The End of ZERO

"It's over then..."

Xia, standing at the edge of the forest, held Caster, whose lower body had already turned into starlight.

Looking at the King's Army, his Reality Marble, the embodiment of the Conqueror King's lifelong glory, shattered like broken glass, turning into countless fragments. It flickered with blue light, gradually disappearing into the air.

He said with some emotion.

Following the Reality Marble as it vanished with the wind was the last Heroic Spirit hidden at the rear, Caster's final fate.

As the Reality Marble shattered, the two figures that appeared in Xia's vision gradually became clearer.

Saber, maintaining her pose of wielding the Holy Sword, remained still in her original spot.

The Conqueror King, with a look of surprise, slowly relaxed his expression.

Looking at the wound on his chest, which had nearly split him in two, clearly indicated the victor of this battle.

Even though he was shielded by his soldiers at the very end, that strike, representing the Knight King's lifelong glory, was not something to be taken lightly! Especially not when it hit him head-on...

Just during the collision.

The dazzling golden light that erupted had, in an instant, engulfed his proud army.

Countless followers of the Conqueror King desperately pushed their respected King backward!

They met the attack with their own chests, one by one!

But, The brilliance representing victory and glory, faced with these soldiers of unknown depth, devoured them all in the blink of an eye!

Glorious light, the honor of victory, the King's choice!

After being engulfed by the golden light, all that remained was the Conqueror King, who stood on the ground, having been desperately shielded by his soldiers at the rear.

His eyes were wide with shock and amazement.

But... he could only manage a helpless smile afterward.

"A brilliant strike, ...Knight King." He acknowledged with a smile.

With a look of slight satisfaction, the Conqueror King, standing under the clear sky, turned into a wisp of smoke and vanished into the air.

"Mmm..."

After the Conqueror King's figure completely disappeared.

Saber's body, which had stubbornly tried to stand upright again, let out a soft groan due to the excessive consumption of magic and her unhealed injuries.

Her body swayed a few times, her steps unsteady as if she were floating.

With a misstep, her delicate body, falling backward, was about to crash to the ground.

{Heh heh, he's here, so there's no need to worry about that...}

A gentle breeze blew...

Without any surprise, the exhausted Artoria fell directly into Xia's embrace.

"Just as I thought, it was bound to happen..."

Feeling the trustworthy happiness, Artoria unconsciously smiled.

Especially when she saw the somewhat helpless and worried face before her, Artoria's already beautiful smile became even more gentle and lovely.

However, in contrast to Artoria's feeling of happiness, Xia's face was grim...

"Xia... you promised me..."

Hearing Artoria's soft call, Xia's tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed slightly. He tightly embraced the slender body in his arms, his slightly reddened eyes gradually recovering with a long sigh.

"My Goddess, please rest well for now. Leave everything else to me..." Looking at Artoria's battered body, Xia forced a smile.

The beauty in his arms blinked her large green eyes tiredly at Xia, then nodded obediently.

Her entire body completely relaxed, trusting him without reservation, she gradually fell into a deep sleep in Xia's arms.

Xia smiled as he watched the beautiful woman fall asleep in his arms, then looked up at the sky, where the dark clouds had dispersed.

The bright red sun hung high in the sky, its warm sunlight shining down on the earth below.

The snowy white world seemed even more dreamlike at this moment.

The boy, standing on the ruins of the castle, holding the girl in his arms, quietly enjoyed the nourishment of the sunlight.

The sound of birdsong reached his ears.

The breath of the reawakened earth.

The battle was over.

The Fourth Holy Grail War had come to an end.

Now...

Creak.

"Huh!?" The sound of footsteps behind him made Xia's entire body tense up instantly.

He quickly turned around, looking in the direction of the noise.

"Kiritsugu Emiya... Where is Alice?" He slowly spoke the name of the person who appeared, then asked with some confusion about his lover who hadn't appeared with him.

A cold face, etched with endless fatigue.

His hands, holding the Spear of Magic, were trembling slightly.

His long black coat was already stained red with blood.

"Come with me immediately!" His tone was like an order, carrying a hint of anxiety and unease, causing Xia to frown instantly.

"Are you perhaps..."

BOOM!!!~~

Just as Xia was about to retort, he heard a deafening boom! Then, he saw Fuyuki City, located behind Kiritsugu Emiya, suddenly engulfed in flames! The intense explosion and the spreading fire were mercilessly consuming the lives of the surrounding people.

