[He'll be fine,] Tiamat held up her little notebook, her gaze fixed on the view outside the window the whole time.
"You have that much confidence in him? You're not worried the Counter Force might do something to him?", Artoria asked softly.
[The Counter Force won't step in directly. They should just want to invite him.]
Tiamat took a small bite of her biscuit. The crisp sound it made was pleasant, and it unconsciously drew Artoria's eyes over for another look.
'She really is enjoying it.'
[Are you trying to ask what my purpose is?], Tiamat turned her head, her lively, beautiful eyes staring straight at the King of Arthur.
In fact, although she looked innocent and inexperienced, this primordial mother goddess understood everything.
Whether it was King Arthur or Britannia's Knights of the Round Table, they had always felt very "uneasy" about Tiamat's arrival.
After all, that was the primordial mother goddess, a Beast that obstructed the Human Order.
Even if it was only a spiritual body, it was enough to inspire awe and fear.
Artoria had not reached the point of fear, but she still maintained a degree of reverence toward this primordial mother goddess.
She had come to Tiamat today not merely to ask about her true purpose. On the other hand, she also wanted to know whether the descent of the two great Counter Forces this time had anything to do with Tiamat.
After all, Tiamat had been brought out by Alvin.
Seeing the King of Arthur nod lightly, Tiamat thought for a moment and wrote in her notebook, [He said he wanted to take me to see how much the world outside the Imaginary Numbers Sea has changed now.]
[Will that cause you trouble?], she continued.
Artoria was slightly taken aback, then parted her lips and said, "That wouldn't be the case. Britannia welcomes any traverser. As long as they don't endanger the country, it's fine."
No matter how she looked at it right now, Tiamat didn't seem to have any bad intentions. At most, she just ate a bit too much.
It was just that she didn't know what Alvin was really thinking?
Tiamat looked out the window, a hint of curiosity in her beautiful eyes, [Who do you think he'll choose?]
"The two great Counter Forces. Which side will he ultimately decide to stand on?"
"If I had to say, it would probably be Gaia," Artoria answered without hesitation.
As for the reason, Artoria didn't say anything, only cast a deep look at Tiamat.
Tiamat was both the primordial mother goddess and also a Beast, an obstacle to the Human Order.
If he chose Alaya, that would mean that someday in the future, he might stand on the opposite side of Tiamat. And based on her understanding of Alvin, that guy would never make such a choice.
'But if he choses Gaia, and with the existence of the Promised Sword of Victory, Merlin will probably be unable to sit still, wouldn't he?'
As if thinking of something amusing, the corners of this King of Arthur's lips lifted slightly, forming a faint curve, and her face carried a rare trace of inexplicable delight.
———
[Avalon]
Merlin stared blankly in a certain direction outside, falling into brief contemplation.
Just as Artoria had guessed, Merlin really was panicking at this very moment.
The Promised Sword of Victory was the strongest sword on the same level as the Holy Lance. It was said that if its power were fully released, it could even sever a planet.
'What on earth is Gaia thinking, how could it hand something this dangerous to Alvin?"
'Doesn't it know that although this guy looks harmless to humans and animals, he is actually an extremely dangerous madman?"
"No! I have to go take a look!"
Thinking this, Merlin grabbed Fou from his shoulder, tossed it aside, then gripped his staff and hurriedly left Avalon.
———
At the same time, on the other side.
Besides Morgan le Fay and Ishtar, several Knights of the Round Table from Britannia were also present today.
And at this very moment, this space seemed to have fallen into an eerie silence.
Unlike the Holy Sword in Artoria's hands, the Promised Sword of Victory was a weapon Gaia had taken from the Inner Sea of the Planet. When its restraints were released, it could even cut down a planet.
Logically speaking, the only person who should be able to wield it was King Arthur. Before this, everyone shared the same thought. Including Mordred.
In the end, Gaia probably never intended to hand the Promised Sword of Victory to Alvin in the first place. It was simply using this sword as bait, trying to get Alvin to bite.
But who could have expected that Alvin would rely on his own flesh to forcibly endure the Holy Sword's repulsive force, and even pull it out?
"The White Dragon really is an unreasonable, violent creature," Lancelot murmured to himself.
Even Lancelot, searching his own heart, felt that he probably couldn't have pulled this sword out in front of Gaia, let alone make it his own.
And now Alvin was even asking Gaia whether this sword belonged to him.
Even the emotionless "Gaia" fell into a brief silence at this point.
Only after quite a while did it softly reply, ["Mm."]
["Of course… I keep my word. From now on, this sword is yours."]
["However, as the price, you will have to sign a contract with me, and become mine."]
'Why does that sound a bit like a domineering CEO?', Alvin shook his head, "I refuse."
If Gaia had emotions, hearing this would probably have made it pop out a question mark on the spot.
'You freeloaded my Promised Sword of Victory, and now you're telling me you don't plan to join my camp?'
"But as long as I hold the Promised Sword of Victory, whenever you need me in the future, I'll do everything I can to help," Alvin continued.
In fact, if something truly arose that even Gaia took seriously, Alvin basically wouldn't be able to just sit by and do nothing.
