Chapter 174 Before Torrent had even steadied itself

Before Torrent had even steadied itself, Artoria said: “It is Vortigern. Vortigern destroyed the castle, and that giant is also his masterpiece!”

Braidin swayed as he stood, his expression dazed for a moment.

Only three days had passed, merely three days.

Vortigern had taken action himself?

He still remembered the last time he saw Vortigern take action: ten years ago, the decisive battle between King Uther and Vortigern.

Amidst the dragon’s roar of the White Dragon, countless elite Soldiers vanished from the world in an instant.

If Vortigern used that power again.

Who on earth could contend with him?

“Go, we must go…” King Braidin muttered, the last trace of stubbornness extinguished by the news brought by Artoria.

“Best to hurry!” Artoria replied.

As she spoke, the ground trembled again.

“Brother Kay, please help me go to yesterday’s room and get my luggage.”

In this critical moment, Kay did not raise any objections; he had just dismounted and was about to take a step.

“Hya!” Artoria rode Torrent away at full speed.

The horse’s hooves struck the palace’s marble floor, crisp and melodious.

“Hey!” Kay couldn’t stop her in time: “What are you going to do!”

There was no response, because the horse had already rushed out of the great hall.

Artoria rode Torrent all the way out of the palace; by now, the inner city was already crowded with people seeking refuge.

After seeing the first wall easily pushed over by the Stone Giant, people still wanted to pin their hopes on the inner city.

They just had nothing else to rely on.

The king’s palace and the inner city where the army was stationed were synonymous with sturdiness in their minds.

But the enemy was not the humans they imagined.

Moving against the surging crowd was a difficult task.

“Please make way!” Artoria’s request was drowned out by the noise of the crowd the moment it was uttered.

Torrent snorted, suddenly leaping onto the roof of a building beside the street, and Artoria immediately crouched on its back.

The spirit horse leaped on the roofs as if it had no weight. It leaped from red-tiled roofs, from wooden-shingled roofs, and could even leap from shacks and thatched huts, covering an astonishing distance each time.

It leaped over the inner city wall all the way, moving nimbly on the highest level of the city.

“Stop here, Torrent.”

Artoria dismounted on a slightly wider roof, gripping the scabbard tightly.

“Sorry for keeping you away from your master for so long.” The girl patted Torrent’s shoulder.

Torrent snorted and disappeared into thin air.

Artoria did not want to run.

She was going to become the King of Britain; a king should not be like this—at least, the King of Britain who pulled the sword of selecting kings should not be like this.

If she gave up a piece of land today because the enemy was strong, then in the future, she would surely give up another piece of land for the same reason.

It was like holding firewood to put out a fire; the only effect was to let the enemy’s power grow.

It was precisely because the enemy was strong that she must overcome it.

This was her destiny; it was Artoria’s destiny.

She must become the King of Britain.

Artoria drew the sword.

Usually, the sword in the stone, which did not react no matter what she tried, was trembling now.

“sword of selecting kings, grant me power!”

She swung the longsword.

But, just like in the past, the sword had no reaction.

The sword was saying: ‘This is not the moment of prophecy; you cannot release my power; your trial is not yet complete.’

The sword was resisting.

‘Because this is not the time of prophecy, this city was originally meant to be destroyed.’

The Stone Giant was still acting wantonly in the city.

The sky had turned dark, and the forest outside the city was burning, staining the horizon with a scarlet red.

The Stone Giant had no purpose other than destruction.

The magnificent palace stood on the hill, which the Stone Giant ignored, happily sweeping away the things in front of it.

That had once been people’s homes, shops in the city, or workshops in the city.

Those who could not escape in time were buried in the ruins.

People were crying.

The girl gritted her teeth tightly, almost biting them to pieces in her unwillingness.

“How much longer must it take?!” she questioned in a hoarse voice: “Be it the so-called trials or the qualifications, must I just watch all this happen until that moment arrives?!”

“It is clearly my own land, yet I have to give it up because I am weak.”

“If that chosen one does not appear, is the suffering endured by the people justified?”

Her heart was pounding with resentment.

“I have accepted the reality that I will die a miserable death; I have already drawn this sword and started living as a human—what else must I do?!”

The girl questioned that existence, located behind the scenes, manipulating everything from high above.

Magic surged toward the longsword in her hand; she could feel the restraints existing upon this sword.

“Miss Mia is fighting too, isn’t she? Even though Vortigern is my destiny, it is she who is fighting.”

“Are people’s wishes so fragile, so fragile that they must be protected by others?”

Break through it, break through that restraint!

Whether one is qualified to be a king, whether one is qualified to fight, whether one is qualified to save others.

It does not need the approval of anything!

“For the things I love.”

“Festival celebrations, people’s smiles, and delicious food… things like that, things one can never forget for a lifetime, things I want everyone to be able to do anytime, anywhere.”

Let this island be peaceful again, let the people on this island smile again.

This was Artoria’s wish.

Although I truly wish there were a wishing machine capable of granting every desire, such a thing does not exist.

Wishes must be realized with one’s own hands; if one merely begs for handouts from unknown entities, nothing can be accomplished!

Surging magical power blew up the corners of the girl’s skirt.

Pop~

The seal shattered.

‘To think… it was such a simple matter.’

It was just like a soap bubble bursting.

The ugly caterpillar broke through the cocoon to become a butterfly, breaking through the bindings that had restrained her.

The longsword was filled with golden radiance.

This was not just the liberation of this sword.

It was also the liberation of Artoria herself.

The Red Dragon of Britain finally awakened at this moment.

Power surged through her entire body.

The outburst of magical power drew the Stone Giant’s attention to this place.

It turned around clumsily.

The starlight infused into that sword by the fairies pulsed.

Golden starlight swirled around the girl.

“Precisely because there are so many smiles… let hope be revealed!”

Like the prophecy high above, launch a magnificent rebellion!

“Caliburn!!!”