Chapter 619: The Development of King Arthur

A few months later, in the southern part of Britain.

Altria walked back and forth outside the camp with her beloved horse until the sun set before she finally made up her mind to go in.

In the camp, Lorne, who was setting up a magic circle, heard the noise and turned to look at his beloved disciple:

"Have you bought everything?"

"Um."

Altria responded in a muffled voice and casually handed over the package in her arms.

However, Loen weighed it in his hand, then opened it and took a look, and couldn't help but frowned:

"Why are there only these few wheat cakes? The number is wrong."

"I met some children on the road. They have been hungry for several days..."

"So, you shared our dry food with them?"

"It's just my share, yours is still there, teacher!"

Altria hurriedly explained.

"What about the tent?" Lorne asked again.

"There's a woman on the road who's about to give birth. They need this to keep out the cold more than we do."

"Where are the medicines?"

"There are injured people among the refugees who have escaped..."

Altria's voice became lower and lower, and she became less and less confident.

Looking at the embarrassment on his beloved disciple's face, Luo En shook his head:

"Well, what about the rest of the money? I'll go to town and buy some more myself."

“…”

Altria did not answer, but lowered her head guiltily.

Alas, my old habit of meddling in other people’s affairs has come back again.

Luo En sighed helplessly and reminded earnestly:

"Altria, you should understand that you can't help everyone..."

"If you can help anyone, that's a good help."

Altria looked up at her teacher.

With serious eyes and firm tone,

Although the face was still cold, it exuded compassion for life in its bones.

Respecting and caring for life is the nature of the Earth Mother Goddess in every mythological system.

As the reincarnation of the goddess of origin Danu, Altria is no exception.

However, the rumbling of hunger in the stomach destroyed all the sacredness and solemnity.

Luo En didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He took out a few pieces of still-warm wheat cakes from the package and stuffed them into his beloved disciple's hands:

"Forget it, you must be hungry after running all the way, eat something first."

The rich aroma of wheat wafted into her nose, and Altria couldn't help swallowing.

She hasn't had a full meal in months.

Especially after entering the southern border, she kept secretly distributing her own rations to the increasing number of refugees on the road, and the food she took in was even less.

The strong feeling of hunger made her desire to eat continue to rise, and she wished she could eat a few cows alive on the spot.

But in the end, Altria shook her head, firmly pushed away the wheat cake that was constantly emitting the tempting smell in front of her, and said to Lorne seriously:

"Teacher, you taught me that everyone should be responsible for their own choices. Giving away my food to outsiders is something I have to do, and you shouldn't be responsible for it. If there is nothing else, I will go feed Broadwell first. It has lost a lot of weight recently."

"Broadwell" is an excellent war horse tamed by Altria herself. The name comes from Greek and was given by Lorne with his help. It means "Minotaur" or "bull's head", representing bravery, loyalty, and strength.

Without waiting for Loen to continue trying to persuade her to stay, Altria turned around, led her beloved horse and walked towards the meadow in the distance.

Looking at the man and horse walking further and further away, Loen shook his head and secretly evaluated in his heart.

——Having principles is a good thing, but it is also easy to get stuck in a rut.

~~

The dusk deepened.

The war horses in the forest happily nibbled on leaves and grass, and the rich fragrance of grass and trees spread.

Altria rubbed her growling stomach, her throat moving up and down, her lips and tongue secreting crystal saliva, and her emerald eyes staring straight at the tender green leaves and grass.

——People should be able to eat it too, right?

Just as Altria was considering whether to really eat it, a rich aroma wafted over from afar, exuding the tempting fragrance of oil.

It smells so good, it’s meat!

Rabbit, wild boar, grilled mushrooms and mushroom soup!

Artoria was able to quickly identify the ingredients from the smell, her eyes lit up and she swallowed her saliva wildly.

The girl rubbed her belly, which was screaming even louder, and her thoughts were a little distracted:

Perhaps, I should leave half a piece of wheat cake for myself.

Well, half a piece is enough. It should be fine if she only eats that little.

While thinking, Altria vaguely smelled the rich aroma of wheat from her hands.

She closed her eyes and took the fingers of her right hand into her mouth one by one and sucked them expectantly, moving her pink tongue in an attempt to find any remaining food residues between her fingers.

——Before, she used this hand to break the wheat cakes and give them to the children.

But she sucked her fingers until they turned red and even left a row of shallow teeth marks, but she didn't feel full at all. Instead, she became even hungrier.

Just when Altria was in a trance, a sound of breaking through the air was heard.

“Whoosh!”

The block-shaped flying object exuding a strong fragrance drew a graceful arc in the air and fell to the ground.

Altria suddenly opened her eyes and leaped up as swiftly as a hunting lioness. She opened her mouth and bit the half roasted rabbit that was falling down. Her canine teeth tore off the slightly hot strips of meat and swallowed them whole into her stomach to soothe Kong Ming's stomach.

