With a clang, Avenger's katana fell to the floor. Just like her flames, it too vanished to the wind.
Next, she placed her face closer to the cement floor, clutching a hand to her chest and cowering as if the earlier antagonistic bravado was but a façade.
"… no…" she heard the redhead mutter as tears welled up in her eyes. "NO! it can't—… it… can't…!"
"What…?" Saber couldn't make heads or tails of her foe's sudden change in behaviour. The suddenness of it all had her lowering her guard, disengaging Excalibur's activation.
"What are you doing, Saber?" A voice called out to her from the shadows of the rooftop stairwell. Kiritsugu appeared, the usual scowl adorned his face. However, there was something off about him, so far as the knight could note. "Finish her off already. With her death, we'll have won this war."
"But…" Saber hesitated. Despite all the animosity she held for the tyrant woman, seeing her grovelling as she wept made her reconsider. "But what is going on with her?"
"The aftereffects of having a Master-Servant contract cut with no replacement nearby," the man coldly stated so. "Though it took a while, the death of Lelouch Lamperouge has definitively cut off her mana source. Considering her normal output, it won't take long before she too vanishes along with him."
Artoria froze when she heard the news. She closed her eyes, not praying but hoping that, at the very least, her possible descendant met his end quickly and without pain. Foe as he was, he need not have died. Maybe, she could've at least convinced him to be better than she. Maybe, he would have pursued a better future, considering his realistic approach to things contrasting her idealism.
But now, Saber could only hope that his soul would rest in peace, somewhat glowering at her Master's way at his indifference to yet another needless death.
"… YOU!" However, there was someone else who wasn't so indifferent about it. "DAMN… YOU!"
Arturia barely didn't make it to defend Kiritsugu. Under a barrage of shells, the man just glared at Avenger while Saber herself swatted out the first volley of musket fire.
CHLICK
DUN DUN DUN DUDUN
"Ngh!" Under the second volley, however, Saber grew a little concerned. Not only had Avenger started shooting as soon as she summoned more rifles, but she did also whilst gritting her teeth so hard, blood spilt.
Under the mess of red hair, bloodshot crimson eyes glared with hell's fury.
"OUT OF MY WAY, BITCH!"
"Avenger?" Saber didn't move but flinched when flames enveloped her foe.
The Servant of Vengeance howled, looking more and more like a Servant of Madness. The blood-red colour of her eyes flared with energy, but it was devoid of life. Gone was the spark of humanity. Replacing it was only anger, only fury. Remove all that and what remained appeared to be the desire to destroy and kill everything and everyone in her path.
'But… why?' At the rate of her magical consumption, Avenger would burn through her own reserves, killing herself in the process. But… there didn't seem to be any restraint left to her. 'Was it because she lost her Master? No. That shouldn't be enough to commit a suicidal assault over—!'
"If you would stand with him… then… you defend him… Heh… Heheheh…" The flames grew, flaring up into a pyre with Avenger herself as the kindling. The concrete floor scorched and began to melt. The night air itself started to boil and steam. Saber sensed the embodiment of revenge lust for murder. "You would defend the one who took away the only person who understood me! DIE!"
Tens—nay, hundreds of arquebus rifles appeared around her. In unison, they let loose.
What came next was the hottest rain Saber ever endured. Shells sparked and glanced on her armour and sword but boreholes into the floor and eviscerated the rooftop wherever they scattered. The only spot that was left untouched was the section behind her that Saber oh-so desperately defended with her all. The same spot her Master continued to watch the scene from with listless eyes.
Such morbid nonchalance on his part, to not even care he was Avenger's primary target, did not go unnoticed by the King of Knights.
"What are you waiting for, Kiritsugu?! Evacuate so that I can—!"
"Saber, with my first Command Seal—" Arturia's eyes widened as she turned to him. The man had already raised his hand, the seals glowed on the verge of activation.
'Does he intend to empower my counterattack?' Considering his demand to have her cut Avenger down, it must've been clear.
"… We… were going… to live for ourselves… together… … Forever!"
The woman had lost it. Muttering and sobbing, the fires grew and grew as she did. By now, the human bonfire that was Avenger had reached the night sky, evaporating Fuyuki's cool night air into a fiery blood red haze. It seemed as if she'd given up and intended to burn everything to the ground.
A thematic conclusion was brought about by her class's namesake.
"I order you—" Entrusting her back to him this once, she waited for the burst of mana. But the order Kiritsugu gave caught her immediately unawares. "—Destroy the Holy Grail."
"What—NGH?!" Questions were held back as Excalibur, the weapon that answered only to her, suddenly began siphoning what energy was around to power itself up. It was only through sheer force of will and a little help from her magical resistance that she hadn't fired it off yet. "Kiritsugu, what are you—"
"Saber, with my second command seal, I order you!" Turning to meet dark jaded eyes locked onto the Grail floating below, Saber saw anger. Not the same as Avenger's, but justifiably similar. As he dismissively ignored her pleas, he repeated, "Unleash your Noble Phantasm! Obliterate the Grail! Now!"
"Kiritsugu—! No!" Artoria tried to resist, God knows she tried. But her magical resistance couldn't stop two Command Seals. "D-don't—! DON'T DO IT!"
