It wasn't strange for Lancelot to request to fight. Although female, she was ultimately a War God, a Hero of Steel, and was extremely passionate about battle and earning merit.
But for Guinevere to also request to fight was a rare occurrence.
Although as a Progenitor, she could erupt with god-level combat power in extreme situations, and her normal combat power was at the level of a Phantasmal Beast, under Su Mo, she had always belonged to the "eye candy" and "magecraft" groups. She generally wouldn't proactively take on combat missions.
Except for this time.
"Permission granted."
Looking at the black knight on the battlefield in the distance, Su Mo could understand the feelings of the two.
After nodding, the White Knight, clad in white armor, appeared and knelt on one knee.
"Thank you for your mercy, my Lord!"
"A god?"
Gilgamesh glanced at her in surprise.
He was more surprised that this female War God's spiritual rank seemed very similar to that of the black knight in the distance than he was by Su Mo casually summoning a god.
His all-seeing clairvoyance, Sha Naqba Imuru, immediately activated, allowing him to understand the identity of the female War God before him.
"She's also Lancelot?"
"Mm," the female War God nodded at Gilgamesh's words. "Although it is merely a name bestowed upon me by my beloved son, as a noble knight, I cannot tolerate the existence of one who truly bears a sullied name."
Her gaze toward the black knight Lancelot was as sharp as a blade, making even the two Servants who were currently fighting feel a faint sense of threat.
"That's right!" Guinevere also nodded. She glanced at the noble-looking Artoria, her gaze toward the black knight burning with rage.
"In my world, those were nothing but baseless rumors, but in this world, this is clearly an unforgivable betrayal!"
As the one who personally created the legend of King Arthur, Guinevere knew better than anyone that in her world, King Arthur didn't exist, and the story of Guinevere and Lancelot's affair was naturally fabricated.
She couldn't help it; the populace just loved that kind of melodramatic plot. She had invested in a down-on-his-luck novelist to write over a dozen versions of the Arthurian legend, and only this melodramatic version had become a hit. In order to accelerate the spread of the myth, she could only endure it. Besides, the innocent would remain innocent.
However, in the Nasuverse, King Arthur had really been cheated on. Even if it was just a platonic love, it was still an emotional affair. This was something Guinevere, who had questioned Artoria about it dozens of times, was very clear about.
After spending a long time together, she had grown to love the child she had created, and she was very fond of Artoria's upright and honest personality. Naturally, she was full of dissatisfaction with the Lancelot and Guinevere of this world. Even if they were the same individuals from different parallel universes, it didn't stop them from wanting to teach their counterparts a lesson.
Now, seeing the Lancelot who had cheated on Artoria, these two were even more agitated than Artoria herself.
Seeing their aggressive stance, even Artoria was a bit bewildered.
"The two of you need not be so angry. Guinevere and I never had any marital feelings. At that time, I had no romantic feelings, and the person I love now is not her..."
Her tone paused slightly. After secretly glancing at Su Mo, Artoria forced herself to continue calmly.
"Since I can have someone I love, it's normal for Guinevere to have been swayed. As for Sir Lancelot... it was also my fault in how I handled it. If I had been decisive and directly pronounced his crimes, and had Sir Galahad take over his noble title, perhaps Britain would not have fallen so quickly."
By now, Artoria had long since moved on from this past. She had never had any romantic feelings for Guinevere, only a sense of guilt for having held her back. As for being cheated on, she had never actually felt angry about it. Since they were not partners, just friends like sisters, it couldn't be called being cheated on.
Now, as her heart gradually opened up and was dyed in Su Mo's colors, she cared even less about this past.
The only thing that bothered her was her own mistaken decision at the time, which had led her to personally destroy Britain.
Putting aside the inevitable great trend of destruction, after acting alongside Su Mo, Artoria had already gained a deeper understanding and judgment of how to be a true king. She now understood where she had gone wrong back then.
From the very beginning, she should not have shown inexplicable tolerance, allowing Lancelot, a powerful noble with a life-and-death feud with other Knights of the Round Table, to leave. This was undoubtedly the fuse that caused the split.
The matter of Lancelot and Guinevere wasn't actually that important. The moment the affair was exposed, it was destined to create an irreparable rift between the Knights of the Round Table loyal to her and Lancelot. At that time, she should not have tried to smooth things over, but should have directly executed Lancelot.
With justice on her side, doing so would have both resolved the conflict and prevented a deep feud from forming among her subordinates. She would only need to support a new, obedient noble, and Lancelot's faction would not have started a rebellion. After all, a dead man was a sunk cost; no one would care.
