"Modern magecraft may seem weak to you, but the Thirteen Departments of the Clock Tower possess special magecraft. If traversers continue to exist, perhaps in the future a cooperative solution that benefits both sides could be reached."
"Also, we could assist in maintaining order among the traversers."
Artoria remained silent.
In fact, she had considered this issue long before ordering the arrests of traversers.
If large numbers of traversers keep appearing in the future, when would they ever finish rounding them all up?
If people from the modern side maintained order, perhaps, this could be one of the decent handling options.
'Besides, he is also a "traverser."'
"If I remember correctly, your brother is in the palace now as well," Artoria suddenly said.
Reines nodded slightly and said, "He's still unconscious."
"Have him come to the Hall of the King tomorrow. I can hear what he has to say," Artoria said.
Before this, Reines had never imagined the conversation would go so smoothly. Hearing Artoria relent, the girl's eyes betrayed her joy.
She tried to calm herself and respectfully answered, "Yes."
Although cooperation was not guaranteed, at least from King Arthur's attitude it did not seem she intended to completely annihilate the traversers.
Seeing the blonde girl's delighted expression, Artoria's face showed a faint smile.
Actually, if Reines had come to Artoria just a day earlier, she might not have been convincing.
But now, Artoria's mindset had undergone a huge change.
After all, for her, as long as Arvin was still around, there was no difficulty she could not overcome.
After they talked for a while, Artoria prepared to leave.
"I'll see you out."
Reines stepped forward and escorted Artoria to the door.
However, the moment Artoria stepped out, her footsteps abruptly stopped.
'Hum?'
The magic barrier of Camelot Palace gave a slight tremor.
A strand of black mana condensed into a line and quietly slipped in from a direction outside the palace walls.
After searching around for a moment, it sped straight toward the royal chambers.
Artoria narrowed her eyes and immediately drew her holy sword.
A flash of golden light streaked through.
Snap!
The mana-formed line suddenly shattered.
Black mana rain fell from the sky.
Sizzle!
The grass washed by the mana rain made strange noises, then began to grow wildly.
Reines watched in shock and murmured, "What was that just now?"
That strand of mana felt incredibly familiar to her... as if she'd seen it somewhere before.
"Morgan's indexing magecraft."
Artoria stared expressionlessly at the black droplets falling from the sky and said calmly, "It seems her reaction was faster than I imagined."
———
In an alley of the royal city.
Morgan le Fay slowly opened her eyes from the spiritual world of the "indexing magecraft."
Her proud, seductive eyes were full of astonishment, and then joy after the astonishment.
"Arvin."
———
The black mana rain silently soaked one corner of the palace.
In the area covered by that black rain, an extremely dense mana quietly spread through the air.
Where the rain fell, vegetation, as if stimulated, grew crazily.
Yet some plants withered in the rain.
Survival of the fittest, an eternal truth of nature.
In the center of the training ground, a red-haired man holding a harp slowly looked up toward the distance, his eyes heavy with concern.
"Why is this happening?"
Soon the man couldn't help but mutter, "Could the Age of Gods be returning?"
Tristan, son of a noble family and a member of the Round Table.
As one of the Knights who had once participated in the Dragon War, Tristan naturally knew exactly what the black rain meant.
The "Age of Gods" is for the modern era distant, unattainable, and extremely mysterious.
In that age, Gaia's power had not yet waned and the true aether was incredibly dense; ordinary people could not survive in that time.
The reason ordinary people can live in present-day Camelot is largely because after Vortigern's death, Camelot had entered the tail end of the Age of Gods.
One of White Dragon Vortigern's goals in rebelling had been to reopen the Age of Gods.
Although Vortigern's ambition had been ended, how could such "true aether" appear inside the palace now?
'Such dense mana!', after Vortigern's death, Tristan had only seen it on one person.
'But that man died several years ago, killed by the king's own hand.'
'Could there still be a mage in the Camelot Empire today who controls "true aether"?'
Tristan's eyes flickered slightly, and then he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
"Seems you noticed it too, Tristan?"
The red-haired knight turned and saw a tall armored man walking over.
"It's rare to see you come when even you show up," Tristan said in surprise.
The man before him was Kay, third seat of the Round Table and Arthur's sworn brother.
"After such a commotion, I had to," Kay shrugged and then stared toward the direction where the black cloud spread, "I didn't expect to see such dense mana again after him."
Tristan couldn't help but shake his head, "If possible, I never want to see 'true aether' again in my life."
"Seeing it never bodes well," Tristan added.
The Age of Gods does not affect the Round Table much, but for ordinary people living in the palace, it is deadly poison.
After Vortigern's death, the only person able to emit such dense mana was Arvin.
After becoming the new White Dragon, Arvin could turn a small area into land of the Age of Gods.
Unexpectedly now, another such special presence had appeared.
"Where is the king now?", Kay asked quickly.
Given tonight's events, Artoria couldn't be sitting still.
"Tonight Gawain and Lancelot captured three traversers. The king went to see one of them."
Tristan paused slightly and said softly, "According to Agravain, the king's attitude toward traversers seems to have changed. Perhaps Camelot's general direction will shift."
"Oh?"
Kay first looked stunned, then his expression subtly changed, "She let it go so quickly?"
As Artoria's sworn brother, Kay knew her personality well.
Part of the reason she ordered the capture of traversers was that they profaned the dead.
'But now she is willing to accept traversers?'
'Could it be... she no longer cares about Arvin's death?'
"Maybe she felt this can't go on. After all, the number of traversers is growing. Relying only on arrests, they'll never finish," Tristan paused, "But right now the urgent matter is to deal with that Age of Gods region covered by the black rain."
Kay nodded slightly, "I'll have people temporarily seal off that area. We'll think of a solution after."
Even the Round Table had no easy way to handle a descended Age of Gods region.
"If only he were still here," Tristan murmured.
Kay was stunned and then fell silent.
Indeed, if he were still here, everything would probably be different.
The Round Table was not truly harmonious; some even bore deep hatred for each other.
Not only the Round Table, even the king and her sister Morgan were at odds.
But, when he was around, the palace had always been harmonious.
Because in the past he had been the hub connecting everyone... even Morgan, who once hated Artoria and the realm, would show a gentle side when beside him.
All across the Camelot Empire, including those scoundrel nobles, they did not know what an important role the Watchman had played.
They cheered when the White Dragon died, unaware that after his leaving the empire had been shaken.
Those nobles who had once crouched in the shadows because of the Watchman now began to show their claws.
Each great noble represented a major family of Camelot, and many of those families had ties to the Round Table or imperial officials.
Pull one thread and the whole becomes affected; even the imperial Artoria had to consider the consequences of handling them. Because of this, she had many headaches.
Over the years, Kay had watched Artoria shoulder heavy responsibilities, but he was powerless to ease them.
Thinking of this, Kay felt a pang of nostalgia.
'If only that guy was still here.'
———
The golden holy sword emitted gentle brilliance, and with a single slash it easily cut through Morgan's spell.
Reines stared with her mouth agape, eyes full of shock.
Although she had a vague sense of Artoria's power before, seeing her in action still shook her.
After all, Reines had witnessed how terrifying Morgan le Fay's power could be today.
Who would have thought the witch's spell would be so easily intercepted and shattered by Artoria?
But then again, why would Morgan cast magic over the Camelot palace?
"Go back and rest."
Just as Reines' mind began to spin, Artoria's voice brought her back.
The girl quickly responded and, following noble etiquette, lifted a corner of her skirt and bowed.
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