Woodwose had no way of knowing how Artoria felt at this moment—though even if he did, this Returned A-Rei probably wouldn’t have cared.
He just stared at Artoria with a pair of beast-like eyes, sensed her magical energy, then glanced at the staff in her hand and narrowed his eyes.
"A magus, huh?"
Artoria’s outfit and appearance reminded Woodwose of the Queen he served, since she also dressed like a magus—just like this fairy girl before him. Because of this, unlike last time when he completely ignored her, this time he paid at least a little attention to her.
In Faerie Britain, magecraft did exist, but it was something hardly anyone used.
Fairies were, after all, beings born with Mystery, capable of triggering supernatural phenomena without relying on magecraft. It came as naturally to them as eating or drinking, so they didn’t need to go through the effort humans did—learning and training in magecraft, turning themselves into magi.
For this reason, magecraft in Faerie Britain was widely seen as something pretty much unnecessary. It was like someone who could light a fire with a finger still choosing to rub sticks together—since to fairies, magecraft was just that kind of roundabout, pointless practice.
On top of that, fairies were naturally resistant to magecraft, so it was extremely rare for anyone in Faerie Britain to actually study it.
As far as Woodwose knew, only two people had done it.
One was the Queen he served, Morgan, while the other was her adopted daughter, a Fairy Knight—Tristan.
Outside of those two, Woodwose didn’t know a single person who used magecraft.
But now, not only could the one he believed to be the Child of Prophecy use magecraft just like the Queen, but this low-profile fairy girl in front of him was also dressed like a magus and used magecraft in combat.
Such a fact made it impossible for Woodwose not to draw certain conclusions.
"Don’t tell me, you’re the foreign magus—that so-called foreign traveler mentioned in the prophecy?" Woodwose growled. "Now that I take a closer look, you really don’t look like any fairy from the six clans. Whether it’s the Wind, Earth, or Wing Clan, none of their fairies look like you. Since the Mirror Clan is basically gone, and the King Clan only has one member left, you’re not a fairy from Faerie Britain at all. You’re from the outside, aren’t you?"
Hearing this, Artoria broke into a cold sweat, and like she was trying to buy time, forced herself to speak up.
"I’m not a fairy from Faerie Britain..."
She was a fairy from Paradise, who had drifted to Faerie Britain by sea sixteen years ago, so there was no way for her to deny that, even if she wanted to.
However, her words only made Woodwose more convinced.
"As I thought, you really are the foreign traveler. Only outsiders like you would team up with the Child of Prophecy!"
Woodwose’s face twisted with rage.
"You and the Child of Prophecy... What do you think Britain is?!"
"A savior from Paradise?"
"A foreigner?"
"Don’t fuck with me?!"
"We’ve spent the last 2,000 years fighting with everything we had to protect this world! You think a bunch of outsiders like you can just waltz in and trample all over it?!"
"As long as I, Woodwose, and the Fang Clan still stand, no one... no one is going to overthrow Britain!"
A violent wave of magical energy and heat suddenly exploded from Woodwose’s body.
"You who dare go against Her Majesty! I’ll be the one to take you down!"
"Just give up already!"
"Outsider!"
As soon as these words left Woodwose’s mouth, he lunged at Artoria.
"?!!!"
Without thinking, Artoria turned to run, trying to put distance between them, but as the head of the Fang Clan and a Returned A-Rei, Woodwose’s short-range speed was practically the same as teleportation.
In just a flash, Woodwose vanished from where he was and appeared behind Artoria the next second.
*BOOM!*
With one swipe of his claws, a wave of brutal force exploded out, slamming into Artoria’s body, causing her to be instantly sent flying like a puppet with its strings cut, crashing into the corridor wall and smashing it apart.
Amid the swirling dust and broken stone, the fairy girl lay on the ground, covered in blood, unmoving.
"Hahhh..."
Woodwose finally let out a breath, like he was trying to vent all the frustration bottled up in his chest.
At that moment, the irritation he had been holding in ever since things went wrong with Riezel had mostly faded, making him feel a whole lot better.
If it weren’t for the Queen’s order to capture the target alive, and if he hadn’t wanted to use this so-called foreign traveler to force the Child of Prophecy to come down, Woodwose honestly wouldn’t have minded smashing Artoria’s upper body to bits just to blow off some steam.
"You should be glad, thanks to Her Majesty’s command, you two get to live... for now."
Saying this, Woodwose stepped forward, reaching out to grab Artoria and use her to threaten Riezel, but the second his hand touched her, he immediately noticed something was off.
"Wait... this is?!"
Woodwose’s pupils shrank sharply before his face twisted in anger, and he suddenly stomped down on Artoria.
*Thud!*
With a dull bang, Artoria’s whole body was crushed beneath his foot, yet even though she was clearly smashed, the chunks of flesh that should’ve splattered everywhere suddenly vanished like smoke—and not a single drop of blood came out.
It was obvious that this wasn’t the true Artoria, but just a fake, created to look like her.
"DAMN YOU!"
Shouting in rage, Woodwose instantly scanned the area, trying to find where Artoria had gone.
