Those Who Dance in the Moonlight: A NarutoxFate Story

by Sierra.BN312

This isn't a story about a boy becoming Hokage. Neither is it a story about battles over a cup that grants wishes. This is a story about someone from a world, stranded in another that is not his own, but merely trying to reclaim that which he loves: his family.

12. Chapter 11: The Glory of Camelot Part V

(Pokes out from behind a wall) Well, hello there guys, been a while, huh? In fact, it's been far too long for my liking, and the reasons for my extended leave of absence is something not entirely within my control. While there were other reasons for it, I'll say that I've taken up a new job which is pretty labor intensive and time-consuming in its pursuits which has left the amount of time I have to write consigned to late night and occasional days off.

So, this is the second part of the prior chapter that was relatively low in quality, in my opinion, and as such, was divided up into two parts, which sadly means that the Camelot act needed to be extended up a bit. Now with this part, we get into the battles of the prior chapter that was set up and now we move onto the final part of the Glory section of the Legend of Camelot act.

I had hoped the Camelot films and Avalon would've been out sooner to help me out, but sadly that didn't happen, and so I apologize if things don't have what you guys were expecting per se in the way of fights and lore.

As far as Fate news goes, we got several things, other than the Imaginary Scramble event on the JP servers of FGO, LB5.5 Heian-kyō was launched not too long, and we finally got Lostbelt 6!

Taking place in between Yuga Kshetra and Atlantis/Olympus, Imaginary Scramble takes the Nautilus-Shadow Border through the Imaginary Sea, or also called the Imaginary Number Space, with DW now adding in Captain Nemo and Van Gogh added to the Gacha, with the former being permanent and the latter as part of the event.

Heian-kyō takes us back to Japan, where Douman attempts to continue the work that Ritsuka and Musashi stopped back in Shimousa with his own goals in mind. Sakata Kintoki gains a new Spiritron Dress, which honestly looks pretty sick, but that isn't what really has me excited…

Lostbelt Six: Fairy Realm of the Round Table - Avalon le Fae: The Moment a Planet is Born

Oh, Nasu, you hard working and partially insane mushroom you; I'm not sure if I want to kiss you or punch you. You just had to go and make my work harder, didn't you? For those unaware, the sixth Lostbelt of FGO has provided a metric ton of Arthurian TYPE-MOON lore which you would think turns out well for me, right? Here's the thing, a quandary that Avalon Le Fae has set up for me is that the new info given is a departure from what Moonlight had set up here, so a months work was dedicated to amending the previous story plans to account for, and change up parts of the future story to integrate what we now know about the Fae. However, the far, Far, FAR more significant issue for me as a writer comes in the form of one Morgan Le Fey. When I originally wrote this fic and structured the story, I was working with what we knew about Morgan at the time, which was the borderline psychopathic Panhuman history version that we were treated to during Mordred's flashbacks in Apocrypha. Since then, I have managed to get my hands on the translation for Lord El-Melloi II's Atlas Contract, which paints Morgan as a far more contradictory and nuanced character than I had given her credit for.

And then comes LB6 and blows my expectations out of the water and into the nearest trash can; Lostbelt Morgan is an almost complete and total departure from what I had planned and envisioned and is herself a complicated and nuanced character. Add into that the new Fae lore, the new Mothman Oberon and the darling Fae Knight Trio, and I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place on this. On the one hand, I want to incorporate this new lore and characterization into Moonlight, while on the other, it didn't jive with what I originally had planned. Alas, I have decided to rewrite and overhaul aspects of the coming arc to reflect these changes and hopefully contribute to an overall better story.

Depending on how what's left of LB6 goes, I may more than likely do some spin-offs of the Camelot Singularity and the Avalon Lostbelt with some smidgens of the current Moonlight stuff in them with Naruto in them in one or two roles. Not quite sure since it's still a ways off, but regardless, the spin-offs are certainly something to ponder.

Now given that, I assume many have tuned into the Fate Project Livestream that occurred on New Years, but if not, I will go ahead and geek out… after 20 years since the original's release… and after 12 years since its announcement and the development hell cycle it's been put through… WE'RE FINALLY GETTING THE TSUKIHIME VN REMAKE THIS YEAR! Well, at least the JP fans are on PS4 and the Switch, oddly enough, but still, we're finally getting the remake after all these years. I hope that this will draw in new fans of this once-forgotten chapter in TYPE-MOON's history of media, as the only bits of it can be found in those who know of the original VN, the anime that no one speaks of, the original Carnival Phantasm skits and the manga's that came close to retelling the original Arcuied route mixed with a few changes that didn't seem too bad honestly.

Hopefully, once it releases and gets translated by fans, or at least the changes in the remake hit the internet, I can find a way to use some of it for my story when the Tsukihime stuff starts to become more prominent in here.

Maybe that Tsukihime collab event can finally come to FGO…

Other media projects that TYPE-MOON has coming up is the second FGO Camelot film, which released back in the spring in theaters along with the Blu-ray sets of Spring Song (my beta and I have butted heads more than once on this) and Babylonia (hell yeah), along with what's left of Fate Grand Carnival. They've already released the first two OVA, and it has been translated by fans, and it's so damned entertaining to watch.

And with that, we now begin the chapter!

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Chapter 11 – The Glory of Camelot Part V

-Castle of Lord Cerdic; Mordred-

Ever since she was given this assignment, Mordred had been both ecstatic and stoic about her role as joint-leader in this with Ywain. This was a mission to prove herself worthy to join the king's inner circle and court as an esteemed Knight of the Round Table.

Both Mordred and Ywain were chosen at the recommendation of her 'mom', Naruto, to either bring in or eliminate Lord Cerdic and his rebellious forces by order of the King of Knights to help quell the kingdom's slowly growing dissent with the king.

'How stupid were these lords and men?' It was all Mordred could ask herself, for how could they question their king's rule that saved their people from tyranny and death. That kept them from enslavement to foreigners that would destroy their history and culture. That protected them against the evils of the world, which threatened to infest and destroy them from within. Mordred was NOT one for politics, in fact, on one of the rare instances when Naruto had attempted to explain to Mordred the different levels of nobility, she had got lost in a daydream about riding Periwinkle into the sunset. But a singular fact rang clear through it all that Mordred, as straightforward as a charging bull, could understand; if the people were happy and had no complaints, then there was no need for rebellion. Therefore, as she dug the heels of her sabatons into the flank of the horse she was riding, the ponytailed blonde was certain that this false rebellion would crumble under the weight of the King's justice, and she would be his instrument.

They were led to a path inside the castle by one of Naruto's spies to hopefully keep the bloodshed to a minimum, not that she was averse to the notion of cracking a few skulls. She and Ywain agreed to split up their troops to cover more ground, Ywain would take the upper levels and battlements to give their greater forces access through the gates, while Mordred herself would find Lord Cerdic. She stole through the castle with greater subterfuge than any ordinary knight would be capable of, slipping past encampments of men at arms and occasional servants that flitted this way and that. Within her horned silver helm, Mordred's ears twitched, hearing the distant sounds of combat above her, it would seem that Ywain had started his own assault in earnest, giving her time and distraction enough to find the rebellious nobles. Accosting a manservant in a storehouse confirmed the information that their informants had gathered, Cerdic was holed up at the top of the castle's central keep, likely getting ready to lead his troops in an attempt at resistance. 'Too little, too late,' Mordred thought with a mix of annoyance and amusement, bringing the pommel of her sword down against the back of the manservant's neck and sending him into blissful unconsciousness.

Kicking open the door to the storehouse with a deft kick, Mordred stepped out into the central courtyard while surveying the some three score of enemy combatants running this way and that in an attempt to hold back Ywain's assault. Concealed green orbs alighted on a few corpses that littered the battlements with conspicuously matte black throwing knives protruding from necks and eyes. She clicked her teeth in annoyance, it seemed that her fellow aspiring knight wanted to make quick work of the defenders, "Tryin' to show off huh, beansprout?" she asked rhetorically, drawing the attention of a mail-clad man at arms who quickly raised the alarm at her presence. "Oh? You lot think screaming, and hollering is going to save you from the King's justice?" Mordred proclaimed loudly, her voice reverberating from within her horned helm, "Maybe! But that won't save your traitor of a lord from me!" Magical energy pulsed outwards from her body, sparking erratically in bolts of brilliant bloody red lightning that arced against the castle walls.

Launching herself forwards, Mordred left a sonic boom in her wake bound for the iron-bound door to the main keep, the defenders desperately scrambled to pull the massive metallic doors shut. Mordred grinned like a loon, rearing her gauntleted fist back with a mass of crimson lightning and driving it into the heavy metal door, it gave no resistance and crumpled under the force of her assault like paper-mache, turning those behind the entryway into a pink mist. Those still alive were left dazed and confused, their wide, frightened eyes watching the horned demon crackling with aberrant lightning stalking forwards through the fog of cruor and viscera. None could withstand Mordred as she ascended the steps with speed that none so heavily armored should possess. She ignored those that ran from her path and reduced any that raised a feeble defense against her to chum, she would end this quickly, and if they were smart, they would know to stay out of her way. Halfway up the ascent, she was accosted by a brute of a man wielding a heavy war hammer that he brought down on her head with a resonant clang. What was visible of his face through his mail cap contorted into terror when the shorter knight's hand locked around his throat and jerked him to the side as if he weighed nothing, sending him toppling over the edge of the balustrade to fall six stories hitting the floor with a sickening splat.

Now, as Mordred was finishing up with a section of the keep, she cut down the door to the keep's balcony, where Lord Cerdic himself was in, she found the man strapped in armor with his back against the wall and sword pointed at her, "Tell me, why did you choose to betray our king?" Mordred asked, wanting to know his answer.

Lord Cerdic levelled a putrid glare at Mordred with his sword still pointed at her armored form that filled him with dread, "The king is far too perfect to be human." Cerdic said as he spat at Mordred's feet. Something she didn't take too kindly to, "Nothing so perfect to rule over us can be human, no different from the tyrant Vortigern. I refuse to allow something inhuman to rule over us!" He proclaimed in anger, a false bravado to try and save face.

But it was these words that seemed to set something off inside of Mordred. The way he insulted the King of Knights was some banal statement on how he insisted that one needed to be flawed to be a leader, and they couldn't be perfect. Perfection was a debate for another day, but Mordred knew that the king no doubt had problems of his own, and King Arthur was wise to keep them hidden from potential enemies. In her mind, if the king was perfect to the views of the people, then the king's ideals and dreams too were nothing to scoff or spit at.

For if the king wished to build a peaceful nation in which would be the foundation of a utopia of joy, then who was this man to stop it, "You're a fool…" Raising her blade high above her head as the shadow of the sword covered Cerdic, "…where's the dissatisfaction in serving the perfect king?" Mordred cleaved Cerdic in half as blood sprayed across her armor, depicting an almost demon-like being presiding over death, "There is none, and you should be honored by that fact." She looked down at what had once been a man, the waters of life running out over the floor in an ever-growing puddle, guts and bone visible by the torchlight behind her. She spoke no more words and instead walked to the edge of the balcony and looked out over the moonlight bathed castle grounds and forests beyond it. It was quite a sight to see.

Five minutes later, one of Mordred's soldiers entered the room as he removed his helmet to speak clearly to one of their leader's, "Sir, we've taken the castle and secured the remaining soldiers within. Ywain holds the upper floors and battlements with several of Lord Cerdic's retainers who have surrendered to us."

Wiping the blood off her blade with the traitor's flag, Mordred turned to the soldier and gave a nod in acknowledgement before finally speaking, "Lord Cerdic…" She said, gesturing to the bifurcated body behind her, which was already attracting flies, "…wasn't one to give up, and I was forced to put him down." Sheathing the blade, Mordred left the room to meet up with Ywain to share their reports before heading back to the capital city, where Sir Kay held the place together as the Lord Regent.

It was time to head back home, where she'd wait until mom and the king and company would return with news that the bitch, Morgan, was dead.

"What an adventure, mom…" Mordred whispered to herself, "…nothing like what you did before but something to talk about one day."

---

-Gawain, Gareth & Gaheris-

Having been forcibly split away from the company, Gawain had been leading his siblings through Morgan's wretched castle for some time now, only to run into almost nothing, save for the occasional Uruk or Fell Magus to put down, yet at the same time, he grew uneasy.

For all of their preparations to ensure they were able to combat Morgan, they still lacked a tremendous amount of information about what lay in store for them; despite what info Naruto had obtained, it meant very little in the end. It was quite the contradiction, truly; Gawain knew that Naruto bore no ill will upon them, having showcased his dedication to their aunt and their cause with the founding of Camelot, yet at the same time… he had always been a little disquieted by the as per status as a Dead Apostle. A creature that by all rights killed the living for their blood to continue their eternal existence, partaking in dark actions for pleasure and being an affront to that which was righteous and humane. Perhaps it was his own lingering dislike of their mother for having disowned and cast them out to be taken in by Sir Ector, had Naruto simply not yet shown his true colors as a tra—

"Brother, are you alright?" He felt Gareth's hand upon his shoulder with a concerned look on her face, "You looked as if you were elsewhere, as if you had taken leave of your senses." That was strange. Typically, Gawain was aware of how he appeared to and was perceived by others, yet perhaps this place was affecting his mind from what his sister had said.

The music of the Unseelie that had begun as they entered the castle started to ebb and flow through the halls, as Gawain attempted to drown the sickening tone out from his eardrums with his own thoughts, yet it seemed for naught as the music was still heard. Enchanted tunes were something of a weakness for him, his Numeral of the Saint blessing was weakest at this time. For no sun shined down upon the domain to protect his ears and thoughts from the song of the Winter Court of Fae.

"Yes, I'm…." He reigned in his composure after a few moments, the fog of dark thoughts banished from his mind to focus on finding the rest of the company, "…I'm fine. Let's continue. Keep your minds clear, Gareth, Gaheris. This place is playing tricks on us."

Ushering on through the halls, they soon heard a loud scraping, a noise that all three recognized as the unmistakable sound of a whetstone being drawn across a sharp blade. Holding their weapons up, they ventured beyond an ajar oaken door with caution until they found the source, "It can't be…." Gawain said in shock from the sight.

The Green Knight sat stiffly upon the edge of the oily fountain with his mismatched eyes wriggling with anticipation, "Of course it is. I am here…" the Green Knight tossed the whetstone aside as he stood, his large, bearded axe slowly drawing across the stone flags producing sparks in the process. Casting a disinterested look to Gawain's siblings, he raised his axe pointedly at Gawain before speaking again, "…we still have a battle to conclude." He gestured with his mossy beard to his left, where an open passageway waited on the other side of the courtyard. "Leave us, I care not for if you strike down my creator; as a matter of fact, I have grown most infuriated with her as of late. All I care about is collecting on my promise, Knight of the Sun." Gawain's title was spat with venomous contempt that made Gareth and Gaheris wince.

"Brother! You cannot do this alone!" Gaheris stepped forward in protest of the Green Knight's challenge. Years ago, the undead abomination had proven to be a brutal enemy to deal with, taking the three of them together to defeat him. Even though he was outnumbered, the monster had taken all that they had offered and more before finally expiring. It was a sight that Gaheris would never forget, and every fibre of his being screamed at him to stand with their brother again, for the aura of the Green Knight far outstripped the stumbling beast they had once felled.

Gareth readied Ira Lupus as she loaded a Mystic Code into the firing chamber of the lance, ready to charge, "Go ahead, both you." The two younger siblings looked at their older brother as if he were well and truly crazy, "Find the King…." Gawain said, "…end this nightmare."

Staring down at the Green Knight, Gawain intensified the shroud of flames around Galatine in preparation of this duel, "Now." His final tone left no room for argument.

"No, brother!" Gareth shouted in protest, "We have the numerical advantage right now! We have more experience and skills together!" The siblings' sister was confident that they could defeat the Green Knight once more, but only if they stood together.

However, Gawain saw something that they seemed to ignore when they saw the Green Knight before them, "How is it that you are capable of speech now?" On that night when they battled, he was nothing more than an undead pawn of Morgan's, used by Vortigern to stop their advance into his fortress. Now he was speaking clearly like any man like himself, something he thought impossible.

Their opponent merely shrugged before gesturing to his belt briefly as he hoisted his axe on his shoulder, "'Tis simply a belt of magical enchantment to grant me the gifts or normal man. Speech is but one. And there are others, but I will say no more." The Green Knight brought the axe down to the ground where he had cut down into the stone floor in anticipation, "Let us speak no more with words, but with steel." Hefting the axe in both arms now, the air became palpable with bloodlust as it seemed that his patience was wearing thin, now that Gawain had arrived.

