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

"Of course."

With Marco's consent, Merlin, in order to eliminate any potential threats beforehand, asked the little girl who possessed the memories of Neman to retrieve the scattered Nine Witches' Marks, which Guinevere would then destroy in one fell swoop.

From the moment Nemia obtained the relevant memories to Merlin finding the other two witches who had long lost contact and gone into seclusion, it only took a few days, which could be described as swift and decisive. However, unexpectedly, the goddess who was targeted beat them to it and even tricked them.

Perhaps because it was a rare moment of genuine humiliation, Merlin's expression remained unchanged, but the atmosphere she exuded was completely different from usual, and anyone could tell that she was clearly not in a good mood.

“Time is of the essence, so I won’t beat around the bush. First of all, Nemia is currently a destabilizing factor and must stay by my side, do you understand?” Seeing the two nod, Merlin then revealed a faint smile: “It seems that the goddess has recovered a certain amount of strength, which is indeed beyond my expectations... but the current situation is not too bad.”

According to Nimiao, she still needs to use this pre-made 'container' to move around. Whatever her plans are, she can only act when Nimiao is out of our sight.

"Therefore, there's not much she can do. If all goes well, we might even catch that goddess in the act." Merlin tapped his staff lightly. "For now, there are three suspicious places: the two witches' residences, and the village connected to Nemü and Her Highness the Princess. Considering they're unlikely to place all their hopes on one place, it's necessary to check all three. The problem is the order—"

She looked at Guinevere: "Two options. First, the three of us can work together. It will inevitably be slower, but it will be safe enough... Or, Nemyo and I can take charge of two of the locations, and the third can be investigated by you, Your Highness... As it stands, Niman now seems similar to the remnant soul of Macha from before. Even if there are some differences, you have the Dragon Armor protecting you, plus the Sword of Light. As long as you don't let your guard down, even if you encounter the worst situation, you should be able to escape unscathed."

"Should I decide?" the girl asked.

Merlin nodded.

Guinevere thought for a moment and replied, "Time is precious, let's split up."

"it is good."

“You two are more familiar with where those two witches live, I’ll go to the village.” The plan was finalized, and the specific arrangements were also settled in a few words. Although the key Death Mark was fake, the soul fragments within the other marks had been destroyed and were no longer landmines that could explode at any time. At Merlin’s suggestion, in addition to returning the original Wind Mark, Nemia also handed over the Sword Mark to Guinevere.

“You’ve seen how Terena used it before. Although this is just my guess, this mark might work in conjunction with your Sword of Light… consider it a kind of insurance. Next… you can carry this with you.”

"This is?"

"It's just a little gadget. Hopefully, it'll never come in handy."

"Well... thanks."

After agreeing on the meeting place, how to communicate, possible variables, and how to deal with them, Guinevere parted ways with the two and followed Merlin's navigation spell, heading towards the small village they had passed through before...

In Carleon, South Wales, the bustling scene did not change with the departure of Merlin and Guinevere. Most people were still busy from morning till night, setting up banquet venues, stocking food and drinks, arranging accommodations for guests, and so on. Everything required careful planning so as not to appear neglectful to the guests, nor to make King Arthur appear too attentive and thus be looked down upon by others.

Because it concerned his reputation, the Fisherman King worried that the young king might mishandle the situation and cause unnecessary trouble. He specially sent several subordinates, led by Uphius, to assist him. However, they were surprised to find that Sir Kay, the son of Sir Hector and King Arthur's sworn brother, was quite talented in this regard. He was able to manage the work that should have been done by more than a dozen people in an orderly manner, and even had the energy to take care of other aspects.

People therefore speculated that at the coronation ceremony, King Arthur would surely appoint Caesar as his chief steward—a title that represented the king's representative, responsible for the management of territories and estates, and a high-ranking minister that everyone envied.

There were several other nobles who had the same goal, and they flattered Artoria openly and secretly, which annoyed her greatly. However, after seeing Kai's abilities, they were ashamed of their inferiority and gave up the idea.

