Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

The dragon let out a final, deafening roar, filled with pain and resentment. Its struggling strength abruptly waned, and the mad flames in its eyes quickly dimmed. Critically wounded by multiple fatal attacks, it could no longer maintain its flight. Its massive body, devoid of all power, plummeted like a struck meteorite, spraying blood and shattered scales, crashing straight down towards the distant ground below…

"Success!" Inside the cockpit, Ritsuka watched the dragon fall on the screen, and her tense nerves relaxed slightly.

However, before she could fully exhale, her gaze suddenly sharpened, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Wait! Your Majesty Morgan! Percival... why did he go out?!"

On the deck, Morgan, who was about to withdraw his magic, was also taken aback upon hearing this. He abruptly turned to look towards the bridge, his brows furrowed, and his voice carried an unusual urgency and sternness:

"Percival?! Didn't I order everyone to stay aboard the ship?! Why did you act on your own?!"

The moment Percival appeared on the deck, Morgan's final strike, about to be unleashed, froze at his fingertips.

The wind howled across the deck, whipping up Percival's signature silver hair, and a striking black highlight within it. He didn't look at Morgan or Liliana, but stared fixedly ahead—at the dragon bound by shadows, pierced by spikes, and sliced ​​apart by halos, yet still not quite dead. In those deep blue eyes, similar to Morgan's but clearer and more resolute, swirled an indescribable complexity of emotions: pain, determination, deep sorrow, and a hint of… a preordained sense of relief.

He remained silent for a few seconds, as if gathering the courage to speak, or perhaps bidding farewell to a distant yet warm scene from his memory. Finally, his voice rang out, steady yet possessing a power that pierced through the noise and howling wind, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present:

“Your Majesty…you actually know this, don’t you?” He turned his head slightly to look at Morgan, his eyes not questioning, but calmly stating a fact. “From childhood…it was her…”

The words were unfinished, but their meaning resonated like thunder in everyone's hearts!

Morgan, Liliana, Caster on deck, and even Ritsuka, Mash, and the others who overheard these words through the bridge's surveillance system, were all astonished. Percival, this silent and loyal knight, his background had always been shrouded in mystery. Who could have imagined that this calamity dragon, whom they had just severely damaged and nearly driven mad, was, in another identity, his foster mother who had raised him?

Melusine... is Percival's adoptive mother?!

The shock of this realization instantly cast a heavy and bleak shadow over the originally clear boundary between friend and foe.

As if in response to Percival's words, or as if to confirm the identity of the newcomer, the dragon, which had been on the verge of death from its severe injuries and restraints, its eyes filled only with rage and pain, slightly shifted its lava-like vertical pupils, its gaze laboriously focusing on the approaching silver-haired knight. The raging red light seemed to fade for a moment, revealing an extremely complex expression, almost indescribable—a mixture of deep sorrow, irreparable guilt, and… a faint, almost liberating plea.

Those eyes seemed to be silently pleading: Quickly... let me be free.

Morgan's fingers tightened slightly around her staff. She looked at Percival, then at the dragon, a flicker of understanding, and a deeper, icy sorrow, flashing deep within her purple eyes. She seemed to understand the unspoken words Percival had uttered, and the resolve contained in his gaze.

“…So,” Morgan’s voice lowered, “you want to…”

“That’s right.” Percival interrupted her decisively, his gaze returning to the dragon, his eyes becoming incredibly resolute, as if he had finally reached the end of his destiny after traversing countless years and endless pain.

He slowly raised the holy spear that had accompanied him in battle until now. The spear began to emit a low hum, not a triumphant battle cry, but a mournful song that seemed to resonate with the user's soul.

His voice was not loud, but every word was clear, like a vow, or a farewell poem:

Even if you lose everything.

"but--"

He began to radiate a soft yet firm golden light, not Morgan's profound magic, nor Liliana's holy rainbow light, but a radiance originating from his own will and bloodline, burning with the essence of life!

"I still have one reason to fight."

