"Did you know?" Oberon strolled across the open ground amid the ruins, hands clasped behind his back, like a retired official, and said to Aoko, "I used to be troubled over how to defeat Cernunnos."
"That guy is a fairy protector," Oberon said with a grin. "Sounds unbelievable, right? Even after all he's suffered, he still wants to protect the fairies, protect the world."
"As a god, his nature is to want the fairies to undergo proper punishment and judgment," Oberon continued. "Then, he would give the fairies a chance to continue living on this island…"
"So long as he exists, I can't appear in my current state." Oberon's smile widened. "And that means I can't destroy this Britain."
Aoko gave little reaction, but still allowed this chattering man to keep talking.
"But Morgan sealed Cernunnos at the bottom of the great abyss, and I was completely stumped."
"So long as Morgan doesn't die, Cernunnos won't come out. If Cernunnos doesn't come out, he can't be defeated, and I'll never accomplish my goal."
"When I saw you outsiders helping Morgan, I almost despaired," Oberon—Vortigern—laughed at himself. "The symbol of despair despairing first, what a terrible joke."
"But what I didn't expect was that you would break Cernunnos's seal yourselves!" Oberon said joyfully. "All my previous plans failed, but the final goal was achieved anyway. From that perspective, I should thank you, Magician from another world!"
He spread his arms like a happy child, but Aoko was unmoved. No matter how pitiful or tragic Oberon—Vortigern was, that would not change the ending—annihilation.
"Not a bad story—" Aoko clapped perfunctorily, then said, "But I have no time to play with you. I agree with your view about the fairies, but some of them are still useful to me, so I've decided to kill you and take them away."
"...You still don't understand?" Oberon put away his happy expression. "There'll never be any good result with those fairies—"
But before he could finish persuading Aoko to give up, his body was pierced through.
He looked down. It was a half-transparent, glowing sword, thrust through his chest.
"How vexing…" Oberon sighed, as a kind of black liquid oozed from the wound, though it wasn't blood. "Even despair doesn't work on Magician—aren't you even more of a monster than me?"
Aoko said nothing. Maintaining her focus on the Sword of Magic Duncan, she waved the Scarlet Staff. Hundreds of destructive meteors trailed brilliant tails as they struck Oberon, who was impaled by the force field sword.
"It's useless," Oberon's body exploded into a mass of all kinds of sticky, jointed bugs. "There's no waking up from this endlessly falling dream. No matter how outstanding or powerful you are, it's impossible."
"Unless you can kill me," Oberon's voice grew distant and echoed around Aoko. "But that's impossible because I am the shadow of this nightmare…"
"Your pan-human history is finished," the bugs formed Oberon's face, which grinned, "In the outside world, it wouldn't even take a minute for the world to be destroyed, would it?"
Aoko didn't respond to his provocation. In this pitch-black world, as a Magician, she was light, even if this light symbolized the destruction that burns worlds.
Aoko Aozaki became the center of this dark prison world. This void nightmare was both vast and small, both long and short, but without a doubt, as soon as things exist, they are fated to end.
The cunning part of Oberon's lie was that he claimed the abyss's fall had no end. For ordinary beings, this was certainly false, but for Aoko, it was different.
One of the most important—and most terrifying—traits of the Fifth Magic is breaking order, achieving one's goal by advancing the entropy of the present universe.
And for this void that originally had nothing but the falling concept, the only order was falling.
Oberon suddenly shouted in alarm, "What did you do?!"
"Still don't get it?" Aoko smiled confidently at the bug-face. "Since you know I'm a Magician, you still ask what I did?"
Oberon's pitch-black heart sank. Looking around, the endlessly falling stones seemed to slow, some even stopping and floating motionless in the air.
"I burned away the sole theme of this nightmare," Aoko's body shone ever brighter as if the world revolved around her. "Everything must end and die someday. Even concepts are no exception, because concepts are order, and order inevitably slips into disorder."
Oberon regained human form, but staggered and could barely stand. His body felt weaker and weaker… Was this the feeling of aging and dying?
"Magic 'Blue'," Aoko floated in midair, "the Fifth of the End, has long lost its meaning… so too has your existence, Oberon = Vortigern."
"The concept of falling has ended, and with it, the apocalypse of the outside world," Aoko continued. "You've failed."
"…Hahahaha." The weakened, battered Oberon said, "Truly a fitting end for a bug…"
"You're right," Aoko nodded in agreement, then raised her hand. Dozens of spindles appeared from thin air, vast magical energy pouring forth. "Born from destruction's wish, dying by self-destruction, this is the reward you deserve."
"Farewell, false King of Fairies," Aoko's dazzling magic shot toward a part of the void. "You were just a midsummer night's dream in this twisted world, and now the dream has ended."
A huge explosion erupted somewhere. Aoko's magic collided with a powerful attack from the bug-dragon's exterior, tearing open this sealed space and letting a ray of sunlight shine in.
"Aoko!" Riding atop a dragon, Artoria reached out her hand, calling her. "Come to us!"
Aoko glanced at her rescuer and smiled. Maybe this is what trust feels like.
Ignoring the dying, decaying Oberon collapsed on the ground, Aoko flew toward the radiant sky, never looking back.
In the Fairy King's ears, faint welcoming voices seemed to ring out—were those the little fairies from the Forest of Autumn? So noisy… he thought.
Everyone must have been burned to death, right? Well, it couldn't be helped; it was only a matter of time. After all, we're all useless…
What? Want to hear a story? What's so nice about fairy tales… Oh well, I can't refuse you all…
"Where should I begin?" The Fairy King of the Autumn Forest muttered to himself. "Let's start with the story of six playful fairies who abandoned their proper work…"