Chapter 358:

Chapter 358:

Artoria Pendragon POV

His sleeping face was cute.

My boyfriend, the man I had come to love.

Such a simple word, yet it brought such emotions to my chest. I did not expect it to come out from him so suddenly, but.....I was very happy to hear it said.

However, this happiness was tainted. I could tell that something was not right, beyond the rather obvious cues. He asked me to refill the Magical Energy inside Avalon, and I could see him wince in pain every so often.

Someone had harmed him. Someone or something was strong enough to leave him in this state, and that was not an easy feat.

Beyond the obvious, there were other cues that I found unsettling. The way he looked upon me when he first walked into the house. I do not know why, but I felt a pain in my heart. The closest approximation I could claim would be the time when I saw him after he returned from the Land of Shadows.

I did not know what to say or how to comfort him. I was not good at using words to ease any unwell feelings he was experiencing.

He simply said that he wished for my presence, so I very well could not deny that request even if I had the inkling to. It was pleasant, it had been a fair while since we shared a bed. And the warmth of another body while I slept was one I considered a joy. I did not begrudge him for the absence of such a pleasure, I was aware that we both had responsibilities.

It brought a smile to my face knowing that if I requested such a thing, he would be nude, laying upon the bed before I could finish the words.

The silly man that he is.

Perhaps that is why I found the current situation all the more....concerning. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

My bosom was fully exposed, my body was at his mercy, yet his hands did not wander. He did not delve into his usual actions as his touch was noticed to be lacking in that regard. None of us were unaware about his preferences or his desires. He never went overboard, and he would respect any boundaries we set, but within those confines, he never held back.

I also never complained because I was not against his show of affection and desire the same as the others. And that is to say, he would not miss the opportunity with any of us. I have learned more since Venelana has joined our strange group. She had shed some light on the mindset of Devils and with Wilhelm being a Half-Devil, he has certain characteristics of their race that appear often.

Which makes me concerned at this moment.

He is acting very much out of character. Though I would not make this the only point of evidence to conclude that something is amiss, with everything else, I can see that he is acting strange.

The moment we were under the covers, he instead held onto me and didn't let go. An endearing action that I would happily accept under any other circumstance.

I did not know what to do and it was weighing on me.

I couldn't help but push back a few stray strands of hair that covered his face.

He made a faint whining sound and his face pushed into my chest. "Apologies, did I wake you?" I said softly. The damage was done, so my fingers continued to run through his hair.

It is surprising. I originally do not prefer men with longer hair, yet I fancy it in this particular case. I remember when he used to have short hair and then he came back from the Land of Shadows and it had changed.

Or is it that this man simply had me smitten from such an earlier time?

I can't deny that he caused me certain feelings when he fought on the basis of taking me on a date. The consideration that such a thing was worth the effort he was putting in. I was unaware of them at the time, or perhaps I did not understand them properly until I allowed myself the chance to open up to this kind of relationship.

"I'm sorry..." He mumbled with his face still pressed.

"What do you have to apologize for? I am the one who has awakened you."

His head tilt up and I could see a sadness in his eyes. "Not that...." He frowned. "I'm sorry....for not making it more special."

Oh, I believe I understand. "Did you not mean what you said to me then?"

"Absolutely not. I meant every word of it." He quickly denied.

"Then what is the problem?"

"You deserve better than my just blurting it out like that." He sounded sincere, making my heart beat speed up. "I couldn't help myself. The second I saw you, I just –"

"Hush." I put a finger to his lips. "If you believe you have done me a wrong, then I will forgive you to set you at ease." He always fusses over us so much, it's quite adorable when he thinks he did something wrong. "And if you desire, you can rectify it at this moment."

I removed my finger, giving him a chance to speak.

"I love you."

"And I you." I leaned down and enjoyed a meeting of our lips. "Now, are you going to tell me what ails you?"

[***]

"You don't have to keep doing this, you know."

"Wilhelm, why do you think I mind doing this?" I continued to run my fingers through his hair. It was obvious that it made him feel better, and I did not mind it one iota.

His head laid upon my thigh even as we shifted to the living room after waking up. It was hard to stay in bed after he relayed to me his most recent adventure.

I could understand his current attitude. How could I fault him for how he was acting when he was forced to kill another version of myself? I do not know If I would be capable of doing so if another version of him were to appear or of the others I have come to cherish. If another Mordred came after my head, would I have the will to fight with my full strength? And if another version of Rin were to become my enemy, could I muster my courage to face her?

It is a situation I would never wish to face, yet he had to go through the worst of it.

"You did nothing wrong." I assured him once more. I know he was feeling guilty for his actions. But from what he told me, he did not have much of a choice.

I know myself very well, if I thought my actions were the best given the situation, I know I would not be persuaded easily.

And I know that she would be thankful to have such a worthy end. However, I kept that piece of information to myself. I fear he would take it the wrong way if I said so.

I was happy when I noticed that someone finally arrived.

Scáthach pushed open the door without a second thought, strolling right inside. "Student, you are back early." She wasted no time.

"I was –"

"Well done." Scáthach beamed.

These two.

I could only shake my head at their behavior.

"He's a good guy though." Wilhelm breathed out. "I can see why you liked him. Kind of an ass, but I couldn't help but like him too."

"Fufufu, that is a perfect way to say it."

Good, he's smiling now. It was the right choice to have help with this.

