Chapter Summaries

Michael, Toneri, and Apocryphus escaped the arena and learned why Apocryphus had been imprisoned in Darlington. Their investigation of the Mors Swarm’s attacks pointed toward Manchester, where Apocryphus foresaw a calamity within two days.

• Michael and the others returned to their concealed base, where Apocryphus explained that a restaurant owner had handed him over to the Fairy Guards after he prophesied the owner would die in two days.
• Michael removed his and Toneri’s Fairy Marks so the Fairy Guards could not track them, while Apocryphus revealed he had no mark because he had been imprisoned for breaking Darlington’s laws.
• Apocryphus said the village of Rattak, where he had made his prophecy, had been destroyed by the Mors Swarm.
• Michael mapped the Mors Swarm’s attacks and concluded that the destroyed villages lay along a straight route toward the calamity’s true target.
• Apocryphus identified Manchester as the place where the calamity would erupt in less than two days and said no one could stop it.

With only two days before the calamity, Toneri learned that Royle, the last surviving Rain Clan fairy, was imprisoned beneath Darlington’s arena. Michael planned a rescue and sent Apocryphus to prepare their escape, leaving the details of the prison operation unresolved.

• Michael noted that Manchester was a rare open city where fairies from different clans made major decisions by vote.
• Apocryphus told Toneri that Royle was the only survivor among more than a hundred Rain Clan prisoners captured for gladiator training.
• Toneri recognized Royle from his blue hair and star-shaped facial mark and wanted to rescue him, but Michael warned that Darlington was on high alert.
• Michael rejected Apocryphus’s offer to lead the rescue and gave him a Rune Gem to use at Darlington’s southern gate if the city barrier was activated.
• Michael praised Apocryphus and turned to Toneri to discuss how they would rescue Royle.

Michael and Toneri infiltrated the Darlington Grand Arena to rescue Royle, but a teleportation Fairy Mystery separated them on the second underground level. Michael appeared before Darlington’s lord, Roderick, who prepared to fight him.

• Michael and Toneri entered the Grand Arena under concealment and saw gladiators training brutally, prompting Toneri to condemn the arena system.
• Michael reassured Toneri that Darlington’s rules made it fairer than the rest of Britain, then led her toward the prisoners on the second underground level.
• Michael and Toneri found that prisoners were forced to fight gladiators and could earn freedom only after winning twenty matches; Toneri resolved to rescue Royle.
• A hidden teleportation Fairy Mystery activated and whisked Michael away from Toneri.
• Michael appeared before Roderick, who seized his flying axe and welcomed the dangerous newcomer as prey.

Toneri found Royle’s corpse had been turned into a trap, and Owen, commander of the Darlington Fairy Guard, surrounded her with soldiers. Just as the guards were about to kill her, Michael appeared and used Displacement Magic to escape with her.

• Toneri found Royle in a cage and realized his blank mind meant something was wrong.
• Royle’s corpse attacked Toneri, and Owen revealed that he could control corpses and had set the trap.
• Owen ordered the Fairy Guards to kill Toneri, while the Staff of Selection resisted her attempt to fight back.
• Michael appeared and blocked the spears, then took Toneri’s hand and escaped with her using Displacement Magic.

Michael explained that Darlington had been a trap aimed at Toneri, likely arranged by Apocryphus, and prepared an ultra-long-range Teleportation Array to take them to Manchester. His duplicate weakened Roderick by destroying his domain, clearing their way out of Darlington.

• Michael told Toneri that the events in Darlington had been arranged to target her and that Apocryphus was the likely culprit.
• Michael inspected the Teleportation Array and sent his duplicate to deal with Roderick before they left.
• Michael's duplicate fought Roderick until he was badly wounded and nearly out of magical energy.
• Michael's duplicate unleashed Celestial Orbs, whose descending sun overwhelmed Roderick's domain and left him near death.
• Michael activated the Array for Manchester and warned Toneri to reinforce her body as they prepared to teleport.

