Chapter 87: Brocéliande -7-
“Y-you… you fucking bastard…!!”
The figure kneeling on the cold cave floor was no longer Kay.
The witch who had just been looking down on Kay with arrogant contempt and proclaiming her dominion over Britain—Morgan le Fay—now trembled in a cold sweat, clutching her lower abdomen.
A bluish magical seal was branded like a scar on the pale, smooth skin below her navel.
It was the Curse of Forced Subjugation she had prepared to bind Kay forever as her loyal thrall.
But thanks to the countermeasure charm Kay possessed—the [Inverse Binding Talisman]—that terrible curse had bounced right back to its caster, leaving Morgan to suffer its full effect.
“Nice uterus tattoo you’ve got there. Planning to ink it on a man’s belly? How utterly perverse of you.”
Kay’s legs still shook from the potion’s aftereffects, but he forced himself upright, leaning on his golden axe-turned-cane, and let out a snort of amusement.
Mordred, cradled against his chest, looked on at Morgan’s panic with a wide-eyed “Ukya?” as if she found the witch’s expression more fascinating than frightening.
“Grr… grrrrr… you dare—attack me…!”
Morgan glared at Kay with murderous intent and raised her staff.
The moment she harbored hostile intent to strike him, the subjugation seal on her abdomen flared in burning agony, forcibly constricting her magical circuits and fairy runes.
“Aaagh… aaaargh…!!”
“Now, now, swinging a magic stick at your master—really bad form.”
Kay clicked his tongue. “You designed that ritual yourself, so you know how it works. I set it up so that if you ever disobey or try to harm your master, you’d feel excruciating pain. Right?”
“This… this humiliation… I will never… forget…!!”
Morgan’s pride shattered in an instant. The one human she both despised and coveted above all others had reduced her to a slave.
Yet true to her reputation as Britain’s greatest witch, she didn’t lose her composure entirely, even in agony.
“Don’t think this is the end, Kay. Though I gained this shameful seal through a moment’s negligence… the mysteries of the fairies cannot be bound forever by a mere human talisman.”
Morgan bit her lip until it bled, then feverishly drew an intricate magic circle on the floor with her own blood.
“I’ll concede today’s duel to you. But I will never yield the throne!”
No sooner had she finished speaking than a dense, black mist erupted from beneath her feet.
It wasn’t merely a smoke screen, but high-level spatial leap magic that twisted the coordinates of space-time itself.
“Where do you think you’re running off to?!”
Kay swung his golden axe in alarm, and the [Primeval Rune] flared to life.
Clang!
“Huh?”
“Ansuz, Mana-nan.”
Invoking the primordial rune [Ansuz]—named after the god of magic, Mana-nan—Kay sliced clean through Morgan’s spell.
No matter how powerful Morgan le Fay was, she had no aptitude for rune magic, let alone a primordial rune.
These runes were the true work of Scáthach—the very Elder Futhark runes carved by the goddess of wisdom, Odin himself.
They were leagues beyond anything Morgan could counter.
Quick as lightning, Kay reached for her chest.
Squish~
“Ugh!? Wh-where are you—touching!”
“Sorry. But I’m only limited by what I can do.”
Kay pressed his hand against Morgan’s heart.
“By the power vested in me as Morgan le Fay’s lord, I command you to seal your contract with me as the [Lord of the Magical Realm].”
“!?”
At his words, Kay’s lordship rune glowed red. Using the wisdom of the magical realm, he forcibly linked his will to hers.
Just as he would with a Familiars contract, a bond was forged between him and Morgan.
“I command you as my lord: you shall never harm me, my family, or those I hold dear.”
Kiiiiiing~!
“!? Th-that vague command…!?”
Normally, such an abstract lord would lack true power over its subject. But this was the abyssal curse of the [Lord of the Magical Realm] crafted just for Scáthach’s prized disciple.
In matters of the mind, it was all the more devastating.
