When he opened his eyes again, Arthur saw a clear sky surrounded by vast ribbons of light.
"You awake?"
Naoki's voice reached his ears. Arthur turned his head and saw Naoki sitting beside him, while he himself was lying on the ground nearby.
Propping himself up to sit, Arthur shook his head. "I… why…?"
"No idea. After I crushed Vortigern to death and canceled our fusion, you kept passing out like this, as if all your energy was drained."
Having experienced it himself, Naoki knew exactly what it felt like to be completely drained. Merry, that malicious piece of trash, would even savor it for later.
"I see… Thank you for watching over me here. How long was I out?"
"Just a few minutes, no more. By the way, what did Vortigern say to you? You met him while you were unconscious, right?"
Naoki's question startled Arthur. "How did you know?"
It was something that happened in his consciousness. Naoki hadn't entered Arthur's mind, so how could he know about it?
"Well… let's just say I accidentally saw it." Naoki explained. "Since Merry kept bothering me in my dreams, I've mastered a few ways to counter her. Earlier, when Vortigern pulled you into that consciousness space, my awareness was affected too. I could observe the whole process from a third-party perspective you couldn't see."
"But I didn't hear any voices. I only knew you two met in that consciousness space."
Originally, it was just a small trick he learned to deal with Merry, at best making her crash into a wall when she tried to invade his dreams. But in a moment like this, it had an unexpected effect.
Arthur smiled. "Nothing was said, just unimportant things."
Vortigern was a Servant, summoned by Morgan—Arthur had no intention of telling Naoki this, as there was no need.
"Really?"
This guy wasn't telling the truth.
Naoki could sense it, but it didn't matter. If he didn't want to say, so be it. Since Arthur said it was just unimportant matters, it probably was, and there was no need to dig deeper.
"Then it's time to meet the others."
Standing up from the ground, Naoki brushed off the dirt. "Lia went ahead to find Gawain and the others; they should've met by now. Let's go join them."
"Get up."
Seeing Naoki's outstretched hand, Arthur gave a small smile, grasped it, and stood with a strong pull from Naoki. "Yes, it's time to meet Sir Gawain and the others, but…"
Turning to look at the meteor crater formed by the Blood Red Moon's fall, even larger than the pit where Vortigern resided, Arthur couldn't help but give a wry smile. "The impact from that one attack of yours is massive. Didn't you think to hold back a little?"
"Uh… It was to make sure I crushed him dead."
Naoki turned his head. "Besides, a small impact like this? I can fix it in minutes with Imaginary Manifestation. There won't be any lasting effects in the future. I'm perfect at this technique."
"Then why not fix it now?"
"I just said… I dropped a moon that big less than ten minutes ago, and now you want me to fix a meteor crater this huge? You think Imaginary Manifestation is a cost-free ability?"
Naoki glared at Arthur in frustration.
"At least let me rest first. I'll be fully recovered by tonight, and I'll come fix it then."
(You just want to slack off a bit.)
Seeing through Naoki's little intention at a glance, Arthur gave a wry smile. "Alright, then you'll have to work hard. Let's go meet the others."
"You're really eager…"
The reunion with Artoria, Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan happened a few minutes later.
Given his connection with Artoria, Naoki quickly led Arthur to find the four of them.
"My lord!"
"Your Majesty!"
"King!"
Seeing Arthur's return, the three Knights of the Round Table couldn't contain the surge of emotion in their chests and rushed before him. But just as Naoki thought they'd give Arthur a warm embrace, the three knights immediately suppressed their near-bursting emotions and knelt on one knee before him.
"Your journey on the battlefield was arduous, Your Majesty."
Tears welled in the corner of Gawain's eyes. "Truly… it feels so good to have you back…"
The battle with Vortigern was undoubtedly extremely dangerous. All the Knights of the Round Table knew this. The tragic final battle was still vivid in their memories. For this battle, Gawain and the others had more or less prepared to part with their King once again.
Especially when they saw their initial attacks were completely ineffective against Vortigern.
Yet, the result was that the blazing red dragon-man suddenly erupted with overwhelming power, unilaterally defeating the demon dragon, and ultimately summoning the Blood Red Moon to utterly crush him.
The battle's rapid reversal left the three unable to calm down even now.
"It seems I've made you worry again, Sir Gawain, Sir Lancelot, and Sir Tristan." Arthur reached out to help them stand one by one. "But you don't need to worry anymore. Vortigern has been defeated by us… No, more accurately, he was defeated by Naoki."
"Yes, that's right." Artoria nodded. "To face that Vortigern, the Holy Sword in our hands was the least effective weapon. If we used other weapons, their power wouldn't be enough to defeat him either."
"So, the only one who could defeat Vortigern was Master—you worked hard, Master. I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help."
Facing Artoria's apology, Naoki only smiled. "No such thing as hard work or not. If I'm the only one who can do it, then I'll do it. It's just my job—by the way, where are Jeanne Alter and Mordred? Aren't they with you?"
Hearing Naoki's question, Lancelot explained, "They accidentally got separated from us earlier while we were helping the civilians, but I think they should be—"
"Hey—!"
Before Lancelot could finish, a loud shout came from the distance.
The group turned to look and saw Mordred waving at them while running. Behind her, they could clearly see Gawain, Lancelot, and Tristan from Artoria's side. Jeanne Alter was among them too.
Not only that…
"Department Head—!"
Fujimaru Ritsuka, and even Mash and Hinako, appeared there as well.
Truly a lively group.
Naoki and Artoria exchanged glances, then smiled lightly and waved back at them.
"We're over here!"
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
The sixth Singularity.
The greatest enemy, the demon dragon Vortigern, had been defeated.
With that, this Singularity would soon collapse and vanish. Only two final steps remained before the incineration of humanity was completely halted.
Hope was near.
At this moment, everyone thought so.