I, Ritsuka, Siscon Grand Hero

"Not a single victory to my name."

A storm of magical energy erupted from Ritsuka, and nearly half of her once fiery orange hair had turned silver-white. This was likely a manifestation of her consuming large amounts of her own life force…

"Alone, I shattered ice upon the sword mound."

"Yet, this life has not yet ended."

Swinging the ancient, heavy stone axe in her hand, Ritsuka forced Angelica back step by step. She glanced back at the increasingly bright halo behind her.

"A false body, yet still..."

"Forged from swords!"

The stone axe was pushed aside by countless divine weapons. 'The Gate of Babylon' unleashed over a dozen divine constructs, easily deflecting the assault. Angelica then turned and swung her sword at Ritsuka.

The attack tore through the air but struck nothing. Ice and snow began to encroach upon the world.

Snowflakes landed on Angelica's cheeks, causing her to instinctively widen her eyes. Her vision shifted to an extraordinary scene.

Her hair whipped around in the fierce wind, snowflakes landing on her nose. Ritsuka, tilting her head slightly, looked up at the sky. The dark blue sky was a pitch-black snowy night. This was her other trump card, a power that would lead to rapid death if used simultaneously with Alcides.

"The individual and the world, fantasy and reality, replacing everything with the shape of the heart—the ultimate Magecraft, Inherent Domain."

Her eyes, now a shade of gold that didn't match her orange-yellow hair, Ritsuka's silver-white locks comprised over fifty percent of her hair. She extended her hand and slowly drew a sword from the ground.

"Hey! Angelica, how do you like this world? This desolate, ice-and-snow-covered realm, filled with the tombstones of infinite swords."

Long sabers and sharp swords. Her gaze swept across the boundless world of swords. Ritsuka stopped with a smile, standing dozens of meters away from Angelica. A faint crack appeared on her arm.

'Immortality until transferred to Prometheus.' She quickly repaired it, but more parts began to crumble immediately.

"Tch, this sight, and your life, which is even more lowly than a beast's... it seems I misunderstood..."

Section 51, Chapter 46: Battle of the End (3)

Angelica looked on with disgust at the world of fakes before her. The personality influenced by the Class Card made her feel as if she could vomit. 'The Gate of Babylon' once again illuminated the sky under the snowy night.

It was hundreds, no, thousands of various armaments.

"You, who shouldn't even have the right to stand on this stage, are truly as repulsive as those who masquerade as humans, and that vile mud-like Heracles!"

Enveloped by the infinite Noble Phantasms, the swords around Ritsuka began to float. She aimed them all at Angelica. "Haha... Yes, I didn't have the right to be on this stage, but he gave me that right. That's enough."

A sea of swords, a vast number of them, met the incoming barrage of Noble Phantasms and struck them down.

The blades in her hands shattered upon impact. Regripping the stone axe that belonged to Alcides, Ritsuka laughed wildly and leaped high, smashing down towards Angelica, who was standing her ground.

The stone axe was blocked by over a dozen shields, each a famous defensive artifact from myth. The girl known as the King of Heroes produced them. Then, a massive sword body shot out from the ripples below, and with just a graze, Ritsuka was sent flying.

She rolled uncontrollably in the snow. After regaining her balance, Ritsuka looked up. Countless projected swords, wreathed in magical energy, charged forward. "Truly a Heroic Spirit befitting a 'King.' To be able to throw out those Noble Phantasms that mortals gaze upon as if they were mere trash!"

"But that's precisely why you despise them, isn't it?!"

"The Avenger, Alcides! Who abandoned the gods, swore vengeance upon them, didn't hesitate to become 'tainted,' and honed his martial arts to the extreme with a human body!!"

The stone axe in her hand swung down fiercely. The divine energy surging from her belt poured into it madly. The power drawn from the Crystal Dice reached its limit.

Her fingertips crumbled. She gripped the axe handle tightly. Numerous shields shattered, and Angelica's astonished expression met her eyes.

