CHAPTER 496: TRUE NATURE

When Riezel and Gawain entered a fierce battle, on the other side, Tristan, who had intended to go support Gawain and fight Riezel together, was stopped by someone.

"Move!" Tristan glared at the fairy girl blocking her path. "Don’t get in my way! I’ve got zero interest in some country bumpkin fairy who popped out of nowhere!"

Yes, the one blocking Tristan was none other than Artoria.

"No way!" Artoria glared back at Tristan as if trying to pump herself up by doing so. "I won’t let you gang up on Riezel!"

"You’re the ones who came here causing trouble on someone else’s territory, and now you want to complain about being outnumbered?" Tristan sneered. "Are you dumb? You must be stupid, right? If you know what’s good for you, get out of my way before I decide to kill you!"

She then extended her finger, gathering dark magical energy at the tip, forming a magical projectile, and firing it toward Artoria.

Artoria immediately raised her Staff of Selection, the crystal on the staff radiating starlight as it summoned a translucent barrier in front of herself, blocking Tristan’s magical projectile.

*BOOM!*

Tristan’s projectile struck Artoria’s barrier and exploded as if it had hit solid steel.

Seeing this, a dangerous glint appeared in Tristan’s eyes.

"So, you’re a magus too, huh, you country bumpkin." Tristan said with clear annoyance. "One after another, suddenly all these magi are popping up. Honestly, just me and Mother are enough to handle magecraft in the Fairy Kingdom."

Grumbling, Tristan fired several more magical projectiles, each one slamming into Artoria’s barrier, causing repeated explosions and sharp cracking sounds without pause.

Artoria hurried to channel more magical energy into her barrier, reinforcing its defenses while also feeling a bit confused.

Her confusion was simple.

"Are you holding back or something?" Artoria tilted her head. "You don’t seem as strong as I thought."

In truth, when she had stepped up to block Tristan, Artoria had actually been quite nervous.

Growing up in Faerie Britain since childhood, even as a village fairy, Artoria had always heard rumors about the Fairy Knights.

People often said the Fairy Knights were the Queen’s direct knights, unmatched by anyone.

It was also said that Fairy Knights were extraordinarily powerful, far beyond ordinary fairies.

Even the most valiant Fang Clan warriors couldn’t compare to them, and even Woodwose, a Returned A-Rei, stood no chance against the Fairy Knights, which seemed to be true.

Lancelot was hailed as the greatest of fairies, her strength clearly above that of a Returned A-Rei like Woodwose. Even though Gawain was slightly behind Lancelot, she was still on par with Woodwose, and her lineage might even rival his.

Knowing this, Artoria had fully expected to be forced into retreat after two or three exchanges with Tristan. Being a Fairy Knight on the same level as Lancelot and Gawain, Tristan had to be very powerful in Artoria’s eyes, surely no weaker than Woodwose.

Moreover, Woodwose had already proven capable of forcing Artoria into retreat during the fight at Salisbury. If Woodwose could do it, then Tristan, who was just as strong, ought to be able to as well.

However, after facing Tristan directly, Artoria now felt uncertain.

"Are you... actually weak...?"

Saying it aloud, Artoria clearly hit Tristan’s sore spot.

"...You wretched country bumpkin, how dare you talk big?!"

Tristan’s expression instantly changed.

She no longer treated Artoria as beneath her and now glared at Artoria with a dark look, grinding her teeth.

"Anyone who looks down on me... I’ll kill them all!"

Now intent on killing, Tristan picked up her harp and began to play.

*Ting-ling-ling~*

Invisible attacks surged forth like a storm, sweeping toward Artoria.

"W-Wait!"

Artoria, who hadn’t expected Tristan to snap so suddenly, was startled and quickly raised her Staff of Selection, casting magecraft to fight back.

With invisible strikes and explosive magical blasts flying, a fierce battle erupted between Tristan and Artoria.

Off to the side, Lancelot glanced at the two fairy girls locked in heated combat. After a moment, as if bored with watching two weaklings struggle, she turned her gaze toward Riezel and Gawain’s fight instead.

*BANG!*

In the shockwave that burst out, the two warriors broke apart—one was forced back several steps, while the other was blasted away.

Surprisingly, the one sent flying was not Gawain, but Riezel.

As the paper-thin sword and the sword wreathed in flames clashed, the result was Riezel’s complete defeat.

"His strength got weaker..." Lancelot muttered to herself. "But his speed is a lot faster now..."

Indeed, in Fast Attack Mode, Riezel’s overall power was slightly inferior to his own strength in Strong Attack Mode, so when it came to raw strength, there was no way Riezel in Fast Attack Mode could overpower Gawain, who was a strength-focused warrior—being knocked back like that was to be expected.

However, in terms of speed, Riezel in Fast Attack Mode far surpassed his Strong Attack Mode, which meant that if he wanted to defeat Gawain, he had to make smart use of his speed advantage instead of trying to match her strength.

