Merlin's staff quietly lit up.
It seemed the void trembled faintly.
Morgan seemed to sense something and blurted out, "Avalon?"
Artoria reacted at the same time, shouting urgently, "Get away from here!"
But Alvin stood as if frozen, motionless.
Although Merlin was unreliable in many situbations, in that moment the choice was either pick one of them or literally explode on the spot, in every sense.
Rather than that, it was better to first enter Avalon's world, and then figure out how to "deal with them one by one."
The world called Avalon quietly unfolded. In the center of the golden hall a space gate appeared, and a strong suction pulled Alvin into it.
Artoria was quick; she reached out to grab Alvin, but at that moment Merlin raised his staff and swished it.
Artoria's reaching hand paused, and Morgan's step forward was likewise hindered by the illusion.
In the flash between lightning and a spark, Alvin's figure had already been swiftly sucked into that space gate.
Morgan snapped her eyes open and looked at Merlin with murderous intent.
"Don't stare at me like that. If I could, I wouldn't do this either," Merlin spread his hands helplessly and sighed.
Originally Merlin's plan was to have Alvin handle this trouble on his own.
But it was clear he had underestimated the hatred between Artoria and Morgan.
So when Mordred came asking for his help, Merlin came up with a plan.
Something similar to the way Alvin once dealt with the nine great nobles.
Temporarily shift all the sisters' hatred onto him alone.
As for the method… the answer was obvious.
Send Alvin into the isolated Avalon.
That way, even if they wanted to rescue Alvin quickly, Morgan and Artoria would at least temporarily not have the heart to fight each other.
Although doing so would make them hate him to the bone, after that he could find a time to bring Alvin back to Britain and the problem would be solved.
Thinking this, Merlin couldn't help a faint smile.
He was about to raise his staff and follow Alvin into the world of Avalon.
But then a shout came from the crowd.
In the space gate Merlin had opened, ominous black mud was quietly seeping out.
Within five meters centered on that black mud, it seemed to be filled with a chaotic, ominous aura.
"Be careful, this stuff seems to corrupt the mind!", A mage in the crowd recognized something about the black mud and shouted.
Merlin was startled and instinctively looked at the puddle of black mud.
Then, as if remembering something, his face changed slightly, "No… this isn't Avalon!"
Having lived in Avalon for so long, Merlin knew everything about it.
Yet at this moment he could not sense any trace of Alvin in Avalon at all.
He had opened Avalon, but the void gate led to another world?
Why was that?
After a brief recollection, Merlin seemed to realize something and muttered, "She was tampering with it behind the scenes?"
Right. When his magic was exhausted, Sajyou Manaka had secretly done something, precisely to prevent his clone from escaping back to Avalon.
As a result, Alvin was accidentally sent to the Imaginary Number Space.
Merlin was stunned.
If Alvin had been in Avalon, he could have sent him back to Britain at any time.
But if he was in the Imaginary Number Space…
"Merlin!"
Seeing Artoria and Morgan le Fay's faces turn almost simultaneously furious, Merlin's smile completely fell away.
'I am doomed!'
For the first time, despair filled the white-haired mage's heart.
———
Alvin looked around in a daze.
It was all void. No sky, no ground, not even the aura of a living being could be sensed.
"Is Avalon supposed to look like this?", After surveying his surroundings for a moment, Alvin asked.
He had seen Avalon's CG scenes before and knew what Avalon looked like.
It was a world of birds and flowers with fairies wandering about, a veritable paradise.
But the scene before his eyes had nothing to do with Avalon.
'The Imaginary Number Space?'
The word flashed through Alvin's mind.
In the Type-Moon world, there exists a world called the Imaginary Number Space.
It lies inside the world, and it is a world where 'life' does not gestate.
Moreover, this world is 'unobservable.'
'What the hell did Merlin do, was he afraid Morgan would break into Avalon so he sent me here instead?'
Alvin's thought barely formed when he felt like he'd stepped on something.
He looked down, it was a puddle of black mud.
Not just a puddle, when Alvin looked up and gazed into the distance, he found the space seemed filled with endless black mud, and the mud made the mana within the space wildly chaotic.
