Era of Heroic Spirits: I Was Exposed by Alaya

Upon opening the video, the scene unfolded.

An endless sea of flowers stretched before them.

Countless blossoms bloomed, transforming the place into a dreamlike paradise.

[This is the Inner Sea of the Planet, the Watchtower.]

[It exists in the form of the Utopia.]

[Wherever the Magus of Flowers Merlin resides, that place will not be hell but a land overflowing with hope.]

...

"Wow, so beautiful!"

Roya's eyes widened, stunned by this fantastical scene.

Too beautiful—so breathtakingly beautiful that it surpassed anything one could dream of.

She couldn't help but marvel, "Living in such a beautiful scene, Merlin must be a kind-hearted and virtuous person, right?"

"Uh..."

Souma was momentarily at a loss for words, feeling as if he'd just heard the sun rose from the west.

Kind-hearted? Virtuous? A beautiful soul?

That scumbag incubus possessed such things?

If he did, Souma wouldn't have wanted to stab him a few times and then gender-bend him to send before the doctor.

"Just keep watching."

Souma was actually a tiny bit curious to see how Alaya would expose Merlin's true nature.

Tch, he'd already been thoroughly exposed twice—it was about time someone else got their turn.

-[Holy crap, look what just popped up!]

-[A side story, and it's about that mysterious Magus of Flowers!]

-[Merlin is so handsome!]

-[But... I can't shake the feeling this magus is up to no good...]

Countless people followed the uploader [Alaya].

The moment the side story was released, everyone immediately clicked on the video.

The video began playing.

A young, childlike Artoria lay in bed, asleep but frowning tightly.

The scene shifted, seemingly entering her dream.

There, Merlin, clad in an ornate white robe, began earnestly imparting knowledge.

From culture and history to politics and military strategy—everything a king needed to know—he crammed into her relentlessly.

During the day,

The young girl faced her adoptive brother Kay and reassured him, "Don't worry, I can manage with just two or three hours of sleep!"

"That bastard Merlin has no conscience at all!" Kay exploded in fury.

He had long regarded Artoria as his own little sister and couldn't bear to see her treated this way by Merlin.

Only allowing two hours of sleep at night—no wonder my little sister hasn't been growing properly!

All the viewers were equally outraged—

-[Holy shit, King Arthur is only ten years old and gets just two hours of sleep a day?!!]

-[This is way too harsh—she even has to study in her dreams!]

-[Damn, I thought sleeping at midnight and waking up at five during senior year was brutal enough!]

-[Oh my god, how can someone so handsome be so heartless? Might as well call him 'Merlin the Heartless'!]

-[Figures—pushing kids is way easier than pushing yourself!]

...

At first, everyone had been awestruck by Merlin's looks.

When someone's attractive enough, morals tend to follow aesthetics.

But now, the crowd had turned against him.

Even the strictest parents wouldn't treat a child like this—it's downright inhuman!

The scene shifted.

The young Artoria had finally reached the critical age of fifteen.

In the previous Perfect King video, the dialogue between Nameless and Merlin's two birds played out once again.

With that opening scene, everyone began angrily accusing each other of having no conscience.

The side-story video continued.

After pulling the sword from the stone,

Merlin said to Nameless: "I know her path will be fraught with hardship, yet it will also be magnificent. So, please show me all the beautiful things to your heart's content—let me revel in delight!"

A child of nightmares, devoid of human emotions, who only sought so-called "beautiful things"!

What followed was Artoria, Merlin, and Nameless traveling across various nations together.

To make King Arthur read ten thousand books and walk ten thousand miles, witnessing the world to become a perfect ruler.

Whenever they encountered scenes of robbery, theft, curses, or noble oppression, King Arthur would act without hesitation.

Merlin, meanwhile, would use his sharp tongue to escalate the situation.

In the end, it always fell to Nameless to clean up the mess.

A nightmare child who deliberately stirred trouble!

Despite claiming to want to see beautiful things, he was simply indulging in pure amusement!

...

Uruk.

The King of Heroes watched with great interest and remarked, "Merlin, it seems you understand what true delight is!"

Those without self-awareness merely pursued instinctive pleasure, like beasts chasing the scent of blood.

Their emotions were directly expressed through words and actions—utterly simple and crude.

But true delight—

"Delight, fundamentally, is a part of the soul. There is no distinction between 'having' or 'not having' it—only between 'realizing' and 'not realizing' it!"

Gilgamesh found himself slightly intrigued by this Magus of Flowers.

A fellow seeker of delight!

This man, while journeying through nations, had been observing every individual.

Treating everyone as clowns for his own amusement, thoroughly enjoying the trip.

Unlike King Arthur and Nameless, who traveled with a sense of duty.

"Nameless, in this regard, you are far less interesting than Merlin!"

Gilgamesh was brimming with amusement.

If he ever met this Magus of Flowers, he would surely make him his vassal!

The scene continued.

Merlin stood in the distance, leisurely watching the spectacle unfold.

Following his gaze, one could see the moment Morgan created the homunculus Mordred!

"Lily, this is a calamity you are destined to face."

The Magus of Flowers sighed.

Tears—no, drool—seeped from the corner of his mouth, his face filled with grief (delight)!

-[Damn, this guy knew everything all along!]

-[Got it, this guy's just a chaos-seeker, desperate to stir up drama!]

-[Damn you, Merlin! I thought you actually cared about our King, but you were just waiting to see the father-son carnage!]

-[Nameless, come over here and cut him down!]

...

"Roya, how many times have I told you—appearances are deceiving!"

Souma pointed at the figure on the screen and said.

If not for Alaya's exposé, even he wouldn't have known Merlin was even more despicable than he'd thought!

That bastard—he should've slashed him a few more times back then!

"He's too cruel, completely inhuman!"

Roya couldn't help but gulp.

He looked so handsome, so why couldn't he act like a decent person?

Oh, right—this guy really wasn't human!

Well, that explains it.

The video continued.

This child of nightmares could be seen provoking all sorts of women.

In the end, when King Arthur set off to conquer the European continent, he provoked the fairies and had no choice but to hide away in Avalon.

He imprisoned himself completely.

This seclusion lasted over a thousand years.

He didn't even come out during the heartwarming father-daughter bonding between King Arthur and Mordred!

"Damn it! This bastard!"

Souma couldn't help but curse when he saw this.

He had originally thought the guy went into hiding to avoid causing trouble for Lily.

Never did he expect it was because this idiot had lusted after fairies!

"He really is a bastard!"

Roya also couldn't hold back her shared indignation.

A nightmare of the lowest scum, the most despicable kind!

She had thought the extra video would showcase the dignity of the royal court mage of Britain, but instead, she witnessed such a shameless bastard.

Not just her—every single viewer was furious, itching to form a mob and go slash Merlin to pieces!

But the next scene made everyone temporarily set aside that thought.

Because the heartwarming father-daughter moment between King Arthur and Mordred played out.

This time, it was the true ending witnessed by Merlin standing atop the [Tower at the End], using his Clairvoyance.

The war that doomed Britain had ended!

Bedivere, who had finally arrived, knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly.

King Arthur handed him the holy sword: "Bedivere, cross that bloodstained hill and find a deep lake. Throw this sword into it..."

"As you command, my king!"

Bedivere wiped away his tears, took the sword, and began walking toward the lake the king had described.

However.

The first time, he reached the lake's edge but returned to the forest.

Without the protection of the holy sword, the immortal king would die.

The knight, wishing for his king to live, lied twice, claiming he had returned the sword—but the king saw through him both times.

When he returned to the forest for the third time—

The king,

was gone!

***

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