Gaheris was not comfortable with that bit of news as he turned to his elder brother with urging reason in his tone, "This is all the more reason for us to fight together, brother!" Gesturing to the Green Knight, he continued on to hopefully slay the abomination together, "We can put this fell creature down all the faster and continue our search for the king!"

"The two of you will only get in my way." Gawain stated bluntly, shocking his siblings at his words, all the while the Green Knight merely chuckled at the declaration, "If he has gained more intelligence, and more skill, then I can deal with him on my own. More weapons will only make this more complicated than it needs to be." In truth, Gawain was wanting to battle the Green Knight to ensure he did not make another mistake in finally putting him down.

Yes, he knew that his siblings' aid could help, yet at the same time, they would hinder him in allowing him to use Galatine's power under the full Moon to ensure that he could fight all out against this undead knight. He would apologize to his siblings once they were home so as to not strain their relationship, but here and now, he had an enemy to put down.

With Gareth looking towards Gaheris, they shared a silent conversation before nodding as they made haste past the abominable knight to find their king.

All that was left was the old nemesi, each with their own reasons for fighting. The ghoulish spectre of a fallen man sustained by nothing more than his intense desire to see his unfinished duty through. The other clad in silver and teal was far more of an enigma to understand. Years ago, when he and the Green Knight had first crossed blades in that village besotted by the undead, Gawain had claimed victory through the combined efforts of he and his siblings, at that moment, an ideal had been fostered within Hardy Gawain as radiant as the Sun he was blessed under. The perfect knight, serving the ideal king perfectly, he would be chivalrous, defend the weak, hold the strong to account for their power and make people feel safe in his presence, anything less was simply not good enough. Yet looking upon the Green Knight, wheezing his way back into life like a bad memory given form, Gawain felt… self-conscious. Before him stood the physical embodiment of his imperfection, proof that he had yet to reach his ideal of the perfect knight. If the Green Knight could yet draw breath, then what other mistakes could he make? Grow arrogant in his power? Abandon the ways of chivalry for personal grudges, even, dare he think it, fail the King?

Teal eyes met the mismatched green of his opponent, slipping into a robust stance with Galatine's flaming form poised to strike. "...shall we?"

Thin, rotting lips split to reveal a crumbling grin, and large dirty hands tightened around the shaft of an axe, "Face me! Knight of the Sun!" Green knight exploded into motion, kicking off of the fountain that shattered under his heavy greaves and raising his glowing green axe high over his head.

"Burn away…" Gawain surged forth to meet him swinging Galatine's flaming length to collide with the great bearded axe of his nemesis, a shockwave radiating from the point of impact as flame and malignant growth clashed, "…burn away so I can achieve my ideal!" Morgan's son roared as they descended into battle.

---

-Lancelot, Tristan & Agravain-

Attempting to find Arturia had unfortunately proven a fruitless endeavor. The passageways had changed on them numerous times, forcibly diverting them into another part of the castle until they came to another staircase leading them directly up to where they could feel a light draft fluttering their long hair, "It appears that we are nearing an open roof on the castle." Lancelot observed as he led Tristan and Agravain up the stairs towards a large door.

Not knowing what lay ahead, Tristan moved up ahead before he kicked the door down with Failnaught at the ready to turn whatever threat into a pincushion. Seeing nothing on the other side that currently threatened them, Tristan moved out as Lancelot and Agravain came from the rear, where they took in their surroundings.

The trio found themselves in a large roof courtyard where several other doors lay in the perimeter that hopefully led elsewhere, with a battlement wall up on the left side giving a great view over the castle and its grounds; Tristan made his way towards them, "I shall take to the battlements to give us cover in the event the enemy decides to ambush us." Lancelot nodded in agreement; this location was a prime spot for ambushing them.

Stowing Failnaught, Tristan made his way over to the wall and climbed up to get a good foothold as the other knights moved slowly through the courtyard with vigilance. Giving the battlements a once over, Tristan saw that several figures darted across the rooftops setting up fortifications and ballista's to potentially counter their siege, perhaps too late given the destruction of the main gate. Yet at the same time, Tristan was able to see beyond the battlements down into the town where their forces were preoccupied with the Uruks, yet the shadow of the central tower fell over this rooftop rendering the figures invisible to those down below, "A one way view it would seem." Certainly, a tactical advantage if one ever saw it as.

Yet beyond the howl of wind and battle, within the ringing of steel and horrid music of the Unseelie, Tristan's trained air picked up a singular sound growing in intensity that did not belong. Looking heavenward, Tristan witnessed a large gout of fire that grew to the size of a horse before being launched down into the courtyard, "Move!" Lancelot and Agravain both dived out of the way, though each one ended up being caught up in the resulting explosion, getting flung in separate directions. Lancelot was lucky enough to be tossed aside relatively unscathed, save for a slightly singed cape. As for Agravain, the Knight of Black Iron was not so fortunate. The shockwave sent him into a nearby wall with enough force to send him through it before the opening collapsed in on itself, separating Agravain from the others.

Then there was Tristan up on the battlements; a second ball of fire came for him, and he acted accordingly to evade its flame, yet the resulting shrapnel sliced the strap at his front, Failnaught clattered to the ground a few feet away. Scrambling for the bow, Tristan attempted to regain his primary weapon, but a figure clad in mist appeared before him with a sword pointed at him in challenge, "Your bow is useless, Knight of Lamentation." Not wanting to be caught on the back foot, Tristan drew his guardless longsword to parry the initial thrust of the wraith; while swordsmanship was not his forte Tristan had made sure to hone the skill to the point where he could survive without his bow. He sidestepped the follow-up slash and returned one of his own when he felt a second presence land behind him like the current wraith, Tristan adjusted himself to see that, unlike the first, it held no weapon, yet that did little to ease his worries, "You are forsaken." The second one said.

Despite their new, twisted forms concealing their prior nature as humans now turned wraiths, Tristan recognized their armor, "Golumar… Lot… why go to Morgan?" His golden eyes opened in unconcealed disbelief, "Why lower yourselves, men such as yourselves, to serve someone as foul as her?" Tristan recognized them from his younger years in his father's court.

Their hollow, metallic voices alternated between one another as they explained, "The Dark Mistress holds beauty and power…."

"…bliss is but one of such gifts she holds…."

"…she is the rightful heir of these lands…."

"…and not a bastard child."

Golumar raised his blade as he shot a burst of black fire at Tristan, forcing him to evade the attack which struck Lot. Tristan had hoped to have his enemy strike his own ally, which worked to his hope; however, that did not seem to be the case. As Lot had been hit by the blast, his 'body' evaporated into a cloud of smoke that seemed to swirl around briefly before it dispersed into a flock of crows that took on a demonic appearance, each had four eyes that were filled the same form of shadow, "Zídushgoi will not fall to a handful of cowards!"

Tristan's eyes widened as he saw that he would need to keep moving in order to avoid being killed by this new threat. His vision darted around in haste to find the optimal route until he saw a slope leading up to the roof, where it was cluttered by several towers. "You call us cowards for attacking your Mistress' domain…." If he managed to make it, then Tristan could at the very least split their focus up and make surprise attacks as he made a loop around the courtyard to try and reclaim Failnaught to grant him the edge in battle once more, "…yet she skulks in the shadow like a leper clinging to the safety of others out of fear from us." Tristan taunted as he quickly pivoted around to make a mad dash for the rooftops to regain some slight advantage. Swiftly twirling his sword, Tristan struck each of the crows as they shrieked before dispersing from the flock as Golumar disappeared in a mist up to the rooftops.

Sprinting up the path, Tristan held his blade at the ready as he knew well enough that the Wraith-crows would come for him. Keeping his eyes fully aware of what was around him, he now stood with his back against a wall where a few of the towers kept his position hidden for a brief time before a crow came diving at him from the air. Their shriek filled the air with terror, yet Tristan held his mental fortitude up against the being; swinging the blade, the redhead batted the crows away before he began to make his way around the roof to reclaim his bow.

As he continued to swipe away at incoming crows, Golumar reappeared before him within a few feet with his sword positioned to take his head off in one fell swoop. Years of training came back to Tristan as he quickly ducked under the blade that made a beeline for his neck, whereupon rolling over, Tristan attempted to stab the wraith, only for his sword to pass through his opponent. "Damn…" seeing that his sword would be useless against his opponents, much less Golumar, Tristan made haste as he continued on with his strategy.

While Tristan was facing down his opponents, Lancelot was now dealing with his own enemies. After recovering from the attack, Lancelot held Arondight at the ready as two more wraiths jumped down into the courtyard, one armed with a warhammer and the other lacking visible armament. He could make out their armor and distinct features of their coat of arms, yet one of them stood out as he pointed Arondight at the warhammer wielding wraith, "Claudus? You were my father's friend!" In slight shock and anger at this apparent betrayal, the Frankish knight said, "And you, Ogier…." Pointing his blade at the unarmed one, "…you were a man whose name was of legend. One of honor! And the both of you throw it away! For Morgan? For Evil?!" Lancelot shouted in rage, donning his helmet once again.

Claudus charged at Lancelot with his war hammer poised to deliver a blow to his helm, "You cannot win. The armies of the Dark Mistress, like her power, grow continuously. She is the true heir of these lands, and you will bow to her." Claudus brought the hammer down to strike, only for him to meet Arondight instead and be parried to the side. They traded blows with neither landing a solid hit on the other, though the height tail of bluish light that followed Arondight's tip seemed to force the wraith to recoil.

Lancelot kept his eyes on Ogier as the shadows that held his form began to distort and form something else about him, "Our Mistress has vested interest in your Fae blessings, once this attack is repelled, you shall likely join our number…." Lancelot's eyes widened at this corruptive fate lined up for him, yet at the same time, the form of Ogier began to take the shape of a Drake, like a wyvern, formed from shadow and fire, "…but should you choose to resist, I shall see you dead before the sun rises!" Rearing its head back, Lancelot ran adjacent from the drake's position in an arc as the wraith-drake let loose the same fire that had separated them in the first place and the stream of fire that followed set the courtyard ablaze. Lancelot could feel the heat as he dove behind a pillar supporting a balcony overlooking the courtyard as the fire continued to spew.

Knowing full well that he was outnumbered, Lancelot came out from the side of the pillar before leaping at the man-shaped wraith, striking Claudus' hammer with Arondight, locking their weapons and pushing against the semi-corporeal foe. "Blast you confounded foe, to fall so low for something as vapid as cursed troops and hollow prestige!? Look at yourself man!" he bellowed, sparks flying from their weapon lock. Claudus grunted in response, having trouble overpowering Lancelot's raw martial prowess. Lancelot stepped forwards while twisting Arondight in his grip and slashed it lengthwise along the wraith's breastplate, drawing a sharp wince of pain from the hooded figure. Wanting to keep the heat on, Lancelot went for a thrust when his eyes picked out an orange reflection upon Arondight's surface. Danger senses blaring at him to pull back Lancelot pirouetted away from his now-abandoned attack not a second too soon, the area he would have been standing was engulfed in drake fire.

The drake that had once been Ogier brought its head around to continue to blast its dragon breath in pursuit of the dodging Lancelot, extending its malformed wings, it leapt to the aid of Caudus, who still gripped where Arondight had cut into his chest. Skidding to a halt once the drake's assault had petered out, Lancelot's helmet obscured eyes caught a glimpse of something black and slippery dripping from Claudus, blood, disgusting and oily blood. 'So, Fae weapons can harm them?' Lancelot asked mentally before throwing himself back into the fray. Prodigious strength sent a blade of air pressure at the pair, which battered them backwards, several more following it to keep them pressured as he formulated plans of attack.

As the bell tolled on, Lancelot had kept his eyes on his opponents, yet it did not prevent his mind from being affected by the Unseelie magics that began to make him hallucinate slightly. His vision blurred momentarily before he refocused himself to battle the wraiths, only instead for but the briefest of moments, he saw Guinevere… lying dead in a pool of her own blood beneath them…

It was something out of his nightmares; the love of his life's lifeless eyes staring at him, but all of a sudden, she sat up from her position with a twisted smile that made Lancelot reel back in shock and terror at the sight, "Your love has condemned me. Why? Why did you let me die?"

In that moment, fear permeated Lancelot's being before he quickly steeled himself to avoid an oncoming blow from Claudus' Warhammer that would have shattered his femur. Steely resolve soon promptly turned to rage, which he used to drive his way to fight on against the odds. Lancelot's ever-growing growls of anger played accompaniment to the symphony of steel that crashed against the phantasmal discord of the fell knights.

For Agravain, who had been separated from the other two, now alone, he knew only to put one foot in front of the other to keep going. Hefting himself off the floor, Agravain tried to get a look outside through the bits of rubble that weren't completely obstructing his view, only to see just a shadowed dragonkin of some kind, "Dammit…." There was nothing he could do but carry on.

Stepping back from the rubble, Agravain gazed down the hallway as he tried to focus ahead of him to see beyond his initial view, "Where are you…?" Marching onwards, Agravain drew his sword before he heard a voice in his head.

"Come."

A single command was all it took to draw his attention to the source. Realizing that it was Morgan's own, Agravain allowed the enchanted iron chains to drop slightly from his free hand, emitting a crimson red glow to illuminate the path before him.

---

-Arturia-

"Morgan… I curse your name."

Arturia had been on her own ever since she was separated from Naruto and the rest of their company, leaving her marooned amidst an emotional storm of hatred for her sister and concern for her lover, as well as the rest of her knights.

They had been aware that a castle would be well defended but given no time to prepare, the defenders would not be able to prepare it for a siege, much less a surprise one at that. Though it seemed that the castle itself had been constructed in some way to rearrange its insides to delay ingress into the inner sanctum where the master of the castle likely lay in wait.

Sprinting down the halls, Arturia was more than prepared to tackle whatever it was that came her way, using Avalon to heal her instantaneously should any attacks make their marks on her, while she had the Invisible Air conceal her blade's length, although it was perhaps redundant since there had so far been few foes here lasting long enough to parry the initial strike. So far, she had run into no less than seventeen squads of those malformed abominations or the occasional Dark Magus that she had cut down without a second thought, their meagre Mysteries crumpling under Strike Air like wet tissue.

The enclosed halls reverberated to the song of rendered bone and shredded flesh under that never-ceasing Unseelie accompaniment. One thing she was able to define was that the music was the conduit of an insidious Magecraft that confounded the senses and slowly drained away at her stamina, every action taking more effort than it should have.

"Cut them down!" she roared, swinging the wind sheathed Excalibur at the next unfortunate defender sent against her, the titanic form of an Olog taking the hit to its wrought-iron buckler and letting out a squeal of pain when it offered no resistance to the concealed blade. Arturia pulled the sword free with a grunt of exertion before aiming to stab the wispy length deep into the large creature's throat but was forestalled by the Olog's meaty fist clamping down on her gauntleted sword arm. The Holy Sword's movement arrested for the time being, the Olog attempted to bring down a rough-looking messer sword on Arturia's shoulder with hopes of cutting off the limb. Hope quickly shifted to despair to the servant of Morgan when his prey sidestepped the messer's downward arc, letting it uselessly collide with the black marble floor, Arturia's left gauntleted hand balled into a fist that roared upwards into the Olog's jaw with a sickening crunch and sending eight hundred pounds of muscle into the ceiling. Even as its teeth were sent skittering across the floor, Arturia was not idle, a pulse of Mana cancelling out the Barrier of the Wind King to unveil the glowing Invictus of Excalibur. With little more than a deft flick of her wrist, Arturia unleashed a torrent of golden power from the sword that tore through the Olog's centerline, bisecting it from stem to stern.

All of this occurred within the space of a single second.

Grimacing, Arturia flexed her fingers several times, her green eyes zoning in on the remnants of her golden Mana even as the Olog's sectioned corpse clattered into the ground, the Mana seemed to be pulled into the obsidian pillars that lined the hall. Its wondrous glow being sucked away into the black mirrored surface as if someone had pulled the plug on a bath. 'So these pillars work with the music to suck away the vitality and mana of attackers?' she hypothesized, returning to her sprint down the halls, 'Perhaps it is good that we left Bedivere and Galahad to guard the entrance, any without sufficient mana or vitality would be sucked dry by these pillars and exhausted by the music.' Arturia turned the corner, a pragmatic part of her mind marveling at the ingenuity of the defensive ward, sadly she was far too angry right now to give voice to it.