She devoured half a roasted rabbit into a pile of white bones like a whirlwind, and licked her greasy hands with satisfaction, trying to take in every bit of nutrition into her stomach.

However, that action was like a lion licking its fur, inexplicably revealing a kind of naivety.

Lorne, who came out of the forest, couldn't help laughing. He pointed to the bonfire not far away and the soup pot and animal meat on it:

"The meal is ready, why don't you come and eat?"

"But teacher, I gave away all my food. I should take responsibility for it and not let you waste your food in vain."

"Don't worry, my portion of wheat cakes is still in the package. These are freshly hunted game and wild game picked in the forest. Since we are traveling in a group, you should have a portion."

Lorne smiled and blinked.

Seeing that his beloved disciple was still hesitating, he immediately raised his eyebrows:

"You don't want to eat it? Then I'll just throw away the rest. I can't eat it anyway."

“It’s shameful to waste food!”

Altria quickly spoke out to stop this behavior, and immediately followed her teacher to the campfire.

After some hard work, she managed to save half of a wild boar, three wild rabbits, twenty skewers of grilled mushrooms, and a whole pot of mushroom soup.

After this binge eating, Altria rubbed her bloated belly with great satisfaction and stretched happily.

After a short rest, the girl turned her head and looked at the face under the firelight seriously:

"Thank you, teacher."

She was not a child who knew nothing, so she could naturally feel the care and concern contained in this meal.

Lorne fiddled with the fire, smiling but saying nothing.

Seeing that the teacher had no intention of pursuing her, Altria gradually relaxed and couldn't help but ask the question in her mind:

"Teacher, why are so many refugees migrating to the Misty Forest? Isn't this the territory of the fairies? Aren't they afraid of being captured by the fairies?"

Fairies are creatures that are difficult to define using human concepts of good and evil. They are not good at creation or independent thinking, but they like to imitate human behavior and absorb the strong emotions of humans. Some even regard humans as a source of food.

Therefore, in Celtic legends, there are many cases where humans were abducted by fairies and kept in captivity in their own territories, or directly killed and eaten.

Coupled with the occasional appearance of magical beasts and the relatively barren land, the Southern Territory is not a very good place for those hungry refugees to live.

"If you are captured by goblins, you may survive. But if you stay in the North, you will definitely die!"

Lorne answered as he poked the fire.

Altria was a little surprised: "Is the situation over there so bad?"

Lorne glanced at Altria, threw down the branch in his hand, and brought his beloved disciple to a high slope, and put his hand on her shoulder:

"See for yourself."

The warm current transformed from divine power flowed into her eyes, making Altria's vision suddenly expand a hundred times.

She stood on a high place, gazing into the distance with a pair of emerald eyes, an expression of astonishment and disbelief frozen on her pretty face.

Looking around, the dry riverbed, the barren land, and the sky full of yellow sand come into view.

In the fields, the soil is cracked in large areas and has long lost all its greenness; the once abundant water bodies are now only deep pits of silt, and the fish, having lost their support, have rotted into a pile of bones; the grass and trees on both sides of the road have withered and died, and the bodies of dead livestock and even human skeletons can be vaguely seen in the stinking ditches.

The sky was covered with lead-gray clouds that lingered for a long time, and thunderstorms flashed through it, like a group of scurrying snakes, constantly striking down.

In the wilderness where life is almost extinct, an endless turbulence of magical power surges, forming a spiral column of wind that penetrates the sky and the earth, blowing violently on the surface of the earth, and wrapping up dead branches and sand and stones in it. The friction between the air flow and the debris produces sharp whimpers, like the wailing of a ghost.

What’s even more terrifying is that deep pits emitting black gas appeared one after another on the originally open plain.

The intricately distributed scars turned the surface into a tragic scene like that of a meteorite impact.

At this time, the human-shaped black dots, like ants, lined up in a long dragon, staggering through the wasteland that looked like the surface of the moon. If they were not careful, they would end up falling into a hundred-meter-deep pit.

In the howling sandstorm, the refugees wrapped themselves tightly and mechanically migrated across the wilderness like zombies, the life and light in their eyes being eroded bit by bit.

“Woo woo…”

Near the refugees, wolfhounds with red eyes and skinny bodies were wandering around the migration group, humming softly.

These beasts were in no hurry to attack humans. Instead, they kept a certain distance and followed quietly behind, dragging the dying people lying on the roadside into nearby ditches to fill their hungry stomachs.

The migrants did not have the power to drive out the wolfhounds, and the wolfhounds did not have the energy to hunt humans.

The two sides actually maintain a wonderful ecological relationship, walking and stopping in the wilderness.

But in Altria's eyes, she saw only desolation and despair.

