AStoryForOne
patreon
Chapter 574 (Accidently posted unedited version, refresh if you need to)
🕑 Added 2025-08-11 13:02:28 +0000 UTCAlmost immediately, the train car became tense.
Luckily, there weren’t many people remaining, basically just my own group and Wavers along with the person in question still sitting down.
She looked at me this time, really looked at me. There was less dismissive disinterest this time, and it was clear I had her full attention.
Well, I didn’t expect her to pull off her veil like some Scooby-Doo villain after I called her out.
Truthfully, I didn’t know what to expect after I called her out.
It was sort of done on a whim. Once everything slotted together, I just went with the flow.
Regardless, I was ready for a fight if it came to it.
And to be honest, I didn’t know how to react to her existence. Was it proper for me to take any sort of ‘revenge’ on Artroia’s behalf in this instance? Mordred felt more…delicate, deserving of a light touch than I did before. But here, I don’t think Artoria harbors any sense of regret towards her sister.
But then again, I don't know if I can one hundred percent make that claim. It’s always been a touchy subject, and I never went too far in-depth about her feelings towards her sister. That’s not to say that there are many secrets between us at this point, but there are some things that even partners—those who love each other—should leave alone.
And she hadn’t made any actual aggressive move towards us. In fact, this entire time, she hadn’t even spoken a single word.
And it’s not like I suspected her of being involved in this whole mess with the other Servant. As by context clues, it’s clear she was also attacked, which more or less means she isn’t with them.
Hell, if she hadn’t been attacked, I would have never made this connection.
However, there’s one glaring question: how is she here?
“Oi, Gray, take me out.” I heard Kay’s voice from behind me.
Gray had been….well, she was a lot more timid now that the Witch’s identity had been revealed. She was already not in a very good headspace regarding things from Artoria’s life. But hearing that the one responsible for her situation was now sitting not far away, well…..
It wasn’t hard to guess how she was feeling at this moment.
Despite this, though, she took out her Mystic Code.
“It is that dumb witch.” Kay spoke up, looking her way. “I’d recognize those hips anywhere. Better check all the other parts of the train; she’s probably got a whole army of bastards waiting with how much she gets around.”
Goddamn.
Definitely no love between them there.
In fact, I think I saw Morgan finally react.
Was that the smallest twitch of annoyance that flashed through her eyes?
She raised a finger, pointing at Kay, and cast a quick spell with a light scoff.
Kay jumped around in his little cage, clearly unable to speak.
I took out my wand, keeping eye contact with Morgan, and pointed it at Kay. “Finite.”
The spell on Kay was dispelled.
“Hah, thanks, Brother-in-Law!” Kay said happily.
“No problem.” I smiled just as happily.
Finite was a really neat spell that I picked up from the world that Kunou’s in. Just a general-purpose ‘Counter Spell.’ It’s not the strongest, but it’s probably the broadest yet most effective one I’ve ever seen.
“Is this the sister of Artoria that I was told about?” Salem spoke up.
“This would be the one.” I nodded.
“I heard she was a terrifying and talented witch.” Salem turned her nose up. “I find myself disappointed.”
Jesus, Salem just took her own shot right out of the gate.
The funny thing is, despite Salem’s…attitude and her general desire to keep distance from most people, she did like everyone in the harem. For what ‘like’ means when it comes to her, it’s a rather complicated subject.
Jeanne, Jinn, Artoria, and the more…‘pure’ members—she didn’t dislike them for a certain sense of innocence or ‘brightness’ they carried with them.
If anything, I think she particularly liked those characteristics.
I had seen Salem’s life when originally asking Jinn about it. Salem, a younger Salem, wasn’t much different. Perhaps, it was seeing herself in them, and it was nostalgic.
Either way, she liked Artoria.
“Oh, I like her.” Kay jumped around. “Be prepared to be continuously disappointed when it comes to that witch, though. That’s all she gives; that’s her entire legacy. Disappointment after disappointment.”
“Oh my, can I join in?” Venelana asked.
“Feel free. Even back in the day, insulting the witch was one of our favorite pastimes.” Kay responded.
“Wasn’t like half the Round Table related to Morgan directly?” I asked.
“Who do you think was most happy to start things off?”
“How shitty must someone be that all of their children hate them that much?” I asked incredulously.
“Why don’t you ask her? Though, I could give you the summarized reason. It’s because she’s an utter piece of shit.” Kay played off me quite smoothly.