At that moment, behind the girl roaring with all her might, Angelica seemed to see a tall, dark figure, also roaring at her. Its crimson eyes were filled with a frenzied will, and the stone axe swung towards its head.

Crack—!

Ritsuka's left hand disintegrated, and a large amount of blood splattered on the snow. Angelica, struck by the stone axe, was shifted away by a glass-like effect.

Space twisted and shifted, and the attack landed on empty air.

Immense pain surged through her entire body. The side effects of Immortality became terrifying. Without the vast amount of magical energy to suppress it, the sudden burst of power caused Ritsuka's cheeks to contort slightly.

—Finally, this moment had arrived.

Something incredibly important had suddenly broken, a feeling of loss.

She, who had always pushed her body to grasp power beyond its limits, had never lacked magical energy. Now, she finally understood its source.

Ritsuka closed her eyes—

"Miyu, please be happy."

Section 53, Chapter 47: Opening Mountains, Burning Seas

In the cave of Mt. Enzou, a beam of light illuminated the night. A massive circular magic circle enveloped the figure within the beam.

At a certain moment, the power that had reached its critical point suddenly retracted. The beam of light gradually contracted, and the world opened. Miyu, materialized based on a wish, was sent out of this world.

Along with the Holy Grail's continuation array, the interior of Mt. Enzou became empty.

Above, a void appeared in the impact of the light beam, revealing the scene of another world. A prosperous city and bustling crowds were clearly visible.

That too was Fuyuki City.

The seven Class Cards, used for wishing, passed through the void.

At this moment, two similar yet different worlds connected.

In the mindscape deep within her heart, amidst the ice and snow, Ritsuka knelt on one knee, gasping for breath. Her right hand had already crumbled from reaching the boundary, and blood stained the white expanse.

The mana supply within her body, the once diligent magic circuits, suddenly became somewhat restrained.

A phenomenon of mana depletion began to occur.

It was clear that the near-infinite mana she possessed in the previous battle did not come from the Crystal Dice, but from Miyu Emiya, who was a Holy Grail, a miracle in herself.

"Heh... What an unreliable older sister, being looked after by her little sister until the very end..."

Unlimited Blade Works consumes a lot of mana. Ritsuka looked at the tottering Inherent Domain and, without hesitation, withdrew the Twelve Trials, even recalling the Divine Beast's Fur and the army belt.

Her attire reverted to rags, making her look like a female middle school student who had just been bullied.

"I won, King of Heroes."

Speaking words that Angelica couldn't understand at all, Ritsuka wiped her mouth with her remaining left hand and then raised it.

She pulled a sharp sword from the ground.

Angelica frowned, clearly sensing something as well. She glared furiously at the heavily wounded Emiya Ritsuka not far away, "You bastard..."

Clang—!

Stomping her foot, amidst the swirling snow, Ritsuka slashed out with her sword.

A Noble Phantasm ejected from within a golden ripple blocked Ritsuka's charge. Missing her mark, Ritsuka retreated slightly.

With only one hand left to fight, the situation became somewhat precarious, but it didn't matter.

She was reaching her limit anyway.

Countless blades called out and rose from the ground, swords and sabers alike, hovering above Ritsuka's head. Within this Inherent Domain, even without her right hand, she could maintain a significant combat capability.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

The weapons that the King of Heroes' Gate of Babylon hadn't managed to fire were intercepted almost as soon as they emerged.

Ritsuka casually drew a Chinese longsword and charged towards Angelica, ducking and sliding to evade the threat of two cleavers.

Flipping up, she brought her sword down in a slashing attack, colliding with the greatsword in Angelica's hand. Fierce sparks flew at the point of impact, and the two were locked in a brief stalemate.

The next moment, the sword in Ritsuka's hand shattered, and the greatsword grazed her cheek.

The upward curve of her lips made Angelica's expression change drastically.

Bang—!

She twisted and delivered a knee strike, her leg joint suddenly transforming into a weapon and slamming towards Angelica's head. The outline of a Replacement Magic enveloped her.

The scenery within her vision shifted, and she was displaced into mid-air.

