"Hahh.."
When Riezel descended from the sky and landed on the ground, even he could not help but reveal a trace of exhaustion in his eyes.
After an intense battle that had lasted for two hours, maintaining sharp focus the entire time without a single break, Riezel still felt somewhat weary.
Of course, this fatigue was only a mental one.
With the highest rank Healing Power and Spirit Healing as his development abilities, both of which could automatically restore his stamina and mind at all times, Riezel had the least to fear from a protracted battle.
One could say that once drawn into a battle of attrition, Riezel had an eighty percent chance of seizing final victory, and the remaining twenty percent simply accounted for the possibility that his opponent might also be skilled at enduring long, drawn-out battles.
Therefore, even after two hours of fierce combat, Riezel was still in excellent condition—just a little mentally exhausted.
"Fighting with a Calamity just isn't exciting at all, and it doesn't feel thrilling either."
After voicing such a feeling, Riezel turned to look in the direction where Calamity of Norwich had originally been.
Over there, there was nothing left—only a giant crater over a kilometer in diameter remained, its sandy earth showing signs of crystallization.
With hot smoke continuously billowing out, a single glance was enough to gauge just how high the temperature inside was.
As for the Calamity, it had, of course, been completely vaporized to nothing.
Whether it was a curse or an ominous aura, under the Super-Tier Magic, Fallen Down, everything had been completely burned away.
*Click—*
While sheathing Hermit, Riezel could not help but think to himself.
'Even though its range still can't compare, just in terms of power, Fallen Down should already be on par with the Strategic-Class Magic of the Akasha Continent, right?'
As this thought emerged, Riezel touched one of the rings he wore on his hand.
He had to admit, this ring, crafted by Morgan, truly produced astonishing effects. It not only enhanced the power of his magic but also greatly reduced the time required to cast magic.
Otherwise, with the excessively long casting time of Super-Tier Magic, he would never have been able to use it in combat.
Thanks to Morgan's ring, which greatly shortened the casting time, Riezel had managed to unleash such a magic spell in battle. Seizing the moment while the Calamity was down, he decisively used Super-Tier Magic.
And the outcome was satisfying—this strike directly secured Riezel's ultimate victory and brought this fierce battle to a close.
Now...
"You can come out now, right?"
As Riezel continued to gaze at the deep crater before him, he suddenly spoke these words with an expressionless face.
"Not long after I started fighting the Calamity, you already arrived here and kept watching from the sidelines."
"Now that the battle's over, the show's finished too."
"So, shouldn't you come out now?"
Riezel's words seemed like idle mutterings, carried by the wind to the surroundings.
"..."
However, the area was utterly silent, with not a single disturbance.
Riezel was not impatient and simply remained where he was, waiting quietly for several minutes.
*Sha-Sha—*
At last, on the unknown shoreline reduced to ruins, a rustling sound came from the unknown forest.
A figure parted the underbrush and slowly walked out from the forest.
"Sorry, I mean no harm. I was just so captivated by your fight that I forgot to come out."
The unexpectedly pleasant and melodious voice from the mysterious spectator revealed that it was a girl.
Riezel turned to look at her, and with just one glance, a ripple involuntarily appeared in his eyes.
It was simply because the girl before his eyes had a face that could not have been more familiar to him.
She was not tall, appearing to be a girl of only fifteen or sixteen, while her delicate and beautiful face still retained a trace of childishness.
She had long golden hair styled in twintails, and her eyes were so bright and beautiful that it seemed they could see into the deepest secrets of one's heart.
She held a staff in her hand and was dressed like a noble young lady attending a magic academy, with the air of someone still in training.
Such an appearance, such an image, was exactly the same as the Artoria in Riezel's memory.
However, this girl was not Artoria—definitely not.
It was not only because her attire was different, but also because, unlike the inexperienced Artoria, this girl exuded a calmness born of hardship. Her gait, posture, bearing, and even the atmosphere she gave off were all different from Artoria's.
If Artoria could be called a reckless and impulsive countryside girl, then this girl was the graceful and noble elite of a great city.
Moreover, the way she looked at Riezel was different as well.
It did not have the same clarity tinged with resignation and compromise toward fate as Artoria's. Instead, it was steady and resolute, with a hint of coldness hidden deep within that few could perceive.
Riezel silently observed the girl who looked exactly like Artoria on the outside but had a certain fatal difference within for a moment before asking in a calm voice.
"...Who are you?"
"Me?"
Hearing the question, the girl stopped, glanced at the giant crater, and then looked at Riezel.
