The stars shone over the tranquil night in Fuyuki City.
Splash~!! Suddenly, the sound of something heavy plunging into the water shattered the silence.
Goldie, who had been sent flying a hundred meters by Xia's fierce punch, had the bad luck to land in a small lake not far from where he'd been standing. Under the moonlight, the lake had looked exceptionally peaceful, but the heavy object falling from the sky had disturbed its calm.
Ripples spread~! At the bottom of the lake, the Hero King felt a burning pain along the bridge of his nose and stared blankly.
The violent ripples slowly faded, and the once-turbulent water returned to its former stillness. The pale moonlight once more illuminated the surface, as if nothing had happened...
Although... that was impossible.
BOOM!!!
With a thunderous crash, a golden figure burst from the lake, sending water flying everywhere! The man soared above the surface in a suit of golden armor. His handsome face was now twisted with rage, and the red fist-shaped mark on its center stood out all the more against his scrunched-up features.
"N-not... b-bad... guts!! You mongrel!!" The Hero King could barely get the words out through his fury, making it clear just how enraged the oldest king of mankind had become.
"Shut up, you half-human, half-divine mongrel! If we're talking about mongrels, aren't you the one who fits the bill?!" Xia straightened up and hurled the insult right back at him! The words struck home, and the Hero King's magical energy exploded around him!
With a leap, the Hero King was back before the four Servants in an instant. He glared at Xia with a savage expression, then casually waved his hand! Without another word, he summoned his Noble Phantasm: the Gates of Babylon!
In his fury, the Hero King didn't even bother with the most basic declaration. He instantly summoned sixty-four dazzling Noble Phantasms and fired them straight at the boy in red!
There was no point in talking! The king's rage had to be quenched with blood!
A storm of Noble Phantasms descended over Xia in an instant, sweeping down like a torrential rain!
"A rain of swords made up of Noble Phantasms?!" The Conqueror King watched as the golden man casually unleashed nearly a hundred Noble Phantasms and clicked his tongue in astonishment.
"Indeed. And every one of them seems to be of equally high quality. Looks like that red-clad lad has angered someone rather formidable." Lancer spoke in a teasing tone, but his expression was entirely serious and wary.
Faced with this overwhelming attack, Xia didn't care about the deadly rain overhead. Instead, he turned toward Saber. When he saw her slightly worried expression, he smiled happily, then swiftly raised his right hand and flung the Dragon Crest Golden Spear into the air!
The Dragon Crest Golden Spear shot straight toward the oncoming storm of Noble Phantasms. Against nearly a hundred weapons, its solitary form seemed so lonely and utterly outmatched. Yet that spirit, daring to stand against a hundred, was truly admirable.
High in the sky, the Dragon Crest Golden Spear rapidly closed in on the rain of Noble Phantasms and collided with it! A thunderous boom erupted overhead, followed by a dazzling golden flash in the dark night sky.
They took each other out...
"Damn it!!! Gates of Babylon!!" Seeing that Xia had stopped nearly a hundred of his Noble Phantasms with just one, the Hero King unleashed his Gates of Babylon once more in a fit of rage! Rippled portals appeared behind him, and sixty-four Noble Phantasms emerged before shooting toward the golden light!
This time, let's see what you use to stop them! The Hero King's savage grin as he stared at Xia said it all.
Faced with the fresh onslaught of Noble Phantasms—
Whoosh~! Xia suddenly swept back his white-gold cloak, held both hands out before him, and unleashed a burst of crimson magical energy! It swiftly gathered in his hands, slowly forming two spiraling vortices of magic!
"Is that magical energy taking physical form?!" Artoria and the Conqueror King exclaimed in astonishment as they looked at the crimson vortices, which were made entirely of magical energy.
"It is the beast that does not exist in reality!" Facing the torrent of death about to crash down upon him, Xia slowly closed his eyes and began chanting the incantation.
"To chant the release incantation at a moment like this, with life and death hanging in the balance? Hahahaha!! What an incredible Servant!" the Conqueror King said admiringly. Beside him, Saber watched the figure about to be swallowed by the endless rain of Noble Phantasms, her whole body tensing despite herself. Her hands tightened around the Holy Sword.
"Weak humans cannot understand it, for in its gait, its bearing, its neck,
even in its gaze, we carry a deep fear within our hearts.
Though it does not exist, the proud imperial beast is born from the worship of mankind.
Mankind offers it the highest reverence, and thus its throne is made clear beneath the heavens.
It gently raises its head.
It exists beyond order.
