The Second Saber, Mordred

As the person Ian had the most contact with in the simulated memories, he was very familiar with the feeling Morgan gave him.

The "information" just transmitted from the other end of the "rope" was definitely from Morgan.

However—

It wouldn't be entirely fair to say it was completely Morgan.

A more accurate description would be an existence "closely related to her, but not her herself."

Only one last step was needed to pull the other end of the "rope" to his side.

Before that—

He had to confirm one thing.

Ian looked at Mash beside him.

The memories brought by the simulation were indeed very real, that was true.

But that didn't mean they were valid in the world of Chaldea.

So before taking the final action, it was necessary to confirm as much as possible.

"Mash."

While maintaining the current state, Ian asked the girl beside him:

"What is the ending of King Arthur's story?"

"Eh?"

Although she didn't understand why Ian suddenly asked this, Mash still answered very seriously:

"Um... according to the knowledge I have, she should have died by the lake where she once obtained the Holy Sword."

"After her death, her tomb was moved to the royal cemetery."

"..."

Ian's eyes trembled—what Mash said was consistent with the memories obtained in the simulation.

Out of caution, he asked another question.

"Then—"

"Was it Morgan who moved her tomb to the royal cemetery?"

"Yes, that's right." Mash nodded. "It was indeed Morgan, who obtained the throne from King Arthur, who ordered her tomb to be moved back to the royal cemetery."

"But before that, it is said that the two had a deep conflict because of certain things."

"I don't know who was so great as to resolve this conflict..."

"Cough cough."

Ian coughed a few times.

This topic shouldn't be lingered on.

"By the way, Mash, why do you know so much? Normally, people would only know the general outline, right?"

"This..."

Mash looked a little embarrassed, but she continued to explain:

"Because I'm actually one of the Master candidates."

"So I've learned about this kind of thing, but now it seems a bit redundant."

"..."

Watching Mash lower her head, Ian hesitated for a moment and reached out to pat her head.

"Mash, you can't be so unconfident."

"Didn't you say that those who can come to Chaldea are already one in a million?"

"Then—"

"You can't be that bad, right?"

"Eh?"

Hearing Ian say this, a trace of gratitude flashed in Mash's eyes, but she quickly became a little depressed again.

"But I am..."

"What are you?" Ian couldn't help but ask.

"No, nothing!"

Mash shook her head.

"Senpai, I'll try to be more confident!"

"..."

Although Ian felt that Mash definitely had something to say, he wasn't the kind of person who would keep asking a question that someone didn't want to answer.

He nodded.

"Okay, I understand."

"But Mash, if you have any difficulties, although I may not be able to help you, I'm still very willing to be a listener."

"Um..." Mash nodded, blushing slightly.

"Thank you, senpai."

After comforting Mash, Ian refocused his attention on the light pillar in front of him.

After confirming from her that the history of the world where Chaldea was located was indeed connected to the simulation, he realized that the "anomaly" in front of him might not be as simple as he thought.

Connected to Morgan, but not Morgan herself.

What was waiting for him?

Although Ian was a little worried, he knew he couldn't just wait like this.

He touched the light pillar where Artoria Pendragon (Saber) was again.

This time, he didn't avoid contact with that feeling like before.

"Whatever it is, come out!"

Ian silently recited in his heart, then began to feel the light pillar.

It changed little by little, until it completely transformed into a completely different color, then stopped.

Seeing this, Mash was naturally very surprised.

But before the girl could speak, Ian preemptively reached out and covered her mouth.

"It's okay—"

"Mash, don't be afraid."

"..."

This time, Mash didn't hesitate and nodded directly.

This also saved Ian a lot of trouble.

He let go and continued to touch the changed light pillar, applying the same responding thoughts as when summoning Artoria Pendragon (Saber).

To be fair.

Ian thought it would be an extremely chaotic process, but it was actually much simpler than expected.

It felt like pulling something that had run out of his body back in.

He had vaguely felt something.

But no matter what—

Let's summon it to the "battlefield" first!

The colored particles rushed forward like a tornado, then slowly gathered into a human form on the "battlefield".

Both Ian and Mash beside him realized that this was definitely not any of the three "Servants" from before.

"Senpai... should we stop?!"

"I feel it's very dangerous!"

Mash's persuasion didn't have any effect on Ian.

He persuaded her instead.

"Mash, we shouldn't be afraid of new things, right?"

"Maybe this time is an opportunity for the simulation battle system to upgrade."

"But—"

Mash was still thinking about arguing a few more words, but the next moment she was already hugged by Ian with one hand.

"No buts."

The man looked at the girl in his arms with an unquestionable gaze.

"Mash, don't argue with me, okay?"

"..."

Mash had never experienced this kind of contact, so she could only nod shyly.

"Good."

Ian looked at the gathered human form again.

"Mash, let's witness what this is together, shall we?"

Amidst the man's self-confidence and the girl's unease, the newly emerged light finally gathered into a fixed form.

According to the logic Mash mentioned earlier, this should be the process of a "Heroic Spirit" turning into a "Servant".

That also meant that this would be the fourth "Servant" who came here in some unknown way, in addition to the three "Servants".

