CHAPTER 494: THE BEGINNING OF CHAOS

Looking Forward to Another World

"Help! Somebody help!"

"No! I'm going to get crushed!"

"Save me!"

"Save me first!"

"AAAAAHHH—!"

All of a sudden, the entire throne room was in chaos as the fairies, who had been happily watching the spectacle just moments ago, were now screaming one after another.

They leaped around frantically as chunks of the ceiling continued to crash down, but many of them still ended up getting hit directly by the falling debris and were immediately buried beneath it.

However, no one was bleeding at the scene.

As expected of fairies with strength far beyond that of superhumans, even when struck by such massive rubble, none of them ended up with cracked skulls or bloodied faces.

It was clear their bodies were tough enough to withstand it.

Nevertheless, most of the fairies present were diplomatic officials who normally never engaged in battle, so their crisis response skills were severely lacking, and their superhuman strength went completely to waste.

In the face of the collapsing ceiling and repeated explosions, all they could do was flee in panic. As a result, not only did they fail to escape, but they also got caught in the chaos and ended up as poor souls buried under the rubble.

Only a small number of fairies, like those from the Fang Clan and the fairy soldiers serving Morgan, managed to respond properly.

Some smashed falling debris with weapons or claws, while others relied on their agility to dodge the crashing ceiling fragments. A few even shielded those nearby, protecting both themselves and others from this sudden disaster.

"Your Majesty!"

"Are you alright?!"

Gawain and Woodwose rushed to Morgan's side—one swinging a blazing sword, the other slashing with sharp claws as they shattered incoming debris to protect her while calling out to her.

"Mother!"

Tristan, arriving a moment too late, had her mood instantly soured upon seeing that Gawain and Woodwose had already secured Morgan.

Meanwhile, Lancelot had already stayed by Aurora's side.

At some point, a pair of armguards had equipped themselves on her arms, while blades extended from them as she struck away chunks of stone to protect Aurora. Even Spriggan slyly clung to Aurora for protection, clearly trusting Lancelot's protection.

Amid all this, Morgan remained the only one who stayed calm and still from beginning to end.

In the next moment, she summoned her black spear from thin air and, with a casual sweep of the spear, released a wave of magical energy that blew away the dust and explosions inside the throne room.

Her gaze immediately turned toward the spot where Riezel and Artoria had been, but all she saw was an empty ruin.

Riezel and Artoria had vanished without a trace.

"They left in the end..."

Morgan muttered softly, her eyes flickering with an unreadable emotion.

Woodwose and the others, who also realized that Riezel had disappeared along with Artoria, were furious.

"I knew it! Damn that traitorous scum!" Woodwose roared in rage. "He already married Her Majesty and became Britain's prince consort, and yet he still chose to run off with that foreign magus? Is he not going to stop until he topples Her Majesty's rule?!"

He was unusually furious.

Even though he had strongly opposed the idea of his queen marrying Riezel, now that Riezel had scorned the wedding and chosen to flee, he was even angrier.

Something he valued so deeply was treated like disposable trash by someone else—this feeling struck deep into the heart of the proud head of the Fang Clan.

Even Tristan raised his voice to Morgan.

"Mother, someone that ungrateful doesn't deserve to be your husband! Let me go tear him to pieces!"

A bloodthirsty light gleamed in Tristan's eyes.

"..."

Gawain remained silent, saying nothing.

Morgan, however, paid no mind to Tristan or Woodwose.

Holding her black spear, she looked out over the throne room, now reduced to ruin, her expression returning to its usual cold, merciless state.

"Fairy Knight Gawain, take your troops and begin the purge of the Child of Prophecy." Morgan ordered calmly.

"Understood."

Gawain accepted the order without hesitation, the chains on her body rattling as she turned to leave the throne room.

"Your Majesty! I'll go too!"

Woodwose volunteered eagerly, but just as he was about to step out, Morgan's cold voice stopped him in his tracks.

"You stay behind and clean up the mess, Woodwose."

"Your Majesty?" Woodwose looked at her in shock.

"Tristan." Morgan ignored Woodwose and continued giving orders, turning to Tristan. "You stay as well."

"Mother!" Tristan quickly spoke. "Let me go too! With Opposing Mirrors in my hands, no matter where they run, I can chase them down with Gawain!"

Hearing this, Morgan subtly furrowed her brows, but perhaps because Tristan mentioned bringing Gawain along, she thought it over and finally nodded.

"Fine... Take Gawain and go after them, and bring Lancelot as well."

"Yes, Mother!"

Tristan accepted the order with great joy.

Normally, if Morgan had asked her to bring Gawain and Lancelot, Tristan might have been annoyed, but this time, just thinking about finally getting payback on Riezel made her forget all that and agree without hesitation.

"Remember, I want him alive."

Morgan clearly knew what Tristan was thinking, so she added coldly.

"B-But why, Mother?!"

It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on Tristan, and her excitement instantly vanished.

