59 A Spear Boy Meets A Fae Queen

(Cao Cao POV)

When I returned to the villa, I changed my clothes to something more acceptable for a royal gathering: flowing robes and the whole shebang. 

As I exited my room, I saw Scathach and Valerie dressed similarly in terms of style. Scathach wore a dark purple dress with a starlight vibe in the lower part and shoulderless sleeves across her lower arm.

Valerie had put on a dress that showed a royal vampire aesthetic with a black and red theme, gold highlights, and what looked like small golden shoulder guards with some jewelry adorning her neck and wrists.

I was definitely impressed. As I walked over to them, they saw me and nodded in my direction, with Scathach taking my arm and saying, "You clean up well, disciple. But I must ask where you found these dresses."

Chuckling to myself, I said to her, "I created them myself in case something like this ever happened, and we need to be dressed more fancy for such occasions." Scathach nodded with a small semblance of pride while Valerie grabbed my other hand.

"Hey, Cao Cao, do you think we will see leprechauns here?" As Valerie asked this question, Scathach somewhat stopped, and I wondered what could have happened to her that would cause such a reaction.

"I'm sorry, little princess, but I do not believe we will," Scathach said with a forced smile.

"But why? Because Leprechauns are considered nature spirits in some mythology, so they should be here."

"You will not find leprechauns here, little princess."

"But why-"

"You will not find any leprechauns, little princess, so please stop asking, " my master says with an intense look in her eyes.

"Master, have you had issues with leprechauns in the past?" The lack of an answer says much more than I could think, so I remained silent as Valerie seemed saddened by the lack of leprechauns.

I patted the girl's head, and she smiled as if nothing had happened. This is a high-level massage skill for the win boys.

As we walked out of the villa, we saw Queen Titania waiting by the carriage. As she saw us, her smile somewhat dimmed but returned to normal almost immediately as I allowed the other two to enter the carriage. I then offered my hand to the Queen, which she took and entered before I took my seat between Valerie and Scathach.

The Queen would then knock on the carriage, and we would head out. According to our previous conversation, the journey should only take around 30 minutes, so silence ensued as I closed my eyes and meditated on this place.

Fairy magic is interesting as it's somewhat close to the energy of Great Red in a way since he's able to manipulate dreams to become reality. Fairies can do something similar by creating illusions that are so real you would think that they could be reality itself. My Archmage essence very much expedites the process as I analyze and absorb the energy around me.

Soon enough, I reopened my eyes and saw that the Queen's gaze had remained firmly on me as the other two remained silent as Scathach watched the Queen's every move. Valerie continued to look out the window as the passing sights enamor her and her attention. 

It brings me a sense of contentment to see her happy as she deserves such a life after everything that happened and would have happened had I not intervened.

So we sit in silence as the carriage approaches the gate. As I look out the window, I see a shining city of white, blue, and gold, which very much impresses me due to the detailed architecture. The city's pure size and scale puts nearly every capital in the modern day to shame.

"It truly is a wonderful sight, is it not?" Titania would say as I nodded in response.

"It is definitely impressive. How many citizens lie within its walls?" Scathach would ask, and Titania would seem almost sad in her response.

"None other than the ruler. It is not a place to be lived in lightly. This is all I may say." Titania's gaze then shifts to the castle, and an almost forlorn look spreads across her visage.

The silence would return as the gates would open for us, and the other carriages would come into view, The rulers of the North, South, East, and West all in one place. Said carriages would roll through the city's main roads and towards the castle, which towered over the rest of the city, its white marble towers seeming to scrape the sky.

Soon enough, the carriages would come to a stop in the ring outside the castle, and I got out first and offered my hand to all of them, and they would take it and walk out of the carriage with the Queen coming last this time and not trying to take Scathach's place.

The door to the castle would then open, and a large knight would appear from it and say, "Welcome to all the lords and ladies on this auspicious day. Now offer yourselves to be searched." A magic circle appeared below us as she said this, which then rose and covered all of us, and since our weapons were in pocket dimensions, the circle never went off and soon disappeared.

The large knight then looked to Queen Titania and ask, "Lady Titania, you have brought outsiders to the gathering. Explain immediately."

The woman would then bow and say, "Lady Barghest, these three bring a gift to the ruler and seek an audience with her. I vouch for them."

The large knight who had been revealed to be Barghest would then look to us and nod, saying, "Alright, if you vouch for them, the ruler shall see to them post haste. But for now, do know that your life now lies in their hands. Outsiders, your names?"

