Dragon

Tristan swallowed hard before mustering up the courage to ask.

"I wanted to ask... about that... outsider, how is he now?"

"What? You want to go after him for revenge or something?" Merlin asked lightly, her face still calm.

Upon hearing that, Tristan instinctively shrank her neck.

She had been thoroughly traumatized by that outsider; how could she dare to go looking for trouble with him again?

She was just a little afraid.

What if she was caught by him again while on a mission?

It seemed like Merlin had figured out Tristan's thoughts as she spoke with a calm tone in the next moment.

"Don't worry, I've already arranged for someone to take care of him. If my guess is correct, they should have already clashed by now."

"But... the strength of that outsider is—"

"I know how strong he is. That's why I've sent out our strongest knight." Merlin interrupted.

"Our strongest knight..." Tristan pondered for a moment and hesitantly asked. "Does that mean you've sent... Lancelot...?"

"Who else could be considered the strongest?" Merlin replied nonchalantly.

Thinking about that silver-haired girl who always wore a mask and spoke coldly, Tristan felt a bit relieved.

She always had confidence in Lancelot's strength. After all, Lancelot alone had easily defeated the Servants who opposed Camelot.

However, when she thought of that terrifying black-haired man, it instantly drained half of her confidence. He was in a completely different league from the previously defeated Servants.

"Preceptor, have you considered..." Tristan asked cautiously. "What if even Lancelot isn't his match?"

"Fufufu..."

Hearing Tristan's words, Merlin couldn't help but laugh as if she had heard something amusing.

"Oh my dear Tristan, do you really think that what Lancelot has shown you on ordinary days is her full strength?"

Seeing the doubt and confusion on Tristan's face, Merlin shook her head and continued explaining.

"So far, what Lancelot has shown you is not even half of her true strength."

"That's impossible!" Tristan exclaimed instinctively.

She couldn't fathom that Lancelot, who had effortlessly defeated her and Gawain, still harbored so much power.

"You simply don't understand why I want her to be Lancelot, why I want her to be the Chief of the Round Table."

Merlin looked at the paintings on the wall, her voice as gentle as wind chimes.

"Because so far, none of you have seen the true identity of Lancelot nor have you witnessed the earth-shattering might she possesses..."

===

As the darkness of the abyss loomed, a sudden surge of intense danger crawled up Arkhan's spine, sending an inexplicable chill down his neck. It felt like an icy hand gripping his heart, causing his body to shudder involuntarily.

Without time to ponder where this sense of danger originated, Arkhan quickly canceled his action of thrusting his spear toward Melusine's head and decisively withdrew.

*BANG!*

However, a powerful blow suddenly hit him, shattering his silver armor in an instant. Despite his timely reaction, he still couldn't evade the attack completely.

*BOOOM!*

He plummeted from the sky, crashing fiercely onto the ground, and raising a cloud of dust.

"Arkhan!"

"Mr. Arkhan!"

Ritsuka and Mash couldn't help but scream, causing a stir among everyone.

Arkhan climbed out of the crater, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked up at the sky.

Though he didn't escape unscathed, due to being prepared, he still managed to clearly see what had attacked him.

'No wonder... No wonder that girl is so fast... No wonder her body is so powerful... Never did I think that her true identity is...' Arkhan thought solemnly.

High above the distant sky, Melusine, who had been tightly suppressed by the Star of Eden's gravity, had regained her freedom at some point.

She looked down at Arkhan with cold and indifferent eyes.

Behind her, a pair of black wings unfurled, while a large tail covered in black scales swayed gently, exuding a terrifying power that anyone could sense.

"Dragon..." Arkhan muttered as he stared at Melusine, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You're a dragon, huh..."

Dragons were the apex of phantasmal species and were said to have coexisted with gods in the distant Age of Gods, with ancient texts clearly stating that almost every pure-blooded dragon possessed power rivaling that of a Grand Servant.

Arkhan was no stranger to dragons, as his bloodline flowed with that of the Dragon of Despair, Nidhogg.

However, he never imagined that this seemingly delicate girl's true identity was that of a pure-blood dragon.

"I haven't used this form for I don't know how long..." Melusine remarked, looking at him with cold eyes. "Witness this power well, mortal. I will show you what true greatness is."

A strong, incomprehensible black light suddenly emanated from Melusine's body, expanding in an instant to a range of several meters, looking from afar like a black sun hanging in the sky.

"Oh my god, what is that...?"

"What?"

"Mo-Monster..."

The villagers and soldiers couldn't help but exclaim one after another, while Ritsuka and Mash's gaze became grave.

"Wait, what's happening?! How could there be such a strong magical energy fluctuation, Rit... suka... y... ou... be... car... eful..." Romani warned, his voice became distorted before completely falling silent.

The virtual screen beside Ritsuka soon dimmed as the excessively strong magical energy caused a strong magnetic field, severing Ritsuka's connection with Chaldea.

"Senpai, look!" Mash exclaimed, pointing above.

Upon hearing her junior's voice, Ritsuka turned her head away from the dimmed virtual screen and followed the direction where Mash pointed.

"How is this possible, isn't that..." Ritsuka muttered with widened eyes.

After the black light receded, revealing in front of everyone was not a little girl anymore, but a black dragon several tens of meters long!

Unlike typical dragons, the size of this black dragon wasn't bulky; its streamlined body exuded elegance and nobility.

Various symbols adorned its body, emitting a faint glow and exuding an ancient charm as if each string of symbols carried a distant history with it.

No one had expected that on this battlefield, a dragon would suddenly appear.

Looking at that divine body, whether villagers or soldiers, everyone couldn't help but tremble, almost kneeling down.

Among them, there was fear, but there was also a part that came from the suppression on a spiritual level.

Warriors who had faced dragons before described this suppression as the inborn majesty of dragons, also known as draconic aura.

Humans, when compared to dragons, were almost like heaven and earth.

Even in an era when Mystery had not yet faded, the proud gods could only choose to treat a pure-blood dragon with respect.

Mash and Ritsuka were the only two who could barely resist the draconic aura, but that didn't mean their pressure was less than others.

On the contrary, precisely because they knew more than others, they understood how terrifying this legendary creature was.

Facing such an enemy, could Arkhan really have a chance of winning?

Everyone looked at Arkhan with concern, only to find that his expression was still calm, like a still lake.

"You didn't really think you were the only dragon here, did you?"