Servant Universe

"I want you to join me in defeating the Evil Saber and Artoria Species! Ow..."

X said these words with her head held high, even though Artorius knocked her on the head not too hard, she immediately switched to a teary-eyed state again.

The once-improving mother-son relationship took a nosedive yet again, all thanks to X's inflated ego.

It was pretty obvious, right?

Artorius didn't care about other Sabers, but didn't his mother, Artoria, also one of the so-called Artoria Species?

Regardless of whether Artoria was his real mother or not, she was still a parental figure who raised him.  Would he defeat his mother who raised him to please another self-proclaimed mother who came out of nowhere?

Clearly, that's impossible.

"Besides, isn't it you who gives Artoria Species the most trouble rather than the other way around?" Artorius said, playfully jabbing X's temple with his fist.

As he made this motion, he aged himself to almost thirty years old, transitioning from being held by X to holding her. During this process, his clothes grew along with his age. Nothing particularly exciting happened, such as torn clothes that would expose his majestic body and the like, as Artorius only wanted to teach her a lesson, not seduce her.

Thus, their roles were reversed.

Before, it was the big sister X holding the adorable shota Artorius. Now, it was the dominant big brother embracing his mischievous little sister, employing a little head bump as punishment.

"Ahh, ouch, it hurts! Artorius, stop—"

As X was being treated this way, she struggled desperately and pleaded loudly for mercy. At the same time, she held onto the fantasy that someone might hear her yells and come to her rescue.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. It wasn't because she didn't yell loudly enough. It was because, after confirming that the person 'tormenting' X was the esteemed ancestor, everyone nonchalantly shifted their attention elsewhere, whistling casually.

Even Iri, who was closest to X, saw her lying in Artorius's arms, with shorts and sneakers, her two white legs flailing, and her face all red from crying, but she simply turned and walked away without a word.

Maybe Illya would have a different response.

Thinking of X as her best friend, perhaps she would assume that Artorius was bullying her and angrily shout—"Stop it, don't hit her!" before rushing over to hit him with her little fists.

But, unfortunately, Illya was asleep right now.

Kids tend to sleep soundly, and on top of that, Iri had set up a bounded field in her room to muffle the noise. So, all of X's potential reinforcements were gone. After yelling for a while, she could only resort to lightly tapping Artorius's arm, begging for mercy.

But it was evident that Artorius didn't want to let her go so easily.

"Your species alone created a complete alphabet from A to Z. Is it fun to multiply yourself and run across various timelines like that?"

"Hey, there aren't that many! Even if there's a big bunch running around, the true and final name is just X! That's me!" X protested loudly after Artorius said that.

Though she was clearly a comedy character, she unexpectedly held strong opinions on certain matters. Of course, after Artorius intensified the scolding, the crying and wailing of X grew even louder until she finally begged for mercy.

"Obviously, I will never lay a hand on Artoria Species." After admonishing X, Artorius spoke without hesitation, "In fact, the more Artoria Species, the better. I will cherish them deeply."

Just the thought of being surrounded by many Artoria of diverse personalities in the future, watching them vie for his attention and get jealous, made Artorius feel very pleased.

From this point on, Artorius and X were destined to be natural enemies.

However, at the same time, X seemed as though she had just discovered her child had gone astray and looked at Artorius with wide eyes, a look of disbelief on her face.

"What? You're saying you want to cherish Artoria Species?! You kid, do you even know what you're talking about?" She said to Artorius with disbelief, "They are like cockroaches, reproducing at a terrifying rate. If you encounter one, you can expect at least eight more lurking nearby."

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that she had insulted herself too, she continued, "Anyway, I will absolutely not give up—ahh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was wrong, please forgive me!"

Before she could finish her words, Artorius punished X once again, causing her to cry and kick her legs in frustration. She continued to do so until she was completely exhausted, and then, with a face of despair (and happiness), she collapsed into his embrace.

"Why are there so many Artorias across the multiverse, as long as I'm the only..."

Mumbling such words, X fell into a deep sleep.

"What a silly mother..."

Artorius shook his head in frustration.

'Talking about Artoria Species being the cancer of the universe and all that... Nah, maybe this Servant Universe is just stuck with this kind of idiotic setting? Do I really need to worry about Artoria Species invading after I conquer this world?'

He forcibly pushed away that absurd thought. However, his curiosity about the Servant Universe was now accompanied by some concerns.

In the original FGO game, the Servant Universe was mostly for comedic purposes. It seemed like it didn't require much thought. But if one delved into it, one would realize how powerful those universe's Servants were.

In the background setting, there were descriptions like 'one person destroying an entire planet' everywhere so casually.

For someone like X, a comedic mother who could break through space barriers with her spaceship and then cause havoc to Artorius's world, it wasn't a problem. But if it were someone else, someone evil and troublesome from that universe... It would probably be as significant as the destruction of human history or human order incineration.

'In the first place, why did she suddenly appear? Did she hear my nonsense prayer? I was just joking and said that casually about before. What's more, she also regards me as her son...'

'Ahh... my head hurts with all this bullshit...'

'Whatever, I'm just here for a vacation.'

'After all those tiring wars and empire building, I don't want to think this complicated thing.'

'And my plan has just begun. I haven't even unified all the continents on this tiny little sphere, and now I have to shoulder galactic-level opponents? Isn't that too much of a stretch?'

Looking at X sleeping sweetly in his bed, Artorius couldn't help but sigh.

"I'm the only Saber in the whole world... I'll kill all Sabers and Artoria Species."

In her dreams, X spoke such dreadful words, making Artorius feel heavy-hearted. 'Is it true that beneath the surface of comedy lies a dark and terrifying reality? Like a dark joke?'

"And then, Artorius will belong to me alone, hehe..."

"..."

Retracting his previous thoughts.

X was indeed just a comedy character.

The Great Dragon Emperor Artorius, rubbed his forehead and felt like he must have been drunk or gone crazy.

He stood up and roughly threw X onto his bed.

X loved cuddling with anything in her sleep. Without Artorius in her embrace anymore, her breathing difficulties started giving her nightmares, causing her to emit pleading groans.

The maids of the Einzbern quickly misunderstood, thinking she was engaged in some wild activity.

Perhaps she was dreaming of her beloved son being taken away by other Artoria Species, causing her frustration and rage.

Regardless, Artorius had no desire to bother with her any longer.

He wanted all the information about the Servant Universe, especially its technology, and of course, X. In short, he wanted everything.

But for now, he needed to settle his mind and make her so-called comedyness less prominent.

With this thought in mind, Artorius made his way to the room of his justice-obsessed partner.

"Master, it's time for us to have a serious conversation."