Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 121 of the story!
How's everyone's Christmas being? Having good experiences with LB7 so far? I sure hope so. Also, I finally decided to stop being lazy and write a description on my profile, giving it more detail instead of being just a blank slate that it was before. Like they say, new year, new me!
Now with that said, let's dwelve into the chapter!
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.
Two Days Ago
"Mostly, our assault should be targetted at the Holy City's main gates. Once we breach inside the Lion Kingdom's through it, half of our operation will be done." Da Vinci speaked as she was moving chess pieces on a geographical map of the Singularity, placing them in the entrance section of the Holy City as she explained their plans of invading the enemy stronghold to Lancelot, Arthur, Romani and Peko.
"That strategy of Lady Da Vinci sounds plausible." Arthur gave his opinion. "We can utilize the help of the sphynxes from Ozymandias troops in order to draw the most attention to their defensive lines on the city's walls and keep them occupied, as they will certainly be waiting for the smallest sign of our presence to start firing their ballistic weapons against our army."
"However, it is essential that I point our one big and curcial flaw on Lady Da Vinci's plan here." Lancelot speaked up, knowing of a factor that could hinder their invasion to the Holy City.
"Which is?" Da Vinci looked to the Knight of the Lake, waiting for him to tell her.
"The main gates are nigh invulnrable to any type of attacks that are directed torwards it." Lancelot revealed. "It is a type of spell casted by the Lion King on the city's wall defenses. It was prescribed in them that any attack caused by the enemy, being automatically of ill-nature, is unable to cause damage whatsoever in the city's sacred walls."
"Hum. Therefore trying to obliterate througj the walls wouldn't exactly result, no matter how much we could throw hits at it." Romani put a finger on his chin, the problem Lancelot told to them being a bit of an head-scratcher. "Ah, but that can't be! There must be a way that we could bypass that rule in some way, somehow." He said, trying to come up with a logical solution.
"The walls cannot be harmed by attacks with ill-intention..." Peko, having listened to majority of the conversation he was 'invited' in to listen, thought about that problematic as well, remembering of any details of the walls from the time he was Lion King's prisoner. "But back when the Holy City got under attack by The Blight, the enemies managed to bypass the walls altough with very different methods. Yet...the walls ended up being damaged in that confrontation. By the Lion King no less." The boy's mind recalled the moment he had witnessed the Lion King obliterate her own walls with her Noble Phantasm in order to disperse The Blight. "However, that attack managed to damage the walls because it was use as protection for the kingdom. Or..." Giving a glance to Arthur, Peko was getting an idea.
"Trying to destroy walls that deny any kind of attack thrown by the enemy." Da Vinci found such concept to be troublesome. "The walls then are quite literally impenetrable."
"No they're not!" Peko exclaimed, gaining Da Vinci and everyone else's attention in the tent. "I have already seen them being bursted open once."
"How?" Romani asked him.
"By the Lion King herself when The Blight attacked the Holy City. Due to the attack coming from the inside as well as with the intention of protecting her own territory, the attack ended up obiterating the walls in order to disperse the enemy." Peko retold that moment he witnessed to the others.
"That does make sense as the walls were destroyed by the one who casted a spell on them in the first place." Da Vinci commented. "Are you suggesting that we try and instigate the Lion King into a situation where she's forced to unleash her Noble Phantasm at us in order to make an opening on the walls? That sounds a bit risky and unlikely, given that she probably won't try to attack us herself as long as we are unable to invade the Holy City, opting to not discard her best defense like that."
Peko however wasn't proposing that."Not really. I think that there's another alternative to break through the city's walls that we could approach. While we could attribute the fact of the walls being brought down because it was the Lion King that attacked, I'd say that there was another factor at play there." The boy then glared to Lancelot. "Lancelot, since you were there for the foundation of the Holy City and the walls creation, as the Lion King ever told you if the walls are truly immune to any type of damage? That there's no weakness to it?"
"Well, when the walls were created, the king informed us that any attacks with the prospect of harming the kingdom wouldn't have any effect. That only attacks or weapons of 'holy' narure, baring no ill, could work against the walls." The Knight of the Lake informed Peko. "Despite not having been present during that siege if The Blight on the Holy City, I presume that the walls were brought down by the king's sacred lance, no? Rhongomyniad, known as the Holy Lance. Only with a weapon of the same construct, nature and power as Rhongomyniad would be able to tear the walls apart." Finishing speaking, Lancelot's mind to a sudden realization. "Wait! That means-"
"We already got the solution right here." Arthur speaked up, calling out his legendary sword to materialize. "Excalibur, the Holy Sword, cut from the same cloth as Rhongomyniad and the King of Knights main and most famous weapon. There is no greatest option such as this one if we want to breach the walls."
"Specially in the posession of another Arthur Pendragon." Peko replied, glad to see the others were getting on the same conclusion as he. "King Arthur here is the perfect counter to the walls sturdiness!"
"Basically, fighting fire with fire! That may be able to work out." Da Vinci approved, now having found a solution to the wall's defense question thanks to Peko.
"That one was well thought, Peko!" Romani congratulated the boy for coming up with that. "Saved us a lot of time into coming up with something else."
Peko chuckled a bit shyly at the praise. "H-Happy to help and contribute here!"
"Now that problem is out of the way, let's move onto other aspects about our operation." Romani continued to talk. "Apart from the Lion King, we're gonna have to be careful with the knights of the Round Table that remained by her side. They will most surely stand in our way as though opponents."
Lancelot, hearing about that, immediatly talked to participate. "Each one of them have unique abilities of their own. They won't be that easy to overcome, very likely to be our biggest obstacle standing between us and the Lion King. However, there is one knight in particular that I think we should be extremly careful with."
"Who?" Peko asked to the Knight of the Lake.