Thus, she dug deep into her Dragon Core to try and compensate for what was being taken and pressed on, "I need to find Naruto first and foremost before we proceed." Naruto was their guide through the moonlit machinations that this foul place operated under; without him, they were at a distinct disadvantage combatting any magical opposition they were facing. Though in actuality, the thought of being pulled away from the man she loved when she had yet to make things right between them was shining through more so.

She soon arrived at a great circular hall that reached far above at least five stories. In the center of the hall, a set of stairs led up to a square platform with a claw holding a dark, almost translucent orb that shifted between pitch black and dark, flaming red. At the other end was another flight of stairs leading further up into the castle; however, its doors were sealed to prevent further passage. Though that did little to stop her from attempting to blow the doors down with her sword, "You will not stop me, sister." As Arturia made her way over to the door, she soon heard a soft yet dark voice in the room that echoed, almost like a whisper that was no longer there, sending a brief chill down her spine.

"I see you."

This voice did not belong to Morgan. She did not recognize it at all.

Turning around completely to face the center of the room, Arturia turned her attention to the only thing that could have emanated that voice: the orb. Taking it slowly, the king made her way up the stairs to the sphere as she focused her gaze upon it. It seemed as if it were enchanted by something, but by what she could not say. Naruto or Merlin one would likely know the truth of the matter, yet neither were here. Peering into the orb, Arturia slowly reached out to it to see what it was precisely, however before she touched and was just a hair's breadth away from grasping it, a loud piercing shriek assaulted her ears, and she turned to try and discover the source.

From all corners of the room, shadows began to shift and lengthen, drawing towards a singular point midway between Arturia and the sealed door. With time they appeared to gain mass and undulated as fabric blustered by some unseen wind, a blob of the vapors ooze rising from it before slowly taking the shape of something approaching a man. Like many of the other wraiths that the other knights had encountered that evening, it was clothed in a loose-fitting black hooded robe that covered all save for greaves, pauldrons and vambraces, yet this one differed. A head taller than his compatriots, upon his head was a crowned Corinthian helmet made of tarnished silver that somehow held a dull green hue in the half-light of the room. Most perturbing of all was that opposed to a face in the hem's opening was a yawning chasm of blackness that appeared to bend light around its black maw. In his right hand was a large, spiked mace that radiated power. The spectre offered the King of Knights no words or bravado, opting instead to simply meet her steely gaze with its own staring void.

Arturia brought Excalibur up at the ready for whatever this new foe had in store, though she soon found herself with support, "My king!" It was Gareth's voice. Not daring to take her eyes off her opponent, Arturia used her peripherals to see that it was Gareth and Gaheris that came up beside her with their weapons ready to fight alongside her, "A new enemy?"

Nodding at Gareth's question, Arturia tightened her grip on Excalibur. "Yes. He has not stated his name nor his intent, but we can assume he is an enemy."

At Arturia's words, two more shadowed whisps formed themselves in identical armour save for alternating pauldrons, bearing sigils that drew sharp inhalations from the Orkney siblings recognizing to whom they swore loyalty to: Vortigern. A dragon gazing down with a breath of fire burning the land. The wraith with the kingly helm finally spoke up, directing his voice at Arturia, "Join us, sister." Gesturing to the other apparitions beside him. His hollow, metallic voice rang with familiarity to the King and Knights.

Arturia's eyes widened in shock before anger took its place as she channeled more Mana into Excalibur, "How dare you make such an offer to me!" To ask her to join them was an insult of the highest order, suggesting she would do better to serve her disgusting sister. She knew who this man was now, but the anger burned clean through the surprise.

However, it was the sibling's response that outshone their aunt's, disbelief coiling with despair, "F-Father…." Gareth's hold on her lance loosened as she shivered in fear of what fate clearly befell their father. They knew their father, King Urien, was a man that had become one of Morgan's various lovers and the father of all three of them, but they were soon cast out of his hold and given to Sir Ector, who took them in graciously without protest. Not long after this, they tried to contact their father, only to be met with no response. Many had believed him dead after the Fae's lurid muse had shifted to another unlucky sap, yet now the truth of their father's fate stood before them.

The other two wraiths that were mirror twins of sorts, brought out their weapons, strange flails of sorts and pointed their free hands at the siblings, "Your brother is taken by the undead corpse with the axe."

Their voices, while not recognizable, swapped between one another as they continued speaking, "But the two of you will do just as fine."

"Your deaths will suffice as payment for our father's death."

"Pure souls do shine so brightly when burned."

Father…? Gawain had been involved in… Wait. Their sigils were that of Vortigern's rule in the north, "Catigern, and Vortimer." Gaheris breathed out.

The sons of Vortigern. Both men were not present during the besieging of their father's fortress, most likely further north on one of the isles of Scotland. No doubt they became enraged upon hearing the news of their father's death and sought revenge, but no one would give them aid of any sort, having sworn their allegiance to Arturia instead who was far more kind and fair to them and the people, freeing them of Vortigern's tyranny.

Now it was apparent that Morgan had approached them with the offer of power to succeed in their endeavor.

For Arturia, she was greatly insulted by Urien's words to join them. As if she should do so for whatever reason, most likely calling her a bastard. "I am not of darkness, and I am not your sister!" She proclaimed, pointing her golden blade at the wraiths in a declaration of battle. Without even glancing at her niece and nephew, Arturia spoke to them as she kept her eyes on their enemies, "Gareth, Gaheris, I know who our enemies are, but they are no longer men. You have no need to hesitate or hold back against them." Arturia spoke with vigor and command, the wind began to gradually pick up around her, "Give them no quarter, for they shall show you none!"

Letting the King's words fill them with motivation for what was to come, the siblings steeled themselves as they readied their weapons to begin battle, their own opponents, the sons of Vortigern began to twirl their flails, both armed with deadly blades that were curved strangely, while their father raised his mace to swing down on Arturia, "The weapon you stole, belongs to us." Urien said as he brought up his free hand and suddenly made a pulling gesture at Arturia where a green mist brought her closer to the wraith, "Zídushgoi is ours." Arturia used the momentum to bring Excalibur up to block the incoming mace as she felt the weapons clash and repel one another as they soon settled into a stance before Urien swung his mace once more at Arturia, who promptly dodged the attack, "Soon, you and your retinue will be ours." Arturia knew what Urien was implying by his emphasis on that singular word.

"I would rather die!" Arturia shouted with fury, a far cry from her usually composed manner of speech, "I would rather die than see any of my men bend the knee to the likes of her!" Digging into the power of the Red Dragon within her, Arturia delivered an overhead slash to Urien's helm, only for him to divert it off to his shoulder with his mace, a great shower of sparks rising from the tarnished silver armour but otherwise deflecting it with little effort.

"Forget the past. Forget their faces." The wraith taunted Arturia as the battle began in earnest, the struggle of siblings between the Orkney Siblings and the Sons of Vortigern providing ample company.

---

-The Lower Depths-

"Sing, Marmydose!" A broad wave of brilliant golden light sliced through the air with a din of battle, meeting the flaming sword of the primordial deity in a thunderclap. Kurama bounded forwards with speed unbefitting of his size and was a streak of light that smashed into Gogmagog in a storm of power. Skidding backwards, the flaming giant let out a pained inhuman scream before smashing both of its fists down into the energy construct of the giant fox, meeting a pair of clawed golden hands that emerged from the mass as the fox took shape once more. As the two giants clashed against one another, it became a struggle for one to overpower the other. One empowered by the power vested in nature and the Fae, while the other held the darkness of Britain as its old god of the ancient days. All the while, the unbelievable heat that the beast was giving off from in front of him and the slew of magma below pushed aggressively against Naruto housed safely in Kurama's form.

Neither was gaining sufficient ground until Gogmagog stretched its fiery maw to try and breathe black fire into Kurama's face, "Shit!" Naruto said, urging Kurama backwards, the fox's hands locking around a nearby pillar to swing free, only for Gogmagog's grip to lock around one of his nine tails. Seeing that he needed to break the hold, Kurama used his other tails as they curved around with the tails slamming into his opponent, who was forced to drop his prior weapons due to the sudden and unexpected attack, only now did he choose to use something else to continue his assault.

"Ghâsh, ghâshizik, ghâshizik!"(1) Gogmagog had conjured up a flaming war axe in an attempt to behind Kurama, only to instead lop off some of his tails, cleaving nearly half of their length off. The Tailed Beast had to quickly shake the residual black flames off his incorporeal body or risk them spreading further up to burn through the protective shroud of chakra. Naruto clapped his hands together in a praying motion, and eight large Rasenshuriken spun into existence at the end of each tail before flicking them at the titanic flame. Gogmagog saw the incoming projectiles and attempted to defend against the assault by guarding with its smoldering wings. Eight globes of screaming energy slammed home and began to expand into a quasar of trillions upon countless trillions of microscopic blades that positively mangled Gogmagog's wings.

The air around Naruto thumped and sparked from the rapped, sudden and consecutive changes in heat and air pressure sounding more akin to a demonic drum beat to a meteorological phenomenon. "I am the light of dawn that illuminates all that man shall achieve! I am the warmth, I am the wind, I am the glow that burns away the darkness!" Naruto began, Kurama's lost energy tail regrowing in a matter of seconds, light was drawn out of the ivory hull of Mamyadose in Naruto's hand and drawn downwards into Kurama's hands which began to be shrouded in that same light. Gogmagog, now free of the assault of the Rasenshuriken barrage and looking considerably worse for wear, attempted to fly at the tailed beast only to fall into the magma pit, tattered wings no longer able to carry it. Kurama's hands joined before drawing away with a pillar of lights between them. A javelin of the purest light was levelled at the prone deity, "Make clear the way for a nation! Κεραουνός!" Kurama launched the spear of divine light at Gogmagog, who was not fast enough to dodge and took the hit head-on. A quarter of the cavern was subsumed into an auric dome of light that atomized anything within its circumference.

Naruto dug Kurama's tails into one of the few vestiges of non-molten ground to weather the onslaught of displayed air that buffeted the fox's long ears, a storm equivalent to an F5 tornado smashing against him for a solid minute before the light abated. Yet no satisfaction could be found in Naruto's cross slitted red eyes because he could sense that light yet clung to the ancient deity. The remnants of a flaming axe were soon tossed through the cloud of smoke and dust, followed by a battered, spurting but still very much ready and angry Gogmagog.

"How the hell did Brutus put this bastard down?!" Naruto exclaimed as he began to try to find a way to finish this battle. Once again, the two clashed, resulting in a shockwave that shook the cavern, debris starting to rain down upon them. Luckily there was a larger area for them to battle, prompting the duo to lead the fiery giant away to a better position. Having to dodge that whip of his was proving a deadly game as he had a feeling Gogmagog was likely trying to corner them in some form or another before charging in. Only now, it seemed the strategy was discarded upon seeing that a contest of strength was likely going to end in a stalemate.

"Should you really be asking yourself that right now?" Kurama said as he dodged another crack of the whip that blistered the ground as it became scorched from the heat, "However he did it before, we need to worry about the here and now!" Suffice to say, the fox was beginning to feel the heat getting to him. Energy body or no, too much punishment, and he would dissipate back into Naruto's body.

They were prepared to battle some monstrosity creations of Morgan, or creatures of the darkness, not a god, which last time that happened was back in their world against Kaguya. The difference being Kaguya wasn't fully unleashing her power and lacked proper combat experience with Black Zetsu directing her around to make things easier. Gogmagog was no doubt already battle-hardened and able to use his power in more brutal ways. Conjuring up flaming weapons that could pack the power to crack open a mountain with a single blow if the whip was of any indication. The war axe was another thing to showcase that its power was not something to joke around with. On top of his arms that delivered blows that could endure the slew of Naruto's attacks, Gogmagog was more akin to a force of nature than a creature.

Naruto had to agree with his partner. They needed to figure out how to deal with the giant now and stop trying to recall how he was defeated prior by Brutus. The only solution they could do was throw it back into the magma and seal this place up by destroying the lower caverns leading down here.

"Focus!" Kurama yelled as he dodged another swing of a freshly conjured axe meant to chop him in half from the waist.

Forming the cross-hand sign, several dozen shadow clones popped into life and began to fly around the old deity like a swarm of glowing golden hornets, launching scores of mysteries and Jutsu at Gogmagog, harassing him and keeping him off-kilter. One clone shot heavenward and launched a slash of golden light from Marmyadose into the ceiling, displacing a football pitch sized lump of granite that broke down into dozens of giant boulders. "O Wind! Guide the Rain," he intoned with a wave of the staff, the boulders ceasing to adhere to wind resistance and the difference in energy being added to their downward kinetic energy, smashing down upon Gogmagog. Knocked off balance by the sudden heavenly rain, the fiery god could do little to defend from the two pairs of clones that speed blitzed its ankles, green crystalline spears arranging themselves at their sides to cut at the heels of Gogmagog and send it tumbling onto its back. The rest joined together in an aria and formed a colossal tidal wave of water that was dumped on their opponent in the hopes of quenching his imperishable fire.

The blonde's eyes scanned across the field of fire to visually confirm what his sage's senses whispered into his waking mind; the torrent of water had instantly turned to stream upon drenching the molten ground and its progenitor, obscuring it from view. Clicking his teeth in annoyance at feeling the ancient god rear up once again, Kurama bounded into the steam with a small Tailed Beast Bomb between his jaws. Gogmagog hoved into view, his fires dimmed but still very much alive, and with a burst of speed and movement that its bestial appearance belayed, it kneeled low and swept at Kurama with a blistering strike from the axe. Senses linked, Kurama was given just enough forewarning to thrust his tails into the ground and pole vault over the axe swing, Rasengan swirling into life in the Tailed Beast's hand before being driven into Gogmagog's chest. The attack drilled into their foe viciously, sending him skidding backwards across the slagged floor and leaving a nasty looking crater in its chest.

"Gaur!"(2) Kurama quickly grabbed the axe and began to play a game of tug of war with Gogmagog for the weapon, only for the giant to conjure up the claymore and deliver a vertical blow to wrench the axe free only for Kurama to sidestep it before it could strike his body. Seeing that he would need both hands to hold the weapons, Kurama quickly grabbed the claymore with his regenerated tails in an attempt to keep Gogmagog under some measure of control, "Think of something, now while we have a chance!"

Kurama dared not let go or risk the giant making another swing at him with the weapons, even though the flames were beginning to get to him.

"Shad nag!"(3) the giant bellowed as it stared the duo down with the fire in its eyes to see them dead at his feet.

Naruto had quickly glanced around them to see that the pillars were still active, "Wait, the pillars… we have to destroy the pillars!" The mana of the domain was being sent down to empower Gogmagog the whole time; if they could destroy them, then they would have a much easier time.

Taking in a deep breath, Naruto dug into the Six Paths power to empower himself all the while he felt a great sense of malice and evil begin to rapidly close in on him, only for Vivian's blessings and gifts to repel the corruption as the Fae's symbol appeared upon Naruto's forehead with a bright shine, "Ok, this plan is probably crazy, but it's the only shot we'll get!" Naruto formed five Shadow Clones, one for each remaining pillar that was empowering the giant, and the other in an attempt to try and distract Gogmagog as it quickly maneuvered over to the magma pit to make itself bait, "Here goes nothing…." Recalling the same attack, he used against Vortigern years ago to weaken him, Naruto began the chant to build up the mana and power to form the Archmagus Rasenshuriken to throw at Gogmagog. Seeing that its back was somewhat exposed, Naruto could see where the wings of the giant could manifest and thought of it as a nice spot to strike, "…take this you bastard and fall!"

'Archmagus Rasenshuriken.'

The bladed orb was thrown with the added bonus of Six Paths and Fae power to enhance it right at the back of Gogamagog; the attack exploded with an incredible ferocity that forced the giant to bellow in pain as his grip on the weapons released to turn and face the Shadow Clone, "Shâ'vadyash mozob!"(4). the latest in a long line of his premier attack landed squarely in between Gogmagog's shoulder blades, stripping off what was left of the creature's wings. It seemed that despite the added bonuses, Gogmagog's Mystery was far greater than the Albion's and just enough to blunt the technique before it could leave a mortal injury, yet the signs of attrition had left their marks on the fiery giant. There was not a single limb that did not feature a grievous wound spewing molten ichor, part of its skull had been blown clean off and revealed its skull was full of naught but frightful purplish fire.

