Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Castor's voice rang out clearly, not loud, but enough to instantly halt the fierce argument behind them. Morgan and Liliana turned around abruptly and saw Castor standing in the light, his back to them, a slightly thin but upright figure.

"Let's...stop here."

She turned her head slightly, a very faint, almost relieved smile on her face.

"Whether it's humans or fairies, Britain or the so-called mission... to be honest, I... hate them all."

"But thank you all for this time. I had a very happy time."

“Even if all of this is ultimately defined as the ‘punishment’ that sinners deserve, I don’t think… they are purely reaping what they sowed.”

Her voice paused, tinged with self-mockery.

"After all, in the end, I'm just... not a very useful person, am I?"

I'm relieved.

(Deep inside, a voice gently arose, as if speaking to oneself.)

[In that case... it will definitely become a good sword.]

Like the light that tears through a storm, it will never be defeated by any evil. Like... the brilliant stars on Earth.

[—Not the place beyond this place, not you to me.]

Become a sword that bears many hopes, receives much joy as its 'reward,' and is perfectly suited to you who raise your head in this chosen place...

“…Ah, in this way,” Castor murmured to himself, gazing at the light, as if speaking to the two queens behind him, “the mission of the fairy of paradise…has not been in vain after all.”

Her smile brightened slightly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the previous one... I did it!"

"But... I also have very, very wonderful travel memories."

Her voice gradually lowered, carrying a hint of undisguised longing and melancholy.

"It's just... a little... reluctant to part with it..."

Just as the atmosphere of farewell was about to freeze—

"is it?"

An aged yet powerful voice, tinged with a hint of amusement, abruptly cut in.

"I don't see it that way, young lady."

Senjimura stood with his arms crossed, not far from the forging platform. His eyes, which had witnessed countless forgings and battles, were now fixed intently on Kaster.

"If you just 'end' like this, I... will feel bad about it."

Caster paused, blinking blankly. "Muramasa...Grandpa? What...why?"

Caster was stunned as he watched Senji Muramasa step into the pure and intense forging light of the Furnace of the Universe and stand beside him. His eyes were full of confusion.

“Why… Muramasa? How… how could you come in? This is my… atonement for the fairies…” She was somewhat incoherent, not understanding why this swordsman, who should have stayed out of it, would step into this destined fate of sacrifice.

Senji Muramasa—a face that belonged to a young man yet bore the resolute lines of someone weathered by time—revealed a smile tinged with amusement. He reached out without hesitation, and with the natural grace of an elder, gently ruffled Caster's smooth, blond hair.

"Why so many questions, silly girl?" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable certainty. "Forging swords is my profession. This kind of 'work' is not for a child like you to meddle in." He withdrew his hand, looking at the boiling starlight in the furnace, his eyes becoming sharp and focused. "Severing fate, severing karma, my entire life... has been dedicated to the way of the sword. I am just a 'common' old man, nothing more."

[Good...at least we got them there safely.]

(Merlin stood outside the light, whispers unheard by anyone flowing through his heart.)

I was almost at my limit too. Luckily, I made it in time.

Ah... I really should have asked them. I've already used my "clairvoyance" to try and glimpse the futures of those 'stargazers' whose fates intersect with mine...

But it's too late. This time... I seem to be talking to myself a lot more?

What exactly happened?

[Another "me" lies on the other side of that horizon... Let me see again what your "repentance" will look like this time.]

As this final thought faded, Merlin's figure, along with the playful, smiling silhouette of Merry in the Flower Prison not far away, began to sway and blur like reflections in water. The pink sea of ​​flowers that made up Avalon rapidly dimmed, and countless petals moved without wind, transforming into pure specks of light that drifted away.

Two nightmares—the guide and the troublemaker, the guardian and the entertainer—are being silently and thoroughly "erased" from the stage of "Britain" as the illusion of Avalon dissipates.

Caster stared blankly in the direction Merlin had disappeared, her throat feeling constricted, unable to utter a sound. She could hear Morgan and Liliana's anxious cries coming from outside through the thinning barrier, but those sounds seemed to be muffled by a thick curtain of water.

Senji Muramasa chose to stay here, to remain at the heart of this light, saying he would... help her forge the holy sword.

Just as he once said, looking at himself, he seemed to see a "partner" from the past. Because of her naivety and immaturity, this seemingly aloof but actually silently watching over her elder was always protecting her in his own way...

Ah... even His Majesty has never... done this...

"Alright, enough of this small talk." Senji Muramasa's voice pulled her back to reality. He flexed his wrists, his gaze fixed intently on the ethereal furnace core, as if divine iron awaited its forging. "I'm getting down to business. This job... should be a satisfying one. I've never taken on an 'order' like this before."

A smile, almost one of pure delight, curved his lips.

"Thank you, girl—for giving this old man this opportunity."

“No! Muramasa!” Caster snapped back to reality, grabbing his arm in terror. “You…you will disappear! This is my mission! My responsibility! I can’t just watch you die because of me…please, no! I don’t want…I don’t want to lose you again! Muramasa! Please…please…”

His voice grew increasingly choked with sobs, until finally it was a desperate plea choked with sobs. Seeing the forging light—not flames, but intensely hot—that began to ignite on Senji Muramasa's body, resonating with the furnace's core, Caster felt as if his heart was being torn apart.

However, Senko Muramasa simply turned his head and gave her a calm, even somewhat comforting, smile.

“Silly child,” his voice sounded somewhat ethereal in the light, yet exceptionally clear, “How could I possibly… abandon you alone?”

"Do you think... I'm the kind of fool who rushes in headfirst without any preparation?"

His eyes were sharp as knives, gazing in a direction beyond the light.

"This old body... is determined to protect you until the very last moment!"

