"Found it, Your Majesty. Bad news—it's in Rome. The Holy Grail is in the hands of the Sword Emperor."
Merry delivered the update with a wry smile.
Clairvoyance couldn't detect the location of the Holy Grail.
So the search was simple: reverse the logic. Ignore everything visible through clairvoyance. The place completely shrouded—the unseen region—had to be where the Holy Grail was.
Ironically, this made the search easier.
"Sword Emperor? Oh~ That's great news, Merry."
"Huh? Why?"
"Because our enemy is the Sword Emperor holding the Holy Grail," Arthur said, his expression brightening with uncontrollable joy. "If we couldn't locate it, it might've meant the Grail had returned to His hands—and He might've acted personally. But in Lucius's hands? That's different. He's just a human emperor with divine authority."
What Arthur feared most was a god—someone entirely detached from humanity.
But Lucius? Lucius was human.
And as long as someone was human, they could be deceived, manipulated, and blinded.
So—what did Sword Emperor Lucius desire most?
"Yes, this is promising. Merry, you've observed him before. Don't pretend otherwise. He's long coveted Britain. So what does he want most? The thrill of conquest? The magical environment of the Age of Gods? Our technology?"
"My King—"
Merry hesitated, lips twitching. There was even… pity in his eyes.
My poor King. You're absolutely right to believe in humanity's flaws… but this?
When Arthur's patience began to fray, Merry lowered his head and muttered—
"It's… you."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Sword Emperor Lucius. What he wants most... is not the British Isles. It's you, King Arthur."
"Hah?! What are you even talking about?! No matter how idiotic he is, he can't possibly—"
Arthur's voice froze.
He suddenly remembered the "traditional arts" popular in Rome.
His expression darkened.
"That bastard! How dare he?! Of all things to covet… I hate him! Even if I have to die, I'll never let that pervert Sword Emperor succeed!"
He stood, his entire body radiating murderous cold.
Dealing with the fanatical gazes of believers every day was already exhausting. But this?
Even worse monsters existed in Rome!
What the hell is wrong with this world?! Why is it exactly the same as my previous one?!
"I hate him too, Your Majesty, I swear. Though, that night, you really did look stunning in women's clothing."
"Shut up and let this king keep watching!"
"Yessir~"
A sea of flowers.
This was the legendary land of eternal spring.
A paradise for extraordinary spirits. A domain where no human had ever stepped.
No—that wasn't entirely accurate. The real reason no humans had set foot here was that they couldn't survive. The dense True Ether of this place was suffocating—like airless vacuum for a human. Even humans from the Age of Gods couldn't endure it.
But for fairies, this was a final sanctuary.
This was—the Inner Sea of the Stars.
The planet's soul-dwelling realm. A utopia forbidden to humanity. A boundless, ever-shifting realm where direction had no meaning.
This was Avalon.
But today, Avalon had an uninvited guest.
A human—who should never have been able to enter—had not only arrived, but could breathe and move freely. She had stirred tides of magic that would astonish even the gods, subjugated every fairy she encountered, and crushed Avalon's guardians one by one.
Now, only one remained—Vivian.
The Fairy of the Lake.
The one who once revealed the Holy Sword of the Stars.
Here in Avalon, where True Ether surged infinitely, Vivian could wield endless magic. With such an environment, any gap in experience or technique meant little.
Here, Vivian was supposed to be invincible.
But today—her pride was shattered.
"Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! How can a human be in Avalon?! How can a human possess such power?!"
Vivian could no longer maintain her elegant façade. She hurled spell after spell, weaving ancient sorcery and launching her most devastating True Ether Cannons—each charged to maximum destructive output.
But against Manaka, both the infinite mana and the magic stolen from the Inner Sea were meaningless.
"Is it really that impossible?" Manaka smiled. "Fairies—always looking down on humans because of your authority over nature. But when something breaks your understanding, you panic like children. The prince was right. Fairies are easy to deal with—as long as we ignore their drama."
Manaka strolled casually through the magical bombardment, as if enjoying a garden walk.
She raised a hand. One lazy flick.
The next moment—all of Vivian's cannon blasts twisted, refracted, and veered off course. They tore through the sea of flowers instead, leaving craters of smoldering ether behind.
"Who are you?! Human? No—no human can—"
"Nothing is impossible, right?" Manaka tilted her head. "You fairies have authority over nature. I have authority over a dimension you can't even perceive. Compared to that, your tricks are pretty… quaint."
A moment later, Manaka fell silent.
But the attack did not.
Suddenly, an invisible giant hand slammed down from above.
Vivian, hovering in the air, was crushed to the earth like a ragdoll. The sea of flowers split and shattered under the sheer weight of the force. Vivian was pinned in a crater, body immobilized.
Manaka slowly approached, then crouched at the edge of the crater, tapping her chin in mock thought.
"Hey~, why resist? You know it's meaningless."
"Y-You… monster!"
Vivian choked the words out—then immediately had her face smashed into the dirt again by the still-active pressure.
"Aww~ Calling a lady a monster? Guess not all fairies are as graceful as they act. But Manaka forgives you~. 'Monster' isn't such a bad name."
A long time ago, King Leodegrance had called Arthur "Britain's monster."
From that angle… it wasn't such a bad title.
Hehehe~ Just like the prince… Manaka is a monster too~!
With a cheerful hum, she stepped over the fallen fairy and approached a glowing beam of light.
"W-Wait! You can't—!"
-End Chapter-
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