Rimuru Was Already an Old Scumbag at Seventy-Six

When the golden light faded and everything returned to silence, Rimuru's two ethereal sentences still seemed to echo in everyone's ears, like voices reverberating through the mountains.

Until...

Rimuru slowly descended to the ground. Looking at the girl who had been pierced through by Noble Phantasms and was gradually dissolving into spirit particles in disbelief... he slowly walked toward her.

"Both have benefited me greatly."

He murmured softly. With a crack, he took a step forward, crushing the shattered floor beneath his feet.

It also snapped everyone back to their senses.

"Sa... Saber..." Blood stained the ground red. Shirou Emiya had already lost a massive amount of blood and life from the shoulder Rimuru had torn apart, yet he seemed oblivious to it, staring blankly at Saber's current state.

Her golden hair, streaked with blood, hung over her shoulders. One lock was even stuck to her cheek by blood. Her armor was tattered, pierced by an unknown number of glass-like Noble Phantasms. Gritting her teeth and lowering her head, she supported herself with both hands on that magnificent blade—half-kneeling on the ground, unwilling to fall no matter what.

But... golden spirit particles were already drifting from her body. Animusphere could even feel Saber's life slipping away. Only her unyielding will was barely keeping her upright.

Her vision gradually blurred. Saber heard Shirou Emiya calling her and used every bit of strength she had to raise her head, but the figure before her was Rimuru's upright silhouette.

"Wh... why..."

Her body broke apart bit by bit, turning into spirit particles that scattered in the wind.

"How could this happen..."

In the end, she had neither managed to save Shirou Emiya nor... obtained the Holy Grail.

Caught between the two, she was like a pitiful clown—

"There aren't that many whys." Rimuru