The next day, at the Absolute Demonic Front, atop the high wall, Guinevere and the King of Knights watched as Ritsuka and her group set off.
"Is it okay for us not to go?"
As a Servant who had signed a contract with the King of Heroes, after the King of Heroes' soul returned from the Underworld, the King of Knights had restored her mana supply, and the slight decrease in stats she suffered from losing her Master had also been restored.
Her and Guinevere's Holy Swords, of course, had been exchanged back.
"Lia, since Anna already has her resolve, it is impossible for them to lose, let alone with so many people going along."
Having already fought Gorgon, they had no more interest in slaughtering a defeated foe. Should they continue to bring death to her? The King of Heroes had entrusted the two with a new task.
Under the morning sun, outside the city walls, Ritsuka, Mash, Merlin, Anna, and Ishtar marched together.
Inside the walls, Leonidas I and Ushiwakamaru, lord and retainer, continued training their respective infantry and cavalry. With them present, the Absolute Demonic Front would not fall.
"Lia, it's time to leave."
A white shirt and a blue pencil skirt, this was her most frequently worn casual attire.
Standing beside her, gazing at her golden hair shining brilliantly in the sunlight, Guinevere unconsciously curled the corners of her mouth and decided to linger here for another ten minutes.
"Lia, do you think we will never have another chance to see this scenery?"
"Yes, after the Goddess of Magical Beasts dies, the only enemy left to face will be the genuine Goddess Tiamat who will land from the southern sea."
"Are you worried then? That we have no method equivalent to that single strike from the First Hassan?"
Having decided to stay behind temporarily, Guinevere wore a long black dress. She hugged the King of Knights from behind, as if trying to knead the more petite woman into her own body.
Their presence took the place of the First Hassan, but their presence could not impart the concept of Death upon the Goddess Tiamat as the First Hassan had done.
Because of this, the King of Knights felt the weight on her shoulders grow heavier as Goddess Tiamat's arrival drew near.
"Guinevere, aren't you worried?"
"There's always a way in this world. Heaven never seals off all the paths to survival."
"You're truly optimistic."
Gentle lips touched her retreating ear. No matter how many times Guinevere secretly touched her, the King of Knights still felt a tickle.
"Lia, do you think we'll have to keep working for the Counter Force? Forever and ever?"
In Guinevere's embrace, the King of Knights was taken aback by the question. She had never thought about it before. To her, as long as she could be with Guinevere, there was nothing wrong with working for the Counter Force forever.
"And Guinevere...
I don't want to talk about a King's responsibility, because they are not my subjects. I don't want to talk about being an ally of justice, because I am not as noble as Kiritsugu Emiya.
But look at them, and think about the wounded and the dead who appear here every day. I just feel..."
"That I can lend my strength to the Counter Force?"
As the King of Knights spoke, she turned with Guinevere, and together they looked at the local soldiers inside the city walls.
In that instant of turning, Guinevere knew what the King of Knights wanted to say.
Yes, it's not so bad. If we really get tired in the future, we can figure out a way to resign from the Counter Force then.
With these thoughts, Guinevere smiled. She and the King of Knights spoke no more, simply savoring these final minutes.
This tranquility lasted until Guinevere stood up, stepped onto the Vimana, and reached out her hand to the King of Knights.
"Guinevere, I'm the one who should be offering my hand. I am, after all, your King."
"Then shall we swap?"
"Let's."
The King of Knights smiled. She lightly lifted her skirt and extended her hand. She had always played the role of King Arthur, but the King of Knights was not ignorant of feminine etiquette.
Even just a touch of feminine etiquette, this was a novel experience for the King of Knights.
"Do you think the King of Heroes will actually be waiting for us at that watchtower on the coast?"
"He sent the invitation himself. How could he stand us up?"
The Vimana had seats, though the now-bare Golden Throne had had its inlaid gems swept clean by Guinevere.
And seated upon the Golden Throne, with the petite King of Knights sitting on her lap, Guinevere was in high spirits herself.
She held the other's waist as the wind howled past, until the southern coast of Mesopotamia was within reach, until the two of them saw the discolored sea from the sky.
After that, they sensed the aura the King of Heroes had been deliberately radiating.
At this moment, Guinevere also savored the King of Knights' rare, girlish air.
Mana surged. Her skirt was replaced by armor, and a dignified presence blossomed with the radiance of her steel breastplate.
As for Guinevere, black armor covered her body, leaving only her long, ash-white hair exposed.
"I say, King of Heroes, what did you invite us here for so early? Just to look at the sea?"
The Vimana descended from the sky. Guinevere and the King of Knights approached the King of Heroes from behind, but after Guinevere greeted him, the King of Heroes did not turn around. Instead, he snapped his fingers, summoned a great cannon, and fired it directly into the ocean.
The deafening roar of artillery, the colossal geyser of water, and finally, the King of Heroes spoke:
"King and Queen of Camelot, do you see what this means?"
What does this mean? Even without the foresight of knowing the plot, Guinevere could deduce the answer through simple observation.
"You're a fool," she retorted. "You can't blast fish out of a Sea of Death. You're just waiting for the Goddess Tiamat to Return, for her Sea of Life to manifest."
From Gorgon, the people of Uruk had obtained a critical piece of intelligence: Gorgon could not create Magical Beasts from nothing. She needed the lifeblood of living beings as nourishment.
So, the question was: Where was the greatest furnace of flesh and blood in this world? Was it on land? No. The answer was, of course, the sea.
For any given area, the land was merely a flat surface. Birds in the sky would eventually land, and descending into the earth would soon lead to the Underworld.
But the sea... it possessed the concept of [ Depth ].
The King of Heroes' "fishing" was a demonstration to Guinevere and the King of Knights: All the flesh and blood in the entire ocean had already become nourishment for the next generation of Magical Beasts.
Or perhaps, with an entire ocean's worth of nourishment at her disposal, the Goddess of Magical Beasts had always been a decoy to draw aggro.
The True Goddess Tiamat required neither Kingu's efforts nor the Goddess of Magical Beasts to complete her Revenge.
Tiamat simply needed to wait peacefully for the time of her [ Return ] to arrive, preventing the Singularity from being repaired before she could [ Return ].
"King and Queen of Camelot, since you've seen that Tiamat's Return is imminent, why do you think this King has invited you here?"
"Why? To try and ambush Tiamat within the sea together with us, of course! King of Heroes, you truly count as a Wise King, still thinking of the people of Uruk even at a time like this."
"Hahahahahaha~~ A Wise King, huh? Then a Wise King it is. King and Queen of Camelot, I'm counting on you."
After Guinevere and Quetzalcoatl's battle, the King of Heroes reclaimed the remaining Tablets of Destinies and also obtained a certain axe he had been coveting.
From the new Tablets, he seemed to see even more.
And in response to the King of Heroes' request, Guinevere took the King of Knights' hand, the two of them looking toward the horizon of the sea together, and said in unison:
"Leave it to us!"
"You have to work hard too!"
The King of Knights and Guinevere were not as in sync with each other as one would imagine.
See, the King of Heroes was laughing again.