All in all, after Galahad threw his heavy punches at Melusine and then smugly logged off, Mash regained full control of her body. Once she saw Ritsuka healing her scratches with magecraft, and Melusine—who had been beaten half to death—seriously apologizing, the anger in her chest naturally subsided. In the end, she shook hands with Melusine and made peace.
Seeing this, Guinevere finally sighed in relief and approached Melusine.
"We heard reports that you broke into the Holy City, stood before the Lion King, and were wounded by Lancelot before escaping into the desert... Are you alright now? How bad are your injuries?"
Chattering away, Guinevere soon noticed the wound on Melusine's shoulder, his expression changing slightly.
"It's this serious? Here, let me take a look..." As he stepped closer to Melusine, he glanced back at Artoria. "Artoria, do you have any healing magecraft, or perhaps an item that can treat wounds?"
"Hehe." Artoria froze for a moment at the question, but before she could answer, Melusine suddenly threw herself straight into Guinevere's arms.
"I knew you'd care about me, Guinevere. I'm so happy... Don't worry! This little wound will heal in no time."
As she spoke, she buried her face against his chest, greedily inhaling his scent. The sight made Artoria flare up in alarm.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" She rushed forward and yanked Melusine away, her voice full of outrage. "Do you have no sense of restraint? Are you even that close with Guinevere? Don't get all touchy-feely here! Haven't you heard that men and women should keep their distance? Don't take advantage of Guinevere just because he's not good at rejecting people!"
"Tch." Watching Artoria shield Guinevere like a mother hen guarding her chick, Melusine clicked her tongue and turned away irritably.
"Talking about restraint at a time like this... No wonder you get bossed around every day."
"What did you just say?" Though she hadn't heard clearly, Artoria could tell Melusine was insulting her and immediately demanded an explanation, hands on her hips.
"Alright, alright, both of you, stop it already, okay?"
Seeing them about to start fighting again, Guinevere hurriedly stepped in between with a helpless look.
"First things first, let's treat the wounds. Melusine, why don't you tell us what you've been through these past few days?"
Though still holding plenty of resentment toward Artoria, all of Melusine's displeasure vanished the moment Guinevere stood before her. Without hesitation, she spilled everything she had experienced.
Like Artoria, she had first appeared on the sheer cliffs of a mountain range. But unlike Artoria, who could only gape at the impassable walls, Melusine quickly decided to just pick a direction and fly straight ahead. Surely, she thought, she would eventually make it out.
So she flew onward, never encountering a single human settlement. She simply kept going until she left the mountains, then crossed the desert, and after an entire day of flying she finally reached the "edge of the world."
"It was really strange. It was like everything outside had been stripped away. Beyond some boundary line, there was just empty nothingness..."
"I see." Guinevere nodded. "As the Lion King's Holy Lance nears completion, this Singularity is shrinking. More and more land is being stripped away, turning into the world's end..."
"?"
Not quite understanding what he meant, Melusine continued her story anyway.
After discovering the world's edge, she immediately turned back into the desert. By chance, she strayed into Ozymandias's territory, where Nitocris's massive illusion projection startled her and nearly led to a fight.
But because Nitocris first asked, "Are you by chance a companion of Guinevere and Chaldea?" the misunderstanding was cleared up quickly. Learning from Nitocris that Guinevere's group had already gone to the Holy City, Melusine turned around and flew there herself.
After much more wandering and asking for directions, she finally arrived at the Holy City—only to learn the knights there were hunting someone.
"The moment I found out they were chasing Guinevere, I knew they were the enemy. So I thought, why not just take out the mastermind behind it all? That's why I went to the Holy City..."
—And the rest of her story was already known to them.
"I see..." Guinevere's expression softened after hearing everything. "You've really had a hard time. Always on the road, injured along the way... it must've been rough."
"It was rough at first... but the moment you showed concern for me, Guigui, all that exhaustion disappeared!" Melusine said happily.
"Tch." Artoria turned her head away with a grimace.
"What a smooth-talking flatterer..."
In short, despite all the drama, they had finally succeeded in bringing Melusine back into the group. Their combat strength soared to its peak—now at its strongest yet.
