"You noticed it too?"
Inside the carriage, Morgan had been lost in thought when Samael's solemn voice came from across from her. The Witch froze, and an unnatural stiffness briefly appeared beneath her veil.
Fortunately, before Morgan could respond, Samael frowned and continued thoughtfully.
"During the Beast Plague, Barghest was born, an ancestral A-Ray conceived by a Black Dog.
"During the Insect Plague, Baobhan Sith was born, a special blood-sucking fairy created from corpses.
"During the Mad Hunt, the King of the Gale emerged to command that army of ghosts.
"Perhaps none of this is merely coincidence...
"If that pattern holds, then unless I'm mistaken, there's probably another special lifeform being nurtured within the swamp dragon carcass at the source of the Dragon Plague in the North.
"I have a feeling the Four Great Calamities sweeping across Britannia are somehow connected. There may be another purpose hidden behind all of them."
Realizing Samael had not noticed her wandering thoughts, Morgan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But his speculation immediately made her expression turn serious again. Her gaze flickered toward her two adopted daughters in the other carriage, and her brow gradually tightened as she silently pieced everything together.
Cornwall... the Dog Demon... Barghest...
The Nameless Forest... the Cat Witch... Baobhan Sith...
The North... the Mad Hunt... the King of the Gale...
And then... the swamp dragon carcass...
The King of the Gale... a being remarkably similar to Artoria...
An army... Knights... a king...
Suddenly, Morgan realized something. Her expression changed sharply.
"You mean... Vortigern is trying to create his own Knights of the Round Table to oppose Camelot!"
Samael nodded slightly and stroked his chin, an amused smile appearing on his face.
"More precisely, perhaps we should call them Fairy Knights. Or the Dark Round Table?"
While Morgan was still stunned by the possibility, Samael calmly refilled his employer's cup with tea. Then he looked up with a smile, easing the atmosphere somewhat as he casually explained his recent reasoning.
"I've had the feeling that the lives born from each of the Four Great Calamities may actually be the key to suppressing those calamities. That's why I agreed to spend more time in Cornwall and the Nameless Forest."
Morgan finally understood.
She could not help but feel genuinely impressed by her companion's foresight.
But another concern immediately surfaced, making her restless again.
"Then what about them...?"
The Witch turned toward the other carriage, where her two adopted daughters were happily playing together. Her lips pressed tightly together as she hesitated.
"Where a sword points depends on who holds it, doesn't it?"
Samael blinked, handed her the cup, and smiled meaningfully.
"Exactly!"
Morgan's gaze returned to Barghest and Baobhan Sith, both wearing carefree smiles. Warmth returned to her eyes, and she finally released a breath of relief.
Samael took a sip of tea and glanced toward Morgan. Deep within his dark pupils, something complicated flickered.
The Sacred Round Table Realm, Camelot...
The Fae Round Table Realm, Avalon-le-Fé...
Who Britannia would ultimately belong to was still uncertain.
Fate...
Fate indeed...
Mari's impulsive interference had ultimately caused a fundamental shift in the balance of power.
Yet Samael had no grounds to blame her.
After all, he also carried the mission of bringing Britannia's Age of Gods to its conclusion and nourishing the sleeping Star Spirits and gods within Avalon.
If not for Mari's meddling, what they would probably have faced was the King of Knights Artoria, wielding the Holy Lance Rhongomyniad, having completely unified the Mysteries of Britannia and achieved perfect deification.
Ether was steadily thinning, and the Age of Gods was peeling away from the world.
At present, Divine Spirits were already the upper limit of what the world could accommodate.
More troublesome still, even if the gods descended, they could no longer manipulate the laws of the world as freely as they had at the dawn of creation.
Instead, their actions were constrained by the increasingly stable rules of the world itself.
Because of that, bonuses granted by territory and faith had become extraordinarily powerful, almost absurdly so.
A Holy Grail War that would one day erupt in Romania demonstrated this perfectly.
