The moment Ophis finished speaking, silence fell over the area. Aside from Waver and Irisviel—who were truly, completely stunned—both Iskandar and Artoria fell into thought.
They could tell that even if what Ophis said sounded terrifying, it wasn't unreasonable… To say she would erase the very errors within humanity itself didn't come from some extreme temperament. It was simply that if things ever reached the point where she had to act… then there would probably be no other method left.
Or rather—if it hadn't reached that point, Ophis wouldn't act at all.
Because she loved humanity, she wouldn't interfere. She gave them the greatest freedom possible, so far as to even cast aside her own status and authority as a king.
And because of that, she would only wait until the very last moment—then, with a sigh of grief, sweep every last mistake away.
But…
"I don't agree with your way of doing things."
Before the King of Conquerors could speak, Artoria lifted her head first, looking straight at Ophis as she spoke with resolve.
"If there's an error, it should be strangled in the cradle. At the very least, it should be stopped before it can harm the people. Letting an error grow unchecked until it becomes beyond salvation—how is that any different from destroying humanity with your own hands?"
"If I had done that in the Age of Gods, then even now humans would remain humans ruled by gods, not humans guided by humans. They would never advance, forever stuck in a false peace while time drifts by without meaning."
"Even so, is it necessary to wait until things become that extreme?"
Artoria still looked unconvinced, pressing the point.
"From the start, a king must stand up for the nation, for the people—cut down every obstacle to prosperity and growth. Allowing error to fester until it can no longer be contained is not the conduct of a king!"
"True. A king should guide the people along the correct path. But that was a duty I already fulfilled at the beginning. The humans of today no longer need someone to take their hand and teach them step by step."
Ophis's eyes remained closed. Her tone was neither cold nor heated, yet she held her ground all the same.
"No, no—both of you young ladies have it wrong. 'Correct,' 'correct,' again and again… Are you kings, or are you slaves to 'correctness'?"
At that point, Iskandar—silent until now—finally spoke.
And the moment she heard him, Artoria's temper flared, and she immediately swung her glare at him.
"If you truly lived as a king, then for me, that would be acceptable. But since you've uttered such nonsense—what, then, is the wish you've entrusted to the Holy Grail?"
But no one expected what happened next. The bold, boisterous Iskandar actually blushed at the question, hemming and hawing for a long while before forcing out an answer.
"I want a body."
"Huh?"
Everyone froze—and the King of Conquerors' Master charged forward on the spot.
"You bastard—didn't you say your wish was to conquer the world?!"
Iskandar flicked him away without even looking.
"Even if I can manifest here through prana, I'm still only a Servant in the end. I want to be reborn into this world, to take root here as a living being… To have a body, to express myself, to face heaven and earth—then, from that starting line, keep moving forward until I've achieved everything. Only then is conquest complete! That… is my way. My tyranny."
When the King of Conquerors finished, silence returned once more.
"That's no stance for a king."
After a long beat, Artoria broke the quiet.
"Then let me hear it," Iskandar said, without anger. "What is your wish? What is your kingship?"
"…"
Being asked the same question as the other two, Artoria closed her eyes and thought for a few seconds before she spoke at last.
"Strictly speaking, I don't have a wish of my own."
"Oh?"
"When I became king, my teacher once told me that Britain's fall was inevitable. I took the throne knowing that… Not to change the ending—only to change the manner of it. I wanted Britain to fade away—like falling asleep—slowly, in peace."
Remembering her past, Artoria's lips curved into a faint, nostalgic smile.
"Only… it lasted too long. So long that even I forgot my original intent. In the end, Britain marched toward ruin exactly as my teacher said it would—but I could no longer accept that fact as calmly as I had when I first became king… Why? Was there something I did wrong? Was there someplace I could have done better? If, at some point, I had chosen differently… If… the one who drew the sword from the stone hadn't been me."
Such thoughts were only natural.
When someone suffers a crushing failure, they turn inward. If anything, without the capacity for self-reflection, failure is inevitable.
But the problem was—
"Just then, a miracle appeared before my eyes—something that could start everything over, undo everything. A miracle called the Holy Grail. If only I could return to that beginning through such a miracle… In my weakness, I even thought that."
"Lily didn't choose that?"
Unexpectedly, it was Ophis who asked—Ophis, who had remained silent so long as no one addressed her.
Artoria nodded, opening her eyes. In them was a firm, unwavering light.
"That's right. No matter how badly I failed, I could never deny the history I created together with my knights. So… I have no wish that must be entrusted to the Holy Grail!"
In the end, that was her declaration.
In truth, she hadn't said everything.
A summoned Heroic Spirit—aside from Ruler—almost never lacked a wish entirely.
And Saber's wish was simply to live, once, an ordinary life in which she had never drawn the sword from the stone. But that was a wish that she, already burdened with the responsibilities of a king, would never voice even if she obtained the Holy Grail—something she would only bury in the deepest part of her heart.
"A king who offers herself up for an ideal… In the end, you don't even have a desire of your own. That isn't how a person should live."
After Artoria finished, Iskandar let out a sigh and spoke as if delivering a final verdict.
"After I drew the sword from the stone, I stopped being human."
To the King of Conquerors' verdict, Artoria replied evenly.
Her teacher had told her long ago: "Once you take up that sword, until the very end, you will no longer be human. And more than that—once you take it up, you will be hated by all mankind, and in the end you will meet a wretched fate."
From the very beginning, she had already made her resolve.
---
T/N: WAIT??? ARTORIA DOESNT WANT TO DO HER STUPID WISH?
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