Having completed one sixth of the pilgrimage, Toneriko did not immediately return to Salisbury with Aoko and the others, but instead went alone to a secluded cave.
She took out her companion weapon, which had transformed into the Spear of Selection. Due to her change of heart, the weapon's properties had shifted, but now it reverted to the Staff of Selection of the Paradise Fairy—the original weapon she should have wielded.
The reason for this situation was that Aoko's manipulation had exploited a sort of bug in the ruling mechanism. She didn't erase the mission of being a Paradise Fairy, but instead postponed the moment of fulfilling the oath to an infinitely distant future. So, even with a heart of rebellion, as long as she had rung the bell of pilgrimage, the Staff of Selection would still revert to its original abilities and purpose.
Fondly caressing the staff, she seemed to return to the days she lived among the Rain Clan... But now, though the staff was back in her hand, her family was long gone, and she was no longer who she once was.
Gripping the Staff of Selections, she stood up and set off back to Salisbury. The day of the coronation was drawing near.
[Scene break]
"That's the general process. Does anyone have any questions?" Toneriko smiled as she explained to everyone present, including fairies desiring peace, humans from the Round Table Coalition army, and, most importantly, the knight Uther, who was about to be crowned as the Overlord of Britain.
He was a tall, heroic human, wearing armor forged by the Earth Clan, with golden hair, and listened attentively to her speech.
Something felt different from before, Uther thought. What had changed?
He pondered for a moment, but couldn't figure it out, and decided to let it go. After the coronation, he planned to ask her directly. For some reason, he felt she looked exhausted—probably because the war had dragged on for too long.
Though he had only about ten years left to live, Uther swore to give her a happy family and ten happy years—at the very least, to ensure she would no longer be forced to run about due to conflicts among fairy clans or endless Moss attacks.
Streaks of white had begun to appear in his golden hair—he was aging. Humans of Britain were like that. If possible, Uther wished he could live a few more years, and spend more carefree days with her, but cruel reality would not permit it.
As Uther drifted in thought, a knight caught his eye—a tall, slender female knight with a hood obscuring her face, only a strand of gold hair visible. Despite her obvious femininity, Uther's veteran knightly instincts told him this was an extremely powerful knight.
Was she a fairy? Uther wondered. Would a fairy wear such intricate, beautiful armor and wield such a sword?
At one point, the golden-haired female knight seemed to glance at Uther, but when he looked back, he found her gaze fixed on the speaker—as though, rather than the Overlord of Britain, the true monarch she should serve was right there.
That was natural. Uther smiled self-deprecatingly. Toneriko was the savior of Britain, the fairy from paradise, destined to be the land's true ruler. He was only a stand-in, chosen to heal divisions. He understood this well.
Still, since he bore the title, he would fulfill its duties. Otherwise, he would betray the trust placed in him, Uther thought optimistically.
Let me cheer up and live these last ten years of my life to the fullest!
Looking at Toneriko's beautiful face, Uther's heart filled with hope.
[Scene break]
Fire. Flames everywhere.
Innocent humans and fairies fled in all directions, while anti-Londinium fairies slaughtered those who sought peace, freely unleashing their malice.
Yet the knights of the Round Table Coalition gritted their teeth and fought on, led by the mysterious hooded female knight—Artoria.
In this battle, Artoria was invincible. No matter the rank of fairy, before her they were like defenseless children, falling instantly. If not for her reluctance to destroy beautiful Londinium, she could have wiped all the invading fairies out by unleashing the holy sword.
"Ahhh—! Ahhh—!" Toneriko wept loudly, tears streaming down onto Uther's lifeless body. "Ahhhhhh!"
"Why, why, why!" Toneriko screamed, her companions fighting desperately nearby. Even Melusine, still young and unskilled, fought bravely to repel the attacking fairies.
"This was Britain's last chance, the happiest day... Why did Uther have to die!"
"They depended on us! They praised Uther!" Toneriko cried, angry and unwilling to accept it. "And yet—poisoned! Such a cowardly, bloodless way—!"
"Uther—please, say something, just once more..." Toneriko's tears crystallized into dense magical gems, scattering over Uther's corpse, but the dead would not be moved. "I've spent thousands of years... pulling myself together, struggling until now!"
"Is even this not enough!!! Am I the only one who cannot save Britain!? Am I the only one denied this land!?"
"It's too dangerous here!" Grimr invoked primal runes, summoning flames to drive back the zombie-like fairies. "We must reposition and regroup further back!"
"Unforgivable, unforgivable...!" Toneriko said furiously. "These ones, I will never forgive!!!"
[Scene break]
Aoko floated high in the sky, gazing at the city engulfed in flames and wailing. Beautiful Londinium had become a sea of fire, yet her face was emotionless, for this was the scene she chose, one she foresaw long ago.
Though Uther was poisoned, with the help of fairy knights, Artoria, and Wryneck, most of the Round Table Coalition's human knights survived, gathering tightly around Toneriko to fight the invading Wind, Fang, and Earth coalition.
Wryneck had been branded a traitor by his kin, but he didn't care. He'd long been estranged from the fairies of his tribe. What he desired was the dreamlike, peaceful world Morgan envisioned.
In this Fairy Britain, some fairies would, on a whim, overturn the foundations of peace built by others, simply because they didn't like something, naively and innocently indulging in their malice.
"Incurable creatures..." Aoko muttered, her figure vanishing in a flash.
...
At the same time, in a room of a tall Londinium building, a beautiful wind-clan fairy watched the burning city through a mirror.
Her cheeks were flushed, as sweet and alluring as a lovestruck maiden. But what moved her was the suffering of countless fairies and humans.
"Why is she so beautiful?" The fairy used to wonder. "No fairy should be more beautiful or radiant than me."
"Then kill him, kill her..." the beautiful fairy thought. "Poison, yes, I haven't tried that yet. It must be fun."
Thus, the brightest fairy in Britain, with the purest smile and most innocent malice, decided the death of a human knight and the shattering of a millennia-old dream.
Now, she celebrated her achievement. That once-beautiful, radiant fairy was delighted by the pain and sorrow her poison had caused. "Great," she smiled. "Now, I am still the most beautiful, most dazzling fairy in Britain."
"Time to leave," the fairy stood, ready to quit the room. "The lovely children in Salisbury must be worried; I've been missing for days. They must miss my beauty."
But as she was about to open the door, her vision suddenly trembled.
The beautiful fairy looked down. Why was her chest stained with blood? She didn't understand.
Why was there a woman's arm reaching out from her chest, gripping her beating heart?
After a moment, she realized—it was her own heart. No wonder it was so pretty, she smiled, satisfied by the thought.
The hand withdrew. The beautiful fairy collapsed, a smile on her lips.
With her last strength, she looked at the figure who had pulled out her heart—a woman with stunning, crimson hair. "It matches my heart well," thought the fairy, and stopped breathing.
"Unbelievable..." muttered the red-haired woman, storing the fairy's heart in a container. Azure flames burned on her arm, incinerating the fairy blood.
Aoko turned and left, the fairy's body igniting in the same azure fire, consuming her and the room utterly.