"Agravain." Lancelot responded, his eyes full of seriousness and apprehension as he referred the knight in black armor. "He may not be the most physical of us knights when confrontations occur, always opting to be behind the lines if possible. Yet, his expertise in strategy and cunning and rigid behaviour is nothing to be underestimated."
"Any reason in particular for why we should be more careful with him?" Da Vinci wanted to know why Lancelot seemed to specifically warn them only about Agravain.
"Because, and even if it might as well not be, I have great suspicions that Agravain is controlling and commanding the Lion King behind the scenes." Lancelot expresses his concerns.
"I'm aware that everyone's general feelings with him at the table sure weren't the best, but you seem to have some sort of grudge by the way you speak of Agravain." Romani replied to Lancelot, thinking whether or not the Knight of the Lake was wrong for perceiving Agravain as a manipulator of the Lion King.
"But I do not." Lancelot told to the doctor. "Despite his 'grueling' personality, every knight worth their salt would be a fool to not see the value Agravain's dedication and mentality contributed to Camelot's prosperity. He was a fundamental piece to the kingdom's stability. Hence why...you could say his death was the kickstart to Camelot's fall." His voice was a bit hesitant, remembering who was the one responsible for having killed Agravain in the first place. "However, a man like him is always seeking to have control and authority to some degree in whatever he can put his hands on. The thought of a kingdom continuing to exist without his administration is egregious to him."
Peko however had his doubts about that. "You sure? While I agree that Agravain always striked as someone who wants to have everyone in line and boss on everything that he can around from the time I got to spent with him, he is also super loyal to the Lion King, so I'm not sure if he was actually playing a long game of manipulation all this time."
"The way you described him, it is also identical to my own Sir Agravain." Arthur speaked to Lancelot. "Very stickler by the rules and law, wanting to make sure that the kingdom was always doing great in all its sectors. Paperwork would majorily be handled by him. Howbeit, I can testify that Agravain, despite his austere demeanor, would always show his loyalty and duty for the kingdom and myself, his king, being almost fervent about it. If your Sir Agravain is the same as mine, then it is almost unthinkable to me as it is for Sir Agravain himself." The King of Knights concluded after discribing his own version of Agravain to the others.
"Yeah. Analyzing his background through the arthurian tales, he ends up becoming one of the closest knights of Arthur Pendragon. If you told to someone who was into the myths, that later on there is a traitor and usurper amongst the table in the story, very few would consider Agravain." Romani also gave his opinion, thinking that Lancelot's assumption was off-target. "Agravain would never dare to betray Arthur Pendragon."
"And that's were you get it wrong." Lancelot replied. "For if what we're theorizing is correct, then the Lion King isn't actually our king. And Agravain, being as intelligent as he is, realized that by now..."
"Then he isn't serving his actual king, bearing no loyal bonds with her." Da Vinci concluded, getting at what Lancelot was trying to say now. "Therefore, all of his pledge and servitude to the Lion King has been nothing but an act."
"Exactly!" Lancelot said. "While I too avow that Agravain isn't a knight that could backstab our king, Arthur Pendragon, he certainly wouldn't feel the same level of loyalty for a ruler that is wearing the skin of the true king he truly beloves."
"I'm not quite getting it." Peko said. "If Agravain vouches so much for the king he actually used to serve, and is aware that the Lion King is not the actual Arthur Pendragon, the thought and fact that someone else is impersonating the liege he actually pledged loyalty to would most certainly piss him off. So, why is he still standing by the Lion King's side as her right hand man instead of changing sides the moment he realized he is working for a faker?"
"Agravain is a complicated man." Lancelot told to the boy. "Despite his loyalty, he spent the first years of his life under the wing of his nefarious, witchful mother, Morgan. Originally, he was sent to become a knight amongst our king's ranks in order to assassinate him as per the order of Morgan after all. And while he may have abandoned all of those initial plans and got a change of heart as time went on under the king's companionship, it is undeniable that some of Morgan Le Fay's influence shaped Agravain's personality of today as a rigid and calculous man. Despite possibly not desiring to serve the Lion King, the thought of ruling a revitalized Camelot would sound delightful to him as Agravain also values the kingdom, wanting what's good for the nation and its people. However, most likely with him rulling over instead of a figure mimicking the real king Arthur we used to follow."
"Then you're implying that Agravain most than likely just using the Lion King as means to rebuilt and strenghten a new Camelot to the point it becomes invincible to then, when the moment strikes, usurp her and take the throne for himself, becoming in his own eyes, the rightful ruler of the kingdom?" Romani tried to guess if that's what Lancelot was trying to meant.
"By all means, it can be. There was barely a single order that was executed without Agravain's supervision and knowledge first." Lancelot said, remembering of how much the knight in black armour used to get right next to the Lion King, always counseling and advising her, always nearby, making sure to be aware of everything that was happening in the kingdom and its surroundings. Like a parasite who wants to take hold of its host, slowly taking their autonomy. "It wouldn't be unreasonable to say that he already has some hold on the Lion King."
"Agravain's loyalty being an actual ruse, eh? It wouldn't exactly be out of the realm of possibilities." Da Vinci pondered. "Still, it is only an assumption we're making here. If Agravain is indeed planning on betraying the Lion King at the end, perhaps there could be clues about it along the way rather than mere supposition."
"I too do not like to judge knights of the Round Table as dishonest and unfaithful, even if they are not my own." Arthur said, looking to the Knight of the Lake in the eyes. "Sir Agravain here is an enemy. But, is he also what Sir Lancelot thinks him to be?"
Receiving the glare of gravity from Arthur, Lancelot knew the King of Knights wanted him to respond in earnest his actual opinion about Agravain. To be sure of what he was stating. And the Knight of the Lake couldn't be any surer. "King Arthur, my mind is of no uncertainty...
Present
...that Agravain is a manipulator planning to betray the Lion King."
