To Become a King and a Magician 816-820

Title: The Turbulent Darkness

The conversation between Naoki and Mab in the bathroom was unknown to any third party besides the two of them.

Even Aesc had no idea what they had discussed, as Naoki had not told her about it.

And in the blink of an eye, the next day had arrived.

At the gates of Edinburgh.

“That’s far enough, Mab.”

Aesc said to Mab, who had come to see them off.

“Thank you for your hospitality last night.”

“Don’t act so formal with me. You should know I still have absolutely no good impression of you. The only reason I’m willing to speak like this is because of your status as the Savior.” As usual, Mab showed not the slightest friendly expression toward Aesc. “I’m seeing you off now purely out of courtesy.”

Aesc smiled. “I know. If nothing goes wrong, the next time I visit here should be when Faerieland is united. I hope you’ll keep your promise.”

“Of course I will. You don’t need to remind me—really. If you want unity now, why did you stop me back then?”

“Because you intended to slaughter all the southern fairies, of course I had to stop you.”

(Tch!)

Mab sneered inwardly, then waved her hand in annoyance. “Fine, fine. Hurry up and leave my Edinburgh. Seeing you makes my heart uneasy. The farther, the better.”

With that, Mab turned and hurried back into Edinburgh, slamming the gate shut.

Sighing in resignation, Aesc looked at Naoki and Melusine. “Well then, let’s head back to Londinium, Naoki, Melusine.”

“Flying back? Should I carry you both?”

“No. Let’s walk back. I want to clear out some Mors along the way,” Aesc said. “This is something I thought about last night. Though Wryneck regularly leads the Fang Clan to exterminate Mors, the range they can cover is limited. This area is quite far from the Fang Clan, so I’m sure there are plenty of Mors.”

“If left alone, it might affect the fairies. For safety’s sake, it’s better we clean them up.”

(Mors, huh…)

Naoki nodded slightly. “Alright. So we walk back to Londinium while exterminating Mors? I guess that’ll take a few days.”

“No problem. We have plenty of time anyway,” Aesc smiled. “It’s rare for us to be out. It wouldn’t be good to return too quickly. Think of it as a little pilgrimage. I’m troubling you both to accompany me.”

“No, it’s no trouble. Right, Melusine?”

“I don’t mind. As long as I’m with Naoki, anywhere is fine.”

And so, the plan for the return journey was settled.

Walking from Edinburgh back to Londinium, the straight-line distance was nearly the length of all of Britain. They wouldn’t be back in four or five days. And with the Mors extermination added…

(A week at most. That’s pretty good.)

If they returned to Londinium, Naoki figured he and Aesc would only see each other during meals. Now they could spend more time together. He was very happy.

“Well then, let’s set off.”

“Yes.”

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Meanwhile.

In a room somewhere in Britain.

“This is it?”

Wryneck, leader of the Fang Clan, entered the room. He saw three familiar figures seated around a table.

He knew these three. Though they rarely met, they were indeed the leaders of the Wind Clan, Wing Clan, and Earth Clan.

Four of the six leaders of Britain’s great fairy clans, now gathered here.

Seeing Wryneck arrive, the beautiful girl-like leader of the Wind Clan smiled. “You’re very late, Your Excellency Wryneck. You’re the last one, you know.”

“I was just exterminating Mors outside. I rushed here as soon as I received the invitation,” Wryneck said, sitting in the remaining empty chair. “Rather than that, what’s this about? Holding a meeting between clan leaders.”

{Due to the increasingly severe human resistance incidents lately, we hope to discuss with the Fang Clan leader}—This was the joint invitation Wryneck received from the other three clan leaders after exterminating a small number of Mors two days ago.

If it were an invitation from just one clan leader, Wryneck would have ignored it. He preferred to focus his efforts on dealing with Mors.

Besides, human rebellion was something Aesc paid close attention to. She was even the one secretly encouraging human resistance. Naturally, Wryneck had no desire to get involved.

