In Britain, the Noble Phantasm: Divine Key

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yanan, not only did we fail to help you this time, we almost led you into a trap." Fujimaru Ritsuka's face was full of shame.

Yanan shook his head: "I was the one who came up with this plan. If something goes wrong, it's just that I didn't think it through. It has nothing to do with you."

He looked around and asked in confusion, "Where are Nero and Leonardo da Vinci?"

Normally, given that prince's personality, he should have already rushed out excitedly to praise them and then announced that a banquet would be held that evening where they could showcase their singing talents...

“Da Vinci himself has gone to mobilize the army,” Mash said.

"Dispatch troops?" Yanan raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of doubt in his eyes. "Why?"

He then learned what had happened from Fujimaru Ritsuka.

"You said... Nero is missing!?" Anahn looked astonished, as if he had heard something unbelievable.

Even Melusin, who was standing to the side, was slightly taken aback.

Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded solemnly: "The attendant said that Prince Nero was taking a bath in the bathhouse at noon, but he didn't come out until the afternoon. Out of curiosity, she went in to check and found that there was no sign of Prince Nero in the bathhouse at all!"

"After we returned, Leonardo da Vinci immediately mobilized soldiers to search for Prince Nero, but they still haven't found him..."

After their plan to defeat them one by one failed, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mashu discussed it and concluded that it was too late to rush over and help Anan, so they chose to return to the Holy Roman Empire and wait for further news.

On their way, they encountered Leonardo da Vinci, who was also forced to return because he had lost his target, and they walked back together.

Who knew that they would receive such terrible news as soon as they returned to the Empire.

In broad daylight, Princess Nero simply vanished without a trace, and no one even knows when or how she disappeared.

Da Vinci immediately blocked the news and then arranged for soldiers to search for Prince Nero's whereabouts. Five hours have passed since then, and the entire empire has been turned upside down, almost to the point of digging three feet into the ground.

Anan frowned deeply, pondered for a moment, and said, "Take me to the place where Nero disappeared."

The group entered Nero's bath, where hot spring water gushed from the ground, emitting bubbling steam, and majestic marble columns surrounded the area, giving it a Roman feel.

“Mr. Yanan…”

The attendant came forward, and judging from her eyes, which were as red as a rabbit's, she had clearly been crying.

“I already know everything.” Anan nodded slightly. “I’ll try to find any clues about Nero’s disappearance.”

"Please, please find His Highness!" The attendant bowed deeply. Since Nero disappeared, she had not drunk a drop of water or eaten a meal. In addition, she had cried a lot, and her body and mind were exhausted. If it weren't for her strong will, she probably would have collapsed long ago.

"Leave it to me."

Yanan walked around the bathtub once, finally stopping in front of him. He gently made a stroke with his hand, and a dark spatial rift unfolded from his fingertip.

He observed for a while, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face, then withdrew his hand, and the crack disappeared.

"So, did you find anything?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked hurriedly, and the others also showed anxious expressions.

“Just what I guessed.” Anaen turned to look at them. “Someone used spatial magic to take Nero away from here.”

The attendant's vision went black, and she fell straight down. Fortunately, Mashu, who was nearby, reacted quickly and caught her.

“But we didn’t detect any traces of space magic just now?” Fujimaru Ritsuka frowned. They had used Chaldea’s equipment to observe before and had not found any traces of magic.

Yanan twirled his fingers and said, "This is a very sophisticated spatial magic. Not only is the casting distance very long, but the traces are also very well hidden. It would be very difficult to detect if you were not a magician specializing in spatial magic."

Upon hearing this, everyone's mood simultaneously somber.

It's obvious who made the move.

In this world, she's the only one capable of using spatial magic to this extent...

“This place is over a hundred kilometers away from Camelot,” Mashu said doubtfully. “Even if Merlin is a great magician, could he really do something like this?”

Yanan shook his head slightly: "Of course not. Even a Grand Magician couldn't capture someone from hundreds of kilometers away. I think it's possible that at some point, when we didn't know, she secretly left spatial coordinates on Nero, and then used those coordinates to make her move when the time was right."

He sighed softly, "I should have realized this sooner..."