Perhaps because of this incident, Artoria always had a smile on her face when she looked at her sworn brother these days—a few days later, Kai privately asked her very sincerely, "Do you want to see what I ate last night?"

"No."

"Oh."

It took Artoria a good half day to understand the meaning of those words. If Bedivere hadn't been there to dissuade her, she would have picked up the Holy Lance and chased after someone on the spot.

After learning of this, Kay treated Bedivere to drinks a few more times, and their relationship gradually improved as a result. But that's another story.

It was another beautiful day with blue skies, white clouds, and a cool breeze. After a simple breakfast, Artoria went to the courtyard and began practicing her swordsmanship as usual.

At her level, even without using magic, ordinary knights are no match for her based on skill alone. She even struggles to spar with Bedivere and the Lucan brothers, and usually seeks out knights with outstanding strength like Kai and Royal.

Most of the time, however, this sparring spot was reserved for a certain princess who was so idle she was practically moldy. This was also a rare opportunity for the busy Artoria to spend time with Guinevere each day, which she cherished greatly. But right now, Guinevere had been called away by Merlin and was somewhere else, and Royal and the others were all busy with their own affairs, so she could only practice basic sword skills and such by herself.

Given Artoria's personality, she wouldn't necessarily feel bored or dull, but compared to usual, she inevitably felt a bit lonely and quiet. After practicing for an hour, she stopped, drank some water, and was regulating her breathing when she suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps approaching quickly from outside the courtyard.

what happened?

Holding a towel to wipe her sweat, Artoria tilted her head slightly in that direction and saw Kai, clad in armor, striding towards her with great speed. The words "Brother Kai" were about to come out, but upon seeing the two people behind him, she changed them to "Lord Kai, what happened?"

Kai's expression was somewhat strange, neither good nor bad. He strode forward, bowed, and then had the two soldiers behind him bow as well. Only after Artoria nodded in response did he speak: "Half an hour ago, a messenger from the north appeared outside the city."

"A messenger from the north?" Artoria repeated, then asked doubtfully, "This vague description doesn't sound like your style, Lord Ke. Did the messenger himself say that?"

Kai nodded, still wearing that strange, hesitant expression: "He only said he came from the north and had a message to deliver to Her Highness the Princess..."

"your Highness?"

“They must be referring to Miss Guinevere,” one of the soldiers said. Seeing the other three looking at him, he quickly added, “That man’s sword has an insignia, I remember… it’s Scottish.”

“That must be someone from Scotland. Fina seems to have been writing letters asking for their opinion, and it looks like the reply has finally arrived.” Artoria said with a sudden realization, then frowned slightly: “It’s a pity that Fina herself is not here… I don’t know when she will return. Anyway, let’s treat the messenger well first, and I will go see him later.”

"No, about this..."

Kai paused for a moment, but did not answer immediately. Instead, he shook his head and said, "The person is gone."

"Gone?"

Artoria was taken aback by what she heard.

Kai then explained, "These two were the first to spot the messenger. They were patrolling outside the city when they bumped into him. After questioning him, they were about to take him back to the city to rest... but in a moment of inattention, the messenger and his horse disappeared."

"Disappeared……"

"It's really strange. In broad daylight, not only is there a living person, but even the horse he was riding has vanished without a trace. It's almost like a ghost..."

"Because we were afraid he might do something, the two of us were watching him from the front and the back, but in the blink of an eye, really just the blink of an eye, both the man and the horse were gone."

The two soldiers gestured with their fingers, one of them clearly terrified, the other slightly calmer but still incredulous: "...But he gave us a letter beforehand, instructing us to deliver it to 'Her Highness the Princess'."

"The letter is here."

As Kai spoke, he handed her a letter. Artoria took it, then paused, startled. Although the letter had been resealed, it was still clear that it had been opened: "You read the contents of the letter?"

