Wang Qiu'er flicked her wrist and wrenched the Golden Dragon Spear free.
Tang Wutong's body crumpled forward. Blood spread rapidly beneath her, blooming like a tragic, scarlet flower.
The light in her eyes went out completely, freezing at last into confusion, sorrow, and regret.
At the instant her life's breath fully dissipated, something strange occurred.
A point of radiance, shimmering with a peculiar soul fluctuation, drifted from between Tang Wutong's brows. It was the fragment of soul that originally belonged to her—yet shared the same source as Wang Qiu'er.
Wang Qiu'er drew a deep breath, holding the Golden Dragon Spear horizontally. The spear tip seemed to generate an invisible pull.
That soul fragment, like a fledgling returning to its nest, drifted gently and finally merged wholly into Wang Qiu'er's brow.
At the same time, Tang Wutong's body—now bereft of its soul—dissolved into motes of light and merged entirely into Wang Qiu'er.
Hum—!
An indescribable sense of wholeness swept through Wang Qiu'er.
Her soul, once like a circle missing its vital arc, was at last completed—flawless, without blockage or emptiness.
Power surged outward from her in a crash, golden light soaring skyward—brighter and more solid than ever before.
The Golden Dragon Spear in her hand let out a high, draconic cry, as if celebrating its final completion.
When the light subsided, Wang Qiu'er stood quietly, feeling the new strength coursing within and the now-unblemished soul.
Her features were little changed, but her bearing had undergone a total metamorphosis.
Whole at last, she inherited Tang Wutong's complete memories—but to her, they were like watching a movie, without any real feeling.
Even so, they transformed her; her temperament grew nobler, more sacred.
She was no longer merely the human form of the Emperor Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, nor half a being dependent on Tang Wutong.
From this moment on, she was a truly complete, independent individual.
She was—Wang Qiu'er.
"Congratulations, Qiu'er."
A gentle, smiling voice sounded behind her, breaking the stillness of Wang Qiu'er's self-realization.
"From now on, no one—no being—will be able to steer your fate so easily."
Wang Qiu'er did not need to turn to know it was Lu Jingming.
She turned slowly, her newly reborn eyes flowing with golden divine light as she looked at him.
She did not show joy at his words. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, the corner of her lips curving in a faint but meaningful arc, and softly countered:
"No one can steer my fate? Then… what about you, Lu Jingming?"
The sudden, core-aimed retort froze the usual smile on Lu Jingming's face for a beat.
He clearly hadn't expected Wang Qiu'er's first question, upon gaining her full soul, power, and independence, to cut at him so sharply.
"Pft—"
A crisp, teasing chuckle rose from behind him.
Lemuen had lifted her hand, slender fingers elegantly covering her lips. Her pink-violet eyes—always glinting with mischief and curiosity—arched into crescent moons. Clearly, seeing Lu Jingming at a rare loss amused her greatly.
As a Servant who observed with a playful heart and occasionally liked to tease Lu Jingming, she would certainly not waste such a prime chance to watch the show.
More surprising still, even Istaroth, the Time Shade—usually too languid to care, as if the world bored her—lifted her half-lidded eyes a fraction. At her lips appeared a rare, faintly playful smile.
She was usually like an ancient, motionless clock tower, indifferent to the flow of time and scarcely reactive to outside ripples.
That she now showed something close to delight at Wang Qiu'er stumping Lu Jingming was so unprecedented it was almost more astonishing than the question itself.
Caught out before Lemuen and Istaroth, Lu Jingming could only smile wryly, spreading his hands in frank admission: "All right, all right… except me."
His tone was candid; he did not hide it.
"The earlier statement needs a premise—except me."
He did not deny that even though Wang Qiu'er's soul was now whole and her potential vast—an independent, complete self—her fate still lay in his hands.
Freedom from others' control naturally excluded the one who had forged and charted her path.
After all, he had already arranged the next steps of her destiny.
Suspended within the Holy Grail was a fully gestated Seagod divinity. In Lu Jingming's mind, its heir was Wang Qiu'er.
Though Wang Qiu'er herself might never admit it, from soul to bloodline she had completely replaced Tang Wutong, tied by an unbreakable bond to Tang San and Xiao Wu.
In a sense, calling her another kind of Tang Wutong would not be wrong—only the personality and name differed.
Lu Jingming's decision to confer the Seagod's seat upon Wang Qiu'er was partly cultivation.
The bloodline and fortune of a God King's daughter, combined with the Emperor Beast, gave Wang Qiu'er terrifying potential—enough to bear a god-seat.
On the other hand, he candidly admitted there was a dash of personal mischief—a hidden connoisseur of fun, he looked forward to the many interesting developments that might follow if Wang Qiu'er inherited the Seagod's position.
With Karna and Hoolay exiting in succession, this vast and tumultuous Holy Grail War was essentially at its end.
The Grail War's initial aims were to aid the Douluo plane's ascension and to condense god-seats. Both aims were fulfilled.
Douluo Star's evolution had stored sufficient energy; it only needed time to complete metamorphosis. The god-seat was in hand. The dust had settled.
As for the remaining Servants—Artoria, Skirk, Jing Yuan, and the rest—Lu Jingming had no intention of wiping them all out.
These powerful beings from different worlds, left as variables in a world in upheaval, might strike more brilliant sparks and bring different changes and possibilities to Douluo's future.
And that was precisely what Lu Jingming welcomed and anticipated.
"Hm? What's this…"
At that moment, Wang Qiu'er softly exclaimed, lifting her right hand in puzzlement.
