Otherwise, you can find another savior.

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"Heh..." Morgan chuckled, not taking Ash's words seriously. "Although I'd love to fight here, this isn't the real body, so even if I won, it wouldn't mean anything."

Although Ash was prepared to continue the battle, he couldn't help but feel suspicious when he heard the enemy's declaration of retreat.

"Planning to escape? But it doesn't matter whether the clone escapes or not, we can just dispel it," Ash said.

"Escape?" Morgan looked at Ash. "Don't forget, if you want to go deep into Miktland, the First Underworld is an obstacle you can't bypass no matter what. Now, it's my territory."

tide Jian couldn't help but laugh: "Treating a waterway as territory, even for the Lake Fairy, the dignified Demon Queen, and the mother of many Knights of the Round Table, this pomp and circumstance is a bit too shabby?"

"If you want to be glib, then be stubborn all you want." Morgan looked at Shiomi. "Once we've dealt with the Lostbelts, we'll take you under our wing."

"That's easy for you to say." Scáthach helped Scáthach walk over to join them. "You're acting like you already have victory in the bag."

"First, I will take that man under my wing, and then I will acquire the other two-thirds of the power that has been divided up," Morgan declared quietly. "It is neither the alien gods nor your Chaldea that will reshape the world, but me."

Shiomi frowned deeply: "Last time it was Britain, and this time you plan to turn the planet's mysterious return into a complete fairy realm?"

“It’s a shame King Arthur isn’t here, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Even if he became the Goddess of the Holy Lance, he wouldn’t amount to anything by coming here.” Morgan snapped her fingers in the night. “Indeed, some things simply can’t be accomplished without doing them yourself.”

After saying that, her figure disappeared from the river as if blending into the night.

The solid ice formed by the magical battles melted rapidly as it lost its magical support.

In the blink of an eye, the river returned to its previous flow, with only the remaining traces proclaiming that this place had briefly become a battlefield.

"What is this, a declaration of war?" Scáthach shook her head, her tone serious.

Ash knelt down, helped tide Jian straighten her clothes, and replied:

"The fact that they so openly announce their location shows their confidence, even though we already know it. It seems they have already gained initial control over my husband's powers."

“Whether from the perspective of the necessity of breaking through the First Underworld or the necessity of regaining power, we have to fight Morgan of Pan-Human History,” Shiomi said. “Or rather, we have to defeat her and overcome this obstacle.”

"They came specifically to capture my husband because their process of gaining power wasn't going smoothly, and they need to use him as material." Ash's eyes still held anger towards Morgan.

tide Jian knew that her anger stemmed from more than just the desire to use him.

There are also other ways to utilize it.

It was practically a replay of what happened to the Beast God Priestess.

They went to extremes inhuman cruelty.

"So you still stick to your previous idea and want to fight alone?" Shiomi asked, cupping Ash's face in her hands.

“Of course,” Ash said. “It is my duty as a wife, and it is also something I want to do myself. If it were anything else, it would be fine, but it is Morgan from the pan-human history, an existence that is equal to me yet completely different.”

“But you’re not her, you don’t need to care about what she does,” tide Jian tried to persuade her.

But his lips were pressed down by Ash's fingers, silencing the rest of his correct words.

"If I am not capable enough, my husband and everyone else can help me then." Ash smiled shyly, "But in that case, I'm afraid I won't be able to stand on my own anymore."

You can lose to anyone, but you can't lose to yourself.

"I understand. Everything is up to you. Just tell me what you need, and I'll do my best to accommodate you."

Shiomi pressed Ash's shoulder, responding earnestly to her determination.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Responding to the Challenge

After Morgan of Pan-Human History withdrew, the group rested at a camp next to a cornfield until late at night, when Storm Border flew over and joined them.

Romani, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sion were intrigued to meet Tepeu and initiated a friendly and intellectually stimulating exchange.

Meanwhile, Storm Border also began harvesting corn as one of the main means of replenishing fresh food during this Lostbelt period.

They used the cornfield area as a base to conquer the first underworld, Terratauki.

After all, although Chaldea cannot directly cross the First Netherworld Line to penetrate deeper into Mictland, the "Alien God" and the forces of the last hidden one, Debit, may appear during this period.

As usual, most of the Chaldean personnel remained at the main camp, with only Ash and Shiomi and a few others heading towards the First Underworld, the Terrataugi waters, along the river.