Michael and Toneri discovered the Calamity advancing on Manchester and realized it would destroy the city if it reached it. Toneri revealed that her one-use trump card was Rhongomyniad, but she lacked the strength to activate it, leaving her appeal to Michael unresolved.

• Michael and Toneri escaped Darlington in a metal sphere launched by the Teleportation Array as Apocryphus and the Fairy Guards prepared for them at the south gate.
• Michael detonated the rune bomb he had planted, killing the traitors before they could cause complications.
• Toneri and Michael saw the Calamity and its tide of Mors moving toward Manchester.
• Michael proposed warning Manchester's fairies to evacuate, but Toneri insisted they had to destroy the Calamity before it arrived.
• Toneri revealed that she had been granted Rhongomyniad, the Lance of the End, but could not supply enough magical energy to activate it.

Toneri used the Holy Spear Rhongomyniad to destroy the massive Curse Body, with Michael supporting her through the strain. After Toneri recovered in Manchester, she confessed her feelings to Michael, and they kissed as the city celebrated.

• Michael and Toneri escaped the metal sphere and faced the Curse Body as its tentacles attacked them.
• Michael supplied Toneri with magical energy and steadied the flow through her body while she prepared Rhongomyniad.
• Toneri cast the Holy Spear, obliterating the Curse Body and carving a ravine through the mountains before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Toneri woke a day later in Manchester, where fairies were celebrating the unknown savior, and Michael carried her to watch the fireworks.
• Toneri told Michael she liked him and kissed his cheek, and Michael drew her into a kiss as fireworks lit the city.

Heidi told Londinium’s children stories about Savior Toneri and the heroes before learning that Toneri had arrived in the city. Meanwhile, Michael prepared a staged Sword in the Stone for Toneri’s arrival, leaving the promised ceremony ready to begin.

• Heidi recounted how Toneri rescued the lake district’s fairy incarnation, Melusine, and Allen vowed to become Toneri’s knight.
• Darian told Heidi that Toneri had arrived in Londinium, and the townspeople hurried to the gates to welcome her.
• Toneri approached Londinium with Teterot, Bavanxi, and the Black Knight, while the Black Knight hoped Michael’s plan would succeed.
• Michael gave Melusine a holy sword he had made with Hector’s help.
• Michael planted another holy sword in a boulder, disguised it with magecraft, and carved an inscription declaring that whoever drew it would become king of Britain.

A celestial display brought the Sword in the Stone to a wasteland near Londinium, where Toneri proclaimed that whoever drew it would become Britain’s true king. As Londinium’s people tried to draw the sword, Uther sensed it was calling to him, while Captain Grisen stepped forward to test his strength.

• The night sky filled with stars whose light converged on a wasteland, where a stone pedestal bearing a sword appeared.
• Toneri and her companions arrived, and Toneri told the crowd that the Sword in the Stone embodied Britain’s will and could defeat evil fairies.
• Heidi spotted Michael in the crowd but was too flustered to speak to him.
• Tony failed to draw the sword despite exhausting himself.
• Uther told Darian that he doubted Grisen could draw the sword, explaining that he felt it calling to him.
• Grisen approached the pedestal as Darian watched anxiously.

Grisen and more than a hundred others failed to draw the Sword of Selection, but Heidi pulled it free after Michael secretly strengthened her. The Sword named Heidi King of all Britain, and the crowd celebrated her.

• Grisen tried with all his strength to draw the Sword of Selection but failed, confirming Uther’s intuition.
• More than a hundred people failed the test, while Michael wondered whether he had set the virtues required too high.
• Michael recognized Heidi, whom he had once saved from a Wind Clan fairy, and secretly cast enhancement magecraft on her.
• Heidi drew the Sword of Selection and raised it as a Crown of golden light formed above her head.
• Everyone recognized Heidi as King of all Britain and cheered her name.

At Londinium’s celebration, Michael and Hector discussed whether Toneri’s plan to unite Britain under human rule could bring peace between humans and fairies. Hector admitted he wanted to leave the struggle behind after this attempt and settle as a blacksmith in Tintagel, while Heidi approached them.

