Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Kamar-Taj Sorcerer Who Rekindles the Spirit of Glory

While Artoria was reflecting, a burst of urgent knocking came from the courtyard gate below her floor. Pulled from her thoughts by the sound, Artoria's face returned to its stern expression as she leaped directly from the rooftop, landing in the courtyard—and behind the London Sanctum mages who were doing the knocking.

These London Sanctum mages, after being subdued by Artoria, had been voluntarily dragged back by her to the former stronghold of the Round Table Knights. The battle formation that had been reactivated in the courtyard, combined with the natural energy awakened by Avalon, made this place the best possible detention point. Setting everything else aside, with the strength these London mages possessed, there was no way they could leave this place without outside help.

"You lot—what is it?" Artoria said, looking calmly at the London mages before her.

The mages exchanged glances, then pushed the former London head forward.

"Respected King Arthur." The London head took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "We wish to ask one thing: what exactly happened to the Ancient One?"

"Why do you ask?"

"We may be restricted in our movement, but we're not blind. The sky above is thick with dark clouds, completely contrary to natural law. At times like this, the Ancient One would normally have already taken care of the problem. She would never allow such an anomaly to persist for this long."

The London head stated their deduction. "Moreover, even if the Ancient One didn't care about us, she shouldn't be indifferent to the London Sanctum—that is, after all, one of the four great nodes monitoring Earth. For her to have not appeared for this long... could it be that Dormammu has come this time and simply decided not to leave? Or has something happened to her?"

"Didn't you lot rather resent the Ancient One's oversight? Why are you suddenly concerned about her affairs now?"

"We may be unaccustomed to being watched, but we are still Earthlings regardless. And we are well aware that this world has only one Sorcerer Supreme. Apart from her, it's hard to imagine anyone else who could take up the mantle of resistance in the event of a dimensional invasion." The London Sanctum head's unease was growing. If nothing had happened, King Arthur would have simply told them all to get lost.

"She's dead." Artoria said softly, looking at the mages before her.

Dead?!

The first reaction from every mage was disbelief—but they also knew that on a matter like this, Artoria would not deceive them.

After the disbelief came grief spreading from the depths of their hearts, and an emptiness they could not hide.

Once, there had been a towering Sorcerer Supreme who bore the responsibility of resisting other dimensions. Now that sorcerer had fallen. They were free—but that responsibility seemed to have fallen upon them as well.

"Who... who did it?" The London Sanctum head suppressed his emotions and asked.

"Mephisto, and the traitor Kaecilius as his insider."

The London Sanctum head closed his eyes, his mind flashing with the words of his ancestors. The Ancient One had once cast an entire great family of theirs down from their lofty position—that was an important reason why they opposed her. Yet they also had to admit that since the Ancient One's appearance, the living conditions of the entire planet had improved by more than one tier.

"King Arthur! I make my request as an ordinary Kamar-Taj mage: I wish to go to war!" The London Sanctum head raised his right fist, looking at Artoria with earnest resolve.

"I as well..."

Behind him, a cacophony of requests to fight rang out. The atmosphere suddenly fell silent for several seconds, and then all the mages raised their right hands.

"All of us! We represent ourselves, and we represent Kamar-Taj mages who once guarded this Earth—we request permission to go to war!"

Artoria looked at these mages, every one of them bearing the charge of dereliction of duty, and the flame in her heart that had been scattered by the protesters outside was rekindled.

"In the name of King Arthur, in the name of the Knight King of the Round Table, in the name of the Guardian King of the Empire upon which the sun never sets, I accept your request!"

A radiant banner condensed into being in the sky with the words of King Arthur. The battle formation that had been restricting all mages in the courtyard reversed its flow entirely, transforming into aura-granting halos that enveloped the mages.

"In the name of the Head of the London Sanctum, a Saxon noble mage, I hereby swear: for the time to come, we will follow your command in all things. Give us your orders! We will absolutely not permit the underworld to set foot upon the mortal world!"

Looking at the mages who now stood in proper formation, Artoria seemed to see the Round Table Knights who had once fought for honor. She split the mages into small squads and assigned them guard duties for the various cities of John Bull's land.

When Artoria led these people out the gate, she suddenly discovered Morey and a large number of Kamar-Taj mages standing before her door.

Gazing at these comrades filled with blazing fighting spirit, no words were needed—Morey understood everything at once.

"Great King Arthur, I have already passed Master Blaze's review. My next objective is to lead the elite mages to the Middle East!" Morey stepped forward and declared loudly. "Kaecilius was once a Kamar-Taj mage. These matters were caused by our own people, and so they should be resolved by us as well!"

Artoria swept her gaze across the ranks behind Morey. There were a few people she recognized in that group—one was Shi Chengzhong, the former head of the Hong Kong Sanctum.

"Are all of these mages of your choosing?" Artoria asked.

"No. Some of them are support personnel provided to you by the Hong Kong Sanctum. The situation within China is the best, so they dispatched all their Sanctum mages. Before we came here, a portion of our forces had already arrived in New York." Morey explained succinctly.

Artoria nodded, then turned to look at the mages standing straight behind her, awaiting orders. "Some of you will be heading to an even more brutal battlefield. If anyone objects, take one step back!"

Snap! Thud! Every mage stepped forward—not one stepped back. Throughout the entire Sanctum mage body, those like the deputy head of the Hong Kong Sanctum were the absolute minority. Back then, many of the foreign mages in Hong Kong had also been swept along as followers; when the seals were being broken, they had all gone through the motions without exerting any real effort. Otherwise, they wouldn't have failed to break through even the first layer of seals from start to finish.

Seeing the mages' motion, Artoria gave Morey a satisfied nod.

Morey walked to the front of the formation. "All mages who have passed the elite assessment, step forward!"

Snap! A fifth of the mages stepped out from the ranks, with the London head standing at the very front. Then, several dozen elite mages from behind Morey walked forward and joined the formation.

Following that, a massive portal took shape before the courtyard.

"Everyone! Salute those who march forward!"

Amidst the crisp rustling sound of salutes, Morey led the way into the portal.