He took a step forward, the tip of his gun pointing at his foster mother, who had once given him warmth but was now being devoured by calamity.

"A beautiful fairy,"

“A vile calamity,”

"If even such a 'being' that twists fate and plunders everything... can be called 'love'—"

His voice suddenly rose, carrying a resolute determination to cut off all hesitation!

"Then, let's pierce it completely with this gun!"

The final words, as light as a sigh, carried the weight of a thousand pounds:

Farewell... my love.

The radiance of the Holy Lance reached its peak in an instant! Pure, dazzling, like the condensed last and most glorious afterglow of a setting sun! It was not a power born of destruction, but a light to end suffering, to fulfill a promise, to... bid farewell to a beloved.

Morgan closed her eyes, the magic in her hands quietly dissipating. She could no longer dissuade him, nor could she. This was not only Percival's choice, but also the final act of chivalry he had to complete himself. She silently took a step back.

Liliana and Castor exchanged a glance, then withdrew their spells and magic, silently making way for the dragon.

next moment--

That brilliant golden light, which embodied all of Percival's will, life, and complex emotions, shot straight and resolutely toward the dragon that was bound in place and on the verge of death, like a sighing arrow that transcended time and space!

The golden light engulfed the dragon's enormous body.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no agonizing screams. Only a strange, soft sound, like ice melting or shackles breaking.

In the final moments before her consciousness was about to dissipate, completely enveloped in golden light, the dragon Melusin's ferocious, blood-red eyes strangely calmed down, even regaining a trace of her long-lost gentle luster. A large, crystalline tear slowly slid down the hard contours of her face, refracting a fragmented and poignant light in the golden glow before evaporating.

The golden light gradually faded away.

The dragon's massive body, like a weathered sand sculpture, began to crumble inch by inch, turning into scattered ashes and specks of light.

Percival, who had unleashed this final blow, began to blur and become transparent as he stood with his gun in hand. The golden radiance around him rapidly dimmed, replaced by a decaying, ashen color, the color of life exhausted, which quickly spread from his limbs to his torso. This attack, forcibly unleashing power beyond its limits and burning the very essence of his life, came at the cost of his very existence.

However, before his body completely dissipated, he used his last bit of strength to stagger forward, stretching out his already semi-transparent arm, and gently, almost in an embracing gesture, touched the dragon's remains that were turning to ashes.

His lips moved, his voice so faint it was almost drowned out by the wind, yet it carried a strange calmness and gentleness:

"Sister... let's talk about this over there... let's go 'over there'..."

In the wind, there seemed to be an extremely faint sigh, almost like a hallucination, or perhaps a final response after liberation:

“Percy…Val…”

"Thank you……"

The last words were lost in the sudden, even stronger gale.

A fierce wind swept across the deck, carrying Percival's completely ashes-covered body, along with the last remaining fragments and ashes of Melusin's calamity body, into the air. They swirled and rose into the sky, eventually merging together and becoming indistinguishable from one another, before drifting away beneath the cracked, eerily pink sky of the Fairy Kingdom.

The deck was completely empty.

Only a holy spear, devoid of all its luster and appearing dull and lifeless, fell to the ground with a "clang," emitting a crisp and lonely echo.

[The Calamity of Flame - Destroyed!]

Demon Hound ~ Calamity of the Beasts - Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

[Time Anchor: Approximately 4 hours ago, on the eve of Kornunos's awakening]

Location: Camelot Royal City

"Emergency! Emergency! Calamity has breached the outer defenses and invaded the royal city! Repeat, Calamity has invaded the royal city—!!!"

The heart-wrenching screams of the city guards, mixed with the terrified cries of the crowd, the chaotic footsteps, and the noise of overturned and collapsing objects, surged like a boiling tide, instantly engulfing the last remaining order and peace of the Camelot royal city.

On the east side, the massive city gate, once a symbol of the queen's absolute authority and engraved with intricate magical runes, along with a section of the city wall, collapsed with a deafening cracking sound! Before the dust had even settled, a writhing, flowing, purplish-black "tide" exuding a thick aura of decay and resentment surged in from the breach!