From there, they continued on according to plan, marching toward the Sun King's domain.
However, Mash still struggled to accept being suddenly dragged into a "sisterhood" with Melusine.
"Um, Lady Melusine... you're the Fairy Knight Lancelot of the Fairy Kingdom, while I'm a Demi-Servant possessed by Sir Galahad. Doesn't it seem... a little strange for us to call each other sisters?"
"Strange? Is it?" Melusine blinked.
"It is strange," Mash nodded seriously.
At that, Melusine tilted her head, thought for two seconds, then suddenly declared:
"Alright then, if you can get Guinevere to acknowledge you as his daughter—or if calling him 'Dad' makes him answer—then I'll be your stepmother. Your business will be my business. And putting aside everything else, you've already seen my power. I'll always be your strongest support!"
Mash: "?"
"Th-that doesn't sound right?" Mash stammered after several seconds in stunned silence. "Even if I don't really like that person—and neither does Sir Galahad—if I had to call someone my father, then shouldn't it be..."
"What? You mean that Lancelot from the Round Table?"
The moment she heard the name, Melusine's face darkened.
"Don't bring that guy up. Just hearing it makes me furious... no, disgusted!"
The name alone made her start ranting.
"That man isn't even worthy of being called a knight! I cut my way to the very king he served, and the entire time he blocked me, he wouldn't shut up! One moment it was, 'Your beauty takes my breath away,' then, 'It pains me to fight such a lovely lady.' Even after I smacked him flying, he still said, 'Even being struck by a beauty such as you is a joy'... Unbelievable! He wasn't even thinking about the fight! He didn't respect me! He didn't respect my strength as the strongest knight of the Fairy Kingdom!"
"Honestly, I wanted to finish him off right there. But his master was troublesome—when I was about to deal the killing blow, that Lion King suddenly shot me with the lance, then he slashed me again. I was gravely injured and had no choice but to retreat from the Holy City."
As she spoke, she pointed at the still-glimmering golden wound on her shoulder.
"See this? That's from the Lion King. The cut from that womanizer Lancelot already healed ages ago. But the rumors outside all say I was gravely injured by him... Ridiculous! That womanizer, unworthy of the title, is getting credit for this?!"
The more she spoke, the hotter her temper burned.
"Ugh, I'll never understand why Morgan gave me the knightly name of Lancelot... Just because he was the strongest of the Round Table, and I'm the strongest of the Fairy Round Table, she saddled me with his name?"
"Honestly, before I met him, I thought he must've been a strong, elegant knight. But when I actually saw him? Sure, he's powerful—but his character? Awful. Especially that lecherous side... I'm loyal and devoted, yet I got named after him? Was Morgan mocking me?"
"W-well... if we talk about Sir Lancelot's history with women, it's true he made many... questionable choices," Mash admitted, sighing as she recalled his life.
She had to admit, Melusine's criticisms weren't entirely wrong.
Thinking about it, Mash nodded and added:
"You have a point. Lancelot's reputation isn't great. Even though he's powerful, he was also one of the causes of the Round Table's collapse. His secret affair with Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's wife, was exposed. Because of that, Knights like Agravain died, and the Round Table fell apart..."
"Wait, what?" Melusine suddenly cut her off. "Mash, what did you just say? What about Lancelot?"
"Eh?" Mash blinked. "Uh... that Lancelot caused the deaths of Agravain and others..."
"Not that! The sentence before that one!" Melusine pressed, eyes serious.
"Um..." Mash thought back. "That he was the cause of the Round Table's collapse?"
"Not that either!" Melusine was nearly trembling now. "The middle part! What was it?"
Mash froze for a moment, then obediently repeated:
"Because his secret affair with Queen Guinevere, King Arthur's wife, was exposed..."
"So, in Proper Human History, the King of Britain was a woman named Artoria... and her queen was called Guinevere? And then Lancelot stole her away?" Melusine's voice shook with excitement.
"Uh... yes, that's correct," Mash answered nervously, not sure why Melusine was so worked up.
"I see! So that's the connection... this is what they call destiny!" Melusine slapped her slender thigh with excitement.
"My knightly name really should be Lancelot! His Majesty truly saw through the essence of fairies!"
Mash: "???"