To become a king and a magician

(Does the minister's presence here mean... that everyone over there has been defeated!?)

"Yes, indeed, I defeated them all."

Natsukawa Toramaru walked up to Fujimaru Ritsuka from behind, and only then did Fujimaru Ritsuka notice that four crystal blocks, each the size of a fist, were floating around Natsukawa Toramaru, and that she could vaguely see human figures inside them.

"That is--"

"It should be considered a kind of seal. Don't worry, no one is dead. Just like Meryl said, I won't kill you all. After all, you were my companions and lovers from the past. I'm not that cold-hearted."

As he said this, Natsukawa Tora snapped his fingers, and a wall of crystals appeared around Fujimaru Ritsuka, enveloping her completely. Then, it rapidly shrank, becoming the same size as the crystal blocks around Natsukawa Tora.

At the same time, across the entire battlefield, whether they had already been defeated or were still fighting, everyone except Melosin, Bagst, and Morgan was imprisoned by the same crystal wall and then turned into crystal pieces that flew back to Natsukawa Tora's side.

As Morgan landed in front of Xia Chuanhu, he frowned slightly: "I didn't tell you to take action without permission."

“We’re in a hurry, and you don’t have much left, do you?” Xia Chuanhu smiled and pointed to the holy sword on her scepter. There were only three left now. “Artoria is someone I can’t completely defeat right now. You’ll have to be patient this time.”

"Humph!"

Morgan tapped Natsukawa Tiger lightly with his scepter, clearly displeased.

Upon arriving before Xia Chuanhu, Bagst immediately knelt down and apologized, saying, "I am truly sorry, Your Majesty. I have troubled you with your assistance. It was my incompetence in failing to defeat all the enemies in time, and I beg for your punishment."

“No, that’s not true. You did very well, Bagst. There’s no need to blame yourself.” Natsukawa Tora shook his head. “If anyone should be punished, it should be Melousin.”

"Huh? Why am I the one in this situation?"

Melishin's face fell when she was called out for no reason. Then, Natsukawa Torama grabbed her cheeks and pulled them without any emotion: "I know you're not in a good mood this morning, but what's the point of you hitting Mashu's round table like that? Don't you even want to go around it a little?"

"Waaaaaahh ...

Melsin explained, feeling wronged, that if she were to unleash her full power, Mash and Fujimaru Ritsuka wouldn't even last ten seconds in front of her!

Natsukawa Tora sighed helplessly: "Haa~~~ Alright, that reason is acceptable. It was my order to have you control your power to fight. Thank you for your hard work."

"Then let's go take a nap together!"

"Let me finish dealing with the follow-up matters first."

After glancing at the row of sealed crystal blocks beside him, Natsukawa Tiger carefully collected them all.

(That solves the problem, and then...)

——————————————————————————————————————

Outside Camelot.

It's a small hill about two kilometers away.

Withdrawing his gaze from the other side, Number Two, Natsukawa Tora, sighed slightly, "Sigh, total annihilation? Although I didn't have any hope of winning from the beginning, total annihilation is too... well, with a gap of 2,400 years, this situation was actually within expectations."

"However, in this way, [that] has successfully infiltrated the interior. Now, as long as it takes effect at the right time, the island will completely collapse."

That's right.

Such a voice resonated in the mind of Number Two, Natsukawa Tora.

So, when do you plan to detonate it?

"We'll see. Anyway, let's go and make contact with those two first. After all, I've been alone in that corner for two thousand four hundred years, and you're the only one who's been talking to me. Now I want to go out and explore a bit more."

There's not much time left.

"Yes, I know. I will fulfill our promise before then, so don't rush me."

"【Futigeng】"

27. What to do next

When Fujimaru Ritsuka woke up, she saw a boundless sea of ​​flowers.

"Oh, you're awake, Ritsuka."

"Ms. Meryl?"

Sitting up from the sea of ​​flowers, Fujimaru Ritsuka rubbed her eyes and looked at Merry sitting next to her: "What's wrong with me...?"

“You’re still dreaming,” Mary said. “Your body is still asleep. The barrier that Tiger used to close the barrier seems to have a forced sleep effect, so you passed out the moment you were locked in. But apart from that, the barrier seems to have a healing effect. I noticed that the minor injuries you sustained from Lancelot have already healed.”

A sealing barrier that combines the functions of inducing sleep and healing...

Fujimaru Ritsuka was silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered something: "Speaking of which, why are you here, teacher?"

"Have you forgotten that I'm a dream demon? I already said it's in a dream." Meryl explained with a smile, "It's one of my bad habits, a little magic trick I left on you a long time ago. Its function is very simple: it allows us to talk like this in our dreams. I used to play tricks on Tiger like this all the time."

"You really have no respect for other people's privacy at all."

"Haha, they'll undo the magic when you come back, but for now this is our only way to communicate—let's summarize our current situation first."

When Merry brought it up, Fujimaru Ritsuka became serious.

"We...lost, right?"

"Well, you lost. Although you could still put up a little resistance against the Fairy Knight and Morgan, Tiger wiped you all out as soon as he came back. His illusion materialization and instant-effect barrier sealing magic really show that you can't underestimate his efforts over the past two thousand four hundred years."

Two thousand four hundred years—give that time to any magician, even one with no talent whatsoever, and they would have been able to reach a respectable level, let alone someone like Natsukawa Tora.

With a magician like Morgan by his side whose skills have reached the divine realm, no one can predict how far he will grow.

"Of course, the most surprising thing is that he actually managed to beat those four people," Mary exclaimed.

Arcueid, Aozaki Aoko, Sajou Rei, Majin Souji.

