This achievement was pretty interesting…
Alvin's eyes brightened the moment he read the system's notification.
If he remembered correctly, Morgan had once used a similar power, transforming the land for a short period into a domain filled with dense mana, a "land of the Age of Gods."
But the "Twilight of the Age of Gods" he now possessed was clearly far more special, because it recreated the peak era of true aether.
At the peak of the Age of Gods, everyone possessed mana dense enough to touch the Root itself.
This ability was incredible, and on top of that, he had even gained a new CG.
Alvin focused his thoughts, and a brand-new image appeared before his eyes.
Outside the Hall of the King, the night was deep and silent.
The palace remained still.
Inside the brightly lit hall, a boy in black clothing held the hand of the King of Knights as they formed a warm and beautiful scene together.
The CG progress bar had now reached 94 percent, leaving only the final 6 percent before the entire gallery was complete.
He just didn't know where that last 6 percent was hiding…
Before he could think further, Artoria suddenly spoke. "By the way, I heard that quite a few people are looking for Merlin recently?"
"You even know about that?"
Alvin was a little surprised.
Normally, Artoria spent most of her time in the Hall of the King, so she rarely bothered with these… entertainment-type matters happening outside.
Artoria nodded lightly. "I do live in the castle. I've heard a little about what's been happening these days."
"Inviting Scathach to join the Knights of the Round Table was Merlin's idea. That part was your lie, wasn't it?"
He didn't expect Lily to know even that… Alvin thought before speaking, "I'll talk to them later and tell them not to bother Merlin anymore."
But Artoria blinked with a puzzled expression. "Why tell them to stop?"
Alvin paused, and before he could react, she continued calmly, "Just let them believe it was Merlin's doing. It's not like he hasn't done things like this before."
For a moment, Alvin felt like he was meeting a completely new Artoria.
He couldn't stop himself from staring at her several times.
He never expected this normally upright, proper Lily to have such a dark side.
He muttered internally, but thinking about how much trouble Merlin would suffer because of this, he almost burst out laughing.
Sure, framing someone wasn't exactly righteous… but if the one being framed was Merlin, then there was nothing wrong with it at all.
Consider it a small bit of payback for everything he had done before.
…
Time passed quickly, and the moment to return to the modern world drew closer and closer.
During this period, aside from fulfilling his daily duties as the "second in command," Alvin spent his free moments accompanying Morgan while she instructed Tohsaka Rin in magic lessons.
Of course, that was only in name.
In fact, he was mostly just watching from the side.
Technically speaking, he counted as a "magus from the Age of Gods," but the truth was that his magic was half-baked at best.
Whenever he fought in the past, he relied far more on his body and his Noble Phantasms.
Morgan, however, was different.
When it came to wielding the true Age of Gods magecraft, the only person in all of Britain who could truly match her was probably Merlin.
…Even though that white-haired faker loved insisting that he was better at swordsmanship than magecraft.
Soft sunlight fell over the palace garden.
Inside a small pavilion, a little girl in a black dress with her long hair loose stood with her eyes tightly shut.
She held her right hand with her left, focusing with all her might as she tried to activate her magic circuits.
Not far away, Morgan stood with her arms folded, wearing a black court gown.
Her mysterious, cold aura was softened only by the faint veil covering her face.
Behind it, her clear blue eyes quietly watched Tohsaka Rin.
More precisely, she was looking straight through the girl's body and observing the flow of mana inside her.
"You are releasing your mana incorrectly."
Morgan spoke before long.
"The divergences of a magic circuit may be complicated, but the core will never change. To be precise, the core is the true magic circuit. The other 'lines' exist only to amplify your magecraft."
"Try using only the core to fire a mana bolt."
Rin didn't reply and simply nodded seriously, then closed her eyes again, following Morgan's instructions step by step.
And after a moment, a faint glow of mana appeared at the tip of the little girl's fingers.
"Heh!"
She flicked her arm forward as the mana bolt shot through the air, and a gentle breeze swept past, the flowers in the garden swaying beautifully along its path.
"I did it!"
Her face brightened with surprise and excitement as she turned toward Morgan with sparkling eyes, clearly waiting to be praised.
However, the curled her lip and immediately splashed cold water on her, saying, "Don't get excited so soon. This is just the most basic form of magecraft. I didn't think modern magi had fallen to such a pitiful level."
The little girl pressed her lips together, clearly unhappy.
She really wanted to argue back, but after witnessing the woman's true Age of Gods magecraft with her own eyes not long ago, and after hearing her reputation, Tohsaka Rin couldn't bring herself to talk back and could only stay quiet.
"You are as sharp-tongued as ever, my dear sister."
A gentle young voice came from not far away.
Hearing that familiar voice, Tohsaka Rin's eyes lit up instantly, and she turned around.
Morgan looked as well.
When she saw the boy walking toward them, her usually cold, aloof gaze softened just slightly.
However, she recovered almost immediately and expression returned to that distant elegance as she shot the boy a disdainful glance.
"You have no right to lecture me. When it comes to magecraft, you might even be worse than the child you asked me to teach."
A proud witch like Morgan would never bother teaching someone else such a tedious, thankless task unless it was because of Alvin.
That was also why no matter what she said, Tohsaka Rin always endured it.
After all… this was a rare chance to learn.
Not even the best academies in future Fuyuki, or anywhere else in the world, could provide magecraft instruction from an actual Age of Gods magus.
"I'll pass. I'm really not suited for this," Alvin said with a laugh, shaking his head.
Everyone had their strengths and weaknesses.
Alvin really was terrible at magecraft, but as the price for that weakness, his physical body had reached an abnormal level.
As a white dragon from the Age of Gods, unless one used equally ancient and powerful magecraft, it was difficult to even scratch him.
Alvin shifted his gaze to the little girl beside him and asked gently, "Rin, how is your practice going?"
"Um… n-not bad. Kind of okay."
She answered, but then quickly glanced at Morgan.
After confirming she wasn't being criticized, she straightened her small body proudly.
Even though Morgan liked to call Rin talentless behind her back, anyone who knew the "Morgan" understood she was a mix of sharp tongue and pride.
Her standards were simply very high, so being picky was normal.
But in fact, she acknowledged Rin's potential.
"Good. Before the Age of Gods ends, learn as much as you can. It will definitely help you in the future."
Alvin reached out and patted the girl's head gently.
The latter lowered her head and didn't speak, quietly letting him pet her hair like a small kitten.
After spending this time together, she realized the white dragon wasn't anything like the terrifying monster the rumors described.
In fact… he was surprisingly easy to get along with.
If it was now… she felt she could finally understand Sakura a little.
The three chatted in the garden for a while before Morgan suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Rin, stay here and continue practicing."
Then she looked at Alvin. "Come with me. I have something to give you."
"What's with the mystery?" Alvin asked, unable to hide his curiosity.
"You'll know once you get there."