"...Kill him."
"STOP!!!!!!!"
As the final crimson Command Seal on Emiya Kiritsugu's hand disappeared, something unexpected happened.
Although the Command Seal had been imposed upon Artoria, it instead seemed to have empowered Leon, further increasing his strength.
Very quickly, he forced the holy sword in Artoria's hands completely toward himself.
And then—
The tip of the holy sword pressed against Leon's chest.
Golden radiance began to shine.
Against Artoria's will, power accumulated within the blade—
and was released!
BOOM—
At the very end—
Artoria deliberately drained every last drop of her mana and disappeared together with Leon into the golden light unleashed by the holy sword.
Their relationship had begun with the holy sword.
And at this moment, it was also brought to an end by that same sword.
"What a foolish woman. If I want to find you later, you're going to make me go through quite a bit of trouble."
"No, Leon. Our relationship is only truly beginning now. On that endless day of reincarnation, I will wait… I will keep waiting… If you cannot come to our rendezvous, then that will simply be the punishment I, a king who 'does not understand the human heart,' deserve."
"What a… foolish woman…"
Leon and Artoria's voices intertwined as their spiritrons journeyed together into the Golden Holy Grail, the form taken by Irisviel.
There, the three of them reunited once more, as though they had never been separated.
And as Leon's Servant Spiritual Foundation dissipated, Aegis Sigma, the azure-rainbow shield supporting the Golden Holy Grail, also began silently collapsing.
A rainbow-colored phantom of Elle appeared before Emiya Kiritsugu.
In her cool, detached voice, she spoke on Leon's behalf:
"Emiya Kiritsugu, watch carefully. What comes next is the future dictated by your fate."
"What?!"
Kiritsugu froze.
Artoria's voluntary dissolution had likewise gone completely beyond his expectations.
Originally—
Kiritsugu had placed his hopes in Artoria, believing that, having finally abandoned her obsession with the Holy Grail, she would destroy the already-tainted Grail at the very end and bring this utterly meaningless Holy Grail War to a definitive conclusion.
But—
He had overlooked one thing.
With nothing more than three Command Seals binding them together, how much could he truly know about Artoria?
He had never once taken the initiative to understand what was in Artoria's heart.
The determination toward justice that had finally awakened within him had never been conveyed to Artoria at all.
Emiya Kiritsugu had once again been deceived by "Fate"!
BOOM—
The azure-rainbow shield completely collapsed!
With its support gone, the Golden Holy Grail suddenly trembled.
The Servant souls stored within it rose toward the heavens.
The shock of their return to the Throne of Heroes caused that magnificent gateway to open completely.
"That… what is that?!"
Emiya Kiritsugu stared blankly at the "Red Moon" that had appeared in the sky at some unknown point.
The scene he had witnessed in his dreams had now become reality!
The Root… had opened!
But…
Blocking the "entrance" was—
All the World's Evil!
It had already been stirring restlessly, waiting for its chance.
The accumulation of countless coincidences and accidents had finally released the beast imprisoned within the Holy Grail!
"Hahahahahaha!"
Just as Emiya Kiritsugu trembled in terror, completely at a loss for what to do, a voice filled with extreme delight and mockery rang beside him.
"!!!"
Kiritsugu's already terrified heart seemed to stop for a beat.
He stared blankly at the figure crawling out of the rubble.
"Gilgamesh?! How is that possible..."
"What? Are you surprised that this King is still alive?"
Gilgamesh's wounds rapidly regenerated before Kiritsugu's eyes.
His treasury contained no shortage of elixirs capable of healing injuries, although none possessed anything remotely as absurdly effective as Leon's regeneration.
Until he had awakened moments ago, Gilgamesh himself had believed he was dead.
But—
"Where is Odinson? That damned woman has disappeared as well…"
"So this is the 'Holy Grail' you people have been pursuing?"
"Heh~ How utterly foolish!"
"An abomination capable of polluting my domain actually dares to descend before me!"
"Hahahahahaha..."
Hearing those words, Emiya Kiritsugu suddenly broke down laughing.
The one who had given him hope at the very end was actually Gilgamesh—the man he had regarded as his greatest hypothetical enemy all along.
You've got to be kidding me!
Even fate had to have some limits when it came to tormenting a man!
Ignoring the mentally shattered Emiya Kiritsugu, Gilgamesh raised his hand and drew Ea, the Sword of Rupture.
A crimson vortex erupted into the heavens!
"Enuma Elish!"
(The Star of Creation That Split Heaven and Earth!)
"ROOOOOAR!!!!!!!"
All the World's Evil let out an unwilling roar.
Endless black mud poured down from the pitch-black aperture in the heavens!
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70+ chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789