Chapter 129: The Battle of Love and Hope?
[Damn it, this feels like a heart attack!]
[I don't get it so I gotta ask—Is this season one of 'My Dad's From Another World, and She's Transgender Now!' or what?]
[It's over, Mordred seems like she's about to realize!!!]
[Is Proto-Saber about to pull a Darth Vader: 'I Am Your Father'?]
[How will Mo-chan respond? Nuh-uh.]
[In Proto-Saber's world, Mordred is a son, right?]
[According to Type-Moon lore, Mordred is a homunculus created by Morgan, if I'm not mistaken.]
[It's fine to have lots of daughters, isn't it? Don't they say daughters are their father's hidden flasks of liquor?]
[And Mo-chan is probably a flask with 96% alcohol—Arthur might drop dead on the spot after a sip.]
[It's over, this time they have to reconcile as father and child.]
...
[System: "British Trouble Kid" has sent 100 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: I don't need Dad! I need Daddy-Mum!!!]
...
Previously, Mordred was busy fighting off an attack by the Phantasmal Species, so she didn't hear Arthur's self-introduction.
In fact, since he was also a Saber-class, she even felt a strange flicker of battle spirit rising in her chest.
After all, in Mordred's view, the Saber class was reserved for only the strongest of Servants.
That was until the moment she saw the holy sword that cleaved the Phantasmal Species in two—she instantly recognized it.
It was that Holy Sword.
Excalibur.
The radiant Holy Sword wielded by King Arthur.
Although its shape was slightly different, the aura it gave off was identical—something she could never possibly mistake.
"You're King Arthur, aren't you? Answer me!!"
Mordred stood up, her gaze sharp with hostility as she stared straight at her opponent.
It wasn't that she had any personal grudge against the unfamiliar knight before her—rather, it was the very name "King Arthur" that naturally stirred antagonism within her.
"————?!"
Arthur froze slightly at Mordred's reaction, but still answered her seriously.
"Yes, I am the one who ruled over Britannia—Arthur Pendragon. But I am not from your world."
"…Not from our world?"
Mordred's eyes bore into Arthur, as if trying to determine whether he was lying.
"That's right. In our world, I truly was King Arthur. I once fought alongside the Knights of the Round Table, and even had a—"
As Arthur looked at Mordred, something flickered in his eyes.
"No, my apologies. It's just some trivial matters."
"So you came here to defeat that thing?"
"Indeed. In another world, I have defeated this Beast VI twice already. And because Merlin foretold that it would appear a third time, I've been crossing through worlds ever since—until I arrived here."
After hearing that, Mordred thought for a moment and then nodded.
"I see. If you're not Father, then there's no issue. But sorry, I'm not going to be all chummy with you."
"Father???"
Arthur looked startled.
"Don't tell me you have some connection to King Arthur?"
"Oh, of course I do."
Mordred puffed out her chest proudly.
"I'm the sole heir to King Arthur in this world—Mordred!!!"
With that, Mordred hoisted Clarent and charged toward the next Phantasmal Beast.
"Don't get in my way, Father from another world!!!"
Watching Mordred dash off with such fiery spirit, Arthur's expression somehow softened.
"The Mordred of this world is truly adorable… Perhaps the me of this world would be proud to have a child like that."
Arthur shook his head, brushing aside the thought.
Right now, he had to fully focus on the Beast he'd pursued for so long.
Then, once again, he gripped his Holy Sword tightly and returned to the fray.
...
"Oh! Looks like it's not just Arthur—everyone else is fired up too!"
Merlin stood atop the Gordius Wheel, observing from above, her tone indicating just how amused she was by the unfolding situation.
"To battle against the Human Evil without the aid of a Grand Servant—now that's a human ballad worthy of praise."
"Fou… Fou!!!"
Fou jumped onto Merlin's shoulder, also looking down at the battlefield.
"Cath Palug, you're one lucky creature. You'd never see anything this exciting in Avalon."