After all, one cannot best one’s master physically unless one can also defy their own will.
Of course, the physical coercion was also above that of any ordinary Lord skill.
“I command you a second time as my lord: obey my orders without question.”
Kiiiiiing!!
“St-stop!”
“I command you a third time as my lord.”
“Y-you intend to make me a literal slave—–!”
Morgan believed this was an attempt to twist her mind utterly, binding her as Kay’s loyal puppet. No matter who she was, the [Lord of the Magical Realm] was dangerous.
But…
“Do not cling so tightly to your mission. Even if you fail that mission, your noble soul will not be tainted.”
Kiiiiiing!!!
The final third command glowed and vanished. It would take more than a day before Kay could reassert his lordship.
“──What are you thinking?”
“Who knows. I’m not sure how strong this lordship will hold. But at least it’s a stopgap.”
Kay shrugged and stretched. Thanks to pouring a lot of mana into it with the wisdom of the magical realm, some of his weakening had worn off.
“Go.”
“Huh?”
“If you want to leave, then go. It can’t be easy for you to live here against your will, can it? Until I call you again, until your mind finds peace, go home and clear your head.”
“…What are you even thinking? You could have forced me to serve as your slave for some time.”
Even the [Lord of the Magical Realm] isn’t eternal. Especially for someone like Morgan, its power won’t last that long.
Of course, since I used all three commands, our contract will last for at least years.
“It’s because I’m not comfortable. Do I seem like the type who enjoys moving people around like chess pieces?”
“Now you give me mercy? How presumptuous….”
“Not mercy… I just… care.”
“What?”
“We’re comrades, aren’t we? United by Merlin and Uther making our lives a hard difficulty run.”
Kay felt pity for her. Morgan was definitely a villain, and a serious threat to the Artorias… Yet she was also a mirror.
She was another possibility for where the Pendragon sisters could end up, another version of himself.
And she was broken by Merlin as well.
The innocent lake fairy who was forced to become a witch.
A girl who wanted love but was never loved.
“I want you to be happy, you know.”
“…You’re foolish.”
“That’s foolish, sure. Coming from a woman who enslaves me and a mother who dumped her kids. But… I don’t think you’re fundamentally evil.”
“Hmph. You’ll regret freeing me in the end, Kay. When we meet again, you’ll learn that to your bones.”
“Might want to get that uterus tattoo removed before you talk tough.”
“Shut up….”
With that, Morgan vanished in swirls of magic.
“If you ever want another sandwich, just drop by anytime. I’ll treat you right.”
“…Tch.”
At Kay’s farewell, Morgan turned to light and disappeared.
All that remained was her old witch’s hat, left behind on the ground.
“Hah… Well, I suppose things will work out somehow.”
Kay exhaled roughly and slumped to the floor. Mordred patted his cheek with her small hand.
“It’s okay, Daddy’s not dead. But wow, Mum can be one hell of a bitch sometimes.”
“Ukya?”
“I should probably feed her some of mother’s milk, but… does she even still lactate? Well, whatever. Speaking of which… I heard she divorced King Lot a while back. Where will she go now? Maybe I should let Gawain know what Morgan’s up to. Such a complicated household.”
Kay stared down the cave tunnel where the spatial distortion had cleared, forcing himself to rise and find his sisters.
He staggered to the deepest chamber of the cave—the altar where the Magic Garden was being created.
Fearing a horrifying ritual might be underway, or that Artoria X and Artoria X Alter might be struggling, he tightened his grip on his axe.
“Artoria X!! Artoria X Alter!! Are you both safe?!!”
But the scene before him shattered his grave resolve.
In the center of the altar stood Artoria X, one of her twin swords between her teeth, her other blade plunged deep into the wingstem of the fallen fairy Maduan, standing on one leg.
Beside her, Artoria X Alter was casually snapping the magical chains that had bound Spain’s queen Lidoine and Sir Laris, munching on a snack.
