Waves roared, rushing into the vast, half-moon-shaped gorge to fill it.
A girl floated in the sky, as if gravity itself had been forgotten.
If one had to describe her with a single word—
it would be fairy.
As though everything else in the world had been reduced to impurity, her very existence was overwhelmingly pure.
A beauty too exquisite to exist in reality.
Silver-white hair, flowing like a river of stars, cascaded down her back and waist.
Her gaze lifted, fearless, to the azure sky, her irises shimmering with colors that defied description.
Like a rainbow.
Like a starry night.
Before seeing her with one's own eyes, it was impossible to imagine that such beauty could exist.
This petite fairy was clad in armor of brilliant blue, like the glint of a tranquil lake.
Coupled with her noble bearing, she looked every inch a knight—
a fairy knight.
Her beauty was overpowering, abnormal, almost violently breathtaking.
In an instant, she could steal away all attention, captivate every soul.
She seemed as if she were meant to soar the heavens forever, untouched by the filth of the mortal world.
To speak to her uninvited would be sacrilege—a crime.
Her name was Mélusine.
One of the Fairy Knights of the Fairy Kingdom of Britain, the only "Dragon Fairy," bestowed the name "Lancelot" by Queen Morgan herself.
Because of her bearing and her grace—so utterly distinct from other fairies—
she was hailed as the noblest, most beautiful being in all the Fairy Kingdom.
Mélusine slowly lowered her gaze, and from her lips spilled a voice as lovely as a flowing melody.
"Truly... not even a moment's carelessness is allowed... I almost made a grave mistake."
The moment she realized the spatial quake was about to descend upon a city, Mélusine had immediately shifted her trajectory, redirecting her landing to the uninhabited sea.
Though she had fantasized, admittedly, about shouting "I am atomic!" and detonating herself like some bizarre art performance—
causing a "Patrick Star"-style absurdist display of destruction—
in the end, she couldn't abide the thought of harming countless innocent lives.
Her idol was Lord Shadow-sama, after all—
not those expendable dark faction goons from DanMachi who strapped firestones to themselves and exploded without even leaving behind their names.
Now that she thought about it...
she vaguely recalled reading a fanfic once where Shadow-sama got isekai'd into the DanMachi world and somehow ended up becoming the leader of all those dark factions?
Well, they did have a lot in common:
dressing in black, blowing themselves up at the drop of a hat...
"But, well— good news is, I already know what world this is."
After all, spatial quakes were pretty distinctive.
"And... this time, my form is Fairy Lancelot, huh?"
The sense of overwhelming power was intoxicating.
Every breath, every heartbeat, generated an ocean's worth of mana.
Only—
"Hm... odd. The mana inside my body... seems a little different."
Mélusine closed her eyes, examining herself inwardly.
"No, it's not just mana... Even my Saint Graph has changed... Is this a Spirit Crystal?"
Opening her golden eyes, she blinked with slight confusion.
"Strange... I'm not a spirit, so why would I have something like a Spirit Crystal?"
Two possibilities occurred to her.
First, that she had been affected by the unique rules of this world—
her Saint Graph adjusting automatically to fit them.
Second,
that it was done intentionally—
by someone.
If it was the latter...
then who could have modified her Saint Graph without her noticing?
"Come to think of it, something similar happened back in the Campione world, didn't it?"
"Saber Alter descended as a Heroic Spirit but mysteriously turned into a rogue god—and gained two insanely broken abilities."
Mélusine tilted her head, thoughtful.
"So... it's probably something Chaldea did for me, huh?"
After all, without manifesting as a rogue god, she might have been in real danger in the Campione world.
All in all, this change was a net positive—only benefits, no downsides.
"Well, whatever."
"Output and mana circulation are stable."
"I'm still the strongest."
"Strong enough to protect Master without fail."
"Yes. I am Master's sword."
"My wings exist only to serve Master."
"For the Master who once granted me salvation, even if this body were to burn anew as a calamity of flames... I would accept it gladly—"
Hm? Not allowed? Would it trouble Master? Mmm... detecting abnormal rise in Dragon Heart temperature...
