[By the ninth day, the number of Mors surging in had become overwhelmingly large. Considering that the inner walls of the royal city were themselves as defensible as the outer walls, and that the area needing defense was far smaller than the outer walls, you chose to continue retreating and consolidating your forces, moving the frontline back to the upper district of the inner royal city.]
[It was also thanks to Knocknarea, who had at the very beginning placed all the residents safely within the city walls. Even after consolidating the defense line, you were still able to protect those in the rear.]
[However, even so, the pressure of defense remained enormous.]
This whole situation felt like a nightmare.
At this point, the number of Mors that you had personally slain could no longer be counted.
After dozens of hours of intense fighting, even with Guinevere's top-tier heroic stamina, her limbs felt as if filled with lead, her entire body numb, left with only monotonous instinct.
She simply swung her sword, swung again, swung again, cutting through the Mors that kept climbing and piling up before her like zombies in a horror film, kicking them away, then slashing through the next wave.
She had no idea how the others were faring—could they hold the defense?
While fighting at the frontline, Guinevere thought to herself.
Because the number of Mors was too great, constantly pouring in from all directions, the defenders had naturally divided responsibilities, each leading teams along different walls.
Percival and Bogart guarded one wall together; Bagster's elite Northern fairies guarded another; Guinevere, along with Artoria and Bavanzi, held their position, while Lancelot flew overhead, surveying the battlefield and ready to reinforce any section of the line that might collapse.
At this point, they could only be thankful that Camelot was backed by the Great Abyss, so the Mors tides wouldn't surge from that side, allowing them to defend fewer walls.
But, could this really be considered a good thing?
Thinking of the one still asleep in the Great Abyss, Guinevere's heart grew heavier.
[Critical threshold reached.]
[The number of Mors has surpassed that of the fairies.]
[Although no high-quality living sacrifice has been obtained, the conditions for the god's awakening are met.]
[The end has come.]
[Great Calamity begins.]
Although Knocknarea had taken in many refugees and effectively preserved them, by the seventh day, this warning appeared before everyone's eyes.
From that moment, everyone's system interface turned gray, accompanied by static flickering like an old malfunctioning TV, and a line of blood-red countdown numbers on the screen:
[Three days remain until the Awakening of the Sleeve.]
Just like when the Beast Calamity and Fire Calamity had appeared before, this time it was merely a three-day prelude, yet already displayed with the same visual effect, accompanied by a Mors frenzy far surpassing any Norich disaster. Everyone realized that something extremely serious would happen in three days.
Now, the countdown showed just over a day remaining.
Even if Guinevere and the others could survive these waves of Mors, what would happen afterward? When the countdown ended, if that thing emerged from the Great Abyss, wouldn't they be in the most dangerous place?
As Guinevere pondered this, her peripheral vision suddenly noticed something off.
What was going on? They were still holding the frontline; the defense hadn't collapsed, and seemed to have even pushed back slightly. That should be good… wait.
How could the line be pushing back? These soldiers were almost at their limit! How could the situation improve?
Guinevere's eyes darted around, quickly finding the reason: among the frontline Northern fairies, there seemed to be some new reinforcements that had just joined the battlefield.
"Artoria! What's going on? Where did these extra soldiers come from?"
"Eh? I don't know," Artoria was also taken aback. "Yeah, it's strange… where did they come from?"
Still puzzled, Guinevere stared at the soldiers a few more times before her expression darkened. She grabbed one of them and demanded:
"You're the soldier monitoring the Camelot fairies, right? Why are you here?"
"Eh? Um… Lady Knocknarea sent us," the soldier stammered under Guinevere's grip. "She said this line is far more important than the rear, so we were sent to reinforce the city defense."
"Damn it," Guinevere gritted her teeth. "I should have already moved as many of the rear monitoring soldiers as possible… if there are too few left, no one can watch those fairies, and no one can protect Knocknarea!"
"But Lady Knocknarea said at such a critical time, soldiers shouldn't be wasted on useless positions…"
"Enough, go back."
She released the soldier, her expression still dark.
"No, without supervision, I don't trust them to behave… They'll attempt a second revolt and try to persuade the other fairies arriving in the past few days to join them. If something happens in the rear at this critical moment, or they manage to harm Knocknarea, everything is over!"
"That idiot Knocknarea… at a time like this, you can't relax monitoring them… No, from the start, those damned Camelot fairies should have been exterminated. She's still too indecisive."
With that, Guinevere formed a plan. She shouted to Artoria and Bavanzi:
"Artoria, Bavanzi, hold the line here! I'm going back to check the rear!"
After saying this, she swung her Calia greatsword, cutting a gap through the Mors wave, then leapt from the wall, rushing toward where Knocknarea was stationed.
