【52】The End of Fantasy
What does the white knight look like when she is summoned?
She is petite, as pitiful as a beautiful girl like a lily, but she does not show a trace of inferiority or vulnerability. She is confident and beautiful, which makes people heart-throb.
When he later learned that she was actually King Arthur, Tony Stark really didn't believe it. But when she walked from the train car, with that dazzling sense of brilliance, that proud look, that convincing charisma, at that moment Tony felt that even if she was not King Arthur, she must be a noble hero.
In the end everything confirmed that she was indeed King Arthur.
In his dream, Tony watched the girl reach out and hold the sword. She didn't look afraid at all, and her face was full of hope.
Will King Arthur back down, become timid? He didn't think the other party would be such a person at all.
She is King Arthur. Even though she is just a girl, she is also the legendary King Arthur, the eternal king!
He did not ask Artoria why she had not thought about returning to Great Britain, nor did he ask Artoria what she thought of the outcome of everything.
It’s like children always say how can Captain America and Iron Man be afraid? How could they have an enemy they couldn't defeat? But in fact, Iron Man, who was "unafraid" after the battle in New York, suffered from anxiety. He studied in the studio all night long, and as soon as he closed his eyelids, he would open them again in fear the next second.
King Arthur is also a human being, and she cares about her country. If her beloved Britain can develop better, she can give up her pride and give up everything that concerns her.
Such a noble and selfless king, he is indeed the ideal king.
But this is wrong.
"Artoria," Tony didn't notice that his address attracted Gawain's attention. He stared at Artoria with a gentle tone. "Shouldn't you try to break your fate?"
Arturia was stunned and frowned.
Kai took a serious look at Artoria this time, and he began to doubt what was going on with Artoria.
To Kai, Artoria is someone who can rise to the challenge. If she knew she would become the king before but did not dare to face it because she knew that becoming queen would lead Britain to a sad ending, then why did Arturia so approve of this fate that she could only glimpse?
"...Is it Merlin?" Gawain suddenly spoke. In his opinion, the person who could make Artoria believe that that must be the established future must be a very prestigious person, such as... the great magician, Merlin.
However, there are still doubts about the matter. Because Artoria is not someone who accepts her fate just because someone else tells her to. Even if that person is a highly respected person, she will not easily extinguish her fighting spirit. Tony couldn't help but think of the scene in his dream where the girl knight obtained the Sword in the Stone - even though he had already seen the terrible future, even if he didn't know whether this vision was an illusion or reality, it was created by the great magician Merlin. Although she admitted it personally, Artoria still pulled out the sword in the stone.
In the dream, Merlin said to Artoria: "Only you can pull out this sword, only you can save Britain...Similarly, you must not be able to change this future." 〗
Faced with this, Artoria drew her sword with a relaxed expression.
She doesn't care about those desperate futures because she firmly believes that she can change.
The confident Arturia was in sharp contrast to the timid knight in front of her now.
"Stand up your chest, fearless King Arthur." Tony recalled the scene he had seen and looked at Artoria with confidence, as if she would definitely agree. "Are you a person who shrinks when encountering difficulties? Are you a person who dares not face the pain and only dares to face the light of life?"
Gawain watched Tony speak in silence, and interrupted at the right moment: "Yes, Artoria, when did you not even have the courage to challenge the future?" He knelt down on one knee and raised his sword with both hands. Kai followed suit and knelt down on one knee, placing his hand on his heart.
This is the etiquette of swearing allegiance.
Arturia looked at all this in confusion.
Why doesn't she dare to face the future? It's just a brief glimpse obtained by magic. Why are you so convinced that the future must be unchangeable?
"I, it's impossible for me to -" Arturia wanted to shake her head and say something, but suddenly golden light suddenly appeared behind her. The light gradually gathered and outlined a human shape, and then gradually solidified. The solid person stretched out his hand, took her hand from behind her, and held the sword that Gawain raised.
Tony looked at the solid human shape outlined in golden light in surprise.
With sand gold hair and emerald-like eyes, the knight was dressed in silver armor, with a golden crown on his head and a cape trimmed with blue and white velvet.
That's King Arthur.
No one expected this change. Everyone looked at this scene speechless, and King Arthur said gently: "Even if Camelot is destroyed in the end, I have never regretted my actions."
When he pulled out the sword from the stone, King Arthur saw the future.
Because she was a woman, Arturia, who was revealed to be the son of King Uther, had never thought of getting a wife. However, no matter how well she said it, she still aroused the ministers' hidden worries. Forget it, but because he has no wife, he cannot rely on his wife's power, which makes it much more difficult for King Arthur to start alone. Even because he does not want to marry a wife, many nobles who peek at his wife's position become angry and refuse to help her anymore. .