So, Wryneck had no intention of attending this meeting. But this was a joint invitation from the other three clan leaders. As the Fang Clan leader, he couldn’t completely ignore it.

“Leader Wryneck, the purpose of the meeting is clearly stated in the invitation.”

The elderly man-like leader of the Earth Clan said, “In recent years, human resistance has grown stronger for some reason. Many fairies have died at human hands, greatly disrupting our previous normal lives.”

“Oh, and?” Wryneck responded coldly. “Do you want the Fang Clan to suppress those insolent humans?”

“Of course—”

“Impossible!”

Wryneck rejected it outright and slammed his fist on the table!

“The Fang Clan’s enemies are only Mors! Using our claws and fangs against weak humans is a waste! It’s an act that stains our dignity!”

“Besides, from what you’re saying, it seems you can no longer handle humans with your own strength? How shameful! You still have the nerve to come to me! Are you even worthy of being called fairies!?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

No one responded. Only Wryneck’s voice echoed in the meeting room. The leaders of the three great clans—Wind, Wing, and Earth—all fell silent, as if stunned by Wryneck’s anger.

But just as Wryneck began to calm down and prepared to leave, ending this boring meeting—

“Don’t say that, Leader Wryneck.” ×3

The three clan leaders suddenly spoke in unison, saying the exact same words without a second’s difference.

“Yes. Of course we knew you wouldn’t act. That’s natural, since you are a traitor, a traitor siding with the Heaven Fairy.”

“Your opinion doesn’t matter. The fact that you came here is what matters. We truly thank you for coming.”

Like three puppets controlled by the same person, the three clan leaders continued speaking in perfect sync. And as they spoke, stood, and performed various actions, a bad premonition suddenly arose in Wryneck’s heart.

“You…”

“Very well. You may retire here, Leader Wryneck.”

A voice suddenly came from behind him. Wryneck immediately swung his fist backward. But the punch that should have shattered the entire meeting room produced no movement. Instead, Wryneck felt his fist hit empty space.

No—more precisely, he had punched into Darkness.

Behind him, a human-like figure had appeared at some point, its entire body shrouded in Darkness, with an exaggerated, clown-like smile on its face.

“You—who are you?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is that next, I need your power, Wryneck.” The figure let Wryneck’s fist pass through its Darkness-filled body. “To destroy this Britain, lend me your power, Wryneck.”

“With that, I can completely destroy this world’s place of hope—Londinium.”

-

Title: Firefighter

Three days later.

On the plains near the Great Pit.

*BOOM!*

Swinging the Holy Sword, radiating light that annihilated all the Mors wandering around the Great Pit, Naoki let out a relieved sigh: “That should be enough, right? Aesc.”

Three days had passed since they left Edinburgh. During this time, Naoki, Aesc, and Melusine had been continuously searching for places where Mors appeared in the vicinity.

Unlike the Queen’s era in the future, where Mors no longer spawned everywhere and were mostly under control, right now the number of Mors was still high and their spawn frequency quite frequent.

In just three days, Naoki recalled exterminating around dozens of Mors groups.

Not far away, after also wiping out many Mors with magic, Aesc nodded slightly: “I think this area should be safe now. Next, we’ll prepare to head toward the Wind Clan’s headquarters.”

In three days, the three had moved from the King Clan’s headquarters to near the Great Pit. According to Aesc’s plan, she intended to visit each clan next to ensure Mors weren’t running rampant.

Except for the Fang Clan fairies, other fairies had almost no resistance to Mors. Once Mors entered a city, disaster was certain.

“Truly dedicated.”

Naoki chuckled.

“How about I launch a Moon Fall from here toward the Wind Clan?”

Though the distance was still quite far, the impact range of Moon Fall could definitely reach the Wind Clan. One Moon Fall would surely wipe out all Mors.

Of course, fairies would die too, but since dead fairies would soon have the next generation appear, their life or death didn’t matter.

“No.”

Aesc rejected it outright: “I know you don’t like fairies, but right now there’s no need to exterminate all of them.”

