Interrogation

After resolving the issue with Altrouge, the battle temporarily came to a halt.

The leader of the Dark Rounds—Mysterious Heroine X Alter, and the leader of the Order of Avalon—Space Lion King, began negotiations.

In exchange for ignoring the recent incident in the commercial district, the Dark Rounds took away Altrouge and 30% of the food supply from the Order of Avalon.

Both parties agreed that the future commercial district would be split into two sections, with the Dark Rounds taking the eastern side and the Order of Avalon occupying the western side, all in the pursuit of wealth together. This marked the end of the commercial district incident.

The two major organizations of Artoria Species found themselves in a temporary truce.

After the negotiations, Ex and Lion King exchanged some formalities.

"Next time we meet, let's settle things once and for all." Ex said with a stoic expression.

"Sure." Lion King nodded calmly.

"I won't let Artorius fall into your hands, that's for certain." Ex narrowed her eyes.

"Likewise." Lion King responded firmly.

The senior members spoke formally, but the younger members were more casual.

"When we find Artorius next time, we won't let you near him!"

The Order of Avalon wanted to deny the visiting rights of the Dark Rounds. On the other hand, the younger members of the Dark Rounds were more ruthless.

"When the time comes, we won't let you die. Instead, we'll lock you up, so you can watch us reveal Artorius's darkest secrets and shed tears of regret!"

After that statement, the faces of the Order of Avalon's members turned pale, and they came close to starting another battle. It was evident that this threat was quite impactful on them.

With those harsh words spoken, the Dark Rounds left with Altrouge, dragging her by the legs. As for the White Knight Blood Svelten, he was left unattended and discarded into the nearby sewer.

The battle came to a close, but the struggle for Artorius Pendragon had only just begun.

===

When Altrouge regained consciousness, she found herself in the dungeon.

She looked around but found nothing—no sound, no sight. Everything was pitch black, and her body was immobilized. She couldn't move; her mouth was also gagged, preventing her from speaking.

This conscious yet isolated state sent her heart racing, filling her with overwhelming anxiety.

In this state of panic, as time passed, her fear grew stronger to the point where she felt she might go mad.

'Anyone, anything, it doesn't matter! Punishment, humiliation, or any other form of mistreatment, just don't leave me alone!'

Altrouge couldn't help but shout in her mind.

If, at this moment, a handsome young man like Artorius appeared before her and rescued her, she would undoubtedly fall in love with him instantly.

If this continued for some time, her psychological defenses would completely collapse. She would answer anything, even questions about Crimson Moon's favorite underwear.

Of course, if this went on for a while longer, Altrouge would deteriorate completely, suffering a mental breakdown, and becoming like Medb, who only stared blankly and made 'aba aba aba' sound after drinking Artorius's bath water.

Unfortunately, none of these possibilities occurred.

When Altrouge could barely endure anymore, she finally heard a few voices.

"Could she be dead?"

"It's your fault, you forgot about the prisoner."

"Don't blame me, you forgot too!"

"What should we do next?"

"Oh? She's still alive..."

"Good, as long as she's alive, let's take her to see the boss..."

"Umu!"

At this moment, Altrouge understood.

'I'm being subjected to this cruel treatment because these fools forgot about me?!'

'These fools, can't they be a bit more reliable?!'

'Damn them!'

'Aah! So frustrating! I want to kill someone!'

Although in reality, she couldn't do a thing to a single one of these Artoria Species. But that didn't stop her from being resentful.

Although the Artoria Species from the Servant Universe appeared strong and were indeed strong, the majority were all fools.

"..."

And so, when Altrouge was brought before Ex, her behavior was filled with defiance, which struck Ex as rather peculiar.

'This girl, does she have a malfunction in her brain for following us?' Ex couldn't help but think so. She then started to ask Altrouge with her usual stoic expression. "Tell me, why are you following us?"

"Hmph!"

"What's your motive?"

"Hmph!"

"Lastly..."

The first two questions weren't really important to the Dark Rounds, what Ex really wanted to ask was the third one.

"What's your relationship with Artorius?"

"No relation!"

Altrouge declared, unable to conceal her confidence. She couldn't help but daydream, 'This must be a misunderstanding, right? They captured me because they must have thought I had a connection with that Dragon Emperor.'

Even though the vampires had a disdainful attitude toward humans, Altrouge vaguely knew about Crimson Moon's grievances against the Dragon Emperor. But for now, both sides were merely cautious of each other, not yet at war.

Could explaining clear things up and get her released? Maybe she'd have to stick to drinking human blood and skip the snacks from that empire from now on.

However, to Altrouge's dismay, her thoughts were too naive.

After the three questions, Altrouge was brimming with confidence, while Ex and the Dark Rounds members exchanged their opinions.

As Artoria Species, Dark Rounds members, and Alter Subspecies, they had a deep connection with each other, so they quickly reached a conclusion.

"Lies."

"Lies."

"The son is so gorgeous, there's no way they have no connection."

"Yeah, how could there be a woman in this world who doesn't like Artorius."

"Even boys should like him."

"Yes, even boys should."

Naturally, as self-proclaimed 'mothers' of Artorius, they all believed that he was the best in the world. Naturally, all women should like him, and anyone who claimed otherwise was either an abnormal person or had ulterior motives. In any case, not a good person.

"Well then, let's proceed with the next interrogation..." Ex declared after sharing their feelings.

"Eh?" Altrouge was bewildered. "Wait a minute! What are you going to do to me?! Aahh! No! Anyone! Help!"

Unfortunately, the Artoria Species from the Dark Rounds were all villains, either Lawful Evil or Chaotic Evil. Occasionally, there were even a few Chaotic Evil ones who didn't give a damn and wanted to kidnap Artorius directly to have 'segs' with him.

Their attitude towards humans was generally indifferent, let alone a vampire like Altrouge.

Even if they decided to cut her down right then and there, it wouldn't be out of the question. She was still alive only because of their caution toward Artorius's response if they did something like killing people from this world.

So, for the next period of time, Altrouge's experience was bound to be very miserable, extremely miserable. It could even be turned into a tragic storybook.

Such was the fate of Eclipse Princess of Black Blood—Altrouge Brunestud, who was viewed as the 'final boss' by Artorius.