Elaine’s Battle

“How grotesque…”

“So the ‘Five Great Plague Beasts’ are here…”

Gathered before the prison were elite knights.

Even they were trembling. The prison before them now radiated an atmosphere so thick it felt like a dungeon.

With Rod and Arthur off searching for the holy sword—and no one knowing when they’d return—they decided to send an advance party.

When everyone hesitated before the unknown enemy, two figures stepped forward.

“Perfect. I’ll take the vanguard. I won’t let Marianne come into contact with something this vile.”

“Of course, I’m going too. As a prince, it’s my duty to protect Britannia.”

The knights around them stirred.

Gawain—one of their own—had volunteered, and even Mordred, who should have been protected, was insisting on going.

They couldn’t be the only ones wavering.

Noticing the shift in their resolve, Mordred secretly winked at Gawain.

Yes—this was staged.

He’d arranged for them to step forward right when the air turned timid, to crush the hesitation.

And something else pushed them over the edge.

“Everyone… I know how terrifying the ‘Five Great Plague Beasts’ are. But I have heard from Arthur-sama of the courage of Britannia’s knights. Will you not join me in slaying these wicked monsters?”

“Of course, Saintess!!”

“The Saintess of Glastonbury came to save Britannia! We can’t fall behind!!”

“If we win this battle, please shake my hand!!”

Elaine’s pure, saintly smile sent their morale soaring.

One or two were… weird, but this was an emergency. There was no time to care.

“Then… let’s go. We will save Britannia.”

“OOOHHH!!”

And with that roar, they entered the prison.

“This is awful…”

“This prison holds only death-row inmates and violent criminals. We planned to evacuate it last… but—what happened here?”

The moment she stepped inside and felt the malign presence, Elaine frowned despite herself.

She didn’t know what it did exactly, but she knew it was terrible for the mind.

Even if those inside were criminals, this place was not something anyone could endure calmly.

“Ah… ah…”

They had advanced a little when a prisoner in ragged clothes staggered toward them, eyes unfocused.

To Elaine, it looked like someone begging to be saved—

“Saintess, you shouldn’t approach carelessly—”

She was about to cast a calming spell to ease his mind, when—

“I am a Saintess. Even criminals cannot be discriminated against.”

“I only killed a brat, and they lock me up in a place like this—unforgivable.”

For an instant, the prisoner’s eyes snapped into clarity, and with those words, a vile jet-black mana exploded outward.

Then, as that mana fully drained from the prisoner’s body, it transformed—

Into a cat the size of a cow.

It swung its arm and lunged at her.

“Saintess!! I’m coming to help!”

“I’ve survived plenty of battlefields. Purification!!”

Brilliant light poured from Elaine’s hand, clashing with the cat-monster.

After a fierce struggle—

The cat vanished into nothing.

“Are you alright, Elaine?”

“This is… going to be exhausting. Was that one of the Cat of Endings’ familiars? A normal priest wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Sweat ran down Elaine’s cheek as she whispered so only Mordred could hear.

It may have looked like she erased it instantly, but that wasn’t true—she had felt tremendous resistance and only won by going all out.

“Mordred-sama, Elaine-sama… the prisoner from before is already dead. It seems his life force was consumed along with his mana…”

“No wonder… so the familiars are born by devouring people’s negative emotions and life force… That’s why they never ran out…”

Mordred muttered in a daze. Elaine, thinking, He talks as if he’s fought this before… still felt the horror sink deeper.

If someone near the Cat of Endings got swallowed by negative emotion, this was the result.
That was bad.

Worst case, even allies could become familiars.

If comrades or loved ones died, the chain reaction could multiply the familiars endlessly.

“Knights, do not lower your guard! Don’t panic if someone falls! Britannia’s future depends on what we do here!”

Mordred barked encouragement. How much it would help—Elaine didn’t know.

They pressed on through tension, and the inside was worse than expected.

Several prisoners had clearly been devoured—cells bent and crushed, the stench of blood thick in the air, the very atmosphere feeling stagnant.

“It’s here!! A familiar!! OOOOHHH!!”

The sound of steel colliding rang out again and again.

Their method was simple:

Mordred and the knights engaged the familiars, buying time, while priests purified them—
because even if you cut them down with swords, they regenerated like nothing happened.

