"Artoria! Your charges are growing weak! Are you hungry? Don't tell me you haven't had a single proper meal since you built New Camelot City!"
The Holy Grail's mana supply seemed endless, and Guinevere's control over her Deified Power grew more refined. Yet, in terms of raw stats, she was still outmatched by the Lion King. She could only rely on her swordsmanship and her deep understanding of the Lion King's spear techniques to fight her to a near-stalemate, always just half a step behind.
But as time wore on and the Lion King recalled more of her past, her emerald eyes filled with increasing humanity. Her charges became sloppier, riddled with openings that gave Guinevere enough time to taunt her.
The Lion King paused, a sense of resignation washing over her. She sighed inwardly. This truly isn't my Guinevere.
Her Guinevere was gentle and virtuous, not wild and vivacious like the woman before her—and certainly not one to wield Her Holy Sword in rebellion against Her.
"Indeed," the Lion King replied, her voice steady. "I have eaten nothing since arriving here, but that is of no consequence. I remember now... that forest, that hill, and the knight who cared for me until the very end, his eyes swollen from weeping.
"Guinevere, if you can truly defeat me with my final strike, then go and tell him for me...
"'You did beautifully. The Holy Sword has been returned. My last and most loyal knight, you may hold your head high.'"
A storm gathered around the Holy Lance. Dun Stallion snorted impatiently, as if it too understood that if the battle remained a clash of blades, it would rage until the end of time. With both combatants possessing infinite mana, victory would only come when one of them broke through their current limits and achieved a new level of martial prowess.
But by abandoning the Chosen of the Holy Selection and ceasing to sustain this Singularity, the Lion King had bought herself very little time.
In truth, the Singularity was now sustained by the Holy Grail within Guinevere. The Lion King knew that the moment Guinevere realized this, the Singularity's restoration would be complete.
At this moment, the Lion King's emerald eyes had regained their clarity. Just as Merlin had foretold, the return of the Holy Sword had allowed her to remember everything. True to her original nature, she immediately recognized her error and, suppressing her emotions, prepared to self-destruct.
"Guinevere," she declared, "withstand the full power of the Holy Lance and prove the truth of your claims."
Previously, the Lion King had borne the weight of humanity's continued existence, single-handedly sustaining the entire Singularity, yet she had still overwhelmed Guinevere's full-powered assault. Now, with her obsession gone and her power withdrawn, she sought only to see if Guinevere could live up to her defiant words.
The storm intensified, the roar of the World's End tide growing more frequent. Raising the Holy Lance high, the Lion King spurred her steed into the sky.
In the final moments of battle, the simplest and most practical method of resolution remained a direct clash of Noble Phantasms.
As the Storm Goddess, the Lion King still held complete mastery over the Holy Lance. To unleash its full power, she had no need to release its Thirteen Restraints.
Conversely, if Guinevere failed to release all Thirteen Restraints, the Holy Sword in her hands would be no match for the Lion King.
"Sorry, old friend," she murmured apologetically, temporarily sheathing the Sword of Destined Judgment. "Releasing the Sword of Promised Victory requires both hands."
Once more, Guinevere raised the Sword of Promised Victory high above her head.
She was attempting to undo the Holy Sword's Thirteen Restraints. Seeing her intent, the Lion King slowed the Holy Lance's charge, waiting for her.
Guinevere's consciousness drifted to Camelot City, to the Throne Room, to the Round Table she knew so well, and to the thirteen figures seated there—all but herself.
As she had hoped, the Knights of the Round Table, who had never truly accepted the Lion King, consented to release the restraints corresponding to their ideals. They judged that this act aligned with the precepts of the restraints themselves.
Moreover, seated at the head of the table, appearing before them alongside Guinevere, was another possibility—the original Artoria Pendragon, the one who had lived out her life as a human.
Upon arriving in this Singularity, Avalon's rejection forced Artoria to use Guinevere's body as a vessel. However, this did not mean her summoned soul had vanished.
Their fusion had actually discarded Guinevere's physical form; her soul had remained within, observing everything.
She had witnessed Guinevere's struggles and all the blush-worthy things Guinevere had done using her body.
She had also resolved that once this journey ended, she would share all these memories with her other self—the one who already possessed a physical body in another timeline.
Her presence here was, of course, because the Holy Sword had specifically summoned her soul along with Guinevere's.
Similarly, after Bedivere was flogged, the last remnants of his soul were also forcibly drawn into this space.
But that wasn't all that happened to Bedivere. Because this was a gathering of Heroic Spirits, he caught the attention of the Counter Force.
The Counter Force immediately marked his soul, which was already flickering like a candle in the wind. He wanted to burn away both his soul and body, to disappear completely. But if he sought release, how could he possibly do so without first asking the Counter Force for permission?
"Bedivere, this is the message the Lion King asked me to deliver to you."
"As expected... the King remains as gentle as ever, to forgive Sir Bedivere for such a grave sin so readily."
After the flogging, Agravain felt the Holy Sword's summons and saw Mash smashing down with her shield. He simply chose to end his own life. He had already foreseen the Lion King's defeat. Lancers committing suicide—it's only natural, isn't it?
Besides, since Guinevere could wield the Holy Sword and demand the release of its Thirteen Restraints, the blade meant to destroy planetary threats would never lose to the Holy Lance—which, in truth, was not a single weapon but a series of anchors pinning the planet's inner and outer layers.
"I acknowledge this as a battle for truth."
Following the knights who had already opposed the Lion King, Agravain was the first to make this declaration.
After him, this world's Mordred rose from Lia's embrace, her expression a mix of melancholy and envy. "Is the Lion King evil?" she asked.
"Her ideal is pure and untainted, but ignorance itself is a form of evil."
"Alright then, I acknowledge it. This is a battle against an evil person. Mmm, Father... let me cling to you a little longer. I'm so jealous of my other self."
With time running short, Lia took the initiative to embrace her. This world's Mordred, for once not acting aloof, accepted the hug. Following Agravain and Mordred, Lancelot, Gawain, and Tristan gave their acknowledgments. Theirs came more easily. Only Lancelot asked for something to be passed on—a message for Ritsuka Fujimaru: he wished to be summoned to the real Chaldea.
The Twelfth Restraint fell to Bedivere, who had just been inscribed upon the Throne of Heroes. His condition was...
"I acknowledge this as a battle against one stronger than myself."
Having just been narrowly outmatched by the Lion King, he now found a way to even the score.
Finally, the Thirteenth Restraint was left for Artoria herself to declare...
"Artoria of another possibility, I hereby pronounce your sentence! You are one who has abandoned the world's continuation! You are an enemy to the restoration of the Human Order! You are...
...an enemy of the Planet."
This declaration served as both the release of the Holy Sword's Thirteenth Restraint and the result of Guinevere invoking her [Judgment].
She knew the Lion King had also been waiting—waiting for her errors to be pointed out, so she could finally receive her [Execution].
In reality, after a few seconds of silence, the Holy Sword in Guinevere's hand erupted with light countless times more intense than ever before. Following her declaration to the Lion King, the radiance of the Holy Lance and the Holy Sword clashed.
At the World's End, violent waves surged, refusing to calm for a long, long time.
Ultimately, it was the Holy Sword's light that engulfed the smiling Lion King.