I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

"by……"

Wow!

In the very center of the lake, an arm adorned with a gold bracelet stretched out.

The water rippled violently, and the dead fish around it were shaken outwards. The wet arm clenched and unclenched its five fingers, and with this movement, a murmur that seemed like a hallucination echoed out.

"In the name of that enemy, let death strip this body away..."

The murmurs, like a hallucination, echoed on and on, the ripples on the water growing more violent, as if something hidden within was about to burst forth. But just as the ripples on the lake were about to reach their peak, with a soft thud, the simply designed wooden staff landed on the edge of the lake.

A petal, still glistening with dew, swayed and rose with the wind, then, as if by chance, flew towards the hand in the center of the lake.

That arm was clenched into a fist.

boom!

The moment the petal made contact with the back of the fist, a loud bang rang out, and the entire arm was slammed back into the lake! The water surged, and countless dead fish and the dragon's corpse were thrown into the air. Amidst the almost intoxicating stench of decay, the dragon, now just a pale skeleton, suddenly spread its wings, raised its head, and let out a silent roar.

The bloodied and mangled dead fish opened their mouths, revealing a set of eerie and terrifying sharp teeth, as if they had come to life, and rushed towards the wooden staff by the lake from all directions!

High and low, sharp and deep, countless voices of men and women rose simultaneously, overlapping into a single, venomous shriek: "Merlin! You deserve to die—"

Beneath the hood, the woman holding a wooden cane simply smiled slightly.

She looked up at the overwhelming, rotting corpses, neither dodging nor flinching. Behind her, countless flowers bloomed instantly, transforming the once lifeless wasteland into a boundless sea of ​​blossoms. The woman tapped the ground with her wooden staff, and the floral paradise swept outwards, vanishing the countless malevolent corpses, the stench of decay, and the stagnant pool of lifeless water—all disappeared without a trace!

Even the gray mist that had filled the space seemed to have no choice but to retreat before this suddenly blooming sea of ​​flowers. With each petal that unfolded, the gray mist seemed to be driven away, constantly receding into the distance, and the "crackling" laughter gradually faded away. "As expected of the Magician of Flowers, but before fate, even you have no chance..."

“Unfortunately, before me, fate is like a naked maiden, pitiful yet offering no challenge or pleasure.” With her left hand, she lifted the hood, and her long silver hair cascaded out like a waterfall. Her gaze lingered for a moment on the gradually obscuring gray mist, a slight smile on her face: “Prophet, we will meet again, though… not now.”

"As for now..."

The woman turned around.

Ahead, amidst the sea of ​​flowers, a figure had appeared out of nowhere.

Terenas lay there quietly, surrounded by colorful flowers, her hands folded over her chest, looking as if she were asleep.

"Sleep well."

With each step she took, another flower bloomed. Amidst the delicate fragrance, the woman walked slowly, speaking softly. In those few steps, the plump woman in the purple robe gradually became younger—the excess fat disappeared, the loose skin tightened again, and the appearance of someone in their thirties or forties transformed into that of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl with a delicate, round face. Not exceptionally beautiful, but the kind of charming girl next door that everyone found endearing.

The woman lowered her eyelids and looked at her: "Is this what you really look like? What have you been through that made you choose to appear in public with such a disguise... Actually, you don't need to ask; you can probably guess. If I told you that this country, this island, will soon change, and because of some fool, become relatively more peaceful, more hopeful, and more worthy of people's bloodshed... If I told you this, would you feel even a little bit of regret for everything you've done so far?"

"Heh, if it were Vivian, Neneanne, or Gretel, whom you killed, here, even though they all have terrible personalities, they'd probably shed a few tears right now. Judging from the fact that I don't feel any sadness, I'm definitely not human." She touched her eye socket with her cold fingertips, but there was no sign of moisture. She shook her head with a smile: "...It doesn't matter anyway. Sleep well. I feel a little apologetic for scheming against you this time, but who told you to steal the Holy Sword? Really...choosing such a perfect moment to act, I'd feel like I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't scheme against you."

"I feel there's no point in saying all this now. Sleep well. I'll come back to see you one last time in a year. I hope you have sweet dreams during this time..." He leaned down and gave the round-faced girl a light, fleeting kiss on the lips.

"Good night."

P.S.: Your diligent emperor is back! Where's the applause?!

Originally, I wanted to stop at the point where Marco turned and left, which was exactly two thousand words. I would post it first and then write another chapter. After all, two thousand words for two updates and four thousand words for one chapter obviously seemed more diligent... But when I was about to post it, I thought it would be better to write two or three hundred more words, have Merlin appear and then stop the chapter, and then write and write... When I came to my senses, it was already four thousand words.

