Compared to the outside world, Faerie Britain had many unique differences.
Of course, these differences were not about the fact that fairies ruled it, but rather about more fundamental environmental aspects.
First of all, the weather in Faerie Britain generally did not change, as aside from the occasional rain, it was mostly fixed.
On the other hand, the sky here was not a clear, vivid blue because it always carried a hint of dusk, but at night, it still fell the same way.
In other words, a blue sky simply didn’t exist in this world.
Moreover, in the wilderness of Faerie Britain, one might occasionally encounter monsters that struck fear into the hearts of most fairies.
They were beings that could not hear the voices of others.
They were black algae that polluted the world just by existing.
They were Britain’s curse that could kill fairies.
Fairies called these monsters ’Moss’, and they were one of the many ’Calamities’ that had existed in the British Isles since ancient times, much like natural disasters in the world of humans, making them feared by all fairies.
It was said that Moss were once fairies who had lost their purpose, their names, their light, and their lives, causing them to be natural enemies to fairies. If a fairy came into contact with them, the Moss would cling to them and turn them into one of their own.
In a way, they could be considered a disease that only affected fairies.
Coincidentally, this year seemed to be the one when the Calamity broke out.
Moss had begun to wander the wilderness of the British Isles—sometimes they attacked travelers, and sometimes they attacked cities.
For fairies, this was truly terrifying.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, just as a carriage drawn by a white, eight-legged horse traveled southward from the central grassland into the southern grassland, a group of Moss appeared and attacked it.
*BOOM!*
On the vast grassland, a sudden explosive sound rang out, bringing the white eight-legged horse-drawn carriage to a screeching halt as it barely dodged the incoming attack that had triggered the blast.
Taking the form of an inky black burst that looked like a lump of deadly poison and a shadowy mass, the attack not only broke the sound barrier with incredible speed but also packed serious power.
As for why the attack was inky black, it was because the ones launching it were none other than a group of Moss.
Moss resembled soft-bodied creatures with no bones, no skin, no flesh—their forms were made entirely of pitch-black shadows like the attack they launched, with only their eyes emitting a different glow, while everything else about them looked so dark, so gloomy, so wicked.
Anyone who laid eyes on these creatures for the first time would instinctively come to the same conclusion—they were definitely cursed beings.
When facing such creatures, there was no room for words since communication was impossible. As soon as they were encountered, a battle had to begin and would not stop until one side fell.
*BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!*
As if to prove that point, the group of Moss wriggling on the grassland gathered the pitch-black curses across their bodies and formed them into projectiles. One after another, they launched them at the eight-legged horse-drawn carriage, each explosion bursting like black water erupting around it.
At a glance, it might’ve seemed like these cursed beings had poor aim since not a single shot landed on the carriage, but that wasn’t because they lacked accuracy—it was because the master of the carriage had twisted the course of their attacks.
"Wall of Protection From Arrows."
A magic spell that disrupted projectile attacks was activated from inside the carriage, throwing the airflow around it into chaos.
As a result, the incoming blasts of black curses were thrown off target, and not one of them managed to hit the carriage directly.
In the next moment, a person stepped out from inside the carriage.
"Seriously? We’re this close to the destination, and some damn monster decides to jump us? What crap luck."
Riezel muttered as he stared at the group of Moss up ahead.
"Be careful, Riezel." Artoria peeked her head out of the carriage, sounding a little nervous. "Moss are cursed beings that can erode fairies. If you get too close, you might end up turning into one of them."
"No doubt." Riezel raised an eyebrow and glanced at Artoria, then spoke in a cold, offhand tone. "But since they’re cursed beings that target fairies, what’s it got to do with a human like me?"
"Ah, uh..."
Artoria was instantly at a loss for words.
As the atmosphere went quiet, her face flushed with embarrassment.
However, the ones who broke the silence for her weren’t anyone else, but the very Moss that made all fairies tremble in fear.
*BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!*
A group of cursed creatures fully demonstrated what it meant to be relentless.
They twisted their bodies as they closed in, gathering curses and forming black masses that launched attacks toward Riezel and Artoria, causing black shadows to explode constantly around them.
One of the shadows even grazed right past Artoria, giving this countryside fairy a huge scare—she almost let out a scream.
Seeing this, Riezel shifted his gaze back to the group of Moss.
"Alright, I’ll deal with you guys first."
Riezel thought about it for a moment and decided not to draw his sword, but to use a new magic spell he had just learned not long ago.
"Sacrament - Aurora."
As soon as Riezel chanted this magic, streaks of meteor-like flashes of light began to form and gather around him.
