"You didn't hesitate at all when you attacked me."
Despite the deep, ghastly wound carved across her torso by Melusine, Mio Takamiya continued to wear that serene, gentle smile.
In contrast, Melusine—normally the picture of calm—now wore a rare expression of tension and gravity.
"…I don't stand much of a chance against you."
She acknowledged her disadvantage without hesitation.
"But since you've already shown clear hostility, I have no choice but to strike first."
Mio nodded with a soft smile, as if endorsing her logic.
"You're powerful, Lancelot. None of my daughters can stand against you. It's because of your protection that Shidou has survived so many crises. Honestly… I'm truly grateful to you."
As she spoke, Mio raised her hand and gently brushed the wound that had nearly bisected her. In the next instant, the gash vanished completely—as if it had never existed. Even her clothing restored itself to pristine condition.
"That's why I'm so saddened—and sorry—that I must take your life. But to bring Shidou back to my side… I have no choice."
Then Mio raised her arm.
"Even I find your power and speed troublesome. So… I'll be serious about killing you."
In that moment, Melusine's instincts screamed. The intense sense of danger engulfed her.
Without hesitation, she launched into the sky—streaking away like a shooting star, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.
"[Ain Soph— Paradise of Samsara]"
As Mio lifted her hand and intoned that name—
The ground rumbled.
Behind her, a towering white tree began to emerge. Its roots spread outward, warping space as if the fabric of reality itself were being corroded.
The landscape dissolved into an alien world, a domain of black and white centered around that massive tree.
Just as Melusine was about to escape its range, the space collapsed in on itself—and she was sealed within.
…This just went very, very bad.
Melusine's golden eyes narrowed. She began replaying everything she knew about Mio's powers.
Much like a certain King of Mages with three Noble Phantasms, the most powerful Spirit—Mio Takamiya—possessed three Angels of terrifying might.
[First Angel: Ain Soph Aur]—The Angel of Death. A white flower that released a pollen capable of bypassing all defenses, decaying anything it touched into ruin.
[Second Angel: Ain Soph]—The Angel of Law. A towering white tree that replaced the real world with a parallel realm in which Mio could freely rewrite the laws of existence.
[Third Angel: Ain]—The Angel of Nothingness. Capable of ignoring all laws, it could erase the true essence of any object from the root of its existence.
It was Ain that Melusine feared the most.
The other two she might be able to work around. But if Mio deployed Ain… it would be instant defeat.
Right now, Mio had manifested the Angel of Law—Ain Soph. It was the very prototype upon which all reality-manipulating magic fields were based.
Every fiber of Melusine's being screamed that she was no longer in the world she knew.
"…Strange."
Mio suddenly murmured with a slight frown.
"My [Ain Soph] doesn't seem to be affecting you directly. Is there something inside you with an authority level close to that of a 'world' itself?"
Melusine didn't answer. She was too busy thinking.
How to survive.
There was only one way—to unleash everything she had before Mio could escalate to Ain.
One blow.
It had to be a one-hit kill.
Because inside Ain Soph, Mio could regenerate from any wound. Death was just a thought for her.
So she not only had to strike down Mio in a single instant—she also had to destroy this entire artificial realm in the process.
Haaa—
Melusine exhaled a long, heavy breath, as if expelling every drop of tension in her lungs.
Her decision was made.
Now she had to act.
Under Mio's gaze, Melusine closed her eyes.
The pressure around her began to build—dense, suffocating. It was like something ancient and monstrous was awakening from deep slumber.
"…From this moment on, I abandon the name 'Lancelot.' I return to the rotting bones of my corpse… and reclaim the body of Calamity."
Suddenly, the winds howled.
Her spiritual pressure alone churned the air into a raging tempest.
Thump.
Thump.
That was the sound of a heartbeat.
And everyone who heard it felt it.
Not just heard—but experienced, down to the rhythm of their own hearts, now thrown into chaos.
"Ahhh—AHHHHHHHHH!!"
Within that tempest, Melusine's scream echoed with rising agony.
Then—an explosion of pale blue light, as bright as the sun, tore through the storm and bathed the entire space in its glow.
The form that emerged from that radiance…
It didn't resemble a living creature so much as it did a weapon.
Her once silver hair and delicate limbs were now partially stained with an ominous blackness.
Her wings—now pitch-black, metallic, and gleaming with death.
Two sharp dragon horns jutted from her forehead.
Her hands and feet had become clawed and beastlike.
She gripped two bizarrely shaped lances, their surfaces gleaming with murderous light.
It was no longer human.
Anyone who saw her knew that instinctively.
She was twisted. Cursed. Grotesque.
And yet—there was a terrifying majesty in her form, a strength so absolute it could shatter stars.
"Mana output at maximum."
Her voice was cold, hollow, and rang through the air like a divine curse.
"I offer the strongest heart on this planet—"
Time stood still.
The falling rain. The roaring waves. The howling wind.
Everything froze.
Melusine raised her lances, both aimed directly at Mio.
There would be no second attack.
This was all or nothing.