Mankind offers it the highest purity.
They sustain it with the possibility of its existence. This possibility grants it power at its very peak.
A horn grows from its forehead, and a pair of antlers from its ears.
And with the bearing of a heavenly king, it approaches a god—
Everlasting in the mirror, and in our hearts." At this point, Xia paused, then turned his gaze toward Saber, standing not far away.
By then, the dazzling rain of Noble Phantasms had already reached Xia's head. The axe-shaped weapon at the very front was just about to graze a single hair on his head. Yet Xia remained perfectly still, even halting the true-name release that had been only a moment from completion.
"Damn it!!" Seeing that there was no time to complete the true-name release and that Xia was about to die beneath a hundred blades, Saber didn't stop to think. She cried out and dashed toward him! With both hands gripping the Holy Sword, she swung it with all her might!
A violent gust of wind swept up at once~! It wiped away the first few Noble Phantasms that were about to strike Xia!
Just as Saber was about to leap again and knock away the next wave, she suddenly felt an arm tighten around her waist. The world spun before her eyes. When she came to, the man who ought to have been thanking her for saving his life had pulled her into his arms again, wearing a smug grin. He completely ignored the rain of Noble Phantasms rushing down behind him.
"Y-you idiot! Behind you!!" Seeing the Noble Phantasms' sharp edges drawing closer, Saber had no time to scold him for his impudence and shouted instead.
"I'm so happy... You actually came to help me, even though we're enemies..." Xia smiled as he spoke of how he felt, as if he hadn't heard Saber's warning.
As expected... Even after losing your memories, you're still Artoria, the Knight King who was willing to become the knight I dreamed of...
No longer for the people.
No longer for your own loyalty.
But only... for me! For me, Drac D. Xia!
At the thought, the look Xia gave Artoria grew more and more fervent. The helpless farewell from long ago! The endless cycles of reincarnation! And now, we were strangers once more! No matter what happened, nothing could stop my loyalty and longing for you!
What I had lost, I would take back with my own hands! Then I'd kill the bastard who had stolen what I treasured most!
Holding Artoria tightly in his arms, Xia shifted his footing and turned to face the oncoming rain of Noble Phantasms head-on.
Then he lowered his head and smiled softly at the lovely girl in his arms...
"Are you afraid, Artoria...?" Xia asked softly, his eyes smiling as he looked at her. Just as he had back in the Fairy Forest, when he held Artoria tightly in his arms as she secretly snuck out. Alone, he had faced the fifty or so wolves before them with nothing but a spear.
I remembered how Artoria had trembled all over, clutching my clothes and curling up as close to me as she could, as if only that could dispel her fear after she'd nearly been killed by the wolves. It had been the first time she'd left my protection and faced the dangers of the Fairy Forest alone.
"N-no! I'm not afraid, because... because Xia is here!" Artoria's trembling yet extraordinarily firm answer had reached my ears.
For those words—and to prove myself worthy of them—I'd used a sharpened wooden spear to slaughter every last one of the fifty or so wolves! In the end, I'd even set the whole area ablaze and burned it to the ground.
But now... when I asked her the same question a second time, how would this girl, who had already been tempered by the fires of war, answer me...?
Hearing Xia's question, Saber paused for a moment. Then she felt the thought stirring deep in her mind grow active again.
Saber gently shook her head, pushing the stray thoughts away.
Then she looked up and met my gaze, answering seriously: "No matter what dangers I face, I have nothing to fear! No matter what kind of enemy stands before me, I won't let them get their way so easily—not with the sword in my hands! That is my answer!" Hearing the certainty and confidence in Artoria's words, I couldn't help showing a trace of disappointment.
"As expected... you've grown up," I said with a laugh.
Then I let go of Saber and smiled as I pinched her little nose again. Ignoring her pouting face, I shouted:
"But if you want to leave my protection and protect me instead, you're still a whole thousand years too early! Let me show you the true difference between us, King Arthur!" I swept my white-gold cloak behind me again, then tore it off and flung it into the air!
"True Name Release! Eternal... Avalon!" My ringing voice echoed across the night sky!
Then... as Artoria stared in shock at the words of release for my Noble Phantasm,
a flash of golden light illuminated the entire park in an instant, forcibly pulling every living thing and plant within it into my world—including the several Servants and Masters who were equally stunned.
This is... Eternal Avalon!
My absolute domain!
I'm planning to drop Fate/Stay Night and focus on writing Rebirth of a Hot-Blooded Youth instead...
What do you all think?
Before you continue