Chapter 63: Nothing And Everything
The capsule opened with a mechanical hiss that echoed in a space with no walls.
Riya stepped out first, eyes narrowing against a blinding white.
Behind him came Richard, regal and composed even in the unknown.
Rin followed, her hand resting lightly over the back of her other hand, where her Command Seals pulsed faintly beneath the skin.
And finally, Cú Chulainn emerged with his usual casual gait, though even he looked around with a furrowed brow.
It was nothing.
Just white.
An infinite white.
Floor Six offered no structures, no landmarks, no textures to distinguish up from down, or east from west.
There was no horizon.
There was no sky.
Just white.
Rin squinted. "Where are we?"
Richard knelt, brushing his fingers across the ground.
"Solid."
"Smooth."
"But it doesn't feel like stone or metal."
"Feels like we're inside a blank page," Riya muttered.
Rin looked at him sharply, then at the world again.
"Could be a Bounded Field."
"An advanced reality marble maybe."
Riya clenched his jaw.
He didn't like it.
Not the silence.
Not the weightless air.
Not the sheer emptiness of it all.
He turned to the others. "We need to test the boundaries."
"Me and Richard will go north."
"You and Cú head south."
"If this is some kind of illusion or containment field, we'll meet ourselves eventually."
Rin nodded.
"Mark your trail."
"Even if it's pointless."
They split.
Richard walked beside Riya without speaking.
Every step felt like walking through fog, though nothing hindered them.
No wind.
No resistance.
Just the soft sound of their boots on the sterile ground.
Time lost meaning.
Maybe minutes.
Maybe hours.
Then—
"Rin?" Riya stopped.
Ahead of them stood Rin and Cú Chulainn, facing them with identical confusion.
"You were behind us," Rin said slowly.
"You were behind us," Riya echoed.
"What the hell?"
Richard rubbed his chin. "A looping space."
"Or a spatial trick."
"Whatever direction you walk, you end up where you started."
Rin folded her arms. "A trap?"
Riya frowned and narrowed his eyes at the endless white surrounding them.
No walls, no shadows, no sound but their own breathing.
It was like being trapped inside a blank sheet of paper—no matter where they walked, they ended up where they started.
An infinite, sterile prison.
He turned to Richard, his brow furrowing.
"I want to try something."
Richard gave a small nod, stepping back with a knowing look.
"Go on, then."
"Shake the sky a little."
Riya closed his eyes and reached inward, past the haze of thoughts and memories.
His soul brushed against one of the presences slumbering within—furious, electric, wild.
Mordred.
She surged to the front like a storm breaking loose.
In that instant, red lightning exploded around him.
The static made his hair rise, and the ground beneath his feet trembled with the weight of her and now his boundless strength.
His muscles tensed under the pressure of her raw, rebellious power.
A great red sword shimmered into existence in his hand—Clarent, heirloom of kings, corrupted by rebellion and fury.
The blade thrummed in his grip, almost eager to be unleashed.
Riya took a step forward, his voice echoing through the empty space:
"Boil over."
"Wrath of the Planet!"
"Clarent... Blood Arthur!"
Red lightning surged along the blade's edge, spiraling upward like a blood-drenched cyclone.
Then, with a sharp cry, he brought the sword down and released the Noble Phantasm.
A torrent of crimson energy tore through the air, a spiraling wave of raw destruction aimed into the endless void.
The power of a traitorous king, a battlefield-ending blow—
And then...
It was gone.
...
No crash.
No explosion.
No distant echo.
As if the white world had never even acknowledged the attack.
The lightning had never existed.
Silence returned, heavier now.
Riya lowered the sword slowly, Clarent beginning to fade from his grip.
A dull ache settled in his chest—not from exertion, but from the horrifying emptiness of it all.
And then came the voice.
Cold.
Mechanical.
"Due to absence of a Floor Master, this floor does not possess a World."
The silence afterward felt like a slap.
Riya's eyes widened slightly.
