Crack! A Crisp Sound. Despair?!

The winter wind howled, and the icy air seemed poised to freeze everything.

In this deserted park, Xia finally saw the person he had longed for. That radiant golden hair, those stubborn eyes that never admitted defeat, that exquisite and handsome face. Everything about the person before him perfectly matched the precious image sealed deep within his mind.

How many years had passed... how many centuries had gone by?! The vision before him had supported him, step by step, as he walked forward! He had lived, breaking through one seemingly certain death after another! All to see her again, to meet her once more!

Now... his wish had come true.

They had truly met again, the image he had longed for appearing before him alive and well!

I am happy, I laugh, I am joyful, I am captivated...

But just as I reached out to touch the face I had cherished so dearly, a cold light flashed before me. The instinct for danger, honed by a thousand years of battles between life and death, made my hand pause slightly, saving me from losing it.

But... compared to that minor pain, I couldn't bear the current agony!

The figure before me was still the same dashing image from my memory, with noble and unyielding eyes. She held the Holy Sword, her glory undimmed by twelve great battles, never having tasted defeat!

But that once dashing figure was now in a state of high alert! Those noble and unyielding eyes were fixed on me! The Holy Sword, which should have been wielded against enemies, was now pointed directly at me...

Seeing all this, I was stunned...

I remained frozen, my hand outstretched, staring at the goddess before me with disbelief.

"Who... are you?! Who are you?!" Her clear voice uttered words I found unbelievable. I widened my eyes, looking at Saber, who showed no hint of jest.

The whistling wind picked up again, and the already frigid air dropped even lower...

Saber watched the man before her with extreme caution. The moment he appeared, her body had inexplicably become excited! That intense excitement, coupled with a sense of reliance as if she had found her home, nearly consumed her reason. She wanted to cry... wanted to shout... but she didn't know why.

Who is he? Who is he? What is his purpose? What kind of enemy is he? Such questions arose in Saber's mind, yet she felt as if she knew the answers deep within her heart.

"My name is-----, the man who will always protect you, who will always stand by your side!" Deep in my mind, there seemed to be a fragment of such a memory... but... all I could recall were his words; anything else... I couldn't even discern his voice.

With the experience of countless battles, Saber desperately wanted to swing her blade at the man before her again, but she couldn't...

Her thoughts issued the command to attack, but her body resisted, strongly resisted... The Holy Sword, held tightly in her hands, began to tremble slightly, as if rejecting her.

The moment that man reached out to her, tears welled up in her eyes involuntarily, only to be suppressed by her powerful will...

"Who exactly are you?! Why do you know my true name? Answer me!" The strong resistance from her body made Saber, who had never experienced such a thing, increasingly agitated. Her sharp command was not just to remind the man before her, but also to remind herself. The man before her was an enemy! Someone to be slain!

Creak...

As if startled by her own words, the man's disbelieving face shifted to one of apparent fear, and he instinctively took a step back.

Incomprehensible, unexplainable, unreadable, unanalyzable, unrecognizable, unfaceable.

Listening to Artoria's renewed sharp cry, and seeing the blade pointed at me, "Ngh!!" I recoiled in fear, clutching my chest in pain.

Artoria, who always smiled at me in my memories, Artoria, who alone would act spoiled with me, Artoria, who alone would confide in me. Her happy side! Her sunny side! Her vulnerable side! Her fearful side! Her strong side! All the memories of her showing me everything without reservation!! Were they all lies?! What a joke!!!!

"Why... why are you doing this to me? Artoria! If it's because I left without saying goodbye that time... there was a reason, Artoria!!" Taking a step forward again, I walked towards my beloved, my outstretched hand seeming to grasp the happiness deep in my memory once more. Artoria watched the man approaching her again, her hand reaching out once more, and her breathing involuntarily quickened, her entire body becoming extremely uneasy...

Something deep within her mind roared, desperately craving release, a maddening sensation filling her brain. Her body leaned forward involuntarily... her hands unconsciously loosened their grip on the Holy Sword, which she had never let go of in battle. Her emerald eyes watched the hand slowly reaching for her, and deep within her heart, someone seemed to whisper, tempting her... persuading her...

This man will protect me, this man will always help me, this man will always guard me. No more bloody battlefields, no more the pain of betrayal by her own country, no more enduring the lonely throne.

Happiness, laughter, playful teasing, anticipation, joy, reliance. What she once possessed would return to her side! As long as... as long as she was with-----!

No!

That man is a traitor! A man who betrayed my trust! Betrayed my reliance! He is the one who pushed me onto this path of suffering! He is the one who forced this pain, which should not have been mine, onto my body and soul! He gave me hope without my consent! And then easily destroyed my expectations!