Unfortunately for him, Artoria had already slipped away, as not just him—even the fairies and human soldiers who had been gathering in this direction hadn’t caught sight of her.
Realizing this, the frustration that had just been cleared from Woodwose’s chest now came roaring back with several times the intensity, pushing him straight into a rampage.
Gawain, who was on her way to the lord’s room to check on Aurora’s safety, suddenly felt the ground shake violently above her, making her frown.
"Tch, that idiot Woodwose’s throwing a tantrum again, isn’t he?"
Gawain muttered, clearly annoyed.
"Seriously, same old him. Even after stepping back from the frontlines, he still can’t control that damn temper."
"And that troublesome Lancelot... She still hasn’t lured that boy down to the ground so we can surround him? Does she not want to let us join the fight?"
"Even though she’s supposed to be the strongest Fairy Knight..."
Clenching her arm tight in frustration, Gawain stayed silent for a moment before finally calming down.
"Whatever. I’ll check the damage first."
"I hate to admit it, but with Lancelot around... with her mobility, that boy shouldn’t be able to get away."
"And since he’s got an ally, we need to take her out first."
Having made up her mind, Gawain once again strode forward with firm steps, heading straight for the lord’s room, but she didn’t notice that just around a corner in a nearby corridor, Artoria was secretly crouching.
"Stupid Baggie... I knew you’d show up..."
Artoria, gripping her staff with both hands, let out a breath of relief when she saw Gawain walk away, then muttered angrily to herself.
"Fairy Knight Gawain? More like a coward who won’t even reveal her real name."
"Queen Morgan’s precious knight?"
"If I get the chance, I swear I’m going to rip that fake face right off her and get payback for today!"
Grumbling like this, Artoria made sure the corridor was clear, then quickly picked up the pace and ran toward the cathedral entrance.
It didn’t take long before a group of fairies guarding the cathedral entrance got completely wiped out by a bombardment of magical bombs raining down from above, sending them flying.
By the time Gawain and Woodwose arrived, those fairies were still lying on the ground, unable to get up.
As for Artoria, she was already gone.
All of this just pissed Woodwose off even more, causing him to throw another fit right then and there.
Only Gawain stayed calm, giving a clear order to the fairies.
"Seal off the city gate! From now on, no one gets in or out!"
Gawain’s order was quickly relayed by Aurora, who was still in the lord’s room.
In an instant, the whole of Salisbury went into lockdown—the city gates slammed shut, no longer letting anyone pass through.
Gawain, Woodwose, and Aurora each sent out people to search the city, while fairy and human troops alike moved into action, running in groups through the streets, causing the city’s residents to either rush back home or hide in inns—no one dared to step outside anymore.
*BOOM!*
Up in the sky, one red and one white streak of light still crashed into each other like meteors, shaking the air with a thunderous noise.
===
*BOOM!*
Flames and shockwaves exploded high in the sky where no one could reach, scattering the surrounding clouds and making the intense battle even more chaotic.
A red and a white meteor had clashed who knew how many times already, and now they both shot back from the explosion, pulling away from each other.
"Not bad!"
Lancelot’s cool, clear voice of admiration rang out along with her fighting intent, reaching her opponent’s ears.
"Can fight me like this in an aerial battle—since the moment I was born, you’re the first!"
Lancelot, turning into a white meteor that tore through the sky, charged toward Riezel again, who had been blown back.
"Unfortunately for you, when I’m flying in the air, I’m unbeatable, so there’s no way you can win!"
Hearing Lancelot’s bold claim, Riezel didn’t deny it as he retreated in a burst of fire.
At this moment, he was indeed at a disadvantage.
It couldn’t be helped.
In terms of speed, Lancelot was faster than him.
In terms of strength, Lancelot was stronger as well.
To a dragon fairy who could fly freely in the sky, Riezel’s power might’ve been impressive, but it still wasn’t enough to surpass hers.
Because Riezel had to rely on magic to fly, whether it was accelerating or changing direction, he had to control the magic to do it. Lancelot, on the other hand, was different because she flew like she had grown actual wings, like she was moving her own limbs.
As a result, Lancelot could fly however she wanted and move however she pleased, which gave her a level of smoothness and control far beyond what Riezel could manage.
From Lancelot’s perspective, Riezel’s flight had a lot of stiffness to it, since not only was his acceleration not as fast, but his maneuvers also didn’t feel as natural.
Because of this, the longer the fight went on, the more freely Lancelot could move, while Riezel struggled more and more, slowly falling behind, causing every clash between them to end with her coming out on top.
It was inevitable.
Lancelot was, after all, not just a fairy but a dragon as well.
She might have looked petite, but her physical abilities were extraordinary.
If using Riezel’s own assessment, then Lancelot’s STR was at least at S-rank, while her AGI and DEX were even higher, probably breaking the limits and hitting the same SSS-rank as himself.
As for her level, no doubt about it—she was around Level 8.
Stronger than Woodwose.
Stronger than Rubedo.
Maybe even stronger than the mysterious Sword Saint Riezel had once met in Jinas’s royal treasury.