With Gogmagog's attention directed back at the Shadow Clone and opening him up to a back grapple to keep him from moving too much, the other four used their own Marmyadose as they drove the blade into the pillars to try and overload them with his own power.

As they began to do their work, the cavern became lit with golden light that started to spark as red and gold mana clashed with one another, in a battle of wills taking place to prove who was dominant over the other. The blackened pillars soon cracked with gold overtaking red as their mana became unstable with the giant no longer receiving power from them; soon, the pillar's very foundation shook before the crumbled away, followed by a blinding light exploded outwards that shocked Gogmagog as he managed to wretch free from Kurama's grip and gripped the hole in his head as he wailed in pain. Slowly as the 'fuel' for the deity's fire was taken from the god, the purple and red hugh pulled away from the fire within Gogmagog's cavernous skull.

Stepping away from the now stunned and weakened Gogmagog, Naruto formed a new Shadow Clone, this time of the Tailed Beast Mode avatar, "Now! Tackle him into the pit while he's distracted!" The Shadow Clone Beast charged right at Gogmagog and wrapped his arms around the giant, keeping its momentum going to throw them over to the edge of the original pit to the sea of Imaginary numbers. The clone used its tails to hold down the rampaging god's flailing limbs while it used its hands to slowly pry open its black fanged mouth. Kurama's muzzle opened, and Gogmagog's eye widened when motes of red and blue chakra began to coalesce into a dense dark purple orb that grew in size to a ludicrous degree. Trying anything it could to avert its imminent demise, the Gogmagog released a roar of fire that broke against the massive Tailed Beast Bomb like a tidal wave against the coast. It was, however, all for naught. The origin of the Rasengan was a mystery quite old enough to weather anything the god had left and began to glow with white and crimson energy as it reached maturity. "DISAPPEAR!" Kurama raged, the bomb exploding into a beam of immutable destruction that swallowed the head of the old deity and deep into the Sea of Imaginary Numbers below.

As the Bomb had swelled within the clone's mouth, Naruto quickly compelled Kurama's avatar to fire its own Tailed Beast Bomb's off at several points where the rock formations intent on crushing whatever was left of Gogmagog's body under a mountain. As the bombs struck their target, the rock formations began to fall down into the raging duo as the Kurama double, its job done, popped before Gogmagog's now visibly headless body was assaulted by a massive set of debris falling down atop him. Naruto let go of the mental tethers and felt Kurama's battle avatar dissipate back into chakra, leaving him floating in the air still clad in his cloak, he grimaced when a long-lost feeling of fatigue washed over him, "What the—!" Shaking his head as he began to feel the onset of fatigue incoming, Naruto turned back to the depths as the place started to seal Gogmagog's corpse back into the Earth where it belonged, however atop the impromptu funeral pyre floated a singular sooty spectre with horns atop its head no taller than a man. Naruto met its gaze for a time, it glared up balefully at him with flaming eyes, but it was impotent in its actions, a lingering ghost as its corpse fell back into the sea, yet Gogmagog's residual thoughts had one final set of words as it glared its flame-filled eyes at Naruto dangerously before it faded away…

"GHÂSH-ISHI UMBRUK ONGIZASH!"(5)

Narrowing his eyes down on the pit, Naruto couldn't help but wonder not if, but when he would be forced to fight something as strong if not stronger than the giant once again.

"Hey! Enough of those thoughts." Kurama chided his partner, "Besides, we need to find a way out of this place and fast. The others will need us up top, and we need to find your lover anyways; no doubt Morgan has some plan for her." Seeing how they just defeated a powerful being, which the fox honestly felt pretty damned good after being unable to battle for so long, they still had to deal with Morgan herself and whatever else lay in their path to the end of this mission.

"Right, time to get out of here." Despite his partner's words, Gogmagog's lingering eulogy, Naruto couldn't help but worry about the others. Having been a domain of darkness, and holding such a beast beneath it with the ruins of old that emanated evil, and on top of that were Vivan's words to him about the evil that once walked in these lands before the White Titan attacked… "If that was the Beast that Vivian spoke of, then it shouldn't have fallen so easily."

Either way, Naruto picked himself up and quickly began to search for a way out of this place, now beginning to think that Zídushgoi's Fae music was starting to do something else to those that were hearing it, something that he hadn't thought of prior. But as of this moment, reuniting with Arturia was something he needed to focus on regardless of what got in his way, "I need to find her now more than ever."

Thinking it over with the thought of escaping, Naruto initially was going to follow the caverns the opposite from whence he began, yet his desire to get the job done quickly instead took over and gave him the simple idea, "Quickest way to the finish line, is a straight line." Calling upon a rarely used aspect of his Six Paths Mode, Naruto conjured up the Truth Seeker Orb and shaped it into a pointed cone directed up above him, and he flew with all his might with haste through the cavern ceiling.

While impractical in making noise, it would yield him the desired result in escaping as soon as possible.

---

-Gawain-

A loud clang chimed across the courtyard as Gawain clashed once more against the Green Knight's axe with his own Galatine, "You seem to be lacking in power. A shame you did not invade us when the sun was high." The undead knight taunted Gawain, who struggled to overpower his opponent. He received no answer, Gawain instead taking a hand from Galatine to wrap his fingers around the Green Knight's hair and, with a brutal quickness, brought their foreheads together. Acrid blood spewed from the Green Knight's cranium as a shockwave expanded outwards from the point of collision, the courtyard shook from its force, and the man who had once been Bertilak took a single step backwards. Gawain capitalised with a yell, engulfing Galatine in flame before leaping into the air and bringing the Holy Sword down on the undead knight; an explosion of flame erupted from the wound burning the Green Knight, who gnashed his teeth at the pain. A horizontal cut quickly followed, but the axe of his enemy was engulfed in verdant green magic, rising to clash against the blonde's sword. Golden flame and dark green mana warred against one another until they were repealed from one another with a rush of wind.

Gawain narrowed his eyes, the two had been locked in combat for quite some time, and the Knight of the Sun found himself on the losing side, even now vines and roots, thorned and dripping, burst free from Green Knight's body to knit scolded flesh together. Gawain, meanwhile, was not so lucky. His silver plates bore numerous scrapes, cracks and dents from his opponent's prodigious strength and vicious pace, his right teal eye was swollen, and he could feel at least two loose teeth-rattling at the back of his mouth. While their strength was on an even footing and Galatine's fire seemed naturally opposed to the other Knight's botanical ability, Gawain lacked his foe's regeneration, and the battle of attrition was showing its marks. However, he had been waiting for the opportune moment to ensure he could pull off the unleashing of Galatine to burn him away. The only problem was that due to the disadvantage of his blessing not being active at this time, coupled with how the Unseelie music was seemingly affecting him in some way, he was having trouble.

He had to push, dig deep into everything he had so that the beast would not have a chance to regenerate. The Green Knight could do little when Gawain sprinted at full tilt towards the equally robust enemy and delivered a chariot tackle to his waist, arms locking around his midsection to lift him off his feet and then kept running. The blonde crashed his enemy through the courtyard wall and kept running, smashing his impromptu passenger through every single hard surface he came across wall after wall, room after room, all crumbled in the face of the rampaging bull that was the Knight of the Sun. After the first dozen impacts, the Green Knight, now with vile ichor dribbling from his mangled lips into his decrepit beard, regained enough sense to attack his opponent. Attempting to raise his axe only to find Gawain's strong left arm pinning his in place, the Green Knight instead began to viciously punch and elbow Gawain in the face and neck, grunting in pain every time his duelling partner smashed him through another thick black marble wall, half a dozen jagged shafts of the stone now jutting from his back.

Blowing through one last particularly thick wall, Gawain found that they had emerged out into another courtyard like the one they had initially started in. Stamping the floor to arrest his momentum, he pivoted on his heel to convert his rampage's wake into inertia and hip tossed the Green Knight into the nearest pillar, thirty feet away on the other side of the courtyard. Gawain let out a grunt of pain when he felt the bite of the Green Knight's axe, thrown at him while the foe was spinning towards the pillar, breached the left side of his cuirass. Gritting his teeth and doing his best to ignore the pain, the teal eyed Knight of the Sun let the flame burn anew along his blade, "Galatine!" Gawain shouted with all his might, unleashing a wide wave of holy light shrouded in fire that struck the Green Knight and turned the entire far wall of the courtyard into a conflagration.

He watched the fire like a hawk for a few moments to see if his quarry was yet to burst outwards, he hardly thought the fight would be over so quickly with such a banal ending, and thus he waited. "Damn... undead… wretch…" he said between pants, exhaustion was something he was not overly familiar with, but willpower like the morning star kept him from complaining about it. Keeping his eyes squarely on the fire, he ventured his off hand downward and gripped at the axe jutting from his armour. He ripped it free with a wince and tossed it towards the fire, rivulets of blood cascading from the slashed metal. He distantly hoped that the blade was not cursed, but the hit would definitely leave a scar he would carry for all his days; the majority of his thought, however, dwelled on a particular Apostle.

All this time, his thought had been on how Naruto was unable to properly obtain information about their enemy here. All under the pretence of 'Vivian didn't know any more than what I thought of'. It sounded to him like the type of excuse that one would use to justify their lack of action, or perhaps they had other motives…

Wait, why was he thinking of such a thing at this time and place? He stopped, bloodshot eyes narrowing in suspicion, these thoughts were not his own. They may have had root in long-forgotten prejudice, but they were being exacerbated and blown to proportions that did make sense to feel for one who had fought by his side for near ten years.

"Those Fae… have awful taste in music, don't you agree?" Gawain's eyes instantly refocused on the flames, a dark figure shambling out of them like an unquiet spectre, his eyes widened when a hand emerged from the blaze and locked around the handle of the discarded axe. There was no flesh or bone to behold being licked by just flames, just a mass of writing, undulating and vivid green plant matter shaped into the approximation of an appendage. Gnarled wooden fingers locked around the shaft, and the enemy hefted it onto his shoulder as he stepped from the fire to reveal himself. "All it does is make you feel bad, makes you think of old memories in a bad light, fatigues you and makes you angry, like a drink that makes you thirstier," said the Green Knight, no longer in the shape of a man. From head to toe, his entire body was bereft of any vestiges of clothing, revealing that he was nothing more than writing plantlife in a humanoid structure with the exception of the belt locked around his, its, Green Knight's head was now a rough trapezoid with moss running down its back, while the only things recognisable as facial features were the two lopsided thistle leaves that glowed in cavernous eye sockets.

Gawain was aghast at his mother's creation and watched as its feet began to set down roots into the marble floor with each step forwards. Could this beast even recall its own name, or look in the mirror or recognise any aspect of itself from what it once was? 'What a horrid fate, to be so twisted in body and soul for misguided self-gratification.' Gawain thought, leaving himself to stand with a renewed understanding of his reason to fight.

Yes, it was true that in the beginning, he did not trust Naruto as wholeheartedly as the king did, but he had proven willing to give up his own happiness for the sake of others, "With or without the sun, you will fall abomination!" Charging up Galatine, Gawain unleashed the flames of the sword in a hazy blaze that shot directly at the Green Knight, who clad itself in a thick magical aura to protect its visage from the flames. It wasn't actually an attack meant to incinerate him, not like before in their first battle, but a distraction.

The art of deception, as Naruto referred to it as. He had imparted it to Arturia as means to improve herself in combat against powerful foes in which other members of the inner circle saw the merits of it, despite how at times it could more than likely clash with the chivalric code, yet here and now? Gawain needed to fell this creature of Morgan. "SET YOUR HEART ABLAZE!"

Rushing directly at the Green Knight, Gawain used his left fist to deliver a punch to the mass of Green Knight's torso, smashing through the magical aura with a flame covered fist that caused the botanical being to spit out a thick black sap. Seeing that his opponent was stunned by his guard break, Gawain used it as an opportunity to end this battle; keeping the pressure on as he closed in, Gawain brought Galatine up into a stabbing motion to impale his head, though the Green Knight stepped back in an attempt to avoid the thrust, while simultaneously swinging his axe horizontally to try and sever Gawain's head.

Being forced back away from his enemy, Gawain began to pant as he felt his wound radiate a sickly pain that encroached deeper into his chest, "I will admit, that almost had me, almost…." The Green Knight taunted Gawain as the dent in his biomass began to reshape back towards its initial condition; a thorny protrusion emerged from its 'mouth', and it licked its lips of what one would assume to be blood. Gawain glanced down to his sword as he could feel the power of the sun within it begin to dwindle slightly, with its energy being drained, most likely as a defence of sorts against the music that sang through the halls. He was thankful for the Fae's gift to him, but he needed to end this monstrosity. The Green Knight charged Gawain with his axe behind himself, preparing for an overarching strike to crush the knight with a single blow.

'Oh my King, my sweet and perfect King, I will see this beast fall even if I have to shred my humanity to do it. If I am to become a beast of burden, then I will do it for you.'

As the undead brought his axe down faster than what one could see, Gawain was forced to roll off to the side as the axe smashed the floor open and tossed the knight away where he struggled to reorient himself against his opponent, who continued to taunt him, "Is this truly all you have? I'm disappointed in you; you who the prospect of battling again was my only joy. Pathetic." The Green Knight spat at Gawain's form as the Knight of the Sun narrowed his eyes in anger at how he was unable to best his enemy.

Struggling to get up, Gawain dug the tip of his sword into the ground as a crutch until he once more stood tall, breathing deeply, tightening the grip on Galatine as he knew that he needed something to give him the advantage. Using his free hand, he reached up to the catches at his shoulder and ripped them loose, letting both sides of his ruined cuirass clatter to the ground revealing his black undershirt and grievous wound. His enemy watched as the hand also locked around the grey fur collar of his tattered teal cloak and pulled it loose, tossing it behind him. Without the sun, his blessing of power was robbed of him, and yet, Galatine held the potential to do so much more, but such power required a sacrifice. Digging into the power of the sword's hilt, Gawain could feel how the heat of his own blade began to affect him. The Sun's power within travelled up through his arms as he gritted his teeth to fight off the pain. Smoke began to rise from his gauntleted hands and crack from unfathomable heat burning outwards like an unchecked kiln.

The Green Knight chortled in amused curiosity, "Oh? Is your own sword turning on you? That your weakness could no longer be tolerated?" It chuckled at the apparent misunderstanding that was not cleared up.

The power of the Sun soon travelled up into his body as the pain became almost unbearable, yet at the same time, it empowered him to where he felt as if he was once more under the light of the Sun of truth. Steam rose from the gouge in his chest as the axe wound was cauterised shut from Gawain's alarmingly rising body heat. As the pain began to subside or rather became more bearable, Gawain's posture straightened up as he readied Galatine with the Green Knight narrowing its leaf eyes, its amused aura of prior fell before donning one of seriousness.

Before it could properly mount any sort of attack, the Green Knight found itself now with a wound on his right shoulder, where Galatine was embedded in by a thrust from the newly empowered Gawain who drew back the blade before he quickly swung once more to go for the throat, a trail of renewed light following in its wake. The Green Knight saw that its position was not in the best way and needed to end things quickly before his opponent did him in. Leaping away from Gawain, the Green Knight brought the axe to his side as he dashed forward in the hopes of catching Gawain off guard in an equal display of speed and power. Soon a wide blast of black flecked green light surged forth, annihilating the ground underneath it as it progressed towards the now visibly glowing foe.

However, the Knight of the Sun knew that his opponent would likely make one last-ditch to try and kill him. Jumping over the tidal wave of corruptive power born of the axe, Gawain manoeuvred himself off to the side of the now overextended Green Knight, able to swing Galatine up above him to where he severed the Green Knight's arms off from its main body before pivoting around to bring Galatine to the undead's neck, "As I said before: you will fall."

The Green Knight gave a murderous glare before its end came, "Whatever the cost may be, my axe will end your life, Gawain!" It boldly declared as its axe pulsated with a bright red as tendrils attempted to reconnect its arms, almost signifying that another curse would be placed upon him, yet Gawain ignored such a thing, "I don't care if you're the Dark Mistress' eldest son, even if she had a use for you, I would kill you regardless!"

