This Banquet of Kings could truly be described as having many twists and turns, but at this point, it had finally entered the climax of the original story's banquet.
"That's right, exactly so. No matter how difficult a wish is to achieve, it can certainly be realized with the omnipotent Holy Grail," Saber asserted proudly. Only now did Saber understand why the atmosphere among everyone present was so strange, and the scene instantly grew cold.
"Saber? I want to confirm, the Britain you led, was it under your rule from beginning to end? Not destroyed by later inheritors," the King of Conquerors asked with a grim expression, waving his hand.
"That's right, which is why I cannot forgive myself," Saber replied, her tone even more resolute. "Therefore, I am unwilling to accept it and wish to change that tragedy! It was my mistake that led to that outcome."
Inadvertently, someone burst out laughing. It was a laugh without any thought or understanding, casual and unrestrained. And this laughter, naturally, came from Gilgamesh, who radiated golden light.
Faced with such immense humiliation, Saber's face was filled with fury. The very thing she cherished most was being mocked.
"Archer, what's so funny?!"
Gilgamesh, unconcerned by Saber's anger, continued to laugh as he replied in broken sentences:
"To call oneself a King, praised by all people, and yet such a person is still unwilling to accept it? Hahahahaha…! How can one not laugh? A masterpiece! Saber, you are the best clown in this war game!"
While Gilgamesh laughed incessantly, the King of Conquerors beside him also frowned, watching Saber with displeasure. As he prepared to speak, Rin interjected first:
"Saber, you mean to deny the history you created, right?"
Saber, who had never doubted her ideals, naturally responded without any hesitation or confusion at this moment.
"Exactly! Why the surprise? Why the laughter? As a King, wielding a war sword, the homeland for which one sacrificed one's life was destroyed. Is there anything wrong with my sorrow?"
Her answer was met with another burst of laughter from Gilgamesh. He spread his hands to those present, his disdain and mockery clearly visible in his eyes.
"Hey, hey, did you hear that, Rider? This little girl who calls herself the king of knights actually says something like, sacrificing herself for the country! Hahaha…!"
Gilgamesh's remark was met with silence from everyone. The King of Conquerors frowned and said nothing, while Rin lowered her gaze to the wine pot on the ground and silently drank, as if possessed by a drunkard again.
To Saber, this was an insult akin to being mocked. Her face flushed red as she tried to defend her ideals.
"I don't understand what's so funny. As a King, one should naturally step forward and strive for the prosperity and peace of one's country. What's wrong with that?!"
"No," the King of Conquerors finally spoke, firmly and gravely refuting Saber's words.
"It is not the King who sacrifices, but the nation and its people who dedicate everything to the King. Remember this clearly; never reverse the order."
"What did you say?!" Saber could no longer suppress the anger in her heart. As she argued loudly with the King of Conquerors, Rin interjected first:
"Saber, if you want to debate the way of a King with the King of Conquerors, I believe you didn't have the qualifications from the very beginning. You had already lost before this argument even started."
Rin looked directly into Saber's eyes, which were filled with suppressed rage, her gaze sharp as a knife, piercing directly into Saber's innermost being without yielding an inch.
"Because you regret it! Your desire to reverse time and change the fate of your fallen nation, isn't that precisely your denial of your own rule and kingly way? Because of your mistakes, the nation ultimately met its demise—isn't that what you think? If so, then what standing do you have to express such views on being a King? In reality, aren't you the first person to deny your own kingly way?"
"Wh-what…"
Rin's words, like an unparalleled sharp knife, instantly sliced open Saber's solid armor and beliefs, directly piercing the soft spot deep within her heart. Saber's small, upright body suddenly trembled violently, as if about to collapse.
Rin did not stop. Instead, she cleared her throat and continued:
"Saber, I am not a king, so I will not debate the Way of the King with you. However, just because you are dissatisfied with the history you created, and want to go back to the past to change it, I can tell you clearly that such a wish is absolutely wrong."
"Impossible! How can a wish to change the tragic outcome of one's homeland being destroyed be wrong?! To cast aside one's subjects for one's own selfish desires is the rule of a tyrannical despot!"
"Precisely. It is precisely because I am a tyrant that I am a hero." The King of Conquerors, who had been caught in the crossfire of Saber's argument, replied calmly, not even a twitch of his eyebrow. There was no need to doubt it; the tyrannical path he walked was the truth.
"However, Saber, if a king regrets his rule over his country, it only proves that he is a foolish ruler, inferior to a tyrant!"
At this moment, the scene was as if Rin and the King of Conquerors had ganged up on Saber. Rin reached out to stop the King of Conquerors, who was about to speak, and continued to look at Saber.
"Saber, you believe that your mistakes led to the tragedy of your country's downfall, and therefore you deny your history and your achievements, is that right?"
"Of course! In the end, it only brought destruction to my homeland. That cannot be called glory or military achievement at all!"
"Is that so? If you so rashly deny all of your past history, then where do you place your Knights who followed you?"
"What?…"
"Denying history is equivalent to denying everyone who forged that history in that era. You deny everything. Where do you place your Knights of the Round Table who followed you? Where do you place the people who have sung your praises for thousands of years? Where do you place those who supported you in that era? Are you telling them that they were all wrong?!"
As if struck by a bolt of lightning, Saber's delicate body, encased in armor, swayed precariously, but Rin was not finished.
"Because you feel you were wrong and don't dare to admit it openly, and you feel that if you messed up, you want to go back and start over again, are you a five-year-old Little Girl?"
Then Rin turned her gaze to the King of Conquerors.
"King of Conquerors, after your death, your successor was ruined, and the empire you single-handedly founded was eventually split into four parts. Have you ever felt a trace of unwillingness about this, not wanting to start over and save the country you created?"
"No."
The King of Conquerors' face was unperturbed, and he answered immediately, without hesitation, directly and frankly.
"If my decisions and the lifestyle of my subjects ultimately led to such a result, then this is the choice of the era, and destruction is inevitable. Facing all of this, I will cry, I will mourn, I will shed tears, but I will never regret!"
"How could this be…" Saber looked at the roaring burly man in disbelief. At this moment, his body seemed to be magnified countless times, making him unapproachable.
The King of Conquerors advanced step by step, his words as sharp as a blade, his powerful voice and undeniable aura seemingly expounding the truth of the world.
"Let alone fantasizing about subverting history! This foolish act is an insult to me and to all the subjects who built that era with me!"
The King of Conquerors' proud roar gave an absolute negation to Saber. Rin then looked at Gilgamesh.
"Archer, I still know your true name."
"Oh."
Gilgamesh looked at Rin with some interest.
"Archer, your country was destroyed by invaders after your death, your civilization was absorbed and assimilated, and only the ruins of past glory remained. Have you ever thought of going back in time to save them?"
"Ah ha ha ha ha…!"
Gilgamesh seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world.
"How ridiculous! Every inch of land in this world is my courtyard! No matter what those later bastards did in the history that flowed through time, it cannot change this! I exist in that era, and I have long since become immortal. I do not need to grow with the years, nor do I need to be as old as heaven and earth, but it is enough for me to see through that distant future!"
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