“I see, what a shame,” Naoki sighed helplessly, then looked up at the sky. “Melusine, how’s the situation up there? Can you see the next Mors spawn point?”

*DONG!*

The moment Naoki finished speaking, Melusine, who had been patrolling the skies, dove at high speed and crashed into his embrace: “For now, there’s nothing around here, Naoki.”

“Alright, then let’s head toward the Wind Clan.”

With that, Naoki summoned Gale, lifting himself, Aesc, and Melusine, then soared into the sky.

But just as the wind began to blow, a strange smell mixed in the breeze stunned Naoki for a moment, and Aesc and Melusine quickly noticed it too.

“Naoki, this smell…”

“I think it’s the smell of something burning?”

Since he often burned things himself, Naoki was quite familiar with this scent. The smell drifting in the wind was clearly that of something completely burned.

The direction was…

“That way.”

Naoki looked in one direction, then carried Aesc and Melusine flying into the sky. Looking toward the source of the smell, what the three saw were several thick plumes of smoke slowly rising.

“Melusine, you didn’t see it from above earlier?”

“I can confirm, there was nothing visible at that time.” Melusine said seriously, “At least when I was patrolling the air, that direction showed no abnormalities.”

“Meaning it happened after Melusine came down?”

Naoki raised an eyebrow: “Aesc, do you know where that place is?”

“It’s hard to be sure from the distance, but the direction—it’s exactly where the Wind Clan headquarters is—let’s check the situation there, Naoki. The Wind Clan headquarters might be under attack by Mors.”

“Got it.”

The wind beneath them suddenly surged, and the shadows of the three shot straight toward the rising thick smoke!

The place where the thick smoke rose wasn’t actually far. At Naoki’s full speed, in just a few dozen seconds, the three were above it.

The scene below was a village burning fiercely.

Flames that had ignited for some unknown reason engulfed the entire village. Choking thick smoke continued to billow into the sky like a storm, and within that sea of fire, faint screams of several people could be heard.

Without thinking twice, Naoki snapped his fingers, conjuring extremely thick rain clouds right above the village, causing torrential rain to pour down immediately. The heavy rain, like a broken dam, visibly swept through the fire-ravaged village, extinguishing all the raging flames.

Then, the Gale beneath Naoki split apart, instantly turning into a storm that blew all the thick smoke away.

“Done.”

Landing with Aesc and Melusine, Naoki looked at the village before him that had become charred ruins—basically nothing intact remained. Every house had burned to charcoal, and everywhere lay motionless figures on the ground.

Probably all the dead were fairies.

Humans in the fairy country were slaves; they couldn’t possibly have a village like this. The only ones who could gather and live here were fairies, and most likely exiled ones.

While flying in the air earlier, though only glimpsing, Naoki had seen a larger settlement in the distance, but the fairies here hadn’t gone there and instead built their own here. The only possibility that came to mind was fairies exiled by their original clan.

“No survivors.”

Naoki said after sensing the surroundings.

Though he had heard a few screams while flying overhead earlier, now there were none. His senses could even detect breathing, but now he felt no signs of life.

The entire village had simply burned to annihilation.

Seeing Aesc beside him with a slightly darkened expression, Naoki patted her shoulder: “Don’t think too much about it, Aesc. Just a few fairies died; the next generation will be born soon.”

“Hmm, I know.”

Aesc quickly regained her composure: “But why did a fire suddenly break out here?”

This was highly suspicious.

Moreover, even if we ignore the cause of the fire, it was extremely strange that all the fairies burned to death—though not comparable to Naoki, every fairy should be able to use Imaginary Manifestation to a certain extent. Even if they couldn’t extinguish the fire, escaping to avoid being burned shouldn’t be a problem.

Yet in the end, the fairies and the village burned completely together.

“What exactly is this…”

*👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻!*

Suddenly, the sound of clapping came from in front of the three. Then, on the scorched ground ahead, something black like a swarm of insects appeared out of nowhere, writhing and gathering into a human shape—more precisely, the appearance of a girl.

