68 An Unexpected Meeting.

A clear sky was above the ground, this sky was soft and clear as some white clouds were here and there. Greenfields were extending to the distance as they were following the clear sky.

A light breeze blew in the green field, moving several flowers and arriving at a certain place. At this moment, a girl sleeping on a bed of flowers opened her eyes slowly.

"Ugh… What happened?!" Ritsuka woke up as she tried to member what happened to her, but then she saw the scenery in front of her.

A magnificent field filled with flowers of every imaginable color. The sun was shining down on those flowers as they were reflecting their colors like crystals.

The place is filled with the spring sunlight and the scent of summer as Ritsuka felt relaxed in such a place before she looked at her side to see forests and lakes extending towards the distance. Each one of them was filled with different kinds of creatures that she never saw in her life.

This place can't exist in the human world or any time in the current era. A paradise as you may call it.

Everything about this place was breathtaking as Ritsuka wasn't able to stop looking at it before shaking her head and clearing her thoughts.

"Where is this place? I was just with Caster…" Ritsuka said as she noticed a tower at the distance.

The giant tower in the distance was floating above a sea of flowers as petals were flying around it and the light broke with contact.

" It's a beautiful view, right?" Suddenly, Ritsuka heard a voice behind her as she turned around and saw a man with a long staff.

He wore a robe woven with the finest fabrics, a hood on his head, and his long white hair appearing with the colors of the rainbow under sunlight.

Ritsuka looked at the man before she clenched her command seals as she was going to use them immediately, however, the man saw this and he did nothing except smiling and saying " Now, now, there's no reason to get aggressive, right?"

"*Sigh* All the people are on their nerves these days" the man sighed when he saw Ritsuka didn't listen to his words before he said " You don't have to fear me or use those command seals because this place is just a dream"

"Dream?" Ritsuka frowned at the man's words before she looked around, but she couldn't spot any difference.

"Excuse my rudeness, it seems I forgot to introduce myself" the man looked at Ritsuka's actions before several flowers appeared around him and said " I'm just a Magus of Flowers, you can call me Merlin"

" Merlin…?" Ritsuka widened her eyes as the man in front of her as she couldn't believe what she just heard.

Anyone who has heard of the Arthurian Legends will surely know about Merlin. He was the court magus, he would at times guide, at times torment, and at times help King Arthur as a king. He's also inhuman because he was born of mixed blood from the union of an incubus and a human.

"Yes, and even if this is a dream, but… Welcome to The Forever-Sealed Utopia, Avalon!" Merlin waved with his staff as flower petals were flying everywhere.

Avalon is the paradise in the Arthurian legends, existing in the Reverse Side of the World at the same coordinates as Britain.

It is a Utopia that may not be granted to beasts that possess wisdom, one that may never be reached. It is a world cut off from the constant decay and destruction of the surface of the planet.

This information gave Ritsuka another surprise before Merlin cleared his throat and said " It's not a good habit to be lost in thoughts Ritsuka Fujimaru"

"How… No, you should be able to know if you're able to bring me here " Ritsuka lowered her hand before she looked at Merlin smiling slightly.

"It seems that this journey changed you a lot" Merlin's smile didn't vanish as he saw through Ritsuka instantly.

"You… Know…" Ritsuka widened her eyes before she wanted to reach out to Merlin but her hand passed through him.

"This is just a dream, Ritsuka Fujimaru, however, can we talk about more important things?" Merlin looked at Ritsuka as he felt that this dream won't last for long.

"No, you must know what happened to them an-" Ritsuka almost screamed, but Merlin put his finger on Ritsuka's mouth.

"I know you have a lot of questions, but I don't really have the time to answer them all because the situation isn't even about humanity now" Merlin looked at the silent Ritsuka before he said " This involves the fate of a world now"

"You have to keep yourself alive at all costs, Ritsuka Fujimura" For the first time, Merlin's expression became serious as he looked at the world condition with his Clairvoyance.

