Chapter 184: The Cause of the War
Sensing danger, Artorius turned around and saw a slender figure of a girl rushing toward him. She had tears in her eyes, pursed her lips, and was clutching a dagger while aiming it at his waist.
In the moonlight, he clearly saw her face.
It was Artoria Face.
Artorius was so surprised that he couldn't react immediately, and for the same reason, XX also stood frozen in place, eyes wide with disbelief. The Artoria figure charged towards them, appearing ready to take down Artorius.
After Artorius finally regained his senses, the Artoria figure was only a short distance away.
At this moment, Artorius could have attacked, dodged, or reacted differently to avoid her, but he didn't.
His heart held a mixture of surprise, disbelief, and even anger. After all, it was someone with his mother's face who was trying to kill him. How could he not be angry?
However, watching her determined actions, her eyes filled with tears, Artorius's heart softened. In an instant, he calmed down.
Besides a little stab was nothing to him; it was akin to a mere needle poke. He would consider it payback for all the 'stabs' that his 'spear' inflicted on the Artoria Species in the past and would continue to do so in the future.
With this thought in mind, Artorius didn't dodge or react but let her stab him in the side with the dagger.
*Stab!*
"Artorius!"
It took XX, who was slow to react, a moment to snap back to reality.
She shouted in frustration and drew Rhongomyniad LR, ready to strike at the Artoria figure and put an end to her.
"Stop, XX!"
However, Artorius stopped her and, at the same time, embraced the girl who had charged at him like a murderous maniac.
After hitting her target, the girl's gaze became vacant, and she seemed confused. Perhaps she hadn't expected to succeed.
"You... you..."
After Artorius embraced her, the Artoria figure was even more stunned, unable to fathom why he treated her so gently.
She looked at Artorius with astonishment. Seeing the gentleness in his eyes and understanding his intentions without words, she cried even harder.
"Hiks... hiks... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I didn't want to do this, but I had to kill you! It's the only way to bring peace to the world! Only when the object of everyone's desire is gone can this war cease... I'm sorry, Artorius, I'm so sorry... hiks..." Saying these words, she pushed the dagger in deeper, sobbing uncontrollably in Artorius's arms. "Why... why did it come to this?"
"It's okay..." Artorius said, his smile gentle.
A mere stab wouldn't kill him. As for her claims about killing him for world peace, Artorius just smiled and didn't take it seriously.
War will always exist.
Conflict will always persist.
He couldn't die yet.
He had a reason to live.
The war that Artoria Species had unleashed because of him, he could just resolve it.
'What a naive, kind, and sweet child...' Artorius thought as he watched the girl cry in his arms.
He ran his fingers through her hair, ready to console her some more.
Though they hadn't exchanged many words, based on the information from XX and X, Artorius could piece together this child's emotional journey.
As a member of the organization of the Artoria Species that had come to this world, she must have witnessed the havoc caused by the Artoria Species. Running rampant, ruthless infighting, innocent lives destroyed, and the planet devastated.
A series of heinous acts, countless sins, and an overwhelming list of crimes.
This child initially just felt out of place, and then it grew into a deep despair.
Perhaps in one war after another, she lost some good friends. She might have even crossed swords with her closest companions.
Or perhaps, just like XX's encounter with betrayal, this child faced betrayal or witnessed it.
Witnessing these ugly and heinous crimes happening right in front of her eyes, watching the once sisterly bond between the Artorias crumble, her heart was filled with pain and anguish. She eventually arrived at a conclusion:
"It's Artorius."
"It's Artorius's existence that caused all of this."
"If only there were no Artorius."
"All of these won't happen."
"But Artorius is my son."
"How can a mother harm her own son?"
"What should I do? What should I do?"
"..."
"Simple, just snatch him then." Someone suddenly responded.
Those were the words of Alpha, and she was from the same organization as her—the Holy Lance Sisterhood.
Her name was Omega, and Alpha was her best friend. Alpha was the kind who could talk about anything. So, Omega shared her troubles with Alpha.
At that time, Alpha, confident and straightforward, said without hesitation:
"We must use violence to combat violence!"
"We must use absolute power to lead the masses!"
