Chapter 41

Sir Gawain nodded faithfully behind her. “Merlin… The strongest sorcerer from the ancient era… I thought Rintarou was just his reincarnation…but it seems he has mysteries of his own…,” Felicia mused. “Even though we lived in the same generation…I didn’t know anything about this complicated situation in his soul… In fact, I wonder if he didn’t know himself,” Sir Gawain added. “Merlin had been murdered by Nimue of the Dame du Lac. I know he exited the legendary stage midway through their final performance…” “It seems there might be something else going on… Hey, Nayuki. Do you know anything? You used to be a member of their collective, right?” Nayuki’s expression changed almost imperceptibly. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know much about it… There are many Dame du Lac, after all…” Felicia and Sir Gawain didn’t notice this subtle change. “Of course. Come to think of it, you said you had left the Dame du Lac.” Felicia sighed. “Now isn’t the time to dig into his past. Until he comes back…we need to protect Luna and Emma…” “Right. They should be coming soon.” Sir Gawain turned to Nayuki again. “…Nayuki, are you sure this is what you want? Even though you’re part of the Dame du Lac…you’re an outsider in this situation. You don’t have to put your life on the line. Are you still going to fight with us?” “Yes. I need to. If Rintarou is fighting for your sakes…then I need to fight for his sake. That’s my destiny…” She was firm. No amount of persuasion could break her resolve. In that case, there was nothing to say… Sir Gawain accepted her words at face value. THUNK… The air inside the netherworld shifted. “…They’re here.” “…They have started to invade this netherworld.” Tensions ran high. “I’m guessing it’s…the witch? It seems that the netherworld’s World Fusion Grade has been bumped from Assiah to Yetzirah…” “What?!” Felicia’s expression hardened. In other words, the world was moving away from the real world and approaching the illusory one…which meant they couldn’t escape from the netherworld anymore. “Hmph. They really think they have one over on us. It’s like they’re saying they’re certain of victory.” Sir Gawain snorted. “Well, we knew this would happen. I would do this if I was the enemy.” “It’ll be fine. It seems they couldn’t change the structure of an existing world. It’s just the same as when we constructed it.” “We don’t need to worry about them launching a surprise or sneak attack.” “All that’s left is to clash with our opponents…I guess.” The three of them prepared themselves. “Let’s go.” “Roger.” They started to walk down the hallway, heading in the direction of the decisive battle—to the locations they had prepared…