Cold, the sensation it brings is not necessarily death.
However, death must certainly be cold.
From losing heartbeat, to losing body temperature, and then becoming stiff.
This process is like soaking in a pool, or falling into a bottomless pond.
Consciousness will certainly be lost before reaching the shore or seeing the bottom.
Saber died, died in Sajyou Manaka's arms.
The king, in the end, wanted to use a posture as if having freed herself from the girl's sorrowful wish, to awaken the girl. Before the girl made a mistake, after the girl had taken action.
Perhaps this kind of choice would once again make Lancelot feel sorrow.
But at the same time as feeling sorrow, before the tears fell, he would definitely feel proud of the king's radiance.
Because this time, too, the king still did not hate anyone.
Still did not choose to punish anyone, but calmly accepted her own fate.
Thus, the Eternal King fell into deep SLUMBER.
———
"Saber," In her arms, it felt as though the warmth of the girl still remained.
Manaka stood up from the pool of blood. Her clear gaze looked toward the night sky. Artoria had indeed exited the stage, no doubt. But, she had not yet been absorbed.
If, at this moment, she reverses her spirit base, that girl, that Saber whom she loved, would appear again. And would never, no matter what, betray her, a cold and ideal-only existing king.
'Saber, huh…'
Manaka looked at the moon and sighed, "I really can fulfill your wish."
But the consequence brought about by this was something the girl could not accept.
Then, for the first time, she experienced the emotion of being dazed.
'Did I just… sigh?'
In that moment, like someone desperately grasping the final straw, she tried to recall that feeling.
In the end, what she got was only emptiness.
"So the human heart is this complicated," Her beautiful eyes drooped.
The shadow swirled, devouring the symbol of the ahoge king's soul.
"Good night, Saber."
With that, the seven Servant souls required to manifest the Holy Grail, were successfully gathered.
At the same time—
Above Ryuudou Temple, a pitch-black hole emerged.
Calling it a hole, maybe "black hole" was more accurate.
It absorbed the wishes representing all of humanity's evil.
In just a moment, it would pour out completely and engulf all mankind.
"Shirou!", Illya clung tightly to Shirou's arm.
"That is—"
"Mm, no mistake. Saber exited. The Holy Grail has already formed."
Shirou's gaze was calm, neither joyful nor sorrowful.
Bazett seemingly failed to intercept Kotomine Kirei, or maybe got ambushed, or something.
Anyway, the priest arrived very quickly, with only a little bloodstain on him.
He first knocked out Tohsaka Rin, who was about to use her Command Spell, and then used Sakura, letting Medusa be tainted by the black mud, turning into a blackened Servant.
Thus Illya had no choice but to summon him.
The moment he appeared, Shirou withstood a strike from Medusa, rescued Sakura, and killed the priest.
Then, he attracted Medusa's attention, bringing Illya along to buy time for Tohsaka Rin and Sakura to deal with the Holy Grail.
'Now it seems, there's no more time.'
Cold iron chains carrying killing intent that tore through the air came flying.
Illya cried out in surprise, "Berserker!"
Shirou calmly tilted his head, like he had eyes in the back of it, dodging the strike precisely.
Both had A-rank agility.
But there was a slight difference.
Shirou and Lancer had burst speeds that surpassed Medusa, but in terms of average speed, they were slower than her.
Being caught up to was normal.
Not to mention, right now he was in a heavily wounded state.
BOOM!
After consecutively dodging Medusa's flying chains, Shirou placed Illya below a dirt slope.
Currently, they were near the foot of the mountain.
From the sky, black mud had already started to pour out.
"Wait here for me, Illya."
"Is that okay, Berserker?"
'If you fight, you will get hurt.'
Illya hated seeing Shirou get hurt. She said with heartache, "Right now, it's okay even if you don't fight."
"No," Shirou said softly, "this is necessary."
"But…", Illya hugged him, "Berserker will die."
'And, will leave me!'
"Don't worry," Shirou placed his hand on her head, "It's precisely to survive, that I must fight."
Just before Medusa arrived, he stood up.
"It's okay to destroy the Holy Grail too, right, Illya?"
Tears accumulated in her eyes, the girl nodded hard, "Mm!"
"Well then…", He raised his only remaining right hand, "Projection, start!"
The moment the Noble Phantasm launched, Shirou followed right behind it.
'System-san, this time I just need success, failure is not allowed!'
BOOM!
The flowing air was reversed.
A contest of agility vs agility began.
The Noble Phantasm's attack was already close to impenetrable.
Yet Medusa, from behind, used her extremely flexible body, like a snake, eerily dodging the projected Noble Phantasm. And relying on the stake at the tail end of the chain… no, calling it a stake was wrong.
It was more like a short sword connected to an iron chain.
Just such an iron sword, in one hand, easily blocked Shirou's attack.
In that instant, System Shirou judged that against Medusa enhanced by monstrous strength, grappling was a bad idea.
He coldly pulled back his body, widened the distance, and like Gilgamesh activating Gate of Babylon, charged the Noble Phantasm attacks toward Medusa.
In two seconds, Medusa had already dodged dozens of times.
But even faster than her dodging was System Shirou's offense.
Footwork shifting and circling, iron chain collisions. Fast, faster, fastest, and even faster. The sparks flew from sword and chain collisions.
The two of them, like purple and red lightning, clashed repeatedly, splitting apart, then clashing again, then splitting again.
In the next breath's instant, the airborne Medusa spread her arms, revealing her Mystic Eyes.
System Shirou's sword swing suddenly paused.
"It's over, Berserker," Medusa's cold voice sounded behind Shirou.
"No, YOU'RE the one!", A voice colder than steel, "It's over!"
BOOM!
Chunks of earth shattered and collapsed.
Like giant building blocks smashed by a fist, forcibly thrown into the air.
Mana surged.
Two people's fists collided.
The indirect heat scorched the air, making the colors of the scene seem dyed with their auras.
Armor fusion.
Immunity to all physical, magical, and energy attacks A–A-rank and below.
Due to massive mana consumption, System Shirou only materialized one part.
Though it couldn't completely neutralize A+ rank Mystic Eyes, it was already enough.
The task he needed to complete, was done. To teach Shirou this technique.
['It's up to you now, host!"]
The spiral sword appeared in his hand. Shirou pulled bow with his foot in close-range.
If there was a field the system could not reach, besides housekeeping, it must be the archery he now possessed.
At the tip of a hundred-foot pole, he took one more step.
[Archery: A+]
"Rider!"
The spiral sword shot out.
"This time, it's really over!"
"Broken Phantasm!"
The building blocks flying in the sky melted and collapsed.
In the stillness before the explosion, Medusa did not resist. Instead, she said, "Sakura, I'll leave her to you."
BOOOOOM!
A violent storm swept the sky like thunderous wrath descending, wanting to destroy everything at the scene, and uproot it all.
"Berserker!", Illya climbed out from the slope, shouting against the storm.
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