Imaginary Number — Tiamat Makes Her First Appearance! (3.1K words)

In a corner of the royal palace.

At this moment, under the moonlight, two figures were continuously releasing magical energy.

The surging mana rose like a tidal wave, rushing fiercely toward one another.

Dense black clouds seemed to shatter under this overwhelming magic, as two streams of different-colored mana clashed like falling stars, bursting like fireworks in midair.

Magic from the Root flowed through Manaka Saijyou's fingers, radiating an intense and scorching heat.

Though her figure was so small and delicate, Merlin felt more and more alarmed the longer he looked.

Though this was only a projection, it must be said, this was still Britain, and with the local power boost, his illusions should not have been so easily broken by Manaka Saijyou.

After another clash, both sides were forced apart again.

But the instant Manaka Saijyou landed, a powerful spell was already forming in her hands, a domain rapidly expanded, enveloping both her and Merlin.

This was a special magic that only those linked to the Root and who had comprehended it could use.

Manaka Saijyou was directly guiding the power of the Root on a large scale to form a domain entirely under her control.

Boom!

Within the domain, pillars of golden light rained down.

The burning mana seemed to consume the very air, creating a near-vacuum where it was difficult to breathe.

"So I said from the start, this damn Root Princess is seriously a troublesome one… Why can't Alvin provoke some normal people for once?!"

Merlin tsk'd and clicked his tongue, raising his staff and chanting loudly:

"Artoria, dinner time——!"

In an instant, a soft and gentle protective shield spread outward from Merlin, forcefully pushing open a gap within Manaka Saijyou's domain.

The next moment, Merlin's figure transformed into a swirl of pink petals and quietly vanished, slipping out of his domain.

Merlin had just sighed in relief when suddenly, from a distance, a beam of mana cannon fired precisely toward where he landed!

Merlin's heart skipped a beat. Reacting swiftly, he drew a sword from his staff.

Whoosh!

A flash of sword light.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, Merlin forcibly cleaved the mana cannon apart as he looked up, eyes solemn, staring at Manaka Saijyou, "So it seems that with each illusion I use, your ability to analyze them improves."

Just now in their exchanges, this white-haired mage of Britain had used several similar escape techniques, and each time, he had gotten away smoothly.

Yet this time, Manaka Saijyou had accurately predicted where he would land.

Clearly, during the fight, she had been constantly analyzing Merlin's illusions.

"You still have time to escape into Avalon, you know?" The girl smiled sweetly, "With only the mana of this projection, you won't be able to last much longer."

As she spoke, a faint sense of anticipation rose in her heart.

If Merlin attempted to activate Avalon now, she could give him a surprise.

By analyzing Merlin's magic and then modifying its structur, altering the architecture of the spell, she could rewrite what was supposed to be Avalon…

If Merlin used that spell now, it wouldn't be Avalon that opened, but a world called Imaginary.

She wondered, if he were to somehow end up in the Imaginary World, how would this Nightmare react?

"Merlin——" At this moment, an anxious voice called from afar.

Merlin instinctively turned to see Mordred hurrying over, grabbing Merlin's wrist.

"Come with me — Father… I mean, Alvin is in trouble!"

She had originally meant to call him "Father," but seemed embarrassed to say it in front of others, and quickly corrected herself.

Your father's in trouble and you're calling me?

Merlin was momentarily dumbfounded.

And Manaka Saijyou was still here, hadn't Mordred noticed that?

Merlin glanced at Manaka Saijyou

Only then did this rebellious knight seem to realize something, and looked at the girl with a frown, "Who's this one?"

Manaka Saijyou smiled softly and introduced herself:

"Manaka Saijyou — you can just call me Manaka."

"If I'm not mistaken, you should be his child, right?"

This young girl before her carried the aura of the White Dragon, so it was clear she must have some connection to Alvin.

"This one is tricky. I can't get away right now," Merlin said in a low voice.

Not that he truly couldn't escape, rather, compared to going to the banquet, he would rather stay here and hold off Manaka Saijyou.

