[Under Nocknaree's command and through everyone's collective efforts, you finally managed to defeat the guardian standing before the Pilgrimage Bell and successfully completed the special quest: Challenge the Shadow of the Past.]
[Ding! Due to your victory over the Shadow Ywain—whose strength vastly surpassed your own—the effect "Fighting Spirit" has been triggered. All of your combat attributes have increased by one rank. Your updated status is as follows:]
[Strength: C → B]
[Agility: C → B]
[Endurance: C → B]
[Magic: D → C]
[Luck: G remains unchanged]
…Well, not a complete waste of effort, then.
Staring at his status screen for a while, Gawain finally sighed and accepted the situation.
Although drawing the D-rank Noble Phantasm "Knight Sword of Calia" was a bit of a downer, the "Fighting Spirit" trait gave him considerable compensation. The stronger the opponent he defeated, the greater the boost he received. Defeating Shadow Ywain in the raid gave him a solid attribute increase. A full +1 to all combat stats—he couldn't complain.
With this upgrade, combined with his own skill modules, he now had enough power to go toe-to-toe with the truly powerful Servants. In this Britain teeming with elite warriors, he had finally carved a place for himself. That was acceptable.
[Afterwards, Artoria also fulfilled her goal and rang the Pilgrimage Bell.]
[The sound of the Bone Bell echoed throughout Britain, and Artoria's stats received a further boost.]
"Yeah… I can feel the difference. This version of Artoria feels almost on par with how you were during the fourth simulation, after completing the entire pilgrimage. No, considering your Sovereign Form, you're probably even stronger now," Nocknaree said, examining her from top to bottom.
The "fourth simulation" referred to the first time Artoria and her team cleared the scenario—when Gawain became the Sword Saint of Salvation.
Artoria nodded gently at her words, clearly reflective.
"Yeah… after going through so many simulations, I really have grown a lot. Even if we ignore everything else, just the traits I've acquired along the way have turned me from a powerless lower-tier fae into something else entirely."
"True," Nocknaree said, chuckling as she glanced at Artoria's traits.
"'Boar Princess'… Hah! So the Boar Clan actually exists. I guess that explains a lot about your past behavior."
"Hey! Watch it! You keep teasing me about that, and I'll gore you for real!" Artoria shot back, red-faced.
So… Artoria leveled up again. I wonder how far she's grown?
Gawain, listening to the banter between the two women, curiously opened up Artoria's status screen… and his jaw slowly dropped.
[Strength: B → A]
[Endurance: C → C]
[Agility: C → B]
[Magic: C → B]
W-Wait, what?
Staring in disbelief at her current stats, Gawain's eyes widened. But after a moment, it began to make sense.
Artoria started out with all E-rank stats. But the growth bonus from ringing a bell—which gave a +1 to all stats—was insanely effective. After ringing both the Gloucester and Orkney bells, and factoring in her "Holy Sword Fae" trait, that was already a +3 across the board.
Even starting with such a poor base, that kind of boost was more than enough to push her into the elite tier. And she also had the "Boar Princess" trait, which granted an extra +1 to Strength and Endurance.
Now, the only ceiling on her stats was her innate growth cap. Unlike Gawain, who had the "Growth Potential" skill, most players had a fixed stat limit. Artoria's original cap was Strength B, Endurance D, Agility B, Magic A. The only reason she could grow beyond that now was thanks to traits like "Holy Sword Fae" and "Boar Princess," which boosted both stats and caps.
And now with this monstrous status panel—combined with Sovereign Form and her newly acquired Flame Greatsword—was it possible that… he couldn't beat her anymore?
That thought stunned Gawain.
Yes… Artoria was stronger than him now.
Just this recent fight against Shadow Ywain and Shadow Ash: outside of Nocknaree's strategic leadership, Artoria alone carried the weight of the entire team. Her contributions eclipsed everyone else's—his included. Compared to her, Gawain had been more of a burden.
He glanced again at Artoria, who was currently laughing and roughhousing with Nocknaree, poking each other's sides. A strange feeling welled up in him.
Without realizing it, that fool who always trailed behind him, the one who constantly made him worry… had actually grown up.
It wasn't like he hadn't noticed her growth before. It's just… he hadn't gotten used to no longer needing to push himself to keep the team afloat.
