As soon as he finished speaking, Kay's cold sneer came from the side, "If this weren't the wrong setting, I'd seriously want to beat you up."
After all, it was the 'trouble' Alvin caused, yet the ones getting dragged into it were them. Just because Alvin had told Scathach back then that every member of the Knights of the Round Table had superb swordsmanship, and if she wanted to spar, she could look for them.
And now look what happened… after inviting Scathach to join the Round Table, Alvin himself turned into a hands-off boss, leaving a massive 'pit' for his companions.
Alvin let out a helpless sigh, "Do you think I wanted to do this, Kay?"
Kay raised a brow slightly, "What do you mean?"
Tristan nearby also looked over.
"It was Merlin's request," Alvin said helplessly.
Merlin… the two of them immediately narrowed their eyes.
"Merlin thought Miss Scathach was very suitable for the Round Table, so he strongly insisted I make a bet with her. The wager was that if Scathach lost, she would have to join the Knights of the Round Table."
Alvin continued.
The two remained silent, but the dangerous look in their eyes made it obvious. They had already quietly written this debt down in their hearts.
———
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, a week had gone by.
During this period, some rather interesting news came out of the palace. If this were modern times, the headlines would probably look like this:
[Shocking! A certain unnamed white-haired mage gets surrounded by the Knights of the Round Table!]
[The thirteenth knight of the Round Table is actually her, and the reason she joined is unbelievable!]
News along those lines.
Meanwhile, the transmigrators seemed to have gradually gotten used to Britain.
But not long after, some of the more perceptive transmigrators noticed a peculiar change.
The soil of the Age of Gods seemed to be gradually dissipating.
'Age of Gods', it was a term filled with fantastical color.
In the world of magi, the Age of Gods was also called the Mythological Age. During that time, the Earth was enveloped in immense 'Mystery,' and the surface was saturated with highly concentrated mana.
At the very beginning, magi living in the Age of Gods didn't even need to pursue the 'Root,' because in its early period, the 'Root' was essentially right beside them.
By the time of ancient Britain, the soil of the Age of Gods had already begun to weaken. In fact, even without Attila's intervention, ancient Britain would still meet its legendary end when the Age of Gods faded.
Back then, Merlin knew this, which was why he later chose to 'let Artoria grow freely.'
But not long ago, he made another choice. To intervene in all of this, and then welcome a glorious ending together with the people of Britain.
"If the Age of Gods ends, will the White Dragon, King Arthur, and even Morgan le Fay all disappear in the future?"
After realizing that the Age of Gods was receding, people couldn't help but discuss it in private.
Some felt regret, some sympathy, and of course, some secretly took pleasure in it, enjoying the spectacle.
Tiamat sat by the windowsill, looking out with a hint of worry, more precisely, she was looking at the 'mana' in the air.
As someone who had lived through it, she could clearly sense that the land of the Age of Gods was indeed fading… although the speed wasn't fast, if this continued, the mana of the Age of Gods might completely disappear one day.
And when that time came, whether it was magi of the Age of Gods or the White Dragon, none of them would be able to continue living.
Of course, she believed that person might be able to turn things around.
But even so, there was still one problem, history.
After all, in the stories of history, King Arthur and her Britain ultimately disappeared completely. If Britain were to survive into modern times, what would happen?
There was only one answer, it might be 'pruned' by history.
No matter how powerful Alvin or Britain's forces were, they couldn't possibly fight against the wheels of history.
Alvin had already prepared himself for this.
———
In the King's Hall, as usual, Alvin handed a document to Artoria and said, "There seem to be quite a few rumors going around lately."
As the king's aide, his daily job was to stay by King Arthur's side, and like now… prepare documents, prepare tea, or chat with her.
Of course… sometimes the chatting would somehow end up moving to the bedchamber.
A perfect example of "when there's work, the secretary does it; when there's no work, you do the secretary."
"They're not rumors, just facts," Artoria replied calmly.
Hearing this, Alvin couldn't help but glance at the woman's clear and beautiful profile.
Her face was expressionless, as if she already knew the future.
If it were the past, hearing such bad news, Artoria would never have reacted like this. Yet now, she seemed completely at peace with it, which was hard to understand.
As if sensing his confusion, she looked up at him, and a faint smile soon appeared on her face, "Merlin spoke with me last time."
Alvin froze for a moment, then seemed to understand, "He already told you everything?"
Artoria nodded lightly.
Britain was at the end of the Age of Gods, and when it ended, even the most outstanding ruler wouldn't be able to change the outcome… not long ago, Merlin had told Artoria this cruel truth.
Even though the arrival of transmigrators could bring resources like 'food' to Britain, the flow of history was irreversible.
Of course… if one insisted on going against the current of history, it was possible. But in that case, the future Britain would become an entirely new nation. A Lostbelt.
A wrong choice, a wrongly flourishing history, would be cut away from the proper timeline, and that was what was called a Lostbelt.
Alvin was silent for a moment, then said helplessly, "I originally planned to tell you after some time."
A rare softness appeared in Artoria's smile, "Were you worried I wouldn't be able to accept it?"
When Alvin didn't respond, she continued, "If it were the old me, I probably wouldn't have been able to accept it."
She stood up and walked to the entrance of the King's Hall, gazing at the distant, silent plain under the star-filled sky. Her sacred green eyes were especially calm.