If Maya had been here to witness Riezel casting ’Sacrament - Aurora’, she would’ve been shocked for sure—not because he had somehow learned her magic, but because that same magic, in his hands, showed power far beyond her own.
As evidenced by the flashes of light surrounding Riezel, there were a ton of them, packed in tightly—at least several hundred, if not more—each one massively amplified.
If Maya’s flashes could be compared to lasers, then Riezel’s were full-on beams of pure light.
Hundreds of meteor-like beams hovered behind Riezel like spears of light, filling up almost the entire sky behind him.
"?!!!"
Artoria, for ’who-knows-how-many-times’ now, was left stunned once again by Riezel’s display of magical prowess. She stood there dumbfounded, staring at the densely packed floating beams, her scalp going numb all over again.
And just like that, Riezel began his assault.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Across the vast grassland, Riezel’s meteor-like flashes appeared and shot out without any warning, like cosmic beams crashing down from the sky, slamming into the earth with overwhelming force.
Explosions and booming roars rang out nonstop.
Dust and rubble were swept up like a sandstorm.
At the same time, the ground shook and the air screamed as if thunder had struck down on a clear day, setting off one explosion after another, blasting shockwaves everywhere.
Faintly, two voices could then be heard echoing from within, one after the other.
"Guess I might’ve overdone it."
A calm voice resounded.
"What do you mean might’ve?! You totally overdid it!"
An exasperated voice followed.
With these two voices, the merciless bombardment finally came to an end as the shockwaves, along with the dust and rubble, blew off into the distance, revealing what used to be grassy, clear plains now completely torn up and full of craters.
As for those poor Moss, not even ashes were left—they were wiped out without a trace.
Standing in front of the cratered battlefield, covered in dust and with her clothes all messed up from the blast, Artoria showed a completely broken expression.
"What’s wrong?"
Riezel, looking like he had no clue at all, asked Artoria with a confused look.
Artoria held it in for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence.
"Can you become the Child of Prophecy? I’m begging you."
What Artoria didn’t know was that, in the eyes of the Fairy Kingdom’s higher-ups, Riezel had already long been seen as the Child of Prophecy.
As for Artoria, the actual Child of Prophecy, Woodwose hadn’t even mentioned her once.
It was obvious that the moment Riezel showed up as a major threat, Woodwose had completely forgotten about the low-profile Artoria.
Honestly, that was just plain sad.
===
In the wilderness of Faerie Britain, not only would Moss occasionally appear, but all kinds of wild beasts and magical beasts also showed up from time to time.
It was only natural since this island was a nation built by fairies that naturally carried Mystery from the start. On this island, Mystery was far denser than in the outside world, so magical beasts that were rarely seen out there might not be everywhere here, but they showed up from time to time.
Riezel noticed this on the very first day he arrived through dimensional travel, realizing that there seemed to be something in the atmosphere of this world that stirred the magical energy inside him, which was proof that the Mystery on this island was denser than on the outside.
In this world, magical energy became extremely active. If one could control it perfectly, it might even enhance the power of their magecraft or magic. Most supernatural abilities could also be strengthened here, so long as they didn’t conflict with the system of Mystery present in this land.
Of course, with benefits came drawbacks.
Medicines with great restorative effects could also damage the body if taken in excess, right?
In this world, the same idea applied.
In a world filled with so much magical energy, ordinary humans either adapted to survive, gradually mutated, or suffered some kind of physical breakdown.
As for the humans within Faerie Britain, they were generally the former, as their physical abilities were usually stronger than those of normal humans. However, if someone from outside Faerie Britain barged in, there was a chance they might collapse from failing to adapt to the environment.
Thankfully, Riezel wasn’t one of them, since he had a development ability like Abnormal Resistance, as well as a skill that prevented both mental and physical interference.
However, even without those, having received a god’s blood when he was still a weak human and bearing a Falna engraved on his back, there was no way he would be affected by something as minor as dense magical energy.
Now that Riezel was Level 7, even his physical body alone far surpassed that of ordinary humans, let alone the fact that the essence of Falna was to elevate mortals to gradually approach the existence of gods.
Given this, with his current level and the size of his current ’vessel’, Riezel was more than capable of enduring not just this Britain taken over by fairies, but even the legendary Inner Sea of the Planet.
As for the beasts living here that sometimes attacked travelers or passersby, they naturally weren’t your average wild monsters but powerful creatures difficult for humans to deal with. Even though they weren’t as disastrous as the Moss, they were still troublesome in their own way.
For this reason, during the carriage ride, Riezel simply kept ’Sacrament - Aurora’ active the whole time, letting streaks of meteor-like flashes hover around the carriage and follow it as it moved.