Her magic. Her stamina. Her soul.
All poured into this one strike.
"Come forth from these decaying bones..."
Even if her body burned away mid-flight—
"...Breath of flame, wings of iron."
She would still reach that distant rainbow on the horizon.
"Like a newborn's cry across the twilight sky...!"
A radiant aurora cleaved the heavens.
Like sunlight tearing through eternal night.
"[Hollow Heart Albion]!"
The light struck.
Faster than sound. Beyond space. Beyond will.
The lance pierced through Mio's body—nailing her to the trunk of the enormous white tree.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH—!!"
She roared.
Wings blazing, energy pouring from her back like the exhaust of a divine jet engine.
There was no holding back.
No saving strength for later.
The pain burned through her.
Her wings cracked. Her arms splintered. Black corruption seeped through the wounds.
It hurts. It hurts so much.
Her head, neck, arms, chest, legs, abdomen—every part of her felt like it was being incinerated.
As if she'd been thrown into a furnace.
Or onto a planet with gravity a hundred times normal.
Or drowned in a trench a thousand meters deep.
She had to release the pain somehow.
So she screamed.
Her lance blazed brighter than the sun.
CRACK!
No sound rang out. Yet all within that space heard it as if it had.
A fracture—starting from where the lance had struck the tree.
The white bark cracked. Spread. Deepened.
"Ah… AAAAAAAAHHH—!"
Like a prisoner who'd seen sunlight after seven days underground, Melusine pushed her output one level higher.
The fracture spread.
The trunk dented.
And finally—
It shattered.
The white tree. The black sky.
Fragmented like broken glass, falling slowly as if they were snowflakes.
And before the world could reassemble itself—
The pale blue sun she had become rose into the sky.
Fragments drifted like snow. The sky shone with pale blue light.
But what no one could tear their eyes from—
Was her.
Kneeling.
Frail.
Breathing like a bellows with holes in it.
Hh—hh—hh…
Every breath rasped through her throat, hoarse and uneven.
Her legs were broken. She had to use her lance like a crutch just to stay upright.
Every cell in her body screamed in agony.
And all that remained in her mind—
Was one thought.
Where… did Shidou and the others get blasted to? Are they okay…?
This wasn't a game.
In the game, Melusine's third form came with no drawbacks. Just a Noble Phantasm upgrade and a flashy new moveset.
But in reality, giving up her Saint Graph and taking on her dragon form…
Hurt like hell.
Standing still was bad enough—like having a million tiny Oberons crawling over her skin.
But the moment she released magic to attack?
Her flesh and organs felt like they were burning from the inside out.
Maybe I should just slam my head into a block of mapo tofu and end it.
Was this what Fairy Knight Tristan went through every time she fought in this form…?
Born from the corpse of a dragon in Albion.
A miracle born from death.
A broken mass of cursed flesh pretending to be alive.
This was Melusine.
Now what…?
She had discarded her Lancelot Saint Graph.
There was no going back.
Just like in the game: once you hit third form, there was no reverting.
Her body was on the verge of collapse.
Her consciousness fading.
She could only pray that Kotori and the others would find her soon.
She… might still be salvageable.
But despite the pain—despite the cost—
She'd won.
She was sure of it.
She saw it. Mio had been blasted apart.
If she survived that—
"You've truly surprised me, Lancelot. This is the closest I've ever come to dying."
…I swear to god—
A small, dainty foot stepped into view.
"Don't be discouraged. Your strength is undeniable, Lancelot. You really did kill me once. Even I didn't expect you to go that far. You're incredible."
"If I hadn't instinctively triggered a death-triggered resurrection using Ain Soph just before it was destroyed… I really would have died."
"Now, I can't use Ain Soph anymore. Which means… if I die again, it'll be for real. All thanks to you."
"You've done more than enough. Your timing. Your strength. You pushed me further than anyone ever has. It's just…"
"…You weren't very lucky."
Mio's eyes lowered.
"My Ain Soph suffered irreversible damage. It's going to make retrieving the Sephira Crystals quite a pain. But that's not your concern."
"I've made up my mind."
"Your resolve. Your nobility. Your will to burn everything just to clear the path forward—I offer it my deepest respect."
Even though Melusine couldn't move.
Even though she couldn't respond.
Mio had been moved.
So she decided to play her final card.
She looked into Melusine's fading golden eyes—
And whispered the name of her last Angel.
"[Ain]."
In that instant—
The world exploded with light.
No one knew how much time passed.
But eventually, like a retreating tide, the light faded away.
And when it did—
Melusine was gone.
Not dead.
Gone.
Erased from the world without a trace.
Only Mio remained.
Standing alone amidst the ruins—
As if she were the only one left in the universe.
---
T/N: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?????????????????????? COMPLETE ERASURE???
cliffhanger is so funny, you guys gave the perfect amount of stones anyway who knows when ill update next perhaps you should go check out patreon.com/wisetl for other tls! since this one obv just ended
Every 100 Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter.
100ps = 1 chp
200ps = 2 chp
300ps = 3 chp
etc.