Across the infinite multiverse, seeing the rebellious Mordred, the viewers outside the light curtain couldn't help but be stunned.
Because... Mordred's behavior was simply too abnormal and bizarre.
Didn't she swear to follow King Arthur to the death? How did she defect so quickly?
Even if her title was the Knight of Treachery, wasn't this a bit too shameless?
---o---
Light Curtain Commentary—
Yukino Yukinoshita: "So, is Mordred betraying her or turning over a new leaf? Although she betrayed King Arthur again this time... this betrayal seems pretty good."
Kuroneko (Ruri Gokou): "This is seriously hilarious. King Arthur's subordinates are all turning out to be traitors. Now there are only three knights left: Agravain who has no combat power, Gawain guarding the front gate, and Tristan who's currently getting his head bashed in by the people of the mountain."
Utaha Kasumigaoka: "Actually, I think the people of the mountain have already marched straight into the Holy City. Although the Lion King's true strength is unknown, don't forget that Li Sushang hasn't even used her full power yet, plus there's that incredibly mysterious Assassin. The people of the mountain are absolutely the strongest among the three factions."
Detective Conan: "Judging by the Lion King's attitude, that Assassin was able to sneak into the Holy City right under her nose, even reaching her side. Even in a head-on fight, I'm afraid he wouldn't be much weaker than King Arthur."
...
[On the light curtain, Guinaifen's words rang out across the battlefield, and Tristan's eyes turned toward her.]
"You are...?" Because his eyes were blind, and Guinaifen hadn't actively used the power of her Spirit Origin, Tristan couldn't discern her identity.
But... judging by Lancelot's actions, this girl was not simple.
As a knight, Lancelot had been standing not far from her, and when she spoke, his aura became powerfully cold and stern. Therefore...
"Is she someone Sir Lancelot cares about? How interesting... It's hard to imagine Sir Lancelot going to such lengths for a strange woman. She must be a beautiful young girl."
Tristan thought to himself. He had to admit, given Lancelot's personality, for him to act this way, the person opposite them had to be a mature beauty, otherwise why would the strongest knight protect her so closely? It couldn't possibly be Guinevere, right?
"You say... people can understand each other. Sorrow... truly too sorrowful. Unknown young girl, do you actually harbor such naive ideals?"
Speaking up to this point, a trace of sorrow couldn't help but appear in Tristan's eyes.
This was not out of mockery or passive-aggressiveness. Incredibly, it was Tristan's genuine emotional revelation.
He, who had personally uttered the words, "The King does not understand human hearts," was fundamentally projecting his own past naivety that led to the disintegration of the Knights of the Round Table.
Therefore, although he did not agree with Guinaifen's view, he did not mock her approach.
"Ideals? Tristan, do you think this is impossible?" Guinaifen retorted, her eyes serious. Clearly, Tristan's words reminded her of her life on the Xianzhou.
When she first boarded the Xianzhou, she too had believed that, as a refugee from the fallen Planet Camelot, it would be impossible for her to integrate into the Xianzhou Alliance.
Of course, she hadn't dared to beg to integrate into the Xianzhou Luofu. After all, the Xianzhou ships bypassing her and her siblings to take them in was already an act of immense mercy; she couldn't ask for more.
But, all of this changed because of one person.
Li Sushang... not the Li Sushang standing beside her right now.
But her somewhat foolish friend.
The name "Guinaifen" was given to her by that Sushang.
Because of Sushang's existence and support, Guinaifen embarked on the path of street performing and live-streaming, allowing her to make many good friends on the Xianzhou and find a place she truly belonged.
Of course, it was undeniable that there were indeed many incomprehensible actions in this world. For example, the Lion King's current actions were simply beyond comprehension.
What did it mean to kill humans in order to save humanity?
How could a normal person understand such a twisted concept? But... just as Mordred had said, there was no communication at all. Meeting meant killing, with no words spoken. How could there ever be true understanding?
"Is that so? Is that what you think?"
Tristan's face was clouded with melancholy as he sighed deeply.
"Unknown young girl, you were summoned by the Holy Grail, weren't you? Not just you, but Sir Bedivere, Xuanzang, and everyone from Chaldea... all of you are here because of the Holy Grail."
"Since that is the case, you naturally cannot understand what this Singularity has been through."
"Summoned by the Holy Grail...?" Hearing Tristan's words, Bedivere muttered to himself, not knowing what to think.
To be honest, although he knew the Lion King's goal was to save Human Order, Bedivere couldn't understand what her process entailed.
But, no matter what had happened, the act of slaughter was wrong. Massacring unarmed civilians was completely unacceptable under any circumstances.
Therefore, no matter what had happened, Bedivere would absolutely never forgive the Tristan standing before him.
"To be honest, I never thought that you, the most loyal to the King, would stand against her today."
As Bedivere was lost in thought, Tristan's calm voice echoed in his ears.
"Such a development is truly sorrowful."
Sorrow? That word again. Since he had already fallen so low, keeping that word constantly on his lips was far too shameless.
Bedivere furrowed his brows, speaking in agonizing pain: "Sorrowful? Are you kidding me? Tristan, there is nothing more sorrowful than your actions!"
"You, who once hated slaughter the most, are actively leading massacres. Tristan, has your pride as a Knight of the Round Table fallen to the bottom of the valley?"
"Or is it that everything happening here is the King's will?"
Hearing this, Tristan replied calmly: "Fool. As a Knight of the Round Table, wouldn't I hesitate to kill innocent civilians?"
"Sir Bedivere, that is a massive misunderstanding, and it is your mistake."
"Or rather, my former comrade, do you know exactly why I am doing these things today?"
"The King does not understand human hearts."
"Yes, once, I spoke those words."
"You should be very clear on this point, Sir Bedivere."
Having spoken these words calmly, Tristan seemed slightly choked up.
Bedivere stared at Tristan with a dark expression: "Tristan, what exactly are you trying to say?"
"The King does not understand human hearts." That sentence had depressed King Arthur herself for a very long time, so hearing it again made it difficult for Bedivere to control his emotions.
But Tristan merely continued his calm narration: "Yes, that sentence was a grievous sin. In the past, I spoke those words without thinking, and I have regretted it for the rest of my life."
"Even after becoming a Heroic Spirit, I could never forget that heavy past."
"So, upon answering the King's summons, I made up my mind. This time, I must follow the King to the very end, no matter what the King intends to do, no matter what sins I must bear, I will give everything to wash away the sins of my past life."
"Carrying this resolve, I killed my former comrades with my own hands, Sir Bedivere."
"Do you know? In the beginning, the King summoned all the knights who held the thirteen seats of the Round Table. Except for you and Galahad, everyone answered the King's call."
"However, in the end, when everyone learned of the King's goal, including myself, only six chose to accept the King's command. The rest, like you, launched a rebellion against the King."
"Therefore, we enacted punishment upon the rebels. With our own hands, with our own weapons, we struck down all the rebelling members of the Round Table."
"This is the infighting among us Knights of the Round Table who turned our backs on honor, before your arrival."
"And after that suppression battle, we who remained loyal to the King received the King's reward, which is her 'Blessing'."
In flat, cold words, Tristan revealed the truth of the Round Table's civil war—something the light curtain had hinted at earlier, but whose specific details had never been shown.
Within those calm words lay an endless, terrifying dread. It caused the vast majority of people across the infinite multiverse who heard it to involuntarily shiver and tremble.
The mutual slaughter of the Round Table. Across the infinite multiverse, countless viewers couldn't help but gasp upon hearing Tristan's words.
Although they had expected that the other Round Table members hadn't appeared for a reason, they never imagined... that they were all already dead before the video even began.
The Lion King, who had already become a god, might have been able to strike them down, but why... why did these Knights of the Round Table lay hands on their own comrades? What kind of torment must they have gone through in their hearts?
---o---
Light Curtain Commentary—
"Let's All Explode, Normies!": "No wonder these Knights of the Round Table kept saying they had lost their chivalry. So this is how they lost it. Indeed, raising weapons against their own comrades completely violates their knightly code."
Eriri Spencer Sawamura: "These remaining Knights of the Round Table are truly ruthless! In the historical epics, apart from a small minority, most of the Knights of the Round Table had great relationships, and some were even blood siblings. To just kill them directly like this is too ruthless."
L: "Are they loyal to King Arthur? But the prerequisite for this loyalty should be that the Lion King can truly save Human Order, so... what method does the Lion King intend to use to save it?"
Detective Conan: "In short, it's absolutely a method similar to Emiya Kiritsugu's. Sacrificing a minority, or even a majority, to preserve the hope of survival."
...
[On the light curtain, upon learning the truth of this Singularity—the mutual slaughter of the Knights of the Round Table—Bedivere clenched his fists, his eyes filled with sorrow and pain.]
Although he had somewhat anticipated this, hearing the truth from Tristan's mouth made Bedivere's heart instantly clench.
His memory seemed to return to that fog-shrouded forest, beneath that familiar tree.
He knelt on the ground, his eyes brimming with tears and sorrow. And before Bedivere...
Was the one the audience outside the screen was all too familiar with.
The King of Saints... King Arthur.
She had a very severe wound on her abdomen. She looked haggard, and her life was clearly fading fast.
The King, at the end of her life, cast her gaze toward the tearful knight with red-rimmed eyes.
"Bedivere, take my sword..."
"Listen well..."
"Walk out of this forest, cross that blood-stained hill..."
"Beyond it, there is a lake..."
"Cast my sword into it..."
Hearing this, Bedivere's pupils trembled violently, the pain and sorrow in his expression unable to fade for a long time.
It was then that the silver-haired knight before King Arthur—the past Bedivere—spoke in a low, pained voice: "My King, I..."
Reluctance, pain. All sorts of sorrowful emotions spread within Bedivere's heart. This knight, who had accompanied the King to the very end, could not bear to see his King like this.
However... King Arthur merely smiled faintly. "After it's done, return here..."
"Then... tell me what you saw and heard along the way..."
In this moment, the camera focused on King Arthur's beautiful face.
Though she was very weak and haggard, the smile she wore was one of pure relief.
There was no blame for her subjects, nor the pain and bitterness of an impending death.
There was only the relief of letting everything go.
Clearly, the King Arthur of this moment had thought through many things and accepted her fate.
This was the true King Arthur, the King Arthur the viewers outside the screen were familiar with, not the cold, god-like Lion King.
At this moment, Bedivere's emotional defenses completely shattered. He watched as King Arthur struggled to lift the Sword of Promised Victory (Excalibur), gesturing for him to take it.
Then, in immense pain and struggle, his body trembling, he accepted the Sword of Promised Victory.
He mounted his horse and rode toward the place King Arthur had described.
"No..."
"I can't..."
"I cannot hesitate..."
"Take that sword, and return it!"
"Following the King's command, return the sword... to the Lady of the Lake!"
Hesitation, pain. Such a choice was simply too cruel for this knight.
Three times. A full three times, he failed to return the holy sword.
And so, when he returned to where King Arthur was for the third time, the King had already disappeared, leaving only a pool of blood on the ground.
Because of his mistake... the King's soul could not be freed; she couldn't even achieve death.
---o---