Who exactly was it?

Ian found that he was not afraid at all, but rather a little excited.

After all, he wasn't a good person in the first place.

If he could really summon a new "Heroic Spirit", it would be perfect for his original purpose.

The man's vision was filled with the figure of that light.

He had to figure out what was going on.

However—

Ian never expected that the direction of things would completely exceed his expectations.

The light particles dissipated little by little.

The first thing Ian saw was a high ponytail of pale silver hair.

This way of tying hair was very similar to Artoria's.

Then, there were the blue eyes—Ian would never forget the feeling of seeing the sea in those eyes.

That was something that only happened when he met Morgan's eyes.

And in terms of appearance, there were indeed many similarities with Morgan.

No, it should be said that it was Morgan's appearance after the traces of time had faded.

It was just that there was a bit more of Artoria's courage between her brows.

Who exactly was this?

Ian's brain started working quickly.

He searched through all the memories he had obtained for an answer to this question.

A name slowly appeared in his mind.

Mordred.

His last child with Morgan.

That was why she had the appearance of silver hair and blue eyes.

Thinking about it this way—

It did fit the concept of "related to Morgan, but not entirely Morgan".

"..."

Ian didn't know what to say for a while.

But what shocked him didn't stop there.

Mordred's hair quickly faded from its original silver, then was covered by a layer of bright gold.

The blue eyes also changed little by little in this process, finally forming a forest-like green.

Ian was dumbfounded.

Because in this way, the Mordred in front of him was simply a combination of Artoria and Morgan's appearance.

Why was this happening?

Would such a significant change occur when a "Heroic Spirit" became a "Servant"?

That was unlikely, right?

This was a soul based on history.

Wait a minute—

"Servant"?

Ian suddenly remembered something.

The initial "Servants" provided by the simulation battle were three:

Artoria Pendragon (Saber);

Arash (Archer);

Cu Chulainn (Lancer).

The two other than Artoria had almost no connection with Mordred herself.

This also meant that he was able to connect with Mordred through Artoria Pendragon (Saber).

But in this process, "she" would inevitably have an impact on Mordred.

And so —the current Mordred was born.

"..."

Ian, who had sorted out his thoughts, didn't know how to face this conclusion.

He even hoped that his idea was wrong—but as it seemed now, it could perfectly explain all the current problems.

"Se, senpai..."

Mash, who had witnessed everything, was already in a state of confusion.

"It seems a new 'Servant' has appeared!"

"Then—"

Ian forced himself to calm down.

"Mash, is there anything wrong with the simulation battle system?"

Hearing this question, the girl quickly checked.

"Eh?" She was a little surprised.

"There are no error messages."

"What about the part that displays the name?" Ian asked. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"It's still Artoria Pendragon (Saber)," Mash replied.

"...Parts with no data written won't be read, huh."

Ian said softly, then gave Mash another order.

"Then Mash, can I ask you to have Cu Chulainn (Lancer) maintain his defense?"

"Oh, okay!"

As Cu Chulainn (Lancer) stopped his dark red spear and held it in front of him, Ian prepared to take the next step.

Since Mordred had already come here, instead of studying why she came, it was better to examine her actual abilities.

Just right.

Since Cu Chulainn (Lancer) had "Battle Continuation"—

He was a perfect target.

However, unlike the "Servant" Artoria, Ian didn't know what Mordred could do.

After all, he had almost no contact with her.

Not to mention that even the name describing her in the simulation battle system was still Artoria Pendragon (Saber).

If it weren't for the memories brought by the simulation, he probably wouldn't have recognized her until now.

Then—

He could only give a general "attack" command.

Fortunately.

Although all the data except the name was missing, Mordred seemed to have been simply written into the simulation battle like the initial three "Servants".

She still executed Ian's orders very strictly.

She conjured a silver longsword.

It was a blade that had some similarities to Caliburn.

However, the two were very different in texture—the former was silver, and the latter was gold.

This was also good information.

At least he now knew that Mordred maintained the same Class (Saber) as Artoria.

As for swordsmanship.

Ian could clearly feel that she had learned it from Gawain.

Because both of them emphasized a brute-force attack method.

But in the simulation, although Gawain had learned all the sword techniques, he was still defeated by Ian time and time again because of this method.

After all, it had a fatal weakness.

Um... indeed, it was consistent with the simulated memories.

However—

Just as Ian wanted to learn more about Mordred, Mash beside him pulled his hand.

"Senpai."

"What's wrong?"

"The simulation battle time is almost up."

"This?"

Ian almost forgot about this—when he and Mash arrived, the simulation battle only had one hour left.

"Mash, can't we extend it a bit?"

Mash shook her head.

"We can't, senpai."

"If we do, someone will come to check what's going on immediately."

"Hiss..."

Ian took a deep breath.

"Then Mash, will anyone notice this anomaly later?"

"Probably not... after all, according to the records, the last time the simulation battle system was used was a month ago."

"If senpai is not satisfied, we can come back tomorrow."

"Um... that's the only way."

Ian didn't notice one thing.

When he turned around and prepared to leave with Mash, Mordred secretly glanced at him in the light symbolizing the "end of the simulation battle."