This ultimate attack, completely unlike Scáthach's, betting everything on a single decisive strike!
Suddenly...
"Crack, crack, crack."
His body cracked like glass, emitting spiritual particles into the air like falling snow.
It was the prelude to his dissipation.
Facing such a terrifying strike, the Beast hurriedly opened her [All the World's Desires] - a swirling black hole ready to consume everything.
And that spear of light, like the first ray splitting apart primordial chaos at the dawn of an epoch, rushed towards her and pierced into the depths of [All the World's Desires]
In the next moment——
"Boom boom boom boom boom——!!!"
Her [All the World's Desires] was pierced through, along with her heart.
She lowered her head slightly, looking at the gaping hole in her chest.
"This...this is impossible..." she murmured.
Web-like cracks covered her gigantic body.
"Crack crack crack——"
"He was just...just a Grand Servant...just a...lost soul..." she rasped, collapsing like broken stone.
Her body crumbled and shattered completely.
And with that, her sacred light also faded away. The surroundings reverted back to the [Hanging Garden] once more.
Shirou could no longer stand, collapsing softly onto the ground. With a "Crack," his lower body shattered like glass, dissipating into spiritual particles.
"Mr. Assassin!" Kiara ran out from the remnants of Devil's Bodhisattva, tears staining her face as she looked at him painfully.
"You've finally come out," Shirou revealed a faint smile.
"I'm sorry, my other self, she..."
He shook his head. "No need to say more. Just like I said - you still have a great life ahead of you. Go walk it, leave your own mark, ignore whatever others say the world is in their eyes. Only when you walk it yourself do you know what it's really like."
"Mr. Assassin...I understand!" she nodded, sniffling.
He turned his head and looked towards Mordred, who had fallen into the Paradise trap. He believed she would definitely walk back out of that fake Paradise.
After this, Mordred would more or less be able to communicate with him. Even if her attitude was still cold, even if they were still strangers - at least they could get along.
Ah...
He really wanted to have a nice long chat with this kid.
But...
He could no longer hold on.
"Crack crack crack..."
His Saint Graph had completely shattered.
His body dissipated bit by bit like vanishing glass.
He really wanted to...
Have a nice talk with her.
"Mr. Assassin, no!" Kiara shrieked, her voice breaking.
He revealed a gentle smile under the streaming light that poured through the Garden's gap, before his body dissolved into sparkling dust.
Like particles of light, like drifting snow, he rose slowly upwards and then...disappeared.
My Holy Grail War ends here.
What's left, depends on you yourselves...
The starlight spilled through the hole in the sky, glittering streams scattering like falling snow.
So beautiful, thought Kiara.
But...That was Assassin's departure.
Yes. Mr. Assassin had left them.
"Eternal King..." Arjuna looked at the fading light with a terribly complex expression.
The [Beast]...Assassin had managed to defeat it alone.
Yet he was still here, entangled with Karna. Still wrestling with himself.
"Yes! What I feared...was myself! What I dreaded was letting others see the other side of myself!"
Arjuna clenched his fist tightly.
"I admit it. My self-constrained self is no match for you, Karna. If I continue to be unable to face myself, I'm afraid I would be inferior to you indeed, Karna. But now, it's different! Hahaha—so different!"
Arjuna looked at Karna with crazy laughter.
He let go at last - releasing the constraints on himself, exposing the other side he had suppressed for so long.
Faint starlight flowed from the Hanging Garden, drifting towards the brightening sky.
"The king...has left us," Spartacus said softly.
"A true hero...only needs one moment."
Adam grit his teeth, turning to face the colossal Primordial Human.
He clenched his fist, then strode forward unwaveringly.
The flame had shown its light - the path ahead was clear.
"Mr. Fujimaru..."
The unconscious Mash frowned slightly, her fingers twitching.
The Command Spell on the back of her hand grew fainter and fainter...
"Eternal...King..."
Mordred stirred, moving her palm slightly.
Faint starlight trickled through her clasped fingers like quicksilver.
Unable to grasp, also unable to touch.
He really wished he could have a nice chat with her.
The man was lamenting.
Then, he faded away completely.
...
In a cozy manor, a man with fiery bright eyes looked gently at Mordred and asked, "Have you decided to leave?"
She nodded, replying, "Even though this is the place I hoped for the most, I know it's just an illusion. You're not my real father, and she's not my real mother."
Mordred stretched out her palm, pointing first at the man, then the woman. "I know you two are just fantasies I created. If I stay here forever, only I would be happy and joyful. But I still owe apologies to those I've wronged, and the burdens and pains I carry can't just disappear. That would dishonor the me who has moved past those obstacles."
The woman pulled Mordred into a tight embrace, her little head cradled against her bosom. "My poor child," she murmured.
Mordred's body shook with muffled sobs.
The man gently squeezed the woman's shoulder, shaking his head. The woman's face twisted in anguish for a moment before slowly loosening her embrace.
"Itterasshai," the man smiled gently.
Hearing those words, Mordred could no longer hold back. With head lowered, tears started streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you... thank you for letting me know I could be this happy. Thank you..."
Mordred raised her head, tears blurring her vision as she looked at them. "Even if it's fake...thank you... for letting me... feel the warmth of home," she managed to say between sobs.
"Go, and don't forget this feeling," the man said gently. "As long as you remember, you can hear that heartbeat even across the galaxy."
She nodded, turning to wipe her tears before walking out the door. Tears are just specks of dust from the past, she told herself.
With her heart set, the beautiful illusion faded away.
She returned to her real body with a gasp. As her eyes blinked open, she found someone looking down at her - a pretty face with golden eyes, wearing a light dress, bull-like horns protruding from her head.
It was Kiara.
"Ah, you're awake," Kiara said, flustered. "I-I'm not the enemy, not who I was before...I mean..." she trailed off, struggling for words.
Before she could finish, Mordred interrupted. "I know,"
She sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs and burying her head in her knees.
In a muffled voice, she asked, "Did he say anything before he left?"
"He?" Kiara tilted her head, then realized who Mordred meant. "Oh! Yes, before Assassin left, he did say something."
"What was it?" she lifted her head, blue eyes meeting Kiara's golden ones.
"He said...if there's a chance, see you next time."
"Hmph. How presumptuous," she scoffed, standing up and dusting herself off. "I don't want to see him again."
She took two steps before realizing Kiara was still standing there, staring at her spaced out. She turned and asked sharply, "What are you dazing around for? His Majesty broke his Saint Graph to save you - not for you to stand there gawking!"
"Ah- Yes!" Kiara hurried to catch up as Mordred turned to leave.
But just then, an extremely weak yet wickedly tempting female voice rang out. "Where do you think you're going?"
Merely the voice itself seemed capable of arousing wicked thoughts.
Mordred and Kiara's eyes widened as they spun around quickly. There, crawling out from the ruins, was a woman who looked exactly like Kiara - massive bull-like horns and all. But she wore a pink dress similar to a Devil Bodhisattva's, with a seemingly merciful yet sinister smile.
"You're...you're still alive?" Kiara gasped incredulously.
Without a doubt, this was the Beast.
"Isn't that only natural?" the Beast purred, smiling.
She staggered closer.