Walking inside the halls of the castle, Lancelot was quick reaching to the place in a short time, knowing well the Holy City's layout and taking some shortcuts in order to reach the castle in no time after going upwards from layer after layer. For the mission in holding the entery zone of the city done, Lancelot's goal now was but one: putting a stop to Agravain and knock him out of the board. For he knew of the importance Agravain held in all of this as the second-in-command and possible mastermind behind the curtains, using the Lion King for his own end goal. That's what the Knight of the Lake thought, his suspicions on his fellow knight having been ever growing, always assuming the knight in black armour was up to no good behind all of his facade of 'devotion' and 'commitment' to the Lion King.
In Lancelot's eyes, Agravain was an independent threat on his own, aiming to be the one on top at the end, revealing his true dark side that was nurtured in his childhood by Morgan. And it was up to him to cut off that danger before it was too late. And knowing well Agravain, there was only but one place where the right-hand man of the Lion king could possibly be, being a very good spot to have a general view of the Holy City, for someone like Agravain to oversee it under his conduct.
Heading torwards some tall gates at the end of the wall he was walking, Lancelot pulled out his sword, Arondight, ready for what was about to come next. "It ends here!"
Continuing to look down upon entire city blocks below ever so attentively as a looming superintendent, Agravain had stopped hearing majority of the explosions axross the Holy City as the middle afternoon sky splashed its light on the kingdom, now a giant battlefield of ruins.
Whether it was good or bad news, Agravain couldn't be sure for certain. All that he could, was to hope that it were signs that Gawain, Mordred and Tristan were carrying out their tasks and cleansing the enemies left and right, not allwoing to any of them to even reach close the castle and the Lion King. After the collapse of the tower of light, direct confrontation and interference was the last thing his king needed. And Agravain, alongside the other knights, would make sure that wouldn't come to fruition, Agravain himself being the last line of defense that separated the enemies from climbing to the tallest tower of the the castle, where Lion King was located.
Behind him, in the room, a full squad of soldier knights lying in waiting for the case that an enemy entered the room, also protecting the path ahead alongside their superior. Yet, as the wind blew against his face and the banners hanged just on top of the balcony's entrance, the knight couldn't help but feel that something was about to happen. That something, being right now.
"!" Sensing the movement of someone entering, Agravain's head quickly turned to the left as he saw all of the windows and wall from that side being slashed in half, the attack coming torwards him, prompting him to block with his bare iron gauntlent, managing to parry the hit altough it made him lose a bit of balance. Before Agravain could even comprehend what was happening, the banner in top of him fell, obstructing his vision as he tried to take it off, blocking his eyes from spotting the Knight of the Lake, Lancelot, right at the balcony's entrance.
With Agravain temporarily occupied with the banner, Lancelot took the opportunity to kill him, taking out a deep breath as he stepped outside into the balcony, aiming to slice the other knight with his sword.
However, right when Arondight pierced through the banner's texture, the sword came to a forced halt, standing a few centimeters away from Agravain's face who stared at the weapon with a small breath of relief, his red chains having restrained Lancelot's hand and sword before he could've striked him. Now the two knight came to a short standstill, Agravain's back pressed against the balcony's railling while Lancelot's sword was being held back by the other knight's chains, the cut off banner flying away and into the city below.
"You won't be plotting any further, Agravain." Lancelot condemned Agravain, his glare sharp and focused on the enemy in front of him. "Sooner or later, your obscure schemes would be brough to light."
From the room he had entered, Lancelot had swiftly taken down all of the soldier knights within, having impaled them with their own weapons, the entire room now in shambles.
"The Lion King will no longer be used to be the puppet of your plans." Lancelot said, gaining an affronted but mostly composed glare of Agravain, eyeying the Knight of the Lake as if he was blabbering an alien language. Whether he was acting indignated or not, Lancelot was sure that Agravain was one and needed to be put down. "This is the end of the line for you, traitor!"
And that was a label that Agravain couldn't stand.
Fate Grand Order/Divine Realm of the Round Table:Camelot Ost- Piano Movement for Four Hands
Releasing the chains, Agravain backed off Lancelot, the Knight of the Lake slidding to the interior of the room. The candles of a nearby chandelier falling off into the ground, burning other fallen banners, beggining a huge fire inside.
"Me? A traitor? Like you?" From the wall of fire, the menacing and frightening sillhouette of Agravain walked out, his body and armour not affected by the flames as the knight's eyes shinned a dooming red, picking up a long battle axe. "Heh, hehehehehehe HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Agravain let out an hysterical laughter, finding ironic and upsetting the fact of Lancelot, of all the knights, having the nerve of calling him a traitor. "I can't stop laughing...from all that nonsense you spew!" He yelled, being entirely fed up with Lancelot, being the last straw of his patience with the Knight of the Lake.
"Eternal Arms Mastery!"
Putting himself in a defensive position, lancelot blocked the violent tackle Agravain made on him, having charged with the battle axe torwards Lancelot's direction, the impact shattering all of the windows and walls of the room as the fire engulfed the entire area, surrounding the two knight's.
"I didn't made and endured sacrifices upon sacrifices in the name of His Majesty just for you, of all the warriors who sat at the table, accuse me of treason!" Agravain exclaimed, his desire to rip Lancelot apart being greater than ever. He wouldn't be holding his temperance and cool anymore. "I genuinely despise you, Lancelot."
"Tsk! What is this entire raw strenght Agravain picks up coming from?" Lancelot cleenched his teeth as he felt Arondight being pushed back by Agravain's weapon. "He was the only knight in here to have not received a Gift from the Lion King when we ended up siding with her! So how come he be battling on equal footing?"
"Die!" Agravain shouted, his red chains descending on Lancelot who still managed to react with precision, deflecting one away and dodging from the rest.
"Is the anger he's feeling torwards me what's fueling him? Akin to some type of Madness Enchantement?" Lancelot wondered as he got up, seeing Agravain walk progressingly torwards him, his heavy footsteps fitting Agravain's current behaviour, the knight in black armour passing the shar edge of the axe on the ground.