Igniting Galatine with fire, Gawain buried the greatsword's entire length into the wriggling mass of plant matter, skewering the glyph and rune encrusted belt. The Green Knight let out a hiss of pain before it attempted to wrap its vines and tendrils around Gawain's exposed body, thorns biting into muscle and reeds squeezing his throat. However, the Knight of the Sun did not move, remaining adamant in the face of the monster that was intent on ringing the life from him. Light and flame bloomed brighter from within the Holy Sword, growing in incandescence and heat with each passing second; Green Knight screamed in pained confusion, not understanding how Gawain's fire burned brighter. They were as far from the midday sun as was possible, yet even now, it felt as if the morning star was blazing to life within its chest. "You bastard, how are you doing this!?" The Green Knight demanded, its herbaceous existence slowly charring as Gawain's body was shrouded in ever-growing heat. His black shirt ignited and burned away to reveal his chiselled chest and muscles straining to retain their hold on the burning Green. "You- You would burn your very soul!?"

Under his feet, a giant golden magical circle expanded beneath Gawain, expanding under the large courtyard they stood in, in its centre rotated the spokes of a sun appointed with six rays. "I am Gawain, Knight of the Sun!" Gawain said, eyes glowing teal quasars, "Proud Knight of the Round Table, Retainer to the King of Knights! Prouder son of my foster father, Ector! Proudest brother to my siblings Gareth and Gaheris!" The spokes rotated faster, and a dome of fire emerged from both Galatine, a star born in the heart of the planet searing the dark magics that bound the creature together. An onerous flaming glow shrouded Gawain that flowed into the burgeoning star, setting his very soul ablaze to fuel the flame, the ground beneath his feet melting to glowing slag as the light and star grew to blinding proportions. "I felled the Giant, Escanor! Faced down the tyrant Vortigern! If it be for those who know fear, then I will burn my soul as glorious cinder to see them warm and safe!"

Solar winds whipped around the pair ripping into the Green Knight and burning away its tendrils faster than they could grow anew, the flaming orb of dawn with them as its core rose slightly, dragging the both of them up to hover into the air. "Hear me, Green Knight! For the sake of my perfect knightship, then let me become tarnished, let me rage! I shall transform it into a glorious glow for those who seek peace, those who find comfort in the shadows, and those who would live in the light!" Gawain cried out with the voice echoing amidst the cosmic fire of a newly born celestial body. "Let this long night be over, Excalibur Galatine!"

The spokes beneath them ceased moving, the sun enveloping them thickened and expanded until it filled the entire courtyard, it hung there for but an instant, radiant as its sister sword before, with a seemingly unending and ear-splitting boom, it exploded. Around the castle, all present paused in their fights, turning to see the entire top ten floors of the castle's western wing simply cease to exist, consumed by a fireball that blinded all those fell creatures who covered their eyes in pain. The conflagration did not live for long before it collapsed in on itself, turning into a pillar of fire that raced towards the starlit sky. For decades onwards, mothers would tell their children that the night was briefly replaced by the day and how even those lost amid sleep felt safer. The flame pillar persisted for half a minute before fading into the night sky, and both sides, fell and righteous alike, looked to the plume of smoke pouring from the slagged rooftop. They waited with bated breath, a feeling of tension falling over them as a shadow became visible through the fog of war.

It shambled forwards towards the edge of the roof, the residual fires and melted stone playing across their form like some ugly beast, an arm was raised by the shadow, and all gasped at the sight of an axe hefted into the air.

Only for it to be tossed off the edge of the building into the grounds below. Those of Morgan's retinue quickly recognised the axe of the Green Knight, a being the majority of them feared, so it was cries of confusion and fear that left their throats when from the through of soot stepped not a demonic Bandrui but rather a man. Battered, burned, bleeding but very much alive, Gawain looked out upon the troops, their eyes locked on his near demi-god figure, slowly he raised Galatine, the gauntleted hand holding it scorched and blackened, above his head with the remnants of the now-deceased Green Knight's belt hanging from it. "Advance!" Gawain said, a round of cheers and battle cries joining his in choir as the Unseelie's music set back in, yet now the forces of Camelot fought their opponents, shaken by the loss of a critical general, with renewed vigor.

Closing his eyes at the sight, Gawain turned away from the throng of battle and dragged his heavy legs back across the newly created roof back towards the central keep; this was not over. He needed to carry onto his sibling's location and aid them. As he took a single step forward, he stopped abruptly as Gawain felt the fatigue of his body began to slowly catch up to his prior condition, only this time an added side effect by pulling the fire of Galatine within him; he began to cough hoarsely before a trickle of blood came from the edge of his mouth. Gawain tried to fight off the pain before he was forced to take a knee to rest, "It was worth burning a part of myself away for victory." He breathed heavily before he began to slowly get back up to find his siblings and the King, "Regardless of what may come, even if I must sacrifice my very soul…." Gawain gazed down at his sword as he continued on, "…I will purge the evil of this land, regardless of what the cost may be."

---

-The Battlements & East Courtyard-

Even as the West side of the castle was reduced to a glassed heath, for Tristan and Lancelot, their own battles were fraught with perils; for Tristan, he was forced to deal with swordplay against Golumar while avoiding the Lot's wraith ravens that would dive to strike at his head whilst avoiding their attacks on the rooftop that encircled the structure they were currently in. At the same time, Lancelot was locked in a deadly battle against Claudus and Ogier, who had taken the form of a fell drake that had set over half of the courtyard on fire.

Tristan was now slowly losing ground against Golumar's sword as he was forced to one knee while forestalling the thicker blade from cleaving him in two.

Sensing that the knight was up to something, the raven swarm sped up to strike against him, that is until the area was soon filled with smoke and Golumar slammed his sword down, only to hit nothing but the stone floor of the battlement.

Having hidden himself away for a brief moment with the aid of the dust and smoke kicked up from Gawain's firestorm, Tristan was attempting to catch his breath while having to keep an eye on his surroundings. Despite the night sky and the Unseelie music filling the air with sound to help mask him from the view of regular enemies, it seemed that neither factored into the wraiths from finding him. Peering up to the bells where the music was originating from, a thought had occurred to him.

When Merlin had enchanted his bow, Failnaught, the bow became capable of using sound as a weapon for him to use in unorthodox ways and with how his enemies were numerous, then this was something he could use to end the fight. Needing to get back his bow, Tristan peered around the corner of the roof to see that nothing was coming in his direction, serving to only make him worry that they would come from "…behind." As the words left his mouth, he pivoted to swing his sword upwards to strike at a wraith-raven that barreled down to his head. Hitting the raven, Tristan made a mad dash for the other side to retrieve his bow only to face the incoming sword of Golumar, who brought it down upon Tristan's skull, surprised when the knight blocked the blow with his sword even as his legs buckled down from the power behind it.

Since he was overpowered by his enemy, Tristan allowed the incoming second strike to hit his sword, this time he manoeuvred his sword off to the side to where Golumar's blade was impaled into the ground deeply, forcing the wraith to destroy part of the roof to release the hold it had on his sword.

"Perhaps you shouldn't swing with so much hate in your blade like a beast." Tristan taunted Golumar slightly as the wraith hissed at him as he continued to dash for Failnaught. Glancing off to the side, Tristan could see that Lancelot was engaged in a long battle against the Fell Drake and Claudus; if he still persisted, then he would provide aid from above to hasten the end.

Leaping from the rooftop, Tristan found himself back where he once was on the battlements, however, this time with his bow in hand and nocked his guardless sword as an arrow to set up his play. Pulling back the bowstrings with his makeshift arrow, Tristan channelled mana into the strings to the point where they glowed and let loose the sword with amplified magical energy towards the bell as it rang high striking true, unsettling the music and bringing the clattorus cacophony to an end. The bell still swung and chimed but with the silver length of his sword sticking from it, bereft of any of the menace and draining effect from before.

With his plan set up, Tristan stood his ground as the wraiths came for him, with Golumar once more poised to strike him, whereas Lot had reformed himself into his more humanoid form. Both rushing at Tristan with the intent to take his head off, Tristan plucked his strings to key up the strikes to his opponents, "You will die a pitiful death, Knight of Lamentation." Lot proclaimed as he and Golumar inched closer to Tristan.

"Perhaps…" Tristan said as he opened his eyes in full before he spoke once more, "…but it will not be here, nor by your hand." Plucking the strings of Failnaught, a stream of mana lanced upwards to connect with his sword embedded in the bell, the music that had been distorted by Tristan's sword became his choir, and waves formed bright blue beams that created a score of vacuum paths that struck the wraiths from every angle, shredding them; their forms had been forced back into their misty shape and retreated high into the sky before disappearing from sight.

Meanwhile, Lancelot was now tangling with the fell drake that was Ogier while Claudus merely kept on the drake's backside to rush him off guard should the chance arise, but Lancelot was keen to see the strategy, yet he considered the drake to be the more grave target and keeping it between himself and Claudus. Keeping Arondight handy to switch at a moment's notice to attack or defend, Lancelot could see that the drake was getting ready to lunge at him; Lancelot took a step back right as the drake lunged its jaws to snap him in half, only for him to quickly sidestep the attack and bring Arondight down to severe the head, only for his sword to get caught in the oily black scales.

The drake let out a pained snarl and moved its head out of the way of a follow-up coup-de-grace before reeling back to unleash the shadowfire on him once more, that is until a slew of magical arrows pelted the side of its head from above at the battlements. Turning to face its attacker, the drake saw Tristan with Failnaught in hand, having defeated his fellow wraiths and now coming to support Lancelot. Hissing at the redheaded knight, Ogier turned his attention onto Tristan, who plucked the strings on his bow that rained down arrows that lodged themselves into the drake's hide.

As for Lancelot, he was caught up in his battle against Claudus where the war hammer struck the ground, sending debris of stone into the air, prompting the Knight of the Lake to take several steps back to give himself some breathing room between himself and his opponent, "Divided or together, you will die here!" Claudus proclaimed as he came in swiftly to deliver another blow, "Your fate is to die or join us, Knight of the Lake!" However, Lancelot decided to meet the wraith head on this time instead.

"You do not control the fates of either my comrades or I, wraith!" Lancelot shouted, bringing Arondight up to strike at the warhammer; as the Fae sword and cursed weapon clashed, they made a resounding clang, and blue light and blackened, pale green fought one another for dominance until Lancelot decided to do something he usually would not do in combat. He delivered a heavy knee to the groin of Claudus, staggering him from the unexpected attack, yet Lancelot did not stop there; with the advantage now pressed, Lancelot continued with his unorthodox attacks where he brought down Arondoight's pommel to bludgeon Claudus' cowed head that staggered him once more.

As Claudus attempted to regain his footing to retaliate, he found the blade of Arondight alit with blue light swinging at him in a horizontal strike and brought his war hammer up to guard against the strike; the power of the Fae sword sent him flying off into the roof of the courtyard.

With Tristan having gained the attention of Ogier, he began to move quickly to stay out of the biting range of the drake, though that did little to stop it from lunging at him every chance it got. Eventually, Tristan ran out of room up top before the drake made its way up the walls to the battlements and began to give chase. Jumping down into the courtyard, Tristan continued to evade the drake snapping at him all the while he made the occasional magical arrow that nicked its hide.

As luck would have it, Lancelot's latest attack on his opponent sent him staggering into his way, giving Tristan an obstacle to vault over and kick over to his pursuer, who was building up to unleash the shadowfire upon him, "The odds seem to be in our favour." Once in the air, Tristan plucked the strings of Failnaught, an arrow was shot and lodged into the feet of Claudus, who was unable to move as the blaze consumed him with a piercing shriek that forced the knights to ignore the pain that shot through their bodies from the sound.

Lancelot saw that Claudus was now free from Tristan's arrow and quickly moved to avoid the blaze that continued, in some vain attempt to douse the fire. Seeing the opportunity to end this battle and try to meet back up with Agravain, Lancelot had forgone any sense of safety as he rushed headlong into the flames that left Tristan gobsmacked at the move temporarily, yet he quickly took hold of his instincts to aid his ally.

Knowing how the drake was acute with eyesight, he readied Failnaught and plucked the strings loosing magical arrows and struck true into the eyes of his target, blinding the drake who reeled back in pain and attempted to recover from the attack, but it was too late. Lancelot's armor had been scorched from the pristine white of old into black like that of a dark knight, an unknown warrior whose rage was his drive to kill his opponent.

Swinging Arondight down onto the open maw, the drake's skull was sliced open as mist began to pour from the wound, signifying that it could not bleed in this form, just as it was a wraith before. The drake started to lash out in retaliation, yet he bit nothing as Lancelot quickly maneuvered out of the way and climbed up the left side where its wing was down and allowed him to bring about the final blow. Arondight shined brightly as Lancelot prepared to use its Overload ability to utterly destroy the drake where he drove the Fae blade down into the neckline as it shrieked in pain before its body began to destabilize and turn to mist. Soon, the drake was ceased to move, and Lancelot dropped down from the air as he continued on towards Claudus, who had taken a knee down where his form began to slowly lose the mist that made up his form, yet Tristan saw a dim, pale and green light flew into the sky where Ogier once was.

He did not think much of it, merely a sign of their brief victory over their enemy before he turned to see Claudus' face plate peer up to Lancelot whose armor was now a scorched black; lost was its bright splendor and in its place, appeared to be nought more than a black knight, "Your nature is that of a raging, bestial warrior, Knight of the Lake." Claudus mocked Lancelot as he struggled to maintain his form in front of his enemy, "May it curse you in life and in death." Those words seemed to set Lancelot off, tired of the wraith's comments and swung Arondight across the neckline to behead Claudus and end his cursed life as his body dissipated as the others.

And with that, the wraith followed his shadow brothers back to the tower as Lancelot began to calm himself. He knew that he was a better man than that, so why did he… "I am not a raging beast of a warrior…." He was the Knight of the Lake. A Knight of the Round Table; the most esteemed group of knights in Europa dedicated to preserving peace in the lands and building a better future for all. And he was loyal to his king and queen… very much faithful to the former, yet also… hopelessly in love with the latter. He had taken a silent vow to ensure that he would preserve the affair that Naruto and Arturia had, yet he now held an affair with the queen…

"Lancelot, are you alright?" Tristan's voice cut through his thoughts as he closed his eyes before opening them to look at his friend, who looked no worse for wear.

"I'm alright…" Looking around the courtyard, Lancelot spotted an opening made by Ogier after trying to blast him with shadowfire, "This was where Agravain was sent into. Let us hope we can catch up with him."

---

-The Great Hall-

With Arturia, she had been fighting tooth and nail alongside her niece and younger nephew against their father and the sons of Vortigern, their first cousins. The entire room had been rocked by a trembling boom earlier, but that did not stop the combat for long. Urien's mace was large enough to bash a man to a pulp with a single swing, yet as it clashed against Excalibur, it would not dent the Holy Sword's steel, instead becoming increasingly more potent as the battle went on, which made her wonder just what the mace was if it could survive such prolonged struggle with a Divine Construct. Arturia could feel the hate and malice the mace held as she dodged yet another strike to herself while Urien taunted her, "You will become like me. Enslaved to ideals not your own."

"And I say this to you, disgusting creature! I will never yield to my sister!" Arturia yelled as she delivered a horizontal strike to Urien, who met the blade of Excalibur with his mace with a terrific clang that shook her ears, yet she remained steadfast in her duel. Urien pushed Excalibur away from him as he swung his mace in an attempt to deliver a blow to her ribs, yet Arturia's instincts told her to put distance between herself and her opponent; already a step ahead of the wraith, Arturia leapt back into the air away from Urien as the mace crackled with dark energy meant to deal more damage to her than initially expected.

The sheer power that the mace held was something that worried her if it was able to stay in one piece after being struck by a blade as mighty as Excalibur, a testament to how much Morgan had invested into seeing her downfall. Alas, her brief thoughts were interrupted as Urien suddenly appeared before her with his mace raised high, ready to crush her with a single blow, "You fight and fight…." Urien said, bringing the mace down into the ground as Arturia rolled out of the way, only to be sent back away when the shockwave of the striking mace made contact with the floor, "…resist with all your strength…." Arturia quickly recovered before she blocked a dashing attack once more with Excalibur.

"…but why?"

"How is it your cursed mace can withstand Excalibur's blows?" Arturia hoped that Urien was foolish enough to reveal the secrets of his weapon. The apparent abilities he now had as Morgan's slave had given him many advantages over any opponent, including herself. It was thanks to the training she had received from Ector, Merlin and Naruto to ensure she would stay ahead of her opponent in some form or another, and the fighting instincts within her had grown sharp enough to give her a clear view of what would occur in crucial moments.

