[FMMIKA] Chapter 219: Victory

"I'll never let you go, Ex."

Speaking such affectionate words in this situation almost made Ex feel like crying.

"You're bullying me."

Saying these words with tears in her eyes, Ex bit hard into Artorius's shoulder.

"!!!"

'It hurt!'

Artorius shouted inwardly as Ex bit down fiercely, probably leaving marks on his collarbone.

Yet she still had that teary-eyed look, and anyone witnessing this scene would conclude that she was the one being bullied.

Which, in fact, was true.

"Ex..."

Despite the pain in his shoulder, Artorius had to endure it in this situation. Not only endure but also gaze at Ex with affectionate eyes, trying to gain her consent.

"Ugh..."

However, Ex gave Artorius no response, just continued to look at him with teary eyes, full of defiance.

They stood like that for a moment.

After several seconds, Artorius lowered his head and gently bit into Ex's soft neck—not with his teeth, but with his lips, using suction.

Though it still hurt, there was something strange mingling with the pain, something that passed from Artorius's lips to Ex, causing her gaze to shift from anger and discontent to something more watery.

Intense struggling, bodies pressed tightly together, everything melded into one, making Ex feel utterly disoriented.

'No, no, I can't... Artorius bullied me and deceived me; I can't forgive him so easily.'

'I must find a way to make Artorius understand my pain.'

'B-But...'

'It feels so good~'

'Artorius, you stupid...'

Seeing Artorius's flickering gaze and understanding the emotions hidden within it, Ex was still unhappy but decided not to continue the struggle.

"Artorius..."

Although still teary-eyed and looking at Artorius with a pout, Ex finally let out a sigh.

"I'm here..." He said gently. "Are you admitting defeat?"

"..."

Ex didn't speak, just continued to pout and look at Artorius.

"Be a good girl..." Artorius held her and said gently. "Why do you think I'm here and doing all of this? Isn't it for all of you? My effort would be pointless if I didn't win."

Artorius looked at her seriously for several seconds and continued, "Promise me, okay? I'll definitely make you happy."

Rather than a demand for Ex to submit to him, it sounded more like a confession.

Or maybe it truly was a confession.

Their posture was even closer to a 'kabedon', with Artorius pinning Ex against a big stone rubble and his hand pressed against the stone behind her. Despite the hellish surroundings and the life-and-death battle they had just endured, nothing else mattered at this moment.

Artorius Pendragon was the victor.

And in the arms of the victor was the beautiful and cute Ex.

It was only natural to say some nice things to further their relationship, right?

"..."

Despite her efforts to resist, in the end, Ex smiled because of Artorius's words.

"..."

Afterward, Ex remained silent, just lowered her head slightly, and said, "Umu."

Even though it felt a little unfair to the other Artorias, Artorius still liked Ex the most.

The petite, bespectacled girl with an air of innocence. From the past life to the present, she had always struck his heart. In terms of position in his heart, maybe Ex was somewhat equal to his true mother, Artoria.

Holding the cute girl in his arms, whether rubbing or squeezing her, making her produce sounds of pleasure mixed with shyness, complaints, and happiness—all of this just made Artorius very pleased to think about.

Though she was supposed to be a mother, it felt more like having a younger sister. A quiet and literary-minded younger sister.

"..."

And thus, the final obstacle to Artorius's success disappeared with a smile from Ex.

"Heh, you're cute, Ex~" As Artorius said these words, he sealed her lips with a kiss, and then began undoing Ex's buttons.

Whether it was a sailor suit, a pleated skirt, or simple white cotton underwear, they were all unnecessary right now. The only thing blocking Artorius and Ex from getting even closer was mere clothes.

"Ex..."

"Mmm, if it's Artorius..."

The girl agreed with these words, and hesitating any further would just be cowardly.

Even though this place wasn't ideal right now, who cared? More important than the environment was the atmosphere, and the current atmosphere was perfect.

So, Artorius couldn't hold back any longer.

With this in mind, Artorius decided to give Ex all the love she deserved.

However—

"!!!"

In the next moment, he felt something was off—just as he was about to get even closer to Ex, Artorius suddenly felt a 'strange' sensation around him. He raised his head abruptly, scanning the surroundings. In the distance, he saw a large group of Artoria Species.

The bounded field had been undone, and apparently, he didn't realize when it happened. Probably because the decisive battle between him and Ex had been finished, the purpose of the bounded field had ceased to exist.

"!"

"Ex?!"

The next second, Artorius quickly pulled Ex up and used his magecraft to clothe both himself and Ex.

