Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

In a quiet room at Darlington Castle, Matthew finally had the long-awaited opportunity to speak with someone. The tiny figure before her, only fifty centimeters tall, reminded her of the life-sized body pillow she often hugged at Chaldea, only this one was much more vivid and lifelike. This miniature girl was dressed in Victorian tailoring attire, and a delicate spinning wheel floated beside her, the spindle turning gently with her movements.

'Have we... met before?' Matthew tilted his head in confusion. 'In my memory...'

"I knew you'd ask that." The little girl twirled lightly. "I'm Habertlot, the fairy kingdom's wedding consultant, master weaver, and in short—a fairy who brings perfect endings."

'Habetroth?' Matthew's eyes widened. 'Could it be the weaving fairy from Scottish legend? But in the legend, you're supposed to be a hunchbacked old woman...'

'How rude!' Habertlot stomped her foot angrily, the spinning wheel humming with displeasure. 'Legends aside, am I not adorable enough as I am now?'

Matthew quickly apologized: 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have judged people by their appearance...'

"I forgive you~" Habertrot's anger turned to joy. "But Boggart is too inflexible. Just keeping you locked up here like this? Is this his way of protecting the 'Child of Prophecy'?"

"The Child of Prophecy?"

'You didn't know?' Habertrot exclaimed in surprise, patting her spinning wheel. 'In Britain, the Sons of Prophecy bear a vital mission. They foretell calamities and guide the way, especially in the face of the once-in-a-millennium catastrophe…'

Before the words were even finished, a huge fireball suddenly hurtled towards the castle. Habertlot, sensing the danger, swiftly tackled Matthew to the ground.

'Boom—!'

The explosion shattered all the glass, and sharp shards rained down like a storm. Had they not dodged in time, the two would have been riddled with shards.

"What happened?" Matthew asked, still shaken.

Habertrot, spinning on her wheel, looked out the window, her voice trembling: 'Camelot's soldiers...how could she be here?'

Outside the city gates, before the Queen's army, fully armed and ready for battle, the fairy knight Gawain brandished his blazing greatsword: 'By order of the Queen, bring back the prophesied child! Slay any who resist—but civilians must not be harmed!'

She glared at the castle: 'Boggart, how dare you harbor the prophesied child...'

(remember)

A few days ago, at Camelot Palace.

'Have you heard? The Boggarts of Darlington have detained a group of goblin merchants, and they're said to be with a woman named the Fairy Knight Galahad...'

'Isn't he the prophesied child His Majesty has been searching for? Why did Boggart conceal this?'

The latest rumor is that he wants to marry that female knight...

Morgan stopped abruptly at the sound of passersby's conversation. The name Galahad, the Fairy Knight, awakened long-dormant memories. Beside her, the Fairy Knight Gawain couldn't help but question, "Besides the six of us, how could there be other Fairy Knights?"

'Your Majesty?' The fairy knight Lancelot looked at the queen with concern.

Morgan's expression was grave: "This is no small matter. You all go and quell the public opinion first. The truth about the Fairy Knight... must not be leaked."

Darlington - Current Time

"What happened? The explosion just now was..." The Darlington guard looked in alarm at the castle billowing with thick smoke.

'It's the Queen's army! Why are they here?'

A deafening roar and a shower of sparks cast the shadow of war upon the unsuspecting city. The fairy knight Gawain unfurled a blue-black magic circle, his voice, amplified by magic, resounding through the heavens:

'Boggart, ruler of Darlington! If you don't want war, hand over the fairy knight hidden in your castle immediately!'

A commotion erupted on the city wall. The soldiers then realized that the Queen's army's target was the purple-haired girl secretly taken in by Boggart—the mysterious being known as the 'Fairy Knight Galahad'.

"I cannot comply!" Boggart's booming voice echoed from the castle's heights, though his forehead was beaded with cold sweat. "This young girl is the prophesied child who helped the savior Ash overcome the great calamity a thousand years ago! I must protect her from being used by villains..."

"Nonsense!" The fairy knight Gawain's roar shook the city walls. "Who doesn't know you're keeping her alive to marry her? If what you say is true, why didn't you report it to His Majesty sooner?"

She brandished her sword and gave the order, and the spears of the queen's soldiers instantly condensed into purple magic bullets. With a deafening explosion, the entire castle shook violently, and debris rained down.

"Fire! Return fire with all your might!" The Darlington guards' shouts were quickly drowned out by the sound of explosions.

Faced with an overwhelming disparity in strength, the defenders' resistance was futile, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. The corridor collapsed in a series of explosions, and in the dust-filled passage, Habertlot anxiously tugged at Matthew's sleeve:

'Hurry! The Boggart has angered the Queen; it will be too late if we don't leave now!'

Matthew stared blankly at the flames of war outside the window. Habert Lotte jumped onto her shoulder anxiously: "Don't be silly! Nobody cares who you are now! Except for the fairy knight Gawain, who knows you're the one they're looking for?"

