Bad Feeling

At the top of a steep cliff, on a relatively flat slope, Asterios, Medusa, and Atalanta lay arranged neatly on the ground.

Their eyes were closed tight, unconscious.

If not for the slight rise and fall of their chests, they would have looked exactly like corpses.

After witnessing Tristan's death firsthand and realizing she had no chance of winning, Atalanta immediately prepared to flee, but unfortunately, Arkhan caught her before she could escape.

Though she was one of the fastest among Greeks, her speed proved useless against Arkhan, who possessed Cosmic Juggernaut.

In less than ten minutes, he caught up to her, knocked her out, and brought her back.

The reason the three of them weren't killed was that Arkhan wanted to try using Fenghuang Down to break Merlin's brainwashing and bring back their true selves.

After this battle, Camelot lost five Knights of the Round Table, greatly weakening their morale and leaving only Gawain and Agravain.

But in terms of combat power, the gap between the Holy Roman Empire and Camelot still remained, not to mention the powerful Lion King and the mysterious Merlin. Even in terms of soldier numbers alone, Camelot was almost three times bigger than the Holy Roman Empire.

When manpower was limited, so were Servants. If Arkhan unleashed his full power, dealing with thousands of Camelot's knights wouldn't be difficult.

But then again, his true opponent was the Lion King.

He had to ensure he faced the Lion King at his best and not waste precious magical energy and stamina on those ordinary soldiers.

Therefore, bolstering the Holy Roman Empire's combat power was necessary, which was why Arkhan immediately refrained from killing these three Servants.

If it weren't for Tristan's sudden appearance, perhaps even Cu Chulainn could've survived.

Arkhan placed his hand on Atalanta's forehead and carefully searched her consciousness with Fenghuang Down and soon discovered Merlin's traces which was not surprising.

"She is indeed a great mage... Such intricate and mysterious magecraft couldn't have been done by just anyone... If I were to break down this with Fenghuang Down, it would take at least two days..."

Arkhan sighed, a mix of joy and worry.

Joy, because these three could be saved, worry because it would take quite some time, and right now, time was what he lacked the most.

Regardless, now that there was hope, these three couldn't be given up on.

Just as Arkhan was considering how to bring them back to the Holy Roman Empire, he suddenly heard a distant, sharp howl from the sky, as if something was rapidly approaching him.

His eyes instinctively narrowed with caution as he looked up and saw a familiar splash of azure armor and a petite figure.

Suddenly, as if realizing something, his expression shifted slightly.

"Wait, don't—"

*BOOOM!*

Before Arkhan could finish his sentence, the swiftly approaching petite figure collided with his body without a moment's pause, the tremendous force sending him flying.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

He crashed through several large trees and massive rocks until he finally came to a stop against a mountain wall.

As the gravel and sand fell with a rustle, Melusine watched Arkhan almost entirely embedded in the mountain wall.

"I-I'm sorry! I got a bit too excited and couldn't control myself—" Melusine said in a frantic voice, her big eyes full of unease.

"It's okay, I understand." Arkhan interrupted her and chuckled wryly.

Fortunately, he still used the Black Dragon Body when Melusine rushed over and hit him. Without it reinforcing the strength of his organs and bones, he would have been half-dead from the impact alone.

He glanced down and saw that his silver armor was almost shattered from the collision, covered in countless cracks. Thankfully, the armor had absorbed a good portion of the impact force. After all, even if he had used the Black Dragon Body, he would still have needed some time to recover if the impact had hit his body directly.

A supersonic-level collision with a dragon was no joke.

Arkhan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

After surviving an ambush from four Servants unscathed, he nearly died under his own teammate's 'hug'.

He gestured for Melusine to step back a few paces, then pressed against the rock wall with his hand, exerting force to pull himself out from the mountain wall.

Glancing at his tattered armor, Arkhan ran his hand over its surface, and soon, the silver armor gleamed anew without any trace of damage.

After stretching his body a bit, Arkhan turned to Melusine.

"How did you end up here?" Arkhan asked with a curious tone.

Melusine, head bowed like a guilty child, whispered softly.

"I saw Medusa suddenly disappear and felt something was off. Since Merlin has always been wary of you, I was worried she might take advantage of our distraction to attack you."

Upon hearing that, Arkhan's eyes showed some surprise.

He hadn't expected her intuition to be so accurate. Judging from the timing, she had obviously rushed here the moment Medusa disappeared.

Feeling a bit touched, Arkhan ruffled the little girl's silky silver hair with his hand and chuckled.

"Thank you, Melusine."

Melusine squinted her eyes, enjoying his touch like a lazy little cat.

Following this, he walked back to the place where the three unconscious Servants lay with Melusine and told her his idea as they walked.

As Arkhan finished telling his idea and they arrived at the location, Melusine stayed silent, not saying a word. Instead, she quickly stacked the three unconscious Servants into a human pyramid and lifted them over her head before looking at him.

"This should do it. Let's go back."

Watching a comical scene where a petite girl effortlessly lifted three adults, especially the heavy and bulky Asterios, Arkhan's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

===

As evening approached, Melusine and Arkhan finally returned to the Holy Roman Empire.

However, as soon as they arrived, they sensed something was off.

There were almost twice as many soldiers guarding the city gates as usual, and some of Da Vinci's war machines had been quietly brought out.

"Mr. Arkhan, Miss Melusine, thank the stars you're okay!"

Mash, having received the news of their returns, rushed over, unable to contain her relief.

Seeing the three Servants Melusine was carrying, Mash knew that Arkhan had managed to deal with Camelot's trap.

"Mash? What's going on?" Arkhan frowned, sensing her emotions weren't just joy but also deep anxiety and worry.

Mash opened her mouth to speak but, glancing around, she didn't reveal any specifics, just spoke with a troubled expression.

"Follow me first."

Arkhan and Melusine exchanged an 'I have a bad feeling' glance before following Mash's lead.