Wu Ling calmly looked down at the group that had come before him. There were five of them, but the only one who truly drew his attention was Fujimaru Ritsuka. Even with a living Artoria before him, his gaze did not change.
"You came," Wu Ling said softly.
Fujimaru Ritsuka froze for a moment, then replied, "I came."
"You should not have come."
"But I am already here."
Kadoc, Mash, and the others looked from Fujimaru Ritsuka to Wu Ling. Their faces were full of confusion.
Wu Ling smiled faintly. "Not bad. Even with a certain meddlesome ancient little girl interfering, being able to borrow strength well is still an advantage for a Master."
Then Wu Ling's expression turned cold. The enormous magical energy spilling from him by instinct alone made everyone tense.
In their eyes, if the Wu Ling from a moment ago had spoken to Fujimaru Ritsuka as an ordinary person, then the Wu Ling now stood as an Evil of Humanity, facing Fujimaru Ritsuka as a challenger.
"Relax. My Servants have not all failed yet, so I will not act. You have enough time to prepare for battle. Until then, I will not go anywhere."
"Of course, you may choose to fight, or you may wait until the Servants on your side defeat all of mine, gather every bit of strength you have, and then challenge me together. Before that, I do not mind talking with you."
Fujimaru Ritsuka's eyes shifted slightly after he heard Wu Ling. Kadoc also gave him a look. They knew too little about Wu Ling, and this was a chance to gather information.
In a battle between Servants, when two sides were close in strength, information could matter even more than raw combat power. Even when the gap was wide, information could sometimes allow the weaker side to overturn the stronger one.
Beyond gathering information, Fujimaru Ritsuka had another thought. He wanted to see whether Wu Ling could be persuaded. None of the Evils of Humanity they had encountered before had been stopped that way, but Fou's example still lingered in his mind. Wu Ling was also far better than previous Evils of Humanity in both his attitude toward them and the nature of his evil against humanity.
"Why... do you want to destroy the world?"
As expected of Fujimaru Ritsuka, the question was a straight pitch. Even Wu Ling froze for a moment.
Beside him, Kadoc's expression changed as he kept signaling Fujimaru Ritsuka with his eyes. Who asked a question like that? Yet to his surprise, Wu Ling answered.
"Ahahaha. Direct, are we? I like that. The answer is troublesome if explained in detail, but simple if reduced to its key point. It comes down to the principle of Rebellion that I govern."
"I want to leave this world and gain freedom, but Alaya wants to restrict me. She does not want me to leave. Even if I do leave, she wants me to leave something behind, something tied to my very existence."
"Alaya is the Counter Force, right? Why does she want to restrict your departure, and why do you have to leave?" Fujimaru Ritsuka asked again.
Wu Ling thought about how to explain it. If he started from the beginning, he would have to explain too many other things. That would be too much trouble.
"Let me put it this way. For certain reasons, I fused with part of this world's rules. If I leave, this world loses a piece of itself, so she does not want me to go."
"As for why I want to leave, there are two reasons. First, Alaya's attitude is terrible. She tried to discard me the moment I finished being useful. Second, I still have family outside. I would like to go back for the holidays now and then. And compared with this tiny patch of land, the infinite worlds outside have successfully awakened my curiosity."
"To be honest, I am actually a homebody. If I played outside and got tired, having a place like this to rest would be nice. But imagine dying for no clear reason, being given a mission, being told you will die if you refuse, risking your life to complete it, and then being told, now that you are useless, either stay obediently in a cage until the next time you are needed or return to being ordinary. No matter how you think about it, you would not submit quietly."
As he reached that point, Wu Ling suddenly looked seriously at Fujimaru Ritsuka. He realized that what he had just said fit this person quite well.
"Fujimaru Ritsuka, I remember you are only an ordinary person too."
Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded. "Yes."
"Then I will give you two choices."
"First, after you solve everything, abandon all of these experiences. That includes your bonds and memories with the Servants, your feelings for Mash, Da Vinci, and everyone in Chaldea. Then return to an ordinary life where you can see the end from the beginning and simply wait to die."
"Second, keep all of that, but live in a city you can never leave. None of your friends or family are there. You cannot contact anyone outside the city by any means. When you are needed, you are pulled out. When you are no longer useful, you are thrown back in. Which would you choose?"
Fujimaru Ritsuka fell silent. He was an emotional person by nature. This life could kill him at any time, but here there were people who cared about him and people he cared about. He could not abandon those bonds and return to a flat, dull, empty daily life.
Fujimaru Ritsuka stayed silent for a long time. At last, he raised his head and looked at Wu Ling on the throne. Their eyes met, and Wu Ling understood what Fujimaru Ritsuka's gaze meant.
"You understand me, but precisely because you do not want to abandon those things either, you must defeat me?"
Wu Ling smiled again. This time, his smile was joyful, because this was the Fujimaru Ritsuka he knew.
Wu Ling stood from the throne and looked down at Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had challenged him.
"Come. Show me your resolve."
Fujimaru Ritsuka raised his right hand. The three red Command Spells on it shone with clear color.
"By my Command Spell, Mash, Artoria, bring me victory!"
"Understood, Master!"
"Understood. EX... Curry Stick!"
Wu Ling returned to that space once more. Alaya stood there with her cheeks puffed out and her lips pressed into a pout, frustration rippling visibly from her body.
"I won," Wu Ling said calmly.
Every Evil of Humanity originally had a corresponding Grand. Goetia required Grand Caster Solomon. Tiamat needed Grand Assassin to grant her the concept of death. Koyanskaya faced a Grand Archer with anti-Beast properties.
This time, however, Wu Ling was an exception. Since Wu Ling had no legend in this world, Alaya could not find anyone with effective killing power against him.
Grand Assassin had been dealt with. Grand Saber had been blocked. The other Grand-class candidates posed little threat to Wu Ling. Gilgamesh, whom she had placed hope in, had instead been stopped by Wu Ling's First Hassan.
It was as if Wu Ling knew Fujimaru Ritsuka's methods, or Alaya's method of solving such crises, extremely well. Every arrangement had been inside his plan. The clearest proof was that, even at the end, the four battlefields were still not over. Wu Ling had ordered them to drag out time rather than take risks.
"Fine, fine. You won. I will keep the agreement. You can leave now. If you want to make a winner's speech, I will listen." Alaya waved her small hand, as casual as if she were shooing away a guest.
Wu Ling had no habit of making victory speeches. Still, he left one sentence behind.
"The process was unpleasant, but I had quite a lot of fun."
Then Wu Ling left this world, leaving Alaya alone there, pouting in displeasure.
In the void outside the world, Wu Ling stretched. From here on, he was free to swim the open sea and fly beneath an endless sky. Without the Type Moon world's pull on him, he could finally take a proper look at the endless worlds.
The thought of unknown worlds waiting one after another made even someone with Wu Ling's temperament feel excitement rise inside him.
"Then, what will the next world be?"
End of the book.