"As long as you wish, I can take you and any fairy you care about away from this world destined for destruction at any time," Aoko said seriously. "My world welcomes all fairies with unique abilities and kind hearts, just like Totorot and you."
Toneriko's expression was complicated, weighing the pros and cons of every choice in her heart. She was already weary from a thousand years of wandering. If this coronation was doomed to fail, what meaning did her wish to save the world have? Maybe it would be better to leave with her friends, just as Aoko suggested—living together with Artoria wouldn't be so bad...
Toneriko looked at Totorot, who was now happily chatting with Mash, feeling a mix of emotions. Did she have the right to drag these companions along into an adventure that was almost certainly doomed to fail…?
She remembered her companions from the Round Table army, including Uther, whom she was quite fond of. She understood Uther's feelings for her, and there were times when she'd almost accepted his marriage proposal. But she was so tired—she couldn't stand the torment of losing more companions. Besides, Uther had less than ten years left to live. To a fairy, ten years was but the blink of an eye.
But she was unwilling—unwilling to accept that after thousands of years of effort, she was still unable to save Britain. She and the Round Table allies had defeated all their apparent enemies. What new trials would fate present, and how would it ultimately cause her salvation journey to fail?
"No matter what…" Toneriko answered firmly, "...I still want to try one last time. Since I now know something unexpected will happen, I will prepare in advance to prevent any dangers at the coronation!"
"Alright, I understand," Aoko said with a helpless gesture. For someone so determined, even telling her the truth about Uther's impending poisoning likely wouldn't change her mind. Neither the fact that the Lostbelt would inevitably be destroyed, nor her convictions, would allow her to give up on the coronation.
"But I can promise you this: if the coronation fails, you can come find me at any time. I guarantee that even if this Lostbelt is destroyed, your companions won't disappear. That's a magician's promise."
"Thank you, Aoko!" Toneriko said gratefully. Aoko's promise gave her a way out, a possible retreat even if she failed, lessening her guilt toward the kind fairies helping her.
"Oh, right," Aoko thought for a moment. "Have you ever met a fairy named Baobhan Sith?"
"Hmm, I do know her," Toneriko answered after some thought. "Is there something you need from her, Aoko?"
"I just want to give her a chance to escape this world," Aoko shrugged. "A fairy like her shouldn't have to live in Fairy Britain."
"...You're right," Toneriko replied. "She's a kind fairy but very weak. Because she's a bloodsucker-type, other fairies exclude and abuse her. Last time I helped her, she was living near Tintagel..."
"Tintagel, huh? Got it," Aoko nodded. "So what are you planning to do next? There's still some time before the coronation."
"Um... I plan to check out the Great Hollow up north," Toneriko said after thinking. "There have been some bad rumors from there lately, so I want to see what's going on."
Grimr glanced at her meaningfully but said nothing.
Aoko decided to share what she knew about the Great Hollow since everyone would soon learn the truth anyway.
"What?!"
After hearing Aoko's account of Horned God Cernunnos and the Hollow, she was deeply shocked.
"Now that you know Cernunnos's corpse is in the Hollow, do you still want to go there?" Aoko asked.
After thousands of years of hardship, Toneriko wasn't surprised that the six major fairy clans had poisoned the Horned God Cernunnos, who tried to save them. What mattered more than discovering yet another original sin of the fairies was the present hatred and resentment accumulating in Cernunnos—a god's curse was far more terrifying than the Mosses.
"...Is Fairy Britain's destruction caused by Cernunnos's curse?" Toneriko asked softly.
"No," Aoko shook her head. "Fairy Britain's destruction is inevitable—otherwise, it wouldn't be a Lostbelt. But Cernunnos's scale is enormous, which is also why Grimr is here, right?"
Everyone turned to the blue-haired Grimr. As Odin's avatar, he had no choice but to speak up.
"Alright, fine, I'll talk," Grimr said helplessly. "First, let me state: I'm just a vessel for the old man, still a fairy at heart. I can't directly defeat Cernunnos's corpse and curse."
"But..." Grimr considered his words. "Just as the red-haired Magician said, Cernunnos is indeed the greatest disaster among all the calamities of Fairy Britain—the Curse Calamity. But he's not the source of all curses, just the most dangerous one."
"What do you mean...?" Toneriko asked, frowning.
"The pink-haired girl over there should know—your side's Proper Human History is about to collapse, isn't it?" Grimr nodded toward Mash.
"...That's right!" Mash said seriously. "Our New Chaldea, located on the Wandering Sea, has detected that if we don't resolve the Sixth Lostbelt—Fairy Britain—the whole planet will be destroyed!"
"That's the situation," Grimr spread his hands. "It's cruel, but if it were only Fairy Britain being destroyed, Odin wouldn't have sent me down."
"Exactly 2,400 years from now, the curse of Cernunnos's corpse will reach its peak, and with its immense mass, it will trigger a pit capable of devouring the planet," Grimr said seriously. "By then, both Proper Human History and Fairy Britain will be consumed and destroyed."
Aoko said nothing, knowing that Cernunnos couldn't directly create a pit or Abyssal Hole, but it was a crucial condition for the true form of the Abyss Worm to appear.
"This is just too much..." Toneriko's expression twisted. Fairy Britain had already suffered so much, and now there was a world-ending threat...
"But you don't need to panic," Grimr shrugged. "The old man sent me to help you fulfill your mission and to prepare for dealing with Cernunnos ahead of time. For you, that's still 2,400 years away—a long time from now."
"I can help you deal with Cernunnos," Aoko said after some thought, "but my method has to wait until Fairy Britain enters the Queen's Calendar. Otherwise, getting rid of Cernunnos now would cause massive upheaval, putting Chaldea's people in danger."
"...Thank you, Aoko," Toneriko breathed a sigh of relief. "But I still want to go see what's happening over there first."