"As long as we confirm Artorius's existence, the wars of Artoria Species will end, and peace will return to the galaxy!"
"...Is that so?" Although Omega felt that something wasn't quite right, she didn't dwell on it and accepted Alpha's words.
"Obviously!"
Unlike the sensitive Omega, Alpha was a very assertive and confident Artoria Species. With her great sword, called Super Heavy Sword of Victory—Hevcalibur, she was a powerful figure in the organization, second only to the leader XX and the vice-leader YY. She was in a league of her own among the members, much stronger than the average Artoria Species.
From her birth, she believed she had the presence of an emperor and was convinced she would become the most powerful among the Artoria Species.
In numerous battles against enemies, Alpha always led the charge and protected the weaker Omega. They supported each other and faced many challenges together.
But eventually, she fell.
Though strong, two fists couldn't beat four hands, and good Artorias couldn't always prevail against bad ones.
In one battle, Alpha and Omega found themselves trapped, surrounded by seven or eight hostile Artorias.
Alpha told Omega to call for reinforcements while Alpha stayed behind alone to hold the enemy back. As expected, she was overwhelmed by the hostile Artorias.
When Omega arrived with a group of sisters, Alpha had only a breath left, lying in front of her.
"Sorry... I can't protect you anymore... from today onwards, you must learn to be strong, Omega..."
With those words, Alpha held Omega's hand which slowly disappeared into light particles.
"ALPHAAA—!!!"
The loss of her best friend drained all color from Omega's world.
Afterward, she had only one thought left in her heart.
That was to kill Artorius and put an end to all this farce. She couldn't allow what happened to her best friend, to happen again.
With this determination, Omega seemed to mature overnight.
Afterward, she remained with the Holy Lance Sisterhood, always leading the charge in battles, running ahead to survive. Her goal was simple—to survive until she reached Earth and found Artorius.
Her effort paid off, and she did indeed find Artorius.
What happened next is as follows.
===
This is a simple story of a common Artoria Species.
Through a series of brainstorming, logical analysis, intelligence assessment, and broken speech of Omega, Artorius essentially grasped her actions.
'Poor girl...'
Even as he contemplated this, Artorius couldn't help but feel a profound sense of guilt, aware of the unrest he had caused.
However, at the same time, XX who stood nearby, had a slightly perplexed expression and muttered softly, "Eh, you mean that brat, Alpha? I remember she was reborn the next day. Thanks to gorging on honey-roasted yams from the Gluttonous Sweet Potato Planet, she missed our ship. She's probably wandering aimlessly somewhere in the Sapphire Galaxy now."
Thinking about this, XX looked at Omega with a gaze that resembled someone looking at a fool.
If the situation weren't so delicate, Artorius might have chuckled at XX's antics, while taking advantage of the opportunity to cuddle the girl in his arms.
"Don't worry..." Artorius reassured Omega with conviction. "Such a thing won't happen again in the future."
"Really?" Omega questioned.
"I will put an end to this war once and for all."
"But..."
"Don't worry; I don't blame you."
Listening to Artorius, Omega looked into his eyes, observing them earnestly, making sure he was sincere and not deceiving her. Finally, she couldn't hold back her tears and threw herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
'Ahh, she's quite the crybaby...' Artorius thought with a smile. 'With the misunderstanding cleared up when we reach the Holy Lance Sisterhood, everyone will find happiness.'
His mind was filled with this pleasant idea, while he prepared to console Omega further.
However, in the next moment, Omega's body suddenly trembled and then stiffened. She then raised her head, her expression one of disbelief.
"Aahh..."
Under the astonished gazes of Artorius and XX, a figure appeared behind Omega.
"Saber, Artoria Species, de~tec~ted~"
With a pure, innocent, and joyful smile, Mysterious Heroine X, made her grand entrance and without hesitation, fatally stabbed Omega from behind.
"..."
"Ahh..."
"Ahh..."
"Ahh..."
In her final moments, Omega looked at Artorius with clear eyes and opened her mouth, but could not say anything. She just uttered three "Ahh..."
But even so, Artorius understood what she wanted to convey.
Omega's meaning was clear—"I've been wrong all along. The conflicts among the Artoria Species weren't all your fault, Artorius."
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