Part 3
Morgan POV
Facing a god by herself was bound to make her nervous, but Morgan did not have the luxury to hesitate. Magicians like her have greater firepower and fought best in open spaces where they could display their spells.
Cernunnos was a deity with several traits that made her the choice to fight. The resistance Cernunnos had towards physical attacks was way higher than the one towards magical attacks. Her knights were a good match since they used magic for most of their attacks, but only Baobhan Sith remained. Rather than have her here, Morgan decided to send her on an errand. Her firepower was lesser so she would be able to make a difference.
"Although at this point I would like to take as much help as I could..." Morgan said in a helpless tone.
Lowering her staff, Morgan commanded dozens of spears made of darkness to fly toward Cernunnos.
Half of the spears were intercepted by a ray shot from its mouth while the rest landed on the large body of Cernunnos. Morgan was able to maintain her position due to the help she was getting.
"I won't let you touch her!" Terra's large hand protected Morgan.
With her other hand, she grabbed a chunk of earth and threw it at Cernunnos. Compared to the attack that Morgan launched, the chunk of the earth was not able to cause any damage.
"This land was made using his body and flesh, Cernunnos will hardly be damaged using the earth element." Morgan advised.
The fact that the earth itself did not turn against them was all because of Terra and Morgan was extremely thankful for her presence. It was hard to understand how one of the highest leveled spirits was under Nora, but given how 'unique' he is, Morgan decided to simply consider him a black box full of unexpected things.
"Yes~" Terra replied earnestly.
Punching the ground, Terra created a seismic wave that raised the earth and sent flying the grave diggers trying to harm Morgan.
Compared to the ones she found on the way here, Morgan had to consider these creatures a new kind of monster. They were far more violent and active, attacking anything in sight. Morgan was able to focus on Cernunnos due to the aid of Nora's fairies.
A couple of grave diggers persisted after Terra's attack but they did not reach that far. The small orb crashed against one of them and its movements were halted. Slowly, the grave digger began turning into a statue of ice. While another one was shocked with an orb that released lighting. In that manner, Morgan was able to chant freely and release as many spells as she could.
Cernunnos did not seem to like that as it opened its mouth and screamed. The scream caused Terra and the fairies to stop in place briefly and Morgan felt like her ears would begin bleeding at any moment. Thankfully, before she lost her hearing, Cernunnos stopped.
"Hmhp, don't bully Terra!" Terra pouted and grew from twenty meters to forty meters. She stood up and with large steps, she went towards Cernunnos and punched it.
Until now, Morgan's attacks did not cause such a great reaction from Cernunnos who stumbled a few steps back. His round body was thirty meters tall and thirty meters wide with small arms compared to his body and a pair of long horns that were sixty meters wide both combined. The weight Cernunnos probably had was one reason why Morgan never doubted that her attacks would not be able to move it unless it decided to move by itself, yet... Terra's cute punch with her eyes closed and bad posture was enough to send Cernunnos stumbling a few steps.
"Ouch!" Terra complained as she backed away.
Using her left hand to rub her right hand, she decreased in size as her watery eyes glared at Cernunnos. The spirit looked about to cry but she held back.
Perhaps, just as much as she was, Cernunnos was shocked, but Morgan could not celebrate this because the answer of their foe was to scream again, yet this time, a new change occurred on the battlefield.
The eerie aura covering the surrounding area around Cernunnos pushed against the protective field spread by the magatama in Morgan's chest. The necklace given by Nora had proven its worth more than once and it was still protecting the group from the influence of the aura surrounding Cernunnos, however, Cernunnos was now directly causing the aura to change.
Without much of a choice, the gravediggers were affected. The creatures that no matter how much they were destroyed would come back to life mutated as they turned against each other. Not only that, but they grew in numbers at an alarming rate. Cernunnos scream marked the beginning of a new change in the way this battle would have to be played.
Preying on each other, the gravediggers would grow the parts that they devoted, some would get another pair of arms while others two heads, there were even some whose appetite was endless and ate many of their companions that grew into long centipedes with so many arms and body parts they ate.
"More enemies." Morgan raised her staff indifferently.
Above her, dozens of magic circles were formed. The attribute of the spells was not concealed so the blue colour was in plain sight. Water poured nonstop, soaking her foes, but Morgan did not stop there. After tapping the staff gently on the ground, the magic circles changed and the water stopped pouring. Instead, a cold breeze turned the wet enemies into statues.
Her actions only were capable of affecting the smaller enemies, but Morgan was not discouraged. The discouraged ones were in camp though.
"Friendly fire is no good." Terra mumbled as she broke the eyes at her feet.
Coughing to hide her embarrassment, Morgan had momentarily forgotten that she was not alone. Even the orbs of different colors came to her to complain while gesturing with their hands. The fact a couple of them were very explicit about getting revenge for her acts made Morgan wonder why the peace-loving fairies known for being playful would even gesture her to watch out when she went to sleep. Immediately pinning the blame on a certain cat, Morgan readied her next spell.
While the enemies had gotten tougher and more numerous, they just made it easy for Terra to sweep them away. The problem came when the fairies tried to defeat them. They were a lot stronger so their endurance was on another level. Morgan considered aiding them but that would lower her fire rate at Cernunnos. The spots she had been continuously attacking were beginning to show signs of damage. However, the vitality of Cernunnos was extremely high. He could recover if she did not continue her attacks. Nonetheless, Morgan decided to aid the fairies. As long as they were in her land, as long as she was the queen, she would protect her people and that included the guests like Nora and his people. With that resolution in mind, Morgan formulated her next attack, four spears made of darkness formed around her and they stabbed her, or so appeared, but a grave digger with four pairs of arms received the damage instead. It was killed immediately.
