Flames, burning.
Wherever his gaze fell, his eyes saw memories of the past.
"Is, don't die."
"Teacher, are you still there?"
"Is, may you be safe through all your lives, even if we never meet again in any of them."
"Husband, I think I'm a little tired."
Merlin, Artoria, Vivian, Morgan… these were his lovers from Camelot.
Vast memories flooded Ryuya's mind, that beautiful dream called the Inner Sea of the Planet.
But...
"Isbel Pendragon, have you forgotten your duty?"
A roaring voice startled Ryuya awake. It was the man named Uther Pendragon.
"King Uther, I..."
Looking at Uther's furious appearance, Ryuya seemed to see the most terrifying existence in the world… the countless enemies he had defeated back in Camelot.
"Sun-Crowned King, Sun-Crowned King..."
Resentment, complexity, overflowing hatred like the world's extreme. Corpses, doll-like, covered in various symbols, representing the slaughter and sins Ryuya had once committed.
"You... are just illusions."
Quietly looking at the bone-littered ground beneath his feet, Ryuya stood there silently. As countless corpses rose again, those people raged, roared, venting their hatred for Ryuya.
With a gentle wave of his hand, as the world shattered, a robust old man appeared before Ryuya.
"Is, my child."
Silver-grey pupils looked at Ryuya with satisfaction. Vortigern Pendragon smiled approvingly at Ryuya.
Because he saw a qualified King, a King who was excellent, truly wonderful for himself and for Britain.
"Isse, do not be consumed by those illusory false images. You are the best, the most excellent."
"You saved Britain. You fulfilled the dream in your heart. You are the best King."
His expectations for his child made Vortigern appear at this moment. No matter how many world upheavals he experienced, Vortigern Pendragon… he would always be Isbel Pendragon's father.
"Ryu."
"Ryuya, what are you doing?"
"Ryu, can't I call you Daddy?"
"Am I really the only flower, Ryu?"
"This young lady's dowry is all given to you, you bastard Ryuya!"
"My King, I will protect you forever."
The Mother Goddess Tiamat, the King of Heroes Gilgamesh, Enkidu, Ereshkigal, Ishtar, Siduri.
His former lovers from Uruk held absolute trust in the eternal Sun-Crowned King. The tribal chiefs of the non-human races who followed the King finally shed their beast-like forms.
"What crime has the world committed? The Five Questions are finished."
The enemy he saw was never the gods, but the Counter Force standing at the end.
Faintly, as if seeing an eye in the heavens above, Ryuya's enemy was never those gods.
Suddenly, opening his eyes again, Ryuya still saw fire… the tool for warmth in the fireplace.
Following his gaze, the flames swayed left and right, sometimes dim, sometimes bright.
Outside the window, the time of night had fallen… it was the sun being blocked.
"Papa, is Papa crying?"
In his arms were the little princesses named Altrouge and Arcueid. Touching his slightly damp hair, the young girls didn't understand why their great, omnipotent father was crying.
However, this did not affect their love for Ryuya.
Gently placing their hands on Ryuya's large hand, the princesses of the Millennium Castle comforted their father in soft voices, "Papa, don't cry. Altrouge/Arcueid will protect Papa."
"Mmm, I believe in my little princesses too."
A surge of sadness stirred in his heart. Ryuya hadn't dreamed in a long time.
Memories like tidal waves assaulted his mind, but he didn't feel it was a problem because he was already accustomed to it.
Gently using magic to make Altrouge and Arcueid fall asleep, he knew he probably wouldn't be able to continue watching these children grow up.
"What a pity. It's my first time experiencing being a father, my first life taking care of daughters, but I, as a father, cannot accompany you as you grow up."
Gently stroking the sleeping faces of his two daughters, Ryuya murmured as he looked out the window.
There, three figures stood.
They were Nero Claudius, Crimson Moon Brunestud, and the maid Machine God Justice.
Inside the Millennium Castle, seeing Ryuya come out, Crimson Moon walked up worriedly, "Blood, are the children asleep?"
"Mmm, all asleep."
Nodding, Ryuya turned his gaze to the sky above, where the two Machine Gods, the Annihilation Machine Gods Justice and Prosperity, were.
"Nero, Crimson Moon, Justice, proceed as I arranged before."
"Understood." x3
Nodding, immense magic circles appeared under the feet of Nero and Crimson Moon. It was the faith belonging to the Roman Emperor, the human King, and the Millennium Castle's Moon King, Crimson Moon.
"Sun God, Reality Marble."
Last time, as the Sun-Crowned King, Ryuya was no match for the two Machine Gods. Besides the Earth King not being fully grown, faith was a major issue.
As a King, the existence of subjects naturally provides the King with the power of faith. Whether in Camelot or Uruk, Ryuya's final victories were inseparable from the support of his people.
A King without subjects, a King without faith, how can they be called a King?
This time, recognized by Gaia and Crimson Moon from the start, Ryuya as the Earth King had clearly grown to his peak.
With the supply from Nero and Crimson Moon, the power from the Human King and Moon King added to the Earth King, giving Ryuya the capital to fight the two Machine Gods.
But this was clearly still not enough, because this power wasn't yet Ryuya's limit.
"We bid farewell to our King!"
"May the Sun be eternal!"
Outside the Millennium Castle, in the world of the Phantasmal Species, the seventy-two parliament members all stood at this moment.
Behind them were even more Phantasmal Species.
Together, they sent forth their blessings for the Sun-Crowned King. Under the almost frozen gazes of everyone, that beam of light, carrying blessings and expectations for the King, slowly rose into the sky.
And Ryuya, far beyond Earth, also looked at the two Machine Gods before him.
"Unknown target detected. Analyzing... Conclusion: Earth King. No threat."
Judging Earth as 'an irrelevant neighbor', then Ryuya as the Earth King naturally fell outside their attack range. In the Machine Gods' view, they only needed to destroy two types of existence.
First, the woman named Crimson Moon Brunestud.
Second, the lifeforms named Humans.
Beyond that, they had no interest in fighting other lifeforms. Even if Ryuya possessed an extremely high threat level, it was none of their business.
Having made this basic judgment under such circumstances, just as they prepared to launch light pillars to destroy humanity as in the previous simulation...
Click!
As a spear's shadow appeared, the arm of the Machine God Prosperity was pierced.
"Earth King, are you obstructing us?"
Looking at Ryuya incomprehensibly, the Machine Gods were mechanical, straightforward, but not stupid.
Not understanding the meaning behind Ryuya's attack, the two Machine Gods fully armed, aiming their cannon muzzles at Ryuya.
War was imminent.