My goodness, he just defected like that??
Lancelot sure is a light-speed traitor!!
Across the infinite multiverse, countless viewers who saw this, after recalling Lancelot's multiple assurances from before, were utterly dumbfounded.
Although they had guessed that Lancelot would betray them, they never thought it would be this fast, this decisive.
But after thinking about it carefully, it seemed to make sense. Lancelot had already taken issue with the slaughter of civilians; he had only refrained from objecting out of guilt towards the King.
Now, after Mash's "therapy session," he could be considered to be treating the Lion King and King Arthur as separate entities.
I am loyal to King Arthur, not the Lion King. It was probably for this reason that Lancelot betrayed them so quickly.
Of course, there was also the most crucial point: Mash's final words… "Father."
That sentence was truly a Noble Phantasm against Lancelot, a single line that made Arondight fall right out of his hands. A few more of those, and Lancelot would probably just give up on the spot…
---o---
[Light Curtain Commentary]
Gudako: "Ma… Masaka! The Guardian Heroic Spirit hidden inside Mash's body is actually the knight from the legends who obtained the Holy Grail, Galahad?! I really didn't expect that!"
Mash: "S-so that's how it is? Then everything from before can be explained. I never thought Sir Lancelot… would actually be my father…"
Lancelot: "!!! No… that's…"
Utaha Kasumigaoka: "Ah, so even if the commentary section can't hear the voices, it still turns out like this? This guy… he's not a daughter-con, is he?"
Detective Conan: "He really is… The Lancelot from the epic of King Arthur certainly didn't have this kind of emotion towards Galahad. So, the real reason is actually Mash?"
Sampo Koski the Cold-Legged Uncle: "Galahad, Guinevere… one becomes a daughter, the other a lover. Aha above, this is getting interesting."
---o---
[On the light curtain, Lancelot's betrayal was, for Agravain, completely expected.]
However, he had not expected that Lancelot's betrayal wasn't because of Guinevere, but because a young woman possessing Galahad's Spirit Origin had caused him to directly betray the King.
He had even gained a little more trust in him because of his earlier words.
Looking at it now, he had still overestimated Lancelot.
The moment he thought of the great responsibility the King had previously entrusted to Lancelot, Agravain found it difficult to suppress the anger in his heart.
Lancelot, Guinevere, that adulterous couple, had repeatedly betrayed the King's trust, and now they were trying to stop the King's plan. As the King's adjutant, if he couldn't resolve this, how could he face the King?!
"Still… that woman is truly silver-tongued. A sharp-tongued sword. Though they were just a few words, they truly struck Lancelot's heart."
Agravain looked at Mash in the distance, muttering to himself. But he quickly shook his head and said in a low voice, "In the end, it's just because Lancelot's will is not firm enough."
"What's this about the past king and the present king? The King is the King. Even if she has become a stranger, become cold, that was still a necessary evil. Everything is for the sake of saving all of humanity, for the sake of continuing the Human Order."
To betray for such a laughable reason, Lancelot… he had never truly held the King in his heart!
"Adjutant, Sir Lancelot has betrayed us. Should we continue the attack?"
Beside him, the Purified Knights looked at each other. Lancelot was the strongest in the Round Table. His betrayal was a fatal blow to the entire Round Table, to the entire Holy City.
If Lancelot were still on their side, with the addition of tens of thousands of Purified Knights, they might have been able to fight Li Sushang. But now that Lancelot had betrayed them, just Agravain and the Order of Purified Knights alone… never mind holding off the mountain people and the foreigners, it was possible they would be countered and even completely annihilated.
Even the military fortress behind them was now at risk of being lost. The initiative on the battlefield, because of Li Sushang's presence and Lancelot's betrayal, was now firmly in the hands of the enemy.
Under these circumstances, continuing the attack was clearly not a wise move. Even the Purified Knights, with their low intelligence, knew that retreating was the best decision now.