• Michael watched Toneri celebrate at the banquet while remaining unnoticed through a spell.
• Hector asked Michael whether their effort to unite Britain would succeed and whether humans and fairies could coexist peacefully.
• Michael said fairies could be made to submit through overwhelming strength and strict laws, though Toneri still hoped for peaceful coexistence.
• Hector agreed that he and Michael had conflicting feelings about Toneri’s dream and suggested they stop fighting after this attempt.
• Hector said he planned to open a smithy in Tintagel, then left to join the banquet as Heidi approached.

Heidi struggled with her new role after drawing the Sword of Selection, and Michael encouraged her and helped her regain confidence. Melusine jealously claimed Michael’s attention, while Teterot tried to warn Bavanxi about Michael’s flirtatious behavior and the Wing Clan’s punishment for it.

• Heidi accidentally crushed a wooden wineglass, and Michael restored it with magecraft before making her a flower crown.
• Heidi confided that she doubted she could become a qualified king of Britain, and Michael encouraged her to trust herself.
• Melusine confronted Heidi with dragon might, then hugged Michael’s arm and glared at her possessively.
• Teterot arrived with Bavanxi and warned her to stay away from Michael, then tried to conceal that the Wing Clan’s punishment for womanizing was physical castration.

Michael helped Toneri sober up before the two joined the Round Table meeting in Londinium. As the knights assembled, Heidi steadied herself and began to face the challenge of becoming king.

• Michael teased Toneri about her hangover, then used his quick way to sober her up.
• Toneri bathed while Michael combed her hair, and Bavanxi arrived to announce breakfast and the Round Table meeting.
• Toneri struck Michael with the Staff of Selection after he flirted with Bavanxi.
• At the meeting, Heidi sat on the throne beside Uther while the knights gathered and Grisen watched her warily.
• Heidi remembered Michael's encouragement, straightened her posture, and awaited the heroes' arrival as footsteps approached the hall.

The Knights of the Round Table met in Londinium to discuss recruitment, supplies, and strategy against the fairies. Michael revealed that the knights had received the Blessing of the Round Table, while secretly knowing it consumed their lives and intending to use them as expendable fighters.

• Michael and Toneri joined the Knights of the Round Table as Grisen opened their first meeting in Londinium.
• The knights discussed recruiting up to thirty thousand soldiers, the time needed to train and equip them, and their weakness against higher-ranking fairies.
• Darian noticed a new mark on his hand, and Michael explained that the Blessing of the Round Table gave the knights strength comparable to combat-type higher-ranking fairies.
• The knights tested their newfound strength as Michael concealed that the blessing burned through their vitality and souls, leaving them only a few years to live.
• Michael reflected that harmony between humans and fairies was impossible and considered destroying and reshaping Britain's Lostbelt.

Michael and the Knights of the Round Table planned their campaign against the fairy clans, choosing the divided Wind Clan as their first target and seeking the Mirror Clan’s neutrality or support. They prepared to arm Londinium and recruit allies before the fairies could attack.

• Uther advised treating the King's Clan as a potential neutral party and concentrating their forces against one fairy clan at a time.
• Michael recommended targeting the Wind Clan’s capital, Salisbury, rather than the more powerful Earth Clan, and explained the rivalry between Tiffany and Aurora.
• Teterot and Toneri endorsed Aurora as a gentle, popular leader who protected humans, while the Black Knight suggested helping her take the clan leadership.
• Toneri proposed binding Aurora with a magical contract and suggested seeking the Mirror Clan’s support as well.
• Michael volunteered to visit the Mirror Clan and urged the Knights to prepare soldiers and armaments in case the fairies attacked Londinium.
• Grisen and the other Knights vowed that Londinium would not obstruct the plan.