In the original world, Artoria couldn't accept the collapse of her kingdom, so she responded to the Holy Grail War, hoping to start everything over.
But in this timeline, she seemed to have accepted everything.
Artoria turned to look at the boy behind her. Alvin was watching her, silent the whole time.
"But I think that the me now might be able to face the ending calmly… if it's together with you and my sister."
As she said this, Artoria extended her hand toward Alvin.
The golden-haired King of Knights, with her mature and delicate face and gentle gaze, quickly drew Alvin's eyes in.
At that moment, a few lines of small text quietly appeared in his vision.
[Even if the road ahead is endless night, the King of Knights, who has calmly accepted everything, still chooses to walk toward a nonexistent future with you… The upcoming choice will not affect the ending. Please decide on your own.]
Ahead of him was Artoria's beautiful face. Alvin only glanced at the system prompt before reaching out to her.
When his fingertips touched her slender, slightly cool hand, before he could even feel the softness, another prompt quietly appeared.
[You have chosen to walk hand in hand with the King of Knights until the very end. Congratulations, host, for obtaining special CG: Promise Before the End of the Age of Gods]
[You have obtained special achievement: The Fading Glow of the Age of Gods (Gold)]
[The Fading Glow of the Age of Gods: The White Dragon is ultimately a creature of myth. The new era has no vessel that can carry you. Wherever your feet step becomes the Age of Gods (can temporarily fill the air with 'True Ether' at the peak of the Age of Gods)]
'This achievement is pretty interesting.'
When Alvin saw the system prompt, his eyes lit up immediately.
If he remembered correctly, Morgan had once used a similar ability to temporarily turn the land into 'Age of Gods soil' filled with dense mana.
But the 'Fading Glow of the Age of Gods' he possessed was clearly even more special, because the mana it produced was 'True Ether' at its peak.
At the peak of the Age of Gods, everyone possessed mana at the level of the 'Root.'
This ability was really something, and he had also gained a new CG. With a thought, Alvin immediately saw a brand-new CG appear before his eyes.
Outside the King's Hall was the deep night, the palace silent, while inside the hall lights blazed brightly. A boy dressed in black tightly held the King of Knights' hand, forming a warm and beautiful scene.
And the CG completion progress had reached 94%. Only the final 6% remained before all CGs were fully unlocked.
Just where was he supposed to collect that last 6%?
Alvin didn't have time to think further, because in the next moment, Artoria suddenly spoke, "By the way, I heard quite a few people have been looking for Merlin lately?"
"You even know about that?", Alvin was a bit surprised.
Usually, Artoria stayed in the King's Hall and rarely paid attention to outside 'entertainment' news.
Artoria nodded lightly, "I am in the palace after all. I've heard some things these past few days."
"Inviting Scathach to join the Round Table was Merlin's idea… that part should be a lie, right?"
'Didn't expect Lily to even know that,' Alvin said, "I'll go talk to them later and tell them not to trouble Merlin anymore."
But at that moment, Artoria looked puzzled, "Why stop them?"
Alvin froze. Before he could respond, he heard Artoria say calmly, "Let's just treat it as Merlin's doing, he's done plenty of things like this before anyway."
Alvin looked at her several times, as if he were seeing her for the first time.
'Who would've thought that Lily, who usually seems so proper, had this mischievous side.'
Alvin grumbled inwardly, but thinking about Merlin having a headache over this, he almost couldn't hold back his laughter.
It might not be great to pin the blame on someone else… but if that someone is Merlin, then there's no problem.
Let's just take it as a bit of payback for all the things he's done before.
———
In the blink of an eye, the time to return to the real world was getting closer and closer.
During this period, aside from fulfilling his daily duties as an 'aide,' whenever he had free time, Alvin would guide Tohsaka Rin's magic lessons together with Morgan… though in reality, he was mostly just watching.
Technically, he counted as a 'mage of the Age of Gods,' but in practice, Alvin's magecraft was completely half-baked.
In past battles, he mostly relied on his body and Noble Phantasms, but Morgan was different. When it came to using Age of Gods magecraft, in all of Britain, the only one who could rival her was probably Merlin.
Even though that white-haired mage kept insisting he was actually better with a sword than with magecraft.
Gentle sunlight spilled into the palace garden. Inside a pavilion, a small girl in a black dress with long hair draped over her shoulders had her eyes tightly shut, her left hand supporting her right as she tried hard to activate the magic circuits in her body.
Not far away, Morgan, also dressed in a black court gown with a cold and mysterious aura, stood with her arms crossed. Beneath the hazy veil, her blue eyes quietly observed Rin Tohsaka. More precisely, she was directly looking through Rin's body at the flow of mana inside her.
"The way you're releasing mana is wrong," Morgan le Fay spoke.
"Although the branching points of the magic circuits are complex, the core never changes. To be precise, the 'core' is the true magic circuit. The other 'lines' only serve to enhance your magecraft."
"Try mobilizing only the 'core' to release a mana bullet."
Rin Tohsaka didn't speak. She simply nodded seriously, then closed her eyes and followed Morgan's 'teaching' step by step.
Until at a certain moment, a faint glow of mana lit up at her fingertips.
"Hey!"
She swung her hand forward. The mana bullet cut through the air and shot ahead. A breeze passed by, and the colorful flowers in the garden swayed with the wind.
"It worked!"
Her face lit up with surprise and delight as she looked at Morgan, clearly asking for praise.
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