"Yes, I despise the King's Army."
The fury in those words burned like an actual flame.
"I hate those fools who destroyed everything the King built, hate the newcomers who wanted to join those fools! I hate my elder brother, who knew full well how it would end, yet still chose to stand with those fools!"
After the Holy Grail imparted its knowledge, Faker learned that Okeanos was a lie.
She learned of the Wars of the Diadochi.
Everything the King had built in his lifetime fell to pieces; the goal of his entire life was but a dream.
As the end of a dream, could there be a more cruel outcome?
"My King, why? Why did you pursue such a thing? Why not abandon it? Knowing it was a dream, why not simply treat it as one?"
If only... if only you hadn't pursued that bubble of a dream, so fragile it shattered at a touch.
Would your end have been any better, my King?
Hearing Faker's words, murmured lower than a whisper, El-Melloi II raised the corners of his mouth and let out a soft, low laugh.
Then, he lifted his head and shouted, just like that King once did.
"Because glory lies in the distance! Precisely because it's unattainable, we must challenge it!"
Faker's rage burned fiercer, her hand tightening on her sword hilt.
"How dare a mere soldier, who flattered him for a mere half-month, speak of my departed King!"
The chariot suddenly charged down, violent thunder crackling around it.
"He has not departed," El-Melloi II's voice was utterly sincere. "Even if everything the great King built in life has crumbled to dust, even if his existence was erased from history, the meaning of it all has not vanished. It is precisely for that reason that I stand here now."
"That was truly a magnificent provocation," Heartless remarked, sounding almost impressed. "If I don't deal with you somehow, Faker probably won't be willing to leave this place. I really can't afford to use another Command Seal. If I do, the relationship between us will be difficult to repair. Having you as an enemy is truly troublesome."
"Forgive me, Master," Faker flipped up onto the chariot. "For this manifestation, I intended to be loyal to you. But I cannot ignore this man."
"Haha, do as you please," Heartless laughed cheerfully, settling into the chariot himself. "After being analyzed for so long, it's time for a little counterattack on our part."
Heartless's hand pressed gently against his left chest.
"Overturn, my heart."
Tentacle-like branches materialized from the void.
This was a Child of Einnashe. And the current Child of Einnashe was ravenously hungry. The creations of the high-ranking Dead Apostle swarmed towards the Rail Zeppelin.
Just as they were about to be enveloped by the branches—
"Indeed. It's time to counterattack."
Slowly raising the crystal orb high with his right hand, El-Melloi II clenched his left hand, which was pressed against his chest.
His right hand paused at its apex for a moment, then he smashed the orb down violently.
The fake Command Seal erupted with a blinding light, and a massive surge of magical energy burst forth.
Several strands of hair were faintly visible within his clenched left hand.
"Gray, I'm counting on you."
Faker whipped the reins, driving the chariot in a graceful arc through the air as it charged toward El-Melloi II.
"Charge forth—"
Before the words even finished, a scorching, dry whirlwind roared to life.
Though they were in a forest at night, a hot wind, as if from a desert, began to blow.
The hot wind eroded the surrounding environment, and then, a sun rose in the night sky.
The blazing sun hung overhead in a cloudless sky. The feeling of sand and grit underfoot was unmistakably real. An endless desert stretched out before their eyes.
Seeing this familiar scene, Faker, who had been in the process of unleashing her Noble Phantasm, froze.
"...Impossible... This is my King's..."
"Heh... Hahahahaha..."
El-Melloi II laughed, a sound of immense catharsis, as if something heavy in his chest had been released.
Faker stared silently at the human figures gradually manifesting around them.
"Faker, what is deployed here is not that King's Noble Phantasm."
Like a narrator, El-Melloi II declared.
"This is merely me, with that Lady's help, reproducing one aspect of the King's Army that I witnessed in the Holy Grail War."
"And so this place," He thrust his left hand into his pocket; the fake Command Seal on it had already turned to ash and drifted away on the wind. "Is all fake."
Aesc pressed down on the hat atop her head, equally surprised.
He was willing to shatter the crystal orb?
Willing to destroy the dream that contained the person he yearned for so deeply?
As the figure of the red-haired King gradually materialized beside El-Melloi II—
"Gray!" El-Melloi II shouted suddenly.
Faker snapped back to reality, whipping her head around to see the gray-haired girl already raising the Holy Spear high.
"Seal Thirteen—Decision start!"
Rhongomyniad. The anchor forged to maintain the world, shackled in the past with seals to restrict its power. Thirteen restraints.
The true form of the Holy Spear is unleashed only when multiple conditions of honor and duty are fulfilled.
A full release requires the approval of seven.
["This, a battle to live."] — APPROVED, KAY.
["This, a battle against one stronger than oneself."] — APPROVED, BEDIVERE.
["This, a battle not against humanity."] — APPROVED, GAHERIS.
["This, a battle for truth."] — APPROVED, AGRAVAIN.
["This, a battle not against an elemental."] — APPROVED, LANCELOT.
The luminous anchor standing at the end of the world revealed itself before the King who sought that very end.
Faker whipped the reins again, the chariot trampling the void once more.
It's no use. I won't make it in time.
Faker's eyes widened as she glared at Gray, a 'compulsion' of noble color manifesting within them.
But the instant Faker used her Mystic Eye, within her line of sight, a lewd magical tool flashed past.
The Mystic Eye's effect was drawn away, diverted by the tool.
"Hahahahaha!" Heartless, observing this scene, laughed heartily. "Haven't all your methods been perfectly countered?"
Magical energy boiled. Light blazed.
"Holy Spear, unmoor."
She cried out, roared with all her might.
"Rhongo—"
"—myniad—!"
A torrent of light erupted, shooting towards the night sky.
The Hecatic Wheel vanished within the deluge.
The deployment of a Reality Marble inherently requires a colossal amount of magical energy.
The land once tread by the King of Conquerors lasted only a moment before slowly fading away.
The night embraced them all like an illusory dream.
The sand beneath their feet gradually disappeared, the roof of the Rail Zeppelin coming back into view.
"Haha."
El-Melloi II laughed softly, staggering over to the side of the King.
His use of the Reality Marble had been a clever trick to begin with; now his Magic Circuits were completely overloaded.
His right hand, which had once borne a true Command Seal, trembled as he raised it, then slowly thumped the dissipating figure of Iskandar.
"I've paid back your loyal retainer, that other you, for that old debt."
"...Rider..."
The King scattered on the wind.
In the next moment, both master and apprentice collapsed—but onto a waiting bed.
As the exhausted Gray fell into the [water mirror],
At the instant the King vanished, she thought she heard a bold, hearty laugh.
"You've done well, kid."
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.