“I was expecting something more deep and philosophical, maybe something touching on the nature of good and evil.”
“Nope, she’s just a complete cunt.” Kay said easily.
“Funny, I recall Mordred saying almost the exact same thing.” As soon as I said that, I noticed a strange reaction from Morgan.
…she didn’t know about Mordred. Meaning, she knew about me and Artoria, or at least that I was together with Artoria.
That was interesting.
“What did you want to add, Venelana?” I looked at my grandmother.
She was standing protectively behind Olga with her hands on the smaller girl. Olga herself looked…off balance, to say the least. I think this whole thing took her completely off guard.
“Oh sorry, I was going to ask for clarification on who she was, but I remembered after some effort. Merlin’s contemporary. You must forgive me—in my circles, he’s the name that comes up, not yours. I suppose not everyone can leave a lasting legacy.”
I looked at Morgan again, and she didn’t say anything, and she didn’t move, but I could feel that one in how it got under her skin.
Venelana also liked Artoria.
Venelana was protective by nature.
Her view was much simpler compared to Salem’s. If someone harmed someone close to her or tried to, she wouldn’t hesitate to start throwing hands—or insults, in this case.
“Oof, that one’s got to hurt. Losing out to that flowery bastard, I couldn’t imagine.” Kay just rubbed it in even more.
I think Kay was enjoying himself a lot.
Was there a game plan here?
Nope.
I would freely admit I was just insulting her for the sake of it. I wasn’t usually this kind of an asshole; my petty and insulting nature usually came out when someone directly did something to me or around me. I think Morgan certainly qualifies for that particular threshold in this case.
I mean, I think I was being good with my restraint.
Sitting in front of me was a woman who directly and purposely harmed a woman I loved throughout her whole life.
The fact that I wasn’t swinging my sword at her head said a lot about my restraint, I think.
“That’s not fair; I think she has one footnote in Merlin’s story. Didn’t she sleep with him to become his apprentice?” I asked.
“It’s hard to keep track, honestly. With all the people she slept with, it’s probably easier to write a list of who she didn’t—”
“Enough!” Morgan finally spoke for the first time, slamming her hand on the table, silencing the train car.
“...huh, she can speak. I was starting to think she was mute.” I mused.
“I wish.” Kay snorted.
“You two are utterly insufferable.” The witch hissed.
“Immediately insulting us as the first thing she says.” I shook my head, clicking my tongue.
“Exactly what you would expect from the witch; she clearly has no class.” Kay followed along.
“Do you take my silence as bowing my head?” She flicked her hands, and they glowed ominously with magical energy. “Say another word, I dare either of you.”
“Oh, you want to fight?” I asked, letting my Spiritual Pressure erupt outwards, being careful not to let it press down on anyone undeserving.
However, the train began to violently shake.
Credit where it was due, though, Morgan barely even trembled.
It became a silent stare-off despite the high tension and power fluctuations. I had thought for sure she would start attacking, but she didn’t.
The door behind her opened, and the auctioneer stood there, or did her best to. She was right in the proverbial splash zone, so I quickly pulled my Spiritual Pressure back.
“Lord Schweinorg, I request that you rein in your anger.” She forced a smile as she spoke up. “If this continues, the auction may very well be cancelled.”
I glanced at her, then back at Morgan. “I’ll pay for any train damage.”
“It’s not a matter of damaging the train.” She replied. “I merely wish to inform you. The one you seem intent on fighting, she is the one who is bringing the Mystic Eyes to be auctioned.”
Now that got my attention.
It was enough that my Spiritual Pressure completely dispersed.
“Come again?” I asked.
The auctioneer looked like she relaxed a little. “We have a contract; she is supplying the Mystic Eyes that have become the target of so many in recent months.”
That…is genuinely a surprise.
I most certainly didn’t expect this to be the case. Morgan is the one who spread the name of the Mystic Eyes of Providence?
Not only that, but the Auctioneer was very clearly aware of her identity by how ‘close’ they were.
"Business partners" would be an apt description.
Well, fuck.
This complicates matters a lot more.
And her face.
I couldn’t see much, but I could sense her smugness as she lowered her arms.
It felt like she ‘won,’ and I didn’t like it.
Gramps asked me to investigate these Eyes in particular, can’t do that if the one who’s supposed to supply them is dead either.