He asked loudly, as if confirming with someone, "Ah, you agree, don't you, Her Majesty the late Queen?"

"Ok!"

Liliana's voice pierced through the gradually dissipating barrier of Avalon, coming clear and powerful!

"Looks like... I made it!"

"Just focus on what you're supposed to do, Senji Muramasa! My forbidden technique will ensure your 'existence' continues until the very last moment!"

Caster: "Huh?"

She turned her head in astonishment and suddenly realized that, without her noticing, an extremely complex ancient magic mark shimmering with a dark blue light had appeared on Senji Muramasa's back! The pattern was deeply embedded in his spirit core, radiating an aura of stability, protection, and near immortality.

That is the Forbidden Technique: Soul Fixation. Created by the First Queen Liliana with all her wisdom, it is an ultimate secret technique that can only be used once in a lifetime. It can forcibly "fix" the target's soul and essence of existence to the current state. No matter what devastating damage is suffered during this period, as long as the caster's magic power is exhausted and their will is not extinguished, the target's soul will not be annihilated, and its form of existence can be continuously reconstructed and restored in the process of destruction.

"clang!!!"

A heavy, hammering sound, as if striking the very foundation of the universe, resounded! Senji Muramasa had already begun the forging process! He wielded a "forging hammer" that was not a physical object, and with each strike, the celestial radiance of the universe converged and compressed, causing his body to endure unimaginable backlash and strain!

As one can see, his spirit body continuously cracks and disintegrates within the light, turning into scattered dust. However, the next second, Liliana's forbidden inscription erupts with a powerful, eerie blue light, and the disintegrated parts rapidly reassemble and restore themselves within the light! Destruction and rebirth repeatedly play out on this body, in an endless cycle.

Even knowing that Muramasa wouldn't truly die, the excruciating pain that accompanied each collapse and reconstruction, penetrating to the very soul, was undeniably real! Caster bit his lower lip, tears streaming down his face, yet he couldn't reach the core of that light. He could only watch and listen to the heavy hammering sounds, as if they were striking his own heart.

"call--!!!"

I don't know how much time has passed; it felt like a moment, yet also like eternity.

The intensely burning light of forging, as if having completed its mission, began to slowly recede and subside.

At the center of the radiance, at the heart of the Cosmic Furnace, the rudimentary form of a "sword," its entire body flowing with pure starlight, its shape ancient yet majestic, floats silently. It is not metal, but rather seems to be forged from solidified starlight and the "reason" of Britain itself, exuding a supreme aura that severs destiny and judges redemption.

The holy sword is complete.

Almost simultaneously with the completion of the sword, in the light, Senji Muramasa's tall figure swayed, and with the relief of completing his mission and the exhaustion from the immense exertion, he fell straight backward—

"Muramasa!"

Caster cried out and rushed forward without hesitation, using her small body to catch his falling body.

"Why...why...why did you have to go to such lengths for me..." She hugged him, tears streaming down her face, her voice broken and shattered.

Senjimura leaned on her shoulder, panting, but managed a weak smile: "I... I was just doing my duty... Don't cry... child..."

However, those words seemed to open the final floodgates. The fear, sorrow, loneliness, and guilt that had been suppressed all along, along with the immense shock of surviving a catastrophe and the unspeakable gratitude, all transformed into a torrent of tears. Caster tightly embraced Senko Muramasa, like a child who had suffered endless injustice and finally found someone to rely on, and burst into tears. His cries echoed in the empty chosen place, heartbreaking to hear.

Senji Muramasa didn't push her away; instead, he gently embraced her trembling shoulders with his arms, which had regained some strength. After a while, he managed to stand up straight again with difficulty but with extraordinary determination.

He solemnly handed the newly born holy sword to Morgan, who had somehow crossed the barrier and appeared before him. Then, he raised his head, gazing at a seemingly still-present focal point of consciousness in the void, his voice carrying an undeniable resolve:

"Merlin! Open the passage! Now, atonement is complete, and the holy sword is forged! We have no reason, nor time, to remain in your 'garden' any longer!"

"Cough...cough cough..." Merlin's weak voice seemed to come from a great distance, tinged with a bitter smile, "Your Majesties...you really went all out..."

Despite the complaints, a portal to the outside world, to the burning and flooded reality of Britain, still swung open in the original location of the Tower of Flowers!

Without further hesitation, everyone quickly converged. Morgan gripped the Holy Sword tightly, Liliana maintained the forbidden technique's transmission to Senji Muramasa, Ritsuka and Mash supported the weakened Caster and Muramasa, and Da Vinci and Nemo precisely docked the Nautilus... Everyone rushed into the portal at top speed!

A flash of light, and the scorching heat, the stench of burning, blood, and the stench of calamity instantly replaced the last fragrance of flowers in Avalon. They once again set foot on that ravaged land, teeming with colossal beasts.

In the illusory afterimage that had completely dissipated and returned to nothingness, Merlin, his face bruised and swollen, his figure almost transparent, looked in the direction they had left. A final, enigmatic smile appeared on his lips before he, along with the last glimmer of light from this sanctuary, turned into stardust that vanished completely.

Dream ~The Curse of Calamity- Fairy Round Table Realm, The Poem of Eternal Mist

This is the last one—

There is one thing... that I must accomplish since the day I was born!

[From the moment I awoke from the Sea of ​​Stars and set foot on this land, a mission was deeply ingrained in my soul—]

That is, to personally... end Kornunos!

(It was as if an ancient ballad was echoing in my heart along with my resolve—)

The first bell illuminates the long night.

The second bell shatters the lie.

The third bell will hang the honor high.

The fourth bell will tell the truth.

The fifth bell will preserve the vow.

The sixth bell will proclaim its glory.