"Victor's daughter, I am not your father," Charles Babbage said.
—!
"But… I do not deny your existence," he continued.
"Victor's daughter, live well. Your existence… is not an impossible fantasy."
"Thank you, Sensei," Fran whispered.
Under London's gray, fog-shrouded skies, rain threatened to fall as the heroes' battle unfolded—
"UUUUUUUUU—!!!" Fran roared.
Brandishing her greatsword, Fran channeled a staggering surge of electricity into her body. Sparks erupted, making the scenery flicker wildly.
"All or nothing!" she cried. "One strike to end it! Everyone, buy me time…!"
"Got it!!" Mordred shouted.
Mordred fearlessly charged the runaway mechanical giant that Babbage had become.
'!!!'
"Hold on!" Mordred yelled. "The daughter you cherished will stop you!!"
Dodging the swinging arms, she struck.
"Daaah!!"
Clarent flashed like lightning, slashing and carving.
'!!!'
"What—?!" Mordred gasped.
The steel was unyielding. The Round Table knight's sword didn't leave a scratch on the armor.
"Gaaah—!!" Mordred cried.
A direct hit from Babbage's left arm sent her crashing into a building.
"Mordred!" Rikka called.
"What are you doing, foolish son?!" Artoria shouted.
"Guh… what insane strength…" Mordred groaned. "Losing to a Caster in power…?"
"Natural," the Hero King said. "He's driven by the Grail's mana, exceeding his limits. A reckless blow, not meant to preserve him. Plus, his armor is his dreamed world itself. Only a defense-specialized Heroic Spirit could block it—"
"Mash!" Rikka called.
"Yes, Senpai!!" Mash responded.
She stood before the advancing Babbage.
"Suu—!" she breathed.
'!!!'
As the giant club descended—
"—!!" Mash braced, blocking it with her snowflake shield, holding firm—!
"Like that," the King said. "Only a defense-focused Heroic Spirit could manage. …How long do you plan to play wall, Traitor?"
"I get it!" Mordred roared, blasting rubble aside. "Mash is one thing, but letting that shield guy steal the show? No way!!"
The two Sabers charged boldly!
"Now, merely flailing isn't enough," the King said, smirking. "I expect more, Steam King."
Arms crossed, he laughed with delight.
I select treasures. Impact and crushing weapons, deployed. Twenty gates max to limit collateral damage.
For contingencies, I select swords and spears as backups. I must prepare for all possibilities—
"Babbage-sensei…" Fran murmured mid-charge.
"I know, Fran," Rikka said. "He's suffering, isn't he?"
"Ugh…" Fran nodded.
"We want to stop him," Rikka said.
"Ugh, ugh," Fran agreed.
"We will stop him!" Rikka declared.
"Ugh—!!" Fran affirmed.
Their eyes met, nodding in unison.
'!!'
Babbage staggered under the Sabers' attacks.
"Take that, big guy!" Mordred shouted. "No defeat for me and Father!!"
"No slacking!" Artoria said. "One world's Hero King is enough for arrogance!"
"Haha, cheeky!" the King laughed. "No rebuttal—it's true. A lesson for you: when facing another me, bind with Chains of Heaven and crush with Ea! An arrogant lesser mongrel can't counter and turns to dust! What? Only you have Ea and chains? Irrelevant! That's beyond my purview! Curse your pitiful pockets! …Dust? Dust and dregs—HAAA—HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"
I see… The surefire way to defeat another Hero King: bind and cleave the world. I'll execute it without fail.
"This guy's loud!! …!?" Mordred snapped.
A massive mana surge made both Sabers turn to Babbage.
'—!!'
In sync with Babbage's whirring, over a hundred Helter Skelters appeared, steam-world soldiers charging as one!
"Hah—? Oh, right, we're fighting," the King said. "Hmph, amusing! Summoning minions after the first phase— you know a boss battle, don't you?"
"Tch, mowing down rabble as expected!!" Mordred spat.
"No time for fodder," Artoria said. "They're not even worth EXP—"
"Then leave it to me!" Rikka said, raising her hand. "Come, 'Suzuka'!"
Light flashed.
"Heyy! Finally my turn, yo!" Suzuka Gozen, the JK Saber in frilly Japanese garb, appeared in foggy London. "This fog's wack! Humidity's insane! My hair's sticking, ugh!"
"Suzuka, mad respect!" Rikka said. "Your Noble Phantasm's perfect!"
