Fairy Round Table Realm, Poem of Eternal Mist

“Your Majesty,” Gareth gazed at the strange sky outside the crystal window, “can you now tell me what has happened in this Britain?”

Morgan gently stroked the armrest of the throne, his silver hair shimmering subtly under the magic lamp. Explaining the concept of Lostbelts was far too complex, especially since this Knight of the Round Table seemed completely unaware of the actions of 'that king' in pan-human history—which ironically gave Morgan a sense of relief.

'Some truths transcend the scope of language.' She rose, her robes trailing on the ground. 'For example, the Artoria Pendragon you seek is not here.' The moment her fingertips brushed her cheek, magical light poured forth like quicksilver. Her silver hair gradually turned to shimmering gold, her blue eyes transformed into emerald green, only the missing ahoge (cowlick) hinted at a subtle difference from the Knight King.

'The figure of a king...' Gareth unconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Just as the red dragon and the demon queen are destined to clash, this Britain without Artoria needs another guardian." Morgan's golden sideburns stood out starkly against her black uniform. "But for now, you need to adapt to the rules of this world."

The bronze-faced guard appeared silently: 'Your Majesty, the pool for receiving flesh is ready.'

The underground sanctuary reeked of damp mildew, and multi-legged creatures, crawling rustling through the cracks, scurried away in the dim light cast by the oil lamps. As the group stopped before a stone door engraved with forbidden runes, Sei Shonagon suddenly grabbed Gareth's arm guard: 'I have a bad feeling…'

Inside the door was a pool churning with purplish-black foam, an ominous magical power thickening the air. 'The black sludge of the Holy Grail War,' Morgan muttered, gathering detection magic at his fingertips. 'While it corrodes ordinary humans, it can grant Servants a real, fleshy body.'

After the guards withdrew, Morgan suddenly snapped his fingers. As the magic circle shimmered, their clothes instantly turned into scattered stardust.

"What are you doing?!" Gareth hurriedly crossed his arms and squatted down, while Sei Shonagon cried out and covered his body with his long hair.

"Surprisingly well-endowed, Miss Noriko." Morgan thoughtfully observed the literary-minded young woman's shapely figure. "As for Gareth... you should really get some nutrition."

Before the two could object, she had already pushed them into the pool. The boiling black mud swallowed their gasps. Morgan stared at the surface and murmured, 'Hopefully, the fairy blood mixed in will neutralize the poison...'

As two wet heads emerged from the liquid, Gareth stared in shock at his faintly pulsating veins: 'This is...what it feels like to be alive?'

Sei Shonagon tried moving her fingertips, and a paper umbrella materialized in her palm: 'Even the magic circuits have been reconstructed!'

Morgan quietly slipped a fragment of the Holy Grail inlaid with a sapphire into her sleeve. What she didn't reveal was that this ritual of incarnation was a double gamble—both to preserve the flame for the Mirror Clan and to issue a challenge to the 'other self' lurking in the spacetime rift.

Meanwhile, inside the Wind Clan's secret chamber, six figures sat around a crystal ball. The tiger-headed man's sharp claws traced the unusual-colored hair of Sei Shonagon across the sphere's surface: 'The filth of pan-human history must be cleansed.'

"The Mirror Clan is becoming increasingly troublesome." The butterfly-winged noble shook off the star map formed by his scales, "It's time to let the moonlight illuminate the new chessboard."

The crystal ball reflected the image of the Ensel couple inspecting their territory, while not far behind them, two newly-born Servants were frolicking under a cherry blossom tree—completely unaware of the impending bloodshed.

Seven days later

On a dark and windy night, several shadowy figures stealthily crept to the edge of the Mirror Clan's territory. They communicated silently with hand gestures, taking advantage of the stillness of the world to move, but they could not escape the sharp eyes of the city guards.

"Halt! Who dares to trespass into this forbidden area at night?" The guard slammed his spear to the ground and shouted sternly.

