Chapter 410: I am the Complete Form
The dazzling white ring of light hung high in the sky like a miniature white sun, seemingly transcending the barriers of the world. At this moment, what Shirou did not know was that this halo had begun to appear in other worlds as well.
Across a vast, boundless grassland, a dignified golden-haired girl stared at the white ring and soon reached a decision.
"Let's go, Dun Stallion. This time, we must find him," the golden-haired girl patted the silvery-white steed beside her, leaped onto its back, and ordered softly.
Instantly, the silver-white horse let out a neigh, its long and powerful legs drumming against the earth, carrying the girl as it transformed into a silver bolt of lightning.
In the new home prepared for Sakura, Shirou—having finished settling everything for her—and the purple-haired girl were sitting on cushions spread over the tatami, relaxing and drinking tea around a small oval table.
On the television, a bespectacled news anchor kept an expressionless face while broadcasting the latest news.
"Recently, a white celestial body has appeared in the sky, resembling a miniature white sun. The Academy of Sciences is investigating; this is very likely a new astronomical discovery by humanity. Now, please look at the next news report."
"With the weather turning cooler recently, cold air has been arriving for several days. Please take care to keep warm and prevent colds..."
The news reported on trivial daily matters; truly, no one mentioned the town that had been razed to the ground overnight.
"Senpai, must you really go to a duel?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.
"Yes." Shirou remained silent for a moment, then nodded. He didn't want to deceive the girl.
"Isn't there any other way? Why must you kill each other?" Sakura looked at the boy with great worry and asked again.
"No, this is something that must be done. The 'white guy' himself admitted that if he continues to act recklessly like this, problems will arise sooner or later. And with his power, once a mistake is made, it could be devastating. That's why I have to be prepared; I must resolve everything," Shirou said.
"Justice, the world—are those really so important? You clearly have important family now, Senpai! If you just had a good talk with the other Senpai, perhaps you could protect everyone. Isn't that enough?" Sakura looked straight into the boy's eyes and said very earnestly.
"You understand me best, don't you, Sakura?" Shirou said, looking at the girl with a light smile.
"Senpai... your answer is too cunning!" Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes as she said, "Senpai is always like this, running off on your own and getting covered in wounds for the sake of others. Can't you stop making people worry about you?"
"I'm sorry, Sakura, but I promised—I will absolutely protect you," Shirou said sincerely.
The appearance of this halo was not limited to just this world. In every world created by the white god, this white sun appeared at this moment, though only special existences could realize this anomaly.
In the world Shirou originally belonged to, Komachi, who was holed up at home, was holding her phone and chatting with her group members.
Komachi said: "What do you all think about this white sun?"
Yukino Yukinoshita said: "It's an optical phenomenon caused by celestial movement, just as released in the previous news report."
"But this light has been going on for several days! Even if it were a mirage, it should have caused a stir, but now everyone seems to have become accustomed to it and acts like they don't see it!"
Komachi typed with a face full of confusion and asked again: "You can clearly see it with your eyes, but the instruments can't detect it. Why doesn't everyone think it's strange?"
Yui joined the conversation with a surprised emoji: "So it is like that! Everyone else thinks so too! It's clearly a very strange thing, right? Didn't the experts on TV say that even with the highest-magnification astronomical telescopes currently available to humans, you can't observe that celestial body? But it hasn't caused any stir at all! The reaction is super ordinary, just like saying there will be a meteor shower tonight!"
Asuna spoke up: "Yes, and now on the internet, it's not just in Japan, but even overseas—everyone seems completely uninterested in this phenomenon."
Komachi typed quickly on her phone and replied: "My dad also said that compared to stars in the sky or the universe, humans had better look at their own feet."
"Exactly. I mentioned this to my friends, and I was treated as if I had said something strange. They asked if I was obsessed with paranormal events," Yui said, empathizing.