"Special treatment, huh?" Suzuka grinned. "Alright, gorilla duo, dash it!"
"Huh?!" Mordred snapped.
"…Lucky we're in Chaldea," Artoria muttered.
"Gil! Some cover fire!" Rikka called.
"Hmph, very well!" the King replied.
"Let's do a fox's wedding!" Suzuka said. "A jab at some irrelevant meddling fox! 'Sutra, unraveling the pillow, the famed Daitsuren. Like tiled roofs, eight clouds rise'… uh…"
"Artemis! Grant my wish!" Rikka called.
"Sure thing!" Artemis replied.
"Blanket suppression's my forte, though a bad habit!" the King said. "'King's Gate of—'"
Suzuka summoned countless swords overhead. Rikka channeled Artemis, producing endless arrows. The King revealed a glimpse of his lavish treasury.
"'Moldy junk, sparrow stab! Monju Wisdom Blade, Great Divine Power! Love blast! 'Tenkiame'!'" Suzuka shouted.
"Fire! 'To you, moonlight!'" Rikka called.
"Go, Rikka!" Artemis cheered.
Selection complete!
"'Babylon Treasury'!!" the King roared. "Clearing the way is my specialty! Become silent scrap!! Fuhahahaha!! This is true splendor!!"
Countless swords, moon-blessed laser arrows, and opulent treasures rained down, launched, and struck like a tidal wave—!
"Sync up, Father!!" Mordred called.
"Just this once!" Artoria replied.
"On my shoulder!!" Mash shouted.
Using Mash's shoulder as a springboard, they leaped with mana bursts.
"Daaaah!!" Mordred roared.
"Hah!!" Artoria struck.
Their swords slammed into Babbage, carving an X-shaped wound, steam gushing like blood.
'—!!'
"Sha!!" Mordred cheered.
"It worked!" Artoria said. "But don't let your guard down!"
"This'll be easy…" Mordred started.
Both froze.
"—My dreamed steam world—!" Babbage declared.
Steam erupted from his body, generating immense mana. The reckless output clearly exceeded his limits…!
This is bad—could it be…!
"I see, self-destruction," the King said, unfazed. "A fitting choice for a failed civilization's dream."
"His Spirit Core and Reality Marble as a detonator," he continued. "It'll blow away this city."
"What—?!" Mash gasped.
The King's right.
Overloading a Servant's vessel and detonating it, with a Reality Marble added—no wonder it could erase a city!
"You planning to take us with you?!" Mordred snarled.
"Romani! Prepare to project a Reality Marble!" Marie ordered.
"Got it! But it's tight—will we make it…?" Romani replied.
Marie and Romani began countering the world-altering explosion.
"Master, permission for my Noble Phantasm," Artoria said calmly.
"My holy sword can erase him without detonation," she said. "Though it'll cause some damage."
"Artoria…" Rikka murmured.
"Wait, Father!" Mordred said. "This is your…!"
"That's why," Artoria said. "A king's choice: 'minimal sacrifice with a holy sword' to save London."
"That's not—!" Mordred protested. "I won't accept it!!"
"Rebelling again, Mordred?" Artoria sighed.
"Yeah!" Mordred said. "This is the land you loved, protected! I won't let you destroy it! 'Only I get to defile Father's land!' Even you won't be forgiven!"
"I see," Artoria said. "…Master."
"—" Rikka hesitated.
"My foolish son's noisy," Artoria said. "Use a Command Seal to override him."
"…Rikka!" Mordred pleaded.
"No! 'When there's no other way'!" Rikka said, thumbs up. "It's too early to give up!"
"—Because we made it!" she added.
Thunder roared!
"—Charge complete!! Sorry for the wait!!" Fran shouted.
Her weapon morphed into a lightning sword.
"With everything I have!!" Fran declared. "I'll stop Babbage-sensei!"
"Fran!!" Mordred cheered. "See, Father? Too early to quit!!"
"—" Artoria was silent.
"No issue," the King said. "Let her try. I'd hate to dull your sword."
"Please, Master, Fran," Artoria said.
"Ugh—!!!" Fran roared.
"Of course! Command Seal to Fran!" Rikka said. "Go!!"
"Now, Fran, show me!" the King said. "Prove your monstrous heroism with this thunderstrike!"
"Yes!! Here I go! Babbage-sensei!!" Fran cried.
Shattering asphalt, she leaped—
"Shock hit! Zappy—BOOM!!"
