Shadow of the Beautiful World

London, in the apartment of Ms. Hermione Jane Veles, Deputy Minister of Magic of the United Kingdom.

Dobby, the house elf of Merlin the Lord of Hell and the commander of the leprechaun combat force, is busy in the kitchen.

It was preparing lunch for Merlin and the new arrivals.

The job was supposed to be done by Hermione's house-elf.

But the elf followed Hermione's daughter Rose back to the Burrow in the past few days, and the kitchen of this house basically became a decoration.

Fortunately, Dobby was also very good at cooking before he became a good auxiliary combat agent.

This is the instinct engraved in every leprechaun's body, so between the clanging of pots and pans, the smell of food soon spread into the living room.

Those fresh scents brought a break in the thinking of King Arthur, the heroic spirit who was telling the story of the past.

Under Hermione's persuasion, the female swordsman took off her armor, wore a white and blue aristocratic long dress, and tied her long golden hair up.

Ignoring the long sword that was always at hand, this famous Heroic Spirit looked like a lady.

King Arthur, uh, maybe it's more appropriate to call her Artoria.

The short, blond girl had just introduced herself, and since she was dead and her kingdom crumbled, she didn't want Hermione and Merlin to call her King Arthur.

That title made her feel a little guilty, and she called herself Arturia Pendragon.

A female swordsman summoned from time to awaken.

Under the sunlight outside the window, Artoria's finger touched the long sword made of machinery, her emerald green eyes were full of memories,

She sat across from Merlin, Hermione sat next to them, and Icarus stood behind Merlin. The glasses girl's information collection program was kept open to record the stories described by King Arthur.

That was the eighth year after I became king. The barbarians from the mainland came across the sea again and invaded the ancestral land of the Celts. The fire of war was once again ignited in the south.

The female swordsman's grammar is a bit ancient, but fortunately, Merlin and Hermione are both knowledgeable people, and this ancient language does not affect their listening to the story.

Well, the voice of this female swordsman with a bunch of golden hair on her head is quite nice.

There is a hint of seriousness in the desertedness, like the syllables of raindrops.

The urgent messenger brought the news of the war to the holy city of Camelot, and I set off from the holy city with my knights to the land of Wales to intercept the barbarian attack.

But that's a trap.

Arturia shook her head, a trace of sadness flashed in her eyes, she said:

The invading barbarians are just a small group of troops. Their appearance is to let me and my knights enter the preset battlefield. When we entered the battlefield, tens of thousands of barbarians landed on the coast of Wales.

What's worse, those barbarians didn't come alone.

They established a covenant with the dark wizards in the country in advance. A witch who has a close relationship with me mixed in the battlefield and cast a curse on me, preventing me from using the power of the scabbard to protect my knight.

I, Gawain, Lancelot, and thousands of knights were caught between two sides, and suffered heavy casualties.

Having said that, Merlin suddenly stretched out his hand and interrupted Arturia's description. He looked at the female swordsman and said:

The witch who has a close relationship with you is your sister, the black witch Morgan Le Fay?

Artoria didn't answer, she just glanced at Merlin with a complicated expression.

This look represented that Merlin's guess was correct.

It is not difficult to guess that the legend about Morgan Le Fay and King Arthur is an enduring topic among wizards even in the orthodox history.

Go ahead.

Merlin made a please gesture.

We retreated all the way inland, but because we wanted to protect the people, we were eventually blocked in the forests of Glamorgan, where the barbarians planned to wipe us out.

Artoria's finger tapped lightly on the mechanical long sword.

In that crisp sword cry, she said:

I got this sword at that critical moment. It was brought to me by my mysterious friend, Merlin.

Merlin?

Lord Raven had a slightly strange expression on his face.

This is not the first time he has come into contact with the great wizard with the same name as him in history.

In his current collection, there is also a broken ancient druidic text, which is said to be a fragment of the book of beasts once held by the great wizard Merlin.

He looked at Arturia, and said:

You mean, the wizard Merlin has been in touch with the Cybertronians?