[Fairy Knight Lancelot / Mélusine]
Class: Lancer
Level: 100
Bond Level: 15
Skills: Dragon Heart B, Perry Dancer (Limitless Martial Refinement) B, Ray Horizon A
Class Skills: Magic Resistance B, Territory Creation B+
Parameters: Strength C, Endurance A+, Agility B, Mana A+, Luck B, Noble Phantasm A+
Noble Phantasm: "Innocence Arondight"A / "Hollow Heart Albion" EX
At this point, Mélusine was increasingly convinced that Servant stat sheets were complete nonsense.
Especially her Agility stat.
B-rank Agility, my ass.
Since she didn't know where to go, Mélusine simply picked a random direction and took off—
hoping to find traces of human civilization.
And then—
in just 0.3 seconds, she broke the sound barrier, instantly reaching several times the speed of sound.
How in the world is this supposed to be "B-rank Agility"?!
This is absolutely absurd!
Flying through the air like a supersonic fighter jet, Mélusine's spirits were soaring.
"I've always dreamed of flying through the skies like this with Master..."
"No third parties, just the two of us together."
"Now, 'I' and 'me' are one— a bond closer than lovers, more inseparable than soulmates~."
The horizon, where sky met sea, stretched before her— the very view she had longed for, the image that filled the vast majority of her 4.6 billion years of memories.
"I always wanted Master to see the scenery I see."
"But... Master always seems so busy."
"Honestly, why does Master keep so many other Servants around?"
"Master only needs me."
"Sometimes I wonder..."
"If I blew up Chaldea, would Master finally stay with me 24/7?"
"Master knows too, right?"
"I'm afraid of being alone."
"Because I'm a dragon..."
"At night, I crave the warmth of another's body…"
Suddenly, Mélusine sensed something.
She lifted her head.
"Hm... human weapons?
"Missiles, I think?"
"Foolish creatures."
"Do they not realize that the sky belongs to me?"
"That I am strongest here in the heavens?"
"Of course, even with my feet on solid ground, I am still Master's most reliable Servant."
The tenderness in her eyes vanished— replaced by an icy sharpness.
Her golden, draconic vertical pupils burned with terrifying pressure.
With a flick of her wrists, twin blades sprang forth from her arms, their silver light cold and gleaming, like moonlight reflected on a lake.
"I'm on my honeymoon with Master right now. And since Queen Morgan isn't here to nag me, I won't allow any third-party interruptions!"
"I'll end this instantly!"
"[Innocence Arondight: Now Unknown, Innocent Light of the Lake]"
In less than the time it took to breathe or blink, Mélusine completed her Noble Phantasm's charge.
Every beat of her dragon heart generated enough mana to trigger a natural disaster, and that overwhelming power flooded her body—
erupting forth in the form of pure, blinding swordsmanship.
Faster than meteors, faster than lightning—
a single flash of light, and all the missiles were sliced neatly in two.
Before they even had the chance to explode, Mélusine had already turned into a streak of light, leaving behind only the sonic booms trailing her, as she shot toward the far horizon.
---
It was around 7:30 in the evening, and the sun had already completely set.
Itsuka Shidou walked alone through the dim streets, carrying several plastic bags in his hands.
"Man... Everyone at the shopping district is way too enthusiastic to handle..."
Shidou let out a tired sigh, looking as if he had just survived a hard-fought battle.
Normally, he would have simply gone to the supermarket to buy groceries.
But tonight had been different— while cooking dinner for Yatogami Tohka, he realized the fridge was running low on ingredients, so he hurried over to the nearby marketplace.
He hadn't expected, however, just how overwhelming the grandpas and grandmas of the market would be— although, truthfully, most of that enthusiasm wasn't directed at him.
"Are you sure that's enough for that little girl to eat? Here, take some extra ground meat. You don't want that cute little miss who came with you last time going hungry, do you?"
"How about some fish?"
"I just got a fresh batch, big and lively!"
"That girl you brought last time said my fish made the most amazing dishes—here, take the biggest one!"
"This? Ah, don't worry about paying. Just take it."
"But remember to share some with that adorable girl you always bring!"
Ever since Tohka had accompanied Shidou to the shopping district a few times, everyone had remembered her— that pure-hearted, wide-eyed girl with the endless appetite.