And truthfully, I didn’t know how much I would be able to ‘fight’ her without feeling like I overstepped with Artoria’s wishes.
Dammit, this whole thing became a mess.
After several long, tense moments, Morgan let out a disdainful snort and walked away, leaving out the door that the auctioneer came from.
“Thank you for staying your hand, Lord Schweinorg. Now we can focus on the important matter at hand.” The auctioneer spoke again.
Right…that.
I looked out the window, where a battle between Grimm and tree-based ghouls was happening.
I suppose it was a poor time to even consider ‘fighting’ Morgan anyways.
Put that off for now; it's time to deal with this vampire tree.
@***@
“I apologize for dragging you into that, Waver.” I said, stepping out of the train. “I admit, I would have handled it differently if I had known her identity ahead of time.”
“There is no need to apologize; it was…enlightening.” Waver seemed to choose his words carefully.
It was still cold, maybe even colder. This vampire forest was producing this intense cold as well as everything else.
“You should just kill her on sight next time.” Kay grumbled. “Do the world a favor.”
I let out a sigh. “I don’t know if that’s what Artoria would appreciate.”
“...probably not.” Kay grumbled further.
I nodded, hopping up onto the roof of the train again.
“Up we go.” Venelana said cheerfully, wrapping Olga up in her arms as she hopped up with me. Olga let out a cute little squeal of surprise as it happened.
I surveyed the area better at this height as they seemed to join me up here. It wasn’t just us; further down the train, those who hadn’t barricaded themselves indoors had similar ideas to use the top of the train as a vantage point.
More and more Ghouls were being spat out from the surrounding trees.
Frankly, it was horrific to watch.
On the other side, things were faring a bit better. Where Ciel and her church people were, they seemed to be able to stem the tide a bit more with the help of Salem’s Grimm.
Though, I did notice something in particular as my head snapped that way.
From a large tree in the distance, it spat out a particularly large Ghoul. As in, probably about fifteen feet in height and a bit bulkier.
“It’s learning.” Waver commented, taking out a cigarette between his cold fingers. “I’ve noticed that the number of Ghouls produced that don’t immediately die has drastically reduced. They’re evolving gradually.”
“There.” Salem spoke, raising her finger as all eyes followed it. “That one has bladed arms.”
I didn’t notice until she pointed out a Ghoul with bladed arms slicing through a Boortusk with relative ease before several other Grimm attacked it all at once.
The huge Ghoul that had spawned, a Nuckelavee, burst out of the shadows and collided with it at full force.
It caused a very loud booming sound as the two bodies hit each other with reckless abandon.
This would have been a lot more difficult to deal with had Salem not been here. From a practical standpoint, it’s not really a threat to me, but I don’t know if I could handle these numbers while also protecting the train and everyone else.
“Isn’t this bad?” Olga asked. “The longer this goes on, the stronger they become, right? And there’s more than there was at first.”
“You’re not wrong, Lady Animusphere. However, there is still a limit to the amount it can produce. Though, it’s a question of how many of them and of what quality before it runs out of its Magical Energy.” Waver explained.
“It must have gotten quite a bit when eating that Servant.” I noted. “It might even be able to utilize some of the Servant’s skills unconsciously due to its existence as an offspring of a Superior Dead Apostle. If the Servant had any kind of Battle Continuation, it could continue to survive for several days longer than it normally would.”
“Lady Salem is handling it well for now. Do you have a plan, Lord Schweinorg?” Waver asked.
“I have a vague idea of a plan.” I admitted. “I suppose, this time, I can be the bait to lure out this thing’s core. If I flare up my magical energy enough, it may appear properly to try and eat me.” I said thoughtfully.
“I can hold off these dredges; you do what you need to.” Salem replied curtly.
“I’ll go to the front of the train so I don’t disturb you.” I gave a small wave as I used a burst of Shunpo to move to the front, which was several train cars away.
I actually hadn’t had time to inspect the engine room yet. I was intrigued, but I didn’t want to let that distract me.
I was being casual, but this wasn’t the best situation. There are plenty of ways that things could go very wrong very quickly. If the Vampire Tree started producing things even close to Servant level, that would be very bad.
Honestly, it may be possible, but this thing seems too stupid to reach that conclusion before it dies.
Even I wouldn’t want to fight dozens of Ghouls with Servant-level parameters.
Speaking of Servants.
