I, Guinevere, am going to crush you, you curry stick, today!

"……what?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily suddenly caught sight of something—something that should never be here at this time—she was startled, then abruptly turned around, and there, about a hundred meters above her, she saw something standing in mid-air, holding a sword, giving her a bright smile…

"Merlin!?"

……

“Indeed, Your Highness seems to be more capable than I thought.”

The female magician watched as the astonished girl disappeared into the dense forest of guns and armor, and smiled slightly.

“Artoria, if what you obtain is not the Star Sword to save the world, but the Pillar of the End connecting the two sides of the world. Man and God, redemption and destruction, at the end of this path, what will you become, and what will happen to Britain… It’s exciting to think about.”

"Now that the three holy swords are all in hand, the most troublesome goddess has temporarily left her seat..."

He flicked his finger at the sword in his hand, and the blade, named after the lake, hummed, and the Elvish characters on it began to glow with a soft light.

"Ok?"

After rolling several times on the back of the giant beast, the girl, who had just stood up, suddenly looked down at the sword in her hand.

"This……"

Seeing that his sword strike had been blocked by the hard shell and had failed, Gawain took a deep breath and was about to continue to use the little magic power he had left when suddenly, the Wheel Sword began to become scorching hot again—just like when the Tower of Radiance appeared earlier—and almost slipped out of his hand.

He gripped the sword hilt tightly, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

The beast of waves seemed to sense something as well, raising its head and roaring towards the sky. Its voice, like thunder, rolled across the clouds. Merlin looked at this majestic beast, which resembled a god of the sea, but a hint of disdain appeared on his face.

With a flick of her right hand, Aaron Dett stood upright, his long, silvery-white hair fluttering in the wind beneath the dark clouds. His voice was clear and resonant, carrying an air of sacred solemnity.

"It is a promise I make to you."

"Bound by thirteen seals, with the last king as witness. This thing shall arrive with fantasy, journey with storms, and vanish with the age of gods—"

……

P.S.: I'm still recovering from a cold, feeling lethargic and exhausted... I managed to post one chapter, but I'm too tired to continue with Qiu Ye's story. I'll wait until I'm better. (slumps over)

If all goes well, this part should be finished tomorrow. Next, I plan to write a short, lighter slice-of-life segment to lighten things up. If there's any storyline you'd like to see, feel free to mention it in the comments or here. I'll consider it accordingly. That's all, remember to vote!

Chapter 145 Shining in the Farthest Places (Part 2)

From the moment he jumped to the moment he landed, the process was so smooth it was almost unbelievable.

Despite Gawain and Kai attacking and restraining it from the side, Lily expected that the monster would not easily expose its back to her.

Judging from the strength the opponent has shown up to just now, this obstacle is more likely to come from the magic side.

So when she landed heavily on that broad back, the girl was completely dazed. Plus, for a fleeting moment, she thought she'd seen Merlin in the sky… she wasn't sure if it was just a hallucination from the fall.

With this rather absurd thought popping into her mind, Lily rolled on the spot, dissipating most of the impact of the fall—thankfully, the armor she was wearing was purely woven with magic. In addition to its excellent defense and lightness like a feather, its resistance to various aspects was also perfectly in line with the creator's intentions. If it were ordinary armor forged from steel, she would probably have suffered internal injuries and vomited blood from just such a fall.

After a few rolls, she stood up, holding onto a nearly three-meter-long, towering back thorn. When Lily looked up again, the female magician had vanished.

It must have been an illusion... She shook her head, looked around, and suddenly had the illusion that she was in a lush forest. She hadn't really noticed it from a distance, but as she got closer, she saw that the beast's shell was crystal clear, and a deep azure blue color flowed from the outside to the inside.

Although the girl had never appraised any high-end gemstones or crystals before, she felt that even the most expensive pieces couldn't compare to what she saw before her. For a moment, gazing at the deep-sea blue, she couldn't help but feel dizzy…

wrong!

Alarm bells rang in Lily's mind, and she hurriedly closed her eyes, took two steps back, and forced herself not to stare at the thorns around her. It wasn't until everything went dark that she noticed the strange, almost imperceptible magic in the air. The feeling was somewhat like the charm spell Merlin had used more than once, but it was much more subtle and less noticeable. If she hadn't realized something was wrong at the last moment, she probably would have been completely under the spell's influence by now.

What a terrifying monster...

Lily took a few deep breaths to calm her mind and completely shake off the influence of the surrounding magic, her gaze darkening slightly. With a "whoosh," she drew her sword, about to search for any possible weakness in her opponent's back, when suddenly, accompanied by a clear, melodious whistling sound, the elven characters on the blade lit up one by one.

