บท 461: C461
Gilgamesh gave Shirou a pat on the shoulder, making him turn around.
Crossing his arms and lifting his nose, Gilgamesh said with a scoff, "Don't disappoint me, you mongrel."
Shirou looked at him, his face a mix of emotions. "Gilgamesh, did you know all along?"
"Hmph," Gilgamesh huffed, "Didn't I bring it up in the Clairvoyance Chat Group when I was alive? I told you ages ago that the fall of your kingdom was absurd."
"You're aware that sometimes Crimson Moon poses as Arcueid?"
Gilgamesh paused for a moment, then scoffed, "Hmph, there's nothing this king can't do. And my Sha Naqba Imuru is definitely way better than your eyes."
Shirou let out a sigh. "So, you didn't actually see it either."
Gilgamesh's brow furrowed, a look of disapproval settling in. "Human abilities are sometimes limited. Omniscience and omnipotence are nothing more than the narrow imaginations of ignorant masses. Anything born on this planet naturally cannot perceive things from other planets. That's just the way our world works."
He walked over to him, arms still crossed. "Listen up, Fujimaru Shirou. I'm not the comforting type. I prefer the ambitious, the proud, those unbound by what they 'can' and 'cannot' do. Those are the people who make my day. You, a decade ago, were the kind of person I could get behind. So, go on. You can't build a new future without tearing down some of the past. You must have a Plan B up your sleeve, don't you?"
Shirou looked at Gilgamesh's retreating figure with a complicated expression and said, "Aren't you too good at comforting people?"
Gilgamesh simply shot back a cold "Hmph."
Turning his attention to Solomon, Shirou said, "Solomon, send me to the outside world."
"I can do that, but I can't guarantee your landing point," Solomon responded evenly.
"It's fine. There's still a fragment of me out there; we can use it to pinpoint my location, and then you can send me there."
Solomon nodded in understanding. "Very well." With a flourish, light emanated from his hands, whisking him back into the outside world.
As Shirou vanished into thin air, Solomon turned his gaze to Gilgamesh. "Why refer to him as Fujimaru Shirou and not Eternal King?"
Gilgamesh let out an amused huff. "The pup may have grown, but to me, he's still that same brash kid from a decade ago."
Solomon tilted his head, genuine curiosity in his eyes. "But you used to call him Eternal King, didn't you?"
Annoyed, Gilgamesh grumbled, "For someone so empty, you're awfully chatty."
With a hint of longing, Solomon replied, "Because I want to be filled with purpose, just like you all. I want to be... complete."
...
Outside, watching Artoria collapse, Crimson Moon's face broke into a delighted smile.
Just as she was about to speak, a booming noise split the air and a rainbow-colored beam of light descended from the sky.
Annoyed, she furrowed her brows and tore apart the rainbow beam with her bare hands. Then, she shot a glare at Attila, her face clouded with a gloomy expression.
With a stern look, Attila declared, "You've laid a hand on my prey, Crimson Moon!"
Attila seethed with rage. Artoria was hers to claim, hers to destroy. The idea that someone could swoop in and snatch her prey was an affront she couldn't tolerate.
Gripping the Sword of Mars tightly, she lunged at Crimson Moon.
"Trying to face me without your original body?" Crimson Moon caught her wrist mid-swing and effortlessly tossed her aside.
Artoria snarled, glaring at her with clenched teeth. "Crimson Moon... you're the first to ignite this level of hatred inside me!"
Crimson Moon turned to face the fading woman. "Go back to your eternal prison."
After a pause, her lips curled into a sadistic smile. "There, you can await your so-called 'salvation' and relish in its never-ending, agonizing despair."
As Attila made another lunge at Crimson Moon, she was swiftly met with a kick that sent her flying back.
At the same time, Galahad and Gareth unleashed their own assault on Crimson Moon.
"Your Highness..." Gray's eyes were filled with worry.
Artoria reached into her pocket, her fingers closing around the blank card Gilgamesh had given her.
— "If I were in your shoes, I'd kill that True Ancestor who used Mystic Eyes on you without your consent."
— "Take it; you'll thank me for it."
Gripping the blank card, she replayed Gilgamesh's words in her head. It seemed she owed him now.
She understood that while he might not have caught on to Crimson Moon masquerading as Arcueid, he'd definitely sensed something off about her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have uttered those words.
Back in London, someone had already given her a warning. Perhaps that person knew about this situation, or perhaps they were referring to something else entirely.
Regardless, an intense feeling of hatred had now arisen in her heart, unlike any she had ever felt before.
Not even Attila had evoked such intense hatred.
Everything she cherished had been destroyed by this person – her loyalty, honor, trust... Not a single trace remained; this person had wiped away everything she had.
Artoria's gaze turned icy as she watched Crimson Moon effortlessly deal with Galahad, Gareth, and Attila.
Her hand clutched the Class Card, which began to glow with a vivid light.
Just as there was a slot for Shirou in the Throne of Heroes, so too was there a place for her, along with myriad parallel-world versions of herself.
Fueled by her intense loathing and rage, she used the Ainsworth's Class Card to link to her own heroic record—a catalog of her significant deeds. This link extended all the way to her original body, held captive in a temporal-spatial prison.
"Crackle..."
A soft glow emanated from the blank card, as the outline of a knight's emblem began to materialize on its surface.
Rider-Artoria!
This was the Rider Class she had always wanted for the Fourth Holy Grail War, representing her at her strongest!
Gripping the Class Card tightly, she activated its power. Her body started to transform.
"Hmm?"
Crimson Moon paused, visibly taken aback as she turned to look.
Before her, Artoria's wounds had mended. But it wasn't just about the healing. Gone was the image of the young, almost naive knight. Instead stood the King of Knights, who had killed the White Dragon, defeated the likes of Crimson Moon, and bested Attila – the King of Knights in her Rider form!
Standing tall at around 1.7 meters, her figure was draped in a bluish-silver armor. Her helmet bore the likeness of a lion, reminiscent of the famed Lion King.
Attila, witnessing Artoria's transformation, could barely contain her excitement. The blood in her veins ignited, boiling with anticipation.
This was the king who had bested her, her archenemy!
"How can this be?" Crimson Moon blurted out, her face a mix of astonishment and disbelief. "Why do you still have a Class Card?"
Hadn't she accounted for this in her calculations? She had destroyed Artoria's Class Card first to ensure her downfall, preventing her from making a comeback. Then, she leisurely revealed the truth, savoring the despair that clouded Artoria's face.
So why? Why did Artoria still have a Class Card?
"I will never forgive you... absolutely won't forgive you... Crimson Moon!!" Artoria's voice seethed, resounding from beneath her lion-shaped helmet.
Crimson Moon hesitated for a moment before smiling. "It's futile. I've already destroyed the sword of the planet. Even if you resurrect and come back in this form, it changes nothing. You'll just die again."
"I may not be as cunning as you, or as ruthless, or as calculating," Artoria said, "but even someone as flawed as I am knows one thing: the key to victory in war often comes down to the element of surprise!"
Stretching out her hand, she summoned a flurry of starlight that filled the space around her, coalescing into a sword that glimmered with celestial light.
It was the sword of the planet in its original form!
"How... How can this be!?" Crimson Moon's eyes went wide in disbelief.
Brandishing the Sword of Promised Victory, Artoria's voice swelled with fury as she declared, "I will never forgive you, Crimson Moon!"
...
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