"Ugh...!!"
His right hand clutched his neck. Blood poured from the wound, and bright red drops fell from the azure sky.
His crimson eyes burned with boundless fury as they fixed on the king before him.
"You bastard...!!"
The worsening wound had left the oldest king's voice hoarse, like sandpaper scraping together, enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
With a sudden flick of his hand, he sent the dagger spinning into the air. The blade, originally no longer than his palm, instantly transformed into a giant spear three meters long. A golden, enraged dragon coiled around its shaft, glaring up at the sky.
Xia plunged the spear into his back and stood atop the platform. His naturally hawk-like eyes brimmed with their characteristic arrogance and disdain as he sneered down at the Hero King, crouched below.
"Small fry... Even an ordinary monster in the Fairy Forest would be a hundred times better than you at close combat! You're truly pathetic... Hero King."
Xia's contempt and mocking words sent the Hero King's fury through the roof! The mad king clutched his wound with one hand and drew a scarlet blade from the Gates of Babylon as they appeared once more.
The instant the scarlet blade appeared, the Hero King's magical energy erupted!
Red magical energy swirled through the air, spiraling around the blade in its own distinctive pattern.
"Laugh while you still can, mongrel!!"
The Hero King's roar, brimming with boundless fury, came with a sudden burst of crimson magical light! Together, they swept furiously toward Xia!
The sky in the wake of the red magical torrent fractured like glass. The spatial rift created by Ea, the Sword of Rupture, came from compressed magical energy and colliding air currents. Its attack created a distortion resembling a rift in spacetime, crushing every enemy in its path.
It was practically the creation of heaven and earth itself.
"But if we're talking about creating heaven and earth...!!"
Xia's hawk-like eyes narrowed. He yanked the dragon-crested spear from his back and swung it in a great circle, sending a golden radiance broad enough to cover the sky hurtling toward the crimson torrent!
Just as the golden light was about to collide with the red magical torrent, it suddenly transformed into a gigantic golden axe! Xia leaped into the air, seized the axe, and brought it down upon the crimson torrent in a mighty overhead chop!
"On my side!! I'm the one who's been around since your ancestors!!!!!!" With Xia's furious shout, the golden axe cleaved through the red magical torrent as if it weren't there!
"Raaagh!!!" Golden light blazed from the axe in Xia's hands! A golden crescent suddenly appeared in the sky!
The crescent-shaped golden shock wave instantly shattered Ea's crimson torrent and continued on, undiminished, toward the Hero King behind it!
"He actually... cut through Ea!!!!"
But the Hero King had little time to be astonished. As Ea's attack vanished, the golden crescent's magical torrent was already right before him!
In haste, the Hero King could only summon several shield-shaped Noble Phantasms from the Gates of Babylon to block the oncoming golden crescent!
But the shields in its path were like tofu crashing into a speeding truck. They shattered into pieces in an instant...
Clang!!!
Fortunately, just as the golden crescent was about to bisect the Hero King, a massive, ancient-looking shield appeared before him and stopped it dead!
"A Noble Phantasm from the Age of the Gods...?" Xia narrowed his hawk-like eyes as he studied the ancient shield holding back the golden crescent.
"But even a Noble Phantasm from the Age of the Gods is still outdated junk! It can't compete with a treasure of the new world!" Xia raised the golden axe high once more and swung. Two more golden crescents shot toward the ancient shield!
The ancient shield was already struggling to hold back one golden crescent. The moment the other two reached it, it shattered!
Then the dumbfounded Hero King took the full force of the remaining pair of golden crescents!
BOOM!!!!
A tremendous explosion sent a cloud of black smoke billowing across the sky. A human-shaped figure fell from within it, black smoke rising from its entire body.
CRASH!!
The figure slammed into the ground and lay motionless in the crater, sprawled out like a starfish.
The dust settled...
The golden warship in midair slowly dissolved into wisps of smoke and vanished.
"Ha... Hah... It's over, then." Xia took a few breaths as he looked at the human-shaped crater in the ground.
Their battle had drained most of Xia's magical energy. The final twin golden crescents in particular had consumed a quarter of it in a single instant. Their power was immense, but the cost was far too high.
Xia hovered weakly in the air, barely able to fly on wings made of his own magical energy.
Then...
Amid a flash of golden light, the giant golden axe gradually transformed back into a spear.
