In a room in Camelot City.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Continuously bombarding the door in front of her with cannon magic, Aoko clicked her tongue, seeing the door unharmed: "Seriously... what is this all about? Suddenly telling us to leave, then locking us in here—what exactly does Naoki want to do? And what's the situation outside right now?"
"Judging from the recent situation, it seems this isn't good for us."
Atalanta leaned by the window, observing the scene outside.
Although this room faced the back door of Camelot City, making it impossible to see the situation at the front gate directly, even without seeing it, Ciel could probably guess what was happening at the front gate through the impact being felt outside now.
The curse.
A very powerful curse continued to spread in all directions. Thick black mist almost covered and colored the sky, making it appear blood-red.
Looking further, wherever the black mist spread, fire rapidly spread as if gaining momentum. In just a few tens of seconds that Atalanta now observed, the fire had already spread several kilometers. And if her suspicion was correct, this was spreading in all directions with Camelot City as its center.
This meant that the entire Britain would be enveloped and consumed by fire.
"This must be related to that thing in the Great Hole. Before Naoki threw me here, I felt an ominous aura from the Great Hole behind him."
"The Horned God's corpse... Cernunnos?"
Aoko muttered twice, then looked at Ritsuka: "Ritsuka, can you contact Merry? She should know some details about this situation. Ask her to explain it well to us."
[Can you stop blaming everything on me? Although I'm used to being the mastermind, I'm not always the one acting, you know.]
Even before Ritsuka could speak, Merry's voice was already heard from the communication device on her wrist.
Ritsuka raised her hand: "Merry-sensei, the situation now..."
[It's most likely Naoki Number Two acting. Although I'm sure he'll cooperate with us in his own way, I didn't expect him to do something like this... No, I should say I didn't believe it. It seems we still don't know him well enough.]
"Don't be cryptic right now, Sister Merry." Gray urged. "Please tell us everything you know. We can't just be locked in here doing nothing."
"Gray is right. In a situation like this, who can sit still?"
[I know, I know. Don't pressure me. The situation isn't that bad yet, so calm down first.]
Merry sighed.
[Let's start from a week ago when I met Naoki Number Two in Salisbury—he said that since he couldn't defeat Naoki directly, he had to attack from the side.]
"Yes, that's right, he said so."
[That was a kind of tacit understanding between him and me. I was sure he had his own way, so we here would provide him cover on the front line, allowing him to act in the dark, to achieve his goal of returning the Holy Sword to Naoki.]
[One of the reasons I made you wedding dresses was for this. In fact, the result doesn't matter either. When we diverted Naoki and Morgan's attention with the wedding dress issue, Naoki Number Two successfully accomplished what he wanted to do.]
[As for what he did... he probably invaded the barrier enveloping the Great Hole, and awakened Cernunnos's corpse, which was supposed to be asleep forever, by inserting a qualified offering as a Divine Core, resurrecting the Horned God, and triggering a great catastrophe that struck all of Britain.]
After Merry explained, Aoko and the others understood the situation.
"Then... what will happen to Britain next?" Mash asked.
[Nothing will happen. Britain will not have problems. Don't forget who is sitting in the Throne Room.]
Merry reminded.
The reason Camelot Royal City was designed so that its front gate directly faced the Great Hole was to be able to suppress Cernunnos immediately after he awoke. And now, the one in the Throne Room, standing on the front line against the Horned God, was undoubtedly the strongest combat power in this Britain.
Fairy King Natsukawa Naoki, who had ruled Britain for two thousand years and possessed unlimited Mana reserves.
[As long as Naoki is there, Cernunnos is nothing to worry about. At most, many British fairies will die. After the great catastrophe ends, it's uncertain if even a tenth of their current number will survive.]
"A tenth... only a few fairies will survive?"
The shockingly low number made Mash unable to hide her surprise: "Is there no way to fix it?"
[There isn't, and actually, there's no need. After all, all the fairies in that Lostbelt are the type who deserve to die—what you need to worry about is what happens after that.]
What happens after that?
This sentence made everyone frown, then Ritsuka asked with a little uncertainty: "Is it... the Cursed Worm?"
[Correct. The final catastrophe held back by Cernunnos's corpse, which truly threatened Britain's survival, the Cursed Worm, which in our Proper Human History is called the Demonic Dragon Vortigern.]
[Since Cernunnos has now awakened and crawled out of the Great Hole, its full manifestation is only a matter of time. After that, the entire Island of Britain will be swallowed by insects.]
[That is the most important thing we need to pay attention to, and the greatest enemy we must face.]
Indeed, the enemy.
Both for this Lostbelt and for everyone from Proper Human History, the Demonic Dragon Vortigern was an undisputed enemy.
[Although whatever happens in that Lostbelt will ultimately not affect Proper Human History here. Even if the Island of Britain is destroyed, it has nothing to do with us.]
[But Naoki will certainly not stand idly by. After all, he has lived there for two thousand four hundred years. As the Fairy King who wants to save the island, he will definitely fight against the Cursed Worm to protect Britain.]
"That means Master's enemy is our enemy." Artoria smiled. "That's for the best. But, even without this connection, once the Demonic Dragon Vortigern appears, I would still go and fight it. After all, I am King Arthur, and this is Britain."
Vortigern was an apocalyptic device born from Britain, and King Arthur was the man-made savior of Britain. This would not change even in the Lostbelt.
If Vortigern manifested, whatever Naoki's thoughts, Artoria would be the first to help him fight.
"If Queen Mother goes, I will go too." Mordred chimed in.
"I think everyone here has the same thought." Aoko smiled. "But before that, we have to find a way to get out of this room first... My cannon magic isn't working at all. Arcueid, do you want to try it?"
"No need to try, I won't be able to break it either." Arcueid waved her hand. "The entire room has been enchanted with hundreds of Rune barriers. It will be very difficult to break it from either inside or outside—"
*CLACK!*
Before Arcueid could finish her sentence, the locked door opened from outside.
Rei walked in from outside, swinging a key in her hand, and smiled: "I've heard everything outside. Do Angelica and I need to help you?"