"I had enough of putting up with a wastrel like you." Agravain's voice speaked full of scorn for the Knight of the Lake, the red chains forming right above him. "This time, I will slaughter you like the infidel scum that you are!"
"Hmmm...Eeeh...What's...happening?"
Waking up from her nap, Nala opened her eyes to find herself lying in a small shelter made out of debris, hearing the faint noises of the war continuing on the Holy City in the distance.
"Did I...Did I took some sleep?" Nala asked to herself as she brought a hand to her still sleepy head, noticing that her armour was still on. Walking out from the shelter, the girl stepped into a street of the Holy City, looking to all the collpased buildings and smokes from the fights around. Nala wondered why she was even there in the first place, her mind trying to remember what happened before she fell asleep. That's when her fight with Mordred surged in her head.
"Ah! I remember now!" Nala looked to the shelter she was previously resting on. "After the fight with her and Sanzang telling me to leave the rest with her, I walked away from the place of the battle. Feeling quite exhausted, I ended up slipping into this small hideout and take some rest...for longer than I was wishing to."
Having reiterated everything to herself, Nala stretched her arms, feeling the energy that was spent fighting off the Knight of Treachery partially coming back. "Good thing that the armour is still with me as well." Looking at her own hands, her mind still lingering on her recent battle, Nala's lips curled into a smile. "And I finally got my own Noble Phantasm..."
Bringing her arms down, Nala then proceeded to focus on more important that were happening currently. "Alright! Can't have much time partying now!" She said to herself, looking up to the tall castle towering over everything else at the center of the Holy City. "Uh? That huge pillar of light is gone! That means Ozymandias and Nitocris destroyed it! Is the war over then? We won?" Nala thought hopeful before thinking more deeply. "...No. If that was the case, people would have stopped fighting already. The others must still be on their way to the Lion King. I must hurry and join them if I wanna help as well!"
With that goal set, Nala begun to head to wherever she assumed to be the path leading to the upper layer from the onw she was presently in. Thankfully, being in her armour made her run faster through the streets, expecting to not take much time to reach her group as it would if she wasn't in her ascension state. Unfortunately, it never could be that simple, as Nala would soon bump into an obstacle right around the corner.
"Wah!" The girl yelped whe she came face to face with an enemy batallion that was also on their way to another location of the battlefield. Both Nala and the soldiers stood speechlessly staring to one another.
"..."
"..."
"H-Hey...Isn't she...?"
"I think she is."
"U-Uhmmm, what? You think I'm an enemy?" Nala giggled a bit nervously, trying to act oblivious and pure. "I-I'm just a lost innocent girl in all of this. Could you plea-"
"Charge! Don't give her any chance!"
"She's dangerous! We have to deal with her quick!"
The soldier knights suddenly exclaimed, all of them jumping torwards Nala in order to incapacitate her, much to her bother.
"You didn't even let me finish!" She exclaimed, easily stepping out of the way by jumping upwards and landing behind the entire batallion, in the next second drawing out her sword and with a single slash, knock down all of the enemies in front of her. "I don't like people stalling my time." She pouted, guarding her sword, about to go back to be on her way to the castle on the top.
"The noises of battle came from here! Hurry!"
"We must bring every single one of the king's enemies down the moment we encounter them!"
"Huh?" Looking to her right, Nala saw a new wave of soldier knights arriving to the area, much to her frustration. "Seriously? Of all the places in this darn city, you had to come here? Uff, fine! Come and get it then!"
But before Nala could start throwing blows at the enemies, fast projectiles like shooting stars descended from above and bombarded the second batallion of soldier knights, blowing them away, much to Nala's confusion. "What a-"
"Glad to find you here sis!" From another entrance to the area, Peko appeared behind Nala, coming to her aid.
"Peko?! You're here?!" Nala said in surprise before seeing her brother in a new outfit: a silver shinning knight armour, almost identical to hers. "And...you got your own 'Ascension' too?"
"We talk about that later!" Peko said, focusing on more enemies incoming. "Let's deal with what's in front of us first!"
"An easy agree!" Nala replied, as both she and Peko went into confrontation against the soldier knight, engaging in the fight. One that didn't last very long.
Being both with their armour and teaming up, the twins were able to end the battle in no time, dispatching all of the soldier knights easily, combining both their skills and attacks, Nala getting to have a look at Peko's new abilities. After barely even a minute, the battle was over.
"And this was all of 'em!" Nala said after bringing down the last enemy, letting out an exhausted breath. "Phew! Dealing with them feels like padding at this point."
"Leigheas!"
Casting a spell, Peko used it to heal any tiredness Nala could be feeling at the moment. "There. This should help a bit."
"Thank you, Peko." Nala thanked him in reaction before checking his armour again. "So, new armour and everything, eh?"
"Yep! Pretty cool, isn't it?" Peko smiled to her. "I finally got to unlock it on my fight against Gawain."
"You fought Gawain?" Nala was impressed upon hearing that. "You fought him and survive? Wow! I think I can't barely put it into words." She said, feeling a bit proud in listening about the fact Peko had a battle against the Knight of the Sun and had most likely came out of it as the winner.
"Well, I didn't do it all alone. I think I had some help, despite not knowing from who exactly." Peko responded, not having been aware of the First Hassan's presence during his battle with Gawain. "And your battle with Mordred? By the looks of it, I assume you managed to defeat her."
Nala put up a prideful smug all of a sudden. "Of course I did! I had to after all. And guess what? I defeated her by using my very own Noble Phantasm for the first time no less!"
"What? No way!" Peko replied, hugely astonished. "Then those huge curtains of light were-"
"Yes! Yours truly, me!" Nala said, continuing with her superior smirk. "Not bad that you got your own armour now brother, but you still have loads of training to do to reach my level one day. How does it makes you feel hearing that?"
"Heh, well, guess I will have to train even harder if I want to reach you then." Peko said, being totally humble about it, not seeming upset at all.