"Next one." Morgan mumbled.
Noticing the support that they received, the fairies offered their thanks as they pushed themselves to support Morgan with more drive than before.
...
...
...
As the fight dragged on, the fairies began to show signs of being exhausted. Using their abilities continuously drained them greatly, but they did not stop aiding Morgan. They seemed to be capable of fighting some more despite looking drained. This appeared to be because of their contractor who provided them the necessary energy yet they were not prepared to continuously fight when their own reserves were spent.
Cernunnos would shoot rays from its mouth and his attacks would be stopped by Terra. It was starting to hurt her more than she could handle because she looked like she could cry at any time despite stubbornly shielding Morgan with her arms.
It was to the point that Terra was neglecting the grave diggers aiming at Morgan and the witch queen miscalculated the power of her spell, failing to kill it in one go. The centipede was enraged for losing one of its heads, but when Morgan braced to be sent flying after hastily putting on a shield, she heard a loud sound and the body of the centipede got a new hole that caused it to stop in place, finally defeated and turn into black smoke.
"MOTHER!!!" Baobhan Sith's voice was getting closer.
Morgan smiled slightly when she noticed that the pink-haired one had come back to assist her but she put on a stern expression to scold her since her initial aim was to keep her safe. However, Morgan's expression stiffened when she was Baobhan Sith.
Waving enthusiastically, Baobhan Sith carried a large sack on her back.
"I must be pretty exhausted myself." Morgan sighed.
Deciding that her mind must be playing tricks on her, Morgan changed her focus to Cernunnos who began acting strangely sluggish.
"Mother!" Baobhan Sith called out again.
Giving another glance, Morgan accepted the cruel reality. Her daughter had turned into a delinquent who used the chaos to become a thief.
"Mother!?" Baobhan Sith called out confused.
...
...
...
With the addition of Baobhan Sith and her new party members, the battle became much easier. Not only did the extra firepower lessen the burden on her shoulders, but Terra felt more hyped after seeing the two young women who were allies of Nora.
Baobhan Sith had collected several statues and through a special ritual that was simplified, they managed to make Cernunnos sluggish.
"How long will this state last?" Morgan asked.
While Cernunnos was barely attacking at the moment as it tried to fight against the influence of the ritual, the gravediggers were different. They attacked as fiercely as before, but the blue-eyed and red-eyed young women worked to keep them away while Morgan took a breather. Stopping her attack on Cernunnos was advised by the duo still fighting.
"Cernunnos was always a deity who acted based on the desire of its people. This ritual is just simply asking it to go bad as it used to be so Cernunnos is currently having an internal fight. Revenge and annihilation against my wish for it to go back. I have managed to collect many of the objects used for worship so it saved me the time to visit shrine after shrine." Baobhan Sith patted the sack. "However, it is impossible to estimate how long it will try to make my wish true. The statues are not in their shrine and I am only one person, the duration will be short based on that."
"And what is going to happen once the effects run out?" Morgan inquired.
"It will completely lose its sanity. It has been using lukewarm methods until now. The remaining traits are what has made it stay in place instead of destroying everything in its path as it stormed the lands..." Baobhan Sith explained. "However, I have one way to kill it. The purple cat that was entrusted to us by that annoying cat is capable of dealing special damage to anything evil... if it is that cat..."
Looking around carefully, Morgan tried to find the so-called purple cat. She recalled the time it was entrusted to them when they parted with Nora, but unfortunately...
"I don't see it." Morgan said.
"Fufu! I was expecting it to run away so I put the cat inside this rack. It is right in here....!? It escaped!? How!? I put a magic spell to prevent it from doing so!" Baobhan Sith's confident expression froze once she began searching in the bag.
Feeling a small amount of pity, Morgan prepared her staff to face Cernunnos. While one of the reasons to rest for a moment was to confirm the reliability of the sluggishness of her enemy, Morgan was fairly tired as well. The reserves of magic power she had were not unlimited and despite carrying jewelry that stored extra magic power, Morgan was running low on those as well. Her natural recovery had been slowed since the miasma covering the land intensified and she had been using spells since this mess started. The consumption had gone a few levels once she had to deal with Cernunnos who would not be damaged through normal means.
Nonetheless, she could not say it. She would not express it. Morgan would not turn away either. Even as she faced Cernunnos, Britomart, the only remaining knight beside Baobhan Sith, was tasked with gathering the Fae scattered through the land and preparing to flee to the mainland. It was her duty as the queen to protect her subjects even if she had to perish in the attempt... because she was Morgan Le Fay.
Yet, her fate seemed to be a harsh one. One of the statues, that fell off the the rack that Baobhan Sith had for some incomprehensible reason, broke. It started as a small crack on the surface, but it grew in size until the whole statue could not stay in one piece. Baobhan Sith was as pale as a sheet of paper, but given that it was her usual tone of skin, no one, in particular, noticed how scared she was.
Before Baobhan Sith could mutter an apology, the rest of the statues began cracking.
This was a sign and Morgan realized what this meant. Cernunnos changed. It was something that she considered, but in reality, she did not want it to happen. If the good side of Cernunnos was what made it hesitate, then it was the bad size that caused it to be destroyed. The stalemate would not be solved until the balance tilted to one side. The answer to that problem was in front of it. The miasma generated created an endless number of gravediggers that grew stronger by eating each other. Cernunnos had the means, the opportunity so what stopped the deity from taking action, nothing. It opened its big mouth as it rolled forward and began to suck in everything in front of it. The gravediggers could not offer any resistance. Morgan and the ones at her side hastily tried to prevent this but it was useless, the defense of a god was not something you could break through with a hasty attack. It did not take long for a change to occur. Terra reached and pulled it away too late.
