Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

The person before him,

Was Arthur Pendragon's adoptive father, Sir Ector.

Upon realizing this, Suya felt like he'd been hit by a sledgehammer, his head buzzing.

At the same time, he immediately grasped the deeper meaning of Merlin's words.

Facing an enemy of Seleucus's caliber, even Merlin and he combined probably couldn't withstand a casual punch from him.

And judging by the current situation,

Ector might be an even more absurdly powerful individual than Seleucus!

If he couldn't convincingly impersonate his adoptive son, with whom he had lived for over a decade, under the watchful eyes of this hero knight,

Then, once exposed,

If this knight learned that he was the one who had killed Arthur Pendragon, both he and Merlin, the mage who had swooped in halfway,

Would surely die!

At this moment,

Ector finally passed through the Companion Cavalry. Sitting on his horse, he stood three meters away, confronting Seleucus.

What conversation transpired between them was unknown, but soon, Ector dismounted, dragging his long spear, and walked alongside Seleucus towards the plains below, where Suya was.

Only when these two monsters, exuding a terrifying, inhuman aura, approached, did Suya hear snippets of their conversation:

"Not bullying the weak, not relying on terrain, dismounting to fight, and even giving me thirty moves, Sir, are you sure you want to do this?"

Seleucus frowned, saying coldly, "Even if you do so, I will not hold back."

"Come," Ector calmly looked at him. He arrived on the open plain, creating a ten-meter distance between them, raised his spear tip, and pointed it at Seleucus.

There was no fear in his tone; it was as if he were performing the most mundane of tasks.

"I bear the King's command and cannot truly fight you on the battlefield. However, Vanguard of the King of Greece, you need not think I am letting you off."

"It is a disgrace to us knights that we failed to advise the King, leading to the collapse of our front line. And now, I merely wish to prove—"

"The King's knights are second to none."

Seleucus nodded, took a deep breath, and stated solemnly, "I understand, Sir Ector. You are indeed a true knight."

"In that case, let our engagement be thirty moves. I will use my full power."

Seleucus said gravely, "If I fail to wound you within thirty moves, I will immediately withdraw my army and allow you to leave. If I wound you within thirty moves, then—"

"You and I will set up our battle formations here and fight to the death with our respective armies!"

Ector nodded calmly.

And just as both parties agreed to this battle,

The entire plain suddenly fell silent.

Like the calm before a storm.

Suya stared in bewilderment at the two parties about to clash not far away.

He thought, "This isn't right. Seleucus, commanding an army of ten thousand, is the weaker party against Ector's less than a hundred cavalry? And he's giving up terrain, his mount, and even moves, practically telling him, 'Go ahead and stab me. If you don't kill me, you lose.'"

Ector, this future Knight of the Round Table, is he really that fierce?

And even among the Round Table, Ector's martial prowess wasn't top-tier. So how exaggerated must the top three—Lancelot of the Lake, Gawain the Sun Knight, and Tristan—be?

Suya couldn't imagine, but before he could ponder too much,

On the field, the two figures in confrontation suddenly vanished.

The battle began in the blink of an eye!

Immediately after—

"Whoosh!!!"

From the spot where the two had confronted each other, an exaggerated gust of wind erupted!

To Suya, it seemed almost like instant teleportation. The two figures reappeared on his right, Seleucus performing a motion of swinging his two-meter greatsword down towards the ground.

On the other side, Ector, as if strolling through a garden, shifted his feet slightly to the side, effortlessly avoiding both the attack and the blade wind it stirred up.

This scene occurred because their movements were so fast that they left afterimages in his vision. The true movements of the two were too swift for Suya's naked eye to capture.

Thus—

They became invisible in his sight.

Suya couldn't see their clashing movements, the progress of their fight, nor who held the advantage in this battle.

All he could see were the continuous surges of blade energy rising from before him, sweeping wildly in all directions!

Streaks of blade energy shot out for tens of meters, tearing the ground within a hundred-meter radius into a spiderweb-like pattern!

On this plain, only two completely indiscernible black and blue lines continuously chased each other!

Thunderous thuds from their footsteps, like flat-ground thunder, formed a continuous battle song!

"What are you standing there for, run!"

Merlin suddenly grabbed Suya's arm and said, "Get away from here. If they unleash their Noble Phantasms, we're truly finished!"

Suya also snapped out of his daze. He had already experienced the power of a Noble Phantasm; even a non-offensive C-rank Noble Phantasm, when unleashed with less than a tenth of its power, could create a sonic boom and instantly accelerate him to supersonic speeds.

So, if these two had A-rank Noble Phantasms, wouldn't a thousand-meter radius be utterly obliterated if they went all out?

He immediately turned, intending to flee with Merlin.

Just then,

"Bang!"

With a impact sound that shook the entire ground, the two invisible figures simultaneously reappeared in front of them.

And Suya's pupils abruptly constricted!

Because Seleucus had appeared right in front of him and Merlin!

At this moment, Seleucus stared at Suya, his bell-like eyes narrowing slightly, seeming thoughtful. Then, he began to extend his giant palm towards Suya.

At this moment,

A spear of light, like fire, suddenly shot from the side!

It pierced the ground exactly between Seleucus's outstretched hand and Suya!

Seleucus's palm stopped before Suya's head, halted by the shaft of the burning spear, and did not extend further.

Suya could clearly see the giant palm, larger than a fan, with thick calluses between its fingers and palm lines almost worn away.

And with this hand merely placed in front of his head, Suya's breathing abruptly hitched. Under the invisible pressure radiating from the opponent, his heart felt as if it were being crushed by a thousand-pound iron block, almost suffocating him.

Seleucus suddenly looked up at the stern figure who had appeared to the side, asking with some hesitation:

"You abandoned your army to come here, for this brat?"

Ector, who had appeared on the side, did not directly answer his question, but calmly stated:

"Your Noble Phantasm should be the Conqueror King's royal banner."

"You did not bring your true weapon, so fighting you with this spear would be an unfair victory."

"But—" Ector's tone suddenly turned cold. He raised his right hand towards Seleucus, and a bright yellow flame ignited on the back of his hand.

"If you dare harm him, I will immediately use this spear."

"And all the knights and heroes of Britain, along with all the Servants summoned by the history of this land, will immediately embark on a crusade to subdue you and thwart the Conqueror King's grand ambition!"

Seleucus's expression abruptly changed. He looked gravely at the bewildered Suya.

His gaze flickered between the flaming spear in front of him and Suya. After some thought, as if something dawned on him, he took a deep breath.

Seleucus asked in a deep voice, "This brat... could he be?"

"Indeed,"

Ector took a deep breath, respectfully facing Suya, and solemnly revealed:

"He is the King!"