Fate: How About a New Savior?

"...Oh, oh... Our Black Madonna... Why would you...?"

As the Great Cave fell silent once more, Shiomi stopped reinforcing the barrier and steadied himself.

A frail, sorrowful voice pierced the stillness.

An elderly woman with sunken eyes led a group of villagers to the underground temple, arriving just in time to witness Aesc's final battle with the sacred bird.

The brilliance and might of "Roadless Camelot" left no doubt—her identity was clear to the villagers.

The Black Madonna. Morgan le Fay, the half-sister of King Arthur.

Shiomi seized the moment, bowing his head and dropping to one knee, leaning on his spear like a mysterious knight concealing his identity, paying homage to his queen.

Tap, tap, tap...

She stepped down from the temple's rooftop—not falling, but descending on invisible steps, each one sparking with a faint glow.

"The Black Madonna has arrived! Kneel at once!" Shiomi commanded, his voice low and forceful.

They watched Aesc descend along the unseen staircase.

The rushing villagers fell to their knees in reverence.

"This is to bring it all to an end." Aesc paused midair, gazing down at the kneeling crowd.

Among them, only the old woman looked up at her with a mixture of piety and confusion.

During her prayers, she had sensed something—King Arthur's spiritual vessel was destabilizing. In haste, she led the churchgoers underground, rushing to the Grand Temple.

But they had still arrived too late. The old woman mourned silently.

Magdalena had been right. The Black Madonna had come to end it all.

The one who had hidden beyond the currents of time had returned, now rejecting the ancient mission she had once entrusted to the village. She was here to reclaim everything she had set in motion.

"Your long years of devotion are appreciated," Aesc said quietly, her tone flat. "But this ends here."

The old woman's eyes brimmed with desperation and yearning.

"Please... please, Black Madonna... grant us your guidance—those of us who have faithfully carried out the mission you gave us..." Her voice quivered.

"The ritual has already been corrupted. It's no longer what it was meant to be," Aesc declared coldly.

Her face was hidden behind the veil she had donned before descending.

This was her visage as the Queen of Winter. Now, as the Black Madonna commanding the villagers to relinquish their sacred duty, it was a role she wore perfectly.

"Corrupted...? No, that can't be... It's not possible..." The old woman clung to denial, unable to refute the Black Madonna's words, her resistance no more than a fragile murmur. "I've always upheld the ritual—always... and our ancestors, too... We followed it faithfully... It can't be... Black Madonna, please... have mercy... Could there have been a mistake...?"

But Aesc gave no reply. She simply gazed down at them in silence.

No reply was the answer.

No questions. No doubts. No suspicion permitted.

The Black Madonna's word was law. Her will, absolute.

Kneeling with his face obscured beneath his hood, Shiomi allowed himself a quiet smile at Aesc's flawless response.

"In addition, King Arthur's soul has already passed on to Avalon. He will no longer remain in this world." Aesc raised her hand, gazing into the darkness above the Great Cave, her voice distant and ethereal as she delivered the second revelation. "You have spent a thousand years, yet the king no longer intends to answer. He chooses instead to watch over the world from the ideal land until its end."

A wave of unrest rippled through the villagers, voices trembling with despair and helplessness.

Aesc continued her descent, stopping before the gathered crowd.

The unseen pressure in the air pushed the villagers even lower to the ground. Even the old woman, full of grief and unanswered questions, lowered her head, too afraid to glimpse the expression hidden behind the Black Madonna's veil.

Shiomi then slowly rose and stepped forward to stand beside Aesc, bowing deeply.

He tapped the ground lightly with the tip of his red spear, the dull thud drawing the villagers' gaze upward—only to see a black crow appear from thin air.

In Blackmore Village, crows were sacred symbols tied to the gravekeeper. Yet not a single person dared question the Black Madonna's authority in that moment.

A swarm of crows enveloped her, shrouding her form from view.

Moments later, both she and the crows vanished.

Just as the villagers assumed the Black Madonna had delivered her divine message and departed, the old woman lifted her head in surprise.

"Outside..."

The villagers quickly supported her, hastening their steps as they exited the underground temple, following the Black Madonna's path back into the village.

"She's gone…"

Still crouched behind the temple's rooftop, Gray hadn't recovered from the surreal battle. And now, before she could process it all, something even more unbelievable unfolded.

There was no doubt. The Black Madonna had come to the village—and had spoken directly to her.

So she wasn't some wandering guest. The Black Madonna had come to end the girl's mission.

Was that why the lady had shown her such concern?

"Looks like that was the final step," El-Melloi II said, rising and sitting atop the shrine roof. "Even if the villagers don't understand everything that happened, they'll make their way back into the village and dismantle every spell placed within it."

Gray held Add, now returned to his cube form, and placed him back inside his cage.

"So… she really was the Black Madonna?" Gray still felt like she was dreaming.

El-Melloi II pulled a cigar from his pocket, trimmed the end with a small knife, lit it, took a puff, and finally replied,

"Hard to believe or not, she's the very same Black Madonna those villagers revere—the witch of Arthurian legend, Morgan le Fay."

"I see..." Gray nodded slowly.

"But I have no idea why she did it. Maybe she saw King Arthur after death, and realized the whole thing was meaningless. So she chose to walk away," he speculated.

"Huh? She saw… King Arthur after he died?" Gray's instincts told her—it wasn't the spirit of King Arthur from here.

"Exactly what I said." El-Melloi II wasn't in the mood to explain the Holy Grail War to the young gravekeeper.

Still, he had to admit—it was a brilliant move. For villagers so deeply rooted in faith, the only way to break them free was to let their faith undo itself.

Even if ordered to stop, some villagers would likely persist—those who had given their entire lives to the resurrection ritual.

"Huh?"

Gray looked down to find her body glowing.

Then, as if pulled by an invisible force, she vanished into the portal behind her.

El-Melloi II thought to himself, So that's how they're taking her out of the village...

Then immediately shouted,

"Shit! I'm still up here, damn it! How the hell am I supposed to get down from this height?!"

...

(40 Chapters Ahead)

p@treon com / PinkSnake