Its white and fluffy fur turned pitch black, and the soft fur became spiky and hard. Its overall size increased to reach sixty meters tall and the horns became thorny all over. The hand holding Cernunnos by its horn was hastily retrieved and Terra backed away. However, Cernunnos was not the same as before. Opening its mouth a ray was shot at Terra.
The elemental gave a silent scream as she was sent rolling on the ground, almost crushing her allies.
Unable to hold back, Terra decreased in size until she was child-sized and began to cry.
"Uwaaaaaa!" Terra tearfully cried.
The ray did not only hurt but she was injured considerably with her fluffy clothing being turned into charcoal. Nonetheless, she did not look critically wounded. This, however, was not a reason to fully celebrate. Cernunnos had not stopped shooting after attacking Terra. While smaller in size, it began shooting at Morgan and Baobhan Sith. Things grew chaotic from there on.
Pushing their body to the limits, the red and blue-eyed young woman made their way towards Baobhan Sith and Morgan. The blue-eyed one was closer to the knight thus reaching her first. Baobhan Sith had created shields made of blood to protect herself from the rays as she gained time to escape, however, she miscalculated the power of the ray and the shield broke before she had time to turn into bats. Perhaps predicting this or simply because she prioritized the protection of the faes, thus acting at once, the blue-eyed young woman reached in time to tackle her and both escaped mostly unscathed. On the other hand, the red-eyed young woman had a headache. Her first impulse was to secure Morgan but after reaching a certain distance, she noticed that Terra was also targeted by the rain of rays. Her hesitation made her freeze and hit the brakes just in the middle of the two. Morgan or Terra, Terra should be the priority since she was the precious elemental from Nora, but the queen was to be aided. It was then that she heard a shout and a message was transmitted inside her head. Both were quite contradicting but there was no need to doubt what to do.
"SAVE HER!" Morgan yelled.
At the same time, she threw her staff and activated a spell that sent it flying faster than anyone seeing could register. Her staff landed in front of Terra who raised her head to see the ray sent her way. The staff impacted the ground and immediately created a translucent shield.
Completely aware of what this would mean for her, Morgan still decided to act as such. Her body was the one of a magician. She did not skip a certain level of physical care such as exercising but that barely strengthened her physique, it was only a means to stay healthy. Her body could be a lot more resilient than other Fae thanks to her pedigree, but she was a witch after all. Her magic power must be working her best to work as an enhancement to her natural magic defenses. Yet, it was all for naught. She could not cast magic in the remaining time even if she had more time, the level of the spell needed to stop the attack was not one you could compare with a makeshift spell.
Closing her eyes briefly, Morgan then opened them up again to face the attack head-on. However, her eyes widened in surprise and horror when the red-eyed young woman tackled her to avoid a direct hit and not try to save Terra.
"Fool! That child will die! Do you think because she is an elemental that she will be unscathed? Her current form is too weak to withstand the attack!" Morgan angrily said. "Is he that heartless that he would sacrifice her!?"
A great deal of grief and pity swelled up in Morgan's heart when she saw the ray getting closer to Terra and indignation could be felt in her body from how she tried to reach for Terra.
"No. Your actions have spoken about what lies in your heart."
A familiar voice could be heard and Morgan saw a flash fly by her side just as the ray broke the shield she created.
For some reason, even as she unsightly rolled on the ground after being tackled and was blinded the the rays hitting the ground around her, Morgan felt that there was no need to worry about Terra anymore. Perhaps she imagined it, but her eyes caught a brief scene of a pair of crystal-like wings.
The rain of rays finally stopped and the dust settled down following that. The space they were just standing in was roughly filled with holes where the rays landed. Morgan was the first to stand since the red-eyed young woman had landed face-first and got stuck on the ground. Her first reaction was to check for Cernunnos in case it attacked again but her eyes paused when she saw a pair of crystal wings acting as a shield. The position was the same as Terra was last seen and Morgan tried to guess why one of the wings seemed to be broken, however, the wings folded back and were hidden once the figure they belonged to had stood up.
Pinching the back of her hand, Morgan regained her bearing and had to shamefully admit that she was briefly dazzled when she saw Nora just now. She could tell it was him despite looking completely different. There were many reasons for that, one of them being the orbs of light, AKA, the fairies that were floating around Nora. Morgan had to admit that perhaps those fairies had greater skills than her in what survival concerned. Nora had a pair of fox ears and tails, he held Terra who giddily clapped with a smile on her face at Nora's presence.
"You put her safety above yours... You have my gratitude." Nora turned around and faced Morgan.
His serious gaze gave Morgan a strange feeling and she pinched the back of her hand again but it did not seem to work. She felt her heart skip a beat and it was only when she felt her face heating up that the magatama hanging on her neck shone and those swelling feelings were dispelled.
"Sorry, the fox version is turning strange thanks to the meddling of Amaterasu-sama." Nora smiled bitterly. "No, I know it is not your fault, but thanks to using Spiritualization while you have an actual body created by Amaterasu is giving the transformation the unnecessary but highly in demand, charm."
