Chapter 1030: The True Cernunnos
Mash and Ector exchanged glances for a moment before slowly nodding, indicating they understood.
Including Habetrot, everyone fell silent.
No one spoke further.
However, everyone's expressions remained somber.
"I need some time alone."
Cernunnos stood up.
After leaving those words, she walked into the distance.
Halfway there, she suddenly turned back.
"Eiji, come with me."
Then she disappeared into the darkness.
"Don't worry, I'll help her."
Eiji also stood up, leaving these words for Ector and the others before following Cernunnos's path.
"Sigh."
Ector let out a heavy sigh, his face full of dejection.
Among them, aside from the unfathomable Cernunnos, no one could stand against the world.
Apart from Eiji, no one else could offer Cernunnos any assistance.
He, an old comrade who had fought alongside Cernunnos for two thousand years, was now overshadowed by a young man from the future who had only known her for half a year.
It wasn't that he looked down on Eiji.
Rather, he felt deeply frustrated by his own powerlessness.
Under the night sky.
Cernunnos and Eiji left the camp one after another, venturing into the boundless, desolate grasslands.
"The four wars of spring, summer, autumn, and winter prophesied by the Oracle Priestess—three have already occurred: spring, summer, and autumn. Only the winter war has yet to happen."
Cernunnos stopped in the starless, moonless darkness and turned to face Eiji.
"I want to ask you, in the future timeline you come from, did the winter war occur?"
She had pondered this repeatedly but still couldn't grasp the meaning behind the Oracle Priestess's prophecy.
Remembering that someone from the future was by her side, she thought of seeking knowledge from what was yet to come.
"The winter war... That was in the year 1 AD, 400 years from now. It was the war where a fairy named Morgan returned from Orkney, conquered the four clans of Wind, Earth, Fang, and Wing, and became the queen who ruled over Britain for 2,000 years."
Eiji gave Cernunnos a complicated look.
"Queen Morgan, due to her unyielding rule, came to be known as the 'Queen of Winter.'"
At this moment.
Eiji had never felt so clearly that all of this was like a farce.
The mocking laughter of an unstoppable historical torrent echoed vividly in his ears.
The lament of this island.
The cry of this world.
For the past six months, as if deliberately calling out to him, the wailing had incessantly reverberated in his ears.
"I see..."
Cernunnos's lips trembled slightly.
She wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent.
She lifted her head, her distant gaze falling upon the endless sea to the north.
Even in the darkness, the towering silver-white tree, whose height was immeasurable, stood as it had for millennia at the edge of the horizon.
That was the Tree of Emptiness.
Unlike its withered, burned state 2,400 years later, the Tree of Emptiness in this era was still thriving.
Here, this tree was also called the World Tree, revered and worshipped by many.
"To be honest, I've given up on saving all the fairies and humans."
Cernunnos spoke abruptly.
Her words made Eiji pause.
"I've told you before, haven't I? After helping the fairies resolve their conflicts, I would return to my coffin to sleep?"
"That was actually a lie. Ever since resolving the conflicts among the faeries 2,600 years ago, I've never returned to the coffin. The reason I disappear from time to time is because I've been exiled by the faeries."
"They instinctively despise the Faerie of Paradise. No matter what I do or how many times I save them, I never receive even a single word of gratitude. Every time after resolving conflicts and calamities, what awaits me is never the cheers of the people, but rejection and assassination attempts."
"Assassination attempts, hostage threats, deception... if I count them all, aside from poison attempts, I've experienced every method of killing through the faeries."
Eiji remained silent.
This kind of feeling - he truly couldn't understand it.
Every time she exerted her full effort to help, saving all faeries and humans from dire situations, the result was always betrayal!
Even after showing the utmost kindness, not only were the faeries ungrateful, they even turned their blades against her!
If it were Eiji, at the first betrayal, he probably wouldn't have been able to resist killing every last one of those scoundrels who raised their swords against him.
But Kanata appeared again and again, and again, helping them resolve disputes and overcome the great crisis affecting all of Britain - the Calamity.
Yet when everything was resolved, she would still fall into the same situation as before.
Rejected, blamed, hunted.
But when the faeries faced crisis again, she would still appear once more.
Countless cycles repeating.
Never once receiving gratitude, never once gaining trust.
All her efforts turned into illusory bubbles, like mist and dreams, vanishing beyond the horizon of time.
"But you're still protecting Britain, aren't you?"
Eiji asked in return.
This was what made Eiji most admire her, and also what made him feel she deserved better.
Even though she was hurt every time, she would still step forward every time.
If it were him, searching his conscience, he knew he couldn't reach Kanata's level.
"I am indeed protecting Britain, but only Britain itself."
Kanata shook her head and smiled bitterly.
"For me, as long as Britain remains, it doesn't matter what creatures live on it - whether they're humans or faeries, or even if nothing exists at all."
"The reason I protect the faeries is because to ensure Britain's survival, the faeries must be kept alive as much as possible. I simply understood this truth... That's why, after fighting alone for a thousand years, I chose to make companions and intervene in the conflicts among faeries."
From the very beginning, Kanata only wanted to protect Britain.
From Faerie Calendar 4000 to Faerie Calendar 3000 - a full millennium - she fought alone, defeating nine minor calamities and resolving one major calamity.
During that time, she never once thought about resolving conflicts among faeries.
Not only was this for the expansion of Britain, but more importantly because Kanata never cared about the faeries' survival!
It wasn't until Faerie Calendar 3000 that she finally realized one thing.
To protect Britain, she must protect the faeries.
Otherwise, this Britain would eventually be destroyed.
After understanding this, Kanata began intervening in conflicts among faeries, gathering Grim, Ector, and Habenyan as companions, appearing again and again, being persecuted, and appearing yet again.
"For me, the fairies are merely tools to sustain Britain. You are my true companions."
"I protected Britain only because it was my sole refuge, which is why I granted humans the right to build a kingdom—something that would never be permitted in Pan-Human History... In essence, even Uther was used by me."
"I am no savior at all. I am a witch—a pitiful witch without a single fairy who believes in me, understands me, feels gratitude toward me, or aids me!"