Under the moonlit night, across the boundless grasslands—
*Thud!*
With a dull thud, a figure suddenly fell from the sky and crashed onto the ground.
"Ugh... Hugh!"
Letting out a groan full of pain, the figure, whose body was battered and covered in wounds, writhed there as if she were a snake spirit shedding its skin.
In fact, what she was doing was not much different from that, as with every struggle and groan, six tails extended from behind her and lashed about wildly.
At one point, one of those six tails broke off.
Yet, with the breaking of that tail, the figure’s battered body slowly began to heal, and in the end, not a single wound remained.
"Damn it!"
Koyanskaya, whose wounds had fully healed, stared at her severed tail, but her face showed no sign of relief—only hatred and anger.
’It took so much effort to finally reach six tails, and now I’ve lost one in a place like this! I have to start all over again—this loss is just too much!’
Having survived this disaster, Koyanskaya looked especially grim.
A pair of beast-like pupils surfaced in her eyes, and within them, murderous intent and ferocity surged, feeling the urge to rush back and tear that human apart, piece by piece.
’No, I cannot go back.’
Koyanskaya forced herself to calm down.
’Damn that human... He’s too mysterious. He actually managed to recreate the essence of Rhongomyniad through magecraft, summoning the ends of the world—something even that witch was never able to do...’
’Who is he, really? Is he from Proper Human History? Or is he from this Lostbelt?’
’Did Morgan truly marry him just because she mistook him for the Child of Prophecy?’
’But isn’t the Child of Prophecy supposed to be the enemy of that witch? Why would she entrust her trump card to him?’
At this point, Koyanskaya finally realized just how little she knew about Riezel.
With so little information about her enemy, she had still exposed her true nature and revealed her real form just because of a few provocations.
Perhaps, this time, she truly had made a mistake.
’Humans...’
Koyanskaya’s beast-like eyes were filled with cold indifference.
’Such an unnecessary race, so why is it that their lives always manage to give rise to such unpredictable individuals?’
Koyanskaya felt frustrated and displeased at this.
However...
’Forget it. Now isn’t the time to dwell on such things. I should head back to Gloucester first.’
She would need to rely on Muryan’s power and recuperate for a while in Gloucester.
Additionally, she needed to investigate that human and find out exactly what made him special.
Her instincts told her there had to be some unspeakable secret behind Morgan giving the holy lance to that human and even marrying him.
’If necessary, I might even have to make contact with that witch.’
Koyanskaya made her decision.
Just as this beautiful fox lady was about to leave for Gloucester, a playful voice suddenly drifted into her ears.
"Didn’t expect even you to make a run for it. Good thing I didn’t stick around."
Hearing this clear and lively voice, Koyanskaya’s expression grew even gloomier.
"...You actually dare show yourself in front of me?"
She turned her head, fixing her golden, beast-like eyes, brimming with a murderous aura, on the approaching figure.
It was none other than Beryl Gut.
"Please, don’t look at me like that." Beryl raised his hands in mock surrender. "You went back to your true nature, so of course I had to run as far as I could, so that I wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire. Wouldn’t anyone?"
Beryl, the serial killer who had once killed Ritsuka with a sneak attack, said all this without the slightest hint of shame.
Clearly, he didn’t think he had done anything wrong.
On the contrary, he even started complaining to Koyanskaya.
"I was planning to have a nice chat with Mash, but thanks to you, I was robbed of my chance to talk with my beloved."
Koyanskaya snorted coldly at Beryl’s words.
"It was just a miscalculation this time. I accounted for Chaldea and the Child of Prophecy, but I somehow overlooked a single human—really annoying." Koyanskaya complained, then sneered. "But you have no right to criticize me. As a Crypter, you let things spiral out of control like this. No wonder that human called you a loser."
—Crypters.
They were a group devoted to denying Proper Human History, bringing Lostbelts and the Alien God to Earth in an attempt to return the planet to the way it was during the Age of Gods.