Speaking to himself, Nora walked toward Morgan or so she thought, he first went towards the stuck red-eyed young woman and used his free hand to pull her leg. Her position did not change much and she seemed to be out of action in a slightly compromising pose of her ass stuck out, but Nora did not seem to feel any shame as he made her get back on her feet by... slapping her ass.
Even Morgan far away from her used one hand to cover her ass when she saw the figure jolt awake. She did catch sight of a whitish light being transferred from his hand to the young woman but Morgan was too shocked to consider the reason of it.
"Next is..." Nora whistled. "Saori-chan, if you cannot stand up..."
"I am ready to follow your next orders." The blue-eyed girl, Saori, stood up before Nora could say anything else.
The red-eyed young woman also stood up and despite her shame, she
Noticing how she fearfully stared at him, Nora formed a ball about the size of a fist using his right hand and shot it at her. Saori received it and the wounds she sustained were healed. Morgan saw him repeat the same steps with Baobhan Sith who had trouble standing up.
"How much longer will those hold...?" Nora glanced at Cernunnos.
Curious as to why they had not been attacked yet, Morgan was left without words when she noticed a pair of maids holding the ends of a black chain that was sealing Cernunnos in place.
"If you had something like this, since the beginning..." Morgan was about to complain but she noticed cracks appearing on the chains.
"Gleipnir, if these were the real deal, I would've used them. Unfortunately, the geezer of Odin anticipated me stealing them and changed them for a fake one." Nora bitterly said.
The fairies around him tried to cheer him up while Terra seemed like she would fall asleep for being too comfortable.
"Morgan Le Fay, I owe you one. This is regardless of our current or future relationship. Whether we remain allies or we become enemies, I will not forget how you put this child above you." Nora muttered.
"I am just doing my duty." Morgan said.
"Urgh! Were you waiting nearby to jump in when we needed you?" Baobhan Sith asked.
Glaring at Nora, Baobhan Sith seemed to be blaming him somewhat.
"I had some other business to take care of on the way here." Nora spoke. "Can you all still fight?"
"Don't look down on me. Who do you think am I? I am the Queen of these lands." Morgan muttered.
"If Mother can still fight, there is no way I cannot do it for her sake." Baobhan Sith chimed in.
At her words, the miasma that was dispersed when the rays hit the ground settled in again. Gravediggers were created from the eerie fog.
"...you wouldn't happen to have more of those helpers of yours?" Baobhan Sith gestured towards the red and blue-eyed duo.
Jumping from his haori, a purple cat looked toward Cernunnos.
"Ah! You had escaped!" Baobhan Sith glared at the cat.
"More people? There is no need, I got this child." Nora said.
Extending his free hand toward the cat, his gesture was replied and the cat jumped, but midway, it began burning in a purple flame and by the time it landed on Nora's hand, a purple flame was all that remained.
"It is time for you to show what you are made of." Nora spoke. "You want me to call for your help, to wield you in battle. Prove me then, why should I rely on you, why I need to garner your power."
Raising his hand, Nora closed it and the flame exploded. Compared to its size, the explosion it caused was much larger. Reflexively, Baobhan Sith and Morgan jolted, afraid of getting burned, however, the fire expanded and began covering the land. Nora's allies were unharmed, yet, the gravediggers suffered and the weaker ones were turned into charcoal easily. The fire covered the ground and did not die off, the distance was at least two hundred meters around Nora and it slowly crept farther. Even Cernunnos was caught in
"This will take care of the small fries." Nora said.
"That still leaves Cernunnos." Morgan spoke. "Although you seem calm enough."
"Of course, I have experience getting beaten up by a goddess on an almost daily basis." Nora shamelessly gave Morgan a thumbs up. "She is way hotter and way stronger than this one so I don't feel even a milligram of fear."
Face-palming, Morgan wondered if she could change the reinforcements.
"Queenie, what do you want to do? I can take things from here. I cannot guarantee the defeat of this creature 100% but I am certain I can buy enough time for all of you to escape." Nora asked.
"Are you that determined to look down on me? I will not retreat. This is a threat and enemy to the fairies. I will not back down and I will bury it here even if it costs me my life." Morgan muttered.
Raising her hand, it took a few seconds for her wand to come flying at her. Morgan glared coldly at Nora and found it a bit disappointing the words he just said.
"Why did you not use this chance to save me yourself?" Morgan asked. "Saving the princess is a knight's dream, isn't it? Earning my favor and snaring me would've been easier for you if I survived this. As a diplomat... you could get your hands on valuable material to use."
"If that would make you happy, I would certainly save you in a pinch." Nora chuckled. "But... you don't want to be saved as a princess, right now, you are not a princess that needs to be saved from a big bad monster."
Raising an eyebrow, Morgan let Nora speak since he seemed to have more to say.
"You are a Queen. You seek equal treatment instead of one where you are on the lower side of the scale whether you owe someone for saving you or steps on your pride." Nora spoke. "You wish to be treated with respect befitting of your role, your responsibilities... and above all, your resolution. Escaping does not suit you because a Queen never runs away, a Queen will protect her land at all costs. That is what you think, right?"
Nodding in response, Morgan questioned his ability to estate the obvious.
"However, you are mistaken. No place states you need to head out personally." Nora said. "That is why, my queen, I am but a humble Ronin now, a masterless knight if you wish to know what it means. I roam the land looking for a lord to serve so I have a proposal to you."
Lowering Terra with a kind smile, Nora patted her head and faced Morgan. From a closer look, he looked taller and his outfit could hardly hide his more muscular body. If someone told Morgan that this was a late teen version of the youth, she would believe it, although she only heard from Tamamo once that he was way younger.
