Time rewinds to one day before in the simulated world.
[Watching your only friend Altria step into the spirit gate and return to Paradise, you know in your heart that this farewell is eternal.]
"Altria… you really are a fool."
Though Nocnare feels sorrow at her choice, she is also helpless.
[No time for grief: upon receiving the report that the Black Hound is nearing Norwich, after weighing pros and cons, you set out first alongside Grim toward Norwich.]
[Before that, you returned to Oxford and rendezvoused with Muiren; Fairy Knight Tristan used Water Mirror magic to open a communication mirror in Oxford and contacted you.]
[After discussions, you reach a provisional agreement.]
[Fairy Knight Tristan is willing to contribute to resisting Bagster, but also requests your aid in hunting the fugitive Beryl.]
[Considering Beryl's earlier ambush on Woodworth that led to his defeat, you include Beryl among targets for subjugation, so you readily form a temporary alliance.]
[Then, at Muiren's suggestion, Tristan uses Water Mirror magic to contact Lord Bogart of Sheffield; aware of his need to defend his homeland Norwich, you quickly form another temporary alliance.]
[Thus, the Fairy Britain Anti-Calamity Alliance's provisional united front is formally established.]
[With time pressing, you hold a tactical meeting via Water Mirror magic.]
[Since Bagster has recently reinforced many Black Hounds again, you decide to adopt Muiren's previous plan for handling Black Hounds, then form an elite squad against Bagster composed of you, Muiren, Bogart, Fairy Knight Tristan, Percival, and Grim.]
[Because your force is farthest from the planned battlefield, to arrive early in support of the Round Table army, Grim departs first for Norwich.]
[However, as your force nears Norwich, a large group of undead infected by the Morse curse appears ahead and attacks you.]
"What's this?! Not Black Hounds, but Morse zombies?!"
Seeing the sizeable horde of undead, Nocnare's mind is flooded with bad memories. In the last simulation, unaware of the Morse zombies' full capabilities, she suffered massive curse infection, her power plunged, and she died in the tide of corpses.
And if Morse zombies appear, that demon must be here too.
"Form up! Prepare for combat."
"Everyone remember: although the enemy isn't Black Hounds this time, it is the source of the curse. Engage per the previous battle plan: each giant kills five Morse zombies then withdraw; each Fang Clan fairy kills three then withdraw!"
Fortunately, the force she brought was specifically organized to counter the Morse curse, composed only of giants and Fang Clan fairies; whether the enemy is Morse zombies or infected Black Hounds makes little difference.
As expected, by each soldier dispersing the curse just enough to keep it within bearable limits, they can wipe out the zombies with minimal casualties.
Only then does she have leisure to wonder what the zombies' appearance here signifies.
"Ah, unbelievable—so quickly you found a way to handle them? How troublesome. Very well, I'll spice things up a bit."
An annoying voice rings out from behind. Nocnare startles and instinctively tries to evade, but the speaker chooses to ambush simultaneously: three blood-red claw slashes materialize in the air and strike Nocnare's side, severing one arm instantly and leaving three savage wounds across her torso; blood gushes forth.
[You are ambushed by Beryl and gravely wounded.]
"Beryl—why is it you again, you beast?!"
While desperately using healing miracles on her wound, Nocnare glares at the ambusher and hisses angrily.
"Hm? Odd—why 'again'? I don't recall any prior encounter with you. Perhaps it's some new flirting approach?"
In the place where she had stood, Beryl, having assumed Woodworth's form and now in his black werewolf guise, mocks her:
"By the way, I suggest you abandon healing. Though I know you must be in terrible pain now, sorry to say I've heard something of great fairies' self-healing abilities—so I specially prepared a bit of poison for you. Feel anything yet?"
At this, Nocnare's expression shifts sharply; she bows her head and sees her wounds, which she was trying to heal, show no sign of improvement—instead, the blood flowing is turning purplish-black.
"What benefit do you gain from this?!"
She demands, scowling: "Why help the Calamity?! If the Beast Calamity destroys this Britain, you won't escape either!"
"Escape? Why escape?"
Unexpectedly, Beryl shrugs casually:
"You seem mistaken. I'm not like you—I actually don't care much about my own survival."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm merely a lovesick gentleman waiting for the girl I adore to appear before me… But sadly, by my calculations, Mash should have arrived long ago, yet I can't find her anywhere."
"And what does that have to do with what you're doing now?"
"Be patient, let me finish. Perhaps you don't realize: the girl I yearn for is exactly the type who excels at saving the world. Quite remarkable, right?"
At this, Beryl's wolfish face twists into a chilling, manic grin that even unsettles Nocnare:
"So I thought: if I strive to destroy this world—particularly in a way affecting the entire human history—Mash will surely appear to stop me, right? Isn't that romantic?"