The masked leader chuckled softly: 'Tonight will be the Mirror Clan's final encounter with this beautiful world.'

"Nonsense!" Before the guard could finish speaking, a long blade pierced his chest. Blood dripped from the gleaming silver blade, blooming into dark red flowers in the silence. In an instant, the guards at the city gate fell one after another, the assassins descending from the sky reaping lives like crows in the night.

"Cleanup complete." The leader wiped the blade. "Preparing to release the poison gas."

"Yes, sir."

Meanwhile, inside the Camelot Palace, Queen Morgan was about to retire for the night when a horrifying scene flashed before her eyes—the Mirror Clan's territory was being swallowed by poisonous fog, and her people were struggling in agony in their sleep. She sat bolt upright, her nightgown soaked with cold sweat.

"Your Majesty!" Upon hearing the commotion, the fairy knight Mordred and the fairy knight Lancelot rushed in and quickly supported her trembling body.

'The Mirror Clan...' Morgan gripped the bed curtains tightly, 'Tonight, things may not end well!'

'Mr. Ensel and the others have always been law-abiding...' the fairy knight Mordred said incredulously.

The fairy knight Lancelot, already armored and sword in hand, declared: 'Some forces have long coveted the Mirror Clan's loyalty. Your Majesty, please grant us immediate permission to come to their aid!'

Beneath the blue mask, her eyes sharpened, and she dragged the fairy knight Mordred out of the high window. A dazzling white light suddenly erupted in the night sky as the thrusters on the back of the fairy knight Lancelot's armor roared to life, his figure instantly transforming into a shooting star.

"Hey! You fastest knight, wait for me!" Fairy knight Mordred spread his butterfly wings and hurriedly chased after him. Looking at the pure white trail that cut through the night sky, an ominous premonition welled up in his heart.

In the Mirror Clan's territory, the masked men had completed the deployment of the poison gas devices. The leader, arms outstretched, gazed with rapt attention at the slumbering city.

'Hahaha—this is the clan that claims to illuminate the future? After tonight, your light will be extinguished forever!'

With his command, countless devices spewed out a deadly toxic fog of yellow-green and reddish-brown. These gases twisted and danced in the air like demons, slowly descending with a pungent, acrid odor. Sleeping residents were choked awake, and the entire city instantly transformed into a hellscape—coughs and vomiting mingled, people struggled in the toxic fog, yearning for fresh air but only inhaling more deadly gases.

"The revelry begins!" the leader grinned and waved his hand. "Leave no survivors!"

Masked men donned their gas masks in unison, the click-clack of the metal buckles piercing the night air. Weapons in hand, they stepped into the poisonous fog, unleashing a bloody massacre: men, barely catching their breath, were beheaded with axes, their blood splattering and staining the walls red; elderly men were brutally disemboweled, their hearts ripped out as they died amidst the laughter of their perpetrators; a little girl with burned eyes was skinned alive, her agonizing screams becoming the symphony of the rioters; nuns in a convent were torn apart like tofu by magic saws; soldiers steadfastly holding their posts fought futilely in the poisonous fog, ultimately collapsing in pools of blood. The once happy city was now utterly shrouded in the shadow of death.

Inside the castle, Adimheid, the Mirror Clan chieftain, was awakened by screams. Gazing at the raging carnage outside her window, her heart ached. What troubled her even more was that her husband, Ensel, had mysteriously disappeared, leaving only a blood-stained shirt and a blood-stained desk in the room.

'What the hell...' Adimheid trembled as he tried to rush out.

"Please calm down!" Sei Shonagon hurriedly stopped her. "The poisonous gas outside is too dangerous!"

Gareth glanced around warily: 'There's no sign of intruders in the castle, so why would Lord Ensel...?'

A deafening roar echoed across the sky as the fairy knights Lancelot and Mordred finally arrived. Gazing at the city engulfed in poisonous fog, Lancelot's lips tightened beneath his mask: 'Too late...'

'Let me dispel this filth!' The fairy knight Mordred spread her wings, and suddenly dark clouds filled the sky. She chanted an ancient incantation: '[Stormy Weather]!'

