Chapter 1076: The Remains of the Dragon of Albion
In the beginning, Britain was very small, so small that it could only support a very few fairies.
The fairies explored the Sea of Nothingness extensively, eventually realizing that this world consisted only of Britain—beyond the land beneath their feet, there was no other land in the Sea of Nothingness.
Thus, they had no choice but to continuously expand Britain using the corpses of their companions, and years of incessant war gradually began on the island.
Under such circumstances, six thousand years passed.
The island of Britain expanded to what is now the Lake District.
The Lake District was inhabited by the Northern Fairies.
According to the records of the Southern Fairies, "The Northern Fairies, envious of the vast lands possessed by the Southern Fairies, deliberately provoked war."
According to the records of the Northern Fairies, "The Southern Fairies were exceedingly greedy, coveting even the small lands of the Northern Fairies in the Lake District, and deliberately launched a war of aggression."
And so.
In the year 6000 of the Fairy Calendar, the Spring War broke out.
This was the first war between the Southern Fairies and the Northern Fairies.
In this war, the Southern Fairies, because they possessed human slaves who provided them with abundant positive emotions, achieved a great victory.
After defeating the Northern Fairies, the Southern Fairies took the opportunity to occupy the Lake District.
Not only that.
"The Southern Fairies guarded the vicinity of the Lake District, killing any Northern Fairy who reincarnated as soon as they appeared, and using all their corpses to create land."
"The Northern Fairies were killed over and over again, until they finally despaired of everything, no longer wishing to reincarnate. Instead, they pooled the strength of their entire race to create the most powerful fairy—the sole survivor of the Northern Fairies, the Queen of the North, Mab."
This was revealed during the journey deep into the rainforest.
Melusine shared everything she knew about the Lake District.
Thus.
In the initial Spring War, the Northern Fairies were already annihilated.
Exterminated in an extremely cruel manner by the Southern Fairies, who guarded their reincarnations.
"Next, it will be your turn!"
Such resentment lingered over the entire Lake District, remaining undispersed for thousands of years.
The Queen of the North, Mab, escaped the pursuit of the Southern Fairies and ventured into the Sea of Nothingness. Using her immensely powerful fairy domain, she created an illusory Western Island, Ireland.
On that illusory island, Mab recuperated and gathered strength, continuously taking in fairies and humans exiled by the Southern Fairies.
Finally, three thousand years later, she returned to launch the Summer War.
In the Summer War, Mab, due to her policy of "mutual assistance between fairies and humans," had highly motivated soldiers. With the protection of Albion and the authority to command prosperity, she gained the upper hand. However, she eventually lost the will to fight after the death of her human partner and was forced by Tonelico to cease hostilities and reconcile—but that is a story for later.
What needs to be explained now is the story in between.
"Mab possessed the protection of the Dragon of Albion because the land of the Lake District was built upon the remains of the Dragon of Albion."
That's right.
The lands possessed by the Southern Fairies were created by the six Primordial Fairies using "what remained of the gods."
As for the Lake District possessed by the Northern Fairies, it was because the Dragon of Albion died there.
"I truly find it hard to imagine why Albion, who lived for 4.6 billion years, would ultimately die?"
This was what puzzled Eiji the most.
"There was no other way. At that time, there wasn't a single patch of land left on the entire planet. Albion couldn't return to the Inner Sea of the Planet, so it had no choice but to keep flapping its wings over the ocean until it finally died of exhaustion."
A trace of melancholy crossed Melusine's expression.
As a fairy born from the remains of the Dragon Albion—specifically, its left hand—she could more keenly feel the final despair of the Dragon Albion, and its stubborn determination to keep flying even in the face of that despair.
"Then the question arises: why didn't Albion just live in the sea? As the most ancient dragon, it should have been perfectly capable of living in the ocean, right?"
Eiji turned into a devil's advocate, relentlessly nitpicking.
"If you're going to say that the changing rules of the world, gradually shifting from the Age of Gods to the Age of Man, forced Albion to its death, I don't buy it. Even in modern times, there are traces of Phantasmal Species active in certain parts of Pan-Human History. Albion was so powerful—would it really have been that hard for it to create its own domain deep in the ocean?"
"Even now, humanity hasn't managed to extend its reach into the deep sea. The deep sea remains untouched by human rules, making it perfectly suitable for Albion to survive, right?"
"This..."
Melusine was momentarily stumped.
"Such matters... probably only the true Albion itself could provide an answer."
After all.
She wasn't the real Albion, but merely a fairy born from the remains of its left hand.
"Did it just get tired of living?"
Eiji offered a guess that made Melusine's eye twitch violently.
"Did it think that since humans would eventually take over the Earth anyway, and it had lived long enough, it just didn't want to go on?"
"I can't believe you'd dare say such things on Albion's corpse! I have to admire your nerve!"
Melusine glared at Eiji with murderous intent.
But because she needed to protect Aurora's interests, she didn't dare lay a hand on him.
"Uh..."
Eiji suddenly paused.
He discreetly glanced around.
Oh, right.
It finally dawned on him that the entire lake district was built upon the corpse of the Dragon Albion.
For a being like Albion, occasionally pulling a "rising from the dead" stunt would probably be pretty normal, right?
Big shot, I'm not badmouthing you—I'm just offering a guess that might align with reality.
Don't come after me!
Amitabha, Hallelujah, Infinite Heavenly Lord, Amen!
Eiji pressed his palms together, then crossed himself, and even formed a yin-yang hand seal.
Seeing no strange phenomena around him, he finally relaxed a little.
"By the way, why am I traveling with you?"
Melusine turned back, looking at Eiji with clear displeasure.
"With a top-tier fighter like me accompanying you, you should consider yourself lucky!"
Eiji replied with a cheerful grin.
Hmm.
Below Beast-level, he was basically fearless.
Even against a Beast, even if he couldn't win, he could still escape.
"You're not arrogant enough to think you can take on a Beast, are you?"
When it came to Beasts, even Melusine couldn't argue.
Truthfully, Eiji was simply too lazy to search for the location of Albion's remains himself, so he had Melusine lead the way.
Besides, having someone to tease along the journey was far more entertaining than traveling alone.
"Is that a temple?"
As they ventured deeper into the rainforest, Eiji's gaze fell upon a long-abandoned structure.
"A long time ago, the northern fairies worshipped Albion, who granted them this land, as a god."
Melusine nodded.
"So many Mors are gathered here, and there are even large ones among them."
Eiji casually observed the swarm of Mors before the shrine.
Dozens of Mors—in the outside world, this would already be a situation requiring a fairy knight's intervention. Among them were even several large Mors over three meters tall, creatures that even fairy soldiers would struggle to handle.
"With so many gathered here, something must have happened inside. They were likely driven out by a malicious guest who took over their nest."
Melusine's gaze turned cold.
With a sharp clang, she extended the slender blades from her arms.
"Let's deal with them quickly and then drive out that malicious guest!"