In the realm of consciousness.
Looking at Naoki from behind Merry's prison bars, Manaka let out a helpless sigh. Her hand reached through the bars, grabbing Naoki's hand and pulling him closer.
"You're really suffering, vixen."
Perhaps due to the constant draining of Mana, causing his heart to throb painfully, even in his unconscious state, Naoki's brows remained tightly furrowed. In the ten years she'd been within his body, Manaka had never seen him show such an expression.
This meant Naoki was enduring tremendous pain.
Gently stroking his brow, Manaka tried to ease the pain etched there. It was the only thing she could do, as all her power was currently sealed.
Unfortunately, Naoki's condition didn't improve much.
"Merry… Morgan…"
Clutching the bars made of light, Manaka pressed against them, as if trying to crush the pillars. Her palms felt a slight sting from her nails digging in.
Muttering the names of the two women, if it weren't for the current situation, Manaka would have already taken over Naoki's body and sent both women to hell.
As Naoki once said, only he could kill Manaka—and for her, the same applied.
"Get up, vixen. You said yourself you wouldn't die before me… I won't let you lose to anyone but me."
"You, who didn't break completely after being tortured like that ten years ago, won't lose to this level of torment now, right? Don't tell me your steel resolve has dulled over these ten years—I'd be very disappointed."
Manaka's murmurs received no response from Naoki, but whether it was her voice's effect, his furrowed, pained brows visibly relaxed slightly.
Seeing this change, Manaka let out a small sigh of relief.
"Hurry and wake up, vixen. If you don't, you really won't be able to hold onto anything anymore."
"You'll go back to being the you from ten years ago. The you who had nothing, who was so weak, the very first you."
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Real World.
Watching Scathach examine Naoki's body, with Aoko sitting across from her, Artoria first bowed and said, "Thank you so much for your help, Lancer, and Miss Aozaki."
"Just call me Aoko, Saber. Naoki and I are on good terms; you don't need to be so formal with me."
Aoko smiled.
Not long ago, while strolling the streets with Scathach, scouting for enemies, she coincidentally encountered Artoria emerging from an alley carrying Naoki. Seeing Naoki unconscious, Aoko immediately brought them to her and Scathach's residence.
"Lancer, how's Naoki's condition?"
"Not good, but not exactly bad either—it's strange." Scathach replied, frowning. "Master, I recall you once told me this man is a Demi-Servant, right? His body is fused with the Spiritual Core of the King of Knights."
"Mm, what about it?"
"The Servant part of him… is slowly fading."
Scathach's words shocked both Aoko and Artoria simultaneously.
The Demi-Servant part of Naoki was fading?
"What does that mean? Naoki's no longer a Demi-Servant?"
"It's more serious than that." Scathach said with a somewhat grave expression. "After examining him, I realized he's always been in a very strange state, his entire body maintained at the boundary between life and death, constantly intersecting. Simply put, he's always been in a state of dying."
Dying?
Aoko looked at Naoki on the bed in disbelief. "Dying… How's that possible? He never looked like someone dying before. He was always full of energy, and every time we sparred, I felt like I'd need several rounds to satisfy him."
"That's because the Demi-Servant part of him was always sustaining his life." Scathach explained. "King Arthur, ruler of the British Isles, embodiment of the Red Dragon, possesses immense vitality. Combined with the scabbard Avalon, the two together kept him alive and pushed him to the level you described."
"But now, both of those abilities have weakened to an extreme, barely keeping him alive to prevent total death. And since he's no longer a Demi-Servant, his body has reverted to that of an ordinary human, losing that extraordinary Mana production. His strength might not even compare to yours now, Master."
Her words struck Aoko and Artoria like a bolt of lightning.
Had things deteriorated this badly? Naoki, once strong enough to save the world, was now this weak?
Even for a Magus, that was still an impressive level, but…
"Fighting all-out against the King of Uruk like on the first night is now impossible. He could die at any moment—what a pity. I thought he was a man who could bring me death."
"Lancer, do you have a way to save Naoki?" Aoko asked.
Scathach shook her head bluntly. "No. His condition is too unique. It's already a miracle he's still in the realm of the living. To change his current state, you'd need to fuse something equal to or greater than King Arthur's Spiritual Core into his body."
"In short, to make him a Demi-Servant again. Of course, in the King of Uruk's Gate of Babylon, there might be a Noble Phantasm capable of addressing this."
At this, Scathach glanced at Artoria and smiled. "So, what do you two plan to do? Will Saber sacrifice herself? Or go defeat Archer and take the Noble Phantasm that could save him?"
"Is that even a question?"
No need to think.
Aoko stood immediately. "Lancer, let's go. We'll beat that shiny golden Archer into submission and make him cough up the Noble Phantasm to save Naoki—Saber, can you stay here to watch over Naoki…"
"No, please let me go." Artoria said earnestly. "You two have already helped me and Master so much, and I'm truly grateful, but I can't let you put yourselves in danger for us. Let me go to Archer and request that Noble Phantasm."
"I trust you two won't harm Master. So for now, please take my place in protecting him."