A halo unfolded, creating a 360° lock-down. Countless deadly knives, spears, swords, and halberds shot out from the ripple, as if the broken girl would be pierced like a hedgehog the next moment.

On the vast, snowy plain, countless weapons flew up and surged towards Ritsuka.

Using the projected weapons that were gradually closing in, Ritsuka leaped through the air, dodging most of the attacks.

As she finally landed, only one sword was stuck in her body, but she didn't dare to pull it out, even though it was draining her life force.

She had a hunch that if she pulled it out, she would die instantly right here...

The Bow of the Hydra, bestowed by the sun god Apollo, was drawn to its full extent with divine-level skill after slaying the Hydra and merging with mythology. In an instant, dozens of arrows were loosed, all reaching supersonic speeds.

Angelica was forced to use Replacement Magic again, transferring herself away.

"Heh, you were careless. I can grasp every movement within the Inherent Domain."

"...Nani?"

As the displacement ended, Ritsuka had already appeared in front of Angelica. She immediately discarded her weapon and unleashed a side kick.

Furious power poured towards Angelica. Ritsuka, increasingly nearing her limit, began to fight with explosive power. Although she couldn't use other Noble Phantasms due to mana restrictions, her overall close-quarters combat ability had become stronger!

"Damn it!"

Angelica brought a longsword horizontally in front of her. The broken sword blade pierced her abdomen. An emergency secondary spatial displacement allowed her to escape the fight.

She was injured, and the tyrannical personality attached to the puppet manifested at this moment.

"You bastard... This child's play ends now!"

The anger on Angelica's face was exceptionally clear. She waved her hand, and two huge halos appeared above her head. "Come out! Prison Scythe! Dust Saw!"

Seeing the weapons emerging from the halos, Ritsuka's eyes widened in astonishment.

Giant armaments, at least tens of meters long, two divinely crafted weapons descended from the sky – a black greatsword and a fiery red long saber. These two incomparable divine weapons pointed directly at the tiny figure.

The immense pressure and the approaching heat caused Ritsuka's eyes to narrow.

'The attack range is too large, there's no time to escape it. Unless... I take it head-on!'

"Trace On!"

Azure lightning gathered in her left hand, her eyes focused entirely on the first descending divine artifact.

Ritsuka roared, "Aaaahhhhh..."

Rapidly analyzing the divine artifact and reconstructing its external structure, an armament with the same hardness but lacking the divine artifact's inherent properties formed in her hand.

Void: Verdant Horizon of the Opening a Thousand Mountains!!!

With a sudden upward flick of its left hand, Ritsuka projected an armament with a hardness close to that of a Divine Construct, pure and without the ability to carve mountains, and swung it fiercely upwards.

Bang—!!

Amidst the tremendous noise, Ritsuka's projected mountain-splitting sword carved a notch into the true mountain-splitting sword.

The second Divine Construct followed suit. Ritsuka's body began to crack in small areas as it squeezed out every last drop of magical energy, frantically projecting a second Divine Construct.

Dawn Horizon of the Absolute: Scorching Ten Thousand Seas!!!

Once again, the projected Divine Construct severed the true Divine Construct. The destroyed true Divine Construct exploded, its contained concept turning into a sea of fire that plunged directly onto the snowfield.

Amidst the wreckage of the Divine Construct, Ritsuka coughed violently.

Its upper garment was nearly completely torn, leaving only a half-length long-sleeved shirt and underwear clinging to its body.

Its body, including its shoulders and left arm, had also been shattered…

Using its body to extract magical energy, the shattered form had very little remaining magical power left. Ritsuka was almost too weak to even stand.

Staggering out of the sea of fire that was scorching it, it suddenly froze.

The woman who had unleashed two immensely powerful Divine Constructs, as if aiming for a finishing blow, stood dozens of meters away, watching it coldly.

A halo, neither large nor small, bloomed in her hand.

Immediately after, a crimson storm descended upon this world. The true trump card belonging to the King of Heroes was finally revealed.

Section 54: Chapter 48 - The Final Blow