It's so sad (playing the piano)

Chapter Sixty-Six: A young girl, another young girl!

Benedict.

The wooden staff landed with a barely perceptible thud, and within the dark passage, a delicate flower bloomed. But as one walked forward, the flower bloomed and faded, vanishing without a trace in an instant. From existence to disappearance, it was only a blink of an eye, leaving only a faint fragrance in the wind as proof that it had once existed.

The tapping of the wooden staff continued forward, and then came the second and third flowers. The flowers bloomed and faded, life and death constantly alternating, creating an incomparably magnificent flower path in the quiet and deep secret passage of the castle.

"To be honest, although everyone calls me the Flower Magician, probably not many people know that it's actually a curse." The hood she took off in the gray mist illusion has now been put back on. No one knows how the woman did it, but she managed to tuck most of her long hair, which dragged on the ground, into this small hood, with only a few strands of silver-white hair sticking out from under the brim, giving her a rather unruly air.

The premise is that I didn't see that bright red nose...

Merlin covered his mouth and nose with a white handkerchief and sneezed loudly; his previously dashing aura vanished instantly. "Vivian, when are you going to lift this spell on me? You know I have severe pollen allergies... What good does tormenting me like this do you?"

She spoke towards the front.

In her line of sight, the figure in the purple robe was still standing there, but her appearance was not that of the plump woman in her forties, but rather the round-faced girl who had last appeared in the illusion. All the injuries she had suffered earlier had now been completely healed. Terena stood there motionless, and in front of her, there seemed to be another woman with curly hair and a petite figure.

The reason for using "seems" is that the figure, though clearly standing not far away, appeared as if it had been peeled away from the darkness, its outline appearing very blurry and indistinct, giving a feeling of swaying and unsteady, like rippling water. The face was unclear, but a calm and cold voice said, "As agreed before, the three powers of lightning, fire, and war belong to me."

"...Wait, didn't we agree from the beginning that Lei Zhiquan would be given to you, but I could take the other three?"

“You didn’t tell me that Guinevere was connected to nightmares.”

"Because I don't know either," Merlin said, shrugging with an innocent expression.

The cold voice did not answer, but only gave a soft hum, but the contempt and distrust in its heart were fully revealed in that hum.

"Oh, so in Vivian's heart, the teacher she always disliked was actually an omnipotent genius who knew everything in the world?" The silver-haired woman tilted her head and said with a smile.

The voice just fell.

Merlin swung his staff sharply, sending something flying with a clang. A flash of cold light appeared in the darkness; it was a short spear formed from water droplets, which shattered into pieces upon impact with the soil above, as if a light rain had fallen.

"Hmm, I didn't get wet, I didn't get wet—" After saying that, Merlin patted his hood as if showing off. Whether it was his imagination or not, he seemed to hear a slight grinding of teeth from the other side.

But before any further attack could land, she abruptly wiped the bright smile from her face: "I truly don't know anything about this." Her tone had become extremely serious, startling even Vivian. The magic she had gathered in her hand vanished without a trace, and after a moment, she asked with lingering doubt, "But your clairvoyance..."

“I told you, these eyes can only see the ‘present.’ So, my judgments about that mist and the ‘nightmare’ shrouded in it might be slightly off, which is unavoidable. Just like how I never expected that the Sword of the King, which I painstakingly crafted, would break so quickly before I even had a chance to hold it… Life is just so dramatic.” She shrugged, as if she were genuinely lamenting.

But the next instant, Vivian ruthlessly exposed her: "Don't think I don't know that the sword was originally a broken piece of junk in Avalon. You just took it out of the warehouse, glued it back together with tree sap, and then stuck it into the stone."

"You even know this?" She covered her forehead. "That's why stalkers are such a hassle... Oh well, I never intended to keep it from you anyway. It's fine for you to know this, but please don't tell Artoria and the other girl. I'm planning to use this to play a trick on those two little ones later."

"Don't compare me to you."

"Ugh, that sounds like you're saying I have a terrible personality... Is it really okay to say that about your dear teacher, Vivian...?"

when!

Another short spear flew towards him, and Merlin dodged it, a wry smile appearing on his face. "Alright, alright, don't be so temperamental. It's rare for us to be able to calm down and talk like this, and I'm quite touched. Let this warmth last a little longer. Getting back to business, if nothing unexpected happens, the two little ones should be heading east to King Peres's territory. That's the infamous Fisherman King, aren't you really not interested at all?"

"Fisherman King... your goal is the Tower of Radiance?"

