The King of Knights' question left everyone confused.
Morgan included.
"Grímr, you said that if I recreated the Third Magic, my husband would wake up. So why—?" Morgan held Shiomi close, lowering her voice as she pressed Grímr for an answer. "Don't tell me he used something to keep the seal stable?"
Grímr winced as if struck by a headache. He stepped forward, gesturing for Morgan to move aside, then reached into Shiomi's clothing and searched around.
A moment later, he pulled out a golden needle.
"As I thought. The Svefnthorn." Grímr rubbed his forehead in exasperation, then tucked the needle back where he found it. "Using one of Odin's treasures like this… I doubt the Allfather intended it."
The Thorn of Odin—said to have put Brynhild into a deep slumber lasting until Siegfried awakened her.
"Truly worthy of my disciple. Not a single gap left open." Even Scáthach gave a strained smile. She didn't have the luxury to ask when Shiomi had acquired such a thing. "So what now? As Odin's proxy, surely you have a way to wake him?"
Under Mash's Noble Phantasm, everyone continued resisting the assaults of Cernunnos.
The Storm Border was nearly above Camelot, ready to extract them.
But if Shiomi didn't wake, they couldn't risk leaving.
"Not that easy." Grímr placed his hand on Shiomi's forehead to confirm something—then his eyes widened. "Where did his spirit go?"
Morgan froze.
To Magi, a living being is made of three components:
Soul, spirit, and body.
The ritual in Blackmore Village was the most familiar example.
Before anyone could speak further, Camelot's foundations shook violently. Unable to break through Mash's Noble Phantasm to reach Shiomi, the Beast God's remains instead began attacking the palace itself—clearly intending to collapse it, then devour Shiomi and everyone present.
"Cut it out already! Can't you see we're busy?"
Grímr strode forward and struck the ground with the end of his wand.
"My Magecraft is a Cage of Flames. A flaming yet verdant giant. Retribution. A shrine that purifies the evil of human affairs. The one who destroys... Wicker Man- Cage of Scorching, Consuming Flames! Even if you're kin, I don't have time for your grudges. Get back into the earth!"
While everyone else was still distracted by Shiomi's continued slumber, Grímr fired the first true shot of their counterattack.
A giant tens of meters tall, woven from countless slender branches, slowly manifested. It was still tiny compared to Cernunnos' colossal form.
This was not an Odin Rune. It was the Noble Phantasm granted to Cu Chulainn in this particular class—Celtic Druid Magecraft.
Wreathed in purifying flames, the giant lunged at the Beast God's remains and ignited in a roaring blaze.
The cursed tendrils reaching toward it disintegrated upon touching the flames.
"Fair enough. We have to deal with Cernunnos' remains anyway. Even a god can't be left free to run wild." Scáthach narrowed her eyes, spinning her crimson spear and pointing it at Cernunnos.
Thunder crashed from above, lighting the Great Hollow like midday.
"Then I leave waking Tenkei to you," Artoria said. "His spirit has probably… returned to Goddess Tiamat because of his sleep."
Morgan stiffened.
After the Uruk Singularity's restoration, Shiomi had casually mentioned that his spirit was connected to Tiamat now—that he could speak to the Mother Goddess in his dreams.
With his soul turned into a seal and the thorn forcing him into slumber, having his spirit drift toward the Primordial Mother was entirely possible.
However—
"Even if that's true, contacting Goddess Tiamat here, in the Sea of Imaginary Numbers…?" Morgan hesitated.
Even the feasibility felt like another impossible hurdle.
"I really don't think it's that complicated. Just wake your man the same way a prince wakes Sleeping Beauty, Queen of Winter."
Grímr's tone was laced with teasing.
"Is that so? Then I'll take care of it." Scáthach crouched down. "Morgan, you still have magic left in your throne, right? Go prepare the activation of the twelve Holy Lance and intercept Cernunnos. I have no counterattack other than Magecraft."
Before Morgan could even consider whether Grímr's proposal was viable, Scáthach had already decided to replace her.
"If it's inconvenient for you, I can do it instead." Artoria dropped to one knee. "He helped me reclaim my human heart. I should repay him somehow..."
"Come on, this isn't the time for that. Please focus," Sakura said, cheeks flushed.
The girls nodded silently.
Morgan pushed their hands away, a hint of displeasure in her movements.
"No need. My husband's matters are mine."
She slipped one arm behind Shiomi's back and held his chin with the other. The place was crowded, but no one had the luxury to mind that now.
Morgan lowered her head and kissed Shiomi, calling his name again and again in her heart.
"My King! The Noble Phantasm is at its limit!"
At the same time, Mash raised her voice to inform Artoria. Even with her Master's support, enduring Cernunnos's ceaseless curse made continued maintenance impossible. In just a few minutes, the White City was on the verge of collapse, just like the Camelot behind it.
"It's enough, Mash. With this blow, I'll halt the Beast God's advance."
Artoria stepped forward and raised the Holy Lance.
"Light fired from the land of endings, the storm anchor that tears the sky and binds the earth! The storm wedge standing at the world's edge! 『Rhongomyniad』!"
Its nature was identical to the wall of light covering Britannia—not Morgan's Magecraft, but the true reflection of the Tower at the End. As its name promised, it was the storm anchor that could rend heaven and earth.
The Holy Lance's light swallowed the flaming giant and pierced through Cernunnos's chest, leaving a gaping cavity. The Beast God's remains swayed and stopped trying to crawl out of the pit.
"Did we get it?" Baobhan Sith, who had been defending with Magecraft while seeking a chance to strike back, couldn't help speaking up in relief.
"No. Not yet."
A calm voice cut in.
The massive hole left by the Holy Lance was already closing at a speed visible to the naked eye. But no one looked at that worrying scene. Their eyes all went to the man rising from the ground.
"Divine authority really is a nuisance sometimes." Shiomi gave Morgan a long look, resignation and tenderness flickering in his gaze, before his expression hardened. "No time to hesitate. We end the Beast God's remains completely, in one go."
After declaring that, he quietly ran his tongue over the faint blue imprint on his lips.
"I'll make up for my absence now."
...
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