In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

“This is class, Lily.” Anan patted Artoria on the shoulder. “It’s the most unsolvable problem in the world right now. Neither you, me, nor Merlin, or even the three of us combined, can solve this problem. Because it’s taboo. If it’s not handled properly, the entire Britain will collapse in an instant!”

Chapter Eleven: Merlin Must Die!

Artoria remained silent for a long time.

Although she can be naive at times, she is not stupid. King Arthur, on whom King Uther and Merlin placed high hopes, is not only exceptionally strong, but also quite intelligent.

This can be seen from his usual tutoring – Kai basically copied his homework from Artoria.

She couldn't see the truth before simply because she was blinded by the fog of this era. Now that Anan has dispelled all that fog, she can naturally see the chain that binds the entire era.

As Anan said, it was an inviolable taboo, otherwise Camelot, and indeed all of Britain, would be plunged into endless turmoil.

"So, teacher, are you trying to tell me that the path of the Ideal King was wrong from the very beginning?" Artoria's ahoge (cowlick) drooped down, like a withered blade of grass.

“No, the path of the Ideal King is not wrong, but the key is that you have taken the wrong path.” Anaen looked at Artoria. “Do you remember the question I asked you earlier, Lily? Whose ideal is your so-called ‘Ideal King’?”

"It is...the people's ideal."

Compared to her previous decisiveness, Artoria hesitated for a long time before giving her answer.

"Do you think you can represent all the people, Lily?"

Artoria hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"Then what makes you think you can fulfill their ideals?" Yanan shrugged. "Humans are complex beings; it's impossible for two people to be exactly alike. People who are poor are content as long as they have enough to eat and wear; people who are well-off want to marry, have children, and be blessed with both sons and daughters; people from wealthy families want to escape their commoner status, rise in rank, and become high-ranking officials. Do you think you can fulfill all these ideals?"

Artoria's face paled slightly, and she gently shook her head.

“‘The people’ is far too broad a concept. No one can bear the weight of such a ‘hanging garden’, because it is simply a phantom and an unattainable dream. In the end, the only result will be to drown in the boundless darkness while clinging to the ideal.” Anan patted Artoria on the shoulder. “The guy who instilled this idea in you must be a complete idiot.”

"Hey, I can't pretend I didn't hear that. That's a classic case of personal insult, and I'm going to get angry."

A young voice suddenly came from behind Yanan.

"Am I wrong? A guy who isn't even human has conjured up so-called 'ideals of the people' based on his shallow understanding, and then instilled them into others, trying to cultivate a so-called 'ideal king' in the process. This behavior is like trying to make wheat grow taller every day so it will ripen faster. Is there any better word to describe him than idiot, Merlin?"

Yanan turned around and looked at the young magician who had appeared behind him at some point.

A handsome face, long white hair, a sly smile, a cherry wood staff, and pink flowers created by illusion at his feet—who else could this flamboyant guy be but the legendary white-haired online swindler?

In fact, if Artoria hadn't been standing right next to him, Anann would have already pulled out the Jizo Shield and stabbed her.

Merlin deserves to die!!

"Hey, I've been teaching Al for over a decade with all my heart, and you've belittled me so much. It hurts me to see you like this." Merlin said with a hurt expression.

"You went down the wrong path from the very beginning and kept going down that path for over a decade without even realizing it. Calling you an idiot is an understatement," Yanan scoffed.

This guy has led Artoria down the wrong path for so long, and he still has the nerve to boast about it. Anan felt that he was too good-natured not to take out the Jizo Soul and chop this guy into sashimi on the spot.

The scariest thing in the world is not making mistakes, but believing you're right even when you're wrong, confidently going full speed ahead on this path, dragging everyone else down with you.

—A certain righteous ally is a prime example of this.

"Hmph, whether it's right or wrong isn't up to you to decide." Merlin looked at Artoria. "Artoria, you be the judge. Do you think we're the right one?"