Maybe… maybe it's time I eased up a little on myself?
Gawain thought to himself.
[After ringing the Orkney Bell, your team remained there for half a day to rest. Since Balvanshee's Ring of Swiftness hadn't yet cooled down, you decided to return to Edinburgh via Redrara's carriage.]
[On the way back, you discussed your next destination and asked Nocknaree about the current state of the war.]
[Upon learning that she had already conquered Salisbury, Artoria was overjoyed.]
"That's great! Since you've taken Salisbury, I won't have to be delayed by that bastard Aurora forcing me to cleanse Norwich first. I can go straight to ring the Salisbury Bell!"
"Once I ring that third bell, I'll basically reach my final form! When the time comes, facing Lancelot won't just be manageable—it'll be an easy fight!"
[You quickly decided to head directly to Salisbury, to let Artoria ring the third bell.]
[And upon returning to Edinburgh, you happened to meet Oberon, who had just returned from a scouting mission.]
[From him, you received devastating news: Salisbury had fallen.]
According to Oberon, while Gawain and his team had been away fighting Shadow Ash and Shadow Ywain in Orkney, Woodworth had not given up on Salisbury. He didn't launch a full-scale assault again; instead, he infiltrated solo.
After receiving intel from Aurora about a secret passage within Salisbury, Woodworth used it to sneak inside and launch a surprise attack on the northern fae defenders.
Though the defenders had magical spears, they lacked numbers, didn't have Nocknaree's command, and were caught off guard. Against a berserk Woodworth, their weapons were useless.
At the same time, Aurora contacted the Wind Clan, who still had a presence in Salisbury. These traitors caused chaos throughout the city, distracting the defenders and allowing Woodworth to slaughter them all.
Soon, Salisbury was his.
Woodworth returned control to Aurora, and then personally led his army to occupy the city. At that point, Aurora was fully bound to Woodworth's chariot of war.
After reporting on Salisbury, Oberon mentioned signs of increasing unrest in Norwich's disaster accumulation as well.
[Enraged by the news, Nocknaree immediately mobilized her forces to launch a second assault on Salisbury, vowing to avenge the fallen northern fae. She invited your party to join the campaign.]
[Be it for rational or emotional reasons, you did not refuse. You accepted her invitation and prepared to face Woodworth again.]
[Upon reaching Salisbury, you found that Woodworth had already prepared his forces and set up defenses, anticipating your attack.]
[The battle began quickly. But as you exchanged fire, you were shocked to see that Woodworth's troops were also equipped with magical spears, which they used to launch ranged attacks on Nocknaree's army.]
"Tch. Looks like he suffered from those spears last time, so he equipped his own troops with the ones he looted from Salisbury," Nocknaree said through gritted teeth, recognizing the weapons.
She turned to Balvanshee. "Help me out here."
[Though Woodworth's magic-spear-wielding troops initially caught Nocknaree off guard and inflicted some damage, they couldn't turn the tide.]
[Balvanshee pulled out massive amounts of blood-infused lake water from her viewing orb and unleashed a flood, wiping out the enemy ranks. Nocknaree's soldiers charged in to finish off the survivors.]
"Damn it… Since when could Tristan the Fae Knight control floods…? Whatever."
Seeing himself surrounded, Woodworth let out a cold laugh.
"You think just because you wiped out my useless underlings, you've won? Foolish! You know nothing. Dust—no matter how much it accumulates—"
"Is still just dust, right?" Nocknaree said, flicking her ear. "And next you'll say something about how true warriors fight alone? Please, I've heard those lines from you so many times I'm growing calluses on my ears."
"If you're so confident in your strength, then come, Woodworth. Let's finish this."
[The battle quickly escalated into a duel between your party and Woodworth. But this time, the fight was surprisingly easy.]
Only Sovereign Artoria and Bagst were needed to completely suppress him.
Though his regenerative powers caused some trouble at first, once Balvanshee joined the fray with her "Deathslayer" weapon, even that was neutralized.
[Realizing he was outmatched, Woodworth decisively attempted to flee.]
Just as Gawain and the others chased after the fleeing Woodworth, a set of glowing text suddenly appeared before them all:
[Warning. Warning.]
["Calamity" has landed in Norwich.]