Very politely, the girl bowed in greeting to the three, then smiled: “An extraordinary rescue from the fire, a truly astonishing emergency aid. As expected of an Elemental Spirit whose status far surpasses us fairies, a marvelous and pure Imaginary Manifestation.”

“However, it’s a shame—despite having such power, in the end not a single fairy was saved.”

“Truly incompetent.”

-

Title: Vengeance of Three Thousand Six Hundred Years

—Incompetent.

Hearing the adjective spill from the girl’s mouth, Naoki felt a spark of fresh curiosity.

It had been years since anyone described him with words like that.

“From your tone, it sounds like you’re accusing me of failing to save the fairies here in time?”

“Hm, of course.”

The girl answered with a laugh.

“After all, you are the savior—the savior who is fourteen thousand years late. Since you’ve been delayed for so long, surely there’s something you must do to atone for it, don’t you think?”

“Holy Star Sword Bearer?”

Atone?

Naoki couldn’t hold back his laughter: “An interesting way of putting it. I’m late… Hmm, yes, I am late. To be honest, I really wish I could have come sooner.”

*BUZZ!* *SWOOSH!*

Without drawing the Holy Sword, with a single hand he swung a brilliant light that cleaved the ground before him. Naoki stared at the girl standing right on the edge of the split: “If I could have come fourteen thousand years ago, I would have crushed the six fairy ancestors—the root of all evil—and resolved this Lostbelt from its very source.”

“How shocking. That just now shouldn’t have been the Holy Sword’s power.”

Completely ignoring Naoki’s words, the girl admired the flash of light that had just torn the earth beside her feet: “I thought you’d fly into a rage and attack me with the Holy Sword right away.”

“Considering I’m the one who burned every fairy here to death.”

“!”

Aesc’s eyes and expression trembled instantly, and Naoki, closest to her, felt a burst of Mana radiate from her body.

Gripping her staff tightly, Aesc’s gaze slowly turned cold: “You did this?”

“Yes, exactly.” The girl laughed. “These fairies deserved to die anyway. After painstakingly gathering a physical form, I merely tested my power and burned this place to ashes.”

“It felt so exhilarating, watching those fairies choose death over living in the flames. Too bad they couldn’t withstand the heat—just a moment and they were gone. Not satisfying at all—”

*SWISH!*

The tip of Aesc’s staff instantly flared with powerful Mana light. A complex magical array formed in an instant, and several shimmering spears of light shot forth from it!

Naoki could tell Aesc was furious.

Though through Morgan’s memories she knew fairies were fundamentally irredeemable trash, and thousands of years of life had taught her their true nature, her childhood experiences still left her with a sliver of hope for them to this day. She still stood in the position of wanting to save them.

Now, someone who delighted in torturing fairies had appeared before her. Even if Aesc didn’t know who she was, her actions alone were enough to ignite intense hostility.

But—

“—!”

Just as the light spears were about to touch the girl’s body, they all froze mid-air in unison, then disintegrated into dust and vanished.

(Cancellation? Decomposition?)

*SWISH!*

While Naoki pondered, Aesc’s staff lit up with magical light again. Dozens of deep-blue fireballs the size of human heads flew from the staff’s tip at once, streaking toward the girl like a meteor shower!

Yet, just like before, the flames halted abruptly near the girl, then unraveled into dust.

The girl smiled faintly: “It’s useless, Heaven Fairy. Your Magecraft cannot harm me—my very existence has been configured that way.”

“Configured?”

“Yes. After all, I am fundamentally an existence meant to oppose you. So it’s only natural that I’m optimized to counter you as much as possible—”

*BANG!*

Before the girl could finish, her entire body was hurled backward like a cannonball, crashing through and shattering all the ruins behind her.

Lowering the leg he’d used to kick, Naoki stared at the girl lying amid the distant rubble.

(No significant damage… it felt like kicking a sponge.)

“Physical attacks are useless too, you know.”

Slowly rising from the debris, the girl brushed the dust off her body: “My physical durability is calibrated to withstand the Holy Sword. A kick like that won’t hurt me.”

