Orario.
Imitating Artoria's royal stance, I closed my eyes and felt... amazing.
It seemed to me that all the inhabitants of this world had gathered together around a single point... me.
None of them dared to blink, so as not to miss a single moment of my image. None of them dared to breathe, lest they miss a single word from my lips. None of them dared to utter a single word, lest they miss the sound of my heartbeat.
It was a strange, new, but definitely pleasant feeling, because I could physically feel the hope and desire to live of everyone in this city and beyond.
Excalibur was rapidly filling with power, not only from the gods behind me, but also from those who were now in the Underground. These were not only mortals who had evacuated there, but also xenos from Tamait.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which I had given to the latter, had one added function in the form of, in essence, a repeater. This Noble Phantasm resonated with the Babel, after which it transmitted all of this to the sword. And thanks to this, I could feel and hear each of them.
Ray wanted to feel the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the wind high in the sky.
Lyd wanted to know the world outside the Dungeon and make new friends with those who were ready for it.
Gros wanted protection for his brothers and safety for those who could overcome their prejudices.
Tamait wanted peace for her children.
Bell wanted Hestia and the others to return alive, and for everything to be good again.
Their dreams and hopes differed, but each of them agreed that everything would be fine again and a new day would dawn. Bright and warm. And in response to this, I felt a sense of responsibility towards them, which was extremely strange for me.
I felt that no one but me would do it, and I simply... wanted to help them... to let them see what they wanted... to give them a chance for their dreams to come true...
But initially, I didn't really care about the fate of this world. Yes, I planned to take responsibility for the Beast being here, but nothing more. Victims are victims, no matter how numerous they may be, except for a couple of people that Tie liked, but that's it. However, now...
I opened my eyes and saw the storm of evil magical energy disappear, and a sword that looked like a distorted version of Excalibur of Swiftness appeared in the Beast's hand. In response, I took the hilt with both hands, as Artoria had done, and pulled it out of the ground.
At that very moment, the beam of light it emitted was drawn into the sword, and a moment later, its blade began to flicker softly, continuing to sustain those feelings within me. And, as if on impulse, I turned the sword with its flat side toward me and simply stared at my reflection, which showed a virginally pure blade.
The sword was beautiful. So beautiful that my palms sweated with excitement and soaked my gloves. It was as if I were holding the greatest treasure that had ever existed in the world, one that even True Magic could not compare to. Something distant. Something familiar. Something eternal.
I smiled.
I think only now was I able to understand Archer's words about this sword, even if I had changed them a little.
'The word 'beautiful' is not enough to describe this sword,' eh?
The beast stepped back a little and, grasping its sword with both hands as if to express the seriousness of its intentions, swung it in my direction. At that very moment, a black and red wave of energy burst toward me, devouring and corroding everything it touched.
It felt like the inevitability and cruelty of the world. The sins and vices of humanity. The power of weakness in the face of temptation and oneself. A power capable of suppressing and destroying its owner's enemy, but...
...I knew that my attack would be stronger.
In response to her actions, I raised my sword above my head, just as Artoria did in Fate/ Zero in her battle with Gilles de Rais, and a moment later, a golden light burst forth in all directions, raising the wind and seemingly driving away all the darkness that haunted this world.
- "Ex..." I said and took a small step, feeling even more the weight of responsibility and greatness that this sword held.
- "...Calibur!"
Excalibur, or rather, a parody of it, the crystallization of all humanity's desires, a legend woven from hope alone, a sacred object created from people's imaginations, responded to its name and released a wave of pure gold in response.
Its light made me smile unconsciously and remember home. My now familiar Emiya Residence, where something was always happening.
How Tia lulled me on the porch of the house, gently hugging and stroking my hair.
How Morgan and Artoria fought for no reason, turning the training ground into ruins.
How Medusa and Enkidu constantly teased Archer and Gil, taunting them with various outfits or sharp words.
How Heracles, despite his menacing appearance and Berserker class, was a cinnamon bun.
How Merlin constantly got punched in the face by Fou for no reason.
How Grandpa and Asako helped other Servants with training and simply added charm to our company with their presence.
How Mo-chan posed for photos at work in her maid uniform.
How Da Vinci-chan enthusiastically supported every idea, especially mine.
And this didn't just apply to the Servants. Azazel, Sirzechs, Rias, Gabriel, Runeas, Griselda herself, and the rest.
Now I realized that I missed them. I missed their voices and their rather childish antics, considering that they were either ancient beings or heroes of the past.
Embodying all of this, in addition to the hopes of the inhabitants of this world, pure gold met with black and scarlet darkness, causing a huge pillar of power to pierce the heavens and threaten to destroy everything around it with its might.
At first, they were evenly matched, but then the light of Excalibur began to lose. Slowly but surely, the light gave way, and the pillar turned black and scarlet, and I knew in advance that this would happen.