"Princess Elaine examined it. There was no strange spell, just an ordinary letter. As for its contents, no one has seen them yet."

Artoria nodded slightly, holding the letter, hesitating for a moment whether or not to read its contents.

The sudden disappearance of the messenger mentioned by the soldier, and the fact that Scotland and Orkney had vanished overnight as if they had disappeared from the face of the earth, gave her a vague premonition that something bad was quietly taking place on that northern land.

Fina probably wouldn't mind... Thinking this, she whispered "sorry" again, and finally decided to read the contents of the letter.

Hopefully it's not something private... Under the watchful eyes of Kai and the two soldiers, Artoria opened the envelope, took out the small, neatly folded paper, and carefully unfolded it.

To avoid seeing the words on the letter, Kai looked away first, noticing that a soldier next to him did the same, while the other remained dazed. He reached out and tapped the soldier on the head, who jolted awake and hurriedly turned his head away.

Only Artoria's gaze remained fixed on the open letter in her hand. At first, her gaze was filled with curiosity and guilt for peeping into other people's letters, but when she saw what was on the letter, she suddenly shrank back and her expression turned to astonishment.

"What...is this...?"

There were no words on the paper.

Instead, he used a red, blood-like viscous paint to draw a crooked, huge smiley face that almost filled the entire sheet of paper.

The drawing is clumsy, like a child's scribbles, but it is precisely these messy lines, intertwined and twisted, that give the smiling face a strange and inexplicable quality.

Standing in the warm sunlight, Artoria felt a chill creeping into her bones, rising from the depths of her heart...

Chapter 173 Strange Things

As the sun rises and sets, another day dawns. As the first light of day appears and the sky begins to lighten with a pale, fish-belly white, a flurry of petals suddenly sweeps through the mountains and forests.

Countless brightly colored petals swirled and danced, constantly coalescing into various shapes, such as birds or small beasts. In an instant, they coalesced into a large single arrow pointing forward. A moment later, a small figure followed closely behind the fluttering flowers, running towards them.

"call……"

Amidst her rapid breathing, the girl suddenly tripped over a protruding tree root, her body tilting to the side. Just as she was about to fall, an invisible force of wind appeared out of nowhere and lifted her up, not only preventing a potential tragedy but also allowing her to use the force to perform a backflip and land gracefully on a nearby branch.

A few leaves, still glistening with dew, trembled slightly, the water droplets shimmering and reflecting dazzling light. She paused on the branch for only a moment—the branch dipped slightly before springing back immediately—her body shot out like an arrow, leaping and bounding through the canopy with a variety of dizzying techniques, covering most of the forest in the blink of an eye, closely chasing the ever-changing petals in front of her.

Every now and then, a few flocks of birds would be startled into flight. The girl weaved among the birds, and eventually, she simply loosened her grip on the branch she had just been holding, letting her body lose its support and plummet to the ground.

The next moment, amidst the chirping of birds, she spread her arms wide, a gust of wind swept through, and she seemed to have grown wings, gliding forward for over a hundred meters. Only then did the surrounding blue whirlwind disperse. She landed back on a tree, took a couple of breaths, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and leaped forward again with a powerful stomp.

For various reasons, even though Guinevere longed for the image of a knight galloping across the sky, she was never able to ride independently. In this situation where every second counted, she had no choice but to fully activate the Wind Seal and take a dangerous, parkour-like approach, avoiding main roads and choosing rugged shortcuts instead. Several times, she even slid across broken cliffs like a flying squirrel. It was only because of the girl's skill and daring, coupled with Merlin's magical guidance, that she managed to avoid any serious accidents along the way. Of course, even if she accidentally messed up, the Dragon Armor prevented her from getting seriously injured.

She couldn't remember exactly how long she had been running continuously—perhaps a day, perhaps two. She only briefly stopped by a wild mountain spring, eating a few bites of dry rations with the spring water. The rest of the time, she had been running without sleep, traveling day and night. Perhaps she was just scaring herself, and that nothing was actually happening. But if something did happen, arriving a moment earlier would give her a chance to save even one more innocent life. Her mind was filled with such thoughts that she didn't feel tired at all; instead, she seemed energetic, like someone who, after staying up all night, suddenly becomes wide awake and excited.