A fact that slightly staggered Nala as the smirk was cleaned from her face the moment she heard that. It was amazing how Peko could act mature and nicely sometimes. She replaced the smirk with a more sisterly smile. "And I hope you show it right in front of me when that day comes."
Peko gave the same type of smile to Nala. "Yeah. Now, let's proceed to head to the castle. Ritsuka, Mash and the rest must still be on their way to the Lion King." Peko said, looking to the giant castle ahead. "Fortunately, I still must remember a bit of the path to her throne room. Can't waste time anylonger!...Not after I was dozing off for some minutes." He said that last part with some shame, lowly.
"Ah, Peko, Peko, Peko. Sleeping during a time like this? What a slack-off that you are!" Nala 'rebuked' him with a sly smile. "And that's a factor for why I am *yawn* way ahead of you."
"Did you just yawned?" Peko gave a judging look to his sister.
"N-N-No?" Nala closed her mouth, anxiety all over her face at the thought she let out a yawn escape.
"You did! You were also asleep some minutes ago, weren't you?" Peko said, catching her lie red handed before having Nala grabbing him by the hand. "H-Hey!"
The girl immediatly tried to make him ignore that topic. "Like you said, let's get going to the Lion King's castle!"
"Hunf!"
Having his body blasted through a wall, an injured Lancelot eyed down Agravain walking across the hall, also injured, sending more chains to attack the Knight of the Lake, with Lancelot blocking all of them except one that tied around his ankle, much to Lancelot's dismay. "Kgh!"
With a simple hand gesture, Agravain made the chain around Lancelot's ankle move, throwing the knight's body around the hall, hitting against the columns before sending Lancelot torwards the ceilling at high speed. Managing to cut off the chain fron his foot before being slammed into the ceilling, Lancelot used his sword to prevent the direct impact of his body, proceeding to then fall from above, positioning Arondight in a position that would cut down Agravain once Lancelot landed.
Observing the enemy approaching from the air, Agravain called more of his red chains to pierce the Knight of the Lake as Lancelot was getting closer to him.
"Knight of the Lake!"
Powering his blade, gaining a blue shine, Lancelot cut off the chains and broke through Agravain's defense, surprising the knight in black armour, landing a great hit on him.
"Gah!" Agravain coughed some blood as parts of his armour were destroyed by Lancelot's Arondight.
"You're finished, Agravain!" Lancelot exclaimed, about to land a fatal blow on the other knight if it wasn't for Agravain's quick reaction, blocking the attack with the battle axe, gaining some distance between the two.
"Dying before you, Lancelot? I shall not allowed it! Until I not see your body fade after dead, my mind will keep urging my body to continue even if dismantled!" Agravain shouted, the blood stained on his face emphasizing how Agravain, the usually cold and collected knight, had now slowly lost his composture, all the stress of the work and responsability catching up to him as well as the war and Lancelot's betrayal. "You were plotting with that damned imposter of the king all this time, weren't you?"
"Has there ever been a moment of glee in your entire life, Agravain? I got so used to always seen you as a stoic and bitter calculist who'd rather spent entire nights regulating the kingdom's tasks than sleep and rest that now seeing you with actual rage and bloodthirst amazes me!" Lancelot speaked, having hardly, if not even, seen this side of Agravain before. "You can show other emotions after all. I wonder what a type of man like you feels joy with! Will it be my death to bring you a smile?"
"Emotions? Yes. I could always express them." Agravain said in a low, guttural voice. "Unlike our king, those frivolous things were never deprived from me neither erased. I just knew how to conceal them well, like my 'mother' teached me." A slumbering ire begun to awaken in Agravain's face. "How she teached me the emotion of hate. I hated her, for being the despicable and ignoble filthy witch that she was, having the audacity to groom and send me to kill the king I admire so much! How much I hate that harlot of a wife that committed adultery on the king's back with no other but the supposedly 'honrable' Knight of the Lake, Lancelot!" He shouted, memories of his past, discovery of the affair and follow-up of his death flashing through Agravain's mind, the knight wearing a crazed expression of hatred on his face.
"I hate women." Agravain said, his mind not going away from those painful moments. "I hate those who lie, manipulate, backstab and corrupt dignified knights with their silver-tongues and charming bodies! That conspire against a king and cause the downfall of a kingdom! I swore to myself to never let such levels of impurity to wither my judgement and resolve! That's what differs us in the end, Lancelot!" Agravain exclaimed, creating bigger and more agressive chains that sprinted all the way torwards the Knight of the Lake, tearing the floor apart.
"Then I was wrong!" Lancelot concluded as the ground beneath him crumble, the two knights now being in a free fall from one of the castle's towers. "Agravain never had the intention of using nor betraying the Lion King! He clearly despises it above all else!" The Knight of the Lake admitted to himself that his suspicions on Agravain being a traitorous manipulator were mistaken. But whether it was because Agravain wasn't yet aware of the Lion King's true nature or was really just devoted to this king of his, Lancelot couldn't tell.
Landing onto a falling plataform, Lancelot recovered his balance as he saw Agravain approaching, landing on it as well and engaging in close combat, the two's weapons clashing almost non-stop, dodging and blocking hits as well as making sure to not fall off of the plataform, the last hours of the afternoon shinning on them.
"I suffered and bled for Camelot." Agravain sliced down an incoming boulder that had stepped into the middle of their confrontation, proceeding to continue the fight. "I took great measures for the kingdom's prosperity and abided by our majesty's orders respectfully. All of that..." Upon another clash, the plataform gave in and fragmented, making both Agravain and Lancelot to fall into a bridge that was also partially destroyed from the falling debries. "...like you said..." With the battle axe shattered after hitting against Lancelot's Arondight, Agravain pulled out his sword and clashed its blade against the one of his enemy. "...to be a traitor, manipulating His Majesty as a puppet."