Before she could ponder its meaning, she suddenly heard Merlin's voice again, each word so clear it was as if he were standing right beside her: "A promise to you—"

These words also rang in the ears of the others: "Use the Thirteen Seals as shackles—" Feeling the sudden increase in temperature of the holy sword in his hand, even though a similar situation had just occurred not long ago, Gawain couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Then, he heard the female magician's voice.

"The last king is our witness—"

"What the hell..." Kai muttered under his breath, while waving his scepter, causing a giant wave that was about to rush towards him to dissipate into nothingness.

……

"This thing will arrive along with fantasy—"

france.

A young man with purple hair leaned against his balcony, almost half his body leaning out, staring intently at the distant sea: "What exactly is that thing..."

A simple Eagle Eye technique was enough for the young man to make out the battle taking place at sea: blurry figures, terrifying beasts roaring and stirring up storms—a scene straight out of a myth, shaking his soul and igniting a burning passion within him.

He longed to draw his sword immediately, to take the place of those people in the distance, and to have a good, satisfying battle with the giant beast.

Only those who are like this can be called heroes!

"But...where is my sword..."

Having searched desperately for so long, still unable to find his beloved sword, Arondette, the young man couldn't help but feel a pang of frustration. However, he had a few guesses about the possible culprits—it could be Vivian, Merlin, or even Ninian, Gretel, or Terenas. Whoever it was, they were certainly connected to these witches of Avalon.

When he was still an infant, Vivian forcibly took him back to Avalon, where he was raised by the Nine Witches until he was fifteen. The hardships and bitterness he endured during that time were indescribable, but it was thanks to those unbearable years that he developed superb skills that were second to none. He also obtained the legendary Arondet, one of the three holy swords of Avalon, the Lake of No Regrets. Looking back, the young man felt mostly gratitude towards Vivian and the other witches.

anyway……

To find out the origin of the rampaging behemoth and to retrieve Arondette, I'll need to make a trip to Britain. Perhaps this is Vivian and the others' true purpose... As I was thinking about this, a very familiar voice suddenly rang in my ears.

"Walking with the Storm—"

"Merlin?"

……

"Together with the Age of Gods——"

The sound, like thunder, rolled past, causing the two figures engaged in battle to pause briefly. Guinevere, her black and red cloak billowing like a bat, blocked the oncoming lightning and flames. She took a step back, sword in her right hand and cloak in her left, calmly observing the fiery red-haired middle-aged woman opposite her. However, the sound had still slightly distracted her.

"what?"

It sounded like Merlin was speaking... but she couldn't understand a word he said. She didn't know what the Thirteen Seals or the Last King meant. The girl frowned slightly and looked at Macha again, only to find that the other person had raised his head and was looking up at the sky, as if searching for the person who had spoken. His expression was tinged with anger... and a hint of barely suppressed fear.

After a few seconds, Guinevere did not take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Instead, she simply exhaled and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. Of course, since both of them were currently in a soul state, they would not break a sweat even if they fought for an eternity. This was just a subconscious action on her part.

"goddess."

When the red-haired woman turned around, the girl smiled slightly: "Be careful."

Macha's crimson eyes flashed, like two raging flames: "You will pay for your stupidity—" With a flick of her wrists, a raging inferno and a wave of heat surged up from behind her. Guinevere threw off her cloak, suppressing the worry and curiosity hidden in her heart, and took the initiative to meet the attack with her sword!

……

"Although Macha here is just a shadow, vastly different from the real her, to be able to suppress her so completely... truly worthy of being the new master recognized by the Sword of Light. But the Sword of Light is a cursed sword; no matter how powerful it is, it cannot escape its inevitable fate. When that time comes, my dear father, what heartbreaking expression will you wear then..."

The sound of waves crashing echoed from the cliffs by the sea. Nimiao reached out and poked the girl's round, red cheeks, like apples, then pinched her nose, resting her chin on her hand, staring blankly at the body that seemed to have left her body.

“That’s amazing… If we could always be together like before, happy from morning till night, how wonderful that would be. If I didn’t know anything… Although I could pretend I didn’t know anything and hide the most important question from you… Merlin probably wouldn’t expose me, and even if he found out sometime later, you definitely wouldn’t be angry.”

"If only you could get angry..." the girl sighed. "Then I could pretend I don't know anything and continue to stay by your side like this."

"And now..."

