The location was Ryudoji Temple.
The night of the decisive battle had just ended, and they were welcoming the moment before dawn.
"Thanks for your hard work, Shirou... You really did your best."
She gently stroked the cheek of the sleeping Shirou.
A faint smile rested on the boy's sleeping face. Could he be dreaming about something happy?
"Saber..."
The suspicious Female Magus beside her suddenly cried out in surprise.
Only then did Saber notice that the black magical energy wrapped around her had disappeared with Avenger's death.
But that was not the important part. The important thing was that her body was also beginning to disappear.
—The time limit had arrived.
With the Holy Grail War's summons coming to an end, Saber was also being recalled by the Counter Force to the place she had come from.
She lifted the Red-haired infant in her arms and handed him to the pure-white Female Magus.
"Please take care of Shirou... Merlin from another world.
This is my request. Please save this child."
Shirou had overexerted himself in tonight's battle. In his current condition, he probably would not live past eighteen.
But if she—if the Grand Order Magus Merlin—stayed by his side as he grew up, Shirou could definitely be saved.
Lady Avalon solemnly nodded. "Even if you hadn't said anything, I was planning to do that.
Leave Shirou to me, Arthur... You should also face your destiny soon."
"That's true."
Artoria nodded lightly, and then her body transformed into light and faded away.
When she regained consciousness, she had already returned beneath the familiar sky of her homeland.
"...In the end, I still couldn't properly say goodbye to Shirou and the others."
The gravely wounded girl king quietly leaned against the base of a great tree, as if she had just