Kneeling in from of Morgan, Nora looked up to her from below. The fairy queen was surprised by his actions because she thought he was speaking in a joking manner.
"Morgan Le Fay, I am Nora Shiki, I am but a humble cat. I am here to offer my services temporarily to the queen of the fairies." Nora solemnly said. "I will serve you as a knight if you allow me to."
Inwardly snorting, Morgan found it sneaky how he added the 'temporary' part about his service. However, she understood what he was trying to do. Lending a hand as an outsider was harder than lending a hand as her subject. Yet, Morgan found it cheeky of him to be that considerate.
"No, no, Mother! You cannot accept him! Who knows what kind of mess he will cause under you." Baobhan Sith advised.
It could not be denied, but Morgan found it slightly annoying to be interrupted.
An interesting idea appeared on her mind and she would surely put it into practice.
"Becoming a knight usually requires a long-winded process, but I believe I can make an exception given the service you have provided to me, the queen." Morgan muttered. "I will accept your pledge (engagement) towards me, and I will surely consider it positively."
Without paying attention to what was said, Nora extended his hands while Morgan put one of her hands forward. Nora respectfully kissed her hand as a simple ritual while also replenishing her stamina, but soon knitted his eyebrows.
Giving Nora the very definition of a crafty smile, Morgan saw him sweating coldly and with a forced smile on his face when he recalled what he heard. Inwardly, she marveled at the complete recovery of her stamina almost like she had slept for days.
"Wait, I never-" Nora did not have time to rebuke the statement before someone else spoke.
"I knew you had Mother in your sights, you stinky and perverted cat!" Baobhan Sith exclaimed.
"No, wait a minute, I never-" Nora tried to speak up.
"I expect great things from you, my knight." Morgan smiled victoriously.
Clicking his tongue after seeing Morgan's victorious but smug smile, Nora understood he had been played. The way Baobhan Sith looked at Cernunnos was a lot kinder than what she looked at him, but the youth simply let it go... or not, he glared at Morgan defiantly and in a way that definitely meant he would get back at her.
"My queen, I will certainly exceed your expectations." Nora stood up. "If I might be so bold, I wish to ask for a reward after I valiantly fight."
Narrowing her eyes, Morgan haughtily raised her chin expecting to look down on him coldly, but his taller height made her want to kick him in his kneecap to make him look up to her. Nonetheless, Morgan kept those thoughts in her mind, far from the reaches of anyone or so she thought but the youth looked at her suspiciously then at his kneecaps. It seemed he had great instincts.
"I have heard tales of how the blessing of fairies brings good luck among other things, one of the most famous ones is about how King Arthur himself was blessed by the Lady of the Lake and received a blessing that allowed him to walk on water." Nora spoke. "If it is not too much to ask, I would like to be blessed."
"Is that so? You ask for something of incredible value, that is an honor that not many have received since it requires the whole hearty desire of the fairy to grant that blessing." Morgan said but did not fully explain.
Looking at Morgan who seemed to be holding back some information, Nora was unable to ask anymore because the chains broke and Cernunnos was released.
"Yikes." Nora sighed.
Undoing his transformation, he returned to his nekomata form while Tamamo appeared beside him.
"Hubby?" Tamamo asked.
The fox looked confused about why he would change back when their fused form was stronger.
The youth looked at Terra who was obediently waiting for him.
"Do you want to go back?" Nora inquired. "If you don't want to fight anymore, I won't force you."
Looking down shyly, Terra gave Nora puppy eyes full of tears.
"It hurt me..." Terra said. "But I want to help you..."
"I see." Nora nodded.
Charging an attack again, Cernunnos planned to shoot rays all over the place but he was adding more power.
"Entrust yourself to me." Nora said. "You won't suffer more pain and you will help me."
"Really...?" Terra mumbled.
Her injuries were no more thanks to Nora, but she kept touching the places she was wounded at.
"I will not lie about that." Nora smiled.
Putting a dissatisfied expression, Tamamo pouted but still spoke.
"You there, I don't care if you want to act like a queen, a princess, or a mysterious heroine that comes from space." Tamamo spoke. "MY HUBBY will do his best, just like he always does. You better do not slack off."
Before Baobhan Sith opened her mouth to bicker with the fox, Morgan raised a hand to stop her. A little irritated by the way she was spoken to, Morgan coldly smiled.
"MY KNIGHT will receive the support of HIS QUEEN, I do not know what role you usually take, but I am a queen who steps forward on the battlefield to lead her people." Morgan smiled.
A palpable pressure could be felt between the two and sparks almost materialized when their gazes were locked, but Nora wisely chose to not get involved.
"It will be ok, rest assured." Nora patted Terra's head gently.
"Hmh." Terra cutely nodded and formed a pair of fists with her hands. "Terra, the counterattack begins."
Chuckling, Nora released a large amount of ki. Every person nearby reacted to his actions due to the sheer amount.
"<Spiritualization: Terra>" Nora spoke.
Watching in confusion, Morgan wondered why Nora and Terra were swallowed by the ground. However, her thoughts were directed toward a tremor that made her almost lose her balance. The only one who remained calm through this was Tamamo who looked at Morgan with a small victorious smirk.
"I hope you are ready." Tamamo said.
Raising an eyebrow at those cryptic words, Morgan was about to ask what she meant when Tamamo replied.
"You will have to think very carefully how you will repay THAT!" Tamamo pointed her finger to the place where the youth had disappeared with the elemental.