A body configured with the Holy Sword as its hypothetical enemy?

“You… were created?”

“Ugh… Well, it’s not something that needs hiding. It’s fine to be honest.” The girl spread her arms. “I was born to destroy this island. Since the fairies are truly beyond saving—since they truly deserve death—I was born.”

“—From the deepest part of this island.”

The deepest part of the island?

(Isn’t that—)

Aesc realized something.

Naoki said it outright: “You—Vortigern? Or Oberon?”

“Neither.” The girl shook her head. “I am not Vortigern, nor Oberon—just a mass-produced model.”

“Mass-produced model?”

“Don’t they exist in Pan-Human History? Mass-produced monsters—the eleven children of the Mother Goddess Creator.”

The girl explained with a laugh: “The cause was three thousand six hundred years ago, when someone from Pan-Human History appeared in this Lostbelt. This world also received partial influence from Pan-Human History.”

“For example, the Albion Dragon’s remains beside you—didn’t she witness a flash of the Holy Sword’s light three thousand six hundred years ago?”

“I, who dwell in the deepest underground, was the same.”

Three thousand six hundred years ago, Morgan arrived in the Lostbelt via Rayshift, entrusted everything to Aesc, then vanished, returning to the Throne of Heroes.

But Aesc was not the only one affected by Morgan.

Rayshift is a technique that converts the body into spiritron particles, transfers it elsewhere, and reconstructs it. Chaldea uses Coffins to perform limited individual Rayshifts without environmental impact.

But Morgan had used no Coffin, and her Rayshift occurred during the special period of the Human Order Incineration.

As a result, Morgan brought fragments of Pan-Human History’s records into this Lostbelt.

The flash of Holy Sword light Melusine witnessed was the sight of Naoki from the past swinging the Holy Sword.

“I saw that flash too.”

“The starlight that saves the world, the starlight that annihilates all evil, the starlight that will eventually come to this world.”

“That was bad. A solution had to be found. If not taken seriously, we would die—though I don’t care about my own life or death, I don’t want to be finished off before this island is completely destroyed.”

“So I—no, we were born.”

The girl laughed.

“Spending three thousand six hundred years, using the power and knowledge of the thing that came to this Lostbelt with Morgan, we finally completed the weapons to oppose both saviors.”

“That is us.”

As the girl spoke, more and more black insect-like substances gushed from the surrounding ground, forming girl after girl, and in an instant surrounding Naoki, Aesc, and Melusine.

“There are twenty thousand of us in total.”

“Even the Holy Star Sword Bearer and the First-Generation Elemental Spirit cannot possibly face our numbers.”

Countless girls declared in unison.

“You two interfering, obstructing saviors—why don’t you just die here?”

“This world does not need you to save it. This world should be destroyed.”

-

Title: Mass Extinction of the Fairies

The end-device of the British Isles, the Naraku Worm named Vortigern.

Three thousand six hundred years ago, due to Morgan’s Rayshift, it witnessed events related to the Seventh Singularity.

It sensed a threat, felt fear, felt the pressure of death from the Holy Star Sword Bearer. And afterward, because of that entity’s arrival, it learned its fate in Pan-Human History.

It would be defeated. It would fail to destroy the British Isles. It would be vanquished by the Holy Star Sword Bearer who opens the future.

Thus, the Naraku Worm felt fear.

So it decided to fight back—to confront the inevitable threat.

Fortunately, the Holy Star Sword Bearer’s arrival was still far off. It had plenty of time to prepare countermeasures.

Those preparations took three thousand six hundred years. After expending so much time—so very long—it finally awaited the Holy Star Sword Bearer’s arrival. And now, the Naraku Worm acts.

In the information known to Naoki, the Naraku Worm has launched three invasions of the British Isles.

The Oberon of 2015 in the future Queen’s Calendar was the third. That one caused the total destruction of Britain.

The Mors King of 1000 in the future Queen’s Calendar was the second. That one caused the death of the Fang Clan head, Wryneck.

And the current one could perhaps be considered the first.

