Around the time a commotion was brewing in North Wales.
A girl was walking alone across a harsh, desolate wilderness.
She wore a blue baseball cap pulled low over her head, a light jersey, and a red muffler around her neck—a strangely anachronistic outfit that seemed utterly out of place in this era of Britain.
But the magical energy radiating from the twin scabbards at her waist proved she truly bore the Pendragon bloodline.
The girl's name was Artoria X.
After Kay disappeared, she, unlike her sisters, neither rallied forces nor led armies.
She traveled entirely alone, earning her living as a bounty hunter, raiding vicious bandit gangs and Saxon outposts—and roamed all across Britain solely in search of any trace of Kay.
"Haah... another dead end today."
Artoria X let out a small sigh as she recalled the information spat out by the bandit leader she'd just smashed to pieces.
"It's been five years already, and you've managed to vanish without leaving so much as a footprint. Did you hijack a spaceship and really head off to Andromeda or something?"
Still grumbling, Artoria X refused to halt her stride.
Then one day, she came upon a small village after crossing the wilderness.
The atmosphere in the settlement was dire and ominous. People bolted their doors shut, and a few souls sprawled in the streets stared blankly at nothing, as if their spirits had drained away.
When Artoria X stepped into the inn and ordered a meal, the innkeeper—a desperate look in his eyes as he surveyed her formidable armament—spoke in a pleading tone.
"Um, noble traveler... might you... help us?"
"Help you? Have bandits shown up? I charge a silver coin per ten men."
"They're not bandits. In the small city beyond those hills—what they call the Fortress of Suffering—a demon has taken root."
"A demon?"
Artoria X paused mid-bite and tilted her head.
It wasn't unusual to encounter strange beasts in these final days of the New Era Britain, but the concept of a demon—an entity formed from human souls and remnants of hatred—had been nearly impossible to manifest since the Common Era began.
"Yes. About a month ago, a sorcerer in red robes appeared in the city, used people's blood as a sacrifice to summon a demon. And... he's been dragging every young maiden in our village back there. None of the girls he took have ever returned. Please, slay that demon and save our children!"
The innkeeper collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
'A demon... forcibly manifested in the Common Era? That sorcerer must possess forbidden arcane knowledge. Perhaps he might even hold clues to my brother's whereabouts in another world.'
Artoria X swallowed a mouthful of meat and rose from her seat.
"Fine. I'll take the job. No advance payment. I'll just skewer that demon and loot its treasure vault in lieu of coins."
Pulling her cap down low, she headed for the Fortress of Suffering.
Before long, a grotesque castle surrounded by dark, fleshy organs came into view.
The gates stood wide open, and the city lay in ruins, devoid of any sign of life. The air reeked of sickening blood and decay.
"Seriously, how deep is Britain's demon realm? Stray even a little off the beaten path, and these monsters are running rampant."
Artoria X stepped into the deepest corridor of the fortress.
Bang!
The heavy gates behind her slammed shut on their own.
"...So you've come, hunter."
From the pitch-black depths of the corridor, a man in crimson robes emerged, laughter twisted into something unholy.
His face was no longer human: his skin hung like cooled wax, and his pupils burned with coal-black fire, the whites of his eyes gone.
This was the fallen sorcerer who had gathered humanity's malice to manifest a demon, then bound that demon to his own flesh and become a monstrous vessel.
"The scent of a noble knight... no, is that the dragon's blood of Britain's king?!"
The sorcerer cried out with ecstatic delight.
"Marvelous! If I feast on your pure blood and soul as tribute to this demon, I shall gain the ultimate magical power necessary to challenge that arrogant White Dragon himself!!"
"Tch. Talk's mighty long. I planned to ask where my brother went, but I see we can't have a civilized conversation."
Artoria X clicked her tongue and laid her hands on the twin hilts at her waist.
From her grip sprang a radiant golden longsword and a pitch-black blade coursing with dark mana.
"Eat this!"
At the sorcerer's shout, his body swelled like a balloon and warped into a hideous form.
Human bones and flesh twisted at unnatural angles, his robes shredded, revealing a massive, oozing green mass of muscle and slime.
And on that writhing flesh lay dozens of faces—those of the maidens sacrificed by the village—each contorted into a rapturous, sweet expression as they whispered in unison.
"Ahh... it feels so good..."
"Come join us, knight..."
"Melting pleasure... my brain's going soft..."
"Offer your mighty power to the demon and claim eternal bliss..."
Even Artoria X's hair stood on end at the chilling chorus.
It wasn't fear—it was pure, intense revulsion from a girl who adored cleanliness.
"Touching this slimy mess is the worst!!"
With contempt on her face, she crossed her swords in a blazing X.
She sprang off the marble floor, a blur of untraceable movement.
Her body spun as waves of golden and obsidian blade energy rippled through the corridor.
Swish!Clang!Klang!
The tendrils meeting the crossed swords were sliced apart like cleaving tofu.
Toxic purple ichor sprayed from the severed ends, but Artoria X whipped up a gust of wind to fling it away and plunged toward the demon's core.
But the true horror of this possessed sorcerer was his terrible regenerative power.
Blub... squelch!