From the ground, cracks formed and a large hand emerged. An arm followed and soon the rest of the body. A male figure covered in moss and earth as tall as Cernunnos had emerged from the ground. Contrary to Terra, the hands did not look soft but were sharpened while a pair of pointy horns on the forehead added to the overall height of the figure. The soft sound of a chime being carried by the wind could be heard and Morgan wondered if she was hallucinating, but Tamamo's concerned expression told her otherwise.
"Oh, dear~ That is all that took to leave you with your mouths open?" Tamamo teased but no one could refute her.
Asuna and Karin had retreated towards Tamamo and almost tripped when the figure appeared.
Nora, now turned into a giant made of earth, took a step forward.
"It seems you took care of my precious Terra before." Nora's loud voice was heard. "It will be my turn to deal with you now. Consider this, a payback."
Startled with the appearance of Nora, Cernunnos shot his attack all focused on the giant. However, Nora punched the ground and a huge wall of earth emerged. With a thickness of 50 meters, the rays had a hard time breaking through.
"Don't think I will be gentle like Terra was." Nora said.
Once the attacks were stopped, the wall broke down and Nora dashed towards Cernunnos. The deity did not wait for the youth to attack him but instead intercepted him using his arms. The thick arms looked big enough to reach the ground and when they were extended towards Nora, they grew longer. Nonetheless, Nora snorted and deflected one of the arms while smacking away. The left arm of Cernunnos crashed on the ground with a loud thud and Nora continued to push forward by lowering his body slightly and letting the right arm pass by his left shoulder. Both of the attacks missed and Cernunnos opened its mouth to take a bite of the giant youth, however, Nora moved faster, even before the mouth was fully opened, Nora stepped forward and used the momentum to twist his body, turning his back to Cernunnos and immediately grabbing a hold of the extended arm. With the arm over his shoulder, Nora performed a perfect shoulder throw. Easily lifting Cernunnos, the impact when it landed created a huge crater and the shockwave reached Morgan in the distance.
Trying to stand up, Cernunnos found it impossible because Nora had followed his shoulder throw with an arm lock. The creature screamed in pain and the sound was causing even the people far away watching the fight to feel the pain. Cernunnos slammed its free arm onto to ground and giant spikes emerged below Nora, piercing his chest. The youth did not relent in his grip and pulled as hard as he could until the joint of Cernunnos' arm gave a cracking sound. This resulted in an ear-shattering pained scream.
It was at this point that Nora released Cernunnos and rolled on the ground to gain some distance.
With her eyes on the fight this whole time, Morgan could not help but voice out the question that most of those watching had in mind.
"Is there even a need to intervene?" Morgan wondered.
"...I am sure it looks like a one-sided fight but it is uncertain how long he can keep up that transformation, not to mention the summoning of Terra in that size. The consumption is so high that even an Ultimate-Class being would struggle to summon Terra for a few seconds. MY HUBBY is not only keeping Terra summoned using his own ki, but he is also controlling shikigamis that are spread all over the land to watch out for his people and aid them if needed. There is also the spell, Spiritualization, it has a high consumption level so you can expect it to be taxing." Tamamo bit her lips. "Cernunno's extreme toughness is insane, last time, he was able to rip off the arm of..."
Mumbling in a low tone, Tamamo complained about a certain matter.
"Even if you say that, what can we hope to accomplish if they move so much? I would rather not attack my allies if I can help it." Morgan said.
Observing the fight, Morgan concluded that Nora was under a lot of stress. Even at the expense of ignoring the damage he is receiving, Morgan could tell that the fight was not as smooth as she initially thought. Keeping that huge body working must require a lot of effort.
When the two were far enough, Cernunnos opened its mouth to shoot a ray but Nora stomped on the ground and caused a tremor, a boulder about the size of his head popped out in front of him and Nora hit it with his palm and shot it at Cernunnos opened mouth, interrupting the spell.
"I got my hands on the thing I told you I would steal." Tamamo suddenly said.
"So you DID steal it..." Morgan looked at the fox unkindly.
"How do we make it work? The way it is now it is not different from a scrap of metal." Tamamo muttered.
Pulling a worn-out shield filled with cracks, Tamamo waved it in front of Morgan. The queen had to admit that the fox had huge guts for showing off the stolen goods of the person she stole them from without an ounce of shame.
"It is because the shield received way too much damage during these years. The shield already had cracks but it was not as bad as this. I am afraid that the attacks we received were more vicious than what I believed." Morgan said.
"Then is it useless?" Tamamo asked in an anxious tone.
"The location you found it at was specially created to make use of the shield and amplify its power, without it, I believe the performance will be bleak. This is also an owner-less shield. There has never been anyone who could make it work like the first user." Morgan muttered. "There is also the burden for the user to consider since this shield relies on the ability to withstand the damage the wearer has. If the user is weak, you can expect it to display the same strength."
"Kuh, useless then. Tsk, can you power it?" Tamamo inquired.
"Briefly, although I would need to make some adjustments to it." Morgan replied.
"Then, begin now. MY hubby is close to his limit." Tamamo urged.
Turning her gaze toward Nora, Morgan saw his figure getting filled with cracks. He was hitting Cernunnos hard and using every move the deity tried to use against it, but Nora was not escaping unscathed. His movements were getting slower and his presence was growing fainter.
"Asuna, Karin. You will work as our rides." Tamamo ordered.
Standing by, Asuna and Karin nodded.
"Understood." Karin nodded.
"Woof!" Asuna cutely said.