"Indeed. Even if Sir Mordred arrives in time, it will not change the situation. It would be better to say that if even this rebellious knight were to betray us, it would be a complete disaster."
Agravain said, his face grim. It couldn't be helped. The enemies he despised, the obstacles he needed to clear for the King, were all here. But he could only flee with his tail between his legs.
Without a doubt, this operation had been a great strategic failure, a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice. After this battle, even if the King wanted to execute him for it, Agravain would have nothing to say. He could only wash his neck and wait.
"Retreat… back to the fortress. Activate the magical barrier. The one originally meant to counter the Sun King's pyramid will have to be used here first."
After giving the order to retreat, Agravain had already fallen back to the fortress gate. The Purified Knights who received the order also poured into the fortress, raising the drawbridge.
On the other side, the large-scale retreat of the Purified Knights naturally caught the attention of Ritsuka and her group, and they naturally knew what Agravain was thinking.
"Hmm, retreating under these circumstances is indeed a good choice. Our number of Heroic Spirits and high-end combat power far exceeds the fortress's defenses. If we were to counterattack, it would be impossible for Agravain not to lose."
Da Vinci watched the panicked Order of Purified Knights entering the fortress and said to Ritsuka beside her, "Now is a great opportunity, Ritsuka! Whether it's to understand the Lion King's methods or to weaken the Holy City's forces, it's all beneficial to us and not harmful in the slightest!"
Da Vinci's meaning was obvious. She wanted Ritsuka to press their advantage. As the adjutant, Agravain must know what King Arthur intended to do. And this fortress, as a side gate to the Holy City, would be of great help in retrieving the Holy Grail if they could capture it.
To be sure, although Ritsuka had come to rescue people this time, but… if she could take the fortress, Ritsuka certainly wouldn't be polite about it.
But she still glanced at Li Sushang, who was retracting her aura, and asked, "Miss Sushang, how are you? Are you alright?"
Just now, Li Sushang's move, Taixu Shenyun, was so powerful that it was comparable to an A+ rank Noble Phantasm, and a specialized anti-spirit one at that. In Ritsuka's eyes, this should be Li Sushang's strongest move. She just didn't know if it had taken any toll on her. After all, that thing called Honkai Energy didn't seem very easy to get along with. If there were any side effects, it would be troublesome.
Hearing Ritsuka's question, Li Sushang just waved her hand and puffed out her chest. "Don't worry. A battle of this level is nothing. The Zhenqi I lost has already recovered."
This sentence was actually not a lie. Ritsuka believed that Li Sushang's ultimate move was Taixu Shenyun, but in reality, Shenyun was just a relatively advanced attack form of Taixu Jianqi.
Li Sushang's true ultimate move, the one she hadn't used since awakening, was the true essence of Taixu Jianqi.
However, whether against Lancelot or the other Knights of the Round Table, that move was far from necessary, so she hadn't released it.
"I wonder if the Lion King can withstand Jianshen. Now that she has become a god, dealing with her probably won't be that simple."
Li Sushang thought to herself. Though she didn't seem very bright, after traveling with that Luosha person for so long, she had picked up a thing or two.
In any case, saving a world was definitely not as simple as it looked.
The mysterious statue from Tawara Touta's story, the deified King Arthur, and even other unknown enemies—these were all existences that needed to be handled with care.
"Since that's the case… then…" Seeing that Li Sushang was fine, Ritsuka was about to continue her advance on the fortress.
But just as she was halfway through her sentence, something unexpected happened.
"Wait, Ritsuka!!"
A suddenly appearing virtual screen startled everyone.
On the other end of the screen, the Doctor's face was filled with anxiety and shock as he interrupted Ritsuka.
"Doctor, what happened!" Ritsuka wasn't annoyed at being interrupted, but instead looked at the Doctor with a tense expression.
Just then, beside Ritsuka, the silent Guinaifen suddenly showed a look of discomfort, one hand pointing towards the distant horizon.
