Mordred ran through the cave, following the trail of the Berserker he had been fighting mere moments ago. The man crying blood had been so fervent as he fought Mordred earlier, but then he suddenly ran deeper into the cavern. Mordred pursued the coward into the deeper parts of the mountain where the magical energy was thick and sickening. There was clearly a fight going on considering just how violent the magical energy was flowing. The coward was so far down the cave that Mordred couldn't actually see him, only sense him. The chamber where all the magic energy was concentrated got closer and closer, the Berserker having already reached it.
When Mordred arrived, he froze in place. The coward had stabbed through King Arthur's heart from behind with his spear. The metal maid, the lightning giant, the dark womb, the various Servants, they all didn't matter as Mordred ran as fast as he possibly could with legs powered by a Mana Burst. A lifetime's worth of fury fueled Mordred as he roared and swung Excalibur at the coward who dared harm the great Lion King. The Berserker jumped with a Mana Burst of his own and was lucky enough to avoid getting bisected, instead only losing a foot.
The Lion King dropped to his knees. Mordred pulled out Excalibur's scabbard and infused it into his king's body.
"Avalon!"
The wounds of the brutalized king's wounds began to heal, though Mordred was unsure of how well Avalon could heal damage done to a Spirit Core. The king's nature as a Divine Spirit would also help her heal, but there was still a limit.
Kicking off with his remaining foot, the coward shot towards King Arthur again. Mordred got between them and slashed at the Berserker, their weapons crashing into each other. The coward was pushed away and into the range of the rampaging giant who stomped down at him. The coward sidestepped out of the way and was forced to join the battle royal with the titan of lightning.
Mordred turned to help his king escape only to see the metal woman carrying the Lion King in her arms.
"Get away from her!" Mordred's fist turned the maid into a silvery splotch on a nearby wall. He grabbed his king before she could hit the ground and proceeded to run out of the chamber and back through the cavern from whence they came. He dashed out of the invisible wall that hid the cave and sprinted down the mountain. The knight left the overseer behind since he mattered as much as a microbe in comparison to making sure the Lion King was safe. Black and gold lightning propelled the knight forward as he kept running away from the resting place of the Greater Grail. It was shameful to give up on a fight when one was losing, this was a clear besmirchment of King Arthur's name, but it was better than letting the goddess die. Mordred took the king's life once, now he had to preserve it. Mordred began jumping across rooftops when they reached the city and only stopped when they arrived at Fuyuki Church and only at his king's urging.
They entered the church and Mordred put his King down on a pew.
"My king, are you okay?" Mordred kneeled down next to the Lion King. "I'm so sorry! The coward got away from me! This is all my fault!"
"My body will heal in time, but I'm not sure how my Saint Graph will fare." The Lion King was sweating, her eyes squinting on an otherwise black face. "The combination of my and Avalon's healing capabilities seems to be preventing my Spirit Core from falling further apart, but such a wound may be beyond regeneration. If I were not a Divine Spirit, I would have perished by now."
Mordred's fist slammed on his knees. His frustration was boundless at his failure to defeat but a single foe and protect his king. He had finally been granted a chance at redemption and yet he screwed it up immediately. Mordred truly was unworthy of being the son of King Arthur. He wasn't worthy of being a knight. The traitorous boy was only worthy of suffering under the yoke of his own sins and the justice of King Arthur.
"I'm sorry, my king. I have failed you. Please, once you are able, punish me."
"There is nothing for which you must be punished."
"There is. I failed to hold that coward at bay. I could have used Avalon to guarantee my victory, but I kept it in reserve to use as a surprise trump card. You are in this state because of my ineptitude."
"We all make mistakes." The Lion King looked at the armored head of her knight. "I was already in a weakened state due to my overestimation of my abilities. I thought I could handle several Servants at once and I ended up badly wounded because of that arrogance. I would not have been taken by surprise if I was in better condition. This was just as much, if not more my fault than it was yours."
"Impossible, my king. You are infallible."
"If that were true, then I would never have rejected you, nor would Camelot have been devastated by Lancelot's betrayal and your rebellion." The Lion King placed a hand on her son's head. "Neither of us is perfect, nor is anyone else. If you truly wish to make up for your mistakes, then take this to heart: I am not perfect and you are not irredeemable."