Furthermore, when Alvin stepped on the mud, he felt a force attempting to erode his mind.
Fortunately the White Dragon's power was special and he could not be mentally controlled.
"This place is a little creepy."
Alvin steadied himself and walked forward step by step along a road that seemed paved with black mud.
When he reached the end, a vast silhouette vaguely came into view.
At the sight of that figure, Alvin froze. His face turned progressively pale as if he had seen something terrifying.
The White Dragon's power in the Type-Moon world was unquestionable.
Yet upon seeing this creature, he instinctively felt a trace of awe.
At the end of the black mud stood a tremendously beautiful woman. Her body was enormous, towering between heaven and earth, her eyes slightly closed as if asleep.
She wore no clothing, only strips of fabric formed from condensed mana barely covered her pale skin. Two deep-blue locks of hair hung lightly over her ample chest.
Alvin's pupils narrowed. His face went blank, every hair on his body seemed to scream danger, and a dense sense of crisis rose in his chest.
'This woman… is a beast.'
'And a complete beast at that!'
The Mother of Creation, Tiamat.
———
The banquet hall fell into an eerie silence.
Merlin smiled awkwardly.
The Knights of the Round Table's faces were subtle; Mordred, after a brief stupor, finally began to grow angry.
"MER! LIN!"
"Calm down. I didn't do it on purpose. Someone tampered with it behind the scenes! Rest assured, I'll bring Alvin back."
Seeing Mordred seething, Merlin belatedly reacted and hastened to soothe her with a smile.
At the same time the white-haired mage's heart told him things were bad; he urgently wanted to escape this mess.
But two powerful, terrifying auras locked onto him in an instant.
Morgan and Artoria's gazes were eerily identical now, both icy and murderous as they stared at Merlin.
"Where did he go?", Artoria spoke quickly.
Though her tone was calm, a slight tremor could be heard.
If it weren't for the fact this was a banquet and Merlin still had use, the holy sword might already have swung at him.
Morgan remained silent but also watched Merlin coldly; if he showed any hint of fleeing she would immediately stop him.
Merlin scratched his head awkwardly and said with a forced smile, "Sorry, I don't know, but you can relax! I'll find him as soon as possible."
"I didn't intend to send him to the Imaginary Number Space in the first place. This was a small… mistake?"
'A small mistake?'
'The Imaginary Number Space is at least a hundred thousand and eight thousand kilometres away from Avalon, right?'
'No, Imaginary is on the other side of the world… can the court mage be this unreliable?'
At this moment, not only the Britons but also the banquet guests who heard this couldn't help but tense.
But soon their thoughts stirred.
If Morgan and Artoria invited Alvin to dance tonight because of their own quarrel, then why did Merlin specifically come to the banquet and send a young man somewhere else?
Was it merely to prevent the sisters from clashing more fiercely by temporarily removing the root of the conflict?
Or… was this part of Merlin's plan?
Among the guests, the Clock Tower's masters paid the most attention.
Kayneth looked at the grinning white-haired mage and snorted, "You really didn't do it on purpose?"
Although Merlin had been lax and casual since his appearance, Kayneth had never underestimated him.
Rather, he understood Merlin to a degree.
Merlin, Britain's court mage, was also a candidate for the Caster class… and his clairvoyance could observe the present while, in a glitchy way, observing past and future.
As long as Merlin was inside Avalon.
How could such a supposedly controlled white-haired mage make a mistake like this?
After all, why did he send Alvin into Avalon in the first place?
"You'd better bring him back to Britain within three days," Morgan's cold voice sounded then, laced with fierce anger and killing intent.
It had to be said, she was incredibly calm. Upon realizing Alvin was gone, her first reaction was not to kill Merlin but to find Alvin as soon as possible.
Artoria similarly steadied herself and turned to the banquet guests, "I don't know how many of you here are transmigrants, but today's guests are all Britain's invitees. This banquet was intended to provide a place for mutual communication and understanding."
"So even if we do not cooperate in the future, I hope after the banquet you can still become friends with Britain."
Hearing this, the guests reacted and began to respond.
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