Near Camelot City.
In the crater formed by the Moon Fall.
"Ugh... It hurts..."
Musashi, whose entire body was covered in dust, struggled to crawl out of the hole. She jumped in place several times, shaking off all the dust, then looked around: "Tomoe-dono, where are you? Are you alright?"
"I'm under you..."
Tomoe's voice came from below.
Musashi immediately looked down and saw. There was a hand buried in the ground right under her feet. Shocked, she quickly crouched down, dug up the soil, and pulled out the buried Tomoe from underground.
"Cough cough cough... Thank you, Musashi-dono."
"Thank goodness Tomoe-dono is alright—but, the current situation is really quite bad."
Musashi stood up and looked around.
Within the range she could sense, there were no more signs of life. As if they had arrived in an extremely barren desert, she felt no signs of life at all besides herself and Tomoe.
Recalling Naoki's command that had echoed throughout Britain earlier, Musashi couldn't help but frown: "Could it be... the meteor that fell earlier really hit and killed all the fairies?"
"It's possible. After all, not everyone is like Musashi-chan, who can split meteors with a sword."
Tomoe and Musashi had also been within the range of the Moon Fall attack earlier. After all, Naoki at that time had no Mana left to make very fine adjustments. The reason the two of them could still stand here now was thanks to Musashi.
Just like Barghest, Melusine, and Baobhan Sith, Musashi was also someone bestowed with Fairy Protection by Naoki. When facing the meteor earlier, she temporarily gained the power to split the meteor from that protection. After destroying the meteor, she and Tomoe survived.
"Then... what's happening now? And what is that giant furry thing?"
Musashi stared at Cernunnos standing between heaven and earth in the distance.
Because of the sudden Moon Fall earlier, she truly couldn't understand the current situation. But, if she tried to piece it together a bit...
(The reason Britain became like this might be because of that furry giant? Can that thing be slashed?)
"I think that's the thing Ritsuka-sama mentioned to us before." Tomoe said. "Didn't Ritsuka-sama tell us? About what Naoki-sama is doing in this Lostbelt and the situation of this Lostbelt. I remember they mentioned something about the Great Hole."
After being reminded by Tomoe, Musashi also remembered. It seemed she had indeed heard about the Great Hole and Cernunnos sleeping within it.
"So, that's the Horned God who died fourteen thousand years ago? Has he awakened now?"
"I don't know, but one thing is certain, the current situation in Britain, the root of the problem is his awakening—"
*BOOM!*
A sudden loud explosion interrupted Tomoe's words. In their view, the white giant standing between heaven and earth was suddenly attacked from below. Twelve extremely bright lights continuously struck Cernunnos, destroying the black mist surrounding him multiple times.
And the curse hands that kept extending out from the Great Hole like seaweed also continuously shattered and disappeared in the air, as if blocked by an invisible barrier.
"We should go there too, Tomoe-dono."
Musashi said after thinking for a moment.
"Although I still can't understand the current situation, but at least... my instincts tell me that we should go face that white Horned God emerging from the Great Hole now."
"Alright, let's go."
Tomoe nodded, then the two left that place and ran as fast as possible toward Camelot City.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
At the same time.
Inside Camelot City.
In a corridor from where one could directly see the situation around the Great Hole.
"This isn't good."
Rei frowned, looking at the scene outside the window.
[Indeed, although the Holy Lance attacks are strong, the speed of reducing the curse layers can't keep up with the regeneration speed of the curse layers. If this continues, even though Naoki has Mana accumulated over two thousand years, it won't be enough for him to squander.]
Merry chimed in.
[Rei, Angelica, Arcueid, can you three find a way to help Naoki? I don't want Naoki's Mana to be depleted all here. We still need it later.]
After Merry said that, Rei and the others exchanged glances. Then Rei nodded: "If it's just to help, of course it's no problem, but what exactly should we do? That curse concentration, even I can't withstand it, let alone Angelica and Arcueid."
[Just suppress the regeneration of the curse layers from a distance as much as possible. Specifically, Arcueid keeps using Moon Fall, Angelica keeps using EA, and Rei, do whatever you can—the point is to ensure Naoki still has energy left for the next battle.]
"I understand."
"Hmm, I'm an expert at this!"
Angelica and Arcueid said while destroying the wall beside them with their Noble Phantasms and fists. Then they jumped onto Vimana that flew out from the Gate of Babylon, and turned into streams of light flying at high speed toward Cernunnos!
Meanwhile, Rei also altered her body structure, growing a pair of golden-white angelic wings on her back. She flapped her wings and flew out of the corridor, following the two.
"Are those three alright?" Artoria asked with a bit of concern. "Should I go too?"
"TheyThe entire Camelot City is a product of Naoki's Imaginary Manifestation. The layout inside all changes according to Naoki's will. And now, there might be changes in Naoki's mind. At least from what we can detect, all paths to the Throne Room have been sealed.]
(Truly like he doesn't want anyone to go there... Is he really planning to bear everything alone? Both Cernunnos and the Cursed Worm, those two most serious calamities, he plans to resolve alone, Naoki.)
[Hurry up. Aoko, Mordred, Lia, you three must do it now. Don't hesitate, just destroy the paths, we'll rush to Naoki's place via the shortest distance.]
"You should have said that from the beginning!"
"I understand, let's do it, Mordred."
"Oh!"
(Considering what will happen later, at least Naoki must leave Mana for a thousand years... I hope we can make it in time.)