The bridge soon begun to collapse as well as the two knights continue to trade blows onto each other, Agravain continuing his speech. "That I think king Arthur Pendragon is nothing more than a week and incompetent ruler."
Lightning up his blade, Lancelot slashed a blue line on the ground, exploding Agravain away alongside the bridge's debris, with Lancelot landing in safe territory as he witnessed the building crumble in front of him.
"When in actuality, the king is..."
Feeling the trembling of the floor he was standing on, Lancelot was suddenly surprised by the red chains that sprouted from the ground, chaining both his arms and holding the limbs down.
"...the ideal governor!" From the dust, and gesturing with his naked arm, Agravain utilized his chains to rope a huge part of a falling building, directing it torwards Lancelot. "The personification of a king I always dreamed to serve! Even if his heart and emotions are amiss!"
Catching sight of the approaching building, Lancelot branced himself for the impact as it collided against him, sending the Knight of the Lake into the interior of another building, dimly-lit. Parts of his armour also partially broken now.
"A dream of a kingdom and king that got sullied, as you treaded upon it, because of this so-called love of yours! Haven't I warned you about second chances?!" Agravain's rageful voice echoed through the room as Lancelot walked cautiously torwards its center, his guard up for any upcoming attack Agravain could do next. "This is what you deserve. You have betrayed my king once more."
As Agravain's disgusted voice finished speaking, the walls of the entire room begun to fade and dissapear, entering the golden light of the afternoon, Lancelot spotting the other knight a few meters away from him, the red chaing surrounding Agravain as he prepared to unleash it: his Noble Phantasm. The ceilling of the chamber also went away, giving place to giant black and red figures of soldier knights forming into the air, being molded by Agravain as they all were falling down torwards Lancelot.
The Knight of Commandment's trump card.
"Ferric Fist of Dogmatic Law: Iron Commandments!"
An enormous army of enchanced and rageful soldier knights appeared behind Agravain, the Knight of Commandment and his men charging all torwards their single enemy, Lancelot, whie floating in the air.
Seeing the enormous crowd of opponents on his way after managing to dodge from the giant soldier knights, Lancelot didnt gave up to the pressure and instead decided to face them head on. Slicing and killing some of the soldier knights more close to him, Lancelot then magically called his horse with a whistling and together, they begun to ride torwards the enormous wave of enemies in the air.
The biblical type of clash about to happen...only to be interrupted by an invading darkness that shattered the light, killing off the momentum.
"Hm?"
"What?"
As both Lancelot's horse and Agravain's Noble Phantasm dissapeared after being swallowed by the dark, the two knights fell helplessly to the distant ground below them, Lancelot falling onto a higher ground while Agravain fell into the middle of the giant circular room with the tall gates in front of him.
"Ghg...ghng...what happened..?" Lancelot, weaken and a bit dazzed by the fall, had some difficulty in getting up but overall managed to after some effort. Hearing a grumbling noise, the Knight of the Lake looked down to spot Agravain also trying to get up.
"Nghghh...Ghnng!..." While doing his best in getting on his feet and eventually succeeding, Agravain wouldn't have too much time to think however, as some dark portals begun to appear around him, darkness softly filling up the arena he was in. "Eh? What's this?" Looking to his surroundings, Agravain didn't had to question much longer, as very soon, demonic dogs, like the ones he had fought previously during the siege of The Blight, appeared. "Hm? These things again? Is the Holy City under The Blight's attack right in the middle of the war?" He questioned while adopting a serious glaze to the recent and numerous canine enemies that had him surrounded.
"Those creatures again..." Lancelot murmured as he watched the demonic hounds slowly approaching the Knight of Commandment.
Despite his guard being up and his will to fight unwavering, Agravain was not a fool. He knew that in such weakened and damaged state his body was in as well as the numerical disadvantage, that he much likely would meet his end here. Still, Agravain opted to not falter. If he was going down, it would be fighting and honouring his king he pledged his whole existence to.
"Grr, filthy dogs...Come and fight then!" Agravain shouted, slicing down the first demonic hound that jumped torwards him. And then the second, third and forth, his adrenaline and skills managing to keep it up so far. However, it didn't matter how much of a skillful knight Agravain was, he eventually got bitten by one of the demonic dogs in his leg and another one that jumped on his shoulder. "Agh! D-Dammit!" Shouting, the Knight of Commandment pushed the pain away as he stabbed the dog who bitten his leg and then grabbing and kicking the other fiendish canine that attacked his shoulder onto other dogs, now having more difficulty to keep them all away from him.
Seeing the dreading situation that had no escape for Agravain, Lancelot, being on a safe area, decided to begin walking away, knowing that the demonic dogs would do the rest of the job.
"You bastards want a piece of me! Then over my dead body first!" Agravain screamed, slicing and kicking more of the dogs around him as they continued to attack him, delivering scratches and bite marks on his body.
"..."
"For the king, I shall always die fighting! You can bite and tear my organs apart...!" Agravain exclaimed, swinging his sword around against the several opponents that were taking turns to assault him. "You can maul my entire body that as long as my heart still beats, this knight will stand tall with his pride and honor!"
"..." Still walking away, Lancelot could hear all of Agravain's talking and supposedly last words, wanting to fight for his king till the very hand. Such determination in him as a knight...was hesitating Lancelot's steps.
"AAAH! GRRAAAH!" Fighting almost mindlessly, Agravain continued to relentlessly slash and attack whatever demonic hound he could see in front of him, his remaining strenght feeling to expire. "I'M SIR AGRAVAIN! KNIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLE! ONE THAT PRODULY SERVES ARTHUR PENDRAGON, KING OF KNIGHTS! HIS DREAM IS MY DREAM! AND I WON'T LET IT BE TAINTED BY DISGUSTING CREATURES LIKE YOU! SO TRY AND KILL ME! I WILL NOT DEFILE YOU MY LIEGE'S UTOPIA!"
