Altria looked confused. She furrowed her brow and asked Lott, "What do you mean? Are you saying this person's parents have some sort of deep relationship with me?"
Lott smirked and replied, "Why don't you take a bold guess?"
"Be bold...?" Altria murmured to herself. Her eyes widened as a horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Brother-in-law, you're not suggesting that Mordred is my child, are you?"
In her understanding, she knew she didn't possess the ability to bear children. So how could this be a child born by her?
However, looking at Mordred, with that mischievous and unruly demeanor, Altria couldn't help but wonder what might have happened during the child's upbringing.
"Yes," Lott confirmed with a serious nod.
Hearing this, even though she had somewhat guessed it, Altria's face turned pale. She lowered her voice and asked Lott nervously, "Your Majesty, who is the father of this child?"
She needed to know so she could keep her distance from them.
"You!" Lott answered casually.
"It's you... wait, it's me!" Altria's initial confusion quickly turned into shock. Pointing at herself, she was even more surprised than before. She thought Lott must have misunderstood and quickly clarified, "Brother-in-law, I asked about the child's father!"
Lott, seeing Altria's stunned expression, calmly responded, "Yes, I never said anything about the mother."
"How is this possible? This doesn't make any sense!" Altria exclaimed, bewildered.
"Yes, it doesn't follow common sense, but it's quite extraordinary," Lott said with a smile. "By the way, this Mordred is the one who died alongside you in another timeline."
"How could she end up like this?" Altria asked, still in disbelief.
"This is what happens when children aren't properly disciplined."
Altria nodded seriously, accepting Lott's explanation without hesitation. For her, both Lott and Morgan's words were almost gospel. If they said something, she wouldn't doubt it. At this moment, seeing Lott's expression, she nodded earnestly.
"The next battle is about to begin. You should discipline that child before it starts," Lott said, trying to hold back his laughter.
Mordred, despite her fierce demeanor, was more afraid of not being noticed or cared for than anything else. This was the perfect opportunity for her "father" to teach her a lesson.
"Understood. I'll make sure to do that," Altria responded seriously.
"Then, Your Majesty, the martial arts competition is about to begin. I'll head over now," she said.
"Okay, I wish you good luck," Lott replied with a slight nod.
"I will," Altria said confidently as she turned to leave. After a few steps, she paused and turned back, asking, "By the way, Your Majesty, who is Mordred's mother?"
If she was the father, there had to be a mother, right?
"I'll tell you after the competition," Lott answered with a teasing smile.
"Oh," Altria replied simply before heading to the competition venue.
...
Meanwhile, Mordred was already in the arena. Seeing Altria approach with the holy spear Rhongomyniad strapped to her back, a familiar ache coursed through her body.
To alleviate the discomfort, she pointed her large sword directly at Altria, as if to say, "If you stabbed me before, I'll cut you now."
Unfortunately, when she brandished the sword, Altria showed no reaction at all. In her own timeline, being pierced by the holy spear was an inevitability. But in this timeline, Altria had never been struck down.
To her, Mordred's gesture simply meant the battle was about to begin.
"Alright, let's start our competition!" Altria declared, charging forward with Caliburn in one hand and Excalibur in the other.
Mordred was taken aback. "What? Are you going to disregard all decorum and rush into battle like this? This isn't how you fought back then! What have you been learning from Lott?" she muttered, feeling flustered.
But even so, Mordred was a member of the Knights of the Round Table. In her previous life, she had died alongside Altria, who wielded the holy spear. Now, faced with both the Sword in the Stone and the Sword of Promised Victory, she swung her greatsword to block their strikes.
The clash of weapons echoed through the arena as Mordred struggled to hold her ground. The impact forced her to take a step back.
"How much has the history of this world changed?" Mordred thought. "My 'father' is now wielding Caliburn in one hand and Excalibur in the other."
In her past life, she had fought Altria wielding only a single sword. But now, her 'father' was using both, and the power behind each strike was far greater than she remembered.
Gripping her greatsword tightly with both hands, she resisted Altria's relentless assault. Each clash sent shocks down her arms.
"This kid is really tough," Altria muttered to herself, realizing that her continued attacks were being successfully defended. Determined to overpower Mordred, she pressed on, increasing her strength with each swing.
Thanks to the enhancements provided by Caliburn, Excalibur, and Rhongomyniad, Altria's physical abilities were far superior to what they were in another history. Speed, strength, and agility—everything had been heightened.
"It's really difficult to withstand her attacks. I need to create some distance and look for an opening," Mordred thought. "This heroic body is limiting me too much."
Mordred was no stranger to battle. As a heroic spirit, she knew that those summoned from different ages retained different strengths and weaknesses. Modern individuals often saw significant boosts in their abilities as heroic spirits, but those from older eras, like Mordred, often faced restrictions.
For Mordred, relying on the mana supplied by her Master instead of her own made a huge difference. This constraint made it challenging to match Altria's ferocity.
Finally, as the pressure mounted, Mordred roared in frustration. "Damn it! I'm done fighting like this! Come on, let's see who'll break first!"
She shouted and used her armor to deflect Caliburn's strike. Then, she drew her sword, Clarent, and swung it fiercely at Altria.
She was determined to exchange blow for blow, injury for injury, to see who would be left standing in the end. In her previous life, she hadn't won. This time, she was determined to claim victory.
"What a stubborn temperament," Altria muttered as she watched Mordred's reckless approach.
Facing Mordred's all-or-nothing attack, Altria took a small step back and crossed her two swords to block Clarent. Then, using Caliburn to parry the strike, she aimed Excalibur at Mordred's arm.
Mordred twisted her body, narrowly avoiding Excalibur's strike. But Altria was ready. As soon as Mordred dodged, Altria lashed out with a kick aimed directly at her chest.
Who said knights could only use swords?