Guinevere knew this excitement was only temporary, but it was precisely this feeling that kept her going. She moved with incredible speed, bursting out of one grove and crashing into another. After deviating from most of the usual paths, the scenery consisted mostly of endless trees and mountains. Occasionally, a wolf, a wild boar, or a bear would appear, only to stare in disbelief as a whirlwind swept past, leaving behind scattered leaves and branches, and inexplicably vibrant flower petals that seemed to appear in this season.

……

"finally reached."

Just as the flower petals forming an arrow suddenly scattered and vanished with a gentle breeze, Guinevere, recalling Merlin's description of the spell, stopped in her tracks. Her translucent wings disappeared simultaneously. She bent down, tapping her knees, feeling the tingling sensation from the intense exercise slowly emerge, and then took a few more steps forward. It was an ordinary hilltop. The girl gazed down for a moment, quickly taking in the village not far away.

To be honest, although she and Artoria had spent a night in this village earlier, and had encountered a strange barrier spell in the back mountains, as well as a demonic boar that resembled the "eldest son" of the nightmare monsters, the village itself wasn't particularly special. Looking around now, all she saw were fields planted with crops, and scattered houses, nothing particularly distinctive. Although there was a wooden house built on the edge of the village, this was a fairly common layout and not necessarily Uru's residence.

But what the girl cared about even more was the current state of the village.

"Strange...where did everyone go?"

She looked up at the sun overhead. She didn't have a clock, but judging from the direction of the sunlight and shadows, she could roughly determine that it was between noon and afternoon. Usually at this time, even if they weren't busy with their farm work, the villagers would gather in the square to chat. After all, they didn't have many forms of entertainment. They could have children at night, but during the day they could only chat about trivial topics to pass the time.

But looking around, the village square was completely empty. Not only that, the girl scanned the surroundings several times, but she couldn't see a single person, not even a dog. This was highly illogical—a slight unease settled in her heart, realizing that the whole situation had likely taken a turn she hadn't expected.

When Nimiao first came to this village following a deep-seated connection in her blood, she inadvertently allowed the goddess lurking in the shadows to secretly weave a web of conspiracy. Fortunately, they discovered it in time... but was it really in time?

Shaking her head, as if trying to banish a trace of worry from her mind, Guinevere then pushed herself up on her knees and straightened up again: "No matter what, let's go down and check. I hope they're alright..."

Silently praying for the safety of those she had only met once, the girl no longer hesitated. She leaped forward, spread her arms, and rushed down the slope in the sudden gust of wind.

……

"What the hell is this?"

Because of Artoria's reaction, Kai, who had initially turned his gaze to the side, turned back and was also taken aback when he saw the huge smiley face on the paper. Perhaps his intuition was not as sharp as Artoria's; although he also sensed a strange grotesqueness from this odd "doodle," that was all. He didn't feel anything more, and after the initial astonishment, his expression couldn't help but become strange.

"A silly prank..."

"It's not a prank."

Having uttered only half a sentence, Artoria suddenly shook her head and spoke to herself. At that moment, the other two soldiers also tried to turn their heads, but before they could even move, they heard their king speak in an unprecedentedly stern tone: "Close your eyes! Don't look!"

"Yes Yes!"

Setting the two panicked individuals aside, Kai looked at Artoria, his expression gradually turning serious. He knew his adopted sister's personality; although she would occasionally crack harmless jokes, she would never go so far as to play a prank on someone like this. There must be a reason: "What's going on?"

"Take a closer look."

Artoria's expression grew even more solemn, a trace of surprise still lingering in her eyes. She didn't answer directly, but instead raised the letter in her hand, bringing it closer to Kai: "Since Princess Elaine didn't find anything wrong either, this should just be an ordinary piece of paper, an ordinary picture... That's precisely why it's so terrifying."