Yet Naruto had also imparted her the knowledge to try and goad overconfident opponents to expose whatever strength or weakness to use to her advantage. If she could glean even a bit of the mace's power, she could deduce a way to overcome it or use it against him. It was why she held back so much in order to ensure she did not reveal her full hand to her enemy, much less her sister, who no doubt was watching on.

"Accursed by the hand of the Dark Mistress to dethrone you." It seemed that fate had smiled on Arturia. The wraith voiced its overconfidence as she struggled to overcome her enemy, "The power within it grants me the strength of souls taken; souls whose purpose now serves well."

Arturia's eyes narrowed in disgust at Urien's words. They had taken the souls of the innocent to empower the mace, or did Urien give his soul up as well as the other wraiths that were the Sons of Vortigern. Who else was a victim of this corrupt magecraft? "Then this power will be your downfall." Arturia used a quick Mana Burst to throw Urien off-kilter before she drove Excalibur into a stabbing attack directly at the centre of his chest, believing that something would've been needed to hold his form.

As she drove the tip of the golden blade into Urien, it seemed that her suspicion was proven somewhat correct as Urien quickly moved his free hand to try and divert the bladed edge away from his chest, only for him to lose his hand as the severed gauntleted limb dissipated into mist as Urien dash away from Excalibur. It would seem that only divine constructs could truly deal any actual damage to the wraiths.

Not wanting to invoke the full power of Excalibur, Arturia charged the blade up with Mana as the golden light began to grow in light that would've blinded those who could not handle such splendor , and yet… the darkness grew as Urien held the mace in front of him as it seemed to almost swallow light itself. Arturia was prepared to unleash a golden slash of Mana against Urien, though it appeared he was intent on not allowing her to do so. The wraith raised his free hand as the power from the mace channelled to the limb as a quick blast of dark Mana shot towards Arturia at high speeds to deal a grievous blow.

Arturia had quickly bent backwards as the dark miasma passed in front of her face, delivering a cold sensation that washed over her before the blast impacted the wall that obliterated it, a perfectly hollowed out hole standing where it once was. At the bottom of her peripherals, she saw Urien had closed the gap between them once more with his mace raised high to smash her. Her fighting instincts rose from within as she backflipped and spun to her right side to avoid the mace that struck the floor in a blow that would've shattered her armour. As Arturia landed back with Excalibur at the ready, she couldn't help but be worried for her niece and nephew, quickly glancing off to the side to see how they fared.

The siblings were holding their own against the sons of Vortigern; despite having no Fae weaponry, Gareth's lance helped them counter the strange, sickled flails the wraiths wielded. While Gaheris had no specialized weapon, his halberd and sword were of high quality.

Gaheris held his halberd up as Catigern threw his weapon towards his face, only to be met by the pole of the halberd as the sickled chain wrapped around the shaft where it locked into a holding position, "You came seeking the Dark Mistress, but instead you have found death." Vortimer taunted him as he gripped the chain to pull Gaheris towards him. Pulling him closer and closer to the wraith, Gaheris dug his heels in to resist the shade, yet it did very little to impede his enemy's progress. Holding the halberd with both hands, he grit his teeth as he peered off to the side to see Gareth having to dodge Vortimer's own sickled flail slashing at her sides and head, bobbing and weaving to avoid the fell blade.

For Gareth, the young she-wolf was now forced to engage Vortimer up close and personal to deny him the usage of his own weapon, "You seek to deny me the chance to strike?" She could feel the air around her beginning to affect her, almost as if it were trying to poison her to make her weak and helpless before her opponent. Vortimer pressed her advantage over Gareth as she held Ira Lupus up to keep the blade from reaching her head, all the while thinking on her next move as quickly as she could before peering down to her belt where the mana capsules were held, and it came to her.

Shield bashing Vortimer to get a break in the action, Gareth glared at her opponent before she gripped one of the capsules and roared in defiance, "I deny your existence, wraith!" Gareth recalled Naruto's warning to her about the state of the capsules in that the Mana stored within them were supposed to be used to create the concussive force when loaded into her lance. Still, when thrown and broken outside of it, it would make a dangerous blue fire that would consume the nearest victim, and since these wraiths seemed to only be hurt by mana-infused weapons such as their king's Excalibur, then it made sense for her man capsules to harm them as well.

Blocking Vortimer's blade away to the side to allow her to maneuver to his side, Gareth quickly put a few steps in between her and the dreaded wraith before she threw the capsule at it. What occurred next would've sent chills down her spine, and yet she steeled herself regardless as a knight of her stature should do so. The Mana quickly turned to flames as it consumed Vortimer, who let loose a loud shriek of pain upon the combustion that consumed him, flailing about to try and ease its pain before he collapsed on the ground motionless, now seemingly defeated. Gareth took the opportunity to turn to her brother as he struggled against Catigern as he had taken hold of the wraith's sickled flail by the chain and was losing.

Loading up Ira Lupus, Gareth knew that with both the Sons of Vortigern about to be defeated, they could aid their king to strike down the being that once was their father. Dashing with all her might, despite the wear upon her legs from tangling with Vortimer, Gareth soon came up behind Gaheris and leapt up to kick off his shoulder. Gaheris instinctively pulled his halberd towards him with his strength to force Catigern to take a few steps forward as Gareth held her lance above her head, having lost her helm prior with her Yatagarasu feathers showing in full as she brought the Ira Lupus down onto Vortimer with the shockwave showing itself in full, the ground beneath them buckled under the pressure and cracked with the wraith now having lost part of its form and Gareth flung back to the ground before Gaheris turned quickly to help his sister up.

Off to the side, Arturia and Urien were still clashing and deftly avoiding one another's blows despite the turn of events in the knight's favour, yet that did little to cut the tension in the air. As two of the Orkney Siblings regained their bearings and shields, they turned to see that the Sons of Vortigern were slowly vanishing into the air, "They're losing their forms, Gaheris. We've turned the tide in our favor."

"Now, we can aid the king." Gaheris agreed as they quickly took the local battle between Arturia and Urien. However, they failed to notice that while their efforts defeated the Sons of Vortigern, its effects were ignored in favor of rushing to defeat their next enemy as they saw Urien's mace raised into the air.

While the siblings faced off against their wraith enemies, Arturia herself parried Urien's mace with an echoing clang while she kept her eyes keenly on the mace and its wielder's hands at all times to predict his next attack. As such, she noticed a minute detail on the mace: it was beginning to gain dents from the blows she made upon it by Excalibur. Her instincts told her that though the mace was enchanted and empowered to withstand impacts from Excalibur, it could only do so for so long with those enchantments growing duller by the moment.

Arturia quickly glanced to see Gareth and Gaheris seemingly about to turn the tide when she saw the mana flames but brought her full attention upon Urien once more.

'A slight defect within its forging that was overlooked?' Arturia wondered before she decided to counterattack Urien. Taking a step backwards, Urien dashed forwards towards her once more as he had done so before, Arturia sidestepped the wraith as his mace came down where she swung Excalibur upwards to sever Urien's off forearm as a shrill cry emanated from the cloaked creature that would have once would have shaken her. Yet, Arturia steeled her emotions in the face of such a terrible foe, knowing full well that it would cost her dearly should she have recoiled or shown an ounce of fear within her sister's domain.

Seeing that she held the advantage for whatever brief amount of time, Arturia pressed the attack as she unleashed the Invisible Air and a series of wind slashes that cut through Urien that staggered him, forcing him to backpedal from the king with a haphazardly swing of his mace. Now needing to actually cut him with her blade, Arturia dashed forwards with Excalibur's golden light now set loose to burn away at the wraith's form. As Gareth's mana capsules produced flames, upon vertically striking Urien's cloaked form, golden flames sparked and ignited, damaging Urien, causing him to let out a vicious hiss as opposed to a shriek.

The wraith finally swung rapidly at Arturia as she quickly twisted out of the way from oncoming attack, and the flames dissipated, the mace glowed the pale green once more, removing the effects of her attack before he raised the mace high above his helm as a pair of ghostly trails gathered towards it. Arturia tracked the trail's origins back to the Sons of Vortigern's forms that had now dissipated and entered what remained to the mace, "Your names will be forgotten! Your deeds will be forgotten!" Urien loudly stated as he held the mace with both, now reformed, hands and flipped it downwards before striking the inverted heavy weapon into the ground head first.

Arturia's instincts screamed at her to go on the defensive at full power for what would come next, yet she needed to protect her niece and nephew, both of whom were coming to her aid, "Gareth, Gaheris, behind me now!" Summoning Invisible Air to create a shield as Avalon was her source of healing, she could not afford to discard her immunity to the effects Morgan's domain had upon its victims, Arturia spun Excalibur above her head as Invisible Air formed around them as best it could briefly before Urien released the power built up in the mace head in an explosion. The resulting strike created a shockwave of energy that swept throughout the hall as it shook with a great force that would have nearly brought it down upon them all, yet the enchantments of the inner sanctum held it together by its master's power.

The Invisible Air shielded the knights from the power of the wraith, yet for all of Arturia's strength and skill, the siblings were not as strong and were flung against the wall through the force that took the air from their lungs, with only Arturia remained standing and Urien having regained his previous posture, ready to taunt and terrorize the king, "Shackles and bindings await you." Pointing his mace at Arturia who's eyes sharpened dangerously, "You have not found your sibling, yet instead have found your enslavement. The apostle too shall learn to bend the knee and serve her faithfully, willingly or not." Arturia's eyes widened at the words of the wraith taunting her. Rage filled her very being at the thought of such things as Urien came for her once more to strike a blow.

Reapplying Invisible Air, she parried a quick strike from the mace of Urien where she pointed it directly at the wraith to fire off, "Neither one of us shall fall to darkness as you did! Strike Air!" The domain of the wind king went off, sending a typhoon of tunnelling air at the wraith of Urien who was sent flying back before driving the spiked mace into the ground to halt himself, "I will not allow evil to continue in our lands, I will end it here and now!" The King of Knights shouted as she used her Dragon Core that began to manifest with Mana becoming visible in the air, the music having halted some time ago she could unleash her power. The aura of the Red Dragon emerged from behind Arturia as she used a burst of Mana to charge at Urien, with Excalibur surging forwards in attack. Driving the blade through the wraith, it emitted a far greater shriek that made Arturia lose sight of where they were going.

The powerful force soon brought them through the crippled hall's walls, separating Arturia from her fellow knights, with the wall collapsing behind them. Despite the pain in her ears, Arturia twisted Excalibur in the wraith's chest as he began to dissipate, "You cannot defeat us! You cannot purify my soul, for nothing remains of it! We are… eternal…!" The light of Excalibur attempted to destroy the wraith, but Arturia was too late to do so entirely before Urien disappeared entirely to escape the blessings that attempted to purify his existence.

Seeing her enemy flee before she could finish the job, Arturia cursed herself for not pushing through the pain to destroy Urien entirely, "Dammit! You are the dust, and to the dust, you shall return." Getting up to try and see where she was, Arturia brought Excalibur up as she soon found herself in a large room with various trinkets and furniture that all were of strange design, both foreign to her, yet others she could not even fathom their purpose. As she looked around the room, she began to silently berate herself for her actions, "I should not have given into my anger, now I have probably lost the chance to end an enemy before me." Breathing deeply, she continued on through the room, "Remove my emotions in battle, or I will be susceptible to being injured or defeated." Her desperate desire to find Naruto drove her to act somewhat irrationally, and she despised not being able to control herself, despite her strength she found in love. Soon, Arturia came to a large, strange mirror that was reflecting the light in a strange way, almost like it was a faint rainbow of sorts that glittered in the room.

"How strange…" For a moment, Arturia thought she saw someone coming towards her from the mirror. Slowly inching towards the mirror, Arturia's eyes began to focus on the figure in the mirror, almost reaching out to her, "Who are you?" As she and the figure came closer together, Arturia's eyes widened in horror at who she saw within it before she opened her mouth to let out a scream that held no air within.

---

-Naruto-

With Gogmagog now vanquished and many of Morgan's dark servants having taken their own lives, Naruto quickly made his way back to the surface using his Truth Seeker Orb assisted tunnel, flying upwards with blistering speed. The higher he travelled and closer he got to the surface, the more he could feel the weight of the Counter Force, but with his power free-flowing, Naruto felt confident that he could shrug it off. Perhaps in future, Six Paths Sage Mode would have a time limit, but it was not something he was unused to; after all, both Sage Mode and his initial use of Tailed Beast Mode had also had time limits; it was something he would work around with time. For what seemed like hours, Naruto had blasted through many layers of rock, only to be met with more of it, until finally, he felt the air of the castle once more. Flipping in the air, Naruto fell down to the floor with Marmyadose in hand and Carnwennan installed with the crystalline spears summoned to his back, now finding himself surrounded by several dark magi, with their own staves pointed at Naruto, "I do not have time for your shit!" Spinning the spears around his body, Naruto used his superior speed to slice through the dark magi to turn them into pieces of blood and gore before he dashed down the hallway to find Arturia. He dropped the chakra cloak as he ran, extending his senses to flag anything that came his way.

Now, having cut down more Uruk's and Olog's that were all slowly dwindling in numbers before retreating, Naruto was able to make his way through the castle quickly and managed to find a balcony to begin climbing up to try and regroup with the rest of their company. He was awfully surprised to find that the entire east wing of the castle had apparently been fraggorblasted but kept his mind focused on the matter at hand.

Having decided to use a bit of Senjutsu to home in on Arturia herself, Naruto made haste with all his strength to rejoin her, knowing that the rest of the knights were able to take care of themselves, yet the words of the ritualistic magi nagged at his mind lick a persistent tick.

What did Morgan have planned for Arturia? For himself?

That was what worried him the most. Eventually, Naruto was able to catch up to where he sensed Arturia in. As soon as he broke through the walls with a Rasengan, he heard the shattering of a mirror, "Arturia!" Quickly making his way through the room, tossing aside furniture and relics that were valuable in a sense, Naruto focused solely on getting to Arturia, who stood before a shattered mirror with Excalibur thrusted into its heart.

"Arturia, talk to me!" Naruto exclaimed as he came up behind her to see her eyes wide in shock. Looking back to the mirror, Naruto couldn't help but get a familiar feeling off of it but discarded the thought as Arturia turned her head to see her love, "Are you alright?"

Turning to see Naruto beside her, Arturia had nearly snapped her neck to see if it was indeed him and not some illusion of her sisters. Grasping his hand, she knew instinctively that this was Naruto. Arturia let go of a tad of her composure and brought his head down to her level for a brief but deep kiss before speaking, "I'm alright." Taking a quick look back to the shattered mirror, she said in a calmer tone, "We must regroup with the others and aid Gareth & Gaheris. They were most likely injured by Urien's previous attack, and I don't know how they fare."

Sensing that there was more to Arturia's strange demeanor, Naruto nodded his head in agreement, seeing that this was neither the time nor place to ask questions, "Let's move on then, Arturia." Saying her name so carelessly without addressing her as his king was something he usually didn't do, but right now, it was simply the two of them.

It was time to end this.

---

-Outside-

For Bedivere and Galahad, their battle against Accolon, the last wraith, was now in a stalemate. Having nearly lost the usage of his right arm, Bedivere was forced to use his left hand for the sword while relying on sluggish protection from the shield in his right that was beyond repair. For Galahad, he was now sword locked against the wraith using a steel longsword, struggling to attack without his enchanted shield, the only actual means of damaging it, "Sir Bedivere, my shield!" Galahad called for his mentor to take it to attack it, Bedivere quickly caught on to his squire's idea and dropped his own sword to take Galahad's only available weapon.

However, Accolon held no desire to be outmaneuvered, "I think not." The pressure that the wraith placed on Galahad's sword came to a threshold as it began to crack. Knowing full well what would happen next, Galahad ducked and tucked under before rolling out of the way just as his sword snapped in half before Accolon swung down in an attempt to strike him, yet luck favored his back for his shield kept his rearguard safe. Drawing the shield, his mentor Bedivere had rearmed with his sword before taking a stance alongside Galahad.

Bedivere had given orders to their men to deal with the dwindling Uruk's with their archers having taken up to the higher levels of the ruined town to fire on the dark creatures and the rest of their soldiers to form a perimeter to plug up any holes in their defenses. Now the enemy numbers dwindled by the minute with their soldiers outnumbering the Uruk's, and yet Bedivere still felt a great sense of unease, "Your forces are defeated…." He began, "…flee back to whatever darkness you came from and never return." Not expecting Accolon to react much of anything, and yet he did not expect what would occur next.