He spun the spear between both hands until it became a rapidly whirling sphere. As it spun faster and faster, thin layers of static electricity began forming along its edge, growing thicker and thicker.
At last, the golden ring was enveloped in thick arcs of electricity.
Xia abruptly stopped spinning the spear. He raised the lightning-wreathed weapon behind him with his right hand, extended his left arm, and bent his body into the shape of a great bow.
Now!
To deliver the final, fatal blow to the Hero King on the ground!
"Cough, cough... Showing no mercy, are you? Cough... How... rude of you, mongrel. Heh... Cough!" The Hero King lay amid the rubble, the corner of his mouth lifting into a faint smile as he watched the blue-lit speck in the sky.
He was no longer anything like a king.
The proud figure he had once cut had been reduced to a wretched, withered wreck.
His golden hair, once his pride, was now dull and lifeless. His crimson eyes were filled with exhaustion and the satisfaction of battle.
His golden armor... had been reduced to fragments. He had only survived the fall thanks to the armor, which had done its duty at the very last moment.
"Heh... What a disgraceful sight... I... Cough." The Hero King's lips twisted into a bitter smile as he waited quietly for the person in the sky to deliver the final blow.
"Still... that was a satisfying fight. I'll forgive your weakness... this time. When we meet again, let's have a proper rematch!" With that, the Hero King slowly closed his eyes. This time... he was truly a little tired.
As Xia looked down at the motionless Hero King, his cold, hawk-like eyes trembled faintly.
...He's arrogant and proud, but perhaps we could have become friends... What a shame!
The brief wavering in his heart was quickly steadied by the iron will he had forged in the Fairy Forest.
He raised the lightning spear high once more.
Swift as thunder.
Fast as a streak of light.
A flash that split heaven and earth.
"Lightning Spear!!!" With a roar and the release of its true name, the lightning-wreathed spear in Xia's hand became a beam of pure light! In the blink of an eye, a thunderous boom rang out from the ground!!
With a hiss and a crack, Ea flew out of the thick smoke from the explosion. Its cracked body spun through the air before plunging into the rocks.
Then...
It slowly dissolved into green particles, which drifted away on the breeze...
Having brought the battle to an end, Xia guided his magical wings down from the sky.
He walked to the center of a vast crater, yanked out the dragon-crested golden spear still crackling with electricity, gave it a couple of casual swings, then slid it into his back.
A gentle breeze stroked Xia's long black hair, stirring a faint sense of wistfulness in him.
Step by step, Xia walked away from the site and headed toward the battlefield where Saber was fighting.
Alone and proud, yet not without compassion.
A being like a god.
The pinnacle of humanity.
He knelt to none.
Yet stood proudly beneath the heavens.
At a single command,
He would become a king.
...I split...
The two peerless kings stood facing each other atop the castle ruins.
"Before I show you my peerless Noble Phantasm... please answer one question, revered Knight King!"
"What?" Saber gripped the Holy Sword tightly as she answered the Conqueror King, her voice low.
"Is a king meant to stand alone?"
When Saber answered that a king was meant to stand alone, Alexander the Great laughed and summoned his ultimate Noble Phantasm.
It was the Reality Marble created by Alexander.
Saber stared in astonishment at the scene that appeared around the Conqueror King, like a mirage.
One, two, four—the images multiplied, beginning to resemble an army. Their colors gradually grew more vivid.
"How is that possible? You're not a magus!" Saber shouted, clearly shaken by the Reality Marble the Conqueror King had invoked.
"How could I have done this alone?"
Iskandar stood proudly within the vast Reality Marble and laughed as he denied it.
"This is the land my army once crossed. My comrades, who shared my hardships and joys, all carry this landscape deep in their hearts."
"This world can be brought back because it is etched in every one of our hearts."
As Saber stared in astonishment, cavalrymen gradually materialized beside Iskandar. Though they differed in race and equipment, their powerful physiques and fearless bearing all showed the ferocity of the army.
"Are all these people... Servants?!" Saber swallowed, feeling her hands tremble.
"That's right! Behold my peerless army!"
Filled with pride and confidence, the Conqueror King stood before his cavalry and raised his arms, shouting:
"Conquer the farthest reaches of the horizon!"
At the Conqueror King's resounding cry, countless soldiers and kings pledged themselves to his service.