{Aaaaah!!!}

{Help... Ugh!}

{Run!!}

{What's happening?! Uwaah!}

Along with the devouring flames, the screams of humans also reached Xia's ears.

The burning of houses, the collapse of the earth, the crying of infants, the hoarse weeping of women, and the angry shouts of men.

With the sky-burning flames as a backdrop, the entire sky was painted a fiery red.

"Please! I can do nothing about the Holy Grail's rampage. So... please save them! They are just innocent civilians!" Kiritsugu, kneeling on both knees, pleaded with Xia. This man, who never showed even a hint of emotion, was actually crying at this moment...

"I know you hate me, even detest me! But even so, please save those innocent people first! After that, you can do whatever you want with my life! Please!" Kiritsugu begged with a sincerity he had never shown before.

Now, only Xia, who still retained some of his power, could destroy the Holy Grail.

Artoria's magic was almost depleted, and Kiritsugu's own magic replenishment... honestly, the fact that he could walk away alive was enough to make even some Heroic Spirits with strong vitality feel ashamed.

{My child!! My child is still inside!!!}

{Get lost!! If you want to die, die yourself!!}

{Mother!! Mother! Let me go!! I want to save my mother!!}

"Creak...!!" Looking at Kiritsugu kneeling before him and begging, and listening to the hellish cries around him, Xia gritted his teeth in anger, making a creaking sound.

He raised his head and looked into the distance with his Heroic Spirit vision, which was tens of times superior to that of a human.

He saw the ominous black hole, and the turbid black mud slowly flowing out of it.

The sticky black mud flowed slowly along the ground. Every time a human corpse came into contact with this black mud, it would let out a scream and a howl of pain! That was the howl of a soul being devoured! That was the pain of being unable to reincarnate! That was the despair of being eternally imprisoned in hell!!

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Xia's forehead. He absolutely could not touch that thing! He must not touch it! Absolutely not!!

If it were an ordinary Heroic Spirit, it would be fine. Perhaps a single finishing move could destroy it.

But for him, it was troublesome! This body, gathered from a "Projection," was a high-class product from the "Sea of Benevolence"! Coming into contact with the black mud of eternal evil would be like adding cold water to boiling oil! He would die a miserable death!

But... if he didn't go!

His brows furrowed, and his eyes unwillingly looked at the person in his arms.

{Don't go!! Don't go!! What do their lives and deaths have to do with you?!!} Such a roar was constantly echoing in his mind.

{As long as you wait with Artoria until 12 o'clock tonight! You can take her and return to the "Sea of Benevolence" immediately! Be together forever! Why would you do something that is almost suicidal?! Think carefully!!}

This is the best choice for me now, and the choice I should make.

But...!!

{Mother!! Mother! Let me go!! I want to save my mother!!}

{My child!! My poor child... Ugh, ugh, ugh!!}

The painful cries in his ears made it impossible for him to make such a selfish choice.

Moreover, what would happen if Artoria knew that he made such a choice?! With her stubborn personality, how could she easily forgive him?!

"Xia..."

Just as Xia was anxiously struggling to make a decision, Artoria's slightly tired voice came out.

"A... Artoria?! You're awake?!" Hearing Artoria's voice, Xia, whose face had turned pale instantly, lowered his head and looked at Artoria, who had woken up and was trying to struggle out of his embrace.

It's over...

We're doomed...

There's really no choice now...

Xia, with a face as if the end of the world had arrived, thought with a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Xia's... Xia's body... I know. So, please leave it to me." Artoria, breathing slightly heavily, leaned against him, saying with slightly dizzy eyes.

"Are you kidding me! With your current...!"

"Magic... replacement... Xia's ultimate move..." Artoria said weakly.

"You... how could you..." This time, Xia knew he couldn't dodge it. Artoria, who already knew this move, would never give up on saving those civilians.

Her small hands clenched, and her face was flushed with anxiety.

"Xia!! They... save... the innocent...!" Artoria, already so weak, still insisted on saving those innocent lives.

"...Impossible!"

Facing Artoria's expectant eyes, Xia gritted his teeth and said cruelly.

"They are just ordinary civilians! They have nothing to do with you!"