Yukino Yukinoshita commented: "But having said that, the fact that everyone is completely uninterested in this celestial body is the most abnormal thing."
Asuna pondered: "Is it possible that something happened in a place we don't know about?"
"If you ask what happened recently, there's only one thing, isn't there!" Komachi said.
"Shirou left!" Yukino Yukinoshita and Asuna sent this message simultaneously.
Komachi frantically typed: "Ahhh, what is going on!!! Someone, please tell us!"
"It's a gate." At this moment, a certain lazy angel spoke up. She was an expert in this area, though her department was slightly different.
"Eh? A gate?" Komachi quickly replied, continuing to ask.
"Yes, originally I wasn't allowed to say this, but since we are comrades-in-arms who fought side by side to save the world, I'll make an exception and tell you," in her apartment, Gabriel crossed her arms with a look of superiority and typed the reply.
"Thanks! Gabriel-chan~! Tell us the truth quickly! Even if it's in the game world," Komachi muttered to herself.
"That sun is probably a gate. I sensed something from it similar to the feeling of the 'Heaven's Gate' leading to where God resides," Gabriel explained to everyone.
"Eh? Heaven's Gate? Does that mean if you go inside, you go to heaven?" Komachi asked in shock.
Gabriel continued to explain: "Of course, that gate is definitely not the Heaven's Gate, but it should be a very similar type. It's very likely that there are gods from other religions inside."
"I see, I see..." Komachi nodded repeatedly.
"..." Yukino Yukinoshita sent a long row of dots.
"What's wrong? Yukino-nee?" Komachi asked.
"No, 'gods' and such... it's really too contrary to common sense," Yukino Yukinoshita said.
Outside the door, a sound like horse hooves hitting the ground seemed to ring out, followed by a ding-dong—the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Artoria, who was also at home, said.
"Yes, thanks, Ria-nee," Komachi was busy chatting, so she left it to her sister.
"Who is it?" Artoria opened the door and asked directly. When she saw the appearance of the visitor clearly, the girl's golden pupils tightened and dilated.
...
In another world, the two had already walked out of the house. The purple-haired girl followed behind, looking at the boy with reluctance.
"Then, I'm heading out," Shirou looked at the white sun in the sky, then turned his head to look at the purple-haired girl and said softly.
"..." Sakura wanted to say something but stopped, clenching her fists.
"Shirou! Wait a moment!" A shout came from behind.
A silvery-white shadow rushed over at high speed. The knight riding on top pulled the reins, making the horse stop.
Looking closely, the golden-haired girl riding it wore silver armor, a blue battle skirt, and carried a black and a white holy sword on her left and right...
"Artoria!!!" Shirou raised his head, saw the visitor's face clearly, and said in shock.
"Saber?" Sakura also said in surprise.
The dignified golden-haired girl stared straight at Shirou and said solemnly: "Wrong! It is not Artoria, but Artoria (Complete Form)!!!"
...
The scene fell into an eerie silence.
"That... anyway, you are the Artoria I know, right?" Shirou scratched his cheek and asked helplessly. This was a situation even more baffling than Nero Venus. Could she have been influenced by the lady known as Mysterious X?
"Hmph, you can understand it that way," the golden-haired girl nodded.
"Anyway... well, long time no see, Artoria," Shirou said with a helpless smile.
"Really, leaving without a word—of course I shook off the others to find you!" Artoria suddenly said coldly.
"Eh? This is?" Shirou looked at the blue-eyed, golden-haired girl. For just a moment, he felt like he saw the face of the Alter Ria currently staying at his house. But looking closely, the colors were wrong. For Alter, the hair color was a pale gold tending toward white, the eyes were also gold, and the temperament seemed much more domineering.
But the girl before him was truly blonde and blue-eyed, the knight-girl from his memories who had participated in the Holy Grail War with him.
"This is a message from the other 'me'! She handed her power over to me; the current me also represents Alter," Artoria said.