" Fate of the world, but what does that have to do with my life!" Ritsuka looked at Merlin's eyes before she screamed " If it wasn't for me they… they…"

"I know and I won't say it wasn't your fault either, but for them… You've to stay alive" Merlin sighed before he removed a flower petal from Ritsuka's head and said " And you aren't alone in this fight"

"You've the support of the world itself, even if that support was… Special'' Merlin's expression became strange before he said " Very special and unexpected"

{Who in his right mind sends a goddamn beast to help the world?! Who was the genius that thought of this suicidal plan?!} Merlin looked at Ritsuka's new command seals as his smile was twitching.

He knew there were a lot of madmen in the world, but he never thought that the big guys also share the madness.

"Hm? You mean Caster?" Ritsuka saw Merlin looking at her command seals before she also looked at them.

To be honest, she doesn't know anything about this Caster that was summoned. She knows that she didn't summon him, but apparently like Merlin said… He was summoned by the world and this also explains why he said that he's doing a job.

"Caster? Jeez, did he just take that class casually?" Merlin waved with his hand before he said " Well, at least he didn't manifest with his original one"

These made Ritsuka frown even more before Merlin waved with his staff and said " You better not rely on 'Caster' a lot because for humans… He's just an Evil and a threat"

Ritsuka frowned at Merlin's words as she didn't want to believe in something she just heard suddenly without understanding with her own eyes, this was something she learned in this period.

"Now, now, you don't have to think about it a lot. Evil isn't a clear concept, you know? After all, I'm also evil for humanity and a threat" Merlin smiled again as he put his finger on his lips before he said " But it's very complicated, so let's not think about it for now"

"..." Ritsuka stared at Merlin with an expressionless face as she felt this guy isn't serious at all.

"Our time is almost over, but here this advice… The Holy Grail is the center of the trouble" Merlin saw Ritsuka getting transparent before he gave the last advice, but then, he saw Ritsuka staring at the sky for some reason.

The area temperature increased suddenly as Merlin felt the brightness around also increased and Ritsuka was sweating.

Raising his head towards the sky, Merlin saw a star appear in the sky before he thought {A star in this time and place? Hold on… WHY IT'S COMING HERE?!}

The temperature increased as the star was rushing towards Ritsuka and Merlin with an imaginable speed before it revealed its true form.

"ORA!!!" Leo with his foot covered with a flaming star hit Merlin to the face.

"Cas… ter?..." Ritsuka saw Merlin's face deform in front of her before light swept everything.

*BOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A Nuke has hit Avalon on that day while Ritsuka vanished before scattering into petals.

Meanwhile, in Leo's mansion somewhere a at mount Enzo.

"KYAAAA!!" Ritsuka woke up suddenly inside one of the rooms as she was screaming.

"What the hell just… Happened?!" Ritsuka put her hand on her chest as she didn't understand what the hell just happened.

Back to Avalon, Leo landed on the ground as he looked at Merlin that was sent flying across the distance before he turned into petals.

"What's wrong with you?!" Merlin said as he appeared in a place far away from Leo.

"Do you only know how to run?" Leo frowned as Merlin appeared in another place in front of him.

"I'm just a poor and small Flower's Magus, why do you want me to eat a kick with the heat of a star?!" Merlin said as he pointed at the huge crater that is getting fixed by Avalon's magic.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it was you who suddenly took an unstable pillar into another world, even if it is a dream" Leo said as he pointed at Avalon around.

"In defense for myself, her condition is the best to enter such a place" Merlin said with a righteous face before he saw Leo cracking his knuckles.

"Now, now, we don't have to get that angry with each other, Beast of Babylon" Merlin took a few steps back as he saw Leo didn't charge with another attack.

" I just realized that my titles increased" Leo looked at Merlin keeping a distance as he wondered how many titles he had in this world.

"But I have to say that this is a surprise, for the Beast of Babylon to appear in this form, this makes me wonder what Arthur(Proto-Arthur) was hunting all those years" Merlin put his hand on his chin while Leo's eyebrow was twitching as he remembered something.