"What do you mean... wait, this, this..."

"noticed?"

Faced with Artoria's question, Kai was momentarily at a loss for words. After a moment, he shook his head and said in a complicated tone, "What the hell is this...?"

“I’d like to ask that question too. But I’m even more curious about what exactly happened in Scotland…” Artoria closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. After a moment, she looked at the paper in her hand again, feeling a chill run down her spine—the seemingly hastily drawn smiley face, upon closer inspection, was actually composed of hundreds, even thousands, of tiny characters. These characters, barely larger than the tip of a pin, were tightly packed together, repeating the same short word from beginning to end. Yet, the handwriting of each character was different, as if they had been written by countless people, yet together they formed this chillingly bright smiley face.

"save--"

Like fresh blood dripping.

Stopped abruptly.

……

With a light touch of her toes, the Wings of Wind vanished, and Guinevere stood in the center of the village square, looking around for the villagers, while weighing in her mind whether to try calling out.

But before she could make a decision, two voices rang out almost simultaneously: "My Lord—"

"I know."

The girl's eyes sharpened, and in an instant, a sharp sound of wind being cut quickly approached. The killing intent, solid as a tangible substance, pierced straight towards her like a long spear. Before this, she had not sensed any hostility at all—it was as if she was a hundred meters away a second ago, and in an instant, she was already behind her. But she lowered her right hand and pulled, and as her body spun, a dazzling sword light bloomed, protecting her in front of her and blocking this attack that came without warning!

squeak - ah -

Like the strange sound of sharp fingernails scratching glass, the attacking thing clashed with the sword of light and seemed to be knocked back. Guinevere also took a step back, then pushed off the ground with her toes, switching from defense to offense, and thrusting out her sword. Only at this moment did she finally see the true face of her opponent—it was a humanoid monster with long arms and legs, thin and muscular, covered in thick fur, baring its teeth, with sticky saliva hanging between its teeth, looking crazy and chilling.

Its body was even more bizarre: each of its hands and feet had four joints, flailing wildly like whips; its left hand had eight fingers, the extra three extending from its middle finger; its right hand, however, had only three fingers, with long, sharp nails that gleamed coldly, almost like daggers. But at this moment, two of its left hand's nails were broken, dripping blood. The attack just now must have been a lash from its left hand, which unfortunately struck her sword and broke on the spot.

As soon as the monster retreated, Guinevere immediately thrust her sword into its chest. It was almost an instinctive reaction. Even though she was momentarily terrified by its bizarre appearance, her attack was neither slow nor erratic, and her timing was perfect. The monster let out a low growl, and its saliva splattered onto the ground, making a screeching sound, much like the corrosive effect of strong acid.

The girl felt her scalp tingle as she watched the powerful saliva rushing towards her. She was forced to dodge to the side, and although she was not touched, her attacking sword missed its mark.

But her eyes were calm, her figure elusive, and she suddenly moved to the monster's blind spot to the left rear. She raised her hand and made a sword thrusting motion. The monster roared, and its strangely long arm lashed out. Guinevere bent her waist, spun around, and changed position three times, returning to the monster's front.

In an instant, she stared at the humanoid monster before her, and a hint of gold suddenly appeared deep within her azure pupils.

This was the first time he had truly put the domain techniques he had learned from Lancelot and Merlin into actual combat. With the connection of their auras, the invisible dragon's might suddenly pressed down, and the humanoid monster was jolted. Its originally fierce eyes briefly lost focus, and its expression became dazed.

The two arms that were originally prepared to retaliate fell limply to the ground, doing nothing.

Guinevere took a step forward.

With a flash of sword light, he passed by the monster, and a few drops of blood flew into the air.

The pungent, acrid smell of blood filled the air, only to be quickly dispersed by the gentle breeze surrounding the girl, leaving no trace.

"It was solved so easily..."