{Save my son!!} A mother knelt before a burning wooden house, begging the people fleeing back and forth.

"Your life is my only protective objective!!"

{Mom!! Waaah!!} A young man cried uncontrollably, watching his mother burn to death while saving him.

"Let them die! It has nothing to do with you or me!!"

{Save... save... me...} Reaching out an arm, yearning for salvation.

"So... so!! Let them die!! As long as you, Artoria... smack!!"

A crisp sound, a face filled with rage, and her green eyes showed disbelief and despair.

Xia dazedly covered his red face with his left hand, looking at the furious Artoria before him. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't say anything...

Breaking free from Xia's embrace, Artoria managed to stand upright and took a deep breath.

"We... won't be separated!!" Artoria shouted at Xia with all her remaining strength!

Instantly, his pupils constricted, and with a hint of guilt for being seen through, he couldn't meet the girl's eyes.

Can't find the book title, you can try searching for the author, maybe they just changed their name!

The girl's sharp cry was like a bucket of cold water poured directly over the boy's head.

Looking at the clean white snow-covered ground, it only made the scene appear even colder.

"Trust me, Xia..." The gentle embrace calmed the boy's body, which was trembling slightly because his greatest fear had been discovered.

Yes, Xia wasn't afraid of death.

Nor was he unable to destroy the source of evil.

He certainly wasn't afraid of his body being stained with that black filth.

It was... the fear of never being able to see his goddess again after he was gone.

Each time travel was not as simple as it sounded.

Great power, strong will, and unparalleled soul strength.

These were the basic elements that constituted the ability to travel through time and space.

Xia wasn't afraid of power, and as for strong will? Xia considered himself to have no shortage of it.

But only soul strength...

Three temporal traversals and one split soul had brought Xia's original soul to the brink of collapse.

It was already impossible for him to travel through time and space again using his own power, let alone travel so precisely to a specific time and place.

So, if he were to be separated from Artoria again this time.

He would have to rely on the power of a medium to appear again, but... what about the location? The time? Xia's medium?

These were all uncertain external factors, and this was what Xia worried about the most.

Uncertain, unconfirmed. Therefore, he was afraid.

He didn't want to be separated, and he didn't dare to be separated, because once separated... it could be an eternal "farewell."

Feeling Artoria's comfort, feeling her fragrant and pure aura, his rapidly beating heart gradually began to stabilize.

A trace of determination flashed in his tired black eyes.

"What Artoria desires, Drake D. Xia will obtain with his life..."

He sighed helplessly and tightly embraced the beloved in his arms with his raised hands.

Green light points emanated from Xia's body, gradually pouring into Artoria's body.

Her dimly glowing golden hair began to radiate brilliant colors again.

Her previously panting body grew stronger and stronger.

The feeling of weak limbs gradually dissipated.

Closing her green eyes, she comfortably enjoyed the feeling of being filled with power again.

She suddenly opened them! A brilliant flash of light shot through her green eyes!

The sky was ablaze with fire.

Countless lives were lost here.

Tragic beings whose souls were devoured by the black mud.

A boy with a golden spear, dancing madly.

A girl holding a Holy Sword that shone with golden light.

Together, they swept away all the corpses that stood in their path.

And a man in black, following closely behind, struggled to keep pace with the two in front of him.

He accidentally stepped on a hand and looked down to see.

It was the small hand of a boy named "Beiju."

There was no time for sentiment, no time for sorrow.

He continued to advance, only his face, etched with regret, contorted.

The golden light flashed, a beacon of salvation.

A dragon's roar of rage, charging forward with the golden light.

The pool of black mud felt threatened.

It retaliated with whip-like attacks, attempting to prevent its own destruction.

The boy with the golden spear covered the girl, while the girl, holding the Holy Sword, intended to destroy the evil entity before them with a single blow.

Swish!!!!

A black whip, rapidly approaching from underground, burst forth from the ground. It launched a surprise attack from behind towards the golden-haired girl!

With a flash of gold, the boy holding the spear appeared behind the girl in an instant. He only had time to shove her away forcefully before he himself was entangled by the black whip.

"Xia!"

The girl cried out in alarm, looking at the boy who was tightly bound by the black whip, a wry smile already on his face.

Almost instantly, several more black mud whips wrapped around the boy's body, hoisting him high into the air.