The conversation suddenly paused. Nimiao stopped talking to herself and turned to look at the sea thoughtfully. Lily and the others were chasing the wave beast. The battlefield was gradually moving away from the coastline, and the storm that swept across the sky seemed to have turned into a picture on the horizon.

“The Pillar of the End is about to appear… Macha, the Beast of the Waves, this turmoil is about to end. I should… make up my mind.” She closed her eyes, and after a moment, opened them again.

The blonde girl's figure became blurred in the shimmering water.

……

In Lily's own perception, what happened at that moment was truly difficult to describe clearly in words: she watched as the Elvish script on the sword glowed, Merlin's voice rose and fell in a melodious, almost poetic tone, and the whole world seemed to change completely:

Everything was approaching, everything was moving away. The carapace of the giant beast, its spines, the sea, the sky, the clouds—the boundaries between things began to blur, losing their specific distinctions. As if in an instant, the sky was no longer the sky, the sea was no longer the sea, and the rising waves became a cluster of light points that gathered and then dispersed. Under her gaze, these faintly glowing "particles" gathered together and struck more "particles" in front of her. Some immediately mixed in, while others rose up and scattered, like a lively cluster of fireflies.

Everything turned into clusters of light, some blurry, some clear, including herself—Lily looked down, her gaze passing through the numerous points of light surrounding her. Where her body should have been, countless intersecting lines now flowed, centered on a gleaming sphere, with dazzling light constantly emanating from it. This was magic, she suddenly realized.

If everything in the world were broken down into pure magic, this would be the scene.

But why did it turn out this way?

Suddenly, all the surrounding points of light, including herself, inexplicably flew in the same direction. In that instant, Lily felt as if she had been split in two. One half was pulled into the air by a strange force, uncontrollably rising and being carried forward by the surrounding points of light. The other half, however, continued to rise, rising higher and higher, as if standing at the end of the infinitely high sky, looking down at the vast torrent of light below.

Her emotions were a complex mix. On one hand, she was tense and fearful because of this sudden change, yet on the other hand, she was incredibly calm. This calmness wasn't due to confidence, but rather, it was as if she had completely lost feelings of tension, surprise, and fear. This unfamiliar feeling washed over her, making Lily shiver. Was this still herself?

This problem is destined to remain unresolved.

The vast stream of light swept forward, and the view from high above followed it. After an unknown amount of time, she saw a pillar of light that seemed to suddenly appear before her eyes.

What a ray of light that must have been!

Most of it was hidden in the endless white clouds above and in the thick fog that spread below. Lily believed that what she saw at this moment was nothing more than a grain of sand on the beach, a drop of seawater in the ocean, compared to the whole. However, this insignificant little bit had already pierced through the entire world with an absolute momentum and pressure.

From all directions, countless points of light rushed in, flowing like rivers into the sea, all entering this incredibly powerful light, which seemed like a pillar of the world.

Lily watched herself—feeling utterly powerless to resist, unable even to muster the thought of resistance—as she was swallowed up and merged into one with the pillar of light, along with all the other specks of light…

P.S.: I finally finished writing this chapter before 2:30 AM. I recently discovered two visual novel translations I've been looking forward to, one is a heterosexual romance and the other is a yuri romance. Plus, a friend who's been putting it off for a year finally agreed to play Divinity: Original Sin 3 online with me…

Games make you lazy (sigh)

Chapter 146 Goddess (Part 1)

When I came to my senses, the scenery around me had changed completely.

The towering pillars and the endless sea of ​​light that surged from all directions seemed incredibly unreal in retrospect, like a laughable dream. Lily blinked, then blinked twice more, before she could gradually make out what was around her. Before, she could only see the vague outlines of everything. She initially thought it was because of the fog, but after observing carefully for a while, she realized that it was not because of smoke or anything else obscuring her vision.

Rather, the whole world is gradually becoming clearer from a blur.

……

The distant, hazy silhouette was tinged with gray and green, transforming into a majestic mountain. The dim band of light flowing slowly overhead gradually turned into the familiar blue sky under the girl's gaze. The flat pieces of paper turned out to be white clouds, and a few "ink stains" at the edge of her vision suddenly flapped their wings and flew away, disappearing in an instant.

Similar changes are not limited to the visual. In the still world, the first breeze blows, the leaves dance in the air, and then there is the clear sound of birdsong. The sound trembles slightly, like a fledgling bird hatching from its shell, stretching out its tender and fragile body, and uttering the first song symbolizing life itself without knowing anything.

—And so the world came alive.

Lily stood on the vast, seemingly endless plain, watching a lush, verdant green spread from beneath her feet, instantly transforming the once desolate wasteland into a vibrant scene. Butterflies fluttered in her sight, and she followed a blue butterfly with her gaze. Although she didn't take a step, the surrounding scenery continued to change in an instant.

