Chapter 64: Artoria Madness

"They get along quite well..."

Lucias muttered while watching Gohg and Nemo's interaction with a light smile on his face, happy that Gohg was finally able to find a friend that she could associate with rather than always sticking close to him.

"... but... where in the world are we going to place their submarine?"

Lucias muttered while glancing at his inventory that was almost filled due to the giant submarine, Nautilus.

"Master, please take good care of our submarine"

A little girl with the same features as her captain reminded while pulling his sleeves while wearing a white sailor uniform on her petite body.

"... Don't worry... I won't let anything happen to it"

Lucias assured as he patted her head causing her to sweetly smile at his direction.

"... If any of you are tired, you can go back to the mansion and rest... It's becoming a bit too crowded in here"

Lucias shouted to the large crowd of servants in front of him before Raynare, carrying a large stack of chairs in her arms came out of the mansion and laid it down to the ground to give the new servants a place to sit at.

"Don't worry about us, master-chan. We're enjoying the peaceful scenery in this place, isn't that right, Muramasa-san?"

Vergil assured while holding a shot glass in his hands as he drunk an expensive sake that they found inside the mansion together with Muramasa and Emiya.

"That's true, the scenery in this garden is quite beautiful..."

Muramasa answered with a light smile on his face while loosely wearing his Yukata on his body.

"... I don't remember holding a picnic tonight..."

"Don't mind the small details, Master-chan"

Vergil said while casually sitting on the ground together with Muramasa and Emiya.

"... I wish I can be as carefree as you"

Lucias said with a wry smile on his face before focusing his attention back to the translucent window in front of him.

He then pressed the button like before with a carefree expression on his face as he waited for his next servant to arrive.

"Hmm?"

Lucias hummed, noticing that the magic circle below him didn't shine unlike before causing him to frown as a notification appeared in front of him.

[The player has successfully summoned Artoria Pendragon (Alter) of the class saber]

[Artoria Pendragon of the class saber has been detected among the list of servants that the player current have]

[Would you like to merge them together? 

Yes or No]

"... What?"

Lucias muttered in confusion as he read each and every single notification that appeared in front of him with a large frown on his face causing his servants to look at him with a weird expression on their faces.

"Master?"

Illya called while staring at her master who haven't moved an inch while dazedly staring at thin air.

"... What happens when I don't merge them?"

Lucias asked himself causing a familiar feminine voice that he haven't heard for several days to answer his questions inside his head.

"Do not worry, nothing serious will occur that may harm your fiancée, Lucias"

The 'creator' assured causing Lucias to widen his eyes from finally hearing her voice after a few days without contact.

'Creator? Where have you been!? I've been trying to contact you for days but you didn't answer my calls'

"Please forgive me for not being in contact with you for the past few days... We've been busy trying to stabilize the state of the dimensions that Xaosis has visited... Wherever she and her allies go to becomes extremely chaotic so we have been busy for the past few days in trying to minimize the damages that she produces"

The 'creator' answered in a guilty tone causing Lucias to sigh before remembering her past answer to her mutters.

'... 'creator'... Tell me... what did you mean by nothing bad will happen to her?'

Lucias asked, ignoring the weird looks that his servants was giving him.

"Nothing harmful will occur when you don't merge your them together, Lucias... The personalized throne of heroes that my gift has bestowed upon you will just create another copy of your fiancée, contaning the skills and strength that she had when you first summoned her into this dimension..."

'... How about her memories?'

"The copy have their own persona, physique and ego, and they all existed in seperate realities that resulted in different paths of her fate... You're memories together will be modified by the personalized Throne of Heroes to match their memories..."

"... So they won't remember me?"

"Not quite... They all will remember you and still hold the original bodies affection towards you, but they will all approach you in different ways since they all exist in seperate realities before being recorded down in the Throne of Heroes"

The 'creator' answered causing Lucias to place his hand on his chin as he contemplated whether or not he should merge them.

'What happens if I merge them?'

He asked out of curiosity.

"Then the skills and noble phantasms will be given to your fiancée but her strength will not increase after merging them... I recommend to not merge them and summon them as it is... It is more efficient to have more powerful servants at your disposal"

The 'creator' recommended causing Lucias to frown, finding it weird to have another copy of his fiancée that have an entirely different personality and ego than the original.

'... I though I summoned her original body in the past so how come I can summon her again from the throne of heroes?'

"What you've summoned is only a class and alter ego of Artoria that she left behind in the throne of heroes... It is not a copy of your fiancée but only a class containing the records, and memories of your fiancée from a seperate reality"

The 'creator' answered causing Lucias to narrow his eyes before sighing in defeat as he decided to just go with her recommendations since having another powerful servant like Artoria will truly help him in the battlefield.

"Artoria... you don't mind seeing another copy of yourself right?"

Lucias asked Artoria who was sitting together with Mash and Jeanne as they watched him from the sides.

"Huh?"

She asked, confused about his question.

"... Just... please... answer my question..."

"... I don't mind, but why are you asking this?"

Artoria asked causing Lucias to let out a guilty smile on his face before choosing [No] to the option given to him by the notifications causing the magic circle to shine just like before until a single figure is left standing in the middle of it.