On the smooth back of her hand, a blood-hued Command Seal—identical to the one on her left and infused with contract power—was slowly emerging and solidifying.
Lu Jingming's eyes narrowed slightly. His gaze swept at once to the distant, fierce clash between Vita and Durandal, and he understood.
Ordinarily, with her Master Tang Wutong dead, Servant Vita's time would begin to run out.
The Grail would autonomously start drawing negative energy from a masterless Servant, causing her to gradually fade and exit.
Yet he sensed no extraction from the Grail upon Vita.
This meant Vita's Master link had not truly been severed—she still had a binding contract.
The answer was obvious.
Though Tang Wutong's body had perished, Wang Qiu'er—on the level of soul and blood—had become, in another sense, Tang Wutong.
The two had merged into one; only the leading consciousness had changed hands.
By the Grail's rules, which judged on soul and contract, Wang Qiu'er and Tang Wutong were deemed the same person.
Thus, Vita's contract naturally transferred to this Wang Qiu'er.
Wang Qiu'er had, unwittingly, exploited a bug in the Grail's rules and miraculously held contracts with two Servants at once.
Of course, a Master's control over a Servant varied from person to person.
Just look at Ma Xiaotao and her Servant Sparkle—Ma Xiaotao had no hold over her at all.
And as for this Miss Vita… with her capricious, pleasure-seeking nature, would she truly heed Wang Qiu'er? That deserved a very large question mark.
On the other end of the battlefield.
"Hm? Little Wutong… is dead?"
Vita's offensive paused slightly, a faint regret flickering in her all-seeing Wisdom Eye.
"How… unfortunate. Little Vi is actually a bit sad."
Though she had long foreseen Tang Wutong's slim odds, she had still been called "sister" by that girl for so long that some slender, genuine feeling had formed.
Even if, perhaps, only the tiniest bit.
Yet before that sadness could last, she sensed that the abruptly severed Master contract, in the very next instant, had been reconnected in an inconceivable way.
This discovery caused a rare moment of daze to flit across her elegant composure—completely unexpected.
She had prepared countermeasures, confident she could evade the Grail's forced recall after her Master's death and remain.
But before she could employ anything, the contract… revived on its own?
Her gaze pierced space, settling on Wang Qiu'er. The Wisdom Eye flickered, and the causes and effects were laid bare to her.
"Heh… so that's how it is."
Vita's lips curved back into her usual elegant smile, as if she knew every secret. "Soul completion—what an amusing development."
Understanding the situation, she immediately chose the course most favorable now.
"Eya—!"
She let out an exaggerated yet graceful yelp, raising both hands high in a harmless gesture of surrender, while issuing orders to the Lone Planetfarer behind her.
"Cease fire, cease fire—Little Vi surrenders~ Lady Durandal, please stay your hand, won't you?"
Swish—!
The lance tip, wrapped in the powers of Disruption and Creation, halted a hair's breadth before Vita's brow.
Durandal's bold brows furrowed. Truth be told, she very much wanted to end this dangerous, crafty woman with one thrust.
But her earnest—nearly inflexible—nature would never allow her to strike down an opponent who had clearly given up resistance.
If she were to kill, it must be in fair combat, not when the other had yielded.
Seeing Durandal halt as predicted, Vita's smile bloomed brighter.
She had already calculated that with Durandal's upright, serious character, she would never take advantage of such a moment.
Of course, Vita herself was not undefended; had Durandal truly struck, she had her trump cards to survive.
"Stand down, Durandal."
Lu Jingming arrived with Wang Qiu'er at just the right time behind Durandal.
Since Vita's contract had transferred to Wang Qiu'er, she was no longer an enemy that needed purging.
"What happened?"
Durandal withdrew White Flower, but the vigilance in her eyes did not fade.
Though only one opponent remained, Vita's trickiness kept her wary.
"It's a long story, but Miss Vita is, for the moment, not our enemy."
Lu Jingming smiled at Vita, gentle and cordial. "Am I right, Miss Vita?"
Yet that mild smile stirred an instinctive caution in Vita.
She had the sense that behind his harmless expression lay some intriguing intent.
Especially the way his gaze, intentionally or not, slid toward the imposing deep-green mech beside her—the Lone Planetfarer—made her eyelids twitch as she muttered inwardly.
'Up close, this Lone Planetfarer gets more and more irresistible…'
Lu Jingming praised her in his heart. Men are boys till they die, and what boy could resist a top-tier mech?
Unless it's a mecha girl… Well, he already had Firefly. And now this perfect mech seemed to deliver itself to his door?
"This young gentleman is absolutely right~"
Vita took the offered step at once—she always knew the times.
"A Master-Servant contract can't be faked. We are, in truth, companions now, aren't we?"
She smiled like a flower, her tone light.
A single Durandal was pressure enough; add the unfathomable Istaroth and Lemuen, and brute defiance would be folly.
Miss Vita excelled at reading the room.
Of course, she had no intention of giving up her dear sister Sparkle.
Changing sides was one thing, but seeking fun remained her highest priority.
Even with a new Master, her attitude toward Wang Qiu'er would likely mirror how she treated Tang Wutong.
Obedient on the surface, but inwardly regarding her as a provider of stage and opportunity—dispensable. The true delight always lay in the process.
She turned to Wang Qiu'er. Her all-seeing Wisdom Eye held a playful, probing glint as she drew out her words.
"So then… my dear Master~ should I keep calling you Little Wutong, or…?"
"My name is Wang Qiu'er."
Wang Qiu'er's face darkened. Her answer was firm and unhesitating.
She would never acknowledge herself as Tang Wutong, even if their fates were now inextricably entwined.