Since Morgan said he would wait for Chaldea there, Ash didn't intend to keep the Pan-Human History side waiting too long.

After all, they still need to regain important powers.

This is a top priority for Ash.

“It is indeed a very wide body of water, stretching as far as the eye can see, but it doesn’t look like a pure river or a large lake.” Scáthach looked up at the top of the Miktland Ring of Lands.

If you fly along the ground, it would take at least two hours to reach directly overhead.

Moreover, the feeling of gravity is exactly the same in any area of ​​the ground along the entire inner side of the ring when walking along the ground.

This is the second phenomenon discovered by Group A, who went out to investigate on both sides yesterday.

It is in the same state as if it were located in any land area on Earth, and would not fall.

Preliminary inferences suggest that the physical rules of the underground world were determined by an entity called the Maya at the same time as its formation.

“That’s not the point.” Ash gazed at the First Underworld’s waters. “This so-called First Underworld has been completely transformed into a magic workshop.”

“Indeed.” tide Jian squatted on the shore to observe the situation on the water. “They don’t seem to mind anyone entering, but whether they can come out safely after entering is another matter.”

“It’s practically an invisible fortress,” Skadi commented. “Its strength is no less than the barrier I use to maintain the Norse world and resist the flames of Surt.”

Scáthach pondered, "The enemy has the advantage of terrain; it wouldn't be wise to rush in—"

“Who said we should rush in?” Ash took out a sword.

Artoria's Star Sword.

Once the concept weaponry for the Holy Sword in Storm Border is completed, the Holy Sword will only serve as the core to enhance the power of new weapons when activated, and it will not matter even if it leaves Storm Border.

After all, the Holy Sword, which can be fully analyzed, has a higher degree of completion than Sion had expected.

Specifications aside, its level of completion is comparable to that of the Holy Lance Shadow of Ad.

"I see."

tide Jian and her master all understood.

"It seems to have transformed the entire First Underworld into a workshop, with its location uncertain. But precisely because the area it covers is so vast, the workshop exists like an isolated island in the Wandering Sea, existing anywhere within this First Underworld."

Ash's fairy eyes shone with azure light; she had already seen through the First Underworld's inherited defensive structure.

The Star Sword, a treasure trove wielded by King Arthur, the mortal enemy of the humanoid Smogen, is the best way to break through inherited defenses, force the opponent to reveal their coordinates, and fix their existence.

She didn't have the time to go in and engage in pointless maze exploration, wasting unnecessary time.

The worst thing is that things might go wrong if things drag on.

The appearance of the "Alien God" at any time is never good news for Chaldea.

"So--"

Shiomi stood behind Ash, while Scáthach and Skadi stood on either side of Ash.

The three of them together activated rune magic to amplify Ash's magical power, allowing her to unleash 200% of the output of her borrowed Noble Phantasm while reducing her original consumption.

Although she has used this holy sword more than once, as a fairy who once had the mission of forging the holy sword, her affinity with the holy sword is almost on par with that of the current holy sword wielder.

"It seems they've noticed."

A faint smile appeared on Ash's face.

The First Underworld's inherited defenses suddenly showed signs of strengthening, clearly a response after sensing the Holy Sword's magic power.

However, it was too late.

Even the most skilled magician needs time to change such a large-scale territory.

Even a few seconds that are too fast for an ordinary magician to keep up with, is a fatal flaw in the eyes of a magician of the same level.

"Gather here the breath of stars, strip away the embellishments, and reveal to me the truth of the First Underworld!" Ash raised the holy sword high, the golden magic wrapped around the blade almost soaring into the sky, "'Sword of Excalibur'—!"

The golden, magical blade tilted straight forward, landing on the waters of the First Underworld, cleaving the waterfall and the rushing river in two.

Just like the legendary Moses parting the sea, it exposed the damp, soft soil beneath the surface.

After the giant waves surged to the sides, rising more than ten meters high, they quickly converged back into the dry center. A large amount of river water was evaporated by the magic of the holy sword, and thick water mist filled the space of the First Underworld.

A few seconds later, a light drizzle began to fall; it was water that had been swept up into the sky, returning to the Terratauki waters in the form of artificial rain.

Holding up the empty umbrella projected by magic, Ash stepped onto the still-unsettled water and entered the First Underworld.

"It's actually Arthur's holy sword. It seems your relationship is exceptionally good."

Morgan looked at Ash, who was soaking wet, water dripping from her hair and trickling down her body in small streams.