Almost in the blink of an eye, all the Artoria Species who had also realized that the bounded field had disappeared, hurriedly approaching the battlefield, chattering excitedly and looking at Artorius.

"Artorius!"

"Who won?!"

"Is the battle over?!"

"Is everything okay?"

"Quiet!"

Seeing that every Artoria Species was getting out of hand, Lion King drew her holy lance and fired a light beam into the sky. This silenced them, and they all stared at Artorius nervously, waiting for his answer.

"..."

Artorius looked at Ex and found that she was looking back at him.

After a moment of eye contact, Ex smiled, nodded, and took a step back, joining the other Artoria Species.

"So, does that mean..."

"In that case..."

Every Artoria Species wore joyful smiles and continued to look at Artorius with expectant eyes.

"Yeah..."

Artorius nodded and raised his holy sword high.

"It's my victory!"

"I won!"

"I am the head of the Pendragons!"

"!"

"!!"

"!!!"

"Hail!"

"Hail to Artorius!"

"That's fantastic! It's Artorius's victory!"

"Amazing!"

"Let's start a harem! Harem King Artorius sounds great, right?"

"Ooohhh!!!"

Upon hearing Artorius proclaiming victory, Every Artoria Species didn't hesitate and erupted in jubilation.

However, amid this celebration, there were some discordant elements. Those who had fought earnestly with Artorius or came close to victory, including even the mature Lion King, had a moment of dimmed expressions.

Be it Z, Ex, XX, or even the most composed and mature like Lion King and Artoria, after hearing such cheers, they all fell silent for a while.

But it was only for a moment.

"Congratulations, Artorius."

"Yeah, congratulations..."

"Congrats..."

Apart from Lion King and Artoria, the other Artorias seemed less sincere. The least composed X even looked like she was about to cry.

However, no matter what, they all sent their blessings to Artorius, the victor.

"Thank you all—"

"Wow!!!"

By the time Artorius wanted to say a few words of courtesy, the group of five Mordreds had already rushed over.

"This is amazing!"

"Big Brother won!"

"I knew Big Brother would win!"

"All Hail Big Brother!"

With these words, the Mordreds tossed Artorius into the air. Afterward, everyone happily made their way to the Orleans Palace, like a parade.

It was like a grand victory parade.

"All Hail Artorius!"

"All Hail Artorius Pendragon!"

The influence of the Mordred subspecies made the already joyful Artoria Species even happier.

They cheered while joyfully tossing Artorius into the air.

"Wait a moment, oy, wait...!"

Artorius felt a little embarrassed with all of this shouting and tossing him into the air.

'Whatever, as long as everyone is happy...'

Looking at the expressions of the Artorias, even the mature and composed Lion King breathed a sigh of relief and smiled happily.

In this situation, it was better not to pour cold water on anyone.

'Let the mothers have some fun...' Artorius thought to himself. 'After all, it's not that big a deal.'

With this thought in mind, the grand celebration of Artorius's ascension as the head and leader of the Pendragon family, or the Pendragons, kicked off joyously.

A large amount of food and drinks were urgently transported to the Orleans Palace, and the palace chefs, along with serving maids, busied themselves. Of course, even with all this effort, it still wasn't enough.

While Artorius ruled over a vast kingdom, his lifestyle wasn't particularly extravagant considering his position.

There weren't feasts with hundreds of dishes, some meant for display, and others for actual consumption. Furthermore, each dish was only tasted with a single bite.

In the kitchen, there was a whole team dedicated to making dumplings. Some were responsible for chopping the fillings, some for kneading the dough, and others for slicing the green onions, and so on.

Although Artorius had raised several Artoria Species before, from a few to several hundred, it still wasn't enough.

Even with temporary chefs borrowed from various nobles and wealthy merchants, it still wasn't sufficient.

In the end, a large number of soldiers were temporarily drafted from the army, and a vast number of pots and grills were set up in the palace square outside to barely meet the demand.

However, it was the Imperial officials and a large number of maids who suffered the most in this situation. Even Agravain, who hadn't done this kind of work in a long time, was forcibly brought in to oversee the operation.

Then, just like everyone who saw so many Artoria Species for the first time, Agravain was overwhelmed.

Especially since so many Artoria Species were friendly and greeted him as if they were familiar with him. They acted as if they had known him for a long time.

"Hey, isn't that Agravain?"

"You're one of Artorius's subordinates too."

"Keep up the good work, Agravain."

"Could it be..." After a brief moment of surprise, Agravain directed his angry gaze towards Morgan le Fay.

"Is Morgan causing trouble again?"

"???"

"Hey, disrespectful one, what are you looking at?" Morgan shot back at him with a fierce glare.