"A king must live more truly than anyone else—and earn the admiration of all!"
Mounted on Bucephalus, the Conqueror King shouted. The peerless army of heroic spirits answered by striking their shields and shouting as one.
"The one who gathers the convictions of all the brave and sets out on a journey to make them his goal is a king. Therefore—
A king is not alone! His ambition is the wish of all his people!"
"Indeed! Indeed! Indeed!"
The heroic spirits' spirited shouts soared through the sky. No enemy or barrier could pose a threat before the Conqueror King and his friends. Their soaring morale could cross continents and cut through oceans.
"—You are my king. I swear to serve you and die for you. Please lead me onward, and let me see the same dream as you." This was no ordinary oath of loyalty. It was the heartfelt wish of everyone who had been captivated by this man.
A sincere and genuine response.
And that was why Saber was shaken in her conviction about the path of kingship she had followed. The Conqueror King's words rang in her ears:
"Indeed, Knight King!
Just as that young king said when he spoke of you!
You were once a righteous saint, so pure that none could compare. But who would willingly die for an ideal? Who would long for such a thing day and night? A saint can comfort the people, but cannot lead them. Only by displaying desire and splendor can a king lead a nation and its people forward.
A king must have stronger desires than anyone, be more uninhibited than anyone, and be more hot-tempered than anyone. He must be a real human being, encompassing both purity and corruption, not a saint. Only then will his subjects submit, and his people have someone to admire!"
"Knight King, your justice and ideals may once have saved your country and its people, and your great name may have been passed down to this day. But what became of the people you saved?"
······
The heroes who wagered their dreams as kings and raced across battlefields beside their sovereign.
Their loyalty endured until death. The Conqueror King had turned it into an unprecedented Noble Phantasm.
Saber was shaken—not because she feared the Noble Phantasm's power, but because it had shaken the convictions she had always been proud of.
This perfect support—
This bond with his subjects, called a Noble Phantasm—
Was something the Knight King, who pursued her ideals, had never obtained throughout her life—
Creak.
Creeeak...
Her tightly clenched silver teeth scraped against one another with a strange sound.
It was true.
All her life as a "king," she had fought for her country, striving to make it stronger and more prosperous.
Twelve great battles.
Countless struggles between life and death.
The peerless, loyal knights who followed close behind her!
—What was the reason we endured countless battles without defeat?
—A king like a dragon!
—What was the source of our prowess on the battlefield?
—Our lord, a god of war!
—What is the name of our king?
—King Arthur!
But...
"King Arthur... doesn't understand human feelings..."
After leaving those words behind, the first knight to leave her side walked out of the royal capital.
But King Arthur did not argue or stop him. She simply regarded his departure as part of the country's growth.
Not long after...
More and more people agreed with that knight's words.
More and more knights left King Arthur's side.
Then... a new war broke out, and King Arthur once again led her army into battle.
After the campaign ended, the young king received word that her country had fallen into rebellion.
Her own son had launched a civil war to usurp the throne.
Leading the followers who still remained at her side, she stormed fortress after fortress, cutting down one former knight after another—men who had once submitted to her.
Her heart was in pain.
My eyes were crying.
My body was trembling.
But... this was part of the country's growth. Accept it, get through it, and surely a new world would await.
That was what King Arthur had thought at the time.
The final blow before death. The longsword that pierced her chest. The blood of a king dripping to the ground.
"You're nothing but a monster without human emotions!"
Something shattered.
Somewhere...
Something shattered...
The broken memories. Her resolute face lifted once more.
She looked at the unrivaled army before her, and at the king standing high atop his chariot.
Her petite frame straightened, chest thrust out.
She raised the Holy Sword and pointed it at the enemy, hundreds of times more numerous than herself.
I was betrayed. There's no denying that.
Perhaps I really did make some mistakes.
But...
She raised her blade and pointed it at the king not far ahead.
"Come on, Conqueror King!!!!!"
Her body burst into motion in an instant! The Holy Sword blazed with an aura like a raging storm!
Fearless.
Unfearing.
Her beautiful face showed only strength and resolve, and the Holy Sword in her hand no longer trembled.
Her silver armor gleamed brilliantly.
Her radiant golden hair fluttered in the wind.
The Knight King.
The strong girl. Artoria!
Now...
Raise your blade!
For your own glory!
Fight, girl!
Before you continue