“…What the hell. Everything’s already over?”
Kay blinked in disbelief, and Artoria X shrugged.
“We did fall into a spatial distortion trap, but it spat us out right in front of this guy. He wouldn’t shut up about his so-called love story, so we just cut him down in a second. We’re not interested in some perverted kidnapper’s sob story.”
On the ground lay the beautiful forest fairy Maduan, half her wings broken, tears of blood streaming down her face after the two sisters’ ruthless strength.
“Sob, sob… my Laris… my perfect garden…! You barbarians! How dare you trample on my sacred love!”
Maduan wailed in anguish, but Artoria X Alter nonchalantly pushed up her glasses and punctured the truth.
“What kind of love is it when you sacrifice your own sister for your twisted pleasure? You’re just a selfish psychopath. Brother, what should we do with this one? Incinerate him?”
“No, don’t kill him. Just dump him somewhere.”
Kay gave the order and then approached Lidoine and Laris, who were just regaining their senses and getting to their feet.
“Y-you rescued us…? You are…”
“We’ll explain later. Your husband and friend, the King of Spain, is whining outside this cave, so if you want to live, start walking.”
The incident was resolved so cleanly and quickly it felt anticlimactic.
All the grandiose talk of fairy lore and eternal gardens was nothing but small-time hooliganism in the face of the Pendragon sisters’ brute strength.
Outside the cave, Kay’s party was lucky enough to reunite with Clarice and Sagremore—who had lost their way in the mist—and with Gareth and Fou.
“Ohh! Lidoine!! Laris!! You’re safe!”
Clarice rushed forward, embracing his wife and comrade as tears streamed down his face.
Sagremore, moved by the touching reunion, also dabbed at his eyes and applauded.
“What a beautiful sight!”
“Shut up. You reek of sweat, step back.”
Kay rubbed his ear and edged away from the overflowing displays of emotion.
Gareth tugged on Kay’s sleeve as he approached.
“Uncle. When we were separated in that cave, I was worried you might be in danger… but your heartbeat was more erratic than usual. Was something wrong?”
“Ah, nothing. Just had a pesky little mosquito buzzing around. It’s gone now.”
Kay patted his chest and offered a wry smile.
Meanwhile, on a gloomy cliff in northern Britain, far from the forest of Brocéliande…
“Ugh… aaarghhh!!”
Morgan, who had fled via spatial leap, collapsed on the ground, coughing up blood.
But more painful than anything was the subjugation seal burning red just below her navel.
“Damn you, Kay…! How dare you subject me to this humiliation!”
Morgan trembled as she clutched her lower abdomen. Each time she harbored murderous intent for Kay, the seal seared her insides with agony.
Between cramps, she forced out a mad laugh.
“Hahaha… Fine. Bit me… but have you forgotten who I am? I am the lake fairy and the true queen of Britain, Morgan le Fay! Such cheap magic means nothing!”
Madness flickered in Morgan’s eyes.
“I will carve this shame into my bones. And when the seal is finally broken… I will lay waste to your little sisters and turn Camelot into ashes. You will crawl at my feet as my slave forever!”
The witch’s grim resolve was but the opening act of her vengeful drama.
But what she needed most in that moment wasn’t a plan to kill Kay… but something to soothe the agonizing fire in her belly, even if it meant plunging into a basin of ice water.
“Aaah!! It’s so cold!! Damn!!”
Britain’s greatest and most feared witch writhed on that cliff, clutching her stomach like a wreck for quite some time.
Then…
Morgan spotted the potion mushrooms tucked away in the corner of her workshop.
`If you ever want another sandwich, just drop by anytime. I’ll treat you right.`
“…Tch, what a presumptuous man. In the end, one can trust no one. I certainly won’t trust someone who hides his true self behind fairy magic.”
She seemed to distrust Kay completely… yet she felt a peculiar ache in her chest.
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