From her point of view, that human who was wrongly believed to be the Child of Prophecy had dared to ignore the wedding with her mother and run off on his own. He should be captured, have all his limbs cut off, turned into a human stick, and left to dry in the sun.

Yet her mother still wanted him alive?

It was absurd.

While Tristan was thinking that and had even blurted it out, Morgan simply gave her a look.

"I want him alive."

Morgan's repeated words, paired with an icy glare that felt colder than absolute zero, made the color drain from Tristan's face in an instant.

"I-I understand! Mother! Please don't be angry!"

Not daring to provoke Morgan any further, Tristan quickly accepted the command without another word.

"Why won't you let me go, Your Majesty?!"

Woodwose started shouting again.

"...Are you saying you think I don't need any protection over here, and you'd rather abandon me to go off fighting, Woodwose?"

Speaking calmly, Morgan stared at Woodwose with an expression that was cold and merciless, making Woodwose freeze up on the spot, shrinking back and unable to say a word.

Only then did Morgan turn away.

"Go. Do exactly as I said."

"I've already set up a bounded field around the palace. Even for him, it won't be easy to escape."

"I won't leave the throne again this time. I can't afford to abandon this place while intruders are still around. Understood?"

Naturally, the fairies responded to Morgan's words with respectful acknowledgment.

Morgan sat back down on the throne, overlooking the chaotic and ruined throne room in silence.

After a long while, a faint sigh echoed from the throne, but sadly, no one heard it.

===

At the same time, two people were dashing through one of the royal palace corridors.

"Hurry up! Let's get out of here while everything's a mess!"

Artoria dragged Riezel along as they ran, her urgency so obvious that Riezel, being pulled behind her, couldn't help but feel a bit amused.

"All those explosions—was that your doing? How'd you even pull it off?"

Riezel wasn't in a rush at all and simply let Artoria pull him along, asking out of curiosity.

In the first place, this was Camelot's royal palace—heavily guarded, so just sneaking in here alone was already quite a feat for Artoria. And now, she had even managed to plant something in the throne room and trigger huge explosions to cause chaos. Riezel honestly found that a little impressive.

"Heehee..." Artoria turned her head and gave Riezel a quick grin. "Actually, that wasn't me. Someone helped me out."

To be more precise, the magecraft bombs had indeed been made by Artoria, but the one who secretly brought her into the palace and planted those bombs near the throne room without anyone noticing was someone else—the so-called 'helper.'

*BOOM!*

Just as Riezel was about to ask more, another explosion shook the entire palace, but this one didn't come from the throne room—it had gone off somewhere else.

Clearly, Artoria hadn't just planted bombs near the throne but had set up bombs in other areas too, continuing to spread the chaos.

"Come on!" Artoria, seeing the situation spiral further out of control, dropped the subject of her helper. "Use that teleport magic of yours! Let's get out of here!"

It was her plan all along—sneak into the palace, set off some magecraft bombs to cause mayhem, and escape with Riezel during the confusion. Once she got Riezel out, he could use that teleport magic of his, and the two of them could make it out of the palace and out of Camelot.

However, Artoria was being a little too naive.

"You think Morgan wouldn't have prepared for that?" Riezel shook his head. "She already set up an anti-teleportation magecraft in the palace, so yeah, we can't use teleport magic to escape."

"Eh...?" Artoria froze, stunned.

An anti-teleportation magecraft?

Morgan could actually use something like that?

"You seriously didn't think about that?" Riezel looked speechless. "You know, this kind of stuff's probably nothing for that witch, right?"

Morgan's Mirror was a type of time-space magecraft, where it didn't just deal with space—it could even manipulate time to a certain extent.

In other words, teleportation-based magecraft or magic wasn't anything special to Morgan because she could do it herself.

If Morgan was capable of using that kind of magecraft, then she naturally would have ways to counter it as well.

Forget just disrupting teleportation—if that witch activated the Garden and cut off the world entirely, Riezel wouldn't even be able to use a single magic spell, let alone teleport.

"Wh-What...?"

Artoria looked completely crushed—whether it was panic or something else wasn't clear.

Maybe this fairy girl had realized just how big the gap really was.

They were both magi—one a false king of prophecy, the other the true one, so Artoria and Morgan were destined to stand on opposite sides, completely incompatible with each other.

If Artoria planned to walk the path of a savior, her final opponent would inevitably be Morgan.

However, when compared, Morgan's magecraft was beyond extraordinary—she could even seal off space itself, while Artoria could only make bombs with her magecraft.

Needless to say, the difference between the two was like that between a highborn noble and some rural village girl—one with refined, masterful techniques and the other painfully ordinary.

Given this, it was only natural that such a disparity would be a heavy blow for Artoria.

Just as Riezel was about to say something to Artoria, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, raised his eyes, and looked straight ahead.

"Kyaaa—!"

Artoria suddenly yelped in surprise.