Matthew then seemed to wake from a dream. Her long period of house arrest had almost made her forget how to assess situations.

'I understand…' she clenched her fists, 'but I have to go somewhere!'

"Wait! Matthew!" Habertlot exclaimed as the purple-haired girl rushed into the depths of the crumbling corridor.

The spinning fairy had no choice but to lift her skirt and follow, the spinning wheel humming anxiously behind her. Amidst the chaos, Matthew kept remembering the three goblin merchants who had once saved him—since entering Darlington, they had been unjustly imprisoned by the Boggarts and must have suffered terribly.

The deeper they went underground, the stronger the musty and damp smell became. In the cell at the end of the corridor, three shivering figures made Matthew's heart tighten.

"That scared me to death!" Wag rushed to the iron bars. "We thought it was those soldiers... What's going on outside?"

Matthew lowered his eyes in remorse, "I'm sorry..." You saved me, but...

Rob quickly waved his hand: "Don't say that! We merchants are often detained by lords in various places, we're used to it." He scratched his head憨厚ly, his antennae swaying gently with the movement.

Winky glanced around warily: "The guards have all retreated through the hidden door behind the weapon racks over there. Let's get out of here now!"

The crowd hurriedly pushed open the wooden door hidden behind the weapon rack, and deafening sounds of fighting erupted from above. At the same time, inside the castle hall, Boggart was about to escape when he suddenly froze in place—countless scarlet threads stretched taut around him like harp strings, and the guards were instantly cut into pieces, their blood staining the hall a horrifying red.

'Where do you think you're going, you scum?' The fairy knight Tristan emerged from the blood mist, his red hair swaying like flames. 'How pathetic to desert in the face of battle!'

Beryl stepped out from behind her, adjusting his glasses: 'Hand over the purple-haired girl, and maybe we'll spare your corpse?'

"No way!" Boggart roared, "I will never let the Child of Prophecy fall into the hands of people like you..."

Before she could finish speaking, the fairy knight Tristan's high heel pierced his throat. Blood gushed out, blooming eerie patterns on her pale face.

'Enough with the nonsense.' She licked the blood from her fingertips, leaning lazily towards Beryl. 'Master, isn't it time for the show to begin?'

Beryl stroked her hair, his glasses reflecting a bloodthirsty light: 'Let's see how long it takes the fastest and strongest knight to find his beloved lamb~'

After a desperate escape, the group finally broke out of the castle, only to be horrified by the sight before them—Darlington Castle and its surroundings were scorched earth, flames engulfing the buildings, and soldiers lay dead in pools of blood. In the center of the burning ruins stood a white-haired girl clad in azure armor. Her petite figure contrasted eerily with the surrounding carnage, and the magical energy emanating from her caused the air to tremble.

'An untouched lake?' Matthew stared at the familiar twin swords in the girl's hands, immediately donning his battle armor. 'Who are you?'

"By order of His Majesty, I'm taking you away." The fairy knight Lancelot lightly stroked the blade of his sword. "As for these swords... what are they to you?"

'Don't even think about it!' Matthew raised his massive shield. 'I am Galahad, the fairy knight, and I will never succumb to tyranny!'

Habert Lotte grabbed her in a panic: "Are you crazy? Do you know who she is?" A slap landed on Matthew's face, but it did not quell her fighting spirit.

'If you want to take me away, prove it with your strength!'

'Since that's the case—' Before the fairy knight Lancelot could finish speaking, the two figures had already turned into blue light and collided.

The clang of metal was deafening; spectators could only catch glimpses of fleeting figures and sparks flying. Greatswords slammed heavily against shields, kicking up clouds of dust.

"To be able to keep up with my speed, you certainly deserve the name of a knight." The fairy knight Lancelot raised an eyebrow, "But how long can you hold out?"

Matthew gritted his teeth, parrying the storm of attacks (her speed and power... he was completely overwhelmed. He couldn't let her succeed!).

In the instant she forcefully pushed her opponent away, the fairy knight Lancelot had already flashed behind her. The scabbard struck down heavily, and Matthew fell to the ground like a kite with a broken string.

"Shall we continue?" The fairy knight Lancelot sheathed his sword and stood still. "We have limited time—"

Suddenly, several water blades pierced the air, pinning Matthew to the ground. The fairy knight Lancelot turned his head sharply and saw the ragged fairy knight Bedivere emerge from the ruins with a maniacal smile on his face.

"You fugitive!" the fairy knight Lancelot shouted, but noticed that the other man was covered in fresh wounds.

"Heh... Thank you for subduing that bitch for me." The fairy knight Bedivere's body began to liquefy. "For that child's sake, I must end her myself!"

The giant wave transformed into a ferocious water serpent, lunging at Matthew. In that critical moment, Matthew swiftly drew her water blade, her shield radiating a crimson light. The splattered blood transformed into a red mist that swirled around her, and her power surged like a flood.