Only now did Mordred sense that this girl before her had an extremely unusual presence…

After all, being able to face off against Merlin, even if it was just a projection, clearly showed that her strength was not to be underestimated.

She had thought she'd need to stay behind to deal with this girl first, but then Manaka Saijyou smiled cheerfully and said, "You can take Merlin with you. I won't stop you."

Hearing his words, Merlin suddenly looked up, staring at Manaka Saijyou in astonishment, his violet pupils revealing an unconcealable confusion.

Just now, he had been talking with Manaka Saijyou for so long, trying to keep things peaceful, but the other party hadn't responded at all.

And now, the moment she heard that Alvin was in trouble, she simply let them go…?

No matter how much he wanted to slack off, at this point Merlin had no choice but to be dragged along by Mordred, heading straight for the banquet.

Manaka Saijyou watched the two leave, and soon a charming smile appeared on her face.

It looked like… a good show was about to begin.

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Alvin felt completely numb.

Though it was nice that the personal interface could give him a warning, why did it feel like the pressure on him had only increased once that red exclamation mark prompt appeared?

It felt like a ranked match where your lane was already collapsing, the enemy mid-jungle-support was diving top, and your teammates were still pinging madly...in short pure helplessness.

Even on the first day after coming into this world, Alvin had mentally prepared himself for a moment like this.

It's just that, he didn't expect it would come so soon.

He had clearly warned Artoria before not to trust Merlin, and yet here he was, completely unprepared himself…

In this delicate situation, if it were back in Alvin's original world, at worst he would just throw caution to the wind, grab both sisters' hands and say: I want them both!

What could happen..??

At most he'd get cursed out, maybe slapped, and the matter would pass.

But this was Britain, and these were no ordinary women… Whether it was Artoria or Morgan le Fay, both had their own pride and dignity.

Now, no matter who he chose, the other would definitely hold it against him.

'I need to be careful…' Alvin said tactfully.

"Sorry, but I know nothing about the noble dances that are popular here, and on such an important occasion, dancing might not be very appropriate…"

Since choosing either side was bad, he'd choose neither.

It might not gain him favor, but at least it wouldn't be a landmine… Alvin thought this should settle the matter, but he clearly underestimated the determination of the two sisters, or perhaps they had both already gotten too heated.

Hearing Alvin's words, Morgan smiled radiantly,

"If you don't know how, I can teach you. With your talent, I think you'd pick it up very quickly."

"Besides, even if you can't dance, I can guide you."

Upon hearing this, Artoria let out a cold laugh on the spot, "Big sister, you know dance steps? I thought the only thing you were good at guiding was certain… intimate matters."

Even a fool could hear the implication in Artoria's words, and of course, Morgan heard it too.

She smiled slightly, her tone turning cold, "It seems you don't understand me very well. Rather than say I'm good at guiding, it would be more accurate to say that he and I are perfectly in tune — so when it comes to intimacy, everything simply happens naturally."

Translated, this essentially meant: Your man is very eager, he's addicted to my body, and naturally we've done everything that should and shouldn't be done.

Even Artoria, upon hearing this, couldn't help but have the corner of her mouth twitch slightly.

Her beautiful, refined face gradually took on a dangerous expression.

And then, at a certain moment, some kind of magic in the air seemed to be gradually growing active…

Not good, they're really about to fight… Alvin sensed trouble coming.

The conflict between these sisters was so deep partly because of the mess that King Uther and Merlin had created back then.

On the other hand, after turning dark, Morgan le Fay had always liked stirring trouble.

And after Alvin's death, Artoria had been transformed, becoming a ruler who reigned supreme over Britain.

Because of this strong personality, when facing her sister, she would never back down.

In fact, Artoria's current strength and personality had both been cultivated by Alvin himself.

On the personal interface, the red exclamation mark in the prompt box began flashing wildly.

Many of the guests in the hall had now noticed the commotion over here, and were intentionally or unintentionally glancing this way.

Alvin moved his fingers, and after struggling internally for quite a while, finally let out a soft sigh.

