Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

As the fairy knight Bedivere disappeared into the depths of the rain, the relentless downpour miraculously ceased. A pink sky once again enveloped the earth, and wisps of golden clouds drifted slowly across the heavens. Ritsuka stared blankly at this magnificent scene, her heart filled with mixed emotions—just moments before, in the face of utter despair, she had unexpectedly dealt a severe blow to that seemingly invincible enemy.

"Ritsuka," Artoria whispered as she approached, "that light just now..."

"You mean that?" Ritsuka raised her right hand in confusion, "But I don't understand at all..."

As she subconsciously mimicked her previous movements, azure magical energy suddenly flowed through her palm, quickly enveloping her entire right arm. With a forward swing, a crescent-shaped blade of light shot through the air, carving a deep crack in a nearby boulder. The flying stone fragments shimmered like stars against the pink sky, and Ritsuka stared at her hands, gasping in disbelief.

'Directional magic [Moonlight Saw]...' Artoria's voice trembled, 'How is this possible? Your magic circuits simply cannot support this level of spell...'

Senji Muramasa frowned and asked, "What's so special about this technique?"

"This is a forbidden magic technique lost for six hundred years." Artoria's expression was grave. "It can disrupt the essence of the recipient's magic—Bedwill was unable to liquefy just now because this technique temporarily sealed her fairy nature. But..."

Fragments of memory suddenly flashed through her mind—the scene of Queen Morgan's quiet visit to her hiding place on the night Ritsuka had just recovered. The silver-haired queen gently stroked the unconscious Ritsuka, her fingertips flowing with a ghostly blue light:

"This child bears the sins of my unfilial son." Morgan's voice, like the wind brushing across lyre strings, echoed in the moonlight. "Let her discover this unique gift for herself."

Artoria suddenly awoke, staring at the lingering blue afterglow in Ritsuka's palm, and finally understood the true meaning of the Queen's words about the 'gift'.

-

'Aaaaah...that damned humanoid Master...how dare you...'

The fairy knight Bedivere staggered across the verdant meadows of the western plains, blood seeping from unhealed wounds on his face, staining the wildflowers along his path a shocking crimson. From above, the blood-stained path resembled a field of spider lilies blooming on the earth, both alluring and eerie.

As she stumbled forward, cursing, a crimson figure silently blocked her path. The female knight, draped in transparent butterfly wings, crossed her arms, a mocking smile playing on her lips.

'What a sorry sight.' The fairy knight Mordred scoffed. 'How did the invincible Lord Bedivere fall to such a state?'

Bedivere grabbed the man's collar in a rage, the wound reopening from his agitation: "You were the one who caused that downpour, weren't you?"

“Exactly.” Mordred slapped her hand away, his eyes turning cold. “I am acting on His Majesty’s orders to stop you from approaching those foreigners.”

'Mere humans! Nothing but pests invading Britain!'

"But it was these 'pests' that caused your grievous injuries." Mordred lightly touched the scars on the other's face with his fingertip. "You, who pride yourself on your strength, what do you think now?"

Bedwell was speechless. Just as she was about to retort, an unsettling rustling sound came from the grass. The viscous, wriggling sound grew louder as grayish-white mist rose from the ground, gradually enveloping the two figures.

'This aura...is it Morse?' Mordred frowned and gripped the hilt of his sword.

Countless scarlet points of light emerged from the thick fog, and oval-shaped black creatures surged in from all directions. They had no fixed form, their bodies dripping with disgusting slime, only a pair of blood-red eyes gleaming in the darkness—these were terrifying beings that fed on negative emotions.

'Hey, don't tell me you're too weak to fight right now.' Mordred glanced at his companion's injuries.

Bedivere sneered, steam rising around him: 'None of your business...cough...'

'I hope so.' Mordred chanted an ancient incantation, 'Oppress!'

The air was violently compressed the instant the incantation was completed, forming a massive, high-pressure cloud that roared out. Amidst a deafening explosion, swarms of Morse were blasted into fragments, and black slime rained down on the earth.

Almost simultaneously, Bedivere unleashed a water blade, the transparent blade precisely slicing through Moss's array. However, these monsters seemed endless, with even more shadowy figures emerging from the mist.

'There are too many...' Bedwell gasped as he backed away.

'It seems I have no choice but to use that.' Mordred spread her wings, and crimson magic began to gather around her.

In an instant, the once tranquil pink sky was swallowed by churning dark clouds, plunging the world into darkness. 'Boom!' A ghastly white bolt of lightning tore through the sky, instantly unleashing a violent surge of air centered on the fairy knight Mordred. Dozens of tornadoes rose from the ground, carrying torrential rain as they roared towards the Mos Legion.

The plains were instantly transformed into inferno. The wind howled, thunder roared, and rain poured down like knives. Ancient trees were uprooted, and boulders shattered into dust in the lightning. Mordred floated in mid-air, her crystalline wings unfurling, her crimson hair whipping wildly in the gale: 'Annihilate!'