The severed ends of each tendon fidgeted grotesquely and, within a heartbeat, split into two, three new tendrils.
The more she cut, the more they multiplied exponentially, soon coating the walls and ceiling in a choking mire of green slime.
"Regeneration like that, huh? More like a swarm of leeches! What kind of demon is that? A failed experiment turned monster!"
About to retreat, Artoria X clicked her tongue—
"You let your guard down!! Dragon's blood!!"
Amid the tidal wave of tendrils, one thick vine had slipped into her blind spot and coiled around her ankle like a serpent.
"Ack...!"
Before she could draw her blades, dozens of tendrils lashed in like starving beasts, binding her waist, thighs, and wrists, hoisting her off the ground.
The slime dripped onto her jersey, and countless suction cups latched onto her skin, draining mana and strength furiously.
"Ugh... my mana!"
From beyond the tangle of vines, the faces of the sacrificed girls pressed to her ear, their voices dripping with slime as they whispered.
"Let go of your power..."
"Drift off to a warm, pleasant realm... come with us..."
"Offer your strength to the demon and join eternal ecstasy..."
At the nauseating, sinister murmurs, Artoria X's repulsion peaked.
"This... this slimy stuff is the absolute worst!!"
Eyes blazing, she twisted the core within her, unleashing her Reserviora to its limit.
KRAAAAASH! *
An explosive storm of golden and black lightning erupted from her entire body.
The thick tendrils, unable to withstand the torrent of magical energy, literally disintegrated into nothing and scattered everywhere.
"GRAAAH?! My tendrils!!"
"Your time's up."
Brushing off the remains of slime, Artoria X landed and pressed the brim of her cap firmly into place, lowering her stance.
The golden blade and the black steel in her hands began to hum in unison, each trailing arcs of blinding light and darkness that made it impossible to look on.
She was preparing an overwhelming, decisive strike that would leave no chance for regeneration.
At the moment her feet left the ground, the marble beneath her shattered like a spiderweb, and her silhouette became a single pillar of light shooting forward.
"[Secret Caliber (Nameless Sword of Victory)]!!!"
In a blinding X-shaped flash of light, Artoria X's super-speed twin-sword flurry pierced the demon's core, shredding the monstrosity into fragments in less than a second.
The demon's abnormal regeneration could not compete with the utter cellular obliteration she wrought.
Between the deep cross-shaped wounds she'd carved, the mana of her twin blades seeped into the demon's body, erupting into a towering pillar of light from within that exploded with ferocity.
"GRAAAAAAH!!!"
The sorcerer's final scream echoed pitifully through the castle before vanishing completely in the blinding radiance.
The faces of the women absorbed into the demon—lost in their ecstasy—also dissolved, their souls escaping with a brief shriek as a handful of white ash drifting into the air.
"Hoo... ..."
When the battle was over, Artoria X sheathed her swords and quietly bowed her head in reflection toward the scattering ash.
It was a moment of mourning for the maidens who had become part of the demon, their lives stolen through no fault of their own.
"In the end, that monster had no clue about my brother's whereabouts either. Another dead end."
Artoria X muttered in disappointment and began to search the castle's interior.
Though there was no treasure worth any fortune, the deep library held countless grim tomes of black magic and ominous volumes on other realms heaped in piles.
'Maybe one of these books holds a clue about the gateway to that world.'
As she leafed through dusty spellbooks, a sound caught her attention.
Creak~
She heard the corridor door—once firmly shut—slide open.
Artoria X immediately placed her hands on her twin sword hilts and hid behind the shelves. It could be survivors of the cult.
Footsteps approached—two sets.
One was the heavy clank of massive armor thudding against the floor; the other, the soft patter of light steps.
The library door swung open, revealing two silhouettes.
A heavily armored knight encased head to toe, wielding a massive sword—Britomart.
And behind her, a beautiful girl leaning on a staff—Artoria Caster.
"Oh? I sensed a foul demon aura here and came to exterminate it, but it seems someone's already done the cleaning up?"
Artoria Caster surveyed the ruin of the library and smiled with interest.
Their clear gaze locked onto Artoria X, who crouched behind the shelves, warily returning the stare.
"...You."
Just as Artoria X was about to ask sharply, her eyes widened subtly as she recognized the face before her. The tension drained from her grip on the swords.
"Caster? What are you doing here?"
Artoria X asked politely, though a trace of bewilderment tinged her voice. Caster's eyes lit up, and she beamed cheerfully, waving one hand enthusiastically.
"Oh! X, isn't it? What a coincidence to meet you here! I heard you were wandering Britain solo as a bounty hunter, still pushing yourself too hard, huh?"
She spoke in polite honorifics mixed with casual speech—a hallmark of her friendly manner.
It was Caster.
Confronted by a familiar face in this unexpected ruin, Artoria X sighed softly and pressed her cap's brim firmly. Her guard was completely down.
"Well, as you can see, I've been doing just fine hunting monsters. But how did you end up traveling with a knight like that?"
Artoria X asked flatly. Caster twirled her staff and gave a cryptic, mischievous smile.
"Circumstances. Hey, X, if you're free, want to come with me?"
"? Where to?"
"There's a tyrant that needs slaying over in Ireland. On the way, why don't we swing by North Wales?"