Accolon quickly dashed across the battlefield towards the centre away from them and stabbed his sword into the ground, followed by raising his arms that now emitted a pale, green mist that was the same as the veil that concealed the domain. At first, Galahad had no idea what it was that the wraith had done, that is until he heard the shearing sound of a spear hurtling towards him. Lifting his shield up to defend himself and Bedivere, the spear exploded on contact forcing the knight and squire to skid back several paces until they dug their heels into the ground to stop. Lowering his shield, Galahad's eyes widened as he saw who had thrown the spear: Akoth. The Uruk captain that he had killed not too long ago.

Taking a look at his body, or instead, his corpse would have been the more accurate label, the coagulated blood that had seeped from his wounds displayed their disgusting nature even further.

"Necromancy…" Bedivere uttered as he narrowed his eyes to see many of the dead Uruk's and the few Olog's, now rising from the ground after having their life taken and now given back by the dark powers of Accolon, "…men! Prepare for reinforcements, the enemy is now rising from their graves to attack us!" Brandishing his sword once more, Bedivere stood resolute against the now overwhelming odds, "Archers, prioritize their own archers and spearmen! Paladins, take care of the big ones, then help the regulars deal with the malformed ones." As Bedivere gave the orders, their soldiers moved accordingly to adapt to the changing conditions of the battlefield.

"The dead will have their due." Accolon spoke as he laid his arms down before picking up his sword once more from the ground.

Bedivere and Galahad stood their ground preparing to counter this new development, and yet, both knew that they likely would die unless Morgan was captured swiftly. As the dead became the undead, Accolon spoke in the metallic voice with finality, "You have a choice. Serve the true heir willingly, or I raise you as my puppet!"

---

-Agravain-

The crimson light that illuminated the dark hallways from the enchanted chains guided Agravain through the fortress after having been separated from Lancelot and Tristan, save for the cataclysmic blast which had shaken the castle some time ago, the corridor was eerily quiet, and he was forced on his own to find the Dark Fae that was his mother.

Ironic.

He had been sent in by Morgan to spy on the King of Knights, and yet having become the secretary of the court and Camelot itself, Agravain could not bring himself to… what was it again? Carry out something, yet the memory evaded his waking mind, "After this, I am leaving my duties for but a single day to collect my wits." Furrowing his brows in frustration at trying to grasp the memory correctly, Agravain pushed forward down what had apparently been a long singular hallway that took a turn every now and then. It had him on edge. There were no wraiths, no traps, no Uruk, Olog or dark magi lying in wait, simply silence.

And it unnerved him.

Time passed by as Agravain continued on until he rounded a corner where a faint light emanated from an ajar doorway where he heard his mother's voice, "…can't die. I can't die here; I still have to take the throne!" Coming up to the doorway, Agravain peered into it to see Morgan in the centre of her workshop, pacing about where what appeared to be an empty cauldron that had spewed something into the air to scorch the ceiling with ash.

Sensing that she was unprepared for him, Agravain sheathed his sword before he gripped his iron chains in both hands to take her alive. Stepping out from the corner and into the room, Agravain made himself known as he dangled the chains from his hand and slowly approached Morgan, "Mother."

As Agravain slowly made his way towards Morgan, she turned to him with an expression of fear that was unlike her, "So, you truly have betrayed me… after all I've done for…." Anger soon twisted her veiled face before she spoke again, "Was my sister truly born into this world, just to spite me?! To take and be given all of which was mine?!" She sneered loudly at the Knight of Black Iron.

His steps were stilled by the outburst, but not by Morgan's uncanny expressions of fear and anger, but rather her words. Something within Agravain seemed to spark within the deep recesses of his mind, "Your sister…? The king is…!" He shook his head confusedly, making his way inward despite the looming shadow rising behind him. Agravain paid it no mind and launched himself at his mother, Cold Iron chain spinning above his head, "It's over!"

Morgan's hand extended out, and in a blink of red hewed black mana appeared a spear tipped obsidian scepter that she raised in token defense; sadly, the chain wrapped around its shaft, and Agravain yanked it from her hands with minimal effort before his Sabaton clad boot drove itself into her jaw. The mother of the Orkney siblings was sent backwards across her now empty cauldron, her veiled crown falling from her head and shattering against the floor. She attempted to get up, getting caught on the fetters of her dress which tore in her desperate attempt to stand. A half conjured mystery was dispelled by a red glowing black chain that latched onto the witches right hand. She attempted to spew some token curse or banter but was cut off when Agravain tossed the other end of the chain against the far wall and snapped his fingers. Morgan was drawn back across the room, smashing numerous magical trinkets along the way before slamming against the wall pitifully.

Agravain cracked his neck, having expected his mother to put up more of a fight, but it seemed that their assault combined with whatever her latest ritual had been performed at her hands had left Morgan drained. His black eyes scanned the room until they locked onto a strange object. It was the approximation of a mandala with fae script running along its circumference and rendered in finely cut green glass, placed before the throne. Agravain didn't know what it was, but its meaning was obvious, an obstacle in the way of the throne. Unsheathing his sword, he smashed it to pieces with one clean hit with the flat of his sword, causing it to shatter into myriad particles of glowing green mana. The greasy-haired secretary of the crown felt no joy from the action nor any satisfaction when he approached his mother, whose turquoise eyes met his with a defiant sneer.

---

-Bedivere and Galahad-

An emphatic clank reverberated through Galahad's shield as the undead Akoth rammed it with his own spiked shield, pushing the squire several feet before he dug the cross shield into a loose cobble and unsheathed his Fae knife as an offensive weapon to defend himself, "I should've come more prepared." Galahad muttered to himself as he repelled the undead Uruk before he was forced to dodge an arrow heading for his head upon hearing the whistling streak coming for him.

A second sword would've proven handy at the moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Galahad saw Bedivere trying to contend with Accolon with, but a single arm and sword, and yet his eyes widened when he saw Bedivere thrown to the ground and the wraith's sword raised and poised to stab him through the heart, "No!" Galahad abandoned his opponent in an instant as he swung the shield at the undead Akoth, whose lower jaw was now missing after receiving a blow from the squire's shield.

Charging at full speed towards the wraith, Galahad hefted his shield to deliver a blow to the ghost, only to stop when an odd event transpired. Without prompting, Accolon reeled back as if he were in pain, letting loose a scream, clutching his head as he dropped the sword in the process. Slinging his shield onto his back, Galahad helped Bedivere up by his left arm while his right flopped useless and floppy at his side with blood dripping profusely from the nasty looking wounds, worsened throughout the battle with the wraith.

One by one, the undead Uruk and Olog's crumpled back down to the ground like puppets with cut strings, light beginning to emanate from within the wraith's wispy core. As the light grew brighter and brighter, the knight and his squire put some distance between themselves and their enemy, whose armour rumbled, followed by an explosion that sent those still standing flat on their backs.

Picking themselves up from the shockwave, Galahad was the first to speak up about their current predicament, "Is it over?" Looking to Bedivere, Galahad continued on, "Is Morgan truly…?"

"Dead?" Bedivere replied, gritting his teeth as he tied a strap around his shoulder to stymie the corruption's spread, "I don't know. All I do know…" He let go of Galahad to clutch his wounded arm, "…is that right now we have a reprieve."

Bedivere's words were heard by their men as, one by one, they slowly came around to the idea that they had just won a glorious battle against evil. Galahad hoped as much, but when Bedivere turned to him once more, he realized that there was at least one more trauma to face the pair tonight.

"Galahad, might I beg a favor?"

---

Upon leaving behind the storage room, Naruto and Arturia were able to regroup with a burned Gawain and his frantic siblings, shouldering his muscular body between them despite his claim that he was fine. They were able to continue on from the grand hall to where they found Tristan and Lancelot heading into a room where the clanking of chains was heard with someone struggling.

To the group's surprise and hidden relief, they found Agravain unharmed and miraculously had managed to bind Morgan with the same chains he made meant for Arturia, now they secured Morgan kneeling as she struggled to break from the chains, only for them to tighten up as their crimson glow brightened up, "So, my sibling and her oh so, noble knights have come to kill me in my own home, and many of which are my own flesh and blood." Morgan spat out with vitriol, insulting their pride as knights and familial relations, "What now? Stand trial for crimes I haven't committed? Become the court jester?" The Fae joked snidely before she grew a disgusted sneer, "Or will you have me sent away to the badlands of Orkney when you no longer have any use for me? After failing tests I did not know you even set for me? Like what father did when you were born?"

Arturia did not respond to the obvious provocation, she could not comment on the relationship between their biological father as she had never known him, by the time Arturia had turned three, Uther was already in a grave at the hands of Vortigern, the only father she had ever known was Ector. Whatever bad blood there was between Morgan and their father, Arturia would likely never know, nor did she particularly care for the reasoning. The last near-decade had been nothing short of a tidal wave of misery orchestrated by the spitting Fae before her, and frankly, things needed to come to an end.

Gazing into her sister's sinister and angry eyes, Arturia could see within her that there was pain, jealousy, loneliness, bitterness, all of such things that no doubt drove Morgan onto this path. Yet at the same time, Arturia saw hatred, malice, evil like Vortigern and all his fury to see them dead at his feet, "No, you do not deserve any of such things. I will not be swayed from this course of action, and you will plague Britain with your evil no longer." Arturia said monotonously as she nodded to Agravain, the Knight of Black Iron wordlessly stalking forwards and pushing Morgan's shoulders down into a prayerful kneel.

Morgan's eyes seemed to widen, as if something within her snapped almost, "You say I am evil, yet you are the one who has brought our lands, our home to such a state."

An incredulous expression came across Arturia's features, "You mean to say that I am who is the one that is evil?" A small rage started to boil up within her.

"You who would destroy the Magic and Mystery that is left in this age!" Morgan practically screamed at Arturia, "You would deny the beauty of the world and its balance of light and darkness!" She struggled against the iron chains and her son's strong hands, nearly leaping up from her position with Agravain having to further restrain her, "YOU would destroy the Fae and the wonders they would bring to humanity. Their joy and madness! Their beauty and horror! The majesty of the Phantasmals that captivates us all!" Using whatever secret strength Morgan had, she looked up to glare at Arturia as she continued to spit at her sister's feet, "YOU who was meant to be the lynchpin to this age, would see it all destroyed?! Oh great, Avalon Le Fae!? Prophesied choosing one of Gaia to save Britain in its darkest hour!?"

Keeping her anger in check, Arturia could only glare back at Morgan, "So you would usurp me, cause me such pain and inflict death by creating those abominations of nature for this age's continued existence?" Unsheathing her blade, Arturia took up position next to her sister, preparing for what was to come, "You who I once thought could be redeemed, spat on such a possibility to be my enemy? Whom you were obligated to love unconditionally?" Shaking her head at her sister's words, Arturia dared not think she could come to such an understanding. In her mind, Vortigern in his tyranny was very much the same as Morgan.

Both of whom held a sinister way of thinking it was for the better.

"I am glad that father could not see you what you have become." Arturia spoke softly, "But I am not proud that your own children see you as you are now."

Morgan turned ever so slightly to see Gawain as impassive as ever, having closed his eyes to her. Not even regarding her as king. Gaheris looked away, daring not to make contact; all the while, Gareth, sweet little Gareth, held unshed tears before shutting them to turn away. "You are many things, Arturia Pendragon, but a charlatan is not one of them, do not speak of the scum of this earth that was Uther Pendragon when you do not know of the horrors he condemned the both of us to."

Arturia's words seemed to bring something within Morgan, "You know… father had such high hopes for me… to end the Fae." She spoke as if recalling a vague memory. "He wished for me to use our family's dark powers to end the fae and make humanity independent through conquest… but I refuted his desire…."

"…I do not believe that," Arturia said, not willing to believe that her father was such the type of man. "I cannot believe that our father was a man who supported genocide."

To Naruto, who had only heard Ulthur spoken of in glowing terms, this was a surprise, being an honorable man could hold such an ideal. From all of what he learned about Britain to adapt to his new home, he learned about how the British Isles' inhabitants were so intertwined with one another: Man and Fae. Nature and Society. A beautiful balance between the two opposing forces and concepts. And yet, Morgan could be lying to save her own skin in some small way, though her tone and mannerisms did not support that. But the genuinely righteous fury behind those turquoise eyes spoke of only truth.

Did Merlin know this and say nothing of it to him? If so, then why not tell him?

"Oh, but he did…" Morgan nodded, gritting her teeth as forgotten emotions welled up from a place she had long since cast away, "…he did…." Her voice was low as can be, yet still able to carry to their ears. "And when I would not follow his will, he had you. And you. Have. Succeeded." Looking down from her captors to the floor, Morgan seemingly resigned herself to what was to come but still had words to part within her breath, "…I should have taken you with me to show you the truth of things…."

To Arturia, a small part of her wondered just if the Fae's words held any veracity, and if so, would their bond have been different. To reach and try to rekindle it. Yet for all of her sister's actions: stealing Caliburn, turning their people into mindless monsters, creating an abominable army, corrupting those who held great honour… taunting to take away the man she loved… such fleeting thoughts she discarded from her mind to focus once more on acting on what she came here to carry out and resumed her kingly atmosphere. The time for talking and what-ifs was over, all that was left was action.

Raising Excalibur up, Agravain took Morgan by her hair and forced her to look down into the ground before she spoke one last time to her sister, "Morgan. We were siblings once, I had hoped one day that we would no longer be enemies, but what you did to me, to us and the world as a whole, is not something so easily forgiven. I hereby sentence you to death by my sword. Find solace and redemption in the next life." Despite the disdain that Arturia had for Morgan, they were still sisters in the end, and it was all she could say in respect to their shared lineage from their father.

"For those who bear the title of Avalon Le Fae, there is no solace, only despair..."

Those were Morgan's final words before Excalibur freed her head from her shoulders, it rolled down the nearby steps into the sunken floor of her workshop. Not even turning to see the corpse any longer, Arturia sheathed Excalibur into her scabbard as she made her way out of the workshop before stopping at the doorstep, "We should leave with haste. Take anything of value, then let this place fall into the reverse side. It has no place in this world any longer." And with that, Arturia left the others who soon followed suit while Agravain undid his chains on the corpse that had once been Morgan.

Naruto looked around the workshop before he shook his head. No use in taking anything from this place, seeing as it appeared that Morgan had disposed of much of her tomes, scrolls, parchments, etc., to prevent anyone from learning her secrets, intent on taking them to the grave. Though a part of him couldn't help but wonder if things had been different.

As Naruto followed, Tristan spared one last glance at Morgan's corpse before following the rest of their company, but his thoughts were different from the rest of their company. Why did Arturia show no remorse for killing her own sister and not even sparing to look at her corpse?

Upon regrouping with their soldiers along with Galahad and Bedivere, they began to leave Zídushgoi, where it soon vanished in a pillar of veil shadow before only the lake that it laid below was all but left. Though Agravain had insisted that they at least afford Morgan the mercy of a funeral pyre, compassion that Arturia had agreed to without a second thought. She was not so wrapped in her grudge as to leave her sister's body to rot. Naruto had spotted Bedivere looking a little sheepish and green around the gills with his right side obscured by his cloak, "Bedivere, is your arm alright?" As he came closer to his friend, the wind picked up slightly, causing Bedivere's white cloak to flutter slightly and reveal something that brought Naruto up short, or rather the lack of something.

Bedivere scrunched his nose up in pain as he brought his left hand to an empty right sleeve, right arm gone from the shoulder down, "I wish that I could say I was as free from harm as the majority of us, but it seems I drew the short straw." The discomfort was painful but bearable, a needed sacrifice in the face of an uncertain future. "One of those fell archers caught me in the arm with a cursed shaft, it went into necrosis shortly after, so I was forced to ask young Galahad to… alleviate my burden," Bedivere said, giving a weak smile to his red-eyed friend while Galahad still held a bloodied sword in shaking hands.

Naruto looked Bedivere in the eye as the man gave a short chuckle before he continued speaking, "I knew that when the arrow pierced my flesh, that my arm would soon no longer be of service. By the time the battle was done, the rot had nearly hit my shoulder. Had I waited for you to come to our side, then I likely would not be standing here."

However, it was here where Galahad spoke, "Sir Naruto…."

