NOVEL WEB Chapter 2: chapter 2
The waves surged violently, crashing against the walls of the semicircular valley with a thunderous roar. The air was thick with the scent of salt and the raw power of nature.
And there, floating above it all, was a girl who seemed to defy gravity itself.
If one word could describe her, it would be fairy.
Her presence was overwhelming, as if the very world around her had been stripped of its impurities, leaving only her radiant essence. Her beauty was otherworldly, a face so exquisite it seemed impossible for it to exist in reality.
Long, silver hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall of starlight, shimmering with an ethereal glow. Her eyes, gazing up at the azure sky, reflected colors that defied description—like a rainbow caught in the depths of a starry night. It was a beauty so profound that no human could have imagined it without witnessing it firsthand.
The petite fairy was clad in armor that resembled the tranquil surface of a lake, its blue hue shifting and shimmering with every movement. Her aura was awe-inspiring, a blend of elegance and power that made her seem like a knight from legend—a Faerie Knight.
She was captivating, her beauty both extraordinary and fierce, demanding attention with an almost violent intensity.
The girl—Melusine—floated in the sky as if the mortal world beneath her.
To approach her without permission felt like a blasphemy, a crime against her divine presence.
Melusine.
One of the Faerie Knights of the Faerie Kingdom of Britain, the only "Dragon Faerie." Queen Morgan herself had bestowed upon her the name "Lancelot," a title befitting her grace and strength. Known for her noble demeanor and unparalleled elegance, she was revered as the most beautiful and regal fairy in the kingdom.
Melusine slowly lowered her gaze, her movements as fluid as a melody. When she spoke, her voice was like music, soft yet resonant, carrying an otherworldly charm.
"I almost made a grave mistake," she murmured, her tone tinged with regret. "I failed to control my energy when I arrived in this world... Where am I?"
The moment she had realized the spacequake she inadvertently triggered was about to devastate a nearby city, Melusine had acted swiftly. With a wave of her hand, she redirected the cataclysmic energy, shifting the epicenter to an uninhabited stretch of ocean.
Now, as she hovered above the churning waves, her expression was one of quiet contemplation.
"I can't remember how I got to this world..." Melusine murmured, her voice tinged with frustration. She tried to piece together her memories, but it was like searching for a single book in a vast, endless library. The task felt impossible, yet she managed to catch fleeting fragments of her past.
She remembered lying on a bed, scrolling through some kind of app—a platform filled with short, captivating videos that seemed to devour hours of her time.
"TikTok?" The word felt familiar, yet distant, as if it belonged to another life.
Melusine strained to recall more, but the memories slipped through her fingers like sand. What had happened after that? She couldn't remember.
Then, she felt something shift within her.
A surge of power coursed through her veins, intoxicating and overwhelming. Every breath, every heartbeat, seemed to generate an immense amount of magic. It was exhilarating, yet... strange.
"Strange," she whispered, her golden eyes narrowing. "The magic in my body... it feels different."
She closed her eyes, focusing inward to examine her current state.
"No, it's not just the magic... even my spiritual foundation has changed. Could this be... a Spirit Crystal?"
Melusine opened her eyes, a flicker of doubt crossing her expression. "Why do I have a Spirit Crystal? And since when do I possess magic? What even is a Spirit Foundation? Why does all of this sound so familiar?"
She wracked her brain, trying to make sense of what happen to herself. Only a few possibilities came to mind:
1. Adaptation to this world's rules. Perhaps the unique laws of this world had altered her spiritual foundation, reshaping her magic to fit its framework.
2. A connection to her fragmented memories. She recalled glimpses of herself... playing some kind of game? What was a game? And what was Fate/Grand Order? Was that the name of the game she had played before?
The more she thought about it, the more questions arose.
Melusine sighed, her gaze drifting to the horizon.
With no clear destination in mind, Melusine decided to fly in a random direction, hoping to find some sign of human life.
And then... she broke the sound barrier in just 0.3 seconds, accelerating to several times the speed of sound in the blink of an eye.
Let me be clear: this wasn't something that could be achieved with mere speed. It was outrageous, defying all logic and physics.
Yet, there she was, soaring through the sky like a supersonic jet, her silver hair streaming behind her like a comet's tail. Melusine felt exhilarated, her spirits high as she cut through the clouds.
"I've always wanted to fly in the sky like this with the Master," she murmured, a soft smile playing on her lips. "Just the two of us, with no room for a third person to interfere... but... who is the Master?"
The question lingered in her mind, unanswered. She didn't know who this "Master" was, yet the word felt familiar, as if it carried the weight of countless memories.
Her gaze drifted to the horizon, where the sky met the sea in a breathtaking expanse of blue. It was a sight she had chased for what felt like an eternity—a scene that occupied the vast majority of her 4.6 billion years of memory.
"I... have always wanted to show the Master the scenery I see," she whispered, her voice tinged with longing.
But then, her expression faltered. "However, Master seems to have little time for me..." Melusine's face clouded with confusion. Why did she keep saying these things? Why did the word "Master" fill her with such loneliness every time it left her lips?
Before she could dwell on it further, her sharp senses picked up something in the distance.
"Hmm... this seems to be a human weapon?" she mused, tilting her head. "A missile, is it? How foolish. Don't they know the sky is my domain? I am the strongest in the sky. Of course, even on the ground, I am still the strongest, the most reliable, and the most trusted by the Master."
Her tender expression vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, piercing gaze. Her golden eyes, now glowing with vertical pupils like a dragon's, radiated an overwhelming sense of oppression.
In one fluid motion, the swords in her hands materialized, their silvery-white blades gleaming like moonlight reflected on a tranquil lake.
