"Over there!" Toneriko's gaze was remarkably sharp. The two of them had just taken off into the sky when she spotted a slender figure on the distant ground. Following the direction she pointed, Aoko focused a bit of magical energy in her eyes and could make out the person on the ground.
It was a girl in somewhat revealing armor, wielding a massive shield, with short pink hair—an old acquaintance. Adjusting the direction of her Wind Boundary, Aoko flew over toward the girl.
With a crisp shout, the pink-haired girl smashed another monster—one that looked like some kind of shadow mixed with black sludge—using her giant shield. But for every monster she felled, more closed in, forcing her to keep retreating.
The mist was growing thicker, and with it, more black monsters appeared. The pink-haired girl's stamina and magical energy were being rapidly depleted in the fierce battle, and despair began to take hold as the situation worsened.
"Senpai…" Gritting her teeth, the girl thought of the orange-haired girl she had just reunited with, only to be separated again immediately by Queen Morgan's powerful magic. She wondered if she'd ever see her again.
Just as despair and exhaustion began to overwhelm the pink-haired girl, several dazzling blue-white pillars of light shot down from above, incinerating the dark monsters with abandon.
To her, it was obvious these light pillars were some kind of magic, and whoever could wield such simple yet highly effective spells must possess extraordinary magical power.
She looked up. The thick fog in the sky seemed to part with this barrage, and the surrounding monsters were wiped out. Floating in midair were two figures: one in a blue-and-white dress, the other with long red hair, clad in a stylish khaki trench coat.
"Sister Aoko!" Mash called out happily, waving at Aoko. "Thank you so much for your help!"
Aoko and Toneriko landed on the ground. Mash ran over joyfully; having just survived a desperate situation in a strange land and now seeing an old acquaintance, she was overjoyed.
"Ara, Ara, well now," Aoko stroked her chin, looking Mash up and down. "Looks like you've been through quite a lot since we last met."
"Hello," Toneriko greeted kindly. "It seems you know Miss Aoko. My name is—"
"Eh? H-Hello—" Mash looked shyly at the familiar figure beside Aoko. "My name is Mash Kyrielight."
"Hm...?" Mash seemed to recall something. "Are you... the legendary Savior?"
"Hahaha... 'Legendary' is a bit much…" Toneriko replied, blushing a bit. "Though I suppose... well, I wouldn't call myself a Savior or anything like that."
"You know me?" Toneriko asked curiously. "Are you from Londinium? I detected traces of mirror magecraft when you appeared. Did you end up here after a failed teleportation?"
"She's not from Londinium," Aoko shook her head. "Let's leave this coast first. Breathing too much of this mist isn't good for you."
Mash and Toneriko nodded in agreement and didn't object. This wasn't the best place for a conversation. They moved closer to Aoko, who reactivated her teleportation spell. With a flash, they found themselves in front of the Salisbury Cathedral.
...
Scene break.
"Are you here in the Fairy Britain Lostbelt looking for Hinako-senpai?" Mash was shocked after hearing Aoko's explanation. In her timeline, Consort Yu had already self-destructed, and only a split soul remained in Chaldea.
"Well, that's the Hinako Akuta from our worldline," Aoko explained. "She's a bit unlucky—she swapped places with some fairies during a spiritron transfer experiment and ended up here. As a Chaldea shareholder from our side, I had to come over using imaginary number navigation to fish her out."
"I see... so Mr. Pepe here is also...?" Mash glanced thoughtfully at Pepe, who was busy fixing his nails.
"Heh, that's right," Aoko replied with a smile. "He's Chaldea's Scandinavia Peperoncino, not the so-called Alien God's agent."
"I-I understand now..." Mash's expression grew complicated after hearing the explanation. Looking at the friendly Pepe, she was filled with emotion.
"My, my, I didn't expect to meet a parallel-world Mash here. Life is full of surprises~" Pepe said. "Are you feeling well?"
"Thanks to Sister Touko and Sister Aoko, I'm in good health!" Mash answered. "But I've been separated from Senpai and don't know how to get back…"
"Sending you back isn't a big problem," Aoko said in a casual tone. "But I have some things to handle first, so you may have to wait a bit."
"You can do it?!" Mash exclaimed in surprise. "This may be Fairy Britain, but it's not quite the one I know…"
"Of course," Aoko shrugged. "This is the Fairy Britain Lostbelt from 2,400 years before your departure—the Fantasy Tree hasn't disappeared yet, so it's naturally different."
"2,400 years ago? Isn't that—" Mash was about to say something, but was suddenly interrupted.
"Mash, I think I know what you want to say, but please don't say it," Toneriko said seriously. "Since you've confirmed you've come from 2,400 years in the future, you can't reveal anything specific about the future of Fairy Britain to us, to avoid unforeseen consequences."
"That's fine," Aoko said. "As long as she doesn't reveal any key information. The emergence of Fairy Britain is inevitable, and Morgan's rule over it is as well. This Lostbelt, supported by the Fantasy Tree, isn't unstable enough to just make people disappear at random."
After thinking for a moment, Toneriko nodded in agreement with Aoko's assessment. Once Mash was given permission, she began recounting everything she and Ritsuka Fujimaru had experienced after arriving in the Fairy Nation 2,400 years in the future.
"...That's about it," Mash said, "The Savior's reincarnation, the Child of Prophecy is about to embark on their pilgrimage to become the next Savior."
"Hah…" Toneriko replied in a slightly strained voice, "Even if I know you're telling the truth, it's hard to accept emotionally... The Child of Prophecy—doesn't that mean I'm destined to fail...?"
"Not necessarily," Aoko said. "Success and failure are complicated things. The Child of Prophecy's appearance just means you've shifted your target, so the Sea of Stars sent another fairy here to carry out its mission."