"Yes, my king." Mordred wanted to accept his king's words, but he couldn't. There was nothing good within himself.
The Lion King raised Rhongomyniad as high as she could, which wasn't much, and it returned to being sealed within Add.
"Well that didn't go well." The cube's statement made a vein bulge on Mordred's head. "What's the plan now? We can't beat all those Servants alone."
"We need allies. I hope that the other Masters can be rallied together." The Lion King stared at the ceiling. "There may be misgivings due to the previous fighting, but if Illyasviel and Chloe managed to put aside their differences, then everyone else should be able to. If everyone fights as one, then the Greater Grail may yet be defeated."
"We can't be too optimistic though." Add bounced onto the pew. "We haven't exactly had good luck so far."
"Pessimism will get us nowhere. We need to stay hopeful." The Lion King gestured towards Mordred. "Kirei is still on the mountain, yes?"
"I didn't have time to grab him while we escaped."
"Find him and bring him here. I'm sure he was saved by the Master of the Berserker who saved us. That Master is on our side. Don't worry about me. It is doubtful that any enemies will attack me here and now."
"There is no need." The doors of the church opened and the metal maid entered. Turning her to liquid had been a mere inconvenience it seemed.
Mordred tried to stand, but his arm was grabbed by his mother.
"Don't. She's an ally. She's the familiar of the Master whose Servant saved me."
Though he ceased his attempt to attack first, Mordred was still tense.
"My master and the overseer will be here soon." The maid said. "I was able to arrive ahead of them due to tailing you. The overseer is currently in the process of sending familiars to all the remaining Masters to alert them of the Grail War's cancellation and to have them convene here."
"How is your master's Servant?" The Lion King said. "Was he able to escape?"
"He was. He is currently recovering from the fight due to sustaining numerous injuries and using up a majority of his reserves of magical energy."
"It's good that he's alive. He'll be an invaluable asset in the fight to come. How long until your master and the overseer arrive?"
"Approximately two hours."
"Then two hours we shall wait."
And so Mordred, his king, and Add waited while the maid surveyed the surrounding area to make sure that there were no threats lying in wait to strike while the iron was hot. Mordred stayed by King Arthur's side the entire time to funnel as much magical energy into Avalon as possible to speed up the healing process. It was looking like the Lion King would survive, but not without permanent damage to her Saint Graph that would limit her power for the remainder of her manifestation. During the healing process, King Arthur slipped into sleep to conserve energy and hopefully build up more.
"Mo-" A soft sound came from the sleeping goddess' lips. "Mordred." That caught the knight's attention. His king was dreaming of him. "Stop fighting with Add. Mama's in a bad mood right now. We can't bother her." The sleep talk lacked the natural authority of the Lion King and instead befit a child.
"Sounds like she's dreaming of Gray's memories." Add bounced over to the king's face.
"Don't bother her while she is resting."
"I'm not. I just wanna listen."
"I'm sorry, Mordred." A tear slid out from the Lion King's closed eyelid. "I couldn't save you." Mordred crouched down to listen closer. He felt ashamed that he was as curious as Add was. "Mom, are you there? Mom. I miss you, mom. Mama? Illya? I'll give you my face. I don't care. Take it. Just take it. I don't want it. Take it so you can come back."
"Gray's still alive in her." Add sounded oddly melancholic given his usual tone. "Maybe we could still save her."
'They're only memories." Mordred said. "And even if you could, that would mean sacrificing the Lion King."
"Hey, you've got Mordred's memories right? Our Mordred's?"
"Yes."
"Do you feel our Mordred inside you? Are you really a different Mordred, or are you the same one and you've just been painted over?"
"I am technically made with the same Saint Graph as the original, it's just been modified. This is a situation comparable to the Ship of Theseus. How many parts of the original have to be replaced until they no longer count as the same entity?"
"Quit with the philosophy and just answer me. Do you feel our Mordred inside you?"
Mordred sneered and tried to say that he felt nothing of the other Mordred within himself, but he stopped himself. He couldn't answer that honestly for he really didn't know what the truth was, nor could he even hazard a guess.
"I don't know. I really don't."