They sided with the Alien God, planted Fantasy Trees on Earth, and gave birth to Lostbelts, waging war against Proper Human History, erasing the Earth’s future, and bringing about a catastrophe that swept across all of human history.
It was under these circumstances that Chaldea became enemies with Crypters, constantly cutting down Lostbelts and chopping down Fantasy Trees in hopes of saving Earth and Proper Human History.
Beryl was a Crypter, wielding the special command spells only Crypters possessed.
In other words, the appearance of Faerie Britain, this Lostbelt, was mostly Beryl’s responsibility.
He planted the Fantasy Tree here, but due to some mishaps, the Fantasy Tree of Faerie Britain had already withered.
He had summoned his own Servant with his powerful command spells here, but that Servant had acted on their own, turning Faerie Britain into its current state after several thousand years.
It could be said that without him, Faerie Britain would not exist, and Morgan would never have become the king of this Lostbelt.
It was because of Beryl’s actions that Morgan treated him as a companion, an ally, and also why Koyanskaya was mocking him.
Originally, Beryl should have been one of the masters of this Lostbelt, with a powerful Servant as his combat power, but now, he had messed everything up.
"...Can you please not call me that?"
Beryl’s smile faded from his face.
It was as if Koyanskaya had touched a sore spot—he lowered his head and hid his eyes behind his reflective glasses.
"What’s wrong?" Koyanskaya curled her lips into a beastly, savage grin, utterly devoid of emotion. "Are you thinking about killing me? With just you?"
Beryl fell silent.
Koyanskaya said nothing more.
Just like that, the two, human and beast, stared each other down, murderous aura spreading between them.
Two beings who viewed human lives as worthless stood locked in a standoff, as if a bloody fight could break out at any moment.
In the end, it was Beryl who backed down first, withdrawing his murderous aura.
"Fine..." Beryl once again raised his hands in surrender. "I’m just an ordinary human. There’s no way I’d dare go up against the famous Beast."
"Save those lies for someone else, Beryl Gut." Koyanskaya clearly scoffed at his claim. "For you, there’s no one in this world you can’t kill. If I believed your nonsense, maybe next time I’d be the one with a hole through my chest."
Beryl was human—there was no doubt about that.
And after losing his Servant, he ought to have lost his threat as well, or at the very least, he shouldn’t have warranted Koyanskaya’s attention.
However, anyone who let their guard down around this wolf-like man would meet a terrible end.
He was human, true, but inside, he was every bit the Beast that Koyanskaya was.
If it came down to direct combat, he did not stand out, but when it came to assassination or sneak attacks, his skill was nothing short of remarkable.
Hadn’t he ambushed Ritsuka before, and apart from Riezel, who barely managed to react in time, everyone else failed to respond?
Keep in mind, Riezel and Artoria had been farther away, but Mash, Da Vinci, and Tristan were all right beside Ritsuka.
On top of that, Mash, Da Vinci, and Tristan were all Servants.
To succeed in an ambush with three Servants nearby and even manage to kill Chaldea’s most important figure, it was clear just how dangerous Beryl truly was.
On a day like today, if Koyanskaya had not been able to sacrifice one of her tails and escape, regaining some of her power and composure, she was certain that Beryl would not have hesitated to strike from the shadows and kill her on the spot.
Beryl was, after all, excellent at finding chances to strike.
Once he made his move, his success rate was nearly one hundred percent.
It was because of all this that Koyanskaya did not believe a single one of his words.
If not for their deal and the fact that he provided her with some valuable goods, she would never have agreed to protect him after his successful ambush, sparing him from being torn apart by Chaldea’s rampaging Servants.
"Hmph, I’m heading back to Gloucester." Koyanskaya addressed Beryl coldly. "You’d better figure out how you’re going to survive by yourself from now on."
With the loss of his only Servant and the puppet doll (Baobhan Sith) he had been toying with, Beryl could now be considered completely powerless.