"Well, I guess I'll skip to the most important bits. I discovered who was responsible for the Singularity and by extension – the incineration of Humanity over there. He identified himself as Flauros." Wilhelm revealed, though I was more privy to this information.

"Am I to assume based on the name?" Zelretch asked.

"Yup, The Demon Flauros, though it was different than I expected. It took the form of this tentacle thing with a bunch of eyes. It handled Caster pretty easily, so I would put it at a minimum of high-servant tier ignoring Noble Phantasms." Wilhelm stated.

"I see, this Demon killed my student?" Scáthach asked calmly, but I could feel the sharpness in her tone.

"I think it was just a poor matchup. If he had been summoned as Lancer.....maybe it would turn out different."

"Irrelevant." Scáthach frowned. "It seems I will be paying a visit over there for two different reasons. I will see this enemy that defeated my student, then I will also give my student a remedial lesson."

.....I apologize Lancer, I did not expect this to happen.

"Am I to assume that this Flauros was not the one to beat you, Wilhelm?" the Wizard Marshal asked.

"No, Flauros tried to run away. I....may have overreacted a little bit due to some reason and used the Sword of Destruction to destroy him. I could have killed him sooner...but I wanted him to suffer a little."

....He was upset over me.

I am filled with equal parts guilt and exuberance at the emotions he showed at my alternative's death. I am pleased to know he cares so deeply about me, but I wish he would not act so rashly on my behalf.

"I assume things did not go your way then?" Zelretch asked, slightly chastising him.

"He tore open a hole in time and space. I followed him without thinking." Wilhelm winced even as he said it. "I know, I know. It was stupid to just jump head first into things. Believe me, I realize my mistake after getting my ass kicked."

"Alright, I won't say anything. You sometimes do things that end poorly, but you also learn from your mistakes. So I will take this as you learning your lesson." Zelretch nodded.

"It was a small realm – a Workshop that existed in the imaginary Numbers Space. I met the owner who claimed to be Solomon."

"Impossible." Zelretch reacted quickly and strongly.

I don't think any of us were expecting that kind of reaction.

"Gramps? What's wrong?"

"You don't remember?" Zelretch looked at Wilhelm.

"No...?"

"Hmm." Zelretch stroked his beard. "Maybe that was intentional on my part. You once said you don't remember my parents either. Yes...that makes sense. It wouldn't do good for you to focus so much on the important people from my life." He murmured to himself. "But to answer your question, who do you think I learned Magecraft from?"

"...Solomon." Wilhelm slowly sat up from my lap once more. "You learned Magecraft from the King of Magecraft."

"Yes." He didn't deny it. "Not many people know this fact. And it's one of the reasons I watch over the Mages Association despite not being very fond of it. My Teacher was worried that Magecraft might become something detrimental to Humanity, and I understood his view so I continued my watch after he passed."

"It wasn't Solomon, I was able to confirm that."

"With Flauros mentioned, I can guess at who or rather what is responsible. Solomon's 72 demons – the Ars Goetia. I remember them from my tutelage but I did not know what happened to them afterwards. It seems that they forsook his original intentions and enacted a large ritual across the centuries."

"He was converting Humanity into Energy. He hit me with about a hundred times the output of Excalibur and that was barely a drop in the bucket. I have no idea what he's planning, but he apparently needs a lot of energy for it."

"That is very concerning." Zelretch said darkly. "I will have to do some of my own investigations. I am aware that Teacher had a Workshop that existed outside of Time and Space, but even I don't know the coordinates. If these demons were able to usurp it then that means you were at a large disadvantage."

"Yeah, he was able to fight against my Authority's activation. He was able to force away my Dragon Words, and he was able to analyze and dissemble my Magecraft on the spot." Wilhelm sighed. "Gramps, I don't feel confident at all and there are people depending on me."

"You said that Humanity was incinerated, does Chaldea still stand?"

"It does. I don't know why off the top of my head that Chaldea is still standing, but it is. I even have Sir Wiggles there at the moment watching them."

"Curious." Zelretch said simply. "As I said, I will have to do some of my own investigations to give any definitive answers. The question is, what are your plans going forward? The amount of aid I can give is minimal in this situation."

"You remember that list you gave me a long time ago? The one about world-lines that you've looked at and such? From when I went to Remnant for the first time."

"I do."

"I remember something there that piqued my interest. If I don't feel confident in facing him now, then I just have to get stronger. Magecraft is not the correct path – for obvious reasons. But my other abilities seemed to hold more ground, so I want to seek out something else. My body is fairly strong, I have some good weapons and even my Magecraft is powerful even if it's not relevant here. But beyond my Aura, I haven't done anything with my Soul. And that's more of a physical application of it than anything else. I am a Campione, my soul was inherently upgraded. Not to mention I am a reincarnation, and I've had Ddraig inside my Soul for how long now? It's something significant I don't think I should ignore. I want to find a way to harness the power of my Soul better."

"Remind me, what were the details about that world again?" Zelretch asked.

Both Scáthach and myself leaned in, wanting to know the details.

We would not speak up against his plan, we both could understand how important this was to him. And if was a quest to increase his own strength, we couldn't begrudge him in the slightest. We both would feel more at ease the stronger he became.

"They were sparse, but you mentioned that apparently there's a species of spirits there that can harness their souls. And they run around with special weapons that are born from their souls as well. I think you called them – Shinigami?"

[***]

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