In the context of pan-human history, if these four people were to team up, it would be impossible to find anyone in the entire world who could defeat them. However, Natsukawa Tora did win, and it seems he was completely unharmed.

"Minister... has he become so powerful that even if we all joined forces, we couldn't defeat him?"

"Well, I think both Arcueid and Aoko were defeated before they even had a chance to use their full strength, or perhaps they didn't use it at all. Like Arcueid's planetary support, and Aoko's magic."

Meryl didn't believe that Arcueid and Aozaki Aoko, who had used all their trump cards, couldn't even leave a wound on Natsukawa Torato, so the only conclusion she could draw was that the two hadn't used their full strength.

As for the reasons...

"I don't know about Aoko's side, but Arcueid probably won't be able to be used."

Meryl's words made Fujimaru Ritsuka frown: "Can't you use it? Is there some kind of restriction?"

"Yes, Arcueid's full strength is based on the support of the planet, but considering Tiger's power, it is likely that this Lostbelt planet has given him all its power, leaving Arcueid with nothing."

Natsukawa Torato monopolized all the resources by himself, so it was only natural that Arcueid would lose. Even though her basic abilities were high enough, she couldn't defeat Natsukawa Torato, who had a planet to rely on.

"Then... how do we defeat the minister?"

"Yeah, they're the strongest ever. And the originally planned number two tiger is nowhere to be found. All of you are imprisoned, so you probably can't even put up a fight, right?" Meryl said helplessly. "Even if they go to support us, they'll just be easy prey... So why don't we just give up? Anyway, Tiger will come back after he finishes dealing with things over there. Let's just use the spirit particle transfer to come back first, shall we?"

"Is it possible?"

"Hmm... probably not."

Meryl smiled wryly: "They don't think the tiger's barrier is designed to block space, so directly transferring you back probably won't work. Besides, they were just joking."

“Is that so…” Fujimaru Ritsuka lowered her head in disappointment.

Unable to resist, without support, and facing total annihilation in direct combat... this is simply the worst-case scenario.

Seeing the dejected Fujimaru Ritsuka, Meryl smiled and patted her head: "Don't be so pessimistic, Ritsuka. Actually, the current situation isn't that hopeless for you. After all, we can confirm that even though Tora is no longer familiar with you, he hasn't completely become your enemy. Otherwise, given his personality, he wouldn't have imprisoned you; he would have just killed you all."

"So, at least this point won't be a problem. You are actually in an absolutely safe situation in that Lostbelt right now. Although there probably isn't much freedom."

He's still a prisoner, no matter what.

Fujimaru Ritsuka relaxed a little after hearing that: "So... what should we do next?"

"Let's wait and see. First, we need to figure out a few things—what does Tiger want to do in this Lostbelt? How does he plan to achieve his goals? And... where exactly is Tiger Number Two?"

Compared to the first two problems, the last one is perhaps the most serious.

Ultimately, it was the second Xia Chuanhu who first gathered everyone together to fight against Xia Chuanhu. If his purpose in sending that message 2,400 years ago was to incite them to fight against Xia Chuanhu, then what was his purpose? And who is his true identity?

(Well, although I have a rough guess, it's too unlikely, so I still can't confirm it and need to collect more evidence...)

"In short, Ritsuka, you should take a good rest now. Your physical injuries and mental shock will take time to recover. Our battle in this Lostbelt will only truly begin after you are released from prison by Tora."

"People have a feeling that the outcome of our battle here might have a significant impact on the pan-human history side as well."

After saying this, Merry's figure disappeared from Fujimaru Ritsuka's sight along with the sea of ​​flowers, and then a strong sense of drowsiness overwhelmed Fujimaru Ritsuka's consciousness.

(So ​​sleepy... Hmm... I think I'll go to sleep first...)

28. Heading towards the real tomorrow

Inside Camelot.

Six hours after the battle ended.

After transferring all the crystal blocks sealing Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others to their respective [gardens], and dismissing Melosin, Bagst, and even Morgan, Natsukawa Torara returned alone to his throne room.

Seated on the throne used to suppress Kornunos and the Naraku Insect, Natsukawa Torato took out a bracelet.

That was the communication device that Fujimaru Ritsuka wore to contact Chaldea.

Before sealing Fujimaru Ritsuka, Natsukawa Torara had already removed this thing—because he needed it for something.

"Beep—"

Following the usage from his distant memory, Natsukawa Tiger placed the bracelet on the throne, which was the core of all British magic, and switched to the video call mode of the communication device.

A huge screen of light appeared in front of him, and what it reflected was the figure of Meryl sitting in the command center.

Hi~~~~~ Long time no see, Tiger, did you miss me?

Upon meeting, Meryl waved to Natsukawa Tora in a very familiar manner, seemingly not caring at all that she was a stranger to him, someone he hadn't seen for 2,400 years.

Natsukawa Tora was silent for a moment, then sighed softly: "Just like in my memory, it seems that even though I am no longer the person you know, your attitude towards me will not change, Nightmare."

[It's Merry. Even if we're strangers now, she's still the fiancée you chased for over a decade. It's such a rare opportunity to reunite, calling her "Nightmare" is too formal.]

Or is it... because your wife is around, so you need to avoid suspicion?

“Morgan is not here. The battle with Mordred and Artoria of Pan-Human History consumed too many Holy Swords, so she went to replenish the stockpile.”

【She's not here? That's a real shame. I was really looking forward to settling things with her. It's so rude of her to be the last one to arrive and cut in line like that. She doesn't understand any rules about who comes first and who goes first. Doesn't she realize I've been waiting for ten years?】

"..."