That was Morse, the embodiment of calamity. They came in all shapes and sizes, some like bloated slime monsters, others like multi-legged insects, and still others twisted like nightmare silhouettes. The only thing they had in common was their instinct to greedily devour everything in their path. They pounced on everything in their way—the bodies of fallen soldiers, scattered weapons and armor, even the reliefs on the walls, the moss clinging to the cracks in the ground… Wherever they went, only a deeper purplish-black remained, eroded and assimilated, or utter nothingness.

The wounds from the recent siege by the rebels had not yet healed, and the defending forces were already stretched thin. Faced with this unprecedented and massive torrent of disaster, the remaining Queen's soldiers were forced into retreat, and the defensive line collapsed in an instant.

In the chaos, a tall figure stood against the flow of people, blocking the center of the main street. His long, golden hair was somewhat disheveled, and his armor was stained with undried blood and dust. It was none other than the fairy knight Gawain—Bagust, who had not yet retreated.

She stopped a group of surviving soldiers who were escorting civilians back to safety, and her voice was firm and unwavering: "You lot! Cover the civilians' retreat to the west gate with all your might! Quickly! I'll cover the rear here!"

The leading soldier looked at the dark, surging calamity, then at Bagst, who was all alone, and his face showed difficulty: "But, Lord Gawain, you are all alone..."

"What are you worried about?!" Bagst interrupted sharply, a resolute flame burning in his golden eyes. "I did betray His Majesty... but don't forget, if it weren't for His Majesty taking me in back then, I would still be a 'beast' wandering the wilderness, rejected by any clan! I haven't yet repaid this debt! Execute the order! Now!"

The soldiers, intimidated by her imposing presence, dared not utter another word. After gritting their teeth and saluting, they quickly organized an evacuation. Watching the crowd, guided by the soldiers, retreat with difficulty but in an orderly fashion towards relative safety, Bagst took a deep breath, turned around, and faced the purplish-black tide that had spread to the street corner. She gripped tightly the greatsword in her hand—the Sun Wheel Sword—which seemed to be forged from lava and sunlight.

Clenching the jaw and tensing the jawline.

"Come on... you twisted, disgusting things!"

With a roar, she swung her greatsword! Blazing flames erupted from the blade, transforming into a scorching fan-shaped wall of fire that swept towards the dozens of small Morse that had charged forward first!

"laugh--!!"

Flames met the calamity, producing a sound like burning grease. The front-line Moss melted and carbonized rapidly under the intense heat, turning into scattered black ash. But this loss was insignificant to the vast army of calamities. More Moss surged forward, stepping over the ashes of their comrades; they seemed to feel no fear, only the instinct to devour.

Just then, a commotion arose within the calamity tide! A colossal Moss, far exceeding the size of its kind and appearing as if pieced together from multiple rotting chunks of flesh, ruthlessly pushed aside the smaller individuals blocking its path and charged toward Bagst with heavy yet swift steps! It made no fancy attacks, but simply accelerated its massive mass to its limit, like a runaway chariot!

"Bang--!!!!"

A dull, heart-stopping impact!

Bagst's attention was diverted by the small Morse in front of her, and before she could react, she was struck squarely in the side by the powerful impact! She groaned and flew backward as if hit by a battering ram, her back slamming hard against the solid stone wall by the street! The wall cracked, and gravel fell down in a shower.

A sharp pain and intense dizziness instantly gripped her; her vision blurred, and a metallic taste rose in her throat. Her arm gripping the sword trembled slightly, and her gaze struggled to focus.

The giant Moss clearly wouldn't let this opportunity pass. It let out a muffled gurgling sound, and the front of its purplish-black body rapidly twisted and deformed, condensing into a huge claw shadow with sharp edges and wreathed in ominous black energy. It raised high, bringing with it a fierce wind that tore through the air, and slashed down head-on at Bagst, who was leaning against the wall panting and seemingly unable to dodge!

