"DAMN YOU!!"
A final roar lingered in the air, scattering on the breeze.
The Most Ancient King, who had reigned above all others, met his end by his own hand -- forced to suicide.
All that remained was a single orange sphere, drifting down. Lelouch caught it.
Two stars glinted on its surface. The Dragon Ball that had once belonged to Kotomine Kirei.
"Hah... is it finally over?"
Watching the conflict reach its conclusion, Waver collapsed onto the ground. Every nerve he'd been clenching for hours finally released.
He'd lost count of how many times he'd stared death in the face. Never in his life had he been this terrified.
"Wahhh!! Give it back!"
But a petulant wail drew his attention.
The little girl in Berserker's arms was still crying.
Yet the Servant simply held her with an indulgent smile, making no further move.
Though Waver didn't fully understand why Berserker had voluntarily withdrawn, the relief was immense.
Dealing with Archer alone had cost Rider every "chess piece" he had.
Facing Berserker on top of that? Unthinkable.
"Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty!"
Nearby, Tokiomi and the just-arrived Risei rushed to Lelouch's side, presenting the remaining Dragon Balls.
Saber's one-star ball.
Assassin's two-star ball.
Lancer's three-star ball.
Berserker's four-star ball.
Archer's five-star ball.
Caster's six-star ball.
And Rider's seven-star ball.
All seven Dragon Balls, from every faction, assembled at last.
"Only the victor earns the right to wish."
"Once all seven are gathered, speak the incantation and summon the entity that can grant any desire."
"Shenron."
Lelouch gazed at the glowing orbs arrayed on the ground.
Then he turned to Waver, still sitting on the pavement.
"Uh--"
Catching on, Waver scrambled to his feet and moved to Lelouch's side.
The summoning incantation was known only to the Masters.
Servants who had been summoned for the war would never learn it.
That was precisely why Lelouch had been careful not to antagonize Waver from the very beginning.
He hadn't known the mechanism through which the incantation was stored.
A wrong move could have ruined everything.
"Think carefully."
"You can still stop me."
"My Geass only works once per person. I can no longer compel you."
But Lelouch fixed Waver with a playful smile and offered a genuine warning.
"Heh, jokes aside."
"I'm not going to be rattled by you anymore."
"Besides, thanks to you, I survived this war. That's more than enough."
Waver sighed, understanding Lelouch's intent perfectly.
A test.
One that was entirely unnecessary.
After all they'd been through, each could guess what the other was thinking.
Ceding the wish to Rider was no great sacrifice for Waver.
"Come forth, Shenron!"
The short incantation left Waver's lips. The seven orbs on the ground erupted with blinding pillars of light.
Like bolts of lightning, the beams lanced skyward.
The clouds Ea had scattered earlier now surged back, gathering into a roiling mass of thunder and darkness, bristling with primal force.
An enormous "dragon" materialized above Fuyuki City, sparking instant panic in the streets below.
"Now then. I shall grant you any wish."
"Speak your desire!"
That resonant voice rolled across the entire city.
"So that's Shenron?"
From a distant rooftop, Saber stared at the spectacle -- the prize that only the victor could claim.
Unlike the winged dragons she knew from her homeland, this was an Eastern dragon of legend.
"Hey, this is way too flashy!!"
"Nobody mentioned THIS!!"
Waver stumbled backward, knowing full well that a commotion of this scale would cause enormous problems.
"Hmph. So it's not a hoax after all."
Lelouch, by contrast, ignored the pandemonium, gazing upward with keen interest.
He'd genuinely worried the finale might turn out to be one grand deception.
But the evidence floating above his head was indisputable.
"Any wish at all?"
"Any wish at all!"
He tested the claim. Shenron answered immediately.
The dragon's vast serpentine body wound across the sky like a great wall, its voice a rumbling earthquake.
Head bowed, Lelouch reflected. He recalled his original purpose.
A world drowning in hatred and war. Someone had to intervene.
He and Suzaku had formulated a plan. But now, a better method existed.
'Brother...'
'Lelouch.'
'Lelouch.'
Faces flashed through his mind. From student to Zero. From Zero to Emperor.
To change the world.
That was what Lelouch Vi Britannia desired.
"However--"
"I will not entrust another to do it. I cannot trust a world reshaped by someone else's hands!"
"So--"
"I will change it myself! With my own two hands! For Nunnally, for Suzaku, for everyone!"
Resolute eyes met the colossal dragon. Lelouch's voice rang with steel.
"Grant me..."
"The power to change the world!!"
The magnitude of that ambition -- that ferocious, all-consuming want -- sent chills down every spine present.
"Understood."
Crimson eyes flared with light. The dragon acknowledged the wish.
"Your wish has been granted!"
"Huh? A wish like THAT can be fulfilled?"
Waver couldn't articulate the shock ricocheting through him.
"Rider?"
Turning to look at Lelouch, Waver noticed him in deep contemplation.
"Hmph."
"Heh heh heh!!"
The low, familiar chuckle that followed made Waver uneasy.
"Yes. This will do nicely."
Lelouch's satisfied murmur only deepened Waver's confusion.
"Now then--"
"State your second wish!"
Both Lelouch and Waver went rigid.
"?"
"!"
In the distance, even Berserker and Kariya froze.
"There's a SECOND wish?"
"Of course! Because both Master and Servant survived, I may grant two wishes!"
Waver's stunned inquiry received a matter-of-fact answer.
"I see... so that's why the system paired Masters with Servants."
"A trial of the bond between them?"
"What a god with terrible taste."
Recovering his composure, Lelouch scoffed with amusement.
If the participants had known two wishes were available from the start, alliances would have formed far more readily.
Two factions might have easily split the wishes evenly.
But by concealing this, the organizer ensured every Master and Servant grappled with a single question.
If only one wish existed, whose would it be -- the Master's or the Servant's?
Every participant had their own "need." If the prize was singular, infighting was inevitable.
That he and Waver were the exception only made the rule crueler.
By revealing this now, the entity was mocking every team that had self-destructed over a conflict that needn't have existed.
"Why are you standing there in a daze?"
"Huh?"
"You're one of the victors. You have every right to wish."
"I'm not so greedy as to need a second wish."
This wasn't false modesty. Lelouch genuinely acknowledged the young man who'd endured this nightmare alongside him.
Besides, the first wish had already given him everything he needed.
"Uh--"
Waver stepped forward, craning his neck at the colossal dragon overhead. Anxiety and excitement tangled together.
He hadn't been remotely prepared for this.
His mind raced, scattered, formless.
The ability to have a wish granted was...
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]