London streets.
Liliana Kranjcar, the silver-haired, blue-eyed, slender and graceful Sword Fairy (as pranksters called her), was on a rare vacation.
Of course, it would've been better if she hadn't been called for sudden overtime.
Not long ago, she received a new mission.
"A Divine Artifact?"
Standing at a crossroads, Liliana held her phone, whispering softly.
"Asking me to search for a lost Divine Artifact in England and investigate what's really happening there?"
Liliana inwardly wailed about her vanishing vacation, but she had to gather her spirit and clarify the situation.
In Italy, there were seven leading organizations among the secret societies researching magic.
Bronze Black Cross, where Liliana belonged, was one of them.
And she herself was the eldest daughter of the Kranjcar family, the leading family of Bronze Black Cross.
If something happened to a discovered Divine Artifact and it flew to England, she naturally had the duty to handle it.
To avoid triggering diplomatic incidents and conflict between the Sword King and the Black Prince.
But before that, she had to trace the Divine Artifact's origins. When necessary, she, with her witch blood, would also be frontline personnel, personally investigating the artifact's origins.
However, her mentor Diana conveyed crucial news over the phone.
"What? The origins are already known? A fragment of an ancient Earth Mother's Divinity?"
Liliana was shocked and slightly confused.
What was Divinity? As a witch, she certainly knew. But only a Heretic God descending to the world could restore Divinity.
Thinking this, Liliana said nervously.
"Such a thing will surely spark conflict between the two Kings. Are you asking me to investigate whether another King succeeded in slaying the God?"
Liliana's hand trembled slightly, nearly dropping her phone.
She fell silent for three or four full seconds, then said awkwardly.
"What? Already coordinated with Princess Alice? This time it's just information sharing?"
If asked who the strongest witch was now, it was none other than Princess Alice.
Her witch blood had undergone ancestral awakening, even reaching a level comparable to a Divine Ancestor, burdening her body beyond endurance.
In the Middle Ages, to spread her fictional myth of the Legend of King Arthur, Guinevere built a network connecting all witches, making all European witches a loose community in a sense.
They regularly held gatherings like Witches' Night, and the current organizer and manager was Alice.
In witches' private calls, Alice even had the title Witch King.
But Alice herself didn't accept the title. After all, compared to God Slayers, what little witch dared call herself a King?
Since it was already coordinated, Liliana felt relieved.
(No wonder my mentor asked me to come. Probably to meet Princess Alice and build connections.)
Thinking this, Liliana took a breath and huffed softly.
"I understand. I'll go find Princess Alice and help investigate the information. Please don't worry…"
But before Liliana finished, she froze. Seeing the latest news on TV, she was speechless.
"After Queen Elizabeth's consideration, she and Prince Charles are advanced in age. It has now been decided to abdicate the throne to Alice Louis of Nafal…"
"W-What… is… this…?"
Liliana was suddenly shocked.
Wasn't Alice from the hidden world? Why was she reaching into the secular world? And even becoming Queen of England.
Was Alice going to lead the violation of the hidden world's unwritten rules?
"Very surprised? What's there to be shocked about?"
A young man's voice asked.
Just as Liliana felt shocked, her shoulder was suddenly patted.
Reflexively, Liliana wanted to counter with combat techniques.
"Huh?"
Liliana initially wanted to move, shocked, and turned half-warily to look behind.
Seeing this, her pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
"Wah!"
An uncontrollable physiological reaction hit Liliana. But she could only cover her mouth with difficulty. Her pupils stared straight at the person before her. Her mouth uttered emotionless words.
"That is the Hero who defeated the Devil King. That is Britain's incarnation. That is salvation's manifestation. The Savior Hero… Uwaa~~"
Liliana couldn't help vomiting again. But at that moment, the hand pressing her shoulder slightly strengthened, and all negative reactions vanished instantly.
"Tch, this Divinity condensation process is really troublesome. Why does Divine Nature always leak?"
Aslan clicked his tongue unhappily. But Liliana's heart sank to the abyss.
The Divine Nature she just saw with Spirit Vision… Arthur Pendragon. Liliana showed a tearful expression, truly seeing the arrival with her naked eyes.
Liliana blinked.
And Aslan standing before her also blinked, saying jokingly.
"I was wondering why Alice suddenly told me to come. Turns out seeing I don't have many knights under me, she came to give me a subordinate."