Artoria was not lying, nor was she putting on a brave face.
Her strength had advanced, her path of kingship had advanced, and with a steadfast reliance in her heart, she was no longer the lost little girl she used to be. She had been upgraded in every aspect.
However—
"No! I can't stand it!" Guinevere clenched her fists, her eyes blazing.
"My king! This is our battle! Please rest for a moment!" the White War God also said.
They could also see that Artoria's heart now belonged to their master, which was normal, but they still couldn't accept the record of shame before them.
"Alright..." After exchanging a glance with Su Mo, the ahoge king reluctantly lowered the holy sword of the stars in her hand. Why was it that every time she came back, someone was trying to steal her battle merits?
Seeing her compromise, the White War God and Guinevere exchanged a look, sparks flying between them.
"Sorry, my beloved son, I didn't hear you!" The White War God had no intention of backing down. The reins and her white horse appeared in her hands, and together they turned into a flash of lightning.
Under the Mion River bridge, amidst the containers in the port, a radiant golden Lancer was fighting a black knight.
"A mere Berserker, yet he possesses martial arts comparable to yours, Lancer?"
The voice of Lancer's Master echoed in the area, his tone filled with an undisguisable arrogance and surprise. If one were paying attention, they could tell from this sentence alone that this Lancer was no ordinary being.
Of course, it wasn't necessary to go to such trouble. Just looking at Lancer's radiant form was enough to know that he was by no means an unknown figure.
"Yes, Master!"
In the midst of the incredibly fierce battle, Lancer's tone remained calm and indifferent, showing little emotion.
"Only by tempering one's martial arts to the point of unifying mind, body, and technique is it possible to master this state of unleashing power without any mental influence. Although he has lost his sanity, in his era, this Berserker must have been a renowned hero!"
Just as he finished this assessment, he heard the sound of thunder and lightning from not far away.
"Master, be careful! A powerful enemy is attacking!"
Lancer instinctively sensed the danger, took a step back, and prepared to cover his Master at a moment's notice. Anyone with a normal mind would know to stop fighting and join forces against the new enemy at this time.
However, the Servant before him was a Berserker, famous for being brainless.
The black knight took a step forward, still wanting to entangle him.
Before Lancer could make another move, that violent aura of thunder and lightning, and that overwhelming divine might, had already descended upon the port.
In a fleeting glimpse, with Lancer's demigod-level eyesight, he could only see the phantom of a white knight.
BOOM!
The immense lightning and meteorite-like impact instantly destroyed the entire port.
An earthquake-like tremor spread throughout the city. The ground for several kilometers around was completely fractured, and half of the port sank into the sea. A massive amount of seawater surged in, and the terrain was instantly and completely rewritten.
At the center of the impact, even Lancer, who possessed god-forged armor, was nearly killed by the aftershock. Behind him, his Master, Kayneth, barely survived, all of his mystic codes completely destroyed.
At this moment, his eyes no longer held any trace of arrogance or doubt, but were instead filled with relief and trust in Lancer. Out of caution, he had hidden a full kilometer away from the battlefield. However, if Lancer hadn't noticed something was wrong in time and shielded him with his own body, he wouldn't have even had time to use a Command Spell before being utterly pulverized by the aftershock.
Looking at the battlefield that had been turned into an abyss, Kayneth's eyes were filled with horror. The power of a Servant was already ridiculous enough, but the scale of destruction before him was beyond what a Servant should be capable of.
This was practically divine punishment!
"Lancer, were there other demigod-level Servants summoned?" Kayneth asked in disbelief.
Were there really that many lucky people this time?
"No," Lancer shook his head, his expression grave. "An attack of this level can only be achieved by a true god. A Servant's spiritual foundation does not have this level of strength."
"..."
Hearing this, Kayneth fell silent. He knew Lancer's identity and naturally trusted his judgment.
"But which god is it, and why would they appear at this time?"
As the head of the Department of Spiritual Evocation, he couldn't understand it.
The only judgment he could make was—
"This god seems to have a grudge against Berserker?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sweeping storm carried away the smoke and dust, revealing the center of the battlefield with perfect clarity.
At that moment, everyone saw the scene.
The White Knight, on a white horse with a white helmet, had pierced the black knight's head with her lance, killing him completely and causing Berserker to withdraw from the war directly.
Then, the White Knight, exuding the aura of a god-level knight, glanced toward Lancer.
Her eyes were cold, her tone sonorous.
"How can a rebel bear the name of a hero?"