"Sister Aoko…! She just flew in with Oberon!" Ritsuka watched anxiously as Aoko disappeared from the monitors. "Should we go help?!"
"Wait, Ritsuka!" Holmes stopped her. "Just because they entered a dimensional pit doesn't mean a Magician can't handle it. Remember where they came from?"
"That's right, Senpai!" Mash reassured her. "It's Sister Aoko—she'll be fine!"
Ritsuka was still worried, but seeing the worm-dragon's one-way maw, she couldn't ask Captain Nemo to "sail us over there!" and could only watch the chaos engulfing Faerie Britain.
Meanwhile, Artoria had helped Morgan transfer all of Camelot into the Ark World. The fairies and humans inside nursed their wounds in silence.
But the Knight King herself sat atop Dun Stallion, watching the worm-dragon devour Britain with a grave expression.
As the former king, her feelings were indescribable—even if it wasn't her Britain.
The fairies' buildings, land made from bodies, and the survivors—all were now falling into the Abyss Worm's belly, never to return.
Vortigern… A disaster disguised as a hero, a being that hated all life. Was the Fairy King Oberon's body a shadow of the Abyss Worm, or vice versa?
This giant thing probably wasn't even alive—look closely, it lacked all real biological features. Even the mouth was probably just a hole.
As a concept born from the land itself, it seemed everything was falling into it, not being pulled up. All else was just a secondary phenomenon.
The sun rises and sets, things fall from high to low—that is nature's law, even now.
In physics terms, the space of Faerie Britain itself was collapsing into the hole, and everything else came along for the ride.
Steeling herself, Artoria raised the Principle Blood Ring sphere Aoko had given her, closed her eyes, and seemed to wait for someone.
A dazzling flash appeared—a beautiful fairy in lake-light armor, Melusine, appeared in midair.
"Mother Artoria, I'm here!" Melusine removed her mask, determination in her eyes. "Is Mother Aoko inside that now?"
As a reborn dragon fairy, Melusine held 4.6 billion years of Albion's memory, but considered her life to have started 2,400 years ago when Aoko and Artoria found her—so she saw herself as having three mothers.
Aoko disliked being called Mom to her face, but Melusine wasn't discouraged—Aoko was always kind and never forced her, not even in private. (Aoko doesn't like being a sudden mom.)
"Yes," Artoria nodded. "We need your dragon strength now. At the right moment, attack the worm with Aoko, inside and out, to break the barrier."
Melusine nodded firmly. Her small body erupted with overwhelming magical energy, drawing in all the ether from the air and shining brilliantly.
In the next moment, a black dragon hovered in the sky.
Her body looked like indestructible metal, her wings more like the fins of a jet than fantasy dragon wings, and at their roots were two magical thrusters.
Why did the Dragon of Albion look like this? No one knew, but her presence proved her strength.
"Climb on, Mother Artoria!" The black dragon didn't open her mouth, but Melusine's voice entered Artoria's mind. Artoria nodded, leaped from Dun Stallion onto Melusine's back, and Dun Stallion vanished.
The Eternal King riding the End Dragon—a sight not even the wildest British legends ever told, but it was now a reality.
"Hold on tight!" No sooner had Melusine spoken than a handle formed before Artoria—dragon scales transformed. Artoria gripped it, and Melusine's great body shot up like an arrow toward the Abyss Worm, jets blazing and lighting the crumbling darkness.
--- Divider ---
Inside the Abyss, Aoko found a huge rock, and using her speed, flung Oberon onto it.
Judging by its features, this rock was New Darlington, the National Slaughter Theater—one of Faerie Britain's cities.
It was the perfect battleground for the final showdown.
Crashing through several buildings, Oberon turned into a swarm of black insects, surged from the ruins, and attacked.
But Aoko didn't hesitate—one gesture unleashed a barrage of Star Lightning, blasting the swarm to dust.
The remaining bugs regrouped into human form, staring up at Aoko.
"Hahahaha!" Oberon=Vortigern laughed madly, clutching his face. "I never imagined a Magician would come in here willingly!"
"You think you've won?" Aoko replied expressionlessly.
"No, no, not at all," Oberon said. "Once you came inside, I achieved my goal!"
"As for whether I live or die, it doesn't matter," Oberon said casually. "You know, this place is a pit even the world itself can fall into. Once inside, there's no entrance or exit."
"You're right," Aoko nodded. "But I brought you here to make sure you—whether shadow or real body—can't escape either. I don't like leaving loose ends."
"Is that so?" Oberon=Vortigern tilted his head, then spoke calmly. "Doesn't matter. Whether I die or not, my work is done. Whatever you do now, it won't change a thing—this world is finished."