Because Riezel had stopped so suddenly, Artoria, still pulling him along, was yanked to a halt.

*Buzz!*

At the same time, right in front of Riezel and Artoria, space unfolded like a mirror.

"So this is where you two are hiding?"

Along with a cold sneer, several figures slowly emerged from within the mirrored space.

They were none other than Tristan, Gawain, and Lancelot—the three Fairy Knights who served the Queen, appearing together before Riezel and Artoria.

"B-Baggie!"

Upon seeing the three Fairy Knights, Artoria shouted only at the one standing on the left—Gawain.

"...So it really is you, kid."

Gawain also stared straight at Artoria, narrowing her eyes as she spoke in a calm tone.

"What? You two know each other?"

Tristan blinked in surprise, turning to Gawain with a curious expression.

"Don't mind it. Just a messed-up connection, that's all." Gawain, looking down at Artoria from her taller height, had no intention of explaining further to Tristan. "What are you doing here? Where's Master Ector? Why didn't you just stay tucked away in that remote countryside instead of running off to this place?"

"Th-That's none of your business, is it?"

For some reason, Artoria seemed to have developed a defiant attitude toward Gawain, glaring up at the tallest and most muscular of the Fairy Knights.

"You're right. Where you go doesn't concern me." Gawain stared straight at Artoria, then said coldly, "But you broke into the royal palace and disrupted Her Majesty's wedding. As a Fairy Knight, I have more than enough reason to treat that as disrespect and defiance toward Her Majesty—and to punish you for it."

Gawain raised her flaming sword and looked at Artoria with a chilling gaze.

"Master Ector must be disappointed to have raised such a reckless brat, but now that you've gone and done it, don't blame me for what comes next."

With that, Gawain swung her flaming sword without even sparing Riezel a word, as if all the pleasant conversations over the past month had been nothing but a lie.

In the next instant, a sweeping wave of flames erupted from her sword, showing no mercy as the flames engulfed the corridor, consuming the entire surrounding space and leaving no room to escape.

"Wait!"

Artoria panicked, raising the Staff of Selection, but just as she was about to act, Riezel crouched beside her and pressed one hand to the ground.

"Wall of Stone."

As Riezel's magic activated, a stone wall instantly rose from the floor, shielding both Riezel and Artoria.

*BOOOM!*

In that instant, the torrent of flames unleashed by Gawain slammed hard against the stone wall, erupting in a loud blast.

Amid the explosion, the wall, despite its simple appearance, remained unbroken and successfully blocked the fiery assault.

Wall of Stone was a defensive magic not considered high-tier, yet its defensive capability, strength, and durability were all determined by the caster's power and the materials used to form the wall during casting.

The stronger the caster, the better the wall's defense.

The tougher the materials, the greater the wall's durability.

Now, Riezel had cast this magic using whatever was nearby—mainly the floor and surrounding stone—to create a wall. But with his strength, the wall he conjured had exceptional hardness, more than enough to block half-baked attacks.

Indeed, from Riezel's perspective, Gawain's attack just now seemed somewhat lacking. It would have been powerful to most people, but to him, it wasn't particularly difficult to deal with.

*Ting-ling-ling~*

Suddenly, a pleasant harp sound echoed through the air.

*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*

One after another, invisible sharp slashes tore through the air, sweeping toward Riezel and Artoria.

"Force Sanctuary."

A clear glow flickered in Riezel's eyes as he remained crouched on the ground with one hand pressed against it, immediately activating the next magic.

In an instant, a translucent barrier rose from the floor, slowly closing around them as it enveloped both Riezel and Artoria, shielding them inside.

*PENG!* *PENG!* *PENG!* *PENG!*

Tristan's invisible slashes landed one after another on the translucent shield, causing it to tremble slightly before they were completely blocked and rendered useless.

"Can you not resist? Just die already, will you?"

Tristan, still holding his harp, continued to speak nonsense, plucking the strings to unleash wave after wave of invisible attacks aimed at Riezel and Artoria.

*BOOOM!*

Suddenly, the stone wall standing in front of Riezel and Artoria shattered on impact.

However, that wasn't Tristan's doing.

"HAAAAAHHH—!!!"

Gawain charged forward, swung her sword, and smashed the stone wall to pieces. Without pause, she slashed again, her strike colliding with Tristan's attack and crashing heavily against the barrier protecting Riezel and Artoria.

*BOOOM!*

With a thunderous crash, the ground cracked, the ceiling trembled, and flames burst forth once again, engulfing the corridor-turned-battleground and swallowing Gawain, Riezel, and Artoria within.

"Hahahaha! Good, that's more like it!"

Seeing the scene, Tristan was absolutely thrilled, laughing as she kept attacking.

Only Lancelot remained floating silently to the side, doing nothing but staring at the flames erupting before her.

And so, the battle that swept through the entire royal palace of Camelot began to unfold.

However, the chaos had only just begun.