"Yes, Galahad?" Naruto asked the young man melancholically as Bedivere gladly braced his left arm around Naruto's taller shoulders for support.

"Did I do the right thing?" Galahad asked, his voice conflicted and golden eyes shifting between Naruto's ruby's and Bedivere's greens, "I am Sir Bedivere's squire, yet I was the one that has delivered him the most critical blow of tonight."

Naruto sighed in exhaustion and a mix of other emotions; above all was empathy itself, he began to walk with Bedivere and Galahad towards the caravan of mounted knights where Arturia looked his way. "You're going to have to figure that one out on your own, Galahad, but what matters is that when your lord needed you, you were there," he said softly. The sky to the east was begging to brighten, the night of horror had finally come to an end.

---

Upon returning to the capital with news that Morgan le Fay, the Dark Fae Witch of Britain, was now dead, and her evil cast out by the king and court. To add to that, Mordred and Ywain succeeded in putting down the would-be rebellious Lord Cerdic before he could even rise up. There was much to rejoice about in Britain's gleaming silver capital.

However, for those that assaulted Morgan's domain, some of them harbored unknown emotions and thoughts within…

For Naruto, he started to wonder how much of what Morgan said was true about Uther, his desire to see the Fae driven from Britain and humans as the dominant beings. And what of her own views with the current age.

For Lancelot, seeing his son Galahad act like a good man, he wondered if there was any real need, much less hope of bonding with his son, and just how much longer could he conceal his affair with the queen, or even the romance of his friend, the Apostle and the king.

For Tristan, he wondered just how much longer he could continue to serve a king whose humanity degraded with each passing day.

For Gawain, he believed that his victory over the Green Knight and the execution of his mother was no doubt a turn of the tide for them all, and nothing should stand in their way of justice.

As for Mordred and Ywain, the two young soldiers were soon knighted and brought into the fold as full-fledged members of the Round Table, becoming privy to the king's secret, which shocked the two of them, Mordred more so than Ywain.

A feast was soon thrown in celebration of the victories in the grand hall where Naruto helped prepare the food for everyone to toast to Camelot being victorious once again over evil.

Eventually, the feast settled down, and the people retired to their rooms for the night to continue their daily lives, though Naruto went with Arturia to her room for a bit as they simply sat on her bed holding one another, "Naruto…." Arturia spoke softly as her golden hair was out of the bun, leaning her head onto her lover's shoulder.

"Yes, Arturia? Are you alright?" He asked in concern, "You seemed kind of scared back at Zídushgoi." Whatever it was that she saw in that place had shaken her. He kissed her head to try and help comfort whatever worry she had.

"…regardless of what happens in the future for us all…." Arturia began in a soothing tone whilst turning to face him, "…I love you, with all my heart." She gave him a passionate kiss that lasted for a while before they parted, "I love you and everything we've done, what we've built, and I will do everything to protect it, but most of all you."

Naruto sensed that her words were genuine, yet they were perplexing. Arturia always held these things in her heart, yet proclaiming these aloud to him was odd, "I know. I know you would, but now, we can focus on fixing the small things, before we can just… settle down and be happy together." Speaking of which, something came back to Naruto with his last few words and Mordred's new position, "Oh, I just reminded myself that I need to do something." Getting up from the bed to head to his workshop for a quick pickup, Naruto turned back to Arturia, who seemed slightly confused by his actions to clarify for her, "I'll be back soon, so don't worry about me. I'm sure you might want to get comfy for uhm… later…." He said in a knowing tone, which Arturia briefly chuckled as she nodded her head in acceptance.

Stopping by his workshop, Naruto picked up a large box and headed off to Mordred's room, where she was currently getting out of her armour. Quietly knocking on the door, Naruto spoke up as he inched the door open just enough so his voice could reach Mordred's ears and not bring attention to their little secret, "Mordred, it's Naruto, are you decent?"

"Huh, wha? Oh, yeah, I'm okay, mom." He Heard Mordred's voice from her closet, "Was there something you needed?"

Opening the door quickly to step inside before closing it behind him, Naruto set the box down onto the nearby chest of drawers as he waited for Mordred to get ready, "I felt that since you made it to the Round Table, that this required a nice gift for you to… have…." As Naruto turned to the closet just in time to see his little girl step out the door, his expression changed to one of incredulity, to which Mordred seemed perplexed by his expression.

"Something wrong, mom?"

Naruto's mouth was soon rendered agape upon laying eyes upon what his Little Mo had taken to wearing under her armour, mainly for how scandalous it appeared and moreover how hard it triggered his paternal instincts.

Mordred's entire top half was all but bare to the world save for a red and gold piece of fabric that slightly squashed her perky B-cups against her lithe chest like a decorative Sarashi. In addition, Mordred had taken to wearing a red and gold collar-like Gorget made from well-treated leather and cord with the fluted 'tag' resting against her clavicle. The hodgepodge and almost Amazonian getup continued along her arms that were wrapped in a pair of disconnected red sleeves with black straps under the biceps and paired with hardened red leather tassets she wore around her waist, doing absolutely nothing to stop the display of fully exposed midriff exposing itself stubbornly. In contrast, the hanging leather strap detail from her armour persisted between her legs. To top off, this tomboy-delinquent swordswoman look was the black leather stockings affixed to her athletic thighs by red straps and tucked into red ankle boots.

"Mom?" Mordred tilted her head in confusion as she made her way over to Naruto, whose eyes grew shadowed by his hair.

Suffice to say, Naruto was not pleased with his daughter's choice in fashion, "Mordred… what… the hell… are you wearing…?" He was slowly raising his voice up a few notches with every word, yet he still held his lungs so as to not draw attention to the room.

Mordred looked down to give herself a look once over, but honestly, she couldn't find anything wrong with what she was wearing, "What I've been wearing all this time, I don't ge—" She was cut off as soon as Naruto clamped his right hand around her forehead and started to give a slight painful squeeze that began to rise up in pressure, "Ow! Ow! Mom! What's this for, ya know!?"

Turns out she inherited that old verbal tic he and his mother were known for, though he was internally happy that she had never gone through his 'believe it' phase. Right now, though, Naruto was more concerned for when he would later introduce Mordred to Arturia in the hopes of establishing themselves as a family of sorts for the future, "Because, there is no way in hell, that my little girl, is going to walk around in public, looking like some skank in a whorehouse of Londinium! Now we're going to get you into some proper clothes!"

He essentially dragged Mordred by her forehead back into the closet, where he spent quite a bit longer than anticipated to get Mo into some proper clothes, much like Arturia's royal blues.

When all was said and done, Mordred's new ensemble was far more dignified than the leather fatigues she had called casual wear before, starting off first and foremost with a pair of black buccaneers pants tucked into light brown knee-high boots with pronounced guards that extended over the knee caps themselves.

The red leather sarashi had been tossed in favor of a layered upper body garment that began with a long-sleeved red dress coat that split into two segments that rested either side of her knees; the coat's shoulders bore the same puffed look as Arturia's favored blue battle dress and the cuffs were furnished in silken black ruffles. Over this was a sleeveless black Brigandine made of folded tanned leather and golden inlays across the bottom edge, the five red leather straps of Mordred's prior ensemble had endured poking from the back of the shirt-like armour to cover her pant clad behind. Last came a dull burgundy waistcoat closed over her chest by golden threads and a red ascot cravat poking from around her neck and proudly displaying its black lined splendor for all to see.

"There, now you don't look like you're gonna freeze to death on a cold day." Naruto proclaimed proudly as he crossed his arms, confident in the choice of clothes he picked out for his daughter.

As for Mordred, she herself was getting used to the bunched-up clothing, "It feels like I'm chafing under all this stuff."

As for Naruto, he simply ignored the comment and made a brief rebuttal, "You'll thank me in the future when you can finally come out, sweetheart." Turning back to the box, Naruto made his way over to it to open it up to reveal the contents, "When I first made this sword, I knew that it'd be meant for great things one day, just wasn't sure in whose hands though, but I hoped that maybe, it'd be your hands that would hold it."

It was Clarent. After achieving such a position in the court, Naruto felt that Mordred deserved to have a blade that would signify her status as a Knight of the Round Table. Given how he forged it to act similarly to Excalibur did and Mordred inheriting much of his and Arturia's massive reservoir of power to draw upon, coupled with the White Dragon's heart and blood flowing through her veins, Clarent was but a perfect fit for their first and possibly only born child.

Mordred's eyes gleamed in both fascination and awe. Being given a sword made by Naruto was an honour unlike any other, "This is for me?" She asked in disbelief.

Naruto nodded his head, "It is, and I know you'll use it to do both good and great things."

Reaching out to grasp the sword, Mordred wrapped her fingers around the grip to get a feel for it, seeing that it indeed was a perfect fit for her. She could feel a resonance of sorts with the blade, feeling the shared connection they had through Albion's blood flowing in her veins and the core of the greatsword to give it powers, "Thank you, mom. I…" She gently placed Clarent back into the cushioned box, "…I don't know what to say, but…." Turning back to Naruto, she wrapped her arms around him to envelope him in a firm hug that caught him off guard, "…thank you, mom."

Naruto returned the hug in earnest, "You're welcome, my Little Mo."

With Mordred's ascension to the Round Table, the first step towards making a family was done. Next step, well, hopefully getting Mordred and Arturia close enough to ensure the revelation didn't get him punched in the face or kicked down below… most likely the former than the latter….

After returning back to Arturia and an overdue, passionate lovemaking session, Naruto had fallen asleep in Arturia's arms once as before during their first time where she stroked his hair, leaving Arturia back to her thoughts on what she saw in Zídushgoi.

---

-Flashback-

As Arturia saw the figure approach her from within the mirror, it became clear that it was… "Me…?"

It was a dark mirror of herself, one who had clearly given into her Draconic blood and power. No longer was her battle dress blue and gold but pitch black instead. Her armour had been dyed jet black, almost as if a purple luster gleamed off of it with dragon-like spines on her gauntlets, while her boots were now like heels spiked to impale any who she stepped on. The armour covered her neckline and even extended up to her neckline and above to her cheeks.

Instead of the golden light that Excalibur had always given off, in its stead was a void of blackness that had blood-red form an intricate pattern instead, creating the sense of dread and fear that came with this disgusting image.

But this was not what truly frightened her but instead what came next.

"I am your future if you continue embracing what you have been feeling." Her dark self spoke with a cold, near-emotionless tone that brought a bone-chilling shiver to Arturia, "Keep that anger. Keep using that power of yours, the heart that beats, the blood that flows in our veins." She placed her hand up against the other side of the glass to match Arturia's hand, "The people will rejoice and fear us, for we are what they desire; nothing but a tyrant to order them about for their lives, and none to dare go against us. He will try in vain to save us but fail to cleanse us of our torment. Our love for him will drive you to commit atrocities in his preservation. This is the future that awaits you, Arturia."

---

-Now-

Breathing shakingly for a minute, Arturia had destroyed the mirror of that hallucination of that dark self. It was then that Arturia realised that she had a darkness within herself, one that she had no idea she was capable of.

There were times where Arturia had thought of using brutal tactics to win the day, but it was all thanks to Naruto's out of the box thinking that allowed them to preserve their honour and integrity while ensuring they saved as many lives as they could. Yes, she knew it was impossible to protect everyone, but she would be damned if she did not make every attempt to do so. Not fulfilling her ideals, she would only become a hypocrite of the highest order.

No, she would never give into the darkness. She would fight it tooth and nail. She utterly rejected the notion of using darkness to preserve what she valued. She would protect Naruto from whatever laid ahead, no matter what. It was his love that continued to push her forward to create the perfect kingdom that could one day be governed in a way that would allow them to live as a proper couple one day, no matter how long it took.

"This I swear to you, my love," Arturia said softly as she gave a peck on his head before she fell asleep.

Unbeknownst to them, several dozen miles from the capital, a feminine figure crept from a shadow to look upon the distant sight of Camelot before it spoke in a cheery tone, "Well, that's certainly a loving sight… a shame that I have to ruin it all." The figure chuckled before disappearing, the sound of high heels and a swirl of red hair all that remained on the breeze.

---

NEXT: THE FALL OF CAMELOT

Journal of Narbareck VII, 1st seat of the Burial Agency, Holy Church

Date: [REDACTED]

That little toe rag Merem came by this morning with quite the sickening look of satisfaction on his face, he told me that his latest endeavour, graverobbing being a more apt term, in England to gain information on members of the DAA had proved fruitful. I was beyond incensed when he had that crowned rat of his deposit an antique document onto my desk and have him bluntly tell me that it pertained to #7 before leaving. I am well aware that the two have bad blood over their shared siering from Crimson Moon, but that does not give Merem, ally or no, permission to flaunt every protocol the Holy Church has to deliver his so-called treasures for me to catalogue when I have better things to do. Anyway, minor rant over, here are the details of what the crowned rat brought me about one Naruto Uzumaki, though I could not tell you how it pertains to him.

Recovered from archaeological site #221/4b9ws

Stratford-Upon-Avon, England

Object in question: Vellum scroll discovered underneath the foundations of temporary residence constructed in Avon, likely an intermediary dwelling while the family of the owners was being moved, given the lack of magecraft discovered attached the box it was found in it is a veritable miracle that it remains as legible as it is today, though there are some areas where the writing has been worn away.

To my dearest Hamnet

How have you been, darling son of mine? Clutching at the ephemeral dream we call life and dashing off into the lanes of mystery, I hope. Forgive me for being unable to attend you and your sister's recent tenth birthday, the deadlines to set these actors straight is something that is taxing in time, money and sense, and it was with great sadness that by the time our troop wrapped for the evening's practice did the last stagecoach refuse to take me home to see your smiling faces once again. Far be it from me to dictate a list of pedestrian reasoning for my absence to the children whose birthdays I missed but perhaps as recompense, a tale of my exploits, one not even your mother knows off lest she thinks me touched in the head?

It began one fleeting evening approaching the forests of wales to play host to a merchant who had heard of our troop and wished to be wowed by theatre, I was a younger man then and infinitely more precocious than the man London has taken to call the bard, so when the evening rains lashed and heavens flashed cerulean sky fire I, after fortifying myself with a keg of ale, decided to give that merchant from [TEXT WORN AWAY] and I'm not even sure how the donkey got there! Honour preserved, I waded through the muck and Pete of Gaia's bosom over bogs and felled trees to make my way back to my troop, though an hour into my trek and either I had lost the path or the path had lost me. After soiling the outside of my doublet with apocryphal ooze, I did not wish my fear to do the same to my pantaloons, so I decided to wait out the rest of the storm in [TEXT WORN AWAY]

Alas, when I awoke, it was once again still dark out, but the night had cleared away the thundering clouds to unveil that great lunar disk and tapestry of celestial splendour painted across the sky, but what court my eye were the innumerable sprites flitting to the through amidst the trees, they glowed like pale embers yet fluttered as quite living things, moths I soon realised! Each beat of their wings was accompanied by a harmonic prayer to deities unseen, and soon enough, from my huddled perch did I witness the procession to which they were entering. Two men walked through the trees, queer in appearance yet with air that robbed the very air from my lungs to see their unearthly beauty. The first, tall and young, had hair blonder than any dutchman and eyes, sad, old eyes, set into a serene face walked with purpose, nature itself moving to accommodate him, but his companion was far more of a shock to the soul. Royal blue and ruffled white raiment, a bob of feathered silver hair and an amused kingly face, the other bore a pair of giant technicolour moth's wings that beat silently behind him as the men strode, a fine film of glowing dust evaporating into the air around them. He was also, as much as I question my sanity, partially see-through, like a heat haze in the cool midsummer's eve. They walked and laughed, reminisced of times long lost and of a fallen white city which they remembered with melancholy before they passed beyond my sight, and I lost what sense I had left the kingly fae sis commune that the other man's love was all but a Titeness of whom he would not have minded as his own, the blonde laughed good-naturedly, their forms echoing away between crooked trees.

You know, I feel inclined to put this maddened wonderment to paper, perhaps a play of the Fae king and his desired Titanic wife, wished for amid a Midsummer night's dream to a playwright a long way from home. Sleep well, my dearest children, for one day, all the world shall know these plays.

-Your Father, W.S. 1595

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the new chapter.

Please be sure to tell me what y oh liked and/or disliked about the new chapter as usual.

Here are the Black Speech translations –

(1) Burn, you will burn, you will burn!

(2) Die!

(3) You are nothing!

(4) You will not walk away from this!

(5) Your world will end in fire!