"By my final Command Seal, Saber—"
"—STOP IT!"
"—I order you. Destroy the Grail."
Her will couldn't do anything and so, the King of Knights had no choice but to act. Saber raised her sword and prepared for the last attack.
However, both she and her Master failed to notice the flames that had engulfed their surroundings.
"… If this world cannot accept us… then it shall burn in flames…"
Expressionless, weary, the words came out monotonous. But none could deny the anger and hatred, the seething loathing, the hurt and despair, that marred the once cheeky, yet arrogant woman's gaze.
"In the name of Oda Nobunaga… for the sin of taking… that which belongs to me…" Avenger's hand was raised to the sky. "I sentence this world… to oblivion…"
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
As if answering her call, the giant skeleton that could exist only within Nobunaga's Reality Marble reached out a claw from the flaming vortex in the skies above. Manifesting in the real world, the Demon King's embodiment of vengeance stretched its skeletal claws, trying to grab the King of Knights and crush her.
But as tears fell from Artoria's face, she could not see the monster or the broken woman standing before her. She could only watch as yet another betrayed her. Betrayed her wish to protect her people, to save her nation and friends.
Her blade swung down.
And all of it was gone. Again. Forced against her will, she couldn't even cry out the name of her blade.
'Why…' was all she could think. Apart from, 'Ah… I failed… again.'
Such were the thoughts of the disheartened king. Such were the thoughts of a failed knight.
And such was the self-disdain the girl, due to her chivalry and ideals, could only aim at herself.
The light borne from the Sword of Promised Victory enveloped them all. Master, Servant, monster and Avenger. But being a creature birthed to destroy that which belonged to the world and the divines, the sword crafted through divine means and carried the world's power overwhelmed it.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—
The giant skeletal beast cried out in pain as it burned and shattered into the night air. Its fading visage was but a fleeting nightmare under Excalibur's glorious light. But it was just the unintended casualty burned by the very presence of the sword's power.
The radiant and powerful wave struck its primary target. The Grail that was once Irisviel von Einzbern visibly cracked when it was hit. However, it wasn't fully destroyed.
BOOM
Upon impact, another geyser erupted from the cup, flooding the floors beneath before overflowing to the rooftop above. A surprising sight, but one Arturia couldn't care less about.
After all, she'd lost. This entire war, it was definitely a farce for she'd been betrayed once again. Unable to win for having destroyed that which was her goal, the girl slumped to her knees before fading into the darkness.
Her body, which was unique in that she could never vanish into spirit form, did just that. Removing itself from this place, the process of returning to that hill beyond the edge of time and space began. She was going back, back to the beginning of her last yearning… all to await yet another call to war.
And, as she faded, the last thing she witnessed was the black rain erupting from the fountain of a cup as it absorbed all, especially enveloping the despairing Avenger whose powers had all but begun to wither soon after Saber inadvertently slew her summoned creature. Kiritsugu was nowhere to be seen. The night sky had yet still not returned to its cool dark blue.
… The vengeful fire… had not yet evaporated from the skies of Fuyuki…
… But who was the knight to care about such when her participation had already been forfeited… by her own Master…?
'Why… Kiritsugu…?' she thought as she closed her eyes. 'Was it not… your dream… to wish for a better world? Or… had Irisviel… always been mistaken… of your true nature? Why…?'
The question would remain unanswered for she could no longer stay.
Her contract voided, once more, she fell to the wayside, tired and lost, yet still waiting for another chance… but this time… the blow was far too great…
***
Another explosion rang out as the Grail erupted, spilling more of its contents.
The goop made up of the magical energy used to manifest Servants swirled into a vortex as it reached out into the dark red sky.
"… … … … … …"
The being that hid within its shadows cried a silent screech.
"… … … … … …"
It had been rejected. The victor of the war refused it. And now… it was under the threat of vanishing once more.
"… … … … … …"
It didn't want that. It just wanted a chance. A chance to be born anew. A chance to return to the world that had abandoned it. That had sacrificed it for its denizen's good.
"… … … … … …"
Anger at being denied, the pain of being forsaken, it howled into the wind, causing a turbulent maelstrom that threatened to tear the city skyline apart.
"… let… it burn…"
But as the storm ravaged the sky, a soft voice could still be heard. Curiosity flared within the shadowy entity as it turned its attention to the last Servant of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
"… let… the world… burn…"
There stood a woman, hair as red as blood. Once beautiful, gone was her passionate flare, her powerful aura.
All that remained of Oda Nobunaga was anger and despair.
"… For taking you away… for denying our happiness… let… it all…"
The entity knew who she was. It knew why she wept. And… it also knew… for whom she wept.
"… Lu…lu…"
The fiery sky grew to encompass more of the city. But as it did, so too did she lose more of her power, causing her to fall to her knees. Broken, despairing, she uttered the same wish and the same name. Over and over and over.
Seeing a chance at redemption, a chance at starting anew, the entity—, nay. The black mud quickly rushed over to Avenger, enveloping her, swallowing the woman into the recesses of the Grail's core.
For only a wish could birth that which slept in the Grail, so did it need someone to give it that wish.
"Let… the world… burn… for Lulu's sake… for my sake…"
The entity was more than welcome to make her words into reality.