Things have come to this… I can only take a gamble…

Just as Alvin had finally made up his mind, preparing to take the hand of one of the sisters, in this killing intent-laden atmosphere, with dark currents surging beneath the surface, a frivolous voice slowly rang out through the golden hall.

"Things are quite lively tonight, aren't they." As this voice fell, everyone present instinctively turned to look in the direction of the sound.

A man wearing a white mage's robe was sitting in the corner of the hall, holding a staff in his hand, smiling as he looked toward Alvin's direction.

His aura was completely restrained, his violet eyes extraordinarily deep and serene, as if there was a clear light within them, radiating a sense of mystery.

Though many present had never seen him before, the moment they laid eyes on this white-haired mage, a name instantly surfaced in everyone's heart.

The court mage of Britain, King Arthur's teacher…

— Merlin!

Even he had come to join the festivities at tonight's banquet?

The transmigrator guests were shocked, and soon excitement welled up in their hearts.

The three most famous figures of Arthurian Legend were actually appearing at the same banquet today, if they shared this story after returning next time, it would surely cause a sensation throughout the entire world of mages!

But… what exactly was he here to do?

Very quickly, this question rose in the hearts of the guests.

On the other side, the moment Morgan saw the white-haired mage, her beautiful eyes narrowed, "Merlin, I thought you'd keep hiding in your Avalon forever."

Merlin sighed softly at her words and said, "I would love to, but if I leave you two unchecked, Britain might very well stray from the historical path I foresaw."

"In fact, thinking about it carefully, the timeline already began to shift slightly the moment he appeared, I should have stepped in to stop it back then."

Merlin's gaze swept past the two sisters, landing softly on Alvin, and he said in a low voice:

"If I had done so, it wouldn't have turned into the situation we see now."

The nightmare named Merlin was a great liar and most of his words could not be trusted, this was beyond doubt.

But these words....Merlin truly meant them.

Alvin's existence had never been within the scope of Merlin's clairvoyance.

And that meant Alvin was a tremendous variable.

If back then, he had been able to prevent Alvin from meeting the Britain sisters, perhaps everything would still be on the proper historical track.

"But even now, it's not too late… If Alvin were to disappear, perhaps everything could still return to the correct path," Merlin said with a smile.

The dispute and issues between the two sisters today, aside from the matter of the throne back then, had another factor:

Alvin.

In other words, as long as he disappeared, there would naturally be no more reason for them to fight.

The staff in Merlin's hand quietly began to glow.

It seemed that a faint tremor rippled through the void.

Morgan seemed to sense something and instinctively said, "Avalon?!"

Artoria also reacted immediately, exclaiming,

"Quick — get out of here!"

But Alvin stood frozen in place, unable to move.

Though Merlin was unreliable in many situations, just now in that moment, he either had to choose one sister or… explode on the spot. In every sense of the word.

Given that choice, it was better to enter the world of Avalon first, and then figure out how to "take them down one at a time."

The world known as Avalon quietly unfolded.

A portal appeared in the center of the golden hall, and a powerful force began pulling Alvin inside.

Artoria, quick as lightning, was about to reach out to grab Alvin, but at that moment, Merlin raised his staff and gave a wave.

Artoria's reaching hand was momentarily halted and Morgan's step forward was similarly hindered by an illusion.

And in that split second, Alvin's figure was swiftly drawn into the portal.

Morgan sharply raised her gaze, staring at Merlin with killing intent.

"Don't look at me like that. If I had a choice, I wouldn't want to do this either," Merlin sighed helplessly, spreading his hands.

Originally in Merlin's plan, Alvin was supposed to handle the mess here himself.

But clearly, he had underestimated the depth of the hatred between Artoria and Morgan.

So, when Mordred came seeking his help, Merlin thought of a method.

Similar to the way Alvin had once killed the nine great nobles.

— Temporarily shift all of the sisters' hatred onto himself.

As for the method? The answer was obvious.

— Send Alvin into the isolated world of Avalon.

This way, even if they wanted to rescue Alvin quickly, Morgan and Artoria would have no time or energy left to fight each other.

