Chapter 500 (Patreon)

Artoria POV

The destruction wrought was surprising, but not unexpected in hindsight. I stepped over a wooden beam that seemed to belong to a homestead that once existed within the walls of this castle.

It was odd, everything about this place was odd.

I knew that beforehand. Merlin’s lessons involved the queerness of the Fairfolk. Along with the stories and lessons that even regular people in my time spread, I still felt the oddity rather bluntly.

The handful of times that I was forced to deal with one of their kind in a personal capacity was……different. Of course, when I received my armaments from the Lady of the Lake, however, she was more…..human-like as Merlin said and not to base my opinions on the outlier.

If possible, I always let Merlin handle it as he was able to navigate the situation properly without any major concerns.

However, there were times where he wasn’t present, or it was abrupt and I was forced to draw my blade.

Once such an occasion where one of my knights turned out to be a Fae in disguise. They were loyal, studious, and honorable. Yet, once their identity was discovered, they transformed into something resembling a werewolf, yet not. They rampaged, killing several of their former comrades without hesitation before they could be killed by my own hand.

To this day, I don’t know why they reacted that way. It was a surprise, one that needed words spoken, but their actions had proven themselves and I would have gladly kept them within my ranks.

It was not as if there were no non-humans under my banner. I, myself, was perceived as more Dragon than Human by many phantasmal species within the lands.

Merlin told me not to overthink it and that their minds simply worked differently.

The wood was not wood of this ‘home’. It magicked dirt into the form and shape of wood, but it would crumble if I exerted my Magical Energy to dispel the constraints.

One of the walls that remained – p partially, there hung a painting….upside down. It appeared to be a painting of what the interior of the home looked like before it was destroyed.

There were other things, small things, that spoke of the strange nature of this former residence. It was as if they merely mimicked the outer layer of a human’s cottage and were content with that.

I put my hand into the fireplace where firewood sat and I couldn’t feel any residual heat, nor see any ashes or coals. Not only that, but the chimney, or what remained, had no signs of smoke or fire upon the stones.

I brushed my hands off and stood up as I noticed my companions approaching. The sun peeked over the sheared top of the castle and I squint my eyes upon t heir arrival.

“Mordred, Agravain, and Kairi, thank you for coming.” I greeted them each.

“Of course, your Majesty.” Agravain bowed his head.

I was still not quite comfortable with their reverence, but I accepted the polite intentions regardless.

“How was the fight, Father? Did you see any action?” Mordred kicked over the remains of a stone wall. “Doesn’t look like any actual fighting took place.”

“Other than the demolished…village and castle.” Kairi grunted.

“Yeah, I meant like fighting, not blowing them the fuck up.” Mordred huffed.

“The weapons Caster created were impressive.” I said simply.

I had the chance to speak with the Magicians I brought along to witness the ‘fight’. They only had praise for her creations and were in awe of her crafting ability.

When further questioned, they admitted that such ‘siege weaponry’ does not exist in practice. When a group of Magicians could accomplish somewhat similar feats without the additional ‘cost’ of creating such things, why would they use them? However, the benefits were rather obvious as they were operable by non-magicians and opened up the original Magicians required for other purposes.

They also spoke that it would require quite a few powerful and skilled Magicians to match the feats that Caster’s work showed.

Then there was the matter of quick output. The ‘machines’ could be fired four times in quick succession before it required a short rest.

“Father, I brought two hundred Knights with me like you asked.” Mordred spoke up. “Doesn’t look like anything needs killed though.”

“Mordred, could you please secure the walls and sweep the entire stronghold? I spoke with Yasaka, we are commandeering this ‘castle’ while the Youkai situate themselves at the portal.”

Mordred’s eyes lit up. “Nice a proper castle! Even if it’s a bit torn up….but nothing we can’t fix!” He happily ran off to presumedly where the Knights were.

“I do not mean to question your decisions, your Majesty. But is it wise to separate ourselves from our allies in such a way?” Agravain asked with clear concern.

“I will not fault you for raising concerns over presumedly poor choices, Agravain. You have yet to hear the full breath of my reasoning and choice. For safety concerns, we did not wish to allow any teleportation near the Portal. However, as our first ‘conquest’ we believed this place to be a rather good spot to set up a ‘hub’ so to speak of any future teleportation’s required as the main stronghold is not far in distance.” I explained to him. “Our Magicians are much more experienced in such matters, which is why we are tasked with such.”

“I see, I retract my concerns, your Majesty.” He bowed politely. “Would you like me to begin preparing our Magicians for this endeavor?”

“Nay, the fortress is not yet secure, such is pointless for such delicate work to commence if easily disrupted.” I shook my head.

