The confusion shown by the girl made Shirou stunned.
But it was only for an instant.
The next second, a bow appeared in his hand.
In the night sky, the stars were dotted.
The arrow transformed from the Noble Phantasm shot toward Manaka along the air like a stream of light.
"Berserker has come, huh," Manaka stepped back slightly, keeping a safe distance from Shirou.
She wasn't afraid of the projected Noble Phantasms. What she was afraid of was a repeat of last time, where she was almost caught by the boy and unable to escape.
The Noble Phantasm, which lit up the dark night, was devoured by shadows when it was around two meters from Manaka.
Its original radiance was corrupted.
Shirou's pupils flickered, unstable between brightness and darkness.
The Noble Phantasm just now contained the Rule Breaker's "All Spells Must Respond" effect, meant to sever Manaka's contract with Angra Mainyu.
The emotional result likely wouldn't go that smoothly.
"Saber," Shirou asked rapidly, "Are you alright?"
"I…", The words she wanted to say were all stuck in her throat. Facing Shirou, for the first time, she felt at a loss.
Suddenly, a summoning magic circle appeared.
But it wasn't summoning Artoria, it was Shirou.
"What's going on?", Just about to settle the score with Manaka, Shirou was startled.
He had clearly told Rin to use the Command Spell to summon Saber.
'Why is it Illya?'
'In this kind of situation, how can I leave Artoria alone with Manaka?'
"Are you going to defy the Command Spell for Saber, Berserker?", Manaka smiled politely, stretched out her hand. The shadow appeared suddenly, came to Shirou's front, and made the same gesture as Manaka.
That was the action of a gentleman inviting his beloved dance partner. Practiced many times, flawless, "You may, Berserker. As long as you take my hand, I'll help you defy the Command Spell, if you truly wish to for Saber's sake."
"What did you say?", Shirou's pupils contracted. At the instant the magic circle activated, his gaze shifted to the ahoge king who remained motionless.
'What kind of expression is that?'
Almost to the point of confusion that couldn't be ignored.
Especially when she reached out her hand and called out: "Shirou." The appearance of hoping to be chosen.
If, at that moment, he hadn't seen Illya first, hadn't seen her pain, then he thought, surely, he would've chosen this girl with unwavering resolve.
Moonlight soaked her golden sand-like hair, and the heaviness of her armor was borne by her petite body.
She was so beautiful. Even as the one chosen, who could refuse her? Who would be willing to refuse her?
But…
In the midst of falling snow, that pure-white girl stood, waving to him.
Eyebrows curved like a crescent moon, the light contained in her bright eyes looked at him.
And the instant he met Archer's gaze—
"If you've already chosen to grasp her hand, then never let it go again."
'I truly am not a hero of justice.'
'What kind of hero of justice only does what must be done? That's just impossible!'
'Because, I cannot save everyone.'
At this moment, Shirou finally understood what kind of price it was to become "Emiya the Hero."
"I'm sorry, Saber."
When these words entered Artoria's eardrums, transmitted through the nerves, and allowed her to understand the meaning within, even a king who wasn't permitted to have emotions felt a sting.
Her pupils widened. She tried to reach out, to hold the boy back.
But she stopped at the final moment.
To follow through with one's path must be difficult. So difficult that it brought sadness, regret, and the desire to give up.
Even if one marches to the end unwaveringly, would the end brought by such an ideal really not be a dead end?
Knowing the result beforehand, how many would still have the courage to face it?
If… he truly were to become her Master and fight alongside her. Then the choice he made must be the one she had hoped to see.
"..."
The boy vanished along with the magic circle, carrying his final resolve.
Likewise, Artoria made her own choice.
She abandoned all confusion and once again became that king who forged ahead through thorns.
The king who had once been loved and respected by the twelve knights of the Round Table, the always-victorious king.
With her sacred gaze, she equally judged… Manaka.
"Saber, you're…", Manaka's pure and clear eyes showed confusion.
Things seemed different from what she had imagined.
Light condensed. Rather than calling it "light," it would be better described as the end of a dream.
From the earth, from the plants, from all things, a brilliance like fireflies rose and gathered upon the sword, shimmering with "light."
These were not the purest kind of light, but something even purer than light.
Yes, these were the dreams held in sorrow yet dignity by soldiers vanishing from past and future battlefields at the moment of their deaths.
Such will deserved praise; such honor must be upheld.
With that, the always-victorious king loudly recited the miracle in her hand, its true name, that was:
"Sword of Promises Victory (EXCALIBUR)!"
A flood of light surged across the land. Ready to equally destroy everything in its path. Including the purest malice.
As the Avenger's black shell around her was shattered piece by piece, bringing the sacred brilliance of the outside world inside, Manaka's expression turned subtle.
She began to lose comprehension.
Not the confusion of witnessing unknown things, but the incomprehension of her calculations being broken, her understanding being overturned again and again.
People in the world, when facing their future, would feel confused, anxious, and lost.
No matter what tomorrow may hold. As long as one thinks seriously, they would come to fear it.
A person standing at a three-way junction, unable to know what the chosen path will bring him. Yet when one must choose only one path. Whatever happiness, pain, regret, or disappointment it brings, must be borne alone.
If, before choosing, he could see the endings of all three roads, then the meaning of the three-way junction would disappear entirely.
In other words, the word "choice" would never exist in this world.
It would instead become rejection, abandonment, and forfeiture, leaving only one path, one optimal solution.
A conventional script that runs through an entire life.
Knowing one's own future, knowing others' futures.
Seeing one's own death, foreseeing others' deaths.
If life had already been confirmed from the beginning, then everything done between start and death is but a struggle.
A minuscule struggle to draw a diagonal line on a long, winding, yet absolutely straight path.
That is the difference between the unknown and the predetermined.
That is the so-called lack of "choice."
Compared to the unknown, what Manaka hoped for more was the prince on a white horse that belonged to her.
Because, whether known or unknown, if even the most basic of emotions cannot be born, then everything is meaningless.
So:
"Saber," Opening both arms, Manaka's sky-blue eyes were as always, pure, beautiful. And still with that girl's spoiled affection.
In a world ignorant of good and evil, at the very, very end, the girl embraced the light.
Unable to distinguish good from evil is the original state of mankind.
But the king would bestow that realization upon her.
"Manaka," The holy sword pierced through her chest.
Artoria's tightly tied long hair came undone. Fluttering in the brilliance.
"From the beginning, I was wrong. Even knowing the outcome was predetermined, I still sought an unreachable miracle."
"The Holy Grail cannot grant my wish. Because I have never once regretted meeting them, the Knights of the Round Table. The one I've always wanted to deny… was myself. Yet I dragged innocent people along the way."
Clearly, Manaka was the one dragged in by Artoria, as she confessed.
If she hadn't summoned her; if she hadn't had that sorrowful wish, then that girl surely would have lived a good and happy life, along her own path.
Dreaming of her own white horse prince.
But for her, for her sake, the girl walked farther and farther down a path unable to distinguish right from wrong.
Even in a world with clear rights and wrongs, there is no absolute; only opposing values.
'But if a choice must be made, then let me guide you.'
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.