[You speed toward the rear and quickly return to the Camelot fairy containment zone. Upon arrival, you find it amid a massacre.]
[The Camelot fairies hadn't behaved themselves; once the guards left, they immediately emerged, attempting another revolt. They also tried to find fairies placed in other areas, spreading the so-called "truth" to incite a larger-scale uprising.]
[However, Lancelot, flying overhead, immediately discovered their intent and quickly arrived, blocking their path. Upon understanding their objective, she decisively struck, slaughtering the Camelot fairies. By the time you arrived, the massacre was nearly over, with almost all the Camelot fairies dead or wounded.]
[She soon noticed your arrival.]
"G-Guinevere?" Lancelot instinctively shrank back. She glanced at the scattered, dying fairies around and at the blood on herself, quickly waving her hands in explanation:
"Uh, Guinevere, let me explain…"
"Explain what? Do you think I can't see what happened here?" Guinevere shook her head. "Now you understand why I was so eager to kill the fairies. These creatures are basically a hazard; even if you kill most, one in ten will survive… In short, you did nothing wrong."
"Eh?" Lancelot froze, though the words seemed odd, the overwhelming joy of being praised by Guinevere soon overtook her.
She wanted to say more, but suddenly, her expression changed drastically.
Not just her, but Guinevere and Knocknarea at the throne, and everyone in the city felt an overwhelming malice.
And the direction from which this malice emanated coincided with the Great Abyss. Even with the palace in the way, Guinevere and Lancelot saw dense black fog continuously rising toward the sky.
No matter who, or from how far, anyone seeing it would understand instantly—it was not Mors or anything similar, but something far more ominous and fundamental.
At the throne, Knocknarea could clearly witness the full scope of whatever was climbing up from the Great Abyss, sensing its intense malice and anger.
Just a glance at the abyss's bottom caused her brain to throb painfully, her body nearly collapsing into it.
So terrifying… I'm just like a human, I won't become Mors, yet I'm still affected this much…
Knocknarea stepped back several times before sitting down, pale and gasping.
At that moment, a water mirror suddenly appeared beside her, and Bavanzi's head emerged: "Knocknarea! Are you okay? We saw the black fog over the royal city. What's happening?!"
"I… I don't know…" Knocknarea activated her system panel.
[Due to the mass death of fairies, the Mors-to-fairy ratio is now extreme. The Awakening of the Sleeve accelerates.]
[One hour remains until the Awakening of the Sleeve.]
The red countdown deepened into a crimson, as if written in blood, with a huge black silhouette forming behind it. Strange, primitive markings flashed within its center.
"Mass death of fairies? What happened? Was the defense breached?" Knocknarea stared blankly.
"No… I think I can guess what happened," Artoria murmured, glancing at the departing Guinevere. "More importantly, something inside the Great Abyss is seriously wrong…"
"It will awaken in three hours. What should we do?"
"Of course we must evacuate all humans and fairies still in Camelot," Knocknarea said, biting her finger in anxiety. "I planned to start the escape when only half a day remained…"
"How is that possible?!" Bavanzi's eyes widened. "Only one hour left! How can we even manage? Are we supposed to make them all grow wings and fly?"
…That… might actually be possible.
At that moment, Guinevere's voice came from above. The three women looked up to see Lancelot carrying her from behind, flying swiftly toward them. Judging by Lancelot's nearly fainting happy expression and Guinevere's reluctant one, they understood it was a desperate measure.
"Have you heard the story of Noah's Ark?" Guinevere said quickly. "Bavanzi has manipulated lake water by infusing it with blood before, right? Now, we have collected a lot of blood from the battlefield. Using this, Bavanzi can use the water mirror to move the entire lake's water with the landscape orb."
"Then, if we let the city fairies make rafts, Bavanzi can lift them with the water into the sky, escaping the ground… Bavanzi, can you keep a chunk of lake water floating for a while?"
Everyone else stared in disbelief.
"Such an operation? Guinevere, you're a genius!"
[After you explained your Noah's Ark-inspired plan, the others quickly agreed and implemented it.] [You had Lancelot carry you around the city, spreading the plan, while others worked busily. By ten minutes before the countdown ended, everyone was safely transported to the sky, beyond the Mors' reach.]
"To avoid the curse, I'll take these people first," Bavanzi said, glancing back at Guinevere with a reluctant expression before using the lake water to carry the last humans and fairies of Britain away.
"Now, the final battle begins. I don't know what's down there… but just feeling its presence, we can sense it's terrifying."
Looking at the few minutes remaining on her system's countdown, Guinevere scanned the remaining fighters, finally resting her gaze on Artoria.
"By the way, Artoria, at a time like this, can't you give us some magical item?"