A torrential downpour swept in, and a fierce wind whipped up the rain curtain, washing away the toxic fumes. Under the purifying power of nature, the deadly gas gradually dissipated, revealing streets scarred and ravaged.

"What?!" The masked leader looked up in astonishment.

'In the Queen's name, end this atrocity!' The fairy knight Lancelot moved like lightning, her blade flashing, and the leader was already decapitated. She drew her twin blades, and the masked figures around her fell like straw. 'Sylph, to the castle! Leave this to me!'

Fairy Knight Mordred nodded and sped away. Fairy Knight Lancelot leaped into the air and slammed his fist into the ground, sending the remaining thugs flying with a blue shockwave.

Inside the castle, a dark figure suddenly burst through a window. Gareth and Sei Shonagon stepped forward to shield Adimheid, but were easily pushed away by the figure. A cold hand gripped the patriarch's neck, emitting a low, menacing laugh:

'You, like Ensel, are a threat that must be eliminated.' The shadowy figure tightened its grip on its fingers. 'Soon you will become Moss, and even the fastest and strongest fairy knight will not be able to save you—'

-

Meanwhile, the fairy knight Mordred fought off the masked men along the way as she raced towards the castle. Just as she was about to reach the castle entrance, a strange magical fluctuation made her stop abruptly—it was an aura mixed with curses and poison, exactly like the one that had appeared on the plains with Mos.

'Moss...how could he be here?' she muttered to herself, a whirlwind blade materializing in her hand. 'If he dares to show himself, I'll tear him to pieces!'

As the owner of that aura gradually materialized, the fairy knight Mordred couldn't help but gasp – it was none other than the battered and bruised Lady Adimhead! At this moment, she was covered in blood and the blackish-purple slime characteristic of Mordred, and her staggering gait clearly indicated that she had been deeply infected.

'Madam...' the fairy knight Mordred's voice trembled.

Adimheid raised his cloudy eyes: 'Lord Mordred, the Fairy Knight...you've finally arrived...'

Just as the fairy knight Mordred was about to step forward to help—

'Pfft!'

Adimheid suddenly pulled a sharp shard of glass from his pocket and plunged it into his own chest without hesitation.

'Please forgive me... I cannot implicate you...' She vomited black blood, her body slowly collapsing to her knees. 'If I were to taint you with this curse...'

'Adimheid!' the fairy knight Mordred cried out in alarm, as the whirlwind blade in her hand disintegrated into countless points of light.

Darlington's Calamity - The Fairy Round Table Realm, The Poem of Eternal Mist

The gears of fate turn ceaselessly, subtly altering their course every moment. Those overlooked, minute cracks often erupt into an irreparable abyss at some point.

'How could this be…' the fairy knight Gareth's voice trembled. 'Lord Mordred, so that day…'

The fairy knight Mordred nodded heavily: 'By the time Melusin and I arrived, the massacre had already begun...'

Artoria covered her mouth in disbelief: 'Even if you resent them, you shouldn't... I always thought the Mirror Clan was still alive and well...'

The emerald glow of the healing magic gradually faded. Da Vinci stared in astonishment at his once swollen and bruised right hand—those shocking wounds seemed to come back to life like withered trees nourished by morning dew, and the excruciating pain quietly receded in the warm flow of magic.

'This feeling…' she murmured, gently moving her fingers as if she had never been injured, 'it's like a miracle…'

The fairy knight Mordred gave a weary smile: 'That should be fine.'

"Thank you..." Leonardo da Vinci lowered his head in remorse, "I was so rude when we first met, yet you were still willing to treat me..."

"Don't worry about it. The shadow that woman cast on you is a dereliction of duty on our part, Fairy Knights." A shadow crossed Fairy Knight Mordred's eyes. "It's just... those two children will probably never forgive me. Back then, Lady Adimheid chose to prevent me from being infected by the calamity..."