In other words—

’Must avoid a head-on clash.’

While flying through the air, Riezel swiftly adjusted his posture and landed on the ceiling. With his head down and feet up, it looked as if he was crouching on the wall.

*BANG!*

A second later, Riezel shattered the ceiling beneath him, sending out a shockwave, and shot forward like an arrow in a storm, piercing through the air at an incredible speed to attack Gawain from above.

"Wind Breathing - Fifth Form - Cold Mountain Wind!"

It was a wide-range attack.

As Riezel darted above Gawain, he suddenly unleashed a massive spinning wind blade around himself, slashing downward in an overwhelming sweep.

*BOOOM!*

Riezel’s massive wind blade struck the ground like a falling tornado, shattering the floor and stirring up chaotic currents, sweeping rubble into a sandstorm.

"Don’t look down on me!"

Caught in the sandstorm and continuously slashed by the massive wind blade, Gawain let out a roar. Her tall, muscular body spun with surprising agility, swinging out a surge of flames and blasting them into the storm.

*BOOOM!*

In no time, the sandstorm transformed into an inferno and exploded.

Gawain, now covered in wounds, emerged from it and swung her sword down at Riezel, who was darting toward her from above.

*BANG!*

A torrent of flames shot upward like a volcanic eruption, smashing through the walls and the ceiling.

Riezel’s figure was instantly engulfed by the flames, but he shot out again with astonishing speed—wind and sparks trailing behind him as he lunged toward Gawain.

"Wind Breathing - Sixth Form - Black Wind Mountain Mist!"

A blade of wind appeared, merging with the winds swirling around Riezel’s sword, forming an incredibly sharp wind slash.

If one looked closely, sword energy was also rippling through the slash, triggering a strong sense of danger in Gawain’s mind.

Her excellent combat instincts and intuition warned her clearly—she absolutely should not get hit by this one.

If she did, it wouldn’t just leave a light scratch.

Since that was the case...

"Go! My hounds!"

Gawain called for her servants.

*AWUUUUU—!!!*

*AWUUUUU—!!!*

Several lean Black Dogs suddenly darted out from who knows where, barking as they charged at Riezel in a pack, blocking his path to Gawain.

"Get out of my way!"

A sharp gleam flashed in Riezel’s eyes as he charged forward, unleashing a dance of blades.

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

Blades wrapped in wind and sword energy sliced through the air again and again, dragging long arcs of sword light as they slashed through the Black Dogs, tearing them apart.

Riezel darted freely among the pack of Black Dogs—sometimes he leaped, sometimes he charged forward, sometimes he spun like a top, and sometimes he brushed past the Black Dogs, moving like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, dancing through the ravaged royal palace corridor.

Every movement he made sent a sword light cutting through a Black Dog.

Every swing of his sword brought another Black Dog crashing to the ground in a spray of blood.

The bites of the pack seemed like they would catch him, but each time, Riezel evaded them with perfect timing.

Needless to say, the Black Dogs’ encirclement looked like wild beasts being toyed with by a beast tamer.

In groups of two or three, they were thrown into disarray, unable to react, forced to watch helplessly as their companions were struck down one after another by lightning-fast slashes until their own turn came.

"What?"

Gawain’s breath caught as she witnessed this.

’Such speed! Such beautiful strikes!’

Lancelot’s eyes lit up as if seeing a kindred spirit, causing a rare look of delight to appear on her otherwise cool face.

At this moment, Riezel truly shone with the brilliance of a wind spirit soaring through the skies, so much so that the sky knight could not help but feel joy and admiration.

Yet beneath such an elegant sight, deadly killing intent often lurked.

At least, that was the case for Riezel at this moment.

"Wind Breathing - Eighth Form - Primary Gale Slash!"

Riezel burst through the encirclement like a gale, leaving behind a trail of bloodied, fallen Black Dogs, then charged straight at Gawain and swung a spiraling slash at her, the whirling wind blades fierce enough to tear her apart.

*Pu-chi!*

A great spray of blood burst from Gawain’s body, and a huge, gruesome wound opened on her, starting from her left abdomen, spiraling around her back, and emerging again above her right chest.

In other words, Riezel had circled her at incredible speed, leaving a spiral-shaped sword wound wrapping around her front, back, and sides.

"Ugh!"

Heavily wounded, Gawain coughed up blood on the spot and couldn’t help but drop to one knee.

*Whoosh!*

At the same moment, Riezel’s figure appeared once more above Gawain, upside down, poised for a decisive strike against the kneeling knight.

"Wind Breathing - Ninth Form - Idaten Typhoon!"

What Riezel unleashed was the final form of Wind Breathing and its most powerful sword technique.

Even though it was not as amazing as the thirteenth form of Sun Breathing, if any sword technique of Wind Breathing deserved the same treatment, it would be this one.

