, who dissuaded the Lion King, right?"
"What do you mean by that?" Gawain asked, staring at Daniel expressionlessly.
"I don't think the Lion King lacks the means to destroy the Mountain Village from a distance," Daniel replied. "Furthermore, Agravain must have advised the Lion King before setting out that if their mission failed, she should use that kind of long-range strike to completely destroy the village."
"Why do you think so?" Gawain asked.
However, Daniel wasn't sure which aspect he was asking about.
Was it why he knew Agravain had given such advice?
How did he know the Lion King possessed a means of long-range strikes?
And why would he think it was he who dissuaded the Lion King?
"Because the First Old Man of the Mountain exists within the mountain village." Daniel decided to steer the topic toward his own line of thinking; he had to be the one leading by the nose.
"You should all be aware of how terrifying that First Old Man of the Mountain is."
Gawain's face was as heavy as water.
"If that personage decided to fight, even the Lion King could not guarantee a clean escape, let alone the Knights of the Round Table, who are weaker than the Lion King..."
Gawain did not answer.
But a lack of response was an answer in itself.
The Lion King was the one who reached this conclusion, and the King's words were surely correct.
Therefore, even Agravain did not refute the threat to the Holy City posed by the First Old Man of the Mountain's terrifying combat power, as stated by the Lion King at the time.
On the contrary, since then, he had been diligently searching for the First Old Man of the Mountain's hiding place, intending to use the Lion King's great power to crush him out of the game before he could make a decision.
"Did you come before me just to say these things?" After a long silence, Gawain looked at Daniel with a gloomy expression and asked.
"...Gawain, I wonder how the true King Arthur would feel if she knew what you all have done in this Singularity." Daniel's sudden words caused Gawain's expression to change.
A never-before-seen expression of gritted teeth appeared on his face.
"With her personality, she would likely take all the blame upon herself. After all, even when Lancelot did such things, she still did not blame Lancelot, but instead believed the one in the wrong... was herself."
Daniel's words caused Gawain's face to shift like a changing opera mask.
It was Daniel's final sentence that caused a look of despair to surface on his face.
"Thus, she became a Heroic Spirit, fighting against heroes of various eras to seize the Holy Grail and fulfill that wish to 'return to the past and change the future where I became King'."
"Under the efforts of all of you, she has transformed from a young person who 'would still become King even knowing the future of destruction' into a lingering breath that thinks 'if the one who became King wasn't me, Camelot might have had a better future'."
"No, it wouldn't be like that..." The look of despair on Gawain's face could no longer be suppressed.
"This is what I have seen in almost all parallel worlds: the choice and regret of King Arthur, Artoria, in the Holy Grail Wars hundreds of years later."
"She has already begun to feel that her becoming King was the cause of Camelot's destruction."
"Impossible, impossible..." Gawain muttered incessantly.
"Turn back and look up again at that Lion King," Daniel reminded him. "After despairing, she could not resist the divinity of the Holy Spear; thus, her former humanity was extinguished to the point that even Bedivere is forgotten."
"The current her is the Divine Spirit Lion King, not the King Arthur you knew and served... you are all well aware of this, aren't you?"
"So, Kay and the others chose to raise their weapons against the Lion King, while you chose to betray the past and swing slaughtering weapons at your former companions."
"Because of your own guilt, you made the same choice as the Artoria who 'wanted to give up being King'."
"Shut up—!" Gawain went berserk!
With a distorted face, he no longer possessed his former elegance and nobility.
"Excalibur Galatine—!"
"Lord Camelot—!"
Just as Gawain released his Noble Phantasm in a frenzy, intending to kill Daniel, a city wall slammed down from high above, blocking Gawain's attack.
"Galahad..." Looking at that brilliant, dazzling wall with somewhat vacant eyes, Gawain's heart recoiled slightly.
One of only two Knights of the Round Table who did not respond to the King's summons.
"My name is Mash Kyrielight, the one entrusted with the will of Sir Galahad, arriving! Now, it is time to purge the impurity of the Round Table!"
"The impurity... of the Round Table?" Gawain covered his face with one hand, his exposed features filled with pain and despair. "Have we already become the impurity of the Round Table? We are impure!"
The spirit core within Gawain began to grow increasingly violent and rampant.
"Mr. Daniel, what on earth did you say? To actually force Sir Gawain, who always maintained a noble and elegant posture, to such an extent?" Mash once again gained a new understanding of Daniel's eloquence.
"Don't talk nonsense! It has nothing to do with me! I don't know anything!" Daniel defended himself somewhat flusteredly. "I just wanted to have a chat with Gawain, I didn't expect him to be so bad at chatting!"
"I think you'd better shut up." Da Vinci and Sanzang also landed lightly beside Mash. "That mouth of yours really can provoke people to death sometimes."
"So, the plan failed? Do we need to change our formation on the fly?"
"No, it shouldn't be necessary. The person we've been waiting for has arrived."
Amidst the flying dust, a warhorse and a knight in purple armor were faintly visible.
"Lancelot! You bastard, are you going to rebel against the King again!" Gawain glared at the figure in the dust with a distorted face and shouted loudly, "Just how many times do you have to rebel before you're satisfied!"
Lancelot's warhorse stopped not far from Gawain. Seeing the uncontrollable unease and rage on his old friend's face, Lancelot raised an eyebrow and glanced at Daniel with a hint of fear.
This man's tongue is truly poisonous!
"Shut up, Sir Gawain! I am not the only one rebelling against the King this time; you all are as well!"
"The knights loyal to the King were long ago slain by us, the sinners of the Round Table! All of you who remain here with your sense of self, including me, are the impurity of the Round Table!"
"However, I have repented! At this moment, Lancelot, in the name of Lancelot, Knight of the Lake of the Knights of the Round Table under King Arthur, shall rebel against you to correct our errors!"
Sir Gawain was dumbfounded.
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