The tornado devoured Mos's army like a ravenous beast, and the monsters caught in its eye exploded under the terrifying pressure. However, Ritsuka and the others nearby also suffered—the sudden hurricane made it impossible for them to move, as if a thousand-pound weight was pressing down on them.

'This storm…' Artoria struggled to steady herself. 'Could it be that she's wiping out Moss?'

Senji Muramasa suddenly noticed a giant rock, whipped up by a gale, hurtling towards Ritsuka. In an instant, his katana was drawn. A flash of light, and the boulder shattered. Flying shards grazed the girls' faces, leaving tiny streaks of blood.

"The wind wall is approaching!" Amy stared in horror at the towering wind wall that seemed to stretch from the sky to the ground, the earth cracking wherever it passed.

Senjimura immediately sheathed his katana and shielded the three girls in his arms: 'Excuse me!'

"Wait!" Artoria tried to struggle, but suddenly a bright blue magic circle bloomed beneath her feet. The moment the light engulfed the four of them, a wall of wind swept over the spot where they had just stood, leveling the entire area to the ground.

Meanwhile, the Mos Legion had been reduced to a filthy wasteland in the storm. Thick, black blood soaked the grasslands, withering everything it touched. The fairy knight Bedivere, gazing at the ravaged land, clicked his tongue in astonishment: 'Your power is still so terrifying.'

'Moss has spread to the western plains...' Mordred said worriedly, folding his butterfly wings. 'I must report this to His Majesty immediately.'

'Has the prophecy come true ahead of schedule...?'

"Enough with the nonsense!" Mordred flapped her wings and took to the air. "Don't think that joining forces to defeat the enemy will absolve you of your crimes!"

Watching his colleague's departing figure, Bedivere wiped the blood from his face and grinned maliciously in the direction Ritsuka had disappeared: 'This blood debt... I will make you pay a hundredfold, Fujimaru Ritsuka.'

Fairy Knight Gareth - Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

Fairy Kingdom Oxford City Suburbs Plain

Just as the atmosphere eased slightly, a flippant laugh drifted from nearby: 'I never imagined our little Castor and Lord Muramasa had such a relationship~ You should have told me sooner... Oh dear!'

Artoria's staff struck Oberon's smiling face precisely: 'Support you my foot! Do you know what we've been through?'

'Ouch, ouch, ouch... I thought you guys would go straight to Oxford...'

"Where were you during the downpour?" Senko-mura asked, stopping Artoria from continuing her outburst. "We were attacked by fairy knights."

Oberon straightened his disheveled clothes and said solemnly, "The thick fog scattered us. In the fairy kingdom, such dense fog only means one thing—Moss's attack. By the time I dealt with them, you had vanished without a trace, leaving only that terrifying wall of wind."

'Moss has spread to the western plains...' Artoria's expression turned grave.

As Oberon explained the terrifying nature of Morse, a piercing cry for help broke the silence:

'I can't hold on... This thing is too powerful!'

'No...don't come any closer!'

The crowd rushed towards the sound and found two strangely dressed girls surrounded by four four-meter-tall giant Morse. The knight girl wielding a gun had blood-stained armor, and the cyberpunk-style girl's paper umbrella was tattered. Sticky black claws were closing in on them step by step—

"Don't even think about it!" Shota Senji drew his sword, the silver light slicing off the descending claws.

"Thank you for your help... And who are you?"

"Thank you later!" The old man spun around to meet the attack, and Artoria and Amy's magic followed closely behind.

As Oberon rescued the two girls, Muramasa Senji's fiery slash had already engulfed the battlefield. However, after the flames subsided, Moss tore through the fire curtain unscathed.

These monsters are resistant to fire?!

In the critical moment, ice suddenly froze Morse's movements. A clear, cold female voice drifted on the wind: 'Knowing that fire attacks are ineffective, yet still stubbornly clinging to your own ideas, sir?'

A blonde girl emerged from the icy mist, her azure eyes holding a half-smile. Senji Muramasa's pupils constricted: 'Impossible... Why are you here? The Queen's henchman—the Fairy Knight Gareth!'

A biting chill abruptly seeped into the warm air, and ice crystals coiled around Moss's massive body as if they were alive. The monsters roared deafeningly, struggling to break free from the icy grip, but could only turn into four ice sculptures with a crisp snap of their fingers. With a loud 'clang,' the ice sculptures shattered, and a golden-haired fairy knight emerged from the swirling ice shards, his armor gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

Ritsuka involuntarily took a half step back. Upon hearing the title 'Fairy Knight,' she seemed to feel again the excruciating pain of Bedivere's blood-stained blade piercing her body, and saw Mash lying in a pool of blood.

“Please don’t be afraid,” the fairy knight Gareth’s voice was like a spring breeze across ice. “I swear in the name of knighthood that I will never harm you.” She curtsied gracefully. “I am Gareth, the fairy knight, a guard under Queen Morgan.”