"My name is Aesc. I'm a magus currently traveling around Britain. Nice to meet you."
Meeting Riezel's gaze, Aesc introduced herself with a calm, friendly smile, making him fall silent.
===
In the distant past, several thousand years ago, a savior had once appeared in Faerie Britain.
She had wiped out countless Calamities and saved many fairies.
She had stopped wars and created peace.
Just like Artoria, who wielded the Staff of Selection, she also originated from Paradise and possessed a spear with the same nature as the Staff of Selection, making countless contributions to the future of Faerie Britain.
Additionally, the first massive structure ever built in Faerie Britain, the Cathedral of the Ash Tree in Salisbury, was named after this savior and became a sacred place established in honor of her achievements.
Naturally, Riezel knew of this savior.
Although he did not know her personally, nor had he ever met her, when it came to understanding Aesc, aside from Aesc herself, if Riezel claimed second place, probably no one in the world would dare claim first.
He even knew many secrets about Aesc that most fairies in Faerie Britain had never heard of.
For example, the origin of this savior, as well as her life experiences that spanned thousands of years.
In the understanding of most fairies, this savior had completely disappeared from the world several hundred years before the start of the Queen's Calendar, but Riezel knew where she had gone and what she had done.
Incidentally, the Queen's Calendar referred to the calendar established when Morgan unified all of Britain and was officially crowned as queen.
Morgan had ruled for over two thousand years, so the Queen's Calendar had lasted for over two thousand years as well.
Because the history of Britain before the Queen's Calendar was called the Fairy Calendar, it could be said that the relationship between the Fairy Calendar and the Queen's Calendar was much like the relationship between BC and AD in human history.
For example, the first year of the Fairy Calendar was the year before the Queen's Calendar began, the tenth year of the Fairy Calendar was ten years before the Queen's Calendar began, the hundredth year of the Fairy Calendar was a hundred years before the Queen's Calendar began, and so on—the further back in the Fairy Calendar, the larger the number appended to the calendar.
After Morgan's ascension, the calendar was changed to the Queen's Calendar, and she ruled for a total of two thousand and seventeen years.
In other words, the time Riezel had come from was the year 2017 of the Queen's Calendar.
As for the era when the savior Aesc was last active and last appeared in front of people, one would have to go back about two thousand four hundred years from the year 2017 of the Queen's Calendar.
It was the year 400 of the Fairy Calendar, the time when Aesc was last active, and also when she made her final curtain call.
Now, Riezel had come to this era—to Faerie Britain of over two thousand four hundred years ago.
"So, you're saying you're a fairy who came from the future to this era, right?"
On the ruined shore, at the edge of the forest, Riezel and Aesc had already sat down across from each other, each sitting on a fallen bush, and began to chat.
Facing this former savior, Riezel did not attempt to hide anything.
From start to finish, he spoke calmly and serenely about his situation, including the fact that he had come from the year 2017 of the Queen's Calendar.
Yet, after learning that Riezel came from the future, Aesc did not show much surprise, but rather nodded in understanding.
"No wonder I sensed magecraft of the same system as Opposing Mirrors in the area."
Aesc's words did not cause any surprise to appear on Riezel's face, because he knew what Opposing Mirrors was.
Morgan had used this magecraft.
Baobhan Sith had also used this magecraft.
It was a transference magecraft that could connect two different locations via mirrors, allowing one to teleport.
However, Opposing Mirrors was only one type of Morgan's Mirror magecraft.
Among the Mirror magecrafts developed by Morgan, there was also a kind known as Water Mirror.
Water Mirror was the true grand magecraft of spatial and temporal transfer, capable of sending specified things back into the past.
Yes, the swirling dark clouds that appeared in the sky above Norwich were not a Calamity at all, but the result of Morgan's Water Mirror.
Back when the Calamity in Norwich first appeared, Morgan had already prepared to use Water Mirror on it and send it back to a time before the Queen's Calendar.
Otherwise, if the once-in-a-millennium Great Calamity were to fully form, not only Norwich, but all of Britain would be plunged into chaos.
Morgan could ignore the loss of a single Norwich, but she could not stand by and watch all of Britain ravaged by the Calamity.
Because of this, the Calamity in Norwich was never truly a threat.
Once a Calamity was confirmed to break out, Morgan would immediately use Water Mirror to send it away, not giving it any chance to threaten Britain.
Riezel's current situation was exactly the same—he had been sent back to the past together with the Calamity by Morgan's Water Mirror, which was how he had come to the year 400 of the Fairy Calendar and met Aesc the Savior.