"Burning the soul, huh," Shirou whispered a line, his heart suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of sorrow.
Just as Tristan had said, ever since arriving here, he hadn't encountered a single happy thing.
It was all sorrow.
So-called "loss of control," wasn't it nothing more than burning oneself away like scrap paper?
Even when paper burns, there are ashes left behind, but Mordred would burn herself away completely, leaving nothing.
Even knowing this would be the outcome, the Lion King still bestowed such a blessing without hesitation.
Which showed that, in her eyes, Mordred was nothing more than a disposable tool to be thrown away at any time.
The Saber of the past would never have done such a thing.
But now…
The twin swords stabbed without leaving the slightest gap.
Before Shirou could react, Mordred unleashed a Noble Phantasm capable of leveling mountains.
"Die, Emiya Shirou!"
Completely forgetting the idea of capturing him alive, she was simply burning herself away.
Like a reactor core constantly melting down.
And yet, Mordred uttered no complaint.
Whether love or hate, she would neither think about it, recall it, nor dwell on regret.
She had only decided, for her, for that person, to swing this sword to the very end.
As the light cannon was about to fall, Shirou opened his hand, fluent English flowing from his lips, "I am the bone of my sword."
The magic circuits connected, a beautiful flower bloomed.
"Rho Aias!"
BOOM!
CRASH!
Those few beams of annihilating light struck the chrysanthemum shield, and in less than a second, the first flower was crushed.
Next came the second, less than two seconds.
The third…
Shirou's face carried no expression.
No sadness, no anger, not even the burning of his blood.
He simply pressed forward, shield raised.
"What?"
Mordred hadn't expected he still had this move.
"Damn it!"
She roared in anger, "Your Noble Phantasms, do they never run out?"
"AAAHHHH!"
Burning massive amounts of fuel, enduring the massive pain of being consumed.
Casting aside everything.
Scarlet flames spread endlessly.
Eroding the sky, the land, the mountains, everything was shattering.
Everything was turning into nothingness.
Even the clouds roared with thunderous echoes.
The fourth flower… the fifth… the sixth…
The lightning stalled once again.
And Shirou was already right before her.
Clang!
The helmet hiding her illegitimacy was knocked open. That delicate, youthful face now bore several distorted marks.
"To think you could force me to this point… Unbearable! If I actually lose here, wouldn't I be less than a laughingstock?"
"Fine then… I'll blow you away along with this entire mountain!"
As Mordred's furious declaration fell.
Her body began to overflow with crimson and black magic mixed together.
It was like a vast power gathering, yet the vessel couldn't withstand the eruption.
Like a pipe meant only to connect to a faucet, yet forced to endure the torrent of an open floodgate.
Surging, unstoppable, it was called destruction itself.
Whether enemy, herself, or even innocents, all would dissolve into this destruction.
Thus, Mordred unfolded her final dance.
"—Raging fury of the boiling, shattered stars!"
The radiant royal sword was lifted high, and she roared with all her strength:
"CLARENT BLOOD ARTHUR!"
The aurora of destruction fell, and under this power, the mountains melted away.
"No way?"
Looking at that force staining the skies, the red lightning igniting the mountains.
Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had just landed, looked pale.
Sweat dripped from her forehead.
Her golden-brown eyes trembled slightly.
"Emiya-senpai!"
Mash's face changed, grabbing her shield and about to charge into the beam, but Arash blocked her, "No! If you rush in like this, you'll be buried by the collapsing mountains!"
"But what about Emiya-senpai?"
Mash cried in panic.
"We can only wait until this storm passes!"
Arash stared gravely at the red lightning magic still swelling.
"So ruthless… with this strike, probably everyone in the mountain will be buried with her?"
———
The blazing electric light instantly shattered Shirou's final shield. Seeing this, Mordred laughed madly, "It's over, Emiya Shirou! We'll both die here together!"
Without the protection of Rho Aias, Shirou's face showed no fear, nor did he try to resist with other means.
Instead, facing the light cannon, he stepped before Mordred and gently touched her cheek.
"You… what are you doing?"
In Mordred's shocked gaze, Shirou slowly embraced her.
"!!!"
"The world really is cruel!"
A hoarse voice rang at her ear, suppressing his anger.
Yet Mordred felt his pain.
She shouldn't have been someone worthy of pity, not someone worth even a second's thought.
Because everyone has pain, everyone suffers.
Then who is there to pity all that pain?
Yet, she gradually stopped struggling.
So gentle.
Even while hating her, resenting her, disliking her.
Still so gentle, just like back then… like the King.
An ideal radiance enveloped them, as though isolating them from the world, cutting away all suffering.
"This is—"
Mordred could not hide her emotions, "The King's sheath, why?"
"The further I go, the clearer it becomes, saving everyone is impossible. Helpless emotions only grow more and more."
"Even if I had already decided, already understood, and resolved to move forward no matter what, unwavering."
"But…"
Shirou's tone was complex, "Am I really incapable of growing up…"
"Mordred, I cannot forgive you!"
Shirou gnashed his teeth, "Maybe you don't need my forgiveness, maybe you don't care about my hatred."
"But I still cannot forgive what you've done. Saber is the same… That's right, no matter if you regret it or not, no matter who was right or wrong, I cannot forgive anyone, including myself!"
He hated himself for placing hope on awakening Saber from the beginning.
He hated himself for his moment's hesitation, for not killing Mordred at the first chance.
One could say the tragedy here happened precisely because of him.
How many mistakes would it take to understand, this wasn't a game.
How many times would it take to realize, he was just a mere mortal.
How many times… to realize that the ticket to happiness was limited.
And even so—
His arms around the girl tightened.
He still wanted to be a hero of justice.
"Mordred, you annoying little brat!"
"What did you say?"
Mordred's eyes widened in anger.
"This time, pay for your sins with death! Next time, if I see you again, I will thoroughly discipline you! Correct you, let you, this willful fool, learn what's right and what's wrong!"
"Be prepared! I'll be strict!"
Mordred burned with fury.
She was about to snap, 'Who are you, to speak to me like this?'
But then Shirou softened his tone, "So, sleep well… it's fine. I'm here. Saber… is here too…"
That gentle voice awakened something.
Chime~
The sheath released an even more dazzling radiance, sparking a miracle, letting one glimpse a paradise.
It was the place where King Arthur lay in eternal rest, called the Land of Fairies.
The ideal land that only the eternal King could reach after death, one that all other kings dreamed of but could never arrive at.
Its name: Avalon.
When that secluded land appeared, soft brilliance spread endlessly.
Like starlight slowly rippling across the water's surface.
Beneath that starlight, the swelling electric light of destruction melted away.
Hundred-Faced Hassan, dragging his severely wounded body, unable to save more people and only watching the light cannon approach despair step by step.
Yet the distant brilliance stretched toward the heavens, illuminating the night, driving away calamity.
In that moment, the lost, the despairing, the fallen, or those filled with hope, devotion, and passion for life, all, upon this land facing extinction, lifted their heads to gaze at that paradise which would endure even if the world perished.
"Pharaoh!"
The Sun King Ozymandias stepped down from his throne, moving forward.
For the first time, the arrogance in his gaze wavered, "So dazzling… To think, in this broken era, such a pure land still remains?"
"Shirou."
Upon the Lion King's beautiful face, for the first time appeared a faint smile.
An indescribable smile, radiant with divinity, and absolutely pure.
"You've finally made up your mind."
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