“You purposely sent Mordred away.” Kairi, who had silently been standing not far away had one of those cigarettes that Mordred started using in his mouth. I felt the corners of my lips twitch at the sight and I wanted to offer a brief scolding but I held my tongue. “You are perceptive.” Mordred had a good Master.

“I had need of your expertise as a Necromancer.” I fully admitted. “If it’s not too much trouble there are….troubling things in the basement of the castle.”

He breathed out a breath of smoke. “Why didn’t you ask your ‘boyfriend’?” He raised an eyebrow, those magic glasses of his nowhere to be seen. “He’s not a Necromancer, but I couldn’t really compete with his wide range of knowledge considering who he is.”

I furrowed my brow, frowning slightly. “Despite…..everything, Wilhelm is still young. If I can spare him such sights, I will do so.”

I am much more accustomed to viewing such horrors in person compared to him.

“Alright, lead the way.” He stomped his foot on the cigarette and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

I nodded in thanks.

We walked up to the entrance of the castle, part of it was collapsed, but there was enough room to duck under.

Two Youkai stood guard and they stepped out of the way as I nodded to them as well.

It was….a typical layout, perhaps rather plain. Finding the stairs that led downward was not difficult and I did not look forward to looking upon this scene again.

Torches lit up the dark hallways as we got into the area with holding cells.]

“Jesus Christ.” Kairi cursed upon witnessing the scene.

Agravain just as well had the same reaction. “I believe I understand your request for assistance now.”

Opposite the cells, with what should be a stone wall, instead, it was inlaid with body parts.

It was not a mere ‘trophy display’, of someone hanging various dismembered body parts onto the wall. If it were such, I would have destroyed it even if it fouled my mood.

No, it was as if they were merged with the wall itself.

A fleshed arm and hand twitched, clearly still alive.

The back of a head could be see up to the edge of an ear.

Some other, non-human pieces as well decorated the wall. Some of which still showed clear life in them against all logic.

However, the most horrific was the stomach of a pregnant woman that protruded from the wall.

Inside the cells themselves, there were a handful of humans, many of them were missing body parts and they were replaced with various items or even stones from the very wall.

Their eyes were dead, which is why I had not called for any healers.

“Is there a way to undo this spell?” I finally asked. “And is it possible to save the unborn child within that mother’s stomach?”

Kairi let out a sigh. “Fae Magic? I’ll tell you right now, there’s no undoing Fae Magic like this, atleast not from me. I’m not even sure it’s magic. I’ve heard the myths however short about what they can do, and it’s far out of my league. As for the baby…..” He placed a hesitant hand on the stomach.

The skin was clearly still ‘alive’ as he pressed into it and it slightly indented like how skin does.

He stared blankly for a moment, pulling his hand away then silently shook his head.

I did not ask him what he saw, I fear I would not like the answer.

“I can give them a quick and painless death. The humans that is, a curse I can use. I’m not messing with anything I don’t recognize.” Kairi spoke again.

“Please.” I was thankful. “Agravain, take note. This….Lord of this castle, he had the ability to swap things by touching them.” Perhaps it went past merely ‘things’ and allowed him to swap the concepts of objects or people on a whim.

“I will make sure that everyone knows to be careful in the future.” He nodded. “The Lord that you mentioned, what was his fate?”

Did it remind him of the unpleasantness that occurred in the Pendragon castle? His gaze hardened and there was a clear desire for blood that I would not find fault with.

“He is currently being questioned, quite thoroughly, by Yasaka’s people.” The corners of my lips curled up. “He seemed to be under the impression that as a ‘prisoner’ he was to be treated as a guest.”

“Oh?”

“He was quickly disabused by that notion.”

While it is proper to treat prisoners of war with a certain decorum, that was only for those that deserved such things. Just as Yasaka executed the ‘messenger’ with proper cause, so too was the thorough interrogation of someone with such horrific practices ‘allowed’.

“If all goes well, we should have a map or the closest approximation of such about our current location. We know that we’re just barely in the domain of the Winter Court, such that luck was on our side in a way. After procuring a map, we can begin to push outwards.”

A proper campaign begins with terrain knowledge. An army that marches into the unknown is led by a foolish leader.

It was always acknowledged that our spearhead would be a bit muddy upon movement, however, it was a known priority to ascertain our footing before pushing forward.

The happenstance of being so close to an acknowledged foe was attributed to fortune.

The bodies in the cell, they began to wither away, it looked painless even if their minds were gone, it was proper that they be dealt with in a respectful way.

“Agravain, can you please call some people to take the bodies back home and bury them?” I did not know where they hailed from, but they should return and rest eternally among their own.

“I will see to it.” He bowed and moved to leave.

Kairi also stood up looking as if he wanted to leave. “Call me if you need me again. Or…..if you need me to put a bullet in one of their brains.” He said in a low voice.

I nodded to him as well.