This… Liliana was shocked and couldn't help asking the still-connected phone.
"Mentor, is Princess Alice pledging loyalty to a Heretic God?"
"Are you so vacation-drunk you've gone stupid? The one Alice is loyal to is the Black Prince, though it's surface loyalty."
Diana on the other end asked back, slightly confused.
"Isn't it simple? Just kill Alec, and it's done?"
Diana suddenly fell silent.
Liliana suddenly let out a crying sound. She looked at Aslan with helpless tears, and at the same time at the decisively hung-up phone.
Liliana fell into despair. She only felt she was going to die.
A Heretic God who kills God Slayers… This was truly a disaster. God Slayers were people blessed with strong fortune.
Even Athena, at her peak, after killing a God Slayer, ended up with a third of her Divinity destroyed.
(Then this Excellency…) Liliana somewhat didn't dare continue the thought.
She was afraid she'd faint from her own fear.
"I really don't know why you made me Queen of England?"
At this moment, a sweet female voice came from the side.
"Of course to balance Alec. And I've already given the reward upfront."
"Hmph, truly a heartless man."
Hearing that, Liliana couldn't help looking up, only seeing a blonde girl who had somehow attached herself to Aslan's back.
And a honey-haired Valkyrie behind Aslan.
(Ancient Steel Goddess, Lancelot…) Liliana finally broke, saying with a dazed expression.
"You don't need to gang up to fight me, right?"
"Already scared with just this? What if I say I can summon the Knights of the Round Table?"
Aslan looked at Liliana in surprise, showing a playful smile.
(Huh? The Knights of the Round Table, a dozen allied Heretic Gods attacking me? I must not have woken up.)
Then Liliana fell silent for a moment, her eyes rolled back, and she truly fainted.
But before fainting, she vaguely heard the conversation between Aslan and Alice.
"What a pity I went through the trouble to find you a few pretty knight maids…"
"Find for me… I think you're tricking me."
(So I was tricked into coming here?)
Closing her eyes, feeling a beam of light, this stimulation made Liliana unconsciously open her eyes.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Various art pieces and expensive furniture appeared beautiful and elegant, full of historical charm, arranged by a master.
In this Gothic-style building, Liliana seemed to understand where she was.
She lifted the sheet, put on slippers, and walked down the corridor. Not far away came the conversation between Aslan, Alice, and another existence.
"You should at least tell me, what's really up with that phone of yours?"
Alice raised her head, looking at him with eyes full of curiosity.
"After all, I deliberately tricked a pretty knight maid for you~"
"Are you sure that's tricking? Isn't it taking advantage of the situation?"
Aslan narrowed his eyes, looking at Alice, smiling while poking holes in her words.
This made Alice, who originally wanted to gain more benefits with this, unable to help inwardly cursing Aslan for being insensitive, not knowing how to seize the chance to increase her goodwill.
But in the face of Aslan's attitude unmoved by persuasion or coercion, Alice could only sigh helplessly.
She gently hugged Aslan's arm, swaying it, and whined.
"Please, tell me."
Truly a wicked man, she had to beg herself.
But it really made her curious—how could a high-tech object like a phone integrate with magic? Back then, the United States spent vast sums to conquer magic technology.
But still failed. Magic simply couldn't integrate with technology; the two were even mutually repulsive existences.
Only then did Aslan nod satisfied.
"Simple, because all your magic is built on the foundation of mythology."
Strictly speaking, the Campione world environment wasn't far from the Strike the Blood world environment. Even magical power was nearly the same.
Not like the Tsukihime world, where the more known the mystery, the more it vanished, and magic weakened.
But like technology, a special energy that could be interfered with and observed.
Meaning, if not for the existence of Heretic Gods, God Slayers, and mythology misleading this world's magic system, this world would also develop magic technology like Strike the Blood.
Of course, it should be noted that Strike the Blood's magic technology was brought by the Devas.
Magic in Strike the Blood was actually technology using magical power to achieve certain phenomena.
But magic in this world was actually a ritual to borrow power from Gods, using corresponding God power to achieve certain phenomena.
And God power had the property of lag, and as eras progressed, people no longer believed in Gods, causing mythological development to stagnate.
Of course, corresponding powers couldn't be excavated, and even magic would repel modern technology.
But such things were also easy to solve—just rebuild a new magic system.
Turn magic from metaphysics and theology into science.