Mors

"So it really was caused by this river. What a perverse fellow, Morgan. Couldn't we just treat this as a natural disaster and get rid of it?"

"Of course, while it will take a considerable amount of time to drive away the demons, turning this river into an underground one will only require a flick of the finger."

At the tip of the staff, azure magic surged and shone. Bai Mo stretched out his hand, transforming his palm into a blade, which blazed fiercely.

"Well... how about you two just walk by like this and pretend you didn't see anything?"

A tremendous force struck the Daichi, like a sharp axe falling, and the figure of the demon's lord vanished completely. The ground beneath the earth turned into deep ravines, with no river in sight, only the soft murmur of flowing water.

The two crossed the River of Tears. Morgan sighed deeply and said to Bai Mo beside him:

"I'm sorry. I was the one who introduced the River of Tears, but I couldn't resist intervening in the end. It was a small mistake, but it wasted time. I will reflect on this failure."

Seeing Morgan's expression, Bai Mo reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

"This isn't a mistake; in fact, if you just swaggered past like that, I would feel uneasy about you."

A battle seemed to be raging not far away. At that moment, my companion's body floated over from the Kawakami. Even if I were 99% sure, I wouldn't dare gamble on that slim chance. If it were me, I would definitely have intervened.

Besides, your relationship with Ba Wanshi isn't just a simple partnership, is it?

Upon hearing Bai Mo's words, Morgan remained silent for a moment. In her view, she should demonstrate the rationality and composure expected of a queen. In every aspect, possessing these qualities is what makes a qualified ally.

"Let's hurry up and leave, it seems like they're really fighting over there."

"Ah, yes, let's go first."

Morgan followed Bai Mo's footsteps, and soon the two realized that something was wrong. The people surrounding New Darlington were not the fully armed soldiers they had expected, nor were they powerful experts.

Instead, they were groups of pitch-black creatures, as if molded from clay. They twisted and turned, their eerie eyes fixed on the ground, occasionally gathering dark energy and shooting it toward New Darlington.

There were so many of them, and New Darlington wasn't exactly a heavily fortified city; its outer perimeter was already in ruins. Inside, only the sparse wails of fairies could be heard.

"Mors... there are so many... After those guys dethroned me, they won't abolish the ' Existence Tax,' will they?"

Because Morgan's Fairy Britain is frequently plagued by Calamity, and suppressing the beings beneath the throne requires immense power, Morgan levies a severe Existence Tax within the Fairy Britain.

Fairies are generally marked with a Command Spell and are required to pay a huge amount of magic power as tax every year. Due to the emergence of Magnetic Field Power, Morgan also levies a power tax on those with Magnetic Field Power, which is far more severe than on normal fairies.

Fairies rarely die, and if they do, they quickly revive. Therefore, most fairies' lives are essentially intertwined with taxation.

Interestingly, fairies are creatures that need a purpose. A fairy must maintain its purpose no matter what. If it loses its purpose, then the fairy will truly perish.

Fairies who have lost their purpose will turn into Mors— the black creatures before us. These creatures, in turn, will spread like a plague, turning any fairy they touch into Mors as well.

Therefore, the Existence Tax enacted by Morgan, to some extent, became the goal that the fairies strived for. In order to pay next year's taxes, they had to work hard all year round.

This is the norm for most fairies in the Fairy Britain.

"With such a large quantity, how many fairies have lost their purpose...?"

"There's a problem. The distribution of these Mors is a bit off. If it was an accidental outbreak, then there should be some Mors not only here, but even in the area where we just landed."

But in reality, apart from the land around New Darlington, there was no Mors anywhere else.

Bai Mo quickly identified the problem, and Morgan smiled approvingly.

"Sharp observation, Bai Mo. The distribution here is too dense; it's obvious someone deliberately gathered them here. This is where the advantage of traveling in pairs comes in—one can clear out the Mors, while the other can be wary of the hidden opponents."

"I'll go. If you go, the people behind it will probably just run away without looking back and spread your information all over Britain."

Leaving those words behind, Bai Mo vanished instantly. On the short, clearly hastily reinforced walls of New Darlington, many goblins were trembling in fear.

"How terrifying, I don't want to become like that... Where's the Fairy Knight Tristan? Where did she go?"

"That guy must have run off with that Magecraft, right? I should have surrendered to another clan. I don't want to die protecting that guy because of something like this... Ugh!"

A fairy who had lost her target was quickly swallowed by darkness under fear and pressure, transforming into Mors. The already crumbling defenses were now in even worse shape.

Just then, a dazzling golden light flashed by, and a golden flying sword swiftly cleaved Mors in two. The fairies looked up and saw a figure floating in the air, with flying swords circling around it, constantly slashing Mors.

The Sword of Victory is still a viable option against these relatively harmless individuals. The Myoken Divine Wheel's discernment is too high; there are beings in the Fairy Britain who have arrived from Pan-Human History, and according to Morgan, Beryl is likely acting together with Ba Wanshi. Bai Mo doesn't want to reveal this card.

Clusters of pitch-black flames shot towards Bai Mo, only to be easily severed by the Sword of Victory.

"Speed and power are acceptable, but that's about it."

Lacking intelligence, it only attacks blindly, relying entirely on sheer numbers to fight. If it weren't for its devastating damage-spreading effect on fairies and its ability to directly transform fairies that have lost their targets, this thing wouldn't have been able to wreak havoc for so long.

As Bai Mo was making his judgment, he noticed a tremor beneath his feet, as if something was about to emerge. At the same time, the Mors disappeared into the ground, and the enemies that had just covered the ground were instantly reduced to a wasteland.

"Oh my, it is an honor for us to have such a powerful figure grace us with his presence. Where do you come from, and why do you protect the land of that despicable fairy knight, and this New Darlington?"

The sound came, but Bai Mo had no intention of speaking properly. With a flick of his finger, the Sword of Victory immediately pierced in a certain direction. With a crack, as if glass were shattering, the scene instantly broke apart. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a pile of shattered glass on the ground.

"That fellow is Boggart, one of my queen knights, from the Mirror Clan, skilled in assassination. Her invisibility is based on mirror reflection."

Morgan's voice rang in Bai Mo's ears. His senses expanded, and through a broken mirror in front of him, everything around him was exposed to his perception. At the same time, he deduced all the mirror surfaces.

"Found you."

With a wave of his hand, the Splitting the Sky in two, accompanied by the sound of shattering mirrors. From a certain direction, with a clear sound, a bronze-colored knight was finally revealed, appearing in the sky.