"Fou, Fou Fou!!!"
When Fou spotted Mash using her shield to block an attack from one of the Familiars, he immediately leapt down toward her in concern.
"Ah! Cath Palug!!!"
Merlin reached out, trying to catch him, but Fou flashed and vanished without a trace.
"Haizz, it's all Onii-chan's fault for letting him out so early. I feel like if Onii-chan ran into him now, he'd totally get kicked into orbit."(Note: I just heard Lady Avalon's voiceline—she calls Male Merlin 'Onii-chan'.)
"This person... Lady Avalon?"
Waver, standing nearby, hesitated a moment before speaking up.
"Hi! That's me."
Merlin smiled and turned around, sizing Waver up from head to toe.
"So you're a Heroic Spirit from China, huh? May I ask what you need from me?"
"These seven Familiars are just underlings of Beast VI. At the current rate, we can probably subdue them quickly. But do you have any advice for defeating the true body of Beast VI?"
"Advice, huh..."
Merlin paused in thought.
"If it were other Heroic Spirits, I'd probably just say 'do your best'... But you and the Servant next to you are strategist types, aren't you?"
"Sharp observation. As expected of a Heroic Spirit qualified to reach Grand rank."
Sima Yi complimented Merlin without hesitation.
"Fufu, getting praise from two strategists—what a refreshing experience. But since you're both of the strategist type, I'm sure you understand too—before absolute power, all plans become meaningless, right?"
As she spoke, Merlin glanced into the distance—where Nero remained motionless, quietly enjoying the battle between her underlings and the Servants.
"Don't be fooled by how harmless she looks now. The truth is she's crossed who knows how many worlds, devoured who knows how many human civilizations just to get here. She is the true embodiment of Human Evil—the enemy of the Human Order!"
Hearing that, both Waver and Sima Yi fell silent.
Standing nearby, Ethan also overheard their conversation.
Merlin wasn't wrong.
In the face of Beast VI's overwhelming power, most strategies were indeed useless.
For now, they could only respond step by step.
...
"Haa——————————!!!"
Arthur once again swung his Holy Sword, slicing off the head of a Phantasmal Beast shaped like an insect.
"Ahahahaha!!!"
Jeanne Alter wildly swung her longsword, slashing across the body of a snake-like Phantasmal Beast. Black flames erupted across its tough scales.
The snake let out a furious hiss and lunged down to attack.
"Careful, Jeanne Alter-san!!!"
Mash raised her shield, blocking the attack on Jeanne's behalf.
At the same time, several black spears suddenly pierced into the snake's throat and then exploded violently.
"BOOM——————————!!!"
The snake-like Phantasmal Beast writhed, letting out a painful screech.
"Zzzzsssssssssssss———————!!!"
"Go to hell already!!!"
Seeing the enemy wounded, Jeanne Alter immediately chased after it, stabbing her Evil Dragon Banner straight into its body.
"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM————————!!"
With three successive explosions, the massive snake's body collapsed and slowly sank into the sea of blood below.
"We've taken one down, Jeanne Alter-san."
"Fufufu, of course we have! Mash, follow me—we're going to take down the next one!"
"Yes, ma'am!!!"
After many battles together, it seemed Jeanne Alter had come to fully trust Mash.
"Hey, you guys done over here too?"
Before Jeanne and Mash could depart, Iskandar galloped in atop Bucephalus.
"Emperor Iskandar!"
"Oh! Lady Servant of the Shield, looks like these Phantasmal Beasts have all been dealt with."
"What?!"
Jeanne Alter glanced around—and sure enough, while she and Mash had been fighting one, the other six had all been defeated as well.
"Tch, such a blunder..."
Jeanne Alter gritted her teeth in frustration, then her gaze shifted toward Nero, still floating quietly in the sky nearby.
"Looks like if I defeat her, Master will finally realize that I am the one who matters most."
With that thought, she immediately grabbed the Evil Dragon Banner and charged straight toward Nero.