'A fighting spirit of blood?!' exclaimed the fairy knight Lancelot. 'Kelby, stop immediately!'

(One hour ago)

The barrier of the Void Prison vanished like a shattered mirror, and the fairy knight Bedivere was astonished to find herself in a vast, empty chamber within the royal city. Before her, a distorted phantom slowly materialized.

'Kelby—or should I call you Machia?' the phantom whispered hoarsely, 'It's time to end this tedious imprisonment. Unless… you don't care about Ariel's safety.'

The phantom waved its hand, unfurling a screen of light. In the image, a blond boy was chained to a stone wall. His once youthful face was now covered in bruises, and crisscrossing wounds were faintly visible beneath his thin prison clothes.

'You promised not to hurt him!' the fairy knight Bedivere roared as he lunged at the phantom, only to be slammed against the wall by a demonic claw that emerged from the darkness.

The phantom lifted her face with its cold fingertips: 'Given your repeated failures, we should have taken his life. But as a mother, wouldn't you be willing to give everything for your son?'

'What do you want me to do...?'

'It's very simple—'

(Now)

The deafening crash of the shield colliding with the serpent's head pulled time back to reality. Empowered by the crimson mist, Matthew easily crushed the water serpent, his shield aimed straight for the fairy knight Bedivere's face. At the critical moment, a torrent of water erupted from the ground, barely blocking the powerful blow.

"Stop!" The fairy knight Lancelot's sword was already pressed against his companion's throat. "His Majesty has granted me the authority to execute first and report later; you should understand that."

The fairy knight Bedivere gave a bitter laugh: 'Fairy knights are forbidden from fighting each other? How laughable...'

'This child must be allowed to see His Majesty safely. If you insist on preventing it—'

'Every time...every time you drive me to the brink of despair...' The fairy knight Bedivere began to vaporize. 'From this moment on, I am no longer a fairy knight. For that child, even if it means going against the entire world—'

Her figure vanished into wisps of steam in the scorching air. The fairy knight Gawain, who had rushed over, stared gravely at the remaining traces of magic: 'Has that woman lost control again?'

"Worse still." The fairy knight Lancelot sheathed his sword. "She has abandoned her knightly oath; there's probably more to it than meets the eye."

The fairy knight Gawain helped the staggering Matthew up, the crimson mist gradually fading from the girl's body. Habertrot and the three goblin brothers stood frozen amidst the ruins, still reeling from the shocking turn of events.

"So..." Matthew weakly raised his head, "Her Majesty the Queen wants to see me?"

The fairy knight Lancelot and the fairy knight Gawain exchanged a complicated look: 'This matter... is a long story.'

Once in a Millennium, the Great Calamity - Fairy Round Table Realm, The Poem of Eternal Mist

Calamity—this is the sword of Damocles hanging over the lifeblood of Britain. The seeds of the curse were sown when the island's inhabitants murdered the 'gods' who created the land and built their homes upon their remains. Every thousand years, the awakened gods unleash a cataclysmic judgment upon these 'unfilial children,' a 'Great Calamity' that strikes fear into the hearts of all the fairy kingdom's inhabitants.

Unlike the natural selection process of pan-human history, the Great Calamity is a cleansing driven by hatred. Wherever the curse reaches, all things wither, life is ravaged, and the entire island falls into death. Only by waiting for 'Paradise' to send new fairies to save it can life be restored—but for tens of thousands of years, no fairy from Paradise has ever accomplished this mission. Now, in the year 2017 of the Queen's Calendar, the gears of fate have once again turned to that fatal mark.

"It hurts..." Ritsuka groaned as she opened her eyes, the lingering phantom pain of being choked still present in her neck.

She found herself lying on an exceptionally luxurious four-poster bed, the velvet curtains shimmering under the pale blue glow of the magic lamp. Every piece of furniture in the room exuded the owner's prestige—a dressing table inlaid with pearls, a gilded and carved fireplace, and even the air was filled with the fragrance of cedar and laurel.

Before the dressing mirror, a silver-haired woman was elegantly combing her long hair. Her cascading silver hair shimmered with a mystical luster under the light, and her azure eyes were deeper than the purest sapphire. As she turned, Ritsuka noticed the black crown and veil hanging on the coat rack.

'You're finally awake.' Morgan put down the tortoiseshell comb, her voice as cold as moonlight. 'Three days have passed.'

"Wait..." Ritsuka sat bolt upright, backing away warily. "You're Morgan, the witch who turned Britain upside down! Why are you here?"

Morgan gently tied the ribbon at the waist of her dress, a meaningful smile curving her lips: "If I were truly the wicked witch you speak of, why do you think you could lie peacefully in my chambers?" Her fingertips lightly traced the still-present bruises on Ritsuka's neck. "You should know, if I hadn't intervened, you would have already breathed your last between Bedivere's fingers."