Though this would certainly make them hate him to the bone, as long as Alvin returned to Britain later at the right time, the problem would resolve itself.

Thinking of this, a faint smile couldn't help but appear on Merlin's face.

He was about to raise his staff and follow Alvin into Avalon.

But just then, a cry of alarm came from the crowd.

Within the portal Merlin had created, an ominous black mud was now silently seeping out.

A five-meter radius around this black mud seemed filled with a disturbing, chaotic aura.

"Be careful! This stuff seems to erode the mind!"

Someone in the crowd, a mage, had noticed the unusual nature of this black mud and called out urgently.

Merlin also froze for a moment, instinctively looking at the black mud.

Then, as if recalling something, his expression changed slightly.

"No… this isn't Avalon!"

As someone who had lived in Avalon for years, Merlin was far too familiar with everything in Avalon.

Yet at this moment, he couldn't sense any trace of Alvin's presence in Avalon at all.

Clearly, though the portal was meant for Avalon, it had somehow opened to another world entirely…?

How could this be?

After a brief recollection, Merlin seemed to realize something and murmured,

"She tampered with it in secret?!"

Yes — back when Manaka Saijyou had drained his mana, she had quietly done something, her aim was precisely to prevent this projection of Merlin from escaping back to Avalon.

And now, by mistake, Alvin had been sent into the Imaginary World…

Thinking about it, Merlin couldn't help but be stunned.

If Alvin were in Avalon, he could simply pull him back to Britain at any time.

But if he was in the Imaginary World…

"Merlin——!!!" When he saw Artoria and Morgan le Fay glaring at him in simultaneous fury, Merlin's smile could no longer hold.

"…I'm screwed."

For the first time, the white-haired mage's heart was filled with despair.

.....

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Alvin looked around blankly.

A void.

No sky, no ground, not even a trace of any living being.

There was nothing.

"Is this what Avalon looks like…?"

After glancing around for a moment, Alvin soon voiced the question to himself.

He had seen CG scenes of Avalon before, naturally, he knew what Avalon should look like.

It was supposed to be a world filled with flowers, birdsong, and wandering fairies...in short, it was a paradise.

But the scene before his eyes had absolutely nothing to do with Avalon.

— The Imaginary World.

That term immediately flashed through Alvin's mind.

In the Nasuverse, there existed a world known as the Imaginary World.

It existed on the reverse side of the world, and it was a place where no life could be born.

Moreover… this world was unobservable.

Merlin, you damned bastard, are you afraid Morgan would break into Avalon, so you sent me here instead?

As Alvin was thinking this, he suddenly felt something underfoot.

He looked down and saw a puddle of black mud.

No, not a puddle.

When Alvin looked up into the distance, he saw that this entire space seemed to be filled with endless black mud, causing the mana of the space to become violently unstable.

Not only that, as Alvin stepped into the black mud, he felt a force trying to erode his mind.

Fortunately, the White Dragon's power was special, and he couldn't be easily controlled mentally.

"This place is… weird…"

Alvin steadied his mind and continued walking step by step along the road that seemed to be paved with black mud.

And when he reached the end, a vast figure gradually came into view ahead.

The moment he saw that figure, Alvin's body froze abruptly.

His face turned pale bit by bit in an instant, as though he had witnessed something terrifying.

The White Dragon, in the Type-Moon world, its power was beyond question.

Yet upon seeing this creature, Alvin instinctively felt a trace of awe.

At the end of the black mud was an incredibly beautiful woman, with an incomparably vast form, as though standing between heaven and earth.

Her eyes were gently closed, as if in a slumber.

She wore no garments, only strips of clothing condensed from magical energy barely covered her fair skin.

Two strands of deep blue hair hung softly across her full, proud chest.

Alvin's pupils contracted slightly.

His expression went blank, as though every hair on his body was standing on end, madly warning him.

His heart surged with an overwhelming sense of crisis.

This woman… was a Beast.

And a fully-formed Beast, at that!!

— The Primordial Mother Goddess, Tiamat.

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