"Cao Cao."

"Scathach."

"Valerie Tepes."

All of us would give our names, with my master's receiving a decent amount of commotion, but for the knight, I could feel her desire for battle grows by the second, but she would instead say, "Definitely some guests worth talking about for now. I welcome you. Now, to all the others. You three may head in ."

Looking to the other lords, I caught who I assumed to be Oberon looking at me with an unreadable expression on his face, which would then fade to a fake smile as Barghest addressed him.

Heading into the castle and past multiple statues that could come alive based on my senses, with the walk being relatively short, but during the walk, I would ask my master, "You sensed what I could as well, did you not?"

"Yes, I could sense the bloodlust from that knight. It has been a while since I sensed the pure amount of held-back rage and desire for battle. But I could also sense runic inscriptions and spells on her mind, which I assume kept her calm and collected. It has also been a long time since I've seen such a large woman. She reminds me of some of the giants I used to fight during my time."

I could agree with Valerie muttering if she could get her to pick her up on her shoulders as I sighed to myself. Still, I remained vigilant as, for now, the castle seemed normal, and as we entered the main hall, the first thing that grabbed my attention was the large open room with a large hole in the back that led out to an endless sky.

The throne would seem to look like a cracked rock as the ruler stared us down.

Queen Titania would kneel before the throne as I and the other gave her a courteous bow to Queen Morgan Le Fay.

(Third Person POV)

"I have been watching you all since you have arrived. Your purpose is unknown to me, outsiders." An almost apathetic voice could be heard as Queen Morgan would say as she stared at the new visitors of her realm.

"I could say that we were here for a reason, but that would be a lie as we were just having a nice vacation before we were pulled here. By you, I assume your majesty?" Cao Cao's question is met with a nod as the Queen rises from her throne and looks at the god slayers with utter curiosity.

"If I were younger, I would have had your head for asking such a question in my presence, yet all I can feel is curiosity. What makes you so special to attract nature and the realm itself to you? So many questions I desire answers for." She would lift her scepter and spread a field around the throne for privacy.

Cao Cao would then take out a briefcase and lay out its contents. Upon seeing all of the pieces of Excalibur, the Queen would narrow her eyes at them as if seeing the lowest of scum and would say, "You would return them to me? I assume the church has not allowed this?"

"The church's opinion means nothing and less than nothing these days. I am simply returning your property to you. Maybe I am curious to see if you would reforge it, but I just couldn't bear these swords being compared to Excalibur. It sickens me." Cao Cao's response would make the queen nod in approval as she gathered the swords and placed them around her throne.

After doing so, she would step closer to Cao Cao, stare at the blindfold, and narrow her eyes as she couldn't see through it. Cao Cao's smile never left his face seeing the Queen's efforts, but he would then say, "I apologize, but my eyes are off limits."

A small smirk would form on the Queen's face as she sat back on her throne. "I hope you enjoy the party, but I would like to ask if you could meet me after it concludes. We have much to discuss, Slayer Of Gods." Morgan would then gesture to Titania, and she would bow once more. We would walk to one of the tables nearby.

"I am surprised you are so polite, Cao Cao." Titania would say offhandly as the man would simply sit down with a small chuckle.

"I've lived my life believing that you should treat others how they treat you. I have been met with nothing but respect, so I shall return the respect. It's rather simple. I know I could do pretty much anything other than annoy the Dragon Gods at this point, but for now, I have the benefit of time on my hands, so I can afford to take things a bit slower. I do not need to make enemies until I am ready." The response is met with a surprised silence.

"That is certainly a rather interesting perspective. If you have such power, why not make it known to the world?" Looking at the ceiling, Cao Cao would answer"

"Why would I do that? If I did, I would have to deal with endless challengers trying to annoy me. I have nothing to prove to the world. I am mostly reactionary rather than proactive, other than for certain cases." As he says this, he looks at Valerie as she eats the food on the table.

"That is smart disciple, but make sure not to seem too easy to walk over, or else you will deal with a lack of respect rather than a lack of presence. However, I agree with the challengers, as they are a dime a dozen for me now. For now, though, I just asked Titania if you saw Oberon staring at you."

Titania would scoff and say, "I did. He has always desired me back, but after the stunt with the flower all those years ago, he deserves nothing from me. "Yet, as she says this, a man with silver hair was currently watching the group from the entrance with an unreadable expression.