After all, anything that caught Gaia's attention would inevitably involve a planetary crisis.
In the end, touching the Promised Sword of Victory already meant being targeted by certain things beyond the heavens. That was essentially binding himself to Gaia anyway, it was just that Alvin didn't want to be constrained by anyone.
["Alright, agreed."]
Gaia fell silent for a moment, then readily agreed.
'Wasn't that a bit too quick? Normally, at this point, shouldn't it say something like, You little brat, you freeloaded my stuff and still don't want to be my person?'
'That said, is Gaia male or female? Or is it that, as a Counter Force, it has no gender at all?'
After thinking for a moment, Alvin soon looked up at the gentle sphere of light still hanging in the sky.
It emitted sacred white radiance, faint ripples spreading across it, as if it were about to descend from the heavens in fury the next moment, Alaya.
It had clearly followed Gaia down the moment Gaia descended, yet it didn't even get a chance to make contact with Alvin before being intercepted by Gaia.
Even for an emotionless Counter Force, Alvin could still sense Alaya's "anger" right now.
"Can I ask you a question?", Alvin suddenly spoke.
Amid Gaia's silence, Alvin examined the exceedingly illusory existence beneath the firmament and said, "Why did you choose me? Just because I'm the White Dragon?"
["You are not within the range of omniscient perception. Perhaps you will become a variable,"] Gaia replied.
'Omniscience, the authority to foresee the future in advance. It can't perceive my existence, perhaps because I'm a traverser?'
'No, if that is the case, wouldn't other traversers also be able to block omniscient perception,' Alvin quickly shook his head and dismissed the guess.
Then, faintly, he thought of something and raised his hand to open his personal interface.
Now, a large number of traversers had already appeared in Britannia. However, there was a huge difference between Alvin and these traversers.
He hadn't become a traverser from the very beginning. Rather, after the game was cleared, the game had turned into reality.
Perhaps he existed on a higher-dimensional level, and therefore couldn't be perceived by omniscience?
Or was it because of the authority granted to him by the "Watchman"?
While Alvin was still thinking, a special deep-blue window popped up in front of him once again.
[You have drawn the Promised Sword of Victory. Please be careful. The attention level of enemies beyond the heavens toward you has increased by 10 points.]
[New achievement acquired: Promised Sword of Victory Wielder (after passing the Round Table Conference, the 13 restraints of the Promised Sword of Victory can be released)]
["Do you have any other questions?"]
At this moment, Gaia asked again.
Alvin pondered for a moment and said, "How much do you know about me?"
["Only a little,"] Gaia replied.
"Was it you who let Ishtar manifest?" Alvin continued.
["Yes, I wanted to recruit you. Letting her persuade you was the best choice, but at the beginning, her divinity needed to be suppressed to avoid conflict with Tiamat."]
Alvin's thoughts stirred slightly, "Why Ishtar?"
["She harbors a strong desire in her heart, so she is easier to summon."]
'Ishtar's desire?'
Alvin subconsciously glanced at Ishtar. Her clear eyes shimmered, her golden pupils fixed tightly on this place, as if she couldn't wait to come over and question Gaia about something.
["In her Manifestation of Beauty EX state, she possesses all the memories from her lifetime,"] Gaia said meaningfully.
'So that's how it is,' Alvin sighed softly in his heart.
That single sentence from Gaia had already proven that not only Britannia, but all the plotlines Alvin had experienced over several sleepless nights had completely become reality.
And as for who it was that Ishtar accepted the summoning for and had been searching for, the answer was already obvious.
Alvin set aside his thoughts for the moment and continued, "The last question might be a bit presumptuous."
["Go ahead."]
"Does the Counter Force have a gender?", Alvin asked tentatively.
A long silence followed.
Then Alvin could feel that Gaia's power seemed to be gradually dissipating.
At the same time, the clouds at the edge of the sky began to shake violently. Alaya.
As Gaia's power waned, Alaya was finally about to descend.
Gaia's form, which was about to dissipate, briefly condensed for an instant. Then Alvin seemed to feel a surge of power drill into his Holy Lance.
BOOM!
The Holy Lance suddenly erupted with brilliant, dazzling golden radiance and blasted toward the direction where Alaya was.
Crack!
Along with a sound like shattering glass, the sphere of light symbolizing "Alaya" became increasingly illusory, until it finally shattered completely.
With the Holy Lance's reinforcement, Gaia's power far exceeded Alaya's. Simply put, Gaia's Wi-Fi signal was stronger.
Now that Gaia had successfully achieved its purpose, it also didn't want Alaya to have any further contact with Alvin, so as to avoid unnecessary variables.
"Gaia, wait a moment!", At this time, Ishtar finally reacted and quickly stepped forward to call out to the departing Gaia.
But Gaia did not stop. Only a string of words quietly appeared in Ishtar's mind.
[The person you are looking for is in this era.]
'I wanted to ask where exactly he is,' Before Ishtar could speak again, Gaia had already completely vanished from view.
Alvin silently looked at Ishtar.
The blonde goddess lowered her gaze slightly, lost in thought.
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