Chapter 1151: The Reappearing Crowd
A flash of sword light, and the demonic insects shattered like wood chips.
"Have you forgotten all my teachings? How can this be considered the limit of a human realm practitioner?"
A slender girl descended from the sky like a beam of light, landing in front of Percival.
"Sister?!"
Overwhelming joy made Percival's head spin, an unstoppable smile spreading across his face.
"Sister, you're not dead after all?"
Half a day ago, watching her disaster-incarnate form being struck down from the sky by Eiji, Percival had truly believed his sister was completely dead, even having bid farewell to her in his heart.
He never expected that after just half a day, she would appear before him again, alive and well!
This unexpected delight left Percival at a loss for words.
"I thought I was dead too, but when I opened my eyes, I found His Highness had saved me."
Melusine extended slender swords formed from magical crystals from her arms, crisscrossing the battlefield at supersonic speeds, effortlessly clearing the surrounding demonic insects.
"The previous Melusine is dead, the calamity within this body was eradicated at that time. The me now is one who has obtained a second life!"
Watching Melusine who seemed to radiate new life, Percival suddenly understood.
"No wonder we couldn't find sister's body back then!"
When Da Vinci-chan said they couldn't find the body, he thought someone had stolen the dragon corpse, attempting to exploit it. He never imagined Lord Eiji had quietly taken it away!
"Moreover, I'm not the only one who returned alive!"
Melusine stood with her back against Percival's, meaningfully hinting.
On the other side.
Mash and Tristan protected Fujimaru Ritsuka from front and back.
But the number of demonic insects was simply too overwhelming. Even though Tristan plucked his bowstring until it became a blur, he couldn't clear all the insects, only watching helplessly as the bugs around them grew more numerous.
"If it's about defense, please leave it to me!"
Black flames swept past the three of them, sending all the nearby demonic insects into a sea of fire.
"My Fortress of the Heart once defeated an insectoid Mors calamity before - the outcome won't be any different this time!"
Heavy footsteps sounded.
A female knight clad in silver armor, wielding a heavy greatsword, appeared before them.
Her robust figure instantly brought a strong sense of security.
"Miss Barghest?"
Mash exclaimed in surprise.
"But weren't you—?"She had seen Eiji freeze the black dog-form Barghest in absolute zero ice!"
"It seems Lord Eiji did some unexpected things after we left!"
Tristan wiped sweat from his forehead, Barghest's appearance making him breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Barghest was the most defense-specialized Fairy Knight, especially with her fairy authority "Fortress of the Heart" stolen from Foul Weather - an impregnable defense so strong even anti-fortress Noble Phantasms could hardly breach it!
"This... ah, pardon my rudeness, I never asked for your true name."
"My true name is Tristan."
Slurp!
Barghest's feet slipped, nearly landing her flat on the ground.
"I-I see! To think the legendary Knight of the Round Table was right beside me all along, and I never noticed! How many opportunities have I wasted until now? Anyway, I hope you can give me an autograph later!"
"Huh? Ah... that's fine, I suppose."
Tristan silently lamented.
A fan, is she?
"Sir Tristan is correct. It was indeed His Highness who saved me, and the same goes for Melusine."
Barghest cleared her throat, suppressing her urge to ask for an autograph on the spot, and spoke with a serious tone.
"However, both Her Majesty and His Highness believed there was a mastermind lurking behind the scenes in the Fairy Kingdom, so they had us remain hidden until now before revealing ourselves!"
Eiji and Cnoc na Riabh, having experienced the Londinium disaster from 2,400 years ago, were well aware that besides the Cursed God, there was another enemy in the Fairy Kingdom—the "Self-Destructive Will of Britain."
However, since they hadn't known where that enemy was hiding, they chose to keep them concealed, waiting to strike unexpectedly at the critical moment!
As it turned out, this strategy proved to be absolutely correct.
"No way...?"
Artoria stared in disbelief, utterly flustered.
"Not only Melusine and Barghest, but why has Woodwose been resurrected too?"
That's right.
She could understand Melusine and Barghest being revived, but how could Woodwose, who had been dead for several days, reappear as if nothing had happened?
"Is this what they call a 'Dream Seed'?"
Grim recalled the conversation they had in the submersible and nodded in understanding.
"He must have planted the Dream Seed on Woodwose back when he was still Okita Souji, so even if he turned into a bell, he could be saved!"
So that's how it was!
Artoria suddenly remembered.
After defeating Woodwose in Oxford, right after she rang the bell, Okita Souji had approached and carried away the bell that Woodwose had turned into!
After that, with Beryl's incident immediately following, they had all forgotten to ask Okita Souji where he had hidden the bell!
"By the way, how's your magical energy?"
"Magical energy!"
At Grim's question, Artoria hurriedly checked her own condition.
"I've lost about the equivalent of two bells' worth of magical energy. That must be the cost of the reversal... Wait, why two bells' worth?"
If only Woodwose had been resurrected, she should have lost only one bell's worth of magical energy.
Then what about the other bell—
"Waaah! I was so scared, Master!"
A girl with tear-streaked cheeks, crying uncontrollably, suddenly appeared from nowhere and clung to Artoria, sobbing bitterly.
"When I woke up, I was surrounded by the Queen, the Fairy Knights, and the clan leader of the Fang Clan! I thought even in hell, I'd be bullied by enemies! It was terrifying!"
The girl had short golden hair, giving off a puppy-like impression.
"Gareth?!"
Artoria suddenly understood.
Right!
After ringing the bell in New Darlington, the bell that Gareth had turned into was also carried away by Okita Souji!
Eiji!
Are you a god?!
"Hahahaha! That brat really went all out!"
Muramasa laughed heartily.
"I'll admit it! Right now, you're the one stealing the spotlight!"
...
"What a damn joke!"
Oberon cursed harshly.
"Why must an actor who has already taken their final bow appear on stage at this moment! It's utterly disgusting! So disgusting it makes me want to vomit even my stomach acid!"
"Melusine and Barguest are one thing, but why has even that dog been revived! There should be a time limit on revocations, shouldn't there!"
Among all the inhabitants of the Fairy Kingdom, aside from Eiji and Morgan, he detested that dog the most!
Because a thousand years ago, when he appeared on the surface of Britain for the second time as the King of Mors, it was Woodwose who defeated him!