"Tch..." Bagst gritted her teeth and tried to raise her sword to block, but the slowness of her body made her know that it might be too late.

At the critical moment—

"Splash—!!!"

A thick, murky jet of water, carrying a powerful purifying aura, swept across the side of the street like a high-pressure water jet! The water jet struck precisely the raised claw shadow of the giant Moss and the dense swarm of calamities behind it!

"Sizzle—!!!"

The water column was clearly not ordinary water; the moment it came into contact with the calamity, it unleashed a powerful corrosive reaction! The giant moss's claw shadow melted away as quickly as ice and snow under the scorching sun. Its main body, along with a large number of moss around it, howled (if they could make a sound) as the water washed over and corroded it, disintegrated, and turned into gurgling purplish-black sewage!

Bagst turned his head sharply, looking in the direction from which the water column was coming.

The fairy knight Bedivere—Makia—was kneeling on one knee beside a broken stone pillar not far away, one hand pressing against the ground to maintain the water column, the other hanging limply at her side. Her silver-white armor was already mottled and damaged by dark red and purplish-black stains, with many tears revealing deep wounds that exposed bone beneath, some of which even showed signs of mutation at the edges. Clearly, she had endured one, or even several, fierce battles.

“Makia?!” Bagst propped himself up, his surprise tinged with a complex mix of emotions. “Didn’t you… already leave? Why…”

"Enough nonsense!" Maquia interrupted her, her voice hoarse and weary, yet still carrying its usual coldness. "I don't have time to explain the whole story to you. Bagst, tell me, can you even stand up and fight now?"

"Hmph, you don't get to look down on me!" Bagst used her sword for support, struggling to stand up, though her movements were somewhat unsteady. She quickly scanned the area temporarily cleared by the water jets and asked urgently, "Where are the others? Sylph, Kalia, Melusin... and Bavanshi, where are they?"

Upon hearing this question, Machia paused for a moment, her hand controlling the water jet slightly hesitant, and the flow weakened. She turned her head away, avoiding Bagst's eager gaze, and lowered her voice:

“Kalia… went to hunt down Lipkaner, her fate unknown. Melusin…” She paused, “You should know where she went and what happened to her. Bavanshi… is probably still kneeling between the thrones, guarding His Majesty… His Majesty’s body. As for Sylph,” she looked up, gazing in a direction deep within the royal city, “the last time I saw her was after she repelled (or rather, wounded) Melusin… and then, she disappeared.”

"Damn it... these guys..." Bagst gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her knuckles turning white. But now was clearly not the time for lamenting or assigning blame; she forcibly suppressed her surging emotions. "There's no use talking about this now! Let's deal with these bastards first!"

“Cough…cough cough…” Maquia coughed violently, a trickle of black blood spilling from the corner of her mouth. Her hand, pressed against the ground, trembled even more violently. “Do you need to tell me…where do you think I got all these injuries?” She gasped for breath, looking at the swarm of calamities that were beginning to stir again, trying to bypass the weakening water flow. “Listen, Bagst…my power is almost exhausted…I can no longer unleash a large-scale 'flood' cleansing…can you still use that move of yours?”

Bagst glanced at Machia's pale face and horrific wounds, then at the regrouping calamity, and gritted his teeth: "Of all times... you troublesome fellow!"

Without hesitation, she raised her left hand sharply, her five fingers gripping the spiral horn on the center of her forehead—a symbol of power and restraint—like iron clamps.

"Uhh—!!"

With a low growl, she actually pulled the horn out! Dark red, lava-like blood gushed from the wound on her forehead!

The next second, a startling change occurred! Bagst's body rapidly expanded and grew taller, as if inflated! Ancient and ferocious patterns appeared on her skin, her golden pupils were replaced by a wild crimson, and the rational brilliance of the "Fairy Knight Gawain" quickly faded, replaced by a pure savage and destructive instinct originating from ancient bloodlines! In the blink of an eye, she had transformed into a terrifying being as tall as a small building, her entire body wreathed in black flames and scorching steam!