Legend says that a saint who mastered an ancient martial art once beat the Angel of Destruction, who commanded more than twelve thousand angels, in hand-to-hand combat.
But what unfolded before Leticia now was the sight of one man fighting hundreds of thousands of angels alone.
The girl did not even have time to blink. She could only watch this final battle that would decide humanity's fate.
She watched the Holy Sword User wage a deadly battle against the angels.
In the end, even after receiving the Sword of Gods that protected Paradise, she still could not help at all.
She could not even shout a single word of support.
Nothing she did would make any difference.
The faint power she had gained from synchronizing with the Holy Maiden and the angel told her so.
This was the reenactment of a myth. It was not a realm a mere human like her could step into.
The Holy Sword User kept projecting hundreds, then thousands of swords, shooting down the angels as they closed in. Then even more angels appeared.
Because the battle below was so fierce, Saber could no longer receive Mana support, yet he only grew stronger the more he fought. Even while recklessly spending Mana, he showed no sign of running dry.
That should have been impossible with the Dragon Heart alone.
The reason was probably the new power he had obtained.
Yes, the Second-Class Perpetual Engine once said to be installed in the Homunculus created by a certain Amakusa of the past.
The current Holy Sword User, as a Heroic Spirit, had reached the [completed form] that the mad scientist had dreamed of but failed to realize.
The strongest reactor core on the planet and the principle of infinity combined, giving birth to an unprecedented golden lightning.
The true [Perpetual Engine] was complete.
Yellow lightning raced.
Shirou continued to accelerate.
Even after combining the heart of the Grand Dragon with the principle of the perpetual motion machine, he still had to face an enemy that surpassed him, Heaven itself, a legion of nearly one million angels.
Even if his Mana was infinite, the body of a Servant still had its limits.
His muscle tissue repeated the cycle of destruction and repair, while his nerves were severed and reconnected again and again.
Ignoring the tremendous agony born from that process, Shirou continued to command thousands of swords against the enemy.
The thunderous roar of destruction, a mixture of physical force and Mystery, made Leticia's ears ring for a moment.
And yet she heard it.
The sound of something cracking.
Leticia understood. It was the sound of Saber's Spirit Origin collapsing.
So he really had reached his limit.
Ever since the Great Holy Grail War, the fighting had barely stopped for even a moment in the short span of half a month.
And on top of that, Saber had only just completed his incarnation inside the angel's body.
At a glance, his body looked unharmed, but in truth, he was burning away his own life.
He was already on the verge of his limit.
"..."
Leticia clenched her fists, her expression pained.
She could not make a sound.
The feeling that the hero she respected and loved was about to lose grew stronger and stronger.
The girl did not panic.
No. This couldn't continue.
She had to find a way.
Jeanne-sama chose me. Artorius-sama chose me... I have to help them!
If Saber lost, it would not end with her.
The Yggdmillennia clan, the citizens of Romania, and even the entire world would be caught up in it.
But what could someone as weak and powerless as her possibly do?
"Honestly, Saber is so focused on the battle that he's completely ignoring my telepathy."
Like the sound of a wind chime, a voice rang inside her mind.
The beautiful female voice was like a flower, and Leticia remembered it vividly.
For a moment, she confused it with the Holy Maiden's [Revelation], but she quickly realized who it was.
"Manaka... -san...?"
"Leticia... right? It's nice to meet you."
The girl could not understand how she was speaking inside her head. She was not a god or an angel.
But strangely, Manaka's voice was like a ray of light, illuminating Leticia's heart, which had already fallen into despair.
"Sorry, but it'll take me a little while to get there from here. Could you lend me your body for a bit?"
Manaka spoke softly.
"My beloved Saber is fighting. I can't just leave him alone."
"......"
"May I ask this of you?"
"Mm."
"Thank you, Leticia."
After gently nodding, Leticia felt as if she had fallen from the sky, dropping in free fall. In an instant, she lost control of her body.
The Omnipotent Root Maiden (Potnia Theron) took over.
...
".........?"
Shirou came back to himself in the middle of the fierce battle.
For some reason, his [Instinct] activated, so he turned around and saw an unbelievable sight.
A girl stood there with exquisite short platinum-blonde hair, fairy-like pure beauty, and a jade-green dress.
"......Manaka?"
When did you wake up... no, wait, how did your chest get that big!?
As a result, Leticia, who had originally been beside Shirou, had disappeared, and Manaka Sajyou had appeared in her place.
But for some reason.
Even though her face, height, and aura were all Manaka Sajyou's, only the size of her chest did not match.
"Saber, I've come to fight beside you."