After defeating the humble queen, many knights came to join King Arthur's army. However, when King Arthur habitually set down the long table, he discovered that this obviously distinctive long table could not be ranked at all. Some of the knights at the back regarded this matter as a shame and left angrily.
After becoming the queen, she tried hard to listen to the opinions of her subordinates, favoring the nobles and despising the common people, so she abandoned Merlin, who had completely different opinions from most people. Although Merlin always proved to be right in the end, it was just in the end. There is no way to save it.
In the future seen by Pulling Out the Sword from the Stone, in the end, the era led by King Arthur is like a small splash of water that explodes, quickly born and quickly falling, with almost no trace. Failed to save anyone, failed to help anyone, this is the future that The Sword in the Stone gave her.
However, even after seeing such a sad future, she still did not give up. King Arthur, who had a glimpse of the future, did not really think that the future could not be changed. She began to change the future as much as possible.
There would be no shortage of affairs, and the knights who came should be equal. When they were worried about this, the courtiers began to ask King Arthur to marry him. According to the future situation that we see, the fact that Artoria is a woman cannot be exposed, so if she really marries a wife, she must be someone who can keep this secret. Arturia had no choice but to ask Merlin for help, but Merlin also asked her to get a wife.
At this time, King Ruian Shi was at war with King Lia Dekuan, because it was rumored that King Lia Dekuan had a round table that could accommodate one hundred and fifty people. If everyone sat on a round table, then there would be no such thing. Everyone is allowed to speak freely despite the difference in status and distinction between monarch and minister. In order to obtain the Round Table, Arturia led the knights to come to the aid of King Liu Dekuan, trying to make King Liu Dekuan feel his goodwill. King Lia Dekuan was also very grateful to her and prepared a grand banquet for her.
Arturia met the beautiful Princess Guinevere at the banquet. The princess admired King Arthur very much and was gentle and understanding. It can be seen that if she became the queen, she would definitely help keep the secret. Because in the future she saw when she pulled out the Sword in the Stone, she made many mistakes because she didn't listen to Merlin's opinions, so Artoria specifically asked Merlin again. This time Merlin also admitted that if Guinevere became queen, she would never reveal the secret.
After marrying Guinevere and getting the Round Table, Arturia became unambiguous in her political affairs. The money she needed for military affairs no longer came from the people, but took the lead in collecting it from the nobles with the Knights of the Round Table... ...Everything went on the bright side. Arturia and her knights finally defeated the enemy army in the Battle of Mount Barton and drove all foreign invaders out of Britain.
At this point, Britain ushered in glory.
Tony looked at Arturia in horror. The slightly gray knight in front gradually merged with the knight behind who seemed to be glowing with golden light. The two finally became one person. She was radiant and dazzling, and the whole person seemed Extremely holy and clean. That is King Arthur, Arturia.
King Arthur changes the "given" future.
Arturia truly broke the prophecy and brought Britain to a better ending.
"I have broken the future." Artoria sighed slightly. "I understand - from the beginning, I was destined to not be able to live as an ordinary woman."
Just like in this fantasy, even if she doesn't know her identity, even if her brother wants her to go to the battlefield from the beginning, she will still give up her identity as a woman to fight in order to protect the country.
"——I tried my best and did my best. I don't need anyone else to become King Arthur, because no one loves this country more than me, and no one can do it better than me."
She once led this country to the top and ignited the brightest light.
"Even if the division of Camelot ends in the end, I have never regretted or lamented... because I have exhausted all my efforts, and every step I take is the result of careful consideration."
King Uther told her before he died: Think about the consequences before leaving, because you can't regret it no matter what. Time cannot be turned back, and the people who have passed away cannot be retrieved.
Therefore, with this belief, Artoria has never had any regrets in her life, just...a little regret.
If the person who becomes the king is not Artoria, will that person do better?
This illusion amplified Arturia's regrets and also tempted her regrets, making her always dominated by regrets and unwilling to face the real facts. She firmly believes that someone will do better, and believes that she brought it back to you. It wasn't until Tony Stark's "Breaking the Future" that she really woke up - yes, she should break the future, and she did break the future and bring Britain to its peak. Emotions that she had never regretted surged out, easily suppressing her past darkness and bringing back the confident and proud King Arthur.
The surrounding environment began to break into pieces and collapse, and large chunks of the sky cracked and then shattered and fell. Artoria clenched her fist and opened it, feeling that her body made of magic was extremely relaxed, and she no longer felt suppressed.
The Noble Phantasm—the inherent barrier is now unsealed.
