A sense of relief emanated from Mordred's body. The Vile King form receded, revealing that still-youthful face beneath.
She no longer had the strength to speak. She merely gave Anno a weary smile, then closed her eyes and dissolved into a cluster of golden particles that scattered on the wind.
Gawain's shoulders trembled slightly.
He turned around to face Anno, gritting his teeth.
"I can no longer cast aside my loyalty, Sir Anno."
Tears were visible in his eyes, and the wavering in his voice was deafening.
Yet clearly, Gawain still could not abandon what he had upheld all his life.
It was the meaning of his existence. Even if that meaning was wrong, it could no longer be changed.
Because to deny that meaning was to deny the value of Gawain's existence, and the last of his dignity as a knight would vanish as well.
".Is that so? Then I will use these two Holy Swords to see you off." Anno sighed, then gripped both Holy Swords tightly and retreated.
".Thank you." Gawain lowered his head and murmured, his eyes colored with the ash-gray hue of death.
The two of them put more than a thousand meters between themselves.
Gawain gave off an increasingly decayed feeling, yet the magical energy around him had grown even more powerful.
Anno could tell that once Gawain unleashed this Noble Phantasm, his Spirit Origin would perish whether he won or lost.
As for whether he would transform into that Vile King form... there was no way to know.
All Anno could do now was raise the two Holy Swords in his hands and grant this knight a dignified exit.
"This sword... is the sun's replica, the sunlight that burns away all things—the purifying flame that cleanses impurity." Gawain struggled to straighten himself once