"Chaldeas."
Ruslan raised his head and looked at the cracked white sphere.
At this point, a name like Jefferson Hyde no longer mattered.
His true name had always been one and only one.
That was Ruslan.
As Ruslan, he would kill "Anno." That was precisely why he had stood with the attackers as a comrade.
Lawrence had been confirmed out of the picture, and her blood still remained on his hands. But there was no time now for any extra thoughts about what had already happened.
"Only one thing remains now."
The priest—Kirei Kotomine—and Major General Ruslan stood side by side, both looking up at Chaldeas within the Control Room.
"Pseudo-Celestial Body Chaldeas—the miracle that Animusphere had envisioned in fantasy for over two thousand years, endlessly praying to reach the Root."
"Though it pains me somewhat to trample upon something like a child's dream, it cannot be helped."
As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at Ruslan.
Ever since earlier—or rather, since returning from the hillside—the man's fists had remained clenched.
"Stop wasting words, Kirei Kotomine."
"There's no way to obtain any information from the AI, Imperial Princess. Please act. Complete your mission."
Ruslan's icy voice finally carried a trace of irritation.
"...Mm."
The female Servant known as the Imperial Princess nodded. She raised her head toward the grayish-white sphere as magical energy quietly circulated through her Saint Graph, and then—
Bzzzz—
Everything was frozen over.
Chaldea, the Control Room, the corpses of the old Chaldea staff—
Everything, all of it, was sealed in ice.
"Antarctica... Antarctica, huh."
Fujimaru Ritsuka recalled some of the details of his time in Chaldea, but honestly...
A mountain six thousand meters above sea level in Antarctica.
He finally understood why Koyanskaya had adamantly refused after learning where she would be working.
This