"?!"

Her complete disregard for her obvious mistake almost made Agravain draw his sword—of course before that happened—

"Sir Agravain."

A Mordred subspecies, with a mischievous grin, patted him on the shoulder and then pointed in a direction before Agravain could lose his temper.

Agravain instinctively looked in that direction and instantly saw a woman.

Although she was among a group of women who looked very much like her, Agravain recognized her immediately.

Not just because of her demeanor, which stood out among the Artoria Species around her, but because of her 'prominent' place in Agravain's heart—in a negative way.

"?!"

Agravain was shocked for a few seconds, then abruptly turned to look at the person he had originally been watching, then turned to look at the other again.

In this brief moment, the Morgan he had turned his attention to also felt his gaze and looked back at him with an annoyed expression.

After noticing it was Agravain, she seemed to realize something and suddenly appeared somewhat aggrieved. She turned her head to the side and didn't care anymore.

"Two Morgan le Fay?!" Agravain's head was spinning.

At the same time, the Mordred subspecies, who successfully pulled off her mischief, happily squeezed her way towards Artorius.

Amid the envious and displeased gazes of many Artoria Species, she ended up in Artorius's arms.

"Don't tease him..." Artorius said with an indulgent tone.

"Big brother~" The Mordred subspecies replied in a tone like a spoiled little sister. This was Mordred No. 3, or Mordred Three for short. She was even smaller than the other Mordreds, perhaps she could be called Mordred Lily?

"Your Majesty, w-what is this..." Agravain's shocked expression hadn't disappeared as Artorius, with Mordred Three in tow, approached him.

"Don't worry about these details." Artorius continued to maintain a cheerful and graceful smile.

"But..."

"The banquet is in your hands, Sir Agravain."

"..."

"Yes, Your Majesty..."

"Hahaha, you're really dependable."

Artorius continued to smile cheerfully, but his eyes flickered for a moment.

In this timeline, one of his closest friends and most loyal subordinates, Agravain, should experience a far better fate than the Agravain from that future timeline.

Agravain shouldn't have to devote himself entirely to world safety, giving up everything, and ultimately facing charges of deceiving the emperor, all just to fight such an unpleasant enemy like the vampires.

Although Artorius himself didn't care about such matters, Agravain's strict self-discipline would surely lead to self-punishment.

'Those Knights of Redemption thing, just Lancelot would be enough.' Artorius couldn't help but think. 'Go on and be happy, Agravain.'

'Clearly, that Vampire Duchess isn't worthy of being Agravain's partner. Perhaps I should arrange a blind date for Agravain tomorrow?'

Artorius thought to himself, wearing a pleased smile on his face.

That smile, similar to a mischievous aunt holding back some wicked idea, sent shivers down Agravain's spine.

"Then, excuse me."

Agravain, who didn't yet know what kind of 'happiness' awaited him, bowed and quickly made his exit.

As Agravain made his way to the exit, he began to ponder:

'Now, how should I allocate resources? A few hundred... to be precise, four hundred and seventy-two Artoria Species, assuming they eat their fill... The resources in the city might not be enough. Should I requisition provisions from the storage?

But that's the military storage... forget it, each of those Artoria Species is equivalent to a legion. So, I'll gauge them as the combat strength of four hundred and seventy-seven legions. Moreover, each Artoria Species' appetite is only equivalent to a battalion. Now that I think about it, the empire is making a fortune, right?!'

Agravain swiftly calculated the accounts and regained his composure. However, right after that, he fell into another layer of consideration.

'Without realizing, the Empire expanded its army to five hundred legions? Has the Empire embarked on such a path of militarism? If possible, I'd like the empire's finances to lean more towards the country's development. But, we can't disband these five hundred legions... what should I do?'

And so, Agravain's inner thoughts became entangled in confusion and worry.

He continued to contemplate the future of the empire while efficiently organizing the tasks Artorius had requested, handling two magic-related incidents, assisting with one political matter, and tending to the affairs of their intelligence department.

"..."

'It's probably not possible.' Watching Agravain in this state, Artorius began to wonder, 'Is this what they call a natural workaholic?'

But it seemed that Agravain, busy as he was, felt quite fulfilled, almost as if he enjoyed it.

"Let's not bother him then." Artorius happily ruffled the heads of Mordred Three, then Mordred Four and Mordred Five.

"Tell me more about your adventures in space."

"Sure."

"We'll tell Big Brother everything."

The Mordreds looked very happy, basking in Artorius's favor as if they were the ultimate victors, much to the chagrin of the surrounding Artorias.