As his opponent was about to collapse, Riezel unleashed Wind Breathing’s strongest strike to secure victory.

*BOOOOM!*

Countless razor-sharp wind blades erupted from the upside-down Riezel, forming a storm of blades that swept down upon Gawain.

Anyone who watched this scene knew this was the finishing blow.

Just as the fierce storm was about to strike her, the blood-soaked Gawain suddenly lifted her head.

*Snap!*

A sharp sound echoed, something breaking.

It came from above Gawain’s head.

Suddenly, Gawain reached up and, with sheer force, snapped off one of the horns on her head.

"..."

In that instant, a chilling sense of deadly danger rose in everyone’s heart.

Everyone instinctively turned their heads and looked toward Gawain.

They saw Gawain snap off the horn on her head, letting blood stream down her forehead, staining her eyes and cheeks.

Riezel and Artoria aside, Lancelot and Tristan’s expressions changed drastically.

"Not good!"

Lancelot, rarely losing her composure, cried out.

"She... She broke her horn?!"

Tristan’s face turned completely pale.

"Wha-What?"

Artoria, though unsure of what had just happened, still held her breath as an overwhelming sense of danger filled her heart.

As for Riezel, his pupils had already shrunk to the size of a pinprick.

At this moment, Gawain slowly lifted her blood-stained face.

"DON’T! LOOK! DOWN! ON! ME!"

With a deafening roar, Gawain’s already sturdy body began to expand.

It was the sign of a beast breaking free from its chains.

It was the sight of a demon hound disguised as a fairy returning to its true nature.

Now towering like a giant, Gawain let out another furious roar as she swung the horn she gripped tightly in her hand toward Riezel—the horn had expanded along with her body, transforming into a massive blade of blazing fire.

As Gawain swung it, it crashed into the ground.

*BOOOOM—!!!*

Inside Camelot’s royal palace, a deafening explosion shook the entire structure as if it had been blasted apart.

One corner of the palace was completely destroyed.

Cracks spread across the exterior walls as the entire palace shook violently, as if struck by a magnitude ten earthquake.

Every corridor, every room, every corner began to show signs of damage—some crumbling, others splitting apart.

The areas closest to the destroyed corner were now engulfed in towering flames that rose like the cursed fires of hell, burning and destroying everything in their path.

Amid this scene of devastation, some fairies screamed in terror, others wailed in pain, creating an atmosphere of utter despair.

Throughout Camelot, countless startled fairies ran out into the streets, gazing toward the palace amid the growing commotion.

Inside the palace, whether it was the fairies originally stationed there or the high-ranking fairies attending the wedding, all were now wailing in fright.

Especially those fairies who had just been rescued from the rubble of the ruined throne room moments ago—having only just escaped, they were now thrown into panic once again as the palace began to shake violently.

"Is it still not over?"

"Is it going to explode again?!"

"No, please!"

"I don’t want to get buried again!"

Hearing the cries of distress from the fairies even made the always carefree Spriggan, who was being protected by the soldiers, feel irritated.

"...Is the fight really this intense?"

Spriggan muttered to himself in a low voice.

"..."

Aurora, on the other hand, gazed toward the direction of the tremors without a hint of tension.

"Damn it!"

Woodwose, leading a few fairies from the Fang Clan, guarded Morgan while glaring toward the battlefield, silently grinding his teeth.

He really wanted to charge in and tear that hateful troublemaker to pieces.

Just thinking about how that man was still strutting around inside the royal palace, destroying what they all cherished—the most revered palace in Britain—filled Woodwose with rage.

He wanted nothing more than to fight.

Even if his participation would not change the final outcome, it wouldn’t matter.

However, Woodwose had no idea that the one responsible for all this was not Riezel, but a Fairy Knight of the same race.

"You’ve finally shown your true nature, Gawain..."

Seated upon the throne, Morgan narrowed her eyes as if she had seen through everything, gazing toward the battlefield.

"Your opponent is my husband. Even you wouldn’t be able to win while still carrying that ’false name’, would you?"

As the one who had bestowed the name upon Gawain, no one understood better than Morgan the true identity of the Fairy Knight beneath that ’Gawain’ facade.

Moreover, no one understood better than Morgan that the bestowed name was not an enhancement, but a form of restraint.

Under Morgan’s command, the three great Fairy Knights each possessed their own true name and true identity.

Among the three, only Tristan had grown stronger because of the bestowed name, while the other two had not only failed to grow stronger but had in fact become weaker.

It was only natural.

If one put an adult’s mask on a child, the child might grow stronger by taking on that role, but if one put a human mask on a demon, the demon would only grow weaker.

Now, of the two demons bound by Morgan’s bestowed names, one had already begun to reveal her true form.

’How will you handle a demon hound capable of rampaging across all of Britain?’

’My dear husband...’