Its manifestation: twenty thousand mass-produced fairy-killer dolls, specially tuned, modeled after the Eleven Children of Tiamat from Pan-Human History—specialized to counter Aesc with Extreme Magic Resistance and Naoki with Holy Sword Resistance.

They can fully withstand and decompose Aesc’s Magecraft. In theory, they can fully withstand attacks from the Holy Sword. The twenty thousand girl-shaped dolls gathered here now are such mass-produced humanoid weapons.

Standing amid the vast crowd of human(oid)s, Naoki swept his gaze several times before suddenly saying: “Not even twenty thousand.”

“Hmm?”

“I mean your numbers here—there aren’t actually twenty thousand.” Naoki said. “Don’t underestimate my senses. Only five thousand are surrounding us. The remaining fifteen thousand aren’t here.”

“—Don’t tell me you think five thousand alone can defeat us? If so, we’re truly being underestimated.”

The girl smiled slightly: “No, no, impossible. I’ve been anxious, terrified, and dreading you for three thousand six hundred years. I’ve thought endlessly about how to face you. Of course we wouldn’t dare underestimate you.”

“It’s just—the other fifteen thousand have a different mission.”

A different mission?

Naoki frowned: “What mission?”

“Mass extinction of the fairies.” The girl laughed. “Though we were created to oppose the Holy Star Sword Bearer and the savior, we were also given the mission to slaughter fairies. After all, this island is an island of sin. I’ve always craved its destruction.”

“Thus, when we were made, this desire was built in. The fifteen thousand of us not here have already begun marching across the entire British Isles, carrying out mass extinction against all fairies.”

“Not just the living fairies—but the fairy corpses that form this island itself.”

“Exterminate the fairies. Destroy the island. Oppose the Holy Star Sword Bearer and the savior.”

“Those are the only orders I gave.”

This is the power the Naraku Worm has amassed over three thousand six hundred years—power enough to drag all of Britain into the fires of war.

Aesc’s face turned completely pale.

Humanoid weapons that can destroy a small fairy settlement in an instant—one unit alone—now fifteen thousand units marching across Britain?

Even the Fang Clan—

“By the way, three clan heads are already dead.”

The girl continued.

“Wind, Earth, Wing—Though we originally wanted to kill the Fang Clan head too, unfortunately he escaped. In the end we only managed to devour one of his arms. Such a shame.”

(Even Wryneck—)

Aesc’s heart shook violently once more.

If everything the girl said was true, then right now all of Britain was facing the most terrifying calamity since its birth!

A once-in-a-century disaster? A once-in-a-millennium catastrophe?

None of that even compared to what was happening now!

“Melusine, take Aesc and go ahead.”

Suddenly, Naoki’s voice rang out like that.

Aesc looked at Naoki’s back in front of her: “Naoki, you—”

“Try to fight back first, Aesc. Fairies and humans alike—in this great crisis, I think they’ll be willing to listen to you. Gather all remaining forces. Try to resist.”

Naoki said to her while facing away.

“The five thousand units here—leave them to me. Once I’m done here, I’ll catch up immediately.”

“…”

Aesc fell silent.

She felt she shouldn’t leave now. After all, leaving Naoki alone here was too dangerous. Even he would struggle against so many enemies. The three of them together, cooperating, was the best solution right now.

Yet he told her to go.

Aesc knew—Naoki was helping her make the choice. He respected her wish and pushed her toward the side of saving the fairies.

“Thank you, Naoki. See you later. Come back quickly.”

Naoki didn’t answer. He simply stomped the ground, unleashing a powerful storm that sent Melusine and Aesc soaring into the sky.

As Melusine and Aesc departed, a large number of the five thousand girl-soldier units immediately flew upward to intercept. But just as they rose—

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

A several-kilometer-long iceberg suddenly erupted from the ground! Like a barrier, it instantly cut off the girl dolls’ pursuit! And right after, three more icebergs emerged from the other three directions! Together with the first, they formed a massive square ice prison! Trapping all the girl dolls inside!