"I appreciate the honesty." Add hopped away from King Arthur's head. "I've got a hypothetical for ya. If it turns out that Gray can be saved and it would require the Lion King to be banished from Gray's body and thus 'killed,' I know Artoria and Illya would fight to the death to get the Lion King out of her. In that case, would you try to stop them for the sake of your king?" Add put emphasis on the word 'your.'
"The answer is obvious." Mordred swallowed and stood up. "As long as the Greater Grail exists, we need the Lion King's power."
"And what about after the Greater Grail's been destroyed?" Add said as Mordred turned away.
"That's something to be considered once the Grail is gone. We shouldn't be wasting time thinking about anything beyond the current threat." The flawed logic of Mordred's deflection was obvious and yet Add didn't push the point. Mordred felt aimless in the face of Add's question. Part of him wanted to preserve his king's life no matter what, but the Lion King probably wouldn't want to keep existing if it meant Gray couldn't be saved when she otherwise could. There was also the fact that protecting Mordred's king would involve facing the other King Arthur in combat. That Arthur was far closer to the one Mordred knew and betrayed. Mordred felt a need to serve that king as well and he certainly didn't want to fight them.
The doors of the church opened and a group entered consisting of the metal maid, the overseer, and two unfamiliar individuals. One was a tall man with a sour face and long black hair. A single look into his eyes was all that was necessary to see he was analyzing everything he saw like a master detective on the case. The other new face was a young girl with blonde hair and fashionable outfit. She was putting eyedrops in and despite that apparent moment of vulnerability, she still had the aura of a self-satisfied sadist. Mordred could also sense a Servant, assumedly the giant that was in the cave, that was in Spirit Form.
"It's good to see you're both alive." The priest walked over to the resting Lion King. "How is she?"
"Her physical damage has nearly completely healed. Her Spirit Core is a different matter. It was impaled and though it's stabilizing, it won't be able to actually repair itself which means her power will be permanently limited."
"That is unfortunate." The overseer pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll use my Spiritual Healing to do what I can, but I doubt I'll achieve much. Hopefully one of the other Masters or Servants has healing capabilities. Speaking of other Masters…" The priest pointed his arm towards the unfamiliar pair.
"Hello." The long haired man walked forward and extended a hand. "I am Waver Velvet, better known as Lord El-Melloi II. I am one of the Masters of this war." Mordred reluctantly shook the man's hand.
"Greetings." The blonde curtsied. "My name is Reines El-Melloi Archisorte. Lord El-Melloi is my brother. I'm here to help him. The maid is Trimmau." The maid curtsied as well.
"I'm Lord El-Melloi II." The man named Waver sounded whiney. "Not just Lord El-Melloi."
"Of course." Reines rolled her eyes.
"How long until the other Masters and Servants get here?" Mordred said.
"It will probably be sunrise by the time they all convene here." The priest put his arms behind his back. "Mordred, please take your king and follow me into my study. I'll begin operating on her. Lord El-Melloi II, Lady Archisorte, you can join us so we can strategize as I work."
"I'll have to pass." Reines held up a hand. "Your procedure is bound to produce a large amount of magical energy. My eyes are quite sensitive to magical energy so it would be best that I stay away. Do you have a kitchen or dining room here?"
"Both."
"Excellent. Do you mind if Trimmau brews me some tea?"
"Not at all. Help yourself."
"Wonderful." Archisorte clapped her hands. "Have fun with your surgery." The girl and her maid left despite not knowing where the kitchen or dining room were. She probably just wanted to snoop around the church.
"Apologies for Reines' imposition." The Lord said.
"It is perfectly alright. Let us move to my study." The priest led the way and Waver followed. Mordred lifted his king into his arms and trailed behind.
"I'll give it away." More sleep talk slipped out from the Lion King. "I'll give it away, I swear. Come back. I didn't mean it. Please come back." Mordred wasn't even sure of who was talking anymore, Gray or King Arthur. The line between them was blurry as it was and it just kept on getting hazier as time went on. It was unclear if that was a good thing or not, but there was nothing that could be done at the moment. After the Greater Grail was destroyed and the world was saved, that would be the time to be concerned with the state of the Lion King and Gray. That time would eventually come no matter how much Mordred wanted to just indulge in his dream, the dream of forever serving his perfect King Arthur.
Note: I have gone through my entire backlog for this series and so chapters will begin being released weekly to bi-weekly depending on various factors.