“The Sword in the Stone broke prematurely, and the Star Sword, after what happened with Terena, can't function as it originally did. In that case, isn't there only one option left?” The silver-haired woman paused here.

As if she had been waiting for this pause, Vivian's urgent voice rang out: "Do you know what this means? Before we, before anyone else knows what that mist is hiding, we've allowed King Arthur to access the Tower of Light ahead of time. The entire future will be completely out of control because of this!"

"so what?"

"you……"

“For most people, the future is supposed to be unpredictable.” Merlin smiled. “Alright, that’s enough of the small talk. I need to hurry up and do some cleanup work for that old king after I get the mark… Sigh, it’s tough being capable.”

“Marco is a deep and calculating man; you must be careful when cooperating with him.”

"It's called a collaboration, but it's really just a mutually beneficial arrangement. He hopes to live for another year or so to prepare for his final performance, and for some future purpose, I also need a suitable pawn. Everyone gets what they need, and everyone benefits, except maybe Terena who suffers a little loss... Anyway, she can't wake up and bite me. Speaking of which, Vivian, are you worried about me right now?"

"……snort."

With a soft hum, Vivian remained silent for a while afterward.

Merlin tapped his head a few times with the end of his staff, then slowly walked to the round-faced girl's side: "Since you want it, I won't fight you for it, but I need to use the power of war. The Sword Mark is mine, and you can take the other three."

"..."

"Still angry? Fine, fine, I'll do it myself." As she spoke, she reached out and gently touched the dull double sword pattern on the back of her hand.

next moment.

Both of them were taken aback.

"power……"

From the moment she appeared relaxed and at ease until now, except for the occasional sneeze that slightly ruined her image, the female magician rubbed her eyes, revealing a rare expression of utter astonishment: "...Disappeared?"

Before their eyes.

The four marks that had appeared on the round-faced girl's body vanished without a trace, just as Merlin had touched them lightly.

*****

"...And there's the matter of how you broke the Sword of the Chosen King, which I painstakingly crafted, so quickly. We need to have a serious talk about that—"

An unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out in the dusty little house. Guinevere turned her head and met Artoria's gaze, successfully catching a trace of panic on the latter's face.

This is an extremely rare sight.

"This voice?"

As she asked, Guinevere already had a guess in her mind. Artoria answered, as expected, "It's Merlin..." She frowned, looking quite troubled, "She found out about the broken sword..."

Infected by the other's unusually worried expression, Guinevere couldn't help but become serious as well—she was still in that inexplicable little dragon form, and just as she became serious, she suddenly felt like hiccuping, so she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and turned her head away. Artoria looked at her questioningly: "What's wrong?"

"I don't know what happened either, just stay away from me for now..." Guinevere waved her hand, feeling rather frustrated, after finally swallowing the urge to spit her breath at him.

But to Artoria, those words were just a muffled, almost animalistic growl—yet strangely, she felt she understood their meaning, and so she nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll explain to Merlin then, and I won't let you go hungry."

"what?"

But even this mutual understanding seems to have its limitations. Guinevere blinked twice, and before she could ask what Al meant by that inexplicable question, suddenly, Royal shouted from outside, "Miss, Altos, how are you two? Should I come in and help?"

Just as she was about to answer, Artoria suddenly reached out and pressed a hand to her lips. If a dragon's roar were to come from inside the house at that moment, Royal, despite his heavy injuries, would probably rush in immediately. To avoid making things more complicated, she quickly silenced the growl that was about to escape her lips. Seeing that Guinevere herself still didn't realize this, she felt not only worried but also somewhat helpless.

"We're fine!"

She called out to the outside. Just as Artoria was about to continue explaining how it was a pity Terena had escaped, she suddenly heard Royal cough: "It's good that you're alright. Um, could you come out for a moment, Miss? I've encountered a slight... problem..."

He said he had encountered a problem, but his tone didn't sound urgent at all. Instead, he seemed extremely conflicted and embarrassed. The two looked at each other, both puzzled, wondering what could be wrong that made the usually tough knight so hesitant.

Fortunately, their doubts were soon answered.

“I…I and Tristan…”

Royal stammered for a while longer outside, and finally, the young man finished speaking in a calm tone: "Because it's not convenient for us to handle this, we hope Miss Fina can come out for a moment. We..." He trailed off, then his tone became somewhat strange: "We found something in this village..."

“...a young girl who is not wearing clothes.”