But the very next moment, a violent shockwave erupted ahead.
BOOM————————!!!
Jeanne Alter was blasted backward—fortunately, Mash caught her in time.
"You all really are stubborn. Even my underlings couldn't take you out?"
Black miasma coiled thickly around Nero's body.
Her figure gradually shrank within the swirling dark mist, accompanied by a crushing, indescribable pressure of overwhelming magical energy.
A small girl slowly emerged from the black haze.
Upon her head, and on both her left and right shoulders, rested golden crowns. Her pupils had turned a blood-red hue, and in her left hand she clutched a Holy Grail brimming with darkness.
Not only that—her legs and right arm had transformed into the form of a red dragon, a long draconic tail swaying behind her.
"I will devour your very last breath!"
The little girl spoke with a terrifying voice.
"Come to me, defenders of the Human Order, and rejoice in the glory of witnessing this form of mine!!!"
A monstrous surge of magical power erupted around her, immediately pressing down on everyone to the point they could barely move.
The airborne movement granted by Merlin was also drastically weakened, restricting them to hovering no more than five meters above the blood sea.
"Detecting massive magical energy signature! Initiating analysis!!!"
"Analysis complete! Hypothesized to be the Larva form of Beast VI!!!"
"Larva?!"
Doctor Romani slammed his hand on the console in shock.
"Just a Larva, and it's already emitting such absurd magical power?!"
"Romani, I'm afraid we have to face the truth..."
Da Vinci's expression visibly darkened with worry.
"All this time, we've been far too optimistic... Perhaps this time, the future of humanity really will disappear."
"..."
Doctor Romani stared intently at the screen.
If Ethan and the others truly were about to face the worst possible outcome, then he...
...
Arthur raised his head to gaze at the small girl clutching the defiled Holy Grail, and Merlin's prophecy echoed in his mind:
"The beast with seven heads and ten horns, mother of all Immorality. She is the one who gathers all those eternally blamed, humiliated, and despised by the world—those who remain filled with rage—embracing and merging into one, greedily devouring within the golden vortex. She is Beast VI, the embodiment of Depravity."
"At last… you've shown your true form! Beast VI/S!!!"
Without hesitation, Arthur gripped his holy sword and charged straight at her.
"ROOAARR——————————!!!"
Suddenly, the blood sea below began to churn violently!
The seven Phantasmal Beasts—once thought to have been defeated—rose once more and surged toward Arthur!
"They can't be killed?!"
Waver, still floating in the air, shouted in disbelief.
"They are her seven beasts, after all. As long as Beast VI still exists, those beasts—who have become part of her concept—will continue to exist."
Merlin, seemingly having anticipated this, spoke calmly.
With the beasts obstructing him, Arthur's charge quickly slowed.
"Fall back, wielder of the holy sword!!!"
A sudden shout rang out. From the Holy Grail in Nero's hand, thick black smoke began to gush out.
"——————!?"
Thanks to his keen intuition, Arthur immediately sensed the abnormality, pulled back swiftly, and shouted a warning.
"Be careful! Don't get close to that black smoke!!!"
The moment the words left his mouth, violent explosions erupted from the smoke.
"BOOOOOM——————————!!!"
The booming blasts echoed endlessly across the sea of blood, creating a thick new layer of blood mist that blocked and shielded the enemy from approach.
From high above, Waver observed the strange fog and noticed something alarming.
"Lady Avalon, can you use the same flower magic from earlier to dispel this mist?"
"I'm sorry... I can't."
Merlin shook her head gently.
"With my current Saint Graph, I can't intervene in magical energy of this density. I'd simply be consumed by it."
"The power gap is that large… So then, all we can do is endure until the very end—and surrender?"
Faced with the seemingly invincible Beast VI, Waver spoke with helplessness.
"No, no, of course not."
Merlin smiled and shook her head, then pointed her staff forward.
A gentle breeze flowed from the tip of her staff, carrying petals that helped shield Mordred from the beam of light spewing out of the distant dragon-headed beast.