Artoria gently grasped Ritsuka's trembling hand: 'This knight is different from Bedivere. She is renowned in the Fairy Kingdom for her compassion and often helps travelers in distress.'

Ritsuka then took a closer look at the girl before her. Her long, flowing golden hair framed her azure eyes, and her delicate features exuded a scholarly air, making her truly unlike the silver-haired demon. What was even more reassuring was that she emanated a fresh scent, like grass and first snow, completely devoid of any bloody odor.

Just then, the two rescued girls approached, accompanied by Oberon. When Ritsuka saw their faces clearly, she couldn't help but widen her eyes—they were none other than Gareth, the Knight of the Round Table from Pan-Human History, and the poet Sei Shonagon! Although they shouldn't recognize her at this moment.

'Muramasa, look...'

"Yes," the old man nodded, "indeed a heroic spirit from the broader history of humankind."

Ritsuka smiled and stepped forward to greet him: "Lord Gareth, Noko, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Wait!" both Gareth exclaimed simultaneously, and Sei Shonagon covered her mouth in surprise: "How do you know my nickname?"

The fairy knight and the knight of the round table exchanged bewildered glances, simultaneously pointing at each other: 'Why does she share my name?'

Everyone present was stunned. Amy's butterfly wings trembled slightly in shock, Oberon raised an eyebrow with interest, and even Senji Muramasa couldn't help but stroke his beard in contemplation. The two knights with the same name looked at each other in bewilderment, as if seeing themselves from another world in a mirror.

Gareth carefully examined the blonde girl who was a head taller than him and keenly sensed that things were not as simple as just having the same name.

'This can't possibly be a coincidence!' she gripped her spear tighter. 'In my time, no one has ever shared the same name. Are you, like that big guy, impersonating my brother?'

"A big guy?" The fairy knight Gareth was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized, "Could you be the real Lord Gareth that His Majesty Morgan mentioned?"

'Is that even a question?'

Upon confirming the other party's identity, Fairy Knight Gareston's eyes lit up, and like a girl seeing her idol, she suddenly picked up the petite Servant around the waist.

"Finally, I've met you!" she exclaimed excitedly, spinning around. "This must be fate!"

Gareth, suddenly lifted high in the air, struggled in the other man's arms: "Put me down! What kind of behavior is this!"

"Sorry, sorry~" Fairy Knight Gareth gently put her down, his cheeks flushed. "I was just too excited..."

Artoria sighed and rubbed her forehead: 'You call this a "slight" loss of composure?'

'It seems this knight is a fervent admirer of Lord Gareth,' Ritsuka couldn't help but chuckle.

Gareth, having tidied himself, was still full of doubt: 'Who exactly are you? Not only do you use my name, but you also act so...strangely. Are you, like that big guy, a follower of my brother?'

"She's referring to Gao Wenqing," Ritsuka explained to the others.

The fairy knight Gareth nodded knowingly: "I see. That colleague certainly held me in high esteem." She gave a graceful knightly salute. "The matter is like this..."

As she narrates, a long-forgotten history slowly unfolds. Long before Morgan established his regime, the title of 'Fairy Knight' had already circulated in Britain. This was not only a symbol of status but also represented the fairies' pursuit of chivalry. Chosen knights, regardless of their past, had to swear allegiance to their monarch—of course, history is not without precedents of betrayal.

"I was among the first knights recruited after the Queen ascended the throne." She touched her breastplate. "To become a fairy knight meant abandoning one's real name and acting under a code name. Until Her Majesty named us after the Knights of the Round Table and recounted your deeds..."

Her voice softened: "It was through those stories that I came to know you—Lord Gareth, steadfast in your beliefs, brave and kind. Your chivalry deeply moved me..." At this point, she couldn't help but grasp Gareth's hand again, "To be able to see the legendary figure in person, I am truly blessed!"

'That's roughly the situation.' Fairy Knight Gareth let out a soft breath.

Gareth lowered his eyes thoughtfully: 'I didn't expect to be in this Lostbelt...'

"I understand how you feel," Ritsuka interjected gently.

Although the fairy knights' explanations made everyone understand that these knights were merely using the name of the Knights of the Round Table, the cruel Bedivere was clearly an exception. Gareth frowned, looking at the fervent admirer before her—being so openly adored made her feel somewhat uneasy.

Artoria secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. If these two had started arguing because of their shared name, the situation would likely have been difficult to manage.

"Let's get back to the point." The fairy knight Gareth suddenly turned to Senji Muramasa, noticing the old man's hand still tightly gripping the hilt of his sword. "I'm not here to capture you. If we were to actually fight, do you think you'd still be standing here safely?"

Senji Muramasa's eyes gleamed: 'Would that queen allow the assassin to go unpunished?'

“His Majesty’s decree…we have no choice but to obey.” The fairy knight sighed softly. “The royal city has decided to cease the pursuit; there are more urgent matters at hand.” Her expression suddenly turned serious. “Far more important than you, assassin.”

Artoria stepped forward: 'What happened?'