12 The Usurper King Vortigern

Walking through the cold, empty corridor, Artorius pondered in his mind. In fact, he had long wanted to meet his great-uncle.

However, being on opposing sides, the White Dragon represented the ruthless side of Britain. It was too dangerous to meet him, so Artorius had to suppress that desire.

As for the reason he wanted to meet him, it was for 'cooperation'.

Compared to his mother, who was filled with idealism and emotions for Britain and the Celts, Artorius was more realistic and indifferent.

He knew the future course of history.

King Arthur would be defeated, followed by massive invasions from the Angles and Saxons, eventually occupying large areas of England.

Afterward, there would be the invasion of the Vikings.

And even later, the invasion of William the Conqueror, the illegitimate son of Normandy, representing the Francized Vikings.

The Vikings, Normans, Angles, and Saxons would fight, kill, and assimilate each other on the British Isles, ultimately forming a completely new ethnicity.

The Anglo-Saxons, the first to undergo the Industrial Revolution, would become a terrifying nation that dominated the seven seas, maintaining world hegemony for hundreds of years. In the future, they would establish an upgraded version of Britain, known as the United Kingdom.

The history of Britain was far from over. The most exciting scene was yet to unfold, but it would take thousands of years.

What would truly perish and come to an end were the Celts of Britain.

It was because the 'Mystery' of the world was destined to vanish.

The True Ether of the world would undoubtedly perish.

The Phantasmal Species that could hide had already sought refuge in the Reverse Side of the World, the Inner Sea of the Planet. Those that couldn't hide would naturally be eliminated.

As a result, the 'Ancient Humans', the Celts blessed by True Ether that coexist with Mystery, were also on Gaia's list of extinction.

It was predetermined.

Furthermore, due to the existence of the large-scale security organization known as 'Chaldea', even if Artoria succeeded in saving Britain, this world would become a Singularity or a Lostbelt. Ultimately, it would be judged and annihilated.

This was the will of 'Gaia', the will of the planet. It was an almost insolvable despair.

At least until his other mother arrived, piloting a planet destroyer spaceship, and expanded the situation to the entire galaxy. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the excessive number of evil gods in the Servant Universe, she had no time to deal with Earth's affairs.

And because of that.

'It might be better to integrate with the Saxons. It could be a solution.'

Artorius, who knew the 'future', had always thought this way.

Unless in the future, he possessed planetary-level power, or even power surpassing that. Otherwise, he could only try to save as many people and things as possible while conforming to Counter Force.

There were two ways to integrate. One was passive, and the other was active.

The passive one was akin to the Mongolians, the Jurchens, and the Five Barbarians of ancient China. The active one was comparable to the unification of Qi and the eradication of the Eastern Lai, the subjugation of the Western Rong by the Qin, and the hegemony of Chu in the southern territories.

The key lay in who held the initiative.

For the passive one, after the Battle of Camlann, the entire Celts population in Britain had been weakened to the point of insignificance, allowing them to be completely assimilated with the Saxons by themselves.

Alternatively, one could actively manipulate and control, much like the Usurper King Votigern, and become the leader of the Saxons, taking control of the integration with the Saxons.

The situations and outcomes of the two methods would undoubtedly be different.

'If I remember correctly...'

Yes, if Artorius remembered correctly, according to the 'historical records' he saw in the TYPE-MOON World before his reincarnation, Merlin spoke of the 'inevitable downfall of Britain', and his mother had been shaken to some extent and had actively proposed the method of 'integration'.

However, in the end, Artoria hesitated and wavered. One could even say that she evaded it.

===

'So now the key lies in the heart of my great-uncle.' Artorius thought to himself, 'Is he guiding the Saxons' invasion of Britain out of desire and ambition, or is he preparing to 'save the country through indirect means'?'

If it was the former, then so be it.

But if it was the latter...

Well, even if it was the latter, he still must die.

After all, for the sake of reassuring everyone, his great-uncle's reputation among the Celts had already reached the level of Tohsaka Tokiomi.

For everyone's peace of mind, he must die. Even if what he was doing was right, for the sake of saving Britain.

With this thought in his mind, Artorius stopped in his tracks.

"Artorius?!"

The person who noticed Artorius's arrival was his cousin, Gawain.

In the war between dragons, he, being a mortal, had no chance of getting involved.

'Gawain, are you just going to stand there and watch?' Artorius glanced at his cousin, then ignored his words like, "How did you come here? It's dangerous! and blah blah blah..."

Artorius lifted his head.

In mid-air, his mother was battling a giant white dragon. And the outcome had already been decided when Artorius had just gripped the handle of his sword, Clarent. The radiant light released by the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad pierced through the white dragon in an instant.

And thus, the war between the red and white dragons came to an end.

The massive white dragon, standing tall at the pinnacle of Phantasmal Species, let out a mournful cry as it fell from the sky. Its body gradually shrank during the descent, and when it hit the ground, it had returned to its original form—a spiritually exhausted old man with a face full of sorrow, as if tormented.

"What a fool." Even with such a large knight spear impaled in his chest, the old man didn't die immediately. "O son of my brother, Uther."

Deceived like any other Briton, the old man mistook Artoria for a male.

"You cannot save this country. You are unable to bring victory to humanity."

Like a dying curse, wrinkles suddenly appeared on the old man's face, a final flicker before death.

"Because the Age of Gods has already ended, and True Ether is about to vanish. That's what you want to say, right?"

Behind Artoria, a childish voice came from the mouth of the pretty boy, choking the old man.

"..."

Artoria turned her head in puzzlement, looking at her own son who calmly moved forward, surrounded by two equally young next-generation Knights of the Round Table, Gareth and Galahad.

Artorius ignored his mother, walked past her, and approached the old man. He then crouched down and whispered in his ear.

"Lead the Saxons and do intermarriage to integrate with them. Cooperate with the Romans, transforming the Kingdom of Britain into a Roman-Britain Province. Then, march onto the Roman continent, vie for the throne, and rebuild the Roman Empire. What do you think of this plan... my dear great-uncle?"

After saying these words, Artorius stood back and looked at Vortigern.

This plan went further than his, Vortigern Pendragon's plan. It was grander and crazier, to the extent that the old man looked at him with an incredulous gaze as if seeing an alien.

"Your name..."

"Artorius Pendragon. The son of King Arthur." Artorius whispered.

"What do you want to do?"

"Just as I said to you earlier," Artorius replied, "As for why I'm telling you, well, since you're on the brink of death, why not give me everything you can offer? How about that?"

Upon hearing Artorius speak this way, Artoria, standing behind him, opened her mouth, wanting to say something. The old man in front of him did the same.

Staring at Artorius, Vortigern, who saw him for the first time, paused for two seconds before saying to Artorius.

"You're so despicable and shameless. Why aren't you born as my son?"