"—Looking at you, I can guess why Gareth isn't here. —She would have chosen to support Lancelot, but… you were the one who gave her the final stroke, weren't you? To her, who had been tainted by 'impurity.'"
Artoria intuited the truth. The reason Gareth was nowhere to be found, having vanished in silence.
"O likeness of the King I once revered and adored! With this strike, I truly become a knight of the Lion King! —Farewell, O noble embodiment of chivalry, O glorious King of Knights—!!"
A scorching ray of solar energy erupted. A lethal, wide-range sweep of sunlight designed to incinerate entire armies.
"『Excalibur Galatine』—!!!!"
The massive solar beam swept across the field, aiming to burn the King to cinders and shatter the earth itself. Everything in its path should have melted into nothingness.
"Gah—!"
Gawain spat out a spray of blood, stumbling. His body had been critically compromised by the 'Plague.' The heat-ray he unleashed was a mere fraction of its true power, barely enough to shake the ground.
He collapsed to one knee, coughing. Dark blood coated his hands as the holy sword slipped from his grasp and the light faded from his eyes. Moses's presence had intensified the plagues, ravaging Gawain's mana-depleted body beyond repair.
The sun would not rise to the zenith. It was the hour of the setting sun.
"Very well. In response to that spirit—I shall show you my ultimate law of victory!"
Artoria declared with power, raising her twin holy swords high.
"Excalibur + Excalibur equals 200-Calibur Power!!"
Using the Dun Stallion II as a shield to weather what remained of Galatine, Artoria used her Mana Burst to leap high into the air.
"I jump twice as high as usual for 400-Calibur Power!!"
Diverting even her Cosmo Reactor to mana production, she soared higher than Camelot itself. Aiming at the grounded Gawain, she began to spin her body with intense force, magnifying her power and acceleration.
"And by adding three times the usual Mana Burst rotation, I reach 1200-Saber Power—surpassing your triple-strength 900-Gorilla Power!! ——Take this, Gawain! The strike that shall judge you!!"
Guided by the peerless logic of the Servant Universe, her ultimate strike pierced toward Gawain.
"Anti-Saber Secret Technique!! 『Nameless Galactic Meteor Sword: X-Screw-Calibur』—!!!!"
Transforming into a black-and-white spiral drill, Artoria bored through Gawain's center, blowing him back and scattering his essence.
"—So this is the end… 'The disloyal knight,' indeed… To the very end, I could not… join my King's battle—"
His spiritual core pierced, Gawain began to fade. The logic was nonsensical, but the sheer output of three times the mana from two holy swords—the "I am the Excalibur" strategy—was more than a plague-ridden body could endure.
Artoria skidded to a halt, standing back-to-back with the dying knight.
"—I know nothing of the inner workings of the Lion King's Round Table, but…"
She sheathed her swords and pulled her cap low.
"I have no memory of any knight who was disloyal to me. They were all magnificent knights who simply had terrible timing. And the Knight of the Sun who looked just like you… was no different."
"..."
In that moment, Gawain finally spoke his true heart. He dropped the mask of the killer he had become. Artoria's words had cut through to his very soul.
"... Brave heroes of the stars. Why… why did you only appear now?"
For the sake of the people, his brothers, and himself.
"Not when the Holy City was first built… but now, when everything is about to end… why…?"
He had even put his beloved sister to the sword to serve his King.
"If you had come sooner… if you had let her witness that hope and power… she might have… regained her heart—"
If they had, a future without this cataclysm might have existed. A future where the King of Knights and the Lion King stood side-by-side. He couldn't help but dream of it.
"—I find you… utterly detestable—"
Tears streaming down his face, he squeezed out the words as he looked up into the rain of blood. And then, the Knight of the Sun, who had sought to fulfill his loyalty above all else—vanished.
"…If you say we were late, then let me answer," Artoria whispered, without looking back. She watched a single horse galloping toward the main gate.
"You all—gave up far too soon."
The Main Gate
"Touta! Keep going! Hit it like you mean it!"
