Before the throne of the holy city, Gawain's body had fully recovered.
After having half of his body devoured by the Black Bird Requiem, he was brought before the "Lion King" on the brink of death. She healed his injuries with her immense magical power.
The once King Arthur, now known as Artoria, had been corrupted by the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad. Her power had surpassed that of a heroic spirit, reaching the realm of a divine being. Healing a heroic spirit was naturally a trivial task for her.
After healing Gawain, the Lion King learned from him about the existence of a dark figure. A ripple of emotion crossed her usually calm expression:
"A strange black figure, you say... I understand. That is indeed an existence beyond your ability to handle."
"How pitiful, Gawain. Your attacks were completely ineffective, and in an instant, that black figure devoured half of your body."
Beside Gawain, Mordred shamelessly mocked him. Among all the Knights of the Round Table, Mordred was the type to attract hatred, largely due to her naiveness.
"Mordred, it's only because the other party wasn't interested in you. Otherwise, your fate might have been even worse than mine."
Gawain frowned at Mordred. He didn't know why the black figure hadn't attacked Mordred at the time, but if Mordred had been in his position, her outcome would definitely not have been any better than his.
During the day, Gawain could maintain three times his normal strength, which made his vitality far more tenacious than that of an average heroic spirit. This allowed him to barely hold on until the Lion King could heal him.
If it had been Mordred, she would likely have been dead by the time she was brought before the Lion King.
"An existence with the power to render even Gawain completely helpless... That black figure is probably the greatest threat we face on this journey."
Standing beside the throne was Agravain, a Knight of the Round Table. With a serious expression, he looked at Gawain, his face grave.
He was well aware of Gawain's strength. Already immensely powerful, Gawain had also received the Lion King's blessing of "Eternal Night," making him nearly unmatched among heroic spirits.
Yet even such a powerful Gawain had his body torn apart after just one attack... If the Knights of the Round Table were to face that black figure together, the outcome would likely be no better than that of the Gawain
"It was my mistake for not detecting the intruder earlier."
The Lion King's calm voice emerged from beneath her helmet. The Black Bird Requiem's presence concealment had played a role in this, allowing it to enter the holy city without being detected by the Lion King.
Although the Lion King soon noticed an "impure" presence within the city, before she could launch an attack, the Black Bird Requiem had already left.
From the moment it descended upon the holy city, devoured half of Gawain's body, and then transformed into lightning to vanish into the clouds, only a few seconds had passed.
"If you encounter a similar presence again, report it to me immediately. Do not attempt to confront it alone."
As she spoke, the Lion King specifically glanced at Mordred—this troublemaker might impulsively try to take on the enemy alone for the sake of glory.
"Do you understand?"
"...Yes."
Although Mordred's rebellious nature made her difficult to control, when the Lion King gave an order, she had no choice but to comply.
...
"Has the Master of Chaldea left?"
Ramesses II emerged from his throne room and looked at Zuke and Nitocris standing at the temple's entrance.
"Yes, they've left. They drove off in a car."
Zuke scratched his head. Just like in the original story, Da Vinci had scavenged some materials from the temple and cobbled together a strangely shaped "car."
To be honest, Zuke had doubts about whether the car would hold together during the journey, so he had taken some materials from the "Gate of Babylon" to reinforce their vehicle.
Since everything in Zuke's "Gate of Babylon" was left behind by Gilgamesh, he didn't feel any hesitation in using the materials, even if they appeared to be prototypes of powerful Noble Phantasms.
It was worth noting that when Da Vinci saw Zuke casually pulling out these Noble Phantasm prototypes, her expression was like that of a hungry wolf spotting a lamb.
As Chaldea's support staff, Da Vinci had a keen interest in studying such Noble Phantasms. Unfortunately, Zuke wasn't yet a member of Chaldea, so she couldn't make any further requests.
This, however, worked in Zuke's favor—Da Vinci held considerable influence within Chaldea. If she took an interest in him, the likelihood of him being summoned after Ritsuka Fujimaru returned to Chaldea would significantly increase.
"That Master of Chaldea seems quite interested in you."
Standing beside Zuke, Ramesses II wore a sly smile as he spoke.
"After meeting me, the first thing she asked was why I had separated you from them during our conversation—did you do something to her?"
"Not really, I suppose?"
Zuke thought about it. Ritsuka Fujimaru had already received help from countless heroic spirits in previous singularities. Logically speaking, saving her twice shouldn't have made her so fixated on him.
If anything, it might have been the maid outfit he left on her. That outfit had significantly altered Ritsuka Fujimaru's perception of him.
Hayasaka's substitute ability sure is useful—though I didn't use it myself, combining it with the "bestowal" ability from Yotsuya Miko's substitute created a qualitative change.
"Now we just wait for the Master of Chaldea to finish understanding this singularity and come to you for help, right?"
Ramesses II laughed, having seen through Zuke's plan. However, he hadn't revealed this to Ritsuka Fujimaru and the others.
As he spoke, Ramesses II waved his hand, and a Holy Grail glowing with golden light appeared in his grasp.
"And this Holy Grail—why don't you take care of it?"
"Didn't the Counter Force specifically tell you to warn me not to lay a hand on the Holy Grail?"
Zuke gave Ramesses II a suspicious look, not understanding why he would still want to hand over the Holy Grail after being warned by the Counter Force.
"What the Counter Force says has nothing to do with me. Besides, you don't seem particularly interested in the Holy Grail anyway."
Ramesses II laughed heartily and tossed the Holy Grail to Zuke.
Zuke caught the Holy Grail and shrugged—he really had no interest in it at the moment.
While it could be used to absorb magical energy, the amount of magical energy he could refine on his own in a short time already surpassed that of the Holy Grail.
But since Ramesses II had handed it to him, he decided to keep it for now—after all, he would eventually give it to Ritsuka Fujimaru.
To be continued…
Advance 100 Chapters are up on my Patreon!
pat reon.com/AlphaSenatus