The fairy knight Gareth suddenly realized: 'She committed suicide? Could it be that Sei Shonagon and Gareth happened to arrive at that moment?'

'Exactly...'

(remember)

'Pfft!'

The sound of shards of glass piercing flesh was exceptionally clear amidst the torrential rain. When the fairy knight Mordred rushed into the castle, he saw Adimheid slowly fall, a sharp shard embedded in his chest.

'I'm sorry... Sylph...' Adimheid's breath was barely a whisper, 'This is the only way... so I won't drag you down with me...'

"No!" The fairy knight Mordred knelt down and caught her limp body. "Where is Mr. Ensel? Could it be that he also..."

'It's all my fault... Ensel... Go quickly...'

No matter how she called out, the body in her arms grew colder and colder. Just then, Sei Shonagon and Gareth rushed over, drawn by the sound. When they saw the fairy knight Mordred holding Adimheid's body, time seemed to freeze.

"It was you!" Gareth's voice was twisted with rage. "You killed Mrs. Adimhead!"

A long spear suddenly appeared, thrusting straight at them. The fairy knight Mordred caught the spear tip with his bare hands: 'Let me explain!'

'The murderer dares to deny it!' Sei Shonagon's embroidered ball transformed into a stream of light and swept towards them.

The fierce wind dispersed the attack, but it couldn't dispel the hatred in their eyes. Looking at their resolute gazes, the fairy knight Mordred finally sighed: 'Since you insist on this—'

The air suddenly became thin, and Sei Shonagon and Gareth collapsed to their knees due to lack of oxygen.

"I'm sorry..." the fairy knight Mordred's voice was filled with deep weariness, "Please go to sleep for now."

The two Servants gradually lost consciousness as they felt suffocated, while the fairy knight Mordred looked out at the torrential rain and knew that this misunderstanding would forever remain an unhealable wound in their hearts.

Let's return to the present. Although the truth is now clear, given the tragic circumstances, Gareth and Sei Shonagon's misunderstanding of the Fairy Knight Mordred was almost inevitable. Artoria, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Fairy Knight Gareth finally understand the whole story, but on the other side—

"That woman murdered Adimheid!" Sei Shonagon's voice trembled with emotion. "She was the only one present in the castle at the time!"

Senji Muramasa pondered, "Wait a minute. Didn't you say that Lady Adimhead was poisoned by the Calamity Poison? Why are you so sure it was Mordred's doing? I find the shadowy figure that repelled you more suspicious..."

Even so, Gareth clenched his fists, "we will never forgive her. You have no idea what a terrible ordeal she put us through after she drugged us..."

Senji Muramasa's expression hardened: 'Could it be...?'

"Just as you thought." A look of pain crossed Sei Shonagon's eyes. "Can you imagine? When we awoke in a city littered with corpses..."

(Flashback begins)

The morning light pierced the clouds, illuminating only a dead city. Gareth and Sei Shonagon awoke amidst the ruins, greeted by a hellish scene: mangled corpses scattered across blood-stained streets, some torn to pieces, others unrecognizable. A heavy stench of blood permeated the entire city, and the once bustling market was now only filled with the mournful cries of circling carrion birds.

Two young girls walked hand in hand through the deathly silence, each step treading on congealed blood. The once vibrant courtyard was now littered with corpses, children's toys scattered beside their parents' cold arms. The profound loneliness and sorrow almost consumed their reason.

(Return to Reality)

In fact, after suppressing the rebellion, Fairy Knight Mordred and Fairy Knight Lancelot returned to report, but Mordred had not anticipated that Sei Shonagon and the other two would awaken prematurely. When Camelot's army conducted a thorough search, they discovered that the Mirror Clan had been wiped out—even the survivors who escaped the massacre had succumbed to the poison gas. The planners had no intention of leaving any survivors from the very beginning.

Gareth and Sei Shonagon, who left their homeland with hearts full of wounds, thus became the last spark of the Mirror Clan. As long as they live, the light of this clan will never be completely extinguished.