Yes.

The female swordsman answered this question head-on, she said:

I only found out after the fact that Merlin had seen those mechanical giants from the stars when he was a magic apprentice, and he became a human they trusted.

He often collects some strange mechanical devices from all over the mainland. At first, I thought it was due to the magician's curiosity about machines, but no, it was the 'medicine' he collected for his mechanical friends to repair their injuries. .”

In short, when our entire army was about to be annihilated, Merlin rushed into the battlefield alone...

There was a strange light in Artoria's eyes, and she said:

Until now, I can't forget the battlefield that day.

He was riding on a white war horse, waving a mechanical scepter that shone with blue light in his hand, and a huge mechanical dragon followed in the sky behind him. It had three heads! Its roar made the barbarians bewildered and panicked.

Wherever Merlin's scepter points, the dragon will attack there.

Flames, explosions, steel claws and giant tails swept across. With his own strength, he blocked the attacks of tens of thousands of barbarians for us. And my knights and I, under the cover of the sky fire sprayed by the dragon from the sky, Charge on the routed enemy.

In just half a day, we ended the war.

The female swordsman held the mechanical long sword, and her fingers moved lightly on the hilt. As the mechanical symbol on the hilt was turned to the correct position, the mechanical long sword also hummed.

Blue energy gushes out from the hilt and wraps around the blade, like blue flames dancing, causing the temperature in the room to rise rapidly.

It was also on that day, with Merlin's help, that I established a covenant with those mechanical giants.

Twelve powerful mechanical knights joined my knight order. I supplied them with the steel of the whole country to repair their injuries. When necessary, mechanical giants stepped into the battlefield to protect my country and people.

This sword is the symbol of the covenant.

artoria said:

I also call it the 'Sword of Promised Victory'.

Of course, I also have a long sword with the same name, and that is my own saber, but it is a symbol, and I believe you can understand it.

Hermione nodded. In her hand, there was an unattended quill quickly sliding on the notebook to record this interesting story.

But Merlin thought about more questions.

He knew the story of King Arthur and the Cybertronians, but his doubts were not resolved.

He looked at Artoria in front of him, pondered for a moment, and asked:

But as far as I know, those machine knights didn't show up during the Battle of Jianlan, when you were betrayed and killed by your son, the rebellious knight Mordred.

Because they abide by the covenant and do not intervene in my family affairs.

Arturia sighed, she lowered her head, as if recalling her last battle.

After ten seconds of silence, she said:

I don't blame them. That failure stemmed from my personality flaws. Merlin reminded me of this hidden danger very early on, but I was blinded by every victory. My failure is inevitable.

Besides, Mordred is not my son.

The female swordsman raised her head, and while the hair on the top of her head was beating, she explained seriously:

Just like me, she is a female knight in disguise. Also, like me, she was born with a special magic formula.

A king needs a successor to make the country truly stable.

All right.

Merlin nodded.

Icarus beside him gave Arturia a strange look.

Some legendary kings are beautiful on the surface, but secretly like her, they will create a child for themselves...

After you died, those Cybertronians ended the covenant and returned to the ark in the deep sea... But what I'm more curious about is whether the connection between the great wizard Merlin and them continues?

Merlin says:

Can you explain to me?

That connection ended, too.

The female swordsman replied:

One night two years before the Battle of Jianlan, Merlin bid farewell to me in the Holy City of Camelot. He said that the life of a court wizard was not suitable for him. more knowledge.

He planned a funeral for himself, put the scepter given to him by those mechanical giants into the sarcophagus, and was escorted by 12 mechanical knights into the deep sea...

Artoria recalled the past memories, she said to Merlin:

He once said that the scepter came from the steel ark buried in the deep sea, and it must return there.

And after that, I never saw my friend Merlin again.

After listening to Artoria's explanation, Merlin and Icarus looked at each other.