Flowers bloomed and withered, weeds grew rampant, repeating this cycle dozens, hundreds, thousands of times, until wild beasts began to appear. But these so-called wild beasts—if that word could describe them—were all strangely shaped, some towering hundreds of meters tall, and even the most similar-looking "magical boar" was more than ten times larger than Lily remembered. The beasts fought each other across the plains, their blood soaking into the soil, and soon blooming into even more vibrant flowers.

The butterfly flew past a griffin that was devouring the corpse of its prey, and then it saw a dense forest.

A long, drawn-out howl echoed through the forest. She looked up and, through the swaying leaves, saw a long, slender silver dragon. The dragon race, which should have been extinct long ago, was now brazenly appearing before her. Lily was slightly startled. The silver dragon danced in the sky and vanished into the clouds in an instant. The butterfly continued forward, emerging from the forest, passing a group of fleeing cyclops, and brushing past a gigantic whale floating in mid-air behind them.

The whale stopped before a mountain peak, opened its mouth, and took a deep breath. Instantly, the entire peak crumbled, countless birds and beasts fled in panic, while the whale, swishing its tail, swallowed boulders of all sizes and any unfortunate creatures that couldn't escape. Moments later, the original peak had vanished without a trace, and the whale continued its leisurely drifting forward. All sorts of things—more unbelievable than the most outlandish tales circulating in taverns—appeared and disappeared around the tiny butterfly like a revolving lantern.

In the mountains, a burly giant, five or six meters tall, wearing animal skins, began to teach mysterious magic to four mortals under an oak tree. One of the boys rolled on the ground and transformed into a lifelike white wolf.

At sea, many men and women traveled south on large ships, braving the wind and waves.

In the city, a richly dressed brown-skinned man stood before the throne, holding aloft a golden platter containing ten rings. Before him lay a crowd of prostrate people, while behind him were dozens of grotesque and terrifying demons, seemingly real yet unreal.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Lily remained silent, without even making any guesses about the strange scenes unfolding before her. She simply watched quietly and without uttering a word as these people, things, and events passed by, until a certain moment.

The girl suddenly realized that the scenery in front of her was starting to look familiar.

That must have been the forest near her home, a place where the local residents had hunted, chopped wood, and gathered wild fruits since long ago, but it had been stained with blood because of the appearance of Saxon scouts... That was Hector's manor, stables, fields, the home she had lived in with her adoptive father and Kai since she could remember...

It was a small town near her home, bustling with people. During harvest time, the golden wheat ears stretched out like an endless ocean, a truly beautiful sight. Every year at that time, she would attend the town's annual festival. Although she would only quietly watch others play and frolic in a corner, it was one of the few things that allowed her to immerse herself in the experience and feel content.

On ordinary days, the young men of the aristocratic class still spent their days galloping on horseback. She disliked associating with these frivolous and dissolute people, yet they seemed to enjoy teasing her for no reason... Kai said it was bullying her, but the girl herself didn't feel particularly unhappy. In a sense, perhaps it was their way of expressing goodwill...

Flying and flying, she chased after the butterflies, finally arriving at the training ground where the king selection ceremony was to be held. The weather was the same as that day in her memory; the sky was so blue that it was almost dazzling. Merlin had arrived, and people from all over Britain had also come to pull out the sword in the stone and become king. She looked around but did not see Fina. Instead, she led her horse and gave the spear that Hector had given her to Keigo. She waited alone until the crowd dispersed, then stepped forward alone and pulled out the sword in the stone.

This time, the sword did not break.

Then came a sudden gust of wind, which scattered the sparse clouds in the sky, making them roll like waves. A young man wearing a cloak, who looked somewhat like Merlin, stood behind "Artoria".

"It would be better to think carefully before picking up that thing."

The man's mouth opened and closed, his voice seeming to come from a very distant place: "Once you pick up that sword, you will no longer be human until the very end... and not only that. Once you pick up that sword, you will be hated by everyone, and ultimately face—"

Another gust of wind blew.

The blue butterfly perched on the hilt of the sword seemed to be tossed into the air by the wind, causing her vision to sway. In an instant, the world spun around her, then quickly returned to calm.

The entire sky was quietly tinged with red.

The man who resembled Merlin, and the "Artoria" who was clearly herself yet seemed different, were all gone, replaced by a pile of broken swords, spears, and axes.

Everywhere you look, there are corpses.

The blood flowing on the ground was so deep that it reached above her ankles.