"..." Lancelot bitten his own lips, trying to ignore Agravain's last stand as his words of persevearence in face of impending doom were reminding Lancelot of the values of a knight.
"MY PLEDGE SHALL REMAIN IMMORTAL EVEN IF YOU KILL ME! YOU AWFUL CREATURES DEATHS ARE GOING TO BE MY LAST TASK UNDER MY NOBLE KING'S CAPE!" Agravain yelled at top of his lungs as he summoned his chains around himself as many dogs now jumped on him.
Meanwhile, the leaving Lancelot, the once perceived as honrable knight, was a few meters away from the room's exit. Yet, a pain and guilt on his chest grew alongside Agravain's screams.
"It made me see that the Knight of the Lake of this timeline was one with conviction and sense to do what is right."
"Despite of the flaws you commited on your past life, I'm happy that deep down, you have a good heart, Lancelot."
"!"
"Gargh..! Agh..!" Even to his best efforts, Agravain couldn't keep going much further, falling to his knees as the demonic dogs preyed on him, seeing that their enemy's energy to fight had mostly died down. Now it was just finishing him. Agravain closed his eyes, having given his all. "May thy utopia, be the purest of lands, Your Majesty..."
Yet, his death didn't came, instead the noise of a slash and explosion, shortly followed by the dying whines of the demonic hounds, entered the Knight of Commandment's ears.
"Hm? What?" Opening is eyes, Agravain found himself still alive, much to his own astonishment.
"Get up, Agravain." Standing in front of him, Lancelot was wielding Arondight splendidly, having prevented the enemies from having killed Agravain. "I am not going to let these dogs take away my chance of killing you."
"Y-You..." Agravain's eyes widdened as he realized the Knight of the Lake had been the one that saved him right now. "But why?"
"Once these dogs are done with you, they will certainly come after me next. So why just not deal with them all now?" Lancelot replied, giving a cheeky smile to Agravain. Deep down, maybe he really couldn't let another fellow knight to die in such cruel situation.
Agravain just huffed to that, getting up from the ground. "Don't think I'll be greatful after this, Lancelot. I'm still planning to kill you."
"Feeling is mutual." Lancelot replied, as now he and Agravain stood by each other's side, about to face the horde of demonic enemies, lashing out at the duo.
Despite having tried to kill each other in a fight literally minutes ago, now having to unite forces in order to get out of this situation, Lancelot and Agravain were making a great team, both with each other's back and not giving any edge to the demonic dogs that were trying to attack them non-stop. After a long and arduous battle that seemed to have taken forever in order to survive, the knight duo managed to bring down the last enemy, emptying the circular arena, where now only the two of them remained.
"Finally..." Agravain sighed as the exhaustion made him fell to his knees once more, the pain and wounds in his body being detrimental, the Knight of Commandment taking some breath in order to recover stamina.
"Here." Lancelot said simply and shortly, standing in front of Agravain, surprising the other knight once again as he offered Agravain his hand in order to get up from the ground.
A bit incredulous and even considering a bit, Agravain ended up accepting Lancelot's aid. "What...do you exactly want here, Lancelot?" Agravain questioned the other knight, wondering why now he was being courteous with him when they were fighting against one another not too long ago.
"An honrable fight with a dignified ending." Lancelot responded, being truly honest about it. If it was to put an end to Agravain, then it should be with the blade of his Arondight.
"You're laughable..." Agravain responded with his usual coldness, thinking how ludicrous it was that the knight who had betrayed them for a second time, was now wanting to give a 'honrable' and 'dignified' fight.
"Hm. I'm aware I have some problems." Lancelot smiled, not taking badly Agravain's comment. "Simply, I think every knight, no matter how one might perceive him, should be allowed to have a death worthy of the code."
"..." Agravain didn't knew if he should either smile, laugh, yell or immediatly kill Lancelot after hearing him saying that. To think that at a time like this, the Knight of the Lake could somewhat impress him. "Then it shall be so, Lancelot."
However, before the two could restart the final act of their fight, loud thumps came from the tall gates in front of them, demonic noises and howls coming from the other side as some darkness begun to slip through the crack in the middle of the two doors as they were trying to be violently open, putting the two knights on alert.
"It seems this ain't actually over yet!" Lancelot said, putting his sword ready. "There are more to come!"
"Reinforcements most surely." Agravain also readied his sword, standing next to Lancelot in front of the gates that were banging louder. "These demons won't rest until we're dead! I hope that the king is doing well."
"Then better survive and check on him yourself. You wouldn't want to die first before me, would you?" Lancelot teased Agravain.
"Not on my best interests." Agravain replied. "Lancelot, as much as it pains me to tell it, just for this small moment, you and I are back to being comrades and fellow knights."
"Then I shall give it my all. Try to keep on, Agravain." Lancelot replied before his eyes going back to stare to the gates in front of them, about to burst open with a wave of relentless demons at any moment now. The tight on his Arondight firm and ready, the Knight of the Lake ready to die fighting here, believing that his son, or rather, 'daughter', Bedivere and the chaldeans could stop the Lion King.
"Galahad, my child. Your father has commited many grave sins throughout his life. Honestly, what I did and the ruin I brought, must have gave you such shame and misery as it did to the people of our kingdom, our king and fellow knights. I'm flawed. Not honrable. I wronged you and Camelot as a nation. I hope for one day, you might accept me back as your father. Or maybe that day will never come. Altough, whether that happens or not..."
And the gates opened, the brave knights welcoming the dooming demons.
"My path to redemption will start today!"
.
.
.
The skies above the Holy City and the Singularity had been overtaken by a looming, vast darkness, tainting the colours of the sky with only the solo tone of the pitch-black, covering the setting afternoon sun into a starless and dooming night of no features, not a single glimmer of light able to trespass the curtain of the void to shine on the Holy City. A period of utter darkness.
