Fate: How About a New Savior?

Just as the black-armored knight issued the command, the knight in purple armor stepped in to block him.

"Wait, Sir Agravain! We still don't know the full picture! Why is Morgan here? When the king ordered us to move out, there was no mention of this!"

"There's no use discussing it, Sir Lancelot. It doesn't matter who the enemy is—if our king has given the order, we must carry it out to the end." Agravain stared coldly at Lancelot. "Or are you planning to betray our king again?"

With that, he drew his sword and pointed it at Lancelot, making it clear that if Lancelot so much as hesitated, he'd be the first to fall.

"..." Lancelot's expression darkened. He clearly resented the accusation, but had no choice. "Understood. Give the order."

Though Lancelot led the knights, he didn't hold absolute authority over this unit.

"All Enforcement Knights, hear me! Eliminate the enemies of our king at once! Begin with that wretched woman—"

Agravain pointed his sword toward Morgan, just as he was about to command the charge. But a flash of red light streaked toward his face. He barely dodged in time, the spear grazing his cheek and cutting it open—behind him, several knights were pierced clean through, blood spraying as they fell from their mounts.

It was Shiomi's crimson spear.

Morgan watched the scene unfold without concern, calmly tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, showing no urgency to strike first.

"Watch your tongue, Knight of the Round Table," Shiomi said, lowering his hand. "If I hear you insult Morgan again, the next spear will pierce your heart."

Beside him, the red-haired knight closed his eyes, plucking his bow-shaped weapon that sang like a harp, sending a clear, melodic note into the air.

"So... Chaldea's Observatory has allied with the witch Morgan. The last bastion of humanity reduced to such desperate measures... Ah, how very tragic."

Whether his sorrow was for Morgan's reversal of roles with the king, or for now having a solid reason to cut them down—no one could say.

"Gawain, Lancelot, Mordred, Agravain..." Scáthach named the knights she had identified. "Then you, playing the strings—you must be Tristan."

"I am," Tristan answered, making no attempt to hide his identity, just like the rest.

Agravain rode forward, staring down at those on the sand dune. Behind it, Mordred had already pushed deep into enemy lines and was locked in combat with the shield-bearing Servants.

Then he recognized the shield.

One of the two knights who defied the king's summons, now appearing at this Singularity—her shield was in the hands of that girl.

That knight... and Morgan.

No wonder Chaldea, walking beside her, was deemed a threat. The king's command to hunt them down before they could secure a foothold here made perfect sense.

"Judging by their reaction, there's nothing left to discuss," Morgan said quietly.

Shiomi stepped forward. "Five Knights of the Round Table, nearly a hundred Enforcement Knights... and we can't rule out the possibility of reinforcements."

"A quick battle? Hardly." Morgan's eyes swept across the enemy knights. "They've all been granted powers they didn't originally possess."

Negotiations had failed.

But then, there was never a chance of peace to begin with.

Agravain pointed his sword at Morgan's brow. "Kill her."

The Enforcement Knights surged forward again, charging behind Agravain, Lancelot, and Tristan.

Gawain, too, retreated—leaping onto his steed. Though not his beloved Gringolet, the horse was swift and strong, and more than satisfactory for battle.

To think the day would come when he would be sent to slay his own mother, Morgan. Though she now seemed to favor someone new, showing not a hint of sentiment for the children she had once sent to King Arthur...

He cast away that last shred of emotion and charged forward alongside his comrades.

"You shall not pass," Morgan said coolly.

As the charge began, she drew a line in the sand with her magical spear.

True to their title, the Knights of the Round Table immediately recognized the danger. They reined in and leapt their horses over the line, narrowly dodging the explosion of magic that erupted from beneath the desert.

The less experienced knights weren't so lucky. Caught in the blast, they were thrown from their mounts and trampled by the cavalry behind, unable to stop in time. The sand turned dark with their blood.

Using the momentum of their leap, Gawain and Lancelot raised their swords in unison, without so much as a glance exchanged, and struck at Scáthach—now directly in front of them.

Everyone had seen the earlier exchange. This woman wasn't someone they could afford to leave standing.

Scáthach spun elegantly between the two charging horses. Two crimson arcs sliced through the air, opening fatal wounds in the bellies of both warhorses.

Anticipating the counter, Gawain and Lancelot leapt from their mounts without hesitation and attacked Scáthach on foot.

"Apologies, my lady," Lancelot said as his sword met Scáthach's spear. "Two against one goes against the code of chivalry—especially against a woman…"

"But we have a duty we must fulfill." Gawain came up from behind and swung his sword at Scáthach's lower back.

Scáthach simply let out a carefree laugh. With ease, she deflected Lancelot's strike and redirected its force straight toward Gawain's blade.

"Arondight" clashed against "Excalibur Galatine," kicking up a violent gust of sand and dust.

"No matter. Show me your strength, Knights of the Round Table. If you can't, I'll take your lives myself," Scáthach said with a spin of her crimson spear, then added with a teasing smile, "And one more thing—if you want to destroy Chaldea, you'd best start by killing my beloved disciple."

She pointed off to the side, prompting both knights to look.

Shiomi had already taken a warhorse. With Rune Magecraft guiding it, he rode freely through the Enforcement Knights, weaving in and out of the ranks as if in a no-man's-land.

Fortunately, Tristan was also engaged in the battle, continuously strumming his stringed weapon and launching invisible arrows to hinder Shiomi.

But it was only interference. None of the arrows hit. It was as if Shiomi could see them—every time, he skillfully knocked them away with his spear, even catching arrows loosed by the bow-wielding Enforcement Knights along the way.

Still, they couldn't afford to ignore Scáthach.

"The Queen of the Land of Shadows herself... Chaldea is truly formidable," Gawain admitted with a hint of awe.

Lancelot raised his sword. "Already backing down? Then allow me to strike down this queen in our king's name—"

"No!"

With that shout, the Knight of the Lake and the Knight of the Sun charged together. Once bitter enemies in life, now united by loyalty to their king, they launched a joint assault on the eternal queen.