A massive lightning blade, dwarfing her, materialized.
"'Skewering Thunder Blade: Scoured Plasma Blade'!! Super robot blade!! Go—!!!"
It swung straight at the wavering scholar—!!
'—!!!'
"WAAAAAAAHHH—!!" Fran screamed.
Babbage's steam clashed with Fran's lightning, the shockwave blasting everything away!
"'Jeanne'!! Protect everyone!! Mash!!" Rikka called, summoning Jeanne and recalling Mash.
"Yes! My flag, shield my comrades!" Jeanne declared.
"Noble Phantasm, deploying—!!" Mash shouted.
The snowflake shield and guardian flag protected the team—!
"The outcome's clear," the King declared with certainty.
"Really?!" Rikka asked.
"No need to look," he said. "A puppet who lost his ideals—"
"My ideals, my thoughts—!" Babbage groaned.
Cracks spiderwebbed across his body.
"—Versus one who fights with all her soul for a friend," the King said.
"WUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAHHH—!!" Fran roared.
As the steam weakened—
"It's a matter of spirit," the King said. "Victory isn't for the strongest."
The gentle monster's full spirit—
"It's for the one with the fieriest resolve!" the King proclaimed.
"Awesome, Fran!! Go!!" Rikka cheered.
Now!
"Reach him—!!" Rikka urged.
Free your mentor from cursed chains—!!
"Babbage-sensei—!!!" Fran screamed.
Her max-output lightning blade struck—
"Victor's daughter," Babbage said.
"Ugh—!" Fran gasped.
No, not a machine—
"Thank you," he said.
"Ugh…!" Fran trembled.
A human hand, warm and real, gently caressed Fran's cheek…
"Functionality fully ceased," Romani reported.
The Steam King's functions stopped, his form dissolving into particles.
"Victor's daughter, my heartfelt thanks," Babbage said. "The fog I saw has been cleared by your thunder."
"Babbage… Sensei…" Fran whispered.
"You are not a failure," he said.
"—!!!" Fran gasped.
"Your tears, your sincerity, your kindness… You hold all that is pure and beautiful."
"…Ah…" Fran choked.
"Even if unlovable by your creator, even if rejected…"
His crumbling right hand patted Fran's head.
"The world… I… love you and your existence…"
"Ah… Babbage, Sensei…!" Fran sobbed.
"Humanity's last Master," Babbage said.
"Yes," Rikka replied.
"To the underground," he said. "Angrboda lies there… the heart of our plan."
"…Yes," Rikka nodded.
"Though my dreamed world never came to be…"
He weakened, slumping.
"I… don't wish to destroy your world, neighbors… Hero King—"
"Speak your final words, Steam King," the King said.
"In Victor's stead, my thanks…" Babbage said. "For giving this daughter words… My heartfelt gratitude… Please, please…"*
Yes.
"No worries," the King said. "We'll protect her. Sleep without regrets, delusional king."
"Thank you—"
His dissipation completed.
"…Ah," Fran murmured.
"…Fran…" Rikka said softly.
"…Ah, ugh, aaah…" Fran trembled.
"Cry if you need to," the King said.
"!!" Fran started.
Yes.
Humans… can cry when they're sad.
That's…
"I permit it," the King said. "You have a heart that grieves, mourns, and sheds tears."
"—Ughhh… Aaah… Sensei, Babbage-sensei…!!" Fran wailed.
Rain fell in the foggy city.
Droplets became rain, rain became tears.
"Fran…!" Rikka embraced her.
"Sensei, Sensei! Aaaah!! AAAAAHH!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH—!!" Fran sobbed.
As if to comfort the gentle monster's endless tears—
"AAAAAAAAHHHH—!!!" she cried.
The rain… quietly struck the grieving girl's heart…
"Destination set," the King said.
"Yeah," Rikka agreed.
"Leave Fran to Jekyll," the King said. "Let's end this absurd Singularity."
"—Yeah!" Rikka nodded.
"Then I'll select fitting treasures," the King said. "A stroll underground isn't a king's march."
Of course, selection's done. The 'Descent' treasure: optical fiber elevator.
"This'll get us there instantly," the King said. "Ready, Artoria, Master?"
"Yes, let's settle this," Artoria said.
"Yeah!! But, just for a bit," Rikka said.
"?" the King tilted his head.
"Let's stay with Fran until she calms down," Rikka said.
Of course.
-------------------------------
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