Arthur Pendragon

After stepping onto the place known as the edge of the world, Arkhan's first sensation was the endless desolation and loneliness.

The ground was littered with white marble, devoid of any other adornments. Above, there was no dome or ceiling, just a thick layer of gray clouds pressing down, as if one could reach out and touch them with a lift of their hand.

Everything here was so monotonous as if even after millions of years, nothing would change.

All of this was because the master of this place intentionally halted the flow of time, much like his attitude toward the future of humanity—keeping everything still, then watching over it endlessly in eternity.

There was nothing here worth arousing the desire to explore, so Arkhan quickly averted his gaze and turned to look at the figure seated on the throne.

"We finally meet, Lion King."

Arkhan spoke casually, without the humility of an audience with a king or the reverence for a god.

"I smell a familiar scent on you..." The Lion King's gaze pierced through his helmet and fell upon Arkhan's body. "Britain, Excalibur, Vortigern... I see, no wonder you made it here. So, you are 'me'..."

After a moment of silence, the Lion King shook his head.

"No, you are not me. We have... taken different paths..."

"If you know you've taken the wrong path, why persist in walking it alone?" Arkhan asked, his tone remaining casual.

"Wrong path, you say? Indeed, I have committed many unforgivable mistakes in the past, but at least now, I am still fulfilling my responsibility." The Lion King replied with an indifferent tone.

"If that's the case, why not end this so-called Holy Selection?" Arkhan continued asking.

Upon hearing that, the Lion King fell silent.

"Since you've given up on humanity's future, those remaining pure and noble souls shouldn't matter to you, right? Whether you abandon one or a thousand, what's the difference? Even if there's just one left, it still preserves the 'humanity' remnants in your eyes, doesn't it?" Arkhan's eyes gleamed with a hint of cunning. "But strangely, you still haven't finished the Holy Selection yet. Why is that?"

The Lion King remained silent, just silently watching Arkhan.

"Delaying the completion of the Holy Selection, tolerating the opposition of those mortals, and even ignoring Nero's escape—all because there's still confusion and doubt in your heart."

Arkhan stepped forward, his tone pressing.

"Admit it, Lion King, you haven't prepared yourself to welcome that future at all. You're still hoping that someone will step forward, just like in the past, to completely deny you."

"Shut up!"

As the Lion King roared angrily, a terrifying aura dispersed from his body like a storm, with thunderous roars echoing from the low-hanging clouds, a manifestation of a god's wrath.

Arkhan stood unfazed, like a spear, unwavering from start to finish.

"Your words are indeed sharp enough, but with words alone, you cannot change my mind."

After declaring that, the Lion King reached out his hand and, accompanied by a fierce roar, the edge of the world began to advance, and the holy lance, Rhongomyniad, began to materialize.

"I am Arthur Pendragon, the Lion King and King of Storms."

The Lion King—or rather, Arthur Pendragon, stood up from his throne and removed his helmet.

Beneath his helmet was a golden-haired, handsome man with a cold face as hard as a marble statue. His sacred emerald eyes were frozen with millennia of ice, devoid of any emotion.

"Challenge me, if you wish to deny the will of the god, prove it with your strength!"

With that declaration, Arthur raised his lance and advanced toward Arkhan.

===

Merlin, clad in white mage robes, wielded her staff, unleashing magic shots comparable to meteorites, repelling the two oncoming black dragons.

She turned her gaze toward Arkhan, mounted on an eight-legged horse on a distant hill. As she observed his figure, her pretty eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

'Something feels off...'

Restricted to the vicinity of the city walls to maintain the defense magecraft within Camelot, she could only opt for passive defense against the attacks of Melusine and Nidhogg, the two pure-blooded dragons. Once they distanced themselves, she could only watch helplessly.

In such circumstances, she even had to divert her attention to that powerful black-haired outsider. Compared to the two dragons, he was the real threat.

As she gazed at him, it seemed he noticed her gaze.

From beginning to end, he hadn't moved an inch, his eyes fixed on her, as if ready to strike the moment he found a flaw.

It was a clever move, exerting pressure on the enemy while also preserving one's own strength.

Merlin approved of his approach, considering his enemies not only her and the knights but also the Lion King seated inside the royal palace. In preparation for the upcoming major battle, he naturally wouldn't want to expend too much energy on them.

Truthfully, this was what Merlin wanted to see.

As long as this outsider didn't enter the royal palace, no matter what happened, she could tolerate it. After all, only this outsider posed a real threat to the Lion King.

She had invested countless efforts to bring her plans to this stage. The dawn of victory was within reach, and she wouldn't allow any mishaps or risks. And yet, beneath this seemingly normal surface, a strange sense of unease had crept into her heart, persistent like an annoying mosquito.

She couldn't pinpoint its origin; even risking a glance at the white castle behind her, she found nothing amiss.

However, an ominous feeling told her that something was definitely not right.

As Nidhogg's deathly black flames and Melusine's magic beam approached, Merlin slammed her staff onto the ground, a golden barrier unfolding, blocking their attacks.

Seeing the two dragons preparing for another attack, irritation finally flickered in Merlin's violet eyes. Their never-ending attacks had prevented her from focusing on what had gone wrong, fueling her frustration for the first time.

Her delicate face contorted slightly as an unparalleled surge of magical energy suddenly erupted from her body, sweeping across the battlefield, even suppressing the two pure-blooded dragons in the sky.

Every Servant on the battlefield stiffened, turning to the slender figure on the city walls, their gazes were filled with intense astonishment.

Such a magnitude of magical energy fluctuation even rivaled that of most chief gods!

Was Merlin this powerful?

"This boring little game ends here."

Merlin stepped forward as if walking on invisible stairs through the void, her violet eyes reflecting the figures of the two black dragons, her intent to kill tangible.

"You two annoying pests, it's time to die!"