P.S.: This part was very difficult to write; I kept revising and deleting, but I was never satisfied. However, I think it's not quite at the point of deleting everything, so I'll stick to it and update as usual. There are a couple more chapters to explain things, and then it'll be the long-awaited map change... Although we won't be getting married so soon, there should be some plot points that everyone will enjoy, so please look forward to it!

Remember to vote! We only got less than 220 votes today, which is really sad. (Suddenly starts playing the piano)

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Children's Words Are Unfiltered

A young girl who is not wearing clothes.

The sheer volume and impact of those words were so profound that Artoria momentarily forgot Merlin's "well-intentioned reminder." She initially wanted to leave immediately to check the situation, but then she reconsidered, realizing she was still using her male identity, and that action seemed inappropriate. She hesitated for a moment.

But when she turned around, she saw Guinevere dressed as a little dragon...

"—"

"...Let's go check out the situation."

She had no idea why the other person had become like this, and it seemed that even Guinevere herself didn't know how to change back. Actually, appearance was secondary; the key was that, being present, she could vaguely guess what the other person was trying to express in their shouts.

Since they couldn't communicate verbally, she couldn't be allowed to go alone. Even though Royal had just witnessed Guinevere's fight with Terena, he shouldn't have acted rashly. But judging from what he said, it seemed that the man named Tristan had also come... Artoria sighed and secretly decided that she should temporarily stop thinking about how others perceived her.

With a mix of amusement and exasperation, she reached out and took Guinevere's wrist. Perhaps it was her mood, but the latter's skin felt colder than usual. As she walked out, she nodded, answering the question she'd just asked—the one she'd intuitionly guessed—"It should be Nimiao."

When the topic of young girls came up, the first thing that came to mind for both of them was the little girl they had unexpectedly found in the forest some time ago, the one that only Artoria could see. Moreover, because of that pay-to-win mobile game from her past life that had ripped her off for who knows how much money, Guinevere was very familiar with that name. In the legend of King Arthur, different versions of the story had different descriptions of the Lady of the Lake.

In some stories, the Lady of the Lake is a single person, while in others there are three, nine, or more, including several unfortunate souls who are killed by knights. Among the widely circulated versions, the most famous Lady of the Lake are Nemüe, Vivian, Morgan le Fay, and so on.

Nemüe is often regarded as the representative of the Lady of the Lake, Vivian is widely known because of her love affair with Merlin, Morgan le Fay is not only King Arthur's sister, but also the mastermind behind the Battle of Camlann who worked diligently against King Arthur and indirectly caused the Battle of Camlann. She is also one of the three Lady of the Lake who escorted the boat carrying King Arthur's body back to Avalon after King Arthur returned the sword.

After meeting Terenas, Guinevere inquired about the previous two people, but no matter how she asked, Terenas only mentioned that there was indeed a person named Vivian, and refused to say anything more detailed. She looked as if she was afraid of something.

As for Morgan le Fay, the two had known each other since she was very young. After all, the other woman was the wife of King Lothar, and although she had given birth to the three Gawain siblings, she still looked like she was in her late twenties. Moreover, for nearly ten years, she had remained exactly the same as Guinevere remembered, sometimes like a mature noblewoman, and sometimes like an innocent girl. The changes in her personality were so great that Guinevere even wondered if she had a split personality.

Of course, there has been no opportunity to verify this point until now.

After obtaining the Mark of the Wind, she probed and subtly inquired, discovering that while Morgan le Fay possessed some rudimentary magic, she was indeed not one of the Nine Witches of the Lake. Her rudimentary spells included the ability to heal others by drawing life force from plants, and a half-baked polymorph, which only allowed her to transform into birds like crows and pigeons—a typical Druidic approach.

Only Nimiao.

For over a decade, no matter how much she inquired, there was no news of her. When she finally appeared, only Artoria could see and interact with her. Considering Artoria's unique identity, the secret surrounding this little girl became even more intriguing. Yet now, hearing Royal and the others' shouts, they could also see Nemia?

Questions arose one after another, and after they went out through the broken wall, they soon saw Royal and Tristan with their backs turned, their expressions strange. A short figure stood between the two, and, having probably heard the footsteps, looked up, his bright red eyes filled with a pitiful grievance.

His gaze lingered on Artoria for a moment, revealing undisguised joy, before moving back and meeting Guinevere's eyes. The little figure froze instantly.

Guinevere was also taken aback.

This girl's appearance seems quite different from Artoria's previous description. Artoria remembered the girl having messy purple hair, blood-red eyes that seemed to flow, being extremely thin, and dressed in tattered clothes whose original color was no longer discernible. Because of these characteristics, she had always imagined Nemia as a pitiful little beggar. But the girl before her…