"Please don't blame yourself, Mr. Yanan, this has nothing to do with you," Mash quickly comforted him.

“Merlin has always been a very cunning person, and no one knows what her true purpose is,” Melusin said seriously.

Anan rubbed his temples. He hadn't expected that Merlin's true purpose was Nero.

It seems that the so-called siege was probably just a pretext to delay his return to the Holy Roman Empire.

Perhaps even his decision to bring back Asterius and the other two was within Merlin's expectations...

Thinking of this, a chill ran down Yanan's spine.

The only person who has ever truly posed a threat to him is Sesshouin Kiara, but now, it seems Merlin will have to be added to the list...

"So, Merlin's decision to keep Nero behind was indeed intentional?" Fujimaru Ritsuka's face showed a hint of worry. "I wonder what she wanted to do with Nero..."

"Besides Merlin himself, probably no one else would know this."

Yanan looked out the window at the darkening sky and said in a low voice, "But whatever her purpose may be, we can't just stand by and watch it happen."

Chapter 47 Asterius: Are you polite?

Because the news was kept under wraps in time, not many people know that Nero has disappeared, and the general public is completely unaware of it, only that the atmosphere around them seems to have become a bit tense.

To prevent such remote captures from happening again, Melusin used magic to reinforce the spatial structure of the entire Holy Roman Empire, ensuring that there would be no loopholes left to exploit.

That night, Yanan used the Thousand Realms Journey to travel to Camelot and observed it from a distance of several hundred meters. He found that Camelot was completely sealed off, the defensive spells on the city walls were fully activated, the internal space was completely sealed off, and the entire city was built to be impregnable, with no loopholes to be found.

However, this also indirectly confirms Yanan's inner suspicions—the Lion King's holy battle is not fully prepared and may still be some time away from being truly completed.

Therefore, they still have a chance to turn things around.

They rushed back to the Holy Roman Empire without stopping, and it was already the early hours of the next day. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the sun was peeking out from the distant horizon. The wind blowing through the branches still carried a slight chill from the night, and it was the coldest time of day.

Anan had no time to rest. She quickly summoned Leonardo da Vinci and instructed her to mobilize the army as soon as possible, while also preparing equipment and supplies. She also notified Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash to cooperate with Nero's attendants to maintain order in the empire and to prevent any internal strife at this time.

At this moment, he was no longer that powerful heroic warrior, but a ruthless king whose word was law and whose authority was unquestionable.

And as it turned out, this approach was indeed quite effective. The initially anxious crowd relaxed a little after seeing his resolute face, and after receiving their orders, they began to carry out their work in an orderly manner.

After everyone left, Anaen went to the second floor of the palace, which was originally Nero's bedroom and bathhouse, but now he used it as a temporary prison.

The prisoners were naturally the three Heroic Spirits whose perceptions had been altered—Asterius, Medusa, and Atalanta.

These three guys woke up in the middle of the night last night, while Yanan was on his way to investigate Camelot, but when they woke up they found that they couldn't move their bodies at all, and the magic in their bodies seemed to have frozen and had no reaction at all.

To prevent these guys from doing anything rash, Yanan gave them a psychological suggestion before he left. Unless he personally removed the suggestion, these guys would not be able to regain their fighting ability.

Of course, no seal is 100% reliable—if this happened in some ACG works, these guys would probably break the hints through various means and then throw the entire empire into chaos.

Of course, Yanan wouldn't allow this to happen, so he arranged for Melusin to guard these guys as well, to ensure that nothing went wrong.

—Even if all of these guys attacked together, they wouldn't stand a chance against Melusin, a pure-blooded dragon.

Having lost their fighting ability, and with that familiar pink-haired loli standing in front of them, Medusa and Atalanta quickly realized their situation and decisively gave up struggling.

Only Asterius, that stubborn fool, refused to give up, shouting and yelling so loudly that the whole building almost collapsed. In the end, he was knocked unconscious by an impatient Melusin with a single punch.

“Lancelot, I don’t know what methods that outsider used to control you, but you should know that we are on the same side. We are all Knights of the Round Table of Camelot.” Although Atalanta had given up struggling, she did not want to sit and wait for death, so she began to try to turn Melusin against him.

