Fate: Typemoon - My Dragon Knight

Merlin drew the sword from within his staff, then leapt down from the city wall. Accompanied by a flurry of petals, he landed on the ground with unwavering stability. That kind of technique, that kind of form, was enough to utterly crush the majority of knights.

"Then allow me, the Magus of Flowers, to test the combat strength of these foreign tribes!"

Merlin raised the sword in his hand. Beneath the night sky just before dawn, the blade shimmered with a cold gleam. The sword's radiance was hidden in the darkness, and Merlin's eyes gradually turned icy. Since there was no one else here, it didn't matter if he dropped his pretense of being human!

However, just as Merlin had finished preparing for battle, behind the approaching foreign knights, another column of dust shot toward the sky. Something was clearly charging in at astonishing speed.

"Move! Move! We're not stopping!"

Melusine raised the shield crafted by Aslan, looked at the knights blocking her way, and curled her lip in mild annoyance. Judging from their armor, these were outsiders. In that case, they weren't covered by the "be gentle" clause Aslan had emphasized, so charging through and knocking them aside shouldn't be a problem.

Melusine Special Attack — Shield Bash!

"Ah-da—!"

┴┴︵╰（‵□′）╯︵┴┴

"What the hell is happening?!"

The squad leader at the front glanced back, only to see the tail end of his formation erupting into chaos. His soldiers were being flung into the air one after another, with barely a pause between each impact—as if someone were beating a drum, sending one "angel" after another flying through the sky. Even their horses shared the same fate.

Before the squad leader could fully react, the two people following closely behind him were launched into the air as well. Then, right in front of his eyes, a massive shield appeared, flying straight toward his face. The next moment, pain exploded across his face, his vision went blurry, and he realized he was already airborne…

He knew nothing after that. The force of the shield's strike was enough to knock him out cold. From this height, even if it didn't kill him, his bones were likely shattered to pieces.

And his final subconscious thought as a leader?

These despicable locals were hiding such terrifying secret weapons all along!

A loud sonic boom echoed in Merlin's ears, followed by a gust of wind that swept his hair back. Then, with a tremendous crash, a shield smashed into the flawless white city wall, leaving behind a deep dent. This was the first time anyone had ever left a mark on these walls.

Merlin had no doubt: if that shield had hit him square in the face and then slammed him against the wall, he really might have become "Merlin-chan" for good. That was close—terrifyingly close. Luckily, the attack wasn't aimed at him.

"Scared me to death... So who's in this second wave of arrivals?"

Merlin looked at the soldiers lying sprawled across the ground and scratched his head awkwardly. He raised his eyes and saw the figure charging forward. At first glance, he thought Artoria had returned with the Knights of the Round Table in a princess carry, perhaps to settle accounts with him. But on closer inspection, he realized it was Aslan.

And the sword at Aslan's waist was radiating a power not inferior to the Sword of Promised Victory.

Even the scabbard...

Why does that scabbard look so familiar?

Isn't that Avalon, the Everdistant Utopia?!

Only then did Merlin realize why he'd been feeling like something was missing before the King's departure. It turned out that his dear child had lost the most important artifact—the one that could make the King truly invincible—Avalon!

Without that source of sustained protection, would his King really be okay?!

For once, the ever-composed Merlin lost his cool. That was not a joke he wanted to play.

"Merlin! Where's Artoria?!"

Aslan's voice snapped Merlin out of his shock. Only then did Merlin realize now was not the time to be standing around doing nothing. If Aslan had rushed all the way here in such a hurry, it meant he wanted to help. In that case, he shouldn't keep Artoria's whereabouts a secret.

"The King... Artoria has already entered Vortigern's territory with the Knights of the Round Table!"

"Tch. Of course, it had to be the most troublesome situation."

"Don't tell me she's been gone for more than a day or two."

Hearing this, Merlin revealed a wry smile. It was exactly because she had been gone more than a day or two that things had become so troublesome.

"As for the Sword of Glorious Victory," Aslan growled, glaring at Merlin, "we'll be having a very serious talk later!"

After that sharp glare, Aslan gave his dragon a pat on the shoulder. Compared to riding a horse, his dragon was far faster. Every second counted now. Aslan knew exactly how powerful his father was—that was no opponent to be defeated with ease.

On his way to the borders of his father's domain, Aslan had already seen widespread casualties. Both Artoria's knights and the warriors under his father had suffered. Though the overall scale of the battle seemed restrained, Aslan knew that was due to the limited population of the island. A full-scale war involving hundreds of thousands would leave the island with no future.

The man in charge of frontline command was Kay, a member of the Round Table. Although not among the strongest in terms of combat power, he was well suited to maintaining morale and adjusting tactics based on enemy movements.

But this war wasn't going well.

Unlike their sweeping victories before, this battle had been full of ups and downs. Initially, everything had gone smoothly—just like previous campaigns. But starting from a certain day, a strange black mist began spreading across all of Vortigern's territory.

Foreign soldiers fared fine, but those native warriors loyal to Vortigern, upon absorbing the mist, experienced a visible increase in both strength and physical ability.

And so, the war devolved into a stalemate. Continuing on this path would only lead to more pointless casualties.

Kay was troubled. What should they do next?

In truth, the Round Table Knights stationed at the front had already become frequent visitors to the most dangerous parts of the battlefield.

It was another day of deadlock. Kay sighed as he looked over the battlefield. But then, a burst of golden light suddenly erupted into the sky from the far side of the battlefield.