"Is that so... You really are a meddlesome fellow, Saber."
"How can you say that when they were only trying to help?"
"Then I'll leave what comes next to you."
Karna closed his eyes.
For the first time, he truly felt an unprecedented sense of relief.
Joining the "Red" Faction and opposing the "Black" Faction had been the original arrangement. He had not a single flaw.
Even knowing that his Master had completely become a puppet, he had still insisted on maintaining the proper relationship between Master and Servant.
That was right.
It was precisely because he was like that that he had earned everyone's envy.
To put it plainly, it was the way of being "human" that so many people desired yet could never achieve.
To disregard himself and stake his life on "someone"--
To seek no reward and devote everything to repaying others--
Although this was an erroneous way to live from the perspective of a living species, for an intelligent life-form, it was equivalent to reaching the pinnacle.
No one could understand the thoughts of Karna, the hero who gave everything away.
But this time alone, he felt that he had encountered someone who truly understood him.
And so, the "Red" Lancer vanished with a gentle smile.
A Servant's death left behind not a trace of dust or blood, nor any sign that he had ever been there—only the destruction he had carved into the battlefield.
"Who are you...?"
After seeing Karna off, Shirou looked at the girl standing beside him.
She had long golden hair and emerald eyes, a beauty exactly like someone Shirou knew, and a golden mark resembling an inscription on a sword at the center of her forehead.
"...Artoria?"
The girl smiled faintly, nodded at Shirou, and then vanished as photons.
Shirou thought,