A perfect opportunity, casted by the clothed figure who was walking on the rooftop of a watch-tower near the castle of the Lion King, its plans to engulf the light, and prevent another chance of the sacred tower, Rhongomyniad, of being summoned, having been recently enacted. The figure's goals could not coexist with the Lion King's utopia.
"For rebirth to commence, everything in existence must be swallowed by darkness."
The figure's plural voices spoken, gazing at the tall tower of the castle, being its target. However, the figure was aware that for every arduous goal, there would be at least on individual on its way to foil the plans.
"Deciding to show up now that everyone else is occupied and the two sides at war? A smart move of you, I must confess." From behind the figure, standing on the other end of the watch-tower rooftop, Arthur Pendragon brandished the bright golden blade of his sword, Excalibur. "But a Beast like you should always count on resistance from humanity's will, Man of Sin!"
To be continued...
And that was all for chapter 121!
Yep, ending last chapter of the year teasing an Arthur vs Man of Sin next chapter. What a way to end it as well as to begin 2025! But going to the actual meat and content of this chapter: Lancelot vs Agravain!
A thing that I found it odd when playing the game and reaching this section for the first time, is how we don't see how this fight ends nor Lancelot final moments, only cutting it back to Agravain then appearing all roughened up at the last scene of the Singularity, joining the Lion King. Like, Lancelot is just taken out of the way, no scene, dialogue or mention whatsoever. I mean, I comprehend that there isn't a need to always show the beggining and end of every fight, but I feel like Lancelot was made a bit dirty there (At least in the movie they give that last scene of him heading against Agravain countless army as a more telling way of 'yeah, he ain't surviving this')
Perhaps the intention of Nasu and the other writers of the time was really that. Lancelot was an unloyal knight to the king so he won't be getting ay fanfare or last words, whereas Agravain gets to have a farewell alongside the Lion King as display of his iron loyalty. But here I decided to be a bit more kind to Lancelot and give him a more 'honrable' last scene for him (yeah, he dies there to the demons, don't think there will be one more scene with him after that)
And talking about Agravain...Best Knight of the Round Table #Agravainrulz! End of discussion! But now, on a more serious note, I like Agravain as a character and I hope one day he stops being NPC jail oldest citizen and gets to be playable. Like, c'mon, at this point I just don't know why he isn't. I even wondered and theorized about that before, and even pondered that might could have been due to his polemic 'I hate women' line, which he doesn't say in the movies. But the thing is, and I know it might get a bit controversial now, I don't think Agravain actually hates women.
Like, not in the mysogenistic sense of 'A woman's place is in the kitchen!' but like stated on this chapter and in the game itself, due to his awful experiences with the women in his life, namely Morgan and Guinevere. And while yeah, we might love and adore Morgan, mind you that she's the Lostbelt version. The Proper Human History one, the one we see glimpses of in Mordred's backstory in Aporcrypha and all that stuff, yeah, sorry to say, but she's a complete bitch. Like there's no doubt that PPH Morgan is a terrible mother that used her children for her own gains, nothing to very little to do with the Morgan we knew on Avalon Le Fae. I hope that if she ever appears in the game and all, that FGO doesn't try to excuse her actions.
So I can't blame Agravain for having a shitty mother. As for Guinevere, it's also understandable. Imagine, years and years of many effort, devotion and dedication in administrating the kingdom and making sure it stays well and as good as ever only for it to fall down due to the wife of the king you love and pledge loyalty to, betraying him with another fellow knight and colleague you worked with. And being killed by that same colleague seconds after discovering the affair no less! So yeah, it's understandable overall why Agravain has a disliking for women. Which even then, it isn't necessarily all women but only to the ones of the same bad qualities of Morgan and Guinevere. I'm sure that like, normal women are pretty okay to him.
So yeah, while it's funny and cool to imagine Agravain as this 'based gigachad redpilled zoomer slang, zoomer slang, zoomer slang' dude has more depth than meets the eye and way beyond that. All in all, justice for my boy Agravain. He did nothing wrong but to be the best secretary a king may have.
Anyways, that's all I wanted to say and see you next time on chapter 122 and 2025! Peace!
P.S:
Peko (Homeless, lying on the cold snow outside): Christmas...A wonderful time of the year to be without job, house, everything...What an awful year...
Peko (Beggining to tear up): Maybe...I should just give up and-
Melusine (Appears): What are you even doing out here during Christmas, Peko? You'll get a cold that way!
Peko: H-Hum? Melusine? How did you know I was here?
Melusine (Pointing to someone behind her): He helped us out finding you.
Daybit (Doing thumbs up): I always look after my friends.
Peko: I have no idea who that is...But why do you even care about me, Melusine? You shouldn't spent Christmas worrying about someone worthless like me-wait. Did you said 'us'?
Melusine (giggling): What? You think I'd come looking for you alone?
Nala (appearing): See? I told you that my brother rarely used his head. He only has it to be a cute idiot that I adore!
Peko: S-Sis...
Mash: We've been knowing about your difficult financial situation for some time, Peko. So we wanted to spend this Christmas in cheering you up.
Kadoc: And what better way than to have everyone showing up to give you support? Tonight, you will dinner with all of us.
(Pans out to all of the Chaldea staff and servants behind them)
Da Vinci: We've baked all the types of cake that could be to your liking!
Goredolf: Made with love by the great cook himself no less!
Sion: We hope you enjoy them to your hearts content!
Holmes: Christmas is to create this moments of union and celebration with the ones we loved dearly the most after all.
Nemo: And after that, it will be time to unwrap the presents me and my marines spent the time making.
Peko(Getting emotional): G-Guys...
Ritsuka (Walking torwards him, handing a letter to Peko): To my little brother, Peko! The richest man in town!
Peko (Reads the message of the letter, starting to cry): T-Thank you...(Smiles, proceeding to hug Ritsuka while surrounded by the Chaldea team, the staff and everyone else) Thank you everyone for the merry christmas!