He simply wanted the woman in his heart! That perfect goddess! The perfect goddess he himself spoke of! I am merely his substitute! His training dummy! Someone he could abandon at any moment! That man clearly knew how much pain and hardship I would endure if he pushed me onto this path! How helpless and lonely I would be! Yet he did it without hesitation!!! The moment I became the Knight King of his imagination! He left me without a word, the traitor!

He! Deserves to die! Kill him!

"Ngh!!!" Artoria clutched her head in pain with hands that had released the Holy Sword. Two conflicting beliefs battled and roared within her mind, each with intense emotions and stimuli.

It hurt, it hurt terribly. Not a pain that the physical body could bear, but a more agonizing pain to her spirit and soul. Like a prisoner on a pyre, being burned alive by raging flames.

Xia cautiously continued to extend his arm, his eyes fixed on Artoria. Fearing any further stimulation or fear...

The approaching hand slowly drew closer to Artoria.

Artoria's eyes, filled with confusion, watched the outstretched right hand. The "good" belief in her mind, which was gaining the upper hand, was slowly guiding her to take that hand.

Xia watched as Artoria finally, slowly, extended her left hand as well. The face that had been on the verge of despair finally showed a hint of a smile, a smile of happiness, and a small comfort to his own crumbling faith.

"Don't touch me!!!"

Just as their hands were about to meet, Artoria suddenly slapped Xia's hand away.

The crisp sound echoed through the park's woods. Xia, taken aback, watched Artoria push his hand away with a single movement. The unease and fear in his heart erupted completely with the crisp sound of the slap and Artoria's disgusted shout. The sliver of hope that had just begun to bloom was utterly extinguished...

Whoosh~~~~~~ The cold wind blew again, sweeping through the park. Fallen leaves were swept into the sky, carried away by the wind...

A proxy Master and a Servant, who had been observing the situation from the side, could no longer tolerate being ignored. One quickly ran to their Servant's side to check their condition. The other leaped between Xia and Artoria, forcibly separating the two who were so close.

The Lancer, wielding twin guns, stood provocatively before Xia.

Xia, his face ashen, completely ignored the enemy who could kill him at any moment. He simply stared blankly at Saber, who was still clutching her head in pain...

{Did I mistake her? I must have mistaken her... Hahaha... I must have mistaken her, I definitely mistook her! } His mind constantly denied, denied, and denied again. The words she had just spoken were absolutely not what the girl in his memory would say to him, but reality was so cruel... it relentlessly pressed upon his fragile nerves, time and time again.

Unlike Xia, whose mind was in turmoil, Artoria, after shouting that word, suddenly felt the "good" belief in her mind begin to tremble violently. It clashed more fiercely and wildly with the other belief, attacking and tearing at it like a madwoman! As if wanting to open something! To prove something! And then to...

The once benevolent belief now let out a pained cry, a cry of repentance, and a cry of despair. The malevolent belief, which should have felt the satisfaction of revenge, the joy after retaliation, did not bring the expected feeling...

Only a deathly silence remained.

However, the clash between the two beliefs did not stop; instead, it became fiercer and more frenzied with each passing moment. Neither was willing to concede defeat or give up. The intense conflict caused Artoria increasing pain.

Artoria, emitting low groans, clutched her head tightly, enduring the agony. Alice watched her servant suffering, feeling helpless. She cursed the strange man in her heart, thinking no such man could exist!

And just as Artoria was in extreme pain, a green, verdant light suddenly emerged from her brow. The gentle radiance slowly illuminated Artoria's entire body. Immersed in the green light, Artoria's previously pained and helpless expression slowly relaxed, as if she were enjoying the comfort of the green glow...

The green light lasted for about 2 seconds before forming a strange rune in mid-air. With a flash of light, the peculiar rune was firmly imprinted on Artoria's brow, disappearing in an instant...

"Seal... Seal reinforcement?" Alice stared, dumbfounded, at the strange rune on Artoria's brow. This was a dark magic that had become popular in the Middle Ages, Memory Fluid Magic. It was once a widely used magic for altering or sealing personal memories, but it gradually fell out of favor when people later discovered it was only effective on those with weak willpower, becoming a lost art.

Saber, who seemed to have recovered, lowered her head, her hair obscuring her expression. She stood up and bent down as if picking something up.

Raising her invisible Holy Sword once more, Saber, maintaining an eerie silence, moved without a sound.

Pushing aside the Lancer, Saber stood before a bewildered Xia.

She opened her mouth and said, "..."