The girl smiled and raised one finger.
A huge Magic Circle manifested at her fingertip and released twisted rays of light, piercing through the angels trying to approach Shirou.
"This should be the first time we've fought side by side, shouldn't it?"
Come to think of it, it was.
Until now, whenever they fought, Manaka had either been in the position of the one being protected, or she had been secretly causing trouble behind Shirou's back.
This was the first time they had fought shoulder to shoulder like this.
Now, Shirou could entrust his back to her without reservation.
And Manaka could make the resolve to match.
"Let's use the Command Spells," the girl whispered.
"Huh?"
Shirou was shocked.
To Manaka, the Command Spells she had received from the Holy Grail were treasures more important than anything else.
No matter what, she should never have wanted to use them.
"Are you sure?"
"Mm... I don't need them anymore."
As she said that, the girl with platinum-white hair wrapped an arm around Shirou's waist and pressed herself close.
Ugh, her chest is in the way... Why is that the only part that kept her traits? Leticia, did your chest actually surpass my Magic?
The Seven-Winged Seraphim (Command Spell) on Manaka Sajyou's chest was proof of the Master-Servant bond between her and Shirou.
She had once been terribly afraid that if she lost her Command Spells, her connection to Shirou would be severed.
But that fear had now completely vanished.
The one I should thank... is you, Assassin.
If you had not killed me, I never could have connected with him like this.
She no longer needed the Command Spells, nor even the causal thread. Manaka could state with certainty that her destiny and Shirou's would remain tightly entwined from now on.
"I see..."
Shirou read the resolve in Manaka's eyes.
He nodded.
"Please, Saber...!"
A deep crimson light flashed brilliantly.
In that instant, the Mana inside Shirou expanded explosively once more.
It was the result of using all three Command Spells at once.
Command Spells, the proof of contract bestowed upon the Master by the Greater Grail, and absolute orders over a Servant.
When used to command a Noble Phantasm, that Noble Phantasm should display power greater than its usual output.
"Here we go."
Shirou wrapped an arm around his Master's waist and released the Holy Sword of the Planet with only one hand.
Normally, releasing the Holy Sword one-handed would greatly reduce its power, perhaps not even reaching the scale of [Anti-Fortress].
But now, what the Holy Sword User was releasing was not the Holy Sword itself, but the fulfillment of his vow with Manaka Sajyou.
"Show me a miracle, Saber."
"As you wish, Master."
A dazzling radiance, colorless yet containing every color, burst from Shirou's palm.
It was not starlight. It was not the blazing flame of the sun.
It was not the power of destruction. It was not a curse of ten thousand deaths.
The Golden Grail rising into the sky from Shirou's hand shone with blinding light, enveloping the hundreds of thousands of angels that blotted out the night sky.
Time seemed to stop at that moment.
The rampaging, out-of-control angels could no longer move, frozen as if someone had pressed pause.
The Holy Grail in Shirou's possession had opened a Barrier with the support of the Command Spells.
The range of the Barrier was the planet's surface.
The target of the Barrier was all angels.
The effect of the Barrier was time stop.
The Holy Sword User recreated the miracle once shown by the Scribe of God.
"I made it!"
Before long, the excited voice of the Angel of Sloth came from behind them.
The Crown had been repaired, and she had regained command over the out-of-control angels.
The battle was over.
...
And so, the long battle came to an end.
Rumble—rumble—
The Hanging Gardens, transformed into a throne, began to collapse, raining down toward the earth.
Had they been above a town, the damage might have been impossible to measure. Fortunately, the Hanging Gardens were currently hovering over the forest.
Perhaps Metatron had anticipated this outcome from the very beginning.
The one regret Shirou had from this Holy Grail journey was that he never got to teach that self-righteous Archangel a lesson on a physical level.
Shirou picked up Leticia, who had returned to herself after Manaka Sajyou left, leaped onto the Chalk Airship, and safely made it back to the ground.
At the gates of the Fortress of Millennia, a group of people were saying their goodbyes.
Several Heroic Spirits and Magi were gathered there.
The last of the Greater Grail's energy had been completely spent.
For the Magi who had wanted to obtain the Holy Grail, there was naturally some dissatisfaction, but given the circumstances, this could be considered the best possible outcome.
Every Magus who had personally witnessed this Great Holy Grail War agreed on that point.
"Saber!!"
The moment Shirou landed, Manaka, dressed in a hospital gown, rushed over and threw herself into his arms.
"Careful. You still shouldn't be moving around like that."
"I'm already fine, Saber. You really worry too much."
"I feel like we've had this conversation before, except the roles were reversed..."
