Facing Goldie's bandit logic that sounded like pure sophistry, no one present knew what to say.
"He's practically the same as Berserker when he's lost his mind. Seems there's more than one mentally deranged Servant." Artoria retorted decisively.
"Don't say that... So, Goldie, with so much wealth, you shouldn't begrudge a mere Holy Grail, right?" The Conqueror King said after secretly refilling his cup with fine wine again.
"Of course not. But this king must punish thieves who dare to covet my treasures. It's a matter of principle." Goldie replied.
"I see... Then there's no room for negotiation. Looks like we'll have to cross swords." The Conqueror King looked enlightened.
"Conqueror King, does this mean you acknowledge someone else's ownership of the Holy Grail? Yet you still intend to take it by force? Then what is your purpose for seeking the Holy Grail, even at such a cost?" Artoria looked at the Conqueror King and asked after listening to their conversation.
"To obtain a body." The Conqueror King's expression became uncharacteristically bashful as he said this.
"Ah! How can you still be thinking about conquering the world at a time like this?!" Waver, who had been offline for a while, disregarded Goldie's aura and ran up to the Conqueror King, chatter-boxing away, before being swatted flying with a slap.
But they truly lived up to being the official couple, didn't they? The Conqueror King only said one word, and his "Queen" Waver knew exactly what he meant.
"Even though I manifested here relying on mana, I am still an illusory existence. This king... wants to be truly reincarnated into this world. My conviction is 'conquest'... that means 'taking' and 'invading.' And having a body is the foundation of all that..." Having downed another cup of fine wine and secretly refilled it again, the Conqueror King spoke his inner thoughts. The Conqueror King—the path of hegemony to conquer all.
"Decided. Conqueror King, I will kill you with my own hands."
"Heh, saying such things now. You'd better prepare yourself early too. Not just the Holy Grail—I plan to plunder your treasury completely. Letting the Conqueror King drink such fine wine... you really were too careless."
These two guys' compatibility was surprisingly high, or perhaps their paths of kingship were nearly similar. However, the philosophy of the other king present was completely at odds with theirs.
"That isn't how a king should think." Artoria interrupted their conversation firmly.
"Oh? Then let us hear what your wish is, SABER." Not angered by his philosophy being denied, the Conqueror King looked at Artoria with interest and asked.
"I wish for my homeland to be saved..." Artoria began to narrate quietly. "I want to change the fate of Britain's destruction."
"King of Knights, you say you want to change fate? Does that mean you want to overturn past history?" The Conqueror King looked at Artoria in confusion, not quite understanding her meaning.
"Yes. If the Holy Grail truly is omnipotent... then perhaps I can save..."
"Hehehe..." Before Artoria could finish, she was interrupted by Goldie's mocking laughter. Laughing to such a degree in any situation was extremely ill-mannered.
"Hey, SABER, are you saying you want to erase the history you wrote yourself?" Following that, the Conqueror King put away his previous joking demeanor and looked at Artoria seriously, his brows furrowed tightly.
"That's right. What's so funny? What's so surprising? As a king, the country I devoted myself to was destroyed. I feel sorrow; I want to save the past. What is funny about that?" Artoria felt immense humiliation. The thing she cherished most was being mocked by others?! If not for her excellent composure as a knight, she probably would have drawn her sword and started hacking by now.
"Hey, hey... Conqueror King, and that mongrel over there tentatively called KING—did you two hear that? This little girl who calls herself the King of Knights is actually saying something ridiculous like dedicating her life to her country." The expression on Goldie's face at this moment was less a smile and more something unusually ferocious.
Artoria's philosophy and thoughts were something he had never even considered.
Answering Goldie was the Conqueror King's deepening silence. Similarly, Meruem silently stroked Sakura's smooth hair, saying nothing, his thoughts unknown. To Artoria, this was as much an insult as being laughed at.
Hm? Is that guy Kiritsugu here? Hmph, hiding in the shadows again... No sense of honor at all. Really makes you wonder how someone like him taught a bleeding heart like "Shirou Emiya." Meruem sensed something unusual nearby, released his En, and detected Kiritsugu. Sure enough, that guy was watching them with a sniper rifle.
"What exactly is so funny! As a king, isn't it only natural to wish for the prosperity of the country under one's rule?" While Meruem's mind wandered, Artoria looked at the others emotionally and said.
"No, you're wrong." Unlike the constantly laughing Goldie, the Conqueror King denied her words firmly and seriously.
"It is not the king who dedicates himself, but the country and the people who dedicate everything to the king. Don't misunderstand that point."
"What did you say???" Artoria could no longer suppress her anger; she shouted loudly. "That's just a tyrant! Conqueror King, Archer, being a king like that is a huge mistake! KING, do you think so too?"
"Indeed. But we are not just tyrants; we are heroes." The Conqueror King's words carried pride.
"So, King of Knights, if a king feels dissatisfied with the results of his rule, it only proves he is an incompetent ruler, worse than a tyrant."
The argument grew increasingly intense, touching upon the most fundamental philosophies of being a king.
"Iskandar, you... the empire you built single-handedly was eventually split into four parts. Do you really feel no regret about that? Don't you want to do it over and save your country?"
"No."
"If my decisions and my subjects led to such a result, then destruction was inevitable. I will mourn, I will shed tears, but I will never regret."
"How can that be..."
"Let alone attempt to overturn history! Such a foolish act is an insult to all the humans of the era I built!"
"Conqueror King, someone like you who only cares about himself will never understand my conviction. You are just a hegemon blinded by desire!"
"A king without desire is worse than a vase!"
"King who bears the name of a knight. Your justice and ideals may have saved the country and people for a time, which is why your name is sung to this day. However, you cannot be unaware of the end those saved people met."
"What—did you say?"
Bloodstained Hill of Camlann.
That scenery revived once more in Artoria's mind.
"You blindly 'saved' your subjects but never 'guided' them. They didn't know what the 'King's desire' was. You left behind your lost subjects and, in solitary sanctity, became intoxicated with your own petty ideals.
So you are not a qualified king. You are just a little girl who wanted to be a 'king' who thought of the people, binding yourself in a cocoon to become that idol."
Artoria was rendered speechless by the Conqueror King...
As two completely opposing philosophies collided, sparking fierce friction, Meruem, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke slowly.
"What a load of bullshit."
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