{I should take care of that problem after I get out of here} Leo remembered a certain signal he was getting in this morning as he wasn't happy about it.

"However for the Beast that represents the sins of humanity to help here… I don't know if I should feel good or bad" Merlin held his head like he has a headache now, but Leo knew that this guy was just acting.

"Hah?! Helping what? Humanity? Don't make me laugh" Leo raised his eyebrow before he said " Why should I help something that walks to the end with their own feet? Don't you agree? The magus who was watching the world from the farthest tower until the end"

Merlin always observed the world from Avalon as he looked at humanity from the tower in Avalon, a prison he made for himself. He isn't an ally for humanity, but his curiosity made him love the human world so he's here, just helping because he can.

"I can't say for others, but it was indeed a great experience" Merlin smiled brightly as there was nothing that could make this magus take things seriously.

"And it seems you, the Beast of Babylon, know even more than me… After all, you were watching from the beginning" Merlin said as he was observing Leo's expression, but he didn't get any reaction.

"Oh? Do I know better than you? I honestly don't think that has a lot of meaning now…" Leo turned around as he wanted to leave this dream connected to Avalon before he said " You can keep watching until the end, I don't care…"

" What a shame, I can't watch beyond the farthest end like someone" Merlin looked around as he didn't want to meet Leo's eyes that were giving him death stares.

"I really hate you… Can I punch you in dreams?" Leo raised his fist as Merlin raised his hands, announcing his surrender.

"But honestly, I'm really curious. For a Beast, why don't you just use this opportunity to finish everything?" Merlin's curiosity is something that'll make him jump into a beast fight just to satisfy it, so here he's telling a Beast to destroy humanity.

"I'm forced to work here, okay? And humanity is the last of my worries" Leo said as Merlin was totally confused. However, Leo looked at a tower in Avalon, a tower glowing in the end before he sighed.

"They are an ignorant bunch that walk in a progress filled with sins and mistakes" Leo had a disgusted expression on his face before he said " Then when things go wrong and bite them, they rise some flags of justice or whatsoever"

"After witnessing the end they'll just regret the beginning even if they're who started it" Leo turned away as he walked before he said " However, there's some beauty in it because this is humanity"

"A thing that almost reaches the point of no redemption, but they have those moments that make them shine, honestly, those moments make me question the end myself, even if it was just an empty future" A grin was on Leo's face before he said " A lotus grows in mud… I think this is the most fitting for them"

"I see…" Merlin stared at Leo's back for a moment before he said " I apologize for my previous rudeness your…"

However, Leo stopped him as he said " Save it, it doesn't matter, and I'm not like that... Just don't mess with that girl again"

"Really? For me, a crown value is only determined by the one wearing it" Merlin looked at Leo's becoming transparent as he looked at some stars in the sky.

"I said save it for yourself" Leo waved his hand before he said " For me, this is just… An 'If' scenario, you may say"

With those words, Leo vanished from Avalon as Merlin sighed before he scattered into petals and appeared inside his tower or rather say prison.

"A questionable end, huh? This is really interesting" Merlin said as he was looking at the world with his Clairvoyance.

"Was it the new change that made the Beast of Babylon like this or something else? Even his crown has more meaning than a disgusting mess" Merlin tapped the ground his staff before he said " This might be even more interesting than the time with Artoria"

The Magus of Flowers had a new plan to 'help' this world as he rushed to prepare in his tower.

Meanwhile, in the real world, Leo was sitting on a table drinking coffee that was made by his beast before he opened his eyes.

"It seems that almost everyone was summoned" Leo looked out of the window to see the snow falling without any warning before he said " Maybe this will make them go out from their hiding spots"

"Just how far this 'If' will go, I wonder" Leo said as he took a sip from his coffee.

Most of the servants are summoned at this moment, as the vitality and the mana in the air are getting weaker and weaker.