Crazy Britain:They’re All Raising Me

As two spears thrust out from around the corner, it was Guinevere who reacted first. He swiftly grabbed the still-advancing Artoria and flung her behind him. At the same time, the Vick Spear materialized in his hand with a projection, enhanced with overload runes. In a blink, he hurled it forward. With a flick of his wrist, the spear danced in a sharp flourish, knocking aside both incoming lances.

Just then, with a bizarre "WU——" shout, another figure leapt from the shadows, aiming a punch at Guinevere. But even before the figure landed, Guinevere had already thrust his spear into the ground. Activating an explosive barrel rune, a deafening boom followed. Flames burst outward, blasting back the oncoming attackers in a wave of heat and force.

Despite landing that counter, Guinevere didn't press the attack. Instead, he held back the charging Gareth with one hand and retreated quickly.

"Something's wrong. These enemies… they're not like that 'Black Annis' you described."

Meanwhile, Artoria had gotten a good look at the person who had just charged at them with that strange cry. Her expression turned to surprise.

"Wait... Aiken? Aiken from under Noknare?"

Aiken froze mid-charge, clearly caught off guard. Before he could respond, Noknare's voice called out from further behind:

"Hold up! Artoria? Bloody hell—stop fighting! Stop, everyone! They're allies!"

[After a brief skirmish, you realize that the ones ambushing you from around the corner were actually Noknare and her elite forces.]

"Noknare? What are you doing here?"

Artoria stepped out from behind Guinevere and asked.

"I should be asking you that. Weren't you supposed to still be on the run from Lancelot? What kind of nerve do you lot have, sneaking all the way into Glasgow?"

"Heh, see, that's where you don't get it." Artoria put her hands on her hips proudly. "The most dangerous place is often the safest. That's the classic 'hiding in plain sight' strategy!"

"Hold on a sec, wasn't that the exact line I just used earlier? You stole that!" Ba'wanxi immediately protested, stomping her foot.

"Oh, so you're also here for Gawain, aren't you?" Noknare blinked, quickly catching on to their objective. "Just so we're clear—if we actually manage to rescue Gawain, she's obviously joining the Northern Army, right? In the last simulation, she was my top general, after all."

"?" Artoria tapped out a question mark in the air and glanced back at Guinevere, lowering her voice.

"Come on, that's not fair. If you're playing that card, Guinevere was originally my husband, remember? Did any of you jerks think about that when you were all fighting over him?"

"Well, that's totally different," Noknare countered confidently. "Guinevere and Gawain aren't the same at all. One's a lover, the other's a subordinate. Not comparable."

"How are they not the same... oh, forget it." Artoria turned to Guinevere. "You be the judge. If we rescue Gawain, should she join our team or the Northern Army?"

"Huh?" Guinevere blinked, baffled by the question. "Why ask me? Shouldn't that be up to Gawain herself?"

He added with a shrug, "I mean, sure, you could try to guilt her into joining... but isn't it kind of wrong to force someone to do something they don't want to?"

The two women paused at that, caught off guard.

"Oh—right!" Artoria smacked her forehead in realization.

Truthfully, she didn't have that strong a reason to drag Bagzy into her squad… it's not like they were close. It was mostly just habitually butting heads with Noknare. Last simulation, she was furious over losing Guinevere, so now she was determined to fight Noknare over everything… but as for why Noknare was so insistent...

Artoria narrowed her eyes at Noknare and just so happened to see her guiltily fiddling with something in her pocket.

"Noknare," Artoria said suspiciously, "don't tell me you were planning to use a Legendary Palru Ball or something to directly recruit Bagzy? Hmph. You heard him, didn't you? Guinevere doesn't like women who are too controlling!"

"Uh…" Noknare averted her gaze awkwardly. "Of course not… I'm not that kind of person, right?"

"Then why aren't you looking me in the eye? Look at me when I'm talking to you, dammit!"

Smelling blood, Artoria pressed the advantage.

"Then show us what's in your pocket. Dare to let us see?"

As Artoria bore down on her with aggressive glee—clearly hoping to gain points with Guinevere—Noknare gritted her teeth, visibly annoyed.

But at that moment, a fireball shot from the shadows and exploded in their midst, sending everyone flying. A shrill, gleeful voice echoed from the darkness:

"Keh keh keh! Who dares intrude upon Prison Island? You've got guts, chatting so casually in a sector guarded by me? Did you think Black Annis didn't exist?"

