"YOU! ARE! LOOKING! TO! DIE!"
Woodwose growled before he charged out.
Under the influence of his rage, this Returned A-Rei once again sparked his fighting intent.
Seeing this, Riezel wiped the grin off his face, tightened his grip on his sword, and stepped forward as well.
A fierce death battle was about to erupt once more, until—
"Enough."
A voice suddenly rang out, echoing across the entire sky of Salisbury.
"..."
It was a voice as cold as the coming of winter, and the moment that voice echoed out, whether it was the wretched battlefield or the hellish city, both seemed to be struck by an invisible blizzard that froze the very air.
Before long, a suffocating pressure, as if the sky itself had collapsed, spread throughout and instantly engulfed the entire city.
"!!!"
Riezel stopped his action and quickly looked up.
"Th-That voice?!"
Even the furious and savage Woodwose froze in place, fear creeping into his expression.
Gawain, who had been sent flying by one of Riezel’s punches and was now lying in a shattered crater, struggled to get up, her trembling eyes fixed on the sky above.
*Whoosh—*
Before long, the wind howled as it swept across the battlefield and soared through the sky, causing the clothes and skirt of the figure standing there to flutter wildly.
Under such circumstances, the ruler of the Fairy Kingdom arrived.
"Your Majesty!"
Gawain, the first to react, ignored her severe injuries and dropped to one knee on the ground.
"Y-Your Majesty!"
Woodwose also came to his senses and quickly knelt, bowing his head toward the figure high above.
"Her Majesty... actually left the throne...?"
Lancelot, who had just returned from the cathedral after confirming Aurora’s safety, couldn’t help but halt in mid-air and mutter in a voice filled with disbelief as she stared at the figure.
And just like that, the Queen slowly descended from the sky, landing in front of Riezel, directly across from Woodwose as well, falling into the sight of everyone present.
Riezel hadn’t looked away from her since the moment she appeared.
Because he knew that the woman standing before him was the one who had ruled Faerie Britain for over 2,000 years, reigning over all fairies throughout that time and standing at the very pinnacle.
Such a mighty existence was just as the legends described—beautiful and bewitching.
She wore a black gown with blue trim that resembled royal attire but was styled like a magician’s cloak, exposing her shoulders and parts of her skin—it looked seductive, yet carried a dangerous beauty.
Upon her head rested a crown of thorns, and in her hand, she held a staff-like black spear that looked menacing, almost like a halberd. Her snow-white hair was tied to one side, and her face was so beautiful it was almost surreal—easily comparable to Lancelot, who was said to be the most beautiful fairy in the Fairy Kingdom.
However, unlike Lancelot’s cold and aloof demeanor, the stunning gaze and expression of the Queen before him were both cold.
It was the kind of cold that saw everything in the world as disposable, fixated only on one thing, and willing to sacrifice everything for it.
Her coldness was merciless.
Her coldness was cruel.
Just like the winter she brought with her—terrifying and dreadful.
She was, after all—
"Morgan..."
Riezel muttered as if he had been captivated by her dangerous, icy beauty.
"..."
Morgan didn’t say a word and just looked at Riezel from a distance—at the enemy the fairies called the Child of Prophecy—before finally speaking after a brief silence.
"You’re all way too slow."
Morgan’s words were naturally directed at Lancelot, Gawain, and Woodwose.
""Please punish us, Your Majesty!""
Exclaiming in unison, the three fairies, who had now gathered behind Morgan, all lowered their heads without a word of excuse.
Morgan looked coldly at the three and spoke up again.
"I’ll forgive you this once, considering the contributions you’ve made in the past." Morgan said with an expressionless face. "But there won’t be a next time. Understood?"
""YES!""
Hearing Morgan’s words, the clan head and the two Fairy Knights responded immediately.
Even Woodwose, who clearly felt disgruntled, didn’t talk back or try to defend himself and just quietly accepted the reprimand.
Such a scene alone made it clear just how absolute and fearsome Morgan was in the eyes of the fairies.
Having said her piece, Morgan paid no further attention to the three fairies as if they no longer existed, and shifted her gaze again, this time back to Riezel.
"!!!"
In that instant, a warning sign unlike anything Riezel had ever felt since he transmigrated suddenly surged through him.
It was an instinctive alarm.
An unease born of pure intuition.
Urged on by this warning sign, Riezel acted without thinking and activated teleportation magic.
"Greater Teleportation!"
Unfortunately, the teleportation magic failed to activate as Riezel’s figure first blurred, then returned to normal.
Only then did Riezel’s expression change slightly as he noticed something was wrong.
He saw that within the oppressive aura that had swept across the area like the heart of winter ever since Morgan’s arrival, there was a faint release of magical energy.
Because of that magical energy, this space truly seemed frozen by an invisible blizzard, making teleportation magic completely unusable.
Naturally, time magic likely would not work either—or rather, it was possible that no magic would function at all.
"Surprised?"
Morgan’s cold voice suddenly rang out, reaching Riezel’s ears.
"This ’Garden’ was made just for you. It’s the one and only Garden, different from things like ’Sweet Dreams,’ ’Dark Abyss,’ ’Lost Will,’ or ’The Innocent.’"
