"So that's Vortigern?"
Bracing against the storm and impact caused by the dragon's roar, staring at the black demon dragon in the sky, Naoki placed his hand on the hilt of the Holy Sword at his waist—he wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt the Holy Sword seemed to react, slightly excited.
"I can sense Mana that truly surpasses a Demon God Pillar… I'm afraid it's greater than my full power."
King Vortigern was originally one of the incarnations of the island of Britain, a doomsday device born to destroy it. Its power was so immense that it could even swallow the light of the Holy Sword, turning Britain into a land of darkness.
Even Artoria and Gawain, working together, ultimately had to rely on the Holy Lance to defeat and vanquish it.
And now, Vortigern had obtained the Holy Grail, and its power was undoubtedly greater than when it was alive. Perhaps the current Vortigern—
"Possesses Mana equivalent to the entire island of Britain—that's how Vortigern can be described." Arthur said. "Merlin… no, it should be Morgan. She told me that."
Arthur wasn't unaware of Morgan's disguise. After all, she was the Witch who had been by his side for countless years. If he couldn't see through her disguise, it would be truly unforgivable.
Arthur didn't care what Morgan was doing by disguising herself as Merlin. At that moment, the most important thing was facing Vortigern, and Morgan had no reason to lie.
And now, it was the same.
Mana equivalent to the entire island of Britain—this information from Arthur's mouth left Naoki and Artoria unable to hide their shock. All this time, both of them were individuals who never lacked Mana. Naoki had the support of the planet's Mana, and Artoria could draw Mana from Naoki.
Yet even for them, the amount of Mana an individual could hold was limited. Naoki's limit was at the Divine Spirit level—it might increase in the future, but for now, that was it.
But Vortigern possessed Mana equal to the total Mana of the island of Britain.
"Does that mean the gap between us and the enemy is massive?" Artoria tightly gripped her Holy Sword. "Even so, we can't retreat. If we don't defeat it, there'll be no future for humanity."
"Right, Master?"
Faced with such a vast gap between themselves and the enemy, retreating momentarily wouldn't be shameful. It could even be called a strategic retreat. After all, the enemy's power far exceeded theirs. Even if they fled, no one would blame them, as there was no rule stating they had to fight an unbeatable foe.
But unfortunately, the three Holy Sword wielders standing here were stubborn people who didn't understand the concept of being unable to win.
Naoki smiled: "Yeah, exactly. So—let's move forward, together."
*TRING!*
A massive magic circle unfolded beneath Naoki's feet, instantly encompassing all three of them.
This magic circle was a Summoning Magecraft ritual. Artoria recognized it. If it was used at this moment, it meant—
"You're going to use that move, Master?"
"After all, the opponent is so huge. To face a monster, we definitely need a giant, right?"
[Large entity, dragon species, destructive weapon—enemy elements confirmed.]
[Large entity, fairy species, salvation weapon—elements copied, elements reversed. Summoning conditions confirmed. Using the above three elements as a medium, construct the summoning ritual!]
Under Arthur's somewhat confused and shocked gaze, Naoki and Artoria interlocked their fingers.
"Open, the gate to the sea of stars!"
"Countless fairies from another world, answer my call and come forth! You are the giants of light who uphold the heavens and carve the future! And also the red dragon who tears the earth and whose roar shakes the skies!"
At the center of the massive ritual circle, over a hundred meters in diameter, a fountain of light suddenly erupted! It instantly engulfed Naoki and Artoria's bodies!
The next moment—
*TRING!*
Within the suddenly expanding pillar of light, a menacing red armored arm suddenly reached out. As if to shatter the pillar, it swung its arm forcefully, and the pillar of light reaching the heavens instantly broke into countless specks of light!
And beneath the falling rain of light, an armor, entirely red and shaped like a dragon-human, stood there!
Summoning Magecraft · Fairy Summoning · Dragon Species Chain Summoning · Giant Fairy Equipment—
Anti-Vortigern Specialization Armor · King Arthur!
After ten years, it appeared again!
"This…"
Arthur stared in shock at the giant dragon-human before him. With this size, the battle against Vortigern would no longer be as one-sided as before.
Before Arthur could do anything else, another pillar of light rose from the magic circle, instantly engulfing him as well, transforming him into a beam of light that flew into the dragon-human armor's hand, ultimately forming a massive golden sword resembling Excalibur!
King Arthur Equipment—True Dragon Vein Burning-Type Weapon · Excalibur!
"This… Naoki, what's this situation?"
The giant sword itself emitted Arthur's somewhat incredulous voice. For him, retired for ten years, everything happening now felt a bit foreign.
And within the consciousness realm of the armor, just like ten years ago, floating naked as a conscious entity in a red space, Naoki explained: "Simply put, this is Magecraft using Artoria as the main body, then transforming myself into giant armor."
Summoning Magecraft was originally used to summon fairies and fae. Naoki, now a fairy, was naturally a valid target for this Magecraft. By changing the primary subject during its use, he could naturally achieve this now.
"As for Arthur's situation… since in this state, our Holy Sword merges with us and becomes an artillery weapon, we can only let you act as the Holy Sword in hand."
"I see. This way, we can defeat Vortigern, right?"
"At least I won't have to exhaust myself giving you flight protection and using our Holy Sword toothpick to poke it—to face a giant monster, we naturally have to fight with a giant as well."
"The main fight is up to Lia. Arthur, you just need to keep outputting your Mana at full power, and leave the rest to me."
Artoria/Arthur: "Understood!"
"Then—let's go!"
"Go hunt the dragon!"