She knew very well that if they wanted to escape, their only hope lay with the head of the round table.

Melusin didn't say a word, just stared at her expressionlessly. That eerie look made Atalanta feel a little uneasy, and she even wondered if something strange had been drawn on her face.

At that moment, a male voice that had left a deep impression on Atalanta suddenly rang out:

"It's not her who's being controlled, it's you."

Upon hearing this voice, Melusin, who had been looking aloof, instantly changed her expression, turned around happily, and jumped into Anaen's arms like a puppy.

Yanan patted Melusin's head, a smile appearing on his face: "Well done, thank you for your hard work."

"It's no trouble at all. I'm happy as long as I can help you," Melusin said with a sweet smile.

"And he still says he's not being controlled..." Atalanta thought to herself. "Looking like this, who would believe that this is the same Lancelot who was always cold and aloof and never gave anyone a kind look?"

How is this any different from children who see their parents?

After comforting Lucin, Anan walked towards the three of them. When he saw the unconscious Asterius, he paused slightly: "He's still not awake?"

While he did go a bit too far with this guy yesterday, he shouldn't still be unconscious. After all, he's a notorious monster from Greece...

"I was awake, but your little pet knocked me unconscious again," Atalanta said nonchalantly, while subtly mocking Melusin.

In her view, Melusin is now a traitor who has betrayed the Round Table and Camelot.

Melusine, of course, heard the sarcasm in Atalanta's tone, and her eyes instantly turned cold.

Although she always appeared obedient and adorable in front of Yanan, she never gave anyone a kind look when facing others.

Being treated as an equal is already considered a friendly gesture by her.

Yanan sighed and reached out to pat Melusin's head again—he had only recently discovered that Melusin didn't actually dislike him touching her head; on the contrary, she would feel a little secretly pleased every time.

Sure enough, upon feeling the reassuring warmth emanating from that large hand once again, Melusin's dissatisfaction vanished instantly, and her eyes narrowed contentedly like a kitten's.

"They really do look like small animals..." Anan turned to Atalanta and said to himself, "Melusin is not my pet, but my companion—including you."

"Heh." Atalanta sneered, her beautiful face, full of wildness, filled with unspeakable mockery. "If you think you can manipulate me the same way you manipulate Lancelot, then I advise you to give up on that idea. I once tracked down a demon boar across most of Greece and even received the blessing of a goddess. In terms of willpower, even among the heroes of ancient Greece, few can compare to me."

Anahn said calmly, "Then why did you lose to Hippomenes because of the Golden Apple?"

Atalanta paused slightly, a hint of embarrassment and annoyance appearing on her face: "That's the Apple of Gold! A divine object that even the gods couldn't resist, isn't it perfectly normal for me to be attracted to it!?"

"Come on, I've seen you when you're corrupted..." Anan shook his head, walking towards Atalanta as he said, "I hope you'll remember what you said later."

"Wait, what are you doing here..." Atalanta's body tensed suddenly, and she couldn't help but recall the strange rumors she had heard before. The hair on her body stood on end instantly. "Don't come any closer! I'm warning you, don't come any closer, or I'll bite you to death... Ah!"

Medusa, who was standing nearby, trembled involuntarily upon hearing Atalanta's scream. Because she was blind, she had no idea what had happened and could only fill in the blanks with her imagination, which made her even more terrified.

Strangely, after the scream, Atalanta made no further sound, and the surroundings were as quiet as an uninhabited island.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly heard a heavy sigh... a man's sigh, filled with obvious weariness.

"It was really troublesome... I almost couldn't hold on." Anan wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Atalanta with her eyes closed, and let out a soft sigh.

"Do you need to rest for a bit?" Melusin asked with concern as she stepped forward.

Yanan shook his head: "No need, I've already figured it out, things should be easier from now on."

He paused, then continued, "Moreover, we are very pressed for time and cannot delay any longer."

Melusine nodded obediently and returned to her previous position.

Medusa, whose mind was already racing with thoughts from those few words, suddenly heard footsteps approaching. A suspicious blush instantly rose on her exposed pink skin, and she quickly shouted: