"Miss Ruler, if you're that curious, why don't you go take a look yourself?"
"The child's grown up. She has things she wants to say to her Father and Mother in private..."
"Huh? Father?"
"I know you're curious, but just hold it in!"
The scorching sun beat down on the sand dunes, where monsters like Sea Demons occasionally appeared. Hundred Faces had waited until she saw that Guinevere and Mordred weren't fighting—in fact, they seemed to be having a pleasant conversation—before slowly approaching.
This particular Hundred Faces was a tall, purple-haired woman with an eight-pack of abs.
Her question stemmed from her continued belief that Guinevere was another King of Knights.
"By the way, is there still no news from Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke? And has the Lion King still not attacked the East Village?"
"Miss Ruler, there's no news from either side. However, regarding the wild Servants, another one of me has made a discovery. We've found where Serenity is being held captive."
Guinevere resisted the urge to comment on whether Hassan of Serenity could truly be considered a "wild Servant." After arriving at the East Village, she had confirmed that all the successive Hassans had been summoned to this Singularity.
However, due to the prolonged conflict with New Camelot, many Hassans had already fallen. For instance, Hassan of the Quaking Pipe was defeated by Lancelot, and Hassan of the Shadow Scraper fell to Gawain. If not for Guinevere's intervention, Hassan of Intoxicated Smoke would have also died at Tristan's hands.
In terms of individual combat strength, aside from the First Hassan, none of the subsequent Hassans were a match for any of the Lion King's Knights of the Round Table.
"Serenity, you say?"
From a purely strategic standpoint, Serenity wasn't worth rescuing. But Guinevere remembered that the Servant with the Noble Phantasm of endless rice was imprisoned alongside her.
That Servant, along with the Sanzang from her memories, were the wild Servants Guinevere truly wanted to find.
Hundred Faces hadn't located Sanzang yet, but they had found the other one first...
"That works. Once Mordred finishes talking with her Father, you can lead us there."
"Yes, Miss Ruler."
After speaking, Hundred Faces swung her sword, cutting down another Sea Demon that had charged them. Several more minutes passed, and Guinevere's sense of unease grew stronger.
Urged on by this foreboding feeling, Guinevere finally stepped forward, intending to interrupt Mordred and Lia's conversation.
But at that very moment, she felt a tremor of mana in the sky and a surge of mana deep within the desert.
But just three seconds later, the mana in both the sky and the desert dissipated completely. Suddenly, Guinevere understood why Mordred had chosen to wait at the desert's edge.
At this stage, the Sun King and the Lion King still had a non-aggression pact. The Lion King couldn't easily unleash her divine punishment upon this desert.
Guinevere clicked her tongue softly, mentally noting this small favor from the Sun King. She walked over to Mordred, ruffled her hair, and then draped herself bonelessly over Mordred's back.
"My good little Mordred, what were you and Lia talking about?"
"I... We weren't talking about anything!"
The child has grown up and wants her privacy, Guinevere thought. But for some reason, Mordred's expression shifted to one of slight sadness, and she immediately became more candid.
"Mother, I was mostly talking with the other Mother. But you both said the same thing—that I should be more selfish."
"Heh, isn't that a good thing?"
"Is it? I'll assume for now that it is. But Mother, I have another question. With both of you existing and talking to each other, don't you ever get confused? Don't you ever think the other one is the copy?"
"What's there to be confused about? And as for copies, we're all just offshoots from our true selves on the Throne of Heroes. When the time comes, we'll all return to the Throne and merge back into our original forms."
"That's just what Servants are."
Lying on Mordred's shoulder, Guinevere understood her worry. It's probably because she talked with the other Guinevere that she's the one feeling confused now, she thought.
But hearing Guinevere's explanation—and realizing she truly had no "I'm the real one" complex—Mordred let out a sigh of relief.
"I see. That's a relief. After all, I don't have as many Class adaptations as you and Father. I can't split myself into that many Mordreds."
With a weight lifted from her heart, Mordred was in the mood to joke.
Hearing this, Guinevere laughed aloud. Her mind naturally conjured an image of a crowd of Mordreds.
Being surrounded by a bunch of Mordreds... just thinking about it makes me happy.
"By the way, Mordred, did Morgan speak to you?"
"She did. Mother told me to retreat from this battlefield quickly, send my memories back to the Throne of Heroes, and then prepare to be summoned by her. She wants me to live with her over there.
"Mother, what do you think? Should I stay here and help? Or should I retreat now?"
As Mordred spoke, her eyes flickered with uncertainty, but thankfully, Guinevere, positioned behind her, couldn't see them.
Personally, Guinevere desperately wanted Mordred to stay by her side. But the thought of her staying meant she would have to cross swords with the Lion King—the very Father to whom she had sworn loyalty. Guinevere couldn't bear the idea of Mordred's still-radiant King's Sword being stained by such a conflict.
"Mordred, could I ask you to wait for me in that other world? The 'me' here will return to the Throne of Heroes soon and synchronize my memories with my other self.
"How should I put this... I'll be a little jealous of my other self, but... she's still me."
Hearing this, Mordred let out a sigh of relief and turned to hug Guinevere tightly. She could hear the reluctance in Guinevere's voice, but she also knew Guinevere was putting her first.
In truth, however, whether Mordred retreated now was not her decision to make.
She was the Lion King's last vestige of humanity, the bait cast to lure Guinevere. Now that the bait had been taken, the hook was snagged in a crevice of sand and stone, unable to reel in the fish.
With her humanity finally exhausted, the Lion King's first move was to cut the line, completely severing her contract with Mordred.
Perhaps in the Lion King's eyes, she had already fulfilled Mordred's wish. Keeping Mordred around any longer would only bring her unnecessary grief.
Perhaps she, too, would be jealous of the tender love between mother and daughter, stung by the pain of Mordred's closeness to Guinevere.
"Well then, Queen Mother... I'll really be going ahead now, okay?"
Mordred's body began to fade, dissolving into Spiritrons—a sign that she had lost her Existence Contract.
Realizing what was happening to Mordred, Guinevere instinctively reached out to stop it. But then, she let out a relieved laugh, leaned in to kiss her dear Mordred's cheek, and flashed her most radiant smile.
"Yes. You go on ahead. I'll be there soon."
No more words were needed. Mordred's wish to apologize to her Father and Queen Mother had been fulfilled. Her only regret was not being able to help more, but she had absolute faith in Guinevere's victory.
Just as she had told the Lion King, whenever Guinevere fought Artoria, Guinevere always won.
At the very end, Mordred returned the Rainbow Gem to Guinevere and vanished completely.
Guinevere sighed, feeling the emptiness in her arms. Her emotions were a mix of joy and sorrow: joy that Mordred would surely find peace, and sorrow that she no longer had her little lion to cuddle.
But after standing there blankly for several minutes, she picked up the Rainbow Gem again. As her eyes fell upon the text that had appeared on its surface, her joy and sorrow both melted away, replaced by amusement.
"Queen Mother, I've arrived! It turns out time flows differently on each side. The Queen Mother here is talking to a version of you from several years in the future... hmm, or maybe several years in the past.
[Bleep], I think that's how it is. I really don't get it! Oh, by the way, Father looks so good in her student uniform! And I'm enrolling in school too!
Queen Mother, you really have to come back soon."
Reading Mordred's words on the Rainbow Gem, which seemed to overflow with joy, Guinevere felt a growing pang of jealousy, even though she knew the other Guinevere was still herself.
"Hey, hey, hey, other me. You must be twisted with jealousy right now, right? Don't be like that. Try placing the Rainbow Gem on your forehead. Merlin will try to sync our memories. We really are one and the same."
Guinevere did as instructed. The memories synchronized, and suddenly, this Guinevere gained several years' worth of experience as a student at the Clock Tower.
These experiences truly extended her life.
The jealousy vanished, replaced by a smile. In her new memories, the little ones like Sakura and Rin had grown up. Mordred, now a rebellious girl in hot pants and a crop top, flashed her a V-sign with one hand.
Most importantly, she now had all the memories of the years she had spent with Lia.
All these things were undeniably true.
Putting away the Rainbow Gem, Guinevere picked up the half of the Holy Shroud that Mordred had dropped when she disappeared. A smile touched her lips.
Her urgent mood had eased, allowing her to approach the conquest of this Singularity with a more relaxed mindset.
Anyway, first, I'll go rescue Serenity and Nanami. Then, I'll proactively visit the First Hassan and the Sun King. As for Sanzang, who's still missing... I'll just have to see if she can make it in time.
Guinevere began to walk, deciding her next steps in her mind.
Sigh... even though the experiences were real, I still want to fight alongside Lia more!
Guinevere could never get enough of Artoria.