After agreeing, the two changed shape as arcs of electricity enveloped them. Asuna and Karin changed into a pair of white and black wolves about the size of Tamamo. Asuna playfully jumped toward Tamamo and lowered herself for the fox to get on top. Karin was more reserved as she slowly moved toward Morgan and gestured her with her head to ride her.
"What is it? You are not going to tell me that you cannot finish the adjustments in the time we need to arrive next to him, are you?" Tamamo spoke in a taunting tone.
Grinding her teeth, Morgan was not about to tell the fox otherwise.
"Baobhan Sith, with me." Morgan easily got on top of Karin.
Happy to be called, Baobhan Sith complied.
"You two have long-range methods of attack, right? Stay away and provide support if you can. This is not something you can get involved with." Tamamo ordered the blue and red-eyed young women.
Nodding, the duo left a little crestfallen.
The group left after seeing the duo part. Morgan sweated the whole ride as she prepared a spell to make use of the shield. She could understand why Nora had asked Tamamo to get it. The seven-layered barrier covering the land had been the perfect defense for years and it was possible because this shield had been able to withstand the attacks of a weapon of the highest caliber when the previous user had it. The youth probably considered to use it against the deity at some point. Morgan could not create a shield strong enough to protect herself against the rays of Cernunnos but this might help her somehow.
It was when they were closer that Nora's left arm shattered into pieces of rocks. The youth bit his lips and put all his strength into his right hand while punching Cernunnos. This caused the deity to lose balance, but it also signaled the end of Nora's transformation. The head fell off and the legs gave out. Nora remained on the chest as the horse fell. There were no signs of Terra, most likely unsummoned when Nora could not maintain his transformation.
"Hurry." Tamamo yelled.
Just like the group saw him weakened, Cernunnos also saw an opportunity to get rid of the hateful enemy that had been tormenting it until now. All of its rage surged and was channeled towards its mouth, now missing a lot of its sharp teeth. The energy forming a new ray charged faster than before and it was perfectly aimed at Nora. The youth smiled at that and was barely able to move one hand to point the middle finger at Cernunnos. This ignited the deity despite not fully understanding what that meant.
"Stop trying to make it angrier..." Tamamo complained.
Without needing to say anything, Asuna accelerated as much as she could and the duo caught Nora.
"It's in my blood, I either flirt or raise someone's blood pressure by making them lose their patience." Nora joked.
"Geez, this is no time for jokes." Tamamo held onto Nora.
"Hmmm, I know." Nora grimaced. "I pushed myself a little too much. I am feeling a bit tired..."
"Wanna rub my breast so you can recover energy?" Tamamo jested.
Despite nonchalantly speaking, sweat was running down her forehead as she saw the energy about to be shot at them. The range was going to be wise as well so escaping was almost impossible.
"I sure would love to rub them... not sure if that will power me up. I am not that desperate to get laid..." Nora smirked. "Hmm, they have grown a bit since I last did this."
While the two engaged in unhealthy acts to relieve stress, they turned toward one directing as they felt a presence approaching at an insane speed.
Morgan and Baobhan Sith who were observing them since the beginning, as well as Karin, also turned in that direction while their blush slowly dissipated.
Two groups became one as they noticed the approaching presence but their attention was forcefully shifted to Cernunnos.
"Is it no not ready yet!?" Tamamo urged.
"The finishing touches are not done yet!" Morgan replied.
"Get closer, the range will have to be severely reduced if you want to use it for that!" Baobhan Sith added.
Gritting her teeth, Tamamo gestured to Asuna and Karin to get closer to each other. Cernunnos was about to shoot. Tamamo pulled talismans and built a barrier in front of them, while Nora pitched in when he moved with some difficulty after biting his lips until they bled. Large trees grew to add to the defense and Baobhan Sith left Morgan to do the rest as she added a shield made using her own blood.
The ray was shot and the mediums of defense everyone set were useless. They only bought them a few seconds, however, a few seconds in battle always count. Morgan moved in front of everyone and yelled.
"RHO AIAS!!!" Morgan let the shield float in front of her.
The shield changed and it turned into a magic shield in the shape of an iridescent flower with four petals. The impact of the ray made Morgan flinch and she felt like her arm might be ripped apart, but she stubbornly held on.
"Queenie, I told you that you should rely on your subjects more. Even though I am but a temporary one, I said I would fight for your sake. What is the point of a ruler standing on the front lines? Who will rule your subjects when you are gone? Baobhan Sith? She is dumb." Nora spoke and ignored the deathly glare from a pink-haired young woman. "You are a fool just like me. Abandoning us should've been easier yet you stubbornly held on."
"Shut up." Morgan gritted her teeth. "WHY CAN'T I GO TO THE FRONT LINES? IF I CAN DECREASE THE DEATHS OF MY SUBJECTS, I WILL GLADLY DO IT. I WANT TO BUILD A LAND FREE OF CONFLICT WHERE EVERYONE CAN BE HAPPY! IS IT SO HARD TO ACCEPT!?"
"No, I think you and I are pretty similar, Morgan. There is a hopeless naivety on both of us." Nora spoke. "The conversion of demonic energy is not as smooth as I want to, but I bet you will find it easier to use magic power."
Feeling a hand holding her back just when Morgan felt like she would be pushed back made her turn around to see Nora's face.
"<Link>" Nora muttered.
A flower bloomed, that is how you could describe what happened. Morgan felt a rush of energy filling every part of her body that quickly replenished her almost empty reserves. The amount was higher than the one she was using and there was an immediate change in the magic shield. Instead of four petals, seven petals were blooming and stopping the ray.
