"You, you are—"
Saber's eyes widened, and she could hardly believe her eyes.
Archer showed unparalleled anger.
"Where did this bastard come from? How dare you interrupt my proposal ceremony!"
The knight in armor as smooth as the lake smiled and replied in a deep and gentle voice: "I am just a traitorous knight."
The King of Heroes' eyes quickly swept over the man who suddenly broke in, with an open mockery on his face.
"Oh, it turns out it's not a hybrid, just a rabid dog. I didn't expect that after taking off the mask, the dog would become even braver."
The man whom Archer called a mad dog, the knight who manifested into the world as a Berserker, ignored Archer's words and simply looked at the woman behind him with longing, yearning, and slightly intoxicated eyes, calling out the name he had called out countless times in his dreams.
"king!"
"Is it really you? My friend, the Knight of the Lake!"
Excessive shock and excitement made Saber forget her own situation and the existence of her enemies, and she immediately named the person who had followed her for many years and was her first knight.
"So this is the dog you once raised, Saber. No wonder you are so excited."
Archer's sarcasm was once again ignored by the two, and Lancelot shook his head at the figure that haunted him.
"Please don't use that title anymore. It's a title that only a loyal and perfect knight can use. I, who betrayed you and attacked you, don't deserve that title."
"No, no, you are—" Saber, King Arthur denied repeatedly, "That was not betrayal at all, Lancelot!"
"My king, you are still like this..." Lancelot sighed deeply, "You are always like this... Ignoring yourself and thinking about others wholeheartedly. That's why I, all of us are willing to gather under your command and fight for you. But, my king, do you know that I have always wanted you to punish me personally? I hope you will blame me for your anger."
"Lance... Lot..." King Arthur felt an inexplicable blockage in his chest.
"If I can be punished by you, if you can ask me for compensation, then I will definitely believe in atonement. I will definitely believe that one day I will find a way to forgive myself, and the princess should be the same."
The voice of the traitorous knight, the man who was known as the culprit for the destruction of the Knights of the Round Table, was very soft, but it sounded extremely heavy in King Arthur's ears. She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but found that she couldn't say anything.
"Boring, boring, boring! It's actually a farce of a betrayer seeking forgiveness. How dare a betrayer seek forgiveness?"
Archer's face became more and more colorful because of his anger.
"I am here to tell you that anyone who betrays the king deserves death! Saber, let me punish this traitor for you!"
The Noble Phantasms poured down again, more, faster, and more violently than before. Archer seemed to be venting his anger in this way.
"King, please step back."
Lancelot looked at the rain of treasures without fear. He grasped the first sword that arrived in his left hand and the second spear in his right hand. The ownership of the treasure that originally belonged to Gilgamesh was transferred to Lancelot's hands the moment he got them - a knight would not die with bare hands.
Then, swords and spears danced in a whirlwind, and the martial arts that once surpassed the entire Knights of the Round Table were fully displayed, and one treasure after another was deflected.
Amid the rain of Noble Phantasms, Lancelot kept switching the Noble Phantasms that suited him. In the end, he held two Noble Phantasms in each hand, waving them like windmills, firmly protecting himself and his king.
"Hmph, mad dog, even if you regain your sanity, your bad habit of being naughty still hasn't changed? This time, I will definitely blow you to pieces without leaving a single piece of armor!"
The ripples of the "King's Treasure" almost covered the sky, and a rough count showed that there were more than a hundred treasures aimed at Lancelot.
"It is meaningless to simply increase the number of Noble Phantasms, Hero King of Babylonia. Your 'King's Treasure' is indeed powerful, but you cannot defeat me with just this. Use the 'Sword of Separation' in your hand, and you may have a chance to defeat me."
Lancelot's calm expression and confident words made Gilgamesh feel unprecedentedly insulted.
The insult suffered by the king can only be washed away by the blood of the bastard.
"Saber, if you don't want to die with this mad dog, stay away!"
After hearing Archer's words, Saber not only did not retreat, but instead tightly grasped the holy sword, ready to fight together with Lancelot, just like they had done many times.
"My friends, we—"
"No, my king." Lancelot raised his gun and stopped Saber from approaching. "I am not qualified to fight alongside you now, and this also violates the agreement with my Master. My Master, like me, does not seek the Holy Grail. He just wants to use his own power to defeat Archer's Master, Tōsaka Tokiomi—"
Tokiomi frowned and looked thoughtfully at the woods beside the shrine. At the end of his sight stood a man in baggy sportswear.
"Matou-Kariya!"
Kariya turned his gaze away from Tokiomi and turned to Saber: "Saber, Miss Irisviel and Miss Hisau Maiya are upstairs, and Assassin is waiting for you there too. Leave this place to me and Lancelot."
"My king, I missed the Battle of Camlan, and I will regret it forever. This time, please let me clear the way for you. If you allow me to do so, I may be able to pay off some of the sins I carry."
Lancelot lowered his head, knelt on one knee, and begged his king for salvation with the most solemn etiquette.
This is what I learned from Kariya. It is a term peculiar to the East, called "making up for one's sin by making amends for one's sins." It is also the path of atonement that Lancelot chose.
Saber looked at Lancelot, the man who had been through life and death with her countless times, the man who had watched her hand over Guinevere with her own hands.
She wanted to say as she did before that Lancelot was not wrong and did not need to be forgiven, but Lancelot's attitude told her that she could not do that. So what should she do
Just as Saber was thinking, and Gilgamesh's patience was running low, Kariya sighed and spoke:
"Violators should be punished. This is the truth in every era. King Arthur, do you, the selfless king, want Lancelot to continue to be treated unfairly? Do you want him to continue to fall into madness?"
These words struck Saber's heart like a bolt of lightning, and also made her know exactly what to do.
"Lancelot, I allow you to redeem yourself. If you can defeat Archer and come to me again, I will pardon your crime. My dear friend, I am waiting for you up there."
Lancelot finally laughed, a hearty laugh.
"As you command, my king! Lancelot will do his best to fight for you!"