"What allows humanity to resist the Beasts… isn't strength, but love and hope."
"...Love and hope?"
Waver repeated Merlin's words, full of doubt.
"Exactly. The Beasts are born of human sin. To overcome sin, humanity must embrace what binds them together—those precious things called love and hope."
As she spoke, Merlin turned her gaze toward Ethan.
"It's because there's still hope in the Master's heart that we were summoned. As long as hope endures… there's still a way."
Hope…?
Ethan fell into deep thought upon hearing those words.
But he had already used up all his points to summon the help of Merlin and Arthur, the holy swordsman of the stars.
What hope could possibly be left?
Ethan glanced at the top-right corner where the livestream broadcast frame was displayed.
Wait…
If there was still a glimmer of hope—
It could only be this!
Immediately, Ethan switched the livestream feed to focus on his bracelet.
Then, drawing a deep breath, he raised his voice:
"Dear viewers, this livestream is officially launching a share-and-reward campaign! Please share this livestream to your personal pages!"
"Rewards will be based on the number of shares, including recorded birthday greetings from Servant actors, morning wake-up calls, and many other surprises! The company will also determine whether to greenlight the next season based on the number of shares!"
"To participate, just leave a comment on the livestream! Please, everyone, share it as much as you can!!!"
However, after Ethan's words echoed through the stream room, the responses were… less than encouraging.
In fact, many of the comments were outright mocking.
[Bro, stop this. I still wanna see more of the fighting scenes.]
[Huh? That's it? You want us to share for that? Those rewards are nothing.]
[Exactly. Other stream rooms give way more just for enabling fan badges. This one? Meh.]
…
Seeing the endless stream of mocking comments, it felt like someone had stuffed Ethan's chest full of ice and stomped it back inside.
…Had he overestimated the value of his own livestream?
But now, he had no other choice.
The Servants had fought with everything they had. Even in the face of overwhelming power, not a single one had backed down.
And yet… it still wasn't enough!
To defeat Human Evil, he needed more points!!!
Ethan stared intensely at the comment section, with only his own breathing and heartbeat ringing in his ears.
Please… hurry!!!
Time felt like it had frozen in that very moment.
Huff…
Huff…
Huff…
[Came here, drawn by the hype!!!]
[Reporting in!!]
[Answering the summon!!]
[Sorry, I'm working right now—on the rooftop—here to help out!]
[You have to renew for another season, I beg you!!!]
[Yo that waifu wake-up call service sounds lit!!!]
[I want Jeanne-nee-sama to record a birthday message for me—please let me win!!!]
[Winning or not doesn't matter—I've been lurking too long, time to resurface.]
[Host, I pulled my entire class group in—you get what I mean, right?]
[You've got this, Mo-chan!!!]
[Don't give up, Mashs-chan!!]
[Jeanne-nee-sama, I'm still waiting on that birthday greeting you promised!!!]
…
A flood of comments surged in like a storm, so fast even Ethan couldn't keep up.
[DING——!!!]
[Host's livestream has surpassed 120,000 concurrent viewers!]
[DING——!!!]
[Host's livestream has surpassed 150,000 concurrent viewers!]
[DING——!!!]
[Host's livestream has surpassed 180,000 concurrent viewers!]
[DING——!!!]
[Host's livestream has surpassed 200,000 concurrent viewers!]
System notifications rang out one after another in Ethan's mind.
For a brief moment, his whole body froze in place.
Then, a wave of indescribable emotion swelled in his chest—
But he couldn't even find the words.
"Oh? So this is what they call 'love'... of humanity?"
Merlin, who had been silent all this time, looked at the dumbfounded Ethan with a delighted smile.
"I suppose… it was worth it to come here after all."
[DING——!!!]
[Current livestream viewership has exceeded 200,000! Unlocking new function.]
[When facing Human Evil, Host can now spend 500,000 points to temporarily summon a random Grand-class Servant to assist in battle!]