I turned around. “I thought for sure you would stay away from me.”
Morgan came walking over, her heels clicking against the metal roof of the train. “Don’t presume to guess my intentions.”
“Oh, fuck off.” I scoffed.
“You are a rude man.” She huffed indignantly.
“Do you have any high ground to stand on for that kind of response?” I deadpanned.
She rolled her eyes but didn’t retort my statement. “I assume you are trying to lure out its core.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Very well, I will assist.”
“Color me surprised.”
“I have a contract with the staff of this machine.” She harumphed. “It is partly my fault this creature appeared.”
“Partly.” I repeated.
“It was already not far away, and someone lured it over. My tapping into the Leyline was merely an appetizing lure for it.”
While that was a fair evaluation, I didn’t want to give it to her.
“You summoned yourself as a Servant to get around restrictions of coming out of the Reverse Side.” I changed the subject. “It’s why you needed to directly tap into the Leyline rather than secure a different source of Magical Energy. But even that would be highly improbable, which means you piggybacked off of someone else performing a summoning. The Servant from before, is that right?”
Morgan Le Fay, by nature of her existence, would be a Nature Spirit. She’s a Fairy from her Vivian side as well. Summoning herself is technically something she could do because her status gives her special privileges.
She looked at me but seemed dismissive with her eyes. “I guess you’re not completely incompetent. It would behoove me if my dear sister placed her affections in someone that wasn’t at least this capable.”
“Fuck off, you don’t get to talk about Artoria’s preferences or affections.” I immediately shut that down.
“How droll.” I could vaguely see her scrunch her nose. “My dear sister’s taste was always poor.”
“...my daughter loves me; can you say the same about any of your children?”
“.....”
She didn’t react outwardly, but I could tell that hit her harder than she would probably want to admit.
“...you spoke of Mordred before. She and my sister are together?”
“They are.” I said bluntly.
“I see.” She didn’t ask for details, but there was a strange undertone of something in her voice that lingered for several moments until she spoke again. “Stop dawdling; this creature offends me with its existence. I refuse to bear with it any longer than necessary.”
I felt my eye twitch at her command. “You know, I’ve become really good at something recently.”
“Dare I care to ask?”
“I’ve become very good at killing fairies.” I smiled at her as I flared up my Magical Energy.
The Train, by the nature of its existence, was hard to detect by the Forest due to it being on top of a Leyline. However, I just became a very bright light in the proverbial darkness for it.
And Morgan, whatever she was doing, seemed to exuberate it by letting the magical energy she’d been using to sustain herself sort of flare out as well.
It was a simple trick, but effective.
The whole ground trembled.
It was easy to feel that the forest itself seemed to be quaking and moving under the earth.
However, unexpectedly, it wasn’t from the ground that it came. At the same time as me, Morgan looked up into the sky.
Space trembled and then tore open.
Frankly, it reminded me of how Hollows traveled through space back in that world.
A black void appeared in the sky, a very large black void, and then it popped out.
It was like a worm, if a worm was made of wood, had teeth made of wood, had tendrils made of wood, and could treat the train like it was a noodle to be slurped.
That is to say, it was utterly massive.
Even Morgan looked completely taken aback by the thing.
Out of the giant worm-tree’s pores, blood literally dripped out and onto the ground, where more of those spiraling and warped trees began to grow.
“Jesus Christ, that’s going to haunt my dreams.” I couldn’t help but blurt out.
Much, much bigger than expected. And no wonder why people have trouble finding the cores in these things, they’re not even in the normal layer of space.
Though, neither of us wasted any time because neither of us wanted to be eaten by a vampire tree.
Morgan immediately began casting; a large spell circle appeared overhead from her.
“Draig Ddu o ddinistr. Drygioni yn tryddiferu o dan y tiroedd gynt. Rhowch chwa o ddifodiant.” She chanted in what I recognized as a very old Welsh dialect.
Not surprising considering her origins.
From her spell circle, an ethereal, but massive black dragon head appeared, opening its mouth as black flames swirled in its maw, ready to be unleashed.
I raised my palm to the sky; my Reiatsu erupted in a pillar from me.
"The patient Lord of the West. Reverence from the heavens, condemnation from the earth. Roar! Erupt! Descend from the sky and sing the hymn of destruction!" My palm pointed outwards as all the Reiatsu I was emitting condensed into a single point. "Hadō #88 Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō."