Shirou smiled as he stroked the girl's hair.
To be clear, he definitely was not deliberately peeking at that area.
Still, he was surprised to find that the Command Spells on Manaka's chest had not completely disappeared.
The once-crimson Command Spells, having burned through their duty, had remained as a pitch-black Seraphim pattern clearly visible on the girl's chest.
It did ruin the mood a little, but Shirou could not help asking out of curiosity.
"Manaka, why didn't they disappear?"
The girl's face took on a dreamy expression, and with a blush, she repeated the words she had once said before.
"Because this is the bond between you and me."
...
After temporarily calming Manaka down, Shirou went to the other side to greet the other Servants.
In the span of half a month, they had gone from enemies to Battle Companions. Shirou felt he ought to give them a proper farewell.
"See you later, Saber!"
The pink-haired cross-dresser waved cheerfully as he vanished. Even when disappearing, a third-rate Servant was quicker than everyone else.
"What about Rider? Did he die in battle?" Shirou asked curiously as he walked over to Assassin.
"Do you think he is the sort to die so easily? That man left without a word after the battle ended."
Semiramis spoke with her arms folded across her chest.
"I see... Thank you, Assassin. This time, it was thanks to you that..."
"Do not misunderstand. I only helped you because I could not stand that one (Metatron)."
"Yeah, yeah." Shirou gave a wry smile and went along with it.
"Still... this manifestation was enjoyable enough. So I suppose the grudge I held against you until now is settled."
"You really are strict, Your Imperial Majesty."
Semiramis gave a small snort, then spoke again.
"By the way, were you serious about what you said back then? Or did you make it up just to use me?"
At first, Shirou did not realize which words she meant, but it soon came back to him.
He nodded firmly. "Yeah. Your eyes really do look like my wife's."
"Then your wife must be a woman with an absolutely dreadful personality," the Queen of Assyria replied, resting her delicate chin on one hand.
"That's true. But even so, I..."
Shirou did not finish, but Semiramis had already understood everything from his expression.
"...Hehe."
The Poison Empress gave a meaningful, bewitching smile.
If I had met you while I was alive, what sort of life would I have lived?
Semiramis, not as an Empress, but as a Queen Consort...
Now that I think about it, that does not sound so bad...
Assassin narrowed her eyes in satisfaction and vanished into particles of light.
...
After that, Shirou went to say goodbye to Atalanta and Mordred.
The black-clad Huntress hugged the red-haired boy tightly, burying her face against him and taking a long, deep breath.
When she raised her head, her wild, beautiful features shone with unwavering resolve.
"Even if it's at the end of the world, I'll come find you again and fulfill the promise between us."
In other words, Shirou had become her prey.
One day, she would find this man again, then force him to make her pregnant with an adorable child.
Shirou had a feeling that if it was Atalanta, she really might show up at his door one day.
So once he got back, it would probably be best to warn Iri and the others in advance.
...
"Father, I..."
Shirou placed a hand on her shoulder.
"If you ever get the chance to meet your sister again, make up with her, all right?"
"Hah? Like I'd... Okay! Okay! I'll make up with her! You're going to crush my shoulder!"
Mordred pouted, looking wronged, as she rubbed her shoulder.
"Well, I'm off, Father!"
Mordred grinned and melted into the night, leaving Shirou alone.
After saying goodbye to his Battle Companions, he returned to his Master.
Manaka was chatting with Leticia.
Was it his imagination? Manaka seemed a little brighter than before.
No, rather than brighter, it was more like she had become more like an ordinary girl.
He had no idea what they were talking about, but the two of them covered their mouths and giggled, sneaking glances at Shirou as they laughed.
Guh. Don't tell me... they're saying bad things about me!?
"Ah, Master! You're back!"
Shirou asked uneasily, "Leticia, Manaka... what were you two talking about just now?"
Leticia and Manaka looked at each other, then smiled in perfect understanding while secretly studying Shirou's face.
"???"
Is there something on my face?
Manaka slipped her arm through Shirou's, her expression faintly strained from holding back laughter as she said lightly, "We weren't talking about anything, Saber."
...They were definitely saying bad things about me!
Shirou pressed her. "If you weren't talking about anything, then what exactly were you talking about?"
"Master, you're so naggy. Girls will dislike you if you keep that up."
Leticia ran over and skillfully linked arms with Shirou on his other side.
Was this girl always this proactive about physical contact with the opposite sex? Shirou frowned.
"All right~ All right~ Don't just stand around. Let's go."
As a Knight, Shirou's final task on this land was to escort the ladies safely home.
Somehow, he had a feeling the road ahead would be rough...
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