Such cruel scenes appeared in Altria's eyes one after another, bringing strong impact and shock.

The compassion in the nature of the Earth Mother made her unable to bear to look directly at him. She subconsciously raised her hand to grab Luo En's arm and asked:

"Teacher, are these all made by Vortigern?"

"Well, as you can see."

"Why? Hasn't he become the king of Britain? Why does he still want to kill his own people like this?"

"Because becoming a king is not his goal. Making this world die is."

Lorne answered in a deep voice and told the truth.

The humble king Vortigern is not a real human being, but the embodiment of the will of death of the British Isles, bred in the depths of the earth by countless filth and resentment.

At present, with the reincarnation of the goddess Danu, the gods of Danu have disappeared, the mystery of Britain has begun to fade, and the will of nature has gradually declined.

This monster also crawled out of the abyss, transformed into a human form, and began to become an enemy of the creatures of Britain.

The more lives that die, the more hatred and filth he can absorb, and the stronger his own power will become.

His mission will not end until all things are destroyed and the world collapses.

This is why Vortigern was so cruel to his subjects.

He wanted to build a staircase with the corpses of millions of people and step into a higher level.

Altria pursed her lips, clenched her fists, and asked:

"Teacher, is there no one who can stop him?"

"Altria, you are their hope and the future of this world."

"I understand. I will grow up as quickly as possible, pass your test, draw the sword, and become the King of Britain!"

Luo En turned his head to look at his beloved disciple and asked:

"Because of [responsibility] or [mission]?"

“Neither.”

Altria shook her head and said,

"I have thought a lot along the way. You are right. A person's power is limited after all. I am just an apprentice knight who has not passed the assessment yet. I cannot save all of them.

But if I become a knight like my brother, I can form a team on my own and protect the safety of a village.

If I become a lord, I can build a high wall to protect the people in the city from suffering;

If I become king, I can gather the power of all of Britain to completely eliminate this disaster!"

After a pause, the girl raised her head and looked at her teacher seriously and solemnly:

"This is why I want to draw the sword, and this is also the way of kings that I want to practice!"

Hearing the sonorous words and the firm voice, Loen smiled with satisfaction.

After being nurtured for so long, this empty shell was finally injected with the seeds of soul.

Moreover, it is the most noble type.

Most kings, whether they comply with the will of the people or not, are more or less selfish. But Altria is not after power, money, or fame. She wants to be king simply out of compassion for life.

She regarded saving people as her goal itself and the value of her life.

Although this road called "Salvation" is full of thorns and bumps, no matter what the final result is, she will be a great king.

"My little lion has grown up."

Lorne smiled with emotion and rubbed the girl's head with his hands.

The warm temperature in her palm seemed to dilute Altria's confusion about the future.

The girl pursed her lips and looked up at the face under the moonlight:

"Teacher, I, no, [we] will stop this, right?"

"Well, I will always be by your side no matter what time it is."

The voice was soothing and gentle, and seemed to have a magical power that could make people feel at ease.

Altria couldn't wait to raise her pretty face, her eyes full of enthusiasm:

"Teacher, should we go back to the town first and pull out the Sword of the Chosen? Then recruit people to prepare for the battle?"

"No hurry, the journey is not over yet."

"So what do we do next?"

"Find some helpful hands."

"Where are you going?"

Hearing the barrage of questions, Loen couldn't help laughing.

Sure enough, active and passive enthusiasm are different.

Then, under Altria's expectant gaze, Lorne looked towards the wilderness in the distance with amusement:

"It seems to have arrived..."

Under the cover of night, a team of knights in black clothes and black armor swept across the ground like a surging wave. The long swords and lances cast an eerie cold light as they were swung, easily cutting through the bodies of the refugees and taking their lives.

“Boom!”

With a dull roar, the three leading black knights fell to the ground, and the pursuit trend slowed down.

A figure among the refugees tore off his cloak and shouted:

"Spread out! Run south! Don't stop!"

Although the pale face still retained the outline of a young man, the cheekbones were covered with the cold glaze of moonlight. Facing the collective charge of a hundred or so black knights, it remained motionless, like a fortress rising from the wilderness.

The silver hair was stained with the loneliness of the moonlight, and the ends of the hair were tinged with a pale blue color like oxidized mithril, like ice floes condensed on the surface of a lake on a cold night falling on the shoulder armor. The lily embossed on the breastplate was burned by the war, and the star pattern flickered with the movement like a dying campfire.

Obviously, this is a knight who has experienced many battles.

But his left arm was empty.

"Come on, you hyenas under the lowly king!"

As the ground shook more and more violently, the one-armed knight tightly grasped the broken lance in his hand, an unnatural bluish-white glow appearing on his knuckles, and faced the oncoming black tide.

(End of this chapter)