She truly lived up to the title of the strongest.
"Heh, this is getting interesting."
Instead of feeling intimidated, however, Riezel’s eyes lit up with excitement.
"Drifting Master Mine!"
Riezel suddenly cast magic that set invisible floating landmines in the air, which would explode the moment they sensed an enemy.
As Lancelot, now a white meteor, flew toward him at full speed, she triggered one of the mines floating in midair just as she was about to collide with Riezel’s body.
*BOOOM!*
A huge explosion erupted, blasting hot wind and fire everywhere, swallowing up the white meteor completely.
"Hah!"
Lancelot, however, didn’t flinch at all as a light blade shot out from her gauntlet and, with a single slash, cut through the raging flames wrapped around her.
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Call Greater Thunder!"
Three massive bolts of lightning came crashing down from the sky, slamming right into Lancelot as she sliced through the flames, sending her flying backward on the spot.
"Silent Magic - Arcs Ray!"
Riezel launched another magic—a beam-like arrow of light burst through the air, piercing through the atmosphere as it shot straight at Lancelot.
"Useless, that’s not going to work!"
Lancelot spread her arms, her body suddenly soaring upward even as she flew backward, accelerating once again.
"Your magecraft’s got power, no doubt about that, but putting aside the fact that I’m a dragon fairy and naturally resistant to magecraft, your magecraft still can’t keep up with my speed!"
True to her words, Lancelot easily dodged the beam-like arrow of light that came shooting toward her, making Riezel’s Arcs Ray miss completely.
However—
"Are you sure about that?"
As Riezel said these words, the missed Arcs Ray suddenly shifted direction and shot upward at full speed, chasing straight toward Lancelot.
"It has tracking capability?!"
Lancelot, with a tense expression, immediately changed direction, once again shaking off Arcs Ray. But no matter how many times she tried to shake off the beam-like light arrow behind her, it just kept coming relentlessly after her.
"Sacrament - Aurora!"
Just then, Riezel unleashed another magic that created blinding lights, like meteors, forming behind him and locking onto Lancelot, raining down in a violent barrage.
"Tch!"
Lancelot clicked her tongue and gave up charging.
She shot backward instead, flying at top speed, darting left and right in a zigzagging pattern to dodge the incoming magic attacks one after another.
However, just like ’Arcs Ray’, ’Sacrament - Aurora’ was offensive magic with tracking capability, so no matter how much she weaved around, sped up, or tried to shake them off, the attacks would just loop back and keep coming, relentlessly chasing her down until they hit their target.
"Can’t shake them off?"
Realizing this, Lancelot instantly released her two blades.
"If that’s the case, I’ll just destroy all of them!"
With this declaration, Lancelot exploded with power—not just speed but raw force as well—and swung her blades at the oncoming flashes of light.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
In an instant, the sky filled with an unending series of explosions, the shockwaves ripping through the air and sending currents spinning backward.
With both hands, Lancelot swung her blades in rapid succession, unleashing a storm of light that formed a perfect vacuum zone around her. Every flash of light that entered this zone was sliced apart and exploded on the spot.
"Well then, how about this?"
Riezel stretched out his hand toward Lancelot.
"Maximize Magic - Brilliant Radiance!"
"Maximize Magic - True Darkness!"
"Maximize Magic - Vermilion Nova!"
"Maximize Magic - Polar Claw!"
Four magic circles appeared in succession around Lancelot—one white, one black, one red, and one blue—completely surrounding her from all sides.
In the next second, a radiant light burst from the white circle, darkness exploded from the black, roaring flames erupted from the red, and a freezing claw reached out from the blue—all of them struck Lancelot dead center, landing their hits perfectly.
"ARGGGHHH—!!!"
Needless to say, a chain of four high-tier magic spells, all unleashed by Riezel, who had both magic-based development abilities like Mage and Magic Chant, was obviously powerful.
Especially Brilliant Radiance and Vermilion Nova—one a light attribute magic, the other fire—they both fell under the amplification effect of Pioneer of the Sun, doubling their power and inflicting devastating damage as they struck Lancelot.
Even Polar Claw had the highest damage among ice attribute magic, and True Darkness was a rare dark attribute magic that could completely ignore its target’s defense. Without resistance to the dark attribute, the target would take the full brunt of the damage.
After getting hit with the four magic spells one after another, even Lancelot, who was hailed as the strongest Fairy Knight, let out a groan of pain.
However—
"Is that all you’ve got?!"
Lancelot roared and slashed through the radiance, the darkness, the flames, and the freezing claw before exploding with a speed even greater than before, and in the blink of an eye, she was right in front of Riezel.
"?!!!"
Riezel’s pupils shrank, and he tried to react, but the reflexes granted by his Fast Attack still couldn’t keep up with Lancelot.
*BOOM!*
Lancelot, in the form of a white meteor, crashed heavily into Riezel’s body, sending him plummeting from the sky straight to the ground.
*BOOOM!*
Moments later, the meteor hit the ground, unleashing a terrifying shockwave that shook the entire city of Salisbury.