They rushed through the bleak fields of the west where the voice of master of the dungeon came from. They did not bother calling for the other Chosen to accompany them when they would not even be able to help in whatever awaited.
With a clear destination in mind, they did not move slowly. They intended to end this as soon as they could.
The power they had received from Fafnir was something they could not yet quite explain. They could feel it pumping through their veins like a stimulant, giving so much more energy than they could expend.
Whatever they had consumed in the battle had mostly been replenished already during their travel westward.
They did not stop even as other monsters appeared in their path. Most of them were mindless pests that had no part to play in the actual script. They were mere decorations and props to embellish the play.
It took them about an hour to reach a place they could finally recognise. A curtain of fog that hung over the border of a forest. This was the same forest they passed through when they first entered the dungeon.
Caelum would have laughed if he could. To think they wasted so much time following the dragon veins when the city they were looking for was less than a day away with a full-speed flight.
They crossed the veil of fog and found not much has changed. The forest of brambles, briars and thorns still exuded a twisted beauty and coldness that seemed representative of this whole dungeon.
Looming over in the distance was the same giant tree whose trunk twisted like coiling snakes trying to strangle each other to death. But there was something different to it this time. Among its dark grey leaves were flowers in full bloom.
They were a strange sort with only three pointed black petals each glowing with a faint light like wisps in the night.
Caelum and Erta swiftly flew toward it and found the middle section of its trunk had been split open to reveal a strange scene. One might think they would be able to see through the gap, but instead, they saw an entirely different place.
The space between the trunk had become a portal leading to a different part of the forest. To be more precise, it led them right by the river they washed themselves in. But there was a new addition to the river.
Sitting in the middle was a lone island splitting the stream to the sides. It had not been there before, but something told them that it always had been.
[Arthur… I can't believe it. It really is you. How foolish of me to not recognize you just because your appearance had changed. No wonder you weren't given a role.]
The voice came from a beautiful woman in a black dress. She stood across them on the small island in the middle of the river. The woman looked about to cry as she gazed at Caelum, but the only response she received was utter coldness. Her identity had long been revealed to them.
"My name is Caelum Grace. I am not Arthur. Do not pretend to know me, Morgan le Fay."
[Please, no… Arthur, I'm sorry. Even if you change your vessel, even if you don't remember, your power is proof of who you are. You are and always will be Arthur Pendragon, The Once and Future King.]
Caelum only stared at her in disappointment. Her power had surely weakened after summoning Fafnir. However, he could sense that she still had enough to put up a decent fight. He did not expect her to be so desperate as to resort to such simple deception.
"She's not lying, Cal. Or at least, she believes her words to be true."
One of Erta's aspects is Judgment which allows her to judge the nature of all things. Her words contain great weight if only because of that. But Caelum still did not care.
It would not change what he must do nor would it change who he was. After all, he had no memories of his past, and his future is all but set in stone.
[Arthur, I've waited for so long… I lost you once, so I recreated Avalon. I thought you would be born here again… who would have thought that you would enter from without.]
"It doesn't matter what you think, Morgan le Fay. We are here to kill you."
[Very well, Arthur. I have wronged you too many times in the past. It is now time to accept my punishment. Perhaps in this death I might find penance.]
Caelum was wary of how she was so easily willing to die, but he still shot out his colourless wing. It pierced her chest cleanly, meeting no resistance whatsoever.
It was so easy that he wondered whether it was actually an illusion, but the energy and power that he was draining from her was real. Morgan le Fay spoke one last time.
[Seeing you again is more than enough of a reward for my years of wait. Now, I watch in your embrace. Leave this place and find your destiny. Be brave for there is much sorrow and hardships on your path. But you are never alone. Remember that, Arthur..., Endir. How I wish I could have witnessed eternity by your side.]
Her words faded with the coming of a final cold breeze. Even to the end, she never fought personally. Somehow, Caelum felt sorry for her. But he also hated how she hid behind the shadows she created to mimic real lives.
The last words of the dungeon's master, the woman named Morgan le Fay, struck him oddly. He felt something within them, a glimmer of knowledge that he was not quite prepared to know.
Caelum could feel her power residing in him now. It was warmer than he thought, but it also contained immense guilt and sorrow.
He realised that it was not just her power that he got, but something more mysterious and ethereal—her soul. Was this what she meant? He felt that the answer was close, but still far from his grasp.
Then the world shook. Having lost the being that sustained it, the dungeon was crumbling down. It would soon cast them out on its own.
Caelum took the opportunity to fly high into the sky and finally see the world that Morgan le Fay had created. It seemed so full of life, but it was twisted and bent as though observed through the lens of suffering alone.
In the end, it was but a prison of her own making. A prison just for her. It somehow reminded him of the Imaginary Space. Was it not his prison? Why was he allowed to leave in the first place? Sensing his chaotic state of mind, Erta flew beside him and held his hand.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Thank you… for being here with me."
"I'll be with you to the end."
The world crumbled beneath them. The sky melted into the darkness. The moon shone above among the glittering starlight. And below them was a river that raged in both freedom and sorrow.
A single small island sat in the middle as though it had always belonged there. Perhaps it was a remnant of the dungeon.
It was once a stage allowed only to the woman who had betrayed the everything she fought for. Caelum dropped down to it and found a single white lily growing from its soil.
"May you find the eternity you seek, Morgan le Fay. Because I will not find it for you."
Caelum did not understand why, but he felt such immense disgust and betrayal when thinking of her. He hated her with his entire being even when he had no reason to. They were strangers to each other, no matter what she may have thought.
After calming down, Caelum and Erta looked around. A large number of people had already gathered by the river.
They also found the Chosen who had been inside the dungeon with them. Their guilds quickly rushed to them so there was no longer any need to worry.
In the distance, they could see Reynor waving at them. They immediately flew to meet him.
"My lord, it's great that you're safe. I was terribly worried when the dragon appeared."
"What did you just say?"
"I was worried when dragon appeared."
"How the hell did you know that we fought a dragon?"
Reynor began explaining the things that happened ever since they entered the dungeon. As he spoke, Caelum could see a few helicopters flying in the skies above them, probably broadcasting everything live.
He scanned the area and realised that all the people that gathered were looking at him and talking among themselves. One of them spoke rather loudly, enough for a lot of people to hear.
"They called him King Arthur… And he even defeated Odin. Should we be calling him God-King then?"
"Then is the Angel of Light the God-Queen? The attack that killed the dragon was hers after all."
Soon, the gathering of Chosen became like a cult as they chanted the new titles repeatedly in celebration. Some even named their attack that killed the dragon as Rhongomyniad after King Arthur's lance in the legend.
By now, Caelum's fiery hair had returned to normal while leaving most of it dyed in white gold. His eyes were no longer blue, but golden like Erta's. Yet the image of him dominating his enemies and killing the dragon remained fresh in everyone's minds.
Caelum just sighed as he and Erta got into the car prepared by Halo. These people really like giving nonsensical names.
They hurried back home amidst the cheering crowd. They were not all that tired, but meeting Fafnir and Morgan le Fay had made the two very conscious of the darkness of each other's pasts.
They had been ignoring it for a while, but it seemed the dreary atmosphere of the dungeon affected them still.
The moment they got back home, Caelum and Erta quickly changed out of their suits and went straight to bed. Resting their weary minds was the first and most important thing they sought for.