In the original battle plan, the Londinium army would break through the city under the God King's command, but Shiomi, who would be the first to enter and storm the royal palace, would fall to Queen Morgan. When Queen Morgan's avatar appeared inside Calot to launch a counterattack, the Londinium army was supposed to withdraw imdiately to avoid total annihilation.
Only a handful of people knew this was the real plan. If the Londinium soldiers learned they were fighting a battle they were ant to lose, morale would collapse before the war even began. They might even break midway through the fight from lack of will.
Yet unexpectedly, Queen Morgan never counterattacked.
Aside from Woodwose and a small portion of the Fang Clan, as well as the Mirror Clan who sent reinforcents to support Calot, the Wind, Wing, and Earth clans all chose to sit back and watch. With the main gate breached first by the Londinium army, Calot fell in half a day and was occupied.
The disciplined God King's Army quickly replaced Calot's garrison, seized key positions across the city, and began constructing defensive fortifications in preparation for possible reprisals from the clans.
The fall of the city shook Barghest deeply. After she and lusine were captured by Artoria and Scáthach, they were bound with chains created through the Holy Lance's authority, then brought to the royal district and placed under the Black Knight's guard.
As soone privy to the real battle plan, Artoria gave a few instructions to the Black Knight, Ector, before heading straight for the palace with Scáthach. Even though Londinium soldiers were guarding the gates, they stayed cautious, not daring to enter on their own and instead waiting for the two "guest commanders" to handle it. No ordinary soldier would be sent in while Queen Morgan was inside.
Entering the wide council hall, Artoria saw Morgan on the throne, Shiomi resting in her arms, already fast asleep. As Artoria and Scáthach approached, Morgan slowly raised her head. Through the veil, they saw her blue eyes faintly reddened.
She had clearly been sitting here alone until monts ago, crying without doing anything. She even forgot to launch the counterattack she was supposed to make, becoming a "prisoner" of Londinium in the end.
"My disciple…"
Scáthach's grip loosened. Her crimson spear slipped from her hand and vanished before touching the ground.
Artoria, the only one who understood everything, stepped forward. Kneeling on one knee, she gently held the hand Shiomi had placed before her.
"This was Tenkei's choice… to devour the remains of the Beast God Cernunnos and seal the curse that had lingered for ten thousand years. To return a Britannia no longer bound by that curse to its queen." Artoria lowered her gaze, sorrow settling heavily over her.
Even knowing his decision, even knowing what would happen, even accepting that she would witness the end of his path, Artoria had never expected how much it would hurt to miss his final monts.
"…Then what aning is there in any of this?"
Morgan's voice was hoarse, stripped of its usual cold clarity. "If my ideal realm cannot coexist with my husband… then why did I walk this path at all?"
She had lost her answer. The blueprint that had once been clear enough to see from beginning to end now crumbled into nothing. The dream born in her youth, the dream she had pursued without ever breaking because the one she loved walked beside her—lost its aning the very mont he slipped into that deep sleep.
Shiomi wasn't dead, but he was no longer alive either. He had sacrificed his soul to seal the calamity that had plagued Britannia since its birth. To keep that disaster from ever returning, he had to lie dormant with it, never to awaken.
This was not the result Morgan wanted. Even though he had returned to her side, she had lost him forever.
"Dad… Dad?"
As the palace ca under control, Sakura and the others hurried over from the rear garden. The mont they saw Shiomi resting there with a faint smile, they understood what had happened.
Mash covered her mouth in disbelief. Sakura's steps grew heavy. Even though only a few ters separated them, she couldn't bring herself to move closer.
"Does this an… all of my disciples are dood to die miserably?" Scáthach wrapped her arms around herself, trying to recall the warmth of the embraces they once shared.
Only the long wind swept through the palace, its chill settling across her skin.
"It's a lie… it's a lie, right?"
Sakura knelt beside Shiomi's feet, chanically repeating the question to Morgan, who could only let her tears fall in silence.
Standing among the grieving, Ritsuka felt sothing stuck in her throat, sothing she couldn't swallow. If she did, the tears would never stop.
He was not only a comrade who had helped them restore humanity, but also a ntor to the younger ones among them.
The one who always walked ahead, who always took the most dangerous role, now lay here, never to awaken.
A sharp alert tone suddenly sounded from the devices on Ritsuka's and Sakura's wrists, startling everyone.
Communication with the Storm Border had finally been restored.
"Miss Sakura? Ritsuka? Storm Border's communication systems are back online, but we still can't receive visual data from your side. Can you report the current situation in Britannia?"
Romani's voice ca through.
But no one answered.
The connection was indeed active. The radar could clearly pinpoint Sakura and the others' signal in Britannia.
"Sakura? Ritsuka? Mash?" Olga Marie grabbed the transmitter and joined the call. "Master Scáthach? Miss Artoria? Anyone, please report your situation—"
"Director…" Ritsuka finally broke down, her voice cracking. "Mr. Shiomi… Mr. Shiomi—"
Through broken sobs, she did everything she could to report Shiomi's condition.
Chaldea fell silent.
No one had expected this outco.
"How… could this be?" Caren's anguished voice pushed through clenched teeth, each breath feeling like it tore her apart. "Dad wouldn't just… That's impossible…"
The state of the Britannia Lostbelt, the Whitening of the World—none of it could be discussed now. Even the battle that had only just ended was left untouched.
"My my, what a dreary bunch. Are you planning to hold a funeral for him here? He's not actually dead yet, is he?"
A flippant voice, completely out of place, cut through the heavy air in the palace.
Everyone turned toward the entrance.
A male Servant draped in a pale blue cloak walked in slowly, with two people following beside him.
Baobhan Sith and Artoria Caster.
"You are…" Scáthach spoke in surprise.
"Don't call by my original na, Master. Right now, I'm Grímr, the second agent of the great god Odin."
The man pulled back his hood, revealing his true face.
It was the Caster—Cú Chulainn—who had once appeared in Fuyuki City.
...
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