"Despicable!" the girl yelled indignantly, seeing the boy held hostage by the black sludge.

The black sludge was growing more and more abundant.

The Holy Grail, representing the world's ultimate evil, was about to descend.

Without the boy's protection, the girl's figure, weaving through the black sludge, was already in grave danger.

She wanted to attack, but couldn't.

She wanted to dodge, but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

What should she do?!

What should she do?!

The girl frantically pondered in her heart. If she attacked, she would inevitably hit the boy as well, and that was absolutely unacceptable!!

But if she didn't attack, then once the ultimate evil cup descended...!!

What should I do?!

And in the moment of the girl's hesitation, the evil, ultimate evil cup had already revealed more than half of its body.

Its wicked, pitch-black surface was imprinted with the fearful expressions of humans and filled with malicious wastewater.

The moment the evil wastewater dripped onto the ground.

The flowers and grass of the entire city instantly withered – an ominous sign.

"This is bad!"

Thinking this, the girl attacked the sludge whips that approached her with even greater urgency. But as the ultimate evil cup emerged more and more, the number of sludge whips also increased. If this continued...

"Myriad Sins Suffering: Five-Colored Treasure Chains!" a voice suddenly declared. A burst of white aurora erupted from the boy, who was trapped in mid-air! It transformed into white chains that instantly bound the Holy Grail, which was about to fully appear.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!"

The collective screams of countless souls! The white chains that coiled around the Holy Grail instantly began to turn black.

"Now! Attack me! Otherwise, Artoria, you will too!!" the boy shouted to the golden-haired girl, using the last of his magic.

"I refuse! How... how can we be separated again! I don't want to!" the girl, her face etched with pain, loudly rejected the boy's plea.

"Artoria..."

"I will resolve all of this! I will destroy the ultimate evil cup! And then I will rescue Xia! After that... we'll return to how things were in the Fairy Forest!" the stubborn girl declared, wielding her Holy Sword relentlessly. A defiant expression on her face, she smiled as she spoke.

Having gone through everything.

Having overcome everything.

From their first meeting, their mutual aid, their love, and now their recognition and love for each other.

"So! We can get through this time too! Believe me! Xia!"

The golden Holy Sword shattered several mud chains before it, and the leaping blue figure rushed towards the boy in the air.

As the girl's figure grew closer, her brilliant golden hair, strong green eyes, and the adorable face with a smile.

The boy, with an arm that had barely been pulled free from the mud, slowly reached out towards the girl's figure.

At this moment, the girl also swiftly extended her left hand.

Flames were burning.

Black mud was roaring.

The boy and girl, their hands clasped tightly, smiled at each other as if they knew each other well.

"You've really grown up... Artoria," the boy said, smiling from the bottom of his heart, as if reminiscing about something.

"En... Because I am Xia's Knight King!" The girl's satisfied smile was forever deeply etched into the boy's heart.

"Thank you... Thank you heaven for letting me know you, see you, meet you, and even touch you... These will all be my most precious memories forever." His dark eyes were filled with happiness at this moment, and a big smile adorned his handsome face.

"For me too... Xia," she admitted with a smile, acknowledging that they were each other's most cherished existence.

"So... please live well, Artoria." His face was smiling, his expression filled with happiness. His dark eyes were resolute.

"Eh?" The girl, slightly stunned by Xia's sudden words, let out a curious "Eh?".

And then, in the next instant... the girl clearly understood the meaning behind the boy's words.

With all his strength, he flung the girl far away with his arm.

Mixed with silent tears, the boy roared towards the sky!

"Aren't you going to use the Command Seals yet?! Kiritsugu Emiya!" His shout was filled with endless sorrow and unwillingness. He never expected that they would be separated again in this way, right up until the very end.

Xia, who never shed tears when bleeding, bid his final farewell to the girl with his silent tears and a final smile.

"Attack the Holy Grail with your strongest Noble Phantasm!! Saber!" As soon as the boy finished speaking, Kiritsugu's voice, using a Command Seal, rang out loudly.

Then...

In the girl's astonished gaze, her body instantly gathered magic, and she raised the Holy Sword in her hand.

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The red sky.

Fires raging everywhere.

People screaming in agony.

Suddenly, a light shone.

Golden light.

Blinding golden light

Pierced the heavens, obscuring everything...

"...Xia?"