At the same time, my Lightning and her black flames shot out, tearing into the core of the Vampire Tree.
If her spell was elegant and venomous, mine was the epitome of brute force in this instance. The flames released from her spell burned and seared away everything it touched, turning wood and blood to ash.
My Lightning punched through layer after layer of the tree’s innate defenses, burrowing further and further inside, while her flames seemed to eat away at the remnants left behind, catching up to the depths that my spell had penetrated.
The core of the vampire tree – the real body – it let out an unnatural roar, or the closest approximation of what it could be called. Like a shuddering and painful echo of pain that this thing released unintentionally.
It no longer seemed to want to eat the train in its entirety; it flailed and ultimately seemed to sort of…fall out of its space hole and hit the ground, hard. It was enough to quake the earth beneath us, rattling the train. Its wooden body twitching as flames and lightning danced within it until it finally subsided.
However, the eerie black flames remained and continued to burn away at what remained of the vampire tree while my lightning dissipated.
Well, that was certainly easier with the extra help, not that I would tell her that.
We both just watched for a moment longer to make sure the thing was truly dead.
Once I felt confident in that aspect, I pointed a finger at Morgan. “Hado #1 Sho.”
The small invisible ripple of force hit her and knocked her off the train, much to her utter surprise. She fell into the snow below.
Petty? Yes.
Deserved? Also yes.
And with that, my job here is done.
@***@
A/N
When Wilhelm meets Morgan properly, it goes about as well as you would expect.
I’m a little annoyed because I wanted to release this probably 12 hours earlier, but I needed to take breaks from sitting down, making it hard to write. Hopefully this starts to ease up soon.
Comments
Dancingrage
Hey, Wilhelm, I think I see a tear rolling down Gray's cheek from being in the same world as Morgan, maybe push her back down into the snow again!
Pure Dingo
Ok, I reread this and can't help but want to see the ones about his and Artoria's kids and Morgan.
Markus Antonius
I know this is proper human history Morgan so it feels deserved lol. But, I’m curious what their thoughts would be if it was lostbelt Morgan
striker James
Feel better
Kz3838
Thank you for the great chapter, love how petty Wilhelm is being with Morgan. I hope you feel better soon, stay safe out there and keep up the good work!
oscar enrique sampedro lopez
Thanks for the chapter.
Danielle
If you have a laptop you could try laying on your stomach to type?
LuciferDFallN1
Yeah she had some age of gods level personality split... But I think (not canon?) that during the era of Arthurian legends Vivian somehow split from her to the point she was basically her own entity, and that left the witch and loving sister as another entity... And as much as Morgana loves Artoria as her older sister, at least some part should have felt angry and jealous over Artoria getting her birthright, which as a result made the witch take the front seat of the majority of the time
LuciferDFallN1
Would 100% perfectly work with the whole "husband" obsession LB King Morgan has
LuciferDFallN1
He is Zlretch grandson, being a petty bastard is in his blood
Orchamus
Truly petty but considering how everyone love Artoria...
Orchamus
Truth, if she knows how Vivian is connected to her likely even more so
James French
The pettiness is amazing
:Dan the archer
Can't wait for the next part
LuciferDFallN1
Honestly, I feel like Artoria's feelings for Morgan are extremely complicated at best
William Kirk
Thanks forbthe chapter
Verdauga
Heheh, shove.
LazyBlackberry
Guess we are having roasted Fairy for dinner
AFlyOnTheWall
New milf?
David Bray
hope he ends up making morgan have feelings for him and then later on he meets wife morgan in fairy britain who has memories of him from phh morgan
savitar
If Morgan were to enter a Parent of the Year competition, she would be so voted out that a whole new metric would have to be invented.
Streakking
Morgana has always a character in fate I find interesting. You have mentioned Vivianne being aspect of her. So are you are going down the route of 3 distinct persona's? Morgana Pendragon the human aspect which cared for her sister, Morgana Le Fay the embodiment of britain and Vivianne the fairy. If so I'm curious how you will handle this and the fact that Morgana was the one to carry Artoria to Avalon after her death which shows she still cares for her sister or at least 2 aspects do. Plus is she really responsible for her actions when her very entity was split into 3 all so she could fulfil some greater supernatural purpose?
Nazarickk
Thanks for the chapter
Jessy
Petty, Thy name is Watermelon.
