Vivian quickly broke free from the crushing gravity.
Unfortunately, she was immediately bound again—this time by a different barrier. She could only watch helplessly as Manaka vanished into the distance.
But her miserable state helped her calm down.
Just as the enemy had said—when faced with overwhelming force, unnecessary resistance only made her look foolish. And she wasn't foolish enough to keep struggling meaninglessly.
Yet, if she stopped to think rationally… did it even matter that the intruder had reached that place?
If brute force wasn't enough, then perhaps wisdom could win.
She had only overheard it once, but Vivian had remembered the boy's words clearly and taken them to heart:
"Hiding a tree is easy. You just need to plant a forest."
At the same time, Manaka stepped into the illusion—and her surroundings matched exactly what Vivian had envisioned.
A radiant forest, stretching endlessly.
Glorious towers rose from the earth. The magical energy they emitted—both in form and frequency—was identical to the original.
"Fairies can be so clever? Oh~ I see, it's the prince's wisdom behind it. What a shame. If the prince had done it himself, it would've been perfect. But this little fairy… so naïve. So cute~."
Manaka walked forward, smiling. She wasn't fooled for a second by the illusion.
Every key figure in Britain had a task.
Manaka was no exception.
Her mission: Obtain Rhongomyniad.
That's right—the legendary Holy Spear.
The pillar of light anchoring the surface of the planet. A weapon revered as the Pillar of the World.
To put it metaphorically: the human world is but a thin skin stretched across the surface of the planet. Rhongomyniad is the divine needle that sews that skin to the earth below—keeping the outer layer from peeling away entirely.
If the human world is the planet's surface, and the magical realm its interior, then Rhongomyniad is the connection that binds them.
In other words—whoever possessed the spear could access the planet's deeper, nearly infinite resources.
Camelot had always stockpiled magical crystals, but after unifying Britain, those resources had to be shared across the kingdom to fuel development. A short-term deficit was inevitable.
Their current reserves weren't enough for military expansion.
But with Rhongomyniad, the magi of Camelot had even discovered how to form a lake of pure magical energy—a resource oasis.
"Hehe~ Prince-sama will definitely praise Manaka~!"
Of course—
Right now, no one in Britain could draw the Holy Spear.
Only Manaka, with her unique authority, could pull it free.
The moment her fingers brushed the beam of light, it twisted and shrank, changing shape—until a knight's spear rested in her hand.
Having completed the task, the girl turned to the other beams of light.
Illusory. Hollow facades.
The inner structure was different—more useful as surveillance towers than defensive strongholds.
"The prince will be pleased."
With a wave of her hand, the forests of radiant light vanished in an instant. Still, Manaka wasn't entirely satisfied.
Since I'm already here, what would the prince do?
She imagined him pondering for a moment before saying:
"Hmm… this place has good development potential. But it's hard to maintain a stable connection between here and Camelot… In that case, let's just take it all!"
Yes. That's exactly what he'd say!
The soil of the Inner Sea of Stars was fertile. Its stones could be refined into precious magical minerals. There were scattered dragon souls—and lingering divine remnants. Enough for her to claim some degree of divinity herself.
Even the concept of the Inner Sea was valuable.
And as for the fairies—those who'd shed their bodies and become spirit lifeforms—they'd resist, of course.
But once they were wearing collars—
And so, on this day, the Inner Sea of Stars suffered a brutal, inhuman looting.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the land was stripped three feet deep.
Not a single ghost was spared.
"Oh my~ My king is so willful—making a great flower magician crawl through a tunnel like this. He'll be punished by God! …No, wait. He already has been."
Led by the white-haired magician, three figures wriggled forward in a narrow passage.
It was undeniably strange.
If Merlin were alone, he could at least walk with a shred of dignity. But with two knights behind him, he had no choice but to crawl and dig like a mole.
"Shut up, Merlin. If you slack off, I'll kill you myself."
Kay, bringing up the rear, growled through clenched teeth.
"Oh my~ Is this the same blushing knight who got teased by Merry? So fierce with big brother~ How scary~."
"You bastard, do you want to die?!"
Kay looked ready to commit murder.
That unforgettable night still haunted him—a lifelong humiliation.
"Please be serious, Lord Merlin. Though I am but a criminal… to be forced to accompany you… it is simply unbearable."
Tristan wore a pained expression, his voice full of poetic tragedy.
Even Merlin was stunned into silence.
Not because of Tristan's words—but because just looking at him made Merlin inexplicably depressed.
I was in a great mood before we came down here. How did it come to this?
What a magical Sir Tristan. Is this what the king meant by "tragic aura of the Son of Sorrow"?!
"Ahem! Hold on just a bit longer, you two. We're almost there. I'll need your help soon!"
"Merlin, let me confirm one more time," Kay asked, still suspicious. "The Red Dragon really lives down here?"
The Red Dragon had been a symbol of Britain for centuries.
But now they were… underground?
He'd never heard of a dragon nesting like a mole.
"Haha~ Naturally. The dragon that's guarded Britain has hidden beneath the earth since the start of the Western calendar. It's been dormant for almost 500 years—turned nearly to stone. Its soul has already drifted to another realm. What's left is just a husk—soon to become oil, or something."
Merlin grinned.
This wasn't his first time dissecting the Red Dragon.
He'd used its heart and blood to craft Artoria—the dragon-hearted king.
Now, the Red Dragon would give everything it had left. One last gift to Britain. Its mission, at last, complete.
At the same time—
Manaka snapped her fingers gracefully and sealed another dragon soul.
This dragon probably never imagined that, after a lifetime of guarding Britain, it would end up like this.
Its soul sealed, turned into a divine weapon.
Its bones, sinews, blood, flesh, teeth—all harvested for weapons and national upgrades.
This is the true meaning of "nothing shall go to waste!"
(Red Dragon: "I am so miserable!")
-End Chapter-
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