"Over there… something seems to have happened over there."
Guinaifen's voice was a bit weak, which made Ritsuka a little suspicious. She was perfectly fine just a moment ago, why the sudden change…
At the same time, after Guinaifen pointed in that direction, the Doctor's voice came through the screen. "Ritsuka, to your right-rear, several hundred kilometers away, a massive magical energy reaction has occurred!"
"If I'm not mistaken, that should be… King Arthur's… Holy Lance!"
The moment his voice fell, in the distant sky, at the spot Guinaifen had pointed to, under the dawning light of a fish-belly white sky, a massive amount of magical energy came crashing down.
In the next moment, the earth cracked and the mountains split. A fierce holy light instantly illuminated the world. The entire land, the entire sky, was trembling. Even from hundreds of kilometers away, that intense light, like a nuclear explosion, left an indelible mark on everyone's hearts.
In an instant, Guinaifen, for some unknown reason, clutched her stuffy chest. A trace of solemnity appeared in Li Sushang's eyes, while Ritsuka, Mash, Lancelot, and the others were deeply shaken.
"That is… the Lion King's Noble Phantasm! The Holy Lance… Rhongomyniad…"]
---o---
Holy crap, what happened?!
Across the infinite multiverse, the viewers who had witnessed the nuclear explosion of the Holy Lance all widened their eyes, staring in disbelief at this sudden turn of events.
What happened? Why did King Arthur go all out?!
Detective Conan: "That location… Ritsuka and her group don't seem to have been there. Is it another faction?"
Boothill: "That's a treasure that'd scare me to death! That power, it's just too damn cute! What, did the Lion King not install a GPS? Did she miss? With a move like that, everyone in the footage, except for the unfathomable Li Sushang, would be dead."
King Arthur: "A Holy Lance of this power… this is already its strongest form, without the twelve restraints. It's impossible to use it against ordinary enemies, and even more impossible to miss. Did something unexpected happen?"
L: "There's only one possibility. Agravain mentioned being attacked by immortal demonic beasts before, and the mysterious sculpture from Tawara Touta's story… it's highly likely this is related."
---o---
[On the light curtain, the heaven-shaking power of the Holy Lance filled Lancelot's eyes with shock, then gravity.]
This was not the first time the Lion King had used the Holy Lance. In fact, during the battle to annihilate the Crusaders, the King had already used its power.
But whether it was annihilating the Crusaders or cleaning up the other rebels, King Arthur's Holy Lance had never released such immense power.
"That location is neither the land of the mountain people nor the Pharaoh's pyramid. What on earth happened for the King to unleash a Holy Lance of such power!"
Lancelot muttered to himself. On the side, Ritsuka no longer had the time to pay attention to his words. She supported the ever-unstable Guinaifen and said anxiously, "Miss Guinaifen! Get a hold of yourself!!"
"What happened? There are no injuries on her body. Could it be a curse? But it doesn't look like that either…"
Beside them, Monk Xuanzang used her magical energy to sense the changes in Guinaifen's body. Her face was grim. Something was wrong.
She wasn't any kind of proper doctor, but… the changes in Guinaifen's body were something even the Buddha was powerless to change.
That's right. The Buddha seemed to know what was happening to Guinaifen, but he hadn't told Xuanzang much.
It was Guinaifen herself who, panting for breath, her forehead already covered in a dense layer of sweat, looked towards the place where King Arthur had unleashed the Holy Punishment.
"Over there, something… hasn't been destroyed yet."
"!!"
Guinaifen's words instantly shocked everyone.
Something hasn't been destroyed yet? What did that mean?
King Arthur's terrifying Holy Lance, a blast of magical energy so immense it had nearly torn the Singularity apart, had actually failed to annihilate that unknown enemy?
??
What kind of joke was this? Even the Sun King couldn't have survived such a terrifying magical blast!
What kind of existence was the other party! What on earth had happened in this Singularity…]
---