"One strike, done in an instant. Cutting sword skills, begin. Connect—[Innocence Arondight]!"
In less time than it took to blink, Melusine charged her Noble Phantasm. The power of a dragon's heart surged through her, generating an immense amount of magical energy—enough to cause natural disasters in the outside world. This overwhelming force flowed through her body, erupting in the form of a devastating sword technique.
Faster than a meteor, quicker than lightning, her blade flashed. In that single moment, every missile was cleanly sliced in half.
Before the fragments could even explode, Melusine was already gone, transforming into a streak of light that streaked across the horizon with a series of sonic booms.
---
It was around 7:30 in the evening, and the sun had completely set, leaving the streets bathed in the dim glow of streetlights. Shido Itsuka walked alone, carrying a few plastic bags filled with groceries.
"Ah... the enthusiasm of everyone in the shopping street is really too much to handle..." Shido sighed, his shoulders slumping as if he'd just survived an intense battle.
Normally, he would have gone to the supermarket, but today had been different. While preparing dinner for Yatogami Tohka, he'd realized the fridge was nearly empty. With no other choice, he'd rushed to the nearby market.
What he hadn't expected was the overwhelming enthusiasm of the vendors—most of which, admittedly, wasn't directed at him.
"Is this enough for the little girl? Here, take some extra minced meat. We can't let that adorable girl who came with you last time go hungry!"
"How about some fish? I've got fresh ones today. That kid who came with you last time said my fish tastes amazing when cooked. Take one—I'll give you the biggest one!"
"Oh, this? Don't worry about it, just take it. Make sure to share some with the girl who usually comes with you."
Ever since Tohka had accompanied Shido to the market a few times, the vendors had taken a liking to her. Her innocent, cheerful demeanor and insatiable appetite had left a lasting impression.
Perhaps it was because they'd lived long enough to meet all kinds of people, but there was something about Tohka—a girl who was both cute and pure-hearted—that resonated with them.
Even though Tohka's appetite was enormous, some vendors would let her eat for free, just to see her face light up with joy as she devoured their food. Her exaggerated compliments and genuine happiness seemed to purify their souls.
Shido understood their feelings perfectly. After all, he felt the same way whenever he cooked for her.
As he walked home alone, Shido's thoughts drifted to the conversation he'd had with Kotori earlier that day.
The topic had been the massive spacequake that had occurred half a month ago—a spacequake so large it had been classified as S-level, only to vanish suddenly.
According to their investigations, the spacequake hadn't disappeared entirely. Instead, its epicenter had been relocated to the Pacific Ocean. What puzzled them was that while the resulting shockwave was still more powerful than any previously recorded Spirit's, it was significantly smaller than the initial readings suggested.
Kotori had suspected a malfunction in Fraxinus' detection systems and ordered a complete overhaul of the ship's equipment.
But what intrigued them more than the spacequake itself was the Spirit who had caused it. The spiritual wave signature was unlike anything they'd ever recorded, suggesting this was the Spirit's first appearance. Ratatoskr had taken a keen interest in her, especially given the sheer scale of the spacequake she'd triggered.
An S-level spacequake meant her power was beyond anything they'd encountered before. Adding to the mystery, shortly after the spacequake, the United States had detected an unidentified flying object entering its airspace. Attempts to make contact had failed, prompting them to launch high-altitude interceptor missiles.
But in an instant, all the missiles had lost contact. The UFO was almost certainly the newly appeared Spirit.
"The tentative name for the Spirit is Meteor," Kotori had explained earlier that day, her tone heavy with frustration. "We still know almost nothing about her—her appearance, preferences, personality, or even her specific abilities. All we know is that she can fly at speeds several times the speed of sound, and she can accelerate, stop, and attack mid-flight with ease. Honestly, the speed she's displayed so far might not even be her limit. It's no wonder she triggered an S-level spacequake. That kind of speed alone renders most of humanity's weapons useless."
Since the incident, there had been no further sightings of the Spirit.
To someone like Kotori, who was well-versed in the behavior of Spirits, this wasn't surprising. Spirits could only remain active in this world for a limited time before returning to their own dimension to rest. This was why the primary goal of anti-Spirit forces worldwide wasn't to eliminate Spirits—it was to hold them off until they disappeared on their own. After all, defeating them was nearly impossible.
Despite Kotori's warnings about how dangerous and terrifying this new Spirit was, Shido's reaction had been… underwhelming.
"Wow, she sounds really powerful," was all he could muster.
Could you really blame him? He was just a high school student trying to get through his exams. Terms like "several times the speed of sound" and "S-level spacequake" felt like something out of a sci-fi movie, not his reality.
"Why am I even thinking about all this?" Shido muttered to himself as he walked home. "It's not like overanalyzing things will make the Spirit appear in front of me. Right now, the most important thing is Tohka's dinner."
He shook his head, deciding to let it go. After all, no matter how much he worried, it wouldn't change anything.
His mind drifted to Tohka, probably lying on the sofa at home, listlessly chewing on her favorite bread-shaped pillow because she was too hungry. The mental image made him smile, a gentle, doting expression crossing his face. Without realizing it, his pace quickened.
Just then, a voice carried on the evening breeze stopped him in his tracks.
"Old lady, is there anything else you need help moving?"
The voice was sweet, almost melodic—like sugar calling to an ant. Shido, drawn like that very ant, turned his head toward the source of the sound.
And there she was.
A girl with long, silver hair that shimmered like moonlight, standing under the glow of a streetlamp. She looked like a princess straight out of a fairy tale, her presence both ethereal and captivating.
Shido froze, his breath catching in his throat.
(A/n: literally cliff you cant escape the cliff hah!)