The sword in my hands was not the real Excalibur, because in this world it was incapable of functioning properly, just like my Noble Phantasms, and was only an imitation. Although it had the same properties, it could not compare to the original, so I used what I had taken from the local version of Yahweh.
By this point, the pillar of energy had been almost three-quarters repainted in the colors of the Beast, but after a short mental command, everything changed.
Suddenly, the sword in the Beast's hand vibrated and was half repainted in black and scarlet into a whole kaleidoscope of different colors, each color representing the divinity of the local gods.
The latter reacted quickly and, taking control of their own powers, which had been separated by Yahweh's power through the Babel and then the Holy Grail, began to direct all of this at me, and I in turn directed it at the sword.
The reaction was instantaneous, and the color of pure gold absorbed the Beast's black and scarlet attack in a fraction of a second, then headed straight for the latter. And just as my attack was about to reach her, a pouting expression appeared on her face, which did not suit her mature appearance at all.
- "That's not fair..." I managed to read her lips just as an explosion rang out, and the sky was pierced again by a pillar of light, this time made of pure gold.
Golden threads of energy of varying thickness and length, like vines, wrapped around the pillar, as if marking their victory. Behind me, I heard cries of joy and sounds of relief from the gods, but it wasn't over yet. Although this attack had dealt enormous damage to the Beast, it had another function.
The sword in my hands began to slowly crumble, and when I unclenched my palms and let it go, it disappeared completely, thus showing that its duty had been fulfilled. And, following its particles with my gaze for a couple of seconds, I teleported right to the Beast, whose body was now a badly wounded and partially charred version of itself.
- "That wasn't fair..." she said, groaning in pain, and then grinned as much as her current condition allowed. "And I won..."
- "Yes, you won," I said calmly. "But you won the battle, not the war."
- "What do you..." she began, not understanding my words, but she didn't have time to finish, because her whole body was seized by convulsions that made her arch her back. I put my finger to her forehead and entered her consciousness, where I saw the same cathedral. But now its walls were not empty. Not only the cathedral, but the entire place seemed to have found itself, becoming stronger, more powerful, and, most importantly, more complete.
I went inside, where I saw the defeated Beast, and above her body stood Griselda, holding the True Longinus in her hands.
- "I see you've found the answer, Miss 'Nun with an Indecent Body,'" I chuckled, to which Griselda raised her eyebrow in irritation in a familiar way.
- "Your methods leave much to be desired, Mr. Archaman."
- "Nevertheless, they work," I shrugged and approached them. "Put away the spear. We are not here to kill."
Griselda, without hesitation, obeyed and stepped back as I crouched down next to the Beast, who was clearly puzzled by my words, and smiled at her.
- "Did you like that?" I asked her.
- "Not really," the Beast replied in a sulky tone. "If it weren't for that dirty trick, everything would have turned out differently."
- "Perhaps," I smiled and took her hand, then used True Magic to heal her completely, not only physically but also spiritually. This action caused her even more confusion. "And yet, I think you liked it. Wouldn't you like to... well, I don't know... live a little longer? After all, if you do what you planned to do, you will perish along with humanity."
- "I don't understand what this question is about."
- "I'm sure you have things you'd like to do," I continued and helped her up. "I could offer you something. A little of this, a little of that, but most importantly, I offer you... a family."
At that word, she froze, as if her body had been struck by lightning.
- "You were born based on Miss Quarta, and therefore inherited many of her traits," I said, to which the Beast remained silent. "This sword is not called the crystallization of all humanity's hope for nothing. And you really think I didn't see what you wanted, huh?"
She continued to remain silent, as did Griselda behind me, clearly embarrassed by this conversation, which clearly did not fit with either the situation or the creature with whom it was being held.
- "Aren't you curious about what will come of your desire, and how everything will turn out?" I asked with a smile on my face, beginning to gently stroke her head, which made the Beast flinch, but she didn't pull away or remove my hand. "Study, learn, and most importantly, live. Isn't that what all of humanity wants? After all, you're part of it too, aren't you?"
The Beast was silent. She was silent for a long time. Either because she didn't know what to say, or because my behavior was so unexpected. I didn't rush her, but silently looked at her in a fatherly way, continuing to stroke her head. And at some point, I felt a change.
- "…okay..." Beast said quietly.
- "Great," I nodded. "Then you need a name. It doesn't feel right to just call you by your class name..."
- "Damn... I never thought my tricks would be used against me..." Beast clicked her tongue.
- "Wh...?" I heard Griselda's shocked voice. "That's it? Just like that?"
- "What's wrong with that?" I asked.
- "Everything is wrong!" Griselda exclaimed, surprisingly emotionally. "Why are you pretending that this is how it should be?! It's just wrong!"
- "Well, welcome to the illogicality of some worlds, one of which, by the way, is ours," I smiled and returned to my thoughts. "What to choose... Hmm... I've got it!"
The beast raised its head while Griselda was still trying to come to terms with the illogicality of such an ending.
- "How about... Sarra, eh?"
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