"To make sure it works on you, I spent half of the 2,000 years I sat on the throne working on this and another grand magecraft."
"Judging from your expression, it seems my efforts over the centuries weren’t wasted."
As Morgan spoke, she suddenly appeared in front of Riezel.
"!!!"
Riezel’s pupils shrank, and almost instinctively, he raised the black sword in his hand, activated Sun Breathing, and slashed at the woman before him, who radiated a dangerously captivating beauty.
Blazing flames immediately erupted along the sword, vaporizing the air, tearing through space, and bringing with them overwhelming power as it came crashing down on Morgan.
Riezel’s slash—one that even beings like Lancelot, Gawain, or Woodwose would have to go all out to block—was unleashed without hesitation.
However, Morgan ignored it completely and simply reached out, placing a hand against Riezel’s chest.
*Zing!*
In the next moment, a magic circle appeared from Morgan’s palm.
It wasn’t a traditional circular magic formation, but rather one shaped like two intersecting spears, with horizontal and vertical patterns extending from both ends. It seemed to be composed of extremely mysterious runes and ancient characters, as just looking at it gave the illusion of staring into a sea of stars.
As soon as this magic circle appeared, markings also lit up across Morgan’s body.
At the same moment, Riezel felt his power rapidly draining away—so fast it was visible to the eye.
No, it wasn’t draining.
He could feel his power was still inside his body, yet it felt completely out of his control, as if it had buried itself deep within instead of coursing through his body like before.
As a result, the black sword he had swung lost its flames, and even its power faded into near nothingness.
*Clang!*
Ultimately, Riezel’s weakened slash was easily deflected by a barrier that Morgan had deployed around her body, making it not only fail to harm her in the slightest but even allow her to move closer to him.
"You?!"
Riezel’s expression shifted again and again, stunned by this unprecedented turn of events.
Seeing him like this, a breathtaking smile unconsciously appeared on Morgan’s exquisitely cold and winter-like face.
"This is the other grand magecraft I mentioned just now. It was created after ’Mirror,’ ’Tower,’ ’Garden,’ and ’Coffin’—it’s called ’Stake.’"
"It can only be used once in an entire lifetime, and now, the ’Stake’ connecting you and me has finally been planted."
As she spoke, the hand Morgan had placed on Riezel’s chest moved upward, gently touching his cheek as if caressing something precious to her.
For the first time, her voice was no longer cold but full of emotion.
"You’re not getting away from me this time."
"My dearest husband—"
"Riezel Brynhart..."
It was a whisper as sweet as candied fruit, and at the same time, it was a terrifying murmur, like a queen bee sinking her fangs into her prey.
Riezel Brynhart.
When the woman before him spoke his full name—a name that should’ve been known only to Artoria—there was only one feeling left in Riezel’s heart.
Shock.
However, before he could even react, Morgan’s hand on his face released a surge of magical energy that blasted through his mind.
In that instant, Riezel’s consciousness faded.
*Clang!*
Hermit fell to the ground with a crisp metallic ring.
Riezel involuntarily let go of his weapon and lost consciousness, his body collapsing forward.
Morgan immediately released the staff-like spear she held and caught Riezel as he fell toward her, gently pulling him into her embrace.
Anyone who saw this could see that her movements were unbelievably gentle.
"Your... Majesty...?"
Every fairy watching this scene widened their eyes in unison, especially Woodwose—his beastly face was full of confusion as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Morgan gently stroked Riezel’s face a few more times, and when she finally looked up, her gaze and expression had returned to their usual coldness.
"I’m going back to my throne." Morgan declared unilaterally. "All of you return to Camelot and summon all the clan heads."
At her words, it was again Gawain who reacted first and respectfully asked.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty... Calling all the Fairy Knights and clan heads... For what reason?"
At this question, the answer that came was enough to shake all of Faerie Britain.
"A month from now, I will hold a wedding in Camelot."
"By then, whether they’re Fairy Knights or clan heads, everyone has to attend."
"I won’t save the fairies, but at the very least, you all need to recognize the face of your queen’s husband."
Leaving these words behind, Morgan looked down at Riezel in her arms, then glanced over at the three fairies who were frozen in place from sheer shock.
"Salisbury will be fully entrusted to Aurora. Tell her I’ll take responsibility for all the damages."
With that, Morgan picked up her spear with one hand and vanished with Riezel in her arms.
At the same moment, the aura of winter that had filled the surroundings disappeared along with her, and the land returned to its original state.
However, the three fairies still hadn’t moved and remained kneeling there, stunned and motionless for a long time, until—
"What the hell?!"
Letting out a furious roar, Woodwose’s entire body burst out with scorching magical energy.
"Husband?"
"Wedding?"
"With that guy?"
Woodwose went into a frenzy.
"HOW?! WHY?!"
In a fit of rage, Woodwose unleashed magical energy from his whole body, blasting away all the rubble and debris nearby.
Lancelot and Gawain were affected as well, but they simply dodged to the left and right, then landed steadily.
"What are you doing, Woodwose?"