Finally, in the sky above—

“First, allow me to thank you—humanoid weapons created by the Naraku Worm, carrying out mass extinction against all fairies… I must say, you’re doing an excellent job. For this purpose alone, I truly want to praise you from the bottom of my heart.”

“So, my reason for fighting to the death here isn’t to avenge the fairies you killed—but for myself, and for Aesc.”

“You want to kill me and Aesc. So in self-defense, I will kill all of you here—that’s all there is to it.”

Light shone behind Naoki. Imaginary Manifestation activated—countless swords of light condensed into form. With a snap of Naoki’s fingers, the skyful of light swords instantly became a meteor shower raining down!

Since they were weapons specialized against the Holy Sword, there was no need to use it. Imaginary Manifestation was enough.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Under the bombardment of the light meteor shower, deafening roars echoed inside the square ice prison!

-

Title: Shattered Hope, Vanished Dawn

In the skies near Londinium.

Aesc, carried by Melusine flying at supersonic speed on their way back to Londinium, stared at the scenery below. Her eyes were filled with uncontainable rage and shock.

The rage stemmed from the Naraku Worm’s intent to exterminate every fairy across all of Britain.

The shock came from the Naraku Worm choosing to act now.

Without any warning, without any prelude—as if on a whim—Aesc had initially thought it was just an unusually large fire. It turned out to be a mass extinction of fairies across Britain, triggered by the Naraku Worm.

This was a surprise attack. Aesc, the fairies, Naoki—no one could have prepared a countermeasure in advance.

“Damn it…”

Staring down at the fires spreading like an ocean and the girl dolls scattering in every direction, Aesc’s hand gripping her staff turned white.

And right at that moment, from the direction of Londinium—

*BOOM!*

A tremendous explosion suddenly rang out. The massive blast nearly shook the entire city. Even Melusine and Aesc, who hadn’t arrived yet, felt the powerful tremor!

Something had happened in Londinium!

“Melusine, faster!”

“Understood! Hold on tight!”

Melusine was already at top speed, pushing her Mana even harder, streaking across the sky like lightning with Aesc! They approached Londinium at incredible velocity!

Then, when the two arrived, what they saw was—

“Help! Help! Help!!”

“Don’t come near! Stay away! Please, let me go!”

“Die! Die! Die!”

“Mana Knights! Knights, advance! Protect us!”

“Push the humans out!”

“Let the humans die in our place!”

“...c

In Londinium, whose protective walls had been breached, humans and fairies—every resident—lost their sanity under the sudden assault and the terror brought by the girl dolls.

Humans were mercilessly slaughtered by the girl dolls.

Fairies were decapitated and torn apart like grass by the girl dolls.

Even the steel-armored Knights were as fragile as paper before the girl dolls.

Humans and fairies wailed and screamed. A cloud of despair enveloped Londinium. And in the midst of this suffocating despair, the worst traits of humans and fairies erupted uncontrollably, as if triggered.

Humans used fairies as shields. Fairies used humans as shields. They cared nothing for the hard-won coexistence built over the years. As if ripping off their masks, they scrambled to sacrifice those around them for their own survival.

Even the Knights who had sworn to protect humans and fairies lost their minds in overwhelming fear, abandoning their weapons and fleeing.

“Why has it come to this…”

Aesc’s face turned deathly pale.

Londinium was the hope in her heart. Ever since awakening a few years ago, taking Uther as her disciple, and seeing humans slowly begin to resist the fairies, she had a blueprint for building a fairy nation where humans and fairies could live side by side.

She had felt she was succeeding, even if only initially.

In Londinium, humans and fairies had achieved harmonious coexistence. Though only a small portion of fairies had gathered here, it proved that not all fairies saw humans as slaves. A future of equal coexistence between the two was possible.

But the scene now unfolding before her seemed to mock her naivety.

Coexistence? Peace? Harmony between fairies and humans?

It was all an illusion!

It was nothing more than a paper model carefully built by an artist like Aesc. With just a gentle push from an external force, it collapsed completely. Aesc’s ideals—not even partially achieved—had never truly begun.