It seems that just avoiding the destruction of himself and the position has taken a lot of effort.

“It’s nothing. After all, we’re like family now.” Ash stopped and looked at Morgan on the other side of the deep waterfall cave. “As a wife, it’s not wrong for me to borrow my husband’s Noble Phantasm.”

“Family?” Morgan stood up. “To tolerate Arthur sharing his things, you’re even more boring than I thought.”

“My husband is not an object. You, who treat men as tools and only know how to seize power and status, would not understand.” Ash tilted his head and looked at the other with a smile. “I am very curious, in the pan-human history of ‘me,’ have you ever really fallen in love with anyone?”

“That kind of weak-willed mentality is unnecessary for the ‘true king’ who inherits the British Isles,” Morgan retorted dismissively.

“The ‘True King’ of Britain… huh.” Ash stretched her hand out over the edge of the umbrella to catch the rain. “She used to be such a good older sister, but now she only calls Artoria Arthur.”

"So long-winded—!"

Chapter Thirty: Effortless Mastery

As Morgan's voice, tinged with slight anger, rose a massive tide from the bottomless waterfall cave, as if it were a living thing, gathering in mid-air, threatening to engulf Ash at any moment.

But this is just a smokescreen. If one's attention is drawn to the attack in front of them, they will inadvertently overlook the anomalies in the waters behind them in the First Underworld, which is filled with magic.

The water twisted, surged, and changed, eventually transforming into a giant elemental creature reminiscent of the fire giant Surtur.

Having been caught off guard and defeated in the first round, and then subjected to constant verbal attacks, Morgan's emotions were agitated, and he launched an attack first.

Ash tiptoed, gracefully dodging attacks that seemed to cover a wide area and were impossible to avoid, as if dancing on the water.

Interspersed among those clumsy attacks are tiny, nimble attacks, like those of a hummingbird.

Water takes on countless forms, sometimes as swords, sometimes as spears, sometimes as poison needles, chasing and surrounding Ash's footsteps like a tide, yet never able to catch up with her figure.

"Let's see how long you can hide. Is this the result of using a Noble Phantasm that doesn't belong to you?"

Morgan climbed the steps formed by the fountain, step by step, above the large hole where the waterfall fell, and approached the location of Ash.

"Is that how you see it?" Ash stopped.

Because she was surrounded.

This is the result of only defending and not attacking.

Although he intended to test his own condition, he ultimately relinquished the initiative on the battlefield.

"Not planning to fight back? That's a bit too arrogant!" Morgan stared at Ash's figure. She didn't think that he had driven the other party into a corner. On the contrary, he might have deliberately created an opening.

Ash smiled at the other party: "So far, it's only been a grand magic trick, which is a bit too easy. Are you trying to save the energy to defeat me and use it to digest the power and seize the other powers?"

“As for powers, they are not necessarily unusable—” Morgan raised his hand, “For example, interfering with the ‘water’ in your body right now.”

"Oh?"

Ash looked at her right hand, which was holding the umbrella, with slight surprise. It was rising uncontrollably, and Ash needed to react accordingly to deal with it.

“For example…” Morgan pressed his hand to his chest, “detonating it from the inside.”

"Oh, oh, oh?" Ash exclaimed in even greater surprise.

Her tone was like that of a young girl who had just discovered something new, which made Morgan extremely unhappy.

Just how naive is this woman?

Or is it that fairies, whether in pan-human history or Lostbelts, whether on planets or in the Inner Sea, are all pretty much the same?

But Morgan soon realized that this reaction was not naive, but rather a well-thought-out plan.

The blood intended to explode did not, creating a tangible sensation of interference with the blood and even the magic circuits, yet it felt as if it had barely been touched before being dodged.

The hand that had been out of control gradually came back, as if it had already avoided Morgan's influence.

“Using powers that don’t belong to oneself, assuming one’s own spiritual level is higher, one can substantially interfere with fairies who are originally of equal spiritual level, thereby rendering the target powerless or even obliterating it.” Ash analyzed to himself, “Not a bad idea. Unfortunately, the opponents I’ve encountered recently are all of relatively high spiritual level, so I have no way to use this method.”

At this point, she looked up at the other person with some regret:

"Unfortunately, I am indeed a fairy, but my spiritual level is not as low as you think."

"Then let me see just how much you're worth—!!!"

Morgan's voice gradually filled with anger, and the surrounding magic began to become extremely restless.