Chapter 131: Chapter 130: The Decisive Battle Begins!
Gawain gritted his teeth, veins popping on his forehead. He clenched his fists, squeezed his eyes shut, and frowned, his expression twisting, on the verge of snapping but not quite there.
To be honest, he had always considered himself to be a very elegant and sunny person, someone who could treat anyone with fairness, gentleness, and even humility. But whenever he heard that voice or saw that person, he always felt that he couldn't keep his expression straight. And now, he couldn't hold it anymore...
Deep breaths. Must take deep breaths. I'm not alone right now, and I can't show such a loss of composure expression under the King's watch.
In fact, the current Gawain had already cast aside all his gentleness and elegance in his heart. He was imagining holding a pillow with Aslan's face printed on it, slamming it violently onto the ground. One slam wasn't enough. He had to grab it, swing it around, and finally smash it against a wooden post. Then, using the sun sword in his hand, he would unleash his Noble Phantasm several times in a row, burning it until not even ash remained. Only then could he vent the frustration and annoyance in his heart. If he could, he just wanted to scream five words at Aslan: "DON'T YOU COME OVER HERE—!!"
Of course, if he were to truly express his inner feelings, he would probably need to add a few of Great Britain's national curses to that sentence.
Of course, the one who wanted to curse the most right now was Tristan. Since Aslan had arrived, it meant the others were not far behind. Especially when piloting the Supreme Masterpiece, he could bring several people directly over by air. Gareth and Bedivere had arrived on this battlefield by standing directly on the hands of the Supreme Masterpiece.
Originally, it was already not so easy for Tristan to break through Da Vinci's defense. Although most of the power of Da Vinci's Noble Phantasm was used to power all of Chaldea, it was ultimately an EX-rank counter-type Noble Phantasm. It could launch a targeted counterattack based on the opponent and their Noble Phantasm's state. Even with insufficient energy now, it could still have a certain special effect when targeting Tristan. If it weren't for having too few teammates in the original story, Da Vinci wouldn't have had to resort to a kamikaze-style block by driving her vehicle straight into the enemy. To be honest, in the original FGO, Da Vinci's strength was severely limited. If she were summoned in a normal Holy Grail War, with her abilities, it would not be difficult to achieve final victory, especially with that bug-like Noble Phantasm. How many people weren't afraid of being specifically countered?
As the Supreme Masterpiece flew over everyone's heads, Gareth and Bedivere leaped directly from its palms, attacking Tristan from above.
Upon seeing Bedivere—or more accurately, upon sensing Bedivere's aura—Tristan, after having already felt Galahad's power, once again showed a shocked expression. Galahad was the most pious knight of the Round Table; it was hard to imagine him appearing here, and as an enemy to the King at that. And Bedivere... this knight was the one who had followed the King until the very end. This was true in both Aslan's world and in this Bedivere's world. So for this knight, who had always followed the King, to choose to stand in opposition to her was truly difficult to imagine.
Firstly, Bedivere's strength was not great, and he himself had no special symbolic meaning. Whether he could become a Heroic Spirit, whether he had the qualification, Tristan couldn't say for sure. On the other hand, even if Bedivere had truly become a Heroic Spirit, shouldn't he, who had always been by the King's side, have appeared at her side at the first opportunity? Why appear only now?
If the King knew that Bedivere, the one she trusted most and was closest to, was standing against her, how sad would that make her! No! More importantly, for this knight to stand against them, wasn't it like a silent accusation that they had done something wrong?
Why at this time? Why after they had already made their choice, after their hands were stained with the blood of their comrades? Now that things had come to this, what could this knight possibly change by appearing?! That's right, now that things had come to this, they could only be enemies.
Aslan did not focus his attention on Tristan. Instead, he controlled the Supreme Masterpiece to draw its Anti-Ship Sword. The special weapon in its hand, laced with powerful magic, slashed directly down at Gawain. And Gawain could only raise his sun sword again, forcibly clashing head-on with the Supreme Masterpiece piloted by Aslan.
While clashing weapons with the Supreme Masterpiece, Gawain had of course also noticed Bedivere's presence. With Gareth already standing against them, and now with the appearance of Bedivere and Galahad also opposing the King's actions, it was possible that Gawain might have chosen to leave the Lion King's side. Unfortunately, in this world, there was also an existence like Aslan. Gawain, who did not have a good relationship with Aslan and was even somewhat hostile, would naturally cancel out all the advantages brought by the current situation.
The immense power from the Anti-Ship Sword pushed Gawain continuously backward. The powerful magic from the blade even constantly seared Gawain's hair. Combined with the power of his own sun sword, Gawain's already slightly wavy hair became even more stylishly curly. If he were to put on a dress, he would surely be a beautiful, muscular big sister.
"Oh, sun! Grant me strength!"
The sunlight in the sky grew ever brighter. Beneath the sun, at Gawain's feet, the sigil of the sun began to appear. He threw the holy sword in his hand high, and it transformed into the image of the sun. Then, the holy sword fell from this simulated sun back into Gawain's hand.
"This sword is the replica of the sun. It's flame shall cleanse all the impurity of this world—[Excalibur Galatine]!!"
As the holy sword swung forward, wherever the sun's sigil shone, raging fires erupted from the ground! This was the sister sword to King Arthur's holy sword in the legends. Its original owner was also the Lady of the Lake. In the legends, it was overshadowed by the Sword of Promised Victory, a holy sword with not much description. King Arthur's holy sword gathered the brilliance of the planet, while Gawain's holy sword manifested the scorching rays of the sun. The Sword of Promised Victory was a concentrated, single-point Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm, while the Revolving Sword of Victory was a horizontal, radiant-type for sweeping away approaching enemy soldiers. It was said that just by drawing the sword and infusing it with magical energy, the pseudo-sun within would operate, extending the blade to a visible range.
Now, this fiery light would engulf Aslan and his Supreme Masterpiece!