I had reservations about using my blade against them, against the creators of it in the first place, but all my reservations had been removed.

Regardless, I let out a breath and kept my expression for faltering as I left the basement and made my way outside.

It was only when I got back under the strange sun that I found myself smiling, seeing Wilhelm not far away.

This war had just begun, but we already entered a short lull in combat, I was allowed a few dalliances while we prepare further.

He noticed me approach, smiling back at me and it never failed to make my heart flutter like a young maiden.

“I thought you would have followed Yasaka back to camp.” I moved to his side, noticing he had a book in one hand and a wand in the other.

He mentioned his new wand, it was quite the artifact to see in person. Without being a Magus, I could recognize its quality at a glance.

“They didn’t really need me. And after she told me that the Pendragon family was going to set up camp here, I figured I would help clean things up.” He smiled still.

“I will not reject assistance.” I looked around at the clear mess we needed to clean before this place resembled a proper stronghold again. “Those weapons destroyed most of the foundations, the castle barely stands, and large gorged now split this village.”

“We could always get those Fae we captured to clean it.” He offered.

“Despite my growing dislike for their kind, I do not condone slavery even in jest.” I lightly chided him even if he was joking.

They did not put up a fight once several blasts of those weapons were released.

Of the few hundred was assumed lived here, a small fraction remained after the bombardment.

They now are being imprisoned back at the foothold and possibly taken back to Kyoto for proper holding.

“Don’t worry, I can help quite a bit here, watch.” He held his wand up and closed his eyes for a moment as his Magical Energy gathered. “Reparo.”

Dozens of stones swept up into the air and seemed to mend back together as they formed back into the shape of the castle wall…..only for it to fall over a moment later because it lacked support from either side.

“Yes, I saw.” I deadpanned.

He coughed awkwardly. “Right, it’s a work in progress.” He cast again, intoning the incantation. “Reparo!”

This time, a bit more of it was gathered and shaped back together, but rather than falling over, it seemed enough of it was pulled back together to retain its sturdiness.

“I am impressed.” I fully admitted.

“Right!?” Wilhelm also looked excited, I enjoyed seeing him like this. It happened often when playing around with various magics. “While the magic from the world Medea is in isn’t…well, it’s not the most powerful, it has an insane versatility that I’ve been reading about. This spell actually touches on the concept of time from what I understood from the texts. Basically, it forces the objects to ‘remember’ a previous time that they existed in ‘another form’. Obviously that requires quite a bit of finagling, but it works fairly well.”

“Are there limitations?” I asked.

That may be beneficial for our Magicians to learn.

“Well…Magical and sufficiently ‘powerful’ things can’t be ‘repaired’, which I think is obvious. But, uh…it’s not omnipotent. Maybe back where it originated from, you would receive a bit of a ‘hand’ from the ‘Magic’ there, but here I’m forced to do quite a few calculations to facilitate it. Even so, it’s saving an inordinate amount of time. Though, once I get it good enough, I can transcribe it into a Magic Circle and pass it over to anyone you want.” He added with a smile.

Magus rarely give up their Mysteries, yet he understood my question and offered it up without hesitation.

I wonder if he knows how easily he makes my heart beat in such a way.

It’s humorous.

I stand in a position I would have reviled upon my original summoning to Rin. I wanted to give up my Kingship, I wanted to throw it all away because I had fallen in despair.

Now, I stand here willingly on a battlefield once more. I stand with Knights who bear the names of my family and friends.

It was a strange reflection of my life.

And….I am happier than I ever was in life.

“Wilhelm.” I looked up at him as there was no one around and I felt comfortable being forward.

“Hmm?”

“I love – “

A splash of water down poured hitting us and preventing me from speaking further. Wilhelm’s wand jerked up and I summoned my sword into my hands without thinking as we both looked at the source that slipped past our notice

It was as if….a small body of water just spontaneously appeared above us.

Just as quickly a person fell out of it and my eyes widened because I recognized them.

“L-Lady Vivian!?” I blurted out in shock as they bore a striking resemblance to the Faerie who bestowed both Avalon and Excalibur unto me.

“Waaah! Arthurrrrrr!”

My body refused to move, mayhaps it was the surprise of it all. She collided with me and knocked me to the ground.

I now had a ghost of my past clinging to me, and crying uncontrollably into my chest.

Regardless of how unlikely or improbably, I somehow felt it was Merlin’s fault.

@***@

A/N

Sorry for the late release, I havn’t been doing good the past few days I’m on quite a bit of medicine that’s kicking my butt atm so this chapter itself took me like 24 hours to force myself to sit down and write. I wanted to do something special for the 500th chapter, but I’m not really in a good place mentally to do it, so rain check. I’m open for ideas too, I have nothing set in stone for a ‘special’.