"So that's it. Don't tell me you went to the world I'm currently in?" Shirou asked suspiciously.
"Yes, Shirou, this is also a necessary preparation before the battle," Artoria said with a serious face.
"Preparation before the battle?" Shirou asked.
"Shirou, if I may speak frankly, just as you are now, it is fundamentally impossible to defeat your god-like self," Artoria said calmly.
"I understand that to some extent, but there are things that someone has to do, even if they don't want to," Shirou nodded and said.
Shirou actually knew clearly that if he faced the white god alone, he had no chance of winning. After seeing the god, he felt the disparity at close range; the other party could be said to be himself in a perfect state.
Compared to himself, the god possessed a stronger constitution, a better state, more comprehensive thinking and rationality, not to mention the immense magic power he held as a concept god capable of suppressing the Black Grail.
"But even so, I still have to fight. The 'white guy' didn't deny the worst-case scenario," Shirou said.
Artoria said: "In order to confirm the god's intentions, I, who stepped out of the Avalon world, began traveling through various worlds to investigate the actions of the white god and make contact with people who were transferred after being saved by him. At the same time, I went to find different versions of myself, fused with them, and restored my power."
Artoria, as the本体 (main body) of the King of Knights—the King of Storms who in European epics was destined to return to save the world, the King Arthur who was sent to the world of Avalon after the Battle of Camlann and obtained eternal life.
Legend has it that in 452 AD, a civil war occurred that ended the legend of King Arthur. Mordred, the Knight of the Round Table who remained to guard Camelot, led knights rebelling against the King and laid an ambush on the road to intercept the King returning from a distant campaign.
Because of Mordred's rebellion, the Knights of the Round Table, painstakingly built by King Arthur, fell apart in this battle. More than half of the twelve tables died, and the knights under his command were littered across the field. After King Arthur executed Mordred, he also suffered heavy injuries.
When King Arthur stood up, leaning on his long spear, the scenery before his eyes was nothing but corpses piled up on the battlefield, with blood flowing on the ground—all of them warriors who had once fought side by side with the King.
The dying King Arthur was taken by a fairy on a boat to A-valon (Utopia). Legend says he was eventually buried there, but the people believe that King Arthur did not die; he would return again to save the world.
The golden-haired girl was the King of Storms, awakened from the distant Avalon. She inherited all the abilities King Arthur possessed in life and learned of the white god. Eventually, the god would overload, the gate had already opened, and a terrible future was imminent.
She synchronized her memories with all the Artorias, seeking the key to untying this deadlock—which was searching for traces of Shirou.
She first tracked Shirou's location, came to the world where Shirou originally lived, and had a conversation with her other self living in Shirou's house.
The cold-on-the-outside-but-warm-on-the-inside Artoria heard her story, agreed to merge, handed over the Holy Grail, and fused into one. After possessing the Golden Holy Sword, she also obtained the power of the Black Holy Sword. The Holy Spear, Holy Sword, Scabbard, and divine steed—she gathered all the power King Arthur had in life, becoming the true King of Storms.
At the time, the girl with white-gold hair, golden eyes, and wearing a black dress said coldly: "I am undeniably the most competent King of England, but if it is to be with Shirou, setting aside all conflicts is acceptable."
"Shirou, you alone are definitely not enough, so I came here to fight with you," Artoria said firmly.
"Senpai! If that's the case, then surely! I'm coming with you too!" Sakura ran over and said.
"Sakura, you just need to live the life you like here!" Shirou turned back to look at the purple-haired girl and said.
"No! How could I possibly like a life obtained by letting you risk your life, Senpai!" Sakura shouted angrily.
"But this is a matter between myself and myself..." Shirou countered, still not wanting to involve the girl in his heart.
Artoria interrupted Shirou at this moment and said: "Ah, Sakura's power is something we must have. Among the three worlds, only by gathering the power of all three can we contend with the god."
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