At the time, Darnic, head of the Yggdmillennia family, initiated the Holy Grail War and summoned Vlad III the Impaler, a figure renowned throughout Romania.
Although Vlad III was not an especially extraordinary Heroic Spirit by his original specifications, the combined bonuses from his homeland and fame, in other words, faith, elevated his power so dramatically that even mighty Heroic Spirits such as the demigod Achilles and the son of a god, Karna, were reluctant to confront him directly.
In the end, it took a group attack and the tactic of luring Vlad III away from his homeland of Romania before they could finally bring down the Heroic Spirit empowered by his territorial advantage.
If even an ordinary Heroic Spirit could undergo such a dramatic transformation under the protection of territory and faith, then it took no imagination at all to understand how troublesome Artoria would become within Britannia itself.
She would have unified the entire land, been celebrated by its people, already ascended into a Divine Spirit, and stood alongside a whole pack of fanatically loyal Knights of the Round Table.
That would have been an absolute nightmare to deal with.
So Vortigern's existence was what prevented Artoria from becoming perfect.
If the two sides fought each other until both were badly weakened, that would be the most advantageous outcome for Samael.
As irritating as it was, he had to admit that Mari really was doing something useful.
Of course, there was no reason to expect too much from that woman.
Even when she did proper work, it was still built on her pursuit of amusement.
With Mari, he had to make use of her while remaining wary of her...
And before he knew it, several months had already passed since his revival.
His work of bringing the Age of Gods to a close had been progressing step by step, but there had always been a certain reluctance in him.
After spending so much time with these people, Samael no longer knew whether, when the time truly came, he would still be able to harden his heart.
Perhaps having that woman around offered another option.
"Samael! Samael! Look over here!"
Just as Samael sank deeper into thought, Baobhan Sith excitedly held up a newly drawn design from the other carriage and showed it to the Ancient Serpent.
"Mm. You've improved."
Samael casually praised her.
Baobhan Sith immediately looked smug with pride, while Habetrot and Freya wore similarly proud expressions.
After all, they had helped design the new style too.
Yet the harmonious, affectionate scene somehow made Samael feel even more restless.
As the carriage jolted along, he idly lifted the curtain and looked outside, hoping the scenery would distract him.
Wait...
This place looks familiar...
A strange sense of recognition surfaced.
A wicked curve slowly appeared at the corner of Samael's mouth.
He immediately raised a hand and signaled for the carriage to stop.
"You all keep going at your own pace. I suddenly remembered something I need to take care of. I'll catch up soon."
Before anyone could object, the Ancient Serpent transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the distance.
...
A short while later, within a fairy village bustling with reconstruction, a streak of light descended from the sky and landed in the center of the ruined square.
Samael's vertical pupils narrowed and widened as he smilingly surveyed the surroundings.
"Oh? Almost finished?"
That demon-like murmur caused the fairies, who had been busily constructing new houses atop the ruins, to freeze.
They slowly turned around, their faces filled with horror.
BOOM!
Samael casually raised his foot and brought it down.
The familiar tremor spread throughout the village.
In an instant, the half-built houses collapsed in rows like dominoes.
"All right, I just stopped by to say hello. Carry on, everyone! Keep up the good work!"
Samael cheerfully waved at the fairies standing dumbfounded among the rubble, then clenched his fist in a solemn gesture of encouragement.
Before they could even "see him off," the Ancient Serpent had already turned into a streak of light and disappeared into the sky.
The next instant, countless eyes burning with fury shifted toward three bruised and battered troublemaking fairies, along with the only house still standing.
"You rotten brats!"
"You pests!"
"Why did you have to provoke him?! Give us our houses back!"
"Beat them up! Beat them up!"
Amid the furious shouting, the miserable screams of the three victims echoed over the devastated village.
Far away, Samael caught back up with the carriage.
His furrowed brow finally relaxed, and he let out a deeply satisfied breath.
Mm.
Much better.
***
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