As more and more fallen fairies piled up, the ones who had conspired to poison the new king finally snapped to attention after the Wind Clan chieftain fell. Pushing through the fleeing fairies, they lunged toward Shiomi.
In their panic they'd forgotten that Londinium's millennia of growth and prosperity rested on the power of its city lord.
With a single flick of his wrist, ice blades sprouted from the ground and impaled the charging fairies. Most of their bodies froze solid before the blades pierced through.
Those that tried to struggle managed only a twitch before their frozen bodies cracked instantly.
"No, no, no, no…"
The fairy closest to Shiomi screamed a terrible plea as his hand reached for it, but it could not stop that hand from closing on its head.
Snap.
Like breaking brittle glass, Shiomi tore the fairy's head off.
Blood did not spurt. The instant it would have, it froze. The ice that seized the fairies spread through their bodies and turned them into sculptures. Those trapped inside still had consciousness. All they felt was terror.
Shiomi walked through the rows of "ice sculptures," then tossed the severed head behind him like trash.
The frozen figure hit by the head exploded with a crash. Flying shards struck the next one. One after another, like dominoes, a dozen ice sculptures detonated within seconds. The courtyard filled with a biting wind.
Fairies who hadn't escaped were blown to the ground. Fear pinned them there; they couldn't even crawl.
As Shiomi closed in, they scrambled to dodge, only to be met by slashes from behind.
When Shiomi slid past them as if he didn't notice, they thought they'd escaped. What followed were wind blades that shredded bodies, scorching flames, and lightning that turned fairies to dust in an instant.
With every step he took, multiple Rune Magecraft formulas formed and struck whichever target lay in range. He would not look at their pleas or their wails. His patience was gone. All that awaited those fairies was judgment and damnation.
He cut through the garden, crossed the palace's long entrance corridor, and reached the raised platform before the main hall.
...
Bustling Londinium had become a slaughterhouse. It was impossible to tell whether the citizens had risen in self-defense first or if the treacherous fairies had struck the opening blow. The garden behind him fell quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos in the city.
The clatter of armor rose and fell. The Royal Guard ran through the streets, their armor already stained with blood.
Without waiting for orders from Shiomi, Wryneck led the Royal Guard into Londinium's streets to protect citizens and cut down hostile invaders.
Shiomi leapt onto a rooftop outside the palace and saw several houses already burning. Preparations for the all-night feast had left the city full of fuel. Fires spread fast. The city's automatic fire-suppression Magecraft was dispelled with a single wave of his hand.
He looked toward the barracks. As the fires spread, the Round Table Army took the blaze as their signal and launched coordinated strikes inside and outside the walls, just as Shiomi had planned.
He could faintly hear the order:
"Enemy forces have infiltrated the spectators. Any non-Londinium citizen is to be killed without mercy."
The Round Table Army swept through both the inner and outer walls of Londinium like a storm. Their orders were simple—protect the lord and the citizens, and slay the rebels.
Both Ector and Wryneck sought to justify this indiscriminate slaughter in their own ways.
"That stiff-necked Ector, always needing a justification for his actions," Shiomi murmured from the rooftop as he looked down at the chaotic battles raging across the streets.
Compared to the Round Table Army, however, the Royal Guard's numbers were thin. Their combat efficiency had begun to wane.
With this thought, Shiomi lifted his hand and traced several Rune characters in the air. The preset spell formula activated instantly.
The Royal Guard were his direct subordinates. For safety's sake, Shiomi had previously placed an enhancement spell upon all of them. It remained dormant under normal conditions, constantly storing Mana, and would only awaken when necessary.
Of course, even he hadn't expected that the moment of activation would come now.
Unaware of the reason, the Royal Guard watched as their blades swung through the air, cutting down a dozen fairies in a single stroke. Realizing their newfound strength, they knew without a doubt that it was the city lord—no, His Majesty—who had bestowed this power upon them.
That realization ignited their morale even further, and stirred the bloodthirst that slept within the fairies among their ranks.
They fought with renewed fury. Entrails, brain matter, and flesh splattered across the ground.
Shiomi continued toward the city gates. It was time to rendezvous with Aesc and the others.
As he passed over the Thames flowing through Londinium, he saw the river thick with fairy corpses. The sheer number of bodies had begun to block the current, slowing the flow of water.
Unlike human remains, the bodies of fairies had one advantage—they did not decay. Instead, they would eventually merge into the earth, becoming one with the land of Britannia. Later, the surviving citizens of Londinium would only need to clear the clogged river channels.
Reaching the unguarded city walls, Shiomi looked out toward the horizon.
If the city within had become a battlefield of carnage, then beyond the walls lay a blazing hell. The fairies' encampments had become perfect kindling, and the flames burned endlessly around Londinium.
"Heh... Hehehehahahahahahahahaha—!"
Shiomi let out a loud, unrestrained laugh, but then suddenly stopped.
"Fairies of Britannia, this is your retribution. You forgot your original sins, showed no gratitude, and failed to cherish the peace and prosperity before your eyes. Now die with your meaningless thoughts. Don't worry—this is only the beginning."
The wildfire spreading across the plains drew the Black Dog and Mors, embodiments of calamity, who brought a new wave of despair to the fleeing fairies.
...
[History]
In the winter of the 400th year of the Fairy Calendar, an event occurred later known as the "Night of the Long Blades," or the "Night of Londinium."
Clan chieftains, discontent with the peace and prosperity to come, plotted to assassinate Britannia's new king and queen. Their scheme was exposed just as success seemed within reach.
Those fairies paid the price for their folly and shortsightedness. Nearly seventy percent of Britannia's fairies, who had gathered in Londinium for the coronation, perished there.
The new king and queen—once the Sage and the Witch—vanished without a trace after that night, their whereabouts unknown to all.