"I know! I'm more worried about the horse! Man, don't make this march to our deaths too literal, you two!"
"I've got it! —To ensure no one throws their life away in vain! So that everyone may reach the Buddha! I'm slamming this palm into that gate—!!"
Standing on the galloping horse—actually, sitting on Touta's shoulders—Sanzang refined her divine energy.
"Try not to die. That's what I'm here for, after all." Moses stretched casually, also perched on Touta's shoulder.
"I know. Life is a trial as long as you're in it. I have to make sure I don't drop it by mistake, right Master? —To get where I want to go!"
Sanzang echoed Moses's words. Moses blinked, then burst out laughing.
"Gyatei. You got me there."
"Was that my line?!"
"No, no. Laughing, crying, rejoicing. It's because I found such a wonderful Master. Honestly—following someone else isn't a bad experience at all." Moses laughed with a refreshing, cool air.
"—The reason I was summoned is 'Good Will.' There was a refugee camp nearby that looked like it had been used by someone kind. Surely, that was God's providence."
Good deeds to help others had existed here. And then, a tragic event had occurred to sadden them.
"—I must have been summoned to overturn that future. Are you ready? Even if the power is enough to kill one person, if there are two of us, we can manage on 'half-dead'!"
"Idiot! Everyone is coming back safe! The journey to India isn't over until you bring the scriptures back home!"
"Such wise words. My quotes are all just copy-pasted Ten Commandments, so it's a bit depressing. Maybe I should add: 'Do not strike the staff twice before entering the Promised Land'?"
"You two don't have a shred of tension! We're here! The main gate! —Namu Hachiman Daibosatsu! I pray that—"
They turned in unison, unleashing a strike meant not to kill, but to bring life.
"Here we go!! —If only the virtuous may pass, then I'll force my way through with the Fist of Mercy!!"
She unleashed the 'Edge of the World'—the literal palm of the Great Buddha. The manifestation of mercy itself.
"Then I suppose I should say something appropriate too. —O Lord. Manifest a miracle to illuminate and cut a path for their shining journey."
Bolstered by prayer and blessing, Moses's fist began to glow with pure white light. He clenched his fist—the one he had 'only been holding loosely' until now—with all his might. To lead the lost. To save the suffering.
"O Lord, aid this charge!!"
At Touta's signal—
"『Five Elements Mountain: Shaka Nyorai Palm』—!!!!"
The strike of ultimate mercy and—
"『Ten Commandments: Moses Tenth Bullet』"
The miracle that struck down an Archangel and split the sea—ten strikes delivered with such force they hit not just the gate, but the entirety of the castle wall.
A massive explosion. A thunderous roar. And then—a deafening cheer.
"GYATEIIIIII!! WE'RE THE FIRST ONES IN—!!!"
The boisterous Sanzang struck a victory pose within the Holy City.
The main gate was gone, reduced to nothing but dust. But it wasn't just the gate. Moses's ten strikes of god-like power had been so overwhelming that…
"Whoops. I can't feel my left hand. Well, whatever. I'm just glad I didn't die."
The castle walls—every single inch of them—had been completely erased.
The 'Moses Tenth Bullet' was the crystallization of the anecdotes of the Ten Commandments, the slaying of the Archangel, and the splitting of the sea, all channeled into his fists. It acted upon anything Moses recognized as an 'obstacle,' forcibly 'ascending' or 'sublimating' it out of existence.
As a backlash, the Plagues cleared, a debuff corresponding to the Commandments hit him, and his left arm would be useless for a week.
"Well, minor details. Because…"
"Did you see that?! That is the manifestation of Buddha-power, Gyatei—?! Wait, the wall is gone?! Oh my, my merit is too amazing…"
"There's no way. It's because Lord Moses did his part, and because we pooled our strength! Hahaha! Magnificent!"
Watching his master make a fuss, Moses smiled contentedly.
"—There we go. It was worth sacrificing my left arm. I'm due to de-manifest soon anyway; I'd say I made a good choice!"
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[patreon.com/Greyhounds]
Thank you so much for your support!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"