"...Really? You're telling that all that grain was exchanged for En's blood, and you're telling that child has returned to the earth... Do you think I could possibly believe that?"
Leaning on the Round Table with both hands to barely support her body, Artoria kept her head bowed, her expression hidden. Her voice trembled, and her heavy breathing caused her body to rise and fall noticeably, as if she couldn't remain standing without forcing herself to breathe.
"Even so, it is the truth."
rlin gazed at the girl with pity, his eyes lowering for a mont as if in a sigh.
But Artoria just kept her head down and replied.
"...Take back what you just said."
rlin frowned. Although he had anticipated that the girl would react this way, continuing like this was not what the boy would have wanted. He could only try to console her again.
"You must learn to accept reality, Artoria..."
"I said... TAKE BACK... WHAT YOU JUST SAID!!!"
—BOOM!
A violent surge of magical energy, accompanied by the girl's roar, erupted in an instant, directly shattering the Round Table before her.
Artoria's bangs fell, obscuring half her face. At so point, she had drawn the Holy Sword of the Stars from her waist. Particles of light instantly gathered on the blade, and with swift fury, she slashed at the white-robed magus.
—BOOM!!!
A violent explosion, accompanied by the light of magical energy, instantly spread out, blasting a gaping hole in the Round Table Hall.
Amidst the endless smoke and dust, a figure in a white robe was blasted into the air, looking utterly disheveled, before tumbling into the courtyard.
rlin coughed a few tis, a trickle of fresh blood slowly flowing from a wound on his forehead. His once-immaculate magical robe was now riddled with scorched holes.
He sat collapsed on the ground, holding a staff in one hand and an unknown holy sword in the other, a sowhat helpless, wry smile on his face.
"That last one... she was seriously trying to kill ..."
The mont his words fell, the girl's enraged figure charged out from the smoke, kicked him in the chest, and pinned him to the ground.
The Holy Sword of the Stars in her hand thrust forward without hesitation. But just as the blade was about to reach the white-robed magus's neck, several anxious cries suddenly sounded from behind the girl.
"Your Majesty, please stop!"
"My King, you cannot kill Lord rlin!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down!"
...
However, facing the flustered pleas of the Round Table Knights, Artoria just gritted her teeth, her tear-filled eyes glaring back at them as she snarled.
"Don't you dare co any closer! Whoever dares to approach, I will cut them down!"
Stopped in their tracks by the girl's explosive shout, the Round Table Knights all opened their mouths, but seeing the tears on the girl's face, they couldn't say a word.
Because they understood that in this situation, the one in the most pain was the girl herself.
"rlin—!"
A sound that was part rage, part resentnt, escaped Artoria's lips. Looking at the white-robed magus she had kicked to the ground, who was not struggling at all, the girl swung the Holy Sword of the Stars in her hand, stopping it an inch from his neck. Crystalline teardrops clung to her long eyelashes, and her holy, cerulean eyes churned with pain and fury.
But in the end, she still did not bring the holy sword down. She only demanded.
"Why did you only tell now!? Why not sooner, or even from the very beginning!? You've always loved making people guess your riddles, and that's what I hate most about you, rlin!"
"...You tell , why did you tell En about the end of the Age of Gods!? You knew that child wouldn't just stand by after learning about it, so why didn't you keep it from him!? Why didn't you stop him!? Or was it that you actually planned for this to happen today? Is this what you wanted to see!?"
"—ANSWER , RLIN!!!"
Gazing at the girl before him, who was seething with a mixture of killing intent and fury, rlin was silent for a mont before speaking with a sigh.
"...Because that child said he wanted to see you smile. He didn't want Britain to perish in sorrow, but hoped for a more beautiful ending, so that you would no longer be in so much pain."
"Wha..."
Her breathing hitched, and the holy sword in her hand froze in mid-air. Artoria's mind went blank. For a mont, she felt as if she couldn't hear any sound at all, only a ringing in her ears.
—Is it because of... my wish?
Her vision, already blurred by tears, suddenly went black. The girl didn't know what was happening. It was a long while before she seed to regain her senses, the worried and concerned voices of the Round Table Knights echoing in her ears.
And when she ca to, she found that she had unknowingly knelt on the ground, her hands supporting her with the holy sword, her gaze fixed on the ground, her body filled with a sense of powerlessness.
—Clearly, she had almost fainted.
"Is it... my fault? If I hadn't held onto hope for a fate that was never ant to be, would En not have done this? It's all... because of . Why didn't I realize back then that the bountiful harvest was strange? Why didn't I notice the truth of why that child had gotten thinner?"
"He said he was 'practicing a new sword style'... Why did I just believe him? That kind of excuse, anyone could see the problem with it at a glance! Why... retch."
The girl powerlessly clutched her hair, her trembling voice ceaselessly blaming herself, gradually turning into a sob, tears dripping onto the ground... Finally, at the mont her emotions were about to reach their limit, Artoria covered her mouth with her hand and couldn't stop herself from vomiting.
Stomach acid, mixed with so undigested food, slipped through the girl's fingers and rolled onto the ground.
The thought that the food she had been happily enjoying all this ti had all been irrigated by the boy's blood, it was as if she had "devoured" the boy's very existence. A violent fear and self-loathing regret continuously assaulted her stomach, making it impossible for the girl to stop her wretched act.
However, not a single person present looked at her with strange eyes; they just lowered their heads, unable to bear watching.
After a long ti, the sound of the girl's vomiting finally stopped. And her holy, cerulean eyes, which had been filled with fury and pain, had now beco sowhat dim and lifeless, filled with blankness and helplessness.
Barely managing to lift a hand to wipe the filth from the corner of her mouth, Artoria slowly raised her head, stared into the air, and spoke to the Round Table Knights behind her, her voice filled with an unprecedented fragility.
"...Agravain."
"I am here, my king. What are your orders?"
Agravain, whose already somber face now looked even heavier, stepped forward and ca to stand behind the girl, asking respectfully.
"...From this day on, you are the new King of Britain."
"Wha—... No! This is absolutely out of the question, my king!"
Hearing the girl's completely unexpected answer, Agravain was aghast and hurriedly tried to dissuade her. The Round Table Knights behind him all stepped forward as well, saying.
"My king, please think twice!"
"Your Majesty, please calm down. In Britain's current state, it cannot accept a new king so quickly!"
"My king, if you abandon the throne, what do you intend to do?"
...
Faced with the heavy dissuasion from the Round Table Knights, Artoria just swayed, slowly getting to her feet. She stared blankly into the air and said, as if to herself.
"...My mission as the King of Britain is over. Now, I'm going to find En."
"I don't believe that child just disappeared like that. He must still be sowhere... waiting for ."
Ignoring all the voices around her, the girl began to slowly step forward, dragging the holy sword in her hand, her steps faltering.
And watching this scene, an unimaginable possibility flashed through the minds of the Round Table Knights.
—The King has gone mad.
-------
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