"Now, burn to ashes in my flames!"

However, as the smoke cleared from the corridor, the figure fell abruptly silent.

Seeing the group she had just ambushed—completely unharmed—Black Annis suddenly realized these intruders… might not be easy prey after all.

"Uh… I'll just let you get back to it. Don't mind me—I'll be going now—"

But she had only taken two steps before Noknare's voice thundered behind her:

"Full formation—Wind!"

"Don't let her get away!"

[While negotiating with Noknare, you were ambushed by the warden of the underground zone, the great fairy Black Annis.]

[However, she greatly underestimated your power and failed to injure any of you.]

[With Noknare's Wind formation speeding them up, Fairy Diarmuid and Fairy Finn quickly caught up to and captured Black Annis. They now ask how you wish to deal with her.]

"I surrender! I surrender! I pledge allegiance to you! Please don't kill me! I'm still a great fairy, you know—I'm useful, I swear!"

Watching her grovel and bang her head on the ground, Noknare turned to Guinevere.

"What do we do with her?"

"I think we should ask Gareth," Guinevere replied.

They had already heard Gareth speak of the long-standing enmity between the Mirror Clan and these great fairies.

With all eyes on her, Gareth stepped forward and stood before the pleading Black Annis.

"Do you remember me?"

Black Annis trembled as she looked up, scanning Gareth's face—then her eyes widened in recognition.

"You're… Einzelle?"

"So you do remember," Gareth nodded lightly. "Then you should know what's coming."

[Gareth has personally slain Black Annis and completed her revenge.]

As those words flashed across the top of the screen, the real-world "Artoria" and "Ba'wanxi" exchanged glances. Watching "Gareth" go silent, staring at the screen, they asked gently:

"Gareth, are you okay?"

"…Why?" "Gareth" slowly turned to them.

"You just killed your enemy, but… your expression doesn't look that happy," Artoria asked.

"Well…" Gareth paused. "I already got my revenge in the last simulation. When I accepted those memories, I realized that the feeling of killing one's enemy… wasn't as satisfying as I expected."

She lowered her head.

"It just felt heavy. The sensation of ending a life with your own hands is unbearably heavy. Last time, even after I killed all my enemies, the sense of catharsis I was hoping for never came. I just felt… lost."

"—Taking a life feels so crushing. The way a weapon cuts through someone's throat—it's horrible. I don't understand why so many people enjoy killing. I don't understand how they could slaughter my kin so ruthlessly—just because they didn't like us."

"I don't understand. And revenge… only leaves a void."

She spoke softly.

"But… this time you still chose vengeance?" Artoria asked gently.

"Yes. Vengeance leaves a void, but not regret."

Gareth nodded firmly.

"In every simulation after this, I'll do the same. Until I, in reality, complete my vengeance with my own hands."

"Even if revenge itself brings no joy—in fact, it's unexpectedly painful… my clan, if they were still alive, wouldn't want me to do this. They were too kind. Kind enough to endure their suffering without hatred."

"But… do kind people deserve to die, while cruel ones live on?"

"That's not right."

Gareth said quietly:

"Even if not for me. Even if not for my people. Even if just for a sliver of justice—then vengeance is still the right thing to do."

Hearing this, Artoria and Ba'wanxi exchanged another glance. Then, they both nodded and extended their hands to Gareth.

"In that case, we'll fight alongside you!"

[After executing Black Annis, you press onward.]

[To keep the simulator secret, you avoid revealing too much information. But thanks to Gareth's knowledge from her own infiltration experience, your mission proceeds smoothly.]

[Before long, you reach the prison tower once more.]

"Hold up, everyone. The warden inside this tower—Tall Thin Man—is tricky. He makes people forget who they are."

Gareth said solemnly:

"If we charge in, we'll quickly lose our memories. We'll forget who we are, and eventually be forced to fight every enemy in the tower blindly. It'll wear us down and may give the guards enough time to call Lancelot back."

"Wait, seriously?" Noknare frowned. "So what do we do?"

"Well…" Gareth hesitated, "Honestly, I don't really know..."

"Isn't it obvious?"

Suddenly, Artoria poked her head out from the side.

"I'll just transform into my Pan-Human History version, grab Excalibur, and blast the whole tower to bits with a Noble Phantasm."

"Bagzy's tough enough. One blast from the Sword of Promised Victory won't kill her… probably."