What would he do next?
How would he deal with Chaldea?
Koyanskaya intended to watch closely.
*Swish!*
Not wasting time with Beryl anymore, Koyanskaya’s figure vanished from the spot.
However, she did not notice at all that Beryl’s lips had curled into a dangerous smile.
"How am I going to survive from now on, you say?"
Beryl chuckled softly.
"No need to ask."
"I’m a man of focus, after all."
"Until I’ve had a proper heart-to-heart with Mash about my feelings for her, there’s no way I’m just letting things end here."
As he spoke, Beryl reached out and picked up something Koyanskaya had left behind on the ground.
It was none other than her severed tail.
"Not exactly what I wanted, but whatever. Getting this is more than worth it."
Beryl lifted Koyanskaya’s tail and actually started biting into it.
He really ate her tail.
"Hum, hum... Hahaha..."
A low laugh rumbled out as the eyes behind Beryl’s glasses changed, turning into a pair of golden, beast-like pupils.
"Your power—I’ll help myself."
Beneath the moonlit night, Beryl began to transform, becoming a gigantic beast that summoned a storm of darkness and howled at the sky.
===
As time passed, the sky gradually began to brighten.
When the sky, colored like the evening glow, replaced the night once more in Faerie Britain, Riezel also slowly woke from his deep sleep.
"Hiss..."
As soon as he awoke, Riezel immediately felt a tearing pain all over his body, making him suck in a cold breath.
’What’s... going on...?’
Riezel was confused for a moment before he finally remembered.
’Ah, right... I used Rhongomyniad and repelled Koyanskaya, huh...’
As his memory returned, Riezel quickly looked around.
What appeared before his eyes was a ceiling within arm’s reach and the cramped space of something like a carriage.
Coupled with the swaying motion he felt, Riezel instantly realized his situation.
He was lying inside a carriage, apparently being transported somewhere along with it, and was currently on the road.
"Mhm..."
Beside him, a fairy girl was leaning against the wall of the carriage, sound asleep, holding the Staff of Selection in her arms.
If it was not Artoria, who else could it be?
"Dia Fratel."
Riezel stared at Artoria for a while and, seeing that she did not wake up, he did not disturb her and immediately cast a high-tier healing magic without chanting to heal his own wounds.
He was still injured, but it seemed his wounds had already been treated and bandaged.
However, since they had not healed completely yet, he felt such sharp pain upon waking up.
’Was it someone from Chaldea who did this?’
Riezel quickly made a guess.
After all, Artoria was a clumsy magus and definitely could not use any proper healing magecraft. Oberon was probably about the same, so only Chaldea’s Master or Da Vinci would have the means to treat him and tend to his injuries.
His guess was immediately confirmed in the next second.
"Hmm? You’re already awake?"
As the carriage curtain pulled open, a young girl climbed in from outside, then spoke with surprise upon seeing Riezel sitting up.
"Leonardo Da Vinci."
Riezel instinctively called out her name.
"Just call me Da Vinci."
Da Vinci smiled at Riezel, no longer her previously quiet self, and spoke cheerfully, with a hint of amazement.
"Looks like you’ve recovered pretty well. I thought with your spirit so exhausted, there was no way you’d wake up anytime soon."
Indeed, after using Rhongomyniad, Riezel had completely depleted his magical energy and fallen into a state of total exhaustion.
It was actually his first time experiencing this.
In the past, thanks to his highest rank Spirit Healing, no matter how much magic Riezel used, his mind would instantly recover, and the recovery was so fast that he never once ran out of magical energy or became mentally exhausted.
But this time, Riezel finally tasted what it meant to be utterly drained.
Rhongomyniad, known as an anchor that fastened the planet together, required even Riezel to exhaust all his magical energy and mind when using such power.
Fortunately, with Spirit Healing, Riezel’s mind recovered very quickly.
Now, his mind had fully recovered.