What did it feel like to face the First Hassan?
It was like confronting Death itself, a constant barrage of death visions flashing through one's mind.
Outside the temple, the tall "old farmer" simply stood leaning on his sword, his cloak thrown back. The mere sight of him disrupted Guinevere's breathing, forcing her to close her eyes for a second to regain control.
"Your Grace, will you not ring the bell?"
"Thy fate is not to be sealed at this time."
"Will you not don your armor?"
"What thou seekest is naught but my swordsmanship."
"Tch. So you're actually willing to teach me?"
"Art thou not equally intrigued by the Mountain People?"
The First Hassan remained leaning on his sword. After a deep breath, Guinevere gripped the Replica Holy Sword with both hands. Though disappointed to learn it was only a spar, she adjusted her mindset further, focusing her entire consciousness on the match.
She knew she was strong. But precisely because of her strength, finding a master like the First Hassan—someone who could reveal the path to breaking through her limits in swordsmanship—was an incredibly rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It was even more extraordinary that he was willing to spar and offer guidance.
The standoff continued, tense and silent, until the First Hassan let out a soft chuckle and began to walk.
He moved like an ordinary old farmer, yet he also seemed to merge with the heavens and earth. Watching him, Guinevere understood the true meaning of the Unity of Heaven and Man. She knew that if she let him slowly approach her, just as Gawain had, she too would be unable to block his strike.
While that strike was what she sought, she wanted to witness more of his skill before being cut down by it.
Her thoughts surged. She recalled her earliest days of rigid, by-the-book sword practice, her progression to mastering the art and effortlessly finding openings in her opponents' defenses, and the period after her marriage to the King of Knights, when she constantly honed her skills by sparring with the knights in the training grounds. Her swordsmanship had evolved from simply finding openings to actively guiding her opponents into creating them.
As these memories flooded back, Guinevere's confidence in her own swordplay returned. Even if it was a self-deception, she forced herself to believe she could win.
For without that confidence, she wouldn't dare to draw her sword at all.
Meanwhile, the First Hassan sensed the shift in Guinevere's presence. A faint smile touched his lips, but his steps never faltered, and his own aura remained perfectly undisturbed.
He was curious to see how Guinevere would disrupt his advance.
Think, think, think. She recalled the First Hassan's strike that had killed Gawain—a single blow that seemed to embody a lifetime of accumulated knowledge.
Drawing on this sudden insight and rapid learning, Guinevere raised the Replica Holy Sword above her head, stepped forward, and assumed the stance for a simple Forward Slash—the very first technique she had practiced endlessly in her youth.
In that moment, Guinevere calmed her mind, infusing only a minimal amount of Mana into the blade. She met the First Hassan's gaze, her newfound confidence relentlessly shattering the illusion of death that loomed over her.
"I will win. I will not die here."
As she spoke these words, a smile spread across her own lips. She waited, waited for the First Hassan to step into her optimal striking range, then brought down the most standard of swords in a perfectly ordinary slash.
In truth, the moment Guinevere found the confidence to believe she could win, she had already gained the ability to withstand his strike.
Moreover, the First Hassan's sword had always fallen only upon those who deserved death.
Thus, faced with Guinevere's descending Holy Sword, he did not raise his own blade to block. Instead, he activated [Presence Concealment], causing her sword to lose its target. He continued to move in the state of Unity of Heaven and Man, arriving at her side unimpeded.
Though he excelled at frontal infiltration, his Class was still Assassin.
"Do not despair. Thou hast found thy path forward. Thou art also the first to dare raise thy sword against me. Had I met thy blade, our battle would have been a long and arduous one.
"I trust thou wilt not allow me to infiltrate from the front again."
In combat, the First Hassan maintained the imposing dignity of a powerful Assassin, his speech patterns differing from when he played the role of an old farmer.
But regardless of which persona he adopted, he was still himself.
After offering Guinevere his praise and acknowledgment, his figure vanished. When he reappeared, he had already retrieved his cloak and was walking like an ordinary old farmer toward the still-bustling East Village.
This "Azrael," who walked hand in hand with death, seemed to desire nothing more than the vibrant life before him.
He was gone. Guinevere's sword had struck empty air. In the end, she had failed to create an opening.
But as she retracted her sword and collapsed onto her back, Guinevere covered her face with one hand and burst into joyous laughter.
She had indeed seen the path forward for her swordsmanship: the principle she already knew, "Return to Simplicity."
"First Hassan, thank you," she said. "Without your pressure and your swordsmanship, I don't know how long it would have taken me to remember this."
Just by finding this path, Guinevere's swordsmanship had taken a great leap forward. Her recent Forward Slash was an attack that only a select few, like the First Hassan, could have dodged.
Had it been Mash, for instance, she would have had no choice but to raise her shield and brace for impact, only to be sent flying by the immense force—and that was only because her shield was the Round Table itself.
"Ruler, are you satisfied with just this?"
"What else can I do? The First Hassan said my destiny hasn't arrived and refused to kill me. I can't exactly shamelessly beg him to strike me down, can I? Besides, I've already gotten what I truly wanted."
Mash and Ritsuka lay down on either side of Guinevere, the three of them gazing up at the starry sky and the festive fires of East Village.
Gradually, Guinevere relayed the message the Lion King had entrusted to her: the next Singularity was in a more ancient era, and its Holy Grail had been personally delivered by the "King of Magecraft."
Truthfully, Guinevere desperately wanted to reveal the truth about Doctor Romani and the "King of Magecraft." But she knew that revealing it now would only create unnecessary complications, giving the Demon God King—who was surely watching their journey—time to prepare.
"Mash, Ritsuka, I'll return the Holy Grail to you at dawn. If you need me in the next Singularity, remember to summon me!"
Guinevere, who adored the story of Absolute Demonic Beast Front: Babylonia, simply wanted to experience that era for herself. She knew the Chaldea team would undoubtedly clear this 'instance'.
"Ruler, I'll remember your words. If we need you, I'll definitely summon you."
Lying on the left, Ritsuka spoke earnestly. She was delighted Guinevere was willing to continue helping.
Mash, however, couldn't help but recall Guinevere's mischievous side—her audacity to demand honorifics from her "elder sister." The thought of summoning Guinevere again made her anticipate a tumultuous journey ahead.
"Mash, Ritsuka, Da Vinci-chan is truly amazing! She even managed to create fireworks in this era! What do you say? Shouldn't we get up and enjoy them together?
Tonight, let's all have a good time. Moments like this, where we don't have to worry about anything, are rare for us, aren't they?"
She pulled them to their feet, roughly tousled their hair, slung her arms around their shoulders, and shoved them forward, running toward East Village.
Since First Hassan hadn't severed her head, allowing the Singularity to persist a little longer, Guinevere resolved to enjoy every last moment.
Laughter, revelry, and fireworks bloomed in the sky until the entire group gathered at the highest point in East Village to witness the glorious sunrise break over the horizon.
Whether it was Chaldea's journey or Guinevere's own odyssey, both would continue.