On the ground.
Tokiomi Tohsaka was currently extremely uneasy. He looked one moment at the polluted Holy Grail and the next at his "Great Master," Kischur.
Although Kischur himself exuded a leisurely atmosphere, Tokiomi—much like Kayneth—did not dare to let down his guard.
Tokiomi, in particular, felt the weight of his failure. As the administrator of this land, he had failed to notice the abnormality in the Greater Grail. He had been so preoccupied with preparing for the Holy Grail War that he had forgotten to confirm whether the ritual itself remained stable. He had blindly trusted his predecessors and lacked a spirit of practical verification.
For this point alone, Tokiomi felt he deserved a harsh scolding from his Great Master, especially since the Tohsaka family still held the task assigned to them by Kischur. From his ancestor Nagato Tohsaka down to Tokiomi, several generations had passed without a single step of progress. This made Tokiomi feel so ashamed in Kischur's presence that he could barely maintain his usual elegance.
"Great Master..." Tokiomi tried to speak. "Regarding the Grail—"
"You have already lost. Just wait quietly for the victor to declare his decision," Kischur interrupted. "I heard many Masters died in this Holy Grail War, yet you and Kayneth are both still alive."
Tokiomi lowered his head again. Kayneth shifted his gaze away, looking with some resentment toward the cowering Waver nearby. If Waver hadn't stolen his catalyst, he believed that with Iskandar, he could have at least put up a fight against Ludwig and Artoria instead of making such a pathetic exit.
"Speaking of which, you've taught quite a good student, Kayneth," Kischur said, looking at Waver with an approving eye.
"..." Kayneth was taken aback.
Waver was even more stunned. "No, that... I..."
"What is your name?" Kischur asked.
Faced with a question from the Marshal of Wizardry, Waver was so nervous he couldn't even form a full sentence.
"Waver Velvet. He comes from a novice magus lineage with only three generations of history," Kayneth answered for him.
"Is that so," Kischur remarked. "When you return to the Clock Tower, come find me."
"..." Waver's brain completely stalled.
What it meant for the Marshal of Wizardry to personally request someone was self-evident. However, Kayneth, standing nearby, didn't know how to feel. As the Lord of the Mineralogy Department, he knew full well that becoming Kischur's disciple was almost synonymous with being "rendered an invalid." In Kayneth's view, it was unlikely Waver would survive Kischur's brutal teaching. Perhaps letting the arrogant youth suffer a bit would make him realize how naive his thesis had been.
In truth, Kischur, appearing as a witness, had no specific objective. He had come personally simply to see the final outcome of the war and the boy, Ludwig.
As he casually chatted with the magi around him—and even thought about taking a disciple on a whim—a blue light suddenly flared in the sky above the church. The massive magical reaction startled Tokiomi and the others.
"...Ho..." Kischur let out an interested smile.
"I told you I could have handled this alone," Ludwig said.
Artoria shook her head. "A Servant cannot actively attack the Grail without a command from a Command Seal; I can feel that restriction clearly. But... I cannot leave this entire burden to you."
At the very least, she wanted to be with Ludwig in the act of destroying the Grail.
"Should I say your sense of responsibility is too strong, or that you're just too stiff?" Ludwig held the Demonic Sword between them, exposing half the hilt for Artoria to grip.
Though the timing was inappropriate, the pose looked remarkably like a newlywed couple cutting a wedding cake. Except there was no marriage and no cake—only a polluted Holy Grail.
As she gripped Ludwig's Demonic Sword, Artoria felt a strange rhythm pulsing from the blade, causing her own body to vibrate in resonance. She had felt this same tremor once before when she first saw the Demonic Sword while holding her Holy Sword.
"This sword..." she asked.
"It's different from your Holy Sword and other Noble Phantasms. My Demonic Sword is not a Noble Phantasm; it's a weapon I cultivated myself. In a sense, it's a part of my body—my organ," Ludwig explained simply.
Artoria understood. The tremors and rhythms were coming from Ludwig himself. When their bodies had been entwined, she had felt the exact same thing.
"So, what is the true name of this sword?" Artoria asked again.
"I told you, it's not a Noble Phantasm, so of course it has no true name," Ludwig shook his head. "But it does have a name: Knight Arm—The World."
"The World..." Artoria murmured the name.
She felt Ludwig lifting the Demonic Sword, so she followed his strength, raising the blade above their heads together. In the next instant, the sword's size surged dozens of times over. Artoria was startled but quickly regained her composure.
The two locked eyes and nodded. Together, they put their strength into the swing and brought the massive Demonic Sword down.
The "Gate" manifested in the sky and the Grail vessel below were struck in succession by the sword, resulting in a violent explosion. Half of the Fuyuki Church was leveled by the blast. With the destruction of the Grail, the black mud on the ground gradually turned into magical dust and dissipated into the air.
"...Truly incredible power. If I were your enemy, even with my scabbard, it would be a struggle," Artoria said after landing, looking at her hands and recalling the sensation of the swing.
Even so, it felt as though his Demonic Sword had only shown a fraction of its true power.
"Pointless hypotheses," Ludwig said, stowing the sword and putting his hands back in his pockets. "What's done is done. It's too late for regrets."
"I understand." Artoria lowered her hands and smiled at him. "Just as you said, though it was only a few days, I was very happy during the time I spent with you. I doubt I will ever forget you until the end of the planet."
"Ugh..." Ludwig remembered the previous incident and rubbed his head helplessly. "You go back first. I'll come to see you off for the final stretch in a bit."
"Eh?" Artoria, whose body was becoming transparent, was taken aback.
"Legend says King Arthur was taken to Avalon after death. That place is in the Inner Sea of the Planet. We might be heading the same way," Ludwig smiled. "I have nowhere else to go; after thinking about it, I can only return there."
"From the Inner Sea... Lud, no matter the time, you always bring me new surprises." Artoria gave a radiant smile, no longer caring how exaggerated his words sounded. "Then, I'll see you soon."
Silence gradually returned to the surroundings. The night wind blew across the spot where Artoria had last stood. Nothing remained. Ludwig stood alone, facing the nighttime city.
But he knew things weren't over. The Second Magician, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, was walking toward him alone. However, there was no intent to fight.
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Type-Moon: The A-Ray Knight's Holy Grail Journey(98 Chapter - Ongoing)
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