Whenever a beast got too close, a few flashes would shoot out from around the carriage, strike the target, and blast it away.
Thanks to this, the area around the carriage that Riezel and Artoria were riding in occasionally had massive craters that looked downright alarming.
"...You think Britain’s going to be okay?"
Artoria was already starting to worry the Fairy Kingdom might end up looking like the cratered surface of the moon thanks to Riezel. If it really turned out that way, she would no longer be a Fairy of Paradise sent to save the world but one sent to destroy it.
Just like that, with the carriage continuing on its way, Riezel and Artoria finally reached their destination.
"Oh, that’s Salisbury?"
Through the carriage window, Riezel caught sight of a city in the distance that gave off a laid-back, easygoing vibe, almost like a vacation spot.
From the outside, the city looked like a white-walled castle and wasn’t very big—definitely nothing compared to many of the big cities Riezel had visited before. Furthermore, it seemed like there was only one main gate, so as long as they followed the road straight ahead, they would reach the city.
"Salisbury, the freest city in Faerie Britain. Even though the lord may be the head of the Wind Clan, that clan head is super tolerant toward all fairies and even humans, so the city’s open to all fairy clans and human settlers."
Artoria’s attention had shifted as well, looking at the city that was so different from Tintagel, making her feel a mix of curiosity and excitement well up inside her.
"Also, what makes Salisbury special is mainly its huge, grand cathedral."
"Back in the day, Queen Morgan was crowned in that cathedral. She didn’t move into Camelot with her army until it was finished. After that, this place became the Wind Clan’s territory."
"It’s not as trendy as Gloucester, and it’s not packed with restaurants like Oxford. It also doesn’t have comprehensive workshops like Norwich, but the good thing about Salisbury is that it has a little bit of everything—nothing’s missing."
As Artoria explained, she gave off more and more of an eager vibe, like she was just dying to get into the city and look around, just like some country bumpkin seeing a big city for the first time.
"Wind Clan’s territory, huh?"
Riezel narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.
A moment later, he used his magical link to halt Sleipnir, making the carriage come to a stop, no longer moving.
"What’s wrong?"
Artoria, who had been watching Salisbury the whole time, was almost thrown off when the carriage suddenly stopped. She barely managed to steady herself and looked at Riezel with confusion and uncertainty.
"It’s nothing." Riezel shook his head. "Just to be safe, it’s better if we don’t take the carriage from here."
It was mainly because Sleipnir was a creature not found in Faerie Britain. Moreover, he had rarely seen any carriages along the way either, so he figured that riding one straight into Salisbury would draw a lot of attention.
If that happened, their arrival might end up being noticed by whoever was in charge of Salisbury, and if the head of the Wind Clan noticed them, things could get a little troublesome. Not to mention, that clan head was close with Woodwose, the head of the Fang Clan. If she contacted Woodwose and told him that Riezel and Artoria had arrived in Salisbury, then a battle would be pretty much unavoidable.
Besides, there were some secrets about the head of the Wind Clan that made Riezel extremely wary of her.
However, the annoying part was, she had really good relationships with others. If she wanted to, whether it was the Fairy Knights or other clan heads, there were quite a few who would be willing to act for her.
Considering this—
’Just to be safe, until we get a map of this kingdom and some basic supplies, we’d better stay out of that fairy’s sight.’
With this decision made, Riezel dismissed Sleipnir and removed the carriage altogether. Not only that, he also cast illusion magic and anti-surveillance magic to completely change his appearance.
"How do I look?"
As Riezel asked, he had already transformed.
Now, his hair and eyes were golden and green like Artoria’s, while wings had sprouted from his back, and his ears had become pointed.
He now looked just like a fairy from the Wind Clan.
"W-Why’d you turn into this?"
Artoria couldn’t help panicking a little when she saw Riezel looking just like her, with the same golden hair and green eyes.
"What? Is there something wrong?" Riezel asked, looking confused.
"...No."
Artoria mumbled as she lowered her head, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Of course, she wasn’t about to tell Riezel that the reason she panicked was that she was actually really happy.
After all, someone like her, who had always felt useless, now had someone willing to look just like her.
Such a thing made the usually self-conscious Artoria secretly happy.
However, the only downside was that Riezel had wings and pointy ears—things she didn’t have, which made her feel just a little disappointed.
"Maybe I should get some wings and ears too..." Artoria muttered to herself.
"If you want, I can help you out."
Hearing Artoria’s mutter, Riezel, with a wave of his hand, caused wings to grow out from her back, and her ears turned pointed like his as well.
"All right, let’s go."
"Un!"
With that, the two of them headed toward Salisbury together, and before long, they had successfully passed through the gate checkpoint and entered the city.