When the natural disaster came to the earth, Quintasha ordered to search for two things, the leadership module and the mechanical scepter. The leadership module has been put into the wasteland. Now it seems that the scepter may still be in the ark that was blown up and disappeared. .

The 12 legendary warriors of ancient Cybertron should be the 12 Knights of the Steel Round Table that Arturia had seen, and what they guarded there was not just the leadership module.

Merlin's mechanical scepter, you should have seen it more than once, is there anything special about it?

Lord Raven asked again.

The female swordsman rubbed her forehead, she said:

I've seen Merlin use it several times. The most memorable thing is that after a major earthquake in the York region, Merlin used that scepter to release a very special magic.

Describe in detail.

The Maharaja sat up straight and said:

I need all the news about that mechanical scepter, Artoria, it's about a disaster that the world is about to experience.

Will the Lord of Hell also pay attention to the world of mortals?

Arturia looked at Merlin in surprise, and she said:

In my time, the demons pouring out of hell were the most troublesome things. Merlin and I once faced Mephisto who was causing trouble in the world... That big devil is also your kind, right?

It is not.

Maharaja said with a gentle face:

It is my enemy, the kind that must be killed. In fact, except for a few friends who live in hell, all other hell lords are my enemies.

You don't know my story, Artoria, please don't judge me casually, I am not the same as the hell creature you know...

Anyway, answer my question about that mechanical scepter.

The female swordsman obviously didn't believe Merlin's self-report, and she looked back at her master.

Hermione nodded to her and said softly:

You can trust Brother Merlin just like you trust me.

Merlin?

Because Merlin hadn't introduced himself, Artoria didn't know Raven Lord's name until now.

Her green eyes blinked, and she looked back at Merlin seriously. After a few seconds, she shook her head and said:

Although you have the same name, you are not the same, you are more serious, more gloomy, um, and not as handsome as my friend Merlin...

Lord Raven waved his finger, obviously not paying attention to Artoria's evaluation.

Well, about the scepter.

The King of Knights leaned on the comfortable sofa, she stretched her beautiful body, and then said a little unmotivated:

I once saw Merlin insert it into the ground to absorb the power from the earth and use it to repair the cities and canyons that were torn apart by the earthquake. The scene was like a myth, but afterward, Merlin explained to me that it was not him. own power.

It's that special scepter that can communicate with the earth and borrow the power of the world itself.

I have also touched the scepter with Merlin's permission. It... how should I put it? It is very delicate, and it feels like a work of art. The patterns engraved on the steel will move, just like this sword.

Artoria raised the mechanical long sword in her hand and touched the pattern on the hilt again, like turning a Rubik's cube. With the sound of mechanical collision, the long sword quickly changed back to the shape of a metal coat of arms.

A round discus, but the rust on the surface has completely disappeared, it looks like a brand new handicraft.

Um.

Lord Raven nodded.

So far, the news he needs has been obtained.

Quintasha needed the scepter, and in a way, she wasn't cheating on the Scourge.

She could indeed draw the power of the earth to reshape the broken Cybertron, but Merlin felt that what she had to do after getting the scepter was probably not as simple as she said.

Then about the Mechanical Knights?

Icarus suddenly asked:

Is there anything that can be recognized by the 12 steel knights? To be honest, we have seen them before, but their attitude is not friendly.

This sword will do.

artoria said:

With this sword in hand, the Iron Knights probably won't attack you.

In addition, when I was still alive, I appointed an Earl Fulgan to manage affairs related to the Mechanical Knights. If he still has descendants alive, then they should have some relics from that year.

Speaking of which.

Merlin stood up suddenly, and he said to Artoria:

I thought you would start a massacre in this country after you were resurrected. After all, your former land has been occupied by the descendants of the barbarian invaders.

I'm not interested. My country is dead long ago, and I'm already dead. As a dead person, there's no reason to dwell on the past. It's pointless.

I also studied history, the world will always change, whether we want to or not...

Arturia rubbed her stomach, this very ladylike Knight King looked back at her Master, she said quite freely:

When is the banquet, I'm hungry.