Maybe because they'd lived long lives and seen all kinds of people, they couldn't help but dote a little more on someone like Tohka— someone who was adorable on the outside and genuinely innocent within.
Even though Tohka could eat enough to shock anyone, there were still plenty of folks happy to let her feast for free, just to see the way her face lit up with bliss when enjoying a meal— to hear her exaggerated but heartfelt praises that seemed to cleanse the heart itself.
Yes, Shidou understood that feeling very well.
After all, he felt the same way when he cooked for her too.
Walking alone on the road home, Shidou's thoughts drifted back to the conversation he had had with Kotori earlier that day.
The topic had been about the enormous spatial quake from half a month ago— the one that had expanded to terrifying levels before suddenly vanishing.
According to their investigations, the quake hadn't actually disappeared— it had been relocated, transferred to the skies over the Pacific Ocean.
What puzzled everyone was this:
Although the spatial quake's force was still greater than anything caused by known Spirits like Tohka or the Yamai twins, it was noticeably weaker than what Fraxinus had initially detected— ultimately assessed as S-class.
Kotori had even suspected that the ship's detection system might be faulty and ordered a full inspection of the entire vessel.
But more concerning than the spatial quake itself— was the Spirit that had caused it.
Since the spirit waves hadn't matched any known data, it was almost certainly the Spirit's first manifestation.
According to Kotori, Ratatoskr had placed the entity under close, special observation.
Any Spirit capable of producing an S-class quake was bound to wield terrifying power.
Their investigation revealed that shortly after the quake erupted over the Pacific, the United States detected an unidentified flying object entering its airspace.
Attempts at contact failed.
They fired high-altitude intercept missiles.
However— those missiles vanished the instant they were launched.
It was highly likely that the unidentified flying object was this new Spirit.
"For now, we've given the Spirit the provisional name Meteor," Kotori, in her Commander persona, had explained to Shidou with an exhausted expression.
"Our understanding is still extremely limited— we don't know her appearance, preferences, personality, or specific powers."
"All we do know," Kotori continued grimly, "is that the Spirit demonstrated multi-mach supersonic flight— capable of accelerating, stopping, and attacking freely even while traveling at those speeds."
"Which means... the multi-mach speed we've seen might not even be her limit."
"Honestly... it's fitting. For a Spirit whose spatial quake was classified as S-class, just her speed alone would render every human weapon system obsolete."
Since that event, there had been no further sightings or information about the Spirit.
To Kotori and others familiar with Spirits, it was likely she had returned to the neighboring world. Most Spirits could only remain in this world for a limited time before being pulled back into slumber.
Hence, special units formed by various nations weren't tasked with killing Spirits— they were meant to stall them until their inevitable return, because realistically... they couldn't win.
During the conversation,
Kotori had repeatedly emphasized just how dangerous and terrifying the Spirit was— but to Shidou, it all felt very distant.
"Wow... sounds like she's really powerful."
That was about the extent of his reaction.
Could you really expect a high schooler, who hadn't even finished his studies yet, to fully grasp such complicated, sci-fi-level concepts like "multi-mach speed" and all those technical terms?
They were simply too far removed from his daily life.
"...Why am I even overthinking this?"
"Standing here worrying won't change anything."
"Right now, the more urgent issue... is making sure Tohka's dinner is ready!"
Unable to make sense of it all,
Shidou chose to simply give up.
"Besides, even if I drive myself crazy worrying, it's not like the Spirit's just going to pop up in front of me out of nowhere..."
Muttering to himself, Shidou's mind conjured up the image of a starving Tohka,
listlessly hugging her beloved bread-shaped pillow on the sofa.
A gentle, slightly indulgent smile crept onto Shidou's face.
His steps unconsciously quickened.
Just then— a voice floated toward him on the evening breeze,
making him freeze mid-step.
"Grandmother, is there anything else you need help carrying?"
The voice was firm yet bright, crisp and elegant, like a skylark singing in a sun-drenched forest, or the clear, cool wind playing a summer evening's wind chime.
---
T/N: i wonder what melusines reaction gonna be to shidou trying to wife her up, will she kill him or will she beteray her master omggg, also you're probably wondering hwy its not Feng in control, mostly because Melusine is simply too strong, her spirit origin is in control, Feng can still influence her though