"Your king, you don't have to worry about it, your subordinates and Lancelot will be here waiting for you to return." Kai said to the girl. Until now, he has been in charge of communication.

"Then it's hard Kaiqing." The girl nodded, but only mentioned Kai's name.

Lancelot, who was standing silently behind Kai, had a look of gloom in his eyes and bowed his head deeply.

Kay patted Lancelot on the shoulder and said nothing.

…………

"Whew, the two beauties were taken away by Shirou, it's really good." Ios crossed his arms and smiled at me completely unorthodoxically, "Come back early, don't be immersed in the gentle country, and throw away our group of old men." ”

"Lady Emiya, be careful." Buck is honest and authentic.

"Okay, don't worry about us." I felt a warmth in my heart and smiled at everyone.

…………

"I really can't stand it, what can be solved in less than half a day is like life and death by you." Skaha shook his head and turned around, "Lily, and the imps, come with me." ”

"Sorry, please wait a minute." As I spoke, I let go of the girl's hand, and despite her astonished look, I walked straight to Lancelot, who was standing at the back.

…………

"Lord Weigong, I don't know what you want to order?" Lancelot looked surprised when he saw me coming.

However, as a well-trained knight, his etiquette is not messed up at all.

"Don't give up, everything will be fine." I said to him.

The knight was tall, and I needed to tilt my head slightly to make contact with his gaze.

“…… I lend you good words. The knight barely smiled.

"Besides, Lancelot, give me a little time, and I will completely defeat you in swordsmanship." Looking him in the eye, I said word by word, "That way, you can rest assured that you will be able to hand over Artoria to me and start over on your own." ”

…………

As I spoke, I raised my fist-clenched hand and reached it to the knight's chest.

After looking at me for a long time, the knight nodded heavily and resolutely fisted me.

"Emiya Shirou, I'm waiting for that day, and I'll do my best when the time comes!"

…………

The agreement was completed, and the expressions of the two of us relaxed at the same time, and we laughed together.

"Lord Weigong, my king will be taken care of by you. Please don't let her get hurt in any way. "As if a little uneasy, the knight specially reminded.

"Lancelot, please rest assured that even if I fight for my own life, I will protect Artoria." I said solemnly.

"No......! Lord Weigong, you can't make a mistake, otherwise your subordinates will ......" The knight became anxious again.

"It's okay, don't worry, we're going." Waving goodbye to the knight, I returned to the maiden.

…………

"Alright, let's go." I smiled at Skaha.

"It's a bit of a long journey, so keep up." Skaha didn't look back, leading the way ahead with a speed that wasn't too fast or slow.

"Artoria." Calling the girl softly, I took her hand again beside me.

The girl pursed her lips with a somewhat complicated expression, and I pulled her silently to follow Skaha's footsteps.

…………

Speechless all the way.

Indeed, as Skaha says, the journey was long and varied, making it impossible to remember the way we came.

In terms of the secrecy of its internal functions, the palace is at its peak.

I don't know how many forks in the road I had taken, and my leg muscles were a little tired, when Skaha stopped in front of a smooth wall between two doors far apart.

…………

A little purple light on his fingertips began to draw on the wall, and Skaha whispered an obscure incantation at the same time.

After about ten seconds, the entire wall lit up, then faded and finally disappeared from view.

In this way, a spacious open-air plaza appeared in front of us.

…………

"Lily, you go and sit on top of the central demon gathering circle."

As he spoke, Skaha pointed to the middle of the square, where a huge magic circle glowing with a faint red light said to the girl.

"Understood." The girl simply nodded and walked towards the magic array.

This circle has similarities to the pattern of the "Gathering Circle" that Ios sketched before, but it is not the same in terms of scale or the magic that emanates from it.

…………

As soon as the girl sat down, the red light on the surface of the magic array was great.

"This Gathering Array is able to concentrate all the mana in the square on you to provide the massive amount of mana needed by the dragon's heart." Seeing the girl's wary expression, Skaha explained.

"Little ghost, you go and sit on the stone pillar at the edge of the square, any of the four will do." Skaha turned to me again.

"Okay." Without hesitation, I walked towards the nearest stone pillar.

In this case, everything is at Skaha's disposal.

…………

The pillar was about a man tall, but with my current jumping ability, I was able to sit on it with ease.

The space above is very abundant, and it feels like it's no problem for another person to come up.

"The magic power of these four stone pillars connects the central demon gathering array." Skaha looked at me calmly and said, "Although Lily is not a true dragon, you have drunk her blood, so you are connected on a soul level. Later, you will face trials with her. ”

"What kind of trial is it, can you explain it now?" I looked straight at Skaha's majestic red pupils.

…………

"I'm sorry, I can't say that." Skaha shook his head, "This is a trial for the two of you. I have an all-knowing and all-powerful eye, but your fate can only be faced by yourself, and I cannot interfere from the outside. ”

"In other words, that's all I can do to help you, and the rest is entirely up to you. Even if you end up losing and dying at the hands of the dragons, I'll just watch. So if you want to give up, say it now. At this, Skaha's expression became serious.

“…… It doesn't matter, I'm not going to back down now, and neither is Artoria. Looking at Skaha's face, which no longer had a smile on his face, I took a deep breath and said slowly.

…………

"That's good. You just sit here and don't move, I'll start the rune magic right away. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, Skaha's body suddenly disappeared from my sight, and reappeared in front of the girl.

"Lily, close your eyes and relax your body, don't have distractions."

With a command, Skaha stretched out his slender palm, covering a few centimeters above the girl's head, and gently recited the incantation.

"I am Skaha, the gatekeeper of the Shadow Nation. Admonish, trapped in the soul of calamity, but swear by the unchanging origin, the fate of reincarnation, get what it wants, and get its karma restored. Manifest, manifest......"

As Skaha chanted, I felt my mind dizzy and my vision blurred.

…………

The world in front of me spun rapidly, and I was sucked into an invisible black hole with me.