Artoria glanced at Merlin, then at Anaen beside her, pondered for a long time, and finally decided to stand still.

"I...I was betrayed by my favorite little Al..." Merlin staggered back a few steps, throwing away his staff, clutching his heart tightly with both hands, and suddenly knelt on the ground. "My heart...it hurts so much..."

Artoria hesitated for a moment, as if she wanted to say something, but was suddenly patted on the shoulder by Yanan, signaling her not to say anything.

"I've made up my mind!"

Merlin suddenly stood up, his staff reappearing in his hand, pointing directly at Anan: "I want a real man's duel with you! On the honor of being a teacher!"

Yanan crossed his arms and said calmly, "Why should I gamble with you if there's no prize involved?"

"Hmph, with me here, do you really think you have any other choice?" Merlin smiled with pleasure.

"In that case, I concede."

Merlin's smile froze on his face, and he said angrily, "You're supposed to be from the Land of Shadows, how can you be even more shameless than me!"

The Land of Shadows? Artoria looked at Anahn in surprise, never expecting that her teacher was someone who had come from that legendary world of the dead.

No wonder the teacher possesses such great strength and profound wisdom; someone who can transcend death must have extraordinary abilities.

In an instant, Anaen's image in Artoria's heart rose even higher.

"You can't eat a face, so what would I need it for?" Yanan scoffed. Comparing shamelessness to someone from modern society was a huge joke.

Merlin's expression turned quite serious. This was the biggest crisis he had ever faced: someone even more shameless than himself had appeared!

He used to be the only one who was shameless, so he could take advantage of others at will. But now there's someone even more shameless who has come along, seriously threatening his position!

No! He must defeat this guy fair and square and nip this evil trend in the bud!

"If you can beat me, I can grant you one request within my power."

That's exactly what I've been waiting to hear!

A pleased smile appeared on Yanan's face:

"make a deal!"

Chapter Twelve: Merlin Has Fallen!

To ensure fairness in the competition, Merlin and Yanan each proposed three events, and the side that won the most events would be the winner.

Merlin didn't hesitate to ask the first question, seemingly determined to give Anaen a hard time.

He gently tapped the ground with his staff, and a ripple-like halo spread outwards, instantly enveloping the three of them. The surrounding scenery underwent a strange distortion and then underwent a dramatic transformation.

Anan looked ahead. On the vast plain, he and Merlin stood facing each other, each with an army of several hundred men in front of them.

"For this first battle, we'll compete in military strategy! Each side will have five hundred men; the side that dies first will lose."

Merlin wore a malicious smile: "As a king, it's absolutely unacceptable if you can't command your soldiers to win a brilliant victory on the battlefield. Since you question my training program, let me see just how capable you are."

“That’s why I said you’re completely clueless in this area. People trained this way can only be called generals, they’re far from being kings,” Yanan said disdainfully. “But since you want to play, I’ll play along with you.”

Hours later, Merlin looked at the corpses scattered all over the ground, his eyes filled with intense disbelief.

"I... I actually lost?"

His gaze swept across the battlefield and saw that only a few dozen soldiers remained beside Yanan.

Although both sides suffered heavy casualties, according to the rules, the other side did indeed win.

Recalling the battle just now, Merlin keenly realized the reason for his defeat.

It's a military formation!

Artoria stood beside Anahn, her holy blue eyes also filled with disbelief.

Her military strategy was taught to her by Merlin. In the illusion, she and her opponent had fought countless times, and she lost more often than she won.

Therefore, she knew very well just how strong Merlin was in this regard.

Even so, Yanan still defeated him.

Like Merlin, she also discovered the secret to Anan's victory—military formations!

It was a military formation she had never seen before, but the effect was unexpectedly good.

Yanan breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, he knew absolutely nothing about military strategy and had never commanded a single real battle.

Fortunately, his mind contained the wisdom accumulated by human civilization over thousands of years.