—
What on earth is this man saying?
His words are so outrageous that Nocnare is briefly stunned, forgetting to counterattack.
"Do you even hear yourself? What romantic nonsense is this? No one could understand such insane love of yours!" At that moment, Muiren's voice rings out first.
"Hah, you simply don't understand—you have no idea what an angel Mash truly is—"
Beryl sneers, ready to continue, but Muiren interrupts:
"I'm not exactly sure who that girl really is, but clearly she must utterly despise you—after all, you said she's a professional savior, right? Yet at this critical moment, she still hasn't appeared; obviously she's desperately hiding from you."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Beryl laughs:
"Are Wing Clan folk always this rude? No wonder the Fang Clan wiped you out…"
"Oho, resorting to personal attacks? Flustered? Seems I hit a nerve?" Muiren arches an eyebrow and cuts him off again.
"Hah, but their genocide seems incomplete. In that case, allow me—this temporary Fang Clan member—to finish what they started."
As he speaks, Beryl teleports instantly to stand before Muiren, raising a hand to rip off her head.
"Now!"
At that moment, Muiren suddenly shouts and ducks. Simultaneously, a scarlet magical arrow flies from behind her, striking Beryl directly. At the same instant, Muiren's Fairy Domain fully expands, instantly focusing its negation effect on Beryl to weaken his strength.
Under her weakening, Beryl's defenses drop rapidly: what would have shrugged off the arrow is now badly diminished, and the arrow pierces his body, tearing a large hole in his chest and abdomen.
"Ah—!"
Beryl's smile freezes. He glances at Muiren before him, then at Tristan in the distance who shot the surprise arrow; he opens his mouth as if to speak, but cannot utter a sound.
"Unexpected—your plan really worked."
Tristan steps quickly to the kneeling, wounded Beryl's side, glancing at Muiren and murmuring:
"Hehe, though without Gloucester as an amplifier my Fairy Domain's power and range are greatly reduced, good and bad are relative: used properly, it can achieve effects even we once couldn't realize."
Muiren smiles, satisfied. —They had held several battle meetings, so this wasn't wasted time: when Woodworth attempted to subdue Bagster, Beryl already interfered once; thus in this decisive battle he was likely to appear again. The Anti-Calamity Alliance had prepared a countermeasure: whenever either side is attacked, Tristan with Water Mirror magic will arrive first and coordinate the battle plan with others present.
Looking at Beryl kneeling in pain, clutching his chest wound, Muiren regrets:
"It's a pity: Nocnare was supposed to deliver the finishing blow, but she got ambushed and gravely wounded. Otherwise this guy would have died outright."
"No matter," Tristan says coolly, "I'll finish this strike."
She raises her hand again, condensing a focused magical arrow, aiming at Beryl…
Suddenly Tristan's expression changes. Where is Beryl?
"Looking for me, Ms. Spinel?"
A familiar, nauseating voice rings from behind her. Tristan immediately redirects her arrow toward the snarling face of Beryl behind her. But before the arrow fires, Beryl claps it aside with one hand, then grasps her throat.
"Impossible?!" Muiren cries in alarm, immediately trying to expand her Fairy Domain onto Beryl, but this time the release is blocked by another identical fluctuation.
"Hah, so this is Fairy Domain? Truly the Planet's Lung—quite useful!"
Beryl darts in front of Muiren at high speed again, one palm easily slamming her into the ground. Watching Muiren gasp and near death, Beryl laughs:
"I originally thought Woodworth had no Fairy Domain, but it seems his was just too simple and crude—purely defensive and rapid healing, a berserker's standard. No wonder he withstood Bagster head-on before—truly handy."
"Sigh, honestly, when my defenses were first reduced, I was caught off guard; you should have aimed for my head then."
"You… bastard…"
Hearing Tristan's faint curse from his grasp, Beryl squeezes harder, cutting off her speech:
"Pity, Ms. Spinel. Didn't we get along quite well before? I don't know why you suddenly went mad to kill me, but your capacity is so limited: your magic, domain management, even killing skills are all a mess. Look, you only know to call me 'bastard'—useless. No wonder you can't be queen's heir? Could Morgan despair and vanish because of this?"
"Guh—"
Struck to the core by his words, Tristan's eyes widen, tears of grief welling. Despite choking, she strains to raise a finger tip and condense a small magical arrow, but Beryl doesn't dodge: the arrow strikes his face and dissipates without harming him.
Beryl laughs again:
"Oh, so you want to blast my head—"
At that moment, the neighing of a horse arises from the chaotic battlefield. Reflexively, Beryl turns and sees a figure leap off a charging red steed, then deliver a heavy punch to his face, sending him flying.