“Priests—groups of three. Purify one at a time. Healing the knights takes priority!!”

“Yes!!”

“Yes!!”

“Yes!!”

Britannia’s priests replied with fierce energy.

Elaine was an elf from another land, but as a Saintess of their faith, they revered her almost like a living icon.

“If something like this reached the streets… it would be catastrophic…”

“Yeah. That’s why we have to stop them here.”

Mordred supported Elaine as she purified familiars on her own, while the rest fought and cleansed in coordinated waves.

At last, they wiped out the familiars in front of them.

“Those… must be the prisoners who became familiars.”

“This is horrible… Maintain perimeter security. We don’t know what might be hiding.”

Every corpse wore an expression twisted with hatred.

Even so, Elaine stepped forward and offered prayers for the dead.

“Elaine-sama… what are you doing?”

“Everyone has the right to be saved after death. May those who sleep beneath Heaven find peace for their souls.”

Elaine was terrified too—no one could say what was hiding nearby.

But she remembered Arthur rushing into poisonous vines without hesitation.

She forced her courage into place.

And the scene—beautiful, mystical—worked like a miracle on the weary knights and priests.

Not only did their motivation rise— the stagnant air truly began to cleanse.

“As expected of the Saintess… even to foreign criminals, you offer prayers…”

Gawain spoke in genuine awe, and Elaine smiled shyly.

“I’m not such a perfect elf, even if people call me a Saintess. I only… wanted to become like someone I met recently—someone who healed villagers suffering from poison, even knowing they might be poisoned as well.”

“…I understand. My sister and I were saved by that person too.”

Gawain puffed his chest with pride, having understood exactly who she meant.

Their eyes met.

In that instant, comrades were born.

“Then we must thin their numbers as much as possible before he arrives.”

“Yes. Leave your protection to me, Saintess.”

“Ugh… someone… help…”

A groan came from the corner. One prisoner—still alive—moved in ragged clothes.

As the knights tightened their guard, Elaine—protected by Mordred and Gawain—approached.

“Are you alright? Are you conscious? I’ll heal you now.”

Light wrapped the prisoner, and his wounds gradually closed. The rigidity in his body eased as the pain faded.

“…Am I… saved?”

“You seem sane. Can you tell us what happened?”

Mordred ordered the knights to step back to reduce tension, and the prisoner trembled, scanning the darkness as he spoke.

“I don’t really know. Some weird black haze came from that direction, and the others started acting strange… I tried to stop them, then I got hit, and when I came to, monsters were wandering around…”

“That way…? I think there should be a storage room beyond that…”

Mordred frowned, puzzled, but Elaine felt it too—

Something stronger than before.

“There is definitely something ahead… Everyone, prepare yourselves.”

At Elaine’s warning, everyone’s caution sharpened.

“When you’re ready, we breach. Someone escort this prisoner outside and protect him.”

Under Mordred’s command, after healing and restoring mana with potions, Gawain charged first.

Elaine gasped in admiration—

“I cannot allow Britannia—where my beloved Marianne is—to be endangered!!”

“I see… so Gawain-san cherishes his lover so dearly… What incredible resolve—”

“No… I’m pretty sure Marianne is Arthur-niisan’s maid, and she’s his sister.”

“…Huh. Scary.”

Elaine’s opinion plummeted instantly. As an only child, she couldn’t comprehend that level of sister devotion.

Even with siblings, she probably still wouldn’t.

Either way, they pushed forward.

The storage room had been ransacked. Behind it, someone had crudely dug a hole, and beyond that lay a blackness darker than night.

“Ugh… what is this…? I feel heavy…”

“Even those without mana are affected this badly… Everyone, focus your mana forward. Purification!!”

Radiant light erupted—Elaine leading the priests—clashing with the pitch-black darkness for a time…

Then overcoming it, allowing them to advance.

Past the cleansed darkness was a vast hollow.

The walls were black, like they’d been swallowed by shadow. The air was strangely lukewarm.
Drop by drop, liquid fell from the ceiling, each plink echoing unpleasantly.

The deeper they went, the more pressure crawled across Elaine’s skin—like something writhing, unseen.

And then, at the far end—

It was there.