Just as Artoria and Merlin had suspected, his secret to victory lay in his military formation.

He chose the Mandarin Duck Formation from Qi Jiguang, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty. Ten people form a group, with two shield bearers at the front, one with a long shield and the other with a rattan shield. Then there are two wolf-wielding soldiers, followed by four spearmen, and finally two short-weapon soldiers.

This formation not only fully utilizes the advantages of both long and short weapons, but is also highly flexible and versatile, representing almost the pinnacle of small-scale military formations in the era of cold weapons.

Yanan's strategy was simple: since he was not good at commanding multiple people, he might as well disperse them and let them fight independently.

However, his ideals were lofty, but reality was harsh, and the results in practice were not as smooth as he had imagined.

First, there's the issue of weaponry. The wolf-tooth spear used by the wolf-tooth spearmen is a three-meter-long, sturdy bamboo. The end of the bamboo is beveled into a sharp point, while sturdy branches are left around it. It can be used for stabbing or for cover, making it a very useful weapon.

Unfortunately, Yanan could not find such a weapon in the army, or even a substitute, so he had to reluctantly abandon it.

Then there's the experience. This was his first time commanding on the battlefield. While it wasn't a complete disaster, it still left him flustered for quite a while. The battle was even more exhausting than fighting Scáthach one-on-one.

—If Merlin had a few more men, he might have been the one to lose.

It was precisely these factors that led to his pyrrhic victory even when using the Mandarin Duck Formation.

However, Yanan was already quite satisfied; in the end, he had won this battle by sheer luck.

First, he used a military formation Merlin had never seen before, catching the enemy off guard. Second, this was an illusion created by Merlin, so he could easily command the soldiers. In reality, where would he find so many obedient soldiers at his beck and call? After all, this is an era of knights where individual strength reigns supreme; the idea of ​​absolute obedience is just wishful thinking.

But regardless, he ultimately won the first game.

Now it was his turn to set the questions.

"Come on, tell me what you want to compete in. It's okay, whatever you want to compete in, I'm fine with it."

Merlin's eyes gleamed with eager anticipation. The loss in the first round didn't discourage him, because he hadn't simulated that emotion. Instead, his heart was filled with a long-lost excitement—the last time he felt this way was when Artoria was born.

Yanan, you really are a guy who can bring surprises.

“We won’t compete in the second round.” Yanan held up three fingers and said with a smile, “I’ll ask you three questions. If you answer two of them correctly, you win the second round.”

Artoria couldn't help but glance at Anaun, remembering the smile that her teacher always wore whenever she tricked Kai.

"Oh, so you have some questions you'd like to ask the most famous sage in Britain? No problem, Merlin will open his warm heart and help you without reservation." Merlin said confidently. He was the most famous sage in Britain, and basically nothing that happened on this land could escape his notice.

"First question: Three people went to stay at an inn. The innkeeper said it would cost 30 copper coins for the night. The three discussed it and decided that each of them would pay 10 copper coins. Later, the innkeeper said that his son had been born today and he was in a good mood, so he decided to only charge 25 copper coins and asked the waiter to return the remaining 5 copper coins to the three customers. The waiter secretly kept two copper coins and returned the remaining 3 copper coins to the customers, which means each of them paid one copper coin. So, each of the three people paid 27 copper coins, right?"

Merlin silently calculated in his mind as he followed Yanan's explanation. Although people in this era generally did not have high mathematical abilities, it was clear that he was not included. Moreover, this was just a very simple addition and subtraction problem.

"That's right. So, what's your question?"

Yanan said calmly, "Each of them paid 27 copper coins, plus the 2 that the waiter secretly kept, for a total of 29 coins. But they initially brought out 30 copper coins. So, where did the remaining copper coin go?"

"!!!"

Merlin was instantly dumbfounded, and even Artoria, who was silently calculating beside him, was stunned for a moment.