“Oh? You’re back? The savior has returned?”

Several girl dolls noticed Aesc and Melusine in the air.

“What a shame, what a shame.”

“How regretful, how regretful.”

“You came back too late, too late.”

The girl dolls sneered at Aesc, mocking her. Their very presence was enough to ignite everything around them. And in the flickering flames, in the stained hope, their expressions in Aesc’s eyes were a horde of demons trampling her ideals and laughing at her sacrifices.

(Kill them!)

(I have to—kill them!)

*SWISH!*

An intensely powerful Mana light erupted from her staff. Pure Mana compressed into cannon fire and was suddenly unleashed!

No aim, no thought. Aesc simply followed the purest rage in her heart, releasing her burning fury through magical cannon fire!

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

One after another, magical cannon shots fired from the staff, their terrifying power continuously obliterating everything they hit.

Londinium’s already shattered protective walls, the streets of Londinium amid a sea of fire, the scattered crowds of humans and fairies—

“Are you going to kill them?”

Suddenly, without warning, a girl doll appeared right in front of Aesc. An arm transformed into a sharp blade swung down toward her!

*BAM!*

Mana exploded at point-blank range. Using the blast’s propulsion, Melusine retreated nearly a hundred meters to gain safe distance, then hurriedly apologized: “I’m sorry, Aesc, I was careless, I didn’t—”

“Are you going to kill them?”

“Are you going to kill them?”

“Are you going to kill them?”

“…”

More and more girl dolls flew up from below, like broken recorders, endlessly repeating the same question, cutting off Melusine and Aesc’s conversation.

“Are you going to kill the humans and fairies you wanted to protect?”

“!”

The final complete question pierced straight into Aesc’s heart.

She had had a moment—just now—where she aimed her magical cannon at humans and fairies. Without much thought, without deep reflection, simply following instinct, following the most honest thought in her mind.

Following… the rage in her heart.

“I…”

Aesc’s eyes widened unconsciously.

“I… wanted… to kill humans and fairies?”

Impossible.

(I couldn’t possibly have such thoughts. These aren’t the thoughts I should have.)

(Impossible, impossible, impossible… No, it’s possible.)

For three thousand six hundred years, Aesc had endured too many betrayals from fairies, too much persecution from fairies. Even humans had not seen her as a friend, ostracizing her as a weirdo for so long, rejecting her.

She should be angry. She should be furious at her circumstances. But she had suppressed it. Aesc had reminded herself time and again that fairies, humans, and this continent could still be saved—they were not completely irredeemable. Though the future might be bleak, as long as she tried now, the future could perhaps be changed.

Moreover, since awakening this time, Aesc had come to Londinium. The humans and fairies here had given her hope, reaffirming that her beliefs were correct, suppressing the rage in her heart.

But…

Now, the rage accumulated until this moment—after witnessing the ugliness displayed by fairies and humans—exploded completely.

“Disqualified! Disqualified! Disqualified! Disqualified! Savior disqualified! Savior disqualified! Savior disqualified!”

The girl dolls gathering around Melusine and Aesc kept shouting, making Aesc’s mood heavier and her spirit increasingly uncontrollable, as if conducting some strange ritual.

Finally—

“All of you, just go to—”

“Master!?”

Just as Aesc was truly losing her sanity and about to begin pure slaughter, a familiar voice suddenly called from below.

It was Uther.

Aesc instinctively looked down. On the roof of Londinium’s tallest, now-collapsed building, Uther stood with Teotorot and Ector. It seemed he had survived until now under their protection.

(Thank goodness!)

Aesc’s heart suddenly felt relief.

But the next second, a sight that stopped her heart occurred. Dozens of the hundreds of girl dolls surrounding her suddenly turned and flew at full speed toward Uther and his two companions! And behind Uther and the others, the remaining girl dolls on the ground silently appeared like shadows!

“U—”

*SWOOSH!*

Before Aesc’s cry could fully escape, the girl dolls’ deadly blades fell without mercy.