Morgan's effort had come to fruition, no, it was not only Morgan, Nora, Tamamo, Asuna, Karin, and Baobhan Sith who had created this moment. She was not alone, and perhaps there was hope. That was Morgan naively though.
The sound of breaking glass was heard and the shield began breaking. Morgan's mood dropped and she hastily tried to repair it.
"It is no use, it is not lacking fuel." Tamamo bitterly said. "The shield was on its last."
Biting her lips, Morgan saw the magic shield break and she was pulled backward while Nora stepped forward. His expression showed no fear as Tamamo jumped after him.
"<Spiritualization: Tamamo no Mae>" Nora spoke.
His intentions were clear, and Morgan could do nothing as she had been thrown backward by the cat and she noticed Baobhan Sith in the same position. While Asuna and Karin are ready to catch them and run away. Her mood dropped and she felt a pitch in her stomach. Just like with her mother, just like what happened back then. People sacrificed themselves to protect her.
"Do not worry."
A clear voice that despite not being near her, Morgan could hear like it was being whispered in her ear. It was a soothing and reassuring voice with a strange charisma that made you believe in what she said.
"After despair..."
A flash passed by and Morgan caught the blonde hair tied into a long braided ponytail.
"There is always hope."
The figure dashed past Morgan and even stood before Nora. Waving a large polearm, she placed it on the ground. The shield broke, but the young woman showed no fear.
"<Luminosite Eternelle>"
A new magic shield took the place of the older one and the young woman held long enough for Cernunno's attack to end.
Sighing in relief, Morgan landed.
"Y-You..." Nora stuttered.
"I am glad that I arrived on time. I am happy to see you doing okay."
With a kind and saintly smile, the young woman greeted Nora. This made Morgan dazed since she did not expect Nora of all people to act like that.
"Y-You are..." Nora looked at the young woman in disbelief.
Watching his reaction, the young woman placed a finger on her chin and smiled playfully.
"It is exactly what you are thinking. I am Jeanne D'Arc, pleased to meet you." The young woman, Jeanne, said. "Are you going to ask for my autograph?"
Giggling, Jeanne stared at Nora with a pair of gentle eyes that held different emotions. On the other hand, Nora blushed when that was said.
Watching all this, Morgan felt the need to retort but above all.
"It is kind of annoying." "It makes me want to punch his face." Morgan and Baobhan Sith muttered at the same time.
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Author's Notes
Finally a chapter.
Wish I did not take this long. The lack of sleep these days, migraines that left me in bed a couple of times... Well, there were many other issues holding me back. Hopefully I can deliver at a normal pace the next chapter.
I mentioned characters I had used before but also added new ones. Try guessing who is new here.
So, Abe no Seimei turned to be a fake. Nora could guess it since he is somewhat familiar with the guy after studying him and having faced him once but he still kept the act. There was always the risk of the fake having some sort of trump card installed by the real deal. I also wanted to show that not only Tamamo was able to teach Nora things easily using magic but others can do it. It becomes dangerous when the evil guys can do it.
Next is the fight between Artoria and Melusine. I did not focus as much on it so I apologize if you were looking forward towards it. The two were mostly equally matched for most part, but Melusine was bound to be stronger given her direct linage of Albion compared to Artoria being an homunculus who was created using Arthur Pendragon as a base while mixing parts they somehow acquired of DDraig. This caused a synergy similar to Issei and Vali in the cannon so now they can both grow faster given the unique rivalry boost Albion and Ddraig get.
Yeah, blame me. Melusine looks very weak right? Well, she and many other supernatural beings just use their natural talents and powers to usually handle everything. They never seek to grow. Melusine is the same, dragons are already strong so she never saw the need to train like mad to get stronger.
This same detail was added to the rest of the fairy knights. Except Melusine, the rest are pretty young. It is not like they are by no means weak, but the enemies and Nora are at a higher level.
Nora is an insane person who is unable to sleep (This will be more explained in the next chapter) and uses that time to better himself one way or another. Even when he stays at home with the girls 'sleeping' and acting as their body pillow, he is controlling shikigamis to do all sort of works while also training his control of the paper dolls.
The amount he can control is by no means normal. It is not like it cannot be reproduced, but the brain would not be able to handle the control of so many of them in the way he does it. He could not immediately do it though. It took him years and even now he needs to sometimes use Senjutsu to lessen the pain in his head.
His amount of ki is insane due to exceptional affinity, being one of Nora's abilities he exploits because he believes that is his only good redeeming feature. Even more when he exploits o e of his other abilities together with this. Thanks to that, he can be said to have a ki pool that leaves even an ultimate being connected to the ley lines like Yasaka dazed. That said, many of his abilities demand a lot of ki. Regeneration, his shikigamis, summoning Terra... they all have high requirements that would take someone a lot of time to even be able to use one for long periods of time.
Nora himself does not believe he has the talent equal to the monster around him, instead, he just tries his best. Sacrificing his safety and health to archive results that many consider impossible to him.
Anyways, this takes me to the last fight. I hope you liked it. I had the idea for a long time and I hoped to write it beforehand but I failed to make time for it.
Writing using only my phone is a nightmare. Even more editing...
Good day to you all and I am thankful that you still read this work. It is worth staying sometimes until 3am to edit or write...
Oh, I would like to point out that Morgan is not in love with Nora as for now. Her MY knight is a means to annoy Tamamo, although you cannot deny that she sees him in a favorable light and might have a small crush after this finish. This will cause her to do-
Oh my, I can't just say what will happen the next chapter.