He turned back to Rin and the others, who stared at him, the meaning sinking in like a weight tied to their hearts.
There was no world here.
No Floor Master.
Just him and Rin...
And that stupid rule that say that only if a Master will kill another Master could it allow one of them to advance.
They all stood still.
Rin lowered her arms slowly.
Cú turned away, silent.
Richard let out a sigh.
Riya swallowed. "That means…"
"One of us," Rin said quietly.
"has to die."
They stood like that for a long time.
Then Rin smiled.
It was small.
Soft.
Sad.
"You look like you want to throw up."
Riya tried to chuckle, but it came out hollow.
"You don't?"
She walked to him, gently touching his hand.
"Let's rest," she said softly.
Riya looked into her eyes, then gave a small nod.
"Yes," he murmured.
Time passed.
The world dimmed as if acknowledging night, though there was no sun to set.
They lay on the ground, bodies close, hearts closer.
Richard and Cú sat a distance away, speaking quietly of hypotheticals and grim outcomes.
Rin rested her head on Riya's chest, her hand laced with his.
"Do you remember Floor One?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"You stole two Servants with one trick," Riya said with a faint smile.
She smirked back.
"And you wiped out the rest of the Masters like a storm."
"Floor Two…" Rin said quietly, eyes gazing into the endless white above them.
"That forest… Robin's arrows."
Riya nodded, the memory surfacing like a half-remembered dream.
"We made a pact with Rani there."
"Strange, isn't it?"
"Fighting side by side with someone we'd end up killing later."
"She was brilliant," Rin said softly, almost with regret.
"But in the end… none of us really had a choice, did we?"
"Yeah. And Robin…" Riya's voice dropped.
"He didn't deserve what happened."
"But at least he got his revenge."
"Floor Three." Rin leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Alice."
"That little girl…"
"That wasn't a fight," Riya said.
"It was a funeral."
"Her Wonderland wasn't made of dreams—it was made of grief."
"She just wanted to be loved," Rin whispered.
Riya exhaled slowly.
"She was already gone long before we got there."
"Floor Four," Rin said, her voice carrying a bit more steel.
"Lyle."
"Agrippa."
"Their trials."
"Yours was jealousy," Riya said, glancing at her.
"And I passed it." Rin gave a small, proud smirk.
"Mine was lust." He chuckled bitterly.
"And I failed."
"I remember." She rolled her eyes.
"You really couldn't help yourself, could you?"
"They were exact copies of my female Servants—every curve, every breath, everything." He sighed.
"Seduction is a hell of a weapon."
"And yet," Rin said, poking him lightly in the side, "you still managed to kill Lyle and Agrippa."
"Yeah."
"It was a bad trial, but a good ending."
She smiled.
"That's becoming a theme with us."
"Floor Five," Riya said, the name alone casting a shadow.
"Rani."
"Julius."
"Death."
Rin's fingers tightened around his.
"Robin died… for me."
"And you made it count."
"I killed Rani," she said.
"She didn't even scream."
"She just… accepted it."
"She was already done." Riya's voice was quiet.
"But Julius wasn't."
"He fought like a demon."
"And you and Richard still put him down," Rin said, turning to face him more fully.
They sat there for a while, letting silence fall again, not because they had nothing to say—but because they'd already said so much.
The weight of their journey hung between them like a blanket.
"…We've faced all of that," Rin whispered, resting her head against his chest.
"Yeah," Riya murmured, placing a hand gently on her back.
"Together."
Riya turned to her. "This isn't the end."
Rin leaned over him, her hair falling to brush his face.
"No."
"Not yet."
She kissed him.
The world felt real again.
Her body over his.
Her warmth.
Her soul.
Afterward, they lay there again, breath steady.
Riya stared into the dark sky.
Rin stared at her hand, at her Command Seals.
She smiled.
Not from joy.
From resolve.
She looked at Riya.
With love.
With pain.
With acceptance.
...
And With goodbye.