"...I have come in response to your summon, dear~"

A single woman with the same features as Artoria except for her pale skin and opaque yellow eyes greeted with a mischievous smile on her face.

She wore the same armor as Artoria when she was summoned in the past but unlike before her armor was painted black with several red markings scattered across her armor.

"Y-You- How can you-"

Artoria asked in bewilderment while pointing her finger at her alter version who was intimately leaning against Lucias causing her to crush the cup in her hands due to her actions.

"Get away from him!!"

"Hmm? Why are you angry, isn't he my fiancée as well?"

She asked as she leaned closer to Lucias further provoking her original body causing Artoria to summon her sword covered with invisible air, preparing to attack her alter copy without any hesitation.

"Hmph! Even if you are the original body, I won't hold back"

"That's what I'm hoping for!"

Both of them shouted as they tried to attack each other but was stopped by Lucias who stood between them.

"... You two... calm down will you?"

Lucias said causing Artoria to angrily look at his direction before pointing at her alter ego who clung to Lucias' arm.

"Explain this to me Lucias!"

She shouted while Lucias gently hug her in his embrace to calm her emotions down since it could cause harm to the child that she was carrying.

"... Calm down for a minute, Artoria... I'll explain everything to you so calm down..."

He soothed while gently caressing her hair causing her to breath in deeply as she slowly calmed her emotions down.

"... so... start explaining, Lucias"

"... Well... As you can see she is you... specifically a copy of you in your alter ego... That's the reason why I asked you whether or not your alright with seeing another copy of yourself"

"You could've explained everything to me first in detail before summoning her!! She's dangerous!"

She warned while pointing her invisible blade at her alter ego.

"... Well... She is far weaker than you right now, Artoria. She is summoned with the strength and abilities when I first summoned you a few years ago so you don't have to worry about our safety... I can easily make her submit if she starts causing trouble"

"but still!"

"... Please forgive my selfishness just this once, Artoria... We need as much allies as we can gather"

"..."

Artoria remained silent as she glanced at Lucias and her Alter Ego alternatively with a worried expression on her face.

"... Fine but on one condition!"

She said causing Lucias to smile as he nodded his head in response.

"She will be staying with me in my room!"

Artoria stated causing her alter ego to frown as she tightly hugged Lucias' arm.

"I want to stay in your room, dear"

She said causing Lucias to wryly smile at her direction.

"... Sorry about this but... I'll follow her conditions on this one... if you still want to be manifested"

"Tch, fine"

She answered with an irritated expression on her face due to her original's intereferance.

"Thanks... wait what should I call you exactly?"

Lucias asked, finding it weird to call both of them in the same name.

"Hmm... Just call me Altria, dear"

She suggested before being pulled by Artoria towards her previous spot.

"... Don't tell me there are more versions of Artoria in the Throne of Heroes?"

Lucias asked but was only answered with silence as the 'creator' didn't know how to tell him the numerous versions of Artoria that was recorded in the throne of heroes.

"... I'll take that as a yes..."

Lucias said with a tired expression on his face before pressing the summon button once more but to his surprise the magic circle seized to illuminate as another batch of notifications appeared in front of him.

[The player has successfully summoned Artoria Pendragon (Lily) of the class saber]

[Artoria Pendragon of the class saber has been detected among the list of servants that the player current have]

[Would you like to merge them together? 

Yes or No]

"..."

"Lucias... Choose No..."

"I'm already having a hard time managing two of them... I don't want to imagine managing 3 of them at once"

"Just trust me, Lucias"

"... Fine"

Lucias said as he sighed in defeat before selecting the [No] option causing the magic circle to illuminate as a single petite figure came out of the magic circle.

"L-Lucias... I-I-I have come under your request..."

Another version of Artoria shyly called as she squirmed in her place causing Lucias to unconsciously smile from seeing her cute reactions.

She was shorter and more petite than the two Artorias that Lucias has summoned before, having the same features as the Original Artoria but younger. She wore a very light outfit that gave her maximum agility.

Unlike the Original Artoria who gave out a mature and majestic aura around her, the girl in front of him gave off a very youthful, lively, and innocent aura around her that gave him the feeling of wanting to protect her from any harm.

"Lucias..."

"Dear"

The two Artoria and Altria called in an ominous voice as they placed their hands on his shoulder causing Lucias to stiffly smile at their direction.

"... Well... how do I say this..."

Lucias stuttered as he tried to find a way to explain but came up with nothing.

"Well?"

Altria asked causing Lucias to close his eyes as he prepared to face their wrath.

"... Just be quick with it..."

He muttered but was pushed back by Artoria Lily who stood in front of him with a flushed expression on her face, protecting him from the two Artorias in front of them.

"D-Don't hurt my husband!!"

"Husband?"

Artoria asked causing Artoria Lily to blush increasingly red from what she shouted while defending Lucias.

"T-That is... Ano... E-Eto..."

"Well... Technically, he is OUR husband..."

"... Don't support her"

Artoria warned causing her alter ego to shrug her shoulder before continuing her words.

"But... For our younger counter part to be summoned... it seems like Lucias wants to have a taste of us when we were still young and ripe..."

"Fueeeee..."

"... You're making me look like a sex fiend..."