Toneri’s party traveled toward Salisbury while Teterot described Britain, and Toneri concealed the truth about the Great Hole. Meanwhile, Michael and Melusine returned to the place where he had found her, and Melusine resolved to act on her desire to become his wife.

• Teterot told Heidi about Britain’s central region, the Great Hole, and Salisbury as they traveled south.
• Toneri claimed that the Great Hole contained only a dry seabed, hiding what she and Michael had found beneath it.
• Toneri worried about Michael and Melusine, who had gone to seek the Mirror Clan’s support or neutrality.
• At Albion’s lake district, Melusine recalled how Michael had lifted her from the marsh and given her the name Melusine.
• Melusine took Michael’s hand and decided to pursue becoming his wife rather than keep the wish to herself.

Michael and Melusine visited the Mirror Clan to learn whether they would side with Londinium's allies, but the chieftain ambushed them with fairy soldiers. After Melusine killed the soldiers, Michael recognized the masked chieftain as Britain's Greatest Prophet, an old friend.

• Michael and Melusine arrived at the Mirror Clan village, where Einser and Mira were waiting to guide them to the chieftain.
• Michael corrected Einser when she called Melusine Albion, and Einser led them to the chieftain's ornate temple.
• The masked chieftain dismissed Einser and Mira, then summoned armed fairy soldiers to surround Michael and Melusine.
• Melusine swiftly killed the soldiers with her blue Rainbow Light while the chieftain watched without concern.
• Michael stopped Melusine from attacking the chieftain and identified him as Britain's Greatest Prophet, who then removed his mask.

Michael reunited with the dying Apocryphus, who asked whether a fixed future could be changed. After Michael called him too weak to alter it, Apocryphus broke the balance keeping him sane and became Mors, and Michael killed him.

• Apocryphus revealed his aged, curse-ridden body and explained that Albion's dragon bones helped him resist becoming Mors.
• Apocryphus told Michael that he had tried to prevent the Savior from establishing the Fairy Kingdom, hoping Britain would meet its foretold destruction, but his plan had failed.
• Apocryphus asked whether a fixed future could be changed, and Michael said his failure only showed that he had been too weak.
• Apocryphus decided to resist fate, crushed his heart, and lost control as Mors corruption overtook him.
• Michael split Apocryphus, the temple, and the mountains with one slash, then burned Apocryphus's remains to ash.

Toneri and Teterot arrived in Salisbury and saw the conflict between Aurora and Tiffany’s supporters firsthand. After Teterot broke up a brawl and Toneri defeated Gale, Aurora’s attendant Klar welcomed Toneri.

• Heidi marveled at how lively and peaceful Salisbury was as Toneri explained Aurora’s plan for a free city divided between Aurora’s and Tiffany’s supporters.
• Supporters of Aurora and Tiffany fought near the Grand Cathedral, and Teterot used her Meow Meow Hammer to break up the brawl.
• Gale accused Teterot of attacking his people, then declared that Toneri would become his one hundred and eighth wife.
• Toneri changed her mind about avoiding a clash and struck Gale with the Staff of Selection, shattering his axe and sending him crashing into a building.
• Klar arrived with armed guards, introduced herself as Aurora’s attendant, and welcomed Toneri to Salisbury.

Toneri and her companions visited Aurora at the Bell-Ringing Hall, where Klar tried to keep Heidi from entering. After Heidi defeated a guard with the Sword of Selection, Aurora welcomed Toneri and asked Klar to leave them alone so they could speak privately.

• Toneri asked Klar to take her group to meet Aurora, and Klar led them into the Bell-Ringing Hall.
• Klar barred Heidi from meeting Aurora and ordered a guard to challenge her, despite a guard reminding Klar that Aurora had wanted to meet the visitors directly.
• Heidi used the Sword of Selection to cut through the guard's sword and helmet, earning Klar's permission to enter.
• Aurora greeted Toneri warmly as a fan of her adventure stories, and Teterot offered Aurora more stories from her collection.
• Aurora asked Klar to leave the room, and Klar agreed, leaving Aurora alone with Toneri and her companions.