Gawain frowned tightly, scolding Woodwose as usual, but this time, he couldn’t be calmed down at all.
"Her Majesty’s actually marrying some outsider who popped out of nowhere? Why?!"
Woodwose roared in fury.
"Isn’t that the enemy who came to overthrow Her Majesty and the Fairy Kingdom?!"
"Isn’t that the piece of trash who’s never done a damn thing for Britain?!"
"Why pick someone like that? Why?!"
Needless to say, the anger welling up in Woodwose was stronger and more intense than ever before, which showed just how unacceptable Morgan’s marriage to the ’Child of Prophecy’ was for him.
Of course, Gawain was also shocked, but even so, she didn’t find it all that hard to accept.
"Remember, Her Majesty’s order is absolute." Gawain reminded calmly. "Are you planning to defy it?"
Hearing this, Woodwose’s rage halted for a moment.
Gawain, as if out of pity, spoke again upon seeing this.
"You must understand that’s Her Majesty’s choice. Whether it’s right or wrong, we don’t have the right to object, and we don’t have the power to stop it."
"In Britain, Her Majesty is the highest ruler—her word is absolute and must be obeyed."
"You know that better than anyone, right?"
Gawain’s brutally realistic words made Woodwose’s entire body tremble violently.
"DAMN IT!"
He immediately smashed a chunk of rubble nearby with a single swipe, effortlessly shattering a boulder larger than a building.
"DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!"
Woodwose went into a rage, slamming his claws around him one after another, causing deafening explosions and leveling the area.
Gawain stopped paying him any attention and instead turned to the still-silent Lancelot.
"Since Her Majesty has given her order, we’ll just follow them. You go tell Aurora. You good with that?"
Hearing Gawain’s words, Lancelot didn’t say anything, and it was after a long silence that she nodded slightly, lost in thought.
Gawain looked at the blood-covered dragon fairy who remained silent and wanted to say something else, but found she had nothing to say.
In the next moment, Lancelot turned and flew off without a word.
Gawain showed an annoyed expression and left as well.
Only Woodwose was left behind, still raging pointlessly and venting his anger in meaningless destruction.
===
About ten minutes later, a figure came running across the battlefield that had turned into a deserted wasteland.
"Hahh... Hahh... Hahh..."
Holding the Staff of Selection, Artoria panted nonstop as she looked at the now-empty ruins, a blank expression on her face.
"Where’s Riezel?"
"Where’s Baggie, Lancelot, and Woodwose?"
"What... happened to the fight...?"
Having shown up late, Artoria had missed everything—the battle, her destined opponent, and Riezel as well.
Lost in confusion, she suddenly noticed something, but when she saw it, she froze for a second, then hurriedly ran over to it.
A black sword radiating intense heat was lying silently on the ground as if it had been abandoned by its master.
It was none other than Hermit.
"..."
Artoria stared blankly at the sword, and after a while, she lowered her head, letting her long bangs fall forward to cover her face and hide her expression from anyone who might have seen it.
"Riezel..."
Like a lost child, Artoria mumbled quietly at first, then suddenly raised her head and started shouting.
"RIEZEL!"
"RIEZEL!"
"WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"COME OUT ALREADY!"
"STOP MESSING WITH ME!"
"IF YOU KEEP TEASING ME... I’M REALLY GOING TO GET ANGRY, YOU KNOW!"
"I’M SERIOUSLY MAD NOW!"
Artoria shouted at the top of her lungs, but what she received was silence.
"DID YOU HEAR ME?!"
"I’M ANGRY, OKAY?!"
"I’M ANGRY FOR REAL!"
On the destroyed street, Artoria wandered around again and again, calling out again and again, but in the end, she came back to Hermit.
"...What do you mean by ’you go first. I’ll catch up with you later’?"
"That didn’t happen, did it?"
"You didn’t do what you said, so you lied..."
"I really thought... if it were you... you wouldn’t lie..."
"Liar..."
Artoria’s voice weakened, sounding like she was crying.
It hurt just to listen.
She stood there like that for a long, long time before finally wiping her eyes hard and pulling herself together.
"No... this isn’t the time to be angry at him... First, I need to figure out what happened here and where that liar ran off to..."
"Once I find him, I’m going to give him a serious scolding."
"Yeah, a real harsh one."
Muttering to herself, Artoria forced herself not to imagine the worst possible outcome—that maybe Riezel was already gone, leaving her alone.
Refusing to even consider that possibility, Artoria reached out, intending to pick up Hermit from the ground, but—
"Hot!"
As soon as Artoria touched the hilt, the heat nearly burned her hand.
Artoria quickly used her magecraft, casting a protective layer over her palm, then carefully picked up Hermit.
Just as she was about to leave, a voice suddenly called out to her.
"Wait!"
Hearing the voice, Artoria stopped and looked in its direction.
"You’re...?"
Artoria looked surprised.
"Fufu..."
Chuckling, Aurora, the head